10-17-19

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T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | October 17, 2019 ­| Volume 110 | Issue 45

SERIES | PITT’S SPEAKIN’ EASY ABOUT GREEN POLICY DEBATE WITH FACULTY UNION ORGANIZERS Neena Hagen

Senior Staff Writer After matching signed authorization cards to faculty names from Pitt’s eligibility list, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ruled in April that union organizers had failed to collect enough cards from eligible faculty to prompt a union election. Union organizers swiftly responded with claims that the University tried to derail unionization efforts by submitting an inflated list of union-eligible faculty.

“We haven’t seen the list yet, but we’re pretty sure Pitt packed the [bargaining] unit with all kinds of people who shouldn’t be in there — students, retired faculty, administrators,” union Amy Wildermuth (left) looks on as Shanti Gamper-Rabindran discusses current issues in environmental policy at the organizer Caroline Brickman said in an April in- Green Speakeasy event in the University Club Library Wednesday afternoon. Wu Caiyi staff photographer terview just days after the PLRB ruling. “I think the administration’s scared. They’re scared to be honest with us.”

According to a study by the American FedThe University Senate Council discussed the said the report demonstrated a large problem Rebecca Johnson eration of Labor, many employers threaten legal report, which was conducted by the Association that needs to be addressed.

Staff Writer delays to dampen morale, drum up legal costs of American Universities, and several other key “A greater awareness of what kind of supFollowing the Tuesday release of a 217-page and ultimately defeat unionization efforts. An campus issues at its meeting Wednesday after- port the University can provide has certainly “inflated” union eligibility list dilutes the sig- report detailing sexual assault and misconduct noon in Posvar Hall. improved, but it’s nowhere near where it should nificance of each authorization card, making it at Pitt, which 15% of the student body respondThe report found that since entering college, be,” Gallagher said. “I think this is going to deharder for union organizers to collect cards from ed to, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher had strong 11.2% of respondents said they experienced mand a much broader, much more engaged set the 30% of faculty needed to prompt a union words for Pitt’s campus culture. penetration at least once and 16.7% of respon- of approaches.”

“The fundamental takeaway is that sexual election. dents said they experienced sexual touching at Gallagher announced Tuesday that the So when organizers received the eligibility assault is far, far, far too prevalent on campus,” least once, involving physical force or inability to University is launching several new initiatives Gallagher said.

See Union on page 2 See Senate on page 3 consent or stop what was happening. Gallagher

SENATE COUNCIL DISCUSSES SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORT, DIVESTMENT

News Union, pg. 1

list in June, they said they were appalled, but not surprised, to find several dozen administrators who clearly don’t belong in the bargaining unit.

Pitt denies organizers’ allegations that it “packed” the bargaining unit According to university spokesman Kevin Zwick, Pitt wanted to exclude administrators from the very beginning of negotiations, and it was organizers who were lukewarm toward the idea. Pitt even presented United Steelworkers’ legal team with a list of faculty positions that Ballard Spahr, the University’s “union avoidance” law firm, had advised it to exclude, but Zwick said USW never agreed to erase any class of administrators from the bargaining unit.

“The University did not have agreement from [organizers] on who should be excluded as a manager or supervisor,” Zwick said. “The University’s list had to include faculty categories that we identified as involving managers and

Read more of today’s stories from The Pitt News online at pittnews.com supervisors, because the USW’s petition includes those on faculty appointments.”

Most of the negotiations about the size of the bargaining unit took place in a March 1 teleconference call between USW, union organizers at Pitt and the University’s lawyers.

The Pitt News obtained a private email exchange between USW organizer Brad Manzolillo and Ballard Spahr attorney Shannon Farmer dated March 8 — a week after the call and a couple weeks before Pitt submitted its list of eligible faculty to the PLRB. In her email to Manzolillo, Farmer proposed a list of nearly 900 exclusions broken down by position, not by name.

Farmer said in her email that Pitt wanted to exclude the chancellor, all provosts and vice provosts, all deans, associate deans and assistant deans and directors of “centers,” “programs” and “institutes” from the list of eligible faculty. But all classes of administrators in Farmer’s email were eventually included on the eligibility list, except the chancellor, provost, a few other senior officers

and the 219 administrators from Pitt’s medical school.

Pitt and organizers have debated whether or not to include the medical school in a faculty union, but no one from the medical school was included in the March showing of interest list submitted to the PLRB. Manzolillo’s response to the email — “I’ve talked with our folks [at USW] and I do think there is potential for resolution of at least some of these classes” — did not list out specific classes of administrators to exclude from the bargaining unit.

Zwick said that email exchange corroborates Pitt’s side of events — organizers never said which administrators they wanted to exclude from the bargaining unit, so the University went ahead and included almost everyone. No Pitt spokesperson took part in the March 1 conference call.

Organizers double-down on allegations that Pitt intentionally inflated the eligibility list

Robin Sowards, a USW researcher and organizer who was on the March 1 call with the University’s lawyers and PLRB board agents, said the idea that Pitt’s attorneys were ever confused about whether to include assistant deans, associate deans and vice provosts in the unit is “pure fantasy.”

A 1990 PLRB ruling determined that about 300 “managers” at Pitt — all deans, provosts, chancellors, presidents and a few other top officials — were ineligible for a faculty union when Pitt faculty tried and failed to unionize that same year.

“We made clear in our conference call that we were petitioning for the unit described in the PLRB’s 1990 decision, which excluded the various deans, presidents, provosts and chancellors since they are all supervisory and/or managerial,” Sowards said.

This is part 2 of a 3-part series.

Find the full series online at

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October 17, 2019

2

Senate, pg. 1 to combat these issues, focused on “empowering the Pitt community,” rather than changing administrative protocol. These approaches include hosting listening sessions, creating several dedicated funding streams, establishing an education and prevention task force and launching a dedicated education and prevention office.

“The approach that we’d like to take is to not address this through an administrative, compliance, education-type response,” Gallagher said.

“While a broken compliance system will undermine any effort to create an effective culture, the converse is not true. A perfect compliance system will not change the culture.”

Some student representatives on the Council said the report accurately represented the assumptions they had about sexual misconduct on campus, specifically its high prevalence.

Anthony Verardi, a graduate student representative from the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, said the report was difficult to hear.

“The week has been really difficult because of the AAU results. Our graduate student organization meeting on Monday was really difficult because people want to talk about these things,” Verardi said. “Among my constituents there is a

feeling of vindication in the results of this survey that these are the things they’ve been saying for years.”

Verardi also had a strong message for the Council about solving the problem. He said that Pitt has a responsibility to address the issue with tangible solutions, rather than just through messaging.

“I think everyone in this room, at this table, has to bear the burden of instilling respect for the bodily autonomy of the people around us whether that’s students, faculty or staff,” Verardi said. “Platitudes about coming together are not going to be enough in compared to actively dismantling the power that us upheld the cycle of trauma within the university system.”

Gallagher also provided updates on major campus construction projects. He noted that the current project to rebuild the crosswalk at the corner of Fifth and Bellefield avenues is winding down, as Bigelow Boulevard prepares to close between Forbes and Fifth avenues on Nov. 1. The road will be closed until Aug. 15, 2020, for a $23.7 million reconstruction project.

Gallagher said he is prepared to be disliked over the 10-month closure.

“I’m prepared to be hated for it, because I know there’s nothing good about that much disruption in that part of campus,” Gallagher said.

“But we have a lot of essential infrastructure that needs replaced that people will care about when it stops working.”

The Senate Council also discussed the weighty issue of fossil fuel divestment with Student Government Board President Zachariah Brown and Executive Vice President Anaïs Peterson, the board’s two representatives on the Council.

Students have taken several steps recently to show interest in divestment — including SGB unanimously approving a divestment resolution earlier this month, the Fossil Free Pitt Coalition interrupting Gallagher at a Board of Trustees meeting and sit-ins held inside and outside the chancellor’s office.

Gallagher repeated Wednesday that the Board of Trustees ultimately decides whether or not to divest the University endowment from fossil fuels, not the University administration. He stressed that the board needs to be convinced there is a fiduciary reason for divestment, in order to protect the endowment’s financial returns.

“The board is responsible for preserving the endowment forever,” Gallagher said. “If the endowment can’t live forever, you are borrowing from future students.”

Gallagher said the movement’s only path

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forward is to craft a more convincing argument regarding profitability that could be presented to the board, unlike the one students made two years ago when the board rejected a similar divestment proposal.

“The one fact here that’s a little bit uncomfortable is that students did raise this issue, it did go through the Student Affairs Committee, it was raised with the full board and the board decided not to vote for investment,” Gallagher said. “The most important thing is the quality of that case.”

Senate President Chris Bonneau echoed this point and said shows of public support like petitions and resolutions will likely not sway the board, since they rejected an earlier proposal.

“Our efforts should be focused on supporting the case that these investments are inconsistent with our values,” Bonneau said. “But nothing is free, and that merits a lot of consideration.”

Peterson pushed back and said divestment is both socially and fiscally responsible, especially with the threat of climate change worsened by fossil fuels.

“We’re saying that we’re going to profit.

We’re going to to extract and burn,” Peterson said. “We cannot do that if we want to have any semblance of life on earth to continue.”

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October 17, 2019

3

Opinions

column

DEMOCRATIC DEBATE BLURBS: A NEW TOP DOG

Julia Kreutzer

Senior Staff Columnist In the fourth and largest debate thus far in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, the race’s top 12 candidates talked foreign policy, health care, abortion and much more. The Oct. 15 debate ushered in a new phase of the race, one in which Elizabeth Warren became the woman to beat, Pete Buttigieg showed his chutzpah and Joe Biden slipped into irrelevance.

Elizabeth Warren: Once again, Warren came out on top. In terms of attention from other candidates and speaking time — which she led by more than six minutes — the Massachusetts senator largely controlled the room and proved that she is a top force in this race. A recurring problem, however, has been her inability to field questions about middle-class tax hikes associated with “Medicare for All.” If she wants to maintain the momentum of her presidential run, she needs to figure out a more candid and eloquent response to this integral question of her campaign.

She jabbed at Biden by thanking former President Barack Obama, and notably not the former vice president, for supporting the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a project which she led. Like Bernie Sanders and Biden, she was forced to field questions about her age to which she responded she will “outwork, out-organize and outlast anyone.” Regardless of her age, I certainly would be anxious to go up against her in a race — both on foot and in politics.

Joe Biden: We saw a much less Biden-y Joe tonight — no more tangents about record players! Warren took over in the hot seat, so Biden saw far fewer attacks from his fellow candidates.

Biden, who was more reminiscent of an endearing grandfather than eloquent president, took a brief but definitive stance of innocence regarding the current Ukraine scandal. However, in a far more familiar move, audiences saw the former vice president attack Warren and Sanders on their “Medicare for All” bills, noting that these plans are too vague and fail to actually explain how they will be funded. Health care is shaping up to be the issue that decides who gets to battle Don-

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Shruti Talekar staff illustrator ald Trump next fall, and unfortunately for Biden, polls show that the scale may be tipping towards democratic socialists like Sanders and Warren.

Amy Klobuchar: The Minnesota senator had the third most speaking time of any candidate — surprising, considering that she’s currently polling at about 2%. Twice, she offered a “reality check to Elizabeth,” implying that Warren’s democratic socialist policies are not realistic and her more moderate approach, one that does not offer universal health care or other democratic socialist policies, was the way to oust Trump. Her sound bite from the night reveals a much deeper schism in the party — candidates seeking to draw moderate Republicans from the party to vote against Trump in 2020 and candidates seeking to expand the Democratic electorate altogether by drawing non-voters to the polls.

Beto O’Rourke: O’Rourke has a strong stance on gun control, one that even his Democratic peers think may be pushing too far. He’s called for the mandatory buyback of assault weapons, claiming “Every single one of them is a potential instrument of terror.” However, on Tuesday night he failed to explain exactly how his administration would go about removing this weapon from unwilling citizens. This policy is really the only thing setting O’Rourke apart from other candidates, and the debate showed the cracks in his

standing ground.

Bernie Sanders: Sanders had less speaking time than even O’Rourke and Klobuchar, which turned heads considering he is still polling at 16% — that’s four times Klobuchar and O’Rourke combined. In many eyes, and according to polls, he is no longer the democratic socialist to beat.

He showed vulnerability and quiet sincerity while thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers in light of his heart attack earlier this month. Sanders had a great performance, eloquently discussing “Medicare for All” and promising voters he will mount a “vigorous” campaign. He reminded voters why he is one of the most beloved political figures of this generation, but it’s becoming apparent that Warren may be taking over the torch in leading the democratic socialist movement.

Pete Buttigieg: In a radical change of tune, Buttigieg took up the offensive on Tuesday night, taking jabs at O’Rourke, Gabbard and Warren. He had no qualms targeting Warren’s refusal to acknowledge middle-class tax hikes, saying, “Your signature, senator, is to have a plan for everything. Except this.”

This snippy reference to Warren’s tagline is a clear shift in Buttigieg’s strategy, which had previously been criticized for being too mild-mannered and lacking passion. It will be interesting to see if this change is enough

October 17, 2019

to boost his polling average above 4% and encroach on Biden’s control of the moderate vote.

Kamala Harris: After stealing the show at the first two debates, it seems that Harris has slipped into oblivion. This strategy may have been intentional, however, as both she and Cory Booker came off as settled and composed in a sea of aggression. A wise move on Harris’ part was to point out the lack of women’s issues discussed in the debates thus far, noting that the lack of questions on abortion in the six debates is “outrageous.” Since Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who had painted herself as the champion of women’s issues, left the race, women’s issues may be an open field that Harris can capitalize on.

Cory Booker: Like Harris, the New Jersey senator chose to largely stay out of the cat fight and paint himself as a cool and collected candidate who floats above the drama. He even went so far as to defend Biden against the Ukraine allegations and chastise the media for giving the scandal any merit, pointing out the parallels between the media’s treatment of Hillary in wake of her 2016 email scandal and their disastrous effect on her campaign. For someone who has already secured a spot in the next debate, it was a wise move to stay the course and avoid drama.

But in the upcoming debates, he must work to climb the polls and cement himself as a contender in the race.

Tulsi Gabbard: Gabbard had a decent night. True to form, she was on the offensive, taking shots at everyone from The New York Times and CNN, to Warren, to Trump. She also was the only candidate to state she supports banning third-trimester abortions. She is running on her ability to be a composed and experienced commander-in-chief, but on the home front, she lacks the relatability of some other moderates and has more support from Republicans than Democrats.

Tom Steyer: I had to look up who this guy was, and he did nothing to make me want to.

Take a note from Gillibrand.

4

Culture Khuraki exhibit brings Afghan immigrants’ stories to life

MJ LaRocque

For The Pitt News A vase of red tulips sat on a table in front of a headscarf-clad woman at the Charity Randall Theater on Tuesday. She plucks a tulip from the vase and holds it up to the light, considering it and telling the story of the home she left behind in Afghanistan.

The scene was part of an immersive theater experience called “Khūrākī,” created by artist Molly Rice, in which audience members come intimately close with the stories of several Afghan women who recently became American citizens.

“Khūrākī” came to the Stephen Foster Memorial, thanks to Pitt’s Open Door Project, which works to provide opportunities for the Pitt community to celebrate and appreciate diversity. Several actors told the stories of Afghan women from a script Rice wrote. Each story is 15 minutes long, and the women’s favorite homemade dishes are typically served throughout most performances, though were absent from this one because of a lack of a kitchen in the building. When the stories were finished, a panel, including the actors, Rice and a few of the Afghan women, took questions from the audience.

Rice began this storytelling journey with the Pittsburgh Arts Council Office of Public Art as a resident artist in May 2017. For her first year as a resident artist, she focused on learning about the refugee experience through Pittsburgh’s largest resettlement agency, Community Assistance and Refugee Resettlement at the Northern Area Multiservice Center. She then worked closely with Afghan women for the first 90 days after they moved to Pittsburgh.

In those 90 days, she would pick up families from the airport, get them settled in their new home and teach them about American culture. Rice also organized a weekly sewing class for women. Along the way her husband, Rusty, joined her in her work and became the co-producer and director for “Khūrākī.” Rice said Pittsburgh was the perfect city to her and her husband do their work.

“Pittsburgh is literally making our dreams come true,” she said. “Being able to enter such a

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Tressa Glover tells the story of Mastoorah. “Art as Activism: Excerpts from Khuraki” featured actresses who told the stories of three Afghan women who moved to America. Carolyn Pallof staff photographer rich, creative landscape with our own ideas and be able to activate them and make them reality has just been the best part of my creative life to date.”

The exhibit began with a presentation from Molly on her creative process. In the second year of her residency, she said, “Khūrākī” grew into a production. After starting the sewing group, Molly hoped to incorporate that as part of the project.

However, she said when she talked to the women about it, they wanted to celebrate their culture through food because that’s what they knew best.

Molly ran with this idea. She interviewed several of the Afghan women from the sewing group and created a script to be performed by actors. According to Molly, this would provide a narrative portrait of the Afghan women and they would prepare the food that would accompany the story.

The Afghan women featured were able to help cast the actors. Molly and Rusty held auditions and narrowed it down to several candidates for their five stories. Then, they invited the Afghan women in to meet the actors. Molly asked the actors to describe their own lives to the women and tell their own stories, and the Afghan women chose who they wanted to represent them based on their ability to describe where they were from.

Actor Tressa Glover told the story of Mastoorah — one of the original members of the sewing group that Molly started, who chose Glover as the actor to represent her. The scene opened with Glover sitting on the edge of her seat, hands in her lap and her ankles crossed.

Mastoorah grew up in Kabul, which Glover pointed out on a map. This was a safe place from most of the political issues going on in Afghanistan until the Taliban came into power when she was 6. She remembered how girls had to cover their entire bodies and hide their books, and the trouble that girls would get into if they broke the rules. When the Taliban’s regime was removed, she said her community celebrated.

“We elected a new president, new government and all schools and universities opened immediately for girls and the Taliban left,” she said.

“Now Afghanistan has everything — electricity, school for girls — the only thing we don’t have is peace.”

Next, Alison Weisgall, another actor, told the story of a woman named Nafisa. Nafisa is from Herat and said she chose Pittsburgh because one of her best friends lives in the area. Her husband approved of the choice and they moved here two years ago. She remembers her time in Afghanistan fondly and often wishes to go back to her

October 17, 2019

family and the greenery there. Weisgall kneeled down and looked up to the ceiling, as though she were really sitting in a grassy field with trees hanging down over head.

“My mom’s there, she has a big garden with fruit trees,” she said. “When I look up in the trees with their fruits all fresh and colorful I feel like I don’t want to sleep, I just want to stay there under the trees. Stay there for a long time.”

Finally, Alex Manalo told Gul’s story. Gul is from rural Maidan Wardak where she grew up with 11 siblings. She married her husband, Tabee, when she was 14 years old, though reminded the audience several times that this is normal for her people. She came to America not long after getting married and was able to draw meteorological parallels between her homes in Afghanistan and America. Manalo used a nearby apple on stage to demonstrate a globe, explaining that Wardak is famous for its variety of apples.

“It gets cold there too, same as Pittsburgh. We have the same weather. When you see a map of the whole world Afghanistan and Pittsburgh are the same, the same line across the world,” she said.

“Almost exactly as far away as we can be from one another. You can not go further away in the world without beginning to come back.”

At the end of the show, there was a small panel with a few of the women from the project, including Mastoorah, who was able to respond to some questions.

Audience member Carol Mullen, director of communications and undergraduate recruitment at the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, said she found the event engaging and informative.

“It’s this wonderful combination of education but also entertainment,” she said. “I don’t think that it loses any of intimacy because of the staging. In fact, I found myself leaning in to get closer just because the stories are so personal and so relatable.”

Mastoorah said she wants the show to be an educational experience for those that are curious about Afghan life and culture.

“We want you guys to know about our story,” Mastoorah said. “About different people and different cultures, different lifestyles.”

5

Sports

PANTHERS TREK NORTH PANTHERS SOCCER TO RENEW SYRACUSE SLOWLY CATCHING UP TO ACC COMPETITION FOOTBALL RIVALRY Dominic Campbell Staff Writer

Alex Kessman (97) gets a running start before kicking a field goal.

Thomas Yang assistant visual editor

John Riskis Staff Writer

Pitt football (4-2, 1-1 ACC) looks to continue its three game win streak after another close victory at Duke when it faces rival Syracuse (3-3) away this Friday.

In their road game last week, the Panthers built an early lead only to watch it disappear late in the game once again. They managed to fend off Duke’s late game surge with a final go-ahead score that capped a six-play, 82-yard drive.

Reviewing last week’s game, Narduzzi commented on the team’s resilience and will to win.

“Our kids hung in there … On that final drive, Kenny Pickett led the show, our offensive line did a good job and players made plays like they’re supposed to,” said Narduzzi.

Looking ahead to Friday, Pitt will face

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a familiar foe in the Syracuse Orange. This will be the 75th installment in a long-standing series between the two squads. Pitt leads the series 39-32-3 in all-time wins through their collective time in the Big East and ACC. The Panthers also won last season in a thrilling 44-37 OT victory at home.

Part of the nail-biting nature of the PittSyracuse rivalry can be attributed to the similarities they share, especially on defense.

Narduzzi referenced some of those details in his weekly press conference.

“Probably their favorite blitz is the double A blitz which looks just like our blitz, so we know what to do with that,” said Narduzzi.

Narduzzi recognized the competitiveness of Syracuse rivalry and the hostile atmosphere the Carrier Dome will present.

“We know we’re in for a dog fight,” Narduzzi said. “We get to go up in the dome. We See Article on page 7

While Pitt fans have primarily been fixated on football and volleyball teams this fall, the men’s and women’s soccer programs have also begun to make noise in the ACC. The men are fresh off a 3-1 loss to Penn State on Tuesday night, but sit at 6-5-2 overall and 2-2-1 in ACC conference play. Meanwhile, the women have not fared as well, but still are treading water at 4-7-3 and 1-3-2 in ACC play. While neither of these teams have particularly spectacular records, it is important to understand how far both have come.

For the men’s program, they haven’t had a winning season since 2008, when they were in the Big East conference. They were coached by Panthers’ soccer great Joe Luxbacher, who still holds the record for most goals scored with 38 and points with 84 in a career. He coached the team from 1984-2015 and although he won Big East coach of the year twice in the 1990s, he finished his coaching career with seven straight losing seasons.

On the women’s side, the team has never reached great heights at all, with an all-time record coming into this season at 125-249-33. Their last postseason appearance was in 2010 in the Big East tournament, which was a loss to DePaul in the first round. Former head coach Greg Miller had a terrible record in his six years as head coach from 2012-17, going 32-69-8, including just one ACC win in his final two seasons, eventually leading to him being fired.

Today, both teams owe their vast improvement to landing two all-time great coaches, Jay Vidovich for men’s soccer and Randy Waldrum for women’s soccer.

Vidovich came to Pitt in 2015 after an illustrious career at Wake Forest where he served as an assistant coach from 1986-93 and then as head coach from 1994-2014. He was named ACC Coach of the Year five times and NSCAA Coach

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of the Year twice in 2007-08. In his 21 seasons as head coach of the Demon Deacons, he went 271121-50, made the NCAA tournament 13 of his final 14 seasons and won a National Championship in 2007.

Waldrum is also recognized as one of the greatest soccer coaches in NCAA history. He coached both the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Tulsa from 1989-94 and then founded the women’s soccer team at Baylor, coaching from 96-98, before taking the head job at Notre Dame.

But both eventually found their way to Pitt and had to adjust from the high expectations of their former programs to that of the middling Pitt Panthers. Success hasn’t come easy or often for either program, despite their coaches’ championship pedigrees, though things are looking up.

Vidovich struggled mightily in his first season as head coach, going 2-13-3 overall and 0-6-2 in conference play in 2016. In those eight ACC games, the Panthers failed to score in six of those games and their two leading scorers tied at three goals a piece for the entire season.

In Vidovich’s second season in 2017, a 2-1 win against No. 21 Syracuse jump-started the struggling program. The win was the first ACC win in program history, ending a streak of 38 winless ACC games, dating back to 2013. It was also the first conference win since 2011 and the first against a ranked opponent since 2008, both coming when Pitt was still a part of the Big East conference.

That season the Panthers tallied two more impressive wins, defeating both No. 13 Columbia and No. 7 Notre Dame away from home in the regular season. But their season ended in a 5-0 blowout defeat at the hands of Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, despite the Panthers’ improved records.

The next season saw similar results, 8-10-1, for the men’s team, which looked to initially warn of the program plateauing and not ascending See Soccer on page 7

6

Football, pg. 6 know it’ll be hot, it’ll be stuffy, it’ll be loud one way or another.”

Led by stars like senior defensive linemen Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman, the Orange defense looks menacing.

Additionally, sophomore defensive back Andre Cisco, having captured seven interceptions last season, can lock down on the back end for the Orange. Pitt will need to give junior quarterback Kenny Pickett good protection against these talented edge rushers.

Offensively, Syracuse runs a tempo offense similar to that of UCF with quick snaps and no-huddle pace. The Orange are led by sophomore quarterback Tony DeVito, who has passed for 1,534 yards this season with a 65.5% completion rate. Senior running back Moe Neal and junior wide receiver Tristan Shannon top their offensive weapons.

To return home with a win, Pitt must continue its defense dominance against opponents so far. Coming into this game tied second in the FBS in sacks, we know what this defensive line is capable of doing.

Finding pressure and forcing turnovers will

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prove critical in putting this game away. On the flip side, Pickett and the offense must not commit erroneous turnovers of their own, lest the Panthers repeat another second-half scare.

More importantly, finishing games like they have in the past three outings will be paramount. A recipe similar to last week at Duke may not always end so favorably, especially on the road. Narduzzi must learn from mistakes and execute wins when leading.

Prediction Pitt: 17, Syracuse: 14 The Pitt defense will once again be the star of the show with sophomore defensive lineman Jaylen Twyman, sophomore defensive back Paris Ford and crew holding Syracuse to under 300 yards in this game. Another Pitt defensive score will result off a key fumble by the Orange offense.

The Panther’s offense will struggle on the road against a strong defensive rival, but offensive coordinator Mark Whipple will once again piece together another late game-clinching drive, this time being a field goal off the foot of junior placekicker Alex Kessman.

Soccer, pg. 6 to greater heights. That all changed in the first game of the ACC tournament, as they defeated seventh seed Virginia 2-0 in the first round. It was their first win in the ACC tournament and also cemented the star status of then sophomore forward Edward Kizza, who scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season, tying himself for thirdmost in a single season in program history.

In the quarterfinals, the Panthers drove the Duke Blue Devils to penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods, where they lost 5-3. While they again suffered a heartbreaking loss, Pitt proved that it is a program on the rise.

Waldrum’s first season in 2018 was a little better overall than Vidovich’s at 4-12-1 overall, but went winless in the ACC, 0-10, including a devastating loss to Miami at home, when they surrendered a two goal lead and lost 3-2.

But Waldrum’s team has already achieved four wins so far in 2019, including a 2-1 overtime win over Boston College last Thursday. Victory over the Golden Eagles also ended a 28-game winless streak in ACC play that stretches back more than three years.

While this season won’t likely end in a ACC

October 17, 2019

tournament appearance, women’s soccer at Pitt is definitely on the rise, especially with the attacking prowess of first-year forward Amanda West, who has eight goals and eight assists on the season.

The men’s team has also shown great improvement as they pass the midway point in their season, with a record of 6-5-2 overall and 2-2-1 in the ACC, with wins against Boston College and No. 22 Virginia Tech.

Kizza has kept up his impressive play, with eight goals and three assists, while first-year midfielder Veljko Petkovic has been an offensive force, scoring four goals and creating five assists.

Kizza’s goal tally and Petkovic’s assist tallies are both tied for fourth in the ACC. Both teams clearly deserve praise for coming so far, but there is still a lot of work for both teams and coaches Vidovich and Waldrum to do. These high-profile coaches will be expected to keep building both Pitt programs as they have at other schools.

If both coaches can continue to recruit players like West and Kizza, the teams will be in great shape going forward. Still, the challenge of playing in what many consider the best soccer conference in America means that it may take some time for these programs to achieve the kind of postseason success their respective head coaches are accustomed to.

7

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R A T E S

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Deadline:

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

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 17, 2019

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

The Pitt news crossword 10/17/19

I N D E X

Rentals & Sublet

ACROSS 1 Quick blows 5 In need of a massage 9 “Back to the Future” surname 14 Kitchen topper 15 Repeatable toy vehicle sound 16 Pine or Rock 17 Duo in the news 18 Pushed the bell 19 Fountain pen precursor 20 Article about life jackets?

23 Whirl, so to speak 24 Brewed beverages 25 Didn’t let renege on 28 Chi follower 29 Bumbler 30 Steal from 31 Article about a European language?

36 Serpent suffix 37 Latest thing 38 Monet medium 39 CBS military series 40 Texter’s “Yikes!”

41 Article about crosswords?

45 Solemn assurance 46 Word ending for enzymes 47 Deli delicacy 48 Surround, as with a glow 50 Cherokee on the road 52 Dude 55 Article about a dessert?

58 Choral work 60 Small addition?

61 Honey haven 62 Ward off 63 School near Windsor 64 __-friendly 65 Entourage 66 “The Metaphysics of Morals” writer 67 Cubs spring training city DOWN 1 Support beam 2 Destination for a wedding

10/17/19

By Susan Gelfand

3 Like many wrestlers 4 Unspecified amount 5 Nail salon material 6 Irritate 7 Sharpens 8 Class with mats 9 “12 Years a Slave” director Steve 10 Boor 11 Panda Express staple 12 Short short?

13 Designer monogram 21 Assignment 22 Classic 1954 horror film about giant ants 26 Vodka __ 27 More than a bit heavy 28 Middle of Tripoli?

29 One advocating buying 31 Trees of a kind, often 32 San __, city near San Francisco 33 Meringue ingredients 34 Go slowly 35 Claiborne of fashion

Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved

©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

39 Scuttle 41 Painter’s set of colors 42 Biennial games org.

43 Mercury, for one 44 Orchestra name reflecting its music 49 Superb servers 50 Volkswagen sedan 51 Big name in stationery

10/17/19

52 Capital WNW of Cheyenne 53 Wanders 54 Stage performance with singing 56 Give a strong impression (of) 57 Buddy 58 Hiker’s guide 59 Lacto-__ vegetarian

Employment Employment Other CHOOLAAH restau­ rant located at 6114 Centre Ave is looking to hire Cooks and Cashiers to join our Team. Starting is $10.

A‑players can get to $12 in 6‑8 weeks.

Flexible Schedules for

October 17, 2019

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