DePaulia
The
Volume #107 | Issue #7 | Oct. 24, 2022 | depauliaonline.com
MAYA OCLASSEN | THE DEPAULIA
By Ruchi Nawathe Nation & World Editor
Student body ghosted by CTA trains and buses
DePaul junior Kalixta Drinkard stood waiting for the Brown Line at the Fullerton station before class. She started her journey 50 minutes before her class began. The train arrival times on the screen at the station were unavailable, but Drinkard had little hope that the train would arrive in time. “The other day… I was almost late to my journalism class going to the Loop campus,” Drinkard said. “I had to message my teacher. I told her I might be late. She said that other kids were saying the same thing because they were taking the train also.” According to Google Maps, taking the Brown Line from the Lincoln Park campus to the Loop campus takes approximately 24 minutes. There are multiple factors contributing to delays and absences in CTA transit, but the leading cause is a shortage of CTA operators. “The unreliability of overall transit services is directly correlated with
a shortage of bus and rail operators – a nationwide issue not only impacting public transit agencies like the CTA, but also other industries requiring commercial drivers, such as school buses, delivery services and other commercial entities,” CTA Media, who did not specify a spokesperson, told The DePaulia. According to CTA Media, the coronavirus pandemic is another factor impacting CTA service, since CTA operators are occasionally calling in sick to take care of themselves or their families. “As of mid-October, there are 741 rail operators, which is 108 fewer than the start of the pandemic,” CTA Media said. “On the bus side, there are 3,152 full-time bus operators as well as 79 part-time. Currently, CTA needs approximately 500 additional bus operators to help fulfill current scheduling levels.” Since starting at DePaul, sophomore Isabel Riley has used the CTA almost daily. “I’ve definitely noticed [delays] getting worse over the time I’ve lived in Chicago,”
See CTA, page 5
DePaul looks to invest in women’s athletics By Erin Henze Asst. Photo Editor
DePaul University made history several weeks ago when it announced its plan to implement the “Women’s Athletics Advancement Fee.” This initiative will add $1 to the face value of any men’s basketball admission ticket, with the profit to be distributed amongst the university’s female athletic programs. DePaul is the first known Division I university to unveil such a plan. “I think it’s an excellent idea,” said Frederick Mitchell, DePaul professor and award-winning Chicago Tribune sports writer. “I think it could put pressure on other universities to do the same thing and say, ‘DePaul is doing this, so why aren’t we doing it?’ I think it has the potential to enhance the profile of the entire athletic department at DePaul.” The idea for the new initiative sprung up during the Athletic Department’s discussion about the 50th anniversary of Title IX and how the milestone could be used as an opportunity to highlight the need for funding in women’s athletics. “Once the idea was established and we
knew what we were going to do, it really didn’t matter to me what other people thought because I knew at that juncture that this was going to be something that really helps bring some attention to women’s athletics,” DePaul Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevy said. “There was a really good discussion about how we wanted to do things because we didn’t want it to look like it was coming from a PR standpoint.” Peevy and the rest of the athletic department hope that this new initiative will garner a profit of at least $50,000 to be distributed among the nine women’s athletic teams at DePaul. “I think we came up with that strategic number by determining what was feasible and what would be a goal for us to reach for,” said Kassidy Brown, senior associate Athletics Director of Marketing & Communications. “Once we are able to get the funds we will start looking at which areas, which scholarships, and which ways we can best use it for our female student-athletes at DePaul.” DePaul has one of the lowest athletic revenues in the Big East, reporting only $29 million in the 2020-2021 season per the U.S. Department of Education. This
See ATHLETICS, page 18
MARY GRACE BLAKE | THE DEPAULIA
Senior guard Kierra Collier brings the ball up against St. Johns on Jan. 28 2022. Women’s basketball is one of nine programs that the new ticket fee initiative hopes to benefit.