8-29-17

The Pitt News

Editorial: Foster’s statue different than Confederates’ Page 4

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | August 29, 2017 | Volume 108 | Issue 14

FRISKING THE FIELD

COMMS. VICE CHANCELLOR LEAVES PITT Janine Faust and Rachel Glasser News Editors

The Men’s Ultimate Frisbee Team holds pickup games for prospective players on the Cathedral lawn Monday.

Anna Bongardino A SSISTANT V ISUAL E DITOR

Students Sing Karaoke’s Praises Luke Stambaugh For The Pitt News Walking down Atwood Street on a Tuesday night, Oakland residents may feel a certain energy radiating from the Garage Door Saloon as a line covers the block and a familiar mix of singing voices and screams pour out of the windows.

“Karaoke nights are great because normally shouting the lyrics to ‘Piano Man’ loudly will get you kicked out of any place,” Caleb Porto, a Pitt student in attendance last Tuesday, said.

Garage Door — or GDoor — hosts karaoke every Tuesday night. The event has become a staple of many nights out for locals and students alike. Unlike a normal trip to the bar, karaoke in Oakland provides a communal experience for those both on and off the stage.

Porto, a senior mechanical engineering major, makes an effort to go to GDoor karaoke whenever he has the opportunity.

The bar’s distinct energy motivates not only the people who see karaoke as a fun novelty — such as Porto — to go to GDoor, but also the frequent visitors.

Laura Byko, a 2016 graduate of Point Park University with a degree in journalism, has been a regular attendant of GDoor karaoke for over a year.

“I started going regularly when my roommate turned 21, so since May 2016 I’ve probably averaged two to three times a month. It’s really embarrassing!” Byko said.

“But it just turned into a tradition and then a compulsion.”

But even as a regular, she still has the same reasons for attending as those who stop by on any random Tuesday.

“The entire bar yelling along to at least

one and as many as four Killers songs in one night is something you don’t usually get outside of karaoke,” Byko said.

Karaoke as an activity consists of two parts — singing and watching. The idea of going to karaoke can be intimidating because many believe that getting the most out of it involves actually performing.

But this is not necessarily the case. For both Byko and Porto, being an audience member is just as enjoyable as being on stage, and in some cases more so.

“It’s like you’re in a TV show, and every week there are the recurring cast members who always sing Michael Buble and Disney songs and whatever,” Byko said. “And then there are also guest stars every week, like a girl who sounds exactly like Amy Winehouse, or a 40-year-old who looks lost and confused See Karaoke on page 3

Susan Rogers — who was appointed Pitt’s vice chancellor for communications just 18 months ago — is no longer employed by the University of Pittsburgh, a spokesperson confirmed Monday.

After this story was first published online Monday evening, Joe Miksch — the University’s director of media relations — confirmed Rogers has left the University. He wouldn’t comment on the circumstances surrounding her departure, but said a search is underway for a replacement.

Rogers did not respond to phone calls Monday or several emails regarding her departure from Pitt’s leadership team. Prior to publication online, Miksch didn’t return calls and emails over several days.

Pitt appointed Rogers vice chancellor for communications in spring of 2016 after her predecessor, Kenneth P. Service, announced his retirement the previous summer. Service held the position for nearly three years.

Rogers’ job included organizing University-wide communication resources, media relations and crisis communication, according to her now-removed University biography. Rogers also served as the executive adviser to the chancellor on communications-related issues.

She previously held leadership positions in the communications offices at University of Texas, Stanford University and the University of North Texas, according to her biography. Rogers also worked at several media outlets, including The Miami Herald, The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press.

News

PITT GRADS DEVELOP FOOD TRUCK TRACKER

Janine Faust Assistant News Editor Paul Landry is a foodie on the move who likes food on the move.

That’s why he found himself driving from his home near the Pittsburgh International Airport to Shadyside one evening in 2013 in pursuit of a specific food truck.

“The neighborhood I heard the truck was in was where I stayed when I attended Pitt, so I figured I’d grab dinner and then walk around for old times’ sake,” Landry, a 2001 Pitt grad, said.

But by the time he got there, the food truck he was craving was nowhere to be found.

“There was one selling cupcakes though,” Landry said. “So I had cupcakes for dinner.”

This event caused Landry, a long-time food truck lover, to consider how hard it could be to track down specific trucks because of how varied their locations and times could be.

“I started wondering, ‘Man, what if there was a way people could keep tabs on them?’” Landry said.

He reached out to his old Pitt classmate, former Radio Shack coworker and software engineer Jonathan Worek, and shared his idea for an app that did just that.

“I asked Jon because he’s an amazing software engineer,” Landry said. “I knew he had the skills I didn’t to make this thing a reality.”

This partnership — now going by the company name Worlan Software — led to the creation of Mobile Nom, an app primarily intended to help hungry customers locate their favorite food trucks and discover new ones. Using GPS tracking, the app — which started in Pittsburgh and now has users in 17 other metro areas in the United States — can also notify its growing customer base when a registered food truck is within a three-mile radius.

The app is free to download for iOS, Android or the web. It also caters to the

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Hoshi, sitting across from Towers on Bouquet Street, was the closest food truck to campus Monday, according to the Mobile Nom app. Anna Bongardino ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR 350+ food trucks registered on it, who have the ability to upload menus, post schedules and locations for the day and add events to the Mobile Nom calendar.

The Worlan Software partners spent most of their free time from the spring of 2014 to the spring of 2015 working on the app, managing their jobs and covering unexpected expenses out of their own pockets. In order to better understand how to design the app, they began to befriend fledgling food truck owners.

“Jon had never visited a food truck before we started working on this app, and despite them being my favorite part of college, I didn’t really understand how the industry worked either, so we reached out to some to better understand how the industry operates,” Landry said.

One such food truck was Las Chicas,

a Hispanic food truck owned by motherdaughter team Stephanie and Amanda Morales.

Las Chicas first came in contact with Mobile Nom in early 2015, Stephanie Morales said. Landry came to the order window and asked Las Chicas if it would like to test out the app.

“We’d only been open for a few months, and my daughter — who’s a lot more tech-savvy than I am — convinced me that it’d be a great way to promote ourselves,” Morales said. “So we became a test truck of sorts.”

The owners of Las Chicas gave Worlan Software advice on what food trucks needed that could be incorporated into the app during its development.

“We’re not brick and mortar establishments and we oftentimes won’t be in usual

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spots because there’s an event going on somewhere or a catering job we took,” Morales said, adding that communicating accurate locations to their customers was a top priority.

Worlan software worked out the kinks in Mobile Nom while Las Chicas used it.

“I remember once early on we opened the app and the GPS put our location in China,” Morales said. “That’s still something we laugh about with Paul and John.”

Morales said Landry and Worek were easy and enjoyable to work with. They’re receptive to criticism and accepting and encouraging ideas for the app from others.

“I actually proposed to them we make a sticker that I could put on my truck so people know they can use Mobile Nom See Tracker on page 3

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Tracker, pg. 2 to find it — they got all excited and took a step further and made a QR code for people to scan,” Morales said.

While developing the app had its challenges, Landry pointed out that owning a food truck can be a lot of work, too.

“These people need to wake up early to prep their food, then they need to load it up, drive to their location and then unpack before they can start selling,” Landry said. “We started out with the goal of the app helping people find food trucks, but we really want to help make it easier for the trucks, too.”

Morales said that without Mobile Nom, she thinks Las Chicas would get much less foot traffic.

“We get a sizable number of people who say they found us through the app.

Without it, our customer base would probably be limited to who’s following us on our own social media or who’s in the area we’re in at the time,” Morales said.

As an added boost, Worlan Software will sponsor food trucks who sign up for a premium membership so that Mobile Nom users see their content first.

Kevin Heenan is the owner of Pittsburgh’s Sugar and Spice ice cream truck, which is registered on the app as a premium member. He said the app gives his business a decent advantage over the increasing competition.

“With the growing food truck population in Pittsburgh, having this app is a pretty big deal,” Heenan said. “The guys behind Mobile Nom also promote us on their own social media and on the app alongside our own accounts, and with all the competition you need a jump like that.”

Landry said he and Worek don’t have any other plans to make new apps.

Instead, Worlan Software plans to keep working on Mobile Nom as it grows.

“We’ve definitely seen a rise in interest in the past year, and we’re both having a ton of fun working on the app, so I don’t think we’ll be starting anything new soon,” Landry said.

According to Landry, getting Worek interested in food trucks was one of the most enjoyable parts of working on Mobile Nom. “He’s actually started going to ones without me,” Landry said. “I mean, finally!”

Karaoke, pg. 1 and sings Frank Sinatra, or a white preppy kid who does a Kendrick Lamar song and makes everyone mad.”

These typified examples stem from the culture of karaoke. For people like Byko, part of the fun of being in the audience is seeing people from all walks of life and their myriad personalities.

“There’s one guy who looks like a Seamus, so my friends and I call him Seamus.

He seems like someone with a musical theater background,” Byko said, mentioning another regular she and her friends call “Eyes-Closed-Jack.”

“I don’t remember if his name was actually Jack, but he would get incredibly drunk by 11 and then sing the entire song with his eyes closed, and make up the lyrics if he couldn’t remember them,” Byko said. “I miss him.”

For sophomore Taylor Ridge, the environment of karaoke is synonymous with celebration. A pre-med student at Pitt, Ridge attends GDoor whenever the occasion calls for it — whether it’s the end of finals week or a friend’s birthday.

“I think that stuff like karaoke is a lot more fun and lighthearted when you just

want to go out and not worry about anything,” Ridge said. “Either you impress the pants off someone or you embarrass yourself, but I haven’t had a night yet where I haven’t had a story come out of it!”

That thrill of giving it all you’ve got up on stage can be cathartic.

Porto — whose song of choice is always Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” — thinks there is something really enjoyable in the anxieties of performing.

“I do have stage fright when singing in front of other people!” Porto said. “But for me that’s part of the enjoyment of doing it.”

The environment of karaoke at GDoor is usually nothing but positive and encouraging. Most of the audience is there because the act of watching amateur singers have fun is inherently fun in and of itself — the quality of voice is not why people go out every week.

Porto feels like karaoke is an opportunity to immerse himself in his stage fright and finds that overcoming those anxieties boosts his adrenaline and makes him more confident. He said there is nothing like interacting, getting laughs and enjoying the company of strangers.

“Every time someone sings karaoke they put a tiny bit of their heart on a stage for your consumption,” Byko said. “And if you’re a creep like me, that’s fun to experience.”

The Pitt News SuDoku 8/29/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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Opinions

CONSERVATIVES Stephen Foster is not Confederate statues’ equal DON’T RECOGNIZE REAL THREAT TO FREE SPEECH from the editorial board

In southern cities, from New Orleans to Orlando to Baltimore, the only thing hotter than the record-breaking weather this summer was the heated debate surrounding the removal of Confederate statues.

Minority residents of cities across the South have repeatedly expressed discomfort with these statues, and many are fi nally coming down. Controversy over the attempted removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month led to protests by white nationalists and multiple deaths.

In the wake of Charlottesville, the discussion and controversy around racially charged statues spread across the country to states never part of the Confederacy — including our own.

In Pittsburgh, the conversation has centered around a statue outside the Carnegie Library in Oakland depicting famous Pittsburgh-born composer Stephen Foster with a black slave at his feet holding a banjo.

The statue’s commissioner, who had it erected in 1900, described Foster as “catching the inspiration for his melodies from the fi ngers of an old darkey reclining at his feet strumming negro airs upon an old banjo.”

From this, it’s clear that the statue was built with reprehensible prejudices in mind. And it’s true that many of Foster’s songs themselves perpetuated racial stereotypes. But to equate the statue memorializing Foster here in Oakland with statues of Confederate figures across the South both understates the viciousness of the statues in the South and removes a level of nuance from the discussion here.

Most statues memorializing Confederate leaders in the South were built explicitly to intimidate. According to

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the Southern Poverty Law Center, the vast majority of public buildings and monuments named in honor of Confederate leaders were dedicated during the periods between 1900 and 1920 and 1950 and 1970.

Both periods of intensified monument-building saw significant pushes in the South for civil rights for AfricanAmericans. It’s apparent that whites in the South used Confederate memorials as a means to intimidate minorities and demonstrate their power.

With Foster, the context is different.

While there is plainly a racial element to the statue’s depiction of the composer gaining inspiration, it wasn’t built to reinforce a racial hierarchy. The statue’s original purpose is closer to a celebration of Foster’s musical contributions.

Nevertheless, the statue’s role in today’s Pittsburgh has changed. And while it wasn’t built to terrorize nonwhite people, it’s important to have a discussion about whether its continued presence in the community promotes a racist worldview.

Mayor Bill Peduto has already promised Pittsburgh residents that the City Art Commission and Historical Review Commission would research and propose a plan for the statue’s future, saying in a statement last week that he personally supported moving the statue from public property. The mayor emphasized the role of dialogue and the preservation of local history in dealing with the statue’s placement.

“The removal of the statue isn’t going to be a binary decision,” he said.

Stephen Foster’s legacy is complicated — and so is any decision about what to do with the statue commemorating him. And whether the statue ends up moving or not, it should be interpreted in the correct historical context.

Henry Glitz Opinions Editor When far-right agitator Jason Kessler took to the stage outside the city hall in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month, he made reference to a political tradition born centuries ago in that very city.

That tradition — freedom of speech — gained official legal status in the United States when Charlottesville native James Madison drafted the First Amendment in 1789. The amendment, which, among other things, ensures that the federal government can’t make law “abridging the freedom of speech,” has a lengthy record of defending controversial groups in the country.

Many on the right, including Pitt’s own College Republicans, have come to use the amendment and its repercussions as a sort of rallying cry in a struggle against the left — especially in the wake of violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that Kessler organized. Kessler himself, after being heckled and booed off stage during his speech at the Charlottesville city hall, later tweeted melodramatically, “The First Amendment is finished it seems.”

It’s apparent that some progressives and self-styled liberals have staged challenges to unlimited freedom of speech — examples are becoming uncomfortably plentiful. But it’s both inaccurate and harmful to suggest that this is the most dangerous threat posed to the survival of free speech in the United States.

Those on the right — both those who, like Kessler, propagate hateful speech, and those who condone it — present a far more existential challenge to free speech’s survival than a college student asking for a safe space.

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For the vast majority of conservatives who don’t espouse a neo-Nazi ideology, the argument for allowing hateful rhetoric in the public sphere often boils down to the so-called “marketplace of ideas” coming to the rescue of public decency. In this idealized world, fascist ideas will die out not because the government forcibly places a hand over their mouth, but because extremist opinions will lose any argument with ideas like tolerance and peace.

The marketplace of ideas assumes several givens, not least of which is forceful and meaningful rhetorical opposition to extremism. But what happens when this opposition is lacking?

From the moment President Donald Trump declared his candidacy in June 2015, Republican leaders nationally have offered little that could rightly be called meaningful opposition to Trump’s unabashed prejudice.

When Trump suggested that federal judge Gonzalo Curiel was incapable of doing his job because of his ethnicity, party leaders like Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-UT, tempered their professed disagreement with the statement by showing unwavering support for the man responsible.

“I disagree with the statements he made [regarding Curiel], but do I think he would be a much better candidate and much better president than Hillary Clinton?”

Chaffetz said on Fox News last June. “You betcha, all day.”

Others — like Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, R-IN., — flat-out denied that the president had made bigoted statements at all, totally absolving him of responsibility for his words.

Some portray this reluctance to hold See Glitz on page 5

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Glitz, pg. 4

Neo-Nazis and white supremacists prepare to enter Emancipation Park during a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons It should be easy, for example, for the hearted “condemnation” of a group as President of the United States to issue heinous as white supremacists without something more forceful than a halfproposing a violation of their right to free

The Pitt news crossword 8/29/17

the president accountable for his speech as an act of defiance against “political correctness.” But it’s worth wondering why some conservatives seem less concerned with the quality of speech in public discourse than with simply being allowed to say every outrageous thought that pops into their heads.

Freedom of speech isn’t a social end, but a means. If it is to survive, freedom of speech must produce quality speech — otherwise extremist ideologies like those on display at Charlottesville will forcibly end it.

It’s difficult to maintain the distinction between what offensive speech the First Amendment protects and what it doesn’t.

And the difference between the two becomes harder and harder to preserve the more frequently the former is used as a pretext for acts of atrocity like what occurred earlier this month in Virginia.

If conservatives value free speech as much as they say they do, they will take care to distinguish their support for it from support for extremists’ ideas themselves. Here, at least, there is considerable room for conservatives and their leadership to improve.

speech. And while most other conservatives denounced the actions of the fringe right at Charlottesville, reactions equating the harm done to free speech by neo-nazis and liberal college students who support safe spaces are absurd.

For as much harm as campus progressives may or may not have done to the First Amendment by limiting the freedom of speech in certain areas, so-called academic censorship has yet to kill anyone.

When Milo Yiannopoulos came to speak on Pitt’s campus in 2016, students met his vicious address with nothing more violent than rhetorical opposition to his viewpoint. The same cannot be said of free speech “advocate” Jason Kessler and the violently racist speech he and his followers profess.

Simply because neo-Nazis land on the right side of the aisle shouldn’t mean other conservatives take them any less seriously than those on the left who want to limit speech.

If conservatives want to truly defend freedom of speech, they will stop the absurdity of equating free speech with consequence-free speech. To condemn a hate group is not the same as to violate their First Amendment rights, and to act as if it is the same is to discredit the right to free speech in the eyes of society at large.

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Culture

DESPITE STRUGGLES

SAVINGS AND SILENCE:

TRANSFERS WHY STUDENTS ADJUST TO PITT COMMUTE

Grace Anderson (middle) transferred to Pitt after attending Duquesne her first year. Photo courtesy of Grace Anderson

Sarah Morris Staff Writer Not all new Pitt students are having their first college experience — roughly a thousand of them every year are seasoned students who have transferred from colleges and universities from around the world.

And while many transfer students find their place in Oakland just like the students who started at Pitt as first-years, their experience is always going to be different from those who were here since day one.

I made the switch from Drexel University to Pitt halfway through my sophomore year, before the spring semester last year. Deciding to uproot my life and academic career to move across the state was not an easy decision to make.

When I got to Pitt, I hardly knew anyone, and the people I did know from my hometown had already established lives here — so I was on my own to figure

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A Port Authority bus drives by Towers on Forbes Avenue. John Hamilton MANAGING EDITOR

things out. I spent a lot of time alone the Lexi Kennell first few weeks I was here, going to differ- Culture Editor ent clubs and events to try to meet new With playlists and podcasts downloaded people. for the commute, roughly 800 undergraduate I worked really hard my first semester, Pitt students make their daily trek to campus, and it paid off. I loved all of my classes whether it be from as near as Bloomfield or as far and professors, and I made some really as the South Hills. close friends. By the time finals week I had that long and traffic-riddled drive from rolled around in April, I knew with absothe South Hills over the summer — a journey lute certainty that even with the struggles, that took anywhere from a half hour to an hour transferring was worthwhile. and a half depending on the time of day and if Making the switch from another colthere was a sports game Downtown. lege allows students like me to focus on But I’ve decided to move to Friendship — a options that may have been different from neighborhood between East Liberty, Shadyside what we first went to school for. and Bloomfield — for the school year to cut I started my freshman year as a down on commuting time. And although the materials science and engineering major, walk to campus is roughly 45 minutes, biking but after a drastic turn, I declared a fictakes less than 20, and a bus takes about 10. tion writing major when I got to Pitt.

So there are plenty of options to get to And it’s not only me — a lot of transfers campus in a timely manner. Of course I always change their area of study when changing miss being able to roll out of bed and essentially schools. sleepwalk to class — but saving money while Hayley Pontia — a senior at Pitt who getting to live in a quiet, clean neighborhood has transferred from Penn State at the start its own set of perks.

See Transfer on page 7 Josh Dorn, a junior majoring in computer

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science, commutes to campus from Fox Chapel and reaps the financial benefits of living off campus.

“Commuting gives me the opportunity to save money during college,” Dorn said. “Since I go to school so close to home, I have the ability to drive to school every morning to minimize student loans.”

Dorn said that some of the perks of commuting are having a close group of friends who are also commuters who can hang out off campus, having the ability to focus on schoolwork during weekends when necessary and skipping out on paying Oakland’s high rent prices.

Iman Basha, a senior majoring in chemical engineering, lives in Shadyside and takes the bus to campus. Basha has been commuting to Pitt since her sophomore year and, like Dorn, said it saves her a lot of money.

“It’s way cheaper to live off campus,” Basha said. “I used to live in South O and it was just really gross. So when you’re paying for it, it’s just garbage — you’re not getting any space for what you pay for it.”

See Commuters on page 7

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Transfer, pg. 6 of her sophomore year — wanted to steer away from the classes she was in her freshman year.

“I wasn’t happy with my classes. There was an unhealthy competition that was exuded from the courses I was enrolled in,” Pontia said.

The academic competition Pontia experienced carried outside of the classroom, and she struggled to find her place during her first year at Penn State.

“I couldn’t find my niche — I had few people that I saw having the same values and interests as me,” she said.

But Pontia found what she was looking for at Pitt.

“At Pitt, I have genuinely found that most people are competitive, but will also take time out of their busy schedule to help another classmate,” Pontia said. “It’s refreshing, and encourages me to grow in my studies instead of being self conscious of everything I say.”

Pontia said that it’s the welcoming nature of the students that reassures her she made the right choice in transferring.

And while the inclusive environment of the school encouraged Pontia in her decision to transfer, the large size of Pitt was a deciding factor for Brendan Stautberg, a politics and philosophy major who transferred from Franklin & Marshall last fall.

“I transferred … mostly because F&M was too small and it didn’t feel right to me after spending a year there,” Stautberg said.

And it’s not just student population — the physical size of the campus influences students as well. This is true for Grace Anderson — a junior English major who transferred from Duquesne following her first year.

“I had always loved Pitt’s campus, and to be honest, I felt really closed off when I was at Duquesne,” Anderson said. “It was a very small private school and I felt like I really wasn’t getting my money’s worth.”

But while Pitt is larger and seen as more welcoming than some of the transfer students’ old schools, they find that when they make it to the campus, everyone else has already adjusted to Pitt.

“I definitely wished I would have been at Pitt for O-Week and PittStart.

That made it a little difficult as a transfer student,” Anderson said.

Anderson also attended an orientation day specifically for transfer students, which she said was very helpful in adjusting.

“But it was a lot easier than I thought it would be to transfer, and I’m glad I did while I was still a freshman,” Anderson said.

Stautberg also found it easier than expected, pointing out that starting fresh in the middle of your college years can encourage transfers to get more involved.

“I didn’t know anyone at Pitt before I came, so I tried a few clubs and organizations to meet people. I probably wouldn’t have gotten involved if I already knew people here,” Stautberg said.

For Pontia, the most difficult part of transferring came in making the initial decision to transfer.

“At Penn State, I knew I wasn’t my happiest, but I was also scared that going to a different school wouldn’t change that — that in the end, it would end up that I was the problem instead of the university I was at,” Pontia said.

But despite the fear, she’s concluded the change a necessary one.

“To this day, I can say transferring was one of the hardest, most rewarding experiences I have yet to endure,” Pontia said.

Commuters, pg. 6 Not living on campus or in the neighborhood next-door has disadvantages — she has to be more organized and make sure she remembers to bring everything she needs for all of her classes.

“If I forget something, I’m screwed for the day,” Basha said. “I work in a lab for research, and we have to wear closed-toed shoes. So whenever I forget to wear shoes that are closedtoed, I need to go back home to get shoes and it’s just not as convenient.”

There’s another downside to living off campus, Dorn said. He feels like he is missing out on the full “college experience.”

Dorn isn’t alone. Sloane Kozyak, a junior majoring in German and political science, is a First Year Mentor — one of 19 upper-class students helping new peers adjust to Pitt. She said a disadvantage that many commuters cite is that they feel like they aren’t having a traditional college experience.

“It might seem harder to join clubs or organizations since most meet on weekday nights,” Kozyak said.

And for Dorn, joining clubs and organizations is not something he has time to do — he works part-time with Geek Squad throughout the year in addition to being a full-time student.

“To balance school and work, I take most of my classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday so that I can work a few days a week to make money during school,” Dorn said.

The little free time that Dorn does have is between classes — time he spends playing table tennis or hanging out in the Commuter Lounge in Nordy’s Place in the William Pitt Union.

“We also invite commuter students to stop into the Office of First Year Experience on the first floor of the Union to say hi to some of the First Year Mentors,” Kozyak said.

The First Year Experience Office, which includes First Year Mentors, hosts a series of programs targeted toward commuter students.

The schedule for the fall commuter programs is still in the planning stages, Kozyak said, but in the past has included a Chancellor’s picnic, a required Bystander Intervention Training and a free dinner.

Also, during Orientation Week, there is a day dedicated to commuter students — aptly named Commuter Student Day. All commuter students are required to attend three out five programs for all new students — such as Bystander Intervention Training and New Student Convocation — in addition to commuterspecific programs.

The First Year Experience Office assigns commuter students to specific “Commuter Pods” based on where they are travelling to campus from, Kozyak said. Each pod has its own Facebook page where First Year Mentors promote upcoming events and have discussions with commuters.

Kozyak suggested commuter students without a meal plan pack their own lunches and organize their schedules to avoid driving in Oakland during rush hour.

“There is nothing worse than city traffic,” Kozyak said.

Not only that, but Basha said it’s in commuters’ best interest to make the fewest trips to and from campus as possible — her advice to new commuters is to think through the practicalities of commuting on a daily basis.

“When picking an apartment, you have to make sure it’s near a bus stop,” Basha said. “Make sure you’re thinking realistically about what you’re doing, like your daily activities.”

Commuter students must plan more diligently than those living on or closer to campus, but the payoff can be well worth it.

Dorn said commuting is what you make of it, and that if you’re prepared, you shouldn’t have any problems.

“As long as you have a plan and stick to it, you can have all the fun of living on campus while saving money and excelling in school,” Dorn said.

ONline Exclusive

GAME OF

THRONES Reviewed by staff writer Luke Stambaugh Find the full story online at pittnews.com

August 29, 2017

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Raka Sarkar SENIOR STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

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Sports

NARDUZZI KEEPS FOCUS ON YOUNGSTOWN

Ryan Zimba Sports Editor

With Pitt football’s highly anticipated matchup against Penn State only 11 days away, some might look at this week’s game against the Youngstown State Penguins and dismiss it as an easy win for the Panthers.

Just don’t count head coach Pat Narduzzi among them.

At his weekly press conference Monday afternoon, Narduzzi received several questions about the rivalry game but didn’t to give a complete answer to any of them. Instead, he remained focused solely on this week, saying the Penguins are a legitimate threat coming into Heinz Field.

“It’s a one-game season, and that’s all I’m focused on,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t care about anything else.”

This is not all that surprising for the

coach, who said similar things before the 2016 opener prior to enforcing a media blackout during the week of the Penn State game.

Narduzzi — and some of his older players — know very well how tough Youngstown State can be. Two years ago, in Narduzzi’s first game, the Penguins gave the Panthers everything they could handle, but Pitt was able to escape with a 45-37 win.

Many players return from the 2015 Penguins team, including starting quarterback Hunter Wells. Wells had a solid game in the previous contest, completing 19 of 38 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown.

“Offensively, Hunter Wells runs the show,” Narduzzi said. “I think he can make a lot of throws and he’s very smart

See Narduzzi on page 10

Pat Narduzzi addresses media last year before season opener. Matt Hawley STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

PREDICTING PITT FOOTBALL’S 2017 CAMPAIGN

Dominic Campbell Staff Writer

Coming off a season in which it beat both the national champion and the Big Ten champion, this year’s Pitt football team will have a hard time providing bigger fireworks than it did a year ago.

But head coach Pat Narduzzi expects his team to pull it off, setting the bar just as high as previous seasons despite losing more than 20 players.

Former quarterback Nathan Peterman was among those who left. He’ll be replaced by another graduate transfer in redshirt senior Max Browne. Browne comes to Pitt from the USC Trojans, where he began last season as the starter before being replaced by redshirt freshman Sam Darnold after three games.

On the defensive side, the Panthers will be very inexperienced early on, as four play-

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ers were suspended or dismissed in late July.

Senior linebacker Quintin Wirginis and junior safety Jordan Whitehead each received three-game bans, while redshirt junior offensive lineman Alex Bookser will miss one game.

Here’s a rundown of the Panthers schedule with a corresponding prediction for each game: Week 1: Youngstown State The Panthers start out their season against the Penguins of Youngstown State this Saturday. Even though the Penguins are a Football Championship Subdivision team, they’re a proven contender, having made it to the FCS National Championship last season under former Nebraska coach Bo Pelini.

The Panthers have also lost to the Penguins recently, and only won by eight points in head coach Pat Narduzzi’s first game in 2015. The Panthers should still be able to win, even with the suspensions, as the Pen-

guins have lost 17 seniors from last year’s team.

Prediction: Pitt 40, Youngstown State 17 Week 2: Penn State Pitt’s second game of the season will likely be their toughest, with the team traveling east to take on in-state rival Penn State. The Nittany Lions — ranked sixth in the preseason AP Poll — are one of the best teams in the country and have many key players returning from last year’s Big Ten Championship team.

Sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley, as well as first team All-Americans Saquon Barkley and Mike Gesicki, all return and are expected to make the Nittany Lions one of the most explosive offenses in the NCAA. Considering Pitt’s poor pass defense, it’s hard to imagine the Panthers coming out with the win this time. McSorley should have a huge day, picking apart the Panthers’

August 29, 2017

secondary and leading his team to victory.

Prediction: Penn State 42, Pitt 28 Week 3: Oklahoma State Things won’t get any easier for the Panthers in week three, as they take on the tenth-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys at Heinz Field. Despite having a great offense, the Cowboys share the Panthers’ secondary deficiencies, finishing 109 of 128 in passing yards allowed in 2016.

That being said, this could be another high-scoring shootout similar to the one the teams had a year ago. In that matchup, the Cowboys were able to escape with a close 45-38 win, scoring the deciding touchdown with 1:28 to go.

This time, though, Pitt will come out on top in another close, entertaining shootout.

Prediction: Pitt 55, Oklahoma State 45 Week 4: Georgia Tech See Prediction on page 10

9

Narduzzi, pg. 9 and gets them in the right plays.”

Given the experience in that game, Narduzzi hopes his players can keep their minds on this week and bring home their first win of the year.

“I want to see our guys come out with an attitude of ‘This is a big game,’ because you only get 12 opportunities,” Narduzzi said. “I want to see them come out and play like they can. I don’t want them holding anything back for next week or the week after that or for the ACC.” Last year against Villanova, Narduzzi and former offensive coordinator Matt Canada kept their creative offense under wraps in order to surprise teams later on, opting to run a more simplistic version of their scheme.

The tactic paid off against the Nittany Lions. The Panthers surprised their rivals with an offense based on large shifts and jet sweeps. They jumped out to a 28-7 lead in the first half — enough to carry them to victory despite a Penn State comeback attempt.

When asked, Narduzzi begrudgingly admitted his team would keep some of its playbook a secret, but made no mistake in

saying they would use it if need be.

“We might be a little bit boring, I don’t know,” Narduzzi said. “Put it this way, there’s some things we’re going to hold, but we’re going out to win that football game, and that’s what it comes down to.”

Among other topics, the third-year coach touched on his suspensions of junior safety Jordan Whitehead, senior linebacker Quintin Wirginis and redshirt junior offensive lineman Alex Bookser, saying the backups have filled in better than he expected.

“I feel a lot better than I would have felt if I found out or made that decision this week,” Narduzzi said. “I’d be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, can we get time?’ We’ve had time to prepare, and we’ll be fine.”

Without those three starters, the Panthers will be very shorthanded, especially on defense, and will need these players to step up. Considering the inexperience of these players, Narduzzi lessened the expectations going into the week, hoping the group will gain confidence as the season progresses.

“We’re going to make our biggest improvement from game one to game two,” Narduzzi said. “That’s just natural … so that confidence, we’ll build that.”

Prediction, pg. 9 The Panthers kick off ACC play Sept. 23 on the road against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and their tricky triple-option offense.

The Yellow Jackets run an offense in which the quarterback has three options on almost every play — hand the ball off, pitch it or keep it himself.

Narduzzi and the Panthers have had success slowing down this offense in recent years — winning the past two matchups on late field goals — and this year’s matchup should be close as well.

If the Panthers can run the ball with their deep stable of backs, they’ll pull out a late win yet again.

Prediction: Pitt 33, Georgia Tech 27 Week 5: Rice The Panthers will end their nonconference schedule with a game against the Rice Owls, an easier game than the previous three. Rice had a disappointing year last fall, going 3-9, including a 2-6 conference mark.

The Panthers should use this contest

to rest players and find ways to work on weaknesses in their game. Otherwise, this should be an easy one for the team, unlike last year’s 30-27 win over Marshall.

Prediction: Pitt 45, Rice 14 Week 6: Syracuse The Panthers return to conference play in week six, traveling north to take on former Big East rival Syracuse. When these teams met last December, they combined for 137 points — the most ever in a major college football game, with the Panthers winning 76-61.

Junior quarterback Eric Dungey will be back for the Orange, and the Panthers will be looking for him to throw the ball deep.

In 2016, Dungey threw for 2679 yards and 15 touchdowns in only nine games.

He’ll be tough to slow down, but considering the Orange’s defense was just as bad as Pitt’s last season, the game has the potential to be high-scoring yet again. This should be another shootout for the Panthers, but one they should win.

Prediction: Pitt 62, Syracuse 45

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No pets. 1 year lease ending July 2018. Call 412-983-5222.

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