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Fourth annual Pittsburgh Tattoo Expo nurtures love within tattoo community Students voice opposing views of better candidates after Super Tuesday University hires Chris Gaul as head coach for esports team ppuglobe.com
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Issue 9
Inaugural ‘Accelerating Women in Industry’ event held just days ahead of International Women’s Day By Nicole Fuschino For The Globe
The Rowland School of Business hosted their inaugural “Accelerating Women in Industry” event last Friday in the Lawrence Hall Ballroom. This event came just before International Women’s
Day on Sunday, March 8. This event was the first expansion of their “Women in Industry” Speaker Series, where once a month during the school year, a successful woman from a variety of industries comes to speak on campus. This event was meant to
be bigger — adding “accelerating” to the title — with a mission of celebrating the progress and success that women have made, while still addressing current challenges women face in the industry. The Rowland School of Business collaborated with WBECEast (Women’s Busi-
ness Enterprise CenterEast), and Strong Women, Strong Girls Pittsburgh, which both have great presence in the city, according to Sandra Mervosh, Assistant Professor in the Rowland School of Business and the Director of the Human Resources Management Program.
Emma Federkeil | The Globe Keynote Speaker Janet Manuel, Director of Human Resources and Civil Service for the City of Pittsburgh, talks about the importance of women mentoring each other.
Offices of Admission, Student Life change housing selection process Dara Collins Editor-in-Chief
The housing selection process is changing for the Fall 2020 incoming class as well as current students interested in campus housing next year, according to Dean of Student Life Michael Gieseke. New students are asked to pay a one-time maintenance fee of $250 rather than the previous combined down payment and security deposit of $400. Returners are to fill out the housing contract as well as provide a $100 down payment. Gieseke said the conversation started with how the university admitted students, and the change is based off of student and family feedback to the Office of Admission. When a student was admitted to Point Park, the initial payment between the Office of Admission and Office of Student Life totaled $750. “Admissions and Housing have been working together the past few years to benchmark our new and
returning students deposits policies against other universities,” Director of Admissions Joell Minford said. “While doing this, we concluded that our request of $750 for new incoming students living on campus was a bit high. The admission deposit was reduced by $50, and the housing deposit process was changed to mirror what is a more common practice at universities.” The $250 payment required by new students is non-refundable and not included on the student’s room and board for the upcoming semester. “That sustains the length of however long the student stays on campus,” Gieseke said. “The longer they stay within housing, in all fairness, the more that $250 goes toward them. It’s basically normal wear and tear is what it is over the longevity of a student being here.” As for returning students, the new $100 down payment is to show the university serious interest in campus housing.
“The idea is that you truly see this as an option, not as a backup,” Gieseke said. The $100 is included in the following year’s room and board, not an additional cost. If the student does not owe the university anything due to excess scholarships, grants or other means, the student will receive a $100 credit. According to Gieseke, students filled out housing contracts and searched for off-campus living arrangements in years past. “Over the years, students will play all games,” Gieseke said. “I’ll go through housing selection, and I’ll see what apartments are available in the city, and whichever works out better for me, I’ll do it.” Although students will now pay for a portion of housing when they fill out the contract, they are still able to terminate the contract before May 1 and receive their money back. After May 1, the student will
“We want these programs to be inclusive,” Mervosh said. “We want them to welcome all walks of life: students, community members and business members. That is our goal.” Tying the event together with International Women’s Day is something that made sense to the mission of the speaker series, Mervosh said. “We felt that it was good timing to link the event with an internationally known day,” Mervosh said. “We really wanted to focus on women.” The turnout was bigger too, with 75 attendees that took part in breakout workshops, sat in on panel discussions and listened to the advice from three women instead of one, like in the past. Speakers included the President of WBEC East Elizabeth Walsh, the Co-President and Executive Director of Strong Women, Strong Girls Pittsburgh Jocelyn Horner and keynote speaker: the Director of Human Resources and Civil Service for the city of Pittsburgh, Janet Manuel. During her keynote speech, Manuel talked about the importance of being a mentor to accelerate women in industry, especially to peo-
WOMEN page 2
WHAT’S GOIN’ ON? Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show
March 5-14 David L. Lawrence Convention Center
Art, Craft and LifeStyle Mall Shows March 12-15 The Mall at Robinson
Steel City Blues Festival March 13-15 Locations vary
Celine Dion
March 13, 7:30 p.m. PPG Paint Arena
St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 14, 10 a.m. Downtown
Penguins v. Islanders March 15, 6 p.m. PPG Paints Arena
WWE Raw Live March 16, 7:30 p.m. PPG Paints Arena
HOUSING page 3
Alysse Baer | The Globe
Weather Forecast
Today: Cloudy H 52 L 42
Thursday: Rain H 64, L 54 Friday: Rain, H 57, L 31 Saturday: Cloudy, H 47, L 33
Sunday: Cloudy, H 50, L 37 Monday: Cloudy, H 53, L 40 Tuesday: Rain, H 56, L 44
Point Park
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
Department of Community Engagement grows programs, pantry Jordyn Hronec Editor-Elect
The university’s Department of Community Engagement is rapidly expanding its programs to offer more opportunities to conduct volunteer work, as well as growing its efforts to address students’ basic needs. Heather Starr-Fiedler, the chair of the Department of Community Engagement, said that one of the new developments within the department is the creation of the “First Fridays” volunteering program, which sends out students, faculty, staff and alumni to conduct volunteer work at different organizations throughout Pittsburgh. The first group of Point Park community members conducted their volunteer work on Friday, March 6 with the Community Human Services (CHS) food pantry in Oakland. “We ended up having a group of people, probably about 25,” Fiedler said. “Which was great, we really filled up the whole space. It was a really nice mix of faculty, staff, students and alumni, which was really our goal, to kind of do it as a team.” The volleyball team was amongst the students who volunteered. “My coach decided that we as a team would go and help, which I really liked,” Taylor Small, a freshman outsider hitter on the team, said. “Me and my teammate, Madi, bagged oranges and then handed out the bags when the center opened. The best part was being able to see the smiles of the people we helped.” Fiedler said that the program started as a way to provide students with opportunities to volunteer beyond requirements in freshman
Joie Knouse | The Globe The Pioneer Pantry can be found on the second floor of Lawrence Hall in the hallway connectiong the lounge area to the Point Cafe. The pantry is expanding now that it has obtained a refrigerator.
City University Life courses. “We thought we would launch this as a way, originally, to help students have a more consistent opportunity to volunteer in the community,” Fiedler said. “But then we talked to faculty, staff and alumni as well, so we thought it would be great to make it a team effort. And one of the wonderful things I saw on Friday was that one of our students sat next to one of our alums on the bus, and they were talking, and by the time we had got back to the university, they had exchanged numbers. And that’s really what we want, is to be able to have students make those connections.” According to Fiedler, future First Fridays will include volunteer work with Beverly’s Birthdays, Family House, Friends of the Riverfront, Animal Friends and the American Red Cross. In addition to the First Fridays program, an existing
Keynote speaker promotes mentorship among women from WOMEN page 1 ple of other races, ages and genders. “To all the ladies in the room, we need to do a better job of mentoring each other,” Manuel said. “If you are not a mentor, please become one. Our experience does matter.” In addition to mentoring, Manuel said that being a coach takes mentorship one step further. “How many of you have told another women about a job opening you came across?” Manuel said. “There is room at the table for all of us.” Manuel also said that networking, such as attending the “Women in Industry” speaker series regularly and building a LinkedIn profile, are great ways to make connections with other people. In her keynote speech, Manuel also spoke about the nation’s wage gap, with women holding less management positions than men while getting paid less and possible ways to fix it. “Representation on boards, having more female elected officials, seeing more females entering male-dominated fields and supporting policies in the workplace that support women can all help,” Manuel said. While Manuel spoke about the need for more progress to be made for women in society, she said it’s important
to note that it’s not meant to discourage people, but to encourage them. “We are not where we once were,” Manuel said. “There has been progress made, and we have to continue to build upon it.” “I liked how she focused on movement, and that any progress is good,” Mara Van Thiel, freshman human resources management major and Secretary of the Student Human Resources Association, said about the keynote speech. This was Van Thiel’s first time attending the speaker series event, where she attended their two workshops: one about unconscious biases, where they had the opportunity to recognize biases they didn’t know they had and another about the importance of mentorship. “I would absolutely attend more events like this in the future,” Van Thiel said. Manuel said she was excited to come to Point Park so that she could share her encouragement to women around the time of International Women’s Day. “It’s something really personal to me,” Manuel said. “It’s all about making sure people know that even though we’re not moving fast, we’re still moving.”
Nicole Fuschino
nmfusch@pointpark.edu
program through the Department of Community Engagement is also undergoing expansion. The Pioneer Pantry, which is located near the Point Cafe and serves students who face food insecurity, has recently obtained a refrigerator via grant money, and is thus able to provide students with perishable items. “I’ve been wanting to expand our offerings for a long time, so we learned about this grant through the food bank that’s called a ‘need-based grant for pantries to expand.’ I applied for it back in January, and at the end of January, I got the email that said we were awarded the grant.” Fiedler said that the refrigerator has been stocked with milk, cheese, eggs and some meat products. Fiedler also said the Pioneer Pantry also offers toiletry items to students, such as shampoo, soap and toothpaste, which were all obtained from the Greater Pittsburgh Area
Food Bank, along with other food items, and that a “Pink the Pantry” effort was also underway to stock the pantry with feminine care products. Any student is allowed to use the Pioneer Pantry and there are no qualifications that students must meet to order food, according to Fiedler. Students looking to use the pantry can submit their orders online at pioneerpantry. org, and they will receive a text when their order is ready for pick-up. Students can also volunteer at the Pioneer Pantry if they wish by emailing Fiedler (hstarr@pointpark. edu) or stopping into the Department of Community Engagement’s office on the second floor of Thayer Hall. Katie LaBelle, a senior multimedia major, volunteered for 20 hours in the Pioneer Pantry during the Fall 2018 semester. “I realized how much privilege I have to not have to use the Pioneer Pantry,”
LaBelle said. “I didn’t realize how many people actually use it and how helpful it is. It really made me put a lot of things into perspective, because I’ve personally never been food insecure. It was a very awakening moment.” In addition to First Fridays and the expansion of the Pioneer Pantry, Fiedler said that the Department of Community Engagement is also focused on launching a “digital badge” program on LinkedIn, where students can earn badges for the LinkedIn profiles by doing volunteer work or taking community engagement courses. “It will hopefully give students a little bit of a leg up when they go to look for jobs and internships,” Fiedler said. Another way that the department is looking to address students’ needs is through textbooks. According to Fiedler, the Department of Community Engagement is currently partnering with both the university library as well as the Office of Alumni Engagement and Giving2Grow and promote the library’s collection of textbooks. “This is a way to get everybody access to books if they can’t buy them, by just walking over to the library,” Fiedler said. “So our job is really to just help communicate that and to organize a list of books between the bookstore and the library of what books are ordered and what books they have, and then let students know that they are available.” Jordyn Hronec
jthrone@pointpark.edu
MARCH 7, 2020 - MARCH 10, 2020
Saturday, March 7th 8:50 a.m. - 1st Avenue Intoxicated Person/ Assault
Alysse Baer | The Globe
SPREAD THE WORD TO END THE WORD
Joie Knouse | The Globe Hannah Gunter, a freshman intelligence and national security major, signs a banner during the Spread the Word to End the Word event on March 4 in Lawrence Hall Lobby hosted by Future Educators of America. The campaign aims to end usage of the R-word and increase inclusion awareness.
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THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
Housing selection changes affect new, current students from HOUSING page 1 not receive a return of the down payment. Returners who paid the $400 when they enrolled in the university will receive the security deposit portion when they move out. “We are keeping the $400 in perpetuity until you move out,” Gieseke said. “If you fail to live up to your agreement, you move out early, you sign up for housing next year and you don’t move in, you lose the deposit piece of it. You still keep the security piece of it, but you lose the deposit piece. From here forward, that doesn’t exist.” The rest of the housing selection process remains the same. Returning students must fill out the housing contract by March 13, and provide the $100 down payment to be considered for housing selection come March 30. As the contract due date approaches this Friday, current sophomore Deenna Richmond criticized the timing of the announcement of housing selection changes. “They kind of told us out of the blue,” Richmond said of when the university told them the week they re-
turned from spring break. “They’re like, ‘You need this by next week,’ and I’m thinking, ‘Where am I supposed to pull $100 from?’” Richmond wished the students would have been told this was the university’s plan rather than being informed as the housing contract was sent out. March 30 is the first day of housing selection. Seniors are placed first, then juniors and sophomores, respectively. However, seniors and juniors can live together, so upperclassmen may be mixed when selecting housing. Seniors and juniors generally live in Boulevard Apartments, which hold four or six students. They may request a suite if they choose to not live in an apartment. Sophomores generally live in the suites. Overflow students or students who prefer dorm-style living are placed in Lawrence Hall. “It really is a first come first served, so the sooner you turn in your contract and the sooner you give us your deposit, the more likely you will get the room you’re asking for,” Gieseke said. Dara Collins
dmcolli2@pointpark.edu
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
Residence Hall rate per year 2019-2020
Lawrence and Thayer Hall -Single: $8,040 -Double: $5,420 -Triple: $4,960 Pioneer and Conestoga Suites -$8,460 Boulevard Apartments -4 beds: $9,200 -6 beds: $9,000
2020-2021
Lawrence and Thayer Hall -Single: $8,200 -Double: $5,520 -Triple: $5,060 Pioneer and Conestoga Suites -$8,620 Boulevard Apartments -4 beds: $9,380 -6 beds: $9,180 Alysse Baer | The Globe
SGA passes Spring II budget SGA By Sarah Gibson SGA Beat Writer
The Student Government Association of Point Park University (SGA) passed the budget for Spring II funding at their meeting on Monday in the JVH. An official breakdown of how much money went to which clubs will be found in the minutes on PointSync when they are published on Monday, March 16. Overall, SGA provided $17,888.92 in funding to 22 organizations. The only funding that is still up in the air, however, is one $150 request for emergency funding from the SAEM club, who wanted to use the money to buy five
tickets to a Cleveland Cavaliers game to give away to its members. The controversy surrounding the tickets centered around a financial request guideline that states that money is not supposed to be used for giveaways. The tickets, however, were not to be randomly given away, but given to certain students who requested them. In the end, the legislative body decided that it was a matter for the finance committee to handle. The meeting’s open floor consisted only of an impromptu speech by SGA advisor, Dean Gieseke, who asked students what SGA was all about, besides helping the students of Point Park. After calling on a few
Graduating Seniors: 25% TUITION DISCOUNT
legislative body members, Gieseke stressed that SGA was also about the experience for the senators, and part of making change and building those experiences was taking part in student life and SGA outside of the SGA legislative body meetings. He noted that most change does not occur in congress, or what students see on C-SPAN, but in what the senators do outside of the meetings, and he encouraged the legislative body to be more involved in making change outside of the regular meeting times by fulfilling their office hour requirements and attending their committee meetings.
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FEATURES
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
Bleed Black and Gold Tattoo Expo welcomes community, aims to expand reach for next year Point Park News Service By Dara Collins Editor-in-Chief
At the peak of any given day at the annual Bleed Black and Gold Pittsburgh Tattoo Expo, it’s difficult to walk through the aisles of artists and vendors without bumping body parts with the person walking across the walkway. One can only hope they don’t bump a fresh tattoo. The Pittsburgh Tattoo Expo returned to the Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel for its fourth consecutive year last weekend, March 6-8. The event featured 125 booths filled with the industry’s best artists and vendors. Just a 10-15 minute walk across the Smithfield Street Bridge, Point Park students were able to take advantage of an opportunity to become immersed in the tattoo community. Megan Clista, a senior public relations and advertising major, went to the expo on Saturday and received a forearm piece. “I got my first tattoo in high school where it was somewhat taboo and definitely not the norm,” Clista said. “This was my first time at the expo, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt more accepted for loving tattoo culture than I did while I was there. The expo made me feel like I was part of a community.” Attendees Maggie Woods and Hannah Guidosh mirrored Clista’s sentiments with their love for the tattoo community present at the expo. “I only ever planned on getting one or two tattoos, and getting them hurt [badly], but while you’re getting tattooed, you’re thinking, ‘I cannot wait for the next tattoo.’ It’s a way to express
PIONEER PUBLIC Nicole Lakovic By Amanda Andrews Co-Features/A&E Editor
Nicole Lakovic joined the Campus Activities Board (CAB) the second semester of her freshman year wanting to get more involved on campus. At that time, she did not know she would make some of her closest friends and rise to the top of the organization’s leadership. Lakovic is the new CAB executive director. Lakovic, a junior sports, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) major, is currently the Spirits and Traditions Coordinator and is undergoing training from the current executive director of
yourself,” Woods said. “I actually feel so much better in my body. I have a lot of body issues and getting tattooed makes me love myself more.” “I never really felt comfortable in my body, but the more I tattoo it, the better I feel,” Guidosh said. “I used to have an ex who would say ‘your body is a temple, so you should treat it well,’ and ‘no temple that you go to is stark white.’ It’s covered in art, and it’s beautiful, and people go there anyway. My body is my temple, and I’m going to cover it in art.” Greg Piper, owner of Baller Inc. and Exposed Temptations Tattoo, realized the tattoo community made its appearance at the convention, and he now wants to target those outside of that community. “People that are heavily into the tattoo scene, they come anyway,” Piper said. “We’re trying to include other people because I don’t think other people know what a tattoo convention is. They hear the commercial
Dara Collins | The Globe Tony Urbanek tattoos a client, a Point Park alum, at the Pittsburgh Tattoo Expo on Sunday, March 8. Urbanek owns Inkadinkadoo Tattoo Studio in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood.
and think, ‘Oh, we’re going to go watch other people get tattooed,’ because we get so many calls from people who don’t even realize they can come here and get tattooed.” Piper said the back-toback Penguins games impact-
ed attendance this year, but they maintained roughly the same numbers as last year. Despite the lack of increase in attendance, Piper and his team are excited for significant changes to next year’s convention to boost
Dara Collins | The Globe Laura Marie, a tattoo artist from Rochester, N.Y. and previous contestant on Ink Master, tattoos a client at the Pittsburgh Tattoo Expo on Sunday, March 8. The thigh tattoo pictured above won the Best of Show contest.
CAB, Miche Rexroad. She will officially begin her role as executive director at the end of the spring semester. “I applied for executive director because I wanted to continue to grow personally and professionally, while also helping the organization and its members grow,” Lakovic said. “I’ve been a part of the organization since freshman year and knew I wanted to be a part of it my final year at Point Park because of the impact it has had on my college experience. When I found out that I got the position, I was so excited. I immediately started thinking about next year and what I want to do in my new position.” Although she does not have any exact details that she can give at this time, she said that she wants to “try some new things.” As the Spirits and Traditions Coordinator this academic year, she has planned the Halloween Dance, Condom Carnival, Drag Show and the upcoming Drake Bell concert along with students in a CAB sub-committee and the SAEM Club. In past years, she had a hand
in planning a magic show, bubble soccer and an ugly sweater party. As much as she has loved putting on those events, she also values the connections she has made through the organization. “My favorite part about being a part of CAB is that I’ve met some of my closest friends and made some of the best memories, while also getting real world experience,” Lakovic said. “My favorite memories come from executive board training at the beginning of the school year. We had a sleepover in the student center, spent the day exploring Camp Guyasuta, and participated in so many ice breakers that, by the end of the week, we knew more about each other than we ever would have thought.” In the next months, as a part of CAB’s executive board, Lakovic will be busy with her training as well as organizing the St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast, Point Park After Dark - Ultimate Game Zone, Paint ‘n Sip, the Drake Bell concert and Campus Cats. She highly encourages people to attend
turnout. The Miss Pittsburgh Pin Up Contest will be moved to Friday night, and Saturday night will feature the first annual Pittsburgh Drag Competition. “It’s going to be pretty badass,” Piper said. “We’re trying to do some different things to be more inclusive of different people.” Piper also mentioned the increase of family friendly activities at the convention. “All my meetings I’ve had with my staff, we’ve all concluded that we need more family-friendly things here,” Piper said. “We’re going to have face painting for kids and an airbrush artist that airbrushes kids up as well. Christian Buckingham from InkMaster is going to be here having a kids art camp next year.” Next year, the expo will return on Valentine’s Day. Dara Collins
dmcolli2@pointpark.edu
Nicole Lakovic | Submitted
these events and get involved in any way on campus. “Being involved makes your college experience so much better through memories and meeting new people,” she said. “Looking back, deciding to get involved on campus my freshman year was the best decision I could have made!” WHAT MAKES YOU
A PIONEER: “I feel like being involved and a part of the Point Park community, participating in all the opportunities given and being proud of the fact that I go to school at Point Park is what makes me a pioneer.”
Amanda Andrews aaandre@pointpark.edu
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
A&E
Lost high school basketball coach finds ‘The Way Back’ Hannah Walden Co-Copy Desk Chief
Rating: Where to watch: Local theaters Price: around $10 In “The Way Back,” we follow the struggles of Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) as he balances his turbulent troubles with grief, depression and alcoholism with coaching high school basketball. Throughout his daily life, you never see Jack without a drink. He drinks at his construction job, while driving, in the shower and he can be found at his local bar every night getting so drunk he’s walked home by a friend only referred to as “Doc.” We learn that Jack has a bittersweet relationship with basketball. On the way home from a game, Jack tells the star player, Brandon (Brandon Wilson) that his relationship with his father was terrible because his father only showed him affection after he did well at basketball. It wasn’t long until Jack felt that his father only loved what he could do on the court and not him as a person, which prompted him to quit and never play again, even when he had tons of scholarships handed to him for college basketball. Jack met and married a woman named Angie (Janina Gavankar), who gave him love and helped him with the pain as a result of the relationship he had with his father. Together they had a nine-year old son named Michael. Michael was diagnosed with an aggressive and painful cancer and eventually passed away. Unable to manage the pain and grief, Jack took to drinking, closing himself off and stopped speaking about his son completely. With these issues dividing them, Jack and Angie split up, causing his negative coping mechanisms to worsen. The film starts with Jack’s alma mater hiring him as the boys’ basketball coach. The team has such a significant losing streak that they haven’t made it to the regional level since 1995 when Jack played. His rough and direct way of coaching really speaks to the small team of boys, directing them to not just play harder, but to not roll over and take a loss. This causes the season to shift in their favor as they start winning multiple games in a row by a small margin. We see a montage of Jack’s coaching and the team’s pro-
gression through each game and each week of practice, adapting to each challenge. We see Jack’s day drinking start to slow during this part of the film, a nice peak in his journey. When stressful issues that remind Jack of the past resurface, his drinking does too. Issues with his ex-wife and a birthday party for one of Michael’s friends, who has the same diagnosis that Michael had, resurface the pain Jack is desperately trying to drown out. After trying to help Jack from spiraling out, the assistant coach and the principal fire Jack from coaching at the end of the season before regionals, because of his drinking on school grounds and arriving to practice hours late. After already being in a low place, he is hit with misfortune again when the child whose party he just attended is back in the hospital with terrible news that Jack knows too well. Jack falls off the already rickety wagon hard and drinks a lot at the bar. Without Doc there to protect him, he gets into a sticky situation after accidentally breaking into the wrong house, getting into a fight with the homeowner and falling down a set of porch steps to the street. After a terrible night, he wakes up in the hospital with his sister, who puts him in a mental facility that provides him counseling. We finally see Jack taking the right steps to work on his issues and learn about them, as the issues are either alluded to or are slowly told to us as the film progresses. There is a good balance between Jack’s struggles and game-time footage in the film. Each game has a couple seconds each with the final score cut in between practices and Jack’s struggle to balance these responsibilities with his drinking problem. There is more shown of the team’s practices and prep for each game than actual game-time, making the point that learning happens during practice and crazy unbelievable game moments aren’t realistic. The film ends with the students going to regionals, vowing to win the game “for coach,” giving each other plays and tips just like Jack would, showing his impact on the players and their desire to win. While the game is about to begin, Jack isn’t there. Instead, he takes a basketball and goes to a court by the ocean and takes shots at the basket for the first time since his traumatic high school days, making three-pointers while the sound
of sports commentators talking about the ways they have noticed the team has grown under Jack’s leadership. Regardless of how some trailers present this film, it is more of a story of Jack’s struggle and redemption than a story about a high school basketball team’s redemption; although both happen on and off screen and are very well executed story lines that work hand-in-hand. The boys grew as athletes and as a team with the desire to win, and Jack grew into better understanding his emotions and pain as well as healthy ways to deal with his issues that don’t cause more suffering for him and the people around him. I’ve seen two different trailers for this film, and only one of them accurately depicts the film’s premise while the other portrays a basketball team’s redemption under the leadership of a new coach. We don’t know if the team wins the regional game, and we don’t see the next steps of Jack’s recovery, but we see that both of these storylines move in a positive direction. We know based on the film that the boys will continue to emulate coach Jack in their playing, so we don’t have to worry about their success. We see that Jack is taking the steps he needs to get better and fix the relationships in his life. He speaks to his ex-wife more and even apologizes for what he did and failed to do. He spends more time with his sister’s family, especially his nephew, strengthening his family ties and building better relationships with them. This is a realistic ending. We know his redemption will be slow and steady—it has to be if he really wants to put this pain behind him and move forward. There is no perfect, happy ending. There is no complete resolution where we see Jack recovered; we see his first steps, which are the most important ones. I left the theater hopeful and content, not knowing how his recovery journey will end, without seeing the next peaks and valleys because the film would have lost its realism trying to smoosh a happy ending in. A journey like this one is hard. It takes time and is internal. We wouldn’t be able to be there and see his growth past a certain point, but to know the foundation is there is enough to be hopeful that Jack’s way back is going to be a good one.
Hannah Walden hwalde@pointpark.edu
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
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Fans are kind of okay with ‘I Am Not Okay With This’ Kylie Thomas Staff Writer/Photographer
Rating: Where to watch: Netflix “I Am Not Okay with This” is yet another coming-of-age series that Netflix decided will appeal to young adults everywhere with its quirky teenage plot. Is the twist enough to keep watchers coming back for more, or does the show fall in line with every other teen stereotyped show? The Netflix original series was released on Feb. 26 and has seven, 20-minute episodes. It’s based on the graphic novel written by Charles Forsman, who also wrote “The End of the F***ing World,” a graphic novel which was also turned into a Netflix series. The series “I Am Not Okay with This” follows Sydney, who refers to herself as “a boring, 17-year-old, white girl.” She has anger issues, a dead dad, a hot best friend and encompasses the girl that every quirky teenager sees themself as. There are many plot-based crossovers between “I Am Not Okay with This” and “The End of the F***ing World,” such as, the scrawny white girl who somehow is tougher than her boy counterpart, the scrawny boy love interest/best friend who supports said girl in all her terrible decisions and the main theme of anarchy within these teen’s lives. While the basics of the show follow your average coming-of-age story, there is a twist to “I Am Not Okay with This.” When Sydney gets mad or very emotional, she creates a burst of energy which destroys the things around her. This obviously freaks her out and gets her into trouble, which she won’t even tell her best friend about. Since she can’t tell her best friend Dina about it all, she relies on her neighbor Stan to help her keep her powers a secret and figure out how to control them. The show itself is pretty good if you can get past the cliché teenage stereotypes and quirky plot moments. The superpower plotline is better to follow. It’s intriguing and it’s what keeps audiences watching the show. Without spoiling too much, there are connections with her superpowers
and events that occur because of them that keep you on the edge of your seat. While the superpowers are sort of similar to Eleven’s in “Stranger Things,” “I Am Not Okay with This” uses the powers in a very different way and in a way that works for more mature audiences. One of the best parts of “I Am Not Okay with This” is that it features a queer story along with the main plot. Sydney has feelings for Dina which progress throughout the show as she struggles with feeling this way. It gives a pretty accurate portrayal of what queer teens go through when they’re figuring themselves out. The show doesn’t try to cover this up either. It makes sure to make this the main point of the story instead of just adding it in for views like most shows do. The show does look like it takes place in a different decade, which seems to be a trend with most new shows. The clothing and environment of the show doesn’t look like it’s in the 21st century. It’s said this is done so that the environment doesn’t distract from the plot and the audience is able to just focus on the characters themselves and the plot instead. Though, it just seems like it separates the show from being a modern coming-of-age story and makes it harder to relate to. The show was filmed in Brownsville and other locations around Pittsburgh to make the story more realistic and relatable, though it didn’t seem to benefit the show as they meant it to. Overall, if you like coming-of-age and teenage shows, “I Am Not Okay with This” is definitely one to add to the watchlist. If you’re looking for a more mature plot and a different story than what’s already out there, this may be a show to skip. The show does have good modern representation and an interesting twist, but, overall, it does correlate with many other shows on Netflix that are better than this one. There is already a season two in the works for “I Am Not Okay with This” but who knows how long this series will last, like many other abandoned Netflix original projects.
Kylie Thomas kjthoma@pointpark.edu
Netflix’s ‘All The Bright Places’ only half-lives up to hype By Shannon Hartnett Co-Opinions Editor
Rating: Where to watch: Netflix Netflix is back at it again with another teenage love story that rivals “The Fault in Our Stars” sob levels. Beware of sensitive issues if you find yourself wanting to watch this movie. “All the Bright Places” is a new movie on Netflix that is based off of the book written by Jennifer Niven. Both the book and movie follow main characters Violet Markey and Theodore Finch as
they navigate through mental health issues and high school at large. For what it’s worth, the movie does a great job of staying true to the novel. However, it leaves fans of the book a little empty. The characters in the movie feel very flat when it comes to characterization. The book builds these complex characters that have an endless depth to them. While the plot does stay relatively the same, this development of the characters is the biggest let down when watching the movie. Despite the lack of emotional connection to the char-
acters, the movie is still a fair adaptation of a book that abolishes the stigmas against depression and suicide in teens. Clearly sensitive issues in today’s culture, “All the Bright Places” successfully dives into the feelings and situations of people with mental health issues. Each scene is an exploration of ways to conquer depression and transition into a happier and healthier state of mind. As Violet mourns her sister, who died in a car accident, Theodore attempts to bring her back to reality. Theodore becomes invested in helping Violet, mean-
while everyone else around him struggles to understand what is going on with Theodore himself. There are some fairly beautiful scenes in the movie that show the relationship developing between two people who are hurting and searching for peace in their complicated lives. As the movie develops there are more and more heartbreaking scenes that viewers watch with the hope that they could reach out and help the characters. The movie doesn’t have a happy ending. That is to be expected in tragic teenage love stories, but this one is so
much more real compared to the average sappy movie. This movie hits close to home for lots of students and young kids trying to find where they fit in the world. Even though the tear-jerking ending prompts immediate dislike for the movie, “All the Bright Places” finds a way to make sense of what to do as the characters go forward. Read an opposing review at ppuglobe.com
Shannon Hartnett snhartn@pointpark.edu
6
OPINIONS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
THE
GL BE’S POINT
The Globe has TikTok Yes, you read that headline correctly. The Globe is now on TikTok. During the past few weeks, we at The Globe have been wondering how we can expand our social media presence. This year, we have toyed around quite a bit with different efforts, such as merchandise giveaways and horoscope readings. However, our social media efforts have been missing a certain je ne sais quoi. We wanted to be able to create content that lets our audience get to know the staff personally, and what better way to do so than on TikTok? So get on TikTok and follow The Globe @ppuglobe. We promise to not make content that is too cringey or dumb, and we promise to rep-
resent the students of Point Park well on the platform. We hope that anyone who follows enjoys our content and gives us feedback directly. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the account, feel free to let us know by emailing globe@ pointpark.edu. Never fear, Pioneers, just because we are expanding to TikTok does not mean that we will be abandoning our audience on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. You can still find us on those platforms and we will still be producing regular content and updates. We look forward to interacting with you online! Safe browsing!
Point Park Globe globe@pointpark.edu
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
New virus or government conspiracy? By Shannon Hartnett Co-Opinions Editor
Calling all conspiracy theorists, there’s a new one popping up on social media. Apparently, every US election year there has been a new virus that sweeps the globe. The viruses are listed as follows: SARS – 2004, AVIAN – 2008, SWINE – 2010, MERS – 2012, EBOLA – 2014, ZIKA – 2016, EBOLA – 2018, CORONA – 2020. Is this a coincidence? I think not. Now, many of these viruses may have not originated in the U.S. My thought, however, is that the United States conspires to allow the virus to penetrate into not only the American immune systems, but the American minds to produce sickness, but even more unfortunately to produce anxiety and chaos. Think about it, the election years are hectic enough with dealing with changing political climates and candidates who love
money far more than the idea of winning the election. Let’s face it, politics are more evil than good. When candidates step up to the platform, they preach their standpoints and how they will fix America at large, but underneath all of this they fear the public eye watching their every move. As the population gears up to vote in April and then again in November, I believe that politicians fear they will be publicly smeared, and in retaliation, attempt to scare the public eye into focusing on something else. We see this tactic used all the time in politics against one another, who is to say they wouldn’t use it at large to help them win an election. While the citizens of America are distracted by the coronavirus, the political parties are creeping around trying to upset the competition. As politics become the new religion of America
and news outlets run 24 hours a day, it has become harder and harder to make mistakes and play dirty as a politician, without the American people noticing. I log onto Twitter and all I see are coronavirus stories. Every possible angle, idea and thought about the virus is published. I think this is an attempt to distract people from the upcoming election. One thing that I truly believe is that there is not a single politician rising to power simply because they are perfect people who only care about helping others. Therefore, to distract the public from the morally wrong and illegal things that they do, they publicize viruses that have the potential to scare people enough to turn away from politics for a certain period of time.
Shannon Hartnett snhartn@pointpark.edu
Super Tuesday: Joe Biden superior Bernie Sanders: By Logan Dubil Staff Writer
Within a twenty-hour time period, two Democratic candidates, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, joined the long list of failed campaigns. Although many predicted Klobuchar would not last much longer, with polls not favoring her victory in the 2020 election, Buttigieg halted at a time of personal success. Was this decision made because of self-doubt or to – once again – rip the election away from Democratic leader, at the time, Bernie Sanders? The evidence is there to support both theories, though it is clear what transpired. Ironically, both Buttigieg and Klobuchar suspended their campaigns before one of the most important days of the primary election, Super Tuesday. On this day, 14 states had the opportunity to cast their votes towards the President they want to see in the White House. Before Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropped out of the race, voters had numerous options in the moderate candidate category, as these two politicians are not as far-left compared to Sanders, for example. With the removal of these two options, former Vice President Joe Biden is now in the spotlight. After experiencing a major victory in South Carolina, receiving 48.4-percent of the votes, it has become clear that he has a better chance at the nomination than people expected. For this reason alone, something is not adding up. As stated before, Buttigieg halted at a time of
personal success. Caucus after caucus, he continued to surprise the nation, performing above expectation. In New Hampshire, Buttigieg placed second within two percentage points of Sanders. The Nevada Caucus highlights this failed candidate in the top three. Even after the disaster in Iowa, one thing is for sure, he did a lot better than people imagined. What would a successful candidate do in response to heaping support and vote counts? Continue, right? In Buttigieg’s case, not so much of Klobuchar’s, his campaign was suspended. Looking back at Biden’s victory in South Carolina, puzzle pieces start to fit together. Buttigieg and Klobuchar do not want Sanders to be the nominee, so they ended their campaigns to aid in Biden’s. By dropping out before Super Tuesday, Biden’s door to the Democratic nomination opened all the way. As of March 5, Biden currently leads with a total of 595 delegates with prior leader Sanders not far behind with 526. Although the race is close, it was assumed Sanders would lead, up until the dropping out of Buttigieg and Klobuchar. By the end of Super Tuesday, people now know this is a race between Sanders and Biden. Bloomberg placed third in numerous states, leading voters to believe that he will continue his campaign; however, this is far from the truth. Bloomberg not only joined the failed candidates list but added his name to
the list of Biden endorsers. In a statement made on March 4, Bloomberg shared: “While I will not be the nominee, I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life.” Bloomberg is ready to aid in Biden’s campaign to ensure the prevention of another Trump term. Elizabeth Warren, a candidate with similar policy plans as Sanders, followed Bloomberg’s fate on March 5. Her refusal to immediately endorse a candidate should worry Sander’s supporters. Why wouldn’t she express her approval of Sander’s campaign, seeing that her plans would be passed anyway? Even as a Trump supporter, I feel bad for Sanders and his campaign. This is the second election in which the Democratic party is shutting out an effort with major support. Although I believe his policies have no place in the United States, people on the other side of the political spectrum seem to relate with his message, which is what this country needs. Looking at Biden’s campaign, I start to worry. At the end of the day, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Bloomberg have turned the tables for the Democratic party. Voters now have a big decision to make: a left-leaning democratic-socialist or the moderate candidate who most likely has a better chance of obtaining Republican voters.
Logan Dubil lmdubil@pointpark.edu
the better choice By Jake Dabkowski Co-News Editor
Picture this: it’s Nov. 3, 2020. You’re up late, watching CNN with your friends. A pizza box and empty White Claw cans decorate the depressing scene as you watch Joe Biden lose to Donald Trump by 200 electoral votes. Your uncle shoots you a text reading “Still your president! MAGA!” By the end of Trump’s second term, the Supreme Court will lean 7-2. Justice Jeanine Pirro will cast the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Irreparable harm will have been done to the planet and we will no longer be in a position to stop the climate catastrophe. Don Jr. is Secretary of State and Eric is Postmaster General. Ivanka will run in 2024 and become the first female president, because #Resistance twitter accounts will claim that Democratic candidate Rashida Tlaib is too angry. We wash, rinse and repeat this cycle for the next twenty to thirty years until rising sea levels cause the collapse of global society and we all die. It doesn’t have to be this way. The night before Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race and endorsed Joe Biden. Beto O’Rourke skateboarded out of hiding to endorse Biden and threw away all of the credibility he’d built up with his “for the people, not PACs, campaign.” Then, on Super Tuesday, Biden won ten states. After Super Tuesday, Mike Bloomberg dropped out and put his billions of dollars and vast media empire behind Joe Biden. Elizabeth Warren has
since dropped out, and despite Biden suggesting J.P. Morgan’s CEO to be Secretary of the Treasury and Bloomberg to be in charge of the World Bank, she says she is unsure of who to endorse. Now, unlike some of my fellow Sanders supporters, I still respect Warren. I think she made some bad calls late in the race, but I still think she would have made a great president. So here’s the pitch: It is time for progressives to unite. If you’re a Warren supporter considering supporting Biden, then you clearly never actually cared about her policies, but simply her aesthetic. If you are willing to give Bernie Sanders a chance, and lend your support to the movement, we can win this thing. The establishment will do everything they can to stop Sanders, and the only way that he can win is by continuing to build the historic coalition that he is building. They have hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal. We will have the people. When the Not Me, Us Movement beats Trump and saves this country, those who doubted and fought against us will claim to have been with us. Our movement will be big enough to let them. Warren and Sanders supporters are in the same fight, and both groups must come together to build the largest progressive coalition in history. As Senator Sanders said when he endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, “We are stronger together.”
Jake Dabkowski jcdabko@pointpark.edu
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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Advertising: Submit advertising related inquiries to globeadvertising@pointpark.edu All ads must be approved by the university. The deadline for ads is Friday at 5 p.m. Details: ppuglobe.com/advertising Story Ideas: If you have a story you think The Globe can use, email globe@pointpark.edu Meetings: Mondays at 2:40 p.m. in the CMI Details: ppuglobe.com/contribute
News Editors: Jake Dabkowski, Luke Mongelli Photo Editor: Jared Murphy Features/A&E Editors: Amanda Andrews, Tia Bailey Photo Editor: Emma Federkeil Sports Editor: Allison Schubert Photo Editor: Mallory Neil
Public Relations Co-Coordinator: Jake Berlin, Regan Tischler Graphic Design: Alysse Baer Staff Photographers: Katie Williams, Kylie Thomas, Alexis Wary Staff Writers: Rosalie Anthony, Jake Berlin, Ben Reinke, Mason Strawn, Logan Dubil, Zoey Angelucci, Kylie Thomas
Opinions Editors: Sarah Gibson, Shannon Copy Editors: Mya Burns, Chandni Shah, NarHartnett dos Haile, Sabry Mohieldin Online Editor: Mya Burns Delivery Assistant: Mya Burns Copy Desk: Sara Cronin, Hannah Walden Social Media Coordinator: Payton Comunale
SPORTS
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
All In with Allison By Allison Schubert Sports Columnist
For Crying Out Cloud It is no secret that Pittsburgh is a rainy city. The United States average for days with precipitation is 106.2; Pittsburgh comes in well above that at 140.4. Similarly, the United States average for sunny days is 205; Pittsburgh is not even close with just 160 days with sunshine per year. Baseball, especially here in Pittsburgh, is very weather-dependent. Last year, the Pirates had one rain delay that lasted twice as long as the game itself, and our own Pioneers had to cancel seven games and postpone two, all for weather-related reasons. That’s not to mention the amount of delays that were sat through before play resumed or started in some cases. I was reading an article written by a former collegiate baseball player the other day, and it began a circle of questions in my head about how those delays affect athletes. Before a game, players warm up, have batting practice, take the field and focus to get in the right headspace for the game they are about to play. When a delay hits, the flow of the game is compromised and that pregame ritual is repeated after however many innings are already played. Not only is it annoying to the players and coaches, but that break in play has the
ability to switch the momentum completely or throw off a team’s style of play. Right now, the Pioneers sit at 9-3 overall with a 4-2 record in River States Conference (RSC) play. Point Park has 23 games left in March and 22 scheduled for April before postseason. The month of March sees an average of 4.3 inches of rain, while April sees 4.5 inches on average. 2019 was the third-wettest year in Pittsburgh, which recorded 52.34 inches of rain. The wettest year on record for the city was 2018, which saw 57.83 inches of rain. With climate change looming over everyone’s heads, the precipitation levels in the city are only rising, which results in an increase in delays and cancelations for the Pioneers. The coach from the article I mentioned earlier also brought up the struggle of keeping athletes’ heads in the game during an hourslong delay, especially when there is not much else to do. The conversation is one not had often, but just some food for thought; the next time there is a rain delay at the ballpark, think of how hard it is for the athletes to adapt. It makes them more impressive, honestly.
Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
7
Pioneers one of only twelve teams to advance to nationals By Zoey Angelucci Staff Writer
The competitive dance team won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Competitive Dance Southeast Regional title, giving them an automatic bid to compete in the NAIA National Championship. Two weekends ago, the Pioneers competed in Montgomery, Ala. against teams from five different conferences. They won single-handedly with a final score of 81.71. A team’s final score is determined after averaging the scores out of 100 from both (or all) rounds of competition. “The experience of winning our region for the first time was extremely rewarding and exciting, especially as one of the senior dance members on the team,” senior dance captain Jeannea Cobb said. “With that said, I am really looking forward to competing with some of my best friends for one last time in the NAIA. Everyone works so hard in and out of practice so being able to see our hard work payoff is very satisfying.” The Pioneers started out with a score of 75.33 in Friday’s preliminary round and scored an 81.30 in the second round. For the third and final round, they scored an 83.83, resulting in the final average score of 81.71. The team entered regionals ranked 12th in the NAIA and came out on top. “The team has been practicing skills and choreography on top of workouts, performances and appearances since the beginning of September,” head coach Bettina Herold said.
Submitted | Point Park Athletics The competitive dance team is one of just 12 teams across the nation that will advance to Nationals later this week.
This is the team’s first regional championship in program history and its third appearance at the national competition. The Pioneers will be one of just 12 teams in the nation competing in the finals. “This whole weekend was definitely something I won’t forget,” junior Jayci Ross said. “We went into finals in second place knowing we had a chance to get first place. We went downstairs before finals and had a team pep talk, walked into the floor and performed better than we ever have. We knew during announcements it was going to be close. When they announced second place and we found out it wasn’t us, our entire team looked at each other shocked. I never thought that during spring break our team
would not only compete at regionals, but win the entire competition. It was crazy.” The NAIA Competitive Cheer and Dance National Championship will take place at Lee Lohman Arena on the campus of NAIA school St. Ambrose University in Iowa. Preliminaries will be held on Friday, March 13 with the finalists competing again on Saturday, March 14. “The athletes in our cheer and dance programs have worked so hard all year,” Herold said. “Their strong performances at Regionals this past weekend showed the payoff for all of their dedication. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to represent Point Park every year and to work with these outstanding athletes.”
Zoey Angelucci zaangel@pointpark.edu
Athletes gain national honors in last indoor meet of season By Allison Schubert Sports Editor
The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Brookings, S.D. last week, taking home multiple national honors. The women saw action on the first day of Nationals last Thursday, when the distance medley relay ran in the preliminary round, but missed the finals by just three spots. Freshman Kiera Cutrigh, sophomore Alyssa Campbell and juniors Alyssa Boyd and Reba Bartram were the quartet that made up Point Park’s distance medley relay team, which came in at a time of 12 minutes, 25.85 seconds. 16 total teams competed in the distance medley relay, with eight teams in each of the two heats. The Pioneers placed fifth in the second
heat, finishing in 11th in the country overall. Since only the top eight teams move on to the final round, Point Park did not advance, but only missed out by eight seconds. This is the third consecutive year that the Pioneers’ distance medley relay team made the trip to nationals. Representatives from both the men’s and women’s teams competed on Friday, the penultimate day of Nationals. The women had two athletes competing in prelims: Bartram in the 800-meter event and Campbell in the mile. Like the distance medley relay that both athletes ran in the day prior, only the top eight spots in the 800-meter advance to the finals; the top ten times in the mile event advance. Bartram was seeded 19th going into Nationals, but set a new personal-record of 2:16.77 to place ninth overall
Submitted | Point Park Athletics Senior track and field athlete Xavier Stephens (center) pictured at the RSC meet last year. Stephens placed 10th in the nation in the mile this year.
in the 800-meter. That time was just 0.15 seconds short of eighth place (2:16.62), edging her out of advancing. The story was similar for Campbell, who ran a time of 5:07.49 in the mile and placed 14th in the country. This time was within three seconds of the advancing ten, but not enough to move on. The men saw a bit more success with their first day of competition in the national meet. Senior Xavier Stephens ran in the preliminary round of the mile, placing third in his heat and sixth in the country with a time of 4:17.09. Placing sixth overall was good enough to move onto the finals on Saturday with a chance to make NAIA All-American status for the third time in just as many appearances at Nationals. Stephens was the only Pioneer to compete on Saturday in the final round of the mile, in which he placed tenth in the nation with a time of 4:34. This was Stephens’ third top-ten national finish of his career, the other two coming from the indoor 1,000-meter and outdoor 1,500-meter last year. Next up for both teams is the outdoor track and field season, which begins on March 21 at the Geneva Golden Tornado Classic in Beaver Falls.
Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu
8
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
SPORTS
THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
Baseball loses series to IUK, improves to 9-3
Pioneers improve conference record to 4-2, sit at fourth early in season By Mason Strawn Staff Writer
The baseball team continued their March road trip, visiting Brescia University in Kentucky and Indiana University (IU) Kokomo this week. The Pioneers swept the remaining Brescia game on Sunday, March 1 and won one of the three games against IU Kokomo last Saturday and Sunday. They now stand at a strong record of 9-3, with a record of 4-2 in River State Conference (RSC) play. In the final game of the series against the Brescia Bearcats, the Pioneers pulled through with a 9-4 victory for the first game of March. Point Park scored first in the third inning and held a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. After giving up four runs in the bottom of the sixth, the Pioneers bounced back instantly, scoring three runs in back-to-back frames in the seventh and eighth innings. The bullpen shut the door on the Bearcats for the rest of the game, giving up two hits and no runs in the final three innings. Sophomore infielder, Danilo Leon, went on a tear in the batter’s box, going
Submitted | Cornerstone University Athletics Senior Antonio Carrillo in the box for the Pioneers in a spring training game against Cornerstone University. So far in the 12 games of the 2020 season, Carrillo is batting .400 with 18 hits and three homers.
4-for-5 with four RBI and a triple to his name. “When you put the ball in play, big things happen, and that’s what I did throughout the entire game,” Leon said. “Everytime I go out to play I have the same mentality and it’s to help my team win by playing hard.” Senior relief pitcher Ryan Huber picked up the win, relieving senior starter Cole Horew in the bottom of the sixth and pitching 1.1
innings. Junior Jonathon Pacheco closed out the game over the final two innings and earned the save. In the first game of the series against IU Kokomo, the Pioneers defeated the Cougars 5-1. The name of the game was pitching that day; Point Park’s Marco Quintanar went seven innings while only giving up a single run and striking out nine. Huber came in for the two-inning
save, recording three punch outs and giving up zero hits. In a rare occurrence, the Pioneers scored more runs than they recorded hits, with four hits compared to the five runs scored. Junior Ed Pfluger was the main supplier of runs, hitting a three-run homerun in the top of the ninth to ice the game, with Horew (who can play outfield as well as pitch) and Senior Antonio Carrilo supplying the other
runs in the sixth. On Sunday, Point Park would lose both games of their doubleheader against IU Kokomo, suffering their first losses in RSC play. They fell 4-5 and 6-12 to the Cougars. The Pioneers suffered a heartbreaker in game one, losing by a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. In the second half of the double header, IU Kokomo exploded in the third inning for seven runs to put the game away early, even with Point Park scoring five runs within the first three innings. Junior Carlos Sanchez was a major contributor at the plate in both games, going 4-for-7 and collecting seven RBI between the two games. The men will be back in action on Wednesday, playing their first home games against Chatham University in a doubleheader starting at 2:00 P.M. From there, the Pioneers will travel south once again, facing off against Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky. on Thursday, then facing off at No. 22-ranked IU Southeast on Friday and Saturday. Saturday will also be a doubleheader.
Mason Strawn mtstraw@pointpark.edu
Chris Gaul hired as new varsity esports coach, compliance coordinator for fall 2020 semester
2018 Allegheny College graduate hopes to develop ‘esports powerhouse’ By Allison Schubert Sports Editor
The Point Park athletic department announced last Thursday that they have hired Chris Gaul as both the varsity head coach of the upcoming esports program and the department’s compliance coordinator. “Gaul quickly emerged as the No. 1 candidate during the search for our head esports coach and compliance coordinator,” Director of Athletics John Ashaolu said in an interview with the ath-
letic department. “...He has experience recruiting and identifying prospective student-athletes who are leaders within the esports arena. I look forward to working with [Gaul] to grow our esports program regionally and nationally.” Gaul graduated from Allegheny College in 2018 with a degree in economics and a minor in physics. Just two months after, he was hired as the head esports coach and athletic department budget manager
at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), the second-largest community college in the country. For the past two years, Gaul has held both positions at NOVA, including building the esports program from the ground up. “I am extremely excited about being hired for this position and to be joining the Point Park University team,” Gaul said in an interview with the athletic department. “Point Park is paving the way for col-
Submitted | Northern Virginia Community College Newly-hired varsity Esports coach and compliance corrdinator Chris Gaul poses with the logo of the esports team at his former place of employment, Northern Virginia Community College.
legiate esports in the Pittsburgh area, and I feel fortunate to be able to lead the initiative.” Prior to his post-graduate experience, Gaul spent time competing on a Tier II level team for Overwatch. He took that experience to NOVA with him, where his teams competed in Overwatch, League of Legends and Rocket League. “Gaul has experience running a collegiate sports team, and he is coming from a job in which he served multiple roles within an athletic department,” Associate Athletic Director and Director of Athletic Communications Kevin Taylor said. “That fit perfectly with what we were looking for in a candidate.” Not only has Gaul been in a coaching position since graduating, but he has also served as an esports consultant for other schools looking to begin an esports program at the collegiate level, a project he says he is passionate about. “I see this new program as being a big opportunity for students not only to compete at the collegiate level, but also as a space for students with similar interests to connect and find their home on campus,” Gaul said. “Above all else, I hope to provide the students with a place to grow and develop as student-athletes, as individuals and as members of an exponentially growing esports field.” In addition to taking on the esports head coach role, Gaul was also hired as the compliance coordinator for the university. “The compliance coordinator role in the athletic
department oversees the eligibility of student-athletes for all of our teams,” Taylor said. “He will make sure that all of our student-athletes are meeting the eligibility requirements of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the department.”
“Point Park is paving the way for collegiate esports in the Pittsburgh area, and I feel fortunate to be able to lead the initiative.” Chris Gaul
Esports Head Coach The Point Park esports program is set to start competing at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, and recruiting is open to both prospective and returning students. “I plan to grow and develop a full-fledged varsity esports program that will compete at the highest level with other schools from around the nation,” Gaul said. “I aspire to put Point Park on the map as an esports powerhouse and the go-to esports program for many student-athletes.”
Allison Schubert alschub@pointpark.edu
