Spring Break: Road Trip, Baby!

In my final year of grad school, I realized something important...this is the last year that I will ever be able to have a spring break.

Unlike most of my friends in college and high school, I never got to have the fun trip to Cancun or to the Bahamas. Don’t feel too bad for me, going home to Los Angeles was always nice, but this time around I wanted a trip. Not just any trip though, a road trip.

The Plan: Travel from Chicago, Ill. down to Memphis, Tenn.; New Orleans, La.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; and then back to Chi-town.



The Company: My grad school partner in crime, Kim Dunbar. We’ve known each other since our first class in grad school, but didn’t become good friends until over the summer after our dear mutual friend Christiana Johns left Chicago. It seemed only fitting that we traveled down to see the girl who brought us together.

The Challenge: According to our AAA TripTik, Kim and I will be spending a total of 41 hours and 16 minutes in my car (see The Ride). The question is not if, but WHEN will we want to kill each other? As a novice road tripper, I’d be dumb not to expect it…though I sincerely hope it won’t happen.


The Ride: Old Faithful, a 2002 emerald green Volvo S60. It got it’s name because despite a fire extinguisher exploding underneath it and ruining the engine, it managed to get me from Los Angeles to Chicago in 2008. Since then, it’s overcome numerous problems like flat tires, engine failure, and ignition problems like a champ. Chevy may be like a Rock, but Old Faithful is like titanium (take that Chevy!).

We’ll leave this Friday, March 18, in the afternoon, for the first leg of our journey, an 8-hour drive to Memphis, Tenn. I seriously cannot wait!

Please follow along on my Wordpress Blog at aclarkcorner.wordpress.com.

Friends of the Poor Walk

Society of St. Vincent DePaul Chicago President, Michael Harrington joined students this morning for the second annual Friends of the poor walk. Here's my report on how this year's was different than last year's.



Friends of the Poor Walk is just one in a series of events held at DePaul to celebrate St. Vincent's Week. Tomorrow is the last day in the series with Sunday Mass followed by an ice cream social. YUM!

A New Beginning

Where to begin? It has been a long time since I posted! Yet I see that I have managed to build a very small audience! Thank you for subscribing and I apologize for the lack of posts.

Initially when I began this blog it was only for class and to gain credit. Since the conclusion of that class back in March and an internship with the Chicago Tribune, I have gone back and forth on whether or not to keep this blog.

After some soul searching over the past month I found that the pros for keeping the blog outweigh the cons. I make a promise to you right now that I will be working hard to increase the frequency of the posts while working on the overall format and design of the blog.

The blog will continue to focus on DePaul Events and Stories. I will work hard to sprinkle in a few outside stories when I can though. You can also expect to see more video as well because I tend to focus mainly on broadcast journalism. However, that will not decrease the amount of written posts. It’s simply a way for me to express where my passion lies…and that is providing visual information to my audience. The blog serves the overwhelming call in my life which is to provide information that will help people. It's a great opportunity to have the cake and eat it too with AClarkCorner. For now, those people will be mainly DePaul students but I look forward to branching out at any opportunity.

I will also be making changes and playing around with the look, profile, etc. You can help me with the renovation of AClarkCorner by commenting and letting me know what you like and don’t like. Obviously, I’ll be designing something that fits my personality but I also want that “something,” to be user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing for you.

It’s good to be back.

Ally Clark

Final Critique

This is the final critique of the online news source I chose to evaluate for an Online Journalism at DePaul University. It was intended for educational purposes and the views expressed are my own.

I filmed this on my own in my bedroom where I knew it would be quite. The lighting is not the best and the auto focus was not cooperating. Other than those two issues, I would love to hear your comments and thoughts!

UPDATE: Flipped Car, Sheffeild Ave. & Fullerton Ave

Here’s an update about the car flipped over on Sheffield last Friday that Liza covered(http://tinyurl.com/crmogt). I interviewed two DePaul Students who witnessed the accident and helped the person out of the flipped car. Louis McGill and Jeremy Applebaum (both seniors) were driving north on Sheffield and were stopped at the light on Fullerton when the accident happened.

Here is what they saw: According to both McGill and Applebaum, the car clipped an SUV parked in front of the Post Office on Sheffield. The clip was just enough force to flip the car over. The two students pulled over to help the gentleman out of the flipped car. McGill commented that a mild concussion and a few scratches were the only injuries on the gentleman. McGill then proceeded to call 911 for the gentleman. From there, both McGill and Applebaum waited with the man for help to arrive. McGill mentioned that while they were watching the police handle the scene, the owner of the SUV came out of the Post Office and asked police if it was OK for her to move her SUV, oblivious to the situation. No damage was done to the SUV. McGill and Applebaum waited around until they knew authorities had the situation under control.

Neither the gentleman nor the SUV owner was a DePaul Student. Also, both McGill and Applebaum mentioned that the SUV was not parked illegally or in any way that would have caused the accident. In addition, both students also said that it didn’t look like the gentleman who clipped the car was on his cell phone. It just appeared to be a very bad accident with a very lucky outcome for the gentleman who survived it. Kudos to McGill and Applebaum for helping out and being heroes in the process.

I took all the photos with my cell phone while walking to work that day.

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), Penny, and Reina have also never been to a formal. 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.

Wonderland on Stage

This weekend I took in the DePaul Theater School production of “Alice in Wonderland.” Being a fan of the famous Lewis Carroll books, I was curious to see it would translate on stage…I was not disappointed. The production even managed to effectively pull off scenes where Alice is falling through the rabbit hole and when she shrinks to fit into the door. This adaptation of Lewis’ work followed closer to his book rather than the Disney adaptation and there were some characters that only an avid fan of the books would know. Each actor added their own stamp to their characters further bring the production to life. From the Duchess who had everyone bouncing, to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb who rapped the rhyme “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” to Humpty Dumpy taking a big fall, each imaginary character made wonderland seem real. The sets were elaborate and versatile while the costumes added a modern twist to the characters. I highly recommend going to see it and it’s great for kids too. The last performance will be this Saturday followed by an ice cream social with the cast for an additional charge.

In general, tickets for any of the theater school productions can be bought online or at the Merle Reskin Theater Box Office at 60 E. Balbo, downtown. I highly recommend going to the box office a few days before the performance to get your tickets. Online tickets are $10 for adults, however at the box office student tickets are offered at $6 with a student ID. Also, the seating is general so going early helps you get a great seat. You can get more information on tickets and upcoming productions at http://theatreschool.depaul.edu/showmain.php