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 | october 31, 2018 | Volume 109 | Issue 52
SGB
PITTSBURGH WILL NOT BE SILENCED
STANDS BEHIND JEWISH COMMUNITY Emily Wolfe Staff Writer
Kathryn Fleisher wants to make sure last weekend’s massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue won’t be forgotten. “Our community is still mourning,” Fleisher, a sophomore majoring in GSWS and politics and philosophy double major, said. “We’re still attending funerals, we’re still doing all that we can to keep attention on this and talk about anti-Semitism, hate and gun violence prevention.” As the members of Pitt’s Jewish community begin the long, slow task of healing in the aftermath of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, the Student A protester stands across the taped-off crime scene at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Sarah Cutshall | staff photographer Government Board has placed itself firmly behind the healing efforts of the community. Four Jewish students, including Fleisher, stopped by Tuesday’s public SGB meeting to Synagogue massacre, activist groups in and his recent stoking of conspiracy theo- thank board members for their support, and Jon Kunitsky and Pittsburgh organized multiple simultaneous ries about Jewish democratic mega-donor to implore everyone not to let the story fade. Kieran Mclean “We are really committed to not letting gatherings around the City, which joined George Soros. The Pitt News Staff this be something that we just talk about for “It’s not the time for somebody to come Activism became part of Pittsburgh’s together in a peaceful march that ended late a day or a week,” Fleisher said. “That we let into the community when the community mourning process Tuesday, as more than a afternoon Tuesday in Squirrel Hill. life move on, but that we don’t take this off Attendees spoke out against the timing has asked them not to come,” Squirrel Hill thousand people gathered in Squirrel Hill our radar. ” to protest the arrival of President Donald of President Trump’s visit, his sympathetic resident Barbara Zawadzki said.
TRUMP’S VISIT INSPIRES COMMUNITY PROTEST
remarks toward neo-Nazi groups after the Trump. In response to Saturday’s Tree of Life 2017 Unite the Right Charlottesville rally
See Trump Protests on page 3
See SGB on page 3
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PRESIDENT TRUMP ARRIVES IN
PITTSBURGH IN WAKE OF TREE OF LIFE SHOOTING
Janine Faust and Hannah Schneider
The Pitt News Staff As Air Force One touched down at the Pittsburgh International Airport around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, thousands of Pittsburghers gathered in Squirrel Hill to make their dissatisfaction with his visit known. But the two didn’t overlap — Trump made no public appearances in his time in Pittsburgh, and the main Squirrel Hill protest didn’t pass by Tree of Life Synagogue, the site of last Saturday’s massacre. Trump disembarked from Air Force One accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin were also present. When White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Trump’s intention to visit Pittsburgh, the administration did not produce an itinerary. The president did not speak to any media present and left by motorcade shortly before 4 p.m. The president spoke on Fox News with Laura Ingraham on Monday night, telling the host he wanted to visit people injured in the attacks. Trump said he planned to visit UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, where two police officers and two worshipers are recovering from injuries. Funerals were held earlier on Tuesday for Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz and brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal, three of the 11 men and women killed in Saturday’s mass shooting. Funerals for the others victims will continue through Friday. On Tuesday morning, Mayor Bill Peduto declined to meet with the president and asked him to hold off on visiting the City until after funeral services were over. A spokesperson of the mayor also said Peduto’s attention is solely focused on the grieving families affected by the shooting. “All attention tomorrow should be on the victims,” Peduto said to local reporters outside the City-County Building Tuesday. “If the presi-
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President Donald Trump departs Air Force One at Pittsburgh International Airport. Anna Bongardino | visual editor dent is looking to come to Pittsburgh I would ask than 400 protesters gathered to protest his arrival, that he not do so while we are burying the dead. who held signs saying, “HATE is NOT welcome I would ask that White House staff contact the in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” and “When leadfamilies and ask them if they want the President ers vilify, hatred ensures.” Protesters also chanted, “No more hate!” to be here.” Inside the synagogue, the party lit candles Members of the local progressive Jewish organization Bend the Arc wrote an open let- for each of the 11 victims. A makeshift memoter requesting the president stay out of the City rial of white-painted Jewish stars with each vicunless he denounces white nationalism and tim’s name is outside the synagogue, where the stops “targeting and endangering all minorities,” Trumps placed white roses and a stone from the which garnered more than 76,000 signatures by White House on each star, according to WDBO. The Trumps visited UPMC Presbyterian at the time of his arrival. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, the rabbi who was lead- about 5:20 p.m., where two police officers and ing the services when the shooting occurred at two worshipers are recovering from injuries the Tree of Life on Saturday, was more accepting sustained in the shooting. Upon arriving, they passed several hundred protesters on Fifth Avof Trump’s arrival. “The president of the United States is always enue. Some held signs that read, “Stronger than welcome,” Myers said to CNN Tuesday. “I’m a hate,” and “It’s your fault.” At one point, many citizen. He’s my president. He is certainly wel- started chanting, “Trump go home.” Sophomore marketing student Will Stein felt come.” President Trump and First Lady Melania that Trump’s presence in the City was disrespectTrump visited the Tree of Life synagogue at ful. “Most people, especially the Jewish commuabout 4:40 p.m. They were accompanied by Ivanka Trump, Kushner, Tree of Life Rabbi Myers nity — I’m Jewish — asked him not to come and and Israel ambassador to the United States Ron yet he still came,” Stein said. “I think it signifies Dermer. Just a few blocks away were the more that there’s not going to be a lot of change.”
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The protests, along with the closure of De Soto Street by the Secret Service, held up several students and hospital workers from taking their usual route to their classes, workplaces or dorms. Emily Stephens, a first-year communication major, found herself having to walk farther down Fifth Avenue to find a route up to her dorm. “I was trying to get back up to Sutherland and I was trying to come up the hill, and then the Secret Service stopped us and I had to go the whole way around Chevron to meet my roommate here because we wanted to go to the Pete for free shots — so I’m not here to see Donald Trump, because I’m very opposed to his presence,” she said. Another group of students and some community members assembled on the outdoor steps at the Petersen Events Center to watch the Trumps’ entrance into the hospital. Pitt first-year student Stefan Bordeianu said while he supports Trump’s presence in the City, he thinks it may have been the wrong time for him to visit. “I think it is really important to unify behind one leader and really show your support for our leadership, even though you may not agree with everything that he says,” Bordeianu said. “I think he’s coming maybe at the wrong time, but then again, the President’s a really busy guy, so if he can find time in his schedule, he should come to support his country whenever he can.” Stephens felt similar to Bordeianu, as she expressed that the President’s visit disturbed the grieving period or the City. “I understand presidential duties, but I also understand basic human needs,” Stephens said. “This City is in a time of mourning and the mayor of this City specifically asked to not have his presence, and as you can see, the City is very disrupted and focused on his presence, when it really should be focused on the topic at hand.” The Trumps’ motorcade left Oakland around 7 p.m. Contributed reporting by Sarah Shearer and Joanna Li.
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Trump Protests, pg. 1 Zawadzki knew shooting victims Irving Younger and Jerry Rabinowitz, and said that Trump’s administration has emboldened anti-Semitism that would have otherwise been sublimated. “There’s always been an underground anti-Semitism in Pittsburgh,” Zawadzki said. “But the current administration has left the door open for people to surface, to be open about it.” Protests began with a public shiva, or Jewish ritual of mourning, in Squirrel Hill following the funerals of shooting victims Rabinowitz, David Rosenthal and Cecil Rosenthal. Organizers from the Pittsburgh chapter of If Not Now, a Jewish group against Israel’s occupation of Palestine, led attendees in singing Hebrew songs and sharing food as part of the ceremony. As per Jewish tradition, shiva attendees were asked to wear black. “I wanted to be part of the counterweight to the lack of response from the White House, and also to support my friends who are grieving,” Point Breeze resident Emily DeFerrari said as she handed out flowers to mourners. If Not Now was joined by the Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America, Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange and numerous local feminist and anarchist groups. All the groups’ organizers emphasized demilitarization and solidarity in the wake of the shooting. “We want to process these feelings to allow us to act in a clear-minded way,” Ru Emmons, an If Not Now member from Pittsburgh’s North Side said. “We want more solidarity between immigrants’ rights groups, more accountability from our political leaders and we don’t want the state to take this as a sign to further militarize.” Three blocks away, around 4 p.m., leaders from the Pittsburgh chapter of Bend the Arc — a national, progressive Jewish group — read their now-viral open letter to the President in which they requested that he not come to Pittsburgh to another crowd. “President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism,” they said. “President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you stop targeting and endangering all minorities. President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you cease your assault on immigrants and refugees.”
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Protesters held signs saying “Your Hate Speech Has Consequences” and “WORDS MATTER” as they nodded along to the letter. Children stood on their parents’ shoulders, elderly people sat in wheelchairs and people in attendance held messages of support that read, “Won’t you love thy neighbor,” “We do bridges not walls” and “We’re Still Squirrel Hill.” After their separate events, the two groups marched into each other and merged to form a crowd of more than 1,000. Protest leaders with guitars led the group in renditions of Hebrew songs “Ozi v’Zimrat Yah Yah li lisha” and “Olam Chesed Yibaneh,” as they marched toward the Tree of Life Synagogue, where President Trump was visiting memorials to the victims. “We will build this world with love,” protesters sang as they marched. Demonstrators at the front of the march held a banner which read, “President Trump you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you stop targeting and endangering all minorities.” A police barricade stopped the protest one block away from the Tree of Life, while Trump paid his respects. Police vehicles later drove through the crowd during Trump’s departure, leading some protesters to shout at them. “Turn your backs and keep marching,” organizers chanted in response. Shortly after protesters arrived near Tree of Life, Trump left to visit the two police officers and two worshippers who are recovering from injuries at UPMC Presbyterian. But a separate protest group waited to meet his motorcade in Oakland. Students lined the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue with signs to protest his arrival. As his entourage drove in, chants of “Go home Trump!” could be heard from the Petersen Events Center. “He is definitely interrupting all of the funeral services,” sophomore computer science major Collin Abidi said of Trump’s visit as he watched the protests from the events center’s steps. “It’s just not appropriate.” Trump left the hospital around 7 p.m., returned to Air Force One and flew back to Washington, D.C. But the aftermath of his visit lingers. For Zawadzki, whose family fled Stalin’s regime in Poland in 1961, Trump’s visit did little to heal the community’s wounds. “People don’t think of him as the comforter-in-chief,” Zawadzki said. “He’s more like the divider-in-chief.”
SGB, pg. 1 She was joined by three other students — junior economics and statistics major Sam Ressin, senior social work major Sophie Tannenbaum and sophomore film studies and English literature major Lindsey Aranson— when she addressed the room during an open floor segment of SGB’s weekly public meeting. All four are members of Hillel, the largest Jewish organization on campus. At the beginning of the meeting, they joined in one minute of silence called by President Maggie Kennedy to recognize the shooting. “I know the greater Pittsburgh community, the Pitt community and specifically the Jewish community is experiencing a major loss right now,” Kennedy said. Hours after the shooting, SGB, in a joint statement with the College of General Studies and Graduate and Professional Student Governments, responded with shock and support. “Our Student Governments at Pitt are heartbroken to see something so horrific occur so close to our home and affect so many in our community,” the statement read. “We firmly believe this was a hateful terrorist act with clear anti-semitic motivations and we do not tolerate this kind of thinking on our campus, in our city, or anywhere.” Several organizations on campus have created fundraisers for Tree of Life or planned events for this week. Kennedy highlighted a few of the events coming in the next few days, including Hillel’s Make a Difference Day on Sunday, Nov. 4, open to all students, and an open Shabbat service Chabad at Pitt will host in the William Pitt Union this Friday night, which she said several board members plan to attend. Kennedy also noted that Pitt’s Greek organizations have banded together to create “Pitt Stands Against Hate,” a fundraiser for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the refugee aid organization HIAS and the first responders who were at Saturday’s crime scene. The GoFundMe page raised more than $3,000 in its first day. The board has collected links to various other fundraisers, events and resources on its Facebook page. Ritika Bajpai, chair of the Community and Governmental Relations Committee, added that SGB’s upcoming annual food drive, which will run Nov. 5-19, will do-
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nate a portion of the food it collects to the Tree of Life Synagogue. Other donation locations will include the Pitt Pantry, Community Human Services and the Homewood-Brushton YMCA. “It’s been heartwarming seeing our community come together and help each other to heal,” Bajpai said. Ressin wanted to express his gratitude to the board for showing its support of the Jewish community in the wake of the attack. “These past few days for all of us have been just very devastating, to know that something like this could happen in our community,” Ressin said, “and to see student government advertise the events of Hillel, of Chabad, of ways to show their support to the Tree of Life synagogue … I cannot express how meaningful that was.” Ressin pointed specifically to board member Albert Tanjaya, saying it comforted him to see Tanjaya at Sunday’s vigil. He also thanked Kennedy for her leadership. “The president is here this week,” Ressin told Kennedy. “I think he needs to learn from you what being a leader looks like and having some empathy, and I mean that sincerely. You have really stepped up for us and we are so grateful.” Kennedy thanked Ressin and his fellow Hillel members for coming to the meeting. SGB wants to do everything it can to help students recover from the tragedy, she said. “We don’t want it to stop after this week,” she said. “This is clearly something that has been going on for a long, long time, so we do want to be there for you all moving forward … Thank you for your strength in the face of such hatred.” “Anything [students] do, whether it’s big or small—” Fleisher said. “It matters,” Ressin finished. “We notice.” “Also, vote,” Fleisher added. Allocations: Pitt Archery requested $1,759.04 to attend a competition. The board approved in full. The Club Powerlifting Team requested $4,555.16 to purchase equipment. The board approved in full. The Club Cross Country Team requested $2,330.28 to attend a competition. The board approved in full. oSTEM requested $1,606.20 to attend a conference. The board approved in full.
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Opinions
column
GAB: A DANGEROUS HAVEN FOR WHITE SUPREMACISTS
Neena Hagen
Assistant Opinions Editor When a gunman burst into the Tree of Life Synagogue Saturday to commit the most deadly anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, police say he yelled four horrid, unambiguous words before opening fire — “All Jews must die.” First responders were called only minutes later — but by the time the suspect, named by police as 46-year-old Robert Bowers, was in custody, 11 members of the congregation lay dead and six more were injured. This shooting may have been the most violent, gruesome show of anti-Semitism in our country’s history, but the motivation behind it certainly isn’t unique — and neither was the hateful rhetoric Bowers used to justify his actions. In fact, an obscure far-right forum called Gab, which Bowers frequented and which purportedly dedicates itself to preserving free speech, was home to exactly this kind of hateful rhetoric. It was taken down immediately after the shooting — and rightly so. While the site openly allowed hateful speech, it claimed to clamp down on threats of violence — but in Bowers case, among many others, it failed to do so. In the hours following the attack, when Bowers’ posts were revealed to the world, it became clear that if Gab’s goal was to crack down on threats of violence, it utterly failed. Bowers posted numerous rants on the site that seemed threatening and the site didn’t flag him once. “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” Bowers posted minutes before authorities were called. “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” Bowers also posted pictures of his gun collection, and said on a regular basis that Jews were a threat to white society. He was a
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The Gab logo. IMAGE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS clear threat to Jewish people — but this isn’t and naturally flocked to a site that would acthe first time an avid Gab user has elicited commodate their extremist views — a cornucopia of right-wing zealots who reinforced backlash for violence against minorities. Christopher Cantwell, one of Gab’s most each others bigoted beliefs. According to American University professor well-known users, achieved notoriety when he allegedly pepper-sprayed counter protest- Susan Benesch, hateful statements like many of ers at last year’s white supremacist rally in the ones on Gab are not a direct source of violence, but hateful language can provoke people Charlottesville, Virginia. Cantwell said on Gab that Saturday’s who are already inclined toward extremism and shooting was completely justified and even violence — and that’s exactly the kind of environtossed out anti-Semitic slurs to add fuel to ment Gab fostered. No social media site is perfect when it comes the fire, and he has repeatedly called for the assassination of Jews and police officers on to removing and reporting potentially violent his Gab account and on his podcast, “Radi- individuals — even Facebook and Twitter, the cal Agenda.” If one of Gab’s most prominent world’s largest social networking sites, still conusers is able to get away with statements like tain ISIS accounts. But considering the vitriolic these, clearly the site isn’t doing enough to rhetoric Gab users spewed on a regular basis, the site should have been especially vigilant. quash legitimate threats of violence. Still, the site itself isn’t 100 percent to blame While the fringe forum never aimed to stir up racial animus and harbor hateful us- for not stopping the alleged Pittsburgh guners, according to founder Andrew Torba, man — small, fringe forums like Gab often go expecting that to happen only seems logi- undetected by federal investigators who comb cal. A large number of Gab’s users had been through social media trying to intercept terrorbanned from mainstream social media sites ist threats. “Mainstream fringe sites like 4chan and parts like Facebook and Twitter for alarming posts,
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of Reddit get most of the attention, and sites like Gab fly under the radar outside of these communities because frankly they’re these isolated islands that don’t connect to the reality-based internet,” Brandon Szuminsky, an assistant professor of journalism at Baldwin Wallace University who specializes in misinformation and social media, told the Post-Gazette. Gab’s partners’ responses to the Pittsburgh shooting were swift but reactionary. In response to the Pittsburgh shooting, Paypal, Gab’s payment provider for premium users, stated firmly that the site wasn’t doing enough to address very real threats among its user base. GoDaddy.com, the forum’s host website, also severed ties with Gab after the shooting. “[We have] investigated and discovered numerous instances of content on the site that both promotes and encourages violence against people,” a GoDaddy.com spokesperson said. A Gab spokesperson passionately defended the site, saying it was purely a free speech promoter and didn’t want to be associated with any violent act provoked by rhetoric on site. “Gab unequivocally disavows and condemns all acts of terrorism and violence,” the company said in a now-deleted post on Medium in response to Saturday’s shooting. “We clearly, directly and incontrovertibly prohibit threatening language that infringes on the safety of another user or individual.” While the intentions behind founding the site seemed noble on the surface, the reality didn’t live up to the dream. There’s a reason Facebook and Twitter put limitations on hateful speech — it harms natural discourse and is a breeding ground for extremism. Fringe sites like Gab are havens for extremists, who, when they put their heads together, pose a real threat to public safety. Thankfully our country has, for now, shut down one hate site — but there’s still a long way to go before we vanquish them all.
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from the editorial board
Trump provokes protests in Pittsburgh Despite the wishes of more than 80,000 members of the Pittsburgh community, Trump made the trip to Tree of Life Synagogue Tuesday to pay his respects to the victims of Saturday’s shooting. He was greeted by thousands of protesters gathered blocks away from the synagogue who stood in solidarity against his presence in Pittsburgh and the hateful rhetoric he’s spread while in office. This is unprecedented — for a president arriving with condolences just days after a mass tragedy to be protested demonstrates just how divisive and alienating he can be. “All attention tomorrow should be on the victims,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said to local reporters outside the City-County Building on Monday. “If the president is looking to come to Pittsburgh I would ask that he not do so while we are burying the dead. I would ask that White House staff contact the families and ask them if they want the president to be here.” No other mass shooting has provoked such an organized, angry response against a visiting president. When President Obama visited Newtown, Connecticut, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, the community was united in their grief and had no reason to protest the president’s presence. Similarly, when Trump visited Parkland, Florida, following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School earlier this year, he wasn’t greeted by protesters who demanded he stay away. There were protests against gun violence and against the president, but not in the days after the shooting. Pittsburgh has been different. It has taken the City a matter of days to find ways to use its mourning to prevent incidents like this mass shooting from ever happening again.
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The mass of more than 1,000 protestors wasn’t just Jewish people — they came from different communities, different political ideologies and different religions. Muslim advocacy groups spoke alongside Hispanic support groups in support of the Jewish community, and organizers from the Women’s March and Black Lives Matter joined, among others. These disparate groups have never before participated in such a display of solidarity. While impressive, Pittsburgh’s necessary protest of President Trump shows how divisive he is. Residents likely would have planned vigils, but without the president’s inflammatory reaction, it would have never become a protest. When Trump publicly said he thought placing armed guards inside places of worship was the answer to preventing mass shootings like this in the future, or when he disrespected the mayor of Pittsburgh and the Jewish community’s wishes, he forced Pittsburghers into the streets. For some cities, this could have been a moment of rupture. “People don’t think of [Trump] as the comforter-in-chief,” Pittsburgh resident Barbara Zawadzki said at one of the protests. “He’s more like the divider-in-chief.” Instead, more than 1,000 voices joined together in traditional Jewish songs of mourning, marched through the neighborhood scarred by violence this weekend and offered their support to Squirrel Hill residents. “Today, we are here to model the kind of community that we can be when we are at our best,” protest leaders Tammy Hepps and Rachel Kranson said at the beginning of the march. “A community that loved our neighbors, no matter their background, their religion or where they were born.”
The Pitt News SuDoku 10/31/18 courtesy of dailysudoku.com
October 31, 2018
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Sports CAN PITT EMERGE FROM THE ACC’S COASTAL QUAGMIRE? Trent Leonard Sports Editor
The ACC is currently in the midst of an identity crisis. In its Atlantic division, perennial football powerhouse Florida State — which has gone to a bowl game every year since 1982 — is in shambles, currently sitting at 4-4 overall and 2-4 in the conference. Meanwhile, Louisville is winless in the ACC after rattling off four straight seasons of eight or more total wins. In the Coastal, typically dominant Miami — picked by most pundits to win the division for the second straight year — finds itself on the outside looking in after a second ACC loss to Boston College last Friday. And Virginia Tech, which hasn’t had a losing season since 1992, looks uncharacteristically inconsistent, losing to pitiful Old Dominion in one of college football’s biggest upsets in recent history, then dropping a critical ACC game to Georgia Tech last Thursday. Through eight weeks, it seems safe to say the ACC preseason rankings were a total joke. Virginia, picked to finish last in the Coastal, is currently first with a 4-1 ACC record. Syracuse, projected to finish last in the Atlantic, is 6-2 overall and third in the division. Just above them is Boston College, who was picked to finish fourth. Either the media members need to do their homework — one person, who obviously doesn’t take their job seriously, picked UNC to finish first in its division — or the conference has just been overtaken by anarchy. Only undefeated No. 2 Clemson has lived up to preseason expectations. Amid the underperformance of the conference’s aforementioned favorites, a slew of historically average programs has risen to the top. Led by Virginia, Boston College and Syracuse, these teams represent the ACC’s high level of parity and unpredictability this season. Already, a circular food chain can be devised that would imply any team can beat any other team — Duke beat Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech beat Virginia Tech, Virginia
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The Panthers moved to 3-1 in the ACC after Saturday’s 54-45 win against Duke. Thomas Yang | assistant visual editor Tech beat UNC, UNC beat Pitt, but Pitt beat in the ACC championship. So Pitt can afford to lose one game, but it has both Duke and Georgia Tech — and so on and to be against the right team. Ideally, the Panthers so forth. Despite being battered by a challenging would knock off the two one-loss teams right non-conference schedule, Pitt remains in con- above them in the standings — Virginia and Virtention to clinch a Coastal title — something ginia Tech — over the next two games, thus dealthe team has never done since joining the ing each two losses and securing the tiebreaker ACC in 2013 — with a solid 3-1 record and over both. Then, after beating Wake Forest — a third-place standing in the conference. So the safe assumption — the Panthers could lose to question remains. Do the Panthers have what it Miami in the season finale, assuming Miami suftakes to earn their first division championship? fers one more lethal ACC loss in the three games Pitt has four games left in its regular sea- between now and then, likely at Virginia Tech — son schedule, all against ACC opponents — at and still come out as Coastal champs. In another scenario, Pitt could beat Virginia, No. 23 Virginia, home against Virginia Tech, at Wake Forest and at Miami. Since Pitt came to the Wake Forest and Miami but lose to Virginia ACC in 2013, the Coastal champion has finished Tech. Pitt would lose the head-to-head tiebreakwith a 6-2 conference record three out of five er, instead relying on the Hokies to drop two out times, making that the ideal finishing goal for the of their other three games — a perfectly possible Panthers. And with every team in the division al- proposition, considering they face No. 24 Boston ready at one loss or more, it’s all but a guarantee College, Miami and No. 23 Virginia. In both cases, it is crucial that Pitt beats Virthat finishing the season 3-1 will earn Pitt a spot
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ginia in this Friday’s upcoming matchup. That’s because Virginia finds itself with the easiest remaining schedule — and therefore path to a Coastal title — with only three more ACC games against Pitt, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. Plus, if the Panthers lose to Virginia, they’ll need to beat both Miami and Virginia Tech — an extremely tall order, given their past struggles with those teams. The Panthers have played well against Virginia in the past, beating them four out of five times since joining the ACC, so they need to take care of business in a winnable game to allow room for a later loss. Of course, all this is just theoretical — the Panthers are just as likely to go 1-3 down the stretch as they are to go 3-1. In all likelihood, they’ll go an even 2-2 and narrowly miss out on that elusive Coastal title, finishing second in the division for the third time under head coach Pat Narduzzi. But in a rare season when conference elites are having a down year, now is the time to dream big about Pitt’s chances. Sure, the Panthers have no passing game to speak of, with their 146.4 yards per game ranking above only Georgia Tech in the ACC. And the defense has been bad, allowing a third-worst 396.6 yards per game — including a season-high 619 yards to Duke last week. Yet there’s something to be said for this resilient, senior-laden Pitt team that has eked out three out of four ACC games in spite of its weaknesses. The run game has been effective, as the Panthers rank fourth in the conference with 227.9 rushing yards per game. And the defense has shown the ability to succeed, holding No. 3 Notre Dame to only 19 points on the road. So, despite losing a crucial conference game to lowly one-win North Carolina, Pitt has been given new life thanks to the ACC becoming the football embodiment of Murphy’s law. And in the quagmire that is the Coastal division, the Panthers may just come out on top.
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BEATS GANNON 68-46 IN EXHIBITION Dominic Campbell Staff Writer
Unlike last season, when the Panthers lost 73-68 to IUP, the Pitt women’s basketball team defeated its Division II opponent Gannon, 68-46 in a season-opening exhibition game at the Petersen Events Center Tuesday. While it doesn’t count toward the team’s official record, this marked the Panthers’ first competition under new head coach Lance White, who spent his last 15 years at Florida State as an assistant coach and associate head coach. After the win, White was happy that his team showed improvement. “You know, obviously exhibition games are a chance to turn on the lights and get a chance, the first time to be out on the court,” White said. “I thought early our team was a little scattered and a little nervous and I thought once we kinda got through that emotional part of it, I thought they played much better, much harder and we were what I call ‘stuck in mud’ a little bit early. But then I really was proud of the way they played.” Both teams kept it close in the first quarter as the game went back and forth. After sophomore guard Aiora Rivas hit a 3-pointer to start the game for the Golden Knights, the Panthers went on a 7-0 run to take the lead early. The leader of this run was redshirt senior guard Aysia Bugg, who hit a 3-pointer and made a layup in her first game back after missing all of last season due to a medical redshirt. She finished the quarter with seven points and was happy to be back on the court doing what she does best. “It felt great!” Bugg said. “I mean of course it’s, you know, shaking off some of the dust, but every game is getting back to the feeling I used to have. So getting more comfortable, game by game, is the goal.” Junior guard Jasmine Whitney did her part by scoring six points in the quarter, and senior guard Cassidy Walsh, along with senior center Kalista Walters, led the early production with two assists each. Despite shooting well in the quarter at 52.9 percent, the Panthers had trouble
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Junior guard Jasmine Whitney (3) contributed 13 points to Pitt’s 68-46 victory over Gannon. Thomas Yang | assistant visual editor stopping the hot shooting by the Golden offensive rebounds. Garven, Whitney and sophomore center Jaala Henry were tied for Knights. As a team, Gannon shot 7-9 from the the most with three rebounds each in the field and shot an impressive 5-6 from quarter. By the end of the half, Pitt was back 3-point range. The star for Golden Knights in control of the game, leading 39-31. Scoring slowed down mightily in the was first-year guard/forward Tori Obenrader, who made all four 3-pointers she shot, third quarter as both teams shot poorly overall. The Golden Knights shot 3-10, ingiving her 12 points in the quarter. The Panthers kept the game close by caus- cluding 0-5 from 3-point range, while the ing turnovers, as they made Gannon turn it Panthers shot 4-13, 30.8 percent and 0-2 over nine times in the quarter, turning into from deep. Whitney lead Pitt in the quar14 easy points. Turnovers would continue to ter with four points off a fast-break layup be a issue for the Golden Knights all game. and a mid-range jumper, while Garven also Still, they led 23-22 over the Panthers at the had three to bring her total up to 16 for the game. Garven, who finished with 20 points end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw the Panthers in the game, was impressed by her perforcome out with a vengeance, going on a 10-4 mance and says that she is feeling much betrun by the second media timeout to lead ter playing this year than last. “I would just say the confidence my 32-27. Instrumental in that run was senior forward Danielle Garven, who scored two coach and my teammates have in me is layups and a mid-range jumper to score six a lot, how do I say this, is a lot greater than it was last year,” Garven said. “And points in a minute and take the lead. The Panthers survived by creating more so they’re always like ‘Miss one shot, like turnovers, with seven in this quarter, but you got the next one, you got the next one.’ were less effective getting points off them They’re always on me about keeping my with only six. They also won the rebound energy up as well.” Gannon easily won the rebounding battle, 16-13, and out-tallied Gannon 7-3 on
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battle in the third quarter, 13-6, and while they turned the ball over more than Pitt, 8-5, they capitalized by earning more points off the turnovers than the Panthers, 6-4. Obenrader led the team with six rebounds in the quarter and junior guard Haley Tewes had three. The Golden Knights managed to outduel the Panthers in a very low-scoring quarter, 11-9, bringing the score to 48-42 Pitt — still presenting Gannon with an upset opportunity. While they brought the game back within six, Gannon finally got exposed in the fourth quarter. The Panthers were able to pull away from the Golden Knights in the fourth quarter. They started off on a decisive 11-1 run, thanks to a layup and two foul shots from Garven, and a layup and a jumper by Bugg, who got her first points since the first quarter. Only a 3-pointer by Obenrader stopped the run, which gave her 18 points for the game. Right after her 3-pointer, the Panthers went on a 9-0 run to end the game with a 68-46 victory, outscoring the Golden Knights 20-4 in the fourth. Gannon couldn’t keep up with Pitt due to their poor shooting. The great 3-point shooting in the first quarter was bookended by a horrendous last quarter, in which they shot 1-8 from three and 1-10 from the field overall. It also didn’t help that they turned the ball over seven times, leading to eight points off those turnovers for the Panthers. As a team, the Golden Knights turned it over 31 times, compared to only 15 for Pitt. Garven was the Panthers’ MVP for the game, leading the team in points with 20 and rebounds with nine. Pitt will begin its regular season next Wednesday, Nov. 7, at the Petersen Events Center against the University of Central Florida. Wednesday is the annual school day game, meaning that grade-school students from across the region will be in attendance. Tipoff for the game is at 11 a.m.
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