IN THIS ISSUE:
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Voter turnout dismal among millennials
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Margaret Davis praises Pa. for medicinal marijuana progress
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Max Kamisky steps up as leader for Point Park golf
Issue 10
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
USG ‘blindsided’ by unseen budget problems By Iain Oldman Co-News Editor
Point Park University’s United Student Government (USG) is currently managing its budget closely after it was discovered that a large portion of its budget had already been unexpectedly spent. The governing body reviewed their budget and discovered they were left
with only approximately $2,200 for the rest of the fiscal year. This figure does not account for USG’s officer stipends. “We don’t want to say [the funds] are missing because we know where they are and where they went to,” said USG president Blaine King Thursday in the library. “We thought when we payed for certain things that they were already taken care of and paid for when we told them to be paid for,
but how funding rolls throughout the university, it takes a while for something to actually go through...That’s where it kind of blindsided us, because we didn’t realize we’d gotten hit [with the charges] until around now.” The charges in question were the bills that USG has to pay for OrgSync, the university’s bike program and purchasing the playhouse tickets for university students. King said USG
believed that they had allocated funds to pay for these charges last summer, at the end of the last fiscal year. Those bills were not paid for over last summer and instead were charged throughout this fiscal year. USG had allocated funds specifically for the charges to be paid during that time. “We knew that we would be able
By Iain Oldman
Press Club of Pittsburgh. Andrew Conte, director of the Point Park News Service, hosted the event and interviewed Guyette on stage for the first portion of the evening. Guyette, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, spoke of the path that led him to his current role with ACLU Michigan, explaining how his termination with a “traditional” media outlet came to be a blessing in surprise. After the city of Detroit was taken over by an emergency manager, Guyette was assigned by ACLU to investigate if any civil liberties were being taken advantage of. It was through these channels that he was
ACLU reporter speaks on Flint water crisis Co-News Editor
photo by Alexander Popichak
Onlookers inspect the charter of the city of Pittsburgh Friday, March 18, 2016, which marked the bicentennial of the city’s incorporation.
City celebrates birthday By Alexander Popichak Editor-Elect
Pittsburgh’s past, present and future collided in a space designed for cooperation between city and county governments. The Pittsburgh City-County Building on Grant Street was packed with nearly 500 people on Mar. 18, 2016 for the celebration of the bicentennial of the city’s incorporation. “Today we celebrate Pittsburgh’s past, and you can go through the booths and tour this wonderful building and feel the rich history that we have,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto during his address Friday in the City-County Building. “Tonight, we celebrate the culture of Pittsburgh with an open ceremony in the cultural district with all of the galleries open to all the people. Our history and our culture is what makes Pittsburgh Pittsburgh.” Incorporation Day festivities included performances by the Pittsburgh 200 Celebration Choir and Pittsburgh CAPA Jazz Vocal Ensemble. Speakers during the celebration included Pennsylvania State House Speaker Mike Turzai, Urban League of
Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO Esther Bush and President and CEO of Riverlife Pittsburgh Vivien Li, who was instrumental in the revitalization of Boston’s waterfront and has moved to Pittsburgh to assist the redevelopment of Pittsburgh’s riverfront. The City-County building was open to the public for tours of the Mayor’s office, council chambers, hall of mayors and the vault in which the city keeps its council minutes and records. Community organizations, schools and museums represented themselves in booths on the main floor in a grouping affectionately called by organizers as “Pop Up Pittsburgh.” While the Oakland Community table advertised upcoming events at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Point Park University did not have a booth. “It’s great to bring people down to the City-County building, to see all the rich history in the city of Pittsburgh,” said Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor, who represents District 5, which includes areas such as Greenfield, Hazelwood, Regent Square, and Squirrel Hill. “If you do
BISON-TENNIAL page 2
BUDGET page 3
When Curt Guyette took a job as an investigative reporter with Michigan’s ACLU branch, there was no way he could have known he would reveal one of the largest social and environmental crises in recent history. Guyette, the investigative reporter who exposed the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich. last year, spoke Tuesday, March 15 at Point Park University’s GRW Auditorium at University Center. The event was put on by Point Park’s News Service and was co-sponsored by the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation and the Women’s
WATER page 2
Club appeals funding USG By Sabrina Bodon USG Beat Reporter
Following last week’s budget meeting, Point Park’s student government’s Finance Committee took to reallocating additional funds to four clubs and organizations requesting appeals. The Feminist Collective, which encountered problems with its budget last meeting, saw its budget for the costs for a speaker continue to lack support. Earlier in the semester, USG promised support for a speaker event. However, this monetary support was not upheld during the final budget period announced last week. “As of right now, the speaker event is still in committee because there was no total agreed upon in committee,” Amber Mole, treasurer of USG, said. During the first round of budget distributions, funding for conferences
was slashed due to a lack of funds allocated. This affected three clubs and organizations. After each budget allocation session, dissatisfied clubs are urged to request additional funds by requesting appeals, said Mole. AdFed/PRSSA was the only club to take USG up on the offer of an appeal and received an additional $487 for half the registration and one hotel room of the PRSSA Regional Conference: Caffeinate Your Career. Last month, USG’s pro tempore Shayna Mendez distributed a survey to students regarding if they prefer a shuttle destination of Trader Joe’s/ Whole Foods or the Waterfront. “For the Trader Joe’s shuttle service, I got a response back from Brad [Kovalcik, the director of Student Activities]...they’ve send me a tentative guide as to how they plan on doing everything,” Mendez said. “They’ll have a trial run starting in April.” The trial run will happen during the first three Sundays in April, rather than the Waterfront shuttle, which
USG page 3
U-View awarded honorable mention designation for broadcast association’s ‘Signature Station’ By Sabrina Bodon USG Beat Reporter
Recognition of one’s passion is no easy feat. But with a dedicated team, the journey can lead just about anywhere. U-View, Point Park’s student-run broadcast production station, earned an honorable mention from the Broadcast Education Association’s Student Media Advisors interest division in the Signature Station Competition. The Signature Station Competition’s mission is to award outstanding stations of student-run college radio and television for not only its pro-
gramming, but superiority in production aspects including “philosophical engagement, community involvement, programming arrangement, branding/logo development, student management, volunteer recruitment and broadcast equipment,” according to the competition’s website. The process for the team over at U-View began months ago, according to U-View’s station manager, senior Brittany Lauffer. “Dr. Robin Cecala [U-View’s faculty advisor] sent us an email in late October saying, ‘We need to do this,’” said Lauffer, a broadcast reporting and broadcast production and pro-
gramming double major, during a phone interview Thursday. The application process included the creation of a video press kit highlighting the numerous features of the station, including a glimpse of clips from shows just a few years ago, said junior Trevor Sheets, co-producer of U-View’s morning program “Daybreak”. “I think one thing [BEA] saw was how things have progressed here,” Sheets said. “Not to say the old video was bad, but you can see some of the stuff we’ve learned to make the product better, we’re not just continuing to regurgitate what others did, but
taking it and improving upon it.” Furthermore, the team submitted several other pieces in of the application showcasing other features U-View. “In addition to the video, we also had to submit some written documents incorporating different aspects of U-View, including what we do, our mission, what different shows we offer, what our different outreach to the school is and what we do with the community as well,” Lauffer said. Specifically, Lauffer points out Daybreak’s participation within the university by interviewing different clubs and organizations and the inner
Weather Forecast Today: Mostly Cloudy H 64, L 50
Thursday: PM Thunderstorms, H 67, L 45 Friday: AM Showers, H 46, L 33 Saturday: Sunny, H 56, L 36
Sunday: Partly Cloudy, H 67, L 45 Monday: Showers, H 50, L 33 Tuesday: Partly Cloudy, H 54, L 34
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
NEWS
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
Freshmen inclusion City unable to pinpoint key to station success hundred-year-old time capsule in city building from AWARD page 1
workings of the school. “We involve so much of our school and that was a huge reason we won this award,” Lauffer said. Don Ranasignhe, a junior broadcast production major who works as the programming director for U-View, is focusing on the station’s upcoming goals following the mention. “We do need to step up with some of our equipment, but even with next year’s BEA awards, we’re going to submit again, and that’s what I’m doing now, shooting more footage,” Ranasignhe said at the U-View station in the University Center. However, the most important push for Ranasignhe is participation. “The biggest goal for U-View right now is getting more students involved,” Ranasignhe said. “I know there are a lot of freshmen and sophomore broadcast and production majors who think, ‘Oh I don’t have to get involved; I can push that to my last year.’” Lauffer notes the opportunities
U-View gives students, beginning at the very start of their freshman year which may have prompted the honorable mention. “It was probably that we do get students involved so highly, at such an early point and that we give them opportunities to have an internship at the end of their freshman year,” Lauffer said. “Students come in here and learn the understanding of how to write a script, how to go on air, how to run production equipment behind the scenes.” The honorable mention for U-View boosted the esteem of the young program. “It’s nice to be able to be recognized, since we are a smaller school, as one of the better programs in the country,” Sheets said. “We aren’t that old of a program. [It’s nice] to see how quickly we’ve been able to get recognized.”
Sabrina Bodon can be reached at sbodon@pointpark.edu.
FROM FLINT TO YOUR FAUCET
photo by Matt Nemeth
ACLU investigative reporter Curt Guyette discusses the process of his journalistic work during “From Flint to Your Faucet” with Point Park News Service Director Andrew Conte March 15.
from BISON-TENNIAL page 1 a tour of the mayor’s office, it’s really unique and a lot of people don’t get this opportunity to come down and just walk freely through the building. I thought it was a great way to show our heritage: where the city’s not just been, but where we’re going and I think it really is cultivated in this 200th celebration.” On March 18, 1816, Pittsburgh was granted city status through state action. That state action, in the form of a charter, was on display for incorporation day at the City-County Building. “In order to get it here, we got the state archivist at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, David Carmicheal, to agree to loan it to the History Center, and then the History Center brought it here to the City-County Building,” said Andy Masich, President and CEO of the Heinz History Center and Chairman of the Bicentennial Commission, at the City-County Building Friday. “It took weeks to have it conserved, specialists with paper conservation unfolded it, relaxed it, because it was all kind of wrinkled and curled up after 200 years in storage and once the conservation was done, a special case was built, it’s climate controlled, and then after today, it will go to the History Center for the rest of 2016.” In a Jan. 14 phone interview, Masich had mentioned that the city was planning to open a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of the City-County Building for the city’s centennial. However, plans changed when finding that time capsule proved a challenge. “We see the City-County building as a time capsule of Pittsburgh history,” Masich said. “The whole building… it really speaks to Pittsburgh’s history everywhere you turn. This building was dedicated in 1916. In 1916, in the cornerstone, they hid a time capsule. We just can’t figure out which cornerstone, and where the time capsule is. We’ve had bomb sniffing dogs, we’ve had metal detectors, [and] we’ve even had a guy with a divining rod looking for the time capsule.”
The current hope is to locate the time capsule in time for the July 9 celebration and parade of the city’s mayors. The July celebration will mark 200 years from the day Ebenezer Denny was elected the first mayor of Pittsburgh. A major theme throughout the event was the evolution of Pittsburgh as time progressed, and Councilman O’Connor noted the importance education has had on the evolution of Pittsburgh’s primary industries. He joined other city leaders in encouraging university students to get involved in the celebration. “If you could go back 200 years and say that our main industries would be education and medicine, you know, people would think it’s crazy,” O’Connor said Friday. “Now to see all of the new things happening, especially at Point Park Downtown, how Point Park itself has transformed Downtown, and with the new Playhouse, how it’s going to transform the next generations of artists and actors in the city of Pittsburgh, I think it’s a great story to tell how [educators] are really a part of day-to-day lives here, we talk about it wherever we go.” Mayor Peduto stressed in his remarks the importance of maintaining the city’s identity while continuing to be on the forefront of technology, education and healthcare. “Today we mark a new milestone, too: the next 200 years of this city,” Peduto said during his remarks Friday. “We are a city that has survived a fire that decimated us, we have survived floods that have held us back, we have survived an environmental degradation; we have survived disparity between the haves and the have-nots; we have survived economic collapse only to return today as one of the top cities in this country and one of the top cities in this world, and our mission for these next 200 years is to keep Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh and to make it a Pittsburgh for all.”
Alexander Popichak can be reached at apopic@pointpark.edu.
Environmental journalism degree formally announced prior to speaker and panel event from WATER page 1 initially contacted about the city of Flint, which was similarly being run by an emergency manager. The emergency manager and city officials for Flint redirected the water source for the city from Lake Huron, the same source Detroit used, to the Flint River. Shortly after the switch, residents began complaining about water purity and rashes developing on their skin. Through the efforts of Guyette’s investigation and tests sent out to Virginia Tech University, it was discovered that some of the town’s residents were exposed to dangerously high levels of water poisoned by lead. Conte and Guyette focused most of their conversation on the importance of diligent investigative reporting and the differences of reporting for advocacy groups, as opposed to traditional media organizations. “I think the more of the idea of journalism I bring to the [ACLU] job, we’ll be better off in the long run,” Guyette said when asked how he balanced advocacy versus journalism during the event. Continuing the theme of investigative reporting for advocacy groups, the event concluded with a panel of local environmental advocates and a journalist joined onstage by Guyette.
The focus of the panel was clean drinking water in Pittsburgh and what we can do to improve it. Kathy Knauer of WESA’s Allegheny Front, Myron Arnowitt of Clean Water Action and Brentin Mock of The Atlantic’s Citylab.com spoke briefly individually and answered some questions from the crowd. Arnowitt spoke of the similarities between investigation for advocacy groups and investigative journalism. “There’s a lot of interesting overlap between investigative journalism and what a community organizer does,” Arnowitt said during the panel. Pressed on the issue of clean drinking water locally by Conte, Arnowitt told the audience that Clean Water Action’s national organization has a motto of, “Put drinking water first,” and noted that the largest threat to clean drinking water in the Pittsburgh area is hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as “fracking.” Fracking is the process implemented to obtain natural gas by drilling down into the earth and using a high pressure water mixture directed at the shale to release the gas inside. There have been “a couple hundred” reports of unclean water in natural gas drilling areas, according to Arnowitt. Knauer added her own experi-
ence in covering the water sources in and around Pittsburgh. “Pittsburgh has a history of poor water quality. There’s a lot of bad, dirty water getting to the rivers, and that’s our drinking water,” Knauer said onstage. “We’re now hearing about prescription drugs in the river water because it’s not treated properly.” Mock, who began his career writing for Pittsburgh City Paper, spoke briefly of the racial and social issues that surround environmental issues. “You can’t get the full picture of an environmental issue until you learn the racial implications of it,” said Mock during the panel. Both Mock and Guyette discussed the obstacles that investigative journalists have in the field, especially when covering stories specific to environmental issues. Mock told students to learn to adapt and mentioned tools available to journalists writing about environmental issues, such as EJSCREEN, a mapping tool developed for use by the Environmental Protection Agency. “As long as journalism students keep coming up with models and changing, the market will be rewarding,” Mock said. Guyette also encouraged student and amateur journalists to stay assid-
uous in their work, telling them not to get discouraged if their articles don’t get picked up. “There are going to be obstacles in your path, and you have to find creative ways around them,” Guyette said. “In Flint, it was doing our own tests.” Point Park University used the opportunity of the event to formally announce the creation of the new environmental journalism degree the school has created. The program, made possible through a grant from the Heinz Endowments, will begin in the fall semester. Andrew McElwaine, vice president for Sustainability and the Environment for the Heinz Endowments, spoke momentarily about the new degree program. “Environmental issues will most likely remain at the forefront of not only local, but national and international headlines,” McElwaine said before the crowd at GRW auditorium. “Environmental journalism, and journalism in general, deserves far more concern and attention.” McElwaine encouraged the crowd, “Journalism is not dead.”
Iain Oldman can be reached at idoldma@pointpark.edu.
NEWS
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
USG, Paylo: clubs not affected by budget woes PCD calling from BUDGET page 1
to pay for them over [last] summer and set money aside for them,” King said. “It turns out none of that stuff got paid for over the summer, and we got hit with it throughout the fall.” USG was charged for the bike program in the fall semester and was just charged for OrgSync and the playhouse tickets recently, according to King. The money allocated for the summer session totalled $7,000, with $5,000 of that specifically set aside for OrgSync and the bike program. At the end of the fiscal year, unspent money from the USG is absorbed back into the university’s general fund. King said there was no communication from the business department regarding a failure of the allocated budget to go through last summer, saying that USG gets all of their budget information from Student Affairs and the Office of Student Activities, Involvement and Leadership (SAIL).
Globe Ad - Pittsburgh Tattoo - 1-15-16.indd 1
Point Park’s Dean of Students Keith Paylo said he believes there were no large communication breakdowns, and the ones that did occur had “minimal” impact on funding. “There may have been some misunderstandings. There may have been a couple of ideas where USG might have felt that they didn’t know that those funds were being released or vica versa,” said Paylo during an interview in his office Monday afternoon. USG still has Forum and Pioneer Community Day to plan and budget from the remaining $2,200 in the account. Amber Mole, the USG treasurer, said Forum has been largely paid for already, and that the USG will turn their attention towards Pioneer Community Day. “Right now, our main concern is PCD, to make it a successful event that is enjoyable for the students,” Mole said during a telephone interview. Moving forward, USG has had conversations with SAIL and the Office of Student Affairs to ensure that a similar budget problem does not occur again in the future. King believes the fiscal process, or the way that account activity trickles down to the USG, was part of the problem. “Nobody is sure of it, and we’re just waiting to see how everything is broken down,” King said. “We’re working to prevent it in the future, to keep a tighter track of things from our point of view so others can avoid this in the future as well.” King added that a greater deal of transparency for account activity would help USG keep a tighter track of their budget. One measure that has already been decided focuses on the OrgSync bill that USG has to pay every year. “What I’ve already told USG for next year is funds are going to be re-
served in future years, so USG will not see the cost of that,” Paylo said. “They will not see and have to allocate funds for OrgSync. I’ve made that decision for next year. They will be saving those resources for next year.” The Office of Student Affairs will pick up a larger portion of the tab for OrgSync beginning next year, according to Paylo. Both King and Paylo are confident that USG can survive with the budget they currently have until the end of the fiscal year. USG is looking into purchases and expenditures made in the past that they can roll back to possibly compensate. “The fear will always be there, but we’re confident we’ll be able to pay for [the bike program, playhouse tickets and OrgSync] if it rolls to us, even if we have to pay for them in the fall semester,” said King. “We want to find a solution so we don’t have this happen in the future.” King emphasized that student activities will not be affected by USG’s remaining budget. “I don’t look at this as [USG is] in a bad situation or dire need, or that students should see any impact or will see any impact,” Paylo said. “I’m confident that students still have the ability to be active and carry out a lot of different things within their organizations.” Paylo expressed that the university will be ready to assist USG if they do not have the necessary remaining funds to operate up to the end of the fiscal year. USG’s Forum, an open house for student interaction with USG, is planned for this Saturday, March 26 from 2-5 p.m. and Pioneer Community Day will take place April 2.
Iain Oldman can be reached at idoldma@pointpark.edu.
for campus volunteers
from USG page 1 runs Friday and Sunday. Prior to the meeting, a student opened a Change.org petition requesting students to sign to signal their support for Point Park to have “free bus passes.” A few years ago, USG held a referendum to see if students would want to pay the extra fee, said USG press secretary Emily Yount. “We got an overwhelming negative response to that,” Yount said. “More students said no...than what we’ll have to pay extra to get it free. Most people have basically said that they wouldn’t use it enough to warrant that extra fee.” Over the weekend, USG issued a press release outlining the different functions of Pioneer Community Day, an annual volunteer driven event hosted by USG each year. “This year, the Pioneer Community Day Ad-Hoc Committee has partnered with three service organizations and volunteers will be spread across the Pittsburgh Area. These organizations are the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Friends of the Riverfront and the Pittsburgh Chapter of Habitat for Humanity,” the press release read. USG urges students to volunteer by signing up on OrgSync for the April 2 event, which will benefit the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Sabrina Bodon can be reached at sbodon@pointpark.edu.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
FEATURES
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
Passion for anime culminates in school organization By Matt Nemeth For the Globe
Point Park students Leanna Brooks and Nick Vercilla are fundamental members of the campus Anime Club as the president and secretary. The group is dedicated to students with a passion for Japanese animated shows, movies and culture. “I guess you could kind of call it a second family, because a lot of us are really tight-knit,” Brooks said in an interview last week in Boulevard Apartments. The group’s Facebook page has more than 100 followers, although its weekly meetings usually have a much smaller crowd. According to Brooks, attendance for these meetings, which include episode screenings of different anime, often ranges between 10 and 20 people. In addition to their regular screenings, Anime Club also organizes special events. Every year, members eat at a Pittsburgh-area Japanese restaurant. They also hold an on-campus marathon of films by Hayao Miyazaki, one of Japan’s most celebrated anime creators. In the past, members have also participated at “Tekko,” Pittsburgh’s annual convention for Japanese pop culture. Junior Katie Fahringer is also an avid fan of anime, and like Brooks and Vercilla, she became a strong member of the club early on in her academic career. Unfortunately, Fahringer is no longer able to participate as often as she used to. But while other members are watching anime, Fahringer is creating animated work of her own. Fahringer is one of a small group of students in Point Park’s growing animation program. “My art definitely has its anime influences,” Fahringer said last week in the West Penn Hall Animation Lab. She describes similarities in the
style of character proportions and striking eyes that anime is known for. Fahringer enjoys the work of American animated shows as well, but says they typically aren’t as serious as some anime. She is interested in creating work that explores animation’s ability to convey strong emotions -something more commonly found in Japanese works. One of her favorite aspects of Anime Club is that it provides an opportunity to watch a variety of shows and movies in the company of other people. Fahringer especially enjoys seeing her friends’ reactions. “We try to keep it quiet during the anime, but there are just moments when everyone gasps,” Fahringer said. This semester, the group has faced some complications. A class was scheduled in the Anime Club’s room during their regular meeting time, and they were relocated to West Penn Hall. Brooks and Vercilla both preferred their old venue in University Center 212, and Vercilla pointed out the real perk was that the building was open until 12 a.m., leaving ample time for the group to watch episodes from several different shows and socialize with each other. Before the relocation, Brooks started meetings with club announcements. Members had time to get food or talk before the show started, but now there is not enough time. “We literally have to start the meeting and then start the anime,” Vercilla said. Sophomore screenwriting major Alexandra Youssef, who was recently elected as the group’s Fall 2016 president, has been a member of Anime Club for two years. Youssef has vowed to try to expand club meetings. “I want to incorporate just more talking about anime,” Youssef said last Tuesday in Lawrence Hall Lobby, expressing the importance of member interaction.
photo by Matt Nemeth
Junior animation major Katie Fahringer works on a project in West Penn’s animation lab. Fahringer has been a member of Anime Club since her freshman year and credits Japanese animation to having a significant influence on her work. Youssef believes more social time will bring old and new members closer together, and proudly mentioned how alumni still show up. “It just goes to show how much people really like the club and how many friendships form there,” Youssef said. One of those alumni+ is Katie Castelli, a Point Park 2015 graduate. After discovering that there had previously been no dedicated anime group on campus, Castelli founded the club with another student early during her freshman year. Anime Club’s first year of operation was not without its difficulties. According to Castelli, the most challenging aspect was finding new members. Because the club was based on an interest, potential members couldn’t be found easily through major-related classes like other organizations that are tied to various school programs. Instead, she and other members had to rely on a combination of campus advertisements and word-of-mouth.
“There were days where I would wear an anime t-shirt and someone would be like, ‘Man, I really like your shirt,’ and I’d be like, ‘Wait, hold on. Let’s talk a little bit,’” Castelli said last Thursday in West Penn Hall. Since those earlier days, it has become easier to sustain the number of members. Castelli points out how all the officers are elected for the upcoming year and that current members often spread word to their friends. “Part of it is just putting yourself out there,” Castelli said. With the end of Brook’s term on the horizon, she has begun planning to hand over leadership to younger members. Brooks says the experience has left her with a greater level of self-confidence and a group of very close friends. “Don’t be afraid of what you like, because you know you can find some amazing people,” Brooks said.
Matt Nemeth can be reached at mjnemet@pointpark.edu.
Students stress the importance of voter turnout Pennsylvania primary registration deadline March 28 By Madison Vranish For the Globe
Sophomore journalism major Erin Massie is looking forward to participating in this year’s presidential election and is doing so by casting her vote for the first time. On the other hand, freshman photography major Tyler Calpin says he would love to participate in the 2016 election, but since he is from Ohio, he has already missed that primary and doesn’t think he will register in Pennsylvania to vote. These students were responding to a recent study conducted by Tufts University, showing that during the 2012 presidential election, the millennial generation had the lowest voting turnout compared to any other age group. According to the International Business Times, only 19 percent of the total vote turned out to be millennial voters during the 2012 presidential election, compared to the nearly 51 percent that voted during the 2008 general election. Due to this decrease in participa-
tion to vote, the U.S. Department of Education began challenging universities and colleges throughout America to push academic programs that engage in civil leadership and democracy. Despite recent attempts to encourage voting from colleges and universities, many students have a strong opinion as to why or why not they will be voting in this year’s election. Massie said she feels the need to vote because of how controversial and important this year’s election is to the country, and especially the millennial generation. Massie believes that in order to inspire change within the government and country, everyone who is eligible to vote needs to participate. Massie said the reason why millennial generation voting rates have decreased is because they simply do not care. “A lot of our generation is blinded by their lives and do not see the bigger picture around them; they just do not care to be involved in politics,” Massie said during an interview last Monday in Village Park. Calpin, who wishes to participate in this year’s election, says that it might not be possible to do so. Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Calpin says that he is registered to vote in his home state, but has not yet had the chance to do so in Pennsylvania. “I think a lot of college students are not voting because of the hassle to register to vote when the student is attending college out of state, which is a lot of students,” Calpin said last Tuesday during an interview in the Point Café. Calpin says that many millennial college students do not vote because they are unsure of whose views they support and the stereotype that surrounds a young person’s vote. Taylor Celich, a freshman broadcasting major, is extremely excited to participate in this year’s election. Celich said she is ready to participate in this year’s presidential election,
considering this is the first year the 18-year-old has the chance to vote. Celich said registering to vote is not difficult, but it does require a good bit of time. She says that even if the process were easier, college students still would not take the time out of their schedules to register to vote because the majority just do not care to. “College students would much rather complain about the presidential candidates than actually go out and participate to make a difference,” Celich said in an interview last Wednesday in Lawrence Hall. Celich said that despite the push for the millennial generation to vote, Point Park has not done much to encourage voting. She said that Point Park could have at least posted flyers around campus encouraging students to vote or consider voting. Sophomore public relations and advertising major James Whittfeldt is unsure of whether or not he will vote in this year’s election. Whittfeldt’s reasoning for the possibility of not voting in this year’s election is because he feels that none of the candidates that are running are good for our country. Although Whittfeldt may not vote, he still feels that it is very important for the millennial generation and the up and coming generations to participate and become educated on elections. “Politicians will start respecting the will of the youth if they actually start voting,” Whittfeldt said in an in-
terview at Point Café last Tuesday. Whittfeldt said that he is very surprised at the lack of coverage and information Point Park is providing about this year’s presidential election. He feels that the university can get students involved by having those who are advertising or public relations majors create a campaign that urges or gives an incentive for students to vote. “I think if Point Park encourages voting more actively, more students will want to participate to make a difference,” Whittfeldt said. Pennsylvania’s registration deadline to vote in this year’s presidential primary election is March 28.
Madison Vranish can be reached at mlvrani@pointpark.edu.
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
FEATURES
Health
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
Awareness Week
Monday 3/21: Freshman 15 Lecture LH Lobby 1 PM
Tuesday 3/22: Raw Juice Bar WP Lobby 1 PM
Wednesday 3/23: Nutritionist LH 200 6 PM
Thursday 3/24: Spin Class SC 207 5 PM
Friday 3/25:Yoga SC 207 12 PM
MArch 21st-25th
5
6
OPINIONS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
Despite primary losses, don’t count out Sanders yet
’S
POINT
By Lauren Ortego For The Globe
Physical healthiness should also be a priority in college The college lifestyle is an unhealthy one almost by definition. We are largely hordes of sleep-deprived 20-year-olds who live in creeping existential terror of the future and who also often forget to eat. Add to that a new and exciting world of substances to abuse, and you have a recipe for a comically unhealthy population. That’s why the Campus Activities Board (CAB) is having its health awareness week until Friday. Each day features a different event, from Monday’s Freshman 15 lecture to yoga on Friday. It makes sense to dedicate a week to student health, as that’s one of the least-discussed struggles of being a college student. People often focus on debt (which is real and soul-crushing), unpaid internships (which are real and should be illegal) or dwindling job prospects (which we will steadfastly refuse to believe are real because thinking otherwise would be too upsetting). But the actual work of existing and being human beings taking care of themselves physically (and mentally, though that’s not what CAB’s events this week focus on) is something that a lot of students find challenging.
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
In the mess of struggles relating to academic work, resume building and attempting to piece together a social life, it can be hard to remember that we are human beings with bodies that have their own needs, not just machines for eventual employment. But we need to sleep, and we need to eat things other than Easy Mac, and we need to exercise enough that our muscles don’t fully atrophy into slime. These are things that are hard to do, but college is about doing things that are hard. We’re figuring out stuff: what we want to do with the rest of our lives, what we value, what we’re willing to fight for. It’s important to also figure out how to be functional adults and apply “functional” to overall well-being as well as our GPAs. So please, remember to eat. Remember to sleep. Make being healthy as much of a priority as going to class. But don’t feel bad about not taking the stairs in West Penn. We want you to be healthy, but taking the stairs in West Penn would be a bridge too far.
The Globe can be reached at globe@pointpark.edu.
Last Tuesday, after staggeringly losing to everyone’s favorite orange-colored, billionaire racist, Florida Senator Marco Rubio ended his bid for president. As the reality of Donald Trump potentially becoming the GOP nominee for president, or even worse, becoming president sets in, both the Republican and Democratic parties are trying to rally together to find the candidate that they believe could defeat him. Republicans have seemingly chosen Texas Senator Ted Cruz. But who’s the Democrats’ choice? It’s a fact that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a lead over Senator Bernie Sanders in delegate counts. Clinton currently has 1,163 delegates and 467 superdelegates compared to Sanders’ 844 delegates and 26 superdelegates. With these numbers in mind, there are many Democrats, including President Barack Obama, according to a March 17 New York Times article, who believe it’s time to stop messing around and rally behind Clinton. Sanders isn’t giving up that easily. Following a string of primary losses to Clinton, Sanders and his campaign staff remain positive. “We are feeling very good,” Jeff Weaver, Sanders’s campaign manager, told reporters last Wednesday. “We are going to carry this campaign on to success in the summer and then ultimately in the fall.” Sanders has an overwhelming amount of millennial supporters, according to a January poll from Rock the Vote which says that Sanders leads Clinton in that demographic 46 percent to 35 percent. Getting millennials to the polls, however, is a whole different story.
If they can’t show up in mass amounts during the primaries, Sanders’s campaign could be over. But I don’t think Sanders should give up. At least not yet. The South, which is where Clinton is highly favored, has voted. The following primaries will be taking place in states that are demographically friendlier for Sanders. What he, his staff and his supporters need to do is generate more enthusiasm to go out and vote, especially at such a dire time in his campaign. This is many of his young supporters’ first time voting in a presidential election, and motivating them to go and use their rights as Americans could help. If he doesn’t get high numbers of young people to show up at the polls, this could all be over, but the primaries aren’t over yet. In fact, they’ve only just begun. There are still 28 states left. That’s more than half of the country, and people want him to just “give up, already?” Don’t let the superdelegates scare you, either. They change sides according to who does best. In fact, Clinton had 154 superdelegates to now-President Obama’s 50 before New Hampshire voted in Janurary of 2008. Even if Sanders does lose his bid for candidacy, he’s already begun to leave a lasting mark on the new generation of Democrats and American politics. Bringing Democratic Socialism to the forefronts of the presidential race, raising 98 percent of his campaign money through small individual donations and being consistent across the board, Sanders isn’t going anywhere, even after the nominee is picked, and neither should you.
Lauren Ortego can be reached at leorteg@pointpark.edu.
Pa. makes progress on medical marijuana legalization By Margaret Davis For The Globe
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved legislation on the use of medical marijuana with wide bipartisan support this past Wednesday. Senate approval is the next step, and Governor Tom Wolfe, along with other supporters of the bill, are optimistic it will pass, as the Senate has approved medical marijuana legislation in the past, once in 2014 and again in 2015. Pennsylvania would be the twenty-fourth state, not counting D.C., to legalize medical marijuana. Passing this bill will grant access to medical marijuana for people suffering from a wide variety of conditions. A multitude of studies have shown a variety of medical benefits from the use of marijuana and isolated cannabinoids. Marijuana increases appetite in patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS and eating disorders. It decreases nausea and other symptoms associated with chemotherapy, HIV/AIDS treatment and Hepatitis C treatment. It stalls seizures from epilepsy and Dravet’s Syndrome, particularly in children. Marijuana can be instrumental in treatment for chronic pain, muscle spasms and anxiety disorders, especially Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It can prevent blindness in people with glaucoma by lowering intraocular pressure. It can also subdue the symptoms of arthritis, Crohn’s disease, sleep disorders,
irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, multiple sclerosis, depression, psychosis- the list goes on and on. However, only six percent of marijuana studies are dedicated to its medicinal properties. The bill would place a five percent tax on Pennsylvania marijuana growers and dispensaries, with the proceeds split between funding the program, law enforcement, drug abuse counseling and further research. That’s 5 percent split four ways. If we assume it’s split equally, which it most likely is not, that’s onefourth for further medical research. Is that enough when, according to studies by the California Pacific Medical Center and the American Association for Cancer Research, cannabinoids can prevent cancer cells from spreading and slow tumor growth to a halt, or when, according to another study by the Scripps Research Institute, marijuana can derail the progression of Alzheimer’s disease? No, I don’t think it is enough. Now perhaps I’m biased. In 2013, my mother was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, and for two years, I watched her shrivel up and waste away as her own blood and bones turned against her. Her doctors told us there was nothing they could do, and maybe there wasn’t. However, medical marijuana wasn’t, and still isn’t, available in Ohio. But the cancer-treating, slowing and stopping effects of cannabis are old news. Medical research and progress is held back by marijuana’s continued feder-
1967- The Globe board consists of Josh Croup, Alexander Popichak and fellow 2016 editors. Opinion articles, letters to the editor, columns and cartoons do not
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al status as a Schedule I drug and by persistent opposition from the right. Approval of medical marijuana is also a positive step towards legalization for recreational use. For the time being, let’s dismiss the ideological arguments for legalization of recreational weed and focus on a more pragmatic approach- the undeniable benefit to Pennsylvania’s economy. Imagine the millions of Pennsylvania jobs created from medical and recreational marijuana growth, processing, distribution and sales. Imagine the almost obscene amount of tax revenue Pennsylvania stands to gain- money the state desperately needs. The two states that have already legalized, Washington and Colorado, are reaping the benefits. In 2015, Colorado’s marijuana sales exceeded $996 million, and the state gained over $135 million in revenue from weed taxes and fees. Hopefully, someday down the line, Pennsylvania will reap these benefits, too. This shouldn’t be a political battle, or a moral one—legalization is just practical, on all fronts. Medical marijuana is a godsend to millions of Americans, and although progress is surely on its way, it remains a slow, up-hill climb. As more and more research is done on medical marijuana, it opens the door, or at least cracks the door slightly ajar to let in a thin strip of light, to the possibility of further research on the medicinal properties of other Schedule I drugs. MiJosh Croup, Editor-in-Chief Alexander Popichak, Editor-Elect Anthony Mendicino, Co-News Editor Iain Oldman, Co-News Editor Karly Rivera, Co-Features Editor Eddie Trizzino, Co-Features Editor Johanna Wharran, Co-Opinions Editor Laura Byko, Co-Opinions Editor Michael Richter, Co-Sports Editor Matt Petras, Co-Sports Editor Dominique Hildebrand, News Photo Editor Chloe Jakiela, Features Photo Editor Liz Berie, Sports Photo Editor Julianne Griffith, Layout Editor Alex Grubbs, Co-Copy Desk Chief Emily Bennett, Co-Copy Desk Chief Kayla Novak, Copy Editor Hannah O’Toole, Copy Editor Carrie Reale, Copy Editor Beth Turnbull, Copy Editor Quinn Baumeister, Copy Editor
cro-doses of psilocybin, the active compound in what are colloquially known as “magic mushrooms,” have been proven to aid in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders like OCD, PTSD and cluster headaches. Small doses of both MDMA (what the kids call “Molly” or “ecstasy”) and LSD have also been proven helpful to those struggling with depression and anxiety disorders. DMT and mescaline, naturally-occurring compounds historically used in ceremonial rituals by a number of Native North and South American tribes, have been shown, in clinical settings, to have psychiatric benefits for people with terminal illnesses. What we consider “party drugs” have the potential to be so much more than that. I am amazed and incredulous that medical research on these substances continues to be hampered by political opposition and ridiculous drug classifications, when benzodiazepines like Xanax and Klonopin, legal speed such as Adderall and Ritalin and opioid painkillers are some of the most-prescribed drugs in the United States. But that is one of many conversations that America is not yet ready to have. We have to walk before we can run, and Pennsylvania’s House vote to approve medical marijuana is undoubtedly a baby step in the right direction.
Margaret Davis can be reached at madavis2@pointpark.edu. Isabelle Opsitos, Copy Editor Dana Bohince, Online Editor Gerri Tipton, Online Editor Sabrina Bodon, USG Beat Reporter Brianna Murray, Social Media Editor Alexa Yanyanin, Social Media Editor Emily Yount, Graphic Designer Arianna Khalil, Graphic Designer Maggie McCauley, Public Relations Coordinator Kariann Mano, Business Manager Dr. Steven Hallock, Faculty Adviser
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THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
SPORTS CROUP’S CORNER By Josh Croup Sports Columnist
Losing March Madness Along with millions of others across the country, I had Michigan State winning my NCAA March Madness bracket. Well, that’s March. I have a deep love-hate relationship with the month of March for reasons beyond the roller coaster that the basketball tournament takes us all on every year. I imagine the Point Park softball and baseball teams do as well. This month hasn’t been pretty. It’s been ugly at times and frustrating at others. There are reasons for optimism, and I’m generally an optimist. During March, however, as soon as one team in my bracket loses, I turn to pessimistic thinking. All of that research and debating over one team or another was for nothing. A special shout-out to the No. 11 seeds in this year’s tournament. I’ll go back to thinking optimistically on the diamond. The baseball team currently sits at 9-10 with a 4-4 conference record. The Pioneer bats came to life in their most recent victory, an 11-1 win over Penn State-Greater Allegheny. Sophomore catcher Christ Hernandez has stepped into the No. 3-hole of the batting order – a spot typically occupied by junior right fielder Stefan Mrkonja, who is out for the year with a hamstring injury. He went 3-5 with three RBIs in the win after only hitting .237 entering the game. That’s a bat that needs to continue producing. Ahead of him in the order, Demetrius Moorer and Shane Conley combined for a 2-4 night with three walks, three RBIs and six runs between the two outfielders. There were some really rough patches throughout the first 18 games for this team. Errors cost the Pioneers games, injuries have benched key players and the bats have only hit .277 through 19 games. We can be optimistic that the bats will produce consistently, the pitching staff will hold its own and the gloves won’t cost the team wins. Now, bear with me for the softball team. They’re 10 games below .500, entering the week at 3-13. Point Park also has an even 1-1 conference record after splitting its first conference series at Cincinnati Christian over the weekend. 3-13 isn’t pretty. How meaningful is the win-loss column? It’s almost meaningless, unless you’re looking at the con-
ference win-loss column. Seriously, 3-13 isn’t fun, even if 14 of those games don’t matter in terms of the conference standings. “Wait, so starting 3-13 isn’t the end of the world?” No. No, it isn’t. In the grand scheme of things, the conference record is what matters. Nothing else. All bets are off when the conference tournament rolls around. This team was a No. 2 seed in last year’s tournament and was bounced on day one. A team could have a miserable record in the regular season and turn things around in the conference tournament. This is a young team. Three of nine hitters and one of three pitchers from last year are back. It’s a different team that played a difficult schedule to start the year. They’re a work in progress. Playing well in the conference is the main focus right now. The Pioneers split a doubleheader at Cincinnati Christian over the weekend in their first conference series. They lost the first game 1-0 and won the second 2-0, totaling four hits and no errors in each game. Ashley Iagnemma’s near-perfect game one performance was spoiled by a goose egg on the Point Park scoreboard. The pitcher gave up one run on two hits, striking out six and walking none. Hannah Harley tossed a three-hit shutout in game two, striking out six and walking one in the process. She picked up her first win of the season after an 0-6 start. Point Park’s next conference game is Thursday night against Carlow. Clearly, losing isn’t fun. Whether it’s losing someone close to you, a non-conference road game or your office bracket pool, losing sucks. Hang in there, everybody. The madness of March is almost over. The team you picked to win it all may have already been eliminated, but now you can sit back and just enjoy the tournament. As for the baseball and softball teams, now is the time to think optimistically and start racking up conference wins. If they can’t produce a positive conference record, hopefully they’ll break some brackets during April’s conference tournament.
Josh Croup can be reached at jdcroup@pointpark.edu.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
7
Rugby club stays strong By Chris Ward For The Globe
Prior to his freshman year, Kyle Waldron knew very little about rugby – the sport he’s since grown to love. Daymon Long joined the Point Park rugby club simply looking to get in shape after recovering from a broken wrist, and now, he’s sold on it. “I literally knew nothing about rugby before I joined,” Long said during an interview Friday at Point State Park. “I knew that it was a popular sport in Europe, and I knew they threw the ball backwards and kicked the ball forward.” They are among 22 players on Point Park’s club rugby team that is not only building on its best fall season ever, but growing along with the fast-rising sport across America. “Rugby is the fastest growing sport in America,” team captain Jakob Como said Friday at Point State Park. “I think there’s 30,000-40,000 college rugby players in the country. I think people are interested in rugby because of the team aspect and the physicality part of it.” According to a study done by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, there has been a 13.3 percent increase in rugby participants over the past five years, which makes rugby the fastest growing sport in America. Many of the players in the club have had no prior experience playing rugby before they attended Point Park. “This is one of the first years that everyone we brought over from the freshman class stayed over,” Como said. “Most of the time we have a 3040 percent retention rate, and this year, we had one person out of the six or seven freshmen drop.” Even though the club may face a disadvantage with smaller numbers and less experience than other schools, it was able to compete with some elite competition during the fall. “The fall season was our best season so far,” Como said. “We were 3-4 prior to entering conference play, where we played teams like Robert Morris and Franciscan University, who are in the top 15 in the National Small College Rugby Organization.” The club’s set schedule season is in the fall, where players compete in the Three Rivers Rugby Conference and then a tournament season during the spring.
Point Park’s first scheduled match for the spring was March 20, where players took on the South Pittsburgh Hooligans. Since joining the rugby club, Waldron has noticed that rugby is a sport that’s played by humble individuals. “It’s a hooligan’s game played by gentleman,” Waldron said Friday at Point State Park. “You won’t see touchdown dances; you won’t see any of that. It’s a very humble sport.” Waldron grew up playing football and basketball, and says that a lot of the skills he learned from playing those sports have transferred over to rugby. “The same kind of ball movement that’s in basketball is in rugby, and the physical aspect of football has helped,” Waldron said. “My basketball side has helped with running around the field and knowing where my teammate is before he’s even there. The anticipation part of basketball and football really helps when it comes to rugby.” Waldron said that compared to football, there are a lot more rules and restrictions when it comes to playing rugby. “I can still remember in high school when I was a right guard, and I would pull on a counter play and smash someone the hardest that I could, but in rugby, you can’t do that,” Waldron said. “There are a lot more rules, and if you tackle someone incorrectly, you’ll get a red card and miss the next game.” Long played soccer and basketball and ran track in high school, and agrees with Waldron’s statement that Rugby is a very modest game. “It’s a very aggressive sport, but there’s also a very humble attitude when it comes to rugby players,” Long said. “Football players and soccer players will throw a fit when a flag is called, but rugby players have the utmost respect among the teams and the referees, which I think is really interesting.” After a year on the rugby team, Long has developed a real appreciation for the game. “I love this sport now. I love the guys,” Long said. “There’s a real awesome brotherhood. Some of my best friends are on this team.”
Chris Ward can be reached at ctward@pointpark.edu.
photo by Gracey Evans The Point Park Rugby Club shows off their new uniforms together after a meeting. The team’s spring season began Saturday against the South Pittsburgh Hooligans.
Track and field opens outdoor season By Liz Berie
For The Globe
The Point Park men’s and women’s track and field teams opened the outdoor season at the Juniata College Invitational on Saturday. For the men, sophomore jumper Shaun Berry placed first in the triple jump weeks after competing at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Indoor National Championship. He had a leap of 13.28 meters to win the event. Berry placed in the top nine in all three jumps at the meet. Freshmen jumpers Andre Lowery and Michael Morris also started off on a high note in the high jump. Lowery placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 6.13 meters and Morris placed eighth with a leap of 6.00 meters. The highlight of day for men’s track was when freshmen mid-distance runner Desmond Marrow broke the school record in the 800-meter. Throughout the race, freshman mid-distance runner Andre Bennett led until Marrow passed him.
“Even though it was pretty cold outside, I was happy that I finished the day off healthy,” Bennett said after the meet. “It came down to who wanted it more, so kudos to Desmond for breaking another school record.” Marrow placed fifth in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 1.21 seconds, and Bennett took sixth place with a time of 2 minutes, 1.63 seconds as he broke the previous record from last year’s inaugural season. “Even though I didn’t reach my personal goal, I was perfectly fine with my time,” Marrow said after the meet. In the 1,500-meter, sophomore mid-distance runner Chris Hunt broke the previous school record by placing fifth out of a total of 41 runners with a record-breaking time of 4 minutes, 13.37 seconds. For the 400-meter hurdles, freshman hurdler Bryan Partika had a record-breaking time of 3 minutes, 33.01 seconds and finished in fourth place. “It wasn’t that hard for me,” Partika said in an interview after the meet. “I don’t view it as an accom-
plishment. The real accomplishment will come when the weather gets nicer and the times go down.” The men’s 4x400 relay team had a record-breaking time of 3 minutes, 33.01 seconds and finished off in fourth place. The group included Marrow, Partika, sophomore mid-distance runner Alexander Vaughn and sophomore sprinter JaQuan Lavender. Kiana Daley highlighted the women’s day in the field as she broke three school records. She placed second in the shot put, second in the discus and seventh in the hammer throw. Senior Vanessa Sprando continued the throwers’ strong performance with a third place finish in the shot put. Freshmen thrower Annelise Kephart broke the record for javelin with a ninth-place worthy throw of 27.12 meters. On the track, the 4x100 relay team placed first with a time of 50.45 seconds. The team consisted of sophomore sprinters Chereese Langley, Amber Brown and Jahni-
ah McAllister and freshman sprinter Onon Kadima. Three sprinters placed in the Top 10 of the 100-meter dash. Kadima finished third, Langley sixth and freshman Ebony Davis 10th. In the distance races, sophomore distance runner Katie Guarnaccia finished in third place for the 1,500-meter with a time of 5 minutes, 6.70 seconds. In the 5,000-meter, freshman distance runner Kara Rohlf was 14th with a time of 4 minutes, 29.52 seconds. “It’s nice to see that I’m starting out my season running that time,” Rohlf said after the meet.” Partika, Davis and Daley were all named conference athletes of the week. Both teams will return to action Saturday, March 26 at the Cal U Early Bird Invitational in California, PA.
Liz Berie can be reached at erberi@pointpark.edu.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
SPORTS
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
Golfer builds from humble beginning
Kamisky makes his dreams a reality at Point Park By Phillip Poupore For The Globe
Growing up in White Oak, Pa., golf was not a sport many kids pursued. Even Max Kaminsky admits basketball was his first true love. However, after high school, he came to Point Park University on a golf scholarship where he began to get the ball rolling toward his dreams. “It was probably this past summer when I started getting progressively better over time when I realized my goal is to actually turn pro,” Kaminsky, 20, said. Kaminsky first picked up a club at the age of three when his father took him into an empty field across the street “I owe everything to my dad,” Kaminsky said. “When I played with him and his friends they would say if I could win a hole, I’d get a quarter. Those little things taught me how to deal with pressure at a young age.” Kevin Kaminsky, who referred to himself as a “hack,” did manage to teach his son everything he knew about the game, but everything else he had to discover on his own. Kaminsky’s first competitive match came at the age of 11 when he participated in a U.S. junior golf event in Ohio. The tournament hosted kids from across the nation, and Kaminsky remembers being the only one there without an instructor. “I was so nervous,” Kaminsky said. “I remember the first nine holes, I played really bad, but I calmed down. I thought it was cool that I could say that I was the only one there who had my dad teach me everything. Though Kaminsky’s first tournament didn’t go completely as planned, he would not be waiting long for his
first taste of success. Kaminsky was 12 years old when he signed up for the Northeast Junior Golf tournament at the Cedarbrook Golf Course in Belle Vernon, Pa. Kaminsky could once again feel the nerves as he approached the tee box, but he managed to keep them in check and play his game. Now, he not only played a solid round, he went out and won the one-day event with a score of 75. “It was a great moment to experience,” Kaminsky said. “It just made me love the game even more. It also helped me confidence wise, especially with bigger tournaments. I could reflect on that tournament and know that I could win anything.” In high school, Kaminsky really came into his own as an athlete. He attended private school at Serra Catholic, where he played basketball in the winter and golf over the summer. All of his hard work paid off as he found himself succeeding in both basketball and golf. In basketball, Kaminsky was a three-point sharpshooter who reached the 1,000 point mark, but his greatest success came in golf as a freshman. He won the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) Division II championship when he shot a two over-par 74 to win by one stroke at the Youghiogheny Country Club in Elizabeth Township. He was the first athlete in history to take the title, much less as a freshman. “I figured if I can do that, why can’t I compete at any level?” Kaminsky said. “It woke me up to the reality that if I want to be a pro, I have to start winning things.” This was a mentality that he brought to Point Park, but he was
caught off guard by the overall level of competition. “It was definitely a big transition between high school and college,” Kaminsky said. “I didn’t realize how good others were. I really struggled my first couple months from nerves, but I managed to calm down in the spring.” Entering the spring season, the senior-loaded team was looking to win the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) championship for the third year in a row. The freshman star produced his best work of the season on the final day of the tournament at the Liberty Country Club in Liberty, Ind. Kaminsky shot a final round 74, which was good enough for third individually. He shot the second-best overall score for Point Park with a three-day total of 228, which helped propel the Pioneers to a 15-stroke championship victory. This accomplishment was something that never would have happened without the work of last year’s senior class, Kaminsky added. “I loved that team,” he said. “The seniors helped me with the physical and mental parts of the game. I definitely didn’t know what to expect, but they were experienced and knew it all.” Entering the summer, Kaminsky knew he not only had to improve his game, but he had to prepare for a different role on the team. “The coach told me I had to be a leader now, and I’m starting to take that role,” he said. Kaminsky has made strong efforts to make the new guys on the team comfortable, according to freshman Jared Bender. “Max has a year under his belt
and doesn’t seem to feel the pressure anymore,” Bender said. “He’s always loose and having fun, and that’s something us younger guys feed off of.” Kaminsky knew being a leader was about much more than helping the younger guys. It also entailed leading by example, which meant shooting the lowest scores. That’s why he took it on himself to put in the work this summer. Kaminsky’s daily routine involved waking up early and getting a strong core workout in. He would do various ab exercises for an hour before going on a run. From there, he would head to the range for three to four hours. If he didn’t have to work that day, he would then go out and walk nine holes at Butler’s Golf Course, where he works. Now, Kaminsky’s greatest challenge is keeping up the momentum through the winter break. “The break stinks,” Kaminsky said. “But whenever the weather breaks, I’m right back out there. It’s just tough because you have to get back out there and back in the grind.” Now with the spring season weeks away, Kaminsky has turned his attention to the team. His goal for the season is for the team to return to nationals. “Personally, I just want to win as a team and post the best scores I can,” he said. “Even if I come in last at every tournament, I wouldn’t care as long as we get to nationals.”
Phillip Poupore can be reached at pjpoupo@pointpark.edu.