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The Pitt News

Black women in medicine Page 2

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | April 4, 2018 | Volume 108 | Issue 141

IFC addresses LANCE BASS IN SYNC WITH LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY Greek action plan at SGB meeting Madeline Gavatorta Staff Writer

Pitt’s Interfraternity Council president, Christian Baker, spoke about a working action plan that was recently released for Greek life at Tuesday’s Student Government Board meeting.

Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner released the document Monday in response to two incidents during the spring 2018 semester involving Greek life. The first, in January, involved the fraternity Sigma Chi. The frat held an off-campus recruitment event that led to a student being hospitalized for excessive drinking, causing the fraternity to be put on interim suspension and all of Greek life banned from serving alcohol at events.

More recently, the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha was suspended after alleged hazing involving a dozen pledges in February.

The plan includes several policies for review.

These include conducting an external review of fraternity and sorority life at Pitt by third-party consultants, banning hard liquor at any event and developing a University-wide committee to address hazing and concerning behaviors.

The plan also proposes a limit to one registered event with alcohol per weekend per chapter and a requirement that 10 members from each organization remain sober at events with alcohol.

Other proposals include the “utilization of Student Affairs Marketing to highlight community success” and developing confidential hazing reporting methods.

Baker, a senior neuroscience major, said students, including those not in Greek life, can submit input online until April 11. A finalized plan will be drawn up afterward.

SGB discussed other topics of interest to Pitt students with Bonner, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement See SGB on page 3

Musician and former NSYNC member Lance Bass discusses his experiences in the music industry as a part of Rainbow Alliance’s Pride Week. Divyanka Bhatia STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sam Weber

For The Pitt News When Lance Bass looks back on his time in NSYNC, he can’t help but laugh — both at his antics and the crowds often confused by them.

“I found it funny,” Bass said. “Before anyone knew I was gay, I was just Lance from NSYNC and I just humped the stage a lot.”

Bass, a 38-year-old musician, actor and activist, came to Pitt for Rainbow Alliance’s annual Pride Week to share stories of his experience in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as to discuss how he now uses his platform to benefit others.

Bass described how he had been the shyest member of the band as a result of having to play the teen heartthrob in NSYNC, and said that until he was 22, he only dated women. But after coming out at the age of

27, he realized he could use his platform and identity to help a lot more people.

“A lot of doors closed, but a lot opened,” Bass said.

But he wasn’t able to come out on his own terms. While vacationing with a boyfriend in Provincetown, Massachusetts — a gay resort town commonly called “P-town” in the LGBTQ+ community — a reporter for The New York Post spotted him in a bar. The Post published a story outing Bass before he could officially announce it for himself, which he ended up doing in a 2006 People’s Magazine cover story.

“I had meant to reveal it in a bigger way, but I didn’t want to until I knew I wouldn’t hurt the gay community and was in a committed relationship for support,” Bass said.

Bass said that he was comfortable with who he was at that point, but did not know how to share it with everyone.

“I wanted to be prepared publicly,” he said. “I wanted to be able to say the right things and be educated before coming out.”

Bass talked about the importance of support from his friends and family after officially coming out. Coming from Mississippi, he said he was surprised by how open his parents and grandparents were to him being gay.

“They said they were proud of me, but they just needed to be educated,” he said.

“And so did I.” Bass and his family made sure to educate themselves on the importance of activism in the LGBTQ+ community — skills he now utilizes to advocate for people both in and out of his own community.

Rainbow Alliance Business Manager Hope Kay helped organize the speech as part of Pride Week. She said she hopes that people See Bass on page 3

News

Black women break barriers in medicine

Theresa Dickerson

ate of Pitt’s medical school and a resident the child that she was going to be their docin the department of orthopedic surgery. tor, the child continued to ask for their food Throughout her career there have been while the parents neglected to correct them.

Growing up with Mae Jemison — an Middleton also still struggles with not many times when Boakye has been the only engineer, physician and the first black febeing recognized as a doctor when she black woman in the room. male astronaut to go into space — as her “There are things people go through walks into the room. When another resichildhood hero and inspiration, Dr. Kellie where other people don’t. You just have to dent attempted to give her advice by saying Middleton knew from an early age that she she should just wear her white coat all the know how to survive,” said Boakye. was going to be a doctor.

Dr. Ellen Mitchell said she has seen time, Middleton responded, “Or maybe I “I was going to be a doctor,” she said, “whether it was on earth or in space.”

But Middleton, now a chief resident in UPMC’s department of orthopedic surgery, ultimately decided to pursue medicine because of her aunt, a nurse in Atlanta who was beloved by the black community for her work.

“Black communities needed black health professionals,” she said.

Middleton, who graduated from Pitt’s medical school in 2012, is the first female black chief resident in the UPMC department of orthopedic surgery. She works under attending surgeons, learning skills necessary to become a certified orthopedic surgeon.

A study produced in 2016 by the Association of American Medical Doctors showed that only 8 percent of graduating Jordan Mondell CONTRIBUTING EDITOR medical school students were black. Only 4 percent of physicians are African-American, and only 2 percent of all physicians are people Google doctors’ credentials because should just not be black today.”

African-American women, according to a She added that she didn’t receive a lot of their names “sound black.” As a pediatric 2007 study. opthamologist at the Children’s Hospital of support from people when she first decided Today, 23 percent of the School of MediPittsburgh and assistant professor of oph- what she wanted to do in life. She said she cine’s incoming class are identified as unthalmology at Pitt, she feels fortunate this has relied on other women during her time derrepresented minorities. as a doctor. does not happen her.

Even with a medical degree under her “Having the support of other females in “My name is Ellen Mitchell, so most belt, Middleton said she has struggled with people don’t even know I am black. For that, medicine is very important,” she said. being seen as a practicing doctor because Middleton said she has also encountered I don’t have to credit myself before I even she is a black woman. challenges from her peers — an attending walk in the patient’s room,” Mitchell said.

“I actually say thank you [when being But she has still faced discrimination. surgeon labeled her as “aggressive” after she called a nurse] because you are mistaken She can clearly recount walking into a pa- spoke up about being discriminated against all the time for people that you are not,” she tient’s room and the child thinking that she in the workplace. This reminded her of the said. was part of the food staff. Even after she told “angry black woman” stereotype.

Dr. Lorraine Boakye is also a graduFor The Pitt News

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April 4, 2018

“It must be so nice to just be a resident, to just learn medicine and to just learn how to operate,” she said.

Despite the challenges she often faces in being taken seriously as a professional, Middleton has remained encouraged because of her strong relationships with other black staff members.

“There are a lot of people that supported me and are the reason [black doctors] are here today,” she said. “From patients in the hallway to those who work in dietary, even the random black person on the street seeing you come from work in scrubs, they were all part of this.”

Pitt’s medical school has an Office of Diversity Programs that tries to recruit and retain diverse students. They focus on creating relationships with on-campus organizations such as the Latino Medical Student Association and host eight-week research-based summer programs for undergrads and high school students that introduce students from all backgrounds to medicine and the health sciences.

Dr. Chenits Pettigrew, assistant dean for Student Affairs and the director of diversity programs, said it competes with 138 different schools to recruit underrepresented potential medical students. ”We are pulling from a very small pool,” said Pettigrew. “We try to make sure that we are there for our students.”

Middleton said she and other black female doctors in Pitt’s School of Medicine make an effort to mentor medical students from underrepresented communities. They remain involved in organizations that help minorities and interact with other minority students in other health-science-related schools such as pharmacy and public health.

“In order to be it, you have to see it,” Middleton said.

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Bass, pg. 1 such as Bass will lead students to become more aware of how they can influence both campus and global culture.

“Rainbow tries to bring in people with a lot of influence,” Kay said. “After he came out he used his platform to help the community.”

But after he came out, Bass said, work was hard to find. After leaving the boy band, he found many people in the entertainment industry were resistant to his sexuality.

“I was set to shoot the pilot for a show on CW, and the director told me that no one would watch me play a straight man after knowing I wasn’t,” Bass said. “When I went for other roles, people said I didn’t fit the stereotype. I was either too gay or not gay enough.”

Eventually, he was able to find work on Broadway in the 2007 production of “Hairspray” and on television on “Dancing With the Stars.” But as more celebrities feel comfortable coming out and more movies feature LGBTQ+ characters, such as the recently released film “Love, Simon,” Bass said there will continue to be new role models in the community.

“Socially, we’re getting there,” he said.

“We’ve gone over the tipping point.”

SGB, pg. 1 Kathy Humphrey at a lunch last Friday. In an interview after the meeting, President Max Kneis said the group had open and honest discussions.

“I think just the concept of us getting to sit down for an hour and 15 with these senior people several times a year showcases how much they value student input and the student voice,” Kneis said after the meeting.

He said they discussed different SGB initiatives such as more extensive medical amnesty policies. SGB wants to change the law to extend immunity to the person experiencing an alcoholic emergency, not just the person calling 911 for help.

“In terms of medical amnesty, we talked about looking to find a concrete model of another state that we think Pitt should be following,” Kneis said SGB and the administrators also discussed the formation of SGB’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee as well as its initiative to get more Pitt professors to use Open Educational Resources — low-cost or free resources such as PDFs. The rising cost of rent for students living in South Oakland was also discussed.

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And as an activist for causes ranging from LGBTQ+ issues to environmental dangers and animal rights, he’s doing his best to help society get there.

“I’ll show up to rallies and I’ll make sure to speak if I get a chance to talk about what I agree with,” Bass said. “I have this platform, I’d better do something good with it.”

Bass’ mission to promote the LGBTQ+ community has made people take notice of what changes have been made already.

Abby Wezelis, a senior computer engineering major, said she sees Bass as a role model.

She related to him not feeling connected to the LGTBQ+ community until after he had come out.

“I think it’s really interesting to hear other people’s stories of coming out, especially someone like Lance Bass,” Wezelis said. “It gives you perspective as to how far we’ve come as a society and also how far we have still to go to reach equality.”

Bass said that he is amazed by the progress others have made in fighting for rights in the LGBTQ+ community and for minorities in the past few years. He praised the actions of the Parkland students for standing up for something they believe in.

“We can either look at the negative, or we can be the force for good,” Bass said.

More advice and suggestions came at the public meeting from Chabad President Gabriel Kaufman, a junior finance and marketing major, who said the current campus climate wasn’t good for religious Jewish students like himself.

“One of the things that I’ve been thinking about is that Pitt is not a great climate for students who are observant Jews and that’s because Jewish students have a lot of dietary restrictions that they need to follow,” Kaufman said.

He said Market wasn’t good with Kosher foods and suggested ideas such as a Kosher LLC, a Jewish hangout spot and eatery. Kneis was appreciative that Kaufman brought this to SGB’s attention.

“I think that it was a great example of a student using the forum that we have here every week to come share a concern they have on campus and let us, make us aware of it and have us work on it,” Kneis said.

Kneis also congratulated board member Ciara Barry for hosting Women’s Empowerment Week from March 26-30 and board member Ian Callahan for putting together Pitt’s annual TEDx event on Saturday.

Find the full story online at

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April 4, 2018

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Opinions from the editorial board

column

Justin Baldoni’s feminism is too male-focused Students passing through the William Pitt Union last week may have noticed a sign announcing a University-sponsored talk with television actor and speaker Justin Baldoni. But unless they looked any closer, it’s unlikely anyone realized what he was invited for — Women’s Empowerment Week.

Baldoni, who has a lead role on the popular The CW sitcom “Jane the Virgin,” gave a TED Talk addressing toxic masculinity in New Orleans last November for TEDWomen 2017. He’s been touring colleges since, with a recent appearance at Ohio State University, where he told students about how he’s come to redefine “being a man” in his own life. Baldoni’s talk at Pitt continued the tour and focused on using masculinity to empower women, but his delivery of that message was a lackluster, male-focused version of the feminism that Women’s Empowerment Week aimed to promote.

Baldoni’s emphasis on empowerment certainly reached students, but it was initially difficult to determine who exactly he aimed to boost. Inviting audience members to applaud the men in attendance was an inappropriate way to open an event about women, and reinforced the theme of congratulating men for simply being present in feminist issues.

Masculinity and our culture’s perception of it are issues we should unquestionably be discussing — in many ways, men and boys feel the need to hold back their emotions to an unhealthy extent, and that’s a problem.

Pitt Program Council said that though they wanted Baldoni to speak at Pitt, hosting him as the keynote for Women’s Empowerment Week was not their goal — it was

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simply the only time Baldoni could visit Pitt during his touring schedule. PPC said they would have liked to have a woman give the keynote, but decided that since the focus of Baldoni’s tour was “redefining masculinity” and using that to empower women, it would fit well with the week’s theme.

It makes sense why he would be included in a discussion about women’s issues. After all, perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to continued progress for women is the problematic way we often view masculinity — as something inherently opposed to femininity.

But just because a point of view is relevant to an issue doesn’t mean it should be at the front and center of our attention.

The rest of the week’s activities rightfully reclaimed a feminine focus, with events like “Who Run the World?” where students could learn about women’s experiences all over the world, and an all-women professional panel, “She’s the Boss.”

But it’s a shame that Baldoni diminished the feminist fire that fueled Women’s Empowerment Week.

“At the end of the day if you strip away man, woman, human, we all are just trying to be enough,” he said. “It’s not a political fight, it’s a human fight.”

It seems Baldoni failed to recognize that for many, politics are personal — and attempting to equalize the experiences of men and women undermines the feminist empowerment he claimed to support. Whether PPC wanted Baldoni for the spot or not, it was a missed opportunity to highlight one of many women who would have been more than qualified for the job.

Labels — even hyphenated ones — don’t tell the whole story Brian Gentry Columnist

After being introduced as a lover of the Constitution, Satvika Neti tripped onto the stage in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room Saturday afternoon, sporting a white “We the people” undershirt.

Neti was one of five speakers at Saturday’s TEDx event, which focused on a single topic — Rethinking. The topics ranged from rethinking how we confront racism, to rethinking what’s possible with prosthetics, to methods of rethinking.

In her talk, titled “Embracing the Hyphen,” Neti discussed how we should rethink how we define our identity. She argued that we should not feel obligated to conform to general labels like “female” or “queer” or “Hispanic,” but instead should hyphenate applicable labels to make a more unique identifier.

But these identifiers are still inadequate even when hyphenated. A few words cannot adequately capture every nuance of someone’s identity or the sum of their lived experiences. And this issue has impacts beyond the words someone uses to describe themselves — it has consequences in local and national political campaigns.

“I am not Indian or American. I am not Indian and American. I am IndianAmerican,” she said — a hyphenated label that she feels applies to her.

An identity is fundamentally a de-

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scription of who someone is. It’s a combination of every experience that has somehow shaped someone’s worldview or personality. Labels, on the other hand, describe what someone is. They’re words that highlight particular aspects of someone’s life.

Replacing “who” with “what” makes this question fundamentally different. As an example: I am a cisgender white man, but those three words, even hyphenated, don’t convey who I am — for one, a complete weather geek who gets annoyingly excited when he sees snow in the forecast.

Even Neti herself seemed to doubt that her label of a “queer-brown-immigrant-woman” fit perfectly with who she was.

“My identity is that of oppression,” she said, “but my experience is that of privilege.”

While her four-word description of herself indicates a life of discrimination, she said, it doesn’t convey the fact that she experiences privileges that some others don’t, like an encouraging family and supportive friends.

Though this discussion may seem limited to personal identification, it stretches beyond the individual and into the national political scene. Political campaigns that focus on labels adhere to identity politics.

Identity politics would be better called “label politics.” It’s the focus on labels during political campaigns and the belief that by campaigning on the See Gentry on page 6

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SPONSORED CONTENT

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY:

Salud says “hello” to healthy eating and a healthier you Julia Lee This article is the first of a three-part series in collaboration with Salud Juicery.

This article will cover an overview of health and wellness, the way food can impact you and your lifestyle, and how the changes we make in our lives can improve our overall wellness.

Salud Juicery is a juice and smoothie shop with five locations, four being in Pittsburgh and one being in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. Their newest location is in Oakland, at 3400 Fifth Avenue, just a few blocks away from the University of Pittsburgh and surrounding hospitals in the area.

Ginny Corbett is the CEO of Salud Juicery. She has been a therapist for the last 15 years and also works as a life coach.

Through her experiences in the helping professions, she has gained and developed a lot of insight into the human experience that inspired her to begin Salud Juicery.

“The psychology model follows the medical model, when something’s wrong with you, doctors or other health professionals focus on your problem and how to fix it. You are not your problem, you a person with amazing potential. With the coaching model, we focus less on your issue and more on your potential to move forward and be your best. It is a positive way to approach issues and challenges.”

The word salúd means “health” or

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“cheers”, which is what Salud Juicery aims to spread in every aspect of people’s lives.

They aim to provide support that enables you to become your best self by helping people understand that the various dimensions of wellness aren’t isolated, but instead work and operate together as a system. It’s imperative to strike a balance when connecting our mind, body, and spirit, and at Salud they believe it all starts with the foods we eat.

“What you put in your body matters.

Often, we believe things are food that aren’t food. There is a mixed up idea of what’s good for us. As a culture, we glorify sugar even though such added sugars are meant to be consumed sparingly,” Corbett said.

Their motto is “helping people reconnect with God’s good earth”, and they operate on the principle that the healthiest food you can eat is what comes out of the ground. Our bodies have become host to a series of diseases and problems, and they believe part of the reason for that is because so much of the food we eat is processed, and often has little to no nutritional value. They suggest tackling that by getting back to the basics and making better dietary choices including but not limited to fruits, vegetables, and foods from grains that all contribute to making us healthy, active, and strong. By doing so, we can improve our physical health which can subsequently impact other areas of

our lives, such as socially and emotionally.

“Our bodies truly don’t know what to do with a Cheeto,” she laughed, “And millennials are recognizing that. The “healthy food is bad” mentality needs to stop. We have to demand better than that.”

When we try to make changes happen overnight, they often aren’t sustainable.

Eating healthy is a lifestyle, and the best way in which we can begin to “reset” our-

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selves is by being armed with good information. When we become more educated about nutrition and how it relates to our overall wellness, we become more aware of what goes on around us and can make better choices one at a time with that information.

The second article of this series will focus on stress and anxiety, and specific tools we can use to combat it.

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Gentry, pg. 4

The Pitt news crossword 4/4/18

Satvika Neti discusses identity at Saturday’s TEDx University of Pittsburgh event. Courtesy of Ian Callahan

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importance of labels, people who identify with those labels will vote for that candidate.

But subscribing to these kinds of politics is flawed because identities are more than just a few words that describe what someone is. Appealing to these labels is less effective — and downright lazier — than appealing to specific shared experiences or identities among voters.

Take the case of Conor Lamb, Democratic U.S. Congressman-elect of Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District.

Lamb didn’t win in a solidly Republican district by appealing to some label shared by voters. He campaigned on relevant issues like the opioid crisis, health care and labor causes, issues that many voters in the district personally face.

And we can attribute Clinton’s loss in 2016 partially to the failure of identity politics. She relied heavily on forming a coalition of disadvantaged groups to win the election. Despite her attempt, she ended up dropping about 5 percent among Latino, black, millennial and female voters from Obama’s numbers in 2012.

Some may argue that identity politics is effective — after all, African-American voters typically vote Democratic, despite having a wide variety of political beliefs. In the 2016 presidential election,

April 4, 2018

a full 88 percent of black voters voted for Clinton, down from 95 percent in 2012.

This could be evidence that identity politics works, since the monolithic black vote is difficult to explain otherwise.

Yet this argument neglects other factors. Since the 1960s, the Democratic party has championed civil rights. And given the Republican party’s hesitance to promote civil rights — like ongoing battles about race and police brutality, evidenced by Saturday’s protest in Oakland — they’re not exactly appealing to black voters.

The monolith is due to not just a shared identity but also a prioritization of civil rights over other issues and a lack of political parties that also support civil rights.

Labels do serve a purpose. They help people find others who are somehow similar to them. They assist in the formation of communities centered around some shared trait, like skin color or cultural heritage or gender. But they don’t belong in the shaping of national policy.

Neti said, “People are complex, and identities are complex.” We shouldn’t try to boil down this complexity for the sake of political convenience.

Brian primarily writes about politics and the environment. Write to Brian at briangentry@pitt.edu.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY: Pilates proves to improve mental and physical fitness Julia Lee Pilates, to the uninitiated, is merely another hot fitness trend that’s been hyped by celebs and other notables, but the Method’s longevity proves it’s more than a fad. It’s a system of conditioning exercises that was specifically designed to enhance physical strength, flexibility and balance, while also improving on body awareness and mental focus and acuity.

It’s the deep mind/body connection that makes Pilates an excellent choice to decompress during finals. The core principles of Pilates – concentration, centering, control, precision, breath and flow – seem to have been designed for managing stress – physical and mental – and the focus on proper posture, core strength and body alignment can help students recover from long hours in the library.

Created by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th Century as a way to improve the fitness and wellness of fellow interned Germans in England during World War I, the Pilates’ method of body conditioning included a regimen of precisely executed movements designed to engage the entire body. He rigged springs to hospital beds, enabling bedridden patients to exercise against resistance. When the 1918 flu pandemic crippled England, killing thousands, not a single one of Joseph Pilates’ trainees died.

He cited this as proof of the of the efficacy of his exercise system. According to Pilates, “A few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of doing sloppy calisthenics or forced contortion.”

Upon emigrating to the U.S., Pilates continued to develop his method, which he called Contrology. He and his wife, Clara, established

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their “Body Contrology Gym” in New York City in 1926, and they quickly became known for teaching exercise that helped people recover from injury or strengthen their bodies. His method became a mainstay in the dance community, as he trained some of the most important dancers of his time.

Since his death, the work of Joseph Pilates has gained popularity worldwide. From the physically impaired to the professional athlete, the Pilates Method has shaped countless bodies and minds.

Misty Cauthen, owner and Master Instructor of Dragonfly Pilates, became a Pilates instructor in 2001 after experiencing several major injuries that left her at odds with her body.

She credits the Pilates Method with “returning her life” in regards to her body and mind. After spearheading several programs around the area, Cauthen opened the first Dragonfly Pilates studio in Murrysville in 2007. Wanting to share the method with a wider audience, she opened the Shadyside location in 2013. She and her comprehensively trained team of teachers work with clients of all ages and ability levels to not only get strong and fit, but also to appreciate and honor their bodies.

Pilates is particularly good for students because of its proven ability to strengthen the body and mind without negatively impacting the joints. The goal is to take the workout out of the studio and apply it to daily life, to minimize the effects of heavy backpacks, computer posture and “tech neck,” and all-nighters. It’s a positive lifestyle choice that will buoy students well beyond finals: Cauthen says her oldest client is an 85-year-young woman who recently hiked the Great Wall of China.

Dragonfly Pilates offers a variety of classes, and their schedule is available on their website, www.

DragonflyPilates.com. Three sessions per week are recommended to achieve optimal results, but according to Cauthen, “not everyone has the time and money to do that, so we have membership plans to meet every lifestyle and most budgets.” They have Mat classes, like Mat With Toys, which enlists props that assist or complicate the workout, such as foam rollers, magic circles, bands and balls.

They also offer Apparatus classes, which are comprised of Pilates-specific equipment such as the Reformer, Tower and Pilates Chair. In Apparatus classes, any combination of equipment can be used during a workout. Other popular classes are Bodhi Suspension System and Balanced Body Barre.

Both formats, while different from traditional Pilates, are grounded in the Pilates Method. Before anyone can take an Apparatus class, they have to first do an introductory private session.

Dragonfly Pilates has an offer especially for Pitt students: Purchase a four-class Mat package for $50. Classes included are Mat, Mat with

April 4, 2018

Toys, Balanced Body Barre, Orbiting the Mat: Suspension Style, and Stretch. Package expires May 15, 2018. Only one card per person. The card is non-transferable and non-refundable and may not be used toward other studio offerings.

To get started or gather more information, you can call the studio at 412-586-5059, or email admin@dragonflypilates.com to make an appointment.

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Sports

Senior Callie Frey is the only American-born player on Pitt’s women’s tennis team. Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

Randy Waldrum will come to Pitt as one of the winningest head coaches in women’s collegiate history with almost 400 wins. Photo via Pitt Athletics

CULTURES COOPERATE RANDY WALDRUM BRINGS ON PITT’S TENNIS TEAM EXPERIENCE, CHANGE TO PITT Trent Leonard Staff Writer

A quick glance at the men’s top 10 world tennis rankings reveals that no two players share the same country of origin. The same can be said for the top eight women in the world — an unusual trend considering certain nations tend to specialize and often dominate in other sports.

A microcosm of the sport’s multiculturalism can be seen at Pitt as well, where senior Callie Frey is the only Americanborn player on the women’s tennis team.

“Last year, I was talking with my parents, and they pointed out that I would be the only American. And everyone was like, ‘How are you going to deal with that?’” Frey said. “But it’s just so cool to have so many different girls on the team from around the world, because I learn so much about their lifestyles that I had no idea about before.”

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Frey, a Pittsburgh native, is also the lone senior on the Pitt women’s tennis team where almost every student hails from a different country — only junior Clara Lucas and first-year Claudia Bartolome share the same home nation, Spain.

The eight-player team is represented by seven different countries and four different continents — Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

The team makeup marks a drastic difference from Frey’s first year at Pitt, when there was only one non-American player on the team— British then-sophomore Lolade Ogungbesan — and everybody spoke English as their first language.

Now in her final year, Frey has taken over a dual leadership role, helping acclimate new players to college life and American culture, according to head coach Alex Santos. “[She explains] to them what it means to be at Pitt and how special it is, and See Tennis on page 9

Dominic Campbell Staff Writer

For a team that won just three games last year, hiring one of the most successful women’s soccer coaches in the country might seem unlikely.

But that’s just what athletic director Heather Lyke announced in December with the hiring of Randy Waldrum to lead the struggling program.

Waldrum has been coaching soccer for the last 30 years. He comes to Pitt as one of the winningest head coaches in women’s collegiate history with almost 400 wins, which puts him at sixth most for Division I coaches.

Since joining the ACC in 2013, the Panthers have found little success in women’s soccer, going just 7-45-1 in conference over the past three seasons. Since Pitt hired head coach Greg Miller in 2012, the Panthers have gone 32-69-8 overall, winning just three games last year.

But since coming into the program, Wal-

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drum has already noticed the big problems that have ailed the team for so many years.

He said he plans to change the entire culture of the team.

“We have to really change that culture and in terms of the intensity and the expectations from the players on the field. That’s kind of jumped 70-80 percent of what they’re used to,” Waldrum said.

Besides all of the negatives this program and team have carried, Waldrum was surprised to see the players and program in a lot better shape than he expected when he arrived.

“I think we’ve got a core of some good players,” Waldrum said. “I don’t think they had a great vision of how they wanted to play.”

The players on the team have also responded well to the hiring. Redshirt senior forward Taylor Pryce was happy with how organized the team has been so far.

“You can just tell the intensity is just a lot higher, and he helped hold us all to a much See Waldrum on page 10

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Tennis, pg. 8 how much love she has for this University and this City,” Santos, himself a Portugal native, said about Frey. “She definitely helps the others acquire that same passion.”

One of the biggest challenges in the adjustment process is the language barrier — with a team based on a multitude of international students, communication is key. Most players on the team do share a common language, although it isn’t English.

In addition to Lucas and Bartolome, Venezuelan junior Luisa Varon and Argentinian first-year Camila Moreno speak Spanish as their first language.

Brazilian junior Gabriela Rezende and sophomore Cyprus-native Jovana Knezevic learned Spanish growing up, while Tokyo native Natsumi Okamoto had to learn the language while attending high school in Spain.

“I’m the only person who doesn’t speak Spanish on the team,” Frey said.

Frey took Spanish in high school but never had the same need for conversational Spanish as her teammates. That

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put her in a tough spot when the team took a trip to compete in Barcelona this past summer. It was Frey’s first time out of the country.

Santos said the team saw this as a chance to reciprocate some of the same assistance Frey gave, adding that they took it upon themselves to teach her to how to speak Spanish.

“I was teasing Callie [Frey] about how she was going to order food in Spain, and Claudia [Bartolome] said, ‘She’s been helping so much with adapting to Pitt and life in America that I have an obligation to help her adapt to life in Spain,’” Santos said.

Rezende said that the trip acted as a unifying experience for all members of the team.

“I think it was a really nice experience for Callie because she went to another country and she kind of experienced what we experienced here in America,” she said.

Rezende also reflected on her own adjustment that she encountered as a first-year student in the United States. It was difficult to adapt to cultural differences in language and food, she said, on

top of the challenges she already faced as a young adult like managing her bank account and apartment hunting — all while living thousands of miles away from her family.

“But it was a great experience,” Rezende said. “When I came here during my freshman year, it was me and three other freshmen, so obviously I wasn’t alone, which helped me a lot.”

Rezende and those three other firstyear students — Varon, Okamoto and Lucas, now all juniors — have progressed enough that now everyone on the team can speak English well.

And despite the differences in native tongue, one language is common to every player on the team — tennis.

All cultural differences subside on the court, where the collective passion for the game breaks down any barriers for both the player and coach.

“I think the most important thing in managing people is respect. Respect and a common goal,” Santos said. “No matter where you’re from, if I respect you and you respect me, and if we have the common goal to get better, then everything can run smoothly from there.”

April 4, 2018

9

Waldrum, pg. 8 higher standard, which helps [with] trying to change the whole culture of the team,” Pryce said.

One of the biggest changes with the team that Waldrum has focused on is improving the offense. He has shifted the focus of the team from being defensive to more attackminded. Redshirt senior midfielder Ashley Moreira is supportive of this shift.

“We’re always used to ... defending our half. He wants us to push higher, get numbers around the ball higher up the field,” Moreira said. “So we’re focusing on that mainly this upcoming season.”

Waldrum brings decades of soccer coaching and experience to the Panthers’ program. The former college and professional player has been coaching since 1989, when he began coaching double duty at Tulsa, heading both the men’s and women’s program.

“The good thing about those days is I got [to do] a lot of coaching,” Waldrum said. “As a young coach I got double the opportunities and I think that really helped my growth as a coach, but it’s a difficult thing to do.”

The teams continued to have great suc-

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cess and began to gain national attention.

With a higher profile, both teams had to play against much tougher competition and it became harder for Waldrum to split his time between the programs. Waldrum compiled a record of 61-36-9 with the women and a 6633-6 record with the men before leaving for Baylor University in 1995.

He was the inaugural women’s coach at Baylor, leading the brand new program to a 46-14-3 record in three seasons. He quickly moved up to the head coaching job of the Notre Dame women’s team in 1999.

Waldrum cemented himself as one of the country’s best coaches in his years with the Fighting Irish. In 15 seasons, he led Notre Dame to 15 NCAA tournament appearances, eight Final Fours and two National Championships — in 2004 and 2010 — with a record of 292-58-17.

Waldrum left South Bend in 2013 to take his first professional job with the newly founded Houston Dash of the National Women’s Soccer League. While with the Dash, Waldrum was able to coach high profile players like USA National team midfielder Carli Lloyd and defender Meghan Klingenberg.

He noticed how much more time profes-

Redshirt senior forward Taylor Pryce.

Thomas Yang VISUAL EDITOR sional players had to take care of themselves and focus on their performance compared to college players.

“You try the best you can, but you got that exam the next day so you gotta stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning. And you got a late practice so you don’t eat at the time you need to so you’re eating at 9 at night instead of 6,” Waldrum said. “It’s much different in that regard because every focus that the player has is just on performance.”

April 4, 2018

During his tenure at Houston and with Notre Dame, Waldrum also coached internationally. He coached the U.S. Women’s U-23 team from 2012-13 and the Trinidad and Tobago women’s national team from 2014-16, an underfunded program.

“I was getting people in this country to sponsor by sending us boots, goals and you name it,” he said. “You felt good about doing it because those players really deserve that opportunity.”

After Trinidad and Tobago, Waldrum neared the end of his stint at the Dash. He left his head coaching job last May after going 19-39-3 in four seasons.

Waldrum has quickly introduced his offensive-focused style to his new team, and the Panthers have seen some results so far, beating Canisius, Robert Morris and Duquesne in spring season friendlies. Waldrum is satisfied with the performances, but says that there is still work to be done.

“I can already see the improvement from January until now,” Waldrum said. “A lot of parents have come out and watched a couple of the games we’ve played and ... almost every one of them and said, ‘Gosh, how much better it is and how much different it looks from last year.’”

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I N D E X

Rentals & Sublet • NORTH OAKLAND • SOUTH OAKLAND • SHADYSIDE • SQUIRREL HILL • SOUTHSIDE • NORTHSIDE • BLOOMFIELD • ROOMMATES • OTHER

For Rent North Oakland 3 BR Apartment on 732 S. Millvale Ave. Available August 1, 2018. $1320-$1620 +gas & electric.

412-441-1211. info@ forbesmanagement. net. www.forbesmanagement.net.

Summer Sublet Newer townhouse on S Bouquet St, on site laundry, dishwasher, central air/ heat and private deck overlooking Cathedral of Learning and Phipps Conservatory. Several bedrooms available.

Rent from May to end of July, $350/ month.

Can view the property @ Oaklandpropertyrentals.com, respond at website or 412-688-0533 hard line, davmanthei@ hotmail.com

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

South Oakland 1 bedroom luxury apartment. 2 apartments available in a beautiful brick home with private entry, private laundry, off-street parking or garage, newly remodeled throughout. Kitchen w/ Dishwasher, Granite countertop & more!

Located on Morewood Avenue, 15 minute walk to Pitt/ CMU, Walnut Street.

5 minutes to UPMC Shadyside, West Penn Hospital. One block to Busses, hospital/ Pitt/CMU shuttles and many restaurants.

Available August 1st, 2018. No Pets. $1095+ g/e. Call Jason at 412-922-2141.

Pics/info: tinyurl.com/ morewood1br 2 Bedroom Apartment. Rent: $1599 + electric. Available August 1, 2018 on Louisa St. 412-441-1211. info@

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2 BR apartment, newly painted, hardwood floors, appliances. Private home - 2 & 3rd floor. 2,000 sq. ft. Rent includes all utilities. $850/mo.

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2BR houses available in August.

Unfurnished, no pets. $950+ gas and electric. Call 412-492-8173 3BR house on Niagara Street $1000/mo +all utilities. Recently renovated with new windows, wiring, cable installed in all rooms. No pets. On Pitt shuttle route. Near Pittsburgh Playhouse.

Call 412-303-4716.

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

South Oakland Apartments for rent.

2, 3, and 4 bedroom apartments available. 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 Available May 2018: House for rent in South Oakland. Large 4 bedroom, 2-story house with basement. 2 bathrooms, fully equipped eat-in dining room, front and back porches, full basement w/free washer and dryer.

5/6BR house on Welsford. Available Fall 2018. $3200+ utilities.

Call 412-559-3079 to schedule a viewing.

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

Before signing a lease, be aware that no more than 3 unrelated people can share a single unit. Check property’s compliance with codes. Call City’s Permits, Licensing & Inspections.

412-255-2175.

House for rent. South Oakland. $2100.

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and/or parking.

August availability.

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Studio & 1 Bedrooms Available Fall 2018. Heat included.

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Various size apartments available in South Oakland.

Newly listed for fall 2018. Call John CR Kelly Realty for details: 412-683-7300 or visit: www.jcrkelly. com

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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.

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STUDENT HOUSING. Updated 4, 5 & 6 Bedroom Houses w/ multiple baths. Dishwasher, laundry, some w/ air conditioning

SOUTHSIDE FLATS 1, 2,and 3 BR houses and apartments, some with AC. Call Mike 412-708-1695.

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kitchen, living room, 3BR house on Parkview. Available Fall 2018. $1400+ utilities.

R A T E S

Rental Other 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 houses available. August 2018. South Oakland: Bouquet St, Lawn St, Ward St. North Oakland: Bigelow, & Craig St. Call 412-287-5712.

Studios, 1, 2, & 3 Bedroom apartments available August 2018 & sooner. Oakland, Shadyside, Friendship, Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, Point Breeze. Photos & current availability online, check out www.forbesmanagement.net, or call 412.441.1211

Participants wanted for an alcohol research study at Carnegie Mellon University To be eligible for this study, you must: •Be 21-25 yrs. old and own a smartphone •Drink alcohol at least weekly •Be able to show valid photo ID •Be willing to consume alcohol You may earn up to $365 for your participation in this multi-session study.

For more information, call The Behavioral Health Research Lab (412-268-3029) Note: Unfortunately, our lab is not wheelchair accessible.

Employment Employment Research Studies Participants Wanted for Paid Psychology Research

Other

Children’s International Summer Villages Pittsburgh needs a volunteer leader, 21+, for an international camp for

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11 year olds in Detroit June 26 - July 29.

Expenses paid.

Contact cisvpittsburgh@gmail.com Comfort Keepers, a Post-Gazette Top Workplace, is seeking caring individuals.

Caregivers work alongside seniors to provide companionship, light housekeeping, personal care services. Flexible hours available. If interested call 412-363-5500 Join KEYS Service Corps, AmeriCorps.

Mentor, tutor, and inspire Pittsburgh area youth. Summer and fall positions with bi-weekly stipend and education award. Full and part-time. Possible internship credit.

Call 412-350-2739. www.keysservicecorps.org

Word and the internet from approximately NOW to August; four days/week from 9am-6pm. Saturday and/or Sunday hours a must; some flexibility in days and hours will be considered; most hours will be solitary on the computer with no phone work; 40 words per minute and strong computer skills required; no experience needed & we will train you at our Shadyside office; free parking. $13/hour plus generous season end bonus.

Mozart Management 412-682-7003. thane@mozartrents. com.

SUMMER WORK Shadyside Management Company needs full-time dependable landscapers, painters, and assistant roofers for the summer. Must be at least 18 years old. No experience

Our department is seeking a student worker for a year-round position with an 8:30 am start time 4 days per week.

Schedule can be flexible. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: Distributing mail, answering the door and phone, minor lifting of supply boxes, campus deliveries and general office duties as requested. We are looking for an individual who is reliable, well organized, and able to multitask. Fluent in Word & Excel. Please send resumes to: coreadmi@pitt.edu Seasonal Marketing Assistant Shadyside property management firm established in 1960 needs two Seasonal Marketing Assistants to work with Excel,

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necessary. $10/hour plus additional attendance bonuses are available, if earned.

Work involves landscaping, painting, roofing, and general labor. Perfect summer job for college students!

Mozart Management phone: 412-682-7003 email: thane@ mozartrents.com

Services Health Medical and Heart Care, Students Welcome, 155 N. Craig Street, Dean Kross, MD, 412-687-7666

April 4, 2018

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