Impact-Your-World

Multimedia #4

Diego Figueroa, a junior elementary education student, goes over his notes for his morning class. On the right side of the folder is a sketch of a barn - Figueroa said it was part of a lesson plan he was creating.

Sophomore Erica Bell is all smiles as she rides the trolley to DePaul Homecoming 2009. The dance, All Aboard the Demon Express, occurred February 28 at 8 PM and was held at Union Station. 

Final Cramming

DePaul student, Chris A. Schink, sits in the downtown campus library stresses while trying to get some last minute cramming in for a test in his night class tonight

Street Performers Make Me Feel Good About My Future

I work off the Chicago Red Line stop and there are frequent street performers (or in this case "L" performers) that i see often. This guy happened to be jamming out to some Bob Dylan when i was leaving work the other week so i thought i would take a quick photo before jumping on the "L".

I know that this might seem somewhat irreverent, but seeing this guy performing for money made me feel a lot better about my future after college. I'm not sure if he makes a living as a street performer, but i know a lot of them do. 

Being an artist is a tough life, especially if you want to pursue it as a career. I have several friends who went to DePaul for acting and are now really struggling to make it through these tough times. Its unfortunate, but it really comes down to them not having any "backup" skills to fall back on in times like these. 

Anyway, if you think your future is looking bleak, take a look at this photograph for a minute. You'll realize that at least you don't have it this bad.

Junior Sarah Wettlaufer texts friends on her way back to her apartment from the Lincoln Park campus. Sarah's orginally from Buffalo, NY and is looking forward to going home for spring break to spend time with her friends.

Pro-crastinatin'

DePaul freshman Alex Staliones (right) and her friend Joe Agliata, a freshman at Triton College, sit in the sunny Brownstone's Annex in the Student Center, hard at work on their matching Mac computers. Staliones, an Art History major, has upcoming finals in her math, writing, and focal point classes. Which final is she studying for here? ...Neither. She's Facebooking!

Open Mic Night-Multimedia Project

Students watch on as Ben Graves and Adam Shaffer play at one of DePaul’s open mic nights. Ben and Adam kept the Lincoln Park crowd entertained and got them clapping to their music.

Watch-out. Crime at the Library.

I am a regular at the Richardson Library, since I can't get any work done at my apartment, due to my distracting roommates. So I was worried when I noticed a bright yellow sign that caught my attention, warning students about recent theft at the library...

The sign was a "safety alert" letting students know that the theft rate at the library has increased and to be careful where you are leaving your stuff. Imagine this situation if you will... You just get to the library get all comfortable, set-up all your books, and then of course you have to go to the bathroom. What are you to do? You can't just pack all your stuff back up just to leave for a minute, but then again you can't just leave it there, someone could steal it. It's a real hassle. And to be honest I haven't come up with a good solution to solve this problem, unless you are with someone you can trust. I used to feel safe leaving my bag unattended for a moment, but after seeing this sign I was not going to risk it. Not only that but I found a couple other warnings about theft around the library. Here are a couple other warning signs I spotted (that aren't normally there).

This sign was located at a desk, warning students not to leave their laptops unattended.

The other sign I saw was this clever one about keeping an "eye" on your "iPod". They are obviously trying to warn students not to leave important belonging unattended. So watch your stuff when you are at the library!

Study Break

Finals are upon us. The library is more packed than ever, Brownstones provides extended hours and students hole up in their dorm rooms. Even though it only lasts a week (two weeks if you count the studying), we are constantly looking for an escape.

 I think DePaul is doing a pretty good job of providing that escape. Last night, Tuesday, motivational speaker/ dancer Judson Laipply performed at the Student Center. Below is a video of his act (from youtube) in case you missed it and would like a study break right now.

Later on last night, as seen in my multimedia assignment, was a late-night pancake fix at Seton Hall. R.A. Sarah Keep set up an assembly line of pancakes in a student kitchen/lounge complete with the grill, batter and of course chocolate chips. The event began at 11:30 pm, just when students are really hitting the books.  Below is another picture from that event.

 So if you aren’t the studying type, check out the many DePaul-sponsored events that encourage students to not study! Everybody needs a break… 

Multimedia project #4

Pancakes at midnight? With finals approaching, Seton Hall R.A. Sarah Keep gives her residents a tasty break from studying. Willing to use any excuse to not study, students lined up out the door. 

Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it ouuut. 1, 2.

A blogger called Lawrence Lessig writes about the fight to remix.

One of his readers, Stephen Goldmeier, 24, claims he is absolutely not studying, as he catches up on the Lessig Blog, sips coffee beside his iPod, and his cyberlaw text. An absolute must read if you're a second-year DePaul law student like Stephen, specializing in Intellectual Property Law. iBook or lawbook; which learning tool would you choose?

Metro-Ed.

One of this university's main attributes is its location within Chicago.   Often times when asked, students, faculty, and administration will say that "Chicago is our campus."   This generally refers to all of the fantastic resources available to us:  

• Fogged over Lake Michigan as a background to a student film
  
• Chicago Board of Trade internships for number crunchers on the edge 
  
• High profile visitors, like Angela Bassett, who will be honored later this spring by the Theater school. 
• Claiming territory with the President of the United States 

The list is endless.   

There's another population pounding the pavement on our urban campus who might not know as many fanstastic resources.  Some do not speak to us; and some do not even make eye contact.   Any of us might easily ask a good samaritan for a dollar in a pinch, but those requests are well rehearsed for this group.  

 Some ask, and some merely suggest their need by the bite-marked styrofoam Dunkin Donuts cup held out in hopes of collecting lunch money.  

This is William, whose birthday is today.   He tells me he is 35, and spells out his birthdate, "Eleven - twenty-two - seventy-three."    

Even after mistaking the date, I still handed out 94 cents as a thanks for the message of "God's Love," bundled in a bunch of compliments which preceded his plea for L fare.  

Sitting closeby enough to observe drool on his chin, William represents countless homeless people who stroll around "our campus;" - DePaul the university, or DePaul the Vincentian agency of social change;  one might wonder if this school has a reputation for kindness amongst those who successfully panhandle outside our doors from day-to-day. 

Adventures in Music Theory

Kyle Geib, 20, and a sophomore here at DePaul, works on a composition with a banjo and a guitar for his Music Theory class. Students had to create an original song, write the composition out in sheet music, and perform it for the class as a final project.

Multimedia Picture

Dan McMahon, 22, a Journalism student at DePaul, performs as a guest bass player with the band Coventry at the Elk Grove Community Center.

Circle of Trust

There's a new student organization on campus called Circle of Trust. Inspired by the example set by the Gordie Foundation, Circle of Trust is dedicated to changing college culture in terms of the way we consume alcohol. According to Circle of Trust's Facebook group, "Through the Gordie Foundation’s creative merchandising and marketing, college students have the power to spread the message of responsible drinking, moderation, compassion for others, and intolerance of hazing."

The Gordie Foundation was created in memory of Gordie Bailey, a freshman at the University of Colorado at Boulder who died in 2004 at the Chi Psi fraternity house on "bid night." According to the Gordie Foundation's website, on this night Gordie and 26 other pledges went into the woods and were told to drink four handles of whiskey and six bottles of wine around a fire in half an hour. Gordie was intoxicated when they returned to the fraternity house, and as he slept on the couch, his fraternity brothers wrote on his body. According to the Gordie Foundation's website, he "slept it off" for 10 hours before he was found dead, face down on the floor, and no one called for help.

This is the kind of tragic and dangerous story that more students should know about before they make irresponsible drinking decisions. There is little you can do to stop a group of 27 year old college freshmen from drinking alcohol; there is plenty you can do to prevent them from drinking ten bottles of alcohol in half an hour.

The Circle of Trust strives to help educate DePaul students about the dangers of binge drinking, alcohol poisoning, hazing, and the side affects of irresponsible drinking such as sexual assault, violence, loss of self control, criminal activity, and the negative health and academic consequences. There are Circle of Trust chapters in colleges and high schools all across the country, and they are all working to make sure that what happened to Gordie will not happen again.

We've all heard the hazing horror stories from high schools and colleges across the country. Let's make sure that this never happens to a DePaul student.

i saw the sign.

Spotted: Belden & Sheffield Ave.

This contradictory message of a heart and cross bones stuck on a sign outside of the Lincoln Park Student Center acts as a sign for onlookers, almost warning that love is dangerous.  The heart's skull face has one black eye and one swollen eye.  I saw the sign and it gave me a black eye?

Chi-city, I'm coming home again.

DePaul University students just dance the night away in Union Station for their annual Homecoming on February 28, 2009.  The event was held in the historic Great Room of the station.

C3POlitical

Spotted: Fullerton & Sheffield Ave.

I spotted this sticker on a street sign by the Sheffield Parking Garage.  The quality of the photograph is not the best, but in person the wording was difficult to read.  It appears to be some kind of political statement, I am not sure who the figure is, it does almost resemble Harrison Ford?

DePaul Student at Work

Alexis Famiano, 24, a DePaul Education major, goes to work at Chicago Bagel Authority on 953 W. Armitage Avenue. Famiano works part-time at Chicago Bagel Authority, which specializes in steamed bagel sandwiches. She has been an employee there for over three years.