Point Park Globe Spring 2020 Week 6

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@PPUGlobe February 12, 2020

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Issue 6

Governor CUPID’S ARROW STRIKES PITTSBURGH Jim Acosta speaks at awards Playhouse university with Title Jim Acosta, the Chief White House Correspondent IX grant for CNN, spoke at the PittsBy Luke Mongelli Co-News Editor

Jordyn Hronec Editor-Elect

Governor Tom Wolfe granted 36 colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, out of 164 four-year colleges and universities across the state, with the “It’s On Us” Title IX program grant. Point Park University was one of them.

Point Park received $30,000, the maximum amount that a school can receive for the program grant.

The last time that the university received the grant was during the 2017-2018 school year.

“It’s On Us” began as a national movement to end sexual assault under the Obama administration in 2014.

“The mission of ‘It’s On Us’ is to combat college sexual assault by engaging young men and changing campus culture,” the “It’s On Us” website reads.

“We achieve our mission by teaching prevention education, training the next generation of student organizers and disseminating large-scale creative campaigns. Our prevention education work is focused on three key areas: bystander intervention, consent education and survivor support.”

The university’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report records that four cases of rape were reported in 2018, with two occurring on campus and two occurring on “public property.” The report also states that five cases of fondling were reported in 2018, and three cases of dating violence were reported.

According to Director of Title IX and Diversity, Vanessa Love, as well as a press release put out by the university, this year’s grant will be used to: ● Increase the frequency of Green Dot Bystander Intervention training ● Pilot a Sexual Assault Awareness Peer Educator Program in the Athletics Department ● Expand programming during Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April) ● Develop and disseminate detailed procedures about anonymous reporting for any member of the campus community and accommodations provided to survivors ● Pilot a student assistance program to create a culture of consistent mental health support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence ● Reissue a campus climate

GRANT page 3

Jared Murphy | Pittsburgh Magazine Theresa Maxon (left), 27, of Morgantown, W. Va., proposed to Marcie Koenig (right), 26, of Pittsburgh, Pa., during Cupid’s Undie Run on Saturday, Feb. 8.

burgh Playhouse on Feb. 6 for another installment in the Media Innovations Speaker Series.

Acosta was welcomed with open arms by some, but others in the audience shouted out with cries of “fake news,” and “Infowars,” among other claims of hateful intent, which Acosta quickly diffused.

“You mean the same Infowars that claims that the Sandy Hook shooting didn’t happen?” Acosta responded.

Acosta sat down in the sold-out PNC Theater with Point Park students and community members alike to answer questions, address the events taking place in Washington D.C. and analyze some key points in the most recent years of his career with the popular news network.

Acosta was the third of four speakers to participate in the Speaker Series. Andy Conte, the director of the Center

ACOSTA page 2

University provost announces retirement Dara Collins Editor-in-Chief

Dr. John H. Pearson, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, announced his retirement at last Monday’s faculty assembly meeting.

Student Government Association President Jake Berlin tweeted the announcement on Monday evening.

“Today at Faculty Assembly, Provost John Pearson announced his retirement,” Berlin’s tweet read. “I am grateful for his academic and philosophical contributions to Point Park-we will miss his wisdom and focus on campus but are lucky to have it for one last year!”

Pearson was appointed in June of 2016, and will remain the university’s provost until May 2021. Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs Keith Paylo was a part of the provost search that resulted in the hiring of Pearson.

“He’s an incredible provost, the reason for that is the way that he works with people,” Paylo said. “His ability to work with faculty, staff and students, and the demeanor in which he goes about it has been wonderful in my time in working with him over these past few years.”

Pearson said it was a hard decision when considering an

administrative position, but he ultimately wanted to make as many students’ lives easier as he could.

“As a faculty member, I could help the students in front of me that I knew, and that felt great, but as an administrator, I can make some decisions, and make policy decisions especially, that might help thousands of students,” Pearson said.

It’s a collaborative effort from everyone at the university, according to Pearson.

“All the people who are here are here to try to deliver our mission, which is really to deliver the best possible education you can get,” Pearson said.

According to O*NET OnLine, the job title of Provost falls under the occupation of Postsecondary Education Administrator.

Some of the tasks listed with the occupation include development of curricula and recommendation of curricula revisions and additions, appointment of individuals to faculty positions and evaluation of their performance and preparation of reports on academic or institutional data.

Other core tasks of the occupation include design AND use assessments to monitor student learning outcomes and formulate strategic plans

for the institution. According to Pearson, the discussion of Point Park’s five-year strategic plan will begin next year before he retires.

During Pearson’s final academic year is the university’s Self-Study Evaluation visit from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).

The MSCHE accredits the university “which makes your diploma worth something,” according to Pearson.

In addition to strategic planning and the accreditation visit, Pearson looks forward to supporting faculty on creating new programs, revising programs and creating more opportunities for students in his last year.

“He’s done a lot to move the university forward in every way, especially on the academic side,” Paylo said.

“It’s truly his demeanor. He is mentoring, he is tough when he needs to be tough but yet he is so supportive of new initiatives and programs.”

As May grows closer, Pearson will focus on a smooth transition period.

“Ideally, it really will be me leaving on a Friday and somebody new comes in on Monday,” Pearson said. “Yes, it’s a different face, and they will be a very different person, but the work everyone does

will continue smoothly.”

According to Pearson it will be a long process to find a new provost. During Pearson’s final 15 months, a search committee will be formed in March and a consultant will be hired to assist in the search.

Applications will start appearing in the fall, which is typically the season for higher administration positions, according to Pearson. He speculates the committee will invite the finalists on campus in December and January, and the university should hopefully name a new provost by the end of January 2021. The new provost would begin that summer.

“It’s going to be a very thoughtful and thorough process, and the best part about knowing that it’s until May of 2021 is that it gives you enough time to really do that kind of a search so that the next provost at Point Park University will be the right choice,” Paylo said.

According to Pearson, he has thought about retirement for a while, but the decision of when to retire was difficult.

“It’s a decision about not just leaving Point Park, but ending a career, which I’ve been doing for well over 30 years now in higher education

RETIREMENT page 2

Weather Forecast

Today: Rain H 41, L 36

Thursday: Rain H 43, L 18 Friday: Slightly Cloudy, H 22, L 11 Saturday: Slightly Cloudy, H 37, L 29

Sunday: Rain, H 42, L 34 Monday: Cloudy, H 48, L 41 Tuesday: Rain, H 51, L 37

Point Park

GLOBE

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

NEWS

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

Students bring eating disorder awareness to campus Jordyn Hronec Editor-Elect

Two students teamed up with the Center for Inclusive Excellence to facilitate National Eating Disorders Awareness week programming on campus.

Maeve Johns, a junior animation major and Allison Hritz, a junior secondary education major, planned events and awareness efforts for Tuesday through Thursday of next week, Feb. 18-20.

“Since freshman year, it’s always been my dream to have something like this for the students,” Johns said. “I feel like I have known so many people who have struggled with this, and I feel like it is so prevalent, yet it tends to fly under the radar here. And I think it’s important that we start having that conversation, because that’s something that’s super important to students.”

National Eating Disorders Awareness week is facilitated by the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), and does not officially occur until Feb. 24-March 1. This year’s theme is “Come as You Are:

Hindsight is 20/20.” NEDA’s website states that the theme is in reference to “reflecting on the positive steps you’ve taken — including those stemming from setbacks or challenges — toward accepting themselves and others.”

“I feel like in the 90s and the early 2000s, there was such a dialogue starting about eating disorders and as an education major, I’ve seen that fall off the radar of priorities for schools to focus on,” Hritz said. “America has one of the worst nutrition programs in the world. I think especially on our campus that focuses a lot on performance majors, and how literally people on our campus are putting their bodies out for judgement.

It’s really important I think for our campus specifically to start the dialogue.”

NEDA’s website breaks down statistics for several different eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, diabulimia and compulsive exercise.

According to NEDA: ● At any given point in time between 0.3-0.4% of young wom-

en and 0.1% of young men will suffer from anorexia nervosa. ● A 2007 study asked 9,282 English-speaking Americans about a variety of mental health conditions, including eating disorders. The results, published in Biological Psychiatry, found that 3.5% of women and 2.0% of men had binge eating disorder during their life. ● At any given point in time, 1.0% of young women and 0.1% of young men will meet diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa.

According to Johns and Hritz, CulinArt and the Counseling Center have agreed to host events during the week, as well as the following clubs: Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), Honors Student Organization (HSO), Campus Cursive, Strong Women Strong Girls (SWSG), ADFED, The Factory, Point Park Cares, Future Educators of America (FEA), Pinnacle Productions, The John P. Harris Film Society and the Student Government Association (SGA).

Kari Dettorre, the Communications Director for SGA

Tues., Feb. 18th

Wed. Feb. 19th

Thurs. Feb. 20th

9 a.m. - 1 p.m: Tabling with the Counseling Center, Point Park Cares and SWSG

9 a.m. - 1 p.m: Tabling with a dietician and FEA: “The education of healthy eating”

9 a.m. - 1 p.m: Tabling with the Renfrew Center

4 p.m. - 6 p.m: “I’m someone you can talk to” photo campaign @ Lawrence Hall Ballroom

4 p.m. - 6 p.m: “Gather around the table” with CulinArt @ Lawrence Hall Ballroom

4 p.m. - 6 p.m: The Factory Polaroid Event @ Lawrence Hall Lobby

7 p.m. - 10 p.m: Self-love fair with CCO, HSO, Campus Cursive, SWSG, ADFED and SGA @ Lawrence Hall Ballroom

7 p.m. - 10 p.m: Open Mic: Experiences, Poetry and Music with Pinnacle Productions @ JVH auditorium

7 p.m. - 10 p.m: John P. Harris Film Society movie night @ JVH auditorium

Alysse Baer | The Globe

and a junior multimedia major, has been especially involved in organizing SGA’s part of Feb. 18th’s scheduled “Self-Love Fair.” According to Dettorre, SGA is planning on focusing on education by debunking myths associated with eating disorders and informing students on how they can stop encouraging the culture surrounding eating disorders.

“I wanted to get involved, because I’ve been battling an eating disorder for roughly two and a half to three years now, and I wish there would have been more of a conversation surrounding it when I initially started struggling,” Dettorre said. “I didn’t even know I was

dealing with one until maybe eight months after it started to develop, because there’s such little education on the subject and so many myths. Starting that conversation and joining in on that dialogue is incredibly important because not only does it educate people, but it also shows people that they’re not alone and encourages those who are struggling to talk about it, which sets off a chain reaction. The more we normalize talking about it, the more we break down that stigma, the closer we’ll get to beating it.”

Jordyn Hronec

jthrone@pointpark.edu

Pearson to retire in May 2021 from RETIREMENT page 1 as a faculty member for most of that time, so it was a hard decision, but it was a decision that my spouse and I made together and we both decided it was the right time for me to do it,” Pearson said.

As Pearson’s retirement inches closer, he wants to remind students to take advantage of every opportunity that shows itself in the present.

“There will never be another time in your life like this time for the students,” Pearson said. “It’s not that this is the best time of your life.

Every time you’re in should be the best time of your life.

Every decade of my life has been better than the last one, and that’s really true. But this will be unique in your life, and take full advantage of that.

I mean really get everything you can out of it because the next thing will be so different, and you won’t be able to come back and do the same thing as the same person.”

When Pearson leaves the

university in 2021, he plans to join his husband at their home in Virginia. While his husband continues to work, Pearson says he will not look for another job post-retirement.

“I have a very strong belief that if you retire but go somewhere else to work, that’s probably not as far advanced in your career, that’s just a bad career choice,” Pearson said.

Pearson looks forward to reading, writing and relaxing.

“I think part of it is just to learn how to wake up in the morning without having 50 things in my head as soon as I wake up, and I’ve had that in my head for as long as I can remember really,” Pearson said.

As Pearson transitions to life after work, a new provost will transition to life at Point Park.

“Dr. Pearson took the university to another level and now it will be that person’s responsibility to do it again,” Paylo said.

Dara Collins

dmcolli2@pointpark.edu

CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent talks media landscape from ACOSTA page 1 for Media Innovation, organizes each of the Speaker Series events and moderates the speeches.

“It was really great, and there was a lot of positive energy in the room,” Conte said about his overall feeling of the event. “The message was on point with what we were trying to convey, and it had that star quality with it. It was by far the most successful series, and is going in the direction that we want the Speaker Series to head.”

The packed audience included several students of the university who were thrilled with Acosta’s speech.

“I thought Jim Acosta was a very good speaker, he was very personable while still being professional,” freshman cinema production major Sara Waldman said. “He covered many different topics surrounding his career... and spoke about his time with both the Trump and Obama Administration.”

Acosta previously covered the Obama Administration, and is currently overseeing the Trump Administration on behalf of CNN. “Working during the Presidency of Donald Trump is a challenge unlike any other I’ve experienced in my career,” Acosta said during his speech. “Trump is shattering the norms of Washington.”

Acosta stated that President Trump has often referred to the press as “the en-

emy of the people,” and that in turn, Trump has painted political journalism as a prejudice-heavy industry.

“I don’t bring bias to my job,” Acosta said. “This misleads people to think we are out to report fake news.

Trump has not only dehumanized the press, he has de-Americanized them.”

Throughout the speech, Conte played videos of some key moments of Acosta’s most recent coverage during the last two presidential administrations he covered.

Acosta discussed a video he recorded on his cell phone of supporters of President Trump, giving him the middle finger and yelling profanities at him.

“If they call us the enemy of the people, I want to give them a chance to correct it, so I want it documented,” Acosta said. Then, in true Pittsburgh fashion, Acosta said, “We could use a little more Mr. Rogers in this world.”

Conte and Acosta then opened the theater up to questions from the audience.

Here is an abbreviated summary of some of the questions and answers: Q: What is the best advice you have for aspiring journalists in college?

A: Keep at it. We need reinforcements. This is the best time to go into the business, but it is very competitive. Do not be deterred, and do not be afraid to screw up.

Logan Dubil | The Globe Chief White House Correspondent for CNN Jim Acosta spoke at the Pittsburgh Playhouse on Feb. 6 as the third speaker in the Media Innovations Speaker Series.

Q: How is the media aiding in the promotion of bias?

A: Fox News is running a propaganda operation. But we (CNN) try to hold their feet to the fire no matter who is in power.

Q: What is one of the most noticeable changes between the Trump and Obama Administrations for you?

A: I actually need bodyguards now, which is something I never imagined I would have.

Q: How is the media changed by Trump being the President?

A: This will change over time, but the way the media is portrayed today is a phenomenon associated with this President.

Q: How do you put up with a President who has put a target on your back?

A: It is not easy. You just have to get tough. One time we actually got a pipe bomb sent to the CNN headquarters

in D.C, and it was scary. People have threatened me, and my family, and it is some of the scariest stuff I have ever had to deal with, you just have to get tough.

Jim Acosta left Point Park and the community of Pittsburgh with one final remark: “We are all Americans, we all need to capture that again in order to go forward.”

Luke Mongelli

lrmonge@pointpark.edu

NEWS

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

City, university celebrates Black History Month Patricia Miralles For The Globe

The City of Pittsburgh celebrates Black History Month with a full series of events, ranging from fun activities presented by the university to highly anticipated networking series hosted by Pittsburgh’s minority-focused organizations.

This Thursday, Feb. 13, Point Park’s Black Student Union (BSU) will host an open-mic lounge style event from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Located in Lawrence Hall Ballroom, this Valentine’s Day themed event will serve a large assortment of snacks and refreshments, topped with a chocolate fountain.

BSU will also host Black Cinema Movie Night on Monday, Feb. 17, starting at 9 p.m. where they will screen highly-regarded films in the black community for students of all backgrounds to enjoy. Snacks and other concessions will be available for purchase with proceeds directly going towards the club.

For BSU secretary and senior psychology major Ryan Dunston, Black History Month holds a profound meaning.

Dunston describes his role as “a strong win for both my ancestors and my community. I’m standing for everything they’ve ever lost so that we can have everything we deserve.”

When brainstorming ideas for events and movie screenings, Dunston considered which factors that would “draw members in and what is relevant to today’s society while trying to keep it as modern as possible.”

BSU officer and senior broadcasting major Royce Jones has been involved with the club since his first year of college back in 2016. Now as a senior, Jones applies the communication skills he learned over the years to his practicum with the organization.

“As a black person, every month is Black History Month to me,” Jones said. “I wake up

New SGA logo as of Spring 2020

every morning proud to be who I am. The black community is rich with history, culture, creativity, passion and success. Every day should be a celebration.”

Jones encourages students and faculty outside of BSU to support the organization.

“They can enrich themselves in the education we offer,” Jones said. “It’s a safe space for students of color to connect and empower each other. We touch on some hot button issues the black community faces today.”

The spirit of Black History Month also extends to nearby areas right outside of campus.

This Thursday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m., the August Wilson house hosts a reading of the musical play “AfroRoma” led by author and award-winning performing artist Kimberly Ellis.

Ellis describes her play as “a romantic comedy as well as a scholarly memoir that is guaranteed to make you laugh and smile.” This event is located at the Jeron X Grayson Community Center at 1852 Enoch Street. Entrance is free, but RSVP is required.

BSU member and senior public relations and advertising major Isaiah Warfield renders this event as a “huge step and inspiration for black fiction authors” to take up space in the literary world.

Thursday, Feb. 20 is the most anticipated “In My Shoes - Speakers Series” starting from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., in the Union Trust Building at 501 Grant Street, this networking event will candidly discuss diversity in the professional workplace.

There will be two panels, each composing of highly-esteemed Black leaders in big tech companies and professional sports franchises. These panelists will also share their advice on overcoming workplace obstacles for those who seek to follow their footsteps.

Patricia Miralles

pmiral@pointpark.edu

Alysse Baer | SGA

SGA reveals 2 new logos SGA

By Sarah Gibson SGA Beat Writer

The Student Government Association (SGA) revealed its new seal and logo bearing the new name of the organization.

Both designs, created by SGA Graphic Designer Alysse Baer, were projected up onto the stage in the JVH, greeting senators when they arrived.

When the new seal and logo were recognized, Senator Dennis McDermott asked how the seal was going to be implemented onto existing pieces of SGA property. President Jake Berlin assured that the old seal would be kept on items until those items need to be replaced. Only then will they be replaced with versions including the new seal. Vice President Grace Tyler Frank-Rem-

pel noted that the purpose of this plan was to avoid unnecessary spending.

The SGA dress code was temporarily suspended for the meeting because, according to President Pro-Tempore Bryce Hayzlett, if it was not suspended, “everyone in this room would be in trouble right now.” Vice President Frank-Rempel asserted that only the three SGA senators who did not have a polo should be arriving at SGA without the proper dress.

The American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter was also recognized, despite the fact that Parliamentarian Wrzosek was absent, at the motion and second of President Pro-Tempore Hayzlett and Senator McDermott.

Sarah Gibson

sagibso@pointpark.edu

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

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PITTSBURGH PROTESTS TRUMP ACQUITTAL

Logan Dubil | The Globe Within hours of President Trump’s acquittal, members of the Pittsburgh community organized a protest at the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Feb. 5.

University reveals plans for grant from GRANT page 1 survey on sexual and gender-based violence

Green Dot Bystander Intervention Training

According to Love, part of the grant money will go towards facilitating more Green Dot Bystander Intervention training sessions.

“The idea [of Green Dot training] is to address social norms to give three steps, so you can directly get involved, create a distraction or delegate,” Love said. “It’s built around violence against women, so they’ll give you different scenarios. Some of them can be you see two people, and they look like they’re fighting. You’re not sure if they’re in a relationship or not, but it looks unsafe.

What could you do? The program is built around each person getting to pick who they are, so if I’m not a person who directly gets involved in things, then I don’t have to directly get involved.”

Maeve Johns, a junior animation major, participated in Green Dot training this past summer.

“I was a Pioneer Ambassador, and all of the Pioneer Ambassadors are required to do multiple different diversity trainings, and one of the trainings they have us do is Green Dot training,” Johns said. “I actually think it’s really good that they are expanding the Green Dot training program, because I think that one is more oriented towards bystander intervention, so it’s more oriented towards students.”

Johns also highlighted the importance of in-person training sessions.

“I know that even though we have, like this past winter break in December, they had us do another sexual assault and diversity training online, and those are good things,” Johns said. “But I feel like actually going into a Green Dot session and being there with the person who facilitates the sessions, and having someone be there who’s also super involved and participatory, and being able to ask questions and get your hands in, and think ‘okay, what would I do in this situation?’ would be really, really good for students...just to have something that’s a little more practical in their tool belt as aside to sitting down and watching videos.”

During the fall semester, student leaders across campus were selected to participate in Green Dot Bystander Intervention trainings and were able to sign up for one of several available training sessions.

Sexual Assault Awareness Peer Educator Program in the Athletics Department Love stated that part of the grant would go towards re-working an existing program in the Athletics Department.

“Coaching Boys into Men” is a program through the Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR), which, according to PAAR’s website, “guides high school coaches to talk to their male athletes about stopping violence against women and girls.” The website also stated that both Robert Morris University and Point Park use adapted versions for collegiate sports.

“It’s [Coaching Boys into Men] cards and scenarios and usually it’s coach led,” Love said. “We got feedback from the coaches that they’re not comfortable having the conversations, but PAAR builds on that relationship, that coach player-to-player relationship, so we talked to PAAR about changing that model.”

Love stated that she was looking to implement a new model, where student athletes could educate and lead discussions amongst their peers, while still using the materials and scenarios provided by PAAR. Xavier Stephens, a senior business management major and captain of both the track and field and cross-country teams, experienced “Coaching Boys into Men” sessions during his freshman and sophomore years.

“I think it’s a good idea, but I feel like sometimes the guys just kind of take it as a joke,” Stephens said.

He said that a peer educator model may also not be taken seriously by athletes.

“Just knowing my teammates, we wouldn’t take it seriously,” Stephens said. “I think it’s overall a good thought, but personally for the track team, there’s a lot of people who wouldn’t take it seriously.”

Sexual Assault Awareness Month Sexual Assault Awareness Month will take place in April.

Each year, the campaign for the month is created by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).

“While each campaign has a different theme, they all share same common goals: to raise visibility about sexual assault and share how it can be prevented, whether that’s through education about healthy sexuality, consent or bystander intervention,” the NSVRC website said.

Love stated that the idea

for programming for Sexual Assault Awareness Month came from the desire of student groups to get involved.

“We got feedback from a graduate student who was working and went and talked to different student groups,” Love said. “The feedback that was [received] was that student groups wanted to be more involved, so we are creating a survey to the student groups to see if they want to partner with different activities for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.”

Student Assistance Program

Love stated that, with the funds from the grant, the Office of Title IX would be trying to launch a new counseling model for students in need of immediate help.

“At a lot of the forums, a lot of the feedback we were getting was that the mental health model is just not working here,” Love said. “I see that even more when it comes to people coming to my office for specific incidents. So we want to pilot for September, October and November a Student Assistance Program, and that would be something where you could call into or video chat with a licensed psychologist and have either a three session model or a six session model.”

Love clarified that she would prefer a six session model.

According to the article “Preferences for Online and/ or Face-to-Face Counseling among University Students in Malaysia” in the journal “Frontiers in Psychology,” in a survey of 409 college students across six different schools in Malaysia, it was discovered that the opinion of both in-person and online counseling was “somewhat positive.” It was also discovered that there was a “small, but statistically significant” preference for in-person counseling, with 145 of the 409 participants expressing a preference for in-person counseling, ranging from slight to strong.

The American Psychological Association states that “the explosion of smartphone users has created new opportunities for app-based companies to offer more accessible and affordable therapy.”

“You can actually have that immediate interaction with a counselor,” Love said. “Which is what I know people that come to my office are requesting. So we will pilot that for three months, and if students use it, we will look for longterm funding for that.”

Jordyn Hronec

jthrone@pointpark.edu

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

FEATURES

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

BSU celebrates black love as part of V-Day events

By Amanda Andrews Co-Features/A&E Editor

Love is in the air this week as Valentine’s Day nears the corner. The romantic holiday also happens to occur in February, Black History Month. As such, the Black Student Union was inspired to transform their typical board meeting into a themed discussion of “What is Black Love?” for all students on Feb. 3.

Various clips showed examples of black couples in the media: from the 90s Disney Channel classic “That’s So Raven” to the 2016 Best Picture winner “Moonlight.”

Clips of interviews with real-life couples were also included, with the famous NBA star Iman Shumpert and his wife discussing their love story as well as a separate video of two ordinary Brooklyn women getting vulnerable about their relationship (they are now engaged).

This was the first time that LGBTQ love in the black community was openly discussed in the organization, which was touted in the press release: “For the first time in BSU history, the organization will open the floor during this event to specifically address all aspects of black love, including LGBTQIA+ to show support and better encapsulate the diverse threads that make the black community,” the press release said.

“So, in our past events,

PIONEER PUBLIC Zach Reed

By Tia Bailey Co-Features/A&E Editor

Zach Reed, a sophomore screenwriting major, recently headlined a comedy show at Point Perk with his friend Darnell Montgomery.

Reed has always loved movies and writing, which is why he chose screenwriting as his major. He looks up to writers like Aaron Sorkin and Mel Brooks, who “use comedy to heighten drama in their stories.”

“I’d say a few movies like ‘The Big Chill,’ ‘Do the Right Thing’ and ‘Casablanca’ all impacted me so deeply that I hoped to one day create something that would touch someone the way those movies did me,” Reed said.

In addition to film, he is a fan of comedy, which does tie in with his studies. According to Reed, a huge part of it all—film and comedy—is writing and being an effective storyteller. Some comedians he looks up to include Jim Gaffigan, Ricky Gervais and John Mulaney.

members would always come up to us and talk about what they’d like to see in the future, and some of our members expressed concern about that we don’t speak about LGBTQ issues and representation and homophobia within the community,” Nami Talbot, Vice President of BSU and a junior BFA acting major, said.

The clips were not limited to same-gender relationships. A clip from Fox’s Emmy-winning show “Pose,” which showed the character Blanca, a black transgender woman, discussing about how she had found love with a man who accepted her.

The show itself is set in the late 1980s and early 1990s and showcases the diverse New York City ballroom communitiy, made up of an intersection of gay, transgender, black and Latine perfomers.

“I feel like because [those] communities both have been so oppressed, it’s why we tend to feel like ‘oh if I tell this person I like them or love them they’re gonna make me feel like I’m weird,’” BSU Secretary and senior psychology major Ryan Dunston said during the meeting.

Talbot organized the event with other BSU administrators. She said instead of focusing on the problematic areas of love, the organization wanted to celebrate black love.

“We all agreed we didn’t really want to talk about the bad parts of love, but we wanted to talk about the good representation of our love in media. So that’s how we kind of came up with showing some clips and videos from different representations of black love within media, and we wanted to have a discussion about it,” Talbot said.

“Their styles of comedy have definitely influenced my own,” Reed said.

This showed in the comedy show, “Comedy Night with Zach and Darnell,” where Reed’s ability to tell a story stood out. Every joke was met with bursts of laughter from the audience.

Reed has been interested in comedy since he was young, when he would watch alongside his parents...sort of.

“I can remember watching stand-up since I was about six, which in retrospect is a little young,” he said. “But my parents always loved it, and I would just happen to sneak downstairs when they were watching Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman or Dave Chappelle.”

He performed standup for the first time in 2018 in a talent show.

“I thought maybe instead of singing or dancing, I could try something I was good at, which was writing,” Reed said. “Then I wondered how I could make writing interesting to watch.

I realized that stand-up is basically just reading aloud your thoughts and ideas to a crowd that wants to hear them.”

Having always loved watching and performing stand-up, Reed was inspired to perform some of his own new material at an open mic night after seeing his friend Johnny Cardo perform at the university.

He and Montgomery both performed there, and both got great reactions from the audience.

“We both performed, and it went very well,” Reed said. “Then Bryana Appley approached us about headlining a comedy night in the same space, and we couldn’t say no.”

From there, Reed and Montgomery got to work planning the show, which, according to Reed, was a lot of sitting down and writing.

He also kept a journal of things to make jokes about at a later time, whether it was funny to him at the time or not.

“I’m not super sure the logistical side of how everything worked out, but I know Bryana started by having a little impromptu photoshoot with Darnell and myself. And then suddenly there were posters and flyers and leaflets of us everywhere,” Reed said. “It all sort of happened at once, but it was very exciting.”

The comedy show is an accomplishment of Reed’s that he is proud of, alongside creating a play and musical that were performed at Duquesne. He’s also won the August Wilson Century Cycle play competition and is getting offers to perform more stand-up.

The show was very successful, and he plans to do more.

“I’ve been in the talks with the owner of the Pitts-

“...it’s hard for us to learn how to properly love each other when we can’t even love ourselves” Tami Talbot

BSU Vice President, junior BFA acting major There were two showings of a series of the clips with an intermission of sorts between each showing where students discussed what black love meant to them.

There was a lot of discussion of when to confess feelings and say the phrase ‘I love you’ to a significant other.

Students also voiced their opinions that they felt

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Actress Raven-Symone of “That’s So Raven,” which was played at a BSU event called “What is Black Love?” on Feb. 3.

that positive media depictions of black love, while great for representation, did not reflect the reality of the childhoods some of them experienced.

“We see in everyday life you do come from a single parent household or a samesex household or a two-parent household but it’s not always the healthiest relationship,” Talbot said. “And I think that’s just because as a community, because we were disenfranchised at the beginning of our stay here in America, that it’s hard for us to learn how to properly love each other when we can’t even love ourselves.”

BSU’s advisor Amanda Anderson, Director of Student Life, was present at the event despite it running very late at night outside of her normal work hours.

However, she said she felt it was important to be there.

“I think it’s helpful to know that they have someone on campus,” Anderson said. “They come up with all of this, so I think they found some really good clips and very good discussion topics for everybody.”

Amanda Andrews aaandre@pointpark.edu

Zach Reed | Submitted

burgh Improv, which is super exciting,” Reed said.

“Bryana and I have also been talking about an open mic where Darnell and I could emcee, and other comics could come up and try some material.”

WHAT MAKES YOU A PIONEER: “Well I think being a pioneer is more than just being a student at Point Park. No matter how cheesy

it sounds, it means having a pioneer spirit. You are willing to work hard for what you want to achieve and make improvements to your own life and the lives around you. I think it also means not being afraid of having a dream and of chasing that dream, even if it seems out of reach.”

Tia Bailey tbaile@pointpark.edu

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

A&E

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

5

‘Birds of Prey’ changes the game for female-led films Nardos Haile Copy Editor

Rating: Where to watch: Local theaters Price: around $10

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Bojack Horseman, the main character of the animated show “Bojack Horseman”

Final season of ‘Bojack Horseman’ ends with a simple message: life goes on Jordyn Hronec Editor-Elect

Rating: Where to watch: Netflix DISCLAIMER: This review contains spoilers for the last eight episodes of “Bojack Horseman.”

“Sometimes, life’s a bitch, and then you keep living.”

This quotation, spoken by one of the show’s main characters, Diane, in the finale’s final moments, is the message that the last eight episodes of Netflix’s “Bojack Horseman” conveys—that in the wake of hardships, life goes on.

In October 2019, the first half of the final season of Bojack was released. The second half was scheduled for release on Jan. 31, 2020. After viewing the beginning of the end, fans were given three months to say their goodbyes and wonder how the show would tie up all of its loose ends.

It’s hard to say whether or not the story of Bojack Horseman truly ended. His character isn’t given a happy ending, and I’m okay with that. His character simply doesn’t exist in that space. Instead, the series finds its ending with Bojack experiencing a brief, but profound brush with death and with the character finally seeing the consequences of his actions, beyond his own mental torture. To understand the ending of this series, one must understand the man, er, horse, at its crux.

Bojack is an asshole.

He’s old, washed up, jaded and self-centered. Throughout the series, he struggles with addiction, but he has no sense of his addiction’s effects on those around him. He endured a traumatic childhood.

Other characters make it clear that he uses these two things, his addiction and his trauma, as excuses for his actions. He acts recklessly, he is an enabler and he makes one horrible decision after another.

Yet, as a viewer, you still root for him to finally get it together, turn it all around and find happiness. Why? In a sense, we are all Bojack Horseman, as cliché as that sounds. We are all selfish, we all fall victim to our vices and we all make bad decisions from time to time. Most importantly, we are all seeking happiness and satisfaction, and we are all searching for a purpose. Bojack’s search and need for validation is universal, and we just want to see it come to fruition.

We do see this in the final

episodes, but we also don’t.

Bojack finds true happiness through teaching acting at Wesleyan University. As soon as we see him, almost one year sober, accepting flowers at the end of his students’ showcase performance, we know that he has found his purpose. If the show wanted its happy ending, it would have ended at this exact point. However, a mere couple of frames after, Bojack receives a phone call that makes one of his lowest moments come home to roost.

This starts the show on a sharp downward slope that hits rock bottom and finally rests, hovering above it, slightly.

I would say that the true masterpiece of the finale is during the show’s penultimate episode, “The View from Halfway Down.” This is Bojack’s aforementioned brief but profound brush with death.

Bojack is drowning, literally, in his pool after a relapse of pills and alcohol. The episode takes place within his mind.

There, Bojack is confronted by old best friend Herb Kazzazz, mother Beatrice, her older brother Crackerjack, old costars Sarah Lynn and Corduroy Jackson Jackson, Zach Braff (it’s a long story) and a hybrid of his father, Butterscotch and his hero, Secretariat. All of these characters are dead. And it becomes increasingly obvious, as the characters discuss the best and worst parts of their lives around a dinner table and perform in a cabaret-style show that soon, Bojack will be as well. The episode ends with Bojack trying and failing to evade death while on the phone with Diane, and eventually, the sound of him flat lining.

At the start of the last episode, which is aptly titled “Nice While it Lasted,” it is revealed that Bojack is not really dead.

He was revived, and then subsequently arrested for breaking and entering into his home, which was previously sold to keep him from going totally bankrupt. Bojack goes to prison for 14 months for the breaking and entering charge, but expresses that he really feels as though he was jailed for “all of it,” meaning, all of the poor decisions he made and terrible moments that had been revealed to the world by the press.

However, he is given one night out of jail in order to attend Princess Carolyn’s wedding to Judah, and it is during this night where the show comes to a soft, ambiguous close.

Bojack has profound and revealing conversations with the show’s other leading cast members, Mr. Peanutbut-

ter, Todd, Princess Carolyn and Diane. The final episode shows that each of these characters, who had previously clung to Bojack and tried time and time again to help him, have moved on.

The final conversation that Bojack has with Diane is the show’s closing moment. Bojack and Diane are both seated atop a roof. The last time Diane had heard from Bojack was the night where he almost died. Diane reveals that she is married and living in Houston, and that she is ready to leave her “L.A. days,” and ultimately, Bojack, behind her. The show makes it clear that this is the last time the two characters would ever speak, and drives home the point that yes, sometimes, life’s a bitch, but it goes on.

This is why the show could not end with Bojack’s death. It would be too easy.

It would feed into our and Bojack’s belief that the worst thing that can happen to someone is dying.

But that’s not always true.

Bojack is not allowed to die. He must keep on living.

Bojack Horseman is a show about life. Beyond the colorful and weird world it exists within, the show is entirely real. It is a rarity in the world of adult cartoons, which most of the time, are just like regular cartoons but with raunchy jokes and crude language. Don’t get me wrong, Bojack includes both of these, but it also goes deeper and reflects a mirror image of reality. Life can be cruel, sometimes it sucks, sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s hilarious and sometimes it’s all of these things at once.

Some reviews of this ending stated that it felt rushed.

I can understand where this feeling comes from, especially given the fact that the show’s creators expressed that they had about two more seasons of material up their sleeves before Netflix gave it the axe.

However, I think that the show wraps up in a way that is truly reflective of its spirit, which is all I can really ask for as a viewer.

I encourage anyone and everyone to give this show a viewing, especially now that it is over. In fact, I believe that with no more releases, the show is perfect for watching. You can watch it from beginning to end and see one continuous story. I will be rewatching Bojack Horseman in this way, and I look forward to the show’s final message to hang around me for quite some time.

Jordyn Hronec

jthrone@pointpark.edu

In the first 10 minutes of “Birds of Prey, and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” a man berates and degrades Quinn—so of course, she breaks his legs. Not only is “Birds of Prey” an hour and 49 minutes of pure unadulterated fun, it’s also a violent, crude, psychedelic and beautifully glittery action film.

DC’s newest film stars Oscar-nominated Margot Robbie. Robbie reprises her fan-favorite character Harley Quinn, that made her first appearance in the 2016 DC film “Suicide Squad.”

“Birds of Prey” takes its liberties and interpretations with Harley Quinn and deviates from the character seen in “Suicide Squad.” This new film gives the audience the chance to empathize and laugh alongside with the villain.

For starters, Harley and the Joker are no longer together. She experiences the worst heartbreak of her life throughout the first chunk of the film. She cuts her hair, adopts a pet hyena, throws knives at a drawing of her green-haired ex-boyfriend and, to top it all off, she rams a semi-truck into a chemical plant causing a nuclear-like explosion to prove a point.

Throughout Quinn’s journey of self-discovery and independence, she encounters many different men out to kill her. No longer under protection from the Joker, she truly begins to understand what loneliness means.

Conveniently, she encounters women with similar interests like, Detective Renee Montoya, the sultry singer Dinah Lance aka Black Canary, dangerous crossbow assassin Helena Bertinelli known as The Huntress and most importantly Cassandra Cain.

Cain, a young parentless pickpocket, runs into trouble when she steals a diamond belonging to Gotham City’s crime boss Roman Sionis.

When Harley and Cassandra cross paths, the ac-

DC logo

tion truly begins. Director Cathy Yan captures handto-hand combat fighting scenes like they are real-life moving pieces of art.

The fight scenes are easily the best parts of the film alongside the engaging and eye-watering psychedelic cinematography.

To name a few fight scenes, Lance power-kicks and dominates men trying to kidnap a drunk and incoherent Harley. Another scene includes Harley sneaking into Gotham City Police Department and shooting officers with a fun gun that emits paint and glitter.

The non-linear storytelling in “Birds Of Prey” allows for Harley to unreliably narrate the adventures of herself and female superhero counterparts. As the film unfolds, Harley rewinds the film to give context to present-day events. Harley’s recap of the past allows the audience to understand each female character’s significance to each other, the storyline and ultimately how they come together at the end.

In the end, each character realizes they need to merge as one unit to protect the young Cassandra from Roman, the villain masquerading as Black Mask.

The Birds of Prey come together in an extremely intricate 10-minute long action sequence set in an amusement park. Quinn sports a larger hammer, Lance a baseball bat, the Huntress fights with her crossbow and Detective Montoya with her fists. Hundreds of Black Mask’s minions attack the women in a carnival-like funhouse. This scenery accentuates the grueling and gruesome performances each woman gives.

Overall, “Birds of Prey” is simply an unfiltered journey of five women in the brutal Gotham City. It breaks the superhero and comic film genre wide open for women. Ranging from quirky three-minute-long sequences of food porn of a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich to delicately choreographed hand-to-hand combat action scenes to the crass language and violence.

“Birds of Prey” is a beautifully loud and entertaining debut and a must-watch.

Nardos Haile nhaile@pointpark.edu

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

6

OPINIONS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

THE

GL BE’S POINT

Raising our standards The Globe’s writing standards have not been updated in a long time. It’s been several semesters before the standards that we have displayed on our website have undergone revisions, however, this has recently changed.

The Globe has officially updated our writing standards, and we would like to direct your attention to a specific portion of our updated standards.

Under the “noteworthy” section of our new standards, it reads: “Point Park and the City of Pittsburgh is a diverse area. Respect everyone regardless of your personal views and be mindful of your word choice. If any article or section of an article comes across as derogatory and/or disrespectful and/ or singles out an individual/ group of people, you will be asked to alter the piece or it will be cut from publication entirely.”

This update specifically applies to the opinions sec-

tion. We at The Globe want our readers to know that while we refused to publish derogatory content in the past, we felt the need to have this policy in concrete writing. Not only does this new policy inform our readers of our definitive stance on what deserves to be in print, but it allows us to more effectively turn down offensive content that is submitted to our editors.

Our new standards also require our staff members to act in a professional and courteous manner both in person and online. We hope that the Point Park community holds our staff accountable to this requirement. We also hope that our updated standards better reflect our mission and incredible people that we serve.

The entirety of our new standards can be found on our website (ppuglobe.com) under “Contribute to The Globe” in the “About” section.

Point Park Globe globe@pointpark.edu

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

Coronavirus is just the beginning

By Diana Navarrete Staff Writer

According to BBC News, the global death toll has now reached a high number of 638 with about 31,000 confirmed cases in mainland China and 12 in the United States.

The number of people infected with this new contagious virus is alarmingly increasing, yet a majority of people are taking this as a joke. If it doesn’t affect you directly then there is no reason to be worried, right? It’s all happening in a different country, so let’s make memes.

Wrong, for when the World Health Organization announces that that the novel (new) coronavirus is a global health emergency that is when people should become concerned and know that this is a no joke matter.

This flu-like virus originated in Wuhan, China and has now spread to about 20 different countries around the world, such as the U.S., France, Australia and others.

Specifically to the U.S., the number of confirmed cases were: six in California, two in Illinois, one in Arizona, one in Washington, one in Massachusetts and one in Wisconsin. All of them had traveled to China and upon return were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, or

2019-nCoV, according to CBS News.

It is time to take this epidemic seriously and realize that the coronavirus is spreading and worst of all, there is still no cure. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises the public to not be exposed to the coronavirus and perform daily preventive actions, such as handwashing.

Considering that the illness is new, not much is known about it, just information from similar coronaviruses. What is most frightening is how simply the virus can be transmitted from person to person.

The novel coronavirus is believed to be transmitted mostly through respiratory droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person into the mouths or noses of individuals nearby, six feet or less, according to CDC. Anybody can become infected and not know about it until a span of either two to 14 days since the exposure.

Li Wenliang, a Chinese doctor, got infected with the illness on January 20 while treating patients at the Wuhan Central Hospital and died at the age of 33 on February 7.

According to BBC News, Wenliang attempted to warn

fellow colleagues in the beginning before the huge outbreak but was stopped by the police under the accusation of “making false comments.”

Imagine just one droplet carrying the illness can change a person’s life. Those infected are being isolated away from all of those they love and care about, while others have died.

With the drastic climate changes, especially the increased warmth, the Arctic is melting. What used to be permafrost, permanently frozen land and soil, is now thawing out and releasing harmful substances such as ancient diseases, according to BBC Future.

Prepare for the worst, for the novel coronavirus might not be the last epidemic to be witnessed. There could be other unknown or ancient illnesses that could be released from the ice over the next couple of years.

“Climate change is melting permafrost soils that have been frozen for thousands of years, and as the soils melt they are releasing ancient viruses and bacteria that, having lain dormant, are springing back to life,” from BBC Earth.

Diana Navarrete dnavar@pointpark.edu

Jillian Michaels, ‘The Biggest Loser’ and the myth of One-derland

By Sarah Gibson Co-Opinions Editor

I’m a little late on this story, but Jillian Michaels needs to shut up.

Allow me to provide some context. Jillian Michaels used to be one of the three hosts/coaches on a television show called “The Biggest Loser.” She just went on a show talking about how people shouldn’t idolize Lizzo because her weight could lead to health problems.

TBL was a show where a bunch of overweight people are taken to a ranch, forced to work out for hours a day and also starved. I’m not going to explain all of that in depth, because it’s easily found online. They frame it like a competition to see who can lose the most weight.

There are times when the show has claimed that certain contestants have lost 20 or even 40 lbs in a week. According to past contestants, this is because they worked out for five to eight hours every single day.

I know what you’re thinking. “If you want to lose weight, why not go all in?” The problem with this mentality is that it’s not sustainable. If you work out like this for the rest of your life, if backbreaking work at the gym is a lifestyle change - as forms of weight loss should be and not a quick fix - you will probably face more medical prob-

lems than if you never worked out. Quick, brutal regimens like “The Biggest Loser” aren’t healthy for the body and they almost never work, even for people on the show.

“The Biggest Loser” is also a race to the finish.

There are some contestants that get toward 100 lbs while on the show, and they can’t stop, even though being at any weight below 100 lbs is unhealthy. “The Biggest Loser” does not prioritize health.

It prioritizes being skinny.

They are not the same thing.

Ask Bob Harper, “The Biggest Loser’s” longest-running coach, who had a heart attack during a crossfit workout.

“The Biggest Loser” likes to steal lots of stuff from CrossFit, namely, how it breaks you down mentally.

Coaches love breaking their contestants down until they cry by reminding them how they could be dead in 10 years and miss little Timmy’s wedding. Contestants are supposed to work past their body’s natural reactions telling them not to do so. Need I remind you, those reactions are there for a reason.

CrossFit enables a very similar concept called “The Dark Place,” which is a state of mind that every CrossFit novice years to achieve where they are able to ignore every ache and pain in their body, every sign telling them to stop, so they can get the next

best score on the workout that day. (Crossfit is also a very competitive workout regimen, much like the larger concept of “The Biggest Loser”).

What I’m saying is that bodies are smarter than Chads. They know what we can and can’t handle, and they send those signals to us for a reason. I could talk more about Cultfit - oh, I mean Crossfit - forever, but I’ll save it for a different article.

“The Biggest Loser” has also always toted the goal of “One-derland.” One-derland is the state of being between 100-199 lbs. “Call her Alice, she’s in One-derland!” they say. Whenever a contestant, especially a female one, achieves One-derland, it’s such a celebration. It’s like they’ve finally reached the pinnacle of health. I’m here to say that One-derland is a myth. When “The Biggest Loser” begins to make a clear hierarchy on the value of certain weight classes, it no longer is about being healthy. It’s about being skinny. I managed to lose 20 lbs in a month when I was in high school by doing Crossfit four to five days a week and barely eating anything until dinner. Was I healthy? No. I was anxious, cold all the time, and I had cut myself off from everyone else. Now, I go to the gym three to four days a week, eat what I want, and I feel super healthy. My doctor

thinks so, too. I’m not even in One-derland.

“The Biggest Loser’s” only mission in its entire existence was to make you laugh at, hate and find disgust in fat people. They disguise it through a concern for the health of those who are fat, but it is very obviously not that, since the biggest loser has never discussed the health complications that come from being anorexic or too skinny. If you’re looking for a show that will teach you about what it means to be really healthy, avoid this one like the plague.

When Jillian Michaels

The Globe is hiring!

talks about not idolizing Lizzo, it’s not because she cares about Lizzo’s health. It’s because she wants you to want to be skinny so you buy her products and workout videos. She wants you to get skinnier so her pockets get fatter, and she doesn’t care about Lizzo.

If you want to lose weight, be smart. If you don’t want to, then don’t! You are perfect as is. And if you’re Jillian Michaels? Stream “Truth Hurts” and shut the hell up.

Sarah Gibson sagibso@pointpark.edu

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Contact Editor-in-Chief Dara Collins at dmcolli2@pointpark.edu for more information!

Covering the world of Point Park University news since 1967 Editor-in-Chief: Dara Collins Editor-Elect: Jordyn Hronec Business Manager: Nathan Vrablic Faculty Adviser: Aimee-Marie Dorsten Administrative Adviser: Dean Keith Paylo The Globe board consists of Dara Collins, Jordyn Hronec 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:

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News Editors: Jake Dabkowski, Luke Mongelli Photo Editor: Jared Murphy Features/A&E Editors: Amanda Andrews, Tia Bailey Photo Editor: Emma Federkeil Sports Editors: Allison Schubert, Austin Alkire Photo Editor: Mallory Neil

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Delivery Assistant: Mya Burns

SPORTS

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

All In with Allison

By Allison Schubert Sports Columnist

The Alyssas As the old saying goes, all good things come in threes.

For the women’s track & field and cross country teams, those good things are the Alyssa’s: the trifecta of runners that led the women’s indoor track & field team to their third-straight River States Conference (RSC) championship title.

First up, Alyssa Campbell.

Campbell’s is a name we have talked about heavily in the sports section for the past two years, and rightfully so. She has certainly made a name for herself as a distance runner for the Pioneers.

Although she has many RSC Women’s Track/Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors just two years into her college career, her most recent of these honors came for the week on Jan. 2026 leading up to the RSC Championship.

At the RSC Championship, Campbell was honored as the RSC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year for the 2019-20 season after leading the women’s team to victory.

Individually, Campbell placed first in the 3000-meter with a time of 11:48.23, first in the 5000-meter with a time of 18:43.93 and was a part of the winning 4x800 relay, which did so with a time of 10:35.33.

Also on that relay team?

Our other two Alyssas: Alyssa Boyd and Alyssa Frausto.

Boyd, a junior, runs in both the mid-distance and distance categories for the Pioneers, and has done so in all of her three years at Point Park.

In addition to her part on the 4x800 relay team, Boyd also had a hand in the first-place finish of the distance medley relay, which finished with a time of 13:50, as well as an individual first place finish in the 800-meter race at 2:32.23.

Rounding out the trifecta is freshman Frausto, who is also early in making a name for herself within the Pioneers.

Not only was Frausto in both the 4x800 relay and distance medley relay, but she also claimed an individual second-place finish behind Boyd in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:39.49.

Frausto also took fourth in the mile.

With few seniors leaving the women’s team this year, the Alyssa’s will, without a doubt, be leading this Pioneer team to their fourthstraight win in next year’s RSC Championship.

Now we just need another Alyssa in the field events and we’ll be set.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

7

Pioneers defeat RSC rival at home, lose to ranked IUK

By Mason Strawn Staff Writer

The men’s basketball team split the difference this week in their two games, defeating Carlow University at home on Tuesday before losing at No. 14 Indiana University Kokomo on Saturday.

The Pioneers’ record now stands at 13-13, .500 on the season once again, as their River State Conference (RSC) record improves to 5-7. Point Park still stands in third place in the RSCEast division.

In the first game of the week, the Pioneers took down the Carlow Celtics 10566 at CCAC-Allegheny.

Carlow scored the first bucket of the game, but barely stood a chance after that, only mustering 29 points in the first half compared to Point Park’s 45.

The Pioneers dominated the second half on the offensive end. They were able to drop 60 in the second half, a team high in a single quarter this season.

Point Park simply outplayed Carlow in every facet, from out-shooting, rebounding and just overall domination throughout the entire game.

Junior forwards Garret McHenry and Adam Scott led the way for the Pioneers,

with the duo putting up a combined 34 points and 21 rebounds.

McHenry and Scott were joined in the double-digit point club by other junior forward RJ Fairrow (16) and sophomores Kameron Shockley and Tyler Stephens (11 apiece).

“We went into the game knowing we had just lost two games and needed to get back on track of winning again,” Shockley said.

The Pioneers in total out-rebounded Carlow 51 to 21, and out-shot the Celtics as well, hitting 59-percent from the floor compared to the opponent’s 45-percent.

On Saturday, the men were defeated on the road against the No. 14-ranked IU Kokomo Cougars 86-82.

The first half was the decider in the game, as the Cougars scored 55 points in the first half compared to the Pioneers 38.

Point Park made a comeback from being down by as much as 19 in the second half, to bringing it within one in the final five minutes of play. However, the Cougars were just able to edge the Pioneers out in the dying last few minutes of the game.

“We came together and said we were going to get stops once we got a couple it turned

into offense,” sophomore guard Sherron Schifino said.

“Once we start scoring off our stops we had a lot of momentum and that momentum continued after we saw they were startled a little bit by it.”

Schifino was also the leading scorer for Point Park with 16 points and pulled down five rebounds.

Across the stat sheet, the game was close, with the Cougars out-shooting the Pioneers 55-percent to 48-percent from the field, and both sides shooting 39-percent from behind the arc.

Although Point Park out-rebounded IU Kokomo 40 to 27, the Cougars’ ten blocks played a massive part in their victory.

The men will have two games this week, once again a split between a home and road game.

The Pioneers will travel to Ohio to face off against the University of Rio Grande RedStorm on Tuesday.

They’ll then prepare for their home matchup at CCAC-Allegheny on Saturday against the first place team in their RSC division: the WVU Tech Golden Bears. Both games are RSC match-ups, as we approach the final four games of the season.

Mason Strawn mtstraw@pointpark.edu

Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu

Emma Federkeil | The Globe ABOVE: Sophomore Kameron Shockley gets ready to charge the hoop around an IU East defender. Point Park won the match against IU East 85-77 in January and will play the Red Wolves again on Tuesday, February 18 in Indiana.

BELOW: Junior forward Garret McHenry (33) closely defends an IU East guard in a game earlier this season. the transfer from Butler County Community College averages 5.1 rebounds per game and 12 points per game in 15 games played so far this season.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

SPORTS

THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY

Dance team sweeps all 3 rounds at St. Francis Invitational Sunday

By Zoey Angelucci Staff Writer

This Sunday, the competitive dance team traveled to the University of St. Francis (Ill.) for a threeround competition dance invitational. The Pioneers placed first of three teams in each of the three competitions that were held throughout the day.

In the first round, Point Park came out on top with a score of 81.35. St. Francis came in second with 85.90

and St. Xavier followed behind with a 62.75.

In the second round, the Pioneers tied for first place with St. Francis with a score of 82.80. The team won the final round with a score of 87.75 compared to St. Francis’s 85.90 and St. Xavier’s 62.75.

The Pioneers will travel to Montgomery, Ala. on Feb. 28 for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Southeast Regional Qualifiers.

Point Park is in the

Southeast Region as a member of the River States Conference (RSC) along with teams from the MidSouth Conference, Appalachian Athletic Conference, Southern States Athletic Conference and American Midwest Conference.

The five regional champions from around the country will automatically qualify for the NAIA Competitive Dance National Championship.

Zoey Angelucci zaangel@pointpark.edu Gabe Sunderman | Point Park Athletics Freshman guard Jordan Yaniga attempts a layup against the University of Valley Forge earlier this season.

Women’s basketball splits RSC matches, improves to 6-6

By Allison Schubert Co-Sports Editor

Mallory Neil | Point Park Athletics Members of the competitive cheer and dance teams pose for a group photo on team picture day earlier this year. The competitive dance team swept their competitions this past weekend.

Women 3-peat in indoor track and field championship Men’s team claims runner-up title for third time

By Allison Schubert Co-Sports Editor

The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams concluded their season at the River States Conference (RSC) Indoor Track and Field Championships in Tiffin, Ohio this weekend.

The women claimed the championship title for the third-straight year with 212 points, 95 more than any of their competitors.

In his first official year as the head coach, Jim Spisak took home the honor of RSC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year after leading the team to seven event wins and 19 all-conference performances.

Sophomore standout Alyssa Campbell won 22.5 points individually, winning both the 3000-meter and 5000-meter races as well as running a leg in the win-

ning 4x800 relay with Alyssa Boyd, Reba Bartram and Alyssa Frausto.

Campbell’s efforts won her the RSC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after the meet.

Junior Bartram racked up 29 points individually through her second place finishings in the 600-meter, 1000-meter and mile races, as well as being on the 4x800 relay team and the distance medley relay.

Rounding out the trifecta of Pioneers recognized by the RSC, senior Mackenzie Mangum was named as Point Park’s choice for the RSC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Champions of Character Team.

Mangum competed in the shot put, throwing 7.73 meters in this latest meet.

The men’s team also followed suit from the last

Nick Koehler | Point Park Athletics Senior captain Xavier Stephens runs in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational prior to indoor track & field season.

three years, claiming the runner-up title behind IU East’s first team title in its program’s history.

IU East racked up 184 points followed by Point Park’s 111, which just barely edged out Midway’s 110.

Since 2015, the Point Park men claimed either first place or runner-up finishes in each of eight combined conference indoor and outdoor meets.

Matching his counterpart on the women’s team, senior captain Xavier Stephens was honored as the Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.

Stephens raced to first place in both the 800-meter and 1000-meter races, as well as being a member of both winning relays: the 4x800 and the distance medley relay.

The highest scoring event for the men was the mile, in which all four Pioneers finished in the top eight, totaling 19 points: Stephens first and freshmen Bailey Hourihan, Deven Carter and John Ziegler coming in fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Senior Jared Ross was Point Park’s representative named to the RSC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Champions of Character Team.

Ross ran in both the 60-meter and 200-meter events and set a personal best while placing tenth in the weight throw.

Next up for the Pioneers is the Doug Raymond Kent State National Qualifier on Friday and Saturday before Nationals during the first week of March.

Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu

The women’s basketball team extended their win streak to four before snapping it just four days later at IU Kokomo.

The Pioneers hosted cross-city rival Carlow on Tuesday night for a close match against the Celtics.

Point Park found itself down 18-12 after the first ten minutes before out-shooting the Celtics 2614 in the second quarter.

The Pioneers out-shot the Celtics in both the third and fourth quarters to eventually give them the 70-62 win.

Freshman forward Taylor Rinn finished the game with a huge double-double of 24 points and 17 rebounds, earning her Player of the Game honors.

Freshman Taylor Kirschner added 17 points for the Pioneers, with 15 of those coming from a 5-for8 performance from beyond the arc.

Junior Michelle Burns added two additional treys, which totalled 65 for Burns on the season, tying the program record for most 3-pointers in a single season (April Austin, 2009-10).

Burns also chipped in eight rebounds and five assists.

Carlow standout Emma Stille recorded a double-double for the Celtics with 14 points and 18 rebounds, but her offensive effort was not enough to edge out the Pioneers.

Four days after their win at home, the Pioneers hit the road for what would eventually be their coldest shooting day of the season at IU Kokomo.

The Cougars held Point Park’s offense to just nine points each in the first and second quarters, respectively.

Although the Pioneers out-shot IU Kokomo 19-18 in the third quarter, Point Park was unable to rally in the fourth quarter and took their first loss in five games, 63-47.

Rinn recorded yet another double-double with 12 points and just as many rebounds. Freshman Lexi Petit chipped in nine points and senior Tyra James added an additional seven points and seven rebounds.

Point Park finished the game shooting just 23-percent overall and 10-percent from 3-point range.

The Cougars shot 40-percent on the game and 29-percent from beyond the arc.

IU Kokomo also out-rebounded the Pioneers 44-39.

Burns sank just one 3-pointer, but it was the one that set the new program record for most treys made in a single season with 66.

Next up for the Pioneers is a trip to Rio Grande on Tuesday before coming back home on Saturday to host No. 25 WVU Tech at CCAC-Allegheny.

Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu

Gabe Sunderman | Point Park Athletics Senior guard Tyra James goes up for a 3-pointer in a game earlier this season at home. James now holds the record for most treys in a season.