Investigation Reveals Blackhawks Covered Up Sexual Assault
By: Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer
*Content warning: this article discusses sexual assault and homophobic harassment*
In May 2021, former Chicago Blackhawks player, Kyle Beach, filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks organization over the alleged mishandling of his sexual assault at the hands of Brad Aldrich, a former Blackhawks video coach. The lawsuit claims that the Blackhawks knew about Aldrich’s predatory behavior but failed to investigate, report, or take punitive action. The Blackhawks hired law firm Jenner and Block to open an independent investigation into those allegations. The report that resulted from the investigation was made public on October 26th. The investigation and subsequent report confirmed the allegations made by Beach. Aldrich sexually assaulted Beach (Beach recently identified himself, but is known as John Doe in the report) and when the team leadership was made aware, they chose to forgo any punitive actions, allowing Aldrich to resign and move on from the Blackhawks without a fuss.
Things You Can Do for Sustainability Day
By Labina Tasfia, Staff Writer
Sustainability can be defined as the balance between environment, equity and economy. In the context of the 21st century, it means providing for the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to survive and meet their needs. Sustainability Day was created to remind the community of the importance of caring for the environment and the steps to do so. This day is celebrated every year on the last Wednesday of October. So, with the current state the world is in right now, I wanted to make a list of some things we could do to make our lives more sustainable and take a small step towards saving our environment. Because, as Robert Swan had said, “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone will save it.”
Public Transportation is Better, and Not Just for the Environment
By: Madelynn Loring, Staff Writer
In its most recent data, the CDC reported that the third leading cause of death in the United States are accidents, primarily those involving motor vehicles. As distressing a figure as this is, it does not even take into consideration the life altering injuries, disruptions of families, and financial ruin that can result from car accidents. Even though our situation with motor vehicle accidents has improved as time has progressed, they still cause immense grief and damage to our society and community as a whole and our current efforts are no longer doing enough. Although programs for increased driver education and campaigns against drunk and distracted driving have had an undoubtedly positive effect, if we want to create new strides in preventing and lessening the impacts of car accidents and injuries, we need to take new measures to prevent destruction on the road. While this problem is never going to have a single, simple solution, regional governments and communities can take action right now by improving public transportation systems so that people do not have to drive in the first place.
A February Freeze to Remember
By: Alaina Valdespino, Staff Writer & Photographer
Growing up I used to ask Santa Clause every year for snow. I had been watching Christmas movies for as long as I could remember and all I wanted was to have a snowball fight with my siblings. It was a silly wish seeing as it doesn’t even snow this far south, being in San Antonio, Texas; so, no surprise when it never came true.
Flash forward to this year, February 14-18, my long-lost childhood dream not only came true, but it came to be a 4-day long reality that I can honestly say was nothing like I imagined it to be.