11-10-2015

The Pitt News T h e in de p e n d e n t st ude nt ne w spap e r of t he University of Pittsburgh

Pitt Football notebook Page 9 November 10, 2015 | Issue 60 | Volume 106

Student Black artists reclaim museum space found dead Lauren Rosenblatt and Elizabeth Lepro Assistant News Editors

A Pitt student passed away on Saturday, Nov. 7. He was 25.

Chris Beel was pronounced dead at 12:23 p.m. at the Intensive Care Unit of Allegheny General Hospital from cardiac arrest due to an accidental heroin overdose, according to Rick Lorah, supervisor for the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office.

Beel overdosed in Venetia, PA and was flown to Allegheny General Hospital. Lorah said he did not suspect foul play in Beel’s death.

Pitt spokesperson Joe Miksch confirmed that Beel was a Pitt student, but could not confirm Beel’s year or academic plan. According to the University’s Directory Service website, Beel was undeclared.

This is the second reported drug overdose at the University this year. Victor Firman, a 22-yearold Pitt student from Connecticut, died of an accidental heroin and cocaine overdose on August 30, 2015.

Miksch said the University could not provide further comment at this time.

Friends and family seeking counseling can contact the University Counseling Center at 412648-7930.

Editor’s Note: It is always difficult for a newspaper to report a student’s passing, but to prevent misinformation about this tragedy, The Pitt News feels obligated to do so.

Students and artists admired the works of art from black and African artists. Meghan Sunners SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Emily Migdal

For The Pitt News What a Pitt art exhibit was and was not sparked discussion Monday night, making space for the weighty absence of diversity in art galleries nationwide.

On Monday, Nov. 9, students from the Museum Studies Seminar hosted the open-

ing of the mixed-media art exhibit titled “Exposure: Black Voices in the Arts” from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Frick Fine Arts building. The students originally named the free exhibit “Exposure: Black Artists; White Bias,” but changed the title due to reservations from possible contributors.

The gallery, which showcases more than

40 artists from black, African-American and African diasporic origins who live in Pittsburgh, will run from Nov. 9, to Dec. 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibit aims to draw attention to the lack of black voices in the art community.

“We hear about diversity a lot, but we See Art on page 2

News

UPMC researcher advocates for radiation therapy Priya Chandrasekaran For The Pitt News

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network paints a straightforward picture of the best lymphoma treatments, but recent UPMC research found that reality doesn’t reflect this depiction.

Dr. John Austin Vargo, a UPMC radiation oncologist, led a study investigating what he calls one of the “shortcomings of our nationwide healthcare system,” the underutilization of radiation therapy in early-stage follicular lymphomas. Vargo published the work this August and found that, despite strong clinical evidence that shows radiation therapy leads to higher overall survival rates than alternative treatments, patients are receiving either no treatment, chemotherapy or targeted drug therapies.

“It’s frustrating that, despite it being the recommended treatment, radiation therapy is underutilized,” said Vargo. “The role of oncologists is only to perform the treatment. In terms of deciding what treatment patients should receive, they are at the end of the referral chain.”

Follicular lymphoma is the most common type of non-hodgkin lymphoma, a form of blood cancer that occurs when white cells grow, spread and form tumors in the body. NHL will affect 71,000 TNS

Art, pg. 1 don’t actually enact it,” Alexis Henry, a senior history of art and architecture, history and museum studies major, said. “We felt also that the University of Pittsburgh really needed [diversity], especially in the art scene, which is so diverse in Pittsburgh but often isn’t represented in a lot of museums.”

To emphasize the lack of black voices, the students came up with a title that did not hide their opinion of art culture.

“Exposure: Black Artists, White Bias,” according to professor Janet McCall, drew negative responses from some artists who felt the title was aggressive.

“Although the initial title was picked by the students, because they thought it made clear the gap that existed, we began to get feedback from some artists who said ‘I’d love

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to be in the show, but I’m a little concerned about the title,’” McCall said.

Exhibited artist Kee Adams from Fairywood in the West End said the name change presented a problem rather than solving one.

“The title was very important, because it’s the exact struggle we have, and it reflected that struggle,” Adams said. “So when I saw that it was changed I felt it was almost an act of pacifying for people that may have taken it in a way that they shouldn’t have.”

Open submissions for the show began in October for artists throughout Pittsburgh.

Artists donated works to the gallery while the Braddock Library loaned art to the show from one of its Alternative Lending Collections. The exhibit includes quilt works, sculptures and paintings that draw from the cultural and geographic background of the artist who created them. The artwork ranged from a sculpture depicting the Middle Passage, the

forced journey Africans took from Africa to enslavement in America, to a multi-medium piece with lights, music and paintings.

Students in the seminar host a gallery event every semester as part of the main project for professor McCall’s course. McCall brought the idea of “absence” to the class, which prompted the students to think about the absence of black and African-American artists in many galleries and museums.

“The goal was really to bring awareness to the fact that there are not enough opportunities to exhibit and showcase work by AfricanAmerican and black artists,” McCall said.

“And to make the Pittsburgh community aware that we have some amazing, diverse art that’s being produced in Pittsburgh.”

Sophomore Caitrin Bogart, who is part of the seminar that organized the gallery, said the class hoped 1,000 people would show up on Monday night. As people strolled through

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See Study on page 3 Frick’s marbled doorway, Bogart said she thought the class might meet that goal, but she didn’t have an exact head count.

Students began working on this project at the beginning of the semester as part of their final portfolio for the class. The planning involved coordinating catering, arranging lighting and printing flyers to raise awareness for the event, Bogart said. Pitt and the History of Art and Architecture department funded the event.

Although Pitt provides money to cover the event, according to Bogart, students had to apply for an extra funding grant from the HAA department to cover extra costs like catering and tools for installation. The department granted the gallery $1,800, adding to the initial funds of $3,000 from the University.

See Art on page 3

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Study, pg. 2

Art, pg. 2

people in 2015, according to the American Cancer Society.

Of these 71,000 people, doctors will diagnose 20 to 30 percent with FL. Three main types of treatment exist for FL patients: non-treatment, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. RT is the use of high energy X-rays to target tumors in the body, and studies by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network have found that it is the best treatment for FL in its early stages.

Vargo and his team analyzed treatment methods and survival rates for 35,961 patients in stage I and II FL, the group of patients who he said should receive radiation therapy. Following the analysis, the radiation oncologists evaluated the types of treatment these patients actually received, whether it was chemotherapy or RT, and compared overall survival rates based on treatment type.

The study found that the use of RT in patients with FL decreased from 37 percent in 1999 to 24 percent in 2012, paralleled by increases in the use of chemotherapy and observation without initial radiation treatment. Those who initially underwent RT had five and 10-year survival rates of 86 and 68 percent, respectively, while those who didn’t experienced survival rates of 74 and 54 percent.

“Some of [the decline] is due to misconceptions,” Vargo said. “Radiation is associated with an increased risk of second cancer.”

Vargo said modern techniques and research has proven these beliefs wrong.

“Older radiation techniques [achieved] less accurate delivery, which increased side effects, [but] the bias of an increased risk of toxicity is less of a concern [with] modern radiation techniques,” Vargo said.

The declining use of RT despite recommendations also “stems from a bias toward physicians choosing no treatment [at all] because FL is a slow-growing cancer, and patients may die of other things before [they do of] lymphoma,” Vargo said.

Grits Capone, a Guyanese artist showcased in the exhibit, drew influence for his photography from rioting in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray in 2014. He said the exhibit, as a whole, was about drawing attention to the talent that artists bring to Pittsburgh from across the globe.

“This exhibit is important because I feel like black people, African-Americans, people from the African diaspora, one of the things

we contribute to the world is creativity,” Capone, who lives in the North Side of Pittsburgh, said.

Graduate student Natalie Sweet said the exhibit was a space purposefully limited to otherwise underrepresented members of the community.

“I think the work here fills a void that the University has, but I don’t think it’s 100 percent inclusive of every population,” Sweet said. “I don’t think it’s meant to be.”

Sophomore art history major Imani Williford said the gallery came at a vital time in

United States history, but she said she would like to see black and African-American art find a place in the same revered galleries that white artists typically dominate.

“I think [the gallery] is important to have, obviously timewise, because of the Black Lives Matter and then recently the stuff that’s happening in Missouri, it’s timely,” Williford said, “but I think in a way, it shouldn’t have to be. In a perfect world I would just want African-American art to be next to a Picasso or next to a Van Gogh, not just reserved for a special moment in time.”

Find the full story online at

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November 10, 2015

3

Opinions

column

I need Police should focus on protecting students, adderall, not forcefully disciplining them you probably don’t from the editorial board

In the post-Newtown era, public schools are seemingly a hotbed of violence, forcing policymakers to step in to ensure students’ safety and peace of mind.

Increasing police presence in school is one strategy, but without tailored training in dealing with young students, officers can’t make students feel safe. .

After 26 children and teachers died in the Newtown school shooting in 2012, President Obama called for a federal investment of $150 million to put 1,000 police officers, social workers and counselors in schools.

Many of the new and existing officers in primary schools are called School Resource Officers. They work to protect students from weapons, drugs, assaults and, in the worstcase scenario, shootings. There are now 43,000 SROs working across the nation’s 84,000 public schools, separate from the additional 39,000 security guards, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Yet, recent events have highlighted clear problems in how officer’s implement this protection, undermining the very feeling of safety that’s meant to come with their presence.

Nowhere was this more apparent than in South Carolina’s Spring Valley High last month. Here, a now viral video caught Deputy Ben Fields ripping a student out of her desk, slamming her to the ground and dragging her across the floor in an effort to remove her from one of the school’s classroom.

The student was apparently disrupting the classroom by using her cellphone.

Such excessive force in response to average juvenile delinquency does much more to disrupt the classroom environment. A

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student refusing to leave the room interrupts one class. Watching a deputy slam a young girl to the ground informs your whole life.

This excessive force — viewed by countless other students online — makes students constantly wary of the officers and similar authorities.

The Richland County Police department dismissed Deputy Fields two days after the incident, but that problem doesn’t begin and end there.

In August, a Kentucky officer was caught on camera handcuffing disabled children who didn’t follow directions, leading to the American Civil Liberties Union to file a lawsuit against the officer’s sheriff. In Birmingham, Alabama, school officers routinely pepper-sprayed students for minor disciplinary infractions, one of whom was a pregnant student whose crime was crying in the hallway. In September, a federal judge ruled the officers’ actions to be unconstitutional.

Of course, these instances of abuse are outliers in a system that has the potential to do a lot of good for students. Very public, violent acts do not depict the entire system, they only shape our perception.

According to the Washington Post, SROs have prevented at least three school shootings since 2012. The officers averted potential tragedies because of their proximity to the schools and communication with students.

Having SROs that students can trust facilitates a better school environment for students. In instances of sexual assault or abuse, for instance, victims can confide in SROs who can subsequently investigate these cases and make arrests if needed.

“This pays off when they are in crisis.

They trust you and will come to you,” Officer Avrie Schott of the La Crosse Police Department in Wisconsin told PoliceOne, an online publication that works to provide law enforcement officers with news and other resources.

A student who came to Officer Schott for help led to an investigation and arrest of the student’s guardian who was accused of sexually assaulting her.

Yet, the abuse and excessive force committed by a few officers undermines any positive benefits that may come with SROs. In order to prevent future acts of police violence against students, police departments must work to make sure SROs are specifically trained in how to deal with students who are still immature, so that they can better differentiate between disciplinary infractions and criminal ones.

It is essential that this line is clear because schools shouldn’t involve officers in disciplinary actions in the first place. An SRO’s responsibilities should solely revolve around protecting student safety. A student who refuses to give up her cellphone certainly does not fall under this category.

Officers who delve into student discipline only make students distrust and fear police officers. This distrust can leak into their college careers, making them hesitant to seek help from campus police officers if they ever need it.

In order to ensure a safe school environment, students must be able to view officers as helpful, not dangerous.

Pepper spray doesn’t frequently fit into this equation.

November 10, 2015

Marlo Safi Columnist

“I took eighteen credits this semester and got straight A+’s, all thanks to Adderall!”

Students affectionately call Adderall everything from a “study drug” to “accomplish mints.” On a rigorous college campus, Adderall — like steroids — helps students who are non-prescription users concentrate when studying or in lecture.

For them, the drug aides in learning large volumes of information in a short period of time and ultimately helps to boost one’s GPA. Blew off Friday and Saturday to party? Just take Adderall.

While Adderall may help some students focus in the microeconomics lecture they have no interest in, someone with attention deficit disorder, like myself, needs Adderall prescriptions to focus even when they are interested.

The popular usage of Adderall on college campuses only helps to perpetuate the idea that “everyone has ADD,” which undermines the struggle of those who actually have the disorder.

For me, distraction and falling behind on assignments because I just can’t maintain attention long enough is a disability, a serious one that requires medication.

Nonetheless, according to a 2014 survey done by the Partnership for Drug-Free See Safi on page 5

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Safi, pg. 4 Kids, one in five college students abuse the prescriptions I need just to function.

This widespread abuse of drugs prescribed for ADD looks past a serious condition that impedes on many students’ academic and social lives.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 4 percent — or 8 million — Americans suffer from ADD. While the causes of ADD are virtually unknown, psychologists believe there is a link between it and family history, meaning genetics likely plays a role.

Characterized by trouble focusing, impulsivity, disorganization and restlessness, ADD’s seemingly bearable symptoms overarch into many facets of one’s personal life.

For example, without my medication, I have to dedicate six hours to finishing a homework assignment that may take someone without ADD two hours.

Sitting down and focusing on a task as monotonous and unstimulating as reading — even when I love the topic — can cause me to feel uneasy, causing me to hyperventilate. So, in this span of a six hours, I might skirt away from this stress and decide to make cupcakes, an activity requiring my mind to focus on a variety of tasks, only to return to the assignment after I put on the icing.

Even planning ahead of time to complete an assignment before it’s due is difficult for me, because ADD impedes my organizational skills. I may mentally make a note to myself I have an assignment due in a week, but despite having time to do it within those several days, I end up cramming to finish it the night before.

While my ADD has influenced my academic life profoundly, my social life

is also a victim of ADD. Ryan Gosling could be saying sweet nothings to me and, rather than lingering on his every word, I’d be focused on the neat design on his tie or get side-tracked by how his voice resembles my second cousin’s, causing me to wonder how that cousin’s surgery went last week.

People may assume that, because of my “zoning out,” I don’t care or value what they have to say, or I’m not interested in them, which just isn’t true.

For me, ADD medication allows me to keep up with my assignments as well as behave more appropriately and pay attention to friends and loved ones, both major parts of any normal student’s life.

That’s why I never understood how so

This widespread abuse ... looks past a serious condition ... pittnews.com

many students could view drugs like Adderall so lightly.

The nonchalant mindset surrounding Adderall may stem from the current widespread overdiagnosis of ADD. With this phenomenon, many misconceive the severity of ADD. After all, if so many people have it and are diagnosed so readily, it can’t be all that serious. This rationale may fuel the abuse of ADD prescriptions, labeling the disorder not only as normal, but as non-severe.

In a 2011 study published in the journal The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 22 percent of participants who claimed to suffer from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder tried to skew test results to make their symptoms look worse.

Many doctors have said this wave of overdiagnosis is placing medication in the hands of people who are fully capable of adequately functioning without a prescription, furthering the use of ADD pre-

November 10, 2015

Victor Gonzalez STAFF ILLUSTRATOR scriptions by those without ADD. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of children on medication for ADD has increased from 600,000 in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2013. Parents and doctors seem to classify kids with the slightest behavioral or academic problems as having a disorder, risking any side-effect.

Dr. Keith Conners, in a 2013 interview with the New York Times, said “The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous. This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.”

Unless your inability to focus is intruding on virtually every dimension of your life, you don’t need a prescription.

Marlo Safi primarily writes about public policy and politics for The Pitt News.

Write to Marlo at mes26@pitt.edu

5

Culture

in the mood:

jazz concert caps weeklong event Geri Allen, director of the jazz department, performs with other greats during the 45th annual jazz concert. Jeff Ahearn ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR

Noah Coco

For The Pitt News On any other stage on Pitt’s campus, Senior Vice Chancellor Kathy Humphrey might have been the most remarkable guest to sing the blues, but Saturday night was the exception. Humphrey joined a cast of legendary jazz musicians as the annual weeklong jazz seminar came to a close.

Former director of Pitt’s Jazz Department, Dr. Nathan Davis, first conceived the idea for the University to host a jazz seminar and concert in 1970.

Today, Geri Allen, the current Department director, continues that legacy. Last week’s six-day event celebrated the seminars’ 45th anniversary,marking the longest running academic jazz seminar in the United States.

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Each year guest musicians hold free presentations and lectures throughout the week, and come together for a concert Saturday evening in front of artists, students and the Pittsburgh community.

“It gives the artists the chance to share why they are in the arts, what drives them to be artists,” said Allen. “Everybody matters in this experience, and that’s what makes it so impactful.”

This year’s lineup of musicians included the legendary tenor saxophone player Pharoah Sanders, drummer Jimmy Cobb — who contributed to Miles Davis’ legendary “Kind of Blue” record — seven-time Grammy winner Robert Hurst and Allen herself, an accomplished jazz pianist and winner of the 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Fifteen separate activities throughout the week ranged from a film screening of “Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band,” to artist lectures. Hurst’s “Expanding Musical Ideas through Rhythmic Variety” emphasized that musicians do not always have to create something new.

“You can take the stuff you already know, and use your imagination and do some interesting things with that,” said Hurst, who Allen recruited to be one of the eight guest performers.

Regarding the importance of hosting seminars like this, Hurst said, “Since we have been losing the masters of our music, [the study of jazz] has become more academic,” and colleges have taken on the role of perpetuating this history through the education of jazz and

November 10, 2015

promotion of the music.

This week’s activities and seminar celebrated three historical Pittsburgh artists, the first of which was Mary Lou Williams.

This year also marks the 100th birthday of late composer and pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom Strayhorn historian Bill Dogget, nephew to the legendary pianist of the same name, honored in his seminar on Wednesday.

The week also celebrated Pittsburgh native Errol Garner’s legacy. The University recently received the entire Erroll Garner archive, and it has founded the Erroll Garner Jazz Project, which seeks to restore the jazz icon into the mainstream jazz canon and restore his historical significance.

The project will work on integrating the See Jazz on page 7

6

At left, Jimmy Owens delivers a solo. Clockwise at right, Pharaoh Sanders, Robert Hurst and Tineke Postma jam togther. Jeff Ahearn ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR

Jazz, pg. 6 archives into the Pitt library system and will make the archives available to scholars who wish to research Garner. They also uncovered previously unreleased recordings from Garner’s reputable “Concert by the Sea” album, which they have remastered and rereleased with the additional tracks.

The seminar culminated on Saturday night at Carnegie Music Hall with a big band performance, but it was not the traditional eighteenpiece swing band one might expect. Nine jazz legends took the stage for a rare, masterful performance.

The night started with an introduction from Allen, who then invited Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher to the stage.

“Jazz lives here at Pittsburgh,” said Gallagher, a statement the eager and excited audience answered with applause.

Gallagher was followed by the evening’s emcees, celebrated poets and Pitt English professors whose works often take jazz as a subject and influence, Terrance Hayes and Yona Harvey.

The two read the Proclamation from Allegheny County recognizing the 45th Annual University of Pittsburgh Jazz Seminar and Concert.

Before they even started playing, the event’s award ceremony celebrated many musicians’

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careers and musical achievements. Lawrence Simpson, a Pitt graduate and current Berklee College of Music faculty member, received the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professional Achievement Award.

Pitt sophomore trombonist Iyanna Boatwright-Buffaloe also won the $5,000 University of PittsburghBNY Mellon Jazz S cholarship, and Sanders and Cobb shared the University of Pittsburgh Jazz S eminar and Concert Committee Lifetime Achievement Award honors.

After the awards, the music finally began.

The program featured original compositions from ballads to the blues, as well as standard jazz classics.

“It felt more reminiscent of a relaxed coffee house environment,” said Ryan Matukaitis,

a freshman biomedical engineering major who attended the performance.

Hurst, a bassist, wrote one of the original compositions, “Optimism,” which he said he created during the first presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Hurst said Obama’s slogan, “Hope,” and promise of change inspired the piece.

It featured Hurst on bass, Robin Eubanks on trombone and Tineke Postma on saxophone, whose solo was met with an uproar of applause from the audience, as well as from Sanders, a fellow saxophone player, who sat to her right.

In one of the night’s many highlights, pianist Kenny Barron, Cobb on drums, trumpeter Jimmy Owens and Sanders on saxophone, all National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters, along with Hurst on bass, played a rendition of “Freddie Freeloader” from Davis’s “Kind of

Music really does speak to the world, and the world sees the value of jazz.

Geri Allen, director

November 10, 2015

Blue.”

The group’s sound was reminiscent of the original “Kind of Blue” troupe, which included Davis, John Coltrane, Cobb, Paul Chambers on bass, and pianist Wynton Kelly.

Recalling this performance, Matukaitis said, “I let myself go to the music.”

At one point, Sanders refused the microphone and instead let the song speak for itself.

He played a solo jazz ballad and filled the hall with the resonant sound of his tenor saxophone, prompting a standing ovation.

Multiple guest artists also made exciting, energetic appearances. Roger Humphries, a Pittsburgh-native jazz drummer, arrived for two pieces of the night, along with Pitt’s Senior Vice Chancellor, Kathy Humphrey, who graced the audience with her rich and powerful voice singing Strayhorn’s “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing.”

The concert concluded with an Erroll Garner piece, in which all the musicians gathered on stage, each delivering captivating solos.

Calling the jazz scene a product of Pittsburgh culture, Allen said she hopes the event continues to invoke pride in Pittsburgh’s jazz history throughout the community.

“There is a staunch passion around this music here, and the community really does support that legacy,” said Allen. “Music really does speak to the world, and the world sees the value of jazz.”

7

The Pitt News

‘Room’ holds delicate, masterful performances Ian Flanagan Staff Writer

“Room” Directed by Lenny Abrahamson Starring Brie Larson, Joan Allen, Jacob Tremblay Grade: A Some films try to make you see the world in a new way, while “Room” makes you feel like you’re seeing the world for the first time. Indie director Lenny Abrahamson (“Frank”) plunges face-first into the pain of desperation, the euphoria of liberation and the strangeness of discovery through the eyes of a child, essentially redefining the term “emotional rollercoaster.”

Loosely based on real events of a woman who emerged from 24 years of captivity in Amstetten, Austria, in 2008, the story follows Joy Newsome (Brie Larson) and her five-yearold son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) during and after their imprisonment in a shed by Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). Nick, who is Jack’s father, has kept Joy in confinement for seven years, repeatedly sexually assaulting her since age 17.

In order to explain their predicament in child-like terms, Joy has told Jack that Room is all of existence. Once she discovers that Old Nick is out of a job, potentially forcing him to release Joy and Jack out of financial necessity, she tells Jack the truth, beginning the first step of their escape. Instead of a happy ending, their eventual freedom only poses more challenges, such as Joy’s reconnection with her family and Jack’s incredibly rare psychological journey — ripped from imposed ignorance of Room and thrust into the world at large.

While the juvenile point of view lends itself to an optimistic tone, “Room” deals more with the consequences of escape, as seen by Joy’s intense post-traumatic stress disorder, than it is of confinement itself.

“Room” is undeniably powerful, a neartranscendental experience brimming with feeling and wonder. Adapted from Emma Donoghue’s harrowing drama of the same name, and seen from Jack’s unfettered, innocent eyes, it is both emphatically hopeful and emotionally devastating.

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Like the novel, “Room” is all from Jack’s perspective. The audience is kept in the dark during the more sickly moments of their situation, such as Old Nick’s sexual abuse of Joy, and the humdrum of quotidian life that is made alien and astounding when seen from an unsullied perspective. In this way, the story avoids any pathos-tugging or relentlessly bleak melodrama.

But for all of the narrative’s wise moves, the performances are the film’s firmest asset.

Larson’s work is superb. So much of the film’s overwhelming power hinges on her remarkably nuanced and believable acting, and her commitment ensures nothing of the dramatic heft is lost.

The nine-year-old Tremblay, though nearly overshadowed by Larson, is equally commendable, a truly sympathetic central character. Jack’s various encounters with the undiscovered outside world, such as dogs and other children, are portrayed with comfortable ease. Like the rest of the tactfully arranged picture, Abrahamson never exploits Jack’s frailty and cuteness for tearjerks or schmaltz.

That isn’t to say that this film isn’t tremendously heartrending — it gave me glassy eyes and a runny nose long before I anticipated — yet there are few obvious music swells or inserted insights that beckon you to grab a tissue.

“Room” is beautifully restrained and marvelously gripping, achieved, paradoxically, through the number of punches it pulls.

After Joy dupes Nick into removing Jack from Room, thinking he has died, their reunion scene outside the shed is a testament to Larson’s fervor as an actress as well as a bracing release of the first act’s quietly mounted tension of uncertainty and sexual violence.

Though most definitely a drama, “Room” is at times a nerve-twisting thriller, a candid investigation of existence and morality and a classic tale of strife surmounted that will undoubtedly receive Oscar buzz. And Jack’s underlying trip from obliviousness to truth bears all the mindbending philosophical implications of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

“Room” in its totality is gracefully scripted and inhabited, devastatingly emotional and nothing less than cathartic.

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8

Sports

PITT FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: WEEK TEN Jeremy Tepper

Senior Staff Writer Coming off two consecutive losses, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and his team will try to shape up for the final three games of the season, and continue to hunt for a Coastal title.

In that time, Narduzzi will have plenty to ponder, notably his usage on offense of Jordan Whitehead, as well as improving fundamentals. Narduzzi touched on those topics at his weekly press conference at Pitt’s Southside facilities in preparation for Saturday’s contest against Duke.

Working on the little things After some recent struggles on the defensive line, Narduzzi discussed the specifics of the end and tackle positions.

Pointing to leverage and player’s mobility, Narduzzi described how his defensive tackles exhibited subpar footwork.

“Sometimes we may go on what we call a take move when a d-lineman’s going to go from this gap to this gap. He’s supposed to take a nice short step because they’re moving toward him,” Narduzzi said. “You take too big of a step and you go two gaps, it becomes a problem, and you have two open gaps.”

Then, for his defensive ends, the players have adjusted their footwork more so for rushing the passer at times, even though Narduzzi stresses that limiting the run is top priority.

“Some of the zone plays our defensive ends are working out instead of in. [That] may be good for pass rush but not necessarily for the run. You must stop the run first,” Narduzzi said.

Still, Narduzzi stresses that these are just fundamental things they can correct. He’s seen his players execute properly in practice and in some games as well — he cited the Virginia Tech game as an example — but they

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just need to do it more consistently.

“You could do them right in practice days but then go onto the game, then things happen,” Narduzzi said. “All the sudden they get a run on you. Sometimes you see where guys are trying to overcompensate.”

Whitehead’s role Leading up to the Notre Dame game, Jordan Whitehead mainly played as Pitt’s starting strong safety. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney had begged Narduzzi to let him utilize WhiteJordan Whitehead debuted on offense and scored two touchdowns on Saturday. head’s athleticism for Heather Tennant STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER weeks, and finally he got ing the season. In that aspect, Narduzzi said as he looks at him as a defensive player first. his wish. he’s learned the past two weeks that his team As far as his prognostication going forward, “I told Coach Chaney, ‘You got [Whitedoesn’t match up with the best.

Narduzzi said the plan is “a lot of defense and head].’ He’s like ‘Huh, I do? Really?’” Narduzzi “Obviously, we don’t [measure up]. We see a little bit of offense.” That ratio will likely not said. some deficiencies and spots where we need change in the coming weeks or years, NarNarduzzi held off using Whitehead, as he to get better. We’ll address that in recruiting,” duzzi said. wanted to wait until he felt he was comfortNarduzzi said.

“I think he’s a great player on defense too. able on defense.

Narduzzi said the Panthers need to bolster Golly, he makes a ton of plays over there,” Nar“At this point I think he knows what he’s their running backs. Going into the Notre duzzi said. “If we don’t have him back there I doing on defense. He’s got a pretty good grasp Dame game, Narduzzi said he and his team wonder what the yards look like.” of what he has to do back there,” Narduzzi watched some of Pitt’s great plays against the Addressing deficiencies said.

Fighting Irish in the past. The footage revealed Going into every game, Narduzzi assertWhitehead took advantage of the oppora trend, the plays were coming via impressive ed that he never believes his team is lacking tunity, rushing for 27 yards and two touchindividual efforts by Pitt running backs. substantially at any position. A glass half-full downs. What Narduzzi saw in Whitehead’s “You have to have a guy back there that coach, he feels that they can overcome chalstrong offensive play is excellent speed and can be a playmaker,” Narduzzi said. lenges with game planning. quickness, as well as his innate skill to score.

In the meantime, Narduzzi will stress fun“I don’t feel like we have a deficiency any “He has the ability to hit a small hole and damentals and execution. On both sides of the week we go out there. We’re going to try to get get vertical and get in the end zone. Those are ball, he saw plenty of room for improvement. our matchups, and we’ve got to make plays,” things we need,” Narduzzi said.

“I think we had six or seven drops on ofNarduzzi said.

Still, Narduzzi stressed that the coaching fense and defensively we’ve got guys in a posiStill, Narduzzi conceded he can’t necessarstaff must limit Whitehead’s usage on offense, tion to make plays,” Narduzzi said. ily address some talent or depth issues dur-

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Change-up: Five positional moves for Pitt football Dan Sostek Sports Editor

On Saturday, the Pitt football team couldn’t pull off a monumental upset, falling to the loaded No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 42-30 at Heinz Field.

But even with the loss, the Panthers stumbled upon an interesting offensive development.

Head coach Pat Narduzzi occasionally used freshman safety Jordan Whitehead on offense, where Whitehead thrived, rushing four times for 27 yards and two touchdowns.

With the clear success of this positional shuffling, Narduzzi and his staff should embrace even more position changes. Here are some alternate usages the crew should consider.

Scott Orndoff to fullback Former walk-on George Aston has done a solid job this season at the fullback position, particularly as a blocker, but getting Orndoff more snaps on passing plays would improve Pitt’s offense.

Orndoff plays second fiddle to senior tight end J.P. Holtz, but is still a morethan-reliable pass catcher in his own right. Running some routes out of the backfield could confuse opposing defensive coordinators. It would also be

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fun to see him get a rushing attempt in short-yardage situations simply for the rhyming opportunities — “a handoff to Orndoff.”

Artie Rowell to kick returner This would be so much fun. Just do it for one play. If anyone deserves a chance for a touchdown, it’s Rowell, who has been at Pitt so long that Dave Wannstedt recruited him. It’s time to give him his Dan Connolly moment. Watching big offensive linemen rumble down the field amid a frenzy of blockers and tacklers is a work of art, as impressive as any Monet or Picasso. It’s better than a safety, a completed hail mary, a halfback pass or a 63-yard field goal. Hear me out, and put him in.

Pat Narduzzi to linebacker Pat Narduzzi doesn’t have any eligibility left, so this one is purely hypothetical. But I do know that the guy has more than enough energy to man the middle linebacker position for a few plays a game. It’s easy to imagine Narduzzi, after his defense gives up a big play, tossing his headset and grabbing an extra pair of shoulder pads on the sideline, then running out to the field and barking out plays. The move would not only add a spark of energy to the defen-

Chad Voytik displayed impressive dance moves via Ben DiNucci’s Twitter video Friday. Meghan Sunners SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER sive unit, but would also facilitate comadding the likes of these three quartermunication between the play callers and backs would put their performances the defense. over the top, amping up the Heinz Field Chad Voytik, Adam Bertke and Ben game day environment.

DiNucci to Pitt dance team Ryan Winslow to backup quarterDid you see these guys’ moves? If I back wasn’t wearing my glasses, I could have With the three quarterbacks now easily mistaken Voytik, Bertke and Diserving as dance team members, Pitt will Nucci for Scary, Sporty and Posh Spice – need to find a new backup to starting their performance was that good. While signal-caller Nathan Peterman. While the Pitt dance crew is already talented, wide receiver Tyler Boyd has shined at throwing the football when the opportunity arose, the Panthers need his presence as a wideout. So, punter Ryan Winslow would be the logical choice. His main credential is completing arguably the biggest pass of Pitt’s season against Syracuse on Oct. 24, when he converted on a fake punt attempt by lofting a ball to Matt Galambos for a fourth quarter first down. Winslow has completed 100 percent of his passes this year, albeit it is only that one attempt. Still, who is to say he couldn’t keep up that pace if Peterman were to go down with an injury?

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