Mayor appoints pastor to CTA Oversight Board, DemonTHON, and class registration updates
Plus, new video game adaptation series Fallout
Welcome back to ‘In the Loop’! We’ve got a good one for you today. It’s your newsletter team — Alexandra, Jana, Audrey, Noël, Gia, Sam, Joana and Elizabeth — back with a new Monday night edition to start off your week!
Tonight, 14 East Multimedia Editor Jana Simović details DePaul’s DemonTHON event, an annual 10-hour dance marathon celebration that is put on in the Spring to benefit Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. In Chicago news, Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed politically appointed pastor Michael Eaddy to the CTA Oversight Board who has no prior transportation experience. Also, course carts opened today for DePaul students and class registration for the 2024 Autumn quarter open May 2.
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Tonight’s newsletter is sponsored by DePaul’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
With that, let’s get into tonight’s news!
Community Efforts Culminated at DemonTHON’s Annual Celebration
By Jana Simović
Amidst a colorful dance floor, upbeat music and catered food onDePaul’s Lincoln Park campus, Saturday, April 13 marked the philanthropic organization, DemonTHON’s, big event; an annual 10-hour dance marathon celebration that is put on every Spring to benefit Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. During the celebration, the year-long fundraising organization’s members commit to standing and/or dancing during the entire duration in solidarity with children and families who battle pediatric illness every day.
Kayla Beebe, a morale captain of this year’s event mentioned that most of the money that is raised through DemonTHON’s efforts directly contributes towards the children's family life center at Laurie’s.
“I have so many people that I know that are a part of the board, that are attendees. But I'm like, hold up, let me come out and show my support,” said Clev’anique Edwards, an attendee and DePaul student. “I've also been hearing so much buzz about it on social media, and that has been a very good component, in compelling people to get here — besides like the relations you may have outside. It’s been really fun.”
In addition to the annual dance marathon, the organization hosts events and campaigns throughout the year, including their second largest event “Miracles ‘Til Midnight” in February, as well as a 48-hour live broadcast “Rock the Clock,” in partnership with Radio Depaul that happened earlier this month.
At the end of Saturday’s big celebration — per their social media campaigning and presence — DemonTHON announced that they had raised a total of $110,624.87 with each dollar going to benefit children and families of Lurie’s.
Aside from fostering a space that raises awareness and funds for a beneficial cause, DemonTHON’s efforts and events are a hallmark of DePaul students’ greater efforts in continually building community among themselves and the city they live in.
“It’s a great way to meet people. I was a participant last year, I just became friends with so many people and I was so inspired to do more,” said Beebe.
To learn more about DemonTHON’s work as an organization, make sure to head to their website.
The B-Side: Falling Behind
After seeing many peers going on to get married and raise families, 14 East Associate Editor Audrey Leib delves into their personal essay asking themselves, “Am I falling behind in both life and love?” To learn more, listen to the B-Side podcast on Spotify or read the full article on 14 East’s website here.
Story and production by: Audrey Leib
Music by: Andrew Vuscko-Cameron
DePaul News
By Noël Bentley
Meet Coach Holtmann at DePaul vs. Illinois softball game
DePaul’s new Men’s Basketball Head Coach Chris Holtmann will be at the DePaul vs. Illinois softball game tailgate tomorrow, Tuesday April 23 at Cacciatore Stadium. Coach Holtmann will be present at the tailgate starting at 2:30 p.m. and throwing the honorary pitch at 3 p.m. The tailgate will give out free pizza and drinks. This is the last home game of the season for DePaul’s Softball team, bring your DePaul University ID and claim your free student ticket!
Class registration for 2024 Autumn Quarter opens Thursday May 2
It's time to register for Autumn Quarter! Course Carts opened today, April 22 and registration appointments for Autumn Quarter begin Thursday, May 2 for seniors. Check out the 2024 course list and add designated classes to your course cart, they fill up fast! DePaul Central sent out an email today, informing students of the opening of course carts and the day and time of a students registration appointment. To find out your registration appointment time by going into Campus Connect to Manage Classes.
President Rob Manuel named Vice Chair of NAICU Board of Directors
President Robert L. Manuel has become vice chair of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. This new position will go into effect on July 1, 2024 with President Manuel serving a one-year term in line to assume the board chair post in July 2025 . For more information of what NAICU is and specifics on President Robert L. Manuel’s new position, click here.
SGA election portal opened today and other student organizations are holding elections
As the 2023-2024 Academic Year is coming to a close, student organizations and clubs are hosting elections for the 2024-2025 academic year that starts this upcoming September. Last week, DePaul’s Black Student Union held their election and BSU members will find out new officers at tonight's General Body Meeting. DePaul’ Student Government Association Spring Election Portal opened today, Monday April 22, 2024 and closes May 6 2024. African Student Association (ASA) is holding an Election Campaigning event April 23. Students running for positions will be introducing themselves and stating their intent to run. To find out about more orgs hosting elections, and to get involved look at DeHub’s events page.
Chicago Headlines
By Gia Clarke
Mayor appoints a pastor to CTA’s Oversight Board - Last week, Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed a politically connected pastor to CTA’s Oversight Board. The pastor, Michael Eaddy, has no prior experience working with or studying transportation systems. Eaddy’s appointment happened after Governor J.B. Pritzker called for new leadership on the CTA. Almost every alderperson was in support of Eaddy’s appointment. Block Club Chicago’s Manny Ramos reports that appointing a politically-connected pastor instead of a transportation specialist reflects the CTA’s long history of rewarding political insiders instead of seeking out transport specialists to solve the issues of the CTA. Ramos from Block Club Chicago has more.
Off-duty officer Luis Huesca shot and killed in Gage Park - Police officer Luis Huesca (30) was fatally shot yesterday when he was off-duty in Gage Park. Huesca was on his way home from work when he was shot. Officers found him at 2:53 a.m. badly wounded, and he was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital, where he did not survive. According to Supt. Larry Snelling, Huesca’s coworker, Huesca was shot multiple times and his car was stolen. The investigation for who shot Huesca is still ongoing, as they have not been identified yet. Mohammad Samra, Tom Schuba and Catherine Odom from the Chicago Sun Times have more.
UChicago gives less than $3 million for South Side violence prevention efforts when $15 million was initially promised - UChicago promised $15 million to support South Side violence prevention programs, but have only given less than $3 million. UChicago promised the $15 million after the death of three UChicago students. There are currently no definite plans to renew UChicago’s funding, according to Assistant Provost Elena Zinchenko. The future of whether or not UChicago is going to continue funding is unclear. The programs that have gotten confirmed donations are Lost Boyz Inc., Male Mogul Initiative, Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, New Community Outreach, Gary Comer Youth Center, Woodlawn Restorative Justice Hub, Inner-City Muslim Action Network, Fathers Families & Healthy Communities, Urban Male Network and Cure Violence Global. Maxwell Evans from Block Club Chicago has more.
Large cicadas have already been spotted in the Chicagoland area - There have already been many cicada sightings in the last couple days in Chicago and the Chicago suburbs. People in Lincoln Park, Downers Grove and other places in the Chicagoland area have seen them underground while gardening. While many of the cicadas are still underground, if the soil temperatures are warm enough (64℉) then they will emerge early. It is hard to pre Francie Swidler, Ivonne Ramirez and Alexandria Fisher from NBC Chicago have more information.
National Headlines
By Sam Freeman
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever hit the WNBA, boosting ticket prices and jersey sales – The Indiana Fever selected Caitlin Clark as the first overall draft pick last week, and they will play their first preseason game in Texas on May 3. Clark’s dominance is bringing attention to the Fever as it did to the Iowa Hawkeyes. The “Caitlin Clark Effect” is already taking place, with ticket prices doubling and increases in ticket sales when she comes to town. Teams in several cities are moving their games to bigger venues, as a result. Clark’s Fever jersey sold out in most sizes on the Fanatics website within an hour of her draft on Monday. Retailers say it is now the top-selling jersey for any draft pick. As a rookie player, Clark’s starting salary will be $76,535 this year and a little over $338,000 for four years. Her salary is significantly less than her male counterparts. Caitlin Clark’s image and likeness are valued at over $3 million. Last week, she signed a deal with Nike worth over $20 million, including a signature shoe, according to The Athletic. Rachel Treisman from NPR has more information.
Columbia cancels in-person classes and Yale protestors are arrested as tensions grow in the Middle East – Columbia University canceled in-person classes Monday and several dozen Yale protestors were arrested as tensions escalate on college campuses over the war in the Middle East. Police arrested 45 protestors at Yale and charged them with misdemeanor trespassing, according to Officer Christian Bruckhart, a spokesperson for the New Haven Police Department. He said all are to be released on promises to appear in court later. Last week, more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested at Columbia after setting up encampments on the New York City campus. “To de-escalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday,” said Columbia President Minouche Shafik in a note addressed to the school community. Several Columbia and Barnard College students were suspended for their participation. Nick Perry, Dave Collins and Michelle L. Price from the Associated Press has the story.
California proposes a law to allow Arizona doctors to perform abortions – After the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the state should abide by an abortion law in the 1860s that bans almost all abortions, California is working on an emergency response. Governor Gavin Newsom says the state is creating legislation that would allow doctors from Arizona to come to California to provide abortions. In an appearance on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki, Newsom said California is in a position to help those who are losing their rights to an abortion in Arizona. California is one of the states that has taken measures to protect reproductive rights after the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022. Joe Hernandez of NPR has more information.
Prosecutors allege that Trump tried to “corrupt” the 2016 election, as the hush money trial is underway – At the start of Trump’s hush money trial, prosecutors told jurors Donald Trump “orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt” the 2016 presidential election when he conspired to hide damaging stories about his personal life. A defense attorney said Trump “was innocent” and the case should never have been brought against him. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, a charge which is punishable by up to four years in prison. A conviction wouldn’t prevent Trump from becoming president again, but it would prevent him from pardoning himself if he’s found guilty. Trump faces charges in three other cases, but the New York case might be the only to reach trial before the November election. Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Eric Tucker and Jake Offenhartz of the Associated Press have more information.
14 East Pueblo: Poesia en Abril 2024: “Lazos” Kicks off Poetry Festival at DePaul
By Joana Diaz
Coined as “The Most Important Poetry Festival in Spanish in the Midwest,” the four-day poetry festival began its inauguration this past Thursday at DePaul and continued into the weekend around Chicago.
In collaboration with contratiempo, the event brought together both local and international poets in a celebration of art from the Spanish-speaking world. Poets were invited from Cuba, Spain, Peru, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia and the Chicago area to recite their poems which touched on themes of fatherhood, loss, immigration and womanhood to name a few, from the Latin American and Hispanic worlds.
One poet highlight was that of Marta Collazo, a Puerto Rican poet based in Chicago. She warned the audience of the explicit and suggestive themes that one of her poems may depict. “Es un poco sucio,” she said, translating to, “It is a bit dirty,” before getting an ‘okay’ from the eager audience to hear her poem. The poem, untitled, as she shared that she does not like the limiting nature of titling poems, detailed a comparison of her love for platanos to a similar feeling she held towards female anatomy.
The event also held a live music performance by Chicago singer Vivian García, who performed three original songs in both English and Spanish.
Hey, Check This Out!
With Featured Columnist Elizabeth Gregerson
A new genre of television series is gaining traction in the industry - video game adaptations. Far from being made solely for the eyes of video game players, these shows aim to appeal to broader audiences who often have no connection to the game itself.
The latest addition to the genre comes in the Amazon Prime original series, Fallout. Co-created by Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Fallout is based off of Bethesda Game Studios’ popular video games series of the same name.
Fallout introduces a post-apocalyptic world set in 2296, though the opening sequence gives insight into the events of 2077 that led to nuclear fallout in the United States. Technologically advanced, everything in Fallout is stylized to emulate the idealized simplicity of the 1950s. This leads to the unsettling, eerie feeling that not everything is as perfect and pristine as it seems.
While the television series is immensely inspired by the video game series, viewers have no need to know anything about the video game to enjoy the show. Wagner and Robertson-Dworet offer up the excitement and action of the game while slowly revealing the pieces of background history that keep audiences engaged.
Fans of the video game have praised the show’s subtle nods to the game while viewers with no previous knowledge of the game have fallen in love with the show’s characters.
Lucy MacLean, played by Ella Purnell, and her father Hank, played by Kyle MacLachlan, are living peacefully in one of the many questionably utopian vaults built prior to (and in anticipation of) nuclear fallout.
A soldier named Maximus, played by Aaron Moten, is a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, a sort of technologically advanced military faction/cult patrolling the world above the vaults, the Wasteland.
Finally, Walton Goggins portrays one the show’s fan favorite characters, The Ghoul. The Ghoul, a nose-less seemingly disintegrating creature is all that is left of a man after being exposed to the radiation of nuclear bombs. Terrifying at first, each episode exposes more of The Ghouls’ background leading some fans to ask themselves, “Is The Ghoul hot?”
If you’re in the mood for a suspenseful, funny, visually stunning, thought provoking yet slightly creepy new show that also happens to be chock full of quirky celebrity cameos, check out Fallout on Amazon Prime.
Resources
Need resources regarding warming 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