Great Gatsby fever Popular classic a hot topic before the May 10 movie theater release.
FEST artist announcement Wednesday
Arts & Life, page 16
Arts & Life, page 17
Vol. # 97, Issue # 23
DePaul funds MAP Grant shortfall By COLLEEN CONNOLLY Copy Editor The DePaul Office of Financial Aid will reimburse students affected by the estimated $2 million Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant shortfall this year that was caused by a miscalculation by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC). According to an email from Fr. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president of DePaul, 325 students will be awarded a total of $140,000 from a contingency fund in the Office of Financial Aid. “This year, DePaul set aside money in a contingency fund to help pay for unexpected financial situations,” said Holtschneider in the email. “Because we want to make sure that our students will not have to worry about whether or not their MAP funding is at risk, I have decided that the university will use resources from the contingency fund to cover the shortfall of Monetary Award Program grants.” According to ISAC’s website, students who filed their Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAs) between March 20 and April 2 of last year will have to return 10 percent of the MAP grant funds they received. Fr. Holtschneider has decided the university will cover these missing funds for DePaul students. The average MAP grant recipient receives about $2,100, meaning the students affected by the shortfall will have to return about $210, according to ISAC. At DePaul, however, the average is higher, so affected students will need to return $300-400, said Carol Hughes, the director of the news and information bureau in DePaul’s Office of Public Relations and Communications. In total, 9,500 Illinois students will have to return a portion of their grants. “Our goal, as always, is to spend every available dollar for the benefit of students without over-committing appropriated funds,” ISAC said on their website. “As was previously communicated, ISAC has been monitoring 2012-13 See MAP, page 5
| May 6, 2013
Good grade, better review? DePaul Faculty Council investigates grade inflation
By ANNE MALINA Contributing Writer Ever feel like a class at DePaul is too easy? Did you get an A without even trying? Apparently you are not alone, and DePaul’s Faculty Council wants to do something about it. The Faculty Council passed a motion to
investigate grade inflation and revisit grading standards March 15 and has been sent to the Committee on Academic Policy. The Faculty Council heard a presentation about these issues at its retreat Jan. 25, bringing numerous concerns with DePaul’s current grading system to light. The realization came about as the result of studying the connections between DePaul students’ evaluations of faculty and grade
MAX KLEINER| The DePaulia
inflation. According to the Faculty Council’s agenda, “a 23 point gap exists between national educators’ opinions that students are prepared for work and employers’ views on that topic.” About 72 percent of educators believe students to be well prepared, but only 49 percent of employers share this belief.
See GRADES, page 7
Hey Cubs, ask DePaul before packing for Rosemont By DAVID WEBBER Assistant Sports Editor A Chicago original, a hometown favorite, and an unequivocal classic of the Windy City, could be headed to a faraway location unfamiliar to devoted and fair-weather fans alike. Last week Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts threatened to move his team out of Chicago if he didn’t get approval for the stadium renovations he so desperately wants to make. The likely landing spot would be Rosemont, one of the few places that have offered the Cubs sanctuary in the unlikely event the team departs from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Sound familiar? It should. Chicago experienced an eerily similar relocation in 1980, and it occurred right here in Lincoln Park. DePaul University took a highly successful Blue Demons basketball program and moved it from the raucous on-campus Alumni Hall to the brand
new Rosemont Horizon, thus beginning a steady decline in the team’s success. “They kind of sold out, sold out their basic constituency, which was the student body and the Lincoln Park area,” says Mike Conklin, a 35-year veteran of the Chicago Tribune who spent a portion of his career covering the Blue Demons when the team had Chicago in the palm of its hand with their exciting performances. Ricketts opened a can of worms that put him squarely in the public eye with his comments PAUL BEATY | AP about moving the team. How could you possibly move the Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts speaks at the City Club Chicago Cubs out of Wrigley of Chicago May 1. Ricketts said he would consider moving the Field, all because you might not Cubs if the proposed video board is blocked by the city. be able to install a fancy new scoreboard? That’s like moving Chicagoans have in their city. regularly filling the 5,308-seat into your friend’s house because Wrigley is as much a part of the Alumni Hall and giving the your parents won’t build you a team’s history as Sammy Sosa or school something to cheer for. home theater. Ernie Banks. Those crowds were legendary, There is no way to win that All Ricketts needs to do gathering to watch Ray Meyer argument, no rhyme or reason to understand the gravity of and his group of Chicago-bred to the decision. Doing so would such a move is to consider players regularly beat up on the make Ricketts public enemy No. the predicament that DePaul competition. The Blue Demons 1 in Chicago for eternity. found itself in when the wins were arguably the nation’s best The Cubs aren’t defined by became scarce after the move to team in those days, racking up the stadium they play in, but Rosemont. Wrigley Field is still an iconic DePaul had a great thing See ROSEMONT, page 27 testament to the pride that going for it in the late 1970s,