The Pitt News T h e in de p e n d e n t st ude nt ne w spap e r of t he University of Pittsburgh
Maggot video prompts investigation
See online for Mizzou protest video November 19, 2015 | Issue 67 | Volume 106
Students for Mizzou See page 2
Dale Shoemaker News Editor
What started out as a 10-second video of an insect larvae allegedly crawling through a plate of Market Central pasta has sparked a week and a half-long investigation by the police, the county and Sodexo. A Pitt senior, Chad Stein, said he shot the video Friday, Nov. 6, when he was eating lunch with a friend in Market Central. After he posted the video to the group chat he shares with his friends, two of them, Pitt students John Buchner and Martin Hutto, grabbed the video and tweeted it out. Since then, Sodexo and the Pitt police launched an investigation into both the Market Central kitchens and the students involved. According to Stein, a finance major, Pitt police questioned him Wednesday, Nov. 11, on whether he had fabricated the video. Sodexo’s internal inspection of Market Central — as well as inspections by the Allegheny County Health Department and a third-party pest control company — found no evidence of food contamination or an insect infestation.
High school students chanted for University of Missouri in Schenley Plaza Wednesday night. Wenhao Wu STAFF PHOTOG-
City makes Property violations database Elizabeth Lepro and Dale Shoemaker News Staff
Oakland residents wondering what happens after they filed a neighborhood complaint can now see the results of their community policing. By visiting the city’s Permits, Licenses and Inspections Department home See Market on page 4 page, residents can check specific ad-
dresses for property violations, which include building and zoning code violations. Along with the City’s Innovation and Performance Department, the PLI launched an online property violation database Tuesday morning, Nov. 17, that will allow users to see violations on properties around Pittsburgh. Enter an address or street name into the database’s search bar and a list of
every violation inspectors have given properties on that street since Oct. 15, 2015, will appear. The violations listed on the site do not yet include citations, as in violations that have gone to court, according to Julianna Reiland, PLI’s government and public relations liaison. According to Geof Becker, the See Oakwatch on page 2
News
pittsburgh students rally for mizzou
Dylan Shaffer and Brady Langman The Pitt News Staff
Emily Cimini was on her way to work on a group project in Schenley Plaza when a throng standing on the corner of Forbes and Bigelow caught her attention. Realizing that this was a protest that dealt with race issues, Cimini stopped and joined. “I love to be present ... just to hear what their views are,” Cimini, a graduate student studying social work said. From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Cimini and about 100 other college and high school students rallied at Schenley Plaza to stand in solidarity with students at the University of Missouri, who recently saw their president, Timothy Wolfe, resign amidst racial unrest on campus. The protest was also part of the Black Liberation Collective’s student blackout day to end racial injustice. “There needs to be more student and public awareness,” Cimini said. “That’s where the divide lies, just being uneducated and not understanding what [this] movement is actually for.” Racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay actions escalated racial tensions at the University of Missouri this month. Members of the football team refused to practice or play, a student went on a hunger strike and students and faculty protested throughout the campus, all calling for Wolfe’s resignation over his See Mizzou on page 4 Students yelled, “Unapologetically Black,” and other chants in solidarity with University of Missouri students Wednesday. Wenhao Wu STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Oakwatch, pg. 1 co-chair of Oakland’s code enforcement project called Oakwatch, the violation database is a way for citizens to see what’s become of their 311 calls. The 311 system takes non-emergency calls about situations like trash accumulation on curbs. Reiland said that when inspectors get 311 complaints, they visit the concerned property to determine whether the call amounts to an actual violation. “If there are 311 calls and there isn’t a violation, it won’t show up on the site,” Reiland said. The system allows Pittsburgh residents to pinpoint troublesome properties and activities they see in their communities. “311 [complaints] are like nerve end-
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ings for the city,” Becker said, “[The city] can feel the pain and the person who felt that pain can go see how the pain is taken care of.” The database shows these “pain points,” in the form of problem properties, but doesn’t include the landlords who own those apartments or houses. Several landlords on Wednesday, like Ron Levick who owns the apartments above the IGA on Forbes Avenue, said they were happy to see the database and wouldn’t even mind if their names were attached. “Those of us who have no violations don’t have a problem with it,” Levick said. Julie Nydes , who rents the property she owns in Oakland and Scott Township, said she’s glad Pittsburgh is switching from paper-based to digital record
keeping. “It’s better than the cumbersome way they were doing things,” Nydes said. “I think [the database] would be good for businesses because I can’t see anything wrong with fixing something that needs to be fixed.” Once a landlord or tenant fixes a violation, the website will say “abated,” according to Reiland. Kevin Styles, the director of Off-Campus Living at Pitt, said the database could help students who are apartment and house hunting in Oakland, but that other factors play into the search. “A lot of people are looking for the database or site that will have all the answers,” Styles said. “[The site] is a great tool, but it’s not the end all that’s going to answer every question.”
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Patrick Corelli, a Pitt senior and the Student Government Board’s governmental relations chair, said the website would be a useful tool for students moving off campus. “It might just be a good idea to do a cursory check [of the database],” Corelli said. Individual 311 complaints and violations for things like building a deck without a permit aren’t going to change Oakland overnight, but Becker said 311 complaints result in incremental improvement. “Hopefully that’s something that’s going to make people a lot more interested in taking an active role in their neighborhood,” Becker said. “With constant improvement, eventually you see real change.”
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Pitt administration speaks on Paris Leo Dornan and Emily Migdal The Pitt News Staff
Elise Powers held a bright yellow sign that read, “Les fleurs et les bougies nous protegent,” or “The candles and the flower will protect us,” Wednesday night outside Posvar. Powers based the sign off of a video of a little boy sitting on his father’s knee in Paris who is at first afraid of “bad guys.” After the father reassures the boy that people are putting flowers around the city to “fight the guns,” the boy says “the candles and flowers are here to protect us.” “And [the reporter] says, ‘Do you feel better?’ And he says, ‘Yes, now I do’,” Powers said. “It’s so touching. It’s the only thing in all of this that made me cry.” Powers was one of about 150 people on Wednesday, Nov. 18, gathered in the Forbes quadrangle between Hillman Library and Posvar Hall with that same message — peace and unity over violence. Pitt administration organized the event, called “Hail to Paris,” to show support for the attacks in Paris over the weekend. Ron Linden, director of European studies, began the evening by asking everyone to take a moment of silence for all the lives lost, those wounded in the attacks and those who lost family members. Linden expressed the importance of not falling victim to fear in response to senseless violence and said how we must “come together to express our support and solidarity.” Ariel Armony, director of the University Center for International Studies, asked the audience to go beyond compassion for victims in Paris and around the world and to take on the responsibility of speaking out for human rights. “Our worst mistake would be to become used to violence,” Armony said. “We cannot consider bombings, attacks and massacres as routine. They are an
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attack on all of humanity.” Although there were recent attacks in Beirut and Baghdad as well, this night focused specifically on the French City of Lights. Armony urged those gathered not to be silent in the face of senseless acts of brutality. “It is not a coincidence that we are gathering on the grounds of the University of Pittsburgh,” Armony said. “Higher education institutions must take a stand, must become the flagship of our collective reaction against hate, violence, discrimination and intolerance.” From the crowd, junior Alessandro Conway International musicians perform in solidarity with Paris. Wenhao Wu STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER said he went to the cancollective responsibility to speak up and in France’s national motto, based on dlelight vigil for Paris, stand up to all senseless acts of violence liberty, equality and fraternity, are the Baghdad and Beirut on Monday and and hate around the world,” Gallagher same values the University and the nadecided to come again. said. “Because together, we really are tion shares. “It’s important to be here,” Conway, stronger.” “The events in Paris remind us of our an economics major said. “[It’s] important to be a part of the effort for peace.” Monday’s vigil was more of a student-based event, Conway said, while more administration and public officials, including Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, attended this gathering. Armony called Gallagher an “example of a humane leadership that is so necessary in these trying times.” While looking out on the crowd of people, Gallagher emphasized unity during struggle. “We stand together this afternoon in Pittsburgh really for two reasons — one is to share our deep sense of sympathy,” Gallagher said. “But we also stand here today for a different reason. An attack like this occurring in a very specific place is also an attack on all of us.” Gallagher said the values espoused
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Mizzou, pg. 2
mally. According to Derek Jones, a sophomore history and anthropology major, Pitt’s situation resembles Missouri’s because they both have small percentages of minority students and faculty. Jones said he has only had one minority professor in his academic career. “There aren’t the professors there to represent these people,” Jones said. “They don’t see their own faces in their classrooms and they feel isolated because of that.” According to Pitt’s Office of Institutional Research 2015 Factbook, 8.2 percent of the fall 2014 student body was black or mixed race and 6.9 percent of the fall 2014 faculty were black or mixed race. Despite a more racially diverse population at Pitt, Jones said Pitt can learn from the protests at Mizzou. “The best thing we can learn from Missouri is that we have the power,” Jones said. “We pay tuition here. We are the students. No one else can really tell us what can be achieved.”
Market, pg. 1 University spokesperson John Fedele said Pitt police would not comment on the investigation. Melissa Wade, a spokesperson for the Health Department, did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday afternoon, but according to the record of its inspection of Market Central on Nov. 13, the Department found no signs of pests. According to Abdou Cole, head of Sodexo at Pitt, the plate of pasta in the video was a gluten-free pasta with bolognese, a cooked dish that includes pasta, ground turkey, sauce and broccoli. Stein, too, confirmed that was the plate of food in the video. Stein said his well-framed shot of the insect larvae crawling over the pasta in the video was luck. The video, which went viral around campus Friday, Nov. 6, may have shown what Jason Kehren, an exterminator and co-owner of Polish Hill-based Premier See Market on page 5
The Pitt news crossword 11/19/15
lax response to racial injustice on campus. The protest was originally set to begin at 4 p.m., but organizers delayed out of respect for a nearby vigil outside Posvar Hall, held for the victims of the Paris attacks. During that time, protesters gathered in a circle with their right hands in the air, forming a fist. When the protest began, the crowd formed a semicircle around the event’s five organizers, who represented local colleges and high schools such as Pitt, CAPA and Winchester Thurston. With a bullhorn in hand, the organizers took turns starting chants, with the crowd echoing their calls. The chants included, “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” “Pittsburgh, can you hear us now, we will bring the system down” and “Unapologetically black.” The organizers, who were high school students, refused to give their individual names, but collectively called themselves Turn Up for Freedom, said they were
standing in solidarity with the Black Liberation Collective and with students nationwide to spread an educational message of equality. Between chants, the organizers talked about issues such as police brutality, how schools use students’ tuition money and the frequency of terrorist attacks outside of Paris. However, most of the conversation was directed toward the importance of education. “It seems like a basic idea, a basic thought. But it is not happening,” one organizer said. “That is why we are here, to demand that black students be able to feel safe. To be able to learn. To be able to grow. If it’s not happening in our schools, then what next?” The protest culminated with ralliers spreading to all four corners of the Forbes-Bigelow intersection and chanting. The students moved to the center of the intersection and police on bicycles blocked traffic on Forbes Avenue. The chanting crowd in the center dispersed less than five minutes after it moved into the intersection, and traffic resumed nor-
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Market, pg. 4 Pest Control LLC, identified as an Indian meal moth larvae crawling through a plate of gluten-free pasta. Once they hatch out of eggs, Indian meal moth larvae feed on dried grain products, like pastas, according to Kehren. According to Cole, Sodexo’s investigation did not determine what species of insect was in the video. After Stein’s friend — Pitt senior John Buchner, who was not at Market with him — tweeted the video, Pitt Dining tweeted back at him and asked to meet with him. Buchner, a linguistics major, met with Cole and several other Sodexo officials the afternoon of Nov. 6, and said he told Cole that all he wanted was for Pitt to refund his parents for his remaining meal swipes because he didn’t want to eat at Market Central anymore. As of Wednesday, Sodexo had not refunded his meal plan. Buchner also said he made it clear he wasn’t the one who filmed the video. On Monday, Nov. 9, Stein said he met with Cole and the Sodexo officials, including a chef. At that meeting, Stein said, he couldn’t clearly remember who he had eaten lunch with on Friday, Nov. 6, and he mistakenly said it was Buchner. In reality, Stein said, he ate with a different friend. Yet, because he incorrectly told Cole he had eaten with Buchner, who had requested a refund, Stein said he thinks that is why Sodexo and the Pitt police asked him if he had staged the video.
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Buchner was not present at Market Central at the time Stein filmed the video. That interview with Pitt police took place on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Pitt police station Stein said. Fedele would not comment on any questions relating to Pitt police’s investigation. According to Cole, the investigation had not determined the species of insect in the video, in part because Stein never showed his plate to a Sodexo employee after he filmed the video. Had Stein done so, Cole said, Sodexo would have sent the
plate to a lab for analysis. On the day Stein filmed the video, Cole said Market Central served more than 5,100 meals, including 350 portions of the pasta, and received no food safety complaints for that particular meal. As for the Sodexo employees, Cole said the investigation has so far not found any violations of Sodexo food safety policies. A @PittMaggot parody Twitter account appeared online following the incident and had 336 followers as of Wednesday night. Chad Stein said neither he, nor
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Buchner, is responsible for the Twitter account’s creation. Stein said he wished he had shown his plate to a Sodexo employee, as he said it would have saved him the headache of cooperating with the investigation. At the time, Stein said he was more focused on leaving Market Central as quickly as possible. “Looking back, I wish I did because I didn’t know this would blow up to the proportion it did. I was literally just nauseated,” Stein said.
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Opinions
column
from the editorial board
Legal immigrants: The real victims of illegal immigration
City makes landlords accountable, renters more powerful In the housing market of South Oakland, basic supply and demand theory is somewhat in flux. Landlords are supplying a limited product, rentable houses and apartments, to a consistent and high demand, Pitt students. Of Pitt’s 19,000 undergraduate students, 57 percent live off campus, according to U.S. News and World Report. That’s about 11,000 students living off campus, a good portion of whom live in South Oakland. What’s problematic about such a large student desire for South Oakland housing, however, is that landlords don’t have to worry too much about competing with other landlords. It’s pretty much guaranteed that they will fill all their vacancies. There’s so many students looking for housing in South Oakland that they’d be willing to live in any brick-and-mortar dump. Consequently, landlords can allow their properties to become out of shape or damaged without the value decreasing. The city has now taken the first step in alleviating this issue. The Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections launched a website last Wednesday that will allow potential renters to look into the past and present of perspective properties. All renters have to do is type in the address of the property they are renting, or looking to rent, and the site will provide them with any property violations that occurred there since Oct. 15, 2015. This gives student renters — and their
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parents who may be paying — the tools they need to make informed decisions. And for students already renting a South Oakland property, it will give them the means to easily keep up with any ongoing property violation and ensure the landlord resolves the issue. Many students who decide to live off campus are renting a property for the first time. They may not know what to look for or what to expect. With the new code violation search engine, they can now easily learn what constitutes a violation and if the property they are looking at has a violation that needs addressing. This means landlords will have to keep a clean slate for their property — otherwise, students will be able to negotiate lower rent prices or just avoid the property altogether. What’s more is that, if current tenants see that landlords are not being responsive to violations, they can use that as leverage against them by threatening legal action. Ultimately, it’s important that student renters have more power, because where they live first will shape how they view the city forever. If a student living off campus at Pitt has a terrible experience, they may not want to come back to the city to live and work — robbing the city of a talented next generation of residents. In order for this to work, students have to utilize this tool the city has given us. So, to improve our community, go on the site, look up your current or potential address and see how it stands. Hopefully you won’t be too surprised.
Terry Tan STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
Marlo Safi Columnist
My mother — a Syrian immigrant — came to the United States in 1994. A medical student at the University of Aleppo, she wanted to finish her education in a country that wouldn’t deprive her of the opportunity to flourish — in Syria, wages are very low even if you are pursuing an in-demand field of work, like medicine. She wanted to raise her future children in a safe, enriched environment where — unlike Syria —
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the state does not limit freedom of speech and press. She wanted to practice Christianity, a minority religion in Syria, without fear of persecution. She did not want her gender to hinder her life pursuits — which is all too often the case for women in Syria. So, she came to the United States. But, despite the vital urgency behind her decision, she endured the two and a half year-long immigration process and came here legally. Today, an influx in illegal immigration would
have punished my mother for following the rules, damming the paperwork trail and keeping her from her dreams. She married my father, a Syrian immigrant with American citizenship. Before this marriage granted her a green card, however, she had to visit the Syrian embassy in Washington, D.C., different immigration centers in both the United States and Syria and complete hoards of paperwork. See Safi on page 7
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Safi, pg. 6 Because my mother had married a naturalized American citizen, the process was much simpler, but still frustrating. If you have no one in the States to sponsor you — like my father didn’t when he immigrated — the process is much more elongated. If a spouse is not sponsoring you to come to the United States, a family member or employer can sponsor you, or you can claim refugee status. The state decides refugee status on a case-by-case basis. Immigration services direct many refugees either to the U.S. Refugee Program or a U.S. embassy, while some can apply directly. There is also a diversity lottery, which works in favor of immigrants coming from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. If you do not obtain sponsorship, refugee or asylum status or diversity lottery privilege, the process could take more than a decade. My mother came here in the ’90s when the government granted amnesty for only 578,000 illegal immigrants. But now that President Obama has granted amnesty to 5 million illegal immigrants, which gives them a short pathway to citizenship, U.S. immigration is even more backed up. Those playing by the rules are not at the back of the line. After President Obama offered to shield nearly 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation in 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been bombarded with more than 2,000 applications a day for green cards or work permits. There are 4.4 million foreigners trying to get into the United States legally, according to the National Visa Center — 100,000 more than last year. These applicants either have a family member who is a U.S. citizen or have an employer in the United States who wants them. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, many of those on the list waiting to receive a green card to enter the United States have been on the list for up to 13 years or more. Until these legal immigrants obtain a green card, they cannot legally work in the United States.
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American born citizens are affected by these wait times as well. Jimmy Gugliotta, who is American born, has been waiting more than a year and a half to bring his Argentinian wife and children to the states from Chile due to slow correspondence from U.S. immigration services. “What I found outrageous is people like me, a U.S. citizen, are actually being put at the back of the line, and that, to me, is a total outrage,” Gugliotta told Fox News. Jessica Vaughan, Center for Immigration Studies policy expert, automatic amnesty
for illegal immigrants incentivize more to come, hurting those who play by the rules. “Any move by the president to relax eligibility standards or grant benefits such as work permits, deferred action or parole to illegal aliens is profoundly unfair and destructive to the integrity of the legal system because it gives illegal aliens preferential treatment over those applying through the legal process established by Congress,” she explained on her blog. Illegal immigrants are also taking jobs from legal immigrants. Many of the immi-
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grants who arrive in the United States from their homelands need to work as soon as possible, having left almost everything behind them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, foreign-born workers were more likely than American-born workers to be employed in service occupations and less likely to work in management, professional and related occupations in office and sales. Legal immigrants pursuing service occupations will compete with illegal immigrants See Safi on page 11
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Culture freedom of speech Kyra Samuda talks feminist theory. Nikki Moriello VISUAL EDITOR
Meghan Bray Staff Writer
Not all advocacy groups make a difference by causing a stir. For the past two years, members of the Feminist Theory Reading Group have built a community by meeting every other Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Cathedral of Learning in room 402E to discuss classic and contemporary literature concerning feminist theory. Each meeting explores a separate text, with titles ranging from “Violence Against Women on College Campuses” to “The Dark Side of the Virtual World: Towards a Digital Sexual Ethics.” Every year the group chooses a different subject matter or literature topic, such as this year’s theme of “campus sexual assault” to guide and shape their readings. According to Pitt English professor and the club’s founder, William Scott, the club allows its members to discuss their thoughts and feelings on that week’s assigned article or excerpt openly without
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fear of discomfort or disapproval of other students. “The classroom is a different situation,” said Scott , “because some are okay [discussing feminism openly] and others, for whatever reason, feel threatened or don’t understand. Not everyone is on the same page, while everyone in the group for the most part is.” Scott said the reading group was born out of a “lack of discussion about feminism at Pitt.” The group, which is open to anyone in the community, aims to facilitate gender equality and feminist discussions on campus. Kyra Samuda, an undeclared freshman that frequents group meetings, said the general public stigmatizes the term “feminism” less today, but she sometimes is still “afraid of reactions because of the negative connotation [to being labeled a feminist].” Through discussion and support, and the club attempts to dispel this negativity. “I don’t think [feminism] should be
[socially stigmatized],” Scott said, “[but] unfortunately that is sometimes the way that it is.” Samuda found out about the group through Pitt Campus Women’s Organization, a student feminist group. The reading group sends out emails to academic departments and hangs posters around campus, but sometimes meetings host as few as three members. “There’s no way to know who’s going to be there,” Scott said. “It all depends on people’s individual schedules. We’ve met with as few as two people and as many as 15.” Last year, the group read specific authors like Julia Kristeva, bell hooks and Luce Irigaray, which brought new themes to every meeting. This year, the club adopted sexual assault as its lone topic, reading and discussing its presence in contemporary society. At one September meeting, the group discussed the implications of the term “feminazi,” which conservative talk show
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host Rush Limbaugh coined in his 1992 book “The Way Things Ought to Be.” In an excerpt, he wrote, “I prefer to call the most obnoxious feminists what they really are: feminazis.” In its corps, members are a variety of different majors, undergraduate students, graduate students and even non-students from the greater Pittsburgh community. One of the regular non-student members, Sandie Turner, is a former Carlow professor of organized leadership, adult learning, organizational politics and communication. Like the term feminism for many people, “feminazi” provokes a strong reaction. “So many terms carry so much baggage — that includes feminism. It’s hard when that comes up, like why, or how, do I explain? How far back do I go? It’s a courageous and hard thing to do.” Turner is a volunteer at Pittsburgh Action Against Rape and a founding See Book Club on page 11
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Market Thanksgiving Bytes
Wenhao Wu STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
As turkey season approaches, Market’s annual Thanksgiving-themed dinner, Marketsgiving, took over all six Market Central stations and warmed students’ bellies Wednesday from 4 to 9 p.m. Serving traditional Thanksgiving favorites like turkey and mashed potatoes, Marketsgiving even added a hint of Market’s own charm in its cake and jambalaya offerings. Students sat in groups or in pairs, seated at tables or spread out on the floor — anywhere they could easily slip back into line for second helpings.
“It looks good and it’s well put together. Mashed potatoes and turkey — what more could you want?” Kara Devine, freshman microbiology major “It’s cool how the whole school comes to Marketsgiving — it’s dope,” Chris Kirkland, senior English literature and history major pittnews.com
“It’s definitely the best food Market offers all year. It’s on par with Thanksgiving at home,” Alex McCafferty, freshman computer science major “Marketsgiving is bomb — completely worth sitting on the ground for. We didn’t have to wait much at all, but we’ve been sitting here on the ground for 25 minutes just eating,” Josh Gulden, freshman computer science major “The jambalaya was the only thing left last year, so I got it again this year ... [Marketsgiving’s atmosphere] really makes you feel at home,” Amber Jones, sophomore psychology major November 19, 2015
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star wars countdown “revenge of the sith”
Matt Maielli Staff Writer
Welcome to the “Star Wars” countdown and may the Force be with you. Each week leading up to the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” The Pitt News will retroactively review the “Star Wars” movies chronologically. The countdown continues this week with Episode III: “Revenge of the Sith.” It may have taken three whole movies and a PG-13 rating, but the patient Sith get their revenge. 2005’s “Revenge of the Sith” is the third “Star Wars” episode, and as the latest installment, it is the freshest in our minds. It also balances both the good and the bad within the entire saga. The Republic is witnessing the close of the Clone Wars, marked by the death of Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and
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the hunt for General Grievous (voiced by Matthew Wood), a cyborg with a penchant for killing Jedi. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) leads the search, while Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, aka the Sith Lord Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid), lures Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) to the dark side. “Revenge of the Sith” opens with everything that made “Star Wars” cool — space ships, lightsabers, blasters, droids, bigger space ships and pure sci-fi action. Then it ends and we get intergalactic C-SPAN. Galactic Senate this, Jedi Council that. Gross. But “Star Wars” has always been a space soap opera, so for every epic duel, there’s at least one scene dedicated to battle plans and boring meetings — and that goes double for the prequels. At least “Revenge of the Sith” has half-
decent choreography and finally gave us the Wookiee battle we should have seen in “Return of the Jedi.” Baddie General Grievous is also pretty cool as a four-armed CGI beast, with effects that will hold up at least until “The Force Awakens” arrives. This film is the “final” entry in the sixpart saga and the longest, most expensive episode — which means it sometimes explains too much, like why the Emperor looks so old in “Return of the Jedi” or how the Republic made the fateful change into the Empire, all rather quickly, it turns out. To review, Palpatine forms a separatist droid rebellion in response to a trade deal so that he could make a secret clone army to pit against his own droids to advance his own secret agenda of becoming Supreme Chancellor — creating a unilateral political power. He then uses the clones to kill all the
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Jedi and take over the Republic as the emperor, which only he can do after the galaxy has elected him Supreme Chancellor. It’s fair to say that most people who went to see “Revenge of the Sith” in theaters already knew more about the story than the characters — that Anakin would fulfill the prophecy and become Darth Vader and that Palpatine is actually Darth Sidious — but these “duh” moments feel unnecessarily dramatic. Fans remember McDiarmid from when he played Sidious 22 years earlier in “Return of the Jedi,” so it’s not much of a reveal after all. Yet, he does give a deservedly chilling performance. “Execute Order 66,” the line that signals the clones to murder their Jedi commanders, is possibly the darkest line of the whole saga — though obviously not as weighty or imitated as See Star Wars on page 11
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Safi, pg 7
Book Club, pg. 8
Star Wars, pg. 10
willing to work for lower wages, as well. Since these illegal immigrants do not have documentation, they can work for low wages that employers cannot offer to legal immigrants or Americans. As described by Puritan leader John Winthrop in his sermon “A Model of Christian Charity”, the American dream is “the city upon a hill.” Legal immigrants travel along a path paved with honesty and integrity, often with the intentions of furthering their education or work and also providing their children with similar opportunities not available in their homelands. We often don’t think of other immigrants as being the victims of illegal immigration, but that is often the case. Legal immigrants like my mother deserve to enjoy the rights and opportunities given to all citizens — let’s not punish them for obeying our laws.. Marlo Safi primarily writes about public policy and politics for The Pitt News. Write to her at mes26@pitt.edu
member of the Sexual Assault Help Center in Wheeling, West Virginia, where she is from. As part of this year’s theme, the group also discusses Pitt’s campus resources for dealing with sexual assault — like RAVE, Raise Awareness, Victim Empowerment; Take Back the Night, an annual event meant to bring sexual assault awareness to campus; and how administrators and fellow classmates can help assault victims. Scott said there isn’t one singular reason for choosing the topic, but the documentary film “The Hunting Ground” had caught their attention because it “takes a powerful look at sexual assault on college campuses today.” Echoing the reading group’s initiative and community, Turner said he personally selects people and reading materials from a feminist perspective. “It’s just sensibility. And don’t take for granted that the woman’s perspective is being taught and discussed,” Turner said.
“Luke, I am your father.” This rare example of applause-worthy dialogue is undermined by another phrase that will live in “Star Wars” infamy, but for the wrong reasons. As he electrocutes Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) with Force lightning, Sidious yells a nasally, “Unlimited power,” while flashing a senile, toothy smile, just to remind you that this is still a hammy space adventure. Largely considered the prequels’ best installment, “Revenge of the Sith” still has a lot of problems, most of which stem from a flimsy script. When the dialogue isn’t ruining individual characters or scenes, it contradicts sacred ideas from the original trilogy. Let’s just assume Obi-Wan had a mental lapse when he said, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” Just ask Yoda, who famously tells Luke Skywalker, “Do or do not, there is no try,” many years later. There’s also the wipe transitions. Sometimes “Revenge Of the Sith” feels like sitting through a 10th
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November 19, 2015
grader’s PowerPoint presentation on the solar system. On a positive note, it wouldn’t be a “Star Wars” film without a final showdown, and thankfully, “Revenge of the Sith” gives us two. The first is a duel between two masters of the Force: Sidious, a pile of wrinkles in a fancy bathrobe, and the wise green houseelf Yoda, battle on the spinning hover floors of the Senate. That’s like if Dick Cheney and the Dalai Lama fought each other in Congress. It’s paralleled with the saga’s pivotal scene — Obi-Wan and his moody former apprentice, now Darth Vader, duking it out on a molten lava planet. Of course, fans know the rest — Anakin barely escapes a firey fate, solidifying himself as the Darth Vader we know today, and Obi-Wan barely escapes Hayden Christensen’s abysmal acting, fleeing to live in isolation on Tatooine. It may very well be the best of the prequels, if only because it sets up the original trilogy — but the bar couldn’t have been much lower.
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Sports
Criticism of ronda rousey an unfair double standard
Chris Puzia
Assistant Sports Editor With one swift kick to the neck Saturday night, Ronda Rousey went from renowned role model to the Internet’s punching bag. A hailstorm of backlash and social media mudslinging hit UFC superstar Ronda Rousey this weekend following her UFC 193 loss to Holly Holm, one of the most shocking upsets in recent sports history. Everyone and their grandmother had a hot take. Lady Gaga posted a photo of Rousey getting punched on Instagram, with the caption reading, “That’s what you get for not touching gloves,” referring to the pregame tradition of opponents tapping their fighting gloves with each other before the fight. Donald Trump unsurprisingly shared his negative opinion about somebody via Twitter, saying, “Glad to see that [Rousey] lost her championship fight last night — was soundly beaten. Not a nice person!” Countless other outlets rehashed the sentiments of Trump and Gaga and published takes all amounting to a similar sentiment: It is good that Rousey lost because she is arrogant, and she has never been a role-model type of athlete. Anyone delighting in one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time suffering her first loss needs to evaluate Rousey — and her hubris — fairly. The truth is that Rousey still is an ideal role model, just as much now as she was before Saturday night. “Rousey is known for calling the shots and saying what’s on her mind, which makes her the perfect person for any girl to name as her No. 1 role model,” Hillary Weaver of Bustle magazine wrote. Rousey, with her confident, direct personality, is so vital to UFC and sports at large, especially when male athletes and icons dominate every sphere. How she responds
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from this setback is key, for both her legacy and the culture of professional athletics. So far her comeback is still in its fledging stages. She received a 60-day medical suspension from UFC due to the injuries sustained in the fight and has been quiet on most fronts, simply posting an Instagram picture that stated, “I’m going to take a little bit of time, but I’ll be back.” Maybe the two-pronged impact — of competing in a sport where one loss can ruin a career and serving as the lone massively recognizable woman in MMA — set up Rousey to fail. “The less savory elements of Rousey’s personality and fighting style often get swept under the rug in favor of this idealized perception of her,” Nathan Grayson of Kotaku wrote after the fight. “People don’t want to acknowledge her mistakes — nor give her leeway to occasionally make them — because they need her to represent something. A powerful woman in sports, a larger than life figure.” As Grayson notes, people don’t simply have a problem with her arrogance — fighters from Muhammad Ali to Floyd Mayweather have been cocky and self-satisfied — there appears to be an issue with a woman adopting that swagger. Before her fall, people applauded Rousey for her boldness — particularly in making comments toward Mayweather after he lost to her for the ESPY award for best fighter — when she said, “I wonder how Floyd feels about being beaten by a woman for once.” Those same people cannot turn against Rousey now, as droves of pundits and fans alike already have. She has made mistakes and controversial and uninformed comments in the past, but she is far from the first professional athlete to do so, and now that she has lost, is receiving disproportionate criticism for it.
“Maybe Rousey lost because she bought her own press. She’s a glory girl,” Deadspin columnist Drew Magary said on the site’s podcast. “She bought too much into her brand, and got a little cocky.” Is Rousey not allowed to enjoy her sustained level of dominance — given that in her previous fight, she knocked out opponent Bethe Correia in 34 seconds? Can’t she be proud? Her selfconfidence and outspoken stance about body image are excellent traits for young girls trying to break into a male-dominated sports sphere, or really anybody in need of a role model. Rousey was one of the more popular Halloween costumes among young girls this year. In a USA Today article about Rousey, Britney Davis Cranford said her 3-year-old daughter adores Rousey, and she supports it. “As parents we want to foster that competitive spirit and also instill in our
November 19, 2015
TNS
daughter the belief that hard work and perseverance pays off,” Cranford said. “Ronda epitomizes these convictions.” Maybe instead of trying to break down one of the world’s best athletes after one loss and strip her role-model status, we should respect Rousey for the work she’s done to get to this platform. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t continue to view her as one of the most dominant and influential figures in sports, regardless of gender.
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The Pitt News Editor-in-Chief DANIELLE FOX
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Sounding off With a dangerous Louisville Cardinals team heading to Heinz Field this weekend, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi spoke on the weekly ACC Coaches’ Teleconference Wednesday. Here are some of the most important nuggets the Pitt head coach said on the call. On the team’s success without injured running back James Conner: “It would be amazing to really see where we’d be right now if James was with us. I can tell you that.”
The Pitt News SuDoku 11/19/15 courtesy of dailysudoku.com
On Zach Challingsworth’s emergence against Duke: “He had three unbelievable catches — three big-time catches that you need to make, and I think that gives not only him confidence, but gives Nathan Peterman confidence that, ‘Hey, I can throw the ball the other way, as well.’” On Jordan Whitehead playing offense and defense: “I mean, everybody talks about the offenses, so it’s great to see — it would be nice to see — a defensive guy win the Heisman some day here soon, and he’s a guy that’s played great football for us both offensively and defensively.”
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November 19, 2015
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I Rentals & Sublet N D E X -NORTH OAKLAND -SOUTH OAKLAND -SHADYSIDE -SQUIRREL HILL -SOUTHSIDE -NORTHSIDE -BLOOMFIELD -ROOMMATES -OTHER
3 & 4 bedroom apartments. Available immediately. Newly remodeled. Air conditioning. Bigelow Blvd., N. Neville St. Call 412-287-5712 3 & 4 bedroom apartments. Available immediately. Newly remodeled. Air conditioning. Bigelow Blvd, N. Neville St. Call 412-287-5712 **AUGUST 2016: Furnished Studio, 1-2-3-4 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 1,2,3,5,6,7, & 8 bedroom houses. August & May 2016. Bouquet, Atwood, Meyran. Please call 412-287-5712. 1,2,3,5,6,7, & 8 bedroom houses. August & May 2016. Bouquet, Atwood, Meyran, Ward. Call 412-287-5712. 2 & 3 bedroom houses, Lawn & Ophelia. Available Now. Please call 412287-5712.
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2 & 3 bedroom houses, Lawn & Ophelia. Available Now. Please call 412287-5712. 2-3-4-5-6-7 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2016. Nice, clean, free laundry, includes exterior maintenance, new appliances, spacious, located on Meyran, Semple, Wellsford, Dawson, Juliet. 412-414-9629.
2,5,6 bedroom houses in South Oakland. Available for rent August 2016. Very clean with different amenities (dishwasher, laundry, AC, washer and dryer, 1-3 baths, newer appliances & sofas). Contact Ken at 412-287-4438. 4 BR townhouse, Semple St., available May 1st & August 1st, 2016. Equipped kitchen, full basement. 412-343-4289. Call after 5:00 pm.
6, 7, or 8-bedroom house. Washer & dryer available. NO PETS. Available August 1, 2016. One year lease. Meyran Ave. 5 minute walk to University of Pittsburgh. 412-983-5222. House for rent. Dawson St. 6 BR. $1620. 3 BR. $870+utilities. Available August 1st. 412-334-2461.
Services
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Accepting applications for newly constructed large home in S. Oakland. Available August 2016. Excellent location to university, 2 blocks off Forbes. For further information call: 412-720-5023 Brand new, completely renovated 5 BR, 2 full bath house. All appliances including washer and dryer are brand new and included. Too many features to list. Close to Magee Women's Hospital. On Pitt shuttle and PAT bus lines. 10 minute walk to Univ. of Pittsburgh. $2500/mo. 412-983-0400 Clean, Newly Remodeled Houses and Apartments. 1-9 Bedrooms. Call 412-680-4244 or email s.cusick@comcast.net www.superiorpropertiesgroup.com. House for RentJuliet Street. Available January 2016. Big 3-bedroom, 2story house 1.5 bath, fully-equipped eatin kitchen/appliances/new refrigerator, living, dining room, 2 porches, full basement, laundry/ storage, parking on premises, super clean, move-in condition. Near universities/hospitals/bus. $1700+. 412-337-3151
Announcements -ADOPTION -EVENTS -LOST AND FOUND -STUDENT GROUPS -WANTED -OTHER
Renovated Large Three Bedroom Townhome for Rent. Available January 2016. The kitchen features frost free refrigerator with automatic ice maker, fullsize range, self-cleaning oven, dishwasher, garbage disposal and microwave. The bath has been completely updated. All floor coverings and window treatments are brand new. Your own washer and dryer are included. On University of Pittsburgh shuttle and PAT bus lines. Two blocks to Magee Women’s Hospital. $1,275/mo, contact 724-422-2250.
3 & 5 bedroom. May 2016. Sarah St. Large bedroom, new kitchen, air conditioning, washer & dryer, dishwasher, large deck. 412-287-5712.
Personal, professional masseuse needed. Long term position. 2X/week. Washington County location. Call 724-223-0939 or 724229-8868 any time. Pager: 888-200-8220
R INSERTIONS 1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X ADDITIONAL A 1-15 WORDS $6.30 $11.90 $17.30 $22.00 $27.00 $30.20 $5.00 T 16-30 WORDS $7.50 $14.20 $20.00 $25.00 $29.10 $32.30 $5.40 E S DEADLINE: TWO BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR BY 3 PM | EMAIL: ADVERTISING@PITTNEWS.COM | PHONE: 412.648.7978 (EACH ADDITIONAL WORD: $0.10)
ATTENTION OCCASIONAL SMOKERS! UPMC seeks healthy adults ages 18-65 who occasionally smoke cigarettes. This research is examining how smokers respond to cigarettes that are low in nicotine. There are up to seven sessions lasting about three hours each. Research participants completing the study will be compensated up to $60 per session, or $20 per hour. For more information, call 412-246-5393 or visit www.SmokingStudies.pitt.edu OFFFICE INTERN Shadyside Management Company seeks person w/ min 3 yrs. college, for upcoming spring semester, to interview & process rental applications, do internet postings & help staff our action-central office. Part time or full time OK starting January 2; full time in summer. $12/hour. Perfect job for graduating seniors set to enter grad school, returning grad students, and first-year law students! Mozart Management 412.682.7003. thane@mozartrents.com
November 19, 2015
SEASONAL MARKETING ASSISTANT Shadyside property management firm established in 1960 neeeds two Seasonal Marketing Assistants to work with Word, internet, & spreadsheet files from approximately December 15th to July 15th, four days/week from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Saturday and/or Sunday hours a must; some flexibility on days and hours will be considered; most hours will be solitary on the computer with no phone work; 40 WPM 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 www.mozartrents .com 412-682-7003
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November 19, 2015
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