The Pitt News
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | november 11. 2016 | Volume 107 | Issue 76
Gallagher responds to student distress
Emily Brindley
Assistant News Editor In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory and the ensuing protests on campus and throughout the city, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher sent out a message meant to soothe tensions and reassure the Pitt community Thursday. While he didn’t mention Trump by name, Gallagher acknowledged the turmoil on campus both during and after his victory in a letter emailed to Pitt students, faculty and staff. Though he didn’t list specifics, Gallagher urged students to use the University’s “resources” if they are having difficulties and ensured the community that Pitt’s values have not changed, despite changes taking place on a national level. “Not everything is in transition,” Gallagher said in the letter. “Our University was founded before the U.S. Constitution was written, and our purpose — to improve human lives and our society through knowledge — is as important today as it ever was.” In his letter, Gallagher marked the coming weeks and months as a time of transition from voters to citizens whose task is to engage in problem-solving and in discussion of current issues. “Learning and discovery are made possible through values of respect, inclusion, integrity and freedom of expression,” Gallagher said in the letter. “This is why we remain committed to these values and why supporting diversity and an inclusive environment are vital priorities for our University.” In a separate letter on Thursday, John TwynSee Gallagher on page 3
Darryl Leeper plays tunes on a saxophone outside of Hillman Library Thursday afternoon. Li Yi STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Poets speak out about police brutality Rebecca Peters
Black Poets Speak Out movement. The movement was born from a Tumblr hashtag and serves as “a collective outcry for our black lives,” accordMahogany L. Browne was told in 1998 that ing to Browne, 40. One of Browne’s readings listed the way she spoke wasn’t considered poetry. the last names of young, black men killed by cops: Alongside two other poets Thursday night, Martin, Brown, Bell. Browne shared poems in response to police bru“This country is in dire need of having the tality with a crowd of about 200 people in the hard discussions. So why not Pittsburgh? Why Frick Fine Arts Building. not Oakland? The people of this country are unBrowne, as well as Amanda Johnston, 39, and der fire,” Browne said. Jericho Brown, 40, are the three founders of the
Staff Writer
So far this year, police in Pennsylvania have shot and killed 16 people: seven white men, seven black men and two men of unknown race. Nationally, police have shot and killed 824 people in 2016. “The work of Black Poets Speak Out is international. It is wherever injustice is. It is everywhere,” Johnston said. Black Poets Speak Out offers an outlet for See Poets on page 2
News
See Online For Maurice Tomlinson lecture
Poets, pg. 1
anyone — regardless of race, gender, age, religion or political leanings — to submit poems and readings to the forum. The Tumblr site guides black and white poets with different instructions for the introduction to their submission. Black Poets Speak Out encourages poets to use hashtags, posts, links and shares to spread their work through social media. The Center for African-American Poetry and Poetics organized the event. The center’s Assistant Director Lauren Russell, 33, said the event was intended to present students with the concepts surrounding police brutality. “[The event was] an opportunity for students to engage in ideas that may be more familiar, more comfortable to some than others around police violence, race and Black Lives Matter,” Russell said. While the event was not planned as a result of Tuesday’s presidential election, the opportunity provided solace to speakers and audience members who have felt distressed since the results came in. “People in positions of power should challenge people in positions of power,” Mahogany said, quoting Johnston. Johnston sent a letter to President Barack Obama every day in 2015 asking him what action he was going to take regarding police brutality disproportionately against African-
Americans. According to Johnston, he wrote back once, telling her to be patient. Anna Nelson, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate, said she came to the event wanting to be in “a loving and comforting environment” after Tuesday’s election. She said she thought the speakers would be more aware of the political atmosphere than other forms of media. “I was blind a couple of days ago. I came to educate myself and explore different methods of resistance,” Nelson, 24, said. According to Nelson, the readings were cathartic and tearinducing. “I felt like the poets directed the responsibility on white people, on us.” Nick Marsellas, a Pitt graduate student and instructor in the English department, felt the event called people to “dismantle” systems of oppression, especially when those systems cater to white Americans. “As a white person, I benefit from white privilege,” Marsellas, 24, said. “[The poems] reinforce the importance of small acts of resistance in the face of a challenge that seems really big.” Marsellas came to the event in support of his friend and colleague Treviene Harris. Harris, also a graduate student and instructor in Pitt’s Eng- Mahogany L. Browne, writer, educator, activist and founder of Black Poets Speak Out performs an original lish department, had never heard the poets speak before. See Poets on page 4 poem at last night’s event. Julia Zhu STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pitt researchers measure hallucinations James Evan Bowen-Gaddy Staff Writer
When you think of hallucinations, you may think of a woozy feeling and swimming images or of the bright spots you see after rubbing your eyes. Hallucinations are typically an undesired side effect of sleep deprivation, mental illness or certain prescription drugs –– called psychotropics –– but there are few ways to accurately study and measure them. So one team of Pitt researchers gave a group of people basic hallucinations on purpose, then mapped out how their brains responded. Bard Ermentrout of the University of Pittsburgh –– a computational biology researcher –– along with Joel Pearson of the University of South Wales and a team of four other researchers, announced in October that they were able to measure and objectively study the
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mental mechanisms behind hallucinations. By inducing visual hallucinations in otherwise healthy individuals, the researchers made progress toward explaining and understanding disease-induced hallucinations, such as ones caused by Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and epilepsy. To complete their study, the team induced simple hallucinations in healthy subjects by flickering high-frequency light, and then asked the subjects to compare what they saw against a physical stimulus. “We can use flicker to study the general mechanisms of hallucinations with anybody, anytime. That means we don’t have to rely on recruiting unwell people and clinical populations,” Pearson said. This research was a step toward being able to study the visual hallucinations associated with Parkinson’s disease, according to Pearson. For patients with Parkinson’s disease, the
visual hallucinations can be debilitating, in part because it’s difficult to predict when they might strike. Pearson said these hallucinations are also difficult to objectively quantify –– a crucial first step in scientific research –– so his most recent study opens avenues to investigate these phenomena without inconveniencing people afflicted by the disease. The study used a well-known method of flicker-induced hallucinations, in which the researcher exposes a subject to a bright, flickering computer monitor until the subject begins to see shapes that are not there. Changing the frequency of these flickers can change the kinds of patterns subjects see. Then Pearson and Ermentrout added their own spin. Instead of using a large flickering screen, which produces hallucinations of multiple shapes and colors, the researchers reduced the flickering space to a small ring
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shape. Pearson said this reduces the possibilities of hallucinations down to simple gray blobs that rotate around the ring in seemingly random directions. In natural circumstances, hallucinations are a subjective experience, varying widely from person to person. A researcher, however, can’t make sense of hallucinations in a lab setting if those hallucinations are spontaneous and individualized. By simplifying the hallucinations down to simple blobs, the research team minimized the subjectivity of the experiment and created hallucinations that were relatively consistent from one subject to the next. “To do good science, we needed a simple shape,” Pearson said. In order to study the simple hallucinations objectively, the team placed another smaller ring within the flickering one, which housed See Hallucinations on page 4
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Gallagher, pg. 1 ing, the associate dean of undergraduate studies at Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, told the school’s faculty that Kenyon Bonner, Pitt’s vice provost and dean of students, is in the process of coordinating efforts to help students cope with any distress or difficulty they might be having. “Many students are experiencing a range of emotions in the wake of the election, including anxiety, grief, fear, anger and depression,” Twyning said in the email. “Students are likely to look to their instructors for help, guidance and sympathy.” Twyning suggested faculty use “The Faculty and Staff Guide for Helping Distressed Students,” which lists numerous on- and off-campus resources, such as the University Counseling Center, to direct students to aid if they need it. While emotions ran high on campus in the wake of the election, it’s unclear how Trump’s victory will affect campus in the long term. Since being appointed the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2009, Gallagher has enjoyed a close relationship with President Barack Obama’s administration. This relationship was most clearly seen last month when the White House administrators hosted the first ever Frontiers conference on Pitt’s and
Carnegie Mellon University’s campuses. Susan Rogers, Pitt’s vice chancellor for communications, declined to answer questions on Thursday about how Trump’s administration could affect Pitt. She also said Twyning’s message stood on its own and declined to comment further on the message or the election. In his letter, Gallagher underlined the need to “move forward,” calling for Pitt’s community members to work together to identify and address problems. “Values and beliefs don’t disappear with the act of voting. The post-election period is one of change,” Gallagher said in the letter. “This is a beginning, not an end.” In addition, Lydia Heyliger, Pitt’s Year of Diversity coordinator, said Pitt has been urging its community members to engage in “difficult” conversations, a mission that the Year of Diversity supports. Heyliger said this election cycle acted as a “catalyst” for those conversations. Heyliger spoke from her personal perspective, based on her knowledge of Pitt’s words and actions surround the situation. “How did we get here, and how do we move forward? We will continue to encourage engagement with different perspectives and hope to contribute additional space to do so throughout this year and beyond,” Heyliger said.
Protests broke out in Oakland early Wednesday morning. John Hamilton SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Pitt News SuDoku 11/11/16 courtesy of dailysudoku.com
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Hallucinations, pg. 2
Poets, pg. 2 “It was necessary for me personally to be in a black cultural space and to get emotional sustenance,” Harris said. For Harris, the Black Poets Speak Out message reinforced the purpose of creative work as a path to social justice. Black Poets Speak Out’s co-founder Brown has been using creative work, specifically poetry, his whole life. It saved him from getting beaten up by his cousins when he wrote raps for them. His mom hung them on the fridge. As a child, Brown spent time with poetry at his local library while his mother, who couldn’t afford a babysitter, ran errands. The poems attracted him. They were short. He didn’t have to know everything every step of the way. Eventually, Brown took his love of poetry to the stage, and performance came naturally to him.
“[Growing up in] the black church, kids were expected to do things in front of people all the time,” Brown said. Despite being named “Mr. Delta Gent” by his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, being elected freshman class vice president at Dillard University and reading his work across the world, Brown does not consider himself a performer — or even a performance poet or slam poet. “I’m a poet,” Brown said. “I would not have ever come out if it weren’t for poetry. I would not have the respect for women I hope I have, if it weren’t for the poems I’ve heard.” Spending time with Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Anne Sexton and Lucille Clifton led Brown to earn his Bachelor of Arts in English from Dillard University, his Master of Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans and his Ph.D. from the University of Houston. However, love is what matters to him. “Our love is everywhere and always in abundance. That’s all I really care about,” he said.
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actual images of gray blobs, in addition to the hallucinated blobs. Pearson said subjects told researchers whether the hallucinated blobs were more or less pronounced than the actual images of blobs. This method of comparison allowed the team to make objective and consistent measurements, instead of relying on subjective accounts from each study participant. “This lets us do a very basic experiment where we can see at what point people are equally likely to say the perceptual and the hallucinated blobs are the same strength,” Pearson said. “That gives us the first reliable measure of the hallucination strength.” Ermentrout then focused most of his effort throughout the study on producing a mathematical “map” of the visual cortex during a hallucination of simple blobs. The “maps” show how the ring and hallucinated blobs appear on tissue in the visual cortex. Ermentrout –– who has been modeling the brain since 1979 when he developed a mathematical theory of how the brain reacts to mescaline –– said his recent study made sense of the instabilities that arise in the brain
during a hallucination. “Now we can build up a real quantitative idea of how these hallucinations are formed,” Ermentrout said. Stewart Heitmann –– who conducted postdoctoral research with Ermentrout and is a current member of the hallucination research team –– said this kind of mathematical modeling of the brain is important to developing a better understanding of visual hallucinations. “The main claim of the paper is that an objective measure has been made of a subjective experience,” Heitmann said. “If it can glean a better understanding on [the brain’s] architecture, it gives you a better understanding of how the visual cortex works.” The team plans to continue researching hallucinations, looking to further compare their models against quantitative data. Their major obstacle is the chaotic and personal nature of hallucinations. “Here’s the tricky thing with science. We need something reliable to scientifically study it,” Pearson said. The entire list of authors includes Joel Pearson, Rocco Chiou, Sebastian Rogers, Marcus Wicken, Stewart Heitmann and Bard Ermentrout.
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Schedule Your Classes Wisely, and Don’t Pay More than You Have to Mark Mulkeen
There are a wide variety of ways students can control the amount of money they have to pay for college, but the gross price of tuition is likely not often thought of as a controllable area. However, the reality is that part of it is indeed up to you, the student. The way you schedule your classes can have an effect on total amount you actually pay, so class schedules deserve attention from a financial perspective. One of the most important things to remember when scheduling classes is that fall and spring classes are charged on a per semester basis. What does that mean? Fall and spring semesters are fixed costs, rather than variable. You will pay the same price, regardless of whether you take exactly, more than, or less than 15 credits. There may not seem to be much to this, but it’s an essential thing to remember when scheduling. For starters, the more credits you can handle taking per semester the better, and you want to give yourself more room to take less classes during the back half of your college career than your front half. If you’re taking a four-year degree, that’s 120 credits, so if you take 15 credits per semester every semester, you will graduate on time. But an 18-credit semester can be your friend, and I never thought I’d utter that statement. Who likes the idea of 18 credits? Maybe an engineer who’s taken 21 credit semesters likes the idea (but God help that poor kid). For the rest of us, six classes can seem daunting, but if taken early in your academic career it can act as a safety net that hedges against inconvenient scheduling is-
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sues in your later years of college. Taking 18 credits acts as a safety net in more ways than one. Firstly, it hedges against is the possibility of dropping a class. “If you enroll in 18 credits, it gives you room to drop a course if you need to,” said Lindsay Smith, a Financial Aid Counselor at Pitt. This basically just takes the pressure off of you to take a class that – for any reason – you don’t think you should. If you schedule 15 credits and have a reason to drop a class, you have two options: drop the class and fall behind in graduating on time, or suffer through the class so as not to fall behind. Both options seem less than ideal, but if you schedule 18 credits, you can drop a class and still graduate on time, all while paying the same price you would have if you had only scheduled fifteen credits? If you actually do decide to take 18 credits in a semester, then for starters, hats off to you for taking on the extra workload! But doing so early on in your college career also leaves you with fewer credits to complete later in your college career. This can mean many positive things. For starters, you’ll have more time to focus on your upper-level classes, or you’ll have space in your schedule to work or intern during semesters. Doing so also provides a safety net in regards to retaking classes. “If you need to repeat a course for a better grade, taking more credits will help you achieve academic progress,” Smith said. If you end up retaking a class during the summer, either because you have to or because you were not satisfied with your grade the first time around, the sticker price might
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very well be higher. Summer classes are priced on a per credit basis, rather than per semester, which generally leads to the per class price being higher during the summer than during the traditional school year. That being said, taking summer classes doesn’t need to have a negative connotation. Maybe you are a great student who has other reasons for taking summer classes. Nevertheless, the financial reality of summer classes is less than ideal. In addition to facing higher tuition during the summer, you may have less financial support during that time period. If you’re a student normally enrolled during the fall and spring, financial aid might not be available to you during the summer, so its important to check whether that’s the case
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for you before scheduling summer classes. Financial awards are sometimes taken away as well for students switching from full-time to part-time status. According to Smith, many students looking for summer aid utilize private loans and PLUS loans, a type of federal loan used by students to help pay for expenses not covered by their financial aid. The path to 120 credits is different for each and every student. It’s great if you take exactly 15 credits each semester and graduate on time, but that’s rarely the case. With this in mind, it’s important to look at scheduling not just from an academic perspective, but from a financial one as well. Doing so can actually cut down the cost of college, or at least keep it from rising above the necessary level.
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Opinions Editors note: In lieu of publishing a column and an editorial in this section today, we’ve chosen to give this entire space to our two Opinions Editors to give them the opportunity to reflect on the election. On Thursday, we gave this space to students who wrote us letters about it. The Pitt News feels this is the most productive use of the space given the climate on campus this week.
Overcome hatred by fighting inequlity
mourning in america
Matt Moret
Kirsten Wong
It’s mourning again in America. Every generation has a moment defined by the pain left in its wake. Our parents survived the administrations of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. Most of us grew up as our country went to war twice and went through the worst economic decline since the Great Depression. Now, as we enter the working world, it’s our turn — and we too will survive, because we must and always have. The question we have to answer is what role we will all play over the next four years. Donald Trump successfully completed an uphill battle he never should have been part of. He will be the 44th white man to serve as president of the United States, a feat he pulled off by securing 58 percent of white voters. Every other racial demographic was at least 65 percent in support of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, including 85 percent of black voters. Such a clear racial divide in 2016 should be alarming, especially considering Ku Klux Klan members loudly count themselves as part of Trump’s coalition. But some of you find that, and the consequences of your vote, funny. Some of you laugh when confronted with tearful people expressing fear because their skin is dark or because they wear a hijab or because their identity doesn’t fit into any census options currently available. You patronizingly call their pain and fear “saltiness” and complain about sensitivity, ignoring just how often all of these people have had that sensitivity tested. Fear is trivial to you because you’ve never felt it. For that matter, neither have I. That’s our privilege, and you have turned that into an affront to human decency.
in the process of electing a man who ran on a platform of ignorance and bigotry. Because we refused to work together and because of our unwillingness to hear both sides of each story, hatred won. Throughout most of our country’s history, people were defined mostly by what the public saw of them. Our laws and institutions were built for those who have power, money and resources — oftentimes white men — and the same freedoms for women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and anyone outside that demographic were ones we had to fight for. Despite the very words “all men are created equal” written in the Constitution, the country was anything but equal. The residual effects of these inequalities still remain to this day and bleed into every one of our stories. As an Asian-American woman who comes from a family of eight, I didn’t realize how much my physical identity mattered until I went to a predominantly white, upper-middle class high school. Despite having a strong religious and conservative upbringing from my parents, I was constantly in conflict with the values I was raised with and the experiences I had outside of the home. I didn’t understand why I was a minority in a school of about 600 students. I didn’t understand why people asked me “What are you?” in a subtle point to make me feel different. I didn’t understand why people didn’t take me seriously at work or in class, since I was just a soft-spoken girl who kept to the sidelines. I didn’t understand why I had to wear brand clothes, straighten my hair and wear makeup just to feel pretty, but I did it anyway. It was disappointing to live by these assumptions when my peers and teachers told See Wong on page 9
Assistant Opinions Editor
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Opinions Editor
Raka Sarkar STAFF ILLUSTRATOR Maybe every Trump supporter isn’t racist. But they are indisputably joined by many people who are. Maybe every supporter isn’t sexist. But they supported a candidate who indisputably is. And maybe every Trump supporter isn’t homophobic. But they just elected a vice president who believes in cutting AIDS research in favor See Moret on page 9
Behind every vote, there’s a story. My story is filled with experiences, relationships, childhood memories, passions, mistakes and successes that shape who I am today — just like anybody else. But there’s two sides to every story: the intangible parts of our identity that define us and the physical exterior that everyone sees. This election, our country has been torn and divided and wounded millions of people
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Moret, pg. 8 of gay conversion “therapy” — i.e., mental torture dedicated to the suppression of sexual identity through electrocution. There are more bigots in the world happy with this election’s outcome than there are sensible, empathetic people. Maybe you’re not one of them, but that’s simply appalling. Yet I’ve been at a loss for words since a majority of America officially went red. My role at The Pitt News, to this point, has been to offer an outlet for student voices and help my peers share their insights with the world. As an opinions editor, I have the privilege of writing editorials that represent the opinions of my coworkers, almost all of whom work harder than I do. I make judgements about the world based on the information available to me, hoping to illuminate overlooked factors and provide context.
Wong, pg. 8 me stereotypes and prejudices didn’t exist anymore. The lessons we learn of America being a melting pot that embraces diversity didn’t always translate to reality. And yet, there was something even more frustrating that permeated every aspect of my life: financial insecurity. I did not realize how my family’s financial struggles hindered my opportunities in life until I saw other students from wealthier backgrounds with much more. No one could see it, but the simple privileges my peers took for granted were the same luxuries I yearned for everyday. Living in Montgomery County, the second wealthiest county in Pennsylvania, I was surrounded by students who had everything. I envied those who had large, white picket-fenced homes with their own bedrooms while I shared
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My function on this campus is to write and edit stories, but I feel like my mind has been wiped. In the days leading up to Election Day, I was certain Clinton would win. But I, along with most of the media world, was wrong. I can only describe my personal reaction to this as a crisis of conscience. For as long as I can remember, my life has revolved around politics. One of the earliest memories I have is of my pre-kindergarten class’ mock election — I voted for Bush because he shares my mom’s maiden name. In middle school, I’d watch CNN with my grandfather for hours until my mom came home from work. I read news and political theory books throughout my adolescence and my time so far in college. But I got this — the biggest political moment in my lifetime — completely wrong. And all I have to show for it is this column. What was the point of all of this? Why
was I not out volunteering for a cause I believe in? Am I so obsessed with my own ideas that I needed to share them more than contribute to the communities around me? Who even reads these things? I have never felt so simultaneously guilty and helpless, and, like so many others, I’m searching for personal meaning in what happened Tuesday night. Since joining the Opinions section at The Pitt News, I’ve criticized both parties under my own byline and as the organization’s voice. As an editor, I’ve hired conservative writers because they have an equally valid place in our campus dialogue. Our staff is as ideologically balanced as I can make it. And last month, myself and two fellow editors sat on a panel in a room full of campus conservatives, who spent an hour and a half berating us with demands that we defend the entire media industry against claims of bias.
I can say wholeheartedly that I’ve done my best to make Pitt a more intellectually diverse and outspoken community. I don’t know if I’ve succeeded at all, but I care because this is a goal worth fulfilling. For all of the writing and arguing I’ve done, I’m reminded that what I do is its own kind of privilege. For now, I don’t need to fear jail time for an idea I express. I get paid to express myself. Still, the role of a commentator has never made less sense. People hardly know where to turn for accurate information, because pundits pretend to be journalists and political actors like Donna Brazile pretend to be pundits. We’ve overanalyzed things and overlooked plenty of others, and lost confidence is the price we pay. I’m just a single voice in modern America’s loudest, most convoluted discourse. And for the first time, I’m not sure what that means.
with my siblings, or those who went on vacations abroad while I stayed at home. I was jealous of those who had their parents making sure they were prepared for college with SAT prep classes and private tutors while my parents were working. And I couldn’t help wondering if I was inferior or less than for not having those things. Even though I grew up learning that with hard work and resilience, anyone can succeed — the foundation of the American dream — it seemed like money was really the determining factor of success. I was too embarrassed to admit these feelings, because it would mean re-evaluating all lessons of individualism and Christian principles I had ingrained in me. My identity of being a woman, an AsianAmerican and a daughter of an immigrant are just as important to me as my working-class roots are. The only difference is one side is based on my appearance, and the other is based on factors that are unseen. Too many people
judge others on the former and fail to look further into the latter. It took me years of challenging my own beliefs and understandings of the world to realize who I was meant to be. But it shouldn’t take personal experience with discrimination and economic anxiety to know it exists. When our brothers and sisters are expressing their hunger for change, we shouldn’t pass it off as a joke. When Donald Trump was declared the president-elect of the United States, I mourned for all of our people. In such a divisive time, I grieved for every woman who has to look at someone accused of sexual assault, who uses women for his own consumption, as their next leader. I wept for every African-American who will now be subjected to the same racist slurs that Trump echoed during his campaign. I was appalled at the thought of Muslims being harassed and facing taunts for their religion. And I felt saddened by the fact that Mexicans will be
vilified and blamed for our country’s problems. But I’m also deeply concerned about the future of working-class Americans and those in poverty. Millions of disenfranchised Americans were left behind in our changing economy, and nobody listened to them. Financial insecurity is like an invisible anchor that weighs you down, except it goes deep into your well-being, your confidence and your quality of life. Moving forward, we have to understand that economic justice and social justice are equally important and intertwined. We have to listen to both sides of every story. And we should always challenge the assumptions we have of one another. We need empathy, compassion and courage to stand up for one another. With every step of progress, there’s going to be opposition. Instead of fighting among each other, let’s fight inequality together. It’s time to overcome hatred and fight back with unity.
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Sports
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PREDICTION: Clemson 38, Pitt 17 Dan Sostek
Senior Staff Writer The Pitt football team’s chances of victory Saturday are slim going against the undefeated No. 3 Clemson Tigers. But Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi reminded reporters Wednesday at his weekly media teleconference, you don’t need to look any further than Election Day to remember not to pencil in any results early. “As you saw [Tuesday] night, upsets happen,” Narduzzi said. Pitt’s path to play spoiler will be difficult, as Clemson features one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Deshaun Watson, along with one of the best defenses in the nation. Playing in front of 81,500 fans in Death Valley — Clemson’s stadium — won’t make the task any easier. Elementary for Watson Pitt’s biggest challenge all season has been stopping talented quarterbacks. It has faced a litany of them in Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, North Carolina’s
the National Championship game. Watson hasn’t been as effective running the ball this year but has been just as strong throwing the rock for the Tigers, tossing 24 touchdowns and 2,497 yards so far. Narduzzi understands the challenge Watson presents. “You don’t stop them, you’ve got to slow them down,” Narduzzi said. “They have major playmakers. Deshaun Watson is running the whole thing.” Whether or not Watson — a Heisman Trophy frontrunner entering the year — is going to be recognized as the top player in America is irrelevant to Narduzzi. “He’s special obviously,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t know if he’s still up for the Heisman or how politics go there, but he’s a great football player.” Making his Da-mark Many were surprised to see Narduzzi Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) is a returning Heisman Trophy finalist and first-team All-American. TNS burn the redshirt of prized freshman Mitch Trubisky, Virginia Tech’s Jerod Ev- ican quarterback Deshaun Watson — a cornerback Damar Hamlin on Oct. 27, mobile, strong-armed quarterback who when he inserted him into the game in ans and Miami’s Brad Kaaya. The Panthers might be facing their finished third in the Heisman Trophy the third quarter of Pitt’s Week 9 loss to toughest test yet in Clemson’s All-Amer- vote last year after leading the Tigers to See Football on page 11
2017 hoops recruits sign Letters of Intent Steve Rotstein Sports Editor
Even though the 2016-2017 basketball seasons are just days away, both Pitt men’s basketball head coach Kevin Stallings and women’s basketball head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio solidified their rosters for next year on Thursday. Stallings officially inked four players to the Panthers’ 2017 recruiting class on National Early Signing Day: Terrell Brown, Marcus Carr, Aaron Thompson and Jared Wilson-Frame. Meanwhile, McConnell-Serio unveiled the three additions to the women’s team’s
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2017 class later Thursday afternoon: Jaala Henry, Cara Judkins and Pika Rodriguez. Starting with the additions to the men’s team, here’s how the recruits break down: Brown, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound power forward from Barrington, Rhode Island, is a three-star recruit, according to Rivals, who verbally committed to join the Panthers on Sept. 4. He will finish up his high school career at the Tilton School in Tilton, New Hampshire. “Terrell is a guy that we identified in April, right after we got the job, and made him a priority,” Stallings said in a press release. “We really like his upside ... He is a guy that can come in and really add some athleti-
cism and skill to our frontcourt.” Carr is a 6-foot-2, 160-pound point guard from Toronto who verbally committed to Pitt on Oct. 26. He plays for Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, and he chose the Panthers over offers from schools such as Baylor, Cincinnati and Stallings’ former team, Vanderbilt. He is also a three-star recruit, according to Rivals. “Marcus is a guy that I had recruited while at Vanderbilt,” Stallings said in the release. “He is a guard who is equally as good with or without the ball. He is really good at making other people better with his passing but is also a very good shot maker.” Thompson is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound
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point guard from Fairfax, Virginia. Thompson, another three-star prospect, according to Rivals, plays for Paul VI Catholic High School — the same school that produced Pitt true freshman forward Corey Manigault. He chose the Panthers in May over offers from several Power Five schools, including Miami, Vanderbilt and defending national champion Villanova. “Aaron is another guy that I had recruited at Vanderbilt,” Stallings said in the release. “He’s the kind of competitor that I want to have in our program. He is an elite defensive player with elite toughness.”
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volleyball signs pair of 2017 recruits Steve Rotstein Sports Editor
Pitt head volleyball coach Dan Fisher has had plenty of reasons to smile this year. On Thursday, he had a new one — and the Panthers don’t play again until Friday. Already on a roll from five straight wins, the squad received a boost for the future early Thursday afternoon when Fisher revealed the team’s 2017 recruiting class. Fisher announced that Kayla Lund and Chinaza Ndee had signed their National Letters of Intent to join the Panthers for the 2017 season. “It’s a great day for Pitt volleyball,” Fisher said in a press release. “These two young ladies are possibly the most decorated recruits we have gotten in my time here in Pittsburgh. They are both high-character kids who excel in volleyball and academics. We are thrilled to welcome them to the Pitt family and are excited about the future.” Lund is a 6-foot outside hitter from Pasadena, California. She finished her high school career as a three-time Mission League MVP, four-time All-American and former All-Area Player of the Year. “Kayla is a six-rotation outside hitter with a big arm,” Fisher said in the release. “She is a Pitt volleyball head coach Dan Fisher skilled player who can beat you with all aspects signed two recruits to Pitt’s 2017 class. of her game. She fits in well with our system of Jeff Ahearn SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Football, pg. 10 Virginia Tech. Hamlin — Pitt’s highest-ranked recruit from its 2016 class — hasn’t thrived yet in his first game-and-a-half of action. He surrendered two touchdowns last weekend against Miami. “He’s a true freshman,” Narduzzi said. “I thought he played pretty good. Could play with better technique, as always, like every one of our players could on offense, defense and special teams.” It won’t get any easier this week, as Clemson’s bevy of talent at receiver makes it an intimidating matchup for any defensive back — let alone a freshman player. Narduzzi is still encouraged by the progress Hamlin has made. “You know, can’t be disappointed,” Narduzzi said. “I mean, he’s thrown in the fire there. He’s a young guy, and I
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think he stepped up, played with an attitude, too, which is good. Had a little dog in him a little bit.” Top-tier opponent Narduzzi is on the record saying that he doesn’t care about rankings, at least when it pertains to his team. But when a squad as highly touted as Clemson is on the schedule, it energizes the secondyear head coach. “With Clemson, our kids get an opportunity to go on the road, play in a hostile environment against a really, really good football team,” Narduzzi said. “[One] that’s ranked two or three in the country, wherever you guys have them, maybe No. 1 in the country in some rankings.” The Tigers rank No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings and USA Today Coaches’ Poll, while sitting at No. 3 in the Associated Press poll. They are 9-0.
play, and we expect her to have an immediate impact on the court.” Lund, a senior at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, explained the reason for her choice in the press release. “I chose Pitt because I loved the team, the coaching staff, the city and the strength of their volleyball program,” Lund said in the release. “I immediately felt welcomed and knew I would be challenged at Pitt, both academically and athletically.” Ndee, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Jersey Village, Texas, will also help bolster the Panthers’ offense for the future. She was a team captain at Kinkaid High School her senior year and made the 2016 AVCA Under Armour Girls’ High School All-America team as an honorable mention. “Chinaza is a powerful front-row player, versatile enough to play all three positions,” Fisher said in the release. “She is a fierce competitor that we expect to score points for us right away.” Like Lund, Ndee didn’t pinpoint one specific reason for her decision to join the Panthers, instead citing a combination of academics, athletics and aesthetics. “I chose to commit to the Panthers because of Pitt’s strong academic reputation, competitive volleyball team and attractive urban campus,” Ndee said in the release. “It has an great blend of all three.” Narduzzi is also excited about the proposition of playing on national television. The game airs on ABC at 3:30 p.m. “I think any time you get to play one of the top teams in the country, play the spoiler and go make something happen on national TV — I think that’s what players play for, and I think that’s what coaches coach for,” Narduzzi said. “That’s what you want.” PREDICTION: Unlike our president-elect, Pitt likely won’t pull off a monumental upset on Saturday. The Panthers are going to struggle to defend Clemson’s air attack, while the Tigers’ defense could thwart Pitt’s usually potent offense. There’s always a chance this is as wrong as all the pollsters were on Tuesday, but it probably won’t be pretty for the Panthers in Death Valley. Clemson 38, Pitt 17
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I N D E X
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1,2,3,4,6 BR. Available August 2017. Bigelow Boulvd, Truro Place, Craig, and Neville Street. Call 412-287-5712. 3BR house, 2 bath. Newly remodeled, wall-to-wall carpeting, equipped kitchen, on busline, 15 minute walk to campus. $250/person+ gas/electric. Call 412-548-2214. **AUGUST 2017: Furnished Studio, 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Bedroom Apts. No pets. Non-smokers preferred. 412-621-0457 1-2-3-4-5 Bedroom Houses & Apartments. 376 Meyran, 343 McKee, & Atwood, St. James, Bates St. $1,095-$2,000. Call 412-969-2790.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2017. Nice, clean, free laundry, includes exterior maintenance, new appliances, spacious, located on Meyran, Bates, Oakland, Semple, Wellsford, Dawson, Juliet. 412-414-9629. 2,3,5 BR houses. Available now. Bouquet, Atwood, & Dawson. Please call 412-287-5712.
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2-3-4 bedroom houses. Available now or January 1st. At corner of Parkview and the Boulevard. Free laundry. Central air. Really nice. 412-414-9629. 3rd Floor Apt, 2 BR, laundry. $800 includes utilities. Quiet building - no partying. Available immediately. 412-683-0363. 4 BR Home - Semple Street. Equipped Kitchen, Full Basement. New central air added. Available immediately. Also renting for May and August 2017. (412) 343-4289. 5 and 6BR houses available Aug. 1, 2017. Laundry on site. To make an appointment call 412-812-9382. 6,7&8 bedroom houses available starting August 1st 2017. Five minute walk to Pitt. No pets. 1 year lease. Call 412-983-5222. EFFICIENCY apartments, quiet building, laundry, shared bathroom, no partying. Short-term or longterm lease. $395-$450 includes utilities. Available immediately. 412-683-0363.
Newly renovated apartments for rent. 2,3,4 bedrooms available for August/September 2017. Atwood, McKee,
Dawson, and Bates. Please call Mike at 412-849-8694 for more information & for viewing. South Oakland-Studio 1, 2, & 3 bedroom apartments available May 1, 2017 and Aug 1, 2017. Various Oakland locations. Free parking. Free heating. Call 412-361-2695.
AVAILABLE NOWSHADYSIDE/FRIENDSHIP Holden St. 2BR – Roof Deck! $1450 Maryland 3Br $1545 New SS Appliances! South Negley 1BR – Renovated! Spacious! $825 South Fairmount 1BR Private Entrance – $795 All Apartments are Pet Friendly! Call 412-455-5600 for a showing.
AVAILABLE NOW – SQUIRREL HILL LUXURY RENOVATIONS! MODERN! GRANITE! SS APPLIANCES! ALL NEW! Eldridge St. – 1Br $895 Studio $750 Shady Ave – 1BR $1150 2BR $1295 Murray Ave – 3BR $1695 4BR $1750 All Apartments are Pet Friendly Call 412-455-5600 for a showing. 3,4,5 BR. Sarah Street and Wrights Way. Close to Pitt and Duquesne University. Call 412-287-5712.
2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom houses available ASAP. Call 412-385-3273.
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Participants Wanted for Paid Psychology Research for a research project at Carnegie Mellon University examining physiological responses (heart rate, blood pressure) while individuals perform behavioral tasks. To be eligible for this study, you must be: •18-30 yrs. old •In good health •Fluent in English You will earn $25 for your participation in this 2-hour study. For more information, call The Behavioral Health Research Lab (412-268-3029) Note: Unfortunately, our lab is not wheelchair accessible.
November 11, 2016
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The Psychiatric Molecular Imaging Program is seeking men 18-25 years of age for brain imaging research studies. Participants must be in good physical and mental health, planning to stay in the Greater Pittsburgh area for the next 12 months, and willing to provide blood samples to confirm eligibility. The study involves questionnaires, interviews, and brain scanning. The research study will take place at UPMC Presbyterian University Hospital. Subjects will be compensated up to $800 upon completion. For details, call 412-586-9888.
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SEASONAL MARKETING ASSISTANT Shadyside property management firm established in 1960 needs a Seasonal Marketing Assistant to work with Excel, Word, the internet from approximately NOW until July 15th; three days/week, Thursday through Saturday, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM; most hours will be solitary on the computer with no phone work; 40 words per minute and strong computer skills required; no experience needed & we will train you at our Shadyside office; free parking. $12/hour plus generous season end bonus. Mozart Management. 412-682-7003. thane@mozartmagement.com
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Phone: 412.648.7978
Come work where it’s Oktoberfest everyday. NOW HIRING: All kitchen staff including Managers at Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh. Apply in person Monday through Friday. Pamela’s diner looking for part-time weekend cashier. Strip and Squirrel Diswashers Squirrel Hill. Daylight hours. Call Jon at the Strip412-281-6366 or email Michelle at mmmika@aol.com.
Phlebotomy Training Centerwww. justphlebotomy.org 2 evening classes weekly, 5 weeks + excellent Clinicals. Call 412-521-7334.
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