Saturday, February 28, 2009

DePaul Homecoming: My First Formal

This photo essay is dedicated to Ching Wen Hsiao and her friends from Taiwan. DePaul Homecoming was the first and only formal they have ever attended. I was happy to be able to capture Ching Wen's process of getting ready to her sheer pleasure of being at the dance.

Ching Wen lays out her dress in her bedroom to begin getting ready. She had her dress altered to fit her perfectly and spent the entire day before shopping for the perfect accessories.




She puts on her eyeliner in her little personal mirror on her desk. She prefers to do her make-up in the privacy of her room where she can watch her favorite shows on her laptop.

Ching Wen jokes with her friend Reina in Cortelyou Commons while waiting for the Trolley to take them to Union Station where the dance is being held.

Ching Wen is only a Trolley ride away from her first dance. She is anxious and excited as she gets on the bus with her friends.

Ching Wen dances with her friends. Her friends Rita (featured left), Penny, and Reina have also never been to a formal ever. They are all enjoying the festivities.


Ching Wen gives a happy smile to the end of a great night. After a night of eating good food, laughing with friends, and dancing, she climbs the stair to get her coat and board the Trolley back to DePaul.


You can tell that the night was fun for Ching Wen and her friends. DAB once again put on a beautiful and well planned evening for students. It really was a successful and enjoyable event. DePaul online will continue to bring more stories about the night so continue to stop by for all the recaps.

Students at a Display Table in DePaul

L - R   Meaghan Kern and Allison Cunningham at the 11th floor of the Depaul central in the loop displaying tickets and information for the upcoming re-union. Both are members of DePaul Activities Board (DAB.)
Tickets for the re-union are still on sale, they say, but anyone interested in going has to get the ticket before the event scheduled for today, Saturday, February 28 at 8pm through Sunday, March 1 until 12am at the Chicago Union Station on 320 S. Canal. More information from DAB reads as follows:

"Tickets are $15 each and go on sale February 16th (Limit 2 per ID). Tickets are available on the first floor of the Lincoln Park Student Center and on the 11th Floor of the DePaul Center in the Loop daily from 10am-5pm. Please remember to bring 2 forms of Picture ID if you wish to purchase alcoholic beverages at the dance. (Limit 3 drinks per person) Trolleys will be departing from Cortelyou Commons and the Loop Campus to transport students to and from the dance."
L - R: Ran Torrenueva and Laurice Thomas of Pi Sigma Epsilon displaying the society's bake sale table on the 11th floor of the DePaul Central in the loop. 
The table was filled with candies, rice crisps sprinkled with m&m cholocate candies, brownies and candy sticks. Every item cost a dollar.

Business time


These are the crafty hands of "60 percent junior, 40% sophomore" Mike Land, 27, majoring in entrepreneurial business, and boy, was he ever. At 6:00 p.m. on a Friday night, the 27th of February to be exact, Mike was stalled in Brownstones waiting for a document from his business partner, who was divesting interest in their latest start-up LLC.

He waits "either for 5 minutes or 15 minutes," he said, before 45 more minutes actually passed, and explains what eager, risk-taking adventures landed him here at DePaul. This seeming inaction was very much Mike in action. He wants all to know, "I don't make [much]; it's not as lucrative as it may appear."


Juggling real-life negotiations with a Jewish Experiences paper he must write, he's on hinge over a phone call from his partner. Mike explains the provisional patent they wrote for a mobile-based idea but it fell short without a $75,000 investor. Five guys spent six months nailing hammers into this deal, even sourcing an Indian manufacturer who'd quoted manageable development costs.



The deal is falling apart, and it's not the first time. Mike dove into the business world out of two years schoolin' prepping for the study of Oriental medicine, but he booked it into the business world with a partner he met a few years back.

"It's not so bad," Mike said, remembering his first two business launches. "The first ended in a police sting, and the second, I'm suing the guy." Much ado for a student who is still cranking out college papers amongst the other Brownstones dwellers, DePaul students trying to make a dent in the world. Mike said that now during the shaken economy is the best time for innovative products to hit the market. And with that, he will recycle his LLC into an "e-" service. He thinks this one will be lucky number four.

Rain, Rain, Go Away.

It was raining cats and dogs on Thursday, February 26, and where did students choose to go to hide from the down pour? A lot chose the Student Center.

While looking down from the second floor it would seem that the student center was nearly empty, this could not have been more wrong. Students were trying to hide from the rain while also getting some of their work done.
Brownstones was packed with people fighting over and racing to computers to check emails, work on projects and maybe get a little facebook action done as well.
Debbie Hurly, a Sophomore, sits at a table in Brownstones reading for her Art History class. She said she figures that she should get some amount of work done while she is unwilling to step outside.
Juniors, Alex Way and Ben Rich, are among the lucky ones who score a computer to use to pass the time. They both agree that computers are hot commodities and will not be giving them up any time soon.

Dinner with a track star

Luke Rygh, 21, a public policy major who lives on the Lincoln Park campus, is a member of DePaul's track team. Currently, Rygh is unable to practice with the team because he got a stress fracture on his right foot while running the track at the Ray Meyer on February 17.


Although he is unable to practice with his teammates, Rygh still joins them in the student center for dinner. Here, Rygh reads the front page of the DePaulia and then discusses the mercury incident with his friends.


The track team practices daily for about four hours, then they meet in the main cafeteria of the student center to eat and talk--a tradition that is known to last two hours in itself! The lengthy discussions linger long after Rygh and his friends finish their food.


Rygh and his teammates talk about everything from athletics, to academics, to team gossip. Because Rygh and his teammates practice together every day, they have grown to know each other extremely well. Their conversations are full of jokes and laughter, the signatures of sincere friendship.


Though the track team is currently in between indoor and outdoor seasons, the outdoor season officially begins during spring break. The team will fly to Texas for their first meet, but Rygh will not be able to join them because of his injury. For now, he must concentrate on his ice treatments and appointments with the "stim machine", which sends an electric pulse through Rygh's foot to contract the muscles and bind together the damaged tissue.

Friday, February 27, 2009

A Day in the Life of a CTI Student.

For my 3rd multimedia project, I followed around freshman CTI student, Konrad Bafia. Since I am in the school communication, my goal for this project was to see what the life of a student was like as a CTI student.

In this picture, Konrad sits in the back of class following along with the lecture being given by his teacher in his introduction to visual design class.

After a long class, Konrad takes a break before going to his next class, by making a visit to the nearest snack machine to suppress his hunger.

After his final class Konrad makes a trip to the cage with a friend so that she can return a camera that she rented out earlier that week.

After a long hard day of classes, Konrad relaxes with a trip to the 9th floor of the CDM building to partake in a view online video games with a few other students who were in there.

After being downtown all day, Konrad finally departs on the redline back to Lincoln park to get his car, where he parked it earlier that morning.

After follow Konrad around and getting an idea of what his day is like as a CTI student, I found that our days are not to different, with the exception of the tremendous difference in the kinds of classes we take. While I spend most of my time writing and learning about the skills of journalism, he learns about graphic designing and the art of creating video games. He also has the opportunity to enjoy the various video game labs downtown, which as a communications student, I do not have access to.

Flipped Car, Sheffield Avenue & Fullerton Avenue

Friday, February 27th, 5:15pm

On Friday, around 5pm I was walking north on Sheffield and noticed a traffic accident.  A car was completely flipped over in the center of the street.  It must have happened a few hours prior, because only one police car was present and there was no sign of the people involved.

The other vehicle that appeared to be involved was a black range rover, which had a damaged driver's side headlight and rear.  I was unable to ask the only police officer questions because he was directing traffic.

same message, but some assembly required.

Spotted: Student Center, Lincoln Park Campus



This was originally a flip book I found in the student center.  I attempted to film it with the intent to upload, but it did not even last thirty seconds and it was hard to view.  So, I took a picture of each page (without tearing it apart,) uploaded the photos, cropped and edited them, added them to iMovie, and eventually added audio.  Not exactly the simplicity of the artist's original work, but a sweet message overall.     

Multimedia Profile: Kassandra Hendrixson

For my multimedia project, I followed DePaul sophomore Kassandra Hendrixson. On top of a full load of Communications classes, Kassandra nannies full-time to pay for her tuition. "It can be pretty stressful sometimes", she says, "and I feel like I don't have as much time for myself, but I guess that's just part of being an adult".


"I get up every morning at 9 and head to class in Lincoln Park", Kassandra tells me. During the brief ride from her Lakeview apartment to campus on the Halsted bus, Kassandra typically reads the Red Eye or listens to her iPod.


During her mid-morning break between classes, Kassandra will often grab coffee with a friend or get a snack. Not today though: "I guess I forgot about my philosophy quiz, so I need to study". This probably looks like one of those staged "just open the book and pretend to study pictures". I assure you, it is not!


Finally, Kassandra has earned a break. Between philosophy class and her job, Kassandra gets Jambalaya at Yats Cajun Creole. As she enjoys her meal, she texts her friends.


Every week, Kassandra takes young Pierce to swimming lessons at the Ray Meyer Fitness Center at DePaul. "Swimming lessons are a nice change of pace... he's not a very well-behaved child..." Kassie says, laughing.


After a long day of classes and work, Kassandra is finally home. "Sometimes it's tough being me, but it's not that bad. I'm getting an education, and I make pretty decent money".

Photo Profile: Jen Briggs


Professor Jennifer Briggs meet with her American Sign Language class Friday afternoon in the lobby of McGaw Hall. The class of five students does not even have its own classroom.


Briggs, or Jen to her students, is deaf. Her name sign is a bent first finger on the chin, representing the dimple in her chin.

 Thumbs up? Actually, in ASL the ‘thumbs up’ sign we are familiar with means ‘ten.’ The class is working on a chapter on measurements.

Two of the ASL students, Sam Mowry (left) and Emily Kline, sign to Briggs (not pictured). Notice the motion in Kline’s hand, while Mowry is holding a sign.

Briggs responds to the questions. Here, she is signing the word ‘describe.’ She is telling them to describe a favorite vacation for their next homework assignment. The class meets mostly online and submits video projects through YouTube. 

Journalist Roundtable

On Thursday February 26 in room 314 of the DePaul student center there was a journalist roundtable sponsored by the DePaul Humanities center.  On the panel was a group of well known journalists who have covered Barack Obama on the road to the White House including Laura S. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor and Fellow of the DePaul Humanities Center, and a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.  Students, staff, and the public asked questions about how it was to cover the rise of President Obama. 

 

All of the journalists on the panel said that President Obama utilized the young voters incredibly well which cant be said of previous presidential candidates.  Plus the journalists noted that President Obama was very organized and calculated throughout his campaign and the reason he one the presidency was thanks to an amazing game plan.  Obama mania was a common phrase used throughout the discussion.  After the discussion was over there was a reception directly outside of room 314 where food and refreshments were provided and the public had the chance to talk to the panel members in a one on one basis.  It is amazing to see DePaul bringing prominent journalists to the campus so students and staff can learn from their experiences.

Profiling a DePaul Professor: Erik Peterson

For our third assignment I profiled one of my professors.  Erik Peterson is the professor in my journalism class, writing for broadcast.  The first photo was taken in the middle of one of our classes.  Professor Peterson was taking questions from students on one of their upcoming writing assignments.

After our class ended I followed Professor Peterson to his office on DePaul’s loop campus.  When we arrived in his office he proceeded to enter grades into his computer for the students in my journalism class.

One of my fellow students from my writing for broadcast class came in to go over her rough draft of an upcoming assignment with Professor Peterson.  Professor Peterson has told me many times that he gets the most out of teaching when he can work one on one with students on their work.

I decided to let Professor Peterson look at my writing assignment and out came the red pen.  I had to make a few improvements but the advice he gave me was helpful as always and I think ill get a good grade on the assignment when I turn the final draft in.

It was time for me to leave when Professor Peterson had to make some important business calls. Professor Peterson is a professor who wants to help student with their writing in any way possible and it can be seen through my profile of him

POST SECRET AT DEPAUL


postsecret spills at DePaul?
Photo from postsecret.blogspot.com
Hit Facebook up as soon as you can
The creator of PostSecret will speak at DePaul's Athletic Center (on Sheffield, between Belden and Webster) on Tuesday, April 28 from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Awesome, DePaul Activities Board!





Don't be confused about "attending" the event via Facebook. Tickets must be obtained to attend. According to DAB, they will be sold at a ticket table in the student centers of the Loop and LPC campuses two weeks prior to the event. They will be $5 for the general public, payable by cash or check, and free to DePaul students.

The agenda goes, 7:00 PM - Doors, 7:30 PM - Presentation with Q&A, 9:00 PM - Book Signing!

To contact DAB, call 773.325.7446 or e-mail dab@depaul.edu. With 234 guests confirmed thus far, this event will be delighting many more. Excitement is building already, as these Facebook event comments suggest:

Lindsey Nicole Goins wrote
at 12:20pm
i about screamed when i saw they were coming on postsecret.com!!

im so excited!
Mia Amélie Robidoux wrote
at 9:42am
FINALLY
Katie VanKampen wrote
at 9:32am
it's on my birthday! definitely the best way to spend it:)
Annie Stitt wrote
at 9:22am
yessss.

Mr. PostSecret is on a nationwide college tour promoting his work and explaining it.
It's best you just visit PostSecret to get it.