3-23-18

The Pitt News

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | March 23, 2018 | Volume 108 | Issue 133

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AFRICAN STUDIES ADVISER ADVOCATES FOR ETHIOPIAN GIRLS Sophia Mastroianni Staff Writer

Everyone has heard the expression, “the dog ate my homework.” But Anna-Maria Karnes knew a girl living in rural Ethiopia whose textbook was scarfed down by a cow. This prevented the girl from advancing to the next grade until she borrowed enough money to buy another copy.

“She was telling me her story and I laughed,” Karnes said. “I didn’t understand the seriousness.”

The girl’s story inspired Karnes, an adviser and community engagement coordinator for Pitt’s African Studies Program, to complete her Sophomore psychology major Bridget Bayerl and sophomore political science and gender, sexuality and women dissertation at Pitt in 2018 focusing on how Ethistudies major Giovanna Guarnieri make signs for Saturday’s March For Our Lives. Chiara Rigaud STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER opian women overcome obstacles in order to get a degree from a university. She gave a presentation to about 30 people Thursday night in Posvar Hall discussing her research on the challenges and perseverance of women seeking higher edu“The investigations revealed failures of claims of sexual misconduct in the depart- cation in Ethiopia.

Janine Faust According to Karnes, girls and women in Assistant News Editor systems and failures of character,” Dean ment from more than a decade ago and the Ethiopia often travel long distances to get water, department’s current climate. Issues in the The dean of the Dietrich School of Arts Kathleen Blee said in a statement. tend to the animals of the home and get firewood The University and its Title IX office will department have been known for years — an and Sciences said Thursday that previous before school — which hampers with the amount investigations and a recent survey of the de- begin taking measures to address an envi- external review in 2004 found that profesof time and energy they put toward education. partment of communication have revealed ronment where the “inappropriate acts of the sors often engaged in consensual relationships with graduate students. an environment where women remain un- few were tolerated by the silence of others.”

Find the full story online at Blee described the University’s work over dervalued.

See Women on page 3 the past several months, reviewing both

DEAN SAYS COMM. DEPARTMENT UNDERVALUES WOMEN

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News

Panthers represent: Students and alums run for state House

Sophia Mastroianni Staff Writer Jacob Pavlecic and his best friend Quin McLaughlin’s conversations were usually about local sports. But after the 2016 election, McLaughlin — now a student at Slippery Rock University — surprised Pavlecic by switching their conversations to politics.

He thought Pavlecic could run for office.

“He said that if [Donald Trump] could do it, why not us?” Pavlecic said. “I don’t know if he was being serious at the time, but it stuck with me.”

Pavlecic, a 20-year-old Pitt junior studying politics and philosophy, is now knocking on doors and making countless phone calls in his campaign to win the 30th District seat in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives.

Several other Pitt students, past and present, are likewise campaigning for a spot in Harrisburg. Besides Pavlecic — who is running as a moderate Democrat — there is Josh Nulph, a 20-year-old former Pitt student hoping to encourage Republican voters for the seat in Pennsylvania’s 33rd District.

Pitt alum Sara Innamorato — a Democratic Socialist — is running for the Democratic nomination in the 21st District, and Kareem Kandil, another Pitt alum and Democratic Socialist, is running on the Democratic nomination in the 30th District against Pavlecic.

Josh Nulph Josh Nulph said he became the “Ron Swanson” of his township at 18 years old after he was elected treasurer, and then chairman, of the Recreation Board of Harrison Township.

Nulph, now a 20-year-old former Pitt student, also spent time working for the Pennsylvania GOP in the 2016 election cycle while attending school. He said these experiences influenced him to run for political office. Nulph left Pitt when he was a

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(From left) Josh Nulph, Jacob Pavlecic, Kareem Kandil and Sara Innamorato are all current or former Pitt students running for the state House.

IMAGES VIA FACEBOOK

sophomore to launch his political campaign for Pennsylvania’s 33rd District seat on the Republican ticket.

He now juggles campaign work with working toward a finance degree at the online Liberty University. His platform includes listening to the needs of the community and working for a more efficient budget spending plan to afford lowering property taxes.

“In my district ... we have some of the highest property taxes in the state,” he said.

“That’s one of my biggest issues, because in my area there are many affluent families and there are many people who unfortunately are struggling to put food on the table.”

Nulph said he also hopes to address the opioid epidemic in the state by focusing on the experiences of first responders.

“The first step to tackling the opioid epidemic is talking with first responders because they are on the ground level,” he said.

“I am not a first responder, so I have a great respect [for them]. I want to make sure they have the tools they need to do their job.”

Nulph believes in his team and his drive to win the election. His said his leadership method involves knowing the people in his district and having a strong system to support him.

“I want to be out meeting as many people as I can, because if you want to be an effective leader, you have to know who you’re leading,” he said.

Sara Innamorato Sara Innamorato never imagined she would run for office, despite having cofounded She Runs SWPA, an initiative that encourages women to run for office in the region.

“I was looking at the things that I really care about,” she said. “I was going to ask women to run and many said ‘why don’t you run?’”

Innamorato is currently vying for the 21st District seat, running as a Democratic Socialist in the Democratic primary. Her platform has been influenced by the death of her father, who passed away when she

March 23, 2018

was a teenager due to an opioid overdose.

She said a main priority of hers is to increase funding for people who are impacted by the opioid epidemic, including families impacted by a loved one’s addiction.

“There’s a lot of families that are collateral damage for [the opioid epidemic],” she said. “We talk about funding for treatment — how do we expand funding to the people who are impacted by a loved one being addicted?”

Innamorato, a former Pitt business student who graduated in 2008, views the current American political environment as rife for corruption, with too many family names holding multiple offices and using money to buy power.

“I don’t believe any politicians should take any money that furthers corporate interest,” she said. “But it’s really hard not to take that if you have this progressive idea to move forward.”

Innamorato thought she would have to defend her qualifications for why she’s eligible for the seat, she said. But she said she has found through her campaign work that people care more about her dependability and less about her resumé.

“I think people just want to know you’re authentic,” she said. “It is more about my experience and my plan for Pennsylvanians.”

Jacob Pavlecic Pavlecic, who is set to graduate at the end of the semester, attends an administration for public affairs class Tuesday night when he’s not out gathering signatures to get on the ballot.

“The biggest thing with politics is no one can be an expert in everything,” he said.

“You need to know what you don’t know, do your research on that to make an informed opinion. And I think students, that’s what we do, and I plan to work hard to try and See House on page 3

2

House, pg. 2 do that.”

The moderate Democratic candidate has top priorities that he plans to focus on if he gets elected, including balancing the state budget and creating a severance tax in order to provide more money for education, he said.

“When the state mandates what schools have to use money for, it just doesn’t work, and the districts are best equipped to answer what they need the money for,” he said. “Increase basic education subsidies to let school districts make their own choices.”

Pavlecic said his student perspective allows him to better represent people because he is used to focusing on research and providing evidence-based solutions to problems like per diem regulations for politicians.

“I think so many people are fed up because they think the government doesn’t even listen to them,” he said. “Give me a chance to let me show that I’ve done my homework. I’m committed.”

Kareem Kandil Also running in the 30th District is Kareem Kandil. A Democratic Socialist and

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former Pitt bioengineering student, he has done work in the health care, research and data science fields in the past, influencing him to focus on environmental and health concerns. He said he is against fracking because of the effect it has on people’s lungs.

“Even the staunchest Republicans don’t want fracking right by their schools, their kids,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that no one seems to be willing to give an alternative message to that.”

Kandil, who graduated from Pitt in 2013, also intends to focus on mental health if elected. There are areas in Pennsylvania where not a single medical facility that caters to mental health can be found for miles, according to Kandil.

“We need more workers and [we need to] encourage more people to go into mental health,” he said. “[Mental health] doesn’t get the focus it deserves.”

Although Kandil agrees with his opponents on severance taxes and the importance of health care, he does not believe they currently have a well-constructed platform.

“I haven’t seen, to my dismay, any comprehensive health care plan or solution,” he said. “I wait to hear their solution.”

Women, pg. 1 The department received renewed attention in December when Carol Stabile, a professor in the department from 19942005, wrote an article alleging a culture of harassment and a “‘nest’ of predators.” Pitt announced days after the article’s publication that the Title IX office would investigate the current culture in the department.

“After reviewing reports of the investigation, I am disappointed but determined,” Blee said. “Aspiration without action is not acceptable at this crucial juncture. We should do better, and we will do better, beginning immediately.”

Stabile called the statement powerful and noted that it is the first time Pitt has acknowledged the “problems that have forced women and people of color to leave.”

“But the real work starts now—as they figure out how to change the culture in that department,” she said in an email Thursday.

Blee said those found through the investigations to have violated Title IX and University policies have received disciplinary sanctions. The University plans to monitor behavior in the department and “ensure that all recommended actions to improve the cli-

March 23, 2018

mate are implemented.”

It is unclear from the statement if members of the department have been sanctioned from recent investigations. Pitt spokesperson Deborah Todd did not clarify, saying the school can’t share details of the investigations in order to protect the privacy of people cooperating.

The current chair of the department, Lester Olson, did not answer a phone call Thursday evening or respond to an email with questions about the department’s current culture.

Blee added that she will be working with the department of communication and the Title IX office to institute mandatory inclusivity and Title IX training for all faculty, staff and graduate students in the department. The school will also rebuild the department’s decision-making committee and bring in an outside person to strengthen mentorships in the department, especially for women and minorities.

“As I continue to work with the Title IX office and the department in the years ahead, we may find other ways to fashion a climate of inclusion and engagement,” Blee said. “But we will not rest until the situation is changed.”

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Opinions

column

‘SALAM NEIGHBOR’ AFFIRMS PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE GATEWAY TO CHANGE

Julia Kadis

For The Pitt News Think back to your favorite memories of elementary school. Some of them probably have nothing to do with learning at all — recess, snow days, early releases. Many of us loved the breaks from working and would always be thinking about the next time we’d be able to relax.

Most of us, however, also had the privilege of taking these breaks and not worrying about returning to school afterward or even thinking about the impact of missing a few days. For a boy named Raouf, now 12, breaks from school are filled with fears about safety and the possibility that he may not return at all.

Raouf is just one of millions of Syrian refugees who face a similar reality every day. He lives in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, which is the subject of the American film “Salam Neighbor” — a 2016 documentary about two Americans who live in the camp for one month, telling stories of refugees displaced by the Syrian civil war.

The film was shown Tuesday night at the Frick Fine Arts Building, but the discussion following it highlighted one approach to dismantling negative stereotypes — small-scale change.

It’s not practical or even necessary for everyone to dedicate their time to large-scale activism such as devoting your life to humanitarian relief, protesting or even attending an hours-long film screening and discussion — and that’s okay.

Change can often seem unattainable, but in Pittsburgh, a city with a large immigrant and refugee population, it’s more than feasible to make small, daily efforts like joining one of the several clubs at Pitt that work with refugees, volunteering as an English tutor in the City to gradually change perceptions surrounding refugees or supporting immigrant-run businesses.

Focusing on microlevel change in daily interactions with friends, family and peers is a more

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Zach Ingrasci, co-director of Salam Neighbor, shares tea with Raouf, one of the subjects of the documentary. Image via Wikimedia Commons manageable form of education than attempting to completely flip entire belief systems at once.

With “Salam Neighbor,” for example, even sharing the trailer on Facebook can raise awareness of the refugee crisis and perhaps provide a view of refugees that someone hadn’t considered before.

Even though large-scale change obviously has importance, focusing on small-scale change is applicable to today’s world and, importantly, is doable for many people.

Considering the ongoing relevance of the national travel ban, negative perceptions of refugees and Muslims continue to run rampant — and along with small-scale change, larger groups and organizations in Pittsburgh continue to push for change.

An organization called Hello Neighbor sponsored the film screening and postfilm dialogue.

Hello Neighbor’s focus is to help refugees transi-

tion into life in Pittsburgh, and American culture as a whole, by matching refugee families with Pittsburgh families in a mentoring program.

Another group here at Pitt, a club known as Keep It Real, focuses on in-home tutoring for children and is available from kindergarten through the end of high school, along with assistance to parents of these children with reading letters from landlords and help with other related issues.

Additionally, members act as support staff at Arsenal Elementary School with after-school programs. Mondays, 20 to 30 tutors assist with homework, STEM and reading-related activities and later have dinner with the students.

Morgan Buck, a Pitt senior studying applied developmental psychology, is a four-year member of Keep It Real and now serves as the club’s president. She clearly affirms that participation in an organization like Keep It Real has the ability to effect massive change in the treatment of refugees.

March 23, 2018

“I’ve become part of another family,” Buck said. “[The mother] calls me her daughter. I’ve been to births, weddings and funerals [with my family].”

If Buck’s experience tells us anything, it’s that choosing to step into a personal relationship with refugee children and adults can significantly change students’ perceptions or prior prejudices — a shift students should be willing to make to truly know the city they live in.

“I think that for Pitt students it’s really easy for us to live in a bubble of Oakland,” she said. “Some people [in the club] have never met a Muslim person or someone who doesn’t speak the same language as them.”

Another club option is FORGE, a refugeefocused organization at Pitt. Within FORGE, a program called SCORE works on tutoring with refugees on the weekends. SCORE meets with refugees at the downtown Carnegie Library and assists with matters such as bill-paying.

Saket Rajprohat, a Pitt junior and marketing major, is a former member of FORGE who’s also an immigrant.

“I’m an immigrant, so I didn’t see refugees in a different light to begin with,” he said. “Other people who joined learned that refugees are not only people, but they also go through the same struggles we do — without barriers like language or money [to the extent refugees do].”

Although small-scale answers to combating prejudice against refugees are hardly all-encompassing, they can be a feasible solutions — especially for those who are concerned with political issues.

It’s as simple as signing up for a club at the activities fair or watching a film — one act to improve the perceptions surrounding refugees that can transform into wide-scale difference.

Saket Rajprohat is a former Pitt News columnist.

Write to Julia at jek164@pitt.edu

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comic

courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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The Pitt news crossword 3/23/18

The Pitt News SuDoku 3/23/18

Daniel Spack STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

March 23, 2018

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Sports

Take 5: Rookies, re-entry, rejection pittnews.com

column

DON’T CRY FOR DAN HURLEY Brandon Glass Staff Writer Heather Lyke pushed in all the chips — in excess of $3 million a year — to get Rhode Island’s Dan Hurley to be the new head coach of the Pitt men’s basketball team.

But Hurley chose to stay in New England, accepting Connecticut’s offer, reported to be less than Pitt’s, Thursday. Both teams showed their hands, and the Huskies’ was better — there’s no shame in that.

But unlike in Texas Hold’em, in a coaching search you aren’t done for when you go all in. You get to recoup and move forward unscathed.

The three rivers won’t stop flowing because Lyke didn’t land Hurley. Hurley’s a big name and would have been a flashy hire for a program in turmoil. He’s won 59 percent of his games as a head coach and more than 20 games a season in three of the past four years.

He’s a good coach, sure, but there are a lot of young up-and-coming coaches that just don’t have the name recognition right now.

It might do Pitt some good to find a coach based on merit and not guaranteed clickable headlines upon the announcement of his hiring. As we’ve all seen recently, having a big name doesn’t necessarily translate to wins.

Lyke’s offer to Hurley and the willingness to fire Kevin Stallings despite his reported $10 million buyout should encourage fans that Lyke and her team are willing to invest in the struggling program.

But Pitt doesn’t need to shell out a top10 salary to hire a coach that would improve the program. How should Lyke and company determine best fit? It might be easier to examine what they shouldn’t do.

Don’t ignore the reaction the coach elic-

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The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley at the Atlantic 10 conference. Courtesy of Autumn Walker/The Good 5 Cent Cigar

“He’s a good coach, sure, but there are a lot of young up-and-coming coaches that just don’t have the name recognition right now.” its among the fans and local media. While they aren’t experts, aren’t in the room and don’t know the coaches’ intentions, outward perception matters. If a coach’s current fan base is rambunctious and energized in the area, you can imagine the Pete will be rocking.

As we’ve seen, that’s certainly something the current administration is very concerned with.

Also, don’t look at a coach’s win per-

centage for his entire career — look at it after two or three years with any individual program. The Panthers are in need of a full overhaul and a coach that’s proven that with time their players show real improvement.

Look at Penn — the team had a great season and made it into the tournament.

The Quakers’ fan base wasn’t disappointed they got bounced early, the fans were just happy to be there against a juggernaut like Kansas.

March 23, 2018

Consider a coach at a small school that dominates at recruiting in their area of the country. A coach that isn’t sending players to the NBA every other year and is still successful within their proper context, because that’s a coach that can really squeeze the proverbial lemon and make, at the very least, lemon water.

Take former Middle Tennessee State and new Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis, for example. Davis took the Blue Raiders to the NCAA tournament in two of his last three years with the program and maintained a high level of success in a non-Power Five conference.

Consider a young coach — someone who’s not close to their coaching prime, someone that can grow with the program.

Heck, maybe look overseas. Sure, it may be seen as a downgrade to go from coaching a pro team in the European league or the Chinese Basketball association, but one thing’s for sure — at three million a year, it can pay better.

There are around 350 Division I college basketball programs in America. That means there are, at least, 350 head coaches and countless more assistants and aspiring coaches. Just because Pitt struck out with one of the about 15 or 20 coaches a casual fan can name off the top of their head doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.

Look at Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens. He was an assistant at Butler before taking over as Butler’s head coach in 2007.

He was and is a wunderkind and is considered one of the brightest and most promising minds in basketball, period.

There are other successful and promising coaches around the globe other than Hurley. Not snagging the hire isn’t the end for Pitt basketball. Save those chips and be willing to throw them at the next hand — hopefully it’s as promising as the first.

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