10-29-2019

The Pitt News

T h e i n de p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | October 29, 2019 ­| Volume 110 | Issue 53

PITT PUBLISHES POLIO NO MORE OPEN-ACCESS AUGUST WILSON JOURNAL Benjamin Nigrosh Staff Writer

When Pitt published the first volume of the first scholarly journal on famed Pittsburgh playwright August Wilson in June, the creators felt it was important that the journal be free for anyone to access.

Michael Downing, an August Wilson scholar from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and the editor of the new August Wilson Journal, said a paywall would have felt unethical. “[Wilson] would want it open-access,” Downing said. “He would want people who don’t necessarily have the money to be able to pay a subscription or do anything like that to be able to log on to a website and access this scholarship.”

Downing began the project in 2002 as an independent blog. Over the 10 years that Downing updated the blog, he aggregated more than 400 scholarly articles on Wilson that he found on the internet.

Now Downing is involved with writing and publishing those scholarly articles. The first volume of the August Wilson Journal, including exclusive content, such as an interview with Wilson’s widow Constanza Romero, was published electronically as an open-access journal by Pitt this past June. The second volume will be published on a rolling basis and collected into a completed volume next June, Downing said.

David Anderson, of Butler County Community College, is the journal’s managing editor, after having worked with Downing for years on the blog. In the process of making the journal, Anderson said, the team of editors had to ask themselves what Wilson himself would have wanted in terms of the journal’s accessibility.

See Journal on page 2

The University celebrated the birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk, lead research of the team that developed the first polio vaccine, at Monday morning’s “SALK-a-bration of Research” in the William Pitt Union. Romita Das staff photographer

FEDERAL FOOD STAMP CHANGES COULD IMPACT PITTSBURGH, PITT STUDENTS

Jessica Steinberg Staff Writer

Millions of Americans could be losing access to their source of food if the United States Department of Agriculture goes through with a rule change that tightens the eligibility requirements for food stamps.

The proposal to change the eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps, was released in July by the USDA with the intent of ending abuse of the program. In 2015, more than 160,000 people in Allegheny County received food

stamps. If enacted, the rule change would potentially worsen food insecurity as an estimated 2 million households nationwide would lose SNAP benefits and their children would lose access to free lunches at school.

Administered by the USDA, the SNAP program provides eligible low-income households with a monthly budget for food, distributed through a card that can be used as a payment method at grocery stores and other participating food sources.

Currently, the USDA allows people with incomes up to 200% of the poverty

level and greater than $3,500 in assets to receive SNAP benefits. However, they are now seeking to change this rule. In a statement issued in July, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the change would prevent “abuse” to the system by those who did not need the benefits.

“For too long, this loophole has been used to effectively bypass important eligibility guidelines,” Perdue said in the statement. “We are changing the rules, preventing abuse of a critical safety net system, so those who need food assistance the most are the only ones who receive it.”

See SNAP on page 2

News SNAP, pg. 1

If the rule is changed, more than 2 million people in households with children would lose access to their food stamps, according to a study by the Urban Institute. These families would be losing an average monthly benefit of $240 per household. The Advocacy Coordinator for Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Adam Morgan, expects that this will be detrimental to food security in Pittsburgh and beyond.

“We are already hearing that people do not get enough in a month to make their ends meet,” Morgan said. “It’s going to affect a household’s ability to feed themselves.”

Children from households that receive SNAP benefits are automatically eligible for free school meals. This means that, in addition to losing access to the benefits of food stamps at home, an estimated 500,000 children from households

Journal, pg. 1 “Wilson was self-educated,” Anderson said.

“He dropped out of high school and he educated himself by going to the library. So, the idea of charging a subscription price for his journal just seemed really inappropriate.”

Downing said his passion for this project comes from a respect for Wilson’s work and the need to preserve the legacy of one of the country’s foremost playwrights.

“August Wilson has been named, on more than one occasion, ‘America’s Shakespeare,’” Downing said. “Therefore, it is important for his legacy to be preserved. He deserves a place right alongside Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams and other great American playwrights.”

Wilson was born in the City’s Hill District neighborhood in 1945. He created the famous “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a collection of 10 plays set in the Hill District, all 10 of which were shown on Broadway. It is also called the “Century Cycle,” with each play taking place in one particular decade of the 20th century. Wilson died in 2005.

Two of the cycle’s plays, “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson,” won Pulitzer Prizes for Drama

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that lose SNAP eligibility would also lose access to free school meals.

Pittsburgh Public Schools is one school district that could be affected by a change in SNAP eligibility requirements. According to Curtistine Walker, the director of food service at PPS, the school district is able to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students who need it, regardless of whether a student individually receives SNAP benefits.

However, a school’s ability to provide this service is dependent on the SNAP eligibility of the student population as a whole.

This system is known as the Community Eligibility Provision, an alternative to the typical free lunch program. A school’s eligibility for CEP depends on the percentage of students participating in other specific means-tested programs, such as SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which means that a decrease in food stamp eligibility could lead to certain schools within a district

becoming ineligible for CEP. “The worst case scenario would be that those schools that are not CEP would return to only those students who receive SNAP being eligible for free meals,” Walker said in an email. “All students who do not have free or reduced status would have to pay for their meals.

Hello lunch debt again.”

A 2018 study found that 29% of college students in southwestern Pennsylvania face moderate or high levels of food insecurity. The same study found that 27% of Pitt students reported moderate or high food insecurity.

“College hunger is definitely a problem,” Morgan said. “The past couple of years is when people have really begun to do studies and take notice.”

When it comes to food insecurity among college students, Ciara Stehley, the Pitt Pantry coordinator, emphasized that hunger is not the only food-related issue.

“Food insecurity can take a lot of dif-

ferent forms including irregular eating patterns, like eating one large meal a day in a dining hall or opting for cheap, highly processed foods with minimal nutritional value,” Stehley said in an email.

“Not everyone experiencing food insecurity feels hungry all the time.”

Students at Pitt who are facing food insecurity can go to the Pitt Pantry in the basement of Bellefield Presbyterian Church to obtain balanced and nutritious food without restrictions based on SNAP eligibility.

“Eligibility is based solely on income and household size and is a self-certification of need, meaning we do not require proof of income from our clients,” Stehley wrote in an email.

Food insecurity can also be detrimental to academic performance, which is disruptive in a college setting. ”Getting enough of the right types of foods is critical for good health and supports academic and personal success,” Stehley wrote.

in 1987 and 1990, respectively. “Fences” also won a Tony Award for Best Play in 1987, and was adapted as a film in 2016 starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Washington himself spent the summer in Pittsburgh producing a film adaptation of Wilson’s 1982 play “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” for Netflix.

Downing approached Pennsylvania State University with the idea of a scholarly journal in 2015, but was turned down due to the university’s policy of restricting journal publications to those produced by university faculty, he said.

He brought the idea next to Pitt’s University Library System that same year.

The journal’s electronic publications manager and ULS liaison, Vanessa Gabler, said it was important to all of those involved that the journal be an accessible resource to everyone.

The University will provide the Wilson journal alongside its other open-access archives like the Cinema Journal and Hungarian Cultural Studies.

“The ULS E-Journal Publishing Program publishes scholarly Open Access journals as part of its mission to help research communities share knowledge and ideas through open

and responsible collaboration and promote Open Access to scholarly research,” Gabler said in an email.

Downing said he is proud of the journal’s progressive accessibility standards, as he believes it to be the future of scholarly writing.

He said that he is also proud of the journal’s expansion outside of only publishing scholarly articles.

“In addition to scholars, I would add study, teaching and performance,” Downing said. “We want material on who is teaching August Wilson, how are they teaching. Any kind of teachers, from university to high school teachers to workshops at various theaters across the United States and around the world.”

According to Downing, one of the journal’s goals is to build into the area of multimedia.

The interview with Romero that the journal included in its first volume was published both as text and audio.

One of the scholars that contributed to the journal is Christopher Rawson, an emeritus professor in Pitt’s English department. Rawson said he came to know Wilson personally while covering Wilson’s plays as a senior theater critic

for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In addition to his work with the journal, Rawson is the secretary-treasurer of the August Wilson House, a project that is working to renovate Wilson’s childhood home in the Hill District and turn it into an arts center. For the first volume, Rawson wrote about the grant presented to theaters that have performed all 10 of the plays in Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle,” along with a “status update” on the Wilson house.

Rawson said he thought it was important for the journal to be produced in Pittsburgh because Wilson chronicled stories about his experiences in the City.

“He always wrote about Pittsburgh,” Rawson said. “They tell August’s version of stories that he heard on the streets of the Hill District.

The people in his plays are built out of people he knew in the Hill District. He is the quintessential Pittsburgh artist.”

According to Rawson, Wilson’s importance to the City is something that is finally being recognized, and he is happy to be part of that.

“Educating Pittsburghers about August Wilson is not only a duty, it’s a pleasure,” Rawson said.

October 29, 2019

2

Opinions

Online Editorial

The deep, dark implications of the sinkhole

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column

Title X should fund all birth control methods Mackenzie Oster Staff Columnist

The Department of Health and Human services has revised Title X as of March 4, making organizations that provide abortion refferals ineligible for federal funding.

In doing so, The Trump administration has shifted funding from education related to family planning and pregnancy prevention into programs that call strictly for sexual abstinence. Out of the three new recipients of Title X grants this year, one is a Catholic-affiliated group known as the Obria Group, which outwardly advocates for abstinence as the main method of birth control.

The Title X Family Planning Program is a “federal grant program that provides comprehensive and confidential family planning services and preventive health services,” according to Physicians for Reproductive Health. The Title X revisions directly affect abortion accessability in America, but the implications of this shift expand much further too. The revisions will also cut funding for long-term contraceptives such as birth control.

According to the Federal Office of Population Affairs, Title X clinics served more than 4 million women in 2017, and 42% of women treated are uninsured. A study conducted by The Guttmacher Institute also revealed that Title X clinics prevented more than 822,500 unplanned pregnancies in 2015.

Title X should provide federal funding for all methods of contraceptives rather than funding programs such as the Obria Group, which promotes the unrealistic and regressive notion of abstinence until marriage. Instead, efforts should be devoted to increasing opportunities for long-term health, through expanding the accessibility of long-lasting contra-

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Shruti Talekar staff illustrator ceptives — especially because research shows that promoting abstinence until marriage is ineffective in preventing unplanned pregnancies.

A review conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined scientific evaluations from 66 risk-reduction programs and 23 abstinence-only programs. The review revealed inconclusive evidence that abstinence-only programs result in a delay in sexual behaviors.

In contrast, the CDC found that comprehensive programs were significantly more effective. The comprehensive pro-

grams proved to yield many favorable effects on young people’s behaviors, including the decreased frequency of sexual activity, increased use of protection, decreased frequency of unprotected sexual activity and decreased sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy.

Take Delaware for example, the state with the highest rate of unplanned pregnancies less than a decade ago. From 2014 and 2017, the last years in which data has been recorded, the abortion rate fell by 37% — the biggest decline that the United States has seen, and it’s no coincidence why.

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Delaware’s rapid decrease in abortion took place right after the state devoted its efforts to expanding access to longterm contraceptives, which offer pregnancy prevention for three months to up to 10 years, explains writer Sarah Kliff.

“Birth control pills are currently the most popular contraceptive among American women, followed by condoms.

These methods are especially susceptible to human error and have high failure rates. Of 100 women who rely on birth control pills, about six get pregnant every year,” Kliff wrote. “By contrast, longacting reversible contraceptives like IUDs and implants … are about 20 times more effective at preventing pregnancy than the pill.”

As a result, Delaware’s governor at the time, Jack Markell, made it his priority to tackle the rate of unplanned pregnancies by expanding Delaware’s access to longterm contraceptives.

“When I started looking closely at my state, I found significant barriers to access contraception,’’ Markell wrote in a CNN article, “such as a lack of trained providers, health care centers requiring multiple appointments, and misinformation and poor patient counseling.”

And Delaware’s case is just one revealing the national trend of fallen abortion rates. In fact, the abortion rate within the United States is currently at its lowest since 1973, when the Supreme Court legalized it nationally.

The declining abortion rate is directly correlated with the drop in unintended pregnancies, which can be accredited to increased accessibility to contraceptives. However, in order for this trend to continue, it’s essential for long-term contraceptive accessibility to continue expanding, rather than promoting the unrealistic idea of abstinence until marriage.

3

Culture review

‘HARRIET’ TELLS THE STORY OF HARRIET TUBMAN— BUT LITTLE ELSE Thomas Wick

Senior Staff Writer November is almost here and that means only one thing — Oscar films are coming. It seems that the only way filmmakers are able to get nominated for an Academy Award is to release their film in the late fall, which only makes my job harder.

One of those potential award nominees is the biopic “Harriet,” based on the life of the slave abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

The story of the film begins with Tubman (Cynthia Erivo) and her life as a slave on a plantation in the South. Spoiler alert for those who forgot their elementary school history classes — Harriet runs away, escapes to the North and goes on to free many slaves by smuggling them across the South. She’s one of the most well-known historical figures in the slave abolitionist movement, and her legacy is translated into a decent biopic.

The first strength of this movie is Erivo’s performance. She has proven herself in films such as “Widows” and “Bad Times at the El Royale,” and it’s good to see her impressive filmography continue to expand.

Erivo brings the proper amount of drama and charisma when required while going the extra mile to deliver a character with powerful ethos.

The moment Harriet gains her freedom — walking through the sunlit fields of the North — is incredibly moving thanks to Erivo’s upbeat delivery. Erivo evokes sheer determination when she is surrounded by Southerners as she is smuggling slaves across a river or rough road. Leslie Odom Jr. is also a standout, delivering a charming performance with even a few moments of dry humor. The rest of the cast is fine, though they aren’t anything worth noting.

This is also an aesthetically beautiful film,

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complemented by the dazzling landscapes of antebellum America and brought to life by the cinematography of John Toll. He’s done cinematography for other great films such as “Braveheart” and “Iron Man 3,” and his talent is on full display once again. The lighting and framing make every scene pop and every performance more compelling. The aforementioned scene of Harriet walking through the fields is a great example of this.

The rays of light hit her at the right angles and make her appear almost like an angel.

However, aside from the acting and cinematography, “Harriet” falls short of being an interesting biopic. The film is similar in a lot of ways to the 2017 best picture nominee “The Post,” a film that was technically well-made, featured great performances and direction and faithfully told the story of true events. Yet despite all that quality, the film was devoid of charm and energy, which detracted from its emotional impact. That is exactly the same problem I had with “Harriet” — a good film but nothing more.

The main flaw with this film is its generic storytelling. Tubman’s story is ripe with so much potential, yet this film sticks to telling it in such a formulaic way. Most of the plot points are recycled from better biopics, and it feels more like the writers are checking off boxes rather than organically telling the story. It starts with the tragic backstory, shows a montage of her success, introduces some mild conflict in the third act and then resolves nearly all conflict by the end — the whole experience feels hollow. This isn’t to say it’s a bad movie, but compared to other similar biopics, such as “12 Years a Slave,” “Harriet” is far less engaging.

The film explores no complex ideas surrounding the slave owners. It attempts to give the slave owners some motivation, but this ultimately boils down to their money problems rather than

“Harriet” promotional poster. Image courtesy of Allied Global Marketing dark ideology — a lazy way to characterize your antagonist. Conversely, “12 Years a Slave” was a brutal examination of just how evil slavery is, and “Harriet” is the PG-13 version of that.

The film even has the generic time-condensed success montage that reminds me of that montage from every other biopic — you know, the one in the middle act where the character’s success skyrockets and we see quick snippets of that success. It was in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Rocketman” and plenty of other films, biopic or otherwise.

There are a few other flaws with this movie, but to some these may just be nitpicks. There are moments in the film that are clearly toying with the audiences suspension of disbelief, and it took me out of the screening.

They’re just minor things, such as Harriet running out in a populated field, jumping into a wagon and escaping to the North, while none of the 20 farmers standing outside in this big wideopen field saw her running across to jump in. In a sci-fi film like “Star Wars,” I could usually suspend my disbelief at something like this, but when the film is trying to tell a true story, it frustrates me

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when it ignores reality.

Some of the editing choices also annoyed me for how they detract from the film’s great qualities. There was a scene in the middle of the film where William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.) is chatting with Harriet about her new life. As Erivo is giving a great performance, I expected the camera to focus on her face, but instead it spends a whole 10 seconds showing William writing notes on his paper. That should be a simple cut, but instead detracts from the actors’ performances.

Most viewers probably won’t mind these issues — if you simply want to see Tubman’s life story brought to the big screen, you will be satisfied. It probably won’t get nominated for any Oscars, with the possible exception of Erivo’s performance and Toll’s cinematography, but it’s a fine film to see.

It’ll definitely give teachers something to show their students in class when they teach the slave abolitionist era and they were too tired to make a real lesson plan for the next few classes. If that was the intent, then “Harriet” most definitely succeeded.

4

review

‘Giselle’ kicks off Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s 50th season

MJ LaRocque

For The Pitt News Audience chatter died down as a warm yellow light cast a fall glow on a woodland cottage. A group of men and women seemed to float across the stage as they danced to a melodic orchestra.

This year, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre opened its 50th season at the Benedum Center Downtown with “Giselle,” one of five ballets they will perform this year. The show was the last for longtime PBT member Luca Sbrizzi. “Giselle” tells the story of a maiden who died of heartbreak. This wordless performance is intense — definitely not for the viewer looking for a relaxing evening.

At the beginning of the show, the huntsman Hilarion arrives and leaves pheasants for Giselle.

He is madly in love with the beautiful maiden but leaves to join the village at the harvest festival. Mysterious Count Albrecht visits the cabin disguised as a peasant to be able to be close to Giselle. She is deeply in love with Albrecht and that is demonstrated in her joyful, almost childlike, dancing when he appears.

The scene of Giselle and Albrecht interacting with the others in the village parallels Belle’s village interaction in the beginning of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Giselle is dressed in a baby blue dress with her hair done up in a bun.

The villagers standing around Giselle are clothed in earth tones of orange, gold and dark green.

The blue to earth tone color contrast clearly

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singles out Giselle as the protagonist. The viewer who goes into this show blind will expect to see a fairy tale carried out, but will soon learn this is not the case.

Giselle invites villagers to join her in a merry dance at the harvest festival when her mother, Berthe, reminds her to pace herself because she has a weak heart. This warning triggers a vision from Berthe, where she sees her daughter die and become a Wili — the ghost of a young woman that died of a broken heart.

Giselle, like any rebellious teen, ignores her mother and literally dances her heart out for the Prince of Courland and his daughter when they arrive at the village festival. After her performance, Giselle descends into madness. She rips her hair out of its tight bun and throws herself on the stage. She wildly grabs at the air and tries to dance with other villagers but they are too scared.

Berthe and Hilarion try to comfort her but it is no use, and she dies because of her weak heart.

The original production was first performed in 1841, when women were often portrayed as frail and delicate. PBT’s production does these themes justice, but is disappointing to a modern audience that a woman’s strong emotions lead to her downfall.

The portrayal of madness also seems outof-place nowadays. The scene depicts a woman struggling to cope with internal anguish — a form of frustration that was apparently not emotionally sustainable at the time of the ballet’s

The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre opened its 50th anniversary season with its production of “Giselle.” Rich Sofranko/Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre creation. In a modern retelling, maybe Giselle’s romantic status would not be as closely tied to her fate.

Giselle’s death concludes Act I, which was long and dragged on. During the village celebration, there were several solo performances and various group dances that did not further the plot. Every time a group or solo performance concluded the audience would clap, immediately followed by yet another new and different dance number, which got repetitive and seemed unnecessary.

After intermission, the stage opened to a bog setting, a blue light and fog covering the stage floor. The cottage from the last scene was removed and replaced with a mound. This is Giselle’s grave and Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, assembles her followers to bring Giselle into the sisterhood.

Hilarion visits Giselle’s grave to mark it with a cross. He is scared away by the Wilis, allowing Albrecht to pay his respects. He kneels and

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gives prayer, placing lilies on the grave. Albrecht blames himself for Giselle’s death because his engagement to the Prince of Courland’s daughter caused the stress that ultimately strained her heart and ended her life. He has lost direction now that she’s gone.

For a first-time viewer, this is a long and depressing piece, but it’s possible that a seasoned ballet attendee would appreciate the technique and acting necessary to portray the story. Not only does the main character die in the first act, she dies of sadness. From the time Giselle is introduced until her death, she doesn’t do much on stage — instead, the space is occupied by group dances and solo dances by other performers. There definitely did not need to be so many group dances, it just felt like filler content that did nothing for the story.

The only upside was the seasonality of the ballet. Playing the weekend before Halloween must have been attractive since half the performance is done by ghosts.

5

Sports

column

PITT VOLLEYBALL TAKES NO. 2 SPOT, IS STILL CLIMBING Trent Leonard Sports Editor

In a season that has seen Pitt volleyball continuously surpass its previously established standards and records, the Panthers added another accomplishment to their resumé on Monday afternoon — highest ranking in program history.

Pitt checked in at No. 2 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, moving up from No. 3 the previous week. There was even a strong case for the Panthers to take the top overall spot, with previous No. 1 Baylor and No. 2 Stanford both losing. But No. 4 Texas — the team that beat Baylor — hopped Pitt in the rankings to become the nation’s only remaining team looking down on the Panthers.

In addition to making team history, Pitt’s new ranking also marked the highest ever for an ACC team. The conference hasn’t historically been known as a volleyball powerhouse and is typically overshadowed by the dominant Big Ten and Pac-12. ACC teams like Pitt aren’t supposed to be allowed membership to the sport’s highest tier, led by perennial champions like Penn State and Stanford.

Ironically, it’s become harder to appreciate the Panthers’ accomplishments due to the rate and consistency at which they’ve piled up this season. Pitt entered the season ranked a program-best No. 12 in the AVCA poll and has risen up the standings like clockwork ever since, first to No. 10, then No. 6, No. 4, No. 3 and now No. 2.

Pitt’s toughest challenges came early in the season during non-conference play against No.10 Oregon, No. 16 Utah and No. 4 Penn State. The Panthers easily dispatched those opponents by respective margins of 3-1, 3-1 and 3-0 before falling in their lone loss to Penn State, 3-2.

Since that loss, Pitt has made a mock-

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First-year setter Lexis Akeo (1) received her fifth ACC Freshman of the Week honor on Monday.

Thomas Yang assistant visual editor ery of its ACC comrades. The team has won all 10 of its conference matchups, with nine of those victories coming via sweep. Only No. 23 Florida State was fortunate enough to steal a set, falling to the Panthers 3-1. If you’re following along with the math, Pitt has outscored its ACC foes 30 sets to one.

The Panthers have also dominated the ACC from an individual perspective, becoming a staple in the conference’s weekly honors. Junior Kayla Lund, senior Layne Van Buskirk and junior Chinaza Ndee have all won ACC Player of the Week at least once, while first-year setter Lexis Akeo recently won her program-record fifth ACC Freshman of the Week award.

By forming a monopoly over the ACC, Pitt has established a clear pathway to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. Only two of

the Panthers’ eight remaining opponents — Louisville and Florida State — fall in the top 50 of the Rating Percentage Index, a quantity used to rank teams based on their wins, losses and strength of schedule. Assuming Pitt continues its dominant form, it’s safe to assume the Panthers will win out and finish the regular season 291.

Like Pitt, Texas has dismantled its conference schedule, sweeping seven of eight matches while conceding just one set.

But the Longhorns face a tougher battle to win out, with three matchups remaining against RPI top-50 teams. Their most likely loss would come Nov. 20 against Baylor — still the No. 1 team according to RPI. Texas swept the Bears at home to move up in the rankings, but it might not fare so well on the road in what will be a

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revenge game for Baylor.

If Pitt does win out and the Longhorns falter, the Panthers could foreseeably take the No. 1 spot in the polls by season’s end.

Not that it would matter for the program or its players, who have made it clear their focus lies on success in the NCAA tournament.

But it would certainly matter to Pitt’s fans, who haven’t seen any Panther programs be the very best at their respective sport in a long time. And with Pitt football once again stumbling, fans need any source of pride and hope they can cling to.

The Panthers will look to continue their march up the rankings when they take on Wake Forest this Friday at the Fitzgerald Field House, beginning at 7 p.m.

6

NARDUZZI SPEAKS ON ADVERSITY, ADJUSTMENTS FOR GEORGIA TECH Pitt football’s 16-12 Homecoming loss to Miami last weekend likely derailed its hopes of becoming ACC Coastal champions this season.

But in his weekly press conference Monday afternoon, Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi asserted that a return trip to Charlotte isn’t his team’s foremost goal in the first place.

“Our goal is to win one game each weekend,” Narduzzi said. “We don’t talk about [the Coastal] in here. It’s kind of like the thing that we don’t talk about.”

After the game, Narduzzi and his coaching staff gave their players a message about not getting complacent and taking the lessons learned from a tough loss into Pitt’s (5-3 overall, 2-2 ACC) matchup with Georgia Tech (2-5 overall, 1-3 ACC) this Saturday — as well as each game yet to be played.

“We’ve got to talk about [complacency], got to think about it,” Narduzzi said. “There’s handling adversity and there’s handling success, and to me there’s both those things you’re going to deal with, and it’s harder to handle success than it is handling adversity.”

When asked what positive takeaways could be gleaned from the loss, Narduzzi pointed to Pitt’s running game, which had one of its most effective performances to date. The Panthers had their second-highest rushing yardage total of the season, behind the win over UCF, with 176 yards from five different players. Their average of 4.4 yards per rush was up from the season average of 3.5. Of those five rushers, Narduzzi singled out the improvement of sophomore running back V’Lique Carter on run plays up the middle.

“I liked the way V’Lique Carter didn’t dance around and he hit [the hole],” Narduzzi said. “He looked like a tailback instead of just a jet sweep guy, and I think that’s another positive because he needs to carry the football inside … he showed some things in the run game that make you want to give it to him inside again.”

The Panthers’ challenge this week comes from a very different opponent in Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are in the midst of a transitional

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season following the retirement of long-time head coach Paul Johnson and the coinciding switch away from Johnson’s distinct triple-option wishbone offense. Under the oversight of new head coach Geoff Collins, formerly the head man at Temple, Tech has been up and down this season as the adjustment period continues.

While Georgia Tech’s current offense may not be the wishbone scheme Pitt has historically faced at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Narduzzi acknowledged the capabilities the Yellow Jackets still show each week. After all, Georgia Tech managed to beat Miami two weeks ago in overtime, which Pitt couldn’t pull off itself.

“I think every week there’s a new offense as far as what they try to do and try to create,” Narduzzi said. “So you kind of don’t know what you’re going to get offensively on Saturday when you look at what they do.”

Narduzzi likened the Yellow Jackets offensive scheme to one of Pitt’s previous opponents in Duke. The Blue Devils employ a mixed bag of different schemes encompassing both spread and speed option looks, while even going so far as to deploy the triple-option in an effort to keep opposing defenses on edge.

“There’s some times they look like they’re lining up in a spread offense and there’s some times they’ll run some speed option,” Narduzzi said.

“Not near as much as Duke, but who knows, we may see the whole game they may line up in it.

We’ll watch that Duke game and maybe put it back in, I don’t know. They’re very creative on offense.”

Narduzzi also voiced sympathy for the challenges faced by Collins as he had to reform Georgia Tech’s identity with a roster of players primarily recruited to run a very different scheme.

“That’s a tough deal to walk into,” Narduzzi said. “Geoff will do as good a job as anybody in the country, and he already has. They’ve got two linemen that are transfers that have come in to play for them on that O-line … They’ve got skill.

They’ve always had skill. They’re down in Atlanta — it’s hard not to have skill.”

Find the full story online at

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

10/29/19

Senior Staff Writer

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

The Pitt news crossword

Ben Bobeck

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 29, 2019

pittnews.com

October 29, 2019

ACROSS 1 Rogues 5 Is without 10 Possesses 14 Rose’s Broadway love 15 Copier brand 16 Game with cues and balls 17 Social event with costumes and facial covers 19 Gaelic tongue 20 Defunct Amer. soccer competition 21 Commented 23 Footwear insert 26 Slice of history 27 Homebuyer’s need 28 Accustom (to) 32 Ron Weasley’s pet Scabbers, for one 35 The “S” in CBS: Abbr.

37 San Diego ball club 38 Act in a bipartisan way, and what the circled letters do Across and Down 42 Major blood vessels 43 Have a bug 44 Northern Calif. airport 45 Avow 46 Lunch hour 49 Nutrition fig.

51 Native encountered by Crusoe 55 Large watchdogs 59 “SNL” alum Cheri 60 Rebuke from Caesar 61 Kitchen storage brand 64 Rolled-up sandwich 65 Office communication 66 “__ hardly wait!”

67 Internet transmission delays 68 Uses for a fee 69 Therefore DOWN 1 “The Stranger” novelist Albert

10/29/19

By Chase Dittrich

2 Make selfconscious 3 “Y.M.C.A.” music genre 4 Book that continues a story 5 Charlemagne’s domain: Abbr.

6 Balloon filler 7 Hiccups cure, so they say 8 Lymph __ 9 Unifying feature of many escape rooms 10 Part of MO 11 Toil 12 Odor detector 13 Iditarod conveyance 18 __ no good: scheming 22 “That’s __ shame” 24 Speaks in a gravelly voice 25 One-named “Only Time” singer 29 Caterer’s coffeepots 30 Snorkeling spot 31 Gas brand in Canada 32 Some TVs 33 In __: lined up

Monday’s Puzzle Solved

©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

34 Ripped up 36 Mrs., in Madrid 37 Traffic cone 39 Recipients of venture capital 40 Broadway restaurant founder 41 “Mean Girls” screenwriter Fey 47 __ about: roughly 48 Peabrain 50 Chasing

10/29/19

51 “Washington Journal” channel 52 Surfer’s hangout 53 Pianist Claudio 54 Real estate claims 55 Whimper 56 Gillette brand 57 Without a date 58 Do a slow burn 62 Mango remnant 63 Trains over the street

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I N D E X

Rentals & Sublet • NORTH OAKLAND • SOUTH OAKLAND • SHADYSIDE • SQUIRREL HILL • SOUTHSIDE • NORTHSIDE • BLOOMFIELD • ROOMMATES • OTHER

For Rent South Oakland

Employment • CHILDCARE • FOOD SERVICES • UNIVERSITY • INTERNSHIPS • RESEARCH • VOLUNTEERING • OTHER

month includ­ing utilities and ca­ble.

On street park­ing. No pets. 412‑576‑8734 2‑3‑4‑5‑6‑7 bedroom apartments and

***AUGUST 2020: Furnished studios, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments. No pets.

Non‑smokers pre­ ferred. 412‑621‑0457.

houses available in

**2,3,4, 5, and 6 Bed­room houses/ Apart­ments in South Oak­land. Available for rent August 2020.

Very clean with dif­ferent amenities (dishwasher, laun­ dry, A/C, washer and dryer, 1‑3 baths, off‑street parking, newer ap­pliances & sofas). Check out my Face­book page: https:­//www. facebook.­com/ KenEckenrode­ RealEstate/. Call Ken at 412‑287‑4438 for more informa­tion and showings.

located on Semple,

1‑6 bedroom. All newly renovated, air‑conditioning, dish­washer, washer/ dryer, and parking.

Most units on busline and close to Pitt.

Avail­able Summer 2020. 412‑915‑0856 or email klucca@veri­ zon.net.

2 BR 1 BA on cam­pus bus route. Avail­able November 1st. $750/

pittnews.com

May and August

2020. Nice, clean, free laundry, in­

cludes exterior main‑ tenance, new appli‑

ances, spa­cious, and Oak­land Ave., Mey‑ ran Ave., Welsford,

Bates, Dawson, and

Mckee 412‑414‑9629. douridaboud­

propertymanage­ ment.com

3 BD apartments

available in South Oakland from $1195‑$1600

M.J. Kelly Real Estate

mjkellyrealty@gmail.­ com. 412‑271‑5550.

3408 Parkview Ave. 2 BD for $950 & 3 BD for $1,295.

Available immedi­ ately. Pet Friendly & Parking. CALL NOW! 412‑455‑5600 4 BR HOME ‑

SEM­PLE STREET, LO­CATED NEAR

Classifieds

For sale

• AUTO • BIKES • BOOKS • MERCHANDISE • FURNITURE • REAL ESTATE • PETS

RENT­ING FOR MAY AND AUGUST 2020.

412‑ 343‑4289 or 412‑330‑9498.

416 Oakland Ave., Garden Court. Bright and spacious 2BR, 1BA. Hardwood floors, laundry.

Move May 1 or Au­ gust 1, 2020. Call 412‑361‑2695.

Before signing a lease, be aware that no more than 3 unre­lated people can share a single unit. Check property’s compliance with codes. Call City’s Per­mits, Licensing & In­spections.

412‑255‑2175.

South Oakland Houses and Apart­ ments with Laundry and Central Air Call or Text 412‑38‑Lease

Rental Other

Employment

BASEMENT. NEW

Employment Other

CENTRAL AIR

ADDED. AVAIL­ ABLE IMMEDI­ ATELY AND

• ADOPTION • EVENTS • LOST AND FOUND • STUDENT GROUPS • WANTED • OTHER

Workplace 2019, is seeking caring indi­ viduals to provide companionship, light housekeeping and personal care to se­niors. We offer FLEXIBLE hours and great bene­fits. Please call 412‑363 5500 to schedule an inter­ view NOW!

R A T E S

Insertions

1-15 Words

16-30 Words

1X

2X

3X

4X

$6.30

$11.90

$17.30

$22.00

$7.50

$14.20

$20.00

$25.00

5X $27.00 $29.10

6X $30.20 $32.30

Add. + $5.00 + $5.40

(Each Additional Word: $0.10)

Deadline:

Two business days prior by 3pm | Email: advertising@pittnews.com | Phone: 412.648.7978

The Pitt News SuDoku 10/29/19 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

SNOW REMOVAL For winter 2019‑2020.

Near the Cathe­dral of Learning. Ex­cellent pay. If inter­ested call 412‑682‑7672

For Sale For Sale Other For Sale: Pitt Team Autographed Foot­ balls 1976&1980 teams. COA’s in­

cluded. $700 each.

Bob 412‑973‑0770

2 bedroom apartment in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. $480 per month includes wa­ter.

Pay utilities. EIK Near public trans­portation.

Security de­posit re‑ quired. 302‑331‑5833

LOUISA. EQUIPPED KITCHEN, FULL

notices

services

• EDUCATIONAL • TRAVEL • HEALTH • PARKING • INSURANCE

Comfort Keepers, a Post‑Gazette Top

October 29, 2019

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