1-12-22, part 1 of 2

The Pitt News T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s tudent newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh P I t t ne w s.c o m | january12, 2022 | Volume 112 | Issue 54

SPRING WELCOME BACK

Cover by Shruti Talekar | Contributing Editor

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In case you missed it: News from winter break 2021 Natalie Frank News Editor

Despite Pitt’s desolate campus after students flocked home for winter break, there was no shortage of action in the Oakland area. Here's a round-up of news you may have missed over break.

Food service company files lawsuit against Pitt for breach of contract Sodexo Operations LLC, Pitt’s former food service provider, filed a more than $7 million lawsuit against the University in federal court on Dec. 23. The lawsuit claims that Pitt failed to honor its contracts with Sodexo by directing the company to prepare food and have employees ready for Pitt’s entire student body to be back on both the Oakland and Johnstown campuses after spring break in March 2020. The University ultimately sent all students home due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sodexo is suing Pitt on three counts of breach of contract and one count of unjust enrichment. According to the lawsuit, the number of students expected to return to campus in March 2020 changed from 4,000 to 1,500, and then to 200. Due to the lack of knowledge surrounding how many students would be returning to campus, the lawsuit alleges that “Sodexo incurred millions of dollars in additional inventory and labor charges for which [Pitt] has refused to reimburse or otherwise compensate Sodexo, despite numerous requests.”

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the food service company believed Pitt would compensate them for more than $5.5 million in labor and materials costs from stocking the Oakland and Johnstown campuses during March 2020, but the University did not.

A University spokesperson declined The Pitt News’ request to comment on the pending litigation.

According to the suit, Sodexo also signed a contract with Pitt in 2017 to help renovate and improve the dining areas in the Oakland campus. Sodexo’s monetary contributions to the project would total more than $4.8 million paid in three installments over three years. However, Pitt halted the renovation efforts when students shifted to online classes in spring 2020.

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Sodexo also alleged that Pitt owes it $75,000 for an equipment fund, $23,186 in catering deposits and $106,198 in maintenance billing.

Sodexo had been Pitt’s longtime dining contractor before the University started a new contract with Compass Group on July 1, 2020.

Gainey sworn in as first Black mayor of Pittsburgh Ed Gainey was sworn in to serve his first term as mayor of Pittsburgh on Jan. 3. Gainey defeated Republican nominee Tony Moreno

wide email from Provost Ann Cudd, the moves come as worries and cases rise due to the highly transmissible Omicron COVID-19 variant.

Pitt hosts Christmas Day volunteer event after cancellation last year due to COVID-19 Around 200 volunteers gathered on Dec. 25 to help distribute winter gear, meals and presents for those across the City who may not have been able to celebrate as part of “Christmas Day at Pitt.” The Office of Engage-

TPN File Photo

in Pennsylvania’s municipal election on Nov. 2 with about 70% of the vote compared to Moreno’s 29%. Gainey is the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh and his platform includes demilitarizing police equipment and training, mental health reforms, community policing strategies and banning solitary confinement.

Pitt begins spring semester with first two and a half weeks online Pitt announced Dec. 30 that classes will be online for the first two and a half weeks of the spring semester, in addition to implementing a cohort-based arrival program for students living in residence halls starting Jan. 8.

Campus will remain in a shelter-in-place until at least Jan. 26. According to a campus-

ment and Community Affairs led the event, which Pitt cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

OPDC discusses inclusionary zoning, crime and ‘problem properties’ The Oakland Planning and Development Corp. held its monthly “Let’s Talk/ Oakwatch” meeting over Zoom on Dec. 15 to discuss inclusionary zoning — encouraging or requiring developers to make a certain percentage of units affordable to low-income households — in other neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, such as Lawrenceville, and how inclusionary zoning can be implemented in Oakland.

Dave Breingan, executive director of

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Lawrenceville United, provided background information on inclusionary zoning in Lawrenceville and Randy Sargent, a member of the South Oakland Neighborhood Group, discussed displacement and gentrification in Oakland. Attendees also posed questions to the presenters regarding inclusionary zoning in Oakland.

During the Oakwatch portion of the monthly meeting, Elena Zaitsoff, chairperson of Oakwatch, announced that the City Council passed changes to the Residential Parking Permit program discussed at a Nov. 17 OPDC meeting. Lizabeth Gray, neighborhood quality consultant, discussed “problem properties” in Oakland and how they are being managed.

Gray also updated attendees about crime in the Oakland area. Gray said Pitt and City police are starting an arson investigation into a couch that was set on fire after Pitt won the ACC football championship game on Dec. 4.

OPDC discusses The Porch renovations, CMU institutional master plan Owners of The Porch at Schenley Plaza discussed a proposal to cover the restaurant’s outdoor patio, and build a small greenhouse for herbs and vegetables, at an OPDC meeting on Dec. 13. Representatives from nearby Carnegie Mellon University also presented the latest version of the university’s Institutional Master Plan, which it hoped to finalize and submit to the City Planning Commission by the end of December.

City pushing Bates Street upgrades for better access to Hazelwood Green development Local officials are pushing for improvements to Bates Street and additional ramps from Parkway East in Oakland to allow for better access to the Hazelwood Green development. According to the Pittsburgh PostGazette, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is looking to use federal infrastructure funds for two projects in the area — widening Bates Street from two lanes to four between Route 885/Boulevard of the Allies in Oakland and Second Avenue in Hazelwood, as well as adding an eastbound exit and a westbound entrance to the Parkway East from the Bates Street area.

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Pitt provides ASL interpreting services ceiving accommodations in classrooms and public events such as conferences, guest lectures, specialized performances, recognition ceremonies, staff meetings, celebrations, prospective student interviews and employment. Three students utilized these services during the fall semester, according to Culley.

Culley said Pitt partners with outside contractors, including a local community agency, who are all nationally certified interpreters. She also said she was not expecting to see ASL interpreters learn course materials to better assist the student for whom they are interpreting.

"Our interpreters can bridge the communication barrier between hearing and deaf persons by conveying the purpose, thought and spirit of the message," Culley said, "In order to be prepared for classes or events, interpreters spend time preparing for their assignments by studying textbooks or reviewing other course materials."

Leanna Chae Staff Writer

With nearly 28 million Americans experiencing some degree of hearing loss, Pitt provides students with resources — such as live captioning or ASL interpreting — for a better experience in classrooms and other settings.

Leigh Culley, the director of Pitt's Office of Disability Resources and Services, said after approving a student's accommodations, Pitt can assign an interpreter for the student to allow them to fully participate in their studies and other activities.

"For students with approved accommodations, we can assign an ASL interpreter to their class to ensure students have access to the lecture content, allowing them to participate fully in the course," Culley said.

For students who wish to receive ASL accommodations, online request forms can start the process, or the student can contact DRS directly. DRS will then perform an eligibility review for re-

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Pitt’s ASL club poses for a photo. Image courtesy of Rijul Amin

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See ASL on page 19

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Pitt welcomed the class of 2025 as its largest class ever News Editors

Pitt’s class of 2025 — composed of 4,927 students — is not only Pitt’s largest-ever first-year class, but it also broke several demographic records for the University. This year’s class had a record number of applicants, Pennsylvania students, non-resident students as well as number and percent of minority or nonwhite students.

Out of the 4,927 students enrolled in the first-year class, 2,897 are Pennsylvania residents, 1,838 are non-residents and 192 are international students.

These numbers are up compared to the class of 2024, which broke records that year as well.

This class is also made up of 1,556 minority students, which is a decrease from last year’s 1,824 students.

The class of 2025 is spread across all different schools. Approximately 402

students were enrolled in the College of Business and Administration, 3,431 in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, 253 in the School of Computing and Information, 180 in the School of Nursing and 661 in the Swanson School of Engineering.

Kellie Kane, associate vice provost for enrollment and executive director of admissions, said the pandemic had an effect on the large class of 2025.

“The University of Pittsburgh welcomed a larger-than-expected fall 2021 first-year class of 4,927 students to the Pittsburgh campus — a record number as a result of higher-than-projected yield of students from Pennsylvania more than likely due to the uncertainty of the pandemic,” Kane said. “This historic class included a record number of students from Pennsylvania, a record number of non-Pennsylvania students, and the most racially and ethnically diverse class.”

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Fall and spring semester aren’t created equal Jessica Snyder Staff Columnist

Since coming to Pitt in 2019, I haven’t really had a normal semester, so sometimes the fall and spring semesters can seem similar.

But from what I can tell, there are some distinct differences between the two, and I personally find the spring semester to be the better one.

Both semesters have plenty of variables that make them different experiences for students at Pitt. These semesters, often the primary mode for educating full-time students, are inherently unequal. While there are summer and winter break classes offered, students usually opt for a school year that spans from the fall to the spring.

My birthday falls during the spring semester, which highly influences my opinion when deciding which semester is better. I also like the way the seasons slowly transition from winter to spring in the new year, as well as the end of daylight saving time.

Although there is less vacation time in the spring semester, the summer between the fall and spring semesters is well worth the

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Graduates of the class of 2021 at graduation last spring.

Clare Sheedy assistant visual editor

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wait.

Most of these differences come from the simple nature of time and weather. Winter is cold and dark while summer is hot and bright, but both main semesters get a glimpse of long days and sunshine at some point. In the fall semester we have the end of daylight saving time, while the spring semester marks its beginning. Both semesters are largely transitional periods within the year, gradually easing into seasonal extremes in both instances.

Fall and spring semesters both include winter — fall sees the beginning of it and spring sees the end. When looking at the bigger picture of the year, winter usually marks the end of things. As it becomes colder and darker outside, summer activities like The Shady Dog and Jam on Walnut begin to close down, making a reappearance toward the end of the spring semester.

The start of winter also means the end of daylight too. Right now, I am dreaming of days where the sun stays up after 5 p.m.

The spring semester offers a return to longer See Snyder on page 20

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Smaller goals are key for your New Year’s resolution to succeed Livia LaMarca

For The Pitt News The first of the year is often a time for new beginnings and fresh starts. For most people, it’s a time to set goals and change the way we live our lives. Maybe you want to lose weight or gain some muscle mass in the coming months.

Maybe you are vowing to yourself and your parents that your second semester grades will be better than ever before.

Most of us set New Year’s resolutions on each coming first of the year, but unfortunately most of us are going to be unsuccessful. Around 80% of those who set a resolution for the New Year are going to fail by the time February rolls around, if not sooner.

The best way to actually be successful with our New Year's resolutions is to set smaller, more manageable goals.

Let me paint you a picture we’ve all seen before or experienced ourselves.

You’re unhappy with your weight so you decide on Jan. 1 to begin your weight loss journey. You buy some ingredients to start your keto diet and plan out your week to include multiple 90-minute workouts. You convince yourself that 2022 will finally be the year that you’ll lose weight.

Jan. 1st and 2nd were a raging success. But by Jan. 3rd you miss eating regular bread and your legs are too sore to pull yourself from bed. You end up binging on pizza for dinner and not removing yourself from the comfortable couch all day long. You tell yourself it’s okay and decide that 2023 will be your year.

You’ve given up before you’ve even really gotten started.

There was only a slim chance that this massive task was actually going to be successful and, honestly, that’s perfectly okay. Many people overdo it when setting their New Year’s resolutions and get overwhelmed by the work ahead of them. One minor setback or misstep easily becomes the catalyst that makes a

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person give up their aspirations.

It’s very hard to achieve our goals, but it is incredibly easy to give them up.

According to experts, having smaller, more timely goals act as the “rungs of a ladder.” This essentially means that in order to reach your larger aspiration

Berating ourselves consistently is no way to live, nor is it a way to achieve the things we want. It’ll be easier to pick yourself back up and dust yourself off because you had completed goals in the past and you can complete even more once you move past this minor failure.

Promiti Debi senior staff illustrator at the top of the ladder, you need to go step by step on each rung in order to get there. You can’t just jump straight to the top and expect to be successful.

The larger resolutions that people create for themselves easily become intimidating because oftentimes it feels as if everything needs to be accomplished all at once. Instead of playing the long game where every little slip up feels like the end of the world, creating smaller steps for yourself lets you see success much quicker and leads to you becoming more confident in yourself and what you have done thus far.

Constantly tearing ourselves down over one mistake is detrimental to our resolutions as well as our mental health.

One cheat day or bad test grade is not the end of the world — you can simply just set a new goal for yourself and move on like nothing had happened.

When we see how successful we can be when completing these smaller, much more manageable goals, it becomes significantly easier to complete all the rest.

For example, it will take months to see your accomplishments on an end-ofsemester report card, but you can vow to get a good grade on the test that’s coming up next week.

Another benefit of setting smaller goals for yourself throughout the year is that you can actively see your progress and how far you have come since Jan. 1. Looking back at 2022 a year from

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now, you’ll be able to see the successes of every single little goal you had made for yourself. If you had set just one goal or resolution, you’re probably going to spend your next December feeling like a failure and vowing to try again in January, only for the cycle to begin again.

Even if you are one of the rare few who do accomplish their New Year’s resolutions, looking back on the year and seeing that you completed 30+ goals will probably feel a lot more fulfilling than completing just the one.

Planning on losing pounds is a daunting task that would leave anyone struggling. If you plan to work out five days this week and have a goal to lose five pounds by the end of the month, you are more likely to see success while still working toward your original goal, just in a much more manageable way.

So this time around, please do not feel bad if your New Year’s resolutions don’t work out — only a handful of people can stick to large goals. Now that you know the secret to success, simply try again. Start today and start small. By the end of 2022, you will be able to see just how much progress you have made and just how successful you have been over the course of the year.

Livia LaMarca mostly writes about American politics and pop culture. Write to her at lll60@pitt.edu.

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We can’t have a repeat of last semester India Krug

Senior Staff Columnist Last semester was hard. I’m worn out.

Even writing this column is exhausting, I’m writing at a speed of about three sentences per hour. As Pitt’s campus tried to return to a semblance of normalcy last fall, I fought burnout and flinched when I heard coughs in my 100-person lecture. During finals season, my roommates and I burned the midnight oil, passing each other dejected looks over our laptop screens.

What made last semester so hard? Students spent the past year and a half adapting to online learning and then had to scramble to keep up with the rigors of in-person instruction. An in-person education requires much more focus and energy, and after surviving years of a pandemic, our wells run dry faster.

My professors stayed supportive and dedicated last semester even when they were just as exhausted. They worked to keep both their students at school and families at home safe. I think everyone in the Pitt community is feeling the effects of this pandemic, and we’re bracing for year three.

Students depended on the capacities of individual professors rather than a universal, administration-supported effort to provide an online option when it came to missing class due to COVID-19 exposure or illness. This can be especially difficult for immunocompromised, disabled and chronically ill members of our school community.

Across the country, there’s been an overwhelming sense that we are all expected to just “get back to work,” further indicated by the CDC cutting the recommended quarantine time in half. Even in the Pitt community, we are all grappling with the idea that

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this pandemic is here to stay for awhile — but that doesn’t mean we should be cutting corners when it comes to safety.

There needs to be an online option throughout the entire semester. It can be as simple as professors recording class or uploading slides so students can participate asynchronously. To enter into this semester without one just seems like it would be an

mitigation efforts, there needs to be an accessible and universal online option. If there’s not, we run the risk of students not testing and coming to class anyway.

The United States just set a record high for COVID-19 cases, and breakthrough infections have become more frequent. The newest variant of concern, Omicron, appears to be less severe than Delta,

Thalia Sifnakis staff illustrator error.

If Pitt’s administration wants students to get tested every time they feel under the weather, there can’t be a looming threat of falling behind in class. To continue strong

but spreads faster than other strains, and we don’t know how long this variant will last. This means that Pitt’s biggest problem could very well be lots of students who have mild infections, but still need to quarantine.

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Even if a case is mild for someone, it might not be mild to those they spread it to.

That brings me to my next point — the Omicron symptoms themselves pose a concern. They include sore throat, nasal congestion, dry cough, headache and fatigue. Many college students will tell you that we feel a little bit gross a lot of the time, and COVID-19 can be indiscernible from a cold.

That’s why having an online option is important in efforts to encourage frequent testing.

There are things about last semester we can bring with us into the new year. We learned to lean on one another, and many of my classes found solace in discussions about why we were scared, stressed or drained. The Pitt faculty voted to unionize in October, which will allow them to collectively bargain for things such as improved compensation and working conditions.

The administration mandated vaccines

by Dec. 6, which was a vital step in protecting public health. COVID-19 vaccines work to prevent serious infection, and hospitalization and case rates on campus stayed low.

But I think we can do better this semester, and that starts with some form of an online option for classes and other campus activities.

I know that this is not what a lot of college students probably want to hear. We’ve already missed out on milestones and lost a big chunk of our college careers to this virus.

But what we’ve gained back this academic year — school clubs, lectures and, let’s be honest, social lives — can only be preserved if we have an online option available.

India is The Pitt News’ informed rebel girl.

Write to her at ilk18@pitt.edu or follow her on Twitter @indialarson_, but you better like her tweets.

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most of your friends are just people you spend time with riod in my life, I learned a valuable lesson — most of my friends were not actual friends, but instead just the people I chose to spend my time with. Most of the people we surround ourselves with do not genuinely care about us or our wellbeing, at least where it extends beyond their own. In actuality, they only care about having someone to spend time with or to relate to.

Being someone’s friend is taking the time to consider their wants and needs, and occasionally putting those needs before your own. It’s being there for them when it’s not fun anymore. It’s working to withstand the hardship because you care. It’s growing together, sharing together, maintaining the relationship together. This is an idea that we could all benefit from acknowledging, as we resume our old relationships, build new ones and evaluate which are worth our time and effort.

Sarah Liez

Staff Columnist In my senior year of high school, amid college admissions anxiety and clearly defined cliques, I learned a difficult lesson.

Most of my friends were not actually my friends.

After social upheaval in my senior year, I decided to distance myself from my friend group. As I isolated myself and dealt with personal issues, I realized that these people were no longer interested in me or my friendship. They were my “best friends” throughout all of high school. Yet as soon as the relationships grew rocky and I withdrew into myself — fighting anxiety, depression and painful rumors — they were not willing to work to understand what I was going through, stand up for me in school or fight for the friendships we had maintained for so long.

Though this was a difficult, draining pe-

Two friends embrace outside of Bouquet Gardens in 2016. TPN File Photo

See Liez on page 21

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Pittsburgh Restaurant Week highlights local restaurants, celebrates new year Anna Ligorio

Senior Staff Writer After finishing a bowl of pasta bolognese at The Porch at Schenley this week, you might find that your total is an unusually specific amount — $20.22.

The $20.22 price represents the new year, 2022. As a part of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week, it’s an annual tradition for restaurants to reflect the new year in their pricing, according to Pittsburgh Restaurant Week founder and director Brian McCollum.

“The pricing for menus this season is anywhere from $20.22 to $40.22,” McCollum said. “The 22 cents comes from the year of the event, so it goes up a penny every year— not bad considering inflation.”

Pittsburgh Restaurant Week is a biannual event, taking place in both January and August. This winter’s week takes

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place from Jan. 10 to 16, with some restaurants extending it until Jan. 23.

Restaurant Week isn’t limited to restaurants inside Pittsburgh itself, so restaurants located both inside the City and in the surrounding area are all welcome to participate. Participating restaurants include The Porch at Schenley, The Commoner, Fujiya Ramen and Condado Tacos.

Enjoying Restaurant Week at these locations is as simple as going to the restaurant and trying something on their featured menu, according to McCollum.

“Restaurant Week isn’t a ticketed event,” McCollum said. “There's nothing you have to subscribe to or buy other than making a reservation and going to participate.”

According to McCollum, instead of designing Restaurant Week as a discountPittsburgh Restaurant Week is a biannual event, taking place in both January ed event, it’s a week for restaurants to creand August. This winter’s week takes place from Jan. 10 to 16.

Image via Pittsburgh Restaurant Week See Restaurant on page 22

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Pittsburgh festivals to check out this spring Grace Hemcher Staff Writer

Did someone say unlimited chocolate and wine? Pittsburgh has you covered. With the new year upon us, it's time to start searching for the next iconic festival experience this spring.

So, whether you’re 21 and in need of a night out with friends, a bookworm looking to network with creative minds from all over Pittsburgh or an art enthusiast searching for the next best piece of original decor, Pittsburgh festivals have you covered.

Chocolate, Wine and Whiskey Festival For those 21 and over, a day of chocolate indulgence with unlimited wine and whiskey is the perfect way to kick off the 2022 festival season. This festival offers cookies, cakes, donuts, premium spirits and more for a $45 pre-purchased entry ticket.

The Chocolate, Wine and Whiskey Festival is happening Feb. 12 from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Rivers Casino. Tickets are on sale now with a general admission and VIP option. All guests will be given unlimited wine, whiskey and chocolate samples, and access to the fire-roasted s’mores bar. For an additional $25, a VIP ticket will get you rare whiskey samples, a private area for socializing and one-hour early access.

So, if you’re feeling savory cheese and wine or rich dark chocolate and whiskey, grab a couple of friends, split an Uber and enjoy a day of decadence on the North Shore.

Pittsburgh Winter Beer Fest Tickets are already on sale for this year's Pittsburgh Winter Beer Festival, which features live music, food trucks and unlimited beer samples from more than 125 breweries. Craft beer connoisseurs 21 and over will be in their element for this epic two-night event.

The festival will take place on Feb. 25 and 26 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown. Early admission tickets are $55, regular admission is $45 and Special Connoisseur tickets are $90. The event also offers designated driver tickets for $25 and will give out free water and soda, plus a $5 food voucher to each designated driver. All participating guests will be given a souvenir mug for unlimited sampling and are guaranteed to leave happy.

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Pittsburgh Arts & Crafts Spring Fever Festival For the past 30 years, the region's biggest arts and craft festival has attracted tens of thousands of visitors from all over Pennsylvania. This artlovers’ paradise is back for another year and is expecting the return of a whopping 180 craft, fabric, jewelry, home decor and snack booths.

The Pittsburgh Arts & Crafts Spring Fever Festival is selling tickets for the March 1820 event at the nearby Monroeville Convention Center. Adult tickets are $6, tickets for children 12-15 are $3 and children under 12 have free admission. The outdoor market will be held rain or shine and free parking is available for all guests.

Come out and support local Pittsburgh artists while enjoying nostalgic treats like smooth fudge, flavored kettle corn and assorted homemade chocolates.

Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books If you’re a writer, publisher or just your average bookworm, looking to connect with other lovers of literature from all different genres, look no further!

The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is bringing together community members interested in the rich culture of Pittsburgh literature and showcasing award-winning writers from the area in this year's festival, such as Sharon Flake and Toi Derricotte.

The first-annual event is free admission and will be held on May 14 at a to-be-determined location in East Liberty. It will include book readings, discussions and signings hosted by authors who are from or write about our great City.

Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival Calling all foodies! Dozens of delicious food trucks from the area are in one place once again this spring for a whole weekend in May. And if delicious food wasn’t enough, the festival will also feature live music, local craft beer and wine and kid-friendly activities.

The Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival is happening all weekend from May 27-29. The 27th is “Family Fun Night” from 5 to 9 p.m. and will have a variety of outdoor activities for kids of all ages — such as relay races, face painting and balloon art. The events on the 28th and 29th are from noon to 9 p.m and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Bring your family and friends for all the street food you could ever wish for and save your bucks for the trucks, as admission is free for everyone.

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Best TikTok accounts, trends of 2021 Diana Velasquez Culture Editor

Did I scroll back through my liked and favorited videos on my TikTok account just to make this article? Perhaps, and maybe I need to reevaluate my life choices considering how many videos I’ve watched this year, but at least we all get an article out of it.

Everyone’s TikTok For You page looks a little different, and mine tends to skew less toward the Addison Rae’s of the world and more to videos ranking Marvel characters by their zodiac signs — but there are some trends that all of us have come upon one way or another. Here is a summary of some of my personal favorites that graced the phone screens of millions around the world last year.

OlympicTok Simone Biles is TIME magazine’s athlete of the year, as she very well deserves. 2021’s Olympics was one for the books, particularly because Biles prioritized her mental health over competing. But the 2021 Olympics were different for another reason, and we have TikTok to thank for that.

Olympians were more accessible to us than ever, as OlympicTok came on the rise during summer 2021. There were all kinds of videos from the Olympics — a day in the life at the Olympic Village, rating food at the Olympic dining hall, event recaps set to catchy music and even the auspicious cardboard bed rumor. Suni Lee showing off her gold medal in gymnastics is one of my favorites.

I loved every minute of it, and some of my favorite videos of the year are from OlympicTok. Personally, I’d like to shout out the USA Olympic Equestrian team. I could watch their horses run and jump forever.

BookTok and the rise of The Song of Achilles I’m going to be a little pretentious here and pull out both my English and Classics degrees to plug this book along with BookTok. If you read fiction at all or have any interest in sobbing on your bed at 3 a.m. surrounded by a nest of used tissues, read Madeline Miller’s “The Song of Achilles,” which thanks to BookTok, became a New York Times bestseller in 2021.

The Song of Achilles came out in 2011,

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but its popularity on BookTok shot the book sales through the roof. Miller told The New York Times that she was speechless about the book’s resurgence in popularity on TikTok, which she didn’t even know existed.

BookTok’s influence over the publishing industry is fascinating, and it’s actually changing how publishing companies market and produce their books. With all of us still in a quasi-quarantine state, it’s no surprise that many people have taken to reading to escape. And whether you’re curling up with the latest YA obsession or a 22-book-long erotica series on sexy blue aliens, BookTok has recommendations for you.

Hank Green’s various TikTok shenanigans Hey, do y’all remember that guy who taught us the Krebs cycle in like 11th grade on YouTube and who was basically the reason you passed your AP Biology test? Well, he’s a TikTok star now.

I’m partially kidding, Hank Green has done a lot more in his life than make videos for us on TikTok. He and his brother John Green, the bestselling author of “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Paper Towns,” created Crash Course — an educational YouTube channel with 13 million subscribers. Hank Green has also written environmental blogs for National Geographic and NPR. Recently though, he’s telling us not to eat grass — among other things. Hank Green made his online presence more casual using his TikTok account. Usually, he responds to people tagging him in weird science videos — asking questions like “What’s the evolutionary purpose of asshair?” It’s both horrifying and fascinating to see what people will ask him, and Hank seems more unhinged everyday as our questions get more outlandish. Maybe we should give him a break.

Duolingo As TikTok skyrockets in usage, big brands and companies are taking to the app as well. You can usually spot them by their cringey promotional videos and the blue checkmark next to their name. But there are a few company accounts that I and the rest of TikTok actually adore, and Duolingo beats every other corporate intern on the

app by a mile.

Duolingo, the world’s leading language learning app and a Pittsburgh-based company, already has a reputation on the internet for its usage as a meme. Duolingo makes its own original content on TikTok and is happy to participate in any popular trends or audios. Usually, the video features someone running around or posing in the iconic Duolingo bird suit. And those empty eyes are terrifying to behold.

Just don’t tell them about your three missed days of Spanish lessons, or you might find a homicidal green owl outside your window tonight.

Fictional character thirst traps If you haven’t lingered over the thirst trap of a fictional character on TikTok this year then you’re missing out on some of

the simplest joys of the internet. These videos all have millions of views and some of y’all aren’t being honest enough with what you’re doing on this app.

This isn’t exactly a 2021 trend, but this trend has been going strong on the app since it launched. Whether you’re simping over an edit of Tom Hiddleston posing as the dastardly devious Loki or Timothée Chalamet walking the sands of Arrakis as one Paul Atreides, there is a variety of ThirstToks to pick from.

To end on a nod to 2021, Andrew Garfield dominated this trend in December as the white boy of the month, with his role in the new Spider-Man movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Finally, Garfield garnered the respect he deserved for his tenure as the web-slinger.

Screenshot via @usequestrian on TikTok

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column

pitt football’s 2021 season will serve as a launching pad for years to come Frankie Richetti Staff Writer

The 2021 Pitt football season was magical and one that players and fans alike will never forget.

Even a devastating 31-21 loss to Michigan State in the Peach Bowl doesn’t take away from the Panthers’ historic season.

Fifth-year senior quarterback Kenny Pickett said before returning for a final season that he came back to win a championship — and he and the Panthers did just that. But the 2021 season left an impact on the program that could shape it for years to come.

The effects of the Panthers’ 11-win, ACC Championship season isn’t just making waves regionally, but across the college football landscape. With Pickett opting to forego entering the NFL Draft following last season for one more year, it’s increasingly likely that other quarterbacks across the nation will follow suit in hopes of improving their draft stock.

The Panthers’ best season in 40 years has opened a window of success to build on. Given the era of the transfer portal, Pitt knew it had the chance to continue to build on this season through adding to the roster externally.

Among quarterbacks in the portal, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi had former USC Trojan Kedon Slovis atop of his wish list. Luckily for Narduzzi, the feeling was mutual, as Slovis announced his intentions to transfer to Pitt in December.

“We were looking for the best available,” Narduzzi said. “And we were able to get our No. 1 guy.”

Slovis cited the culture that Narduzzi built at Pitt as one of the main reasons he signed to Pitt.

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“The culture and identity that Coach Narduzzi has created is everything I want to be a part of,” Slovis said.

The tightknit culture that Narduzzi and his staff have built has always been apparent. The Panthers are typically among the lowest in the FBS in terms of players transferring out of the

son, it came as a shock to outsiders. But clearly this decision stemmed from the love they have for one another — and the fact that there’s unfinished business in 2022.

When fans look back on this season, Pickett’s many accomplishments will likely be the first thought, but there’s plenty of memories to hold

Head football coach Pat Narduzzi and the team run out of the tunnel ahead of Pitt’s football game vs. UNC on Nov. 11.

Hannah Wilson senior staff photographer program. Pickett said before the season that the bond between him and his teammates was like none other.

“This is the tightest team I’ve been on,” Pickett said.

When the entirety of the starting offensive line decided they would return for another sea-

onto for years to come.

Senior tight end Lucas Krull’s game-winning touchdown against North Carolina in overtime.

Sophomore wide receiver Jordan Addison’s four-touchdown, game-breaking performance against Virginia to clinch the ACC Coastal Division. Junior linebacker SirVocea Dennis’ pick six

January, 12 2022

against Clemson. The fake slide and the defensive explosion in the ACC Title game.

These, and many more moments, encapsulated the 2021 season. But the biggest takeaway is that it has laid the foundation for something bigger. With Slovis in the fold already, Panther fans’ expectations for 2022 are already high. Slovis mentioned his excitement to throw to Addison in his letter in The Players Tribune.

“Getting to throw the ball to the guy who just won the Biletnikoff??” Slovis said. “That’s something you don’t pass up.”

After first-year All-American Konata Mumpfield committed to Pitt this past Sunday, it’s reasonable to believe the sky's the limit. The Panthers wide receiver room is arguably the best in the country on paper after hauling in The Athletic’s No. 7 player in the entire transfer portal.

It’s even more impressive that Narduzzi is reeling in talent of this magnitude without a current offensive coordinator or wide receivers coach. Shortly after Pitt’s ACC championship victory over Wake Forest, former offensive coordinator Mark Whipple headed to Nebraska.

Many speculated that Whipple’s potential replacement was already on the staff in 2021 receivers coach Brennan Marion. Marion elevated the Panthers from having the most drops in the entire country in 2020 to one of the most prolific groups in the country. But Marion left to coach Texas’ wide receivers after the Peach Bowl.

Narduzzi chalked up Marion’s departure to good coaching.

“When you have good coaches, people come after them,” Narduzzi said.

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Pitt baseball looks to rebuild after emotional 2021 campaign Zack Gibney

Senior Staff Writer After his team’s surprising omission from the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Pitt baseball head coach Mike Bell spoke about the disappointing conclusion to a season that, just a few weeks prior, seemed so promising. In the press conference, Bell reflected on a memorable campaign, but also lamented that his team wouldn’t have a chance to prove their worth in the national tournament.

Bell alluded to the fact that the team, after dropping eight of their final nine contests, hadn’t played well enough down the stretch to comfortably make their way into the NCAA Tournament. While many believed Pitt still should have made the tournament, the team’s late-season woes ultimately gave the committee a decision to make.

“If you look at our body of work, [our last 10-15 games] is the one thing you can really hold against us,” Bell said. “You never know when you put it in someone else’s hands.”

Bell and the Panthers will now look to recalibrate as they head into the 2022 season — one with no shortage of questions to be answered.

Several fixtures of last year’s team have moved on from collegiate ball into the next chapter of their lives. Former second baseman David Yanni left Pittsburgh after five seasons with the program and last year’s ace pitcher Mitch Myers will play baseball professionally after the Oakland Athletics selected him in the MLB Draft.

Pitt lost several players to the transfer portal, including catchers Riley Wash and Jackson Phinney, along with bullpen piece Chase Smith.

Other notable subtractions from last year’s team include outfielder Nico Popa, a .313 hitter who appeared in all 43 games last season, and catcher Ramon Padilla, whose graduation makes for a total of three departing backstops for a team that saw little consistency at the position a season ago.

One of the names expected to fill that hole is junior catcher Tatem Levins — a transfer from La Salle who is primed to play a pivotal role in the catching rotation. Levins, a career .318 hitter during his collegiate career, enters his first season at Pitt brimming with excitement about the upcoming season.

Levins said he felt welcomed from the mo-

ment he stepped on campus. He said while moving from La Salle to Pitt has been a cultural adjustment, he hasn’t regretted it for a second and is eager to get the season underway.

“It has blown away my expectations and I couldn’t be happier with the transition so far,” Levins said. “The camaraderie of all the players and everyone buying in — everyone is friends with everyone."

While Levins and others are beginning their Pitt careers, much of Pitt’s core from last season is returning with the hope of making amends for the shortcomings of 2021. One of these foundational players, junior infielder Sky Duff, returns after a season during which he finished fifth in the ACC in batting average. Duff said last year can be a reference point for what the program is trying to build heading into 2022.

“It was pretty shocking in the moment when we didn’t get [into the NCAA Tournament],” Duff said. “But at the same time, we have tried to look at the positives from the year and really just build off of it.”

And while the turnover may be concerning for some, Duff feels the transition will be an easy one. He agreed with Levins’ evaluation of

how well the team has gelled, even in just a few short months together.

“We did have a lot of guys graduate out of the program last year, but that core group is still there,” Duff said. “And with the new editions we’ve had, it has gone really smoothly."

Coach Bell also noted the new-look Panthers made a seamless transition from last year due to returning players, such as Duff who made the newcomers feel right at home.

“I thought the core guys that returned from last year did a great job of welcoming [the incoming players],” Bell said. “These guys were really open-arms to each other within their position groups and as a team.”

During fall exhibitions and practices, Bell said the veteran presence has also been critical when it comes to onfield success. The core showed newcomers the ropes, and Bell suggested this will help them develop and find success quickly.

“There’s no doubt when you’ve been there and done it before, the how-to allows you to relate that to others that have not,” Bell said.

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Young Pitt softball striving to make 2022 postseason Alexander Ganias Staff Writer

After playing back-to-back truncated seasons, Pitt softball is making its final preparations for 2022, in the hopes that a full season is in its sights. The Panthers are coming off a rather pedestrian 17-29 record in 2021 and 11th-place finish in the ACC. In a league where the top 10 teams advanced to the conference tournament, Pitt just missed the cut. But this season, there’s a wrinkle in the Panthers’ quest for their first postseason berth since 2018, when they lost the championship game to Florida State on a walk-off home run. They will host this May’s ACC Softball tournament for the first time in school history.

Head coach Jodi Hermanek explained that this announcement was huge for the program, but that hosting the tournament didn’t add extra incentive to do well this season.

“We’re excited to show off Vartabedian Field,” Hermanek said. “But I think no matter where it’s played we have enough incentive to make it to the tournament no matter what.”

Several players believe that hosting the

tournament adds an incentive for doing well this season. Sophomore outfielder Cami Compson wants to play postseason softball in front of the Panther home crowd. led the team in batting average (.325) and on-base percentage (.406) and added 11 home runs. She also earned a spot on the All-ACC Third Team and All-ACC Freshman Team.

And while Compson was the only Pitt player to take home all-conference honors that season, junior outfielder EC Taylor wasn’t far behind her in terms of offensive production. The Florida transfer batted .315 and accounted for 27 of the team’s 55 stolen bases in 2021. Senior infielder Sarah Seamans also cashed in for the Panthers with a team-leading 13 home runs. Those three returning bats will be crucial for the Panthers, who lost four players from their starting lineup — seniors Hunter Levesque, Morgan Batesole, Lolo Sanchez and graduate student Walker Barbee — to graduation last year.

With big holes to fill, Hermanek thinks she has a myriad of options to choose from.

“We’re learning who we are as an offense,” Hermanek said. “I loved the amount of depth

we had [this fall]. We have more speed on our roster, and we just have some very capable athletes.”

The Panthers played several scrimmages in the fall, facing off against Seton Hill, Robert Morris, Fairmont State and St. Francis University. Redshirt first-year pitcher Dani Drogemuller struck out seven batters against the Colonials and the Falcons, and 11 batters in the first of two games against the Red Flash.

She won three games in four starts in 2021 while tossing a team-best 4.05 ERA, before a foot injury cut her season short.

But the right-hander believes she can come back stronger this season.

“Obviously staying healthy is number one,” Drogemuller said. “But I have to make sure I’m ready to be that leader and to come back stronger, especially for the new players on our team.”

Pitt brought in two first-year pitchers, Maya Johnson and Kendall Brown, to bolster its rotation. Johnson, a southpaw from Ohio, set numerous single-season records at St. Joseph Academy in Cleveland, including a staggering 1.04 ERA in her sophomore

year. Brown was a utility player at Phoenixville High School in Pennsylvania and gave up only eight home runs in her sophomore year, which was the second-best in the state.

The newcomers will look to help the Panthers’ pitching, which was a cause for concern last season. Their 5.20 combined ERA was almost a full run higher than the next-highest, Georgia Tech, who posted a 4.59 mark. They were also the only team in the conference to give up more than 200 earned runs (220), and an opponent’s batting average higher than .300 (.311). Pitt ranked dead-last in all three of those categories.

Every pitcher had a WHIP of more than 1.5 and an ERA north of four. Senior pitcher Abby Edwards had the most innings pitched out of the returning staff with 94.1, but she walked 41 batters while striking out 50. Junior Becca Miller had more walks (7) than appearances (6) in 2021. Drogemuller cited walks as one of the main factors behind the pitching staff ’s struggles.

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