DePaul Offers Pass/Fail Grading, Chicago’s Liquor Curfew, and Zooming With The Bachelor Host Chris Harrison

The pros and cons to quarantine

Apr 10, 2020

Happy Thursday!

What a beautiful day to stay inside to keep you and others safe. Happy Easter weekend and Good Passover to those who celebrate. We’re your Thursday team — Associate Editor Meredith Melland, Event Planners Justin Myers and Mikayla Rose Price — back at it again with another issue of our COVID-19 newsletter.

This is the seventh edition (already!) of our twice-weekly newsletter created to provide updates on all things COVID-19 at DePaul and Chicago by 14 East, the university’s online magazine. It’s an exciting week at 14 East because Pueblo, our new bilingual section featuring reporting and creative work in Spanish and English, will officially be out to the world tomorrow!

In this issue, we’ll get into DePaul’s pass/fail option, Lightfoot’s liquor limitations and a Zoom class meeting with a fan favorite figure of reality dating (hint: “Will you accept this rose?”).

A rainbow crosses Uptown after Wednesday’s showers. Photo courtesy of Hana Anwar.

We do this because we think it's an important public service. But if you would like to support this work on Venmo @fourteeneastmag, or tell your friends to sign up for this newsletter — it'd be greatly appreciated.

What’s the latest at DePaul?

Concerned about taking classes online? You may want to consider taking advantage of the new Pass/D/Fail option approved by the faculty council yesterday. In the past, students could only choose this option for their open electives. However, the council voted to extend this option to any class because of COVID-19. How does it work? If you get a C- or above in the class, your GPA will not be affected, and you will receive full credits for the class. If you get a D+, D or F, you will receive those grades, and they will impact your GPA. You have until the last day of class to choose the Pass/D/Fail option. Information on how to choose this option for classes will be made available on DePaul’s COVID-19 FAQ page in the weeks to come.

DePaul will continue to pay student employees unable to work remote through June 30. Those who can’t work remotely will first be considered for alternative duties that can be done remotely and will be paid the difference between those roles and their regularly scheduled hours. If there is still not work available for them, they will continue to be paid for their regularly scheduled hours. DePaul Executive Vice President and CFO Jeff Bethke says the university will review this decision by June 30 to see if it will be extended. Students will be covered by this program either until their agreed term of employment ends or through June 30 — whichever date comes first.

Campus tours are still going on…albeit in a different fashion. Prospective students have moved to new virtual tours of DePaul to get a taste of what the school has to offer. Tours may be self-guided or led by a campus tour guide.

Another thing still happening: DemonTHON. Rebranding itself as #TheVirtualBigEvent, the digital event is taking place tonight from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Zoom and Facebook.

The Law School will not be joining the rest of the university for its virtual commencement. They will have a commencement, but details will not be set until the COVID-19 crisis clears up.

What’s happening in Chicago?

As of today, there are 1,344 new cases of COVID-19 in Illinois –– bringing the state total to 16,422 known cases. There is an interactive map where you can search your zip code to find out how many known cases are in your Chicago neighborhood.

A new report from the CDC shared two cases of community transmission in Chicago as examples of how easily the virus can spread at social gatherings. Both events took place in February before our stay-at-home order was enacted.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has put a liquor sales curfew in place that starts tonight. Until April 30, businesses must stop selling alcohol after 9 p.m. Much like the repercussions that individuals can face for not following the stay-at-home order, stores that continue to sell alcohol after 9 p.m. can also face charges up to $500, or even get their liquor licenses revoked.

Although Lightfoot memes are funny, she means no funny business here! On Tuesday she could even be seen riding around in her car, yelling at crowds to separate and go home.

Earlier this week Governor Pritzker hoped to have around 10,000 COVID-19 tests processed per day this week. However, yesterday he said that the benchmark has not been met. State-run labs now have new automated testing machines, but are not currently running at peak efficiency.

Pritzker also advised in his briefing today that all summer events should be canceled and that no large gatherings should be held until there is a coronavirus vaccine. Last week, Mayor Lightfoot said that she hoped Lollapalooza could still go on, but it looks like time will soon tell.

The CTA has new bus regulations to try and better protect bus drivers and their riders. Starting today, riders must enter from the back of the bus. Some of the bus’ fare readers have already been moved to the back door. Depending on the size of the bus, only a certain number of riders are allowed on. Bus drivers are allowed to not let people on if the bus is too full. The CTA also advises avoiding rush hour, although this is not necessarily feasible for people who rely on the bus as their transportation to work.

Other Chicago News:

Cook County will reassess all property values because of the coronavirus pandemic, by NPR’s Claudia Morell
Take a look inside Rush Hospital and why it was built to help a mass amount of people, by Chicago Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair
Kids in Bucktown create a virtual safari with their stuffed animals, by Block Club’s Hannah Alani
Chicagoans are creating their own nightly noise concerts by Block Club’s Bob Chiarito,
The Hideout Inn, one of Chicago’s most intimate venues, launches an online streaming platform for concerts

If you don’t want to watch the news, here are the national headlines to know:

Another 6.6 million people filed for unemployment last week, making the three-week total nearly 17 million, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Sarah Chaney and David Harrison
The Senate adjourned for the weekend today after Democrats stalled Mitch McConnell’s attempt to push a $250 billion relief bill for small businesses, reports CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk
Beloved folk singer-songwriter John Prine from Maywood, Illinois, passed away on Tuesday from COVID-19. Read Maureen O’Donnell’s tribute in the Chicago Sun-Times.
China lifted the citywide lockdown on Wuhan on Wednesday, sparking an outward surge on transportation, according to Business Insider’s Tim Levin
President Trump threatened to cut off U.S. funding for the World Health Organization this week and now agencies that send funding are being asked to submit for higher approval, writes Politico’s Nahal Toosi and Dan Diamond
Data released Wednesday shows about one-third of American renters did not pay their April rent, according to MarketWatch’s Will Parker
COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York started to plateau this week, but the death rate is still increasing, reports The New York Times
The federal government will end its funding for testing sites tomorrow, prompting some sites to close. Most sites will transition to being state-managed, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told NPR’s Jeff Brady
The Federal Reserve announced today that it would offer $2.3 trillion to local governments and “main street” businesses to avoid a delayed 2008-style response, writes Reuters’ Howard Schneider

On to some better news: DePaul class “Examining Bachelor Nation” slid into host Chris Harrison’s DMs — and Zoomed with him.

Though it’s hard to stop and smell the roses right now, a DePaul class found a way to connect with the ultimate rose-giver — at least in reality TV — by Zooming longtime host of The Bachelor Chris Harrison.

When junior Amelia Modes was in a check-in last Friday for her relational communication class on reality dating shows under the umbrella of “Bachelor Nation,” one of her classmates mentioned that Harrison recently video-conferenced with another college’s class on love and marriage.

Professor Dr. Adriane Stoner encouraged students to reach out to him to join their Bachelor-specific course, so they took to his Instagram DMs, Modes said.

“One of my classmates got a response from Chris Harrison where he first asked if this was an actual college course,” Modes said. “She sent him our D2L page, syllabus, and ‘textbook’ (a book about The Bachelor) information, and then he agreed to meet with us!”

Photo courtesy of Amelia Modes. “People even thought I photoshopped the picture I took since it seemed so improbable.”

Modes noted that she expected he would be nice because he seems “pretty authentic on the show and serves almost as a mentor for the contestants.” Harrison proved his reputation by asking how to pronounce students’ names and greeting them as they talked.

The students learned that Harrison was recruited to play soccer at DePaul (but did not attend) and studied mass communication in his college days — and he recently binged Tiger King. He acknowledged his show’s influence on media and pop culture.

“He seemed really excited and grateful that we were taking the time to actually study this show and its impact on pop culture/society,” Modes said.

The class is scheduled to Zoom with former The Bachelorette/Bachelor in Paradise contestant and Chicagoan Grocery Store Joe Amabilelater in the quarter.

Here’s what some students are tuning into

🎧 Jenni is listening to My Year in Mensa podcast on Spotify

📺 Steven is watching America’s Test Kitchen on Amazon Prime

📺 Sally is watching Summer House on Bravo TV — cast member (and Sally’s sister) Julia Daoud is a DePaul alumna!

🎧 As usual, 14 East has a weekly playlist for you!

Feeling overwhelmed or bored?

It’s Holy Week for Christians and Passover for Jews. Find some Easter services here and some resources for celebrating Passover during quarantine here
BINGO night is tonight! Grab your BINGO card and join drag personality Miss Richfield 1981 Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. for BINGO Bonanza
Act like you can still go outdoors and enjoy nature with these live cams
Stressed? Enjoy some fun quarantine-themed ASMR. Is that not your style? Try some “pushing a pull door” ASMR, “Spanish Inquisition torture” ASMR and more
How did people work out in ye olde Medieval times? Get a good laugh here or find a more serious routine here
Help stop the spread of COVID-19 by downloading the How We Feel app to see who’s reporting symptoms around you and help crowdsource data for science
Call 312-747-1020 for free teletherapy services at Chicago Department of Public Health Mental Health Centers
Call 833-626-4244 for the NAMI Chicago Helpline or 833-TURN-123 for the Bright Star Community Outreach to speak to a mental health counselor
- If it’s late at night: text HELLO to 741741. Crisis Text Line is a 24-hour hotline that serves anyone, in any type of crisis

Want to help?

Lost your main source of income?

Here’s where to apply for unemployment and here’s how to apply
Here’s a list of places hiring by NBC Chicago
Here’s some F.A.Q.’s about the federal stimulus package

Need financial assistance?

Need food or supplies?

Here are Chicago Public Schools locations for food distribution
Check out the Greater Chicago Food Bank and Depository
Here’s how to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (Which was extended with the federal stimulus bill and you can now apply online!)

Need more information on COVID-19?

We hope this newsletter can be a bright spot amid the rapidly changing weather. We’ll be back on Monday with inevitably more university updates, but for now, look forward to new stories and Pueblo’s launch tomorrow.

Congrats on finishing Week 2 of classes — remember to unwind, give your eyes a break from screens and stay hydrated. And let 14 East know how your virtual celebrations go this weekend!

Enjoy the long weekend,

Meredith, Justin and Mikayla