10-31-19

The Pitt News

T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | October 31, 2019 ­| Volume 110 | Issue 55

PITT FUNDS SEXUAL MISCONDUCT PREVENTION PROJECTS

BACK TO THE BACKBOARD

Jon Moss

Assistant News Editor Pitt announced Wednesday that it is making up to $250,000 available for faculty and staff to support “innovative solutions” for preventing sexual misconduct on campus.

The special cycle of Pitt Seed funding is part of a community-driven response to address sexual misconduct at Pitt, spurred by the Oct. 15 release of a survey analyzing sexual assault and misconduct on 33 university campuses.

After the survey’s release, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher wrote in a campus-wide email that its results show that Pitt’s current efforts to prevent these actions are “insufficient.”

University officials said the funding can be used for projects focused on prevention education, integrating prevention education with academic programs, improving relevant processes and communications, as well as developing community partnerships. The program will fund a total of five projects by January 2020, with applicants able to request up to $50,000 for a single project by Nov. 27 at 12 p.m.

With the funding, Provost Ann Cudd said Pitt is taking a step toward addressing any sexual misconduct on campus.

“As a University, we have the perfect opportunity to leverage our best thoughts to lead important work that will address one of the most significant and pressing issues, not only on college campuses but in broader society,” Cudd said.

Sophomore guard Xavier Johnson (01) goes up to net during Pitt’s 98-47 victory over Slippery Rock.

Kaycee Orwig senior staff photographer

REDSTART ROASTERS: THE BIRDS AND THE BEANS Alexander Hanna

Parmelee, who graduated in 2011, is the CEO of Redstart Roasters, a coffee roastery Staff Writer that sells beans grown by farms holding Matt Parmelee puts his computer scibird-friendly certifications from the Smithence degree from Pitt to use at his job as a sonian Migratory Bird Center. The Smithsoftware engineer. But since 2017, he’s also sonian’s bird-friendly certification tells had a side gig combining two of his other consumers that the beans they’re buying passions — birds and coffee. Redstart Roastaren’t the product of deforestation, which ers — named after the American Redstart, a can harm the habitats of birds in places like small warbler — is his second calling.

Ethiopia or Colombia, where much of Redstart’s coffee is grown.

“I started roasting coffee as a hobby [and thought] let’s just take this hobby and sort of make it a business,” Parmelee said. “The bird thing came in later … it very easily combines my interest in coffee and birds.”

Through his business, Parmelee said See Redstart on page 2

News

Redstart, pg. 1

he hopes to provide coffee to the people of Pittsburgh while also preserving wildlife and maintaining biodiversity in coffee growing countries around the world.

“It’s a certification that guarantees growing practices that minimizes deforestation and maximizes biodiversity,” Parmelee said. “We like to support farms that do things that way where possible.”

Parmelee’s roastery maintains its birdfriendly certification by getting its beans from farms that hold a bird-friendly certification. Parmelee works with distributors who help him purchase the coffee from certified farms.

“We work with Royal New York in New York and Cafe Imports in Minneapolis and they’re much more qualified than I am to say ‘Hey, what’s this farm like?’ because they’ve been there,” Parmelee said. “I’ve

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worked with them to a point where I know they’re not just trying to sell me a bag of coffee, they care about this as much as I do.”

But Parmelee said he has bigger goals for Redstart Roasters, and hopes to one day deal with farmers directly.

“In the short term it’s basically a collaborative effort with my importers, in the long term I am hoping to eventually be working directly with a number of farms,” Parmelee said.

Thanks to Redstart, bird-friendly coffee is now on the shelves of a number of Pittsburgh stores, including the 52nd Street Market, HLane Dry Goods & Coffee in Swissvale and the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. Hannah Critzer, the owner of HLane, said there’s a demand for Redstart coffee.

“I have a lot of people come in specifically looking for local indie coffee roasters and Redstart, even though they’re brand new, they’re already getting a bit of a fol-

lowing which is why I still carry them,” Critzer said.

Critzer said her shop aims to support local small businesses ranging from the Pittsburgh Pickle Company to local jewelers. HLane Dry Goods & Coffee has held Redstart coffee for a month and carries five roasts and a tea that has been made from the coffee bean itself.

While Redstart Roasters is relatively new, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center first introduced the bird-friendly certification in the years 1998 and 1999.

According to the Migratory Bird Center, coffee farmers will apply to have their farms inspected. If they pass, they will be awarded a bird-friendly certification. Farms are expected to have shade coverage of at least 40% and must have an organic certification to receive bird-friendly certification in addition to other criteria.

But Parmelee admits on his website that the certification is not without its share of

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problems. Parmelee expressed a concern that the certification doesn’t include farms with differing geographical areas that do not match areas compared to coffee countries in South America. The language of the certification specifically caters to South and Central American countries’ topography.

Therefore, a farm in a country that does not meet the strict guidelines just because of its natural landscape will be barred from certification, despite expressing interest in being bird-friendly.

“It’s the strictest coffee certification out there … It was originally developed for focusing on Central and South America,” Parmelee said. “The problem is that it’s a little too focused on those areas.”

Parmelee added that he worries these narrow criteria may keep farms interested in being bird-friendly from being certified.

“Obviously the growing areas that you’d find in Peru are very different from those in See Redstart on page 11

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Opinions

column

from the editorial board

Gen Z finally claps back at baby boomers

Baby boomers have historically had quite a few — mostly negative — opinions on millennials and members of Generation Z. They say we have Peter Pan syndrome, not wanting to grow up and look past our utopian ideals of the future.

Well, youngsters these days have a short but sweet response to members of the older generation who disparage us — “OK, boomer.” This response contains the same level of dismissiveness that many boomers direct towards millennials and Gen Zers, as well as a certain level of frustration at constantly being disparaged by the generation that put us in our current, not-verygood position. It’s the perfect answer to the ironic haughtiness of many baby boomers.

“OK, boomer” has spread across the internet, as many boomers have taken to social media to voice their distaste for the youths. Merchandise with the slogan on it is selling fast — one Gen Zer, 19-year-old Shannon O’Connor, is even cashing in on the saying. She designed a T-shirt around the phrase and has earned more than $10,000 from online orders. She explains the importance of “OK boomer” and the pressure that created it.

“The older generations grew up with a certain mind-set, and we have a different perspective,” O’Connor said. “A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view.

Teenagers just respond, ‘OK, boomer.’ It’s like, we’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.”

A common hallmark of most younger generations has been to challenge the mindset of the older generations, and millennials and Gen Zers are no exception.

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We’re at a point where we simply can’t ignore the realities of climate change or inequality like previous generations might have done. The problems of past generations have now fallen on us — as well as the effects of the choices boomers have made and are still making — and the derision we often receive for trying to address those problems with “utopian” ideals is certainly worthy of an eye roll and an “OK, boomer.”

Joshua Citarella, a researcher who studies online communities, points out three main crises that Gen Z will have to face, in addition to being the first generation with a lower quality of life than the preceding generation.

“Essentials are more expensive than ever before, we pay 50% of our income to rent, no one has health insurance,” Citarella said. “Previous generations have left Generation Z with the short end of the stick. You see this on both the left, right, up, down and sideways.

He said the “OK boomer” merchandise shows how much these issues — and others, like the climate crisis, inequality, the astronomical cost of college and a hyperpolarized political climate made worse by the internet — resonate with people. Some Gen Zers even said selling the “OK boomer” merchandise was a way of paying some of their college tuition.

Millennials and Gen Zers don’t just want to change the world for the better — at this point, we have no other choice. So to these younger generations — the next time someone of an older generation tries to tell you that you’re a selfish, ungrateful, idealistic Gen Zer, you now know what to say. And to that older generation — we’re doing the best with what you gave us. OK, boomer?

ABLEIST MEMES AREN’T FUNNY

Rachel Soloff

For The Pitt News The Starship food delivery bots had an eventful few days last week.

Starship stopped testing the bots on campus two hours after a fifth-year doctoral student in Pitt’s chemical and petroleum engineering program, Emily Ackerman, tweeted that the robots had blocked her wheelchair on Forbes Avenue and made her unable to get to the ramp on the crosswalk.

Starship later reviewed the footage and concluded that Ackerman was able get around. The robots relaunched on Tuesday. On the r/Pitt Reddit page, fol-

October 31, 2019

Promiti Debi staff illustrator lowing Ackerman’s viral Twitter thread and Starship’s follow-up statement last week, a user who goes by NordyNed posted The Pitt News’ article about the footage being reviewed. Many in the comments — including NordyNed themself — commented highly ableist memes mocking Ackerman and also argued with those who sided with her point regarding accessibility.

Although Ackerman’s statement on the robots was not completely accurate, it still brings up the issue of ableism and accessibility at Pitt. Ableist memes and rhetoric are never funny and always harmful. They make students with disSee Soloff on page 5

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October 31, 2019

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Soloff, pg. 3 abilities feel as if they don’t belong and promote a culture of ableism throughout campus. The r/Pitt Reddit users reacted poorly and took out their anger over the robots removal on someone who was anticipating problems of accessibility for students in wheelchairs.

Some of the more than 100 comments included memes, saying “#FreeWall-E” and other similar phrases, attempting to be funny. NordyNed also commented that Ackerman was “ruining the fun” by calling out the possibility for an accessibility issue. When someone called out the original meme poster saying “NordyNed hates disabled people,” NordyNed said they were exposing a “hoax” and everyone else was overreacting.

Most of the memes have been deleted by the page’s moderators and the comments on the original article have been locked.

NordyNed and other users tried to “expose” Ackerman’s alleged lie by trying to minimize the predicted accessibility struggles and by alienating disabled students. By calling able-bodied students

“regular,” NordyNed essentially called disabled students irregular. When they were called out on being ableist, NordyNed was defensive and non-receptive.

The Starship robots have been launched on other campuses such as Northern Arizona University, Purdue University and, most notably, George Mason University, where the delivery service has been a huge success, with the number of robots almost doubling during its second semester on campus.

All of these campuses have had little pushback on accessibility — and are all non-urban campuses. Pitt, however, is the only urban campus where the robots have been tested.

Urban campuses face new challenges when it comes to technology like Starship’s food robots. Many students with disabilities have to work twice as hard to self-advocate and receive accommodation for necessities like accessible housing, while also being confronted with difficulties like getting to classes when elevators break down and accessible entrances are far away.

Urban campuses contain even more accessibility issues with busy streets

and crosswalks. Non-student pedestrians and public buses also cause distinct problems for disabled students that they wouldn’t face on non-urban campuses.

Those with disabilities now not only have to navigate the bustling urban campus but also self-driving robots darting in front of their wheelchairs. Students who aren’t in wheelchairs worry less about getting around the robots and busy crowds in order to get to class on time.

When developing technology like the Starship robots, companies should be extremely thorough with testing for accessibility in order to anticipate issues that weren’t originally considered. While Starship did test with some disability advocacy programs, mainly for the blind, they should consider more testing with more disability advocacy groups, especially in regards to those in wheelchairs.

It’s crucial that Ackerman spoke up about the potential problems that those with physical disabilities could face regarding the robots and it’s shameful that people reacted the way they did.

NordyNed and other users on Reddit attacked Ackerman for showing concern

about potential issues that the Starship robots could cause while hiding behind their screens. It’s terrible that internet hatred and ableism could seep onto a campus over delivery robots. Able-bodied Pitt students should consider how the robots could affect accessibility rather than take out their frustration on disabled students expressing concern.

The Pitt News SuDoku 10/31/19 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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October 31, 2019

5

Culture

Poet Toi Dericotte digs deep for her latest book

Matthew Monroy Staff Writer

Toi Derricotte is no stranger to raw honesty. The former Pitt professor, now professor emeritus, has been writing poetry for more than 40 years and doesn’t plan on slowing down.

Her most recent book, “‘I’: New and Selected Poems,” is one of the five finalists for the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry. The book is a collection of 39 new poems and selections from four of Derricotte’s previous books dating back to her 1978 debut. Derricotte said she felt gratitude upon hearing her nomination.

“It meant so much to me because it represents 60 years of my life so it really validates that work,” she said. “I feel deeply honored. I feel deeply validated.”

“I” encompasses a 41-year window in Derricotte’s life and a wide range of subject matters. The poems range from the minute to the meta — small observations of seemingly mundane everyday moments to epic ruminations on identity and life. A lot of the new poems even take place in University of Pittsburgh locations, such as a bathroom stall on the third floor of the Cathedral of Learning.

Prompted by her editor Ed Ochester of the University of Pittsburgh Press to create a collective work, Derricotte began revisiting her previous books, leaving sticky notes on pages with poems she enjoyed.

“My editor told me to choose the poems I loved and leave everything else out,” she said. “And so that’s what I did.”

Although the process of choosing poems for “I” may have been an easy and enjoyable task, originally writing many of the poems proved much more difficult. Derricotte’s poetry is characterized by a fearless level of candor — even when the subject matter turns toward her own childhood.

Growing up in Detroit, Derricotte lived with an abusive father who regular-

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ly beat her. Derricotte doesn’t try to hide the realities of her traumatic childhood in her poetry. In fact, her 2011 book, “The Undertaker’s Daughter,” deals specifically with her relationship with her father.

Although the poems in “I” taken from “The Undertaker’s Daughter” remain the same, Derricotte made one addition — an introductory poem to the section titled “Apology to the Reader.” Derricotte wrote the apology at the time she was making “The Undertaker’s Daughter” because of the heavy nature of the book but said she later scrapped it because she felt its inclusion would take away from the actual poems.

“I thought, you don’t apologize — writers aren’t supposed to apologize,” she said. “But when I published the whole collection, I thought that that apology needs to be in there,” she said. “This is what I need to do to do the kind of work I need to do. I hope I’m making art out of it.”

After graduating from school in Detroit, Derricotte received her B.A. in Special Education from Wayne State University in 1965. She then moved to the East Coast, where she took up a job as a teacher in New Jersey. Derricotte said she worked in a “poets in the school program,” where she taught poetry to students grades K through 12 at a school for a week. According to Derricotte, this job was where she truly learned the art of teaching.

“When you’re teaching kids, you have to know what you’re doing, because you can’t just say ‘Go write something and do your homework,’” she said. “You have to really know what you’re doing to get kids to love writing.”

Living in North New Jersey provided Derricotte with quick access to New York City, a literary hotbed in the ’70s. After participating in many writing workshops and training herself to write every day,

Derricotte published her first book, “The Empress of the Death House,” in 1978. She later earned her M.A. in English literature from New York University in 1984. However, her success was not without its difficulties. Derricotte said she was often the only African American person in graduate programs.

“When I was in graduate school in 1985, and I asked why we had never read an African American poet my graduate professor said ‘We don’t go down that low,’” she said. “So, we weren’t reading any African American writers, and if you were an African American poet there was just no way you could have some sense of validation.”

It was this lack of a community for African American poets that inspired Derricotte to found Cave Canem along with fellow poet Cornelius Eady in 1996. Cave Canem — meaning “beware the dog” in Latin — is a non-profit organization devoted to creating a nurturing space for African American poets to cultivate their artistic skills.

One year after Derricotte founded Cave Canem, she released her fourth collection of poetry, “Tender.” “Tender” focused on the effects of racism and how Derricotte’s position as a light-skinned African American person changed her experience of discrimination and prejudice within white and black social circles.

Twenty-eight poems from “Tender” appear in “I,” each one examining racism with an unflinching eye.

Derricotte frequently tackled controversial and taboo topics in “Tender,” something that she hoped to allow other African American poets to do in Cave Canem’s unrestrictive environment.

“I wanted there to be a place where African American poets could write great poetry and not have those pressures on them,” she said. “Where they could have a conversation where they didn’t have to double-think what they were gonna talk

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about.”

The organization consists of a variety of workshops led by African American poets in which fellows’ poems are critiqued and analyzed. Acceptance into Cave Canem is dependent upon the strength of the applicant’s poetry.

Since its inception, Cave Canem’s fellows have gone on to be Poet Laureates of the United States and Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and National Book Award winners. Douglas Kearney, a poet and professor at the California Institute for the Arts, got his start as a fellow of Cave Canem from 2000 to 2002. He said his time at Cave Canem was educationally enriching.

“For me, it was a space where I began to learn a lot about a lot of different poetic techniques and engaging in hardcore questions about the range of poetics,” he said.

“That space that Toi was instrumental in creating was an essential of my development as a poet.”

Some of Cave Canem’s fellows have even made their way over to Pitt, as is the case with Yona Harvey, now an assistant professor in the English department, who participated in Cave Canem in its founding year, 1996, as well as in 1997 and 1999.

“The unique thing about going to Cave Canem was that suddenly we encountered these poets who were in spaces like Pitt and other schools where they were in the minority,” she said.

For Derricotte, carving out spaces for African American poets that she didn’t have as a young adult is essential to poetry’s survival.

Now, as her latest work is nominated for a prestigious award in poetry, she said she believes with all her heart in the power of writing, something that come through whenever she speaks.

“I believe writing changes the world,” she said. “It’s not just somebody telling you what to think — it’s your way of working through what’s important. And that’s why it’s powerful, you see, because it belongs to the person who’s doing that work.”

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review

‘Mean Girls’ fetches laughs at the Benedum Center Delilah Bourque Culture Editor

Tina Fey’s 2004 movie “Mean Girls” is an instantly quotable classic. Generating tons of merch, inside jokes and a place in film history as arguably one of the best teen movies of the early aughts, “Mean Girls” finally got the musical makeover treatment and came to Pittsburgh Tuesday night.

Both the movie and musical follow Cady Heron, a new student at an average American high school who’d previously spent her whole life being homeschooled in Kenya by her biologist parents. Cady is quickly roped into highschool drama by her new friends, who encourage her to spy on queen bee Regina George by pretending to join her clique. Cady then falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels, which only causes further drama — and hilarity — to ensue. The movie was a staple in the lives of many tween girls, and the musical proves to be a refreshing take on a classic movie.

Though Cady, played by Danielle Wade, is the main character of both the show and the original movie, it’s the side performances in the musical that steal the show. Jonalyn Saxer shines as Karen Smith, the dumbest girl in school. Saxer gleefully kicks around stage and makes a splash in her apropos-for-the-season first act number, “Sexy,” about being able to be whoever she wants for Halloween, as long as the costume is also sexy.

Samuel Gerber as Cady’s friend Damien Hubbard brings life and laughter to a role that, in the original movie, was more subdued and on the sidelines. His second act number, “Stop,” is both funny and heartachingly relatable to anyone who has ever felt like they couldn’t help but overwhelm someone they were romantically interested in.

One of the challenges of turning a nonmusical movie into an elaborate, two-hour stage production is writing songs that work with the plot. Sometimes, the song falls flat, like “Meet the Plastics,” where Regina, played by Mariah Rose Faith, generally has lines that consist of “My name is Regina George and I am a massive deal.”

Some of these songs are really successful, such as “Whose House is This?” which the high schoolers sing as they trash Cady’s house at what is supposed to be a small party. The song is hilarious and the complicated dance routines that the cast

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Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s production of “Mean Girls” will run through Nov. 3 at The Benedum Center for Performing Arts.

Image courtesy of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust bursts into are impressive.

Part of the magic of the 2004 film is the brilliance of the humor. Many of the jokes that made “Mean Girls” so iconic for a generation of young people are the funny, one-liners. The humor of Damien dramatically yelling “Four for you Glenn Coco, you go Glenn Coco” while handing out candy cane grams comes from how unnecessary the joke is. We never hear from Glenn Coco again, and he isn’t even pictured in the movie.

The joke contributes nothing to the plot, which is what makes it so funny — and so iconic.

The stage version keeps most of this humor.

“You go Glenn Coco!” booms Gerber, thrusting candy canes towards another cast member. The jokes that make the original movie funny are still there, represented in the over-the-top way typical of musical theater. There are even a few new jokes in a similarly unnecessary vein that made the audience roar with laughter.

In the movie, Regina is revealed to be cheating on Aaron Samuels in the projection room above the auditorium. In the musical, Regina’s friend Gretchen Weiners, played by Megan Masako Haley, while in a rage because she thinks Regina likes Cady more than her, tells Cady that Regina has been cheating on Aaron with a boy in their school mascot costume.

When Cady incredulously asks Gretchen if Regina asked the boy to wear the costume, Gretchen howls back “No! They’re both in the costume!” The visual gag of what looks like two people having sex in a mascot costume sent me and the other audience members into hysterics. These sorts of jokes, which make the movie funny even on the 10th watch, keep the musical version fresh.

One distinct difference introduced in the musical is an attempt to update some of the jokes from the movie. Both were written by Fey, and it

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seems as though she has tried to adapt the material for modern attitudes.

In the movie, when Regina is adding herself to the “burn book” to make it look like Cady wrote mean things about every girl in school, she calls herself a “fugly slut.” On stage, Regina sings of her revenge in “World Burn” while copying pages of the Burn Book to distribute around school. The scene was the most visually interesting in the show, with Haley standing alone on stage, darkly lit in front of a photocopier. The massive screens behind her show her photograph and the words “Regina George is a fugly cow” slowly turning negative, as if read by the copier.

Regina electing to call herself a cow, instead of a slut, lines up with other changes made to modernize the show. The movie includes a subplot about a student having an affair with the school gym teacher which, while small, is wrong, considering statutory rape is a serious crime.

That plot is completely removed from the show.

The modernization isn’t entirely perfect, though. Even though Fey has removed some of the more unsavory jokes — such as “if you’re from Africa, then why are you white?” and Karen’s line about her boobs predicting the weather — the musical adds in jokes that seem to completely undo some of the attempts to make the movie more suited to today’s political climate.

In the movie, Cady says the only crush she had as a child was a little boy who ran away from her. In one of the numbes from the first act called “Stupid with Love,” she sings “When I was five, I fell in love / it didn’t last / He ran from me / literally / ran from me / and being Kenyan / he ran pretty fast.” The joke about Kenyan men being fast seems outdated and, frankly, a little racist.

While one of the original jokes about race, asking Cady why she isn’t black if she’s from Africa, is racist, it does no good to remove one racist joke, then turn around and make another one.

Despite the occasionally milquetoast music and varying success at modernizing jokes that worked in 2004, but might not today, “Mean Girls” is a hit. The musical manages to capture the most fun parts of the movie, while also bringing new things to the table that are sure to delight audiences through its run.

“Mean Girls” runs through Nov. 3 at The Benedum Center for Performing Arts.

7

Sports

ONLINE Pitt vs. Georgia Tech at pittnews.com

PITT WRESTLING CONTINUES CLIMB BACK TO PROMINENCE Jack Clay Staff Writer

The college wrestling season is officially underway. Pitt wrestling kicked off its 2019-20 campaign with the annual Blue and Gold match in the Fitzgerald Field House on Oct. 25, with the Gold team taking a narrow 22-19 victory.

That match was simply a low-stakes warm-up. The real season is just around the corner, and head coach Keith Gavin believes his team is in a much better position to succeed than it was one year ago.

“It’s really just about the guys that we have,” Gavin said. “We had a lot of new people on the team last year, and they’re the type of kids that this is important to.”

Redshirt sophomore Micky Phillippi See Wrestling on page 9

Redshirt sophomore Micky Phillippi is currently ranked No. 4 133-pounder in the nation.

Thomas Yang assistant visual editor

PANTHERS RATTLE THE ROCK IN SEASON OPENING SCRIMMAGE Alex Lehmbeck Staff Writer

Pitt men’s basketball opened the 2019-20 men’s basketball season with an exhibition game against Slippery Rock University on Wednesday, and it went about as well as a preseason tuneup game can go. The Panthers dominated, there were no injuries and the players showed off a few second-half dunks to get the home crowd’s attention.

Despite the blowout, Pitt began to hint at what the team will look like next week against Florida State. As expected, the three-headed monster of sophomores — Trey McGowens, Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney — opened, while first-year wing Gerald Drumgoole and graduate transfer Eric Hamilton filled the last two starting spots for the Panthers, meaning junior forward Terell Brown, who started 33 games for the Panthers in his first two seasons, was relegated to the bench.

It might have been an exhibition game, but Sophomore guard Trey McGowens (02) scored 15 points during Pitt’s 98-47 Pitt wanted to make a statement early. The Panvictory over Slippery Rock. Kaycee Orwig senior staff photographer

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October 31, 2019

thers made their first five shots to jump out to a 15-4 lead. They penetrated the lane with ease, scoring their first 16 points off layups or free throws and 26 of 51 first half points in the paint.

Pitt first-year Justin Champagnie, who was sidelined for Pitt’s Blue and Gold Madness scrimmage while nursing a knee injury, subbed in during the game’s third minute. Champagnie played 18 minutes, tallying eight points on 3-6 shooting in his Pitt debut. This was another step in his recovery and head coach Jeff Capel acknowledged how essential his return is.

“We’ve been incorporating [Champagnie] full speed since he was clear, and we’ve been trying to ramp some things up with him because we need him,” Capel said.

Although Champagnie’s injury was later revealed to be a sprain, early speculation feared that it was much more serious, possibly an ACL tear.

“Over a month ago, he thought his season was over with,” Capel said. “All of a sudden you think See Basketball on page 11

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Wrestling, pg. 8 has been one of the team’s strongest wrestlers since he arrived at Pitt and figures to continue that success this year.

The 133-pounder is ranked No. 4 in the nation this year, holding steady at his NCAA tournament ranking from last season.

Phillippi went 2-2 in that event, falling to Ohio State’s Luke Pletcher and Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young. He’s kept those losses in the back of his mind

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the entire offseason, using them as fuel for the upcoming year.

“I feel like I learned a lot from those losses,” Phillippi said. “Coach Gavin always says not to make something bigger than it is. I felt like I just got caught up in the moment of the tournament and made it bigger than it was because really it was just another match, and we do it every day.”

Phillippi has set a high bar for himself coming into the upcoming season, aiming at a national championship.

“There’s no specific thing, I just want

to become a better all-around wrestler,” he said. “I mean, we all want to win a national title.”

The road to get there will always be difficult, but with many of the country’s top wrestlers like Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix, Rutgers’ Nick Suriano and Michigan’s Stevan Micic choosing to sit out in favor of a run at the 2020 Olympic team, the 133-pound weight class title is up for grabs.

Pitt sent five wrestlers to the NCAA tournament last year, including Phillippi, although none were able to

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achieve an elusive All-American title.

One of those Panthers was redshirt senior heavyweight Demetrius Thomas.

He came into the event as the No. 8 ranked heavyweight, but came up short of his ranking, going 1-2 and losing out to Central Michigan’s Matt Stencel and Brown’s Ian Butterbrodt. Like Phillippi, Thomas used those matches to fuel this year’s run.

“In those two matches, the thing that really set me apart from winning and me losing was two things really,” See Wrestling on page 10

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Wrestling, pg. 9 Thomas said. “One, being overzealous at times and, two, having mat awareness to control the situation, wrestle my match and not let my opponent control me. I evaluate those small aspects to … fix the problems.”

Thomas set high goals as well for this upcoming season after a disappointing end to last year, including winning a national championship.

“That’s what I strive to do,” Thomas said. “One goal that I do have though is simply to be an All-American. I don’t want to miss that mark.”

As a team, Pitt earned national respect last season. Entering the 2018 season, it came in unranked and overlooked because of its 4-11 dual meet record from the year before. It went on to exceed even the wildest expectations, finishing 13-3 in dual meets, No. 4 at the ACC Championships and 34th out of 63 teams in the NCAA Championships.

This year, Pitt ranks just outside the top 10 in the nation. For the first time in the last decade, people expect big things,

and Phillippi thinks they’re ready.

“It was cool last year to upset some teams and be kind of under the radar,” Philippi said. “And I still think we’re under the radar because in my opinion we have the potential to be a really good team this year.”

Despite the vast improvement upon the year before, Gavin isn’t satisfied with his team’s 2019 season. He and his staff made sure that this year’s dual meet schedule is difficult as ever in order to put his team among the nation’s elite.

“Last year was tough but I wanted us to wrestle good competition every time out because, ultimately, our goal at the end of the year is to get guys on the podium,” Gavin said. “Having a 13-3 dual meet record was nice but it doesn’t mean anything … Getting guys on the podium at nationals is what we’re trying to do.”

Giving his wrestlers a challenge was among Gavin’s highest priorities this offseason. He wants them to be more prepared than ever for the NCAA tournament.

“The ACC is good so we’re going to wrestle some tough teams,” Gavin said.

“But out of conference, we made the

Ohio State dual happen, Lehigh, going back out to Oklahoma State, making sure we had those teams … Adding those teams beefs it up.”

Another reason for Pitt’s preseason hype is its latest recruiting class. It nabbed highly successful wrestlers like Colton Camacho, Austin Cooley, Jared McGill, Luke Kemerer and Cole Matthews, many of whom are expected to contribute early in their college careers.

“They’ve all done a pretty good job,” Gavin said. “I think Austin Cooley is in a tough group with Kellan [Stout] and him being a senior. He’s just coming off an injury, but he’s a very mature kid, so that’s nice to see … Colton Camacho has been doing a nice job of maintaining his weight, which is tough to do.”

This year’s class has caught the attention of some of the team’s leaders as well.

“A lot of them just live the right lifestyle and are doing the right things, which, culture-wise, is good for a team,” Phillippi said. “I feel like they just contribute well to our team and our program.”

After a season of improvement, there’s still nowhere for the Panthers to

go but up. They have exciting new talent, plenty of eligibility left on most of their existing leaders and one of college wrestling’s best head coaches, who himself was a two-time All-American and national champion as a Panther in 2008.

There is plenty to look forward to for Panther fans and it all begins when they open their dual meet season on Saturday, Nov. 9, against Campbell University in the Fitzgerald Field House.

This team has garnered a lot of hype as the season nears, but Gavin remains focused on continuing to reach for new heights.

“Our goals are always the same,” Gavin said. “It’s just to try and get better and do what we can to try and reach our full potential.”

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October 31, 2019

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Basketball, pg. 8 you’re done for the year. It took three weeks to reevaluate him, and then you’re told ‘You’re fine go back and go full speed.’ So there’s some mental hurdles to get over.”

The only obvious flaws in Pitt’s first-half play came from free throw shooting and rebounding.

The Rock outrebounded the Panthers by five in the first half, despite missing 14 more shot attempts on the offensive end.

“I thought in the first half they missed a lot of shots and they were just quicker to the ball,” Capel said. “I thought we didn’t do as good of a job of keeping guys out of the paint, so a lot of times our big guys were away from the basket because they were coming over in help situations.”

Hamilton, who didn’t grab any rebounds in the first half, was particularly frustrated with his rough start to the game.

“That’s just ridiculous, for me personally,” Hamilton said. “The key to a lot of games is really just rebounding, and for them to out-rebound us, that didn’t sit well with me.”

Capel said he challenged Hamilton and Brown to address that deficiency in the second half, and they responded. After giving up 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, Slippery Rock only recorded three in the second half. Pitt, meanwhile took over on the other end, corralling 14 offensive boards of their own.

“I tried to come out with a vengeance in the second half,” Hamilton said. “[Trying to] just fo-

Redstart, pg. 2 Ethiopia,” Parmelee said. “So you run into a lot of cases where an Ethiopian farm might be very interested in being certified … but the language [of the Smithsonian’s requirements] just does not apply just because the territory is so different.”

According to Scott Sillett, head of the Migratory Bird Center, the Bird Center is working to fix these issues to include any coffee farm that wishes to participate. Sillett cited farms in Indonesia as an example, saying the Migratory Bird Center is working with Conservation International to develop criteria that could apply to Indonesia’s geographical location and its growing lands.

Native tree species are vital — the local insect population is adapted to feed on those plants. If these plants are replaced with foreign species for the sake of providing better shade, the insects could suffer population loss. Without insects, local

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cus more on rebounding and getting my team extra shots. Securing the boards so that we could just push it and go.”

From there the Panthers were able to unleash their speed in the open court. Improved secondhalf rebounding led to fastbreak opportunities and easy dunks. Drumgoole, who finished with 13 points, recorded two of his own.

Picking up where they left off last season, Pitt’s strongest performances came from Johnson and McGowens. Johnson led all scorers with 17 points, while McGowens turned in a complete game of 15 points and eight assists in 24 minutes.

“Playing with them guys, it’s a blessing because I look up to them guys, “ Drumgoole said.

“Knowing that they’re about to take the next step in their career soon, it’s a pretty good thing. I learn a lot from them on the court, and I learn a lot from them off the court.”

The Panthers now await their first test — a season-opening clash with in-conference foe Florida State next Wednesday at home. And Capel knows that the Seminoles will provide a heightened level of competition.

“We know that they’re going to very talented,” Capel said. “We know that they are going to be big and athletic. They’re going to play really really hard, really defend you, and we knew we wouldn’t get that in exhibitions.”

Tip-off with Florida State is scheduled for next Wednesday at 8 p.m. from the Petersen Events Center and will be broadcast on ESPNU. birds lose a food source.

“One of our criteria is that you can’t just have one species of shade tree … you need to have 10 species and the majority of those species need to be native,” Sillett said. “One of the things we’re working on with Conservation International is to come up with a list of native tree species in Indonesia that could serve as shade trees.”

The Migratory Bird Center is working to fix these issues so roasters like Parmelee can get their bird-friendly beans from a variety of countries, Sillett said. With a variety of beans, Parmelee may offer a wider selection of flavors that vary with the bean according to region.

Though Parmelee’s business is new and growing, Critzer said she thinks Redstart Roasters and bird-friendly coffee could be more commonplace in the future.

“Whenever I run out, people are asking me when I’ll be getting another order in,” Critzer said.

October 31, 2019

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For Rent South Oakland ** 5 Bedroom/2 full bath; HUGE HOME‑ duplex style, three sto‑ ries. COM­PLETELY REMOD­ELED, 2 living rooms, 2 kitchens, 2 dining rooms, LAUN­DRY, DISH­WASHER and a huge yard to enjoy!

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Located on Dawson Street. PITT Shuttle stops di­rectly in front of house, only 15 minute level walk to PITT/CMU. $3,595­+.

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NO PETS. Call Jason at 412‑922‑2141. Pic‑ tures‑ Info: tinyurl. com/­dawsonhome ***AUGUST 2020: Furnished studios, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments. No pets.

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

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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/ month includ­ing utilities and ca­ble.

On street park­ing. No pets. 412‑576‑8734 2‑3‑4‑5‑6‑7 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2020. Nice, clean, free laundry, in­ cludes exterior main‑ tenance, new appli‑ ances, spa­cious, and located on Semple, 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 LOUISA. EQUIPPED KITCHEN, FULL BASEMENT. NEW CENTRAL AIR ADDED. AVAIL­

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

Apartments for rent. 3 and 4 bedroom apart‑ ments available. Some available on Dawson Street, At­wood Street, and Mc­kee Place.

Newly re­modeled.

Some have laundry on site. Min­utes from the Univer­sity. For more info please call Mike at 412‑849‑8694 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 2 bedroom apartment in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. $480 per month includes wa­ter.

Pay utilities. EIK Near public trans­portation.

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Employment Employment Other Comfort Keepers, a Post‑Gazette Top 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! SNOW REMOVAL For winter 2019‑2020.

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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

Services Services Other Affordable Tarot, Lo­cal reader, live or email.

TaoCraftTarot.com 412‑206‑9171

October 31, 2019

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