The Pitt News
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | november 21, 2017 | Volume 108 | Issue 73
men’s basketball
LIONS LEVEL PANTHERS, 85-54
Trent Leonard Staff Writer
In a semi-final matchup of the Progressive Legends Classic versus Penn State, the Pitt men’s basketball team was annihilated by its in-state foe, falling 8554 in a game that was essentially over by halftime. The Panthers (1-3 overall, 0-0 ACC) had nothing going for them in a blowout loss to the Nittany Lions (4-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten), falling behind early and failing to recover. Pitt could have used some of the shooting touch of two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry — who was watching from the Barclays Center sidelines — as the team shot an abysmal 31 percent from the field. After allowing two early 3-pointers, the Panthers first got on the scoreboard when junior guard/forward Jared Wilson-Frame countered with a three of his own. But Penn State quickly went on a 10-0 run and established an early 16-3 lead, prompting a Pitt time-out. Senior point guard Shep Garner led the Nittany Lions’ early attack with six points in the first five minutes. The Panthers continued to fall behind, chucking up 3-pointers instead of working the ball inside. Pitt went the first 10 minutes without making a 2-point field goal — first-year guard Marcus Carr scored the team’s first non-three with 9:31 remaining in the first half, making the score 27-11 Penn State. See Men’s Basketball on page 6
Andrew Masich (right), president of the Heinz History Center, talks about the current controversy surrounding American monuments at a panel discussion titled, “American Memorials in the 21st Century: A Monumental Mess?” Monday afternoon in Posvar Hall. Aaron Schoen STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
STUDENTS DEDICATE TIME TO DEVELOPING DRONE Anish Salvi
For The Pitt News Levi Burner had dreamed of making a flying machine since he was 8 years old. The junior electrical engineering student finally got his chance when he started to build a drone for the International Aerial Robotics Competition more than a year ago. “The fact that we have found a competition that follows that dream just gets me really excited,” Burner said. “I’ve always been a robotics fan, so I’ve been building robots since I was quite young.” Burner, along with the Pitt Robotics and Automation Society, engineered
a drone capable of flight to compete in the North American venue of the IARC, hosted at the Georgia Institute of Technology this past summer. The student group — which began work on the drone during the summer of 2016 — has since worked to improve their initial drone by developing its software and hardware so that it can compete again next summer. In the robotics competitions — which hosted Pitt students last summer and will do so again next year — the Pitt group competes against other teams to complete Mission 7. The mission specifically involves developing a drone that is capable of herding a group of roombas — moving robots — like sheep, from
one side of a 20 by 20 meter arena to the other. The drone must navigate without the aid of a GPS, or by using its distance between large objects, to determine its relative position. There are also moving targets which the drone must avoid. Because no team successfully completed this task at the competition this past summer, the mission remains the same for the upcoming competition. According to Burner, the type of technology developed for Mission 7 could have potential applications in search and rescue, the military and mapping. The See Robotics on page 2