4-8-15

Vol. 105 Issue 146

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Pittnews.com

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Back to life: Zombie culture thrives in Pittsburgh Alex Leighton Staff Writer

Courtney Prunchak takes advantage of the nice weather to practice her field hockey skills. Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer

Service workers rally, negotiations continue

Dale Shoemaker and Elizabeth Lepro The Pitt News Staff A giant bag of money sat on the railing of the Cathedral of Learning, but it was just out of reach for Marylou Fennell.

Fennell, who works as a mover and receiver at Pitt, marched on Tuesday around the Cathedral of Learning with about 50 other service workers demanding a new union contract with higher wages and cheaper health care.

Fennell is also a member of Pitts-

burgh’s local branch of the Service Employees International Union, 32BJ. Negotiations for a new contract between Pitt and 32BJ began in November, according to Negotiation Committee member and custodian Steven D. Latimore. Another negotiation meeting between Pitt and 32BJ is scheduled for Monday.

Though Fennell said she only pays about $150 per month for health care, she said she still struggles to make ends meet some months.

“They don’t want to give,” she said.

“I’ve got another wage earner in my house, but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

The rally on Tuesday evening was not the first of its kind, but another in a series held by Pittsburgh’s branch of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ, alongside negotiations between 32BJ and Pitt . Negotiations were scheduled to conclude at

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A group of humans raced across campus on Monday, a rainy April night. They tried to avoid swarms of zombies while attempting to reach a safepoint. Only two survived.

This isn’t a scene out of the latest horror film.

This dash from Posvar Hall to the OC Parking Lot on Allequippa Street was the final event in the Humans vs. Zombies(HvZ) games, which the Pitt Urban Gaming Club organizes annually.

Although HvZ players frequently infect Pitt’s campus with the zombie virus, Oakland isn’t the only yinzer home for zombies to roam. In the half-century since serving as the location for director George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” in 1968, Pittsburghers have remained fascinated with the undead. From zombie games to zombie walks to zombie stores, the city may bleed black and gold, but it lives on brains and gore.

Welcoming more than a few stragglers with arms outstretched, Pittsburgh’s annual zombie festival and walks often have record-breaking turnouts, such as “The It’s Alive 2007 Zombie Fest” in the Monroeville

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ZOMBIES Mall, which set the Guinness World Record for the “Largest Gathering of Zombies.”

Meg O’Malley, a writer for the website Popular Pittsburgh, said the festival’s success inspired cities worldwide to host similar events and compete to have the most undead in one place.

“People [in Pittsburgh] get creative,” O’Malley said. “I’ve seen guys with pipes through their heads, and it looks real.”

Since they have to go to class in between roaming through moonless nights, the HvZ players may skimp on the costumes, but they make up for it with competition.

Players must buy their own equipment, and show up to battle in camo gear, packing the latest nerf gun models, according to club president Todd Silber.

“Players are engrossed in these games,” Silber, a senior majoring in philosophy, said.

“We rarely see them take this casually.”

Students are eligible to play HvZ after they pay a $2 registration fee for a red bandana to mark their participation in the game.

April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com The games begin with three designated zombies who wear their bandanas on their heads. Their ranks grow when they tag other players with their hands — which, according to the rules, “infects” them. Only a handful of players, typically less than 10, make it to the end without being tagged.

On a global scale, although countries such as Mexico and Chile claim higher numbers for their respective fests, the Guinness Book of World Records recognizes a gathering of 8,027 zombies at the Midway Station in Saint Paul, Minn., in 2012 as the most recent record-breaker.

But living-dead pride runs deep in Pittsburgh, according to O’Malley.

The Pittsburgh Zombie festivals occur in October and sell zombie-themed products like T-shirts, DVDs and other apparel at a stand set up by the House of the Dead, a local retail shop.

The Lawrenceville store is owned by Stuart Neft, who considers it to be “the only zombie-specific store in the world.” Neft opened the store more than two years ago to enrich Pittsburgh’s obsession with a place that sells zombie-themed jerseys of teams

Zombies

5 From festivals to battles, zombies live on in Pittsburgh. Katelyn Binetti | Staff Illustrator

April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 1

RALLY the end of February. After they could not reach an agreement, the two parties agreed to an extension. To date, the parties have not reached an agreement, according to both Pitt and 32BJ. To prevent the rally from entering the Cathedral, Pitt police locked all doors except those facing Fifth Avenue.

A Pitt police officer on scene declined to comment on the rally.

The crowd gathered in front of the Cathedral, on the Bigelow Boulevard side, and marched around until they were at the rear of the building outside of Chancellor Patrick Gallagher’s office window. They held signs that read, “Pitt can do better.”

“What do we want?” one member of the crowed called.

“Contract!” the crowd responded. Then, together, “If we don’t get it, shut it down.”

Sam Williamson, director of Local 32BJ in Pittsburgh, leads the service workers’ negotiations with Pitt, and said the union had “made progress” in its negotiations with the University, but that 32BJ still needed to make more progress.

Service workers protested for higher wages and cheaper health care. Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer

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April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 2

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ZOMBIES

RALLY

such as the Penguins and the Steelers.

“Pittsburgh is considered the zombie capital of the world,” Neft said. “The city sees a surprising number of tourists. A few come just to visit places like the Monroeville Mall or Evans City Cemetery.”

Romero used both sites as settings for his influential films. “Night of the Living Dead” was filmed in Evans City, a small town with a population of about 1,800, located about 28 miles outside of Pittsburgh.

Growing up surrounded by the locations used in Romero’s genre-defining movies led to many fans, including O’Malley, developing a lifelong love for zombie culture. She said that knowing the history of places such as the Monroeville Mall is “second nature” to the city’s citizens.

Romero used the now-iconic mall as the main setting of “Dawn of the Dead,” a 1978 zombie horror movie that received universal praise from critics like Roger Ebert and has since been considered a classic of the genre.

The city’s performers also remain dedicated to zombie culture.

From 2010 to 2011, three successful runs of the stage production “Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera” ran at the Grey Box Theatre in Lawrenceville and at Pittsburgh’s Kelly Strayhorn Theatre in East Liberty, according to the show’s website. The website explains that the opera acknowledged Pittsburgh as the “birthplace of the zombie.” A representative from the show was not available for comment.

Pittsburgh’s influence on the genre appears in other mediums, too. The video game “Left 4 Dead” places players in a zombie apocalypse, using local areas like the Allegheny National Forest and the UPMC Mercy Hospital.

In recent years, the success of the popular AMC show “The Walking Dead” has placed an interest in zombie culture in Atlanta, the city used for much of the show’s filming locations. But fans like O’Malley aren’t worried that this will cause Pittsburgh’s association with the undead to fade.

“Zombie culture wasn’t fully perfected until Romero [filmed here],” O’Malley said.

“His films defined what a ‘zombie’ is. Pittsburgh has become the perfect setting for zombies.”

“[Pitt has] moved significantly,” Williamson said, “but they need to move more. We’ve made progress, but we need to make more.”

In a prepared statement, Pitt spokesman John Fedele said Pitt continues to make progress in its negotiations with the service workers union.

“We are offering a fair raise that

compares favorably to other educational institutions in the city, along with a generous benefits package that includes health care, retirement and free tuition,” Fedele said in an email on Tuesday.

Latimore said he hopes that Pitt will concede to the union’s requests.

“We’ll continue to have these rallies,” Latimore said. “Hopefully it won’t come to a strike.”

After they marched, rally members stood in front of the Cathedral fountain

5 holding white signs with red lettering that read, “Fair Wage Increase 3.7%” and “32BJ.” Tuesday’s rally was meant to draw the attention of Pitt faculty and administration working inside the Cathedral, according to Williamson, the rally’s organizer.

“Make sure they can hear us up there in the Honors College,” Williamson said through a megaphone.

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RALLY

In December, The Pitt News reported that Pitt gave several top administrators raises of 3.7 to 7 percent.

Rally members have said this 3.7 percent increase recently afforded to Pitt Administration should have extended equally to all Pitt employees.

“We’re just trying to make a statement that we deserve equality,” James

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Lewis, a service worker in the Housing Department, said.

Another service worker, Pam Johnston, told the crowd about employees she knew who couldn’t afford to put their children on the medical plan.

“The fact that they think they can hand us pennies is ridiculous,” Johnston said. “We’re here fighting for working people everywhere.”

Other service workers, from outside of Pitt, also came to the rally to support the workers. For example, Shanna

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Rich, a member of the SEIU who works as a security guard in New York, came to Pennsylvania two weeks ago to support Local 32BJ and its efforts to raise minimum wage, as well as its other movements. At the rally, she led chants and beat on a large drum.

She sees momentum in 32BJ’s movement, she said.

“I want to motivate the labor force,” she said. “What took us years, they’re doing in a few weeks. We’re gonna win.”

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EDITORIAL

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OPINIONS

Letʼs make a splash with a fishing team

As the spring continues and the summer approaches, Pitt should consider reeling in an excellent opportunity for students — a club fishing team.

Competitive fishing at the university level is growing across the country, with around 250 teams from California to New York. Locally, Slippery Rock, Penn State, West Virginia, La Roche and Carnegie Mellon University have teams, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

College level fishing now exists only at the club level, which means NCAA regulations do not apply, and participants can earn cash prizes.

The Trib notes that, this year alone, the circuit will award more than $500,000 in cash and prizes.

Besides the possible monetary gain students can achieve through club fishing, the sport would also provide Pitt with an opportunity for a non-urban focused activity.

Prospective students can sometimes find Pitt’s urban environment intimidating or unappealing. If the school had a club fishing team, students could enjoy both urban and traditional outdoor activities.

Students should have a variety of available extracurricular activities, and a club fishing team would be an

excellent opportunity for diversifying the pool of options.

Students who still prefer urban environments but have some outdoor appreciation can pursue a fishing club for a balanced activity. Fishing is a prime way to combine the urban and the outdoors, such as through fishing downtown on the Allegheny River.

Additionally, although fishing competitions usually do not include keeping the fish participants caught, student fishermen or fisherwomen could annually venture outside Pittsburgh to catch fish to bring back for charitable purposes. The students could deliver the fish caught on these trips to local shelters or indigent communities.

More opportunity outside the classroom can help students find their career calling. The Trib article chronicled 19-year-old Carnegie Mellon fishing team member Eric Bykowsky, of Oakland.

Since he joined the CMU fishing team, Bykowsky has garnered a marketing internship with Pure Fishing, and now plans to join the industry as a career choice.

As summer approaches, get outside and remember the value of a potential Pitt fishing club. After all, it would be a great catch for the University.

TNS

COLUMN

Enough special treatment: Churches should pay taxes, too Andrew Boschert Columnist

In the United States, many have debated the issue of government social programs. Charitable organizations, we feel, ought to alleviate the plight of helping the underprivileged.

Yet there is a growing problem.

Government programs like the recent Affordable Care Act insist that public assistance is in the hands of the government, not the church.

While faith-based groups, like other benevolent groups, can have a very positive impact in their communities, the government should not

grant them economic privileges over other non-faith-based groups. Since churches pay no taxes in this country, the question is: Should the government grant churches tax-exempt status at all? I would argue no.

Last month, HBO aired its explosive documentary “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.”

Among many allegations, the filmmakers argue that The Church of Scientology remains prevalent because of its tax-exempt status as a protected religion.

Strangely, the film notes, the Internal Revenue Service is the ultimate arbitrator of whether or not a group

is considered religious. According to “Going Clear,” the IRS, while reviewing the church’s status in the early ’90s, was inundated with lawsuits from the church concerning their tax status. In exchange for dropping the suits, the IRS granted them protected status in 1993, according to The New York Times.

To be sure, once the government grants a church protected status, it is almost impossible for the IRS to revoke it. The IRS has only ever successfully revoked one church — the Church at Pierce Creek in Bingham-

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BOSCHERT ton, N.Y., in 1995 — because it used church funds to denounce Bill Clinton in USA Today, according to ProCon.org.

Despite enjoying de facto exemption since the birth of the U.S., church exemption status has drawn constitutional debate.

We can consider the government’s role in collecting taxes from religious organizations to either uphold or violate the Establishment Clause — a portion of the First Amendment.

The clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The government grants secular charitable organizations tax-exempt status frequently.

Surely churches should be no different.

Except they are. While the government requires secular nonprofits to file income taxes each year, the government does not require churches to do the same. This seems suspiciously like preferential treatment, which should never be the goal of public policy, especially at the federal level.

The language of the exemption law creates

April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com a few stipulations. Under IRC section 501(c) (3), “no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual [shall be achieved].”

Where exactly do we draw the line on personal gain? Without clear boundaries, the law is hard to enforce.

used for personal gain.

While this certainly is not indicative of religious leaders at large, we must examine the clause requiring all churches to be apolitical — the one that got the Church at Pierce Creek in trouble. While Congress banned political endorsement as recently as 1954,

While the government requires secular nonprofits to file income taxes each year, the government does not require churches to do the same.

For instance, “Going Clear” alleges that The Church of Scientology uses lavish trapping to keep its high-profile members, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, comfortable .

However, fringe religions aren’t the only ones to profit from tax-free religion. Look at the million-dollar homes that some U.S. Catholic archbishops inhabit. It takes a cynical society to ignore when people give men of the cloth collection plate money they have sometimes

it’s still happening.

Besides the tangential nature of all politics to religion, there are many concrete examples.

Let’s look to the Supreme Court for evidence.

Its controversial 2014 “Hobby Lobby” ruling, wherein the retail arts and crafts company successfully sued the federal government over the controversial “birth control mandate,” may have opened the door for — as late-night talk show host John Oliver claims — “line-

item veto over federal law.”

Others have challenged the law more directly.

Every year, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative American Christian group, organizes an event called the “Pulpit Initiative.” The event works “to secure the free speech rights of pastors in the pulpit,” its website says, by calling for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment, which prevents political endorsement by churches.

I wouldn’t argue that churches don’t ever help the communities they’re in, because they clearly can. But there’s one argument against revoking the status that I can’t get around: Are churches a more expedient way to disburse charity? Would the collected taxes be spoiled on the bureaucratic nightmare that is the federal government?

These are certainly valid questions. But if we continue to expand government assistance programs, someone eventually needs to foot the bill.

Andrew Boschert writes about a variety of topics, including pop culture and college, for The Pitt News.

Write Andy Boschert at amb306@pitt.edu

April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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SPORTS FOOTBALL

Chaney brings new offensive system to Pitt Jeremy Tepper Staff Writer Jim Chaney and his pass-heavy spread offense revolutionized college football in Purdue 15 years ago.

Chaney now plans to employ a run-based, pro-style offense in his first year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Pitt.

Fundamentally, Pitt and Purdue’s offenses are starkly different. But in the context of when Chaney employed them during his career, they’re both styles that differ from most in college football.

“When you play us, it’s harder to prepare for us now because we’re the weirdos,” Chaney said. “When we started in the spread, we were the weirdos, ‘cause we were the only ones doing it. Now we’re damn near the only ones doing what we do.”

Chaney hasn’t made any large changes in his offensive philosophy since he started at California State University, Fullerton. Despite the offensive changing, Chaney has always had the basic strategy: to adapt his offense to his personnel.

“People say ‘you’ve done so many offenses.’ Well, I do that because that’s what the people lend me to do,” Chaney said. “I don’t try to cram a round pole in a square hole, I just want to do as good as we can by the people we have.”

That belief has already created mutual trust between Chaney and Pitt head football coach Pat Narduzzi.

Chaney Quarterback Chad Voytik throws a pass in spring practice. Jeff Ahearn | Assistant Visual Editor

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April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

BASEBALL

Three keys to Pitt’s success in upcoming home games Chris Puzia Sports Editor

Impending rain on Tuesday ensured that Pitt’s baseball homestand will extend unimpeded through the weekend.

The Panthers (11-19, 4-11 ACC) would have traveled to Akron for the teams’ second matchup of the year, but instead will play their next game at home on Wednesday against Youngstown State.

The last time Pitt and Akron played was March 18 in Pittsburgh, when the Panthers won 13-7. There is no plan to reschedule Tuesday’s game, according to a release. If the teams do not reschedule the game, it would mark the first time since 2008 that the teams do not play twice in a season.

With Pitt baseball continuing its homestand on Wednesday before a weekend series hosting Wake Forest, here are some storylines to look for over the Panthers’ next few games.

1. Start the game strong Pitt has recently attempted to stage comeback efforts in its last few games, which reflects struggles from both the offense and the pitching. The Panthers only managed five runs in their last weekend series against Notre Dame, and most of those came late in the game, when the result was locked in.

For Pitt to succeed against Youngstown State and Wake Forest, the offense will have to wake up in the first few innings. On Saturday’s first game against Notre Dame, Pitt scored its lone run when senior second baseman Jordan Frabasilio hit a home run in the ninth inning, when the Panthers already trailed 8-0.

Pitt struggled at the plate against Notre Dame over the weekend. Heather Tennant | Staff Photographer

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April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 9

CHANEY “Coach Chaney does a great job and it’s just fun to listen and learn,” Narduzzi said.

“I trust [him] to get the job done.”

It started at Cal State Fullerton, where Chaney employed an empty backfield, passdependent spread offense in 1985. After watching Joe Tiller then execute the same plan at Wyoming, Chaney and Tiller moved to Purdue in 1997, where Chaney became the team’s offensive coordinator under Tiller.

The duo enforced the same spread offense there, but with more success and on a larger style scale, gaining national notoriety.

The offense became known as “basketball on grass” because of its ability to score easily, reaching its peak in 2000 when Purdue won the Big Ten, propelled by quarterback Drew Brees, who led the offense to 31.8 points per game.

But as time passed, Chaney said he got bored with the offense. Despite his success, his team’s lack of physicality stuck in his mind.

“It’s a mentality of physical play that’s lacking when you wing it all the time and

your linemen are backing up all the time in pass protection,” Chaney said.

Without that physicality, Chaney came to the realization that his teams couldn’t win situational football and thus couldn’t consistently compete for championships.

Chaney affirmed those beliefs when he

offense: third and one, first and goal at the one-yard line, four-minute offense when you’re trying to run the clock out so the other team can’t get the ball back.”

With these now-established beliefs, Chaney took the offensive coordinator job at Tennessee in 2009, running a pro-style

“I want happiness. I want dialogue with my immediate boss, which I have.”

Jim Chaney moved from Purdue in 2006 to spend two years in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams as an offensive line and tight ends coach.

“I learned what I already knew,” Chaney said. “It reinforced that, to win at any college level, the highest levels of football, to win championships — not to win six or seven or eight games — you’ve got to win situational

T P N Today’s difficulty level: Very Hard S U D Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com O K U

offense and utilizing more pistol and I formation sets.

The offense changed from year to year, though it became especially pass-heavy in 2012, when quarterback Tyler Bray threw for 3,612 yards and 34 touchdowns.

After four years with Tennessee, Chaney moved onto Arkansas, where he took the

11 same position as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

With big offensive linemen, talented running backs and limited talent at quarterback and wide receiver, Chaney used a run-heavy offense, as Arkansas finished 26th in rushing.

This ability to change in concepts easily while maintaining physicality is why Chaney prefers a pro-style offense to spread.

“I can morph myself into a spread offense from a pro-style, but I don’t think spread offenses can morph themselves into a prostyle,” he said.

Though Chaney was confident in his ability to succeed at Arkansas, something didn’t feel right. He wasn’t happy, and he felt the desire to seek other employment outside of the SEC. “You reach my age, and after 30 some years of doing this, happiness within the profession is important to me,” Chaney said.

“You need to wake up in the morning, and, when you’re shaving and looking at that dude in the mirror, you want to like what you see.

You want to enjoy going to work, getting in

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CHANEY your car and driving to work.”

After some mutual friends reached out to Narduzzi, Chaney flew into Pittsburgh to meet with him. They got along well, Chaney said, and Narduzzi offered him the job, which he graciously accepted.

Since then, he and Narduzzi have formed a strong relationship.

“I want happiness. I want dialogue with my immediate boss, which I have,” Chaney said. “I think he trusts me, and I trust him to voice his opinion when he needs to.”

Chaney is still addressing his roster, though he knows he wants to distribute the ball largely in receiver Tyler Boyd’s and running back James Conner’s hands, and has no problem with becoming predictable in that strategy.

“Predictability doesn’t bother me if you end up with a ‘W’ on the scoreboard,” Chaney said.

Beyond that, Chaney commented that the tight ends will play an important part in catching and blocking, and that he’ll continue to create designed runs for quarterback Chad

April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com Voytik, simply because “he’s too good at doing it not to.”

What schemes and how much his team will run and pass is still up in the air and dependent on Voytik.

“It all depends on the quarterback of how much you can move from pro-style to spread,” Chaney said. “How many concepts can he grasp, what’s his aptitude, what’s his physical abilities.”

Chaney already has plans for tailoring the offense to the sophomore’s abilities.

“He told me he’ll put me on the move more and get me out of the pocket,” Voytik said.

During the next four spring practices, throughout the summer and then the season, Chaney will continue to learn the capabilities of his offense. His specific strategies are very much in flux. What Chaney ultimately desires is flexibility, and that won’t change, no matter the roster.

“I’d like for us to have enough flexibility to feel like our talent level on our offense is able to do whatever the hell I want to do,” Chaney said. “So every week we line up, we feel we can be competitive with any team in the country.”

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BASEBALL No pitcher on Youngstown State (7-17, 3-9 Horizon) has an ERA below 4.00, so Pitt will have to take advantage and score early. Penguins’ sophomore Jeremy Quinlan has made the most starts for the team with six, but he has posted only a 5.17 ERA with a 2-4 record.

2. Contain the big hitters With several Penguins batting better than .300 this season, Pitt’s starters will have to shut them down to prevent big innings, unlike the Notre Dame series. The Fighting Irish scored four runs in the second inning of Saturday’s 7-1 win. An accumulation of hits — capped by a home run from junior infielder Lane Richards — put the Panthers in an early deficit.

Youngstown State’s biggest home run threat is sophomore Alex Larivee, who has hit three long balls this season. He also boasts a .306 batting average and nine runs batted in.

But junior outfielder Frank Califano might prove a bigger threat than Larivee. Califano bats .330 and leads the team with 32 hits.

Many of Pitt’s weekend struggles materialized when it allowed its opponents to create

big scoring innings. The pitching staff must be prepared to work around Larivee and Califano to prevent the same problem on Wednesday.

3. Clean defense Three errors do not allow seven runs on their own. But they do not help, either.

In Notre Dame’s four-run second inning in the back end of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Panthers committed two errors. Freshman shortstop Charles LeBlanc made a poor throw to second base while trying to start a double play, allowing the inning to continue and the Irish to build their lead.

Freshman pitcher Aaron Sandefur committed two errors in the game as well.

With another error in Sunday’s game, totaling four for the weekend against Notre Dame’s zero, the Panthers will need to take care of their defense, and limit scoring opportunities. By not giving Youngstown State extra outs on offense, Pitt can help its pitchers stay composed and in control of the game.

If the Panthers can strike first on offense, limit big innings and play clean defense, they could snap their current seven-game losing streak.

First pitch of Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Charles L. Cost Field.

April 8, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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