The UIC women’s basketball team delivered an electric performance against Northwestern with a 76–71 victory Sunday at Credit Union 1 Arens.

This was the Flames’ first win over a Big Ten school since 2013 and broke a seven-game losing skid to Northwestern, dating back to 2007.

Julia Coleman, a UIC redshirt junior, scored a total of 29 points, a season-best. Flames point guard TuTu Clayton scored 17 points, hitting three-pointers back-to-back in the third quarter.

The match-up between the Flames and Wildcats was highly anticipated. The teams have faced off 31 times, with Northwestern holding a 23–7 record heading into Sunday’s game.

The Flames had a tough start to the season, losing 81–34 at 18th-ranked Ohio State.

The defense held strong in the beginning of the first half but began to slip after halftime. By the fourth quarter, timeouts were called every few minutes. Flames Coach Ashleen Bracey recalled what was said in those timeout talks.

“I think you come out with such a big move like you did, and you know it’s almost like you come out at halftime and you’re like, wait, was that supposed to happen?” Bracey said, “So then I just my message kept being like, keep playing tighter. We’re gonna go get this. Like, what are we gonna do different? Because if we keep playing tight, they’re gonna come back and win this thing.”

UIC built a 21-point halftime lead, but Northwestern cut it down in the second half.

“Eventually, they just loosened up and got back to doing what was working,” Bracey said. “A huge team win.”

AI Disclosure: AI was used to generate art for this essay. Google Gemini Notebook was used to create images and the podcast below.

Title IX continues to break glass ceilings for female athletes across all sports. But what are the costs of equality?

Hockey has historically struggled to accept women in athletic roles. What is hockey without players like Hilary Knight, who staged a walkout at the IIHF World Women’s Championship to advocate for higher pay, or Manon Rheaume, who was the first woman to play in an NHL game in 1992 for the Tampa Bay Lightning?

Year after year, women in hockey prove their excellence, but Title IX hearings and protests threaten to take away the very standards that allow women’s sports to move forward. Similarly, recent pop-culture shifts challenge the legitimacy of women’s dedication to hockey.

Title IX, in relation to women’s sports, refers to the educational amendments made in 1972 to protect women from gender-related inequity in education and athletics, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Title IX protects education and activities that are federally funded at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels. These amendments do not just affect education and sports generally, but more specifically, sexual assault and harassment victims, employees, students, and institutions other than schools, according to Thomson Reuters.

Within the scope of sports, Title IX requires equal opportunities for men’s and women’s sports at all government-funded facilities. While it doesn’t require each team to be identical, it asks for balanced benefits. The balanced benefits and opportunities include the following: equipment and supplies, travel and per diem supplies, coaching and academic tutoring, assignment and compensation of coaches and tutors, locker rooms and practice facilities, medical and training facilities and services, housing and dining facilities and services, publicity and support services, and recruitment of student-athletes, all according to the U.S. Department of Education.

For example, if a men’s collegiate hockey team receives a new locker room, the women’s team must receive the same compensation, though Title IX isn’t as clean as it seems. In the case of the amendment, the locker rooms don’t necessarily have to go up at the same time; the women’s team could wait for years, and it would still be fully legal under the law.

This is where a team could start to fall through the cracks of what’s allowed and what isn’t, and while Title IX amendments affect athletes across the board, they begin to question whether they were ever fully protected.

How Title IX Shortchanges Women's Hockey

In 2017, Title IX was brought up in a lawsuit against the University of North Dakota. Four high school students sued the University for cutting the Women’s Ice Hockey Team. The plaintiffs argued that one of them was promised recruitment to the team upon accepting their offer, while the other three claimed they would attend the university if the team were still there. The problem proposed by the defendants was that the plaintiffs weren’t directly affected by the foreclosure of the Women’s Hockey Team, according to Valley News Live.

This case didn’t sit right with athletes and fans alike. While the men’s team got to continue, the university’s first thing to let go was the women’s team, dimming a good option for female high school hockey players.

The culture around hockey is already demeaning for a growing fanbase and sport. In recent years, the hockey market has grown more popular than any other sport, with a 6.5% compound annual growth rate, according to the Business Research Company. While it’s exciting to see the sport thrive, it forces fans to turn an eye to its darker history.

In Heated Rivalry and Off-Campus, two hockey-romance TV series, an influx of popularity brings new fans into the hockey arena, hoping for a safe, inviting environment for female fans, but they are met with discrimination and questions about their loyalty to hockey. This is met at every level, including the collegiate level.

In recent events, the San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini sat down for an interview with GQ Magazine, where he was asked about female fans’ behavior. Celebrini met the reporter with awkwardness, as reported by GQ Magazine. It has become incredibly normalized to mock and question female sports fans of every level, with a belief that it started at the very root of Title IX and misogyny.

While Title IX protects collegiate female hockey players, beyond that, prospects start to look darker in the face of a professional career worth fighting for. In 2023, the PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey League) was started by Billie Jean King and sponsors. After years of three leagues that separated Olympic legends in women’s hockey, all players were consolidated into six original teams: Minnesota Frost, New York Sirens, Montreal Victorie, Boston Fleet, Toronto Scepres, and Ottawa Charge.

This new league opened doors for players who had lacked the recognition and platform that they deserved for their hockey accolades. Famously, Knight signed onto the Boston Fleet and gave the team a name and spotlight for a new fanbase. Fans were hopeful that, after years of struggle, women’s hockey was finally having its breakthrough, but it could never quite reach the equality they hoped for.

In 2026, the Winter Olympics were held in Italy. The USA Women’s team had a historic, record-breaking run, taking home gold against Canada in a nail-biting game. The next day, the USA Men’s team also competed against Canada and won gold.

On a phone call recorded in the locker room between President Donald Trump and the USA men’s team, Trump was quoted as saying he’ll “have to invite the women” to the white house following both gold medal wins, which received a laugh from the men’s team present, according to People Magazine.

This struck a nerve in fans and athletes alike. The women’s team began receiving apologies from players while the men’s team received criticism from spectators. This caused the women’s team to decline the invitation to the white house while the men’s team attended. Knight was quoted in a PWHL press conference saying, “The joke was distasteful and unfortunate. And the way women are represented, I think it’s a great teaching point,” according to NBC Chicago.

This controversial comment led to a significant spike in viewership of PWHL and women’s collegiate hockey, creating a bad moment that had detrimental effects on support for women’s sports. Since then, the fight for equal women’s hockey, especially at the collegiate level, has been under a large microscope. PWHL games began selling out overnight and breaking attendance records at large arenas, according to CBC Sports.

Pressure on female hockey players begins at the start of their careers, however young they may be, and although Title IX is a perceived safeguard, it hasn’t always had their backs. According to Forbes Magazine, women’s sports are still predominantly coached by men, and while this technically follows the amendment’s rules, it’s more of a downside. Being able to see your coach and leader also be a successful woman is an important reason for female coaches.

Title IX does have tremendous positives. Wifi Talents reports that from 1972 to 2020, women’s participation in the NCAA grew by 200,000 athletes. The amendment not only gave athletes the confidence to continue in their sport but also the support and budget necessary to do so without discrimination.

For goalie Kayla Simonson, hockey has always been a part of her life, as she was born and raised in a hockey family in Minnesota. She played for Delano High School and was named captain her senior year, an oddity for hockey goalies. She attended national-level camps in her youth to hone her craft on the net.

She committed to Augsburg University for the Women’s Ice Hockey Team and entered a whole new level of the competitive sport. In her freshman year, she broke records in the net and quickly set herself up to be recognized as a threat on the ice. She’s beginning her Junior year and hopes to keep her streak of success going.

When asked about budget efforts for the Augsburg Women’s Hockey Team, Simonson had many thoughts.

“You start to feel bad for asking for money,” Simonson said when asked about donation efforts, “It has more to do with financially well-off families than actually money from the school.” While Augsburg continues to work to remain in compliance with Title IX, these efforts aren’t always reflected in players’ daily lives.

Simonson recalls when the Men’s and Women’s locker rooms were built at the same time, with some disparities that technically made them Title IX-approved.

“The men’s locker rooms have more storage, like dry stalls, and they are closer to the doors on the ice,” Simonson said.

While it’s easy for players to be grateful for the opportunity to be equal, it’s easy to notice the details that are lacking for female athletes.

“I will say Augsburg does a good job of making sure athletes get what they need from what I know,” Simonson said. “There are meetings I’m not a part of, so I can’t say I know what’s going on completely.”

While continuing the conversation about disparities between the men’s and women’s teams, Simonson had other thoughts about equipment.

“Men break their hockey sticks at a higher rate, but the men’s team gets more equipment than we do,” Simonson said. “They receive helmets for away and home games, and that’s a small thing, but we notice.”

It could be explained as mentioned earlier: the opportunities and budget do not need to be mirrored exactly, but they have to level out in some way. There may be ways the Women’s Hockey team is receiving less than it deserves, but Simonson notes that it has to make a greater effort to raise money than the men’s team does. She mentioned conversations among the male athletes about not fundraising, but she couldn’t tell if that was entirely true, so she let it slide.

There’s an argument to be made that changes in NIL opportunities are reshaping budgets in collegiate sports. Name, Image, and Likeness, or NIL, allows athletes to make money off their brand and claim ownership of it. This has drastically changed how teams and colleges structure their budgets, considering they can now pay players through the NCAA.

There are fewer safeguards for equality through NIL because it is completely up to the players and less involved with the NCAA. Some players skyrocket to the top while others see virtually no money at all, and it is less dependent on their gender.

The changes in climate and the effects of social media have forced Title IX changes based on new arguments being made, specifically about transgender athletes, but it affects more of the amendments than just the ones that are being targeted. Without athletes being fully trans[parent about the effects of these changes, things will keep happening that break down the walls that Title IX built to protect women.

Without Title IX, women’s teams could lose funding completely, lose coaching positions, face equipment shortages, have no place to practice, and lose their ability to balance academics and sports. The amendments withhold more value than they present.

In conclusion, Title IX has been central to many decisions in women’s sports since its amendments were adopted. Even the smallest changes threaten to tear away years of history and connected fan bases. Women and girls deserve equality and access to the same things as their male athletic counterparts.

With threats to break down the systems within the amendments, it’s now more important than ever to stay educated on these changes and how they affect not only women’s sports but also women’s education and assault safeguards. When one amendment is broken down, the rest come down with it until years of protest and fighting are thrown away by one administrative agenda to break down women’s equality in government-funded institutions, a place where women should never feel threatened.

Women athletes deserve light; they deserve to excel in an accessible environment; and they deserve to feel peace within their respective sports. Continuing Title IX means continuing the integrity of women’s sports.

North Lawndale on the West Side is undergoing gentrification, but the city claims it has a solution.

The project, Missing Middle Infill Housing Initiative, is being adopted in multiple locations in the North Lawndale neighborhood. This project’s goal is to build homes on empty city-owned lots in the neighborhood and will price these homes at 140% of the area median income.

The project will also use up to $150,000 of taxpayer funds for each unit built. This initiative is the city’s way of trying to target North Lawndale residents and make these homes more affordable, keeping longtime residents in rather than pushing them out.

To break down the 140% AMI rule, these homes will be priced based on the area median income of North Lawndale residents multiplied by 140%. According to 2023 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning data, the most recent data available, the area median income of North Lawndale is $37,247.

Multiply that area median income by 140% to get $52,145.80, the approximate yearly income an individual would need in order to qualify for these new homes. This leaves a $15,000 annual income gap for the average North Lawndale residents from being able to afford these new homes that are supposed to be built for them.

The 140% AMI rate for the new homes can be good for citywide prices in terms of the general Chicagoan, which averages $77,902 in yearly income, according to United States Census Bureau 2024 data. But for the North Lawndale residents, with an approximate $37,000 median income, still can’t afford the $52,000 yearly income needed to make in order to afford these new homes with the 140% AMI rate.

According to Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning 2023 data, North Lawndale has a population of 31,244, with African American individuals making up 76.2% of that population and Hispanics making second with 16%. From 2000 to 2023, the total population of North Lawndale has dropped 25.2%. But homes built in 2020 to 2025 are up 80% for year-over-year change, according to Point2Homes data.

This gap brings up bigger issues, like what’s stopping these homes from being bought out by wealthier individuals who can rent out these homes for a much higher price, higher than the average North Lawndale resident can afford? Is this really stopping gentrification or just slowing it down? And is this a good use of Chicago’s taxpayers’ money?

Jenny Leon, a resident of North Lawndale since 2003, said that there isn’t any room for her to buy a home in the neighborhood because of the cost.

Leon mentioned the new restaurants and other businesses that are setting higher price standards for the whole neighborhood.

“The Soul Food Lounge and The Loyalist, the new places charge like crazy prices, making us go out of our way, away from here, to find lower-priced things,” Leon said. “Then those who can afford these crazy things start coming here until they replace us because they are the only ones who can afford it.”

Leon said the Missing Middle Infill Housing Initiative and the 140% AMI rate is a “joke.”

“Who here can afford a new home?” she said. “Let alone one that I can’t afford. I see it as a cover to make it seem like the city cares about what happens, but they know just as much as we do that this is not the solution.

“We are being exterminated with our own money.”

Angela Camacho, a Chicago native who lives on the Southwest Side, said that she isn’t a fan of taxpayer funds contributing to this project.

“Yeah, that’s complete bullshit.” Camacho said. “They always use our money for whatever it is they use it for, things that we can’t use or see or things that don’t make sense and I’m sick of it, it needs to stop.”

Camacho’s suggestion: “Kick everyone out of office or make some kind of punishment for stuff like this so people in office can’t continue this kind of stuff.”

Project managers are working hard to get to the root of the problem in North Lawndale. Creating affordable living also means fostering affordable businesses and community outreach.

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Chicago Community Desk is one of those centers working to provide for communities threatened by gentrification and rising prices. The organization works toward economic prosperity in neighborhoods across Chicago, such as Inglewood and Bronzeville, by building up businesses and supporting local organizations.

Many other organizations are supporting the gradual affordability of North Lawndale, like the Lawndale Christian Developement Corporation. The LCDC is pushing for resource centers built in the middle of North Lawndale to push toward a brighter future for struggling residents. This would also offer opportunities for residents of North Lawndale to apply for housing that is affordable and works along the empty lots as mentioned.

Miranda Sanders, a project manager at Chicago Community Desk, emphasized the importance of community investment in preventing gentrification.

“I think that North Lawndale currently is doing a really good job of that, “says Sanders. “Implementing those tactics because of groups like the one that I talked to you about before LCDC.”

She gave hope to the situation with positive feedback and reassurance to keep going.

“I think that each community within Chicago is trying its best to keep people who have been there for generations there, so I think that they should continue doing what they’re doing,” Sanders said.

Azzi Fudd and Darryn Peterson are two prominent names in Professional Basketball. With March Madness coming up, that also means the WNBA and NBA drafts are quickly approaching, and these two names appear on top.

Azzi Fudd, a fifth-year student at the University of Connecticut, has been on the rise with speculation about her future in the WNBA. A prospect since high school, her skill has only improved as she rises to the top of the ranks.

Darryn Peterson, playing with the Kansas Jayhawks, has had several setbacks in his rookie year but still comes out on top. His career started incredibly young, and he has had eyes on him since an early age.

Explore — Google Trends

The rise in women’s basketball has been no secret in the professional sports sphere, but it’s always a question if it will overshadow men’s sports. According to Google Trends, the two searches for the number one prospects bounce back and forth between the two. With the newly signed collective bargaining agreement in the WNBA, there was a lot of speculation about whether Azzi Fudd would have an average rookie year, but it has now been signed.

Throughout March Madness, there will continue to be a fight for dominance between Azzi Fudd and Darryn Peterson.

The Race to Become a Voice for Illinois

J.B. Pritzker and Darren Bailey are set to go against each other again in the race for Governor. This will be the second time they are seen together on the ballot, and this year Bailey is taking a different approach.

The two have faced adversity throughout their careers, and as Pritzker enters his fifth year as governor of Illinois, Bailey is seeking more ways to separate himself from the current administration to improve his chances.

As seen on Google Trends, there has been fluctuation in both names being searched, but a resurgence has occurred for Darren Bailey. His goal is to target the Cook County voters, as that’s where he loses most of his votes. As a farmer himself, it’s not as difficult to win in the rural areas, but his name is less known in Chicago and often frowned upon.

Explore — Google Trends

Pritzker has dialed in on working families, and that is primarily what his latest campaign has targeted. He hopes to continue to be a tough critic of Donald Trump as well as a leader of the Democratic Governors Association.

You will see J.B. Pritzker and Darren Bailey on the Illinois Governor ballot on November 3, 2026.

If you're looking for a fresh new read, a cool spot to visit, or a good place to meet a friend, you're in the right spot. Chicago offers some of the most innovative bookstores in Illinois, almost too many to choose from. This list narrows it down with some interesting picks in different areas of Chicago.

For a sneak peek, coming in first is Open Books in Pilsen, a diverse neighborhood in Chicago. Open Books offers an incredibly unique experience and is a nonprofit that supports children's literacy programs. At the end of your adventure through this whimsical store, you're given the option to bargain with the price you pay for your books. Too nervous to bargain? Don't worry, they give you a recommended price that's donated to charity.

To dive into more of these locations, click the link in the article.

Gov. Pat Quinn talks about MAP grants at DePaul University. (Photo/Bob Smith)

Editor’s note: This story was originally posted on Dec. 12, 2012 and is housed at RedLineProject.org

By Bob Smith

Gov. Pat Quinn visited DePaul University’s Loop campus on Wednesday to discuss how pension reform is harming the Monetary Award Program (MAP) college scholarships and access to higher education in Illinois.

“This is so important to our state, not only in the past, but certainly now and in the future,” Quinn said. “We want everyone to have the opportunity to go to college that has the ability to go to college.”

MAP grants are need-based college scholarships that allow merit students who are in need across the state and do not need to be repaid by the student. Quinn said that due to cutbacks and having to pay more money in the pension amount, almost 18,000 students lost their MAP grant scholarships this year.

“We do not want anyone denied that opportunity because of finances,” Quinn said. “We can’t afford to lose all the talent that exists, all the ability that exists for higher education to help our economy and to help all of us, because there are financial challenges that deny someone the opportunity to go to community college or a four-year university — public and private — in our state.”

Quinn was joined by several Illinois college students, including DePaul Student Government Association Vice President Casey Clemmons.

“Every year over 5,000 DePaul students receive MAP grants, and just like the students who have already spoken here today, all of these DePaul students rely on this funding in order to continue their college careers,” Clemmons said.

“Because the number of Illinois students eligible to receive MAP is currently increasing, existing funding does not allow the state to assist all the eligible students. As a result, without action by the Illinois state leadership, more DePaul students than ever will see their MAP funding disappear this year and more

DePaul students than ever will be forced to give up their education due to finances.”

More than 150,000 students nationally receive MAP grants each year.

Clemmons told the audience that on Tuesday, DePaul’s SGA unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Illinois general assembly and the governor to ensure the longevity of the MAP program. He read the resolution aloud and presented a copy to Quinn.

Ken Thomas, a University of Illinois Board of Trustees student member, MAP recipient and University of Illinois Chicago student, told how he wouldn’t be where he is today if it wasn’t for the MAP grant.

“My mom, when I was in high school, had to work two jobs just to keep food on the table,” Thomas said, “and if we didn’t have [the] MAP program like we do today, I know that I wouldn’t be where I am today; graduating with a degree, hoping to be a productive member of society.”

Having a productive and functioning society and economy is what Quinn says it’s all about.

“Jobs follow brainpower,” he said. “We want to make sure we have smart people in Illinois. Well-skilled, well-educated students coming out of college with graduate degrees and diplomas so they can create jobs, create new businesses,” he said. “Our goal in Illinois is to have at least 60 percent of the adults in our state with a college degree or college associate degree or career certificate by the year 2025. In order to achieve we have to make sure we have a good scholarship program.”

Clemmons said that in order for that to happen, state legislatures need to reflect upon the question, “What must be done?” and do what’s required.