The Pitt News
T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | January 27, 2021 Â| Volume 111 | Issue 56
PANDEMIC PUPPIES See story on page 2
Cover by Sarah Cutshall | Visual Editor
News
Service puppy raisers navigate training dogs during pandemic
Elizabeth Primrose Staff Writer
Lily Swanson got a new best friend at the start of the pandemic — a half-lab, half-golden retriever puppy named Kenzo. Even though Swanson is in charge of training Kenzo, she said Kenzo is the one who has helped her this year. “Kenzo has definitely been my bestie throughout this whole thing. He’s helped me and I’ve been able to help him with his training — it’s definitely a two-way street,” Swanson, a senior psychology and history double major, said. “I don’t know what I would do without him during this crazy
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time.” Swanson has spent time raising and training Kenzo since March through STEP@Pitt, a student organization dedicated to raising service dogs through Canine Companions for Independence. CCI provides highly trained assistance dogs, free of charge, to people with disabilities. The “raisers” receive the puppies at eight weeks to train them in 31 commands and socialize them in different environments. After 16 to 18 months of time with the raisers, the puppies move on to professional training. Currently, four students in STEP@ Pitt are raising four CCI puppies, which
is an increase in the three raisers they had prior to the pandemic. They also have two “raisers-in-waiting” who hope to receive a puppy soon. But pandemic restrictions have presented obstacles to the club, since part of the training consists of familiarizing the puppies with public settings. Due to these restrictions, the STEP@Pitt raisers have adapted their training methods so the dogs can still develop the skills they need. Students are financially responsible for the puppies, and partly rely on fundraisers to fund food and monthly preservatives as well as spay and neuter costs. Step@Pitt is hosting a fundraiser at The Milkshake Factory on Feb. 3, or National Golden Retriever Day. Tina Gargano, a senior marketing and business information systems double major, said she still wants to provide her lab and golden lab mix puppy, Koji II, with the same level of training as before the pandemic. Since Koji will still need the same skills regardless of restrictions, Gargano said the training is all about getting creative. “I want to make sure I’m still providing him with the amount of training he knew before. Just because we don’t have accessibility to practice in public to the extent we did before does not mean he still won’t need those skills,” Gargano said. “It’s all about getting creative.” Gargano, the vice president of the club, is currently the only raiser who has a puppy with any pre-pandemic training experience. Since Gargano started raising Koji in December 2019, the duo attended some classes and other public outings before the pandemic, which she said they are very lucky to have experienced. “After 16 weeks of age, he was allowed to attend classes with me. Being able to get that experience that we now don’t have
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is very crucial, I feel like, because he had those skills down,” Gargano said. “We were lucky, in a sense, that we knew what life was like before.” According to Swanson, the outreach officer for STEP@Pitt, half of CCI dogs get placed as assistance dogs, while others may be adopted or follow other career paths, such as search and rescue. But Swanson said no one is sure how the pandemic will affect these numbers, as the CCI pups currently graduating have still had practice in the pre-pandemic world. “We actually haven’t seen much of the statistics from the pandemic yet,” Swanson said. “Typically, up to now, the dogs who have been continually turning in have had only a little bit of the pandemic.” The three other puppies on campus don’t have any training experience in the pre-pandemic world, though. Casey Long, a sophomore political science major, started raising her lab and golden lab mix puppy, Adrienne II, last June. Since many public spaces aren’t open for training, Long said she and the other raisers have had fun finding creative ways at home to train the dogs. “We’re doing a lot of activities at home because a lot of those public scenarios aren’t accessible right now. It’s a lot of creating our own scenarios of socialization, obstacle courses or settling during a Zoom call,” Long said. “It’s been a lot of fun to find creative alternatives to help train the dogs.” Even though the puppies can’t socialize to the extent they could have pre-pandemic, Gargano said the environment of a college campus offers an opportunity for the raisers to safely socialize the puppies, which other independent raisers cannot do. “We have a community where we could See Dogs on page 5
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Adjunct professors juggle full-time jobs, teaching
Benjamin Branch-Trevathan For The Pitt News
While some professors start a career in their industry and then transition to teaching full-time, others never leave that first career and start to teach as a passion. Dan Malakoff, an adjunct English professor, also owns his own carpentry business. He said that although teaching parttime is less profitable than his carpentry business, he continues to teach purely for the joy of teaching. “I enjoy teaching,” Malakoff said. “Also, teaching uses a different part of my brain. I like that variation in what I’m doing. I like that it keeps me intellectually on my toes.” Many Pitt professors across multiple fields, from communications to English to statistics, all chose to pursue teaching while maintaining other careers. Carolyn Kerr works as a communications consultant in addition to working as an adjunct professor in Pitt’s College of Business Administration. She started her own consulting practice at 29. Since that time, Kerr’s clients have included Chrysler, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and the U.S. State Department. Kerr said her consulting work is split between production and workshops. “It is a two-fold consulting practice. I do corporate communications consulting, which means anything somebody needs to have written, video scripting — anything they need to have produced, I will work on for them,” Kerr said. “On the other side I do instructional design and delivery of courses — training materials and that sort of thing.” Like Kerr, Malakoff is self-employed. As a carpenter, he has done built-in shelves, hardwood floors, custom fences and historic restoration work since he was 17. Malakoff graduated from Pitt with an MFA “many years ago.” Now, he usually teaches an evening writing class. Malakoff said owning his own business gives him the flexibility to pursue both teaching and woodworking. “My bread and butter is the carpentry work. I own my business, so I have a good amount of flexibility,” Malakoff said. “It’s
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not particularly hard for me to balance the two jobs.” Malakoff said carpentry has made him good at communicating clearly — a skill that’s helped him as a professor. “I think I’m good at talking to regular people. Most of my clients are regular people, they’re not academics. As a teacher, I can communicate with students as a regular person, not as an academic,” Malakoff said. “The carpentry work keeps me very down to Earth.” Similarly, Kerr said her career experience as a consultant makes her a better professor, and vice versa. “It’s absolutely the best of both worlds,” Kerr said. “In the classroom, when I’m teaching theory of communication, I can say ‘let me tell you about something that happened with a client this week.’ I’m able to say ‘here’s how it works in real life.’ And because I’m constantly reading literature and learning more from the educational side, those are things I can apply to the work that I do for my clients.” Malakoff said his separation from academia differentiates him from other professors. “I’m not immersed in a world of ideas all day. I’m not. I don’t do research for a living. I don’t write for a living. I don’t go to academic conferences. I’m not part of that world,” Malakoff said. “I’m part of a world where I wake up every morning. I build things. I come home. It’s not cerebral.” For Sarah Quesen, an adjunct statistics professor and full-time senior research scientist at Pearson, teaching is a way to express her passion for statistics that she says can’t necessarily be filled by just her corporate job. “I really dig statistics. I am stoked about statistics and I like sharing it. You can’t just walk up to someone at Denny’s and be like ‘hey, let me tell you about the central limit theorem,’” Quesen said. “I have a captive audience to share this thing that I really think is fascinating.” Quesen said she feels there’s overlap between her job as a professor and that of a corporate employee.
“There’s a massive crossover. I think my teaching background has given me a lot of tools to use at work. And my work gives me a lot of real life appreciation and examples of what’s important in terms of statistics,” Quesen said. But teaching can take up a lot of time when also working a full-time job. Malakoff said he appreciates the flexibility Pitt gives its part-time faculty. “It’s very easy to teach at Pitt. The class sizes are relatively small. I’m allowed to create my own curriculum,” Malakoff said. “As long as I’m doing a good job, I’m basically left to my own devices. I do a good job. My semester evaluations always show that I do a good job.” Quesen said managing two careers can be tough but her love for teaching motivates her. “I have a serious type-A personality. It definitely eats away your quote-un-
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quote free time. But I love teaching. It’s not like work,” Quesen said. “The actual student interaction — teaching, answering questions, answering their emails and trying to help them — I like it. It’s work but it’s not.” Kerr said she keeps teaching despite her busy consulting career to help guide young professionals. “I like to think I can help some of my students avoid some of the obstacles or mistakes from early in my career,” Kerr said. “That’s why I love it.” Quesen said she has no regrets about the time she has poured into her two careers. “No, I don’t [regret it]. I just feel like it’s in my blood. My parents were this way. I don’t know what I would do otherwise,” Quesen said. “I definitely love teaching and I don’t have any regrets about spending as much time as I do doing it.”
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LGBTQIA+ task force seeking student input on new center, other proposals Rashi Ranjan
the public will be able to provide feedback on the proposal. Viljaste, a junior politics and philosophy and One of Tyler Viljaste’s ideas when running for finance dual major, said the task force is focused Student Government Board last year was creaton presenting a compelling case to both Pitt’s ading a physical LGBTQIA+ center on campus. So, ministration and the Pitt community about the he formed an LGBTQIA+ task force in August to needs of Pitt’ s LGBTQIA+ community and how make this goal — and others — a reality. better to support its members. “To be able to be a part of uplifting the voices “The current state of affairs needs to change,” of my peers and using the student input as a conViljaste said. “We need to dedicate more reduit to maybe actually make some change is resources to make sure that Pitt’s really addressing ally inspiring,” Viljaste, SGB’s vice president and the needs of the LGBTQIA+ population, which chief of cabinet, said. “The group of people that has gone under the radar over the past couple of I’ve been working with, especially since the beyears. ” ginning, have been so supportive and so amazing As Viljaste participated in task force activities, and so helpful.” he found that a lot of interests from faculty, staff The LGBTQIA+ task force, which includes and students overlapped. more than 70 students, faculty and staff, is work“[We wanted to get] rid of some of the buring on a proposal that includes research on the dens that are placed on faculty and staff because benefits of an LGBTQIA+ center as well as recthere are no dedicated staff persons for LGBTQommendations for counseling services and the IA+ affairs, ” Viljaste said. “Having to volunteer restructuring of LGBTQIA+ related student their time on top of their tenure track or on top organizations. Once released later this semester, of their research responsibilities, serving as unpaid labor for leading student organizations or serving as advisers can be really burdensome.” Viljaste said the proposal has more support because it includes members of the entire Pitt LGBTQIA+ population, including staff and faculty rather than just students. “We created a lightning survey to ask faculty and staff what’s particularly relevant, and we’re looking to do something very similar for student groups and students for the spring semester,” Viljaste said. “We’re going to send the proposal draft Tyler Viljaste has formed the LGBTQIA+ task force with sup-before we release it port from Student Government Board and other Pitt staff.publicly to key student Photo courtesy of Tyler Viljaste leaders, and after reviStaff Writer
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sions, release it for public comments.” Viljaste added faculty and staff on the task force to make sure their concerns were represented in the proposal. One staff member who has been playing a large role on the task force is Mike Campbell, an assistant in the Center for Creativity. As the chair for Pitt Queer Professionals — a campus group that promotes the professional development of LGBTQIA+ staff and faculty through social and educational events — Campbell said he’s recognized the need for paid support positions as well as a physical space for a long time. He said he was asked if he or his colleagues wanted to be represented in the task force, and many ended up joining. “I took charge of the committee for writing those staff positions, and I made sure that on their radar was including paid staff — not just having a student-run center,” Campbell said. “This way, students aren’t continuing to have to do relatively free labor for their own causes.” Campbell emphasized that though his group was specifically contacted, he is dedicated to making sure that a larger, more diverse network of people at Pitt can weigh in as well. “Once we have this finished, we want to make sure that this is more than just LGBTQ and has some intersectional lens to it,” Campbell said. “Queer people do not just exist as monolith. Over all races, ethnicities, religions, we want to make sure we have weight from other communities.” Some of this input for the proposal comes from student organizations on campus. Max Reiver, a student involved with Rainbow Alliance, Hillel affinity group LGBT-Jew-IA, T is For and Maspeak, has also recognized the needs of Pitt’s LGBTQIA+ community members as a member of the task force. “Even as the campus climate has shifted, our objective to establish a physical space that can be used by the growing number of Pitt's LGBTQIA+ student and graduate student organizations has remained an endeavor that we intend to accomplish,” Reiver, a fifth-year Japanese and English literature double major, said. Reiver said he’s enjoyed working with such a diverse group on the task force. He was a member of the committees for student groups, outreach and marketing, website recommendations and proposal writing.
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“Throughout all of the task force's phases of action, the most impressive and consistent aspect has been the collaboration among students, faculty and staff, as well as our mutual passion to make Pitt an even better place for our LGBTQIA+ community members to thrive,” Reiver said. Carrie Benson, the sexual violence prevention and education coordinator for the Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, joined the task force in the fall after she learned about it from her position as chair of the University’s Transgender Working Group. As a staff member, Benson said she had a lot of institutional knowledge regarding current University resources and services, which includes areas with room for growth and improvement. The importance of this work, Benson said, comes from the “concerning” levels of sexual violence that trans and nonbinary students at Pitt face based on statistics from a 217-page report released from the Association of American Universities last year. “28.7% of trans and non-binary students at Pitt reported experiencing sexual violence,” Benson said. “[These statistics] demonstrate a real need for college campuses to be continually working to create more inclusive spaces for trans and nonbinary students.” Viljaste said he’s excited to continue meeting people who are passionate about this work. “We're always excited to have more people join us on our mission,” Viljaste said. “We have a lot of allies too who aren't necessarily a part of the LGBTQIA+ community but are just there to help advocate and help empower our mission and our goals, which is always super exciting.” Getting to work with other students was an opportunity that the staff, including Campbell, looked forward to. He said the fact that this is all volunteer-based shows the dedication of each of these students. “I forget how motivated and how wonderful students can be — just coming up with new ideas and really pushing for things,” Campbell said. “I really love the environment, and I think everyone that is doing this work is very passionate about it.”
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Dogs, pg. 2 easily form a pod of ourselves where we are only going to be seeing each other,” Gargano said. “We’ll be safe and our dogs can still be socialized. If you’re an adult raiser, you don’t have that same type of community.” Swanson said it will be interesting to see the various outcomes of the dogs trained during the pandemic. “It’s really interesting to see certain quirks and things that he needs to work on compared to Koji, who didn’t have the whole pandemic,” Swanson said. “I think it’ll be interesting to see how the pandemic necessarily plays out with all the pups in their own way.” Nicole Mroz — president of STEP@ Pitt who also raised her current lab and golden lab mix puppy, Noni V, since last June — said the virtual puppy classes offered by CCI during the pandemic have been helpful. Mroz is a repeat raiser — she raised Kaptain II from December 2019 to June 2020. “It’s been so helpful for me to be attending the virtual puppy classes that our organization offers,” Mroz, a junior psy-
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chology major, said. “I think that’s been a great way to connect with the greater Canine Companions community and kind of learn more about how to best raise these dogs and what experiences and what opportunities to give them even though we can’t physically be together.” While Mroz enjoys this virtual interaction with the greater CCI community, she also values time spent with other STEP@ Pitt raisers over weekly Zoom calls, where they talk and learn from one another. “We’re able to have Zoom calls where we talk about our highs and lows of the week and together compare things that our pups are going through and just learn things from one another,” Mroz said. “I’m really grateful for that.” Regardless of the training obstacles, Swanson said she appreciates the unparalleled friendships she has formed within the puppy-raising community. “Everyone that I've met within puppy raising has really been some of my best friends now,” Swanson said. “It's like a friendship, but a whole other different friendship than probably you would think, because you guys share something really unique and special that not everyone gets to have.”
More TPN stories online: Chancellor Gallagher talks spring semester, vaccines in interview Students adjust to new online science lab structure Pitt outmuscled by UNC, drops second straight game, 75-65
January 27, 2021
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Opinions
Vote Peduto out and Gainey in
India Krug
Staff Columnist State Representative Ed Gainey announced his candidacy for the 2021 Pittsburgh mayoral race on Jan. 19. Let’s make sure he wins. I’ll admit it — I used to be a “Peduto girl.” I liked the styled moustache, his commitment to the environment and, yes, the bike lanes. But over the past year, he has lost his way in managing Pittsburgh’s police problem, and that is not an issue on which we can compromise. Mayor Bill Peduto, who took office in 2013, has never been in closer proximity to the Black Lives Matter movement than he is now, and an expectation to respond to the protests has exposed his reluctance to engage with younger, progressive generations. Built by moderate Democrats and beholden to the police, Peduto cannot be expected to give the Black Lives Matter movement the political agency it deserves. That is why it is imperative we focus on electing Gainey. Over the summer, much of Peduto’s disdain for the movement came from the Black Lives Matter protesters’ disinterest in cooperating with the police and using the proper assembly procedures. He also spoke out about his disapproval of phrases used by the movement, such as “ACAB” and “defund the police.” He thought the protestors weren’t polite enough. Red flag. The bottom line is that there is no way to make more conservative constituents comfortable with Black liberation. But Peduto has attempted to prevent social conflict by curating his own watered-down message of unity while alienating those who took to the streets by labeling them as “the radical left.” Racial disparities have formed two realities of life within the City. The
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stakes are too high to re-elect Peduto, who has the power to radically alter the City’s police force, but is afraid to. Ed Gainey has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 2013. He represents District 24, whose population is 63% Black, and has a progressive track record that includes criminal justice reform, marijuana policies and the Black Lives Matter movement. Before then, he was involved in
Coalition, and was one of the loudest voices for police accountability following the killing of Antwon Rose Jr. Gainey introduced a bill with Rep. Summer Lee, D-34, in 2019 that would limit excessive police force and joined students and community members in the Pennsylvania Capitol Rotunda to rally for a series of police reform bills. This summer, Gainey spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally on the House
Staff columnist India Krug is critical of Mayor Bill Peduto’s response to the Black Lives Matter movement and his handling of policing in Pittsburgh. TPN file photo City government and worked as Pittsburgh’s community development specialist to implement diversity education for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. If elected, he will be Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor. Gainey has been protesting with his constituents for the Black Lives Matter movement for years. He is a member of the Pittsburgh Black Elected Officials
floor to demand a special session on police reform. “As legislators, those who have been elected to represent, don’t we have an obligation to this state to ensure that life is safe for everybody?” Gainey said. Peduto’s policy implementations have been reactive and minor, most in response to the violence during protests that the involvement of the police —
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rather than the demands of the activists themselves — sparked or exacerbated. For example, he said he had “serious concerns” about “pop-up” arrests after a protest marshal was taken by plainclothes police officers into an unmarked van, which left Pittsburghers scratching their heads about why police had ever used the tactic in the first place. When I think about how Peduto has handled police reform, I am reminded of laundry day. I am often too stubborn to find a laundry basket, so instead I gather up all my clothes to take down two flights of steps. By the end of my journey, my pile has become only a fraction of the laundry load I initially envisioned, because I did not have an adequate vehicle. Peduto has had a yearlong laundry day with a lack of sustainability that leads to disappointing and trivial legislative results. In one of his first interviews as a mayoral candidate, Gainey said he wants fewer words and more action in Pittsburgh. I couldn’t agree more. Mayor Peduto, there have been enough roundtables, panels, task forces and research — you should know what you need to do. Pittsburgh constituents have given Peduto sufficient time to prove he can rise above passivism. We’ve also been subjected to enough white men who get themselves into trouble on Twitter. Black Lives Matter was a groundswell, and the momentum deserves to be fostered into tangible change. Ed Gainey is the man for the job. India writes primarily about politics and culture for The Pitt News. Write to her at ilk18@pitt.edu or follow her on Twitter @indialarson_.
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from the editorial board
School-aged students deserve better mental health resources The Clark County public school district in Nevada voted last week to begin phasing in an in-person return for students. The fifth largest school district in the country is choosing to bring students back not only because of the academic toll online learning has had on the students, but also because of the psychological toll. Between March — when the district first switched to online learning — and December, 18 district students committed suicide. Depression and suicide in school aged kids is nothing new. The previous school year, the district saw nine student suicides — far fewer than the 18 in the course of six months, but still an alarming amount. But the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated suicide and depression rates by leaving students who are used to going to school seven hours a day — surrounded by peers — isolated in their homes, taking math class over Zoom. Many students relied on interactions with other human beings — teachers and friends, primarily — to lift their mood and buffer the stress of school. Obviously, for many students, the pandemic has taken all that away. It makes sense that mental health in school-aged kids is declining rapidly. Most public schools lacked adequate mental health resources before the pandemic, and now can offer little help to suffering students. A recent study found that suicidal thoughts have worsened most drastically for young people during the course of the pandemic. If schools had been more equipped to help students manage their mental health before the pandemic, many school-aged students could likely be in a more secure mental space. A majority of public schools in America received inadequate government funding before the pandemic, but amidst the pandemic, schools are seeing even less funding. In July, to deal with the worsening mental health crises in California’s schools, a panel — which included legislators, government health directors and executives — recommended schools start looking to work with non-profit organizations and businesses, and apply for grants outside of government funding. It’s good that school officials
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are looking for ways to care for their students amidst a public health crisis, but frankly, public schools shouldn’t be put in a position where they have to jump through hoops to provide resources for students. While school-provided mental healthcare at the University level isn’t as adequate as some students wish, high school-aged students face much larger roadblocks. For instance, no matter their insurance status, all Pitt students have access to the Counseling Center — and therefore a therapist and psychiatrist — free of charge. While federal law requires public schools to employ psychologists, those psychologists only have to evaluate disabilities in students — not assist with their mental health needs. The National Association of School Psychologists recommended in 2012 that schools employ one psychologist for every 500-700 students, which isn’t nearly enough to provide any kind of individualized care. This means that students essentially have to seek a clinician outside of the school — which can pose an issue for lowincome students, students with inadequate insurance and students living in areas where there is a shortage of mental health professionals. Obviously, the easiest way to fix this problem would be better government funding. That’s not going to happen overnight. But one thing any school could do, no matter its funding situation, is train teachers to lead with kindness. A major indication of depression and suicidal thoughts is loss of interest in everyday activities and declining school performance. Lack of performance often causes students to fail and fall behind, but teachers — many of whom already do — should work with students and reach out to them if their grades start to fall. A gesture of care, rather than punishment, could make a major difference. Especially right now. Pandemic or no pandemic, mental health care in public schools is inadequate. Students shouldn’t have to rely on a singular school psychologist, or a teacher, to ensure their well-
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7
Podcast helps Pitt community process ‘when it feels like the world is on fire’
Siddhi Shockey Senior Staff Writer
Mellow instrumental music fades into the background as Shannon Fink asks her podcast’s listeners a series of questions. “What does it mean to make creative work when it feels like the world is on fire? Can creativity channel anger and community? And should it?” Fink asks. “How do we learn to practice creativity in times that reflect back to us the most fearful versions of our neighbors and ourselves?” These are just a few of the questions that Fink — operations manager at the Center for Creativity — and the C4C staff hoped to answer in their second season of “Processing…” a podcast about the role of creativity in the Pitt community. Amidst the shift to working from home and stay-at-home mandates last March, the C4C’s staff decided that it was time to launch their podcast. According to Fink, the staff had the idea for a podcast long before the pandemic, but they thought “Processing...” could help connect the Pitt community in a time of necessary isolation. “We thought creating our own podcast would be a great way to not only figure out how to do a podcast and to be able to teach others, but to make those connections so that when we’re back on campus, we can have a larger community,” Fink said. The first season of “Processing…” featured standalone interviews with members of the Pitt community who integrate creativity in their lives. The C4C staff interviewed various faculty and students between April and June 2020, including a member of the facilities staff who pursues painting in his free time. But for their second season in November and December 2020, the staff decided to focus on creativity as an outlet for anger and anxiety, after the sum-
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January 27, 2021
mer’s large Black Lives Matter protests brought increasing awareness of injustice and police brutality. This season featured MFA graduate Hannah Eko, senior Craig Hayes and Tahira Walker — a former staff member at the Center for Teaching and Learning. Mike Campbell — an assistant at the C4C and assistant editor for the podcast — said he felt that featuring local creators generated a unique opportunity for reflection. “Artists are great markers of what is happening because they can speak to how they feel about a certain location but also about what they’re going through internally and about their own identity,” Campbell said. In the second episode of the second season, Fink allowed interviewees to talk about the pain they felt surrounding the events of the summer. Hayes discussed his emotions surrounding the death of Oluwatoyin Salau — who was only 19 at the time of her death — as an older brother to five sisters. Salau, a Black Lives Matter activist who spoke at several protests in Tallahassee, Tenn., went missing a week before police found her body in June. Others talked about what they had lost in the midst of the pandemic. Eko was unable to complete her four-week artist in residency in Spain. Ivette Spradlin, a faculty member in the studio arts department, had to grieve the loss of an old friend without being able to attend a funeral with friends and family. Chad Brown — an assistant at the C4C and lead editor for the podcast — said he felt that listening to the raw emotions and stories people were telling was both moving and challenging at the same time. “[There were] all of these really raw
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8
‘A moment I will tell my grandchildren about’: Student works at inauguration Kaitlyn Nuebel Staff Writer
As Kamala Harris made history on Wednesday morning as the nation’s first female Black vice president, Gabee Ogude stood pressed up against a gate a few blocks away from the Capitol livestreaming the inauguration on her cell phone. “When I watched Obama’s inauguration I was eight years old and even I knew the gravity of that moment back then,” Ogude, a senior psychology major, said. “Now I’m watching the first Latina Supreme Court justice swear in the first Black VP. That is a moment I will tell my grandchildren about.” This time Ogude didn’t just watch the historic moment — she helped make it happen. She spent the three days before the event at the National Mall working on the Biden Inauguration’s media and logistics team. One of 30 people acting as the liaison between the incoming Biden administration and the media outlets covering the event, Ogude communicated with the Secret Service about where news organizations could set up their equipment and made sure representatives from CNN and The New York Post had the proper credentials. “We’re the first people they meet when they get there and we’re their first representation of Biden,” she said. “They’re going to have a relationship so it’s crucial everything runs smoothly because we’re a representation of him.” Ogude initially heard about the position on the media and logistics team through ColorComm, a community of women of color in communications. When Jackie Palmer, a deputy director on the Biden Inaugural team, asked for workers, Ogude immediately responded, securing the position just 12 days before the inauguration. Ogude said she got no sleep, starting some days as early as 3 a.m. and working until 6 p.m. She drank Starbucks
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espresso double shots every morning to help keep herself awake and wrote down what she experienced each day in a journal. Ogude said she requested to work longer hours so she could make the most out of the experience and make a lasting impression. “I was like ‘Well, I think this is my opportunity, right? I should probably
— who said she grew up in a political household, with the news on “from night until morning and morning until night” — changed her plans after she lost sleep analyzing the 2020 election and witnessed the impact political commentators can have on the election cycle. “The conversations me and my father have are very much very back and forth
Pitt senior Gabee Ogude worked as part of the media and logistics team for President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Photo courtesy of Gabriella Ogude stand out in some way,’” Ogude said. "I have to be there first and I have to leave the last, because I was like, ‘This is not going to come around again.’” For Ogude, the opportunity came only a month after she decided to change her career focus from psychology to politics and broadcasting. Ogude
arguments about the way things are and how to change them,” Ogude said. “I got tired of complaining. I would rather be on the inside working to solve the problem.” Ogude said she felt trapped in her major and went to the Career Center, which then put her in contact with Kev-
January 27, 2021
in Smith, the director of undergraduate studies in broadcasting. Smith, who frequently sits down and develops a plan with students interested in changing their career focus to broadcasting, said he was blown away when Ogude secured the position on the Biden team so early on after changing her career focus. “You can tell somebody, ‘Okay here’s the plan,’ [but] they still gotta have that thing inside of them like, ‘I’m gonna put my head down and go as hard as I can and do this,’” Smith said. “The moment she told me — I mean, it hurt my face from smiling so much — that’s when I realized she is absolutely going to achieve what she is setting after in broadcasting, and she doesn’t even realize that yet.” Nneoma Uzoukwu, Ogude’s close friend since their sophomore year, said she could tell Ogude was passionate about politics before she decided to pursue it. Uzoukwu said she sees Ogude’s involvement in the Biden inauguration as confirmation that she made the right decision. “When she told me about it she was really excited and I could tell that everything was just coming together for her,” Uzoukwu, a senior philosophy and epidemiology major, said. “Now she’s finally choosing this area she likes and she’s having all these opportunities fall to her because she’s meant to be in that area.” Smith said Ogude’s experience at the Biden inauguration will likely open doors for her down the line. “This is going to be the biggest thing that happens to her in 10 years, unquestionably, because it's going to springboard her,” Smith said. “And of course great things will happen down the road, but this is how you dive in.” But regardless of what the future holds for her, Ogude knows that this past week was the start of it. “It’s the beginning of my story,” Ogude wrote in her journal on Thursday morning. “It’ll be a damn good one!”
9
Sports
Chamberlain, Coca make emotional return to Pitt gymnastics
Stephen Thompson Assistant Sports Editor
With a deep breath, Pitt junior gymnast Katie Chamberlain began her routine on the uneven bars at the Panthers’ season-opening meet against NC State on Jan. 15. She took a few trips orbiting the high bar before swinging to the lower fixture. From there, Chamberlain seamlessly weaved flips and turns together, alternating between high and low stages of the bars before dismounting into three mid-air somersaults and landing with a small hop. She paused briefly to find balance, then bolted upright in the cliche — but grand — Y-shaped gymnastics pose that broke the steely demeanor she sported during the routine. Chamberlain let out a powerful yell and remade her closing pose once more, this time with greater vigor and facing her teammates and coaches. They then swarmed her in a fit of joy. Shortly after, the Panthers reanimated the sidelines in support of their next teammate up. Graduate student Katrina Coca, donning a black leotard with “Panthers” spelled out in sparkling, yellow script across her back for the first time, leapt onto the bars. Coca’s routine was deliberate, paced and made use of pauses on top of the bars to show off impressive balance, strength and focus. When she was done, teammates shared their pride for Coca with fist bumps and jumps of excitement. Meanwhile, Chamberlain embraced team trainer Sean Meuller. Both women were celebrating moments years in the making. 9.875 in their two attempts — from the onlooking judges. But Chamberlain said that it didn’t matter much that she had scored a career best, earned an event title and bolstered her team score in a key dual meet. Just being back in the lineup made it a success. Coca transferred to Pitt from Kentucky in 2019, after missing the season with an undisclosed injury, and was planning on closing
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out a successful college career in 2020 with the Panthers. But that plan was quickly derailed when she tore her achilles tendon during the preseason. “I tore my achilles during the preseason, about the end of September,” Coca said. “It wasn’t anything expected, of course … I transferred here last year. It was definitely difficult
much progress I had made since my freshman year.” But instead of workouts with teammates, Coca and Chamberlain’s injuries meant time on crutches, isolated and struggling to find enough ways to fill a college athletics career-sized hole that now existed in their lives. They had to find ways to keep themselves distracted while their
Katie Chamberlain and Katrina Coca are returning to Pitt gymnastics this season. Thomas Yang senior staff photographer
coming into a completely new team with a completely new atmosphere and not knowing a lot of people or anything around here.” Chamberlain was still looking forward to moving past her injury-riddled first-year season with a bounce-back sophomore campaign. But those hopes disappeared when she suffered a torn ACL and meniscus tendon in December 2019 and got surgery in January 2020. “It was definitely difficult,” Chamberlain said, “because I tore my ACL at a time when I thought I was doing really well and felt a high from how efficient I was in the gym and how
bodies healed. Coca used her time to watch movies and play with her two dogs, Ty and Major, while Chamberlain chose to explore cooking, which she said mostly consisted of awkward hobbling around the kitchen. But both were able to fill their time with being two of Pitt gymnastics’ loudest cheerleaders. “I think both of us really took to the role of supporter during the season,” Chamberlain said. “Pouring all of our energy into the team and making sure that they had what they needed during the season, that was our priority.”
January 27, 2021
They became hype-women for their teammates, injecting confidence and kind words wherever they detected self-doubt among the team. And while they were there for their teammates, Coca and Chamberlain were there for each other. Given the similar timing and recovery period for their injuries, both Coca and Chamberlain were able to find someone nearby who was experiencing the same injury-induced frustration. “Both of us being injured around similar times, I think we were able to lean on each other too,” Coca said. “ We were able to relate to each other … It sucked that two of us were injured but it was very helpful too.” With their return to competition, Coca and Chamberlain are now able to focus on themselves, and that means creating goals for this season and beyond. While both gymnasts are still savoring the feeling that their first routines left, Chamberlain admits that she is looking forward to strengthening her knee further so she can compete in the vault and beam. The Panthers have competed once since the NC State meet. They lost 191.600-194.600 to No. 23 Kent State on Sunday, but Chamberlain once again won the bars title while Coca made her first appearance on the vault for Pitt. Both performed in the high beam as well. Returning to the gym floor brought a flood of relief for two gymnasts that had struggled through long absences that were beyond their control. Coca said by the end of the meet, her emotions proved too much to contain. “I think it was after the last event of the meet,” Coca said. “I was so happy, so excited to be back in there, I couldn’t help it. I got too excited and I started to tear up a bit. It’s hard to describe it but it’s an absolutely amazing feeling.”
10
Kyle Saxon
Pitt basketball’s past struggles have become its biggest strengths
Staff Columnist Last season, Pitt men’s basketball finished tied for last place in the ACC standings. Through 11 games this year, it sits in fifth. Though the sample size is small, the Panthers’ 4-2 start to conference play is not a fluke. The team clearly made visible improvements in spite of an unprecedentedly disjointed offseason. While several of the same, nagging woes haunted Pitt teams for the first two seasons of Jeff Capel’s tenure, he has seemingly managed to flip the script in his third season. Rebounding For two seasons, the Panthers lacked an interior presence, and it harmed them immensely. While Pitt had a couple of individually good rebounders on its roster in forwards sophomore Justin Champagnie and junior Au’Diese Toney, the opposing teams frequently dominated the Panthers on the glass. After all, it’s difficult for a team that ranks 345th nationally in defensive rebounding to avoid domination in that facet of the game. While defense proved the main strength of the Panthers in the 2019-20 season, their inability to rebound missed shots became a primary reason for their struggles. But the Panthers have skyrocketed this season to the top of the national rankings in rebounds. Pitt ranks sixth in the country in total rebounds with 42.3 per game, as well as 14th and 25th in offensive and defensive rebounds per game, respectively. Capel’s team has a clear identity –– it hangs its hat on the defensive end and on the glass. But how has Pitt’s rebounding improved so dramatically in just one season, to the extent that it has become a central part of its identity? The primary catalyst comes in the form of star Champagnie. Champagnie ranks first in the ACC and second in the entire nation with 12.4 rebounds per game. While Champagnie easily led the team with 7.0 rebounds per game last season, there is no doubt that he has had a far greater impact this year. Champagnie possesses a rare combination of eye-catching athleticism and unbelievable positioning ability and instincts around the basket, making him one of the premier rebounders in program history. But it takes a whole team to make the type of
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improvement that the Panthers have. Rebounding has likely been the primary focus of practices for the past three seasons, and the hard work behind the scenes has finally paid off in games. Pitt plays excellent defense and follows it up by making a concerted effort to box out and rebound the basketball. The combination of this willingness to rebound and having the best individual rebounder in the conference makes Pitt one of the best rebounding teams nationally. Togetherness On the note of concerted team efforts, each and every one of Pitt’s wins has been just that. The majority of the team has now played together for multiple years, and they now visibly reflect the message of toughness and togetherness that Capel has preached for three seasons. Last season, it seemed at times the players on the court had more interest in scoring themselves than the team getting the best shot available. When Pitt found itself in a deficit, its stars attempted to will the team back in the game by themselves, which often deepened the hole.
Further than just the eye test, Pitt averaged 12.2 assists per game last year, ranking 248th in the country. The team has reached 16.0 assists per game this year, up to 51st place in the nation. Pitt’s uptick in assists not only reflects more shots going through, but an increased emphasis on team basketball. Capel often preaches the importance of playing “together,” and Pitt has done so tremendously this season. Perhaps the most glaring example of this improved chemistry comes during Pitt’s performances when it finds itself in similar deficits to last season, particularly on the road. When the Panthers found themselves trailing early in the season opener to St. Francis, the same thing that would have happened last season occurred again. Players seemingly tried to single-handedly make up a double-digit deficit in one possession and lost the game. But as the season has progressed, Pitt has logged unbelievable road comebacks against Northwestern and Syracuse, games it led for a combined 14 seconds. These comebacks have not only been Pitt’s
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two most dominant rebounding performances, but also its two most energizing team wins of the season. When the Panthers found themselves down early, they clawed back as a collective, continuing to fight until they ultimately prevailed. Watching Pitt this season, its fierce desire to win with and for each other has become abundantly evident. Maturity But togetherness ultimately presents just one component in the greater scheme of creating an excellent team. Maturity established itself as one of the agonizing woes of Capel’s first two seasons. Electrifying comeback road wins can’t happen without a team who attacks each possession with the same mentality, which is precisely why Pitt had none of them in Capel’s first two seasons. While Pitt has built its identity on defense and toughness, it’s never easy to win a game
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