The DePaulia 9/8/2020

DePaulia

The

Volume #105 | Issue #1 | Sept. 8, 2019 | depauliaonline.com

HERE, WE ZOOM

INSIDE

University launches student-support fundraiser, $60 million goal Page 4

A tribute to Gary La DePaulia debuts Tinder, DePaul student killed in June weekly print section Pages 14-15

Pages 24-25

ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA

2 | News. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

First Look

Aug. 7, 2020 - Sept. 7, 2020

CAMPUS COVID-19 CASES

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News

News. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 3

A member of the custodial staff cleans a classroom in the DePaul Center Concopurse ahead of the return of students starting Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.

ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA

Facilities commit to advanced cleaning procedures

By Lacey Latch & Emma Oxnevad Editor-in-Chief & Online Managing Editor

W

hen normal activities at DePaul came to a halt in March due to the pandemic, Donna Voight, assistant director of Loop facility operations, made sure her team and the custodial staff did everything they could to keep the campus free of COVID-19.

Fast-forward five months and that work has only ramped up as the pandemic has stretched on and students’ return to campus inched closer. Now, blue signs litter the walls in academic buildings, dining areas and elevators to remind the DePaul community to follow the proper protocols to stay safe.

Hundreds of hand sanitizer stations have been placed across both campuses, disposable masks are available for those without one and custodians have been deep-cleaning nearly non-stop since spring. Seating areas have all been modified to seat only one person to discourage crowding, including in the dining areas and lounges.

While the changes may be hard to adjust to for some, Voight said it’s necessary in order to keep everyone as safe as possible.

“We understand everyone’s desire to be with people again, but if we want to have some sense of normalcy we have to be committed to this,” she said.

DePaul’s Health and Safety plan for students’ return requires face coverings be worn at all times on campus, mandates proper social distancing and encourages good personal hygiene. All members of the university community are also required to complete a 20-minute online training session about the guidelines, whether they intend to return to campus or not.

Nearly a month ago, DePaul announced its revised plan for fall quarter, drastically reducing the amount of in-person classes and closing residence halls for most students with housing accommodations granted on a case-by-case basis.

As of now, no specific cleaning protocols have been released for residence halls but students must abide by the universi-

ty-wide plan at all times when they aren’t in their own rooms.

Ren Beard, a sophomore in CDM, moved into the University Center in the Loop over the weekend. While capacity has been limited, there’s only so much that can be done to avoid crowding in a downtown residence hall shared with other universities.

“They were saying they would be really cutting down but it’s still a decent amount of people,” she said. “I don’t have a roommate or a suitemate and I have the bathroom to myself, which is a good idea for distancing people, but it’s still pretty packed.”

With that said, staff and students were still taking precautions throughout the move-in process, including limiting the elevator capacity and shutting down certain amenities like water fountains. Like elsewhere on campus, hand sanitizer stations were everywhere, Beard said.

The success or failure of the return to campus will largely depend on individuals’ responses to the rules presented to them.

“I feel like it’s just up to the residents to actually follow it,” Beard said. “If everyone follows the guidelines it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Technology upgrades over the summer equipped many classrooms with the resources necessary to teach in-person and online simultaneously, a format that is increasingly being requested by faculty for the fall, Voight said.

As of Sept. 1, a total of 42 Loop and LPC classrooms will be used this fall, compared to 414 classrooms across both campuses during winter quarter, according to Voight. Additionally, 40 labs will be open for CDM students to use in the Loop.

In addition to both day and evening cleaning and disinfection by custodians, classrooms have been modified to seat fewer students in order to abide by social distancing guidelines with open seats marked off with blue tape. After each class, custodians will disinfect and lock the room and a Public Safety officer will unlock it at the class start time, Voight said.

“If everybody behaves and takes responsibility for themselves and cares about

ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA

Sign outside of Brownstones Cafe at the Lincoln Park Campus reminds patrons masks are required for entry.

ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA

Water fountain usage has been suspended around each campus until further notice, but members of the community can still fill up their water bottles. the next person with them, hopefully we stay as healthy a campus as we can,” Voight said.

Other area schools, including Northwestern University, Loyola University, Columbia College Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), released extensive updates to the overall cleaning process on their designated COVID-19 pages.

While no such plans have been publicly released to the DePaul community, the university is following many of the same methods in order to keep both campuses sanitary, including routine disinfection of high-traffic areas.

“Every day’s a new adventure,” Voight said. “We just have to keep adapting.”

4 | News. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

“Now We Must” aims to raise $60 million for student relief

By Ella Lee & Cailey Gleeson Print Managing Editor & News Editor

When DePaul trustee and alum Sasha Gerritson started college, she charged her tuition to her credit cards, often struggling to make ends meet. That’s how she knew students would need help like she did when the pandemic hit.

The university will launch an ambitious fundraising campaign dubbed “Now We Must” on Thursday, which aims to raise $60 million for student support within the next 12-18 months, The DePaulia was told in an exclusive interview.

Led by Gerritson, Vice President for NADIA HERNANDEZ | THE DEPAULIA Advancement Daniel Allen and teams set The funds raised from the yearlong “Now We Must” campaign will go towards five “pillars” of aid designat by the campaign heads. to assist them, the campaign will rely on donations from individuals, organizations give students an edge when companies phasis is on hardware, software and WiFi Raising the funds and foundations. Allen told The DePaulia say their budgets have been cut. Students for students. Allen said those funds could All DePaul students will be eligible for that fundraising began in late May, though will be able to access those funds through be used for a number of things, including funds under at least one of the five pillars. they didn’t start counting figures until July Career Services. technology upgrades for faculty in order to Allen said in a “campaign of this ambition” 1.

“We’re raising money to help provide provide a class to grants for individual stu- the majority of donations will come from The funding that’s raised will go funds that students can take with them dents to upgrade the WiFi at their home. individuals through direct conversations, toward five “pillars” — scholarships and back to a company, back to an organi“None of the technology money is but the campaign also plans to use online financial aid, internships, the Student zation and say, ‘You don’t have to worry going to be used for university operational methods of donation.

Emergency Action Fund, technology and about paying me. I have a donor funded technology,” Allen added. Students will Both Allen and Gerritson said donors mental health. There are no subgoals withinternship,’” Allen said. contact Information Services to request are approached carefully, especially given in each pillar, Allen said.

Student Emergency Assistance Fund funding from that pillar. the current climate of the pandemic.

Scholarships and financial aid The Student Emergency Assistance Mental health “We do have to tread lightly, but peoWithin the scholarship and financial Fund (SEAF) has helped students for over The final pillar is mental health, recple hear the urgent need of the student,” aid pillar, donors will be able to choose 15 years, but when the COVID-19 panognized by both Allen and Gerritson as Gerritson said. whether that money goes toward specific demic hit, Allen said 10 times the typical unique and specifically important.

Allen said he has already had several majors or colleges. Students can apply for disbursement of funds was requested from “I don’t know if DePaul has ever done pledges from Trustees that exemplify their aid through the Office of Financial Aid. students. [a fundraiser] in the past that had a specif- generosity. Gerritson added a commit“My major was music, and what I “It became real obvious in March and ic designation and pillar for mental health tee comprised of 11 other Trustees was wouldn’t do to be able to provide for April how much students relied upon that and wellness,” Gerritson said. formed to assist in courting potential musicians, because that is where my heart fund to help get through the final quarter,” Those funds will provide the Office of donors. is,” Gerritson said. “I feel musicians are he said. “...We don’t see that those needs Health Promotion and Wellness (HPW) “The most heartbreaking thing I could a group of persons who often very much are going to become any less as we move with flexibility to meet the demands of ever think of is if a student had to drop out need funding, having been one myself, forward through the pandemic.” students as they work through the mental of DePaul right now because they couldn’t and so I could designate my money to the To request funds from the SEAF, stuand emotional ramifications of living afford [to] fill in the blank,” Gerritson said.

School of Music to be used for scholardents should contact the Dean of Students through a pandemic in college.

“And so, when you go to somebody with ships.”

Office.

“The mental health needs of students that story. There are many people who will Internships Technology may shift from day to day, week to week, absolutely step up to the plate, even in a The internship pillar is intended to The technology pillar’s primary emquarter to quarter,” Allen said. very scary time like this, and give.”

University sets plan to track COVID-19 on campus

By Cailey Gleeson & Ella Lee News Editor & Print Managing Editor

In an attempt to monitor the spread of COVID-19 across DePaul’s two campuses, the university has developed a contact tracing team to notify members of the community when they come in contact with an infected individual.

The information was announced via Newsline — despite The DePaulia requesting information from the team directly two weeks prior.

Led by Shannon Suffoletto, director of the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness, and Cheryl Hover, associate director of emergency management, the team will work closely with public health officials across the city.

That team includes “public health professionals and access to consultation with expert physicians as needed,” Hover said. She added that consultation with the Chicago Department of Public Health is also readily available.

Widespread on-campus testing and temperature checks to enter campus buildings will not be offered at this time, according to a Newsline report.

“DePaul is seeking on-campus testing options for limited testing of select populations and will utilize testing sites in the local Chicagoland and surrounding areas,” Hover said. “DePaul recognizes that many faculty, staff, and students will be working [and] studying remotely and may work directly with their healthcare

ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA

Members of the DePaul community are required to use #CampusClear to self-report their symptoms for entry to campus. provider on testing options.”

Instead, the university has supplied campus facilities with up to 700 hand sanitizer machines. Hover declined to comment more specifically on the reason the university chose to invest in hand sanitizer rather than on-campus testing.

“There are many aspects to prevention of COVID-19, including access to testing and ensuring there is hand sanitizer readily available on campus,” Hover said.

Most of the money designated for university stimulus, not student

grants, went toward updating academic technology to enhance remote learning, university spokesperson Kristin Mathews told The DePaulia.

The university will require all students and faculty to use #CampusClear — an app for individuals to self-screen for symptoms. Visitors may also be asked to show their results to university officials prior to entry of any DePaul-owned or operated buildings.

“Developed for higher education institutions, #CampusClear includes

a brief questionnaire and medical symptoms check,” the announcement read. “Based on the answer to the screening question, the app will display a screen that states ‘good to go’ or ‘you are not cleared for campus access.’”

If a member of the DePaul community is diagnosed with COVID-19, they are required to report their case. Hover said that “close contacts” — people that have been within 6 feet of the positive person for 15 minutes or more and are identified by the COVID-19 positive patient — of the diagnosed individual will be notified.

All faculty, staff and students will receive an email notification when a positive case is confirmed, though the university has not decided whether that information will be compiled in one spot publicly. The identities of cases and close contacts will remain private throughout the entirety of the contact tracing process.

Contact tracers will also provide assistance to students, such as bringing groceries, supplies and medical care and mental health resources if needed, according to a Newsline article.

Hover said it is “difficult to directly assess” the level of risk for those residing in campus residence halls.

“Decreasing the density in the residence halls certainly does help minimize some risk,” Hover said.

“However, students should still take all precautions and follow the community guidelines set forth by DePaul.”

News. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 5

Departments announce adjusted fall quarter plans ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA

Sign outside of DePaul’s campus in Lincoln Park.

By Nadia Hernandez, Cailey Gleeson, Lacey Latch & Marcus Robertson Asst. News Editor, News Editor, Editor-in-Chief & Nation & World Editor

As the focus for fall quarter was shifted online, faculty within each college were forced to redesign some courses originally slated to be conducted in-person. For some schools, a digital focus presented challenges for hands-on coursework.

Colleges evaluated curricula and procedures after the announcement that autumn quarter would be remote.

Although faculty has time to prepare remote lesson plans, challenges arise amid teaching some classes. New programs and accommodations have been added to help students succeed throughout the quarter.

College of Education Although all classes will be remote through fall quarter, the College of Education created DePaul Open Window (DePOW), a program that will connect COE students to DePaul faculty and staff ’s children for one-on-one instruction.

DePOW will include how to teach reading, social studies and general instruction through online platforms such as Zoom, providing students with a weekly 30-60 minute learning experience created and led by education majors.

“This program was created to match children of DePaul faculty and staff members with education majors seeking field experiences as part of their coursework,” said Director of Field Experiences and Student Teaching Kathleen Liston.

Dean Paul Zionts said the studentteaching experience won’t be up to the normal standards, calling typical student teaching an “A” and this year’s program a “C.+” But the college plans to help students after graduating. .

“When they go off and teach, including the ones who just graduated, we’re going to be meeting with them during the following year, inducting them into the classroom,” Zionts said.

“If it means they’re going to come in and chat with us every week, and have a mentor even, we’ll assign somebody.

We’re going to support our grads who didn’t have the kinds of experience they felt they would get. And that’s free.

The systemic racism brought to light this year, including police brutality, is at the forefront of the college’s leadership’s minds, Zionts said.

“The real issue is systemic racism in the college and the university,” Zionts said. “I don’t want [our faculty] to say — I will not feel comfortable if only they said to me, ‘We looked at our curriculum, there doesn’t seem to be any

racism embedded in it.’ I want them to also say, ‘And here are the kinds of antiracist, anti-white supremacy things I’m bringing in to correct the syllabus for this quarter.’ And we’re not getting any pushback on this.”

Zionts said the college is offering scholarships to students during their student-teaching quarters to help them make ends meet. “[We’re doing it so] they don’t have to worry about putting food on the table, so they don’t have to worry about rent during student teaching,” Zionts said. “Why should they? Jesus God, why should they have to worry about that stuff?”

College of Law Already two weeks into the term, the College of Law has a combination of in-person and online classes, although the amount of in-person classes has scaled back following university announcements.

“Each of the 1L sections will come in once per week for two of their classes and take their remaining classes online,” a statement from Dean Jennifer Rosato Perea read. “Except for a small number of experiential learning courses, upperclass courses are online.

“At the same time, we are ensuring that our students have a ‘home’ at DePaul Law, keeping our library, as well as other spaces on the Loop campus, open during the week,” Rosata continued.

The DePaul Law Library will be closed to the general public until further notice, but students and faculty can access the facility during its specified hours.

College of Science and Health College of Science and Health Dean Stephanie Dance-Barnes said the majority of classes for the college will be conducted online, but the college will utilize various synchronous and asynchronous modes of instruction.

Additionally, the college has established a series of innovative methods to “ensure hands-on and interactive opportunities remotely, such as live-streaming lab sessions and utilizing virtual lab simulations.”

“A number of our departments, such as Physics and Environmental Science, are working diligently to distribute bymail lab kits to allow students to conduct experiments from home with the virtual support of their instructor,” DanceBarnes said. “This will ensure that lab experiences can be less cook-book and more inquiry-based.”

All classes within the Department

of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Environmental Science departments will be conducted online.

“We understand that the in-person lab experience is important, but we are prepared to offer the best experience possible online,” said Environmental Studies Chair Mark Potosnak in an Aug. 14 email.

Dance-Barnes said the college plans to “ensure all forms of academic support” will be available to students remotely.

“It must be stressed that the campus is not closed, so when it is necessary to provide in-person support our CSH faculty and staff will be responsive, while ensuring proper safety guidelines are being followed,” Dance-Barnes said.

The Art School The Art School will send out materials for all studio art classes, sculpting and any other classes that will involve specific materials. Faculty designed specific material lists for specific classes. This was all done for free by DePaul.

Although teaching art remotely may be a challenge, professors are using technology to create thorough demonstrations for their classes.

“I was sent a camera to record my lectures with,” art professor Bibiana Suarez said. “That way, I can show my beginners painting class how to use a specific tool or how to do a technique.”

Professor Matthew Girson will also be teaching beginners painting, and hopes to use the advantage of synchronous classes to have live discussions.

“We will have critiques and discussions of each other’s work,” he said. “... A big part of the learning process involves discussions and critiques with the whole class.”

Professors have the advantage of using their at-home studios to teach, and will also teach students how to set up their own.

“It’s a more relaxed environment and nicer environment than my classroom,” Suarez said. “I can navigate, sort of mentally that bridge between going from teaching to the studio in an easier way.”

“If you want to be an artist in this society, society makes it very difficult to be an artist, you’ve got to find the time and find the space, and make the work of artwork that you absolutely need to make,” Girson said.

Students will be provided necessary materials to their home address in time for classes to start.

The Theatre School Curtains will remain closed for students in The Theatre School (TTS)

through fall quarter, with hopes to return to the stage in December. In an email sent to Theatre students, Dean John Culbert announced that in accordance with the new reopening plan, all classes in TTS will move online.

The update mostly impacts Design/ Technology students, some of whom were anticipating at least some portion of their classes to take place in-person, while Performance and Theatre Studies classes were already officially set to take place entirely online, according to the email. Unlike spring quarter, students in TTS will have limited access to resources within the school, including computer labs and certain shop spaces.

“They’re most definitely classes that are better taught in person,” said Sam Leapley, a fourth-year Design/ Technology student. “When you don’t have the ability to work [hands-on] with the equipment, you just sit there and look at images of it and pretend you kind of understand how it works.”

Acting and performance classes will be done remotely, while performance rehearsals will be conducted with protocols and guidelines in place.

Students will participate in a student-led festival of performances called FORTS, which stands for “festival of online remote theater showings,” according to Damon Keily, chair of performance at TTS. Theatre tech majors will have access to the Theatre buildings to use equipment.

Adjustments will be made to how certain procedures will be conducted such as costume fittings.

“The actual taking of a show and forming a show, we’ve got permission to do a much smaller scale version of this in the fall that’s socially distant with masks, and we’re using Zoom cameras remotely, so that there are very few people in the room at a time,” said Victoria Deiorio, chair of Design and Tech Department.

Moving forward, TTS administration is remaining optimistic about a return to semi-normalcy by the end of the year, planning to deliver some classes in person then. Virtual performances will be taking place throughout the season as well as a gradual transition into live performance.

“The current plan is to start rehearsing shows as early as December and have people back in rooms, using stringent safety protocols, developed by our director of production, and then our plan would be some time starting in January, February, somewhere in there,” Kiely said.

6| News. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

Summer of unrest

Chicago protests persist as summer comes to an end

By Sonal Sonai

A

Staff Writer

fter Minneapolis police killed George Floyd in May, protests quickly gripped the nation as calls for police reform rose to the forefront.

Chicago continues to be a hotspot for protests despite the disadvantages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents have been fighting against inequality long before the summer protests, but they are using this time to push city demands — chief of which being to defund the police.

BLM Chicago is one of the main protest organizations, working in conjunction with other community organizations such as Good Kids Mad City, Chi-Nations Youth Council and The Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repressions (CAARPR) to name a few.

Ultimately, organizers’ initiatives aim to uplift Black and BIPOC communities across the city.

Chicago native Carlos Ballesteros, a reporter for Injustice Watch, notes that prioritizing Chicago’s Black communities has always been an issue.

“Since arriving en masse during the Great Migration more than a century ago, Black Chicagoans have been violently relegated to the margins, exploited at every turn and expected to do more with less,” Ballesteros said in his article following the looting in Chicago after CPD shot Latrell Allen, a 20-year-old Black man, in Englewood.

Ballesteros also referred to MLK’s 1966 visit to Chicago, at the invitation of the Chicago Freedom movement, to fight discriminatory housing practices. King led a march in Marquette Park which quickly erupted in violence as protestors and police clashed — a theme still prevalent today.

“I’ve been in many demonstrations all across the South, but I can say that I have never seen — even in Mississippi and Alabama — mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I’ve seen here in Chicago,” King said.

CPD remains a significant contributor to the city’s legacy of systemic racism.

Police brutality in Chicago persists today as evident through video footage of police beating protestors — footage that is now commonly shared across social media.

Many local organizations condemn CPD and demand that the city reallocate police funding into other programs including mental health, social services and community outreach to prevent violence and reduce the need for policing.

But, Mayor Lori Lightfoot refuses to meet demands. Although she has fulfilled some, such as removing the Christopher Columbus statue in Little Italy, which people have described as virtue signaling, she has yet to satisfy core initiatives including removing officers from Chicago public schools.

In light of Lightfoot’s inaction, protests persist city-wide, even in front of her house in Logan Square. Activists have circumvented Lightfoot’s inaction with more protests and community outreach.

For instance, after Lightfoot announced budgeting $1.8 billion for CPD in 2020, abolitionist organizations across the city planned the #BreakThePiggyBankChicago protest, calling to reinvest

ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA

Demonstrators marching down State street in Chicago’s Loop following a protest against ICE on July 10, 2020.

CPD’s budget into various community programs.

“Unfortunately, it seems to me that Lightfoot is more interested in preserving the status quo than actually implementing these changes,” DePaul junior Jillian Morrison said. “Kids don’t need cops in school; especially Black and Brown kids who are more likely to be punished more severely than their white peers for minor infractions.”

Some activists are unable to protest on the ground and are working remotely to support city demands. DePaul alum Hannah Marquis, said she’s unable to attend in-person protests due to the risks posed by COVID-19. Instead, she takes part by doing remote work such as calling and emailing the mayor and aldermen, donating money and most importantly, self-educating.

“I do not think that Lori or the city [have] met any protestor demands, she has further invested more money into CPD,” Marquis said.

Marquis referred to a recent pilot program that provides free mental health care to CPD. Marquis also mentioned the tactics Lightfoot has used to discourage protestors including implementing curfews, raising the bridges and closing off access points.

“I do not think that protests can lighten up, while it is upsetting to see how the police are inciting violence against protestors, I think that protesting will continue to put pressure on Lightfoot and other elected officials to make change,” Marquis said.

Despite the mayor’s lack of response, protests continue to intensify nearby, most recently in Kenosha, WI after police shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake.

While protests continue across the city and nation, Chicago students call on their universities to cut ties with the police.

The DePaul Socialists collaborated with other leftist organizations on campus to facilitate protests aimed at divesting the university’s relationship with CPD. On June 10, the first protest was held in the quad. An additional protest held on June 27 was a continuation of student

SONAL SONAI | THE DEPAULIA

Protestor holds a sign honoring victims of police brutality during the Justice For George Floyd Car Caravan in the loop on June 3rd. demands. The last protest held at DePaul thus far was a campus teach-in on July 27.

DePaul joined other local institutions on Aug. 1 for theAbolish CPD protest held by Solidary Street, in reevaluating their relationships with CPD. Despite multiple protests, student demands have not been met.

In fact, student-led protests have escalated. #CareNotCops is an organization at UChicago and as of Sept. 3, they are currently on their sixth day of protesting in front of the provost’s home.

Similarly, at Loyola, Our Streets LUC is on their 12th day of protesting as of Sept. 3. On Aug. 29, several Loyola students were arrested during an on-campus protest and the school has yet to acknowledge this.

“We will keep protesting but in more creative ways, such as holding events on campus to bring light to BLM, chalking the campus, and Marching on the weekends,” said Trey Johnson, a Loyola student who has been protesting on campus.

Loyola has just started classes for the semester amid the pandemic, but the protests haven’t relented. According to the Our Streets LUC Instagram, they will continue until all of their demands are met.

“I also didn’t expect to be helping out as much as I am with the Our Streets organizers,” Johnson said. “The arrests have

shaken me up and I have had issues focusing on my work.”

As classes start this month and students return to both in-person and online classes, it is hard to imagine how they will navigate academics, a pandemic and the current political climate simultaneously.

“We must push everyone to educate themselves on what is happening in our society. A lot of the backlash stems from fear and ignorance,” Johnson said.

Like many college students, Johnson didn’t expect to take part in campus-wide protests that would ultimately lead to the arrest of his peers.

“After witnessing the arrests this past weekend, it is clear to see that police are not trained to deescalate high-stress interactions,” he said. “They use excessive force on peaceful protestors and openly taunt protestors.”

Although the pandemic has thrown the future further into question, one thing is certain — students across the city are demanding their schools to defund the police.

“If we are to keep law enforcement there needs to be significant changes in their training, funding, and behavior if we are to ever make change truly,” Johnson said.

News. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 7

Study abroad programs continue despite restrictions

By Corey Schmidt Staff Writer

Despite travel restrictions brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic, DePaul University still has plans to facilitate study abroad programs for the upcoming fall quarter.

Approximately 104 students will be enrolled in a variety of different programs, according to Martha McGivern, study abroad director at DePaul. These programs include both in-person travel and remote programming.

Two study abroad programs are officially planned to travel this upcoming quarter, according to McGivern. The locations of these trips are to Budapest, Hungary and Madrid, Spain. McGivern mentioned that three other programs are pending the final approval by the provost as of Aug. 27. These programs would potentially be traveling to Cork, Ireland; Rome, Italy; and Paris, France. The graduate nursing program to the Czech Republic is currently under evaluation to determine the feasibility of travel; however, if determined not possible for travel, the program will adopt a remote format.

DePaul has three confirmed virtual study abroad programs along with four potential virtual study abroad programs for the fall quarter.

Students that intended to do a study abroad program this quarter but have had their program canceled have the option to defer to a different term.

“Any student that was accepted into a program that was canceled has the option for automatic acceptance into that same program in a future term the next time it runs,” McGivern said. “If they would like to study in a different study abroad program, they will be prioritized to do that, and hopefully accepted. We just cannot guarantee that if there is a different review process.”

PATSY NEWITT | THE DEPAULIA

While some programs are still pending approval, 104 students are scheduled to participate n study abroad programs this fall.

Students are able to keep their study abroad scholarship as long as they participate in the program this academic year.

“Any student that had been offered a scholarship for this academic year, the same scholarship will follow them to whatever future term is,” McGivern said.

“The exception is if they were awarded a scholarship this year and would like to defer their program next year, their scholarship isn’t guaranteed because of the way funding cycles work.”

McGivern added that students could take part in an international virtual internship if they are seeking experience through study abroad.

Students can also get a global education through programs run by the

International Student and Scholar Services office (ISS). These programs include a wide variety of activities such as exploring new cuisine, a coffee hour, mentorship and an informal place to just connect with students of other backgrounds. Programs are available to both international and domestic students.

“The opportunity to connect with others and share experiences and create a space where all are welcome,” said Associate Director of International Student and Scholar Services Jennie van Drehle.

A highlight of the ISS programming is the Bon Appetit event. This event will occur twice this fall quarter with a focus on Indian and Mexican cuisine, according to van Drehle.

A new program from ISS is virtual GlobalDePaulTalks, an informal place for people to connect and talk, allowing participants to learn more about other students’ cultures and backgrounds.

School of Music professor Cathy Elias has participated in programs in Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Sierra Leone and said such experiences allow individuals to “see themselves in a new way.”

“In a foreign country, students not only see new, beautiful and exciting sights, they also may have to struggle with not speaking the language well, and having to negotiate an unfamiliar environment,” Elias said.

From Sept. 21 to Oct. 2, students can take part in Global Fall @ DePaul, DePaul’s version of study abroad week.

riety of DePaul’s student organizations, will take place virtually on Sept. 18 from 11 am to 6 pm. In the past, the event occurred in-person on the Quad. This year, it will be hosted on DeHUB, DePaul’s student engagement platform.

Arnold said registration is open for student organizations and campus departments to request a booth for the fair and explained how the virtual format will function.

“Student orgs and campus departments will be able to build their virtual booth where they can include information about their org, update photos, videos [and] you can even include a Zoom link to encourage people to come into Zoom and chat with you in real time,” Arnold said. “We really think that this is going to be a great tool to help students learn about different student orgs on ways to get involved on campus.”

As of Aug. 28, Arnold said 115 groups had registered for the Involvement Fair compared to about 150 groups that registered for the fair in the past when the event was held on the Quad.

“Right now, we’re doing really, really good with registrations and I’m happy that student orgs are looking at this as a way to connect with others,” Arnold said.

As student organizations adapt to connecting with students on a virtual platform, some are expanding their virtual activities from spring quarter when DePaul initially transitioned to remote learning.

DePaul’s Student Government Association made the transition to virtual meetings during the spring and will continue this fall quarter.

“It’s going to be a lot of adapting that same framework that we had to do at the start of spring quarter,” said Arantxa Reyes, SGA’s PR coordinator. “We transitioned to online meetings and that worked pretty well for our group. We were lucky because we already knew each other so we were able to continue that same atmosphere onto Zoom.”

To get students involved in SGA, Reyes said SGA is working to increase its accessibility when connecting with students in a manner similar to the events organized by Student Involvement.

“I know that Student Involvement has done a lot of online events and a lot of getting to know different sectors of the university,” Reyes said. “Also, [we may] just take their lead and [do] an event [about] getting to know SGA for students who haven’t interacted with us on campus and that includes first year students.”

As student organizations and other departments work to interact with students virtually, they are also working to connect with new students at DePaul including incoming freshman and transfer students.

Arnold explained that Student Involvement is using several different methods to reach out to these groups of students.

“We’re utilizing university commu-

nications whether that’s the [DePaul] Newsline or the Division of Student Affairs [where] we have a weekly newsletter that goes out,” Arnold said. “We are [also] relying upon our social media platforms where we are pushing a lot of important information out to students.”

Other forms of communication include “connecting with [the Office of] New Student and Family Engagement as they were working with orientation,” and working with individuals within the admission’s office, Arnold said.

Reyes said SGA members will be responsible for reaching out to new students through their individual networks.

“I think that responsibility is going to have to fall on us all individually as members and reaching out to our different networks that we sit in within the university,” Reyes said.

As the quarter progresses, Arnold said Student Involvement is working to “reimagine” in-person events from previous years to adapt them to a virtual format such as Midnight Breakfast, an event where students ate breakfast at midnight in the Student Center and participated in different activities.

“This year, we’re looking at a virtual option of doing Midnight Breakfast in getting people to tune in and cook up some breakfast from their homes,” Arnold said.

Students can visit DeHUB for more information on upcoming events.

Campus events go virtual fall quarter amid pandemic

By Theodora Koulouvaris Staff Writer

As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes every aspect of the college experience, DePaul students can expect to take part in many traditional events and activities of previous years, but in a different way.

One of those events is Welcome Week. Normally a week-long, in-person event filled with activities to introduce students to DePaul, this year’s Welcome Week is instead taking place over multiple weeks.

Students can participate in over 150 virtual programs including bingo and trivia, and activities that introduce students to other campus resources and services such as DePaul Central and Campus Recreation until Sept. 11.

Teneshia Arnold, the assistant director of programming at the Office of Student Involvement, said the department has received positive feedback from students regarding the virtual events.

“We’ve had students share how they appreciate us still being able to put together some virtual offerings as quick as we did,” Arnold said. “Another portion of the feedback that we got back was that students appreciate us providing some sense of normalcy for them.”

Beyond Welcome Week, the Involvement Fair will undergo some changes as well. The event, which allows students to meet with members from a wide va-

8 | Politics. The DePaulia. Sep. 8, 2020

Politics

The Race to Election Day

CAROLYN KASTER | AP

Former vice president and current Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Delaware on Sept. 4, 2020.

By Amber Stoutenborough Contributing Writer

After a turbulent summer that saw a national reckoning on race and a persistent pandemic, the upcoming presidential election must be able to respond to the needs of a passionate electorate.

Unlike the 2016 presidential election when the major candidates were often referred to as the “lesser of two evils” by their supporters, presidential candidates are put under higher scrutiny as voters not only look to their advertised policies, but to their history in politics.

Jeffrey Blevins, head of the journalism department at the University of Cincinnati, said that voters want an experienced candidate but a candidate’s history impacts the public’s perception of their policy stance.

“The thing that comes with experience, you know, you have a record,” Blevins said. “And then there’s a lot more things that your political opponents can dig into and frame a certain way.”

Former vice president Joe Biden is the official Democratic nominee for the 2020 election. He runs on a campaign that advocates for racial justice by promising to close the economic disparities that disproportionately affect Black and Brown Americans.

Biden also claims to want criminal justice reform but has not taken a strong stand against law enforcement. Instead, one of Biden’s policies is to reinvigorate community-oriented policing and provide a 300 million dollar investment into hiring community police officers under the condition that they “mirror the racial diversity of the community they serve.”

Speculation on Biden’s stance on

police brutality largely concerns his role in anti-crime legislation in the 1980s and 1990s that is often credited for the increase of mass incarceration in America’s Black communities. Biden was a key senator in the construction of The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill.

The bill provided $8.7 billion dollars for states to build more prisons.

Biden has defended the law in the past and is quoted saying that the bill did not generate mass incarceration in a statement in Nashua, New Hampshire on May 2019.

Despite this stance on the 1994 Crime Bill, Biden still promises to promote racial equality if elected to office. He insists that the U.S. Justice Department address systemic misconduct in police departments on the national level, end incarceration for drug use and expand on reformative alternatives to detention.

Blevins said that Biden may need to reframe his stance on racial injustice as a result of his track record in politics.

“There’s a longer track record you have to pick up and it’s not to say that, you know, he can’t change his mind, he can’t change his position based on where he was and where the country was in the 1990s,” Blevins said.

From the start of the pandemic, President Donald Trump has been critiqued for his delayed and ineffective response in handling the virus.

An Associated Press poll shows that 8 in 10 Democrats say that the current government has not done enough to assist an individual’s financial issues with COVID-19.

Joe Biden’s plan, if elected, is to provide free COVID testing, increase production of personal pro-

Many Americans say government isn’t doing enough to help during pandemic A new AP-NORC poll finds that 8 in 10 Democrats say the government is not doing enough to help the financial situation of individual Americans during the pandemic. About half as many Republicans say the same.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the government is doing ____ to help the financial situation of Americans.

NOT ENOUGH

TOO MUCH

RIGHT AMOUNT

Democrats 82% Republicans 41 All adults 66

18 10

Results based on interviews with 1,075 U.S. adults conducted August 17–20.

The margin of error is ±4.1 percentage points for the full sample.

SOURCE: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research tection and set up a national tracing States, President Trump allocated program so Americans can deter- responsibility to state governors to mine the level of national transmis- control the virus. sion within their zip codes.

The United States still leads in Dylan Suffredini, an undergradu- coronavirus cases, according to the ate at the University of Chicago and a Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Reformer field intern for Kamala Har- source Center with 6.2 million cases. ris’ presidential campaign, said that This is compared to the next leading Biden has experience in dealing with country, Brazil, with 4.1 million casa virus outbreak because of his expe- es. rience as vice president during the Kellen Brown, a sophomore poObama administration. litical science major at DePaul Uni“And so I think that, you know, versity, said he believes the UnitBiden is somebody who listens to the ed States could have had a quicker scientists who does what the epide- and more effective response to the miologists tell him to because he un- COVID-19 outbreak. derstands that this is an issue that has “I think that what’s kind of been literally killed almost 200,000 Amer- shown from this is that coronavirus icans,” Suffredini said. in the United States has gotten comPresident Trump’s early response pletely out of hand,” Brown said. “Beto COVID-19 was to dismiss the cause of the complete lack of federal virus, and stated throughout the oversight and federal guidance and early months of the outbreak that direction, which is exactly what this the United States “has it under con- nation needs and looks to depend on trol.” As the coronavirus became in- in times of crisis.” creasingly out of hand in the United

Politics. The DePaulia. Sep. 8, 2020 | 9

Illinois State Board of Elections encourages early voting

By Nika Schoonover Politics Editor The Illinois State Board of Elections is encouraging voters to submit their ballots early to ensure their votes are counted. Ballots will be mailed to applicants beginning Sep. 24, which is also the first day of early voting in Illinois.

In a letter sent to the Board of Elections on July 30, the United States Postal Service warned that state laws concerning voting deadlines are incompatible with their delivery standards.

“As a result, to the extent that the mail is used to transmit ballots to and from voters, there is a significant risk that, at least in certain circumstances, ballots may be requested in a manner that is consistent with your election rules and returned promptly, and yet not be returned in time to be counted,” the letter read.

The Postal Service emphasizes the importance that voters are aware of turnaround on ballots so they send in their ballots accordingly.

“It is particularly important that voters be made aware of the transit times for mail (including mail-in ballots) so that they can make informed decisions about whether and when to (1) request a mail-in ballot, and (2) mail a completed ballot back to election officials,” the letter read.

Matt Dietrich, the spokesperson to the State Board of Elections, said that the board was not surprised by the letter sent by the United States Postal Service.

In response, he encourages voters to send in their ballots early to ensure that their vote is counted.

“Even though Illinois allows you to

apply up until five days before the election, if you do that, you are taking the chance that the ballot will not reach you before election day or even on election day,” Dietrich said.

President Donald Trump has expressed distrust for the United States Postal Service and has encouraged voters on Twitter to attempt to vote in per-

son after mailing in their ballots.

Wayne Steger, a political science professor at DePaul University, said he fears that people won’t vote because they’ll be unsure if their votes will be counted despite the emphasis on early voting.

“But what research shows is that early voting, extending the voting period, actually reduces voter turnout,” Steger

said. “So if mail operates on a similar vein, it could depress voter turnout.”

A graph in FiveThirtyEight shows that voter turnout didn’t spike when Ohio added early voting.

Massachusetts is the most recent state to implement early voting in 2016 and also did not see a significant spike.

The Illinois State Board of Elections, however, reports that they are on track to hit a record for mail ballots, but have not reported on the track for total voter turnout.

The Illinois State Board of Elections reported that they received 1.32 million vote-by-mail applications as of Sept. 3.

The State Board of Elections reports that the number of requests puts Illinois on track to substantially exceed the record set for voting by mail in the 2018 general election when 430,000 votes were cast for mail, accounting for 9.3 percent of all ballots.

In the 2016 general election, 370,000 votes were cast by mail.

“We are encouraged by the strong response to the ongoing vote-by-mail effort,” said Steve Sandvoss, executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections. “Voting by mail provides a safe, secure and convenient voting option for those concerned about COVID-19. It also will help ease congestion at in-person polling places during early voting and on Election Day.”

Art by Alicia Goluszka Ohio voter turnout rates compared to the national average from 2000-2016.

Ohio enacted the early-voting law in 2005. In 2002 and 2014, Ohio did not have any competitive top-of-the-ticket elections. Source: U.S. Elections Project

Organizers write open letter to Lightfoot to de-escalate police department

By Cailey Gleeson & Nika Schoonover News Editor & Politics Editor Leaders from over 25 community and faith-based organizations — including Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli — wrote an open letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot criticizing her response to months of civil unrest and increasing escalation of force at such demonstrations by the Chicago Police Department.

“As Mayor of Chicago you occupy one of the most powerful and influential platforms for change in our city, and we are facing a pivotal moment that begs for moral leadership,” the letter read.

“Unfortunately, your response has been to point fingers at other city leaders and double down on the use of heavily armed, militarized police to protect property interests, all while ignoring the urgent calls for meaningful police reform.”

Rich Harvard, a pastor with the Inclusive Collective, was one of the leaders that helped compose the letter.

“If Chicago is going to move forward in a more just and equitable way, we must reimagine what public safety looks like instead of relying on the same old

“We don’t need more punitive responses to people calling out for justice.”

Xavier Ramey

Justice Informed, chief executive officer tactics that yield death and decimated communities,” Harvard said.

After citing the decades of history involving brutality and misconduct from CPD officers, the letter references the most recent unrest — prompted by the Aug. 14 police shooting of unarmed 20-year-old Latrell Allen in Englewood.

“In the aftermath of Mr.Allen’s shooting two weeks ago, the right thing for you to do would have been to hold the police accountable and address the pain and fear our community felt in the wake of yet another act of law enforcement violence,” the letter read.

“Instead, we witnessed that in your eyes, the destruction of property is a far graver sin than state-sanctioned anti-Black violence.”

DePaul junior Surdeep Singh Chauhan said the letter frustrated him, as it illustrates Lightfoot’s “mission” to “further segregate the city of Chicago and militarize the police force against Black and Brown bodies.”

“Time and time again we have evidence of the police unlawfully beating protestors, failing miserably at their jobs, and not taking precautions with COVID-19,” Chauhan said. “Lori Lightfoot continues to pander to the affluent, mostly Caucasian citizens of the North Side of Chicago in her condemnation of looting and violence in other states, yet never acknowledging the atrocities her own damn department is committing.”

Xavier Ramey is the chief executive officer of Justice Informed, a social impact consulting firm.

Ramey said that the reason he joined the Black Lives Matter movement was for “accountability and civic communication” because the tools Chicago uses for public safety are often the “drivers of a lack of safety.”

“We don’t need more punitive responses to people calling out for justice,” Ramey said. “We need urgent movement to listen to Black people’s solutions for injustice, a consistent keeping with a narrative that shines light on what we as a people are truly facing in this city and country due to the blatant apathy, or non-urgent ignorance of those who think they ally with us in our march for justice, and we need safety from police and policies that compromise our ability to achieve the dream America has always said we were already living.”

Ramey then spoke about what is needed to ensure the needs of the Black Lives Matter Movement are met and emphasizes the need to defund the police and invest in community and economic infrastructure to ensure accountability.

“This should be Mayor Lightfoot’s job.

She showed empathy during shelter in place, and scolding condemnation when the cries of Black people rang out again for our lives to matter,” Ramey said.

10 | Nation & World. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

Nation &World

‘How do you trust them now?’

How politics has undermined America’s health authorities

KEVIN DIETSCH | AP FDA Commissioner Steven Hahn listens during a House meeting on the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic.

By Marcus Robertson Nation & World Editor

In a move health experts have criticized as unscientific, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for blood plasma transfusion as a treatment for COVID-19.

“The FDA’s emergency authorization for convalescent plasma is a milestone achievement in President Trump’s efforts to save lives from COVID-19,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a press announcement Sunday, Aug. 23.

Some see it as a different kind of milestone, though. Dr. Craig Klugman, a health sciences professor at DePaul, said this could leave the FDA with a black eye that lasts decades, similar to the botched handling of the 1976 bird flu outbreak — which he says is one of the factors that helped spawn the anti-vax movement.

“There were public statements by the president to his administration that the FDA was trying to make him look bad by not approving this,” Klugman said. “So now, it’s not a question of the science. It’s a question of, is the FDA — which has been the most trusted agency in the world for protecting our health, for food and drugs — are they now making decisions based on politics instead of science?”

FDA Commissioner Steven Hahn claimed on Aug. 23 that the blood plasma treatments would save 35 out of every 100 people who receive them, citing a records analysis that used data from past studies.

After many in the scientific community lashed out at Hahn’s claim for being both deeply misleading and relying on a study that hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed, Hahn tweeted an apology, saying the criticism “is entirely justified.”

Cutting corners and skipping steps Typically, the FDA approves treatments only after they clear an exhaustive set of hurdles designed to prove that they’re safe and that they work effectively. Multiple stages of randomized placebo-controlled trials are con-

sidered the most surefire way to do that.

The analysis Hahn cited, however, failed to meet that standard.

“What they did was a retrospective study, they looked at the records,” Klugman said. “So there could be differences in how things were recorded, and the data that was available. You can’t control for all the variables.”

Apples to oranges, in other words.

“That makes it less trustworthy in terms of data,” Klugman said, “so we tend not to approve things based on retrospective records analysis.”

Not only that, but full FDA approval through a clinical trial involves three phases, with an ongoing fourth phase of monitoring after a drug is approved.

Phase one determines if a treatment is safe — compared to a placebo, does it cause harm to healthy people? Phase two determines if a treatment is effective — compared to a placebo, do COVID-19 patients see improvement when given this treatment? Phase three has multiple goals, but ultimately determines what dosage should be used — are there harmful side effects, for example, in too large a dose?

Blood plasma treatment for COVID-19 has gone through none of these phases.

To make matters worse, the FDA’s emergency authorization hamstrings any attempt at putting the treatment through these clinical trial phases.

Imagine you’re a doctor trying to enroll participants in one of these studies to make sure blood plasma treatment is safe and effective. The way you find these participants is by telling people there’s a new treatment that has a good chance of working against COVID-19 — and if they take part in this study, they’ll have a 50% chance of getting this treatment (the other 50% gets a placebo).

Now, imagine you’re that same doctor trying to recruit the same patients today. Every one of them can simply get their doctor to prescribe them the blood plasma treatment, now that the FDA has granted the emergency authorization.

“It makes it harder, or impossible, to do the studies that need to be done because who wants a 50% chance they’re going to get [a pla-

cebo]?” Klugman said. “So the risk here is that we’ll actually never have the data to know if this works or not.”

Borrowing your neighbor’s immunity When you get a virus, your body is designed to produce antibodies that prevent it from running rampant in your system. Some people have antibodies that are better at fighting specific viruses.

“You’ve seen all the pictures of the virus with the little spikes that stick out,” said Dr. Phillip Funk, an immunology professor at DePaul and an expert in the cells that make antibodies. “You can think of that spike as being a key that allows the virus access into your cells.”

Once a virus breaks into your cells, it does what viruses do — replicate.

“That’s really the infection,” Funk said.

“What an antibody does is, an antibody sticks onto that spike on the virus.”

Kind of like child-proofing a house, antibodies cover up those sharp points on the virus and prevent it from piercing into the cell, thereby stopping it from replicating. Not everyone’s antibodies, however, are good at protecting the body against some viruses.

Blood plasma treatment is a way of getting someone else’s antibodies to teach yours how it’s done. A doctor takes blood from someone whose body fought off a virus, separates out the cells that make antibodies, and injects those cells into a person whose body is struggling to fight the same virus.

“So this is a thing that, I mean, there is a history of this as a strategy,” Funk said. “It’s not clear that it works in every case, but it does work in some.”

Again, this kind of treatment for COVID-19 currently falls into that first category: it’s not clear that it works. “[Convalescent blood plasma treatment] can be a good thing to use,” Klugman said.

“The danger in something like COVID is, we have nothing. We don’t know the side-effect profile of it yet, and we don’t actually know if

it’s effective.”

Erosion of trust On Aug. 22, President Trump tweeted accusations of deep-state influence at the FDA, saying the agency was trying to undermine his reelection efforts by slow-playing the process for vaccines and treatments.

The next day, the agency announced the emergency authorization of little-studied blood plasma treatments for COVID-19, and agency commissioner Hahn made that dubious and unverified claim that he’s since walked back slightly.

“Look, when we’re talking about human lives here, the potential of bad science, the potential of misinterpreting the science, is that people get hurt or die,” Klugman said.

The CDC and FDA slowly built up their now-sterling reputations over 100 years — reputations that Klugman said the current administration has tarnished “within a couple of months.”

“In fact, when DePaul was … deciding who we listen to about masks for testing, and whose data is best, I went to the WHO,” Klugman said. “I went to the World Health Organization because it struck me that the CDC was not as dependable as it traditionally has been.”

The CDC posted an update to its guidelines, recommending fewer Americans get tested for COVID-19, the day after the FDA’s blood plasma authorization. Public health experts have widely condemned the updated guidelines.

“The FDA has been the gold standard around the world, that, you know, if the U.S. system approves something, it has done its job,” Klugman said. “It’s what we call due diligence. It has done good research, and you can trust it.”

Now, however, the FDA’s status as the global gold standard seems to be fading.

“With convalescent plasma treatment, we don’t know anymore,” Klugman said. “How do you trust them now?”

As of Sept. 5, at least 188,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus.

Nation & World. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 11

Colleges struggle with COVID-19 as students return

By Holly Jenvey Staff Writer

This year, back to school takes on a new meaning for college students.

Whether it’s logging on to Zoom or facing in-person odds, universities across the country and around the world are continuing to figure out the best plans for the coming term.

“I do not think that there are some schools that are handling it better than others,” said DePaul senior Alex Acain.

Chicago and the rest of Illinois are still seeing upticks in COVID-19 cases.

According to WTTW, the city sees around 300 cases daily, and if that rises to 400, new restrictions could be implemented.

At a town hall meeting on Aug. 20, DePaul announced that only 1.6 percent of classes will be on campus.

The university is also freezing tuition.

On Aug. 28, Northwestern University solidified its plans for fall quarter, less than 10 days before it starts.

According to The Daily Northwestern, the quarter will be fully remote and only junior and senior undergraduates and graduates will be allowed on campus. The university also announced a 10 percent decrease in tuition for undergraduates.

The University of Illinois at Chicago is welcoming back around 1,700 students back to dorms on campus this fall — half its usual capacity, The Chicago Sun Times reports. Anyone living on campus, as well as performing arts students, athletes, and athletic staff will have to be tested weekly.

UIC’s saliva-based test began on Aug. 10 for faculty and staff, and Aug. 16 for students. Even though they aren’t meant for sick people, the number of weekly tests would still average around 2,000.

Joyce Pacubas-Leblanc, a nurse at UIC, died of COVID-19 on April 23, according to The Chicago Tribune.

“That should be a call to action for other schools to better be planned and prepared to properly respond,” Acain said.

In Minnesota, the Twin Cities are taking a cautious approach of handling the upcoming term as the state sees a spike in cases. According to WJON News, 1,047 new cases were reported in the state on Sept. 2, with 7 deaths.

Officials from Macalester University in St. Paul said the school is planning on having a limited population on campus this fall. On Aug. 21, the university sent a notice to incoming and returning students, saying they will be tested upon arrival and must get a health kit before receiving keys to their dorm. As of Aug. 31, two cases have been confirmed.

The University of Minnesota also implemented a guide for students who will be living on any of its campuses.

Currently, the university is in step one of its plan, in which students can’t visit any other residence halls or outside ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA businesses. Two-thirds of classes at UMN Students at Concordia University wear masks while walking across campus Twin Cities are expected to be online.

Kandel-Wong said she was lucky this DePaul junior Megan Stephenson, Canada’s economy. Pierre Cyr, the vice president of public affairs at Fleishman wasn’t the case for her, as she’s still in the originally from St. Paul, said online Hillard High Road, said in an op-ed that same time zone as her university, so not learning is the new normal for most if Canada doesn’t solve its current issues much is different for her, though she said schools where she lives. So when with students being able to enter the that remote office hours could be difficult DePaul laid out similar plans, she was country, the economic impact could hurt to deal with. disappointed.

As cases have lowered in New York, “I’m sad about [remote learning] universities for a long time.

“Thousands of layoffs will soon occur schools have opened, but with high but I understand the reasoning why,” at Canadian colleges and universities, thresholds to meet. According to NBC Stephenson said. Like domestic students, and the impacts on and off campuses New York, if a university passes a 5 online learning can present its benefits throughout the country will be felt for percent positivity rate, they must close and challenges for students attending decades to come,” Cyr said. down.

This was shifted down from 9 institutions outside of their country.

Canada’s international students are percent.

The State University of New York “I guess I could have it worse,” scattered around the world, thanks to College at Oneonta had to shut down said Chloe Kandel-Wong, a student tightened borders.

The country holds two weeks into classes because of parties at McMaster University in Hamilton, 642,000 international students, putting causing 500 students to test positive for Ontario, Canada. itself in third place globally for foreign COVID-19, according to The New York Kandel-Wong is living in New York City with family as her school heads for student attraction, according to CIC Times.

In California, most schools in the state another term of online learning. Similarly, News.

Most students that hold study permits will be kicking off fall mostly remotely, McGill University and Concordia in Canada are from India, representing according to the LA Times. Chico State University in Montreal will also be mostly 34 percent of Canada’s total international University, a school 90 minutes north of remote for the fall, according to CTV students, and the next most are from Sacramento, had to close dorms a week news. Like DePaul, these universities will China.

Because of the pandemic, these into the school year, and San Diego State be putting a freeze on their tuition. and other international students are University cancelled its in-person classes, According to Canadian college news having to complete their course work but dorms remain open. site University Affairs, international students contribute CA$22 billion to several time zones ahead.

Federal appeals court rules NSA mass surveillance illegal

By Marcus Robertson Nation & World Editor

Seven years after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden exposed the agency’s mass surveillance of Americans, a federal court ruled the NSA program was illegal.

The NSA program, Judge Marsha Berzon of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, went beyond what the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act permits. Defenders of the program claimed it had been useful in foiling terrorist activities, but the court ruled that claim inconsistent with the records.

The program, called PRISM, was initiated after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as a way to monitor potential terrorist activities. It was ended on November 29, 2015 when portions of the 2015 USA Freedom Act eliminated bulk collection from the purview of the Patriot Act, a retaliatory surveillance bill passed 45 days after 9/11.

“You can go back to the founders of this country, basically, Benjamin Franklin,” said Jacob Furst, professor of computer security at DePaul, who went on to paraphrase Franklin’s quote, “Those who would give up essential

liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

In an era of pervasive data collection by both private companies and government agencies, Americans are increasingly concerned about the security of their personal data. A June 2019 public opinion survey by the Pew Research Center found that 78% of adults in the U.S. don’t understand what the government does with the data it collects.

The survey, which polled 4,272 people, also found that 66% think the risks of government data collection outweigh the benefits.

“Technology has made it easy to collect vast amounts of data, far more than Franklin…ever could have imagined,” Furst said. “And people being what they are, it’s gonna be abused.

One of the lesser-known but intriguing revelations Snowden made was that the first thing every new employee at the NSA does is run an exhaustive search on some number of previous lovers.”

The misuses of Americans’ data aren’t limited to what Snowden exposed from the NSA. Between 2013 and 2015, auditors found that 88 police officers in departments across Minnesota used their access to driver’s license databases

to look up information on girlfriends, family members and friends. The same auditors determined over half of the state’s 11,000 police officers misused their access to private data.

A 2016 investigation by the Associated Press found that police departments across the country engaged in similar misuses of private data. The 2019 Pew survey found that the public is worried about this kind of misuse — 64% of respondents were concerned about how data collected by the government is used.

“In terms of privacy, probably our best look right now is the European privacy regulation, the [General Data Protection Regulation],” Furst said.

“And that basically says that people can request to have information deleted from government records.”

A July 2019 public opinion poll by the Internet Innovation Alliance found that 72% of Americans support the idea of a nationwide online data privacy law like the GDPR. Barring that kind of regulation, Furst said the public is right to be concerned about how the government uses their private data.

“People are not scared enough about their privacy,” Furst said. “I think there’s just not enough, for most

people, not an appreciation of how powerful technology makes both the surveillance, and the post-surveillance analysis, powerful for good and evil.”

Following the Sept. 2 appeals court ruling on the NSA, Snowden said on Twitter that he “never imagined” he’d see the courts hold the NSA accountable.

“And yet that day has arrived,” he said.

Snowden, who leaked details of the program to journalists at The Guardian, fled the country after blowing the whistle, eventually landing in Russia, where he’s lived in exile ever since. He still faces espionage charges in the U.S. After news of Snowden’s 2013 leaks was published, some hailed him as a hero while others vilified him. Pew surveys following his exposure of NSA surveillance found higher percentages of Americans found it unacceptable for the government to monitor citizens’ communications.

“What the NSA was doing was illegal, and if we can’t hold our government agencies to task, then we have a significant problem as a democracy,” Furst said. “There’s very little doubt in my mind that Edward Snowden is an American hero.”

12 | Opinions. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

Opinions

Box offices on edge of exinction

Movie theaters must adapt or will soon be a thing of the past

By Logan Peterson

gan producing films, the war on our attention spans commenced.

If the theatre going experience is to exist beyond the murky fog of the pandemic, theatre chains, film studios and ticket buyers must change course and alter their behavior.

First, theatres must work diligently to make people feel safe going to the movies. Whether movie theatres are a safe place to cohabitate with other humans in the midst of a pandemic is outside my knowledge. What I do know, however, is that people will not return to the movies if great care is not taken to ensure safety.

This area is ripe for human error, but mandatory mask mandates, massive decreases in capacity

Contributing Writer

I can remember the first time a film moved me. I can remember the first time a film truly terrified me. I can even remember the first time a film gave me a character I loved, and then quickly betrayed me. I love film and I miss going to movie theatres.

The rampant onset of COVID-19 onto the world has shaken our already insecure economic structures and further darkened our ailing hearts. Until very recently, movie theatres all across the country collectively shut their doors, many non-chain theatres reduced to crowdfunding for sustained support.

The pandemic was not the cause of their demise, merely an accelerant.

Theatre chains were long failing to adequately compete with other sources of media. As soon as Netflix be-

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and increased air ventilation are a must, not a maybe.

But the theatres cannot do this alone — exhibition is one of three major aspects of the film industry. Production companies and studios maintain control of production and distribution. These studios, now almost entirely owned by larger corporations, have the power to aid theatres through this massive transition. For those reading who do not know (and I assume there are many), movie theatres only take a portion of the ticket sales of any given film. Usually, within the first two weeks of a major release, a given theatre would only take roughly 20-25 percent of the sale for each ticket. If you have ever wondered why concessions are ridiculously priced at theatres, it is because it generally amounts to 85 percent of a yearly profit.

Studios ought to allocate more of the profits towards theatres, so that the cost is no longer passed onto the moviegoer. We know most of these studios are owned by multi-billion dollar corporations.

They have the money, it can easily be spared. At least, if we want to save the movie-going experience we claim to cherish.

Studios should also produce more low budget, lower risk projects.

Much of their box office hopes are placed within the first two weeks, which is why we see a barrage of unoriginal, uninspired slop released in theatres each

year — because it is the “safe” choice.

However, two production companies, Blumhouse and A24, prove just the opposite. A24 has carved an incredible niche for itself as a producer of quality, challenging films from interesting filmmakers. Films like “Moonlight,” “Hereditary,” “Lady Bird,” and “Uncut Gems” performed exceedingly well at the box office relative to their meager budgets.

Blumhouse is similar, producing many successful horror films, like “Get Out,” “Split,” and the “Purge” and “Paranormal Activity” franchises. The budgets for most of their films are so small that even critically panned films end up being successful.

These are not radical ideas. This was the norm for studios for decades: make several smaller budgeted films, mildly successful films in order to create room for larger tentpole projects. Not every project will succeed, but this way, the margin for error shrinks and output can remain steady. Studios should once again adopt these strategies if they want to help theatres, continue to profit and also draw new, and sometimes niche, audiences.

We as moviegoers have a role in this as well. We have become obnoxious and flippant. We act irrespective of other people’s feelings. Even sadder, is that this relates to not only how we behave at the theatre, but also in society writ large.

Going to the movie theatre becomes a far less enjoyable experience when people constantly use their phones. If I sound like I am preaching, it is only because the movies are my life. Long before the pandemic, the experience felt lost, corrupted by excess stimuli. If theatres have yet to die structurally, they almost certainly have spiritually.

Perhaps, though, theatres are meant to die. We are not as enthralled by the experience as we once were. Going to the movies used to feel magical precisely because of how they were perceived by our now overly stimulated minds. Now, we have everything. We can watch anything. And we need not pay a steep price to watch.

I do not want to spend the rest of my life remembering what it was like to go to the movies. I just want to go. I want to get to the theatre early to grab the perfect seat — up high, but not too high, centered slightly right. I want to pour M&Ms onto hot, buttery popcorn.

I want to feel the weight of a great film shatter my soul, until it pieces it back together again, born anew.

Luckily, I believe that there are millions of people like me, who cherish the moviegoing experience. We do not want to see it go extinct. This may be our last chance to save it.

Opinions. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 13

Demanding safety for DePaul employees

By Joanna Ewida Contributing Writer

I grew up in a large family, both immediate and extended, with a strong cultural influence. We all live within 10 minutes from one another to this day.

Leaving home left some gaps for me and my daily life at DePaul. I genuinely felt alone some days, until I went to the dining hall.

Nothing connected me with home like the workers who come from an array of backgrounds and are mostly people of color, like me. The dining hall became a refuge for me in the transition to college life. The people I met who worked in my dining hall brought me warmth, a smile and the familiar conversations I missed in my daily life growing up in my packed home filled with never-ending laughter and chats.

In their eyes, I saw my family. The dining hall workers helped me build my second home.

Like many right now, I know that my home and the people in it are in danger and I have to do what I can to keep us safe. To that end, I have been

volunteering with UNITE HERE Local 1 — the union our dining workers are a part of — to organize with workers for safety and just treatment.

For the last month, that volunteering has meant working with laid off Local 1 members who work in hotels, airports, and other parts of Chicago’s hospitality industry to help them be prepared when their health insurance coverage expires. Most have been laid off since March. The health care crisis employers have created in the middle of a global pandemic is unconscionable.

DePaul and Chartwells are some of the few employers, along with Georgetown and Dominican University, to continue paying for the health insurance of laid off workers while Northwestern University and Loyola have not. But that changed on Sept. 1 at DePaul when workers lost a number of COVID-19 specific protections, including health insurance payments for our dining workers who were and are still laid off.

It is our role, as a DePaul community, to make sure everyone is protected and cared for —to pay “special atten-

tion to the poor and marginalized,” right? This moment depends on us walking hand in hand to urge DePaul and Chartwells to protect their workers.

There are no excuses to be made. According to their mission statements, DePaul and Chartwells pride themselves in caring for their community. Not standing with workers who help provide friendly faces and are the backbone of DePaul’s operations is a moral failure.

The workers are fighting the fight, but it is on us — the students, faculty, and members of the DePaul community — to demand a safe workplace, a living wage and healthcare protections because no battle can be won alone and, especially in a COVID-world, the health and safety of one of our community affects us all. We can hold hands in this fight by taking action and having conversations with the people around us. I encourage you to start by signing the petition (http:// tinyurl.com/saferdining) for dining worker health and safety.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY ALLIANCE

‘B*tches get stuff done.’

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: a role model and a source of pride for young Latinas

By Nadia Hernandez Asst. News Editor

Numerous negative stereotypes have plagued Latinas for decades. We are perceived as angry and loud, with more emphasis placed on our looks instead of our character. Young Latinas have struggled with overcoming these stereotypes while navigating through society.

Strong female role models are the key for Latinas to overcome negative perceptions and see positive representation beyond TV and media. Young Latinas need to see themselves in business, STEM, and politics.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is the Congressional District 14 Representative of New York, and is one of the most prominent Latina women in the House of Representatives. AOC’s representation for Latinas in politics has impacted young Latinas across the country to engage in diplomacy.

AOC’s impact goes beyond the House and Democratic Party and extends to the generation of young Latinas who can also create an impact. She sets an example for young Latinas to be confident and persistent in their beliefs, while also demanding respect TOM WILLIAMS/POOL | ASSOCIATED PRESS from others.

College freshman Anjelica Rodriguez Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions Postmaster General Louis DeJoy during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on the Postal Service on Capitol Hill, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. was inspired by AOC to pursue an education in politics. From the beginning, Rodriguez internalized stereotypes. do so. She focuses on winning the hearts of a them with Congress. To only have one demowas fascinated by seeing a strong, passionate “People just want to dismiss AOC as a person through her ideas instead of focusing graphic represented isn’t accurate to America.”

Latina woman who was persistent about her crazy Latina who’s screaming into the mic on votes.”

AOC’s confidence, dedication, and strong beliefs. about radical ideas,” Rodriguez said, “when Other than seeing Latinas in TV and will has changed the game for the House of “I first heard about AOC from a program in reality, they’re challenged and intimidated media, it’s equally important to see women of Representatives and for young Latinas across called National Hispanic Institute (NHI) my by a strong opinionated woman and aren’t all background representation in Congress. the nation. She stands for more than her politsophomore year when the founder talked ready to hear refreshing ideas. I admire her Her presence in the House allows for young ical beliefs, but for a future where Latinas can about how AOC had been a part of the response because she doesn’t take any shit Latinas to see themselves creating change on stand up for their communities on a national program back in high school,” Rodriguez said. from anyone.” a national level. It also brings up the idea that level. We can admire her for far more than her “I did my research about her and I became inAOC’s background as a Latina from Congress needs more diversity from women commitment to creating change for her comstantly inspired seeing a woman of her caliber the Bronx pushes the boundaries of what in different cultural, racial, and religious back- munity, but carrying herself with grace when in politics that I had never seen before.” the common congresswoman looks like. grounds. Although prominent representatives confronted with aggression. We can admire AOC was publicly accosted by Florida By drawing her own experiences from her like AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib go her for being engaged with us through social Representative Ted Yoho when he called her upbringing to address issues in Congress, she above and beyond to bring the voices of their media, being true to her beliefs; and most of a “F*cking b*tch” when she spoke of the over differentiates herself from other politicians. communities to light, it shouldn’t end there. all, for laying a foundation for future generapolicing of marginalized communities. AOC Her dedication to creating change makes her “We don’t solely need Latina women bettions to continue a legacy where we confront did not tolerate the disrespect and responded more a part of the community she represents, ter represented in Congress — we need more oppression and injustice. to Yoho by saying “B*tches get stuff done.” rather than being above them. than the typical white man who will bring Rodriguez admires her response, believing “She isn’t your typical born wealthy girl,” ideas that only cater to their experiences,” that the disrespect goes beyond a mere disRodriguez said. “She is here to challenge the Rodriguez said. “We need people from these agreement in policies, but is instead rooted in common status quo and bring in the youth to underrepresented communities to connect

14 | Focus. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

Focus

‘He was just a brig

Remembering

By Ella Lee & Emma Oxnevad Print & Online Managing Editors

D

ePaul student Gary Tinder’s unconditional kindness is the first thing most people remember about him.

His friends said he “couldn’t hurt a fly.” His former pastor said he was conscientious and sweet — full of integrity. His sister said that even though they didn’t talk every day, she knew he’d be there for her whenever she needed him.

Gary’s genuine compassion for others and gentle nature made his unexpected death all the more confusing for those who knew him.

While walking home from his job at Starbucks in Andersonville on June 21, he was shot at the 6200 block of North Troy Street at approximately 7:22 p.m., according to the Chicago Police Department Office of Communications. He was transported to St. Francis Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:12 p.m.

He was 20 years old.

The shooting is being treated as a homicide, first-degree murder, according to the CPD Office of Communications.

Area Three detectives are investigating.

“I was dumbfounded, honestly,” said Rev. Matt Hoffman, the pastor at St. Andrews Lutheran Church and School, where Gary attended middle school. “Just the thought of somebody hurting someone like Gary who would never want to hurt anybody else.”

Gary’s family said he was a quirky kid growing up. He loved vegetables and cottage cheese — “It always was so weird how he could like cottage cheese,” his sister Hannah said — and after getting sick off Jello as a child, never tried it again.

In school, Gary always had a “math mind.”

His mother, Jane, was his first grade teacher, and in class, they’d often play the game “Around the World,” where students would compete to get math problems right first.

Gary would always win. In fact, he won so often that the other kids thought he was cheating because his mom was the teacher.

“The kids were like, ‘That’s no fair, she’s your mom, you’re working with him’ and I’d be like ‘No, I’m not, I promise!’” Jane told The DePaulia. “He just had that math gift from when he was born.”

Gary continued to achieve throughout his whole life.

He was valedictorian of his middle school,

“Gary represente that is good and something

o t e v o l w o h s d n a e v o l o t k o o l t “‘He chose u o e v i it s o p a e v a h others and on life.’” a member of German Honors Society in high school and played trumpet in honors band throughout both middle school and some of high school.

In eighth grade, he won the state long-jump championship with the Lutheran School Association.

At DePaul, he had a 4.0 GPA and multiple scholarships — accomplish-

ments his family said were easily expe “He’s one of those kids that you’re have to hardly study and he gets it,’ yo Brooke Chrysty, a childhood frien “good at everything.”

Focus. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020| 15

ght, bright light’

g Gary Tinder

ed everything aspired to be g great.”

“He al ways h ad a s face a mile o nd ho n his nestly that m him v ery str ade ong.”

ected for Gary. like, ‘Oh, gosh darnit, he doesn’t ou know?” Jane said. nd, told The DePaulia that Gary was

“He was good at sports, school — in German class we would all get our grades and we always were like ‘Gary, we don’t even wanna hear yours because you’re going to have the best grade out of all of us,” Chrysty said.

Still, he faced hardships throughout his childhood. Gary’s father died while he was still in middle school, which affected the Tinder family for

many years.

“Gary and I, we didn’t have didn’t have an easy childhood, with our dad dying at such a young age,” Hannah said. “He didn’t become bitter and mad at the world. He chose to love and show love to others and have a positive outlook on life.”

“I don’t think that people saw his struggles because he kept that in,” Chrysty said. “He always had a smile on his face and honestly that made him very strong. And he knew that people around him were there for him.”

When Gary picked accounting as his college major at DePaul, his family wasn’t surprised. With his natural mathematical skills, they said he hoped he’d make a lot of money in accounting so that he could use it to take care of his family.

“He was working so hard so that he could try and take care of us, me and Hannah — he was going to make a million so he could help us out and take care of us,” Jane said.

In his free time at DePaul, Gary had recently taken up guitar and drawing; he spent a lot of time at the Art Institute.

“He loved going to the Art Institute in between classes,” Jane said. “I came to visit in December at Christmas time, and we went down there to see the Andy Warhol exhibit. I was just blown away — he knew where everything was in the Art Institute, and he could tell me about the paintings and what his favorite room was.”

He also worked at Starbucks as a barista since May 2019. Brian Mahoney, the general manager of the Andersonville Starbucks, said that Gary’s work ethic endeared him to his coworkers and described Gary as “unassumingly hilarious.”

“Gary represented everything that is good and aspired to be something great,” he said.

On Father’s Day — the day that Gary died — he texted his mom that he was heading home and thanked her for always being there for him.

She said that as a single mom, she was touched that he appreciated the hard work it took and that he took the time to say it.

While Gary’s life was short, his family said they believe the impact he had on his loved ones will last far beyond the confines of his life.

“He only lived — he was 20 years old. But all the people [he] impacted, you know — if you’re out there being your genuine self and trying to love people, it does have an effect,” Jane said. “If you had asked him how many people would be [at his memorial], he’d be like, ‘Oh, maybe just family.’ I can’t imagine that he would ever have realized how many people he impacted, with, you know, just just being him. He wasn’t doing anything special, he was just being the kind, wonderful person he was.”

Arts & Life

16 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

John David Washington on “Tenet”

John David Washington stars in “Tenet,” Christopher Nolan’s newest film that released in theaters on Sept. 3 nationwide. Tenet is Washington’s latest leading role.

PHOTO FROM IMDB

Tenet Movie Review plus interview with star John David Washington

By John Cotter Contributing Writer

“Tenet” opens with an opera house heist mission. The packed, maskless audience on-screen makes for an apprehensive mood within the Covid context. An interesting duality that only presents itself when I am socially-distanced and maskedup, hoping that any other ironic imagery doesn’t suck me out of this time-warping, sci-fi thriller.

“Tenet” is Christopher Nolan’s inverse take on the spy genre, with John David Washington starring as The Protagonist, a CIA agent tasked with preventing World War 3 by means of stopping the Algorithm, which has some monumental stakes. But what does inverting the whole world mean?

If you’ve seen Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” the layers of complexity to the distorted laws of physics and gravity are about the same. Instead of dreams, time is the primary motif here, but in a much different way than “Inception” and Nolan’s previous film, “Dunkirk.” Time can be your friend just as easily as it can be your enemy, something that The Protagonist slowly begins to realize.

What keeps “Tenet” freshly innovative is the aforementioned 007 approach, requiring the actors to adhere to both the inverse sci-fi physics and the dynamic journey that their character embarks on. Having to choreograph one fight becomes two with time inversion. Two becomes four, four becomes eight, all the while eight corresponding performances and narratives are tied to these as well. It seems to have just been an exhausting process, especially when considering Nolan’s calculated insistence on practical effects (which paid off as always).

What looked to be intricately grueling ended up being rather invigorating for lead actor John David Washington, whose performance pushed his physical and mental limits further than ever before, starting with the first time he read the script. I got the chance to have some digital discourse with John David, who reflected on everything from understanding the puzzle of a screenplay to encountering his fear of heights when jumping off a highrise in Mumbai with co-star Robert Pattinson.

“This script took me four hours to

read,” Washington said. “I’d read ten pages and go back five, read fifteen and go back ten. It was such a high-concept and trying to visualize it as I read it, my mind kept getting blown. How are we going to do this?

How did he come up with this? I was keeping up with writer-director Christopher Nolan the entire time we were shooting. We had a great foundation to build on creatively. I want to do this [press] again in two weeks when I can see it twice more, and I can be more confident with my answers.”

Preparing your lines, inflections and gestures is just a tease when compared to some of the meticulous physicality that John David endured from Nolan’s vision.

John David being the record-holder for rushing yards at Morehouse College certainly helps, as the football star turned actor clearly had the job experience to take on this role.

“With football I operate with the laws of physics and gravity,” Washington said. “All of that is being blown up in a concept like this. Learning to blink, talk, fight, walk and run in the inverted world made it extremely difficult. At times, the character hasn’t seen this kind of movement, it’s alien-like. Having to play into that while I do know the choreography and my character doesn’t.

My body didn’t enjoy the process but I did!”

In “Tenet”, the inverse time theory is perceived by our eyes and discerned by our brains in real-time, with the camera placements putting you front-and-center for the action. But the impressive cinematography would mean nothing without an actor’s choreography, which Washington and Pattinson deliver on in the film’s immersive moments.

Director-of-Photography Hoyte Van Hoytema doesn’t make it easy for the actors to hide any spotty choreography, with John David’s inverted fight scenes helping him better comprehend Nolan’s time conundrum.

“Hoyte, our DP, I ended up kicking him on a one-take.” John David admitted.

“I remember saying ‘I’m sorry!’ and he was like ‘keep going!’. Everyone did their own stunts, I had no excuse. How they chose to capture the fighting was why we had to learn it. We couldn’t cheat it.”

The stunts, reversed speech in real time, and dedicated adherence to an alternate realm of physics are just a few of the integral

parts that make the world conceivable and felt. The inverse action has a hefty jolt to it that can only be described as exponential: it starts low, then ramps up quick. “Tenet’s” tools build a metaphysical playground that confuses as much as it perplexes, and it’s all by design. It’s a design that not even Washington began to grasp until he started enacting it, allowing the relation between the journey of his performance and his character to feel all the more relatable from the audience’s perspective.

“The title in itself is a palindrome, and so is the movie in a way. How we deal with time and inversion,” Washington explained.

“Everything is interchangeable and [Christopher Nolan] is playing with that concept throughout. What I love about what Christopher Nolan is that he does this in all of his films: you don’t have to get that on your first watch. It’s meant to be experienced.

You and the protagonist are one to one. As the protagonist learns and finds out things so does the audience, it’s a really immersive feeling.”

The Protagonist is a fictional character in a fictional universe. But Washington’s performance suggests that this character exists beyond the two-and-a-half hour parameter of the film, as great actors often do. There is motivation layered within the character’s core that unravels with every decision they make. This catalyst is even bigger when this character is based off of a real person, with expectations existing prior to the performance even being written. You look at Ron Stallworth in “BlacKkKlansman”, also played by John David Washington. You know he wants to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan, but there is more to it than that.

The responsibility of the actor lies in staying true to their character’s motives and the story at large, which begets an even greater responsibility when the character primarily resides outside of the story and in reality.

“It’s interesting playing someone who is alive, there is more pressure so that I don’t imitate, but rather embody” Washington said. “In this way, it was similar. I wanted to play a human being. He [The Protagonist] not a superhero. You see in spy genres and action films that it sort of plays out a certain way. I wanted to take a chance and be a human being. Being a human being means that his backstory and motivations informs why he makes the decisions that

he makes, why he’s feeling what he’s feeling, and hopefully the audience feels that simultaneously. So that experience that you’re having through him feels real and tangible because I was trying to be a vessel in that way. I think his vulnerability is his greatest strength.”

I’d never thought of how an actor can

PHOTO FROM IMDB

actually learn from their character and where their values lie. The stress that weighs on the shoulders of the character can sometimes leave lasting feelings, with the weight of the world and a pending World War 3 surely having left at least a dent on John David.

“What he cares about is what separates him from another spy. What are you willing to die for?” He asked me. “What are you willing to sacrifice? There are certain things that he can do that I admire and had to learn to do. Getting background information from Navy SEALs and people that served was very helpful and instrumental in trying to construct a character. I just was excited to do that and Nolan allowed that and encouraged the humanity of the character to be present in the through-line as we go forward into the story.”

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 17

Online School Survival Guide

By Nate Burleyson Arts & Life Editor

School is hard as it is. When you take away the entire in-person aspect of it, it splits people down two paths. One makes it much much easier, the other does the opposite. Complaints about online school include little or no face-to-face interaction, more busywork and less of an opportunity for learning. Other people might find the open schedule beneficial and even preferable.

According to SurveyMonkey, just 37 percent of college students find themselves “extremely or very prepared” to make the move to online classes. This isn’t a shocking number, as the change to online college isn’t uniform across the country, and there was a lot of confusion as to whether or not any given institution would go online or attempt in person.

Thriving in an online school environment comes down to how you approach each day. Setting deadlines, creating an environment that works for you and treating it like it is regular school. Pre-COVID, in the fall of 2018, 35.3 percent of college students had previously taken a distanced-learning class option according to The National Center for Education Statistics.

Online classes are a great option for people who work full-time and seek a degree. They also help commuter students cut down on commute days. They are extremely useful for summer classes as well as winter-intersession classes at DePaul. So try a few of these tips for an enhanced experience in online learning.

Establish a Routine: This is one of the most obvious tips on the list. If possible, set a solid schedule for when you’ll work on asynchronous work, and when you are taking zoom classes live. You want a solid foundation of time to do classwork. You don’t have to wake up super early but you can set a solid chunk of your day for work.

Getting dressed like you’re going to school might even help.

“Even if you’re not going to class, get dressed like you’re going to class,” senior instructional designer at DePaul Josh Lund said. “I know it’s tempting to go all day in your pajamas because you could. Yeah, but actually and I do this too, I make myself get dressed for work when I get up in the morning because otherwise, it doesn’t feel as much like going to my job. And it’s the same thing for [students].”

If you can get all your work done efficiently, the benefits would be great. The past few months of lockdown have made days feel less and less structured. Entering a solid routine could help curb distractions as well.

Eliminate Distractions: The added benefit of eliminating distractions will make school easier while learning more. Leaving your phone in the other room and blocking time-waster sites on your web browser can help a lot with getting work done efficiently. A three-hour study session with no distractions is always better than a six-hour one with distractions.

Increasing focus is important for learn-

ing in a classroom environment. Yet it is even more so important in online learning.

Focusing on a video call can be very difficult. The ability to sit still and work without distraction is a hard to gain but vital skill.

Working through quizzes online is much different than in person. I find it easier and less stressful outside of the classroom regardless of the subject. Problem-solving is easier in a more comfortable space at home versus in a classroom.

Find Motivation: It can be easier to motivate yourself when in a classroom environment than at home. Eliminating distractions can make motivation easier as well. Telling yourself to work from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and that’s it is a good way to motivate yourself for those three hours, knowing you have time outside of that window to do whatever you want.

“The student has to be motivated enough to want to do the courses,” Lund said. “You know, a lot of times you’ll find that if you’re apprehensive about taking an online course, just try one in your major try when you’re really interested in. That’s the place. That’s the place to begin. Now, right now, we don’t have the choice. Everything is online. So in a situation like this, the best thing that you can do is try to put a good foot forward and think about what kinds of classes you can do now that would be better online. Think about the courses that you have to take in the future and try

to choose courses that might require less of the face to face stuff.”

Try to Connect With Professors Connecting with professors can be very difficult in an online environment. Nevertheless, it is super important to create a good class experience and even help your future. There are three types of online classes this quarter: synchronous, hybrid and asynchronous. The latter of which being a completely online class with no video interactions.

Even synchronous learning is difficult in these times. The social aspect is almost completely gone, and it is all about just taking rapid notes from a professor. Yet hope isn’t lost in finding a connection with faculty members.

“I think just trying to find ways to connect with whoever is teaching the class,” CDM professor Amber Settle said. “You want to connect with the faculty whenever you can, go to their office hours. Last spring I didn’t have a lot of students come to my office hours.”

Settle is confident that students and teachers are more prepared for this quarter. “[Office hours] are one of the biggest benefits about going to a school like DePaul where teaching is so important that faculty are very oriented toward students,” She said.

18 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

Samia shines with Debut

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 19

Big Brother is the perfect show for quarantine

By Lauren Coates Staff Writer

When it comes to entertainment in the age of COVID-19, this past spring and summer have created an odd dynamic for the film and television landscape. Although everyone has been stuck indoors all year and is thus have had more time than ever to be catching up on shows, production on nearly everything entertainment has been either partially or completely shut down, which means that sooner or later, the pre-COVID content will run out, and we could be seeing an entertainment drought come fall.

However, despite the fact that almost all other television shows have halted production, there’s one CBS show that just started its season in the middle of a pandemic, and will be going strong all fall — “Big Brother.”

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past twenty years and you’ve never heard of “Big Brother,” let me give you the elevator pitch: 16 strangers are locked in a house and cut off from the outside for three months, voting each other out week by week until only one houseguest remains, winning a cool $500,000 for their effort. Basically, it’s “Survivor,” but in a house on the CBS lot.

However, the gimmick that keeps “Big Brother” fans coming back season after season is a big one — the house they live in is fitted with 90+ HD cameras and over a hundred microphones, and the houseguests’ every move is broadcast live on the internet.

The presence of the live feeds means

PHOTO FROM IMDB

The cast of Big Brother 20 sits around a sofa in the Big Brother house located in California that fans have 24/7 access to whatever is going on in the game right now, whether the houseguests are scheming, sleeping, or just goofing off. Although some may find the idea of being constantly serveilled unsettling, the show’s unique format has earned it a legion of so-called ‘superfans’ who have been watching the live feeds season after season.

“I’ve always been a reality TV fanatic, but once I started BB I was hooked and I’ve seen almost every season,” said Ryan Chavez, a self-proclaimed superfan. “I’ve always come back because of the strategy of the game. The show gives the opportunity to see people’s true colors, because at the touch of your fingertips you can eavesdrop on these people at any time.”

The show’s unique format has struck a

chord with fans for years, but with the current pandemic raging, the show’s premise takes on a new meaning. It’s never been more relatable to see a bunch of people stuck in a house against their will than it has this year. Other than the houseguests getting tested for COVID-19 every week, and wearing a mask for their exit interview once they’ve been evicted from the house, it’s easy to become engrossed with the game and forget about the pandemic while you’re watching.

“It made a lot of sense that BB would still happen this year,” said Caitlin Cvitanich, who’s been watching the show live for the past eight years. “They’re doing what we’ve been doing all year, which is being stuck in the house. In a way, they’ve been doing ‘quarantine’ every summer for

years.”

It’s true; even when COVID-19 wasn’t around, “Big Brother” has always kept their houseguests sequestered. In addition to the obvious time they spend locked away while they’re playing the game, the houseguests are also kept in sequester before entering the house, and those who are evicted after the halfway point in the game are then further kept in isolation in the “jury” house where they wait to cast their votes for the winner.

And while the similarities in the format of “Big Brother” and the worldwide lockdowns weren’t intentional, that makes it all the more interesting of a show to be watching, given the new 2020 lens we’re now viewing media through.

Although the phrase ‘reality television’ is enough to turn many people off from giving the show a chance, “Big Brother” has always been a piece of television unlike any other, and with the upcoming fall television season derailed due to COVID, there’s never been a better time to jump on the BB bandwagon..

“You’ll become hooked on the strategic and social aspects of the game while watching everyone isolated in the house,” Said BB superfan Rachel Johnson when asked why new fans should give the show a chance. “It’s a unique concept, and you have the opportunity to dive further into the culture of the show with the feeds and the really active fan community.” But, Johnson warns, there’s one thing newcomers should be wary of: “if you don’t want the show to consume your life, this one isn’t for you.”

Samia shines with debut album “The Baby”

By Cole Bursch Contributing Writer

Samia Finnerty is an indie singer-songwriter who was born in Los Angeles and spent her teens living in New York City. She has garnered a following from stand-alone singles like, “Ode to Artifice” and “Someone Tell the Boys” which presented her musical style as anthemic indie rock blended with introspective and insightful lyricism such as “Someone tell the boys they’re not important anymore.”

Throughout her career, Samia has never been afraid to write directly in reference to the sexism she’s experiencing in the music industry or that she sees in the societal structures around her. Therefore, Samia’s debut album “The Baby,” continues the lyrically pointed anthems of her earlier songs and also delivers more abstract ballads echoing both the anguish and revel of life in her early twenties.

The album opens with an authoritative and vulnerable statement in the form of its first track “Pool.” The song is a brooding ballad that begins with a distorted version of the last voicemail Samia’s grandmother left her, and it transitions into a reflection on purpose and growth. The instrumentation and Samia’s voice build throughout the song from a haunting whisper to a raging cry. The song has no chorus in a traditional sense, except for the repetition of the question, “how long?”

Therefore, the lyrical aspects of “Pool” set the stage for the themes of love lost and anguish, along with musings on age. The lyrics start with a recollection of a conversation, “Then I said I’m afraid that I need men. You said, need me then,” and transition into a meditation on purpose, “How much longer till the morning? Are my legs gonna last? Is it too much to ask?” Samia certainly draws the listener in on “The Baby” with the first track “Pool” as she toes

lines of personal digressions and broader angst with effortless balladry.

As the rest of “The Baby” unfolds, the familiar alternative styles of Samia’s sound as an artist are joined with folk and indie-pop inspired tracks that all together feel like the best of both worlds as a backdrop for the artist’s voice. Two examples of the various types of vocal variance that Samia uses to put contrast throughout the album are “Triptych” and “Fit n Full.” On “Fit n Full” Samia builds the song on upbeat and melodic indie-rock instrumentation and adds an instantly contagious chorus allowing her commanding croon to be the center stage of the track.

However, there is also power in the reservation Samia displays throughout “Triptych.” The song has the ghostly aurora of heartache entangled around a rhythmic guitar with Samia almost sighing the chorus, “I’ll be good to you.” As the song builds instrumentally with drums and distorted shouting, Samia finishes off the song by coming back to the same emo guitar loop using her vocal restraint masterfully.

Some of my favorite overall tracks on the album are “Winnebago” and “Minnesota” which showcase Samia’s ability to transcend the boxes of stereotypical ‘indie rock’ and create extremely relatable alternative music that will surely gain her a larger audience. On “Minnesota” Samia seems to lyrical be talking about a relationship where she is loving almost reluctantly, but the result is a catchy track that serves as the perfect solo quarantine dance party anthem. While the song “Minnesota” is catchy and upbeat, “Winnebago” delivers a passionate statement.

The song is constantly building emotionally, while Samia tells a tale of pessimistic yearning. All the while, there is little to no instrumentation except constant synth and beating drums. The song climaxes with Samia roaring the lines, “I wanna be your

GRAND JURY

Samia released her debut Album on Aug. 28, 2020 on all streaming services. poetry, I’m sick and tired of bluffing,” which feels fitting for an artist who is clearly using her voice and witty songwriting poetically on her first full-length album.

Lastly, a song that stands out for its lyrical components is “Does Not Heal.” The song is one of the more folksy tunes on the record and is also co-written with frequent collaborator Nathan Stocker of the band Hippo Campus. The track starts with a lyrical recollection of a literal wound Samia received, “I was so scared I had tetanus I checked on it every night, purple and yellow the pregnable skin was so coarse and tight,” and it then transforms into a seemingly remorseful statement towards a for-

mer lover, “Give me your hand, gonna bite off however much I can chew, I hope you do not heal.”

However, the genius in Samia’s songwriting is that she expresses the complexities of being in love with the lyrics at the end of “Does Not Heal” being, “I’m tough, but I hope I do not heal.”

Samia Finnerty already had a well known and respected name in indie music scenes. However, through the poetically vulnerable lyricism and creative songwriting that capitalizes on her voice, “The Baby” has Samia bursting into the broader alternative music scene and demanding the microphone.

20 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

Pop culture hills I could die on:

Iron Man is better than Batman

By Rebecca Mulech Opinions Editor

People love using the phrase “that’s like comparing apples to oranges” when they try to defend a less superior item in a well-mannered comparison.

In the comic book world, the apples and oranges mentioned are Marvel and D.C. Universes. The simple truth is: fruit can be compared and so can comic books, superheroes and multi-billion dollar franchised “universes” and film companies.

While I’m more knowledgeable on the Marvel Universe, I grew up watching much of the Batman adaptations on cassette tapes in front of my VCR – George Clooney’s Batman (although not the best) is what sparked my love for superheroes, graphic novels and comic book universes.

There’s no doubt that Robert Pattinson’s adaptation will make up for George Clooney’s acting.

While stuck in quarantine for the first couple months, I decided to spend much of my time critically researching all of the universal homologs between D.C. and Marvel comic characters, i.e. rewatching the entire Batman trilogy with Christian Bale and all of the Marvel movies in chronological order (not by release date but by the universe’s order).

To say D.C. and Marvel cannot be compared would mean that one has failed to see all of the universal parallels in each character – I mean apples and oranges are still grown under the same sky right?

Where there’s Alfred, there’s Jarvis, the Joker and Loki, Robin and Bucky, Batwing and Falcon, Bane and the Winter Soldier, Catwoman and Black Widow, and lastly Batman and Iron Man – these are just some of the cinematic parallels, I’m certain there’s more that haven’t even been brought to the cinematic surface.

While looking very bleakly at the known basics of the two characters, both

Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Batman (Bruce Wayne) are strikingly similar in ways that they are orphaned billionaire philanthropists slash inventors who take crime and wrongdoings into their own hands – with a big ego too. They weren’t born with their own superpowers or weren’t given some sort of biological injection that made them the heroes they turned out to be. They made inventions, built their own armors and used science and technology to fuel the power they use to save their respected cities and universes.

Bruce Wayne came to be Batman after an incident in his childhood after witnessing the murder of his parents – Thomas and Martha Wayne, at a young age he sought to seek vengeance on criminals, metaphorically chasing after the man that killed his parents.

Tony Stark became Iron Man a little later in his life, after he suffered a life threatening chest injury during an explosion and kidnapping. While he was held captive, he invented an iron suit that not only kept the shrapnel from the explosion away from his heart, but also led to his escape. Tony’s parents, Howard and Maria were killed in a car accident when Tony was a teenager.

Both men inherited a fortune from their parent’s enterprises and companies when they died. Wayne Enterprise was a multi-national research and development company that studied and developed power plants, factories and labor units around Gotham that was mainly used for industrial purposes. Stark Industries was also known to be an industrial company and the largest tech conglomerate in the world used to create and invent defense, aerospace and security technologies.

Both men were orphaned and grew up to be intelligent billionaire philanthropists, inventors, and even scientists, but the de-

bate is – who’s the better superhero?

Tony Stark and Iron Man are ultimately better than Bruce Wayne and Batman.

To me – Bruce Wayne’s Batman is an over glorified vigilante. Yes, he saves Gotham and a few million people a couple times but it seems like he just does most of the clean up work for the Gotham police department. I mean – the police department literally puts out a signal whenever they need his help.

Bruce Wayne invents and architects the Batcave, a cool car and many other little inventions but not like Tony Stark did.

Lucius Fox single handedly invented and improved most of what Bruce Wayne used to capture and fight the villains he did – he was most of the brains behind Batman.

But needless to say, Batman does have unrelinquishing sense of motivation.

Tony Stark on the other hand, his suit can vouch for the argument itself. It’s powered by an arc reactor – it’s a harnesser of clean energy (whatever that means) – but a battery of some sort. It not only keeps Stark alive, but it allows him to do things that are not human in any way like power repulsor blasts, house weapon machinery, allow him to fly at the speed of a fighter jet while also keeping track of his biological functions and mechanical usage. While it’s a suit and a piece of weaponry that does run on battery, it seems as though Iron Man does not run out of gadgets and improvisations.

Not only is Stark’s armor and tactical defenses and offenses more advanced than Wayne’s but theoretically speaking, Stark is much more intelligent than Wayne. Bruce Wayne’s education is definitely top tier — he went to an ivy league school but Stark could most likely be the most intelligent Earth-born man in any comic universe.

A few of his successes could be summed

up by saying he earned a few degrees at MIT by age 19, discovered a new element and particle, successfully created a source for clean and renewable energy and also perfected time travel.

In a battle between the two – what would definitely help Batman succeed is his physical combat. He’s trained in so many different kinds of martial arts and physical combat and is in very good physical shape – Tony Stark for much of his heroic life did suffer from severe heart conditions. If both were defenseless without any sort of technological machinery, Batman would have the advantage.

Batman also has the upper hand in anonymity, Bruce Wayne is not openly Batman while Tony Stark is world-wide known to be Iron Man. If the two universes were to ever collide, Stark would see Wayne as an entrepreneur, a fellow business competitor, not as some intelligent and relentless superhero while Wayne would be aware of Stark’s side gig. But yet again, Batman only comes out at night, the battle between Iron Man and Batman would have to be very discreet or it can’t happen at all.

Maybe I’m a little bit biased, maybe I’m influenced over the fact that – I don’t know – Stark snapped and saved the entire world from vanishing off the face of the Earth. But the parallels between Stark and Wayne are there, and they are there for a reason – to be compared.

I’m no comic book expert but when looking at the intelligence level, the technological advancements, the villains and challenges and even the armor – my last words before Thanos could snap me away would be: “I am… certain that Tony Stark and Iron Man are better in every way than Bruce Wayne and Batman.”

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 21

What’s open in Chicago?

By Chinyere Ibeh Opinions Editor

The daily lives of millions throughout the country came to an abrupt halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bars, restaurants, other businesses and even schools were all shut down.

On June 26, Chicago entered phase four of its reopening plan, which allows outdoor and limited indoor dining. With phase four, people are allowed to attend performances and museums with limited capacity.

Restaurants

Chicago restaurants are currently open with an emphasis on carryout and delivery services and the appropriate safety measures. Bars and breweries that don’t serve food can only offer outdoor seating.

Diners can only have six people at each table for two hours. Customers must wear face masks at all times — while they’re interacting with the employees, when they aren’t sitting, and when they are picking up their carryout orders.

It’s encouraged for restaurants to have contactless payments and pickups. It’s recommended that customers make reservations ahead of time. Customers should also wait in their cars or remain outside while waiting to be seated.

Tourism and Attractions

Some tours and attractions are open for the public with appropriate safety and social distancing practices. Many lakes and river cruises, including Mercury Sightseeing Cruises and Chicago’s First Lady, are setting sail. Other tour companies like Chicago Greeter, Urban Kayaks, and Chicago Tours are also resuming their services.

Zoos and Museums

The Lincoln Park Zoo is now open with required free time reservations. Mil-

lennium Park opens while some amenities and attractions remain closed. Skydeck Chicago opens only for the weekend, Friday through Sunday, with timed tickets as a requirement.

Various museums have opened also, including the Field Museum, American Writers Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography. The Art Institute, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Shedd Aquarium are also open, but you must buy your tickets in advance. Masks are required and the capacity and hours will be limited.

Parks and Gardens

The parks and gardens are open, except for beaches and parks east of Lake Shore Drive. The Lakefront and The 606 are open for exercise and transit with safe social distancing. Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park are both open with some amenities still closed. The Chicago Botanic Garden has opened with some restrictions and the Chicago Riverwalk has fully reopened.

Music and performance venues will reopen with capacity restrictions. Reggies is open for outdoor dining with live music.

Andy’s Jazz Club, Zanies, and the Music Box Theatre are also open. The Jazz Showcase will only be open from Thursday to Sunday.

In the retail world, both essential and non-essential stores are open. The indoor capacity will be limited to only 25%, and 50% for essential stores. Essential stores include those that sell groceries and medicine, hardware stores, greenhouses, and garden centers.

Hotels

Various hotels are open, including The Peninsula Chicago and their award-winning restaurants. Sophy Hyde Park has opened to the public along with its restaurant and lounge. Guests are required to wear their masks whenever they are

AMY DO | THE DEPAULIA

A woman browses through the DePaul Art Museum last September, art museums across the city are opneing while the DAM stays closed. in common areas which can include the dining rooms of the dining areas and the check-in lobby.

According to Choose Chicago, phase four allows indoor gatherings of up to 50 people and allows up to 100 people in outdoor gatherings. Movie theaters and performance venues are limited to 50 guests or 50% capacity. Museums and zoos are limited to 25% capacity with tours up to 50 people. Gyms are also open with 50% capacity with everyone wearing masks.

Discover something new

According to Thrillist, a new food hall has been added to Chicago’s skyline. The food hall is a part of a $1 billion renovation of the Old Cook County Hospital building and its surrounding area.

Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall is Chicago’s first post-pandemic food hall that features 12 restaurants; many of these restaurants are minority-owned. There are a variety of offerings, from pizza and BBQ to Nepalese and Vietnamese cuisine.

You can also participate in the “largest aerial adventure course in North America,” per Thrillist. The gigantic 300-acre outdoor adventure park called The Forge: Lemont Quarries opened in Lemont. The park features four ziplines, kayaking and canoeing, five miles of hiking trails, laser tag, and much more. The park even has an amphitheater that will be used in 2021 for concerts and films.

Bicycling sees uptick during COVID-19 pandemic

By Hank Mitchell Contributing Writer

Transportation and recreation have changed drastically since the pandemic started, and a lot of people are starting to consider new methods of getting around — namely, bicycling. Who wants to get into a crowded bus or train with all of the dangerous germs out there?

Jim Stark, a near-north side resident of Chicago, has started riding his old road bike to work every day in place of taking the CTA. “I couldn’t really bring myself to get on the train that I usually take,” he said. “My wife has a compromised immune system and I just wouldn’t feel right doing that to her.”

Understandably, public transit has become a daunting proposition for many people, but we all have things we need to do and regular life has to resume sometime. When it does, people are going to think twice about their old ways.

“After I missed a few days of work, I knew I had to figure something out — that was when I thought about my bike,” Stark said. “I don’t have to go super far, and I get to ride along the lake.” While it might be a seasonal solution, it seems to have some benefits.

Trek Bicycles surveyed 1000 people about biking during the pandemic, and found that 85% of Americans think that riding their bikes is safer than public transit. They also found that 63% of Americans feel that “bike riding helps relieve stress/ anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Exercise is one of the best ways to boost the immune system and improve mood.

As the quarantine had so many locked inside as the seasons changed, many people started to turn their eyes toward the outdoors. A lot of bike shops have consequently seen an uptick in calls and sales.

“It felt like one week people started calling all at once, asking if we were open? Did we have bikes? And could we fix their old bikes,” Vernon Hills bike shop employee Megan Watkins said. “At first it was kind of fun because everyone was excited, but a lot of our suppliers get parts from China, and we ran out of stock so fast.”

People became aware of this shortage, similar to what happened in the early stages of the pandemic when toilet paper became scarce. Sava Koumandarakis, 26, said he heard about the seemingly random bike craze from a friend.

“All of a sudden three of my friends had brand new mountain bikes,” he said.

“I asked why and they told me they heard shops were running out and they had big

unemployment checks. I called a place near me to find out, and they said all the models my size were backordered and they didn’t know when they would be back in stock.”

While it may be a while until everyone can have their bikes, it certainly seems

a creative solution to a stressful situation.

And maybe in the future, people might be more uncertain of getting on the CTA and elect for a bike commute instead where it is much easier to stay socially distant.

like this is ART BY ALICIA GOLUSZKA | THE DEPAULIA

d e t a r r Ove d e t a r r e d Un

22 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

By Logan Peterson Contributing Writer

The pandemic has changed everything.

We have had to quickly adapt our entire lives and plans. People’s lives have been unceremoniously upended — I sometimes lose hope thinking about the damage that has been done. In the past, whenever I felt sad or isolated, I would find comfort in movies.

Now, most of us have sought similar solace these last six months. With the world on lockdown, streaming and binging has become an all-day, everyday exercise for those of us who have the luxury in these brutal times.

Regardless of the pandemic, we have been barraged with new films and series and often I feel as though we focus our attention on the less interesting content. So, here are my most overrated and most underseen films of 2020.

OVERRATED

Tiger King (d. Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode): This series (I know I said films, but this will be one exception) took the world by storm — its release lined up with the start of mass quarantining and a world brimming with dread created the perfect cocktail for a cultural phenomenon. And to be honest, I enjoyed it and found it interesting and occasionally compelling. But, the hype is unfounded, probably exacerbated by its timely release.

The public reaction, frankly, angered me. People perceived Joe Exotic as a cocky, funny, deranged man up to all kinds of wacky hijinks in Oklahoma. In truth, Exotic is a sadistic individual who abuses animals and entraps vulnerable, cash-addled men into his snare, filling them with drugs and attention.

Carole Baskin, who is similarly twisted, though more cold and callous, was treated with vitriol. Everybody loves Joe Exotic

and they love to hate Carole Baskin. “Tiger King” has altered our baselines and encouraged us to embrace celebrities in a way that is hollow and lacks reflection.

It is formally and structurally a strong documentary, and an entertaining one, but it lacks reflexivity and it fails to go deeper.

Rather than take a look inside the minds of some truly sick people, it becomes an absurd horror show, basking in the warmth of its own grotesqueness.

The Way Back (d. Gavin O’Connor): Ben Affleck is a confounding individual. He is an actor and director who has managed to be both mind-numbingly awful and delicately nuanced. This film, his most personal, shows him as an alcoholic former high school basketball star, who is ham-fistedly recruited into coaching the basketball team at his alma mater.

Affleck, a recovering alcoholic himself, certainly had a lot to draw from, and does display his acting prowess. Regardless of Affleck’s performance, the film fails in almost every other aspect. The story is textbook and the script — particularly the dialogue — is trite and devoid of subtext.

While there is some slight subversion in the last act, everything you see in this film you have seen before, and seen it pulled off with much more visual flair and more compelling characters. We must stop giving Affleck over-the-top kudos anytime he does something that isn’t a colossal failure. “The Way Back” is not that, but it’s something far worse: mediocre.

Onward (d. Dan Scanlon): I know we are in the midst of a pandemic and we want to escape to magical worlds and fairytale stories that make us feel warm inside. It takes place in a world of magical creatures and follows two elven brothers who embark on a quest to see their deceased father for one more day.

For a film set in a fantasy realm, it fails to inspire any amount of awe or wonder. It is an acceptable film.There is nothing worse

PHOTO FROM IMDB

Julia Garner plays Jane, an assistant to an executive in “The Assistant.” The film follows a day in the life showing power structures and sexism in the workplace.

2020 films that wowed and disappointed

PHOTO FROM IMDB

Chris Pratt and Tom Holland gave their voices to Barley (left) and Ian (right) for “Onward.” Two brothers that go on an adventure to resurrect their dad for a day. than being painfully average, and the shallowness of this tale is shocking, considering the depth of emotion that previous Pixar films have evoked.

The voice cast is fun, with Tom Holland and Chris Pratt filling out their characters nicely, one a meek and smart young man and the other a brash older brother with adventure on the brain. The transcendent Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays their mother.

Frankly, her immense talent is wasted.

UNDER SEEN

Shirley (d. Josephine Decker): While most will be clamoring this year about Elisabeth Moss’s performance in “The Invisible Man,” it’s this indie film from Josephine Decker that really shines.

The film follows Moss as famous writer Shirley Jackson, as she and her philandering husband take in a young couple. The film seethes with tension, though most of it implicit, which is part of what gives the film such quiet gravitas.

Moss is incredible as usual, embodying a genius, yet emotionally withered writer who gets off on the destruction of others.

Michael Stuhlbarg takes the role of her overtly skeevy husband, Stanley. The film echoes the four-person intensity of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” but with a subversive, gendered twist.

This film is great based on its acting alone, but the subtle work of Decker, who has carved herself out as an essential aut eur of strange cinema (see her previous film, the bonkers “Madeline’s Madeline”) is what makes the film more than an actor’s showcase.

You Don’t Nomi (d. Jeffrey McHale): Few people will have heard of this documentary, which reexamines “Showgirls,” the camp classic heralded as one of the worst films ever made upon its 1995 release. First of all, “Showgirls” is incredible — think of it like “The Room,” a film so terrible that it becomes gloriously great.

But this doc has a few tricks up its sleeve as it looks back at the barrage of hate the film got, specifically aimed at star Elizabeth Berkley.

She was essentially thrown out of the film industry, and this doc sheds light on the severe sexist backlash which plagued her career after the ‘95 film.

The director of “Showgirls,” Paul Verhoeven, got off fairly easy, as he released his satirical masterpiece “Starship Troopers” two years later, which has similarly reached new heights of critical reevaluation.

“You Don’t Nomi” goes incredibly indepth into what makes “Showgirls” so appealing: its hilariously bad dialogue, the gonzo, larger-than-life performance from Elizabeth Berkley, and Verhoeven’s grasp of the nihilism and grotesqueness of American culture.

The Assistant (d. Kitty Green): This is not one for the mainstream crowd; they might fall asleep. Not much happens over the course of the brisk 87-minute runtime, yet this is a taught, eye-opening thriller.

It follows the assistant to a Hollywood producer over the course of an entire work day, as she meticulously approaches each task with the same frightened attentiveness as she would tip-toeing around her boss.

You never see the producer (you hardly hear his voice over the phone), but his presence looms over the entire film, as does the weight of patriarchy and sexism over the entire film industry. Despite literally saying so little, “The Assistant” speaks volumes about the workplace, no matter the industry, as potentially dangerous waters for women.

Simultaneously, it also proves women’s vitality to industry, and sheds light on how much more difficult it can be for women due to societal expectations and the sharklike competitiveness of the working world.

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 23

St.Vincent’s

D e JAMZ “Spinning fresh beats since 1581”

By Emma Oxnevad Online Managing Editor

It’s been a weird summer. While I could ramble on about how COVID-19 has changed life as we know it and the world is seemingly always on the brink of collapse, I’m sure you knew that already.

While it may have been an unconventional summer to say the least, one thing that didn’t change was that I had a steady stream of jams that defined the season for me. Some are old, some are new, some are on the nose: without further ado, here are my songs of the summer.

three months, with the opening track, “Garden Song” becoming one heavily on repeat (“I Know the End” was a close second, because I am, in fact, mentally stable). Bridgers’ delicate vocals and stream-of-consciousness lyrics make it feel like she’s singing directly to you. I wish.

2. betty Taylor Swift

As a longtime Taylor Swift apologist, (don’t just listen to the singles! The album tracks are so much better!) it felt good to have the general public agree that her new album “folklore” was, in fact, not terrible. While my overall enthusiasm for the album has cooled off in the months following its surprise release, I can’t bring myself to get tired of “betty.” Maybe it’s the way it evokes classic Taylor with its singer-songwriter accompaniment, maybe

1. Garden Song Phoebe Bridgers

This summer was the summer I hopped fully aboard the Phoebe Bridgers train.

While vaguely aware of her prior to this year—both as a solo artist and in other projects— I fell in headfirst with her sophomore solo album “Punisher.” The album was on heavy rotation over the last

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it’s the singalong factor of the chorus, or maybe it’s the surprise of hearing a 30-year-old woman drop the f-bomb, but I will never skip this song when it comes on shuffle.

3. It’s the End of the World As We Know It R.E.M.

Where were you when Harry Styles released his first single in two years? I, for one, was about to go to bed but stayed awake for another three minutes to listen to his newest release. Styles told Rolling Stone that his latest album is “all about having sex and feeling sad.” The first release captures the vibe to a T and I’m eagerly awaiting what comes next.

4. Find the Cost of Freedom Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

This song was a favorite of mine in high school, along with most of CSNY’s ACROSS 1. Act the mendicant 4. Boys, to Burns 8. A bit loopy 12. Questionnaire datum 13. “American ___” 14. Sole 15. Also 16. Whirling water 17. Desist 18. Dug up 20. Hose hue 21. Particular, for short 23. “Concentration” puzzle 25. Modify 27. Toupee, informally 28. ___ now or never 31. Passage preventer 33. Van Morrison classic 35. Snoop 36. Dash 38. London’s ___ Court 39. Kathmandu country 41. Friends and neighbors 42. Extinct flock 45. Celebrity ribfest 47. Superior to 48. Deck 49. Chalet site, perhaps 52. Club 53. “Take this!”

54. Born in France?

55. Bounds 56. “Paradise Lost” setting 57. Bonus for waiting

discography. While this song is short, it definitely sets a mood. The beautiful guitar work hooks you in, while the thoughtful lyrics stay in your head long after you listen. When they finally break into that gorgeous harmony, I always find myself hitting repeat.

5. Starboy The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk

I will start this by admitting the ugly truth: I am not cool. I love reading Wikipedia articles in my free time, I still care way too much about “Glee” for someone in their twenties, and I have a bad habit of audibly talking to myself. Why does this matter? Because when I listen to this song, I feel marginally cooler. This song evokes a sense of movement and importance, making me feel like I was a protagonist in a crime thriller when really I was sitting on my porch looking at the stars. Baby steps.

DOWN 1. Cavern sight 2. I problem?

3. High school subject 4. Bank loan security 5. Calculator, at times 6. Go unsteadily 7. Full of guile 8. Doctor’s orders 9. Beginning to freeze?

10. Aggressively publicize 11. Blood category 19. Coffee preference 20. Base caller 21. Pouches 22. Leaky faucet sound 24. Software error 26. Wanders 28. Annoyance 29. List 30. Dress-uniform part 32. Frost’s bite?

34. Thousand ___, Calif.

37. Ruined 39. Expected outcomes 40. River through Tours 42. Spoil, with “on” 43. It’s within your range 44. Word with heat or meat 46. Biblical conclusion 48. French beverage 50. Haole’s souvenir 51. Cheerleader’s asset

24 | La DePaulia. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020

La DePaulia

Pilsen marcha por Miguel Vega

By María Guerrero Gerente Editorial, La DePaulia

M

iembros de la familia de Miguel Vega y residentes de Pilsen exigen respuestas y aclaración después que Vega, de 26 años, fue abatido por un oficial de policía encubierto del departamento de Chicago.

El sábado por la tarde en la esquina de la calle 18 y la avenida Blue Island, familiares de Vega y líderes comunitarios se unieron en Plaza Tenochtitlan para pedir transparencia y rendición de cuentas durante el mitin #JusticiaParaMiguel. Cientos de manifestantes, junto con familiares de Vega, marcharon por Pilsen gritando el nombre del hombre latino que fue abatido.

Erik Vega, de 20 años, hermano menor de Miguel Vega, habló durante la reunión exigiendo justicia y verdad sobre lo que ocurrió la noche del lunes 31 de agosto cuando su hermano mayor fue baleado en la cuadra 1300 de West 19th Street por policías.

“El departamento de policía no ha salido a hablar con nosotros sobre lo que sucedió esa noche”, dijo Erik. “Tienen miedo pero la verdad tarde o temprano saldrá a la luz. La cámara corporal saldrá y mostrará que mi hermano no lo hizo.

Hablaremos y buscaremos justicia hasta que la consigamos”.

Según el Departamento de Policía de Chicago, los oficiales respondieron a una llamada de un vecino que informaba sobre un individuo sospechoso en el área.

El subjefe, Daniel O’Shea, dijo que los oficiales se presentaron en el lugar en un automóvil sin distintivos cuando se encontraron con un grupo de cinco parados en una acera. Cuando los oficiales intentaron salir de su vehículo, disparos del grupo fueron disparados hacia ellos, según las autoridades. Los oficiales devolvieron disparos al grupo y dispararon a Miguel Vega detrás de la cabeza. Vega fue llevado al Hospital Stroger donde murió horas después.

Tom Ahren, director de noticias y comunicación de CPD, tuiteó una foto del presunto arma de fuego del delincuente encontrada en el lugar. La declaración preliminar del departamento de policía informó que dos personas del grupo fueron detenidas.

Los agentes involucrados en el tiroteo son colocados en funciones administrativas durante 30 días y la Oficina Civil de Responsabilidad Policial investiga la situación. El departamento de policía y la alcaldesa Lori Lightfoot no han revelado ninguna información sobre los oficiales que mataron a Vega.

Aún no se ha confirmado quién disparó el arma o si el grupo estaba armado.

La familia de Vega se muestra escéptica con el informe de CPD y pide que se publiquen las imágenes de la cámara corporal del oficial de esa noche. La familia cree que Vega estaba desarmado ya que el arma de fuego fue encontrada a más de cuarenta pies del cuerpo de Vega.

“Estoy muy enojado porque tiene

FOTO CORTESÍA DE KARINA MEREYA | THE DEPAULIA

La madre de Miguel Vega, acompañada con sus hijos, se paró en la Plaza Tenochtitlan en Pilsen demandando respuestas de la ciudad sobre la muerte de su hijo. que ir por este camino”, dijo Erik.

“Habían más personas involucradas y, sin embargo, los que fueron arrestados esa noche fueron despedidos y quiero respuestas sobre por qué los dejaron ir, por qué no se los quedaron y miraron sus dedos en busca de armas, ¿por qué alguno de los que no ha hecho?”

Vega, el mayor de cuatro, era hermano, hijo y padre. Criado en Pilsen pero viviendo con sus padres en la ciudad de Calumet, Vega estaba en el área la noche del tiroteo visitando a amigos de la infancia de la primaria.

Ahora deja a dos niños pequeños y una madre afligida buscando respuestas sobre lo que le sucedió a su hijo.

Los familiares de Vega dijeron que CPD no ha respondido a sus preguntas sin respuesta o no se han comunicado para discutir el tiroteo.

Según el Tribune, Vega no tenía antecedentes de cargos por armas de fuego y no estaba involucrado en actividades de pandillas.

Byron Sigcho López, concejal de Pilsen, se dirigió a la multitud en la manifestación condenando la deshumanización de las personas morenas y negras dentro de la comunidad, siguiendo con un momento de silencio para Vega y su familia.

“Solo la verdad nos hará libres a todos”, dijo López. “Cuando veamos salir la verdad comenzaremos a sanar.

Una y otra vez, los jóvenes son víctimas de un sistema podrido, porque nuestro sistema está podrido hasta la médula”.

El mitin de oradores siguió a una ceremonia azteca que incluyó música, bailes y salvia para ayudar a llevar limpieza y curación a la comunidad y la familia en duelo.

El mitin comenzó a marchar pacíficamente por la calle 18 gritando

FOTO CORTESÍA DE KARINA MEREYA | THE DEPAULIA

Cientos de personas marcharon por la calle Loomis en Pilsen gritando “¡Di su nombre!

Miguel Vega” “Nosotros los protegemos” y “Justicia para Miguel Vega”.

A pesar de la protesta pacífica de la comunidad, hubo una fuerte presencia policial con equipo antidisturbios durante toda la marcha.

Líderes comunitarios, activistas y oradores se solidarizaron con la familia y ofrecieron sus condolencias mientras la marcha giraba de regreso a la Plaza Tenochtitlán, donde la familia estaba parada en medio de un círculo rodeado de simpatizantes de la comunidad.

“Lamento que tengas que estar sin un ser querido y de la comunidad estoy aquí contigo. Lamento que tengas que explicar la muerte de un padre a dos niños ”, dijo un partidario de la comunidad que prefirió permanecer sin identificar.

Erik Vega compartió su frustración y dolor con la gran presencia de policías instando a su hermano a ser inocente y a obtener respuestas del departamento de policía.

“Desearía que estuvieras en mis zapatos, desearía que sintieras mi dolor, no puedo ir a casa para ver a mi hermano dormir o hablar con él, pero estoy bastante seguro de que ustedes sí”, dijo a la multitud de oficiales de policía.

“Todavía estoy esperando para ver si quieren mostrar sus caras y hablar con mi familia sobre lo que pasó esa noche.

Este no es como ningún otro caso porque el departamento de policía sabe que mi hermano es inocente ”, dijo Erik.

La DePaulia. The DePaulia. Sept. 8, 2020 | 25

Artista trae esperanzas a Chicago a través de murales

FOTO CORTESÍA DE @MILT1CORONADO | INSTAGRAM

Después de la indignación nacional por la desaparición y muerte de una joven soldado Vanessa Guillén, Milton Coronado conmemora su memoria con un mural en Pilsen.

By María Guerrero Gerente Editorial, La DePaulia

Un artista Chicano local usa su pasión por la pintura en aerosol para recordar las vidas de los fallecidos, brindando esperanza y orientación a la próxima generación de jóvenes en su comunidad.

El artista mexicano y fundador de Street Art Ministry, Milton Coronado, de 40 años, comenzó a dibujar a los cinco años después del fallecimiento de su madre como una forma de terapia. Él aprendió el arte en aerosol con aerógrafo en camisetas durante su adolescencia.

Su técnica de aerosol pronto lo llevó a recibir la atención de sus compañeros y otros artistas del graffiti.

“La pintura con aerosol es algo que no se enseña en la escuela, se aprende en las calles al hacerlo y rodearse de otros artistas de aerosol callejeros”, dijo Coronado. “Al practicarlo y hacerlo, desarrollas un estilo y una habilidad, comienzas a aprender el oficio”.

Coronado comenzó a cometer actos vandálicos poco después con otros taggers a los 17 años, pero su vida se vio derrumbada después de que su padre fuera asesinado por pandilleros que él conocía. El dolor de la muerte de su padre llevó a Coronado a encontrar consuelo en su fe y descubrir su misión de servicio comunitario. Era su pasión recién descubierta por servir a su comunidad lo que llevó a Coronado a establecer un nuevo mensaje y propósito con el arte en aerosol.

“Fue cuatro años después cuando volví a utilizar aerosol, pero con la idea y misión de establecer una precedencia para otros y ser un ejemplo para otros”, dijo Coronado. “Que pueda usar esta herramienta para servir a otras personas a través de embellecimiento de la comunidad y para traer esperanza a otros”.

Con una nueva visión en mente, Coronado se embarcó en un viaje para pintar murales de personas que han fallecido en una forma de traer esperanza y sanación a las familias.

“Cuando pinté un retrato de mi padre

FOTO CORTESÍA DE @MILT1CORONADO | INSTAGRAM

Sección de Coronado de un mural de varios artistas en la calle 18 en Pilsen. que fue asesinado en 2001, experimenté una sensación de esperanza, terapia y alegría al hacerlo”, dijo Coronado.

“Reconocí la importancia de cómo esto puede ayudar a otros a sanar, no a sanar por completo, sino a ser parte del componente de un proceso de sanación.

Partí con la misión de retribuir de esta manera”.

Desde entonces, Coronado ha utilizado su obra de arte no solo para honrar y brindar sanación a las familias de víctimas de delitos como Marlene Ochoa y Vannessa Guillén, sino también

para llevar justicia a sus nombres.

“Te sientes enojado, sientes que no había justicia y quieres justicia para ella”, dijo Coronado en referencia a su reciente mural de Vanessa Guillén, la soldado del ejército que fue asesinada en una base de armería militar por otro soldado alistado.

“Esta historia estaba en silencio y no podemos dejar que se esconda debajo de una alfombra y olvidarnos de ella.

Necesitamos justicia para ella y la única forma en que podemos obtener justicia es tomando medidas ”, dijo Coronado.

“Decidí devolverle a la familia y a la

ciudad de Chicago este regalo de ella para que no nos olvidemos de ella, no olvidemos su historia y podamos seguir hablando de ella”.

Coronado dijo que fue el mural y la educación de su familia lo que le mostró el valor de servir y honrar a los demás a través de su oficio.

“Me enseñaron que el talento y los dones que tengo no son solo para mí, sino que también deben compartirse y contribuir a mi comunidad”, dijo. “Tengo estos dones y habilidades no para mí, sino para devolver y servir”.

Una vez que experimentó un pasado inquietante con el abuso físico y la muerte de ambos padres, Coronado se enfocó en el trabajo con la nueva generación de jóvenes, guiándolos en sus caminos.

“Decidí centrarme principalmente en este grupo de niños, jóvenes y adolescentes porque vivimos en tiempos difíciles y ellos necesitan amor, atención, reconocimiento y empuje”, dijo Coronado. “No quiero que una persona joven pase por lo que yo pasé”.

A través de su colaboración con organizaciones sin fines de lucro como Gospel Graffiti y su organización autodirigida de Art Street Ministry, Coronado pudo ser un mentor de jóvenes liderando eventos comunitarios como el embellecimiento de la comunidad y la instalación de murales.

Art Street Ministry combina el viaje de fe de Coronado y su pasión por el arte para involucrar a los jóvenes en el trabajo de servicio comunitario a través del empoderamiento de la fe para difundir el amor y llevar a otros a encontrar su propio viaje de fe.

“Trabajo hacia ese objetivo para tener una vida mejor, no solo para mí, sino también para mis hijos, mi familia y para las futuras generaciones de latinos en los que pueda ser un ejemplo”, dijo Coronado. “Quiero ser su voz a través del arte, quiero ser su voz a través de la defensa de los jóvenes, quiero ser su voz a través de la educación y la liberación de prédicas”.

26 | Sports. Sept 8, 2020. The DePaulia

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CHICAGO FIRE

The Chicago Fire returned to Solider Field for the first time since 2005 with a 3-0 win against FC Cincinnati on Aug. 25, 2020 without any fans in attendance due to COVID-19.

Guess who’s back, back again?

Chicago Fire make their long-awaited return to Soldier Field

By Ernesto Hernandez Asst. Sports Editor

The last time the Chicago Fire stepped on the pitch at Soldier Field, Chicago was still on a high following the White Sox World Series title and the Cubs were another more than a decade away from breaking their championship drought.

The team’s last game took place on Oct. 21. 2005 against D.C. United in a conference semifinal. Nearly 15 years later, the Fire made their triumphant return as they took on and beat FC Cincinnati, 3-0.

During that span, a lot has changed.

The team has gone through ownership changes with Joe Mansueto, the majority owner of Morningstar, Inc, now the man in charge. A number of players have donned the Fire jersey with the likes of Freddie Ljungberg, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Bastian Schweinsteiger having come and gone.

When the team first moved to Bridgeview to play in what was then Toyota Park, the move was heralded as the Fire now had a stadium of their own.

“The funny thing is, in 2006 when the Fire first moved away, most of us were happy that we had our own soccer-specific stadium for the team to call home,” said Patrick McCraney, the managing editor at Hot Time in Old Town. “Back then, moving to what was then Toyota Park felt right. This year, moving back to Soldier Field felt right.”

The return to Soldier Field was seen as a necessary one given the Fire are in the middle of a rebuild both on and off

“Back then, moving to what was then Toyota Park felt right. This year, moving back to Soldier Field felt right.”

Patrick McCraney

Managing editor, Hot Time in Old Town the pitch. In addition to being under new ownership and a new manager in Raphael Wicky, the club also decided on a rebrand that saw them unveil a new team crest.

Despite winning their first game back, the win felt bittersweet in a way.

According to the club they had sold more than 30,000 tickets ahead of what was supposed to be their first home match back on March 21 against Atlanta United.

Because of COVID-19, that match was postponed and their home debut against Cincinnati had no fans in attendance.

The Fire undoubtedly had planned a number of events for the game back in March that had to be scrapped. They still had things planned for the Cincinnati game but on a much smaller scale.

According to Jhamie Chin, director of communications for the Fire, some of the things the team had planned were the following: Wall of Honor with the Section 8 brick located in the players tunnel Player tunnel features arts

representing the 77 Chicago neighborhoods Tarps in the stadium highlighting Black Lives Matter, Frontline Workers, Masks and PLAYS Foundation Supporter Groups displaying banners and tifo on the south end of the stadium Brand new set of videos and graphics “Also, there will be no special guests as there are many restrictions in place,” said Chin. “We will only have a limited number of working folks in the venue on matchday.”

Fans, particularly in soccer, can enhance a game both for those in attendance and those watching at home.

Supporter groups also had planned events that they were forced to put on hold.

“We did have an event we were planning to go ahead with,” said Phil Bridges, co-founder of the Black Fires supporters group. “It was going to encompass a couple different Black supporters groups/fans across all of U.S. soccer.”

The move back to Soldier Field means a lot to both fans and the team.

Leading up to the match, the manager and players talked about their excitement about the return and the club put out a lot of content on social media to hype up the match.

“It means a lot to have the team back in the center of the city. Makes it even more enjoyable when we are able to go back to games and plan around it,” said Bridges.

As for the team, even with the uncertainty of fans and ticket revenue, it still is a step in the right direction to get back in the minds of Chicago sports fans.

“I really think the Fire fell off the radar for Chicago sports fans over the last decade,” said McCraney. “In the first few years in Bridgeview, especially after Cuauhtemoc Blanco got there, the stadium was routinely full. Since then, the team was mostly bad, fans got tired of the trek to Bridgeview, and the Fire disappeared from a lot of people’s minds. The new owner, Joe Mansueto, clearly wants to change that as quickly as possible.”

In 2005, the Fire were one win away from reaching the MLS final. While they’ve had moments of glory since then, the last few seasons have been marked by disappointment. By moving back to Soldier Field, it is the beginning of a new era for the Fire. One they hope is marked with sustained success.

Sports. Sept 8, 2020 The DePaulia | 27 LENTI, continued from back page was the sole mental health provider to DePaul student-athletes.”

In DePaul’s motion to dismiss the charges, they attached the contract that was signed between Conviser and the university in 2017. According to the contract, DePaul may refer student-athletes to Ascend — but student-athletes are not required to use any of AscendCHS’s services.

But Conviser is arguing that DePaul terminating the contract is a violation of the termination clause, which required prior written notice and a cure period. In addition, according to Conviser, DePaul attempted to terminate the contract early without satisfying certain “enumerated grounds, none of which are alleged to have existed here.”

Hubbard told The DePaulia in June that Conviser was still treating patients as late as March of 2020. But Conviser’s lawyer responded to The DePaulia by saying that she has not seen any.

“DePaul referred new patients since she blew the whistle on Lenti in 2018 and certainly not since the COVID crisis.”

“As alleged, under the PSA, DePaul could only terminate the PSA in accordance with its terms,” the filing reads. “DePaul breached the termination clause of the PSA by terminating it in retaliation for reporting Lenti’s abuse to the Title IX office.”

In June, four former softball players — Morgan Greenwood, Brianna Viles, Morgan Maize and Angela Scalzitti — refuted the allegations against Lenti in four separate emails to The DePaulia.

Maize, who played under Lenti from 2012-16, said that the “entire team begged” to have their voices heard when the first lawsuit was filed in April.

Maize refuted the allegation that Lenti punched associate head coach Lindsay Platt in the face in 2018, saying her exit from DePaul was “entirely planned out” following maternity leave and that the

JONATHAN AGUILER | THE DEPAULIA

Former DePaul softball head coach Eugene Lenti walking off the field after DePaul won the 2018 Big East softball tournament. team knew about it before winter break — and that they were told the new coach would like to pick their own coaching staff, offering an explanation for the rest of the staff ’s departure after Lenti’s 2018 retirement.

Platt has not responded to The DePaulia’s multiple requests for comment.

Scalzitti echoed Maize’s refutation.

“The notion that he ‘punched one of his assistant coaches in the face’ is completely ridiculous,” Scalzitti said in

an email. “When you are on a team of 20 or so girls nothing can be kept a secret.

If one of my teammates witnessed an incident like that, it would have spread across our team like wildfire.”

Greenwood, who played for Lenti from 2015-19 and was a captain, refuted the allegations that he verbally abused his players. ““As one of coach Lenti’s former student-athletes, who was at every practice, home game, away game, and all the team meetings in between, I have an

PEEVY, continued from back page Having a conversation right away with coach Leitao. You know, recruiting is at a higher level. How do we accomplish goals right now — what can we do right now to build a DePaul brand to a point where it’s more attractive to young people?”

It’s important to point out that Leitao is 64-98 in his last five seasons as DePaul’s coach, including four straight last place finishes in the Big East. Leitao also signed a four-year contract extension back in April.

Peevy, on the other hand, is coming over from a university whose men’s basketball program was competing for national titles. Kentucky, led by head coach John Calipari, has won the Southeastern Conference nine times since 2009 and won the NCAA Tournament title in 2012.

Even if Peevy won’t admit it publicly, there’s currently a major gap between the Blue Demons and the Wildcats. DePaul’s last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2004, a long time waiting for a program that made the tournament 14 times in 17 years from 1976-92.

How long will Peevy stay patient with Leitao if results don’t turn around?

This is a question that will be answered in the coming months, but an important question that Peevy will need to answer early in his tenure.

Peevy wants the NCAA Tournament not to be the ceiling, but the floor of where the program eventually gets to. But DePaul fans have waited over a decade for the Blue Demons to get back to that point, with patience thrown out of the window along with Lenti Ponsetto.

“There is support and a fan base, and

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS

DePaul athletic director DeWayne Peevy speaking at his first press conference on Aug. 25. Peevy is taking over from former AD Jean Lenti Ponsetto, who retired this summer. a rabid fan base at that,” Peevy said. “It’s just about getting them to take one little step farther. It might take some belief on the front end. I’m asking today, have faith in us. You’ve waited this long, it’s time to totally put your chips in the middle of the table. Go all-in with us.”

Peevy talked about taking the baton from Lenti Ponsetto and bringing it to the finish line.

He shouldn’t. He needs to change how the athletic department has been operating for nearly the past two decades, or else he runs the risk of not achieving his dreams.

Peevy saw what happened when Kentucky went from Billy Gillispie to Calipari — it was a complete change of fortune for the Wildcats. At DePaul, he needs to be ready to make similar changes

issue with what has been written in these articles,” Greenwood wrote in the email.

“I can honestly say that I was never grabbed, slapped, pulled, (including by my ponytail), punched, or physically assaulted in any other way by Eugene Lenti. I have never been called a f***ing whore nor have I heard him call any of my teammates f***ing whores during my time at DePaul.”

An Oct. 22 date is set for a hearing on the charges to dismiss the case.

if the men’s basketball program continues to underachieve.

Peevy also spoke about the women’s basketball program and head coach Doug Bruno. The question for the women’s basketball team isn’t about getting to the NCAA Tournament, it’s how to take them from the Sweet Sixteen to the Final Four. “[Bruno is] a different approach because he’s like, well, I’ve got my own challenges and this is what I’m trying to do,” Peevy said. “It’s my job now to figure out how I fit into that because I want to create an environment for him for the second weekend [in the NCAA Tournament], and then how do we get him to that first Final Four.”

A head coaching change is definitely not needed with the women’s team, but it’s fair for Peevy to want to alter some things to reach the Final Four. DePaul has made the NCAA Tournament 18 straight years, but have yet to make one Elite Eight.

Change is sometimes a necessity if the past regime was unable to achieve positive results. Peevy dropped subtle hints of making changes, but it will be his decisions that will speak louder than his words.

In order to make change, sometimes you have to be ruthless. And DePaul could use some of that to go to the next level in all of its sports.

It’s on Peevy now to prove how ruthless he is and wants to be.

Sports

Sports. Sept. 8, 2020. The DePaulia | 28

Change is necessary at DePaul, will Peevy deliver?

By Lawrence Kreymer Sports Editor

COMMENTARY Another summer has come and gone.

But this summer was certainly different than the past ones because of a pandemic that forced people to change how they go about their daily routine.

DePaul also went through its own set of change — one that the university and the athletic department hasn’t experienced in 18 years.

Jean Lenti Ponsetto announced in June that she will be retiring in the summer. Lenti Ponsetto, who was the Blue Demons’ athletic director since 2002, was a mainstay in the athletic department for 45 years.

But on June 5, Lenti Ponsetto announced that she would be retiring, leaving a major gap for the university to fill. In just over two months, DePaul conducted a national search for a new athletic director and on Aug. 24 named DeWayne Peevy as its new AD. Change was on the horizon for DePaul and change was what they got with the hiring of Peevy, who spent the past 12 years in Kentucky’s athletic department.

In his first press conference on Aug. 25, Peevy spoke on changing the culture in DePaul’s athletic department. He wants to build a winning culture, but he also wants everyone to dream big dreams with him.

“I’m coming here to win a national championship,” Peevy said. “If everybody is not on board with dreaming those dreams, you might not be cut out for the new DePaul athletics.”

Even if Peevy, 47, was not directly calling out anyone, he was sending an indirect message to everyone in the athletic department that some things need to change in order to win.

In terms of the men’s basketball program, Peevy does not want to make a coaching change right now.

Instead, he wants to help head coach Dave Leitao bring recruits to Lincoln Park and make DePaul a constant presence in the NCAA Tournament.

“But that’s not something you have to change the coaches to do,” Peevy said. “That’s part of my job, to bring a different level of it.

See PEEVY, page 27

DEPAULIA FILE | THE DEPAULIA

Former DePaul softball head coach Eugene Lenti is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Dr. Jenny Conviser. Lenti left DePaul in 2018.

New motion filed in Lenti lawsuit

By Lawrence Kreymer Sports Editor

Dr. Jenny Conviser, who is accusing DePaul of wrongful retaliation under Title IX, breach of contract, defamation and false light, filed a response on Aug. 22 to DePaul’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint from June.

In June, DePaul filed a motion to dismiss all the charges made by Conviser against the university.

Conviser’s lawsuit accuses former softball head coach Eugene Lenti of verbally and physically abusing his players and an associate head coach. Lenti, who is also the brother of now-former DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponetto, suddenly retired after the 2018 season. He is currently an assistant softball coach at Auburn University.

DePaul’s legal team, McGuireWoods, claims Conviser is “bootstrapping” herself and her counseling business to Lenti’s sudden exit for personal gain, according to a document obtained by The DePaulia. They say that Conviser, who is suing the university on six counts as previously reported by The

DePaulia, has no legal standing with her claims.

“We intend to mount a rigorous defense on behalf of DePaul University to the baseless claims made in the complaint filed by Dr. Conviser,” said Mark Hubbard, a spokesman for DePaul’s legal team.

In Conviser’s new filing, she asks the court to reject “DePaul’s baseless arguments,” because of the severity of the allegations levied against the university and its leadership.

DePaul is arguing that Conviser has no statutory standing in regards to her Title IX retaliation claim. But in Conviser’s new filing, she says that plaintiffs like her are the parties that Title IX was designed to protect from retaliation.

“As DePaul’s lead mental health provider for its student-athlete population, Plaintiffs were required by DePaul to participate in the program; to report to the Title IX office and participate in its functions and investigations; and to conduct Title IX training of the University’s key personnel,” the filing reads.

“DePaul can cite to no case on the unique facts presented here in which a court found that Title IX did not apply to someone in

Dr. Conviser’s and Ascend’s unique factual situation as compelled Title IX reporters and participants who were retaliated against.”

Conviser is also trying to prove that because she reported Lenti’s alleged verbal abuse in 2016 and found out about Lenti allegedly punching his assistant coach in the face in 2018, DePaul retaliated by terminating her contract in April 2018.

But DePaul is arguing that those incidents with the university don’t support her retaliation claim because “she alleges no facts connecting those DePaul conversations to DePaul’s decision to stop sending her patients in June 2018.”

In the most recent filing, Conviser dismisses DePaul’s notion that she was a mere “fourth degree” spectator in the Title IX reporting process.

“Dr. Conviser was significantly more than a ‘mere acquaintance’ to DePaul students, coaches, and staff, or just a ‘drive by’ Plaintiff as DePaul suggests,” the filing reads.

“She was integral to the Title IX reporting and compliance process, and for 13 years,

See LENTI page 27