11-15-17

The Pitt News

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The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | november 15, 2017 | Volume 108 | Issue 69

STUDENT PROTESTERS STAGE SIT-IN Janine Faust

Assistant News Editor A small group of students entered Chancellor Patrick Gallagher’s office Tuesday morning with a letter of 15 demands, including disarming University police.

The letter also demanded the University vocally endorse a graduate student union, divest from fossil fuels, install a $15 Pitt-wide minimum wage and freeze tuition.

One student protester said Gallagher was not present to receive the letter and Pitt police came to remove the student protesters from the office despite peacefully protesting.

According to University spokesperson Joe Miksch, the students were given the option to speak with another senior administrator, but they declined the invitation. After sitting in the middle of a “working reception area,” Pitt police asked the students to leave, which Miksch said they did “without incident.”

The students then went to a small enclave on the Cathedral’s second floor.

They plan to occupy the space day and night “until their demands are met” or until Friday — when the group plans to protest on Towers Patio.

The Towers “occupation” will feature speakers from groups such as Pitt’s United Students Against Sweatshops chapter and Campus Anti-Fascist Network: Pittsburgh. Protesters said the rally is being held to coincide with the first anniversary of a protest last November against Donald Trump and student debt. Pitt police arrested two people during last year’s protest after an altercation.

Pitt Blue and Gold Society held an information session last night at Connolly Ballroom in Alumni Hall. Elizabeth Bina (center), vice president of internal affairs, presented to a crowd of interested students Sarah Cutshall STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

PANEL TALKS HOMELESS MENSTRUAL HYGIENE

Anandhini Narayanan Staff Writer

When Pittsburgh City councilwoman Natalia Rudiak received an email from the Department of Public Works — an organization dedicated to maintaining Pittsburgh’s infrastructure — about putting pad dispensers in the vicinity of public pools, she had to explain to them why their idea wouldn’t work.

“I responded, ‘Do I need to break this down to you? When you are a woman, and going to a swimming pool, the last thing you want is a pad!’” she said.

In an effort to make menstrual products free in the city of Pittsburgh, Rudiak had been in communication with Public

Works in early 2017. Around that time, she had also partnered with SisterFriend, Inc. — a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustaining menstrual health by providing homeless and underprivileged women and girls with menstrual products — to push for greater access to menstrual products in the City.

Together with SisterFriend and several other organizations, Rudiak took part in the “Homeless Experiences of Menstruation Film and Panel Discussion” held Tuesday evening at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health.

The event began with a screening of a short film titled “Homelessness and Menstruation,” which focused on Allison

Victory, a local woman who spent time homeless and experienced domestic violence.

Sara Baumann, a behavioral and community health sciences graduate student, directed the documentary, which is the first installment of her new film series, “Cycle Series.” The series depicts the many different menstrual experiences of women — Baumann mentioned the next installment would highlight the experience of transgender women.

Baumann said she wanted to share the film with the public to help advocate for better resources and more research regarding menstrual hygiene and menstrual See Discussion on page 2

News Discussion, pg. 1

health. She said filmmaking is a powerful tool because it allows us to hear the experiences of individuals who are experiencing homelessness firsthand.

“Most of my work over the past years as a Ph.D. student has focused on menstrual health in developing country contexts such as Nepal and Bangladesh,” Baumann said. “I didn’t realize that right here in Pittsburgh, we face some of the same challenges regarding menstrual policies.”

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Planning’s 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, about 224,344 out of the 564,708 homeless adults in the U.S. are women — about 40 percent. Of those women, 174,324 are in shelters, while 50,020 are out on the street, possibly lacking sufficient menstrual hygiene.

The film also featured SisterFriend’s founder, Tamara Whiting. Whiting said in the film that she founded the organization because there was a need for menstrual hygiene products within homeless shelters and among young girls in the public school system.

“Feminine products are one of the main things that aren’t donated to these areas,” Whiting said. “They aren’t donated because they’re not talked about.”

Allison Victory, a supporter and former user of SisterFriend’s services from Standing Stone Township, Pittsburgh, said she faced domestic violence issues and was unemployed for a period of time.

Victory met Whiting years ago at a homeless shelter drive in East End and has been a supporter of SisterFriend ever since.

In the film, Victory said it is especially See Discussion on page 6

Adrienne Walnoha (center), CEO of Community Human Service, speaks at a panel discussion about homeless experiences of menstruation on Tuesday.

Aaron Schoen STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Pitt News SuDoku 11/15/17

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Opinions column

from the editorial board

Peduto demands non-profit conscience, including Pitt Pennsylvania’s lawmakers may have struggled with a budget crisis this year, but Pittsburgh feels a little more confident of its financial competency.

In his annual budget address Monday, Mayor Bill Peduto asked the state to remove Pittsburgh’s Act 47 status, an inhibitory financial oversight status meant to aid financially distressed municipalities placed on Pittsburgh in 2003. Now, he claims, the city doesn’t need the oversight.

Recognizing the importance of advancement for all, he called on the “Big Four” — UPMC, Carnegie Mellon University, Pitt and Highmark — to create an organization addressing disparities in the City.

Granting Pittsburgh this independence may seem daunting at first, but the state must empower Pittsburgh to continue growing on its own — and it’s up to Pitt to lead by example to ensure other Pittsburgh institutions commit to equitable development.

Act 47 empowers the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to declare certain municipalities financially distressed when they struggle to keep balanced budgets. It provides debt restructuring for struggling municipalities, limits their ability to receive federal assistance and allows for the merging of municipalities to alleviate financial suffering.

Pittsburgh was designated as distressed in 2003 under the act, in response to the City’s $100 million deficit at the time. A driving force behind the deficit’s growth was wealthy Pittsburghers’ migration to suburban areas — a 2003 Economic Improvement Task Force determined. And since the report, a highly visible boom of wealth has struck previously poorer neighborhoods.

Right or wrong, it at least signals changing city demographics — perhaps significantly enough to warrant reconsidering the city’s

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Act 47 status.

If Pittsburgh faced the economic troubles it did because the wealthy moved to suburban areas, then ensuring this doesn’t happen again will be the key to success free from financial oversight.

The report also found 45 percent of all businesses and 30 percent of all land in the City were non-taxable in 2003 — which could be why Peduto called upon the four largest nonprofits in Pittsburgh to address inequity.

But despite being havens of health and education, these huge institutions are tax exempt — and led by wealthy people. UPMC regularly pays its top executives more than $2 million per year. Pitt paid its former basketball coach Jamie Dixon more than $2 million in his last year of employment, and Chancellor Patrick Gallagher was paid more than $700,000 in his first year of employment.

Nonprofit organizations like these have incredible power in Pittsburgh — they employ one in five workers in the City and control things far beyond the scope of their field, a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette revealed. In fact, Pittsburgh neighborhood Skyline Terrace was developed through non-profits and private sector collaborations — a beacon of hope for the possibility of what the Big Four could accomplish together.

And while it’s not wrong of these institutions to pay well to attract top talent, the power they hold to influence the City gives them responsibility. As they benefit from the City’s diverse population and growth, it’s up to them to make every effort they can to ensure that growth is sustainable, accessible and equitable — and if their patients, students and employees hold them accountable, Peduto’s plan might just work.

THE MOST WONDERFUL TWO MONTHS OF THE YEAR

Garrett Aguilar STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

Alexis Buncich

and Christmas Day is just not enough time to properly celebrate — and not just because Christmas music is the greatest Based on my friends’ Snapchats, the genre ever. last moments before the Christmas season The Christmas holiday simply gushes ended the night of Halloween. Everyone happiness wherever it’s spread, no matter was still getting into their Halloween canif in November or December. Just think of dy when suddenly, the clock struck midhow many viral YouTube videos show holnight — and each Snapchat story was filled iday-inspired random acts of kindness. A with carols as my friends traded jack-o’GuideStar survey found that 50.5 percent lanterns for Santa hats. of charities receive the majority of their For many, celebrating Christmas this contributions during the holiday months early ruins the sanctity of the holiday. I — and if the holiday season were even lonhear people every year groan over holiday ger, people might be inspired to give even cheer unless it’s within the strict confines more. of December.

Clearly, corporate America already gets But Christmas is a holiday much betit. SiriusXM started playing Christmas ter observed when spread out. The roughly See Buncich on page 4 monthlong period between Thanksgiving For The Pitt News

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Buncich, pg. 3

celebrating and not celebrating, why wouldn’t you celebrate? ’Tis a fantastic season, and we should spread it out as long as possible. There are plenty of holiday activities that could be enjoyed over two months, particularly if you’re willing to engage with other forms of holiday celebration.

But many just celebrate the holiday season for religious reasons — and if that’s the case, a longer holiday season would still be better. By having two months to reflect and consider the importance of Dec. 25 in Christianity, followers of Christ would be encouraged to connect with the event in an even deeper way. And if many really do believe there’s a “war on Christmas,” extending the holiday season would only help fight against it.

And if you’re a native Pittsburgher wistfully dreaming of a white Christmas, you should start celebrating as early as possible. Some years it’s snowy on Halloween yet raining by Christmas — all we know is the weather is unpredictable here.

If we celebrate the holiday season longer, at least here in Pittsburgh, maybe we’ll have the chance to finally experience what we’ve all been dreaming about.

The Pitt news crossword 11/15/17

music Nov. 1, and Starbucks transitioned to their seasonal menu the same day. Expanding the dates these seasonal offerings are available allows customers more time to enjoy their favorite products. And it’s a win-win for consumers and corporations — at Starbucks, a strong holiday season boosts sales by more than 10 percent, and a longer holiday season means people can enjoy twice as many peppermint mochas.

Even if you don’t like peppermint or hot chocolate, this could also mean a more inclusive holiday season. For example, Starbucks receives public criticism for their holiday cups seemingly every year.

Last year’s controversy was even enough to spark national interest this year in alleged leaked photos of the 2017 holiday cups. Most of the controversy centered on the fact that the cups removed religious symbols of Christmas in favor of a “holiday spirit” — something many would claim is part of a larger “war on Christmas.”

But if the holiday season were longer, there wouldn’t need to be any “war on

Christmas.” Rather than try to remove all religion from the holiday season, having a longer time to celebrate could invite people from all faiths to celebrate openly in the months preceding Christmas.

The “Christmas spirit” today has expanded to include a whole range of nonreligious traditions that are considered equally as important to the cheer as the story of Jesus’ birth — so it might be better to call it the holiday season. By celebrating the season longer, we could give other religious holidays like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa their deserved cultural respect.

Some people argue celebrating Christmas early means the population is skipping over the Thanksgiving holiday, an important time to spend with family and acknowledge American history.

And while Thanksgiving certainly is special, it doesn’t have as rich a tradition that we can celebrate. There’s little to no exclusive Thanksgiving music, no tradition of gift-giving and it certainly isn’t a cross-cultural holiday. Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah are all internationally celebrated holidays that deserve more than a mere month of recognition.

And if you have the choice between

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Sports

column

TARPS A POTENTIAL COVER FOR PITT’S ATTENDANCE Brandon Glass Staff Writer

A

s the game clock at Heinz Field ticked down on the Panthers Thursday night, the already prevalent splotches of bright yellow seats grew as the paltry crowd dispersed. The team’s chances to beat a 1-6 North Carolina team were beginning to dwindle, and so was their present fan base.

The idea to work on upping attendance at Pitt football games has been in the news recently, and for good reason. So many fans leave before or at halftime that the laughable decision was made to hand out beverages to students who stay for the whole game.

At a recent event in her Ohio hometown, Pitt Athletic Director Heather Lyke threw out the idea to wrap extra seats at Heinz Field for Panthers football games. “[Heinz Field] is 68,000 seats right now, which is in the top quartile of the Power Five schools, and there’s really only 10 to 20 schools in the country that really draw consistently over 80,000,” Lyke said, according to the Canton Repository.

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A small crowd watches as Pitt beats Virginia on a cold day last month. Wenhao Wu ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR “There’s a way to make the stadium seem smaller, but the amenities at Heinz Field are phenomenal. We’re going to make the best of it.”

It’s an accepted fact that the Pitt football team struggles to fill up Heinz Field.

People cite the stadium being off campus, not that it is a 68,000-seat professional stadium for a team representing a school of a bit more than 19,000 undergraduate students. Both are a problem for Pitt.

Tarping the upper sections, if Pitt decides to go that rout, is like turning off the bathroom lights in the hope it will fix the leaking sink — it doesn’t solve the real issue of a lack of pride in the Panthers’ football program.

Through the first five games of the Panthers’ season so far, they have averaged around 36,806 fans per game at Heinz Field. If that number were to hold steady for the rest of the season, it would be their second-worst since their move to Heinz in 2001.

Another potential issue is that football looks better at home on the couch — or while drinking one’s sorrows away at Hem’s. On television, the cameras move to catch the action and are enhanced with insightful statistics and commentary.

Commercial breaks act as a respite to go grab a snack or a slice — one that is reasonably priced. During a cold game in November, these live media breaks act as a form of slow torture for fans to freeze with inactivity and wallow in a losing score.

Pat Narduzzi knows this, too, and recently mentioned it on his weekly radio show on The Fan 93.7.

“I think kids have things going on. I think those 60-inch TV screens get ya,” he said. “I think a little bit of transportation gets ya.”

While college football attendance is declining nationwide, it’s not down everywhere. In 2016, the SEC ran a muchmaligned commercial with the tagline

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“It Just Means More,” indicating that the football played in the SEC is of a higher quality and that the fans expect more.

The SEC might be onto something — attendance has remained steady or risen for almost every SEC team this season.

Colleges all across the country — from the dense forests of Washington state, through the fertile fields of Iowa, to the swamps of Florida — don’t have attendance problems because they have one thing in common — pride. These teams fill stadiums with fan bases that expect success, but don’t abandon their teams when it gets tough.

Even if Penn State is losing, students don’t just get up and leave during the third quarter because they’re bored or have better things to do.

Sure, a tarp should help make the stadium look fuller and draw the crowd into the lower sections. The problem, though, See Attendance on page 6

5

Discussion, pg. 2 hard for homeless women to gain access to necessary resources.

“A lot of the products and supplies in shelters are geared towards men,” Victory said.

“But poverty and homelessness with women is becoming more prevalent, so some girls resort to stealing.”

Following the short film, there was a panel discussion featuring Rudiak; Adrienne Walnoha, CEO of Community Human Services; Aerion Abney, a program officer for the POISE Foundation; LaJuana Fuller, director of the Women’s Imaging Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC; Heidi Allison, a community support specialist for Community Human Services and the Northside Homeless Alliance; and Samidha Sane, founder of the Building Bridges Action Project and a North Allegheny Senior High School student. The panel was moderated by Patience Wilkerson, a registered nurse and the board secretary of SisterFriend.

During the discussion, Walnoha emphasized the importance of starting a conversation with homeless women about their experiences. As CEO of Community Human Services — an organization that provides food pantries, housing assistance programs and youth programs — Walnoha spoke about one woman she knew who got sick from having to resort to alternatives to menstrual products.

“She was stripping down layer after layer, each soaked with blood until we got to the last layer. She had an entire wad of newspaper shoved in her pants, where the ink had seeped into her skin and it was poisoning her,” Wal-

Attendance, pg. 5 isn’t the stadium’s location and size, but something more systemic.

Increasing excitement over the team and the game day environment is what will help Pitt succeed. There is no tailgating culture, which is what a lot of fans of schools like Ohio State and Penn State live for. There is also no excitement on campus during game day in general — the most commotion occurs in the line of drunk students waiting to board buses on Bigelow Boulevard.

Pitt has traditions, sure. Students lock arms to sway and sing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” when it comes over the loudspeakers at Heinz Field. The night of

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November 15, 2017

noha said. “Would any person in this room inflict that on their worst enemy?”

Sane said she finds it beneficial to look at the methods used by cities that have successfully dealt with improper access to menstrual hygiene products. Sane started the Building Bridges Action Project, a program that tackles a variety of contributors to inequitable education like inadequate sanitation and deficient resources.

“New York just passed legislation that would enable women and girls in schools, prisons and shelters to get free pads and tampons,” Sane said. “I think that is amazing and something Pittsburgh should look toward. By contacting these representatives who worked on that bill and figuring out what they did there, we can implement it in our own City.”

Audience member Lindsey Gorman, a junior psychology major at the University of Pittsburgh and creator of the Pitt chapter of “Period,” a national organization which provides products to those in need, said the event reminded her of the importance of the work she does.

“It was amazing to hear from an individual in the community who has benefited from resources like this,” Gorman said. “Sometimes it’s hard to see the impact because you drop off donations and you’re done.”

Gorman said the event also reminded her of the uphill battle many people still face in trying to make menstrual products more accessible for all.

“Tonight helps to prove how big of an issue this is,” Gorman said. “Some of the smartest and most engaged people in the City of Pittsburgh are facing so many difficulties with these issues.”

a big football win, the victory lights bathe the Cathedral of Learning in a glorious glow.

But when the Pitt football team — mired in mediocrity — loses to an opponent with one win, the students hunch their shoulders in a light shrug. Everyone is disappointed, but unsurprised, and goes about the rest of their day.

A tarp isn’t going to solve those problems. Maybe they could improve the the way Heinz looks on camera, but a tarp can’t sport Pitt gear, drink a beer or cheer on the team.

What Pitt needs is a strong fan base, and a quick “fix” like making the stadium smaller or offering up bottled drinks won’t work to make this happen.

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