6-27-18

The Pitt News

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | june 27, 2018 | Volume 109 | Issue 8

CHANCELLOR RECOMMENDS RENAMING PARRAN HALL

UNARMED 17-YEAR-OLD FATALLY SHOT BY EAST PITTSBURGH POLICE The Pitt News Staff

A police officer from the East Pittsburgh Police Department shot and killed Antwon Rose, a 17-year-old Woodland Hills High School student, the night of Tuesday, June 19. Rose was unarmed at the time he was shot.

A video of the incident posted on Facebook shows two East Pittsburgh police cars approaching a silver Chevrolet Cruze for a traffic stop. One officer fired three shots at Rose as he fled the vehicle while another individual fled the car. Police took the driver into custody.

The two responding officers stopped the car because it matched the description of a vehicle involved in an earlier shooting in North Braddock that left a 22-year-old man wounded in the abdomen. The injured 22-year-old was treated at a trauma center and released.

Allegheny County Police Department said they found two firearms inside the silver Chevorlet Cruze after the deadly incident, but Rose was unarmed when he was shot. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that District Attorney of Allegheny County Stephen Zappala said Rose had an empty handgun clip in his pocket when he was killed.

“Why are they shooting?” the woman recording the Facebook video said. “All they did was run and they’re shooting at them!”

Rose was taken to UPMC McKeesport hospital following the shooting where he was pronounced dead at 9:19 p.m. according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The 20-year-old driver of the vehicle was a jitney driver who was taken in by police the night of the incident and later released without charges. The second passenger, Zaijuan Hester, 17, was reportedly brought in by police Tuesday and will be charged

Christian Snyder Editor-in-Chief

Hundreds of people protesting police brutality in the wake of Antwon Rose’s death stopped traffic on I-376 near exit 78B Thursday night. One protester holds balloons that read “1” and “7.” Rose was 17 when he was shot and killed by an East Pittsburgh police officer June 19.

Anne Amundson | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

COMMUNITY RESPONDS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT FATALLY SHOT BY POLICE Pittsburgh Police Department Wednesday night. Hundreds joined the impromptu rally, blocking traffic while rain poured down.

After East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Another protest followed Thursday afternoon Rosfeld fatally shot unarmed Woodland Hills High at the Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown School student Antwon Rose Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh. Many high-profile activists attended the community responded quickly, organizing daily protest, including Leon Ford, who was paralyzed afprotests that Pittsburgh officials expect to continue ter being shot by police six years ago, and Summer through the summer.

The first protest began outside the East See Response on page 2

Kieran Mclean For The Pitt News

OFFICER INVOLVED IN FATAL SHOOTING WAS FORMER PITT POLICE OFFICER Christian Snyder Editor-in-Chief

The Allegheny County Police Department confirmed the identity of the officer involved in the Tuesday night fatal shooting of Antwon Rose, a 17-year-old Woodland Hills High School student.

Michael Rosfeld, who was sworn in as a patrol officer in the East Pittsburgh Police Department See Rose on page 2 less than two hours before the shooting occurred,

has nearly a decade of police experience. Pitt spokesperson Joe Miksch said Rosfeld served as a University of Pittsburgh police officer from Oct. 10, 2012 to Jan. 18, 2018.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Thursday that Rosfeld left his position at Pitt amid controversial circumstances after a statement he filed didn’t line up with evidence found at the scene of an arrest in late 2017.

See Rosfeld on page 2

The months-long campaign to rename Parran Hall, the primary home of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, reached a turning point Monday when Chancellor Patrick Gallagher issued a recommendation to University trustees that the building be renamed in light of Thomas Parran’s controversial record of medical ethics.

The former U.S. Surgeon General was named the first dean of Pitt’s GSPH in 1948, at which point he had served as surgeon general for 12 years. He was held in high regard for years until his involvement with the now-infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiments, which began in 1932, was made public. American researchers observed the course of untreated syphilis in hundreds of African American men without providing penicillin, the standard course of treatment for syphilis after World War II. The study was not halted by the U.S. Public Health Service until 1972, when its existence was made public.

Parran was also involved in a second controversial experiment involving venereal diseases while surgeon general — the Guatemala syphilis experiments, which were similar in nature to the Tuskegee experiments but not publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government until 2010. The full extent of Parran’s involvement in the Tuskegee case was made public in 2017 and his involvement See Parran Hall on page 3

News Rose, pg. 1

in connection to the North Braddock drive-by shooting that occurred earlier that night.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported East Pittsburgh Mayor Louis Payne said the officer who shot Rose was hired mid-May and formally sworn in just hours before the shooting on Tuesday. The Allegheny County Police Department issued a statement Thursday confirming Michael Rosfeld was the officer who was involved in the incident.

Rosfeld was previously a Pitt police officer and has more than six years of police experience.

A rumor circulated briefly on Thursday that police were reviewing a video reportedly showing Antwon Rose firing a gun during a drive-by shooting in North Braddock that occurred minutes before his death. Allegheny County Communications Director Amie Downs issued a statement Thursday afternoon denying that rumor.

Both WPXI and KDKA initially reported the rumor, and as of publication time Tuesday night, both news outlets still had the video of the false report available online.

The community responded to last Tuesday’s shooting quickly, organizing a protest outside of the East Pittsburgh police station on Wednesday night. Hundreds joined the impromptu rally blocking traffic while rain poured down.

Protests continued throughout the week, with demonstrations expected to continue throughout the summer. Most of the demonstrations have been in Pittsburgh, where Pittsburgh Police — not East Pittsburgh Police — have authority. Pittsburgh

Rosfeld, pg. 1 Rosfeld responded to a call for backup from another Pitt police officer at Garage Door Saloon Dec. 9, 2017, where he charged three men at the bar with simple assault, public drunkenness, defiant trespass and disorderly conduct. The PostGazette reported those charges were withdrawn Dec. 21 after Rosfeld’s affidavit did not align with evidence.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette later reported that one of the three men involved in the incident was the son of Pitt Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement Kathy Humphrey. Pitt officials have not confirmed this report, but one of the other men involved in the December incident, 24-year-

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Transplant pioneer honored with campus statue pittnews.com Public Safety issued a statement on the protests Monday, June 25, which reaffirmed the City’s position.

“We all want justice,” the statement said. “Until that process is completed, we ask all Pittsburghers — from protesters to residents — to continue being peaceful and respectful of each other, even in such distressing times.”

Many high-profile activists attended the protests, including Leon Ford Jr., who was paralyzed after being shot by police six years ago, and Summer Lee, Democratic state House candidate for the 34th District of Pennsylvania. Protesters directed their focus against Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., who is up for reelection in 2019. Once Allegheny County identified Rosfeld, the officer who shot Rose, protesters also demanded he be fired and taken to trial — and Peduto agreed on Monday, urging charges against Rosfeld.

“Five kids from Woodland Hills have been killed since [early January],” Lee said at the first of many protests. “We will not just fight the power. We will seize the power. We are coming for anybody, anybody who stands in our way toward freedom.”

Rose was a senior at Woodland Hills High School and was expected to graduate at the end of this school year. He was an honor student, previously working at the Pittsburgh Gymnastics club mentoring children after school and as a volunteer for Free Store, a program that gives away surplus clothes and items to those in need.

His funeral was held Monday, June 25, at Woodland Hills High School. old Timothy Riley, spoke with the Post-Gazette Friday about the Antwon Rose shooting.

“It makes me sick that he was able to still be a cop after how they treated us, and that poor kid had to lose his life because of their negligence,” he said. The Post-Gazette reported Riley refused to discuss the specific details of the December incident.

Miksch told the Post-Gazette the University turned over all records regarding Rosfeld and said Pitt does not comment on ongoing investigations.

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported Rosfeld was a part-time Harmar police officer before his position at Pitt. He was also a part-time officer in Oakmont, a suburb about 20 minutes east of Pittsburgh, from 2011 to 2013.

Pitt professor files amicus, demands answers on Amazon pittnews.com

Response, pg. 1

Protesters yell at a woman sitting in her car in Forest Hills Thursday night, two days after Antwon Rose was fatally shot by an East Pittsburgh police officer. Anna Bongardino | VISUAL EDITOR Lee, Democratic state House candidate for the 34th District of Pennsylvania. Protesters directed their focus against Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., who is up for re-election in 2019.

“Five kids from Woodland Hills have been killed since I started running,” Lee said. “We will not just fight the power. We will seize the power. We are coming for anybody, anybody who stands in our way, towards freedom.”

I AM NOT WHAT YOU THINK! At the protests, friends and family shared memories of Rose, including a poem he wrote in high school called, “I AM NOT WHAT YOU THINK!” “I am confused and afraid,” was the refrain. The poem continued, “I understand people believe I’m just a statistic / I say to them I’m different / I dream of life getting easier / I try my best to make my dream come true / I hope that it does.”

Protesters continued Thursday with an evening rally that began outside the East Pittsburgh police station. While people arrived the group organized itself, preparing signs and chants for their planned march.

The group, which grew to nearly 100 people, blocked traffic around the area, chanting, “Black lives matter!” and “Whose streets? Our streets!”

Many members of the Pittsburgh Youth Power Collective led chants and emerged as the loudest voices in the crowd. The group, comprised of mostly high school students, also organized the Black Lives Matter X Never Again protest on Pitt’s campus in March.

Major Bill Teper of the Pennsylvania State Police had 100 state troopers stationed on the highway the protesters were blocking by 9:50 p.m. and threatened to clear the road with force if protesters

June 27, 2018

did not move by 1:00 a.m.

“What you’ve done here in unprecedented,” Teper said to protesters. “But you need to leave.”

Following a tense standoff between protestors and troopers, the protest officially dispersed around 2:30 a.m.

More than 400 protesters gathered Friday evening for a demonstration at the Wood Street T Station in downtown Pittsburgh. Organizers Christian Carter, Jasiri X and others led a march through the city’s Cultural District and looped through the North Side via the Sixth Street and Rachel Carson Bridges. The Pittsburgh Police, led by Chief Scott Schubert, strategically rerouted traffic around the protest to deny them the blockages that direct action tactics had caused the previous day.

“We want people to be able to express their First Amendment rights,” Schubert said.

Murdered on Juneteenth The march stopped at Market Square, where organizers asked the crowd to return for a Juneteenth celebration the following morning at Hill District’s Freedom Corner Memorial Park — but the demonstrations weren’t done for the day. The protest continued Friday night, waning in energy until a black Mercedes Benz drove through the crowd at the intersection of West General Robinson St. and Tony Dorsett Drive. Police later identified two injured victims — one who suffered an ankle injury and another who suffered a back injury.

About 300 protesters gathered Saturday morning at the Hill District’s Freedom Corner Memorial Park for the city’s fourth annual Juneteenth celebration, an event meant to celebrate the 153rd anniversary of the official end of slavery in the See Response on page 8

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Parran Hall, pg. 1

Parran Hall, the primary home of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, may be renamed in light of controversial ethical information released about Thomas Parran in 2010 and 2017.

Chiara Rigaud | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER in Guatemala was made public in 2010.

Administrative-level debate surrounding the name of the building began in January when Donald Burke, dean of GSPH, wrote a letter to Pitt’s vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion formally requesting that Pitt consider renaming the building, citing concerns with Parran’s legacy. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion then formed a review committee to consider the proposal.

Gallagher addressed the name change campaign at a University Senate Council meeting in February, saying the best way to address the proposed change was through “deliberate thought.”

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion review committee issued its report on Parran Hall in early June, which recommended the name be removed. During its deliberation, the committee reviewed 64 submissions from community members about the concern and considered a pe-

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tition from the Office of the Chancellor which had over 1,300 signatures. It also conducted independent research, including interviews with Dean Burke and historical analyses of the studies in question.

Citing the report — and the committee’s unanimous support for revoking the building’s name — Chancellor Gallagher issued his memo to the Pitt Board of Trustees June 25.

“To name a permanent University asset, such as a building, for a person on an honorific basis is intended to be one of the highest, most visible and permanent recognitions the University can bestow,” he wrote. “It is appropriate to revoke this naming decision and to remove any perception of celebrating a name associated with these unfortunate human trials.”

Pitt’s Board of Trustees is next scheduled to meet on Friday, when it could vote on a resolution to enact this proposed change.

June 27, 2018

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Opinions

column

from the editorial board

TRUMP’S ACTIONS TOWARD VENEZUELA CONTRADICT PROFESSED CONCERN

Patience required in Antwon Rose case Antwon Rose, a 17-year-old black Woodland Hills student, was shot by a white East Pittsburgh police officer, Michael Rosfeld, on the evening of June 26. Since then, coverage of ensuing protests has been extensive — as has speculation surrounding the two parties involved.

What is known to be true is that the unarmed Rose was killed while fleeing the silver Chevrolet Cruze he was in, which police had pulled over as part of a traffic stop. The officers stopped the car because it matched the description of a car involved in an earlier shooting in North Braddock earlier that night.

Despite the ongoing investigation of Rose’s death, misinformation has run wild and much of the focus is on the individuals in the situation instead of their actions. Instead of letting the investigation of Rose’s death run its course, the media has been quick to put out unverified reports about the incident.

Local media is at fault for publishing unverified information surrounding the case and not realizing that readers may then take information out of context.

KDKA, WXPI and other outlets reported Friday afternoon that police were reportedly reviewing video of Rose firing a weapon in the drive-by shooting minutes before his death — relying on the words of unidentified sources instead of the police themselves.

Officials with the Allegheny County Police Department refuted this information hours after it was published, but the public wouldn’t let the story go. The false report of the video caused speculation to run wild on social media

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Gabriela Cadahia For The Pitt News

— as did potential misinformation surrounding the officer.

Before official sources confirmed any information regarding Rosfeld’s employment at Pitt, people were speculating he had a troubled record in law enforcement, leading local journalists to incorrectly report who may have been affected by Rosfeld’s actions in the past. The urgency with which news outlets rushed to break stories surrounding Rosfeld is a product of two problems — news outlets competing with each other and the public demanding information faster than it actually exists.

The problem even struck protesters during demonstrations, when march leaders mistook reports Rosfeld was fired from his Pitt position as news that he was fired from his East Pittsburgh position.

Pittsburgh touts itself as a progressive city, but this tragic event leaves its residents asking what exactly progressive means — and how far will the City go to prove it?

Mayor Bill Peduto announced Monday that he supports bringing charges against Rosfeld and conducting the investigation in front of a jury and in the public eye — meaning it could come down to jurors to decide just how progressive Pittsburgh is and how far it will go to gain justice for Rose.

But above all else it is imperative that everyone — media, public and officials — be patient out of respect for Rose’s memory and his family. If we rush to conclusions just to get the hottest scoop or make the loudest point in a protest, we risk spreading information that could threaten any chance of justice.

Venezuela, once the richest country in Latin America, is currently in the midst of an economic collapse of unprecedented magnitude. Falling oil prices and political corruption have sent the country into a spiral of hyperinflation and hunger that has forced 1.8 million people to flee in the past two years alone.

President Donald Trump has been very outspoken about his concern for Venezuela, stating in a speech to the U.N. that “the Venezuelan people are starving and their country is collapsing,” and pleading that “every country represented here today be prepared to do more to address this very real crisis.”

Yet the Trump administration’s response to this crisis has been to impose sanctions and refuse refugees. If it really wants to help Venezuelans, it needs to mitigate the effects of the crisis by supporting refugees rather than economically crippling their impoverished home country and turning those seeking asylum away.

Under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelans are suffering from hunger, sickness and political oppression. According to Secretary General Luis Almagro of the Organization of American States, newborns in Syria have a better chance of survival than those born in Venezuela today. Unable to eat more than one meal a day, the average Venezuelan lost 24 pounds in the last year and medicine shortages have resulted in outbreaks of easily preventable diseases like measles and diptheria.

Maduro’s blatant contempt for human rights and for the democratic rule of law have also contributed to the mass exodus. After the country’s opposition leaders won a majority of seats in the National Assembly in 2015, Maduro stripped power from the legislature and stacked the Supreme Court with his supporters to block impeachment attempts. Prior

June 27, 2018

to the presidential elections in May, the government also jailed political opponents and barred them from running.

The United States has long employed sanctions as a foreign policy tool to try to bring about regime change, yet academic research shows this objective is rarely achieved. Instead, a country’s most vulnerable often end up suffering the most from sanctions. A report by the Brookings Institute in 1998 found that sanctions tend to bolster authoritarian societies by enabling governments to better control distribution of goods due to scarcity.

They also hurt the emergence of strong middle classes and trigger large-scale immigration.

In the case of Venezuela, Trump’s sanctions, which prohibit the country from borrowing or selling assets in the U.S. financial system, have been unsuccessful and have contributed to the economic collapse that has left nearly 90 percent of its population in poverty.

Since almost all of Venezuela’s export revenue comes from oil, cutting off the government’s access to dollars leaves the economy unable to pay for imports of food and medicine.

Polls show a majority of Venezuelans and a plurality of opposition supporters are against the current U.S. sanctions. This is not to say that measures targeting Maduro’s oppressive government are unwarranted. The fight to restore democracy in a country with dwindling separation of powers and freedom of speech, among many other problems, should continue — but the humanitarian impact of these interventions must be addressed.

The hypocrisy underlying the Trump administration’s outspoken concern for Venezuelans should also not be overlooked. At a time when the number of people seeking asylum worldwide is at a historical high, Venezuelans top the list in the United States — but Trump lowered the national refugee quota to below 45,000, the lowest it has been See Cadahia on page 5

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Cadahia, pg. 4 since the enactment of the Refugee Act in 1980.

While Trump fervently criticizes Maduro for his brand of nationalist populism, he fails to acknowledge that he himself has adopted of one of the worst aspects of this ideology — xenophobia. But despite Trump’s harsh policies and rhetoric, most Americans still believe the United States has a responsibility to take in refugees. As previous administrations have shown, we have the resources to take in more refugees and the large diaspora of Venezuelans that already exists in the United States would ease their transition.

The number of Venezuelan families fleeing their home for neighboring countries has also seen a sharp increase in recent months. The U.N. Refugee Agency expects 1.7 million Venezuelans to leave the country just this year, which will put a huge strain on the already fragile economic and political landscapes of nearby host countries such as Colombia and Brazil.

As the wealthiest nation in the hemisphere, and with a long-standing tradition of leadership in the region, the United States has a responsibility to help relieve the burden that Venezuela’s crisis is putting on its close neighbors. It is also in our best interest to do so, as the stability that we have spent decades promoting in these countries is now threatened by the mass displacement of Venezuelans and the backlash it creates.

Vice President Mike Pence recently pledged $16 million in aid to help Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. While a good start, it is only a drop in the bucket considering that Brookings’ estimate for the cost of caring for Venezuela’s migrants ranges between $2.8 and $5.2 billion. As the crisis nears the size of Syria’s, to which the United States has contributed more than $6.5 billion in aid, the Trump administration must extend our legacy of humanitarian leadership to the dire situation taking place in our own backyard.

If the Trump administration professes to care about the Venezuelan people, threatening the government with more sanctions and with military intervention won’t help the already reeling population. As thousands flee the country every day in search of food and medicine, and with no change in government on the horizon, the administration needs to practice what it preaches and do more to help those desperately seeking refuge.

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June 27, 2018

5

Culture

JIMMY WOPO: THE MAN BEHIND THE MUSIC Hannah Schneider Contributing Editor

Local rapper Travon Smart — known by his stage name, Jimmy Wopo — was fatally shot last Monday afternoon at the age of 21. The shooting took place in the Middle Hill neighborhood — the very neighborhood that helped him become famous.

Growing up in the Hill District was difficult for Smart. As a young adult he was a creative rising local star — and motivated new father. But between releasing music and videos on YouTube, he was shot when he was just 18 years old. After recovering in the hospital, he began taking rap more seriously.

His music and stage presence evolved to be provocative, negative and even offensive to some.

But his lyrics reflected his life experiences.

“He was rapping about what he went

Jimmy Wopo, an up-and-coming rapper based in Pittsburgh, was fatally shot in the Hill District June 18. He was 21. COURTESY OF TAYLOR MAGLIN

through,” Taylor Maglin, Smart’s manager, said.

“People can go back and say, “Well, his music was negative, it was vulgar,” but they never knew the man behind the music.”

At the age of 14, Smart had already been a rapper for half his life. During the peak of his young interest, he and his friends would go to the Hope Center on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District — a church with a small recording studio.

“Everybody in the hood was going to it,” Smart told FADER Magazine in April 2017. “It was our first time ever being in a real studio for real, so that’s when we really started making music.”

Smart caught the interest of Maglin, owner of media outlet The Daily Loud, in 2015. Maglin saw potential in the young rapper’s unique style and kept close tabs on him until they started See Wopo on page 7

DUOLINGO DEBUTS ‘SOMETHING LIKE HOME’ DOCUMENTARY Jon Kunitsky Staff Writer Pittsburgh-based education software company Duolingo is most popular for teaching foreign languages to millions of people worldwide through its phone app and online learning program. But the company’s newest marketing project goes beyond the screen and travels into the real world to share the personal stories of Duolingo users overseas.

The project — a film called “Something Like Home” — is the product of a grassroots collaboration between Pittsburgh-based photojournalist Justin Merriman and the language education company. The film aims to tell the stories of refugees who have fled war-torn areas of the Middle East and have found hope in the process of learning new languages after resettlement.

“Something Like Home” premiered Tuesday night to a packed house at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty, just across the street from Duolingo’s new headquarters on Penn Avenue.

More than 350 people attended the event, which

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consisted of an hour of Middle Eastern hors d’oeuvres before the film screening. Afterward, Duolingo team members led a short on-stage discussion with one of the four refugees featured in the film, a Syrian woman named Noor.

Noor is a software engineer who fled Syria after its civil war made the nation too dangerous for her and her family to live there safely. In the film, she details her experience in 2013 walking home from the market with her sister when she saw a car bomb explode on her street.

“You can’t believe it when it comes to you. You can’t believe it,” she said. “We could not hear the glass fall. It was just terrible. And after that, fighting started.”

According to a data portal provided by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees, more than 5.6 million Syrians have fled their country due to the outbreak of civil war. Currently, 6.1 million people are internally displaced — half of whom are children.

Noor has since relocated to Turkey, where she

works as both a software engineer and an Android instructor. Merriman decided to include her in his film because of her persistent spirit and dedication to educate herself.

“My philosophy going into it was always to just tell the story of the subjects and to meet people and to give them a voice,” he said. “My camera is my greatest weapon, and it’s really an honor and a privilege to be welcomed into people’s homes and be able to tell a little bit about their lives and share that with other people to help make a difference for them and others.”

Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, spoke to the audience after the film screening and said the company received thousands of letters from users telling their stories about learning new languages in order to discover their sense of purpose and assimilate in their new homes. Merriman said that once they were sent out to meet these people, the idea grew into something much larger than they originally imagined. “[von Ahn] reached out to me and said, ‘I’d like

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you to get some pictures of some of our users,’ and then I said, ‘Alright, take me to them.’ Then the dilemma became which countries do we start with?”

Merriman said. “And we had a really powerful story in Noor. She sparked it for Turkey.”

In addition to Noor, a father named Ahmed told his story in “Something Like Home.” Ahmed left Syria with his family because the war zone grew closer to their neighborhood. He and his family immigrated to Turkey, bringing just the essentials with them across the border — a fairly easy task according to Ahmed. In the film, he stated that the bigger hurdle was learning Turkish once they relocated.

“The only barrier was the language,” he said.

“But it was worth it to me ... to be part of the society and not to be isolated, to get a better living condition, to communicate with the surrounding people.”

Ahmed has since started working with a humanitarian organization that helps improve See Duolingo on page 7

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Wopo, pg. 6 working together in May 2016.

“In 2016, we actually met face to face for the first time,” Maglin said. “My first initial reaction to him [was] wow, this kid’s energy is incredible.”

Smart had an aptitude for rap that came naturally to him. While many recording artists can take up to hours to record a single song, Smart could do it in two takes — sometimes, even one.

But even in the short amount of time, he made sure the track was right.

“You only mess up one time during your recording process? I mean, that’s really rare,” Maglin said. “He was very particular on his work.

He would sit there with the engineer and help them make the adjustments necessary to make the track stand out, the effects and the transitions.

He was there for the whole process.”

There was good reason behind his attention to detail — rap was more than rhythm and words to Smart. It was a way for him to “get to where he needed to be,” as Maglin put it. Once he was there, Smart wanted to help his family, friends and community.

“I just want my whole family to be taken care of, and for them to be alright and be able to take care of themselves, and have all my friends and their families be like that,” Smart told FADER Magazine.

While Smart had big plans to help his community once he became an international star, he had already given back to his community on multiple occasions. Smart frequented little league football games to support the Hill District Rebels — even buying the whole team new uniforms.

“He was an idol to them. The children around the Hill District, and children probably around Pittsburgh, they saw him as a role model,” Maglin said. “They didn’t have to go through all these trials and tribulations of living in a rough neighborhood… he introduced a new way for them.”

When he was on stage, Jimmy Wopo radiated a high-energy, happy attitude to give audiences the best performances he was capable of.

“His crowds were so diverse. You had people that were in their 50s, you had white people, you had black people, you had Indians, Asians. Such a diverse audience, it was so incredible. His music brought so many people together,” Maglin said. “He wanted peace, he wanted unity.”

Though Smart can no longer give live performances, his legacy as a man of his community and an artist whose creations could unite individuals from all social spheres will continue on through his unreleased music.

“We have so much unreleased music,” Maglin said. “We’re going to let his legacy and memory live on.”

Duolingo, pg. 6 sanitation conditions in camps for displaced Syrians. In the film, his children are shown drawing in Turkish coloring books, suggesting they too are learning to speak a new language.

Laura Nestler, global head of community at Duolingo, participated in the onstage discussion.

After the event, she said that the purpose of the film related back to Duolingo’s main objective in spreading education to the masses.

“This all goes back to our mission to make education free and accessible for everyone. But in some cases, even free isn’t enough,” said Nestler.

“Being able to tell these powerful stories illustrates why we do what we do and why it’s so important that where you’re born should not impact your ability to learn.”

The film presented scenes that show Duolingo’s effort to make a change. In one scene, teens and children completed free online language courses provided by Duolingo at the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. Kids smiled into the camera holding certificates for passing proficiency tests on the company’s online program. The Duolingo logo was absent for the entire film, except in this scene on the certificates.

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The Pitt News SuDoku 6/27/18 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

“Something Like Home,” a documentary created by Duolingo, discusses how the lives of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey have been influenced by language and education. COURTESY OF DUOLINGO “Duolingo didn’t want this to be an ad. They wanted this to be journalism,” Merriman said.

After the event, Noor said life and learning languages are difficult, but that she continues educate herself anyway.

“You cannot learn a language so easily, and it is a lot of hard work,” said Noor. “If you speak with me, with a different language that I [am learning], then what you are saying will reach my mind. But if you speak the same language that I speak, then your speech will reach my heart.”

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Response, pg. 2 South. Protests for Rose began shortly afterwards, attended by Allegheny County Democratic Executive Rich Fitzgerald, 12th District Councilman Robert Palmosina and 18th District Rep. Conor Lamb, among other officials.

“From kids getting shot in the back, to migrant children being kept in cages, we need to take better care of our kids,” Lamb said to the assembled crowd.

The crowd then marched in heavy rain to Point State Park, while protesters chanted, “Murdered on Juneteenth!” referencing Rose’s June 19 death. Mayor Bill Peduto joined the march halfway through at the Wood Street T Station, but remained silent through the protesters chants of, “Hey, hey, ho ho, Stephen Zappala’s got to go” and “Shut it down!”

Leon Ford led another protest that evening at 8 p.m. in Pittsburgh’s Southside. The 300-person protest, organized by Charlotte Hill from Homewood, moved down East Carson Street toward Station Square at a pace set by Ford. Protesters put children in the front of the crowd while Hill defused altercations with bar-goers in the area.

“Stay focused,” she yelled through a megaphone at protesters who argued with partiers outside of The Flats on Carson Street.

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An ice cream truck for Antwon Rose Rose’s wake was Sunday at the Tunie Funeral Home in Homestead. Hundreds of mourners showed up to pay their respects, and attendees ate from an ice cream truck with a picture of Rose taped to its side. The Pittsburgh Gentlemen Motorcycle Club arrived around 7 p.m. to show their respects, and multiple mourners wore T-shirts with Rose’s picture on it.

Rose’s family requested that protesters suspend action Sunday and Monday during his wake and funeral.

“I will be up here every day with you!”

Protesters assembled again Tuesday in front of City Hall where they met with multiple Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania elected officials. Multiple officials at the public meeting, including Peduto and 24th District Rep. Ed Gainey, called for Zappala to press charges against Rosfeld, the officer who killed Rose.

“When you ask us for trust, we gotta believe that you will discipline your own!” Gainey shouted in a passionate speech.

Rose’s great aunt Carmen Ashley held a picture of Rose as she addressed the crowd on the steps of City Hall. “[The protests] helped me and my family just a little, but we will not rest until we get a conviction!”

Ashley said to the crowd. “I will be up here every day with you!”

A man pleads with police to help his community at a Thursday night protest that stopped traffic on I-376.

Anna Bongardino | VISUAL EDITOR

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Sports

WORLD CUP RECAP: BRAZIL STRUGGLES, ENGLAND AND BELGIUM IMPRESS Trent Leonard

Senior Staff Writer Since the FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia June 14, there have been a number of surprising and exciting results — as expected from such a high-stakes global competition. Between upsets, underachieving squads and tournament favorites, here’s a recap of the most pertinent storylines of the World Cup thus far.

Brazil came into the tournament as the favorites with a 19 percent chance to win it all, per statistics powerhouse FiveThirtyEight.com.

After all, the Brazilians possess a lineup full of top-end players in their prime such as Neymar, Paulinho and Coutinho — and the team will be especially hungry after suffering an embarrassing 7-1 defeat to Germany in their home country to finish fourth in the 2014 World Cup. But Brazil looked shaky in its World Cup opener this year versus Switzerland, settling for a 1-1 draw — the first time since 1978 that the Brazilians failed to win their opening match at the World Cup. Brazil corrected course with a 2-0 win over Costa Rica in its next match, but the team needs to look sharper down the stretch if it wants to live up to its pre-tournament hype.

After Brazil, no team faces higher World Cup expectations than Germany. The Germans came into Russia as the defending 2014 champions, and no team has made more finals appearances in the history of the World Cup. Like Brazil, Germany has struggled so far in this tournament, suffering a 1-0 upset to Mexico before narrowly escaping Sweden 2-1, thanks to Toni Kroos’ 94th-minute heroics.

It’s possible that Germany has lost its edge since its 2014 championship — or maybe the team is simply sleepwalking through its group and saving its best effort for elimination play.

With Germany’s track record of success, the latter is more likely — the Germans remain a nightmare matchup for any opponent.

Among the more pleasant surprises of the tournament are Croatia and Uruguay. Neither team is known as an international powerhouse,

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Officials attend a ceremony to celebrate the beginning of a 1,000-day countdown until the start of the 2018 World Cup in September 2015.

PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

yet each stormed through its group undefeated.

Croatia’s 3-0 drubbing of defending runnerup Argentina stands as one of the highlights of the tournament so far. The Croatians, despite going up against one of the most dominant players in the world, Lionel Messi, controlled the game from start to finish. This match showed two things — that Croatia has emerged as a truly dangerous team, and that Argentina may be in line for significant disappointment, as also evidenced by a 1-1 draw to Iceland.

In the wake of early underachievement from the likes of Brazil, Germany and Argentina, two nations have emerged as the most impressive through group play — England and Belgium.

Both clubs have terrorized the lesser competition of Group G, with England beating Tunisia and Panama 2-1 and 6-1, respectively, and Belgium recording scores of 5-2 and 3-0 over the same teams. The two clubs are now tied for the group stage lead with eight goals

each, convincing CBSSports.com to vault Belgium to first and England to second in its World Cup power rankings.

The potential is there for Belgium and England to be serious contenders. Starpower, chemistry, the motivation to be world champions after decades of drought — each team checks all these boxes. Belgium and England face off for group bragging rights on Thursday — and don’t be surprised if the winner of that game makes an appearance in the finals.

Predictions and power teams aside, the World Cup has also provided its fair share of shenanigans and side shows. One such case emerged from Sweden’s opening group matchup versus South Korea. According to Reuters, the Swedish team sent a scout to observe a Korean training session taking place at the team’s practice facility in Austria earlier this month. The spy was kicked out after being discovered by the Koreans.

June 27, 2018

Undeterred, the Swedish scout journeyed up a nearby mountain where he convinced a family to let him use their home as a vantage point for his espionage. As a countermeasure, Korean coach Shin Tae-yong told his players to switch jerseys so that the overlooking Swedish adversary would be unable to tell which player was which.

“They might know a few of our players but it is very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians and that’s why we did that,” Shin said.

But when it came time to play, the Swedes ultimately got the last laugh with a 1-0 victory.

Group H has been a bizarre story on its own, with the standings completely flipped from what most expected entering the tournament. Colombia and Poland were initially the assumed top two teams of the group — which also consists of Senegal and Japan — with FiveThirtyEight.com giving them a 69 and 55 percent chance, respectively, to move onto the round of 16.

Instead, Senegal majorly upset Poland, 2-1, thanks to a decisive own goal by Poland’s Thiago Cionek, while Japan became the first Asian team to beat a South American opponent in World Cup history when Colombia’s Carlos Moreno committed a fatal penalty — an intentional handball in the penalty box — to earn a red card just three minutes into the game, giving Japan a one-man advantage which they used to pull off the 2-1 upset.

Because of those unlikely results, Japan sits atop the group with Senegal in second.

Poland is eliminated from group-of-16 contention, while Colombia will face Senegal in a must-win game on Thursday.

The group phase will conclude with Thursday’s games, highlighted by Colombia-Senegal at 10:00 a.m. EST and England-Belgium at 2:00 p.m. EST. Play will subside on Friday before picking back up on Saturday, when the final 16 teams begin elimination competition.

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JOE JORDANO RESIGNS AS BASEBALL COACH Hannah Schneider and Joanna Li

The Pitt News Staff Joe Jordano resigned as head coach of Pitt’s baseball team Thursday night, according to a report from the Post-Gazette. An official announcement released by the University Friday afternoon confirmed his resignation.

“I am honored to have had the opportunity to lead this program with integrity, passion and love for the past 21 seasons,” Jordano said in the statement.

“It was my objective each day to provide an environment to allow our players to achieve a high level of success.”

Though the team never made it to the NCAA tournament during his 21 years at Pitt, Jordano sets the record for most wins during any Pitt Baseball coach’s time in the program with an overall record of 588-522-2.

The 2017-18 season was the Panthers’ most successful under Jordano. They

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finished with a 29-26 record — the most wins in a single season since joining the ACC in 2013. Pitt went on to beat No. 8 Georgia Tech and No. 1 North Carolina in the ACC Baseball Championship, making it to the ACC semifinal for the first time in program history.

Jordano recently took to Twitter to express his excitement for next year’s season.

“Really excited about the 2018-19 season,” Jordano said in a tweet. “Look forward to leading this group. Very talented SA’s combined with an incredible work ethics will produce great results.

Improving every day. Greatness does not rest. #H2P.” Jordano’s replacement will be the sevThe Appalachian A’s first baseman narrowly misses tagging a Glaciers enth head coach hire by athletic director player out Friday morning at Wild Things Park in Washington, Heather Lyke in less than two years on Pennsylvania. Anna Bongardino | VISUAL EDITOR the job. challenge of moving into the ACC by that foundation and continue our up“For more than two decades, Joe has ward climb in the nation’s best baseball building a strong and competitive founbeen the face of Pitt baseball,” Lyke said conference.” dation.

Our task now is to build upon in the statement. “He responded to the

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June 27, 2018

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