11-22-2016

The Pitt News

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | November 22, 2016 | Volume 107 | Issue sue 83

STUDENTS, DEAN DISCUSS VIOLENCE AT PROTEST PITT PLANS TO RENOVATE HILLMAN Tristan Dietrick Staff Writer

dents and willingness to address their concerns. After students tried to approach him inside Towers but were denied, he came outside to hear them.

“We are always open to listen to students to solve some of the issues they have,” Bonner said afterwards. “We may not always agree, but I think it’s important to have dialogue. We have always been open to that, and we will continue to be open to that.”

Bonner said that students can contact him through email or by phone to set up an appointment for further discussions.

Although Bonner didn’t say anything to the crowd, for about 15 minutes, the students — from several groups on campus spoke — about their experiences with the police on

What began as a project to replace outdated mechanical systems in Hillman Library has now turned into a plan for a full-scale building renovation.

Hillman Library, built in 1968, is set to undergo extensive renovations beginning in May 2017. The project could take up to five years and will operate year-round, but the library will remain open throughout the process, according to Owen Cooks, assistant vice chancellor for planning, design and construction at Pitt. Cooks said that the construction team is looking to finish the project as quickly as possible, but since the materials need to be analyzed floor-by-floor and ordered, it could take a while.

Tentatively, the changes scheduled include replacing mechanical systems — such as heating and air-conditioning — increasing study space by putting books into storage, improving lighting, adding outlets, enhancing technological abilities — such as further-reaching wireless connection — and an expanded cafe.

PJ Dick is the construction management firm for the renovations.

According to Cooks, the renovation team will submit a proposal in late spring to the Board of Trustees, which must approve the project. There is no final cost for the project yet.

The project is going to work from the top down, beginning on the fourth floor and working its way to the ground floor. According to Cooks, only the floor undergoing renovation at any given time will be closed.

“We started looking at it a couple years

See Protest on page 2

See Hillman on page 3

Pitt students gathered Monday afternoon to hear speeches and protest a violent incident between Pitt Police and students Thursday night. Kyleen Considine STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Amina Doghri Staff Writer

After a week of tension — both in person and online — between protesters and the University, students once again gathered on Towers patio to express their frustration with police and Pitt.

This time, Dean Kenyon Bonner — who has written two public letters in response to the violence that erupted during Thursday night’s protest — was in attendance to hear student’s concerns. Bonner released a letter early Monday morning, reiterating the rights students do and do not have as protesters.

“As a reminder, among the rights Pitt students have under the University of Pittsburgh Student Code of Conduct, is the right to engage in peaceful, orderly and nondestructive

picketing, protests and demonstrations to the extent they do not violate public law and do not interfere with the educational process or the rights of other members of the University,” Bonner said in the letter sent out Monday.

His doubled-down stance on protesting did nothing to calm students’ complaints that the University has been misrepresenting the events of Thursday night’s protests, when police used force to remove students from Towers lobby.

But during Monday’s event, Bonner, University spokesperson Susan Rogers and several other administrators stood watching from inside Towers lobby, which police blocked the students from entering.

Bonner said he came to Monday afternoon’s protest to show support for the stu-

News

A previous version of the story “Students, administration clash after Thursday night protest” published Nov. 21 incorrectly stated that Chancellor Patrick Gallagher had not responded to a letter students delivered to his office Wednesday. The story has been updated to reflect that Gallagher responded in a private letter to the students on Nov. 17, 2016.

In a previous version of the story “Pitt police increase patrols after 17 burglaries” published Nov. 14, a sentence indicated that a student moved his car to off-street parking each night as a result of the burglaries that have occurred. This is incorrect, as the student said he does not move his car each night. His quotes and these sentences have been removed.

health & science

PITT FINDS NEW WAYS CANCER CELLS DIVIDE Rebecca Peters Staff Writer

After discovering an alternative way that certain cells divide, Pitt researchers could be on the way to developing treatments for specific types of cancer.

The lab of Dr. Roderick O’Sullivan, a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute member, at the Hillman Cancer Center published findings about cancer cell division in Cell Reports, a journal of peer-reviewed studies, on Nov. 8.

Whether at the Hillman Cancer Center or another facility, Pitt’s campus has played a large role in cancer research.

The U.S. Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program of the Department of Defense awarded Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University researchers a grant in June to use 3-D printing to create models that could help doctors identify cancer. Patrick Moore, a researcher at Pitt’s Cancer Institute Cancer Virology Program, won a multi-million dollar grant in March for his research on the link between cancer and viruses. The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute partnered with Magee-Womens Hospital

Protest, pg. 1 Thursday and asked Bonner to retract the statement he made Friday, which defended the actions of the officers.

Protesters held homemade signs that read “Students will not be silenced,” “If you aren’t angry, you aren’t paying attention” and “Dean Bonner, stop lying.” Five speakers addressed the crowd while reading off of a document composed of several witness and marchers’ testimonial of Thursday night’s event.

The document’s writers called Thursday night’s protest non-violent and peaceful but antagonized by police officials.

Alex, one of the organizers of the event who asked to not have her full name pub-

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of UPMC in Oct. 2015 to test for the most successful breast cancer treatments.

In O’Sullivan’s lab, researchers are examining how cancer cells override the body’s natural defense system to prevent cells from multiplying too much.

According to O’Sullivan, an assistant professor of pharmacology and chemical biology at Pitt’s School of Medicine, cells have checkpoints that prevent them from growing in an uncontrolled manner. Each time cells divide, their telomeres — caps on the end of each DNA strand — shorten, triggering a checkpoint. Very short telomeres trigger cell death.

Cancer cells bypass these checkpoints, overriding the signal that stops cell growth and therefore acquiring mutations and becoming immortal.

Originally, scientists thought cancer cells only tricked the telomeres by using telomerase, a telomere-lengthening enzyme. The discovery found another method in which cancer cells operate to the same end, called alternative lengthening of telomeres, or the ALT pathway.

The study showed how the cancer cells, in blue, can trick telomeres, in red Kara Bernstein, a professor in the depart- and green, into not shortening, allowing the cancer to continue growing.

See Study on page 3 Courtesy of Dr. Roderick O’Sullivan lished, said that she and other students wanted to set the record straight and stick up for their constitutional rights to protest.

“I was here Thursday night when police started to hit back,” she said. “I was in the front line, and [I said to] the police in front of me, ‘This is my university, and I deserve to be here.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘F*** you,’ and he started to ram me with his body and hit me — it was traumatic.”

The police presence Monday unnerved Alex, even though there was no interaction between protesters and police that afternoon.

“I feel unsafe from [police presence],” Alex said. “They could get violent at any time and feel justified by it. It’s scary, but I feel good that all these people are by my side and standing up to what happened Thursday.”

As people clutched their hats and gloves, enduring the harsh wind and cold, the protesters’ attitudes were positive — indicated by their attentive reactions to speeches. They showed their approval through claps and cheers, boos of disdain during moments of alleged injustice and chants that included, “When student rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Phil Cancilla, 20, from Banksville, Pennsylvania, was one of two people arrested during Thursday night’s protests. “[Police in jail] dehumanize you,” Cancilla said to the crowd. “There was no way to tell what time it was, and [I was] not given any food except expired white bread and bologna.”

In addition to Cancilla’s own testimonial,

November 22, 2016

the speakers read other statements from individuals who were unable to attend the afternoon’s gathering.

“As we were walking, we chanted: ‘No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!’ The police officers around me said to me and others, ‘Oh, well Trump is your president now, too bad’ and ‘Trump is president now. What are you going to do about it?’ I tried to ignore it and just kept walking and chanting,” one testimonial read.

Although the protesters felt the response from police and university officials are disappointing, they have not deterred the individuals from protesting social injustices.

“My experience has not frightened me,” Cancilla said. “I’m still gonna be fighting for a change.”

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Hillman, pg. 1 ago,” Cooks said. “But design really began in earnest a few months ago, of really sizing the right systems and designing and coming up with the phasing strategy to make sure that would work.”

Cooks said the project began during discussions to replace the library’s outdated mechanical systems, but the extent of the construction — which will include removing all of the ceilings, floors and ductwork to gain access to the mechanical structures in the building — called for re-evaluation.

“When we get to a point like that in any given building, we often pause to go to the users and say, ‘Are there things that you need to change?’” Cooks said.

Fern Brody, interim director of the University Library System, is leading an advisory group comprised of students and faculty, on the renovation. She’s also set up a website to help communicate renovation plans as they become more definite.

“We [know] people are [studying] on the floor sometimes,” Brody said. “We needed a variety of spaces: spaces where people can work together, spaces where people can work quietly. Our specialized spaces are very popular, so we needed to expand them.”

Molly Purcell, a junior international student majoring in urban studies, said she would like to see improved lighting in the library.

“I feel like, especially downstairs [on the ground floor] and on the fourth floor, it feels very yellow-lit, which can make you go a bit crazy if you’re stuck there for too long,” Purcell said.

Nathaniel Flick, a junior natural sciences major who uses the library every day, said he’d like to see more quiet study rooms added to the renovated library.

“There are a lot of tables here, a lot of space here, but only like three or four or so quiet rooms,” Flick said. “Finding a space in those quiet rooms is an important thing, at least for me.”

In addition to improvements, the project will expand the cafe and update the technology, the latter of which will be planned through a partnership with Pitt’s Computing Services and Systems Development.

According to Brody, some of the library’s book collections will be moved into secure, climate-controlled storage space, but none of the collection will be lost.

To accommodate students throughout the renovations, the provost office is looking at alternate study spaces around campus, according to Kristin Gusten, senior director of administration.

Though there is undoubtedly concern that the renovation project will be a disruption to students’ studies — drills buzzing, hammers banging in a designated quiet space on campus — Flick said he’s optimistic.

“In the end, I think it’d be a worthwhile endeavor as long as accommodations are

Study, pg. 2 ment of microbiology and molecular genetics, studies the rate at which double-strand DNA repairs protein. Double-strand DNA breaks are often seen in cancers.

“We understand that the prognosis for patients who have cancers that use the ALT pathway have a poorer prognosis. Understanding the mechanisms has important ramifications for cancer, treatments and understanding of agent,” Bernstein, a colleague of O’Sullivan’s, said.

According to a UPCI press release, during ALT, cancer cells manipulate the telomere and lengthen it every time it shortens, tricking the cell into thinking it can divide and therefore spreading the tumor.

ALT is used by 15 percent of cancers, such as neuroblastoma — the most common pediatric cancer in the world — pancreatic, endocrine and soft tissue cancers.

According to O’Sullivan, cancers using ALT pathways are more resistant to chemotherapy compared to cancers that use telomerase, but why that’s the case is unknown. It is possible that the resistance to chemotherapy occurs because the changes cancerous cells make to other cells’ DNA is hidden. As cancer cells divide,

they can change, acquiring distinct mutations later on in their cell life.

The researchers used innovative technology –– called proximity dependent biotinylation, or BioID –– that allowed them to identify cancer cells that use the ALT pathway, O’Sullivan said. BioID works by identifying which proteins are close to one another, and therefore, which proteins could be involved in how telomeres lengthen in cancer cells.

These small differences can have big consequences, though.

“This is basic research, but the word ‘basic’ is not meant in the literal sense. Knowing how ALT telomeres are regulated and what they are composed of provides a foundation for subsequent studies that might provide a better understanding of cancer cell growth,” O’Sullivan said.

Targeting ALT telomeres will allow researchers to develop more adequate treatments for patients.

“Pitt can use this discovery to create treatments tailored to the patient’s specific prognosis. We have all the facilities available,” O’Sullivan said, referring to the departments of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, the Drug Discovery Labs and Hillman Cancer Center, which is one of the NCI cancer centers. “Pitt is fully capable. ”

The Pitt News SuDoku 11/22/16 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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November 22, 2016

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Opinions column

TRUMP SUPPORTERS SHOULD DISPROVE LABELS Saket Rajprohat Columnist

Because I spent the good part of my summer and fall semesters this year working for the Hillary Clinton campaign, watching the election results with my team on Nov. 8 was particularly devastating.

When Trump was on the verge of winning Pennsylvania and I was on the verge of losing my mind, we shut off the television and went out to join the 300 people gathered outside, closing down Pitt’s streets at 1 a.m. to have our voices heard.

Aside from my sleep-deprived state, Nov. 9 seemed to be the gloomiest I had ever seen Pitt’s campus. The gray sky, the bowed heads and the

occasional smirk from under a red hat only added to the effect. The results of this election came as a shock even to Trump himself, as he admitted during a “60 Minutes” interview that he was “breathless” watching the results.

My initial shock was quickly overcome by anger. The fear that my opinions diverge so much from those of 61 million people in our country disturbed me. It disturbed me that so many people would choose to elect a man who has not only openly talked about sexually assaulting women but has also degraded Islam, marginalized race after race, called climate change a hoax and hopes to fill the Supreme Court with justices willing to overturn abortion access across the country.

See Rajprohat on page 5

Trump supporters hand out signs at a rally at Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 6, 2016. John Hamilton SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

from the editorial board

The Pitt News’ Thanksgiving survival guide ‘Tis the season for turkey, stuffing and unbearable small talk around the family dinner table.

It’s Thanksgiving, and lucky for you, the country just completed its most contentious political contest in decades. While that means there will be plenty of fodder for banter, it also makes it likely that many of you will experience at least one instance of awkward political dialogue this Thursday night — and many of you are undoubtedly nervous about how to handle familial disagreement.

This election has been particularly emotional, making politics personal in a way that differentiates it from many other historical political contests. And, it’s the first time that many of us will be old enough to intelligently engage in well-informed political discussions — in many cases, some of us are better informed than the elder relatives sitting across from us. Navigating these conversations with

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family is a bit more complex than shouting in a protest or making posts on social media, and it’s important to be prepared before someone starts throwing gravy.

Perhaps the best approach to avoiding heated political disputes is simply avoiding politics. There are other things to talk about, such as football, the weather or your Pittinduced exhaustion. But let’s be honest: the likelihood of politics remaining untouched all evening long is pretty low.

When it inevitably happens, stand your ground. If a family member is making blanket remarks about a group because they think there’s nobody there to speak up in defense, be that person. Obviously you don’t want to begin screaming about privilege right away, but try to approach the issue on their level. If they don’t understand why a person wearing a hijab or someone of color is so upset about this election, you might feel a responsibility

to at least try connecting the dots for them.

Being an ally shouldn’t stop once you’re inside your home. In fact, that’s one of the most important places to take a stand in support of those not there to represent themselves.

Which isn’t to suggest that you start fighting with your relatives over pumpkin pie — especially not at the risk of your own safety or the emotional stability of your loved ones. But being close to people, including your family members, means you might have their ear and their respect in a way no one else does. If you can find an appropriate, non-threatening way to level with him, you might have a better chance of helping Uncle Mike understand the intricacies of identity politics better than a stranger would over the internet.

It’s also a possibility that there’s someone else at the table who needs defending. When Aunt Martha or cousin Sheldon are a few

November 22, 2016

glasses of wine in, they might begin dropping the polite facade — and it can be insulting. Racism, sexism and intolerance are not soft-hearted topics, and you shouldn’t feel compelled to address them with soft-hearted responses.

It’s also important to remember that plenty of others will be facing the same issues you are. Let your friends who are home for the week know that you’re available via text or call. If you’re frustrated or upset about something you hear and aren’t up to a full on argument or are in a situation where speaking up about gender or religion would make you feel unsafe, reach out to someone you feel comfortable venting to.

Thanksgiving is great sometimes. Other times, it’s terrible. Regardless, eat a bunch of food, drink up if you’re of legal age and stand for what’s right.

This year, be thankful for your voice.

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Rajprohat, pg. 4

be it his tax plan or tightened immigration policy.

Even if they had a single issue motivating their vote, that vote went into a pool collectively representing support for everything Trump claims to stand for.

This same criticism applies to my case as well.

Though Hillary Clinton is in favor of increased ground support in the fight against ISIS, I am not sure if I support that. Nevertheless, I have to own up to the fact that because I voted for Hillary Clinton, not only did I support the plethora of policies I agreed with, but I also tacitly supported the ones that I did not fully agree with.

The people that voted for Trump are not all misogynists, racists or homophobic, and it is wrong of me to label them as such. But we should still recognize that those voters gave their backing to someone who represents those qualities.

Those voters are the reason why thousands of people have been in the streets protesting — not because they disrespect the democratic process and believe the election was rigged but because they feel personally threatened by the results.

We accept the results in full, but it is time that Trump’s supporters recognize the impending consequences of their votes. They have to understand why people feel afraid that 61 million people could support someone so avidly against them — be it for their skin color, their religion or

their sexual orientation. If you are one of his supporters and you feel comfortable with contributing to that fear, then you’ll probably continue standing by Trump and his words.

But if you are not comfortable aligning yourself with anti-Islamic, anti LGBTQ+ or anti-immigrant views and are not comfortable with the fact that people are fearful because of their identity, then now is the time to prove it.

Write your representatives in Congress. Or, like me, you could join a student organizations like FORGE, which works with local refugees families and students, helping them complete daily tasks and preparing their kids for post-high school life. Talk to members of the Black Action Society or Rainbow Alliance, and maybe attend a meeting. Even if you don’t align directly with some of these organizations, their main goal is simply to educate people about the importance of understanding underrepresented identities, something we can all take time to learn about.

I understand people may be unsatisfied with the current government and saw Trump as something new, and I’ve had the time to reflect on the gut reactions I had the night of Nov. 8.

But ignorance from either side of the political spectrum cannot be justified. Wake up, and lend your help during the next four years — we all need it.

The Pitt news crossword 12/4/15

I began to form my own belief that anyone who voted for Trump supported a racist, misogynist, homophobic, science-denying, all-around bigot and therefore also stood to be those things themselves. Anyone still carrying around “Make America Great Again” stickers and caps or proud to say they voted for Trump became tainted in my mind by those labels. Those individuals may not have earned that judgement, but they acted in a way that showed they were willing to bear it.

Though I believed I was right in outrightly labeling his supporters, I watched an interview with Jon Stewart on “CBS This Morning” that sparked a change of heart.

When asked for his thoughts on the election, Stewart explained, “In the liberal community, you hate the idea of creating people as a monolith ... don’t look as Muslims as a monolith, they are individuals,” but he went on to say that the idea that “everyone who voted for Trump is a monolith, is a racist. That hypocrisy is also real in our country.”

I began to feel that I was simply feeding into the idea of hypocrisy and hatred, fighting for the same idea of labelling and name-calling that I also fight against. My calling Trump supporters

misogynists and racists did nothing more than create a divide between people who voted one way or the other.

Stewart’s point was that we cannot wage war against one another on false premises or generalizations. A lot of the people that voted did so on the basis that their wages have been stagnant for the past few years or that they are afraid of their insurance premiums going up or that they are pro-life. It is safe to say that not everyone agrees with 100 percent of what a candidate says and that voters often vote on only a few or even just one issue.

I can’t deny that the majority of Americans do not take the time to look fully into a candidate’s policies. Furthermore, mainstream news outlets have more and more begun to chase news that is meant to entertain viewers more than inform them. That’s why it is rare to see CNN, Fox News or any major network take the time to break down Trump’s tax plan or explain that Clinton did not, in fact, want to repeal the Second Amendment.

As much as I respect Jon Stewart, what he doesn’t account for is the fact that a vote stands for much more than just an opinion on one issue. When Trump’s supporters came out and voted for him on Nov. 8, it didn’t matter if they were voting for him on the basis of one issue —

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November 22, 2016

5

Culture

A Weekend in Review

Light Up Night wasn’t the only city-wide cultural event this weekend. Three Rivers Film Festival celebrated its 35th anniversary across three theaters, Carnegie Mellon University held a preview screening for this spring’s International Film Festival and

ANKUR-IGSA, the University of Pittsburgh’s Indian Graduate Student Association, hosted its Diwali celebration. The Pitt News made its way around Pittsburgh this weekend to review the performances and movies.

DIWALI CELEBRATION BRINGS COMMUNITY TOGETHER Rebecca Peters Staff Writer

The lights dimmed. A voice from above prayed for a celebration where “light wins over darkness when happiness wins over sadness.”

“Diwali: A festival of lights, is a celebration of good over evil,” said emcee Deveshi Chandan, her magenta and gold sari illuminated on stage in front of an audience of about 250 people celebrating Diwali, the annual Hindu festival marking the victory of good over evil.

ANKUR-IGSA, the University of Pittsburgh’s Indian Graduate Student Association, hosted the Diwali celebration in Bellefield Hall at the price of $8 for students and $10 for guests. The evening included 16 performances — of varied talent and energy levels — showing traditional and contemporary Indian song and dance as gifts to the gods. Some technological malfunctions and waning energy levels – the performances lasted for two and a half hours — aside, the celebration seemed less about talent or perfection and more about bringing together cultural community in Pittsburgh.

ANKUR-IGSA President Ananth Kotti said Diwali is the equivalent of combining Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“It’s all about the food. We just need an

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excuse to eat good Indian food,” Kotti said.

This year, Pittsburgh-based Indian restaurant Taj Mahal catered the event, providing curry chicken, basmati rice and mango chutney.

As for the dancing, Kotti said, “even though you might not understand [Hindi], it’s just fun to watch.”

ANKUR-IGSA provides Pitt graduate students from India with transportation from the Pittsburgh International Airport, answers questions about housing and hosts four to five events every semester to foster community.

For many graduate students, such as Kinjal Sangani, this Diwali festival was their first away from home. Students come from all over India to one of Pitt’s 15 graduate programs to complete their Master’s degrees.

“I definitely felt homesick. ANKUR helped us a lot. Everything is new here, and we are all looking for guidance,” said Sangani, a native of Pune, India and a first-year graduate student in Pitt’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

The emcees then prepared the audience for a trip through the streets of Mumbai with a dance performance by the five girls, including Sangani, of Mumbai Local. ANKUR-IFGSA’s Diwali celebration included performances showing traditional See Diwali on page 8 and contemporary Indian song and dance. Courtesy of Rebecca Peters

November 22, 2016

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SHORTS SHOW GLIMPSES OF GROWING UP, FORMING RELATIONSHIPS

Stephen Caruso Senior Staff Writer

For those who suffer from a short attention span but enjoy a well-told story, the sextuple feature of short films that debuted at the 35th annual Three Rivers Film Festival was an entertaining range of tales, covering everything from alien encounters to costume shops.

The films’ directors tried for themes such as a lightning-quick look into fear of the unknown, growing up and simply the texture of life. And while all the films entertained, those which kept their stories simple and close to the heart succeeded as more than an excuse to sit and munch on popcorn.

The following list reviews them, in order.

Accepted “Accepted,” directed by Olivia Lauletta, Greg MacArthur and Ariana Victor, looks at the life of Alexis Taylor Monroe, a LGBTQ+ youth moving his life from Pittsburgh to New York to college in Los Angeles.

The documentary builds genuine drama. The tension as Monroe readies himself — lipstick, effeminate voice and exquisite hair flip — for a frat rush event leaves the viewer short of breath. But this tension is followed up with anti-climax and no definite resolution, since the frat party scene is

never actually shown.

At one point, Monroe idly states high school was hard as bullies accused him, due to his “flamboyance,” of being “self-obsessed.” But the viewer hardly learns the names of anyone else in the film other than the main character, and his struggle always feels assumed.

Because Monroe is genderqueer, conflicts surely exist, but at least some of them should be shown, not told. As a longer documentary, “Accepted” could prosper, but as a short film, it relies on platitudes.

A Funny Man Of all the films, none provided as wide a range of emotions as “A Funny Man,” directed by Peter J.S. Regan and Benjamin T. Wilson, because of its weighty premise: a middle-aged man contemplating suicide.

The drama is inherent, but Regan and Wilson also find humor when they pair the man with an awkward, angelic millennial working a job she hates — selling life insurance by phone. Their conversation, in blunt but genuine exchanges, drives the plot forward in a funny but realistic fashion.

As she tries to help others find meaning, there is also subtle irony in the insurance salesperson’s hatred of her own job. Along the way, she confronts her own lack of purpose.

Regan and Wilson’s film is also one of the shortest, at 12 minutes, without a wasted shot or word. Charming, funny and suspenseful while looking at the most human condition of death, “A Funny Man” is the highlight of the six films shown.

T h e Last Transmission “The Last Transmission,”

by Stephen Turselli, speculates on the fate of a pilot and documents his last communications with Fred, a retiring air traffic controller.

The cinematography is exquisite at points — such as a sweeping shot of the sun setting behind See Shorts Review on page 10

“A Funny Man” was one of the best short films shown at the Three Rivers Film Festival for its charming and funny look at a serious subject.

Courtesy of Three Rivers Film Festival

‘TOWER’ AN IMAGANITIVE, RESPECTFUL RETELLING OF TRAGEDY Brady Langmann Culture Editor

Rarely do moviegoers expect to feel uneasy before the lights dim and the opening titles pop up on-screen. But it’s hard not to feel a little anxious before “Tower,” Harris Theater’s last screening at the Three Rivers Film Festival on Sunday.

It’s likely stuck in American moviegoers’ memory at this point — violence and mass shootings at theaters in Aurora, Colorado; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Nashville, Tennessee. Knowing you’re about to watch a documentary about one of the first widely publicized mass shootings in American history makes you at least consider these tragedies one more time, maybe even check the exits.

The team behind “Tower,” a documentary about the shootings at the University of Texas in 1966, knows they’re documenting a sensitive topic. There’s little talk of the sniper, Charles Whitman — who killed 17 people from the 307-foottall clock tower on top of UT’s Main Building — nor graphic archival footage of slain bodies or

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vanishes into a white silhouette, surrounded by solid, tomato-colored red. The only blood you see in “Tower” is black-and-white footage of stains on a set of stairs, and that’s the film’s simple, most effective move. “Tower” doesn’t try to convince you of the crime’s severity, instead opting to give a beginning-to-end, interview-driven account of what happened on Aug. 1, 1966.

Like the murders it depicts, “Tower” has a breathless pace, moving from interview to interview, hitting the key moments of the catastrophe while using true accounts to drive the narrative.

Within the first 10 minutes, the film introduces Claire Wilson (Violett Beane), a pregnant woman who is one of the first to be shot by the sniper along with her boyfriend, Tom Eckman (Cole Bee Wilson), both landing with a thud on the “Tower” recreates the first college mass shooting in United States history: at sweltering concrete. Wilson lives and shares her University of Texas at Austin in 1966. Courtesy of Three Rivers Film Festival. story throughout the documentary, but Eckman crying families. tors draw over the footage and animate it. The an- and the couple’s unborn baby die almost immeInstead, “Tower” carefully mixes chosen ar- imation allows for engaging retelling of the event diately. chival video with rotoscope animation, mean- while giving room to shy away from gore that a The film also follows Houston McCoy (Blair ing the director, Keith Maitland, chose to reenact big-budget retelling might welcome.

Jackson) and Ramiro Martinez (Louie Arnette), most of the day with live actors then have illustraSo when someone’s shot, his or her image See Tower Review on page 10

November 22, 2016

7

‘VISARANAI’ PREVIEWS FEST., CONFRONTS SUFFERING

The migrant workers’ native language serves not only as a barrier to communicaStaff Writer tion but as an identifying marker. When a Hours before a scuffle between police wealthy local’s house is robbed by individand students at Pitt last Thursday, Carn- uals speaking Tamil, the police use this as egie Mellon University’s International Film cause to detain anyone who speaks Tamil, Festival showed a film dealing with similar including the four workers at the center of tensions — but in a place halfway across the film. They are stripped of their clothing, viciously beaten and detained for days, the world.

The theme of this year’s festival is “Faces of Conflict,” a theme embodied on every level by “Visaranai,” which translates to “Interrogation” in English and is India’s submission for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. “Visaranai” is a film adaptation of the novel “Lock Up” by M. Chandrakumar, which is based on a true story. CMU held a preview screening of “Visaranai” on Nov. 18 at McConomy Auditorium for the festival that will run from March 17 through April 3.

Directed by National Film Awardwinning director Vetrimaaran, “Visaranai” never once informed of why they are there. tells the story of four migrant workers from From there, the film highlights the systemthe Indian state of Tamil Nadu trying to ic issues of corruption and brutality in the earn enough money for food and shelter in Indian criminal justice system.

The police’s level of violence is one of the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh.

Conflict underscores many scenes from the the most unforgettable aspects of “Visavery beginning, as Telugu is the primary ranai.” In a short speech before the film, language spoken in Andhra Pradesh while director Vetrimaaran warned, “This film the migrant workers speak Tamil — this is brutal,” and he doesn’t flinch away from is conveyed in the film through subtitling showing that brutality on screen. One scene depicts a migrant worker forced to Tamil in white and Telugu in yellow.

sustain beatings in silence, lest the others be tortured as well should he cry out. Vetrimaaran doesn’t shy away from the workers’ pain, giving us close-ups of their agonized faces.

With this violent sequence, the film reaches a point where it strikingly differs from American productions. In American entertainment, violence is often sensation-

alized, from guts and gore horror films like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and its many incarnations to bloody, brutal video games like “Mortal Kombat.” Even when it furthers the plot, violence in American media is often for the pleasure of the audience — dismemberment for the sake of dismemberment.

In the post-viewing Q&A, moderator Neepa Majumdar said, “There is nothing titillating about those images.” Despite Ve-

trimaaran’s unflinching scenes, the brutality is not simply for the sake of depicting violence — it is the disturbing, horrific fuel of the film’s plot and message.

When Vetrimaaran shows the police pummeling innocent citizens, it is not to sensationalize that violence but to use it as evidence of his larger point that 30 percent of convictions in India are still achieved through forced confessions. It is the ugly yet necessary bedrock for the film’s political message.

Ultimately, “Visaranai” is a story of idealism in the face of overwhelming injustice.

The migrant workers at the heart of the story never once admit guilt, despite horrific torture, because they are not guilty. They refuse to allow themselves to be crushed by the criminal justice system — fighting, kicking and screaming every step of the way. Though this may make their situation much worse for them, the purity of their conscience bleeds through. They are innocent, they are being wronged and they refuse to let it happen, no matter the cost.

Though certainly not for the faint of heart, “Visaranai” is a beautifully executed and thoughtful piece that paints a frightening picture of corruption and brutality of the Indian criminal justice system while also providing a fascinating contrast to the way violence is portrayed in American media.

ing melody,” said Bilgi.

They began graduate school in August, so this Diwali was their first outside of India.

“It’s really cool that even though we are in Pittsburgh, all the Indian people are together. We don’t feel that homesickness during festivals. We are connected,” Bilgi said.

Aaravi, a children’s dance group from the Indian Pittsburgh Association, put on a two-part performance. The first segment, performed by dancers ages three to seven, featured careful turns, slow steps and circling in and out. When the older children came to the stage, jumping and pumping their fists to the beat of a deep Bollywood bass, the crowd responded with cheering and clapping.

Following Aaravi, Mastaniz — a fivemember Pitt female dance ensemble — fused modern culture with more tradition-

al movements.

The first performance, featuring two dancers — one dressed in red and the other in a deep yellow — danced to slow Hindu music. The other three, wearing teal, deep magenta and dark black, twirled to a fastpaced, upbeat piece. At the end, the quintuplet formed a V, and all was going well until two of the dancers forgot the steps. The audience didn’t seem to notice, though, and the dancers didn’t seem to care.

There were other malfunctions throughout the night. During a performance by the Panther Belly Dancer’s Club, the auditorium lights were run incorrectly and turned off halfway midway through the dance. The belly dancers were unphased by the malfunction — their gold-coined, skirted hips continued shaking.

Between performances, the four emcees, Ansh Chand, Deveshi Chandan, Ayushi Divecha and Priyank Khama, joked

and encouraged audience involvement — a welcome reprieve between more lackluster performances “Krishna, God and Ghandi: What’s common between them?” Divecha, 28, asked. “They’re all born on a holiday, duh!”

Members and volunteers of ANKURIGSA formed Team Bam, the closing act, to “bring India to America,” according to cultural manager Prahlad Krishna. Team Bam’s performance drew on high energy moves, rather than on traditional culture or technical dance experience. Featuring only members and volunteers of ANKUR-IGSA, seven couples in street clothes jumped and pumped to popular Bollywood beats from Bollywood movies to reach as much of the audience as possible.

“If you fancy the beat, you can dance to it,” Krishna said.

Wesley Hood and Mackenzie Rodrigues contributed reporting.

Nick Eustis

The migrant workers at the heart of the story never once admit guilt, depite horrific torture, because they are not guilty.

Diwali, pg. 6 Dancing to a mix of Bollywood and semiclassical styles, the performance featured a mash-up of four Bollywood songs. They modernized traditional Indian performances by wearing “I <3 Pitt” T-shirts, black leggings and red scarves tied around their hips.

“It’s just easier,” Sangani said of the group’s choice to wear street clothes over traditional attire.

Trupti Bilgi and Anushree Godbole, students in Pitt’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, wore traditional Indian turquoise and light green saris for their performance of “Saibo” from the Bollywood film “Shor in the City.”

Bilgi and Godbole, both 25 and roommates, chose the song because “it speaks to the environment of Diwali. It has a sooth-

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November 22, 2016

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Sports

see online

James Conner receives Disney Sports Spirit Award

PITT ROUTS LOYOLA MARYLAND, 74!44 Mackenzie Rodrigues Staff Writer

Kauai Bradley led Pitt to a 74-44 win against Loyola, Maryland, Monday night. Matt Hawley STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Pitt women’s basketball team put together its most complete performance of the season Monday night as all five starters reached double digits in points.

Pitt, 4-0, cruised to a 74-44 victory over the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds, 2-3, Monday at the Petersen Events Center, led by standout performances from sophomore forwards Kauai Bradley and Brenna Wise. The Panthers won their first four games for the first time since the 2009-10 season, when they started 8-0.

“No matter who we’re playing, I think for us to be successful, we need a balanced scoring attack,” Pitt head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio said. “We don’t have that one go-to player that’s going to put up 20-something points a game ... any time you can get all five [starters] in double figures, it’s amazing.”

Wise hit a 3-pointer to put the first points on the board for Pitt, then junior guard Aysia Bugg drained a jumper while drawing a foul to make it 6-0. A pair of buckets by 6-foot-4 center Brandi Harvey-Carr extended Pitt’s run to 10-0 to start the game.

Unable to get anything going inside, Loyola Maryland put up a pair of 3-pointers to decrease the deficit to 13-6. Bradley responded with a la-

yup, but Greyhound guard Alexis Gray nailed her second long-range 3-pointer of the game to bring Loyola within six.

First-year point guard Jasmine Whitney added to the Panthers’ lead with her first basket of the night, and with a little over four minutes left in the first quarter, all five of Pitt’s starters had scored.

Layups by Bradley and sophomore forward Kalista Walters pushed Pitt’s advantage to 12, but the Greyhounds found holes in the Panthers’ defense and mounted a fierce run to cut the score to 21-16.

Whitney rallied and made a three, then Gray responded with her third triple of the game for Loyola. But Whitney answered by fighting through the Greyhounds’ defense for a layup to end the first quarter with Pitt ahead, 26-19.

“We knew coming in, we said it on the scouting report: 3-point shooter with deep range. And two of them were really deep,” McConnell-Serio said about preparing for Gray. “Just making sure after she hit three in the first quarter, we just adjusted and knew where she was at all times.”

While Loyola appeared ready to give the Panthers a fight, the second quarter turned the game into a mismatch.

Walters started the night off for the Panthers See Basketball on page 10

STALLINGS SEES POSITIVES IN 2K CLASSIC TRIP Steve Rotstein Sports Editor

Kevin Stallings’ debut season as the Pitt men’s basketball head coach almost got off to a disastrous start, but the Panthers have managed to scrape their way to a 3-1 record to start a season that very easily could be 1-3.

Pitt will return home to host the Yale Bulldogs at the Petersen Events Center Tuesday night, four days after the most significant win of Stallings’ short tenure. The Panthers came back from a 15-point second-half deficit against Marquette University to win, 78-75, in the thirdplace game of the 2016 2K Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project at Madison Square Garden in New York.

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Speaking of the win over Marquette as well as the Panthers’ 76-67 loss to Southern Methodist University in the 2K Classic semifinals, Stallings said the trip to New York provided a valuable experience.

“Those games were good for me because I probably learned more about our team in two days than I’ve been able to learn, honestly, in six or seven months,” Stallings said.

The Panthers’ two senior leaders, Michael Young and Jamel Artis, have performed up to and maybe even beyond expectations in the team’s first four games — especially the last two.

Young, a 6-foot-9 forward and preseason second-team All-ACC selection, has received each of the first two ACC Player of the Week honors in the 2016-2017 season. He put up 26

points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Pitt’s season-opening 93-90 win over Eastern Michigan in double overtime, but he also committed seven turnovers in the game.

Since then, Young has taken much better care of the ball, committing only five turnovers in three games. The Duquesne, Pennsylvania, native put up a career-high 30 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the win over Marquette.

Meanwhile, Artis assumed the role of starting point guard and promptly tallied 27 points, nine rebounds and three assists without a turnover in the season opener. He had four turnovers in each of the next two games but managed the game perfectly against Marquette with 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and

November 22, 2016

again, no turnovers.

Artis, a 6-foot-7 native of Baltimore, hasn’t put up the high number of assists traditional point guards are known for. But scoring 20-plus points without giving the ball away in two out of four games is still a promising sign for the season.

“Jamel and Mike obviously proved to us that we can count on them offensively,” Stallings said.

“They were very, very good in both games.”

Artis and Young excelled in both games on the big stage at Madison Square Garden, but it wasn’t enough to avoid suffering the team’s first loss in the semifinals against SMU.

Find the full story online at

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Basketball, pg. 9 with the first points of the quarter, then forward Destinie Gibbs tallied her first two points off the bench. Walters and Bradley added another pair of layups with Bradley drawing a foul and completing a three-point play to make it 35-19.

After pulling down an offensive rebound, Wise converted a putback for Pitt with defenders swatting at the ball to make it a 20-point lead.

The 6-foot sophomore then drilled a 2-point and 3-point jumper to extend it to 25.

After keeping Loyola from scoring for almost nine minutes, the Greyhounds put up their only points of the second quarter with 1:07 left in the half on a jumper from first-year guard Molly Taylor. Bradley made up for a missed jump shot by hitting a triple from long range, and at the end of the first half, the Panthers had more than doubled the Greyhounds’ score at 47-21.

“It was exciting. The whole team [was] coming out with fire, energy,” Bradley said after the game.

The game may have seemed out of reach, but Loyola put together a strong third quarter to keep it competitive.

“We didn’t come out and defend very well in the third quarter where we were missing shots, weren’t getting offensive rebounds and just weren’t defending,” McConnell-Serio said.

Forward Lauren Daugherty drained a quick jumper to start the second half with two points

Shorts Review, pg.7 The cinematography is exquisite at points — such as a sweeping shot of the sun setting behind the airfield as the silhouetted Fred steps out for lunch or the intro sequence including two matching shots of the pilot taking off and Fred driving to work — but the point of the film gets lost.

Fred’s last day on the job feels like an overused trope, like the cop shot just a week before retirement, but there is no drama for Fred. He simply has to coach a pilot through an experience

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for the Greyhounds. Loyola’s momentum was short-lived, though, as Pitt quickly followed with a jump shot from Harvey-Carr and a layup from Bradley to make it 51-23.

Whitney moved quickly on her feet, easily finding and intercepting Loyola’s passes, and another layup from Wise made it a 30-point game.

But Greyhounds guard Maria Kilcullen sparked an 11-1 run with a 3-pointer, and a series of foul shots and jumpers decreased the deficit to 20 by the end of the quarter.

Harvey-Carr proved her power in the paint early in the final quarter, ripping down a defensive rebound after an unsuccessful Loyola shot.

Bradley made her second three of the night, and Harvey-Carr’s layup increased the Panthers’ lead to 60-34.

Bugg and Harvey-Carr then added seven more points to the scoreboard while the Greyhounds added a triple, again pushing Pitt’s lead to 30 at 67-37. The teams traded shots in the final minutes, but the game ended in a 30-point victory for the Panthers, 74-44.

Bradley led the team with 16 points while Wise contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

“I think we played great,” Wise said. “Always room for improvement. We got outscored in the third quarter ... we want to continue to make progress and get better.”

Pitt will next host Slippery Rock at the Pete in an afternoon matchup at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23. with an “unidentified” “flying” “object” — words all used to describe the conflict driving entity but never together or in that order.

At the end, the movie feels like an exposition on flying saucers, but between decent effects and some pretty shots, that might be all right. But Turselli does himself a disservice by then adding 15 seconds of text at the end, describing how the movie was based on real life events that were never solved, “though some could speculate.”

The film would be better off if Turselli showed the confidence to leave the plot to itself.

Aliens are aliens. An unexplained mystery is not necessary to make their inclusion realistic.

Tower Review, pg.7 the officers who end up raiding the tower with Allen Crum (Chris Doubek), who manages a nearby co-op. There’s several other students, journalists and professors who chime in throughout “Tower,” oftentimes with their cartoon image superimposed onto real-life footage of UT’s ’60s-era campus while they talk.

Maitland slips a few time markers into the film without being too overt — “In Cold Blood” is on stands at Crum’s co-op, a student has a retro-looking Spiderman comic tucked to his side, Donovan’s acoustic, melancholy “Colours” swells in the background when Wilson recalls falling in love with Eckman.

The flashback is not only one of the most visually striking scenes in the film, but it’s the best example of the effectiveness of Maitland’s animation. Whereas most of “Tower’s” drawings are in black and white — likely to show the bleakness of the day, as well as to avoid romanticizing the tragedy — Wilson’s memories explode with color.

Psychedelic shades of purple, cartoon butterflies and lava lamp bubbles surround Wilson and Eckman’s love story as well as Wilson remembering how Eckman couldn’t tell if she was “chubby or pregnant” when they first met. Color in “Tower” symbolizes hope, love — silver linings if there were any to this day.

While most of the interviews simply serve as basic narration, giving us an account of the shooting and its aftermath, occasionally they serve to gently ask the audience: What would you have done? One student shares, “I realized I was a coward,” when she couldn’t bring herself to run right under the sniper’s scope to save Wilson, who is constantly on the verge of death

November 22, 2016

throughout “Tower,” baking under the Texas sun.

Eventually, the cartoons — which depict the survivors as their younger selves, with actors reading their words verbatim — disappear, and Wilson, the policemen and others morph into their older selves.

Wilson reunites with John Fox, the man who helped drag her to safety, in the present day. Wilson says that the documentary helped her find a community to help deal with the pain of losing Eckhart and her unborn baby, 50 years later. Near the end of “Tower,” you’re not only sold on the value of retelling the events at UT but on the process of making the film itself.

A line from another documentary that played at the festival, “Kate Plays Christine,” relates to “Tower.” A historian tells Kate Lyn Sheil, who’s preparing for the role of Christine Chubbuck — a journalist who shot herself live on-air in 1974 — that you die twice.

First, you die when the last breath escapes from your body, and then you die when someone says your name for the last time.

In the context of the film, the line feels forced, like the filmmakers are making us question whether or not Chubbuck’s suicide — and Sheil’s obsession with her death — is just a narcissistic, desperate attempt to be remembered. But in “Tower,” the message is much simpler — and more powerful — than that.

During the closing moments, Wilson — shown in the present day — opens the newspaper from the morning after the shooting and reads the victims’ names. The camera looks over her shoulder as she stares at their faces, printed at the top of the paper.

A minute later, before the credits roll, the names appear again on a dark screen, so the audience can see for themselves. The theater is silent as everyone reads, one by one.

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