12-06-2018

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 | december 6, 2018 ­| Volume 109 | Issue 75

HAMBONE'S COMEDY SPRINGBOARD FOR STUDENT COMICS

WADDLING INTO FINALS

Kieran McLean Staff Writer

Stand-up comedian Lorenzo Disilvio wasn’t always comfortable performing in front of crowds.

The Pitt senior English writing major is now co-head writer of “Pitt Tonight” and performs at stand-up venues across the City, but he started his stand-up career feeling uncomfortable around strangers. On a winter night at Lawrenceville’s Hambone’s Bar and Restaurant in 2014, Disilvio received a reality check from fellow Pittsburgh comedians.

“I was being quiet off in the corner. I said to them, ‘I’m sorry I don’t talk a lot. I get anxious,’” The Pittsburgh Zoo’s penguins waddle in Wednesday morning’s snow during a practice run of the zoo’s “Penguins on Parade,” which will kick off this Saturday and continue throughout the winter. Sarah Cutshall | senior staff photographer Disilvio said.

The comedians set him straight about their business’ terms.

“They told me, ‘That’s not an excuse. We’re all anxious,’” Disilvio said.

Disilvio committed to managing his anxiety, Maggie Young than 30 people gathered at the Kingsley Asso- our voices and speak to people who are going to got up in front of crowds and got to work.

For The Pitt News ciation in East Liberty for the first stop of Ford’s listen.”

Since then, he’s opened for Comedy Central Ford’s long road to politics began in 2012, Rather than speaking to a crowd from a pul- campaign listening tour, “A Seat at the Table.” The comedian Sam Tallent and performed his own pit, Leon Ford prefers to engage with his com- conversation focused on gentrification and public when he was shot five times in an altercation with shows at Pittsburgh’s Arcade Comedy Theater. munity by sitting among them to hear what they safety, but Ford didn’t do most of the talking.

Pittsburgh police detective David Derbish. The He’s also involved with the newly founded Burn- have to say.

“A lot of people think a leader is all about hav- 19-year-old Ford was left paralyzed and won $5.5 ing Bridges Comedy Club, which was formed on Ford sat in a circle of chairs with his French ing a voice,” Ford said. “I’m that voice. I will stand million in a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Bulldog, Minnie, on his lap Tuesday night. More up and speak for the people, but they forget that See Comedy on page 2 See Ford on page 2 great leaders are better listeners. We have to use

LEON FORD MAKES ‘A SEAT AT THE TABLE’ FOR COMMUNITY

News Ford, pg. 1

Pittsburgh this year.

Now that Ford is running for city council in Pittsburgh’s ninth district, he wants to engage with his community in a way that others have not done before, he said. According to Ford, he chose to run because he’s tired of the distance between elected officials and the people they serve.

He’s made eliminating that distance an objective central to his platform. At the Kingsley Association, Ford mostly stayed silent while community members engaged in a discussion, bouncing between each other’s ideas and personal experiences.

“A lot of leaders talk at people and they talk for people instead of talking with people,” Mel Packer, a Point Breeze resident, said. “Leon’s indicating he wants to talk with people and to find out what the community concerns are instead of deciding

Comedy, pg. 1 campus in October and connects Pitt stand-up comedians with nationally recognized professionals.

Stand-up comedy can be isolating. And it’s even harder to turn it into a career outside of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, where the majority of career stand-ups find full-time work.

But Pittsburgh comedians and Burning Bridges co-founders Derek Minto and John Dick Winters are trying to change that. Burning Bridges is consolidating Pittsburgh’s burgeoning comedy community by providing training to aspiring comedians, giving them performance opportunities and putting them in touch with traveling professionals who can connect them to national outlets. The club operates out of Hambone’s and has roughly 20 consistent performers,

Milk Shake Factory brings legen-dairy desserts to Oakland pittnews.com what the community concerns should be.”

Participants in the discussion, including Zinna Scott of Homewood, spoke about how expensive rentals and the lack of affordable housing have affected their communities.

“Everything going on here is important,” Scott said. “Affordable housing, rebuilding the communities, any houses shouldn’t have to be torn down. We need to get more homeownership in the community. The more homeownership you have, the more reliable the people are in living there and keeping that piece of property.”

“We’re constantly seeing big, wealthy developers getting subsidies to build 300 units to tell us that 20 of them are going to be affordable,” Packer said during the discussion. “The truth is that nobody should be paying more than 30 percent of their income [for housing].”

The discussion shifted to public safety, where

it was mostly led by Pepsi Farrow of LincolnLemington-Belmar. As a Little League baseball coach, Farrow is concerned for the safety of children in an area like Homewood, where he said there is a history of violent events.

“How can we create legislation to make sure that somewhere where there’s 20 kids or above, the radius is protected?” Farrow said. “That’s what public safety is. I want to know how we can protect that.”

Other participants expressed concern for the safety of their children in this district under its current leadership and said they hope Ford can give parents security.

Ford’s take on leadership and community engagement adds to his appeal for certain community members. Farrow is interested in Ford’s story and what he has to say, and said the platform he created for his community in this round table

allowed people to listen to others and be heard themselves.

“It gets the candidate in front of the people.

You rarely see people running for office listening to the people, they’re always talking to them. He gave a platform to listen and I thought that was dope,” Farrow said. “I think his story resonates beyond Pittsburgh. I think he’s the person we need in this area for right now.”

Ford’s main goal with the listening tour is to create a conversation that involves the community, he said.

“It’s interesting to step into the political arena to learn about all these different things we weren’t exposed to,” Ford said. “For a long time, all these different things going on in the community were kind of like rumors and we weren’t engaged in the process. I understand the importance of having the entire community at the table.”

with others in and out semi-regularly.

“When I started doing stand-up, there was no scene. The comics that were [in Pittsburgh] were not encouraging,” Minto said. “I wanted to provide an alternative to that.”

Minto used to host stand-up at Downtown’s PaPa J’s Ristorante, with restaurant night manager Jeff Holt. Holt bought Hambone’s in 2011 and Minto started hosting open-mic nights and stand-up shows there.

“Open mics are basically the equivalent of a gym for comics,” Minto said. “And [Pittsburgh] is a great place to start. You can get so much stage time.”

But the duo had trouble developing a consistent comedy audience at Hambone’s until the nearby Belvedere’s Ultra-Dive bar caught fire in 2014.

“We had these big windows where people could see you doing stand-up, and people started coming in,” Minto said.

The club subsequently grew from hosting 10 to 15 comics per open-mic night to a minimum of 30. Minto said the neighborhood’s lack of drinking spots at the time led to the audience uptick.

“I’ve hosted shows where I’ve spent hundreds of dollars promoting them, if not thousands.

And I still haven’t gotten audiences like we get at Hambone’s,” Minto said.

Between a steady audience and Winters’ and Minto’s industry connections, Hambone’s comedy scene took off. Award-winning comedian Hannibal Buress stopped by the bar during his Hannibal Montanabal tour in 2016. Nationally recognized stand-up comedian Rich Ross came through another night. Winters then leveraged Hambone’s

combination of talent and regular audience to start the Burning Bridges Comedy Festival in 2016 and gave Pitt students the opportunity to perform with nationally recognized headliners.

Ossia Dwyer, a senior chemical engineering major, started her comedy career at the nowclosed Lava Lounge in Pittsburgh’s South Side.

She performed at four open-mic nights across the City every week shortly after that. But Dwyer found it hard to break into the scene at first, and also discovered that being the only woman in a lineup could be isolating.

“When you’re a 21-year-old girl and everyone else is a 30-year-old man … you can kind of feel like a zoo animal,” Dwyer said. “As a female comic, you’re often put into a box. People think you’re all the same.”

Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.

Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.

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December 6, 2018

2

Opinions

column

from the editorial board

Ruling protecting priest anonymity unfair to victims Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses is no stranger to sexual assault allegations. A grand jury released a report in August detailing the sexual abuse of more than 1,000 minors committed by more than 300 of the Catholic clergymen, 11 of whom had their names redacted.

On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court voted 6-1 to keep those 11 priests anonymous. “[The ruling] is a victory for all Pennsylvanians,” Justin Danilewitz, an attorney who represented many of the priests in August’s grand jury report, said. “Victims can take comfort … that their voices were heard, but not at the expense of innocent individuals.”

But the decision is only a victory for serial sexual abusers and self-interested church officials. It completely denies victims the justice they deserve and erases the network of accountability the Catholic Church desperately needs to bring assailants to justice.

According to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, releasing the alleged abusers’ names would unfairly tarnish their reputations, a “fundamental individual human right” protected by the state constitution.

But the court’s decision doesn’t provide any solutions to the rampant sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The grand jury report was originally intended to not only shed light on a decades-old scandal, but to also encourage other victims to report their horrific experiences and change the law to accommodate victims.

Shaun Dougherty testified before the Altoona-Johnstown jury on abuse that allegedly occurred over the span

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of three years when he was only 10 years old. He’s now 48, far exceeding Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations.

“If this doesn’t start a serious debate on the elimination of the statute of limitation, there’s something seriously wrong with my fellow Pennsylvanians,” Dougherty said before the grand jury.

Testimonies like Dougherty’s certainly worked. Not only did dozens more alleged victims come forward, but the wave of reports was startling enough to nearly change the statute of limitations. In October, the Pennsylvania House proposed a two-year window where victims of priest molestation could press charges no matter when the incident allegedly happened.

While the bill didn’t pass, it was a positive first step toward validating the victims. The second step is justice.

If the government can’t legally reveal the priests’ names, the diocese can and certainly should.

“I call on the bishops to do so immediately, consistent with their recent calls for transparency,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said after the ruling.

Sexual abuse is a crime that needs to be handled by the courts, but the church’s involvement in concealing perpetrators has allowed this systematic abuse to continue for decades.

Until the church itself changes its attitude toward the rampant priest molestation happening within its own ranks, allegations will continue to be swept under the rug — cementing the Catholic church as a safe haven for predators, not innocent children.

TRUMP MUST PUSH OUT VENEZUELA’S DICTATOR

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. RAYNER PENA/DPA/ABACA PRESS/TNS and causing tension between Venezuela and its neighbors. Venezuelan refugees also make up For The Pitt News the majority of asylum-seekers to the United After months of bipartisan pressure, the States, and the longer Maduro stays in power Trump administration is finally prepared to add only increases the amount of refugees who are Venezuela to its list of states that sponsor terforced to leave Venezuela and seek uncertain rorism, where it will join countries such as Iran, safety in nearby countries.

North Korea and Syria.

Some American senators have recognized Adding Venezuela to the state-sponsored terthe extensive humanitarian impacts of Maduro’s rorism list is not only justified, considering Venreign. ezuela’s destabilizing presence across the world, “As millions flee repression, hunger and but would also allow the United States to mount destitution at home, Nicolas Maduro’s criminal additional pressure against Venezuelan dictator regime has turned Venezuela into a failed state Nicolas Maduro. with implications across the region,” Sen. Bob Maduro has demonstrated a willingness to Menendez (D-N.J.), a leading member of the brutally repress his citizens. Since the government Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said. controls food rationing and the majority of the Maduro has also filled his cabinet with danpopulation spends eight hours a week waiting in gerous people, which makes the prospect of him line for rations, Maduro is able to restrict rations choosing his own successor dangerous. Madufor political opponents. ro’s minister of industries and national producThe autocratic leader has also imprisoned tion and former vice president, Tareck El Aisan estimated 300 to 600 political prisoners and sami, is a known financial supporter of terrorist reports of torture and execution are widespread. organizations like Hezbollah and is connected Maduro has consolidated so much power that with the international drug trade. the Venezuelan Supreme Court is in his pocket.

“Venezuela’s future is uncertain, but what is The court dissolved the National Assembly in certain is that Islamic extremism has officially 2017 — the last holdout of Maduro’s political taken greater executive control of a national opposition. government in Latin America,” Joseph Humire, An estimated 2.3 million Venezuelans, founder of the Center for a Secure Free Society, roughly 7 percent of the population, have left the said. nation and sought refuge in neighboring South Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.

American countries, destabilizing the region

Josh Beylinson

December 6, 2018

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column

CONOSCO I MIEI CIBO: GETTING GROCERIES IN FLORENCE Grace McGinness Staff Columnist

“Conosco i miei polli” translates literally to “I know my chicken,” but Italians use the phrase to mean “I know what I’m talking about.”

And after a good part of my semester, I know what I’m talking about, too — at least when it comes to “cibo,” the Italian word for food.

Many imagine Italian food as the classy, excellent cuisine from a charming restaurant that would cost an entire paycheck, and they’re not wrong. It’s far more expensive to dine out in big Italian cities like Rome, Napoli and Florence, but you get what you pay for, which is delicious food.

But as a student studying abroad, I can’t be dropping 15 euros ($17) per meal for 90 days. Luckily, there are cheaper options that satisfy greasier palates and slimmer wallets, particularly if you learn some basic Italian cooking techniques.

Essentially, there are two types of grocery shopping here. One is simple and familiar. The other, though far more involved, can be unexpectedly rewarding.

There are grocery stores in more populated areas similar to American stores. Grocery stores such as Conad and Coop.fi are the cheapest options, where a week’s worth of groceries is often less expensive than in America.

They have nearly everything you’d expect to find in an American grocery store, and are often the cheapest option for food. My apartment’s weekly grocery expenses total 30 to 50 euros, split between four people.

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There are all kinds of fruits and vegetables available, even if they aren’t in season, though they may not be worth buying out of season. Prosciutto, salami, other sliced meats and cheese are abundant, but come in small containers of about eight slices each. There is a small frozen-food selection, scorned by every Italian native.

There is no aisle dedicated to breakfast cereal, but there are aisles for wine and oil as far as the eye can see.

If you are fortunate enough to come across peanut butter, it will be in a small jar, and there will be a dozen jars at best.

Plus, you may have to fight every other American student in the city to claim it.

But the worst part may be the glares from locals when you try to go through the checkout line with 30 items, while everyone behind you has no more than five.

The idea of weekly groceries is a foreign concept here. Above all else, the Italians value freshness in their food, so most people only buy what they’ll need for the next three days.

The secretary of my school, for example, said they buy fresh milk and bread every single day.

This brings me to the second and more traditional method of getting groceries.

Rather than doing all of your shopping in one place, you can head to the “macelleria” (butcher) or “pescheria” (fishery) for protein, and go to any openair market for a wide variety of produce priced by the gram. And, of course, no Italian would forget the “enoteca” (wine bar) or “pasticceria” (pastry shop) on their grocery trip.

Only things that are in season will be for sale, and the market is only open from the morning until early afternoon.

These particular shops also generally close earlier and may be closed for lunch hours, unless they serve lunch. Their hours are elusive, so it’s best to practice your Italian and ask the owner when they’re usually open.

They’re chaotic, yet calm, and the owners run the show.

I’ve felt very intimidated at the mere prospect of even entering these shops.

They seemed to operate under a whole new set of rules that I had no clue how to interpret.

But this confusion to Americans is part of tradition to Italians.

It is exactly in these spaces that real Italian culture can be observed and Italian language flourishes, dancing between dialects and skill levels.

Even if they seem antagonistic at first, most shop owners are nice and understanding. They want you to buy their product, and if they can’t communicate to you with language, they do so with food, handing you sample after sample of every variety of fruit they carry.

Once you’ve purchased your fresh tomatoes, pungent basil, half-dozen of eggs that you’re sure not to refrigerate — since eggs in Europe aren’t washed and therefore don’t need refrigeration — the Italian extra-fine “tipo 00” flour and some fresh bread from the bakery, get ready to experience food the way you should in Italy.

Find a recipe for homemade pasta — or use the one at the bottom of this post — and start kneading. Pair it with your favorite sauce or a traditional marinara

December 6, 2018

like the one listed below, and you’re one step closer to forever eschewing brittle, dry pasta and canned sauce.

Pasta 600g “tipo 00” flour 6 large eggs Salt • Build a small well using the flour and a large pinch of salt on your workstation.

Crack eggs into center and beat with fork until smooth. Incorporate flour slowly using your hands. Knead vigorously until dough is smooth and silky, instead of rough.

• Roll small pieces of dough using a rolling pin or pasta machine until it’s roughly the thickness of a playing card.

Cut into desired shape and cook in boiling salt water until al dente.

Sauce 2 cloves of garlic 15g fresh basil (1/2 bunch) Olive oil 1 can plum tomatoes, or 4 medium fresh tomatoes (chopped) Salt and pepper • In a pan over medium heat, cook finely diced garlic in olive oil until it has a bit of color, about 20 seconds. Add tomatoes and basil, and mash with back of wooden spoon to break down the structure of the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper, and remove from heat once sauce reaches a boil. Strain through a sieve, return to pan and cook for another five minutes, or until sauce reaches desired thickness.

No sieve? Chop the tomatoes or serve a thicker sauce.

4

Culture

review

EARL SWEATSHIRT REEMERGES WITH ALBUM ‘SOME RAP SONGS’

Grey McGettigan Staff Writer

Rapper Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, more commonly known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, has wandered in and out of the public eye since the release of his 2010 mixtape, “Earl” — a vulgar debut that established the 16-year-old as a misanthropic wordsmith.

While garnering a cult following as a member of Odd Future, an LA-based hiphop collective which includes other big names like Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean, Sweatshirt embarked on a turbulent journey of self-realization. Sent on a therapeutic retreat in Samoa by order of his mother, Earl left the spotlight. An online campaign to “Free Earl” ensued.

He resurfaced in 2012 with a new approach and a lot to get off his chest. His initial affinity for aggressive humor gave way to stark sincerity in the projects that followed, such as “Doris” and “I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside.” Now, the 24-year-old returns with “Some Rap Songs,” a despondent, woozy look into the artist’s psyche.

The 15-track project took three years to put together, and much of that time was spent breaking songs down.

“It’s been made evident to me that I’ve become kind of obsessed with simplifying shit,” Sweatshirt explained in an interview with Craig Jenkins of Vulture, “which sometimes can lead to oversimplification.”

The 24-minute album is short, but a far cry from oversimplified. Most of the production is credited to Sweatshirt — under the alias randomblackdude — and it’s dense. Dizzying drum loops and distorted soul/funk samples provide the backdrop for Sweatshirt’s poised voice.

“It’s infinitum. It’s the snake eating its

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image via wikimedia commons

tail. I keep locking in the loops. To write something complete to a loop, I feel like it takes a lot,” Sweatshirt said to Vulture.

Sampling James Baldwin’s lecture “The Artist’s Struggle for Integrity,” “Some Rap Songs” kicks off with the phrase “imprecise words” — Sweatshirt’s way of acknowledging the difficulty in articulating thought.

However, he does so with crafty wordplay and forthright emotion.

Later, in “Eclipse,” Sweatshirt raps, “Say goodbye to my openness, total eclipse / Of my shine that I’ve grown to miss when holding shit in.” A double entendre, Sweatshirt’s “shine” can be interpreted as either the spotlight or the rapper’s happiness.

Depression, vice and family issues are recurring themes in Sweatshirt’s discography, but the artist’s latest work displays a hopeful change in attitude.

The release of 2015’s “I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside” captured a period of disillusionment and drug abuse for Sweatshirt.

“Some Rap Songs” is, in part, bookkeeping — an account of the damage done and the road ahead.

In the song “Red Water,” Sweatshirt recognizes that his isolation was self-inflicted and reasserts his agency, “Yeah, I know I’m a king, stork on my shoulder, I was sinkin’ / I ain’t know that I could leave.” He returns to feelings of listlessness and malaise throughout the project, but with a sense of emotional understanding absent in earlier works.

“Nowhere2go,” the abrasive lead single, gives listeners a glimpse into the rapper’s recent life. He’s watching his steps more carefully, giving thanks to God and celebrating friendship.

As Odd Future’s camaraderie and mu-

December 6, 2018

sical output fizzled out in 2015, Sweatshirt needed to find a new direction. “I couldn’t find a friend, had to rely on my wits,” he reveals on this single. Sweatshirt follows this up by name-dropping NYC-based artists MIKE, Medhane and Sixpress.

These New Yorkers lent a hand. Their influence on “Some Rap Songs” is apparent as the once-cloud-rap-inclined Sweatshirt rhymes over abstract and experimental instrumentation akin to the avant-garde movement his East Coast brethren is ushering in.

Sweatshirt’s newfound friends supply the album with hope and solace, contrasted by the bleak confrontations with death throughout the record.

Unfortunately, the release of Sweatshirt’s latest album was preceded by the death of his father, South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, in January. Estranged from one another, the son addressed their complicated relationship on 2013’s “Doris” with lines like “I just used to say I hate him in dishonest jest.”

“I did work with the intention of being able to come back [to South Africa] literally this year, at the top of this year,” Sweatshirt told Vulture. “I’d finally pledged.”

Robbed of the chance to reconcile with his father, Sweatshirt added “Peanut” to the album. On an eerie, off-kilter beat, Sweatshirt raps about his father’s funeral and the accompanying grief. It’s a tragic ending to their relationship and to the narrative Sweatshirt built through his music.

“Some Rap Songs” is a collection of emotions, the good and the bad. Like emotions, the record is unpredictable and sometimes indecipherable. But it’s encouraging to see Sweatshirt organizing his inner turmoil and sharing it with his fans once again.

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Sports

Panthers 5: Kyler, persevere over Take KD, Cardinals Fordham, 65-62 pittnews.com pittnews.com

DEMETRIUS THOMAS SPEARHEADS PITT'S RISE UP THE RANKINGS

Jack Clay Staff Writer

Pitt’s wrestling team took to Sin City as it participated in the 37th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this weekend. The 24th-ranked squad finished seventh out of 43 teams, with four of its best men reaching the podium. One of those men was Pittsburgh’s new junior heavyweight, Demetrius Thomas.

Thomas spent his first two seasons at William Baptist University in Arkansas, where he found tremendous success, piling up a programrecord 40 wins and winning the NAIA National Championships — and that was just in his first year. But he never planned on pursuing wrestling for long.

“Going into college, I thought that I was honestly not a good wrestler,” Thomas said. “Back in high school, I took third at state and I thought, ‘Hey, that’s pretty good, I guess.’ But I went to a national tournament and I didn’t do so well.

I didn’t think I was going to do as well as I am now.”

Now, Thomas is tearing it up at the Division I level. He’d been undefeated through two matches before Cliff Keen, crushing CSU Bakersfield sophomore Jacob Sieder 18-2 and picking up a meet-clinching win over sophomore Carter Isley from No. 14 Northern Iowa.

At Las Vegas, Thomas lost his first match to UNK junior Jarrod Hinrichs by a score of 8-6, but proceeded to go on a rampage in the consolation bracket, knocking off ranked opponents left and right. He went on a seven-match winning streak, in which he picked up three pins, three major decisions and one minor decision before he lost a third-place bout to No. 20 Zach Elam, a first-year from Missouri.

The Panthers saw Thomas’ potential to wreak havoc at the heavyweight level when he was still at William Baptist, and set their sights on him to join their program. But it was tough for him to make the decision to leave because William Bap-

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Junior heavyweight Demetrius Thomas currently stands at 9-2 for the 2019 wrestling season. cOURTESY OF PITT ATHLETICS tist was a small school and they treated him well there.

“As the years went on and I got better, I got looks from other schools,” Thomas said. “They asked me if I was looking to transfer. I’m never not looking for a better opportunity, but as of right now, I’m staying where I am.”

Pitt stayed resilient in its recruiting, and its competitiveness and relevance on the Division I scene ultimately attracted Thomas, along with the fact that he could get a better education there.

“Pitt had reached out to me, we talked a little bit and I looked them up and saw that they had a high ranking,” Thomas said. “They also told me that they had physical therapy there as well. It was either graduate from Williams with a simple biology degree or graduate from the University of Pittsburgh.”

It’s safe to say that the Panthers’ due diligence panned out, as he now stands at 9-2 on the season. They had a hole in their lineup at the heavyweight slot and Thomas was the perfect fit. He’s a hard worker and head coach Keith Gavin has taken notice.

“He just goes out there and competes with everyone he wrestles with and we have a couple other guys who do that, too,” Gavin said. “We’re hoping that’s contagious. That’s the kind of culture that we need to have here.”

Despite his success, Thomas said he never really feels the pressure from his coaches, teammates or fans.

“I keep a humble mindset, you know, I could lose to anybody,” Thomas said. “The only pressure that I ever feel is from myself, that sometimes I might not be doing enough. I don’t feel like I have to prove myself to anyone else.”

Thomas has already gained a reputation for going the extra mile on the mat and in practice.

His teammates appreciate his level of effort and dedication, like first-year Micky Phillippi, who has found great success this season, placing second at Cliff Keen.

“We’re in there working as hard as we can in the weight room and in the wrestling room, and that kind of rubs off on everyone else,” Phillippi said. “Outside of everything, too, is something I feel is really big, just working hard in the classroom and doing the right things on the weekends as well.”

This is something Thomas prides himself on, as the pursuit of a degree in physical therapy is partially what drove him to Pitt in the first place.

Meanwhile, on the mat, Meech — as his friends call him — has made a habit of upsetting ranked opponents, which he’s done three times already this season.

“Honestly, when I go out there, I have no

December 6, 2018

idea who’s ranked what,” Thomas said. “When I go out, I still feel like I’m the worst wrestler out there. But I feel like even though I’m not the best, I’m going to try my hardest and give my heart out to try and beat my opponent.”

While facing top competition is new to Thomas, it’s something his head coach has plenty of personal experience with. Gavin, a 2008 Pitt graduate, was a 174-pound NCAA champion and a two-time All-American. He spoke on Thomas’s chances of reaching that level and possibly even reaching the podium in the NCAA tournament.

“He has the work ethic and the athleticism to beat anyone,” Gavin said. “He’s a junior this year, so I think it’s really just a race against the clock of how quickly he can improve his skill set. He needs to get better at certain technical skills, and he absolutely will. It’s just a matter of ‘Will he improve in time?’”

Pitt just recently entered the Top-25 rankings at No. 24 with its win over Northern Iowa and its strong showing at Cliff Keen. This was largely due to Thomas’ strong performances. However, he isn’t allowing that to go to his head, and Gavin won’t let him get ahead of himself, either.

“It’s a day-to-day process,” Gavin said.

“There’s always stuff you need to work on in our sport. We’re in a really tough conference. The ACC has some really tough opponents. So, we just take it day-by-day, but we have some guys on our team who can really beat anybody.”

The Panthers have a bit of a break from competition between Cliff Keen and their next meet, which will take place in the Fitzgerald Field House when they host West Virginia on Dec. 15.

Thomas hopes to continue his run of dominance in the Backyard Brawl and help Pitt climb the rankings. The team certainly thinks he can keep it up.

“He’ll never lose because his opponent outworks him,” Gavin said. “It’s just not in his makeup to do that.”

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Available 8/1/2019.

NO PETS. Call Jason at 412‑922‑2141.

Pictures‑ Info: tinyurl. com/dawson­home ***August 2019 rental.

4 BR+TV room/ 2 BA apartment.

Wall‑to‑wall carpet‑ ing. Kitchen w/ dish­washer. Wash­er/ Dryer. $2300/month + utili­ties. Call 724‑934‑0653 or text 724‑816‑4936 **3, 4 Bedroom Houses/Apartments in South Oakland.

Available for rent August 2019. Very clean with different amenities (dish­ washer, A/C, washer and dryer, 1‑2 Baths, newer appli­ances & sofas). Check out my Face­book page: https:­//www. facebook.­com/ KenEckenrode­ RealEstate/. Call

pittnews.com

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

Ken at 412‑287‑4438 for more informa­ tion and showings or email name, phone number, desired number of bed­ rooms, and anything else you want in housing to kenshous­ ing@gmail.com. **AUGUST 2019: Furnished studios, 1,2,3,4 bedroom apartments. No pets.

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

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

Most units on busline and close to Pitt.

Avail­able Summer 2019. 412‑915‑0856 or email klucca@veri­ zon.net.

Classifieds

For sale

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

services

• EDUCATIONAL • TRAVEL • HEALTH • PARKING • INSURANCE

douridaboudproper­ tymanagement.com 4 BR HOME ‑ SEM­PLE STREET, LO­CATED NEAR LOUISA. EQUIPPED KITCHEN, FULL BASEMENT. NEW CENTRAL AIR ADDED. AVAIL­ ABLE IMMEDI­ ATELY AND RENT­ING FOR MAY AND AUGUST 2019.

(412) 343‑4289 or 412‑330‑9498.

416 Oakland Ave. HUGE 2BR, 1BA. Hardwood

notices

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

floors. Available August 1, 2019. Call 412‑361‑2695 Apartments for rent.

2, 3, and 4 bedroom apartments avail‑

able. 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

R A T E S

Insertions

1-15 Words

16-30 Words

1X

2X

3X

4X

$6.30

$11.90

$17.30

$22.00

$7.50

$14.20

$20.00

$25.00

5X $27.00 $29.10

6X $30.20 $32.30

Add. + $5.00 + $5.40

(Each Additional Word: $0.10)

Deadline:

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

people can share a single unit. Check property’s compliance with codes. Call City’s Per­mits, Licensing & In­spections.

412‑255‑2175.

Houses for rent. Steps to campus. Starting at

$1800+ utilities. Mod‑ ern kitchen and bath­

rooms; on site washer

and dryer. Available in August 2019. Call at 412‑916‑4777

Huge 5BR apartment in Panther Hollow.

Close to universi‑ ties. Laundry and dish­washer. Large

deck. $1,900/mo. plus utili­ties. Contact gbazz­i7@gmail.com M.J. Kelly Realty.

Studio, 1, 2, 3 and 4 Bedroom Apart­ments, Duplexes and Houses.

N. & S. Oakland from $750‑$2500. mjkellyrealty@gmail.­ com. 412‑271‑5550. www.mjkellyrealty.­ com Newly remodeled first floor apartment with 2/3 BR and laun­dry in apartment. $1500 + utilities.

412‑683‑0363 Newly remodeled

sec­ond and third floor, 5 BR, 2 BA apartment with laundry room in­ side apartment. $3000 + utilities. Has a sky‑ light. 412‑683‑0363 North / South O Houses and Apart­ ments with Laundry and Central Air Call 412‑38‑Lease Now renting fall 2019 various two bed­rooms units in South Oak‑ land, Bates, Coltart, Edith, Halket Place, Ward Street; rent start‑ ing from $975‑$1410 Contact: John C.R. Kelly

412‑683‑7300 www.jcrkelly.com info@kellyrealtyinc.­ com Outstanding One Bed­rooms located throughout South Oakland; Fifth Ave, Meyran, Pier, Sem­ple, Blvd of Allies, Ward; Rents Starting at: $740‑$825 Contact: John C.R. Kelly Office: 412‑683‑7300 Email: info@kellyre­ altyinc.com Website: www.­ jcrkelly.com South Oakland off‑campus housing.

322 S. Bouquet. Huge 2 BR apart­ments.

Move avail­able May 1 or August 1.

412‑361‑2695 3436 Ward. Spacious 2‑Bedroom, 1 bath, equipped kitchen, $1,195 + electric, Heat included.

412‑271‑5550 3444 Ward ‑ Studio/1,­2,3 bedroom apart­ments. Free heating, free parking.

Avail­able Aug. 2019.

412‑361‑2695 4 bedroom house available August 1st, 2019. 2 Bath­ rooms, central air, on the corner of Juliet and Boule­ vard. $2000+GEW. 412‑414‑9629.

December 6, 2018

11

2‑6 BR apartments/­ houses for rent.

Up­dated kitchens and Bathrooms. A/C, laundry, and some with parking. Avail­ able August of 2019.

412‑445‑6117

Shadyside Looking for Grad/­Post Grad studen­t/Visiting Scholar roommate M/F, non‑smoker.

Bedroom semifur‑ nished. Wash­er/Dryer in building. Rest of apartment fur­nished. $640/month, utilities included; Available December/­January.

Email mlt55@pitt. edu.

Shadyside ‑ 2BR, great location, hard­ wood floors. Free heat. Immediate oc­ cupancy. Short‑term.

Call 412‑361‑2695

Squirrel Hill 4 bedroom/1 1/2 bath townhouse on Murray Avenue across from Starbucks. $1395+utilities.

Washer/dryer, granite countertops, off‑street parking, dish­washer, backyard, and covered front porch. Available Au­gust 1st. Call 724‑309‑4193.

of­fice. Part time or full time OK starting in January; full time over the summer. $13/hour. Perfect job for sophomores & ju­niors, seniors plan­ning to enter grad school, returning grad students, and first‑year law stu­dents!

Mozart Management 412‑682‑7003 thane@mozartrents.­ com Part Time sales staff wanted. Littles Shoes is looking for fun, outgoing people looking to gain sales experience.

Call Justin at 412‑521‑3530 if inter­ ested.

Part‑Time Job: Earn up to $200 a day driv­ ing and hanging out with senior citizens.

Apply here: https:­// www.fountain.com/­ papa‑technologies/ ap­ply/pittsburgh‑pa‑ pa‑pal The Pitt News is cur­rently seeking stu­dents to work as In­ side Sales Representa­ tives for the newspa­ per. They will pro­vide advertising ser­vice to all Student, Univer‑ sity, and Clas­sified Accounts, while also complet­ing assigned office duties. Submit re­sumes/applica‑ tions to advertising@ pittnews.­com, or stop by our office at 434 William Pitt Union!

Employment Notices Employment Other OFFICE INTERN Shadyside Manage­ ment Company seeks person w/ min 2 yrs. college, for upcom­ing spring semester, to interview & pro­cess rental appli­cants, do internet post‑ ings & help staff our action‑central

pittnews.com

Adoption Looking to adopt!

Endless love, laugh­ter, music, & adven­ture all await your precious baby.

Dedicated teacher wants to be stay at home mom.

Expenses paid.

877‑696‑1526. www. mybabyandme.net

December 6, 2018

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