The Pitt News
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | april 19, 2017 | Volume 107 | Issue 163
Victim robbed at gunpoint on Semple Janine Faust
Senior Staff Writer Two assailants, armed with a black handgun, robbed a person Monday night on the 200 block of Semple Street. The victim was an adult unaffiliated with the University who said two men robbed him of his wallet, phone and electronic equipment before fleeing down Semple Street — possibly going south — according to a Pitt Police crime alert. The Pitt police assisted the city police with a report of the incident at approximately 9 p.m. The victim described both suspects as black men of average build, roughly Pallbearers carry the casket of Dan Rooney into Saint Paul Cathedral Tuesday morning. Family, friends, politicians, NFL own30 years old and between 5-foot-10 and ers and players attended the funeral for the former Steelers chairman and U.S. Ambassador. John Hamilton CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 6-foot tall. Both donned black clothing and wore black masks over their faces. One suspect had a black semi-automatic handgun, which he pointed at the victim. One of the suspects had a beard. one of my last times as a student and as SGB ating from the board are Executive Vice According to Pitt spokesperson Joe Nolan Roosa President Sydney Harper, board member President: Hail to Pitt!” Staff Writer Miksch, the victim was not injured, and Rohit Anand and board member Samantha In the fi nal SGB meeting of the year, It didn’t take long for Natalie Dall, presithe investigation is now in the hands of Jankowitz. board members and committee members dent of SGB, to shed tears during her report the city police. “My time in SGB has been nothing more alike shared a bittersweet farewell followed Tuesday night. This crime is one of several armed “Thank you again to everyone for mak- by a “Sweet Caroline” sing-along to wrap up than transformative,” Dall said. “I received See Robbery on page 3 ing this place my home,” she said. “And for their time together. Joining Dall in graduSee SGB on page 3
SGB seniors bid farewell to Pitt
News
AEPi hosts 24-hour Holocaust remembrance event
Students marched from Trees Hall to the William Pitt Union, where they read off the names of Holocaust victims for 24 hours Thomas Yang STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Abhignya Mallepalli Staff Writer
A middle-aged man halted his bike on the corner of O’Hara Street and University Place and asked, “What are we never forgetting?” to a huddle of students escorted by Pitt Police cars. About 20 marchers, all dressed in black and clutching small white signs instructing onlookers to “Never Forget,” hesitated to break their silence. Finally a student in the back, a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi, quickly uttered “the Holocaust” before following the crowd to the William Pitt Union lawn. The “We Walk to Remember” event, hosted for the first time at Pitt by AEPi, began at Trees Hall at 9 a.m. The event was performed in collaboration with B’Nai B’Rith International’s “Unto Every Person There is A Name” program to commemorate the Holocaust. It began as a silent walk to the William Pitt Union patio and continued as a 24-hour
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name-reading of Holocaust victims that will continue until 10 a.m. on Wednesday. After the walk commenced Tuesday, sophomore Gabriel Kaufman, a finance and marketing major, stood at a podium on the patio, faced the Cathedral and officially broke the silence. “How do you count to six million?” Kaufman said. The crowd was spreading out, putting up black and silver signs against antiSemitism and hanging a blue and gold AEPi flag on the patio. “Each of us has a name given by the mountains and given by our walls,” he continued, transitioning into the name-reading part of the event. He then started reading a list of the names, ages and birthplaces of Holocaust victims. Anyone who wished to read could go up to the podium on the patio and continue the reading for as long as they desired. “I’ll take a pause so you can envision what
they did with their lives, because they are more than just names,” Kaufman said. After Kaufman, other AEPi brothers and supporters took the stand to read, sometimes pausing between names to add a comment about their own experiences with anti-Semitism. Andrew Zale, a sophomore molecular biology student and AEPi’s former president, said he wants this event to become a tradition at Pitt. “As a Jewish fraternity, we all knew people in the Holocaust,” Zale said. “It was really an all-encompassing tragedy. I think that people forget just passing on the street every day what big impact the Holocaust has had.” This year, the name reading falls on the last day of Passover. Kaufman said it was fitting, since the last day of Passover symbolizes the freeing of Jewish slaves from Egypt. Since many give up technology during this time, however, he said there will be a greater
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turnout in the future if they change the date to be around Passover but not during it. Kaufman said the event is essential to remind people of the dangers of exclusion, especially because he was personally affected by prejudice this year. Vandals knocked down grave stones and desecrated the cemetery that his grandparents are buried in — Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery near St. Louis — earlier this year. Chesed Shel Emeth was one of several Jewish cemeteries targeted by vandals throughout the country. According to the FBI, anti-Semitism motivated more than half of the 1,402 anti-religious hate crimes in 2015. In 2017, a wave of more than 100 bomb threats have been directed at Jewish centers and schools. Ethan Silver, a sophomore chemical engineering student who is the secretary and philanthropy chair for AEPi, has also experiSee Remembrance on page 3
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enced anti-Semitism very close to his family. Silver said events like the walk are an important part of maintaining history. “People were staring [at us],” he said, referring to the successful march. “[It] prevents people from pretending this didn’t happen.” Throughout the day, visitors from other campus organizations, such as Alpha Epsilon Phi and Alpha Delta Pi, took time to stop by the William Pitt Union patio and express their support during the name-reading. Gabriel Fruitman waited for his turn to read as twilight set in. The sophomore chemical engineering major and AEPi brother said he was there to support the values his fraternity espouses and to send a message against anti-Semitism. “It’s important that we don’t stop standing up for ourselves and against those who aren’t sensitive to the past,” he said. “I’m doing this next year, for sure.” Behind him, a fellow AEPi member continued reading names as the sun sank further down. “Syoma Matz, Boris Mayev, Olina Mednik...” he read.
robberies in Oakland this semester. On Jan. 11, an unknown suspect wielding a handgun robbed It’s Dogg’n It — a beer and convenience store located on the 200 block of Atwood Street. On Jan. 27, three suspects with a black revolver robbed a person on the 300 block of McKee Place. Police arrested one of the three suspects. That same day in January, three students were held at gunpoint by three suspects after an argument on McKee Street. The students managed to fight off the assailants. “Members of the community should continue to follow the Crime Tips posted on the Crime Alert,” Miksch said. These tips can be found on the Pitt police’s website and include keeping your cell phone charged and using the University’s shuttle service if possible. Anyone with information regarding this incident should call the Pitt police at 412-624-2121 and reference report #1701567 or contact the city police at 911 and reference CCR #69347.
the absolute gift of being able to work with some of the most humble, hardworking and genuine people I could imagine at Pitt.” While the board reports Tuesday night at Nordy’s Place reflected changes made throughout the year, some were outright entertaining. Harper began her board report with a short rap about her experience on SGB. Board member Justin Horowitz gave his board report sporting new RayBan sunglasses. Judicial Chair Jad Hilal ended his last committee report by walking on the chairs of Nordy’s Place, rapping to “Short Skirt Long Jacket” by Cake. After the emotional chaos of board and committee reports, the Board passed four new bills. The approval of these bills, which were introduced at the last board meeting, bring the board’s total count of passed bills since September to seven. The four bills approved yesterday will provide all students with free online subscriptions to The New York Times, officially include the First-Year Council and communications committee — initially established as ad hoc committees this semester — in
the governing code and add an extra openfloor segment at the beginning of SGB weekly meetings. SGB members also addressed some of the projects mentioned at past meetings that couldn’t be finished by the end of this academic year. Some of these projects included adding an extra reading day during finals weeks, adding counseling center information to syllabi and publicly releasing OMET information. SGB President-elect Max Kneis said his board will see those issues through when it returns in the fall. “One thing that spoke true to me this year that I would like to bring into next year is the spirit of collaboration...how we can work with student groups and use their expertise moving forward,” Kneis said. As of this meeting, the board has allocated $813,934.70 of the $850,000 in this year’s allocation money. Last year the committee allocated less than $800,000. The current surplus will be used to fund club sports teams over the summer as they prepare for and compete in national competitions. See SGB on page 4
The Pitt news crossword 4/19/17
Remembrance, pg. 2
SGB, pg. 1
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SGB, pg. 3 Excess funds roll over into a separate University account, out of SGB control, according to Allocations Chair Maddie Guido. “The only thing that can ever happen to that money is that [it] can be used to improve the overall student experience...it is not SGB money,” Kneis said. Black Action Society members attended the meeting to ask for a larger budget for next year. The group was allocated over $65,000, but this was not enough to cover a MLK Day speaker. The board encouraged the group to move funds where they could and look into alternate speakers for other engagements. Following the allocations, the board members were reluctant to adjourn, forcing Dall to motion once more. As Dall raised the motion a second time, Kneis responded with a bittersweet reply. “Begrudgingly, yes,” he said. Allocations Tau Beta Sigma requested $1,412.14 for a national conference. The board approved in full.
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SGB President Natalie Dall gives her last president’s report at the board’s final meeting of the year. Li Yi STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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Opinions
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from the editorial board
Student-led movements key to University change National and sometimes international political movements often find homes on college campuses, but lately, students are aiming their protest signs at their own universities. Students at Davidson College, a private, liberal arts college in North Carolina, began circulating a digital petition late last month calling for more access to their board. Their main demand is for at least 20 percent of Davidson’s 45-person board to attend twice-annual town halls open to students. A similar movement at Salem College, a women’s college in North Carolina, is calling for board members to participate in mandatory diversity training. Neither of these events exists in isolation, either. In a growing trend across the country, students are demanding greater access to members of their university’s board of trustees, as opposed to going through channels such as deans and professors to relay messages. Although we’ve seen a plethora of student activism and involvement in many important issues this semester, we’re missing a similar shift at Pitt. While there are certainly issues with Pitt’s board — namely, a lack of diversity of thought, as we’ve noted in past editorials — we can’t criticize it too harshly for failing to take student concerns into consideration because the student groups actively working to lobby the board are few and far between. And we’re doubtful the reasons behind this are due to a lack of frustrated or disgruntled Pitt students who feel like the administration doesn’t listen to them. With students facing issues from education funding to diversity and inclusion to rising student debt, it’s prob-
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ably quite the opposite. While the chancellor is the one tasked with dealing with the administrative, academic and management authorities of the University, the board holds the ultimate power over all University affairs. If students want to lobby an issue of relatively minor consequence, they’re probably better off going through Student Government Board or the dean’s office. More substantial issues, especially ones dealing with the economics or finances of the University — such as concerns about tuition and student loans, adjunct professors or minimum wage for University workers and employees — is where the Board would most likely come in. There are student groups who have made effective changes, or attempts, when it comes to lobbying and working with the board at Pitt. No Sweat: Pitt Coalition Against Sweatshops — a conglomerate of student organizations committed to banning sweatshops worldwide — was the last group to garner substantial success with the board. Pitt began requiring its apparel licensees to sign documents agreeing not to manufacture products in unsafe working environments in 2014, after a year of student push on the matter. Pitt’s Fossil Free Coalition — a similar conglomeration of more than 35 student groups pushing for Pitt to divest from the fossil fuel industry — is the only recent example of a student group making any progress with the board. The push for faculty and graduate student unions have likewise garnered support and interest at an administrative level, but other than these select groups, few students have taken advantage of
channels that could lead directly to institutional change. Even if you’re not interested in initiating change at Pitt, you should still know what’s going on with the group of people running the University — transparency is an issue we should all rally behind. And there’s a lot of confusion about how change actually happens at a university. Maybe it’s because students don’t know how the board actually works or what it does. So let us tell you: First of all, while the board has a lot of power, it also has a lot of restraints. Rarely do trustees get involved in Pitt’s day to day. Next, the board doesn’t make most of its decisions based on morality — it’s literally a line written into its constitution. The board can, however, vote to go against that code in extreme circumstances. In the 1980s, for example, the board voted to divest from companies that were aiding apartheid in South Africa. So, if you’re going to lobby to the board, do your research. Come with the numbers crunched, ready to show the higher-ups that there’s an economic imperative for whatever change it is that you want. Or, be willing to make a really insightful argument about the ethical implications of the issue you’re trying to bring to light. The board is made up of 36 voting members, including 12 commonwealth, 17 term, six alumni trustees and the Chancellor. Additionally, there are 12 special and numerous emeritus members of the board who have all the same
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See Editorial on page 9
Adult animation brings what traditional tv lacks
Tim Murdoch
For The Pitt News Almost one million adults between the ages of 18 and 49 tuned into the unexpected season three premiere of “Rick and Morty” earlier this month. The animated series follows the adventures of an alcoholic mad scientist and his unintelligent, awkward grandson. It aired on Adult Swim, the late night programming block of Cartoon Network, replaying from 8 p.m. until midnight — the only announcement coming from the show’s official Twitter account just as the airing began. It seems absurd that nearly a million Americans would drop what they were doing on a Saturday night to watch a cartoon, but that they did should show us how popular adult animation is becoming. Although the content is, admittedly, a bit childish, and the humor can be pretty lowbrow, adult cartoons are like nothing else on television or in our culture today. They paint a witty and satirical picture of life and pop culture that clearly attracts large numbers of adult viewers. Despite the viewership, adult cartoons are often underappreciated for what their oddities bring to television. In critiques, reviews, casual conversation and academia, we either don’t talk about cartoons, or we only mention them in passing — as references to the nostalgia of childhood or the misplaced maturity of “Spongebob Squarepants” jokes. We haven’t made room for adult animation in the public discourse. Isn’t it time we do? See Murdoch on page 7
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Murdoch, pg. 6 Shows such as “Rick and Morty” or “Squidbillies” — a cartoon that follows a family of anthropomorphic squids who embrace every backwoods stereotype imaginable — are peculiar and strange, there’s no doubt. But they also present new views on the world and on media that traditional television clearly lacks. A “Rick and Morty” episode from season one highlights the ability for the show to be random yet philosophical and culturally relevant. In the episode, Grandpa Rick builds goggles the family uses to view themselves in alternate realities. When Summer, Morty’s older sister, doesn’t see what she wants to, she attempts to run away. Morty tells her about his own alternate reality, a bizarre one where he and Rick destroy the world. But amid the oddness of the episode, Morty delivers some profound advice that serves as a potent lesson for viewers. “Don’t run. Nobody exists on
purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere — everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV,” Morty says. Although bleak, the message about a mutual dislike for many aspects of our world resonates with viewers. It’s a philosophical take akin to Kierkegaard or Nietzsche, but told to the average college student in a much more approachable way via a crazy narrative, eccentric characters and artful animation. This style of programming helps viewers cope with the harsh truths of the world we live in, egging us to disengage for a few hours. But when we don’t take cartoons for what they are — legitimate forms of art — we devalue the intelligence behind the creation and disregard the validity of what they bring to today’s media. One of the longest running series on Adult Swim is “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” a show about three anthropomorphic fast food items living together and their “Dirty Jers” stereotype of a neighbor in the projects of New Jersey. With their problems ranging from destructive
aliens going through break ups to demonic action figures, the already absurd premise only gets farther from reality through the 11 seasons. Yet, all these characters somehow feel relatable, grappling with real life problems, only slightly extended past reality. Although nobody knows a giant, talking milkshake, everyone knows someone who acts like they’re better than anyone in the room. This reflection of reality through a new lens is exactly why art is made, to help an audience understand the world around them through the creator’s projection, no matter how absurd the median. I am 20 years old. Some of my favorite television programs include “Superjail!,” “Family Guy” and “Mike Tyson Mysteries” — all cartoons, and all widely considered immature and vulgar to many for making inappropriate jokes and featuring anthropomorphic main characters.
Read the rest online at pittnews.com. Raka Sakar SENIOR STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
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Sports
Panthers maul nittany lions away, 9-1
Steve Rotstein Sports Editor
From the football field to the baseball and softball diamonds, Penn State just can’t find a way to beat Pitt. The Pitt baseball team (16-17, 7-11 ACC) annihilated the Nittany Lions (12-24, 1-8 Big Ten) Tuesday night in State College, Pennsylvania, rolling to a 9-1 win to sweep the season series in the heated rivalry. Redshirt junior center fielder Frank Maldonado had three hits for the Panthers, and first-year reliever Chris Gomez tossed 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in Pitt’s victory. Penn State outhit the Panthers, 10-8, but Pitt played a nearly flawless game in the field while mistakes on defense doomed the Nittany Lions. Redshirt senior outfielder Jacob Wright led the game off with a triple for the Panthers, then redshirt junior first baseman Caleb Parry followed with an RBI single to give Pitt an early
lead. Wright then singled home senior shortstop P.J. DeMeo after DeMeo reached on an error to make it a 2-0 game in the top of the second. Lefty Josh Mitchell got the start for the Panthers and put up a scoreless bottom of the first inning. Pitt head coach Joe Jordano decided to remove the redshirt junior after one inning though, inserting Gomez for the bottom of the second. Gomez recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the second and another scoreless inning in the third. Senior catcher Manny Pazos reached on an error to start off the top of the fourth, then took second base on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a throwing error by Penn State catcher Brett Davis. Another wild pitch by Nittany Lions starter Schuyler Bates allowed Pazos to come home and score. Dakota Forsyth came out of the bullpen to relieve Bates but didn’t provide much respite for
See Baseball on page 9
Chris Gomez shut down the Nittany Lions, striking out five Penn State batters over four and two-thirds innings. Anna Bongardino STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Buckeyes eke out win against Pitt softball, 3-2 Rebecca Sauers Staff Writer
Olivia Gray batted in both of the Panthers’ runs, but her efforts weren’t enough to lead her team to victory. Daniel Pomper STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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Sophomore Olivia Gray offered a promising start to the Panthers’ matchup against Ohio State Tuesday afternoon, smacking a home run over the center field fence to give Pitt an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. “As the first batter, your job is to set the tone for the game, and ideally, that’s what I try to do every time I get up there,” Gray said. But after Gray’s blast, Pitt’s batters couldn’t give junior pitcher Kayla Harris the run support she needed. The team ultimately lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes despite mounting a small comeback attempt in the seventh. The Panthers (21-20, 4-14 ACC) couldn’t overcome a late deficit and fell to the No. 25 Buckeyes (27-11, 10-4 Big Ten)
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in a 3-2 home loss. Despite giving up 11 hits and three walks, Harris kept the Panthers close, allowing only three runs in her complete game outing. “Our pitcher’s job is to keep us in a small run differential, and Kayla did a great job of that,” head coach Holly Aprile said. The Panthers’ advantage couldn’t score any more runs in the first, and their lead over Ohio State disappeared in the top of the third inning. After starting the inning by giving up a single to Ohio State senior Anna Kirk, Harris rebounded by striking out the next batter she faced for the first out of the inning. But Harris couldn’t put away sophomore Lilli Piper, who promptly laced a See Softball on page 9
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Baseball, pg. 8
Softball, pg. 8
Penn State. He threw a wild pitch to the first batter he faced, and DeMeo scored to give Pitt a 4-0 lead without recording a single hit in the inning. Sloppy play in the field continued to haunt the Nittany Lions in the fifth. First, singles by sophomore outfielder Yaya Chentouf and Maldonado put runners on first and second, then junior third baseman Nick Banman drew a walk to load the bases. Penn State left fielder Nick Riotto then committed the Nittany Lions’ fourth error of the game on a ball hit by Pazos. He still managed to throw out Pazos at first base, but Chentouf and Maldonado scored on the play to give the Panthers a comfortable 6-0 advantage. Meanwhile, Gomez continued to dominate on the mound, striking out the side in the bottom of the fifth to keep Penn State off the board. Right-hander Tom Mullin came in to relieve Forsyth in the top of the sixth and promptly hit the first batter he faced, first-year second baseman Alex Amos. Amos advanced to third after a couple of groundouts, then scored after another defensive miscue by the Nittany Lions — this one by third baseman Logan Goodnight. Mullin couldn’t find a way to throw the ball over the plate, hitting Chentouf and walking Maldonado on four pitches to load the bases. When he did throw a strike, Banman made him pay by delivering a two-run single through the right side. That was it for Mullin, as first-year reliever Tucker Triebold replaced him with Pitt leading 9-0. Penn State would tack on a meaningless run in the bottom of the ninth to break the shutout, but the Panthers came away with a convincing 9-1 win. Pitt will get right back in action Wednesday night when they host the Kent State Golden Flashes at the Charles L. Cost Field at 6 p.m.
two-run homer over the left field wall to put the Buckeyes on top, 2-1. “I knew going into it that they were a really good lineup, that they had a lot of power, that they were good hitters,” Harris said. “I think they got into my head a little bit.” The Buckeyes threatened again in the top of the fifth inning, putting runners on first and second with one out. Harris induced a grounder to get the second out on a fielder’s choice, but the next batter, junior Taylor White, singled into center field. Piper tried to score from second on the hit, but junior centerfielder Erin Hershman gunned Piper down at home, preventing Ohio State from lengthening its lead and ending the inning. In the top of the seventh, with runners on second and third, Harris gave up a one-out single to White, plating the Buckeyes’ third and final run of the game. In the bottom of the frame, the Panthers launched a last-ditch comeback attempt. Sophomore outfielder Taylor Myers drove the ball into a centerfield with one out and raced around the bases for a triple. Gray followed her with a single, driving in her second run of the day and shrinking the Panthers’ deficit to just one. But Pitt’s bats went silent, and the Panthers were unable to record another hit. Three batters later, the game ended in a 3-2 defeat for the Panthers. This weekend, the Panthers will remain in Pittsburgh to take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack in a three-game ACC series.
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Editorial, pg. 6 rights of any board member except the right to vote. The Alumni Association nominates those to be elected as alumni trustees, and the commonwealth trustees are nominated by the state governor, the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate and the Speaker of the state House. And the governor, the Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth and the mayor of Pittsburgh all serve as nonvoting members on the board as well. So if you want to start at the most basic level of lobbying, all the individual names of both voting and nonvoting members of the board can be found online. But if you’re unable to contact these members personally, the nomination process for each of them presents a clear path where students can insert their input as well through the Alumni Association or through the mayor or governor’s office. Even though they don’t vote, they still have the power to speak to the Board members at meetings. The board holds at least three meetings, including the annual meeting, each year. These meetings are open for public viewing but not public comments. If you want to speak with board members, you typically have to wait until after the meeting is over. Since most board members are hard for students to reach, perhaps the most effective way to communi-
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cate with the board is through Chancellor Gallagher, since he serves “as the representative of the students, staff, faculty, and administration to the board” — although he’s been known to say otherwise. But Gallagher doesn’t meet with students very often, so your cause would need to have garnered a significant amount of support already in order to catch his attention. If it hasn’t, going through someone else in his office — such as Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner or Vice Chancellor Kathy Humphrey — is likely the next best option. Student Government Board, the student group on campus with the most power to lobby the Chancellor and the board for what students wants, began holding monthly townhall-style meetings, in addition to their weekly meetings, this semester. The town halls were supposed to be an avenue for more Pitt students to voice concerns to SGB, but they’ve garnered starkingly low turnout rates. Next year, this should change. Standing on street corners yelling at passing cars is fine, but if you’re looking to enact change at the university level, go to the people who can make that happen. Pitt students who feel underrepresented should look to Davidson and Salem as prime examples of what students can do to actively push the administration for change. We won’t know if the board is willing to listen unless we start talking.
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