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
Suicide survivor talks awareness
See Online for See Online for PDM video coverage updated crime map April 11,2016| Issue 140 | Volume 106
Alexa Bakalarski Staff Writer
Less than 1 percent of people who jump off the Golden Gate Bridge survive. Kevin Hines is part of that 1 percent. On Sunday at 3:30 p.m., about 220 members of the Pitt community gathered in the O’Hara Student Center Ballroom to hear Hines speak about his suicide attempt and ensuing mental health activism. In 2000, Hines jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge and missed severing his spinal cord by 1 centimeter, and now he tells his story to others to spread awareness about the importance of mental health. As part of a series of presentations this year on mental health awareness, Pitt’s mental health task force invited Hines to speak at Pitt in partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Student Affairs and the AFSP invited Hines, AFSP Western Pennsylvania Chairperson Jennifer Sikora and Pitt Counseling Center Director Ed Michaels to Pitt as part of Hines’ tour around Pennsylvania. “We are not here for the benefit of ourselves or for our personal gain,” Hines said about humanity. “We are here to give back to those around us.” Hines jumped off of the Golden Gate Bridge two years after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He stayed conscious after the impact with the channel of the San Francisco Bay and the PaSee Mental Health on page 4
Pitt Formula SAE unveiled its PR-028 race car Saturday night in the O’Hara Student Center. See online for a video of the unveiling. Will Miller STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
PDM raises more than $200,000 Casey Schmauder Staff Writer
On Saturday, the William Pitt Union transformed from a casual study and meeting space into a dance party with dubstep pumping and disco balls spinning. The 11th annual Pitt Dance Marathon, a 16-hour dance-a-thon that raises money for
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, began at 8 a.m. and stretched until midnight, filling the Union’s ground and main floors with students. After shortening the event from 24 hours to 16 hours and moving it from the Cost Center to the Union for the first time, PDM raised $200,016.11 this year — $49,948.12 more than last year. PDM participants volunteered as danc-
ers, who stayed and boogied for the entire event; dreamers, who stayed for eight-hour shifts; or moralers, who stayed for the entire event and led hourly spirit dances to bring everyone together and increase morale. Dancers were each required to raise $150 in order to participate in the event, whereas See PDM on page 2