Joe Keery, Prizker’s reopening plan and Lightfoot on Latinx cases
And the art of stress relief
Hello everyone,
Welcome to the 15th edition of our newsletter! We appreciate each and every one of you that follows 14 East and reads our newsletter. Being part of a community helps us all feel more connected during these uncertain times. We’re your Thursday team — Meredith, Justin and Mikayla — joined by contributors Erica Carbajal and Jonathan DeCarlo.
In this issue, we’ll get into strange updates on DePaul commencement and Fall Quarter, Prizker’s five-pronged reopening plan and the stress-relieving benefits of life figure drawing. Let’s get to it!
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What’s the latest at DePaul?
On Wednesday, DePaul gave some updates regarding a question that’s on a lot of students’ minds: “What will Fall Quarter 2020 be like?” The university hasn’t made any big decisions yet, but it’s in a phase of monitoring the current situation to do so. Students can expect major decisions to be made about Fall Quarter as early as June 15.
So far, DePaul has pledged to “minimize [its] footprint on campus this fall,” canceled tuition increases, increased its financial aid and extended its work-from-home policy until June 12. Financially, while the COVID-19 crisis has decreased DePaul’s revenue, it received a one-time financial donation from an unnamed donor. Largely thanks to this gift, the university will finish its current fiscal year on June 30 soundly. However, the university projects an $80 million decrease in net revenue for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which begins on July 1.
DePaul’s virtual commencement on June 13 will be joined by a special guest speaker: Joe Keery. If you’ve watched the Netflix series Stranger Things, you may recognize Keery — who plays the character Steve Harrington on the show. Keery graduated from DePaul in 2014 and has appeared in television series like Chicago Fire and Empire.
Virtual visit days are off to a strong start. In a recent announcement from the university, almost 900 attendees logged in for its first virtual Spring Visit Day on April 25. What does it take to host a virtual visit day? A team of about four dozen faculty, staff and students was needed to facilitate the 30 breakout sessions that took place during the virtual visit. Attendees were able to learn about the admissions process and resources at DePaul. With summer orientations also online this summer, a virtual experience is the new normal for this year’s freshman and transfer students.
Have a sewing machine? Louise’s Sewing Club invites you to assist DePaul in providing essential supplies like gowns and face masks to healthcare workers. They’ll mail you everything you need and will ship it off when complete.
What’s happening in Chicago?
Governor J.B. Pritzker announced today that additional agents will be added to a new call center in order to resolve issues with filing unemployment claims. More than one million initial claims were made in Illinois between March 1 and May 2. To put that into perspective, only 78,100 initial claims were made in all of 2019. Eligible workers must first apply to regular unemployment before applying for the new benefits of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
As of today, more than 3,000 people from Illinois have died due to coronavirus complications. There are 2,641 new confirmed cases today, bringing the state total to 70,873.
On Tuesday, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced a five-stage plan to reopen Illinois. In the plan, the state is split into different regions — Chicago is in the Northeast region. The regions were chosen by the Illinois Department of Public Health's 11 Emergency Medical Service regions, which is a network of emergency medical services. A step-by-step chart of what each phase will look like can be found here. All the updates to the stay-at-home order will still be in effect until May 29.
You’re probably wondering what this plan looks like for Chicago. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has additional guidelines for the city. Today her news conference was canceled due to scheduling issues.
But during her news conference yesterday, she said the city will not reopen until there is a decline in the number of new coronavirus cases. Lightfoot also addressed the disproportionate number of cases in Latinx communities. Within the past month, the percentage of Latinx people that account for Chicago’s cases has doubled. The demolition of a smokestack also happened during this time in Little Village, a predominantly Latinx neighborhood, leaving dust all over and in the air. Officials plan to make more testing sites and create informational videos; however, the problem is not only a matter of a lack of resources, but that many Latinx people work jobs that have stayed open through this pandemic.
Pitchfork Music Festival was officially canceled yesterday. Bummer, I know. On the topic of music — Chicago’s independent music venues are struggling. The owners of venues such as The Hideout and Subterranean have joined a national coalition to ask Congress for tax relief and other assistance. Gatherings above 50 won’t be allowed until Stage 5 of the reopen phase, which will not happen until there is a vaccine. Without government aid or community funding, it will be hard for these venues to stay afloat until then.
Other Chicago News:
Senior home strike averted after an agreement was reached, by Block Club Chicago’s Maxwell Evans
West Side coronavirus testing machines are not being used, by Block Club Chicago’s Pascal Sabino
Remember to practice social distancing even on Mother’s Day, by Block Club Chicago’s Kelly Bauer
Chicago Park District plans to shorten summer camp season, by the Chicago Tribune’s Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
UIC nurse died after testing positive for coronavirus, by Chicago Tribune’s Alison Bowen
If you don’t want to watch the news, here are the national headlines to know:
Another wave of 3.2 million people filed unemployment applications last week, bringing the pandemic total to 33.5 million, according to NPR’s Jim Zarroli. For many newly unemployed, benefits and stimulus checks have been delayed, reports Reuters’ Andy Sullivan and Brad Brooks
When President Trump was informed yesterday that a U.S. Navy officer who served as his personal valet tested positive for coronavirus, he and Vice President Pence were retested and had negative results, according to CNN Politics’ Kaitlan Collins and Peter Morris
After Trump seemingly confirmed that Pence’s COVID-19 task force would shut down around Memorial Day, he said Wednesday that it would remain active “indefinitely” and would focus on reopening, from NBC News’s Rebecca Shabad
A study finding that a new mutated form of coronavirus could be more contagious made the rounds this week, but The Atlantic’s Ed Yong points out that it has yet to be peer reviewed. He wrote that the evidence isn’t clear, and probably won’t be for months.
Luxury department store Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy this week, according to Wall Street Journal’s Suzanne Kapner and Soma Biswas
Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man in Brunswick, Georgia, was shot by two white men while out on a jog in February. New video of the killing was tweeted by Shaun King this week, causing public outrage and debate about violence in social media, reports The Guardian Washington reporter Kenya Evelyn
Numbers released today from Britain’s Office of National Statistics show that Black residents are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as white residents, with South Asians also disproportionately affected, from The New York Times’s Benjamin Mueller
ProPublica’s Lena V. Groeger and Charles Ornstein updated their Nursing Home Inspect database, which you can search to see which nursing homes in your area have deficiencies in controlling infections, faced fines and cases of COVID-19
On to other news... a hobby for a perfectionist: life figure drawing as a way to relieve stress and create masterpieces in no time
Empty sketchbooks sat collecting dust in DePaul junior Jillian Morrison’s closet for months until she found herself with some extra time during the stay-at-home order. She took up life and nude figure drawing, a calming hobby where mistakes are completely acceptable.
Oil-based pastels are typically used to create life figure drawings, which Morrison said forces a loose, flowy style where mistakes are bound to happen.
“It’s a medium that’s inherently messy, so that perfectionist part of me just has to deal with the lack of ability to erase,” she said.
With this art form, the lines between slip-up and masterpiece are blurred. The unconfined style serves as a reminder to artists that they’re in control of what they’re creating, and an error on the page may only be considered one by the artist themselves. An unknowing viewer won’t recognize whether that extra swipe of color was intended or not.
“Even when I do make mistakes…I’m making progress and that makes me happy,” Morrison said.
Creating artwork can be time consuming, but figure drawing doesn’t have to be. This sketch took her just 15 minutes.
Photo courtesy of Morrison
But she doesn’t start off here. Morrison usually builds her way up to these more defined pieces by starting with short, looser sketches like these one to two minute pieces.
Photo courtesy of Morrison
She’s been following a YouTube playlist of timed figure drawing sessions to guide her process.
“It helps me understand that I don’t need to produce a piece that took over 10 hours to perfectly render,” she said.
Christina Sprayberry, a licensed therapist that specializes in mindfulness, says starting a new hobby during periods of increased stress is an effective way to re-energize.
“A hobby soothes an overwhelmed mind by shifting attention to a novel, more present-centered activity,” she said. “It’s pleasurable and also gives us something to look forward to.”
Additionally, activities that are done for the sake of the individual, and not for work or school, help people become better in tune with their own feelings.
“Without even consciously trying, a new hobby facilitates mindful engagement with our senses and elicits the parasympathetic response for calming.”
For Morrison, creating figure drawings has offered the kind of relieving experience Sprayberry described.
“It’s an activity that shifts my mind into that pleasurable present-center experience.”
Here’s what media students are consuming
📚Elijah is reading From Crisis to Communication by Gilles Dauve
📚Ezra is reading Agua Viva by Clarice Lispector
📺Henry is watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars
🎧Emilee is listening to Princess Nokia
🎧Azmi is listening to The Daily news podcast
🎧 Don’t forget to listen to our quarantine playlist!
Bored?
Check out this wiki guide for Animal Crossing: New Horizons so you can get the most out of your town
Watch this trailer for Netflix’s Space Force, starring Steve Carell and produced by the crew behind The Office
Round up all those old Pokémon cards you might have lying around and look up how much they’re worth, you might be surprised
Binge-watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Disney+, which just released its final episode on May 4th
Read this article about Meghan and Harry celebrating their son Archie’s first birthday
Overwhelmed?
Watch these sea otters for 12 hours
Learn about 10 calming activities you can do in quarantine
Contact Illinois’ Call4Calm mental health resources. Residents can text TALK for English or HABLAR for Spanish to 552-020 and the state will put them in touch with a counselor
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?
Here’s Chicago organizer Kelly Hayes’ mutual aid form to sign up to help
Sign up to do senior wellness checks for My Block My Hood My City
Lost your main source of income?
Here’s where to apply for unemployment and here’s how to apply
Need financial assistance?
Need food or supplies?
Text 312-775-2391 or email LakeviewMutualAid@gmail.com for food, prescription pick-ups, caregiving, medical supplies and more – “prioritizing folks who are sick, disabled, low-income, elderly, undocumented and Black, Indeginous and/or People of Color”
Now, back to your regularly scheduled Thursday night activities. Sleeping? We hope. We’ll be celebrating Mikayla’s birthday by blasting Megan Thee Stallion and eating vegan.
Again, thanks for reading, remember to stay tuned for COVID-19 stories and more on 14 East’s Friday lineup. Take care of that body and soul! We’ll catch you on the flip side.
All our love,
Associate Editor Meredith Melland, Event Planners Justin Myers and Mikayla Rose Price, and Contributors Erica Carbajal and Jonathan DeCarlo