1-19-17

The Pitt News

Why Matt Canada’s no big loss: Page 8

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | january 19, 2017 | Volume 107| Issue 105

Thanks, Obama TPN Columnists’ tributes to the 44th president on his last day Page 4

What’s with the crows?

Amanda Reed

Assistant News Editor

As junior Virginia Lefever walked out of her Vertebrate Morphology lab in Langley Hall on a Tuesday night last semester, she heard what sounded like the onset of a minor rainstorm.

But it wasn’t raindrops plunking onto the pavement. It was crow feces.

“My friends and I liked to joke about needing an umbrella around campus. That’s what you have to do to get through [the crows],” Lefever, a biology and political science major, said.

Although campus looked like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” this past semester, the reason behind the crow’s prolonged stay — which was much longer than in years past — is no longer a mystery, thanks to work by the President Barack Obama leaves the stage after speaking at The White House Frontiers at Carnegie Mellon University facilities management department and the Nain October. Jordan Mondell CONTRIBUTING EDITOR tional Aviary.

If you still see crows on campus now, National Aviary ornithologist — meaning a bird expert — Bob Mulvihill says not to fret, because they will return to their breeding areas soon, and only stop in Pittsburgh for the non-breeding season Th ought, ” a talk the University of Pittsburgh’s Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies in Rebecca Peters during the winter.

Graduate School of Public Health sponsored California in 1960.

Staff Writer “Most of the crows they have here are from Wednesday evening.

But according to the younger Salk, his faPeter Salk knows the last step to eradicatthe farther north, and they kind of have attached According to Caitlin McCullough, events ther knew more than research would be necesing polio: teamwork. to the crows who live here, but at the first sign coordinator for Student Aff airs, the series prosary to eradicate the virus.

His father, Jonas Salk, the inventor of the of spring, a lot of the crows begin to break up at vides real-life application of theories that stu“Cooperation brings us results.

But he injected polio vaccine, began imagining an inthat point, ” he said. dents in Pitt’s medical school learn in class by knew we have to deal with the issues that arise stitute dedicated to investigating experimental Crows in a city may seem rare — it’s noisy providing historical context to relevant issues from man’s relationship to man, ” Salk said. medicine in 1954, two years after the creation and fi lled with cars and airplanes that could hit of public health.

Salk spoke to 150 students, medical profesof the first sionals and Pittsburghers about achieving popolio vaccine in 1952. Jonas founded the See Salk on page 2 See Crows on page 2 lio eradication as part of the series “Food for

Son of Salk: Cooperation will end polio

News

Crows on Camera

See Online

Crows, pg. 1

them — but Mulvihill, who assisted facilities in solving the crow problem, said crows can be city slickers too. According to Mulvihill, the birds congregate in urban areas because they’re surrounded by their feathered friends, plentiful food, lots of artificial lighting and a plethora of buildings to keep them warm.

They usually stay up north near southern Ontario and parts of New England and, depending on what places they consider “safe,” only migrate a certain distance south, making Pittsburgh a prime vacation spot for crows — they know the area is safe from word of mouth, or, rather, beak.

“These communal roosts are not only safer for individual crows, but serve as a crow version of Facebook,” Mulvihill said. “It’s where they hear about what’s going on from everybody, it’s where they find out about feeding and roosting opportunities. Whatever conversations they’re having, it’s happening in those roosts.”

According to Assistant Vice Chancellor for Operations and Maintenance Dan Fisher, Pitt last had a crow problem three years ago, with crows roosting in the trees and covering the sidewalks with their feces.

Salk, pg. 1 “The eradication of polio is still a goal of ours as a society and planet,” McCullough said. “Although it’s not as prevalent, the plight of one disease is relevant no matter what.”

During the event, Salk presented the plight and prevalence of poliovirus, ending with the challenges that keep eradication a goal, rather than a reality, such as lack of education and cultural barriers.

“We’ve muddled through using two imperfect vaccines in harmony to reach near eradication,” Salk said. “What’s missing now is the political, religious, cultural dimension that will allow us to accomplish eradication in a smooth fashion.”

Cindy Bryce, associate dean of Student Affairs, said Peter Salk spoke as a visiting professor in the department of infectious diseases and microbiology at Pitt. Salk currently works in San Diego as president of the Jonas

pittnews.com

The bus stop in front of the William Pitt Union was covered in bird droppings before Pitt maintenance workers cleaned it last week. Li Yi STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER But the last crow-pocalypse wasn’t quite as dramatic, as they only stuck around for three weeks in the fall before leaving in the winter

thanks to a sound system playing distressed bird calls to scare them away.

But this time, fleets of black birds have been

Salk Legacy Foundation.

“We wanted to bring him back to talk about disease that is still important, which we take for granted as cured but isn’t,” Bryce said.

People’s desire to eradicate lost momentum the year the vaccine came into use after the Cutter Incident, in which more than 200,000 US children received a incompletely inactivated polio vaccine. The injected polio vaccine is produced from naturally occurring poliovirus strains killed by formalin, a mixture of formaldehyde and water. Two hundred children were paralyzed in varying degrees.

Pushback continued into the turn of the century and spread globally to areas opposed to Westernization and medical intervention.

The consequences of denying vaccines to certain populations are widespread. One fifth of the world’s polio cases in 2016 occurred in the Shigal District of Afghanistan, which has a population of 1,000 people. According to Salk, from these unvaccinated areas, the virus spread through sewage to Israel.

“We are dealing with a world that has a great deal of complexity and misunderstanding [of vaccines],” Salk said.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, polio was eradicated in the United States in 1979. As of the end of last year, only 35 cases remain worldwide.

Margaret Matthews, an epidemiology graduate student in the school of public health who grew up in Rochester, New York, and received her undergraduate degree from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, wasn’t born the last time polio was prevalent in the United States.

“I didn’t realize the polio virus research started in Pittsburgh or that first trials happened here,” Matthews said at the lecture. “It makes it really relatable.”

According to Salk, eradicating polio requires transition from the oral vaccine back to the injected vaccine, which has 99 percent effectiveness after three doses. Albert Sabin created the oral polio vaccine in 1961. The treat-

January 19, 2017

painting the tree tops around campus since October. Though a soundtrack of great horned owl coos — crows’ predator — emanating from a speaker perched on the corner of the William Pitt Union have scared the crows further toward mid-campus, the bird infestation persists.

Before, there was only one sound system from 2013. Facilities placed this older sound system beside Heinz Chapel at the end of November 2016 to not disturb visitors during the landmark’s popular holiday season. When the crows spread their reach, facilities management ordered two more owl sound systems in January and placed them around campus wherever the crows roosted, usually near Clapp Hall or the William Pitt Union.

“Naturally, we would like [the crows] to leave campus, but our ultimate goal was to get them away from the populated areas — areas where we have a lot of staff, faculty and visitors walking,” Fisher said.

Although they aren’t near high-traffic areas anymore, the crows now roost around the Frick Fine Arts building. Facilities management doesn’t plan to move the sound system over to that area, Fisher said.

“There’s not a lot of damage being done to See Crows on page 7 ment contains weakened poliovirus, not the inactivated virus like the injectable vaccine.

Beyond transitioning from the viral makeup of the vaccine is the transition in medical technology. At the end of the lecture, Peter Salk introduced a less painful patch of microneedles that replace the need for a vile of vaccination and syringe.

“This new medical technology contains the vaccine in a solid form, which is left on for a few minutes and dissolves into the skin,” Salk said.

Bryce said having Peter Salk talk at the University about his first-hand experience with the disease — from witnessing the invention of the vaccine to the research he is doing now — was a rare and insightful experience.

“We learn about this from textbooks and he tells us as part of his life,” Bryce said. “Students are better able to understand and appreciate history when they can put faces to names.”

2

pittnews.com

January 19, 2017

3

Thanks, Obama

SEE ONLINE

From the editorial board: Chelsea Manning’s finally free

A president for immigrants in America

A president for LGBTQ+ Americans

Saket Rajprohat | Columnist

Jack Shelly | Op-Ed Contributer

So that’s it. After eight years, I’ll watch one of my greatest role models leave office this Friday.

I remember watching President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in my sixth grade classroom. Our teacher told us it was a moment we would never forget. I can’t say that I knew it then, but she was right. Electing our first AfricanAmerican president was an important achievement, something our nation should be proud of.

But it was not a victory that made us immune to our past mistakes, defeated Jim Crow throughout our nation or guaranteed further steps toward progress.

These past eight years have demonstrated that we repeat our mistakes easily. Time and again, Obama has faced opposition on a personal level, from the “birther” controversy to claims he secretly practiced Islam, far beyond anything his predecessors faced.

Through all of this Obama has stood as a symbol of inspiration and resilience. Facing great odds in his fight toward progress, he’s shown me that even when things do not play in your favor, it is important to always move forward.

I felt this inspiration first-hand when my mom was laid off from her job as a social worker in the midst of the 2009 recession. Life at home became tougher as a result. We were forced to watch our pockets more carefully, delaying our plans on buying a house, being sure to not overstep our bounds. Newly unemployed, my mom joined the thousands of people who were qualified to work, but couldn’t find a job.

That same year, Obama introduced new, federally funded Pell Grants that were targeted toward people like my mom who were unable to find work and were willing to go to school to achieve a new degree. With the grant, my mom was able to keep her unemployment benefits and also go back to school without the worry of

pittnews.com

or I was probably 11 o 12 the first time tim about I heard abou B a r a c k Obama.

an unpayable burden. She’s been an assistant nurse now for the past f i v e years.

Stothis spread ries like “Gi l more Rory across the nation as we Girls” ended with Ror started to recover from the leaving Stars Hollow, ConCon necticut, to cover recession. I began cove Raka Sarkar SENIOR STAFF ILLUSTRATOR the primary bid of to understand politics the charismatic senator from Illinois. as a system wherein we convey our beliefs about He was a boyishly handsome, big-eared how we should view and shape the world around law professor who used eloquent, movus. If it helped my mom and people like her go ing language when he spoke. back to work, then it was something I should seek America was in the throes of the to embrace.

Bush Administration, waging neverThis idea continued to build in me for the ending wars and mired in economic entire length of Obama’s presidency. In an addisaster. Obama’s message revolved dress to last summer’s Democratic National around the audacity of hope — hope Convention, the president emphasized his belief that in the face of racism and national in an America where “we are stronger together neglect a biracial community organizer — black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, could win the White House and extend young and old, gay, straight, men, women, folks economic well-being and personal digwith disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under nity to a far greater number of Amerithe same proud flag.” Inspired, I joined millions cans than ever before.

See Rajprohat on page 5

January 19, 2017

Now on the eve of his departure from office, I cannot help but look at my own adolescence in the terms of the seismic changes Obama ushered into American society. His first election and the joy that came with it is also connected in my memory with the passage of Proposition 8 in California in 2008, a ballot proposition that made samesex marriage illegal in the state, and the gradual awareness of my own sexuality that came with the onset of puberty.

Like most gay Catholic schoolboys, my early teenage years were not easy.

As my classmates and I developed and matriculated to high school, I felt increasingly alienated from my childhood friends, who were all boys. Talkative and rambunctious by nature, I became quiet and introverted for fear of revealing my “girly,” high-pitched voice, throwing myself into my studies to compensate for the shame of social isolation.

Through the changes in my life, Obama was always present. On the airwaves of NPR, on the front page of the New York Times, his grace and message of tolerance became a constant element in my life. I will never forget the day he lifted the ban on LGBTQ+ people serving openly in the military, affirming that “we are not a nation which says ‘don’t ask don’t tell,’ we are a nation that says out of many, we are one.” He was a consistent reminder that things would get better, for me and boys like me all over America, affirming that the moral arc of the universe does in fact bend toSee Shelly on page 5

4

Rajprohat, pg. 4 of my peers in the movement that had begun with the understanding that some people may have been attracted by different issues than me.

But the collective cause that Obama stood for was much more than that.

As a first-generation American, I may have been more concerned about issues that surrounded my family dealing with fair treatment in the workplace or simply putting food on the table. But it soon became immensely more important to stand with my other brothers and sisters in their strife against the oppressive forces they faced, whether it affected me or not — we had to work together to succeed, or fail separately.

Obama helped me understand that my fate was inherently tied to the success of my peers’ fates. If I did not stand for the rights of everyone else, it would never be possible to achieve my own rights. I learned that we were stronger together.

And it was that mindset that propelled millions to join this past Democratic campaign, whether they supported Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. We wanted progress, so we stood by the creed Obama had set for our generation, that America was great because we come from all different backgrounds and upbringings and still

pittnews.com

stand together.

We realize that our faces and cultures are and forever will be a unifying mix of diversity and our freedom to express ourselves. We believe that anyone opposing that philosophy doesn’t understand the basis our country was founded on.

Obama helped me to understand that no one can ever tell me that this country is not mine.

That simply because I have brown skin, a funny name and speak another language, doesn’t mean I am any less American than anyone else. And when Obama helped give an immigrant like my mom a second chance at a career, he gave her the chance to contribute her part to the American dream.

As cathartic as expressing my gratitude toward Obama in a column may be, all of us must take up the fight he has selflessly lead these past eight years in order to truly thank him. Join a campaign, start organizing events and leading student organizations, become a part of something bigger than yourself and your own problems.

It has been a difficult but inspiring eight years, but these next few years will be far worse if we cease to trek on the path of progress Obama has set us on. So let’s lace up our shoes and get to work.

Thanks, Obama.

Shelly, pg. 4 ward justice.

When I was 16, my best friend’s mom forbid him from going to the beach with my family because she had heard I was gay. I was upset and embarrassed, but I also knew that her reaction was nothing more than a reflection of her limited world view — besides me, there was not a single openly gay student at our school.

But our world was changing. Later that year, Obama became the first sitting president to call for marriage equality nationwide — permanently granting the LGBTQ+ community a home in the big tent of the Democratic Party. In tying his own political destiny with the gay rights movement so unapologetically and bravely — this was an election year — he both guaranteed our eventual victory and cemented his own legacy as a defining pro-gay president.

Three years later when the Supreme Court declared marriage equality the law, thanks in no small part to the two progressive female justices Obama appointed, it almost seemed anticlimactic.

I was a college sophomore that year, out

January 19, 2017

to the world and interning in my senator’s constituent office. It hit home that we were entering a new chapter in our history, and the country in which I was entering adulthood was different from the country in which I was born.

We finally had gay marriage and a black man in the Oval Office. I realized that these things were perhaps not so unrelated. The historic breakthrough of the first black president shifted our perceptions about ourselves, our worth and our country. We dream bigger because of Obama.

What once seemed far-fetched to my adolescent self — having a fulfilled life as an openly gay man, for example — was now proven possible. As I prepare to graduate college, eager to continue the work of the progressive movement, I would be remiss to not thank Obama for what he did for me and gay people like me across the country.

So don’t weep because his time in the White House is over or because he was not able to realize every dream we once hoped for. Because some day, someone will.

5

Culture

Fast casual chain takes the plate in Oakland Ariel Pastore-Sebring Staff Writer

Even before Piada Italian Street Food’s official opening, students had already begun referring to the restaurant as “the Italian Chipotle.”

When I first heard the phrase, I thought, ‘Great, another homogenous chain eats up any authenticity left on Forbes Avenue.’ But after snooping around on the internet, speaking with the head chef, manager and Pitt grad Mike Lawrence and finally tasting the Piadas, cannolis and soups, seems that Piada is setting a new standard for other chains to live up to.

Lawrence calls Piada “new-aged” Italian food that is quick and made from authentic ingredients. The restaurant serves soups, salads, pastas, meatballs and most importantly, Piadas.

Piada’s menu is diverse, the food is fresh and the restaurant even boasts an actual chef — something that purely build-it-yourself restaurants such as Hello Bistro and Chipotle can’t claim. Still, Piada is a chain, just like the majority of the eateries that already stand on the primary campus streets.

The shorthand of “Italian Chipotle” seems to be sticking. But be careful what you say, because the staff does not encourage the comparison of a Piada to a burrito, even though the two dishes look strikingly similar.

“What differentiates us from [Chipotle] is that we are a chef-driven concept.

Our menu is a lot more diverse, we do have more menu items and a lot of time goes into prep. We have a seasonal menu, too, so it’s constantly changing,” Lawrence said.

Piada’s opening may mark a turning point for Oakland cuisine without sacrificing price, time or flavor.

The restaurant sits on the corner of Meyran and Forbes avenues, in very close proximity to Chipotle and Hello Bistro, two restaurants that Piada will likely

pittnews.com

Piada Italian Street Food opened its Pastore-SebringPOSITION compete with. The Oakland location is Pittsburgh’s flagship store and the Columbus-based company’s 33rd store.

Pittsburgh claimed national acclaim in 2015 when it was named the Top Food City in the United States by Zagat. A New York Times article shortly after also noted the influx of interesting culinary cuisine in the area.

ognizable chain storefronts.

Lorraine Denman — who went to Pitt for both undergraduate and graduate school — has watched the transformation of Forbes take over some of her favorite places.

Denman, who teaches Italian language, literature and culture courses at Pitt, recalls a time when the campus streets held independent gems such as a coffeehouse called The Beehive and an Italian espresso and coffee shop called Cafe Zio. The Beehive resided in the castle-like building that now houses a T-Mobile. It was a coffeehouse and theater for film and live performances downstairs and a bar upstairs that was popular with graduate students.

Cafe Zio was just around the corner on South Bouquet Street, and it served up classic Italian coffee, complete with signs in Italian and even baristas that spoke Italian. “[Cafe Zio] was our home away from home. Oakland was a large Italian community for many decades,” Denman says.

“I’m disappointed. The development of chains — as much as they try to offer options — they take away from the original places.”

Oakland residents have long since said arrivederci to the days when they could utter a “buongiorno” or “ciao” walking out the door with a foamy cappuccino in hand. The Digital Plaza now sits where Cafe Zio once was — no one seems exactly sure what its purpose is, though the pigeons have found it inviting.

Caribou Coffee and Peet’s Coffee have Oakland location on Monday. Ariel both tried to settle in where Kiva Han once was, but now the building — near Oakland used to be part of this foodie the intersection of Forbes and Atwood landscape — host of independent coffee— is empty. Pitt has announced that, you houses such as Kiva Han once scattered guessed it, a build-your-own chain called its streets. But the neighborhood has Lotsa Stone Fired Pizza will move in. largely abandoned its roots over the past Forbes now glitters with uniform signs 20 years, particularly along Forbes. The and ads that can be found in any city, esstreet, which used to be lined with quaint pecially in any college town. Surely if you family-owned businesses, restaurants and See Piada on page 7 coffee shops, is now filled with easily rec-

January 19, 2017

6

Piada, pg. 6 only ate in Oakland you would be disappointed with the lack of variety, though you might be wooed by the availability of quick eats. But this neighborhood isn’t representative of Pittsburgh as a whole.

Though many popular restaurants like Richard Deshantz’s Meat & Potatoes and Trevett Hooper’s Legume are too expensive for most college students, there are also restaurants such as Gaucho Parrilla Argentina in the Strip District and Noodlehead in Squirrel Hill that provide a casual atmosphere, with inspired food at a reasonable price point.

Modern, youthful and admittedly bougie restaurants have infiltrated Pittsburgh’s foodscape — where we once delighted in the idea of fries on a salad, we now ask for farm raised beef and fries made with truffle oil. Oakland, however, has fallen behind the trend and students are clearly hungry for something new.

Even after an entire weekend filled with VIP opening events, the line for Piada on its grand opening day snaked through the restaurant’s large space. The

pittnews.com

restaurant is elevating food standards near campus and urging Oakland to take small steps back toward Pittsburgh’s burgeoning culinary scene.

Though it can’t replace local restaurants and old staples such as Cafe Zio, Piada seems to meld both worlds — merging the hip foodie trends of modern dining with quick, build-it-yourself service.

Sure, Piada is a chain, but give it a chance, like I did, if only to see what the chef has to say.

Crows, pg. 2 the grass toward that area. We’re concerned if we put machines over there, we don’t know where they would go to next,” he said.

Pitt’s facilities department has consulted with the National Aviary in the North Side and other groups for tips on dispelling the murder. Some suggestions include using loud noises to scare the birds, Fisher said.

Other universities, such as Penn State — where there was also a crow problem this year— use fireworks to scare the crows away. But Mulvihill suggested playing the horned owl call since it will scare the crows, not nearby people.

“If you were strategic with horned owl calls that would make them too nervous, even with the bright lights, to roost,” he said.

Heinz Chapel Director Pat Gibbons said it was especially important to dispel the crows from the chapel when they first came to campus.

“December is a heavy month,” she said. “We have weddings, but we also

January 19, 2017

have all the Heinz Chapel Choir concerts and the Women’s Choral Ensemble concert, so you don’t want people coming in, and at night is where [the crows] come.

The crows seem to really like what Pitt has to offer — neither Carlow nor Chatham have had crow problems, according to spokespeople at both universities.

Facilities management conducts daily cleanings of sidewalks, stairs and bus shelters, University spokesperson Joe Miksch said, but this work is only done when temperatures are above 28 degrees so as to not create any ice.

Fisher said facilities has not calculated the total labor cost for cleaning the sidewalks, stairs and bus shelters. However, the sound units cost $602 each.

Although the crows may be annoying, and a bit expensive to disseminate, Mulvihill said they pose no health risk to people.

“Don’t worry about crows,” Mulvihill said. “To be quite honest, the crows are doing a service in terms of them being the garbage detail.”

7

Sports

column

Don’t cry over Canada David Leftwich Staff Writer

It’s been three weeks since the Pitt football team’s season came to an end with a 31-24 loss to Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl, and there’s still no sign of who will be running the offense next year.

But there’s no need to panic. As the mastermind behind the 2016 team’s record-setting offense moves on, fans can rest assured knowing Pitt was bound to light up the scoreboard no matter who was calling the plays.

Matt Canada joined the Panthers as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this past season and took the offense to unprecedented levels of success usually reserved for the very best teams in the country. Pitt put together its highestscoring season of all time at 42.3 points per game and landed four offensive players on the All-ACC First Team.

Fans and the media have credited Canada for this immediate success — he even earned a nomination for the Broyles

award recognizing the best coordinator in college football. Using this newfound acclaim to his advantage, Canada skipped town after one season in Pittsburgh to become offensive coordinator under head coach Ed Orgeron at SEC powerhouse LSU. According to documents obtained by The Advocate, Canada will make $1.5 million per year at LSU — making him the third-highest-paid assistant coach in college football.

Losing Canada might seem like a major blow to the Panthers, and it is. But it doesn’t mark the end of Pitt’s offensive success — the Panthers were due for an offensive explosion with or without Canada.

To begin with, Canada inherited a fantastic and experienced group at offensive line.

The team returned four starters up front, including first-team All-ACC performers Dorian Johnson and Adam Bisnowaty, and added redshirt sophomore

Matt Canada left Pitt after one season to take over as offensive coordinator at LSU. Jeff Ahearn SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Alex Bookser to the mix at right guard.

This group dominated, allowing only nine sacks on the season and earning semifinalist honors for the Joe Moore Award recognizing the best offensive line the country.

The line provided the foundation for Pitt’s talented skill position players to

Dugan named Rookie of the Week

Steve Rotstein Sports Editor

The season may not have started the way the Pitt gymnastics team wanted, but the Panthers turned things around in their second match with a razor-thin victory over the No. 21 West Virginia Mountaineers.

Pitt has a pair of newcomers — Rachel Dugan and Alecia Petrikis — to thank for its solid start, and the Eastern Atlantic Gymnastics League is recognizing the first-year Panthers for their success. Dugan received EAGL Rookie of the Week honors on Wednesday for her performance on the bars against WVU, one week after the EAGL named Petrikis its first Rookie of the Week of 2017 for her

pittnews.com

floor routine against Ohio State.

“The EAGL Rookie of the Week award is a huge honor to receive,” Dugan said.

“It’s always nice to be recognized for the hard work put in during practice.”

At her debut meet against Ohio State, Dugan posted a respectable score of 9.700 on the bars to take home fourth place.

Petrikis, meanwhile, posted a score of 9.825 on the floor exercise to tie Pitt senior Tracey Pearson for second place at the event.

“Wasn’t that pretty?” Pitt head coach Debbie Yohman said in a press release about Petrikis’ first meet with the Panthers. “[Floor] is her best event, and she just shone.”

But Petrikis’ effort wasn’t enough to

defeat the Buckeyes, as the Panthers fell 194.375-192.800. But it did give the firstyear gymnasts reason to believe they could compete at the NCAA level — confidence that carried over to the team’s next meet.

“I was proud of how I competed at the Ohio State meet. It was my first actual competition in college so there were obviously nerves present, but I think I handled the pressure pretty well,” Dugan said. “There are always places to improve, though, so I tried to take things I learned from the Ohio State meet and work to fix them in practice.”

Those improvements paid off Friday against the Mountaineers, a team that had won the last 51 meetings with Pitt dating

January 19, 2017

have great seasons.

First-team All-ACC running back James Conner was set to return from his battle with leukemia and a torn ACL, while graduate transfer quarterback Nathan Peterman entered his second See Canada on page 9

gymnastics back to 1991. Thanks in part to the newcomers, that streak is now a thing of the past.

Petrikis’ score dipped to 9.600 on the floor exercise, but Dugan improved her 9.700 from the season opener to a score of 9.850, good for a first-place finish on the bars. The Panthers needed every bit of that spectacular performance, as they just barely escaped with a 194.025-193.875 victory over WVU. “It was awesome,” Dugan said about the meet. “We’ve been practicing so hard and it was nice to have that pay off, not only in my bars performance, but through the whole meet as a team. An individual win so early on was exciting, but the team win was even sweeter.”

8

Panthers add third receiver to 2017 recruiting class Steve Rotstein Sports Editor

The Pitt football team’s 2017 recruiting class continues to take shape, as a new member joined the class Wednesday — marking the second commit in two days.

Michael Smith, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound wide receiver from Vero Beach, Florida, verbally committed Wednesday to join the Panthers for the 2017 season. With the addition of Smith, Pitt now has 21 high school recruits and one graduate transfer — former USC quarterback Max Browne — in Pat Narduzzi’s second full recruiting class as head coach.

Smith chose the Panthers over offers from several Power Five schools, including Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Washington State.

“After talking with my family, I have officially decided to commit to the University of Pittsburgh,” Smith said via Twitter.

pittnews.com

Canada, pg. 8

campaign with the Panthers. Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd stood as the team’s only major loss on offense.

Canada capitalized on all of these Smith, a three-star prospect according pieces to create the team’s high-powered to Rivals, is only the third wide receiver in offense. Peterman led the ACC with a Pitt’s 2017 class. He joins three-star receiv163.4 quarterback rating in a conference er Darian Street from Bethlehem, Pennsylthat included the Heisman Trophy winvania, and fellow Florida native Dontavius ner and runner-up — quarterbacks LaButler, also a three-star prospect. mar Jackson of Louisville and Deshaun Of Pitt’s 21 high school recruits in the Watson of Clemson — along with a slew 2017 class, six hail from the Sunshine State of other NFL-ready gunslingers.

— Smith, Butler, three-star defensive backs Meanwhile, Conner and do-it-all Damarri Mathis and Albert Tucker, threeplaymaker Quadree Henderson — Pitt’s star defensive end Deslin Alexandre and first-ever consensus All-American kick three-star offensive lineman Jerry Drake Jr. returner — led a Pitt rushing attack that Alexandre and Drake are already enaveraged a whopping 5.4 yards per carry rolled at Pitt for the 2017 spring semester and accumulated 225.1 yards rushing per along with Browne, three-star quarterback game. prospect Kenny Pickett and two-star AusThe team finished third in the ACC in tralian punter Kirk Christodoulou. Smith rushing, behind only Georgia Tech — a and the other 16 commits in the 2017 class team that runs the triple option, meanare still free to change their minds, as they ing they attempt to run the ball on almost cannot officially sign National Letters of every play — and Louisville, whose quarIntent until Feb. 1. terback, Jackson, contributed over 1,500 of those rushing yards himself.

January 19, 2017

Rushing behind one of the top offensive lines in the country while using two All-American playmakers wasn’t a sign of Canada’s coaching acumen — it was common sense.

As teams focused on the Panthers’ fierce rushing attack, it opened up easy passing opportunities for Peterman.

While not the most prolific downfield passer, he was skilled enough to hit numerous big plays to junior receiver Jester Weah and senior tight end Scott Orndoff.

With Pitt’s mix of big maulers on the offensive line, dynamic talents at running back and receiver and an efficient signal caller running the show, Canada inherited an inevitable offensive outburst.

All this being said, Canada did a good job putting players in the right position to succeed. But no matter how many jet sweeps and end-arounds he called, the offense wouldn’t have been so successful without the strong core of returning players for the Panthers.

If Pitt’s offense flounders next year, it won’t be because of the loss of Canada — it will be the departure of a strong nucleus of players to the NFL that sets the team back.

9