Study Abroad (but make it virtual), A New Kind of Memorial Day in Chicago

And everybody seems to be playing Animal Crossing

May 26, 2020

Hello dear friends,

Oh how we’ve missed you! It is, in fact, your Monday team — Patsy, Grace and Cam, along with contributors Keira Wingate and Jonathan DeCarlo — back for more fun in the sun? Wait, the sun’s out in Chicago? Wild.

We hope you’re (safely) enjoying the sun this Memorial Day and spending some quality time with your respective quaranTEAMS.

This week we bring you stories of DePaul’s update on student employment, the (hopes) of Chicago’s slow opening and Illinois’ “Gold Star” families.

We would also like to cordially invite you to our annual (now virtual) storytelling event, 14 East Live this Friday May 29 at 7 p.m. on Facebook Live. The theme of this year’s event is “wilderness.” Our writers dive into the wilderness in its many forms like poetry, beauty products, baseball games and relationships. You’re bound to have a fantastic time.

But here we are taking up all your time again! Get reading!

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What’s the latest at DePaul?

It’s that time of the quarter again. That’s right. Teaching evaluations. You know, the constant notifications and emails perpetually reminding us that if we don’t complete them, the university will come for us (not really)? Yeah, those. Let this serve as a kind and gentle reminder that they are due by June 6 at midnight.

Missed out on your study abroad? Or miss going literally anywhere?

Well, on Friday, May 29 from noon to 1 p.m. the DePaul Study Abroad Program will be holding a virtual showcase. The showcase will feature programs for December 2020 and Winter and Winter/Spring 2021. Study abroad advisors and faculty will be available for questions. Students can access the virtual showcase at studyabroad.depaul.edu. There are no study abroad application fees and if programs are canceled, students will receive a full refund.

Update for all student employees: as of July 1, employees will only receive payment for actual hours worked.

In an announcement via Newsline last Friday, the university stated that after the March 16 decision to move the university to remote operation, it was able to pay student employees for regularly scheduled hours, something the university will not be able to maintain throughout the summer.

Also via Newsline, the university announced that it will be extending the work from home policy through at least July 17.

What’s happening in Chicago?

Memorial Day, of course, looked a little different this year. The Lakefront was closed, parking in Humboldt Park was blocked and the annual Memorial Day parade on the North Side was live-streamed.

The holiday comes days before much of Illinois enters Phase 3 of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan on May 29, meaning some non-essential businesses will open and people will be able to gather in groups of 10 or fewer again. Chicago will not open with Phase 3 guidelines on May 29, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot is cautiously optimistic for opening in early June.

In his press conference yesterday, Pritzker released the rules for the non-essential stores that are reopening (like retail, salons, barbershops and offices). The guidelines suggest people continue to work from home as much as possible, stay 6-feet away from others and wear face coverings.

Lightfoot said the city will issue specific rules and guidelines sometime this week and that she “hopes” to open a number of other sectors (like summer programs, youth activities, religious services and gyms) sometime this summer but those guidelines haven’t been developed yet.

Pritzker announced Friday that child care providers can reopen during Phase 3 and Sunday he clarified that included day camps as well, though they’ll have strict capacity limits and guidelines to keep people safe.

Remember last week when we talked about church pastors continuing to hold in-person services despite $500 fines? Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Dr. Allison Arwady sent letters to three church pastors who have been conducting in-person services pledging to increase penalties if they continue. Some of them are still meeting. Lightfoot said Friday she’s working with faith leaders on a plan to safely reopen churches and other places of worship in Chicago. She specifically pushed back on President Donald Trump’s pledge to “override” states where stay-at-home orders prevent religious service calling it “dangerous and foolish.”

Saturday, the Illinois legislature had a historic pandemic-driven special session which ended in overtime Sunday morning. They approved a maintenance-level $40 billion state budget (that relies heavily on federal funds) and made yet another effort to get a Chicago casino off the ground by passing a bill to revamp its tax structure.

Today, Illinois reported its lowest daily death toll since April 19 with 1,713 new cases and 31 additional deaths. As of today, there have been 112,017 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and 4,885 deaths in Illinois.

Other Chicago News:

Illinois unemployment skyrockets to record-high, 1.7 percent higher than the national unemployment rate, by Block Club Chicago’s Mina Bloom and Kelly Bauer
Little Village residents push back on the city’s plans for more demolitions, by Block Club Chicago’s Mauricio Peña
COVID-19 has devastated Chicago’s Latinx community, here’s a dispatch from Wicker Park’s Mexican community, by Borderless Magazine’s Fernando Moreno
Chicago Park District is holding a flower sale at Garfield Park Conservatory, by the Chicago Sun-Times’s Ben Pope

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

It’s Memorial Day, a day when we honor service members who have died. Those currently in the military are finding themselves with questions about diversity and inclusion. While nearly 43 percent of active duty service members are people of color, there’s a stark absence of people of color in the “upper echelons of the military,” from the New York Times’ Helene Cooper.
Travel from Brazil has been restricted by the White House, closing the borders to “most non-U.S. citizens who have been in Brazil within the past 14 days,” by NPR’s Emma Bowman
It’s AP testing season, and things are not running as smoothly as in years past. Students are taking tests from their bedrooms, running into stress and technical issues, from WBEZ’s Susie An. And accusations of child entrapment are rising from Reddit, as a group of students allegedly uncovered a sting operation by the College Board to encourage students to cheat, from the Daily Beast’s Kelly Weill
Fraud is running rampant as contact tracing programs are beginning to recruit potential hires, from Wired’s Lily Hay Newman
The Republican Party is suing California Governor Gavin Newsom after an executive order to send a vote-by-mail ballot to every registered voter in the state for the November elections, by The Hill’s Brandon Conradis and John Bowden
The Sunday edition’s front page of the New York Times made waves online. The Times listed out one thousand names and truncated obituaries of those who have died from the coronavirus outbreak — “An Incalculable Loss.” Read the story here.

And Memorial Day looks a little different for Illinois’ Gold Star families, too…

Memorial Day is often seen as a day for barbecuing and picnics, ushering in an unofficial start to summer. But for many families across the country, and especially across Illinois, Memorial Day retains its original intent — as a day of remembrance for service members who have died while serving in the armed forces.

Families of those who have passed are known as “Gold Star” families — a designation created during World War I, referencing a gold star sewn into a service flag for the family member who served and died.

DePaul alumna Tammy Rotelli — who graduated in ‘08 with a bachelor’s degree and ‘10 with a master’s — is one of the countless nationwide who is a member of a Gold Star family, remembering those they have lost on Memorial Day.

“We come from a military family,” Rotelli said. “So everyone’s served. My dad’s served, my grandparents have served, my cousin served.”

Her brother, Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Burris, died in 2015, while serving overseas with the Crisis Response Element of the Joint Special Operations Task Force on the Arabian Peninsula. This year, remembering his life and service looked a little different.

Rotelli described how her town, Lisle, Illinois, has an annual Memorial Day parade, followed by an ice cream social and a memorial ceremony. But because of social distancing restrictions, many typical celebrations, like parades, ceremonies and honor flights, were cancelled, so people took to their cars instead.

“We had a convoy in Lisle. The mayor, and the board… it was really nice. They went around all of Lisle, hit up all the neighborhoods, so we could practice social distancing but still have time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” Rotelli said.

Convoys are just one of the ways that people are honoring service members and their families. These silent processions, winding through neighborhoods, create the sense of respect and dignity that the families, and their loved ones, deserve.

“It was nice to see that they were commemorating and remembering the people in Lisle who have passed on,” she said.

Cemeteries, like Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, are still open amid social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines. Burris, along with many others of Illinois’ service members, is buried there.

“Typically, Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery has a nice service for everyone, and have really nice memorial spaces too, around, not just the grave sites itself,” Rotelli said. “They have a visitor center. It’s a great resource to learn more. But I do appreciate the small-town memorials — it makes it feel family-like.”

Photo of Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery by Cam Rodriguez, 14 East

Here’s what DePaul Students are tuning into to keep themselves busy in Quarantine

📺 Parker is playing Animal Crossing

📺 Danielle is also playing Animal Crossing

📺 Riley is watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars

📺 Brett is watching Sense8

📺 Taylor has also been playing lots of Animal Crossing

Bored?

Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani’s Love Birds was released on Netflix on May 22
Sing along to the Disney Sing Along episodes on Disney+ and Hulu.
The newest installment of the Hunger Games series came out on May 19. Find it here on Amazon!
The 1975 released their sixth studio album, Notes on a Conditional Form, on May 22. Stream it on Apple Music or Spotify
How are you celebrating your college graduation? Email keirarenee96@gmail.com detailing your graduation party plans with photos!

Overwhelmed?

Check out these free full yoga classes by YogiApproved.com. Healthline reported that multiple studies have confirmed mental and physical benefits of yoga.
Take a break and play insanely fun games on your phone, tablet or laptop with Jackbox TV. You and seven other people can play all at one time.
Relax after a long day of work with one of these 36 cocktail recipes designed for college students.
For a laugh plus much needed knowledge, binge the last few years of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year
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 the Chicago Tribune

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”
Chicago Food Resources

That’s all we’ve got for this week. Don’t forget to tune into 14 East Live this Friday! Until next Monday, find a socially-distant patch of sun to bask in, throw some ice in your bathtub and pretend it’s the lake and, of course, stay safe and healthy.

All love,

Patsy, Grace, Cam, Keira and Jonathan