10-17-17 by The Pitt News

The Pitt News

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | october 17, 2017 | Volume 108 | Issue 48

PITT PROMOTES CROSS-FAITH COMMUNICATION Sarah Frumkin For The Pitt News

Kyle Wyche was peacefully meditating in the prayer and relaxation room on the third floor of the William Pitt Union when a group of Muslim students walked in to pray. The junior ecology major struck up a conversation with one of the Muslim students afterward, who turned out to be as interested in Wyche’s meditation as Wyche was in his prayer rituals. The two exchanged numbers and went to lunch together the next day. “We allowed curiosity to drive our conversations,” Wyche told 50 people gathered in the William Pitt Union Monday. Wyche said he’s still friends with the student he met, and the two meet often for meals and coffee. “That one instance opened us to different experiences and created a friendship,” Wyche said. Wyche shared this story of shared spirituality at the kickoff for Pitt’s newest division — the Interfaith Dialogue and Engagement Office. The creation of the office will serve as an opportunity to exchange ideas about how Pitt students, staff and faculty can engage in more conversations about religion and secular spirituality, explore their beliefs and have an impact on the community, according to Summer Rothrock — director of the Office of Cross-Cultural Leadership and Development and member of the Interfaith Dialogue Planning Committee. “I think ... this is something the University community is going to embrace and welcome. Everyone seemed really positive as we sent information about the event,” Rothrock said. “The fact that people were hanging around and talking makes me think we’ve already sparked some dialogue.” Vice Provost and Dean of Students See Interfaith on page 3

Members of Pittsburgh’s chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans perform a traditional Chinese lion dance during Pitt’s International Week on Monday. Isabelle Glatts STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

STUDENTS DISCONNECT TO CONNECT

Lauren Forsythe For The Pitt News

Your social media activity can’t ever really be deleted, Kathleen Bracken learned in her computer science classes at Pitt. “Usually whenever you click the delete button it’s not actually taking the thing out of memory, it’s not like you take an eraser and you smear it out and it’s gone,” Bracken said. “It’s still there and around if you know how to find it.” Bracken — a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering and minoring in computer science — never liked the idea of mass communication over social media and prefers the anonymity and mystery that comes from ab-

staining from social media entirely. And she isn’t alone — although social media seems to be an inescapable part of daily life on campus, there are a number of students that are not interested in using it. Richard Xu, a first-year student studying computer science, doesn’t use any social media at all. Abstaining from social media allows him to have time to himself, he finds, giving him the ability to clear his head without getting caught up in what everyone else is doing. “I think that getting to be alone and out of the white space and then truly getting to appreciate nature or not having different drama, it really gives you a clear headspace and it infuses

a sense of calm and peace,” Xu said Xu chose to abstain from using social media back in high school because he felt the judgment and comparison that comes with social media would not be good for him. He continues to not use social media today because he believes it devalues communication. “I think that there is a lot of value that gets taken away when we communicate digitally — you can’t communicate emotions or the intentions behind your words,” Xu said. “I want to be able to express myself to people physically. I get to have real personal contact being with somebody.” See Social Media on page 3

News

Podcasters return to talk traveling Zoe Pawliczek Staff Writer

Reality TV stars and podcast hosts Susie Meister and Sarah Rice think they might be qualified for Donald Trump’s current job — given that he also has a reality TV background. “This is just the beginning. Podcast at Pitt, next thing you know I’m running for president,” Meister said. Brought in a second time for Pitt’s International Week, Meister and Rice took to the stage of the William Pitt Union assembly room Monday night to record a live podcast and share their worldly experiences with a crowd of about 100 people. A Pittsburgh native and Pitt alum with a doctorate in religious studies, Meister funded her education by competing on eight MTV reality shows, including “Road Rules Down Under” and “The Challenge.” Meister met Rice — who competed on MTV’s “The Challenge” and “Real World” — during their time on TV. Their instant chemistry and international experiences inspired them to start the “Brain Candy” podcast, which they host twice weekly. “We’re just always so happy to be a part of something where people come together to celebrate the things we love, like travel and silliness,” Meister, who also works as a diversity trainer to combat prejudice, said. Each biweekly 45-minute episode centers on discussing everyday topics with an intellectual twist, drawing on the women’s experiences on TV and traveling the world, as well as whatever interests — or aggravates — them. Meister and Rice kicked off the night by collaborating with the Pittsburgh chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans youth program to share a traditional Chinese lion dance with fans and passersby outside the Union before returning to the assembly room to record the night’s podcast. “We are going to go outside and wake up a lion,” cochair of the international week committee Jeff Whitehead told the audience before escorting them outside. While introducing Meister and Rice back inside the Union, Whitehead related their reality TV experiences to this year’s international week theme — displacement. “They voluntarily became displaced persons and felt all

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Susie Meister (left) and Sarah Rice — hosts of the ‘Brain Candy’ podcast — spoke to a crowd of more than 70 people Monday as guests of Pitt’s International Week. Isabelle Glatts STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER types of cultural oddities while on the road,” Whitehead said. Rather than talking about their time on-screen, Meister and Rice took turns reviewing tourist attractions — including Stonehenge and Mount Rushmore — with the crowd. They also discussed other light topics, such as the consequences of supporting a football team because you like their uniform colors. “I know I am in a football-heavy city, so please God don’t beat me up after this,” Rice said. Pitt alum Elizabeth Adler was present at the event and said she became a fan of “Brain Candy” because the pair addresses both scholarly and emotional issues. “I love how they talk about academic subjects because it appeals to the scholar in me, but I love the other parts, like how open and vulnerable they are, too,” she said. “Listening to them feels like a conversation I would have with my friends, and I get to laugh with them when they tell silly stories.” After the hosts performed a segment where they got “crabby” about travel pillows and getting their names changed on airline tickets, Rice lightened the tone by sharing several articles about millennials who have run for office. “I feel like so often college students get brushed aside, but a lot of these guys came up with what they wanted to do in college,” Rice said. Meister and Rice recognized their “brainiacs” — fans of the podcast — with prizes and raffles, including free tickets to

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see George Takei Tuesday night and an opportunity for three Pitt students in attendance to win a $1,000 study abroad scholarship. Abigael Siecinski, a sophomore studying supply chain management, had never heard of the “Brain Candy” podcast when she accompanied her roommate to the event and won one of the scholarships. “Not only did I get this scholarship for my trip to France next summer, but I found an interest in podcasts too,” Siecinski said. “I’m definitely going to listen to ‘Brain Candy’ now.” Several long-term fans of Meister and Rice were also in attendance, including Dani Becker, from Chicago, who drove all the way to Pittsburgh to meet her idols for the first time. “I’ve been a fan of them since ‘Real World,’” Becker said. “Susie and Sarah have gotten to travel the whole world so I think they will share a lot of good experiences tonight.” Meister and Rice concluded the international week event by telling each other what they’ve learned from unexpected role models. Their list included Meister’s 5-year old son as well as Pittsburgh native Fred Rogers — creator and host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” “We want to promote that you can learn from other cultures and people who don’t look like you or act like you,” Meister said. “That could be as simple as the person down the hall or on the other end of the phone.”

Social Media, pg. 1

“It takes away the difficult time when you have nothing to think about and you need to think about what you truly want. It makes it so that instead of finding out what you truly want, you just do the thing of, ‘I’ll just look at what everyone else wants and you do the same thing,’” Xu said. Many college students use social media, Primack said, because the multi-billion dollar technology companies strategically craft the sites — with input from designers and psychologists — to keep users coming back. He said those students that choose to not use social media may be making a responsible decision, possibly by recognizing they were beginning to feel addicted. People who abstain from social media, he added, aren’t necessarily odd or antisocial. “In fact, these people very well may have made a very clear decision — they may have tried out a social media platform and said ‘you know what, that just doesn’t really substitute for me for my real relationships,’” Primack said. Bracken said social media does have its place, but encourages her peers to realize social media isn’t as vital as many think. “Not using social media is not the end of the world. You’re not completely out of the loop if you decide not to use it,” Bracken said.

Interfaith, pg. 1 Kenyon Bonner spoke at the kickoff on behalf of the University. He called the Interfaith Dialogue and Engagement Office a representation of Pitt’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. “We have always believed that diversity and inclusion are central to our mission. But we realize that, in today’s climate, simply embracing those values is not enough,” he said. “Now — perhaps more than ever — we must actively seek to promote a climate of understanding and mutual respect.” In an interview after his speech, Bonner said the office does not have concrete plans yet, but will invite speakers and create programs designed to encourage discussion across faiths. “This has been a year in production,” Bonner said. “It’s still engaging students and still growing, this is just the public launch.” Rothrock said the new office is currently taking student suggestions on how to operate and what to include. “I think the beauty of a new office is that it’s only limited by students’ creativity. At our See Interfaith on page 4

The Pitt news crossword 10/17/17

Brian Primack, dean of Pitt’s Honors College, has carried out research that shows adults aged 18 to 30 that use social media are more likely to feel isolated or depressed — although it is unclear whether social media causes depression or simply worsens already existing depression. “Our research has shown, and others have already validated that research, that overall more use of social media has been associated with a lot of negative things like depression and also social isolation, anxiety and eating habits,” Primack said. The ways in which individuals use social media can also have a large impact on how it affects them, Primack said. Young adults who use several social media platforms, he said, are more likely to be depressed. “We don’t know exactly why this is at this point, but one possibility is it may be like you’re trying to be friends with nine different groups of people,” Primack said. “It sort of waters down your experience with everybody and it makes it more difficult to be friends with everybody.” Reasons other than the threat of depres-

sion motivate some students to unplug. Sinjon Bartel, a junior mechanical engineering and computer science major, said he avoids social media because his coursework and job with computers, like Bracken, changed his perspective. “When you understand something in some way it loses its power over you,” Bartel said. “I’m not saying that social media is this dark power exerting influence, but you sort of remove the mystery of how these things are working and how these connections are being set up.” Bartel removed social media apps to eliminate the temptation to use them. He said he now only uses Facebook for events and rarely uses Twitter. He still feels like he can be involved in things around campus and with his friends without social media. “I’m pretty good on seeking out events that I am interested in or want to go to,” Bartel said. “I find that a lot of times the things that I’m happy I ended up at are from the weird flyers I’ll see out on places I drop by for lunch.” Xu said he similarly never felt left out without social media. He said that not using social media helps him to make decisions on things without being influenced by what others are doing, something he feels that those who use social media struggle with.

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Interfaith, pg. 3

About 50 people gathered in the William Pitt Union Monday at a kickoff event for the Interfaith Dialogue and Engagement Office. Roger Tu STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

first coffee and conversation, one student asked to see a panel and I already set up a meeting with her to talk about that panel,” Rothrock said. The program was inspired by a number of alumni who believed in the importance of spirituality as a dimension of student wellness, Rothrock said. Pitt emulated similar work done by Xavier University, a Jesuit college. Linda Williams-Moore, associate dean of students and a member of the planning committee, said while Xavier’s program inspired Pitt’s, there are differences between the two. “We didn’t want to duplicate Xavier, but make it fit to Pitt,” she said. “We are not a religious school like Xavier University and we have a wide variety of different faiths.” Sophie Tannenbaum, a junior anthropology and architecture student and resident assistant, said she was invited to the event by her resident director and came not knowing what to expect, but found it “right up her alley.” “My coworkers and I talk a lot about our faiths,” she said. “We’re pretty religiously diverse.”

Tannenbaum was raised Roman Catholic like her mother but has been exploring her father’s Jewish faith more at Pitt. She works with a person who has converted to Islam since coming to college and another who identifies as nondenominational. “College is a nice vessel for exploring faith, you get away from parents and you’re on your own and can explore different faiths and figure out what works for you spiritually,” she said. Tannenbaum said having an office at Pitt that encourages discussion across religions will help promote tolerance and address biased or skewed perceptions of other religions. “There’s so many benefits to this, especially in today’s society and culture, there’s so many issues that comes with talking about religion,” she said. “I hear a lot about IsraelPalestine, and ... stuff like the War on Terror is based in religious intolerance.” Wyche said he believes the office is something that Pitt, a religiously diverse school, is in need of. “I feel right now there are lots of faiths on campus but they’re secluded from each other,” he said. “I hope this office becomes a hub for people of different religions to come together and talk.”

The Pitt News SuDoku 10/17/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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Opinions from the editorial board

column

Marino is unfit for drug czar position If President Donald Trump wanted to spit in the face of his most ardent supporters, he probably couldn’t have chosen a crueler way to do it than with his nomination of a new drug czar last month. Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), who represents one of the whitest, most rural and most pro-Trump districts in the state, received the nod from Trump to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The office directs federal efforts to stem both the international and domestic drug trade and works against drug abuse in the United States. While Marino might be appealing to the president because represent some of the voters who handed Trump Pennsylvania in the 2016 election, he is perhaps among the most ethically unqualified candidates that Trump could have chosen to direct the nation’s drug policy. It’s imperative now that he withdraw Marino’s nomination for the position. On what is perhaps the most important drug related issue for the country and unquestionably the most important for Pennsylvania — the opioid crisis — Marino’s record is inescapably despicable. A joint report from the Washington Post and “60 Minutes” released Sunday documented Congress’s efforts — led by Marino — to defang the Drug Enforcement Administration’s fight against drug companies contributing to the opioid crisis. It’s obvious that there’s a close connection between the pharmaceutical industry and the ever-increasing number of opioid overdoses in our region and around the country. In West Virginia, one of the states worst hit by the opi-

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oid crisis, a letter from the House Energy and Commerce Committee found “extraordinary amounts of opioids from distributors beyond what the population could safely use.” The DEA has the responsibility to halt abusive behaviors from drug manufacturers that cause public health crises like the one currently unfolding, claiming over 60,000 lives nationwide last year. But since Marino sponsored and pushed a bill through Congress in April 2016 drastically reducing the agency’s ability to punish misbehaving pharmaceutical companies, the DEA hasn’t issued a single suspension order for any opioid distributor or manufacturer. Marino has received a combined $92,000 in campaign donations from the pharmaceutical industry, according to the Post-”60 Minute” report. But as Marino collected donations and pushed deregulation, his district suffered from the opioid crisis — just two hospitals in his district had to treat an astounding 51 cases of heroin overdoses over 48 hours in July. If Trump wants to keep any of his key campaign promises he can’t continue supporting Marino. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) submitted a letter to the president yesterday urging him to withdraw his nomination of Marino for a position of authority for which he is so egregiously unfit. We echo Manchin’s demand, and suggest that Trump — who ran on a platform of helping “forgotten” Americans fight politicians owned by lobbyists — demonstrate where his true allegiances lie, either with the afflicted people of Appalachia or with Marino and “the swamp.”

John F. Kennedy speaks to crowd in front of Hotel Texas on the morning of November 22, 1963. TNS

JFK DOCUMENTS PROMISE TRANSPARENCY, NOT CONSPIRACY

Ben Sheppard Columnist

Three shots rang out from Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963. Those fatal shots killed President John F. Kennedy, wounded the American spirit and left many burning questions — some of which may soon find answers. The National Archives’ plan to declassify documents regarding the Kennedy assassination by Oct. 26 has scholars and the American public buzzing. Some, including prominent analyst and political scientist Larry Sabato, are predicting significant negative fallout from the release. Arguments range from released documents providing fuel for conspiracy theories to compromised national security.

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Despite arguments to the contrary, the imminent release of these documents is a long overdue act of transparency. And the only person who can legally halt the release — President Donald Trump — should recognize that. Far from encouraging instability, transparency is exactly what is needed to put the debate surrounding the JFK assassination to rest. This month’s planned disclosure is the result of a law — the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 — which required all documents related to the Kennedy assassination be released within 25 years of the law’s passage. But the legislation also allowed for a president to halt the documents’ release for security reasons. See Sheppard on page 7

Sheppard, pg. 6 Concerns that Trump might use these reasons to prevent the release spurred a rare act of bipartisanship in Congress. Members of the House and Senate introduced a resolution Oct. 4 calling on Trump to release all relevant documents by Oct. 26. The House resolution is led by House members Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., and Walter Jones, R-N.C. “I believe the American public needs to know the truth,” Jones told Fox News in an interview late last month. While Jones — who has allied himself with political strategist and JFK assassination conspiracy theorist Roger Stone — might sound like he’s wearing a tin foil hat, his allies in the Senate cite more pressing concerns. Along with Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), prominent Senate Republican Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) considers the request more an act of government accountability than anything else. “Transparency in government is critical not only to ensuring accountability,” Grassley said in a statement earlier this month. “It’s also essential to understanding our nation’s history.” Transparency in government — Grassley’s main concern — is essential for democracy to exist. Moves toward transparency increase government accountability and allow citizens to better educate themselves about the workings of their own government. This helps build a better relationship between the rulers and the ruled. However, this act of transparency doesn’t have universal support in Washington, D.C. The Central Intelligence Agency has neither confirmed nor denied support for the release of the records, issuing a statement to the Associated Press simply stating the agency “continues to engage in the process to determine the appropriate next steps” in any potential future release. But disclosing all remaining information is the appropriate next step, even from a national security perspective. Former Assassination Records Review Board Chairman John Tunheim, who kept classified many records relating to the 1963 killing while in office in the ‘90s, doesn’t see a security concern with releasing the remaining documents now. “I think it’s time to release everything,” Tunheim told a Minnesota radio station last week. “Part of the problem through the years is that so much information was protected, which led to so many gaps in the story.” Legitimate concerns about full disclosures might have existed for intelligence agencies in the early 1990s. But with the Soviet Union long dissolved and most, if not all, American spies and

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informants involved in relevant events no longer alive, so much has changed that it’s unlikely transparency on the issue would endanger lives or investigations. Releasing these documents allows fresh scholarly and investigative minds new insights on a tragic day. Who knows — maybe the documents will vindicate Trump’s claim during his campaign that rival Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) father was involved in the assassination. Without full information about the assassination, Americans have had to fill the gaps with various theories. According to a 1998 CBS News poll, a shocking 74 percent of Americans said

they believed “there was an official government cover-up” of the assassination. By comparison, only six percent of Americans said they believed vaccines cause autism in a 2015 Gallup poll, and seven percent believe the moon landing was faked, according to a 2013 Public Policy Polling questionnaire. The Kennedy assassination marked the beginning of a progressive loss of Americans’ trust in their government — only 20 percent say they trust the federal government today, as opposed to 77 percent in 1964, according to polling from the Pew Research Center. Releasing the documents would help debunk outlandish theories

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and move to restore some of this lost faith. The irony of the planned JFK document release is apparent in its biggest backers outside Congress — Stone, who wrote a book claiming former President Lyndon Johnson planned the killing, and Gerald Posner, a historian who vehemently supports the “official story” of the assassination. Though they might be a political odd couple, they’ll have to work together to uncover the truth. Ben primarily writes about American politics and libertarian issues for The Pitt News. Write to Ben at bps29@pitt.edu.

Culture

preparation pays off: pso plays shostakovich Joanna Li Staff Writer

World-renowned musicians clad in dark colors quickly filled 101 empty black chairs organized in a crescent shape on the stage. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played their program “Shostakovich Triumphant” Sunday at Heinz Hall Downtown as part of their BNY Mellon Grand Classics series. Polish guest conductor Kryzsztof Urbanski led the orchestra in the concert, which also featured young violin virtuoso Ray Chen. The program included Beethoven’s “Overture to Egmont,” Bruch’s “Violin Concerto No. 1” and Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5.” Urbanski entered the stage exactly on time and began leading the orchestra in Beethoven, noticeably without a score in front of him. Giving a traditional interpretation of the piece, the motives were lyrical and peaceful as they rang throughout the hall. After the orchestra played Beethoven, guest soloist Chen, wearing a dark blue suit, walked onto the stage with steadiness in his step and an unclenched bow hand to perform his interpretation of the popular Bruch violin concerto. The final two long notes rang through the hall as Ray Chen swooped his bow arm into the air, a smile plastered on his face. Receiving a standing ovation from the audience, Chen took a bow. After several curtain calls, Chen entered the stage one last time to play an encore for the audience — Paganini’s “Caprice No. 21” — which he said is his favorite of the Paganini caprices. The impressive concert hall and talented guest performers made the concert mesmerizing — especially for Pitt junior computer science major Josh Zinkovsky, who attended the concert with his Russian class. He was impressed with the sophisticated ambiance and the skill of the soloist. “Ray Chen was a true professional — as he was playing the violin, you could hear his passion emanating with every note. Here was a man who dedicated his entire life to his craft,” Zinkovsky said. “It’s pretty inspiring.” After the orchestral intermission, the musicians returned to

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the stage to perform the main piece of the night — Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5.” Before diving into the piece, the conductor narrated Shostakovich’s story to the audience, explaining when the piece was written — in 1937, during the peak of Josef Stalin’s power in Soviet Union. Urbanski had the orchestra play snippets of the piece for the audience, describing the motifs and the images of the music. For first-year microbiology major Lauren Weigand, Urbanski’s information helped her to better interpret the music. “I found Shostakovich’s later movements in ‘Symphony No. 5’ to be extremely dramatic and embody the intimidation of living in Stalin’s Soviet state,” Weigand said. To successfully pull off a concert with such rich musical history, PSO’s artistic department had to prepare for about two years. After decisions about rehearsal schedules, repertoire and concert dates, the department selected and booked the guest artists, at which point the production department — lead by Production Manager Harrison Mullins — began its role. “When it comes down to it, the crew is the one that runs the show, but it’s my job to figure out what the artistic department wants to do and communicate it to the crew in the best and easiest manner so they understand what is happening and can effectively do their job,” Mullins said. Mullins creates one of the most important documents, the run sheet — a detailed rundown outlining how the concert will play out. And because the orchestra performs live, Mullins finds that he has to factor in “buffer” times into the run sheet in case of unexpected situations. “As far as actually running the concert goes, once it starts, it’s pretty simple. The most difficult things are choosing the duration of intermission and choosing if you have to cut a piece

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The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed their program “Shostakovich Triumphant” at Heinz Hall Sunday. JOANNA LI STAFF WRITER

or not,” Mullins said. In order to be the most efficient with the little time the orchestra does have, Mullins creates a “weekly stage tech schedule,” a way for stage crew members to know when and what is occurring onstage during a performance. For this concert it included a scheduled 30-minute warm-up session for musicians as well as a reminder to the stage engineers to shut off the air conditioning several hours prior to a concert to silence even miniscule noises. “A big part of what [the musicians] do is utilize their ears, they have very acute hearing, so things like that will bother them,” Mullins said. “So during a performance we cut the AC off.” Minute details like these are what help make the orchestra world-renowned. Pitt professors take classes to the concerts not only to use them as aids for their lesson plans, but also because attending a concert is an honor and a big part of Pittsburgh culture. Sophomore history major Anthony Marinelli joined his Russian class to see the preparation play out. He found that the trip was not only a rewarding cultural experience, but also an opportunity to interact with other students taking Russian. “I think adding in these kinds of cultural excursions while learning a language at Pitt makes the whole experience more interesting and dynamic,” Marinelli said. “Given the small number of students taking Russian, I thought it was also a nice opportunity to engage and get to know one another.”

Womens choral ensemble serenades in

fall concert Salina Pressimone Staff Writer

More than 40 years after her graduation, Phyllis DatoTimbario added her voice back into the range of voices in Pitt’s Women’s Choral Ensemble. Pitt’s past and present WCE members serenaded an audience of more than 100 people inside Heinz Chapel for its 90th Anniversary Fall Concert Sunday. To celebrate, the group invited back active alumni, like DatoTimbario, to take part in the Fall Concert. “It’s been really great. There are some differences, but there’s still that same love of music,” Dato-Timbario said. Serving as the WCE President from 1972 to 1973, Dato-Timbario said her four-year involvement in the group was integral to her experience at Pitt. “They were the best years of my life,” she said. Current WCE Director Lorraine Milovac started to reach out to alumni — the choir’s first time including former member — in May with the help of former President Lexi Bovalino and current President Kathleen Shedlock. The three established a special committee for the event, which included 90th Anniversary chairs Christine Berliner, Tori Bovalino and Christine Turvey. “We thought we might just get a handful of people,” Bovalino said. “But then we even had add-ons last minute with people emailing us.” Milovac worked extensively on recruiting 18 alumni for the event, and has committed wholeheartedly to her work with the women in the group as she approaches her 19th year as the director of the WCE. “I spent hours upon days upon weeks upon months for this,” Milovac said. “This was our 90th anniversary, so I said we’re going to do something big.” The current members began the concert with two sacred choral pieces, “Os Justi” and “Esto Les Digo,” at the back of Heinz Chapel in the balcony. They gradually sang their way to the front of the hall, and concluded alongside the alumni, who emerged from their seats and blended into the ensemble for the last four songs. Milovac said she decided to go with a combination of old and new songs that both the alumni and the current

“

Pitt’s Women’s Choral Ensemble performed its 90th anniversary fall concert in Heinz Chapel Sunday. Sarah Cutshall STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER members could connect with. She mentioned songs like “I Have Had Singing,” a song about finding pleasure even through life’s many challenges, and “The Road Home” as some of the strong numbers that she felt the different generations of vocalists could identify with. “I look at the text, I look at the music, you need to find the flow,” Milovac said of her song selection process. Milovac grounded her selections in themes of unity and characteristics of “sweet music,” which she found in more angelic compositions like “Amazing Grace” and “What a Wonderful World.” The ensemble of 43 undergraduates, 18 alumni and two faculty members performed 12 songs and closed with Pitt’s alma mater. Lorraine Milovac Noelle Marousis, a juWCE Director nior psychology major and vice president of the WCE, said the concert was strategically scheduled for homecoming week this year in the hopes of connecting with more alumni. New and old members got acquainted over a breakfast on Sunday morning, and then delved straight into rehearsal for the 3 p.m. show. “It was a real rapid process, but it was super fun,” Marousis said. “I think the coolest part was that [the alumni]

This was our 90th anniversary so I said we’re going to do something big.

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were able to interact with us on the same level because we had that same WCE experience.” After holding auditions during the first week of classes, the current members started practicing for the big performance for four hours per week. The alumni only had Sunday to practice and refine their songs, which included what Shedlock calls the “anthem” of the ensemble, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” which they sing every year. “That’s a song we incorporated into this concert since we did have our alumni coming back, and it’s something many of them learned in the past when they were students here,” Marousis said. “It was something cool to sing for all the current members and the older members coming together.” Bovalino said the zeal for music that each member — old and new — shared with one another explains why there was a strong harmony among the alumni and the current members in a short amount of time. Since graduating in 2016 with a degree in marketing and human resources management, Bovalino has been busy starting her career at Dick’s Sporting Goods. But these types of connections are exactly why she still makes time to mentor the new board members of the WCE as they assume the leading roles of the ensemble. “Singing is our passion,” Bovalino said. “That’s what brings us together and allows us to have such deep bonds.”

Sports

EMPTY-HANDED END Trent Leonard

women’s tennis

Staff Writer

Despite a sampling of first-round success, no one from the Pitt women’s tennis team made it through Sunday’s bracket of matches. The Pitt women’s tennis team traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia, over the weekend for the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships at Virginia Tech. The Panthers competed in both the singles and doubles categories, with three entries in each of the 64-spot brackets. The action began with the qualifying brackets Friday. Juniors Luisa Varon and Gabriela Rezende both faced Hokie opponents in their opening qualifying singles draws. Varon defeated Hokie sophomore Nancy Ghanem, 6-4, 6-1, before being taken out by James Madison University first year Anna Makarova, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Rezende lost to her first opponent, Hokie sophomore Luisa Uscocovich, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. However, the doubles teams fared slightly better. The duo of Varon and Senior Callie Frey lost her singles match 6-4, 6-1 against her opponent from College of William and Mary Saturday. See Women’s Tennis on page 11 Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

Narduzzi confident in QB choices Abbot Zuk Staff Writer

Following another underwhelming performance at home against a top 25 football team, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi was adamant Monday that things don’t always go according to plan. Narduzzi pulled redshirt sophomore quarterback Ben DiNucci in the third quarter of Saturday’s loss to North Carolina State. Though DiNucci was playing a solid game, Narduzzi opted to give his young quarterback, first year Kenny Pickett, some experience. Though he looked poised in his debut, Pickett failed to keep the Panthers in the game.

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Things certainly went awry in the Panthers’ quarterback shuffle, but Narduzzi said in his Monday press conference he doesn’t appreciate being tested on the matter by members of the media. “We get paid to make those decisions. You say it looked good, okay,” Narduzzi said. “If I wait two more series, you might be going, ‘Why did you wait so long to put Kenny in?’ We’re having a different conversation, so it’s easy to sit there with your arm on that armrest and say that stuff.” He then went on to elaborate on his plan for Pickett and how talent at the quarterback position is delegated after senior Max

Browne’s season ending injury. “[Pickett] was planning on redshirting in the summer because we felt good with [Browne], and we felt good with [DiNucci], obviously,” Narduzzi said. “Things changed, and I said a week ago that [Pickett] was going to play, and we’re going to play, and we had some plans. We changed our plans.” However, Narduzzi did manage to name a starter for the matchup against Duke. Narduzzi made it clear that DiNucci is his guy, but he also said the quarterback position is no different from any other position on the field. “Ben is our starting quarterback without a question,” Narduzzi said. “If things aren’t

October 17, 2017

going good, he knows that, we know that, whether you want to hear it or not. Sometimes you have selective hearing on what you want to hear and what you don’t want to hear.” Narduzzi attempted to put the loss against NC State in the rearview mirror but left the door open for speculation on game-planning and execution. “We did some really good things on Saturday, both offensively and defensively,” Narduzzi said. “Didn’t stay as consistent as we’d like to be. Still haven’t played a complete game. Need to pay attention to details a little bit more than we have.”

See Narduzzi on page 11

Women’s Tennis, pg. 10 first year Claudia Bartolome recorded an 8-2 win, defeating their Penn State opponents. Pitt senior Callie Frey and first year Camila Moreno followed suit with an 8-5 doubles win over their William & Mary opponents. Pitt’s third doubles unit, Rezende and sophomore Jovana Knezevic, did not make it past the first round, as they suffered an 8-3 defeat at the hands of Marshall University sophomore Brooke Lashway and first year Anna Smith. Only two doubles teams made it through the qualifying round, while three singles competitors moved on to subsequent contests. The main singles draw began Saturday. Only Bartolome advanced to the round of 32, by way of defeating Georgetown junior Risa Nakagawa, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Teammates Frey and Moreno were eliminated in the round of 64, each by a College of William & Mary opponent. Frey lost in straight sets and Moreno by scores of 3-6, 7-5 and 6-2. In the doubles tournament, neither remaining duo made it past Saturday.

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Bartolome and Varon dropped their match against Virginia Tech senior Caroline Daxhelet and sophomore Natalie Novotna, 8-5, while Frey and Moreno were defeated 8-6 by Maryland senior Ekaterina Tour and first-year Eva Alexandrova. These crushing losses left just one Panther in contention — Bartolome. Bartolome competed against Alexandrova in her first singles match Sunday. She started out strong, taking the first set 6-2. But after that win, she faltered. Bartolome dropped the second and third sets by the same score, 6-2, dashing Pitt’s remaining hope of advancing to the finals. Even though Bartolome lost her final match, there were still some Panther matchups to conclude the weekend. Frey, Moreno and Rezende played in consolation matches Sunday. Frey picked up the sole win with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Liberty junior Anna Dollar. The Panthers’ season draws to a close with their final invitational the weekend of Nov. 3. They will travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the Harvard Invitational.

Narduzzi, pg. 11 The run game on both sides disappointed Narduzzi, but he did not believe the box score and the 248 yards given up on the ground told the whole story defensively. The defense stuck to its assignments but was still gave up some big plays. “Look at the run game defensively,” Narduzzi said. “We did some great things ... and even the run that went 83 yards, we saw that play before and afterwards, and we were successful in stopping it.” The Panthers’ inability to run the ball inside or use some of their more versatile and speedy players to get outside led to the team’s poor ground game, Narduzzi said. “I don’t feel like we’re running good inside or outside, how about that?” he said. Even though Narduzzi’s focus was mostly on the details of Saturday’s performance, he did spend a moment drawing a comparison between the Blue Devils and the Panthers before hinting that the matchup could be a challenge for his team. “Obviously they’re young at the quarterback spot as well,” Narduzzi said. “But Duke is a good football team, and when you watch it, Duke can hang with anybody.”

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I N D E X

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For Rent South Oakland **2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Bedroom Houses/ Apartments in South Oakland. Available for rent August 2018. Very clean with different amenities (dishwasher, laundry, A/C, washer and dryer, 1-3 baths, off-street parking, newer appliances & sofas). Check out my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KenEckenrodeRealEstate/. Call Ken at 412-287-4438 for more information and showings. **AUGUST 2018: Furnished studios, 1,2,3,4 bedroom apartments. No pets. Non-smokers preferred. 412-621-0457. 1 & 2 bedroom apartment for rent, available immediately. $425 & $750/mo. 412-889-5790. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Bedrooom Houses. August 2018. Bouquet St, Meyran, Semple, Neville, Chesterfield. 412-287-5712. 2-3-4-5-6-7 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2018. Nice, clean, free laundry, includes exterior maintenance, new

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appliances, spacious, located on Meyran, Bates, Oakland, Semple, Wellsford, Dawson, Juliet. 412-414-9629. 3,4,6 houses available January and August 2018. Lawn St. Ward St. Call 412-287-5712. 6, 7, 8BR house for rent. Carpeted, appliances, porch, laundry facilites. Off-street parking available. Five minute walk to Pitt. No pets. Aug. 1, 2018. 1 year lease. Call 412-983-5222. South Oakland Student Housing: 2, 4 & 5 BR House. Updated Kitchen, Baths, A/C, Laundry, some with parking. August 2018 Availability. 412-445-6117.

Rental Other 1,2,3 BR. Apartments, prices range from $450-$750 per person. Some include utilities, some you have to pay. Call Jarrad 814-403-2798

Employment Volunteering Sacred Heart Elementary School, located in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, is seeking volunteer basketball coaches for the upcoming 2017-2018 basketball season. Coaches

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Employment Other Personal, professional masseuse needed. Long term position. 2X/week. Washington County location. Call 724-223-0939 or 724-229-8868 any time. SOUTH FAYETTE TWP. SCHOOL DISTRICT: Substitute Teacher positions, substitute Nurse positions, substitute Para-educator positions. Positions available for all grade levels and areas of content. We encourage upcoming graduates and retirees (on emergency basis) to apply. Complete job descriptions are available at: www.southfayette.org South Fayette Twp. School District, 3680 Old Oakdale Rd. McDonald, PA 15057 EOE The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Neurobiology seeks a Student Office Assistant to perform clerical duties, such as filing,

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running on-campus errands, and typing/ printing labels. The right candidate will be detail-oriented, responsible, and good at following directions. Must be self-motivated and capable of working independently. Submit your application here: http://www.pittsource. com/postings/142452. Want to get a great discount and work flexible hours over the holiday season? American Eagle and Aerie are now hiring at the Ross Park Mall location. Great Discount. Competitive Wages. Apply at aeo.jobs

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October 17, 2017