Point Park Globe Spring 2019 Issue 2

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Woodstock’s co-creator announces a 50th anniversary festival Jordan Slobodinsky looks at Steel City’s industrial past and polluted present Competitive cheer and dance holds program’s inaugural home meet ppuglobe.com

Covering the world of Point Park University news since 1967

Issue 2

Former student, among cast members of President ‘Hamilton’ hold discussion with students attends meeting USG

By Mitchell Drake USG Beat Writer

Nick Koeler | The Globe

Edred Utomi speaks about his journey to reaching his role on the broadway US tour. He sits alongside Peter Matthew Smith in the PNC Theater at the Pittsburgh Playhouse

By Nick Tommarello For The Globe

From the man who will kill your family to remind you of his love, to the man who’s not throwing away his shot, Peter Matthew Smith plays King George III and Edred Utomi plays Alexander Hamilton in the national tour of “Hamilton: an American Musical.” The actors paid a visit to the Pittsburgh Playhouse last Thursday afternoon to talk about their experience

performing on stage.

After graduating from Quaker Valley High School in 1995, Peter Matthew Smith attended Point Park University, but he never finished his degree. After his junior year, he auditioned in New York City for the hit Broadway musical, “Rent,” and was cast as the youngest member in the company.

“20 years ago, “Rent” was ‘the show’ at the time.”

Smith said. “It was my end

all be all show.”

Smith knew that he couldn’t pass up this once-ina-lifetime opportunity.

“Everyone’s like, you need to go do this because this is what we’re training you to do” Smith said. “I had such a great time when I was at [Point Park] and had that support system. It just felt that everything was right to go into that gig.”

Smith also performed in the 2001 production of

“Mamma Mia” in the ensemble, was a replacement in “Fiddler on the Roof” as Motel and played the original Brad in the 2002 production of “Hairspray.” He didn’t want to be a carbon copy of previous performers, and knew how important it was to put himself into his roles.

Smith has a 4-year-old daughter, Addison, with his TV news anchor wife, Amy Lutz.

University president Paul Hennigan visited the second United Student Government (USG) meeting of the Spring 2019 semester to discuss how Point Park will adjust its tuition pricing structure.

Hennigan detailed how the faculty have been studying ways to form comprehensible and fair tuition pricing structures for prospective and currently enrolled students. He presented the idea of using student focus groups to USG. The focus groups will be comprised of 10 students that are geographically, ethnically and educationally diverse in order to gauge a reaction from a range of different perspectives across campus. Hennigan stated that the aim of these focus groups is to provide data on how well students can understand current and possible future models of tuition pricing by having them choose which model is the most comprehensible.

While most of the details on the focus groups remain confidential (three

USG page 3

HAMILTON page 4

Point Perk officially open for business one semester

By Hayley Keys For The Globe

A 2018 study published by the National Coffee Association says that approximately 48 percent of college aged individuals drink some form of coffee every day, creating a high demand for the hot beverage on university campuses.

Point Park is no exception.

When the old Starbucks on the corner of Fort Pitt Blvd. and Wood Street closed its doors in May of 2017, many students wanted a new coffeehouse.

“Point Park students put together this video when it closed and how all they wanted was coffee,” Director of Dining Services Zachary Schmidt said.

“It was actually hilarious.”

Point Park’s response: Point Perk, located at 100 Wood Street near Village Park has now officially been open for one semester and has been busy so far, according to Schmidt.

Point Perk is open to the University and the general public. It is run by CulinArt and sells Starbucks coffee and a mix of food from the popular coffee chain and the Point Café.

“We’ve been working our hardest to blend ourselves into the university,” Schmidt

said. “We want to be just as intertwined and into the frame and help the student body get along.”

Throughout the fall semester, Point Perk was host to a variety of student-run performances, including open mic nights and comedy shows.

“So whether it’s through booking talent through the University, or looking into outside talent, we’re getting involved in booking the space so there is constantly activities going on in here,” said

Schmidt.

However, Schmidt mentioned that event attendance was a notable issue in Point Perk’s first semester, which he attributed partially to a lack of advertising.

“Because of the lack of marketing we don’t have that call to action, so our performances were somewhat lacking in attendance,” Schmidt said.

“The vibe is nice,” Porscha Tresler, a freshman psychology major who enjoys the cof-

fee house said, noticing a lack of attendance at the events.

“Whenever my roommate and I went for karaoke night, there were about eight people. They don’t advertise anything.”

“We try to push the student groups to not be deterred since this was only our first semester open,” Schmidt said.

The dining services director discussed his team’s plan to boost publicity which included ideas for community bulletin boards, the Instagram page, new neon signage and

Robert Berger | The Globe Freshman Brandon Bruce watches as a barista at Point Perk finishes preparing his coffee.

special meal deals with punch cards.

Some of these changes have already been implemented including the Instagram page where students can find weekly deals on coffee and snacks. The meal punch cards can be found at any of the three dining locations on campus.

“Buy 10 coffees and get one free and if you spend more than $1.50 towards breakfast, you get a punch on the card,” said Schmidt.

Schmidt also talked about involving Point Perk in the curriculum of select marketing classes to provide students with hands on experience booking venues.

Even without planned events, Point Perk’s coffee alone attracts a large number of students daily.

Tyeisha Walker has been an employee of CulinArt for the past two years and now specializes as a barista for the coffee shop.

“I like getting to know everybody and just interacting with the students,” Walker said. “That’s my favorite part of the job.”

Hayley Keys hekeys@pointpark.edu

Weather Forecast Today: Cloudy H 37, L 21

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Sunday: Snow Showers, H 23, L 6 Monday: Mostly Sunny, H 19, L 6 Tuesday: Mostly Cloudy, H 31, L 22

Point Park

GLOBE

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

NEWS

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

Students take advantage of growing study abroad opportunities, expand horizons

By Diego Febres-Cordero For The Globe

Study abroad programs have exploded in the last two decades. As more and more companies operate internationally, there is a new demand for students who can travel and adapt with ease, offer new perspectives and incorporate new cultures into their products.

The growth of programs continued during the 20162017 academic school year with a 2.3 percent increase from the previous year, and more than 300,000 American students interning, studying or volunteering overseas each year. But the big question for students is, is it worth it?

Sam Oliver, a former Point Park student who has since transferred to Duquesne University to study marketing, says it was a life-changing experience.

“It was, by far, the greatest experience of my life,” Oliver said.

Students’ first concern regarding study abroad programs likely falls on cost. The ability to incorporate studying abroad into an academic career isn’t going to cost much more than a semester’s tuition, but there are some catches.

Although federal and state scholarships and loans may be applied to a program, Point Park’s scholarships for studying abroad will max out at $2,500.

With the university having a limit it can offer in aid, students may take advantage of websites like StudyAbroad.

com to help them search for a suitable scholarship opportunity. Along with tuition costs, individuals must take into account spending money and the cost of travelling.

There are different factors to consider depending on your interests, but recommendations from the website capaworld.capa.org are around $4,000-$8,000. Before scholarships and loans, Point Park students should plan on spending $18,990– $22,990 total for one semester.

Aside from tuition costs, students of Point Park have the choices of studying in different locations around Europe.

The programs offered to students range in length from a few weeks to a full semester and include locations like Regent’s University in London, The American University of Rome, University of Salford and the Conservatorio Superior de Danza de Madrid “Maria de Avila” (CSDMA).

Regent’s University and the American University of Rome are open to any student with sophomore status or between 30 to 90 credits completed. The University of Salford is for broadcasting majors, and CSDMA is for the dance program.

Students wishing to study abroad work with Amanda Anderson, the Director of Student Life, to coordinate classes that Point Park has pre-approved and work out a schedule to make sure students maintain

Nicole Pampena | The Globe

Nicole Pampena traveled to Italy with the Spring 2018 International Media class. The class offers students another opportunity to travel abroad for a shorter period of time. full-time status of at least 12 credits. Anderson says students aren’t limited to these programs.

“We will work with students that would like to go through another program to get the credits pre-approved before your departure…but with these non-affiliate programs only the credits will transfer and won’t affect your GPA,” Anderson said.

Not only are undergraduates pursuing study abroad opportunities, but graduate students are as well, since graduate schools link study abroad experiences with displaying diversity, seeking out challenges and presenting a unique commitment to schooling.

Sam Oliver is the only Point Park University

student to have participated in the study abroad program at the American University of Rome, where he stayed for four months.

Oliver says he would recommend it to anyone.

“If given the opportunity to do it another time, I’d choose the same place again,” Oliver said.

During the program, Oliver was placed in an apartment close to the campus he was attending with other American students. Although it was Oliver’s first time leaving the country, he said he was able to fully embrace the Italian culture and never experienced culture shock.

Angela Scaramucci, Director of the Career Development Center, says she believes studying abroad helps students grow.

“I believe it helps students stand out, diversify skills and experience new cultures, which can be great for offering new perspec-

tives,” Scaramucci said.

Scaramucci is directly involved with hundreds of companies around the Pittsburgh area and around the country. Although Scaramucci did not study abroad, she knew many people who did and ended up with internships through their experiences overseas. Standing out to employers and obtaining a job is one of the top reasons for extending an academic career.

“Major companies around the United States like to see that opportunity taken advantage of,” Scaramucci said.

She also mentioned that if you take classes with language it will help even more.

“Companies who conduct international business may seek out different individuals that studied at language schools to help promote their business in that country,” Scaramucci said.

Diego Febres-Cordero dafebre@pointpark.edu

Hattie Charney | Submitted

Hattie Charney, junior broadcast reporting and journalism major, poses in a telephone booth during her time studying abroad in the United Kingdom.

Correction

ü

In last week’s article “Philanthropy on the rise...” Dara Collins was cited as a live source.

Dara Collins is currently on The Globe staff as the Editor-Elect.

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

3

Upcoming class schedules Hennigan addresses housing and tuition could introduce Fridays Influx of new members, club concerns also discussed

By Hayley Keys For The Globe

Point Park students may be adding Fridays to their weekly schedule of classes in the near future, according to university administrators. The change is being considered due to a lack of available classroom space during popular class times.

However, some students have expressed concern that the change would be an inconvenience to their schedules and are reluctant to accept the idea.

“I would not like a class on Friday,” Evan Laurent, a freshman broadcast production major, said. “I would like another day for work or to work on school assignments.”

According to Spencer Scott, one of the university’s registrars, said the odds of this change happening anytime soon is about 15 percent and the earliest anything would happen wouldn’t be until 2022.

“No one wants to teach at eight o’clock in the morning,” Scott said. “So between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. our space is really, really tight.”

But it’s not just the teachers who want to sleep in. Many students purposely schedule classes later in the day, which makes it difficult to fit everyone in for the class times they want.

Scott explained that many of the classrooms are unused on Fridays, as most non-conservatory students do not have class. While three-hour long classes do occur on Friday, there are not enough classes to make efficient use of the space.

According to Scott, this isn’t a matter of lack of space. The real problem is with how the time slots are laid out and how the classrooms are put to use.

The university is also considering how much of the day they want to use for classes. One idea is to make Monday and Wednesday classes an hour long and then add another hour of class time on Friday, so that students still get the standard three hours a week per class. Another thought is to only have classes scheduled until 3 p.m. on Fridays.

Jonas Prida, the Assistant Provost of Point Park, said there is talk about making Wednesdays the “new Fridays” in order to prevent students from skipping class.

Scott claimed that the main goal behind the ideas is to change how time is spent to get the best experience for the student body and the faculty.

Adding another day onto the teaching week could also help make room for more faculty meetings and club meetings. Currently, Monday afternoons serve as the time slot for these activities. For example, the United Student Government has legislative body meetings at 3 p.m.

Another reason for the change is the university’s goal to prepare students for the work world and having Fridays off could cripple a student’s motivation.

Behind this reasoning, Scott cited one of his previ-

from USG page 1

ous jobs at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

“Many of [the students] went to college, graduate school and started teaching,” Scott said. “Having a day off or Friday off was what they were used to,” Scott says. “It was harder to make something like that work.”

Prida said his hope is that a five-day week would bring in an influx of students aged 18 to 24 years old, so the university can grow its programs.

“If you can even have a steady rate where you add maybe only 10 students a semester, you’ve just added 30 more students,” Prida said. “Having more classes available allows us to break classes down so instead of 25 people, you can have 12.”

Jehnie Burns, a history professor at Point Park, agreed that the class size, especially for writing intensive classes or production classes, is imperative to student success.

“I don’t think there is really anyone who wants to move to 60 or 70 student lecture classes,” Burns said.

“That’s just not what Point Park is.”

According to Scott, the university has not had “specific Friday classes for a long time,” and that changing that culture could take some time and student pushback is expected.

Sean Martin, a freshman global cultural studies major, commutes in order to save money, using the bus to travel to school twice a day.

“Having class on Friday would require me to pay $5 more a week in order to make it to class,” Martin said.

Martin also works at Ice Castle in Castle Shannon on the weekends. He works anywhere from 20-22 hours a weekend, which leaves him little free time.

“I would not like Point Park making Friday classes the norm because it would make it more difficult for me to balance work with school,” Martin said. “I would have severely less time to do my school work.”

Martin also said that his previous classes were not big and had approximately 20 students in them.

“The university could increase the class size a lit-

tle bit in order to increase space,” Martin suggested.

Administrators disapproved of increasing class sizes because they believe one of Point Park’s perks is having smaller class sizes.

Natalie Brandt, a sophomore undeclared major who, like Martin, does not want Point Park to add Fridays into the weekly schedule.

Unlike Martin, who only has a 15-minute commute, Brandt’s trip is an hour each way.

“For me, once I commute downtown I would like to get in as much as possible before I commute home again,” Brandt said. “I have no problem with longer classes.”

Another group of students who would be affected are those in the athletic program. Scott pointed out that athletes sometimes leave on Friday mornings for games or matches that take place on Saturday. Having class on a day that is consistently missed would be pointless for both the student and the professor.

Julius Thomas, a freshman cinema production major who runs cross country and track, opposes the idea of having class on Friday.

“I definitely think they shouldn’t [hold Friday classes], because sometimes you have meets on Friday or you have to leave Friday for a game on Saturday so you miss class,” Thomas said.

“Also with just practice and stuff, an extra class is the last thing someone would want.”

When Scott presented his idea to some of the fulltime faculty, he said the reaction was split 50/50 with those in favor and those against. He also mentions that many of the faculty have experience working outside of the university, so they are most likely used to working on Fridays.

“We’re not going to force the students to take a course on a Friday,” Prida said. “But there will certainly be faculty and students who want to take opportunities, and then hopefully we can start having some courses on Friday.”

Hayley Keys hekeys@pointpark.edu

unnamed researchers will compile the data, an unnamed Point Park alum will lead the study and the results will not be publicized), Hennigan offered USG the ability to organize their own focus group of 10 heterogenous students. The responsibility of choosing students for the group was passed onto the USG’s Student Concerns Committee at the end of the meeting.

Hennigan also discussed Point Park’s lack of current plans to purchase more property, even housing. However, he commented that more “decent” private housing providers have offered student housing this year than he has usually seen.

Hennigan then expressed his concern for students being able to find decent housing, citing incidents where students that lived at private housing in Oakland were not required to keep their housing up to code. The students would supposedly neglect the maintenance of the apartments and lead to unsafe living conditions or lack of working appliances.

Hennigan plans to return to the USG meeting on March 4, to discuss more issues and concerns addressed by students.

With the application deadline for USG Senators ending Friday, Jan. 18, Senator Jacob Berlin later claimed that the influx of newly applied members will only temporarily fill Senate seats, further fueling a “revolving door” of new and leaving senators. Berlin also questioned the initiative of new members that could treat USG “like a club you would get into for a few weeks and then just leave.”

Treasurer Kortney Lampel and Senator Megan Ortego refuted the claims, stating that new senators are taken only to host an

array of perspectives from different schools across campus and that the recent bout of resignations allowed for a greater number of seats to be filled.

The rest of the meeting touched on various ways that USG will give attention to more concerns held by students by finding methods of advertising USG’s usefulness.

The Student Concerns Committee plans to send officers to other student club meetings to probe for issues, questions and needs that the average student would generate.

Members of the Communications Committee have drafted posts for social media outlets like Twitter and Instagram to help advertise the new open senate positions and the use of USG as more of a resource for students than just an internal organization on campus.

They also plan to advertise the weekly legislative body meetings through spots on WPPJ to invite more students to ask questions and state concerns during open floor sessions.

The meeting came to an odd discovery that the ideas for the next Pioneer Community Day Committee meeting on Friday, Jan. 18, will be basing their plans off of the ideas previously used in the 2014 Pioneer Community Day, which raised some confusion.

Advisor Rachel Phillips explained that the binders of more recent years were taken by the previous chair and were never returned, leaving the committee members to work with the 2014 idea binder. Senator Dennis McDermott suggested entering future idea binders and related USG documents into an online archive-like system to ensure their safety, malleability and security.

Mitchell Drake mjdrake@pointpark.edu

Robert Berger | The Globe

President Hennigan addressed USG and student concerns regarding tuition and housing at their meeting on Monday.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

FEATURES

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

‘Hamilton’ stars offer advice for COPA students from HAMILTON page 1 He tries to spend as much time with his family any chance he gets. He will drive home after performances to visit his family if he is close enough, and will even fly his family out to see him when he travels across the country.

“We try and not go four weeks without seeing each other… FaceTime is a beautiful thing,” Smith said.

Utomi stressed the fact that actors need to stay humble; you’re never too big for any job, and any job is still a job. He understood that he needed to keep a level head.

“I had to treat the Hamilton audition like any other.

You can’t psych yourself out.

Don’t let people who haven’t made you, break you,” Utomi said.

There have been times where Utomi felt like he got

roles because of the color of his skin. He reflected on the time when he played the part of Judah in “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat,” a historically black role. He knew that deep down inside he was a lot better than the typecasting he fell victim to, so he told himself that he was done.

“After a while, I told myself, I’m just not going to do it.”

Utomi said. “Even if I have to not work. Like I said, I’ll show you. I’ll wait for the role. And that’s hard to do sometimes.”

He auditioned for the show again, and was called back for Judah, Joseph and the Elvis impersonator ‘Pharaoh’.

Casting believed that Utomi could be a great Pharaoh, but his Elvis impersonation was terrible. He got to take the role and keep the same music, but put his own spin on the role.

“I played what has historically been a role for a white

person as me.” Utomi said.

He waited long enough.

And now he can say that he played Alexander Hamilton.

“Even if I have to not work. Like I said, I’ll show you. I’ll wait for the role.

And that’s hard to do sometimes.”

Edred Utomi Hamilton, Hamilton

At the end of the Q&A session, three junior musical theater students had the opportunity to sing in front of Smith and Utomi. Rachel Cahoon has always been someone who gets extremely nervous right up to the moment she starts singing.

“With Edred and Peter there, I thought I would have even more of a tough time dealing with those nerves in my actual performance. But getting to actually talk to them before I sang, helped me put myself more at ease because they were so down to earth and genuinely seemed like they cared about helping us.”

Cahoon said.

Students can see both Utomi and Smith in “Hamilton: An American Musical,” now playing at the Benedum Center until January 27th.

HAMILTON at the Benedum Center

Jan. 18

8 p.m.

Jan. 19

2 p.m. & 8 p.m.

Jan. 20

1 p.m. & 7 p.m.

Jan. 22

7:30 p.m.

Jan. 23

7:30 p.m.

Jan. 24

7:30 p.m.

Jan. 25

8 p.m.

Jan. 26

2 p.m. & 8 p.m.

Jan. 27

1 p.m.

Nick Tommarello natomma@pointpark.edu

New Studios.

New Lineup.

THE SOUND OF

POINT PARK UNIVERSITY WPPJRadio.com

PIONEER PUBLIC Aleina Smith

By Payton Comunale Co-Features Editor

Point Park professor Dr. Aleina Smith graduated high school with almost 4,000 community service hours and has earned herself six college degrees.

“I love to learn,” Smith said. “I love to challenge myself. I love to be in a space where other people want to challenge themselves. I was the nerd, but I was the cool nerd. I worked hard and got really good grades.”

Despite this deep passion for being in the class-

room, Smith never foresaw herself becoming a professor.

Smith graduated from the University of Pittsburgh after three years with a degree in Latin American studies and political science. She always had the desire to help others and be a voice for the voiceless.

“I thought I was meant to be in a courtroom, an advocate, fighting for the underdog,” Smith said. “But I got burnt out.”

Before coming to Point Park, Smith did leadership development with 120 teenage Girl Scouts from East Allegheny School District in North Versailles, Pa. She helped the junior year girls fundraise to tour their dream schools around the country while participating in community service.

“I wanted the non-traditional student to be part of Girl Scouts,” Smith said.

Many recognized Smith’s amazing work with young students and sug-

Nick Koehler | The Globe Two Hamilton cast stars, Peter Matthew Smith (left) and Edred Utomi (right), talking to Point Park Students about their successes and failures.

gested she would do well as an educator.

“People would always say to me during my time with Girl Scouts, ‘You know you’re so good, you should be a teacher,’” Smith said.

“I love to challenge myself. I love to be in a space where other people want to challenge themselves.”

Aleina Smith

Professor, Point Park University

Smith came to Point Park after earning a master’s de-

gree in criminal justice. She was later offered a graduate assistantship in Point Park’s Office of the Provost while attending the university as a doctoral student.

As a graduate assistant, Smith assessed Point Park’s University 101 class and put together a recommendation on how to improve the course. She now teaches this class to freshmen and transfer students at the university.

“Because I had done the assessment and I have a background in community engagement, it just seemed like a natural fit for me,” Smith said.

Smith has been teaching at Point Park ever since.

Between letting her students vent and helping them to prepare for their futures, Smith also tries forming lifelong connections with her students.

“It’s the shared experiences between teacher and student that really makes the connection,” Smith said.

Smith shares her story of

being a life-long learner with her students to form this connection.

“I get that you’re overwhelmed,” Smith said. “I’ve been in your shoes. I get it, and because I get it, I am going to guide you through it.”

She is taking multiple students to a national conference this coming March for a job well done on their social impact posters that she assigned to each of her University 101 classes.

“It is all about building relationships,” Smith said.

Being the life-long learner that she is, Smith continues to take at least one class each semester to help keep her on her toes and to explore different and new topics. As for the future, Smith is considering obtaining a master of business administration degree or even picking up a second language to expand her already extensive resume.

Payton Comunale pbcomun@pointpark.edu

Send suggestions to admyers@pointpark.edu or pbcomun@pointpark.edu or reach out to the Globe on our social media pages.

A&E

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

5

Woodstock gives peace a chance - 50 years later

By Amanda Myers Co-Features Editor

The summer of ‘69 was a different time. The country was nearly torn apart due to social unrest over the war in Vietnam and other hot button issues, but when it came to the music, the culture was in bloom, with Woodstock as the ultimate hippie mecca.

It’s been 50 years since that whirlwind weekend in August where a near one million tie dyed individuals descended upon a dairy farm in Bethel, NY. The organizers had no idea how many people would be drawn to the message of that event, but the same spirit is expected to attract a like-minded generation to this year’s Woodstock 50.

While co-creator Michael Lang didn’t address the contradictions an event like Woodstock has in the age of selfies and Snapchat outright, he is hopeful that people, particularly millennials, will take the music for more than its face value, and utilize social media as an agent for activism akin to how people used their voices back in the 60s.

“Today, we’re experiencing similar disconnects in our country, and one thing we’ve learned is that music has the power to bring people together,” Lang said via press release. “So, it’s time to bring the Woodstock spirit back, get involved and make our voices heard.”

While Woodstock may conjure images of an aging audience sitting in lawn chairs gearing up for bands like Crosby, Stills and Nash, Lang says that the lineup will be skewed more towards contemporary artists while honoring the legends that played at Woodstock through tribute sets.

So, what will the atmosphere at Woodstock 50 feel like?

The original could have been chaotic due to the crowd size, but the hippie ideals of peace and love proved a uniting factor. In contrast, Woodstock ‘99 was a literal dumpster fire because those virtues were irrelevant in the new era. The people that went then didn’t want peace,

they wanted destruction.

Music festivals aren’t as culturally significant as they were when bands like Santana and Insane Clown Posse graced the Woodstock stage.

They’re not only increasingly frequent, but have gotten more formulaic with each passing year.

In 2018, it seemed like Jack White was on nearly every major lineup, from Governors Ball in New York, to Shaky Knees in Atlanta.

Woodstock 50’s lineup needs to have something to offer besides the repetitive recycling of B-list EDM artists and boring indie singers, or else it will remain unidentifiable come the summer music season.

“Today, we’re experiencing similar disconnects in our country, and one thing we’ve learned is that music has the power to bring people together,” Michael Lang Co-creator, Woodstock

The veterans of the Woodstock era had their moment to shine with Desert Trip in 2016, or what was most commonly referred to as “Oldchella.” It was, by definition, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the remaining titans of the 60s in one place: Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Roger Waters, or Pink Floyd, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.

Don’t expect to see any of these legends at Woodstock, though. McCartney and The Stones are out on their own tours this summer, as are The Who, with a performance at PPG Paints Arena scheduled

for May 30. The Who’s Roger Daltrey told “Rolling Stone” that “they couldn’t afford us anyway!”

While it’s more plausible that there will be tributes to said artists, or a rare festival performance by a weary Dylan as a part of his never-ending-tour, the youth culture has always been at the core of Woodstock’s mission.

Bands like Greta Van Fleet and DREAMERS are likely to reflect that vibe with the odd country or pop artist thrown in, but who knows?

Fleetwood Mac have become one of millennials’ favorite rock bands thanks to Stevie Nicks entrancing gypsy magic - and regardless of the unfortunate departure of guitarist Lindsey Buckingham - fans are still clamoring to get tickets for the band’s current tour.

Pearl Jam would be another authentic choice considering their vast humanitarian efforts on behalf of Eddie Vedder’s quest for world peace. Plus, they’re rumored to be releasing a new album this year.

As a means to sway the festival-conflicted demographic, Woodstock 50 will be releasing a limited number of pre-sale tickets for college students age 18 to 25 at the end of January before tickets become available to the general public in February, along with the official line-up announcement.

Competition comes not only in the form of notable favorites like Lollapalooza and Coachella, but in another festival that is intending to capitalize on the half-a-century milestone of Woodstock.

In conjunction with Live Nation, the Bethel Woods: Music and Culture Festival, will be held the same weekend of Woodstock 50: Aug. 16-18.

The event will speak to both the technology obsessed millennial and the older rock fan and feature performances from prominent and emerging artists, as well as TEDstyle talks given by experts leading in the way in the tech field.

Amanda Myers admyers@pointpark.edu

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Pittsburgh Restaurant Week -Jan. 14 to Jan 20.

-10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

-Restaurants around Pittsburgh

Beyond Haiku: Japenese Poetry in Time and Art -Jan. 7 -7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

-City of Asylum

Knights of the Arcade: Epic D&D Comedy -Jan. 18 -9-10 p.m.

-Arcade Comedy Theater

Ride with the King: Black History Tour -Jan. 19 -9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

-Downtown

Paul Luc with Special Guest Nik Westman -Jan. 19 -8 p.m.

-Club Cafe

Reeves probes in Sci-fi ‘Replicas’

By Jared Murphy

Staff Photographer

How far would you go to bring back your loved ones?

“Replicas” (2019) is a science fiction/thriller released by Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures. The movies follows William Foster (Keanu Reeves) who is a doctor working on the ‘345 Project’ at a bio medical company, Bionyne. The basis of this project is to take the mind of a human and implant it into a synthetic body. More or less Foster is working on a project attempting to clone the human brain and put it into a robotic body.

Early on in the movie we are shown one of Foster’s failed attempts. The team tried to implant the mind of a sargent into a synthetic body. Shortly after the transplant, the Sargent starts panicking and shouting “Who am I” over and over.

Things take a turn for the worse seconds later when the sargent goes ballistic, destroying himself and tries to attack the team members. They pull the plug, but Foster thinks they are on the edge of a break through.

After some background of the project and what Foster is working on, his family decides to go on a vacation. While on route, the family gets stuck driving through a storm, and this leads to Foster swerving the car off the road into a river.

Foster is the lone survivor, and pulls his wife Mona (Alice Eve) and three children, Matt (Emjay Anthony), Sophie (Emily Alyn Lind) and Zoe (Aria Leabu) from the wreck.

Not being able to cope with the loss, Foster calls his co-worker Edward Whittle (Thomas Middleditch) to bring equipment from the laboratory to Foster’s house.

Desperate after losing his family, Foster convinces Whittle to help him clone his family and bring them back. Other than the scientific and ethical problems with doing this, Foster is faced with a strenuous decision. Whittle was only able to get three cloning pods from the laboratory, so Foster has to decide which of his family members he isn’t going to bring back.

Foster makes his decision by pulling names out of a bowl. He draws his daughter’s name, Zoe. He then erases all

memories of Zoe from his families’ minds, takes down all her pictures in the house and even scrubs off Zoe’s drawing on the kitchen table.

Seventeen days past, and Foster’s family is ready to come out of their cloning pods. He places them in their beds, so when they wake up they think everything is normal. His family slowly starts to hint at that they are remembering Zoe. Soon after, his wife starts asking questions because she cannot remember what happened a few days ago. Foster is forced to tell his family that they are clones. Honestly, they take it really well.

I think I can speak for most people that if I found out I was a clone there would be more than a few questions, and I might have an existential crisis. Shortly after the family finds out they are clones Foster’s boss, Jones( John Ortiz), shows up at their house. Jones knows what Foster has been doing and thinks the clones are property of Bionyne and attempts to take them away.

After some standard chase scenes, and the Foster family avoiding Bionyne and their goons, Bionyne captures Foster’s family and takes them to back their laboratories.

Earlier in the movie, when project 345 is on the verge of being shut down, Foster does the implant of his own mind.

Later on in the film when Foster goes to the laboratory to save his family, his mind is in a robotic body and the human Foster and robot Foster join together to save the cloned family.

“Replicas” had potential to be a great modern day science fiction movie. An interesting idea that is believable enough to happen, this movie fell short in places. It fits the mold of almost every mundane sci-fi movie of the past two decades and didn’t stray from this path.

Replicas had a $30 million budget that I can assume from watching the movie, mostly went to special effects. For science fiction fans the premise of the movie is intriguing and still worth a watch, but the average viewer might want to think twice before sitting down to watch this movie.

Jared Murphy jgmurph@pointpark.edu

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

OPINIONS

Leave industrialization in the past Everyone knows about the origin of the nickname “Steel City,” and they know what it means to Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas.

The 20th century in Pittsburgh was a time of industrial success and some would say Pittsburgh is the reason that the United States was able to build anything. Steel was produced here at an insane rate and the blue collar workers of Pittsburgh were thriving in the 20th century.

Perhaps the part you do not hear about most is the vast amount of factories that lined the rivers of Pittsburgh and the amount of pollution that poured into our rivers and filled the air. The stories of pollution blacking out the sky and street lights coming on at noon are the scary stories that history has tried to erase, and the worst part is that Pittsburgh has not entirely moved past this problem.

Last week, residents of the Mon Valley were told to stay indoors because of several exceedances of the federal standards for hourly sulfur dioxide emissions. Now you might ask who the culprit of this is, and you need look no further than U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works (CCW) facility. A fire on Christmas Eve caused damages to

machines that allowed for the sulfur dioxide to seep into the air. This is just another notch in a long line of miscues and errors for the CCW facility.

Last semester I wrote a long-form piece about the CCW and their effects on the locals, and what I found was shocking. CCW is a reminder of Pittsburgh’s past and a serial polluter that continues to plague this area.

Pittsburgh is no longer that city of industrial power, despite the few steel mills and factories that remain in the area. Nothing these days measures up to the industry that was 20th century Pittsburgh, and the CCW is something that is nothing short of a blemish in Pittsburgh’s effort to advance towards the future.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the CCW paid $1,620,316 in pollution fines, in 2018 and if that doesn’t sound like a problem to you then you might not care about the environment.

This city and the area have come too far to turn back now. UPMC, Highmark and a myriad of technology companies have paved the way for Pittsburgh to become a power house in the world. Medicine, education and technology are leading the way for this area, and we are held back by the likes of the CCW and other industrial plants. The future

of this city and this country does not lie with these industrial factories, despite what our pumpkin pie colored president would have you believe.

The people in the Mon Valley are actually being poisoned by what the CCW is doing to the air that they are breathing. So what’s being done about this? Absolutely nothing, bar some fines that U.S. Steel will pay because they don’t care as long as they are reaping the benefits of what they are making.

There is no education system put out by U.S. Steel to try and tell residents of the Mon Valley how they can protect themselves from the harmful chemicals being shoved into the air they breathe.

It is important that we as members of the Pittsburgh community learn to educate ourselves against this kind of pollution, and that we attempt to stop U.S. Steel and the CCW from continuing to poison residents. So what can you do?

Call county officials, call state officials, do your research and make sure to spread the word. U.S. Steel does not get criticized enough for their actions and we need them to know that what they are doing will not be acceptable to the future of Pittsburgh.

Jordan Slobodinsky jeslobo@pointpark.edu

’S GL BE POINT

THE

By Jordan Slobodinsky Opinions Editor

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

As students in the School of Communication, this semester’s Globe staff feels qualified, more often than not, to discuss the concept of communication.

Let’s start with the basics. We all learned to speak at a young age, some earlier than others. Before that, our body language would express how we felt internally or toward others. Then, we learned the written word.

Remember when our teachers found it absolutely necessary to teach us cursive handwriting?

These were the beginnings of our young minds communicating thoughts and feelings to those around us, and we will forever expand upon this imperative skill.

In the past, our organization has neglected to uphold our utmost duty: communicate openly and regularly with the student body and faculty of our university. Our vow to you this semester, Pioneers, is we will be better.

Communication is a top priority in any and all relationships. This could include romantic relationships, business partnerships and friendships. Without a steady, open line of communication, there

will be no progress within the relationship.

A couple cannot move on from a fight without talking it out, a student will detest their roommate’s bad habits without setting ground rules in a shared dorm and our newspaper will not thrive without the help of our peers and superiors.

Our office doors and email inboxes remain wide open for the voices of the people we represent and report about every week. While the minds at work behind the scenes of The Globe prove talented and clever, we appreciate the insight of those around us.

As communication students, this is our future. For others, we encourage you to enhance your communication skills and incorporate them into the aspects of your life, professional and personal.

We have mouths to speak, eyes to see, ears to hear and a body to express.

These tools allow our skill to grow on a daily basis. Let’s grow together, Pioneers.

The Point Park Globe globe@pointpark.edu.

Pro-gun rally in a blue city brings controversy

Last week’s protesters proved to be disrespectful in crowd

By Shannon Harnett Staff Writer

The arms debate is reaching even closer to our school as second amendment supporters protested Mayor Bill Peduto’s new gun policies on Monday, Jan. 7. Only a few short months after the tragic incident at Tree of Life Synagogue, where 11 people died due to gun violence, Pittsburgh is seeing the aftermath in policy change. Peduto is calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and certain ammunition and firearm accessories, and is seeking support from over 100 other cities in an attempt to create a strong front against gun violence.

As expected, pro-gun supporters are up-in-arms about the new policy. Even the media-famous “Kent State Gun Girl” Kaitlin Bennett, was in attendance at the City-County Building for the rally, waving her rifle around.

My thoughts on the topic are split, as they are

with most political debates.

On one end, guns are scary; they have the potential to end lives if placed in the wrong hands.

Waving rifles around at a protest isn’t a sure-fire way to keep the opposition away. Having firearms is for the sake of protection, but do we need semi-automatic weapons that most have only ever seen in movies?

On the other hand, there are countless moments in history about what happens when the government tries to take away the people’s rights. In colonial times, when the British took away the rights of the colonists, they were met with the Revolutionary War. Adolf Hitler began taking away rights of Jewish persons and from that came the Holocaust and World War II. Certainly we don’t live in a time that can compare to the original thirteen colonies or even to the 1930’s, but history does have a funny way of repeating itself. Humans are persistent creatures. Without guns, people who

are desperate would still find ways to get access to them. People recognize these things, and it makes sense.

“As expected, pro-gun supporters are up-in-arms about the new policy.”

Shannon Hartnett Staff Writer The Globe

But then we look at the numbers of school shootings in this past year alone, at what happened at Parkland, a tragedy that occurred after guns fall into the hands of unstable minds. And the argument comes around full circle.

As I sat on my bus that passed by the rally on Monday I had to do a double take as I watched four men in camouflage strut down Fourth Avenue carrying their rifles. I looked further down past the red light I was stopped at and saw the sea of people crowded around the Christmas tree still standing in front of the City-County Building, all toting their own personal weapons. My first reaction was to whip out my phone and take some videos on Snapchat. My next thought was, “Wow, I really am at the corner of real and world,” as I watched the protest ensue.

After that came the question of, “Don’t these people have jobs they need to go to?”, as I ask at every protest I hear about. Then my final thought was about the black lady and white man who were talking respectfully about some of the touchy topics in the political world. The topics ranged from the second amendment to police brutality, and the entire

time they spoke of American values.

They weren’t mentioning political parties, simply patriotic remarks. Statements such as, “I’m for guns, but do these people need to be waving around their rifles scaring more people?” and “Not all cops are bad, if we’re being honest, aren’t all people scared of cops?” I sat in awe of a conversation that defies what the media shows to be a full out war between the right and the left. What I learned that day is that if everyone could take a second to stop and listen to their neighbor, they would see that people can usually agree on basic values.

I challenge everyone reading this article to ignore the media and focus on the people around you and how you can make new friends and new neighbors by simply opening your ears and closing your mouths.

Shannon Hartnett snhartn@pointpark.edu

Covering the world of Point Park University news since 1967 Editor-in-Chief: Carley Bonk Editor-Elect: Dara Collins Business Manager: Cortnie Phillips Faculty Adviser: Christopher Rollinson Administrative Adviser: Dean Keith Paylo The Globe board consists of Carley Bonk, Dara Collins and fellow editors. Opinion articles, letters to the editor, columns and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the position of the newspaper or editorial board. The Globe reserves the right to refuse advertising and edit all submitted articles and letters to the editor. Letters to the editor must be signed and include author’s contact information. The Globe offices are located at the corner of Wood Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard. Writers should address letters to:

The Globe 201 Wood Street, Box 23 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 or globe@pointpark.edu

News Editors: Jordyn Hronec, Andrew Brinker Photo Editor: Gracey Evans

Public Relations Coordinator: Kayla Snyder

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Staff Photographers: Hannah Johnston, Joie Knouse, Jared Murphy, Katie Williams

Advertising: Submit advertising related inquiries to globeadvertising@pointpark.edu All ads must be approved by the university.

The deadline for ads is Friday at 5 p.m.

Details: ppuglobe.com/advertising

Sports Editors: Allison Schubert , Robert Berger Photo Editor: Robert Berger

Story Ideas: If you have a story you think the Globe can use, email globe@pointpark.edu Meetings: Mondays at 2:40 p.m. in the CMI Details: ppuglobe.com/contribute

Copy Desk: Hannah Walden, Sarah Gibson

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Staff Writers: Hannah Johnston, Mitchell Drake, Shannon Hartnett Copy Editors: Nick Horwat, Hannah Johnston, Tia Bailey Delivery Assistant: Mitchell Drake, Kortney Lampel

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

7

Heartbreak loss to RSC post-season potential

By Allison Schubert Co-Sports Editor

Robert Berger | Point Park Athletics Senior Anna Shields competes in Youngstown last year. Shields placed first last weekend at Penn State in the 3,000 and second in the 1,000.

Shields now 4th in world rankings in 1,000 meter event

By Robert Berger Co-Sports Editor

Last weekend, Anna Shields of the women’s track and field team earned a win in the 3,000 meter race and became the fourth ranked runner in world rankings in the 1,000 meter race at Penn State University.

Competing in the Nittany Lion Challenge at Penn State University, the top Pioneer athletes competed against a number of NCAA Division-1 opponents as they were the only school representing any other athletic division.

In the 1,000 meter race, Shields claimed a second place finish with a time of 2 minutes, 42.51 seconds, just four seconds short of the first place finishing junior Danae Rivers of Penn State University.

Shields’ time placed her in second place out of all collegiate indoor track runners in the event, with the top spot being held by Rivers. As of Saturday night Shields also ranks fourth in world rankings in the 1,000 meter event.

Coming into the event, Shields held the number one time in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9 minutes, 55 seconds.

Last weekend Shields main-

tained her top placement, and improved her time to 9 minutes, 39.19 seconds.

It was a tight race as Shields took the final lead within the last 200 meters.

The finishing times were just as close with the next two finishers putting up times of 9 minutes, 39.54 seconds and 9 minutes, 40 seconds.

Reba Bartram also made the trip to University Park to compete in the 800 meter race. Bartram placed eighth overall while running for a personal best time of 2 minutes, 21.71 seconds. This time also placed her in the top 10 rankings of the NAIA. Representing the men’s team for Point Park was the 4x800 relay team of junior Xavier Stephens, Andre Bennett, Doug Kostelansky and Jared Thompson. The team placed third out of five, with the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State finishing before them placing first and second respectively.

Point Park finished in 8 minutes, 0 seconds which set a school-record and set the top event time in the NAIA thus far in the season.

The Pioneers will continue their season this Friday in Youngstown, Ohio at the Youngstown State University College Invitational.

The women’s basketball team played on two very opposite ends of the spectrum this past week in River States Conference (RSC) play.

The Pioneers first traveled to Indiana University (IU) East for a neck-and-neck game against the Red Wolves.

“There are a lot of new faces this year,” junior guard Baylie Mook said. “Only five of the current players are returning from last year and we keep adding to the roster, so with games like [the IU East game], coach is trying new combinations and seeing what works in-game.”

Point Park’s new combination of faces led after the first ten minutes of play 11-5.

Scoring in the second quarter was almost even, sending the Red Wolves to the locker room with a five-point deficit, 25-20.

It was the second half that got things going on both sides, but IU East held Point Park to just 13 points opposed to their 22 for the third quarter.

“Our biggest struggle right now is putting the ball in the hoop,” senior forward Sam Weir said. “We’ll play great defense, but we don’t produce on the other end and we need to start that to get a chance in the playoffs.”

The fourth quarter was back and forth for all ten minutes, but it was a missed 3-pointer in the final seconds that lost it for Point Park 64-62.

“We just need to get better and win the games that we are capable of winning,” head coach Tony Grenek said post-game on Saturday. “We are capable of doing better.

You got Michelle Burns, Sam Weir, Kait Smith, Tyra James - they just need to step up game in and game out and

Emilee Fails | Point Park Athletics The women’s basketball team huddles up before a matchup against Ohio Christian Saturday afternoon. The team fell 76-65.

give us a run in the playoffs.”

Junior guard Tyra James led all scorers with 14 points, followed by sophomore guard Michelle Burns with 13 points and Weir’s seven points.

The Pioneers and Red Wolves both sunk about onethird of their shots, shooting 33 percent and 35 percent, respectively. Point Park led in forced turnovers, committing 14 but forcing 22.

“We’re working on it,” Mook said. “We’re trying to mesh better, we have to stop committing turnovers, knock down some shots, and put it all together.”

After the final-second loss on Tuesday, Point Park returned to CCAC - Allegheny to host the Ohio Christian University (OCU) Trailblazers.

Scoring was even at 15 points apiece after the first quarter, but Point Park took the lead late in the second for a 28-19 lead at the end of the half.

OCU lit up the scoreboard in the third quarter, but the Pioneers were close behind, scoring 29 and 27 points, respectively.

Another late run by the Pioneers gave them the win 76-65 in the remaining few minutes.

Four starters for Point Park ended in double digits, led

by a monster game by Weir.

“A lot of what she does on the court has nothing to do with any coach teaching her,” Grenek said. “She is just naturally a great athlete.”

Weir’s fifth double-double in eight games was achieved with 30 points, one off of a career-high, and 17 rebounds, three away from her career-high.

“We put ourselves in not a great situation this far into the season, so now it’s time to grind it out and start winning,” Weir said. “So my personal goals now are just to do whatever I have to do to help the team win.”

The other three included Smith with 15 points, Burns with 11 points and Mook’s season-high 12 points.

The Pioneers out-shot the Trailblazers 42 percent to 36 percent from the field, but were even at 79 percent from the charity stripe.

Point Park is back on the road this week for two more conference games and looking to get back into the playoff picture, first at Brescia University and then at Indiana University Southeast before returning home the following weekend.

Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu

Robert Berger raberge@pointpark.edu

Emilee Fails| Point Park Athletics Junior guard Tyra James dribbles in the offensive zone during Saturday’s game against Ohio Christian University. Against IU East last Tuesday, James put up a game-high 14 points.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

SPORTS

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

Dance team competes in first-ever home meet

All In with Allison

Cheer squad performs two exhibitions

By Dara Collins Editor-Elect

The cheer and dance teams began their weekend at Concordia University Ann Arbor and ended a little closer to home. The big weekend consisted of a runner-up victory for the cheer squad and the first local competition in the program’s history.

Only the cheer team traveled to Concordia to compete in the tri-meet against Concordia and Lourdes University. The Pioneers scored 76.2 out of 100, second to Lourdes with 86.45. Concordia fell to third with 75.05, giving Point Park its first win of the season over the Cardinals.

Point Park thrived in showmanship and choreography, and impressed the judges with basket tosses and jumps.

As both teams prepared for the program’s first home competition at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pa., inclement weather changed the meet’s schedule.

The original competitive cheer contest between Point Park and Lourdes was cancelled due to weather and travel, so the Pioneers instead performed two exhibitions for the crowd.

However, the dance matchup between Point Park and Aquinas College went as planned with two competi-

tions during the meet. The Pioneers fell in both meetings by a mere two points. The Saints stole the gold 70-68 and 75-73, respectively.

The Pioneers scored highly in musicality, choreography and performance impressions in the first round.

With one showing under their belt, the green and gold improved their scores across the board in the second round.

Both teams will have a week off from competition.

The Pioneers will then compete in the Siena Heights Halo Classic on Jan. 27, in Adrian, Mich.

Dara Collins dmcolli2@pointpark.edu

Emilee Fails| Point Park Athletics The Point Park competitive dance team competes in their first home meet Sunday at Gateway High School. The team fell to Aquinas College 70-68 in the first round and 75-73 in round two.

Home win caps off weekend

Men now sit third place in conference

By Robert Berger Co-Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team picked up a key conference win this past weekend after defeating Ohio Christian University (OCU) 77-58 at home Saturday afternoon.

“The key to the game when you look at, we had 16 assists, only eight turnovers, we hit 12 threes, we out rebounded them… and for us to limit them to just 10 3-pointers made, that’s huge,” head coach Joe Lewandowski said following the game.

Offensive efforts were lead by senior guard Asim Pleas shooting 6-8 from the floor and 2-3 from beyond the arc. He also shot for a near perfect 5-6 from the foul line.

Pleas ended the game with 19 points and three assists.

Senior guard Daniel King also made his presence known on offense ending the game with 17 points. King shot 6-16 for two and 4-13 for three.

Early on, the Pioneers made their lead seven points after an Asim Please three, but OCU turned it around with an 11 point run giving them a 14-9 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half.

After taking a timeout, Point Park battled back bringing in sophomore guard Tudor Shelton who drained two 3-pointers in a row, followed by another from junior forward Cortez Allen. Shelton, making his debut in a Pioneer uniform, sunk one more three before the end of the half to give him nine points in the first.

The rest of the half was

back and forth with the score being tied with two minutes remaining. After a couple missed 3-pointers from the hands of Daniel King that resulted in successful OCU drives, Point Park was trailing 32-29 heading into the second.

Point Park began the second half with a 3-pointer from Pleas to tie the game, but OCU fought back again and managed to take a 38-32 lead within the first two minutes of the half.

The first 25 minutes featured 14 lead changes and seven ties, but from here on out, Point Park took over on offense and began to work on securing the game.

Overall, the team shot 57 percent in the half while making 7-15 baskets from three.

The team also made 9-12 from the foul line which is an area they have struggled in earlier this season. After a first half without scoring, sophomore Mark Shehady turned it around and put up 10 points in the second.

The defense also held up for the Pioneers as Allen secured 10 rebounds throughout the contest. Sophomore guard Kyle Carrington also made his presence known on defense ending the game with nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

“We rebounded the basketball very well, and for us to limit them to just ten 3-pointers made is just huge because they really shoot the basketball well and they are so well coached,” Lewandowski said.

On the day, Point Park

shot 45 percent from the field and 33 percent from three.

The win placed Point Park third overall in the River States Conference (RSC) and brought their record to 3-5 in conference play. They now sit behind West Virginia Tech University and Indiana University (IU) East who are tied 6-1 in the standings. Both teams are ranked in the top 25 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) standings in which they place 12th and 17th respectively.

The team was also in action last Tuesday night losing to conference opponent IU East 107-56. In the first half, Point Park was held to only 24 points as they trailed 53-24 at the conclusion. The defense allowed eight 3-pointers in the first alone.

IU East continued to dominate Point Park in the second half as they once again were successful eight times from beyond the arc and six different players earning double-digit point totals.

King finished the game leading Point Park in Points with 14 after going 4-11 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the three point line. Senior guard Tramell Perry put up eight points and led the team in rebounds with nine.

The Pioneers continue conference play on the road this Thursday in Kentucky against Brescia University and Saturday in Indiana facing Indiana University Southeast.

Robert Berger raberge@pointpark.edu

By Allison Schubert Sports Columnist

‘Weir’ All in This Together Sam Weir has a very untraditional and interesting past as a women’s basketball player at Point Park University.

Now a graduate student academically, but a senior on the court in eligibility, the power forward has certainly left her hall of fame-worthy mark on the program.

Last year, I profiled then-captain and point guard Shaniya Rivers. In her interview, Rivers talked about what a huge asset Weir was not only to the team, but to her life.

Rivers is the godmother of Weir’s child, so I would say that Rivers would be able to speak to the character of Weir pretty well - which, she added, was “one of the best friends and teammates she had ever had.”

Earlier this year, Weir surpassed the 1,000 career point mark, all of which came in just 75 games as a Pioneer.

More recently, she claimed a new title - the sole owner of the program record for most career blocked shots with over 200 and counting. The previous holder was Joncelyn Peterkin with 192 career blocks from 2009-12.

In just eight games at the time of writing this column, Weir is averaging 14.1 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, and 3.1 blocks per game. Her latest additions to these statistics come from a huge output against Ohio Christian University last Saturday, where she put up 30 points, 17 re-

bounds, and five blocks.

Amidst all of her individual achievements, Weir is one of the biggest team players on the squad.

“She’s just a great player, she always has been,” head coach Tony Grenek said post-game. “I always joke with her about her age and how she’s getting older, but she still meshes well with the girls on the court.”

From an outsider’s perspective, I believe she is one of the clearest leaders when watching the game.

Between her and captain Kaitlyn Smith, both of them are always talking to their teammates and developing plays that lead them to all of their successes.

As with any athlete that produces such amazing statistics so regularly, it is easy to overlook these achievements or deem them a normality. It is hard to recognize now, but observing these feats doubles as witnessing the history of Point Park athletics and hall of fame performances.

With nine games left in the regular season and a shot at playoffs, it is a certainty that Weir will continue to break records and add to the ones she already holds.

Next week, our sports section will have a full profile on Weir to dive deeper into what made her the player she is today, what her teammates think of playing with her, and what she plans to do in the future post-graduation.

Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu

Emilee Fails| Point Park Athletics Senior power forward Sam Weir goes up for a shot against a defender during Saturday’s matchup against Ohio Christian. In this game, Weir put up 30 points, which is one away from tying her career-high, 17 rebounds, which is three away from tying a career-high, and five blocks.