1982 Tylenol Murders, Chicago’s proposed budget, and a new Supreme Court term
plus a sweet treat found in the alley!
Welcome back to ‘In the Loop’! It’s your newsletter team — Kate, Eiman, Cary, Chinyere, Audrey, Monique, Bridget and Richie — back on this beautiful fall evening.
It’s October which means fall celebrations, fall flavors and, at DePaul, the start of a grueling midterms season for many students. We’re wishing everyone a successful midterm week(s) and encourage you to check out our recommendations section for the perfect study break in Lincoln Park.
This week, Pueblo set up an ofrenda for Day of the Dead at the Latinx Cultural Center (LCC) at O’Connell Hall in Lincoln Park. The ofrenda will stay up at the LCC and is open to more participation and have more people add to it. Check out the Day of the Dead Open Mic later this quarter at the LCC November 3 at 5 P.M.
Today, we’re looking back at the Tylenol Murders investigation with DePaul professor Don Ingle and the Chicago Tribune’s newest investigation, an ice cream social with President Rob Manuel and a glimpse into Chicago’s proposed budget for 2023.
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Let’s get into the news!
The Tylenol Murders: new Tribune Investigation and historical PR Crisis
By Eiman Navaid
The month of September this year marked 40 years since one of the most bizarre incidents to hit the greater Chicagoland area. Commonly known as the “Tylenol Murders,” a total of seven people ingested poisoned Tylenol, leading to their deaths. This caused nationwide panic and led to the first-ever mass product recall – every Tylenol product across the country was pulled off the shelves.
The Tylenol capsules were found to be laced with three times the lethal amount of potassium cyanide, a deadly poison. This act was regarded as an act of domestic terrorism, a phrase rarely heard in American vocabulary back in 1982. But despite it being 40 years since the incident and massive investigations, no charges have been filed.
This year, the Chicago Tribune spent 9 months investigating these murders and why they have remained unsolved after decades of hard work. They went back to interview hundreds of people, went through extensive files, and traveled across multiple states to get to the bottom of the story. While they have narrowed down a suspect, prosecutors still have not been able to formally charge James Lewis, 76, who has repeatedly denied his involvement in the murders.
DePaul Public Relations professor Donald Ingle was working as an account supervisor in the Chicago office of Burson Marsteller, a public relations firm, at the time of the Tylenol Murders. He recalls the chaos of pulling the Tylenol bottles off the shelves nationwide, despite the deaths only being in Chicago. Afterward, Johnson & Johnson, with the help of Burson Marsteller, had to figure out how to reintroduce the product and ensure nothing of the sort could ever happen again, which Ingle refers to as a “lesson of crisis management.”
Ingle recalls companies using the highest form of technology they could to host press conferences introducing the changes to the product packaging, along with doing one-on-one interviews with major media outlets and live questions from the executive companies. All of this came together to be included in the evening news.
“What was fascinating throughout all of this is that the traditional media, usually totally skeptical of corporate America and PR, fell in line like partners of J&J. They realized the company had done nothing wrong, of course,” Ingle said. “But because it was such huge news at the time, media wanted to cover their side of the story. It led the evening news in every major market, and I had never seen such favorable news coverage throughout.”
He mentioned how the utilization of new technology and putting the focus on the efforts of Johnson & Johson to change the packaging was a huge win for the firm.
Today, the Tylenol murders are widely used as an example in public relations and crisis management, as Ingle teaches in his classes as well. The Tribune hopes to narrow down and wrap up their investigation by pressing formal charges and ensuring this doesn’t become a cold case.
The Tribune published a six-part series into this investigation, available both online and in print, along with a podcast – “Unsealed: The Tylenol Murders” – with weekly episodes that launched on September 12th. Podcast episodes unveiling the case in detail continue to launch every Friday on Apple Podcasts and the Tribune website.
DePaul News
By Cary Robbins
Ice Cream with President Rob Manuel
DePaul’s new president, Rob Manuel, is hosting an ice cream social for students on Wednesday, October 12 at the Lincoln Park Campus from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Registration ends at 12 p.m. on October 12, and the event is limited to the first 25 students who sign up. Click here to register for the event.
Newberry Library Undergraduate Seminar
The applications for the 2023 Newberry Library Undergraduate Seminar (NLUS) are due by October 6 by 11:59 p.m. This is a chance for undergraduates to “participate in an intensive seminar and produce an original research project, using the world-renowned collections of the Newberry Library.” The university will select up to five DePaul students. Their topic will be about “how texts and images have shaped the idea of Mexico, from the period of European invasion to the nation's early-20th-century revolution.” Follow this link to learn more about the NLUS and click here to apply.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
For National Disability Employment Awareness Month, DePaul is hosting a few events for the community of DePaul to hear how to better support employees. Here is a list of the different events throughout the month. The first virtual event, “Leaning into the DEI Advantage: key findings, initiatives & opportunities” will be held on October 4 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event will discuss Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for people with disabilities in the context of workspaces and how to best support workers with disabilities. You can register online here with the promo code “OpptySummit22” to register.
Lastly, here is your weekend sports update (Sept. 30 - Oct. 2)
DePaul cross country competed in the Sean Lakefront Invitational on Friday
Olivia Borowiak won first place in women’s 6k
Shane Knanishu won first place in men’s 8k
The women’s team placed fifth of eleven
The men’s team placed third of eleven
DePaul volleyball won 3-1 against Providence on Friday.
DePaul men’s soccer team lost 1-0 against Providence on Saturday.
DePaul volleyball won 3-1 against Connecticut on Saturday.
DePaul women’s soccer lost 1-0 against Georgetown on Sunday.
DePaul women’s tennis finished their second fall tournament of the 2022 season on Sunday.
Chicago Headlines
By Chinyere Ibeh
Lightfoot announces potential 2023 city budget — On Monday, October, Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged the city to “be bold” with her in order to correct “historic wrongs.” The 2023 budget address served as a huge part of the mayor’s re-election platform and she called for what Fran Spielman for the Chicago Sun-Times deems “a laundry list of new and continued investments” that aim to curb the violence, homelessness, and poverty.
Here are some highlights of the $16.4 billion proposed budget:
$100 million for public safety, including $36 million for consent decree compliance, new police helicopters, and replacing the CPD’s aging vehicle fleet
$242 million to launch a “new pension fund policy of pre-paying future pension obligations,” according to Lightfoot
$10 million to improve the city’s technology infrastructure
$5 million to support migrants shipped to Chicago from Texas and other border states and $3 million for “reproductive services” tied to the influx of people traveling to Chicago seeking abortions outlawed in their states
$200 million to prevent homelessness, $155 million for affordable housing and $3 million to launch what Lightfoot calls a “Tiny Homes Initiative”
For more information on the “budget proposal, read the rest of Spielman’s story for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Illinois program faces criticism for the lack of equitable funding for low-income schools — According to a recent report from the Partnership Equity and Education Rights Illinois (PEER IL) and the Education Law Center, 1.7 million students from 83% of Illinois school districts still attend underfunded schools. This is despite five years of using the state’s new Evidence-Based Funding Formula law, which ensures all schools have the proper resources. Read all of the details of underfunded Illinois’ school systems in Karen Ann Cullotta’s story for The Chicago Tribune.
Chicago’s late night curfew for teens had little effect on crime — The weekend curfew for teens was moved from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. during a city council vote on May 25, 2022 and included 17-year-olds on weekends. Lightfoot faced backlash from local groups, youth organizers and aldermen as they pointed out research that shows the curfew was ineffective for lowering crime rates. According to an analysis done by Block Club Chicago, officers made one arrest, issued seven citations and made 119 reports regarding the curfew between May 27 and Aug. 8, which covered Memorial Day weekend until Lollapalooza weekend. Read more into Block Club Chicago’s analysis, Ald. Brian Hopkins’ take on the new curfew, and the curfew’s effect on Black and Brown neighborhoods in Melody Mercado’s article.
All city employees will receive up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave at the start of the new year — Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Department of Human Resources agreed with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to expand the paid parental leave policy. Employees will be paid for the entirety of the 12 weeks if they’ve worked for the city for at least one year. Employees must have also worked 1,250 hours during that one-year period. Lightfoot said the policy had not been updated since 2011 and its reexamination was due to the effects of the coronavirus. Full story on WGN News.
National Headlines
By Audrey Champelli
Hurricane Ian death toll surpasses 80 — More than 80 storm related deaths have been reported since Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s Gulf Coast last Wednesday. Residents of Lee County, a region including Fort Myers and Cape Coral that was hit hardest by the storm, question whether officials ordered evacuations quickly enough. The National Hurricane Center predicts more rainfall in Maryland and West Virginia as Ian has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone. Brad Brooks of Reuters has for more information.
Biden visits Puerto Rico amid Hurricane Fiona recovery efforts — Biden visited Puerto Rico to assess damage from Hurricane Fiona which hit the island just a week before Hurricane Ian hit Florida. Some residents of the territory have expressed fear that their needs will be overshadowed by Florida recovery efforts. Though Fiona was a Category 1 Hurricane and Ian was a Category 4, Puerto Rico has yet to fully recover from Hurricane Maria in 2017 which destroyed the territory's electrical system. Maureen Groppe has the story for USA Today.
U.S. Supreme Court opens new term — The U.S. Supreme Court opened its term today hearing arguments about an environmental case in Idaho. Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman Supreme Court justice took part in oral arguments for the first time, posing questions about the case which involves a couple’s bid to build on a protected wetland. The court also agreed to hear a number of cases this term, including one that will challenge federal protections for social media outlets. Andrew Chung and Nate Raymond reported the story for Reuters.
Department of Education sues new student loan relief restrictions — As loan forgiveness applications are scheduled to open sometime this month, the Department of Education has added restrictions to Biden’s relief plan. Among those who may now be excluded are those who took out Federal Family Education (FEFL) loans, a program that ended in 2010. This change could exclude roughly 800,000 people. See Cory Turner’s NPR story for more.
Hey, Check This Out!
With Featured Columnist Lauren Sheperd
Happy fall readers! This week I’m exposing one of my greatest weaknesses: sugar. It doesn’t matter the time of day or how I’m feeling, I always find myself reaching for a sweet treat. So when my roommate asked me if I wanted to grab something sweet to start our morning, of course I said yes. She introduced me to the doughnut shop in the alley: Beacon Doughnuts, which is in an alley just a few blocks down from DePaul.
If you ever find yourself walking down Armitage near Halsted, Beacon Doughnuts is a necessary stop. Its address is actually “In the Alley,” 810 W. Armitage Ave. and if you know what you’re looking for, you can see the mural from the street. According to their website, doughnuts are handmade in small batches daily. They recommend ordering in advance as some doughnuts sell out early in the day.
Right now, Beacon has 12 flavors, some of which are made for fall. These fall flavors include Pumpkin Creme Bismark, Apple Cider and Apple Fritter. Beacon also has classic doughnuts like Boston Cream and Cinnamon Coffee Cake, though all of their flavors are unique. Because these doughnuts are handmade, they’re a bit more expensive than a typical doughnut from Dunkin, though I think the extra few dollars are worth it for the freshness and the unique flavors. If you’re a coffee lover, Beacon also has a small coffee menu.
The next time you’re in the Armitage area, grab yourself a sweet treat and pay a visit to Beacon Doughnuts.
Resources
Need resources regarding cooling centers, rental assistance, abortion access, COVID-19 testing and vaccines or mental health? Check out our complete list here.
That’s it for today! See you next Monday.
The 14 East Newsletter Team