Election Guide
Cover by Elaina Zachos VISUAL EDITOR
COLLEGE VOTES DOWN, PARTIES CATER TO MILLENNIALS Emily Suruda
For The Pitt News To campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama did something no other president has done before: he snapped. Obama made a five-minute Snapchat video Monday on the app’s political channel “Good Luck America,” in which moments of an interview between Obama and Peter Hamby, the channel’s host, appear between snippets of the 2016 election. POTUS concludes with a selfie video, telling viewers if he can figure out Snapchat, they can figure out how to vote. Obama’s appearance on the popular app is a paragon of the ways this year’s candidates and their backers have tried to pander for the millennial vote. In every visit politicians have made to the Steel City this year — and the visits have been plentiful around campus — they’ve preached about the importance of young people in this election. “I just want to send a message to you college students, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart,” Vice President Joe Biden said when he visited Chatham University Oct. 25. “I am more optimistic about the prospects for America today than I have ever been in my life, and that is not an exaggeration.” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was massively popular with young people, garnering support from 54 percent of millennials — loosely considered those between the ages of 18 and 29 — according to a 2016 Harvard poll. But after his loss, much of that age group didn’t funnel their enthusiasm toward either of the two establishment parties. Instead, millennials — whose voter turnout rates have been dropping for years — have overwhelmingly said they might not vote, or will write-in or vote for a third party, leaving Republican nominee Donald Trump and Clinton scrambling to win them back.
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student voter turnout for the presidential election, but in the 2012 election, the total number of college student votes decreased. The total number of millennial votes fell by 1,846 votes from the election in 2008 to the 2012 election. Young people –– ages 18 to 35 –– make up 31 percent of eligible voters in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. Millennials and Baby Boomers — ages 52 to 70 — account for 31 percent as well. Caton said the difference in these age groups is that many college-aged people do not make up their minds in time to register. “There is going to be low voter turnout across the board because most students do not get interested in the election until the week before and it’s too late,” Caton said. Nick Trizzino, a sophomore undeclared major at Pitt, said he thinks students are turned off because the candidates haven’t addressed enough issues that affect college students. “I think Bernie got so much support from college students. The main issue on college students’ minds is, like, paying for college and getting jobs,” Trizzino said. A large part of Sanders platform was Danah Bialaruski LAYOUT EDITOR based on offering free college education. Experts like Mary Ann Caton, assistant in politics than they’ve ever been, but maybe His educational initiatives pushed Clinton to professor of history and political science and not for the right reasons. “Many people who typically avoid poli- make her own platform on college debt more chair of the liberal arts division at the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, are notic- tics have been caught up in the controversies progressive — her plan includes free coming the way young people have influenced and entertainment of the campaign,” Shine- munity college and debt-free education for students from families that make less than man said. campaigns. From the 2008 election to the 2012 elec- $125,000. “Clinton is in panic mode with college Trump’s policy on education includes students in particular, so that’s why they’re tion, millennial votes decreased by 1,846. bringing heavy [hitting] people such as Mi- Millennial voter turnout went from 48.5 per- working with Congress to ensure colleges chelle Obama onto college campuses,” Caton cent in 2008 to 41.2 percent in 2012, accord- and universities make an effort to reduce the cost of college and student debt in exchange said. “If she wasn’t, then she would think she ing to the Pew Research Center. It’s yet to be seen whether the intrigue for federal tax breaks and tax dollars. had college students in the bag.” Part of the issue, said sophomore Victoria Shineman, assistant professor of Shineman’s noticed among students will mechanical engineering major Alex political science at Pitt, has found students translate to the ballot box. In 2008, there was an increase in college enrolled in her classes are more interested See Voter Turnout on page 15
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Pitt’s Polling Stations William Pitt Union 1st Floor
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall
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St. Paul’s Synod Hall Auditorium First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh
4 3 2 Posvar Hall Lobby
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire (CO 14)
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1: Forbes Hall 2: Oakwood & Bouquet Gardens 3: Towers, Holland, Amos, Bruce, Brackenridge & McCormick 4 : L o t h r o p , P a n t h e r , PA , S u t h e r l a n d , Fraternities & Nordenberg 5: Forbes-Craig Apts & Ruskin 6: Centre Plaza Apts Alyssa Abaloz GRAPHIC DESIGNER
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From left: Chelcie Alcorn, Benjamin Sheppard and Arnaud Armstrong have spent countless hours campaigning. John Hamilton SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Hang-ups, door slams: The life of a campaign worker Janine Faust Staff Writer
When Arnaud Armstrong, a Pitt junior, makes phone calls for Republican local and state candidates, he’s often on more than one phone at once. The student campaigner even knows a woman who can handle four phones at the same time, a true expert. He said it’s easier than it sounds — people only answer the line about a quarter of the time. “If you hear someone pick up, you pick up,” Armstrong said. “There are cases where two people will actually pick up the phone at the same time, but there’s really no trick to that, so you’ve got to hang up on one of them or play a pre-recorded message.” With the election less than a week away, campaign workers have been focusing on pushing people to get out and vote. They’re calling as many people as they possibly can each day, asking, “Have you considered so-and-so? Can we count on your support for them on Nov. 8?” Most of the time, diligent campaign workers like Armstrong will hear a click, and then the dial tone before they even get past their first question. Many members of Pitt’s student political and advocacy groups, including NextGen Climate, Socialist Alternative Pittsburgh and
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Pitt Students for Liberty have volunteered for or worked with election campaigns at the local, state and national level. Whether it’s a person running for a seat in the county council or the Oval Office, politically active students dedicate time and energy stumping for their preferred candidates — usually, for free. For some of them, like Armstrong, it’s experience for a career in politics. For others, it’s just about getting the right person in office. Arnaud Armstrong: Couch surfing Disclaimer: Armstrong has been a columnist for The Pitt News. Armstrong, a political science major, has been engaged in the political circus since he was barely older than a toddler. “My dad’s always been very involved in politics, especially locally in my hometown of Allentown, [Pennsylvania]. I remember being three or four, going around to different campaign meetings,” Armstrong said. “I could name everyone on the city council.” During the 2012 election, Armstrong became specifically interested in campaign work. He was 16 at the time and said it was the first election where he was able to keep up with current issues and make his own informed decisions, even if he couldn’t vote. “The busy political atmosphere was pretty exciting, and I really got into it. That’s when
I decided I wanted to make a career out of campaign work,” Armstrong said. Armstrong plans on starting as a lowlevel staffer doing ground-level organizing for Republican campaigns after graduation. The first big campaign Armstrong worked on was Republican Steven Ramos’ 2014 campaign for state representative. Armstrong worked in his hometown, the left-leaning Allentown. “It’s essentially always a lost cause for Republicans who run there, but I’m kind of devoted to it. I did a lot of door-knocking, working for him. He only got 25 percent of the vote, but it was a good experience nonetheless,” Armstrong said. “I like working for people who are in politics to fight for what they believe in, not to do whatever’s politically expedient.” Once he came to Pitt, Armstrong joined College Republicans and became involved in bigger campaigns, such as Tom Corbett’s 2014 campaign for governor. As a field worker for Corbett, he did phone-banking, where he’d get involved in some interesting conversations. “This one guy, he was very upset and kept telling me he didn’t have time to talk, even though he kept bringing up political issues and then staying on to listen to what I had to tell him about them,” Armstrong said. “Af-
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ter five minutes of that, he told me, ‘Fine. I’ll consider [Corbett].’” During the fall of 2015, he and a few other Pitt Republicans went to Philadelphia to spend the weekend door-knocking for Michele Brooks, a Republican campaigning for a particularly competitive state representative seat in 2014. The Pitt volunteers all slept on the floor at the home of a consultant’s parents. “It’s a lot of sleeping on couches and getting up and out early. [Field work] may not be comfortable, but you get to see a lot of new places and meet new people,” Armstrong said. “There’s no shortage of work to be done in politics.” Chelcie Alcorn: “Hillary Burnout” Pitt senior Chelcie Alcorn spent DNC weekend bouncing from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Pittsburgh, following Hillary Clinton and Democratic Senatorial candidate Katie McGinty. The weekend put her on “Hillary burnout” — but in the best way, she’ll assure you. Alcorn, a psychology major, is an intern for McGinty. Despite the extensive traveling, she said she was thrilled to see the number of people who turned out for the Democratic candidates’ events. See Campaigns on page 6
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Casting ballots from afar
Miranda Bridgewater (far right) with friends while studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Courtesy of Miranda Bridgewater
Ashwini Sivaganesh Assistant Sports Editor
Of about 25,000 Pitt students that are eligible to vote in this election, 74 percent might not be voting at the polls if they registered with their permanent address. Although students can register with their Pittsburgh address, only 26 percent of the students on Pitt’s Oakland campus are from Allegheny County. Nearly 37 percent of students on the Oakland campus are from out of state, according to the 2016 Pitt Factbook. Out-of-county students who registered to vote using their hometown address must request a mail-in ballot at least a week before Election Day or travel home to vote inperson. Whether students are voting from across the state or across an ocean, traveling home for one day in the middle of the week can be tough. If these students didn’t change their registration address and didn’t submit absentee ballots, nearly 19,000 votes — including graduates and undergraduates — would be lost from Pitt’s main campus alone. Rachel Mueller, a junior accounting and finance major, who is studying at Pitt this semester registered to vote in her hometown of
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Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Instead of changing her registration to her current Pittsburgh address, she decided to print an online application for an absentee ballot. “In general, it’s your civic duty to participate in elections,” Mueller said. “I thought it was important for my voice to be heard, even if it meant putting in a little bit of extra work.” According to the U.S. Census, in the 2012 presidential election, more than 46 million voters cast ballots in some way other than going to a polling station on Election Day. This includes the 23.3 million people who cast civilian or military absentee ballots, 16.9 million who voted early in-person and 6.3 million who mailed in ballots instead of voting at a precinct. Among the millions of Americans who won’t be stopping by the polling station are more than 300 Pitt students studying abroad this semester. Sarah Grossman, a junior studying in Barranquilla, Colombia, said she decided to find out how she could cast her ballot in November as soon as she realized she would be away. See Voters Abroad on page 12
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Campaigns, pg. 6 who turned out for the Democratic candidates’ events. “I remember we had to turn 2,000 people away [that Saturday],” Alcorn said. “It was exhausting, but awesome, because I got to see [Clinton] in action as a nominee … It was really uplifting to see how many people supported her, too.” Alcorn is also the founder and head of Pitt Students for Hillary –– a group on campus dedicated to supporting Clinton’s campaign –– which Alcorn founded in the spring of 2016. “Right now, we’re focusing on turning out the people who support the Democratic Party through phone-banking and door-knocking, classic voter outreach, stuff like that,” she said. Alcorn says one of the toughest parts about her campaign work is how busy she’s become. “I’m constantly sending emails and taking calls,” Alcorn said. “I have to communicate with my superiors and stay informed with what’s going on in the campaign. I also need to constantly be reaching out to prospective volunteers. It’s worth how busy it makes me, though, because I’m encouraging people to get out and vote and to care about what goes on in the country.” Alcorn is currently on the pre-med track with plans to be a trauma doctor, although she can see
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herself running for office some day, either in the state House or Senate. According to Alcorn, her position as the head of Students for Hillary has been a beneficial networking gig. She was informally offered her internship after making a connection with the western Pennsylvania director for McGinty’s campaign, Jason Henry, last January at a fundraiser supporting Planned Parenthood. As an intern, Alcorn helps with everything from helping with event set-up to inviting people to attend campaign events to supporting McGinty at press conferences. When she runs into McGinty at rallies and fundraisers, Alcorn said she always stops to chat. “[McGinty] always remembers who I am and asks how I’m doing,” Alcorn said. “It’s amazing, and it reminds you that these politicians, they’re people, too.” Benjamin Sheppard: Call me Ted On a hot morning in mid-August, Benjamin Sheppard was sound asleep when he was woken up by a call from David Nelson, the then-president of Pitt Students for Liberty. Nelson had been in conversation with a director at Youth for Johnson/Weld –– an organization dedicated to spreading support for the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson at schools and colleges. Nelson wanted to know if Sheppard
was interested in getting in touch with the director, who was looking for a student interested in starting a Johnson/Weld chapter at Pitt. Sheppard was. “I’ve supported Johnson since last May, but I didn’t even know that youth chapters for him existed when I got the call,” Sheppard said. “Obama and Sanders, their campaigns relied a lot on college students, so I figured it’d be a good idea to start a chapter for Johnson here.” Sheppard, a junior history and political science major on track for pre-law, is the current president of Pitt Students for Liberty, head of Pitt Students for Johnson/Weld and the Region 9 Youth Coordinator for the Johnson/Weld campaign. According to Sheppard, this job requires him to create new Johnson/Weld student chapters at local high schools and colleges. Recently, Sheppard attempted to start a chapter at Carnegie Mellon University –– but it did not garner enough interest to succeed. He was able to get one up and running at HACC-Lancaster in early September. In the past, Sheppard has been a Republican, but is supporting the Libertarian party this election season because he feels dissatisfied with the other candidates. In addition, Sheppard supports Johnson’s stance, which he described as “socially liberal and fiscally conservative.”
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“I dislike [Donald] Trump’s temperament, and Clinton just doesn’t seem to have the ability to make correct judgements as president,” Sheppard said. “I feel pretty strongly about Gary’s cause, and that’s what counts.” Attending events and recruiting are the two main parts of Sheppard’s job, but he’s also participated in field work such as phone-banking. Sheppard said, most of the time, people either hang up on him or get mad at him. “One guy in New Mexico started going off on me about how Johnson was the worst governor he ever had,” Sheppard said. “I usually use a fake name –– Ted –– when I call people, just in case they try to trace the number.” Sometimes, campaign workers get creative. Recently, Sheppard and others in Pitt Students for Johnson/Weld plan were at the Students for Liberty’s “pot brownie” sale, where they put brownies in flower pots and advocated for the legalization of marijuana. Sheppard represented Johnson/Weld there, handing out bumper stickers and flyers and encouraging people to vote. “I believe it’s important that everyone votes. It’s a fun and educational experience, and it’s good to support causes you’re passionate about,” Sheppard said. “If you don’t vote you can’t complain, anyway, and I always vote, so I can complain.”
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The Pitt News
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The Allegheny County Ballot A Guide Hillary Clinton & Tim Kaine (D)
PRESIDENT
Hillary Clinton served as New York’s first female senator from 2001 to 2009. She ran for president in 2008, but lost the Democratic nomination to current President Barack Obama. Clinton served as U.S. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013. As a lawyer, a first lady and as a senator, Clinton has focused on children’s rights, working for the Children’s Defense Fund after law school and helping to create the Children's Health Insurance Program. For the 2016 election, Clinton is campaigning for gun control, raising taxes on the wealthy and reforming the U.S. criminal justice system.
Donald Trump & Mike Pence (R)
Trump, an American businessman, has been a reality T.V. show host and a real estate mogul, but has not previously served in politics. Trump advocates for protecting the Second Amendment, boosting the GDP to 3.5 percent per year on average and creating new screening procedures to prevent potential terrorists from entering the United States. Trump also has a “10 Point Plan to Put America First” for immigration, including ending sanctuary cities and building a wall between the United States and Mexico. Trump’s trade plan focuses on free trade and includes withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement
Gary Johnson & William Weld (L)
Johnson was the governor of New Mexico for two terms and ran as a presidential candidate in the 2012 Republican primary election. Johnson supports legislation to make immigration more efficient and to eliminate unnecessary governmental regulation, particularly in regard to the economy. Johnson also advocates for criminal justice reform. Although Johnson is personally pro-life, he is politically pro-choice.
Jill Stein & Ajamu Baraka (G)
Stein is a physician and was the Green Party presidential candidate in 2012. She currently holds the record for the most votes received by a female presidential candidate in a general election. Stein advocates for free public tuition from preschool through college, a $15 minimum wage and a moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are studied further. Stein has also proposed to legalize marijuana and treat drug addiction as a health issue, not a crime.
Darrell Lane Castle & Scott Bradley (C)
Castle, a U.S. Marines veteran and an attorney, is the 2016 presidential candidate for the religious, conservative Constitution Party. Castle was the Constitution Party’s vice presidential candidate in the 2008 election, running alongside Chuck Baldwin. Castle’s campaign platform includes withdrawing from the United Nations, abolishing the U.S. Federal Reserve by repealing the Federal Reserve Act and not funding Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortion services.
U.S. SENATE
Pat Toomey (R, Incumbent)
Toomey has been a Pennsylvania senator since 2011. During his time in office, Toomey has supported legislation to back police officers, including an act to make the murder of a law enforcement officer an “aggravating factor” in death penalty determinations. Toomey also advocates for responsible government spending, elimination of earmarks and tax reform as opposed to tax increases.
Kathleen McGinty (D)
McGinty served as the chief of staff for Gov. Tom Wolf in 2015. In her 2016 campaign for a Senate seat, McGinty supports a $15 per hour minimum wage, as well as the Paycheck Fairness Act and overturning Citizens United. McGinty also supports gun control and plans to reinstate a civilian ban on military style weapons and make universal background checks mandatory.
Edward Clifford III (L)
Clifford is a Libertarian candidate running for Senate. Clifford supports downsizing the federal government and its authority. He believes each individual should be able to live as he or she sees fit, so long as the person is not encroaching on the rights of others.
U.S. HOUSE PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICT 14
Michael F. Doyle (D, Incumbent)
Doyle is currently serving his 11th term as a Pennsylvania state representative for the 14th district, which includes the city of Pittsburgh. Doyle’s legislative focus is on decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil through the development of renewable and alternate power sources. His policies also include health care reform, improved public education and job creation.
Lenny McAllister (R)
McAllister is a Republican House candidate whose campaign focuses on getting away from “status quo politics.” McAllister advocates for stricter border control and consistent immigration policy, as well as for improving education through focusing on students. For criminal justice reform, McAllister proposes policies that protect police officers and American citizens and affording equal treatment in the criminal justice system regardless of race, sexual orientation or religious background.
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PA TREASURER
Joseph Torsella (D)
Torsella served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform from 2011 to 2014. As part of his campaign, Torsella plans to form automatic savings accounts for college or vocational training for every child in Pennsylvania and invest in open data by expanding citizen access to state government information.
Otto Voit (R)
Voit currently holds several board positions, including the vice president of the Muhlenberg School District board of directors and the president of the Pennsylvania Public Education Foundation. Voit’s proposals include a Give it Back program that finds people who have unclaimed property in Pennsylvania and the Having Opportunities to further Pennsylvania Education — HOPE — initiative, a grant and scholarship program to give students financial assistance for Pennsylvania’s public, technical and private schools.
James Babb (L)
Babb has been a self-employed entrepreneur since 1997. As Pennsylvania treasurer, Babb would facilitate returning cash from the treasury “to it’s [sic] rightful owners” and only accepting voluntary contributions to the Pennsylvania treasury.
Kristin Combs (G)
Combs, the Green Party candidate for treasurer, is a teacher living in Philadelphia. Combs’ campaign is based on providing all children with a quality public education. She advocates against the privatization of the American school system.
ATTORNEY GENERAL Josh Shapiro (D)
Shapiro is a former Pennsylvania state representative, having served the 153rd district for seven years. Shapiro plans to address the heroin epidemic by treating addiction as a disease, protect older Pennsylvanians from financial scams and reform the criminal justice system to ensure that prison is not used to hold those suffering with mental illness or addiction. Shapiro is also a pro-choice candidate and has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood.
John Rafferty (R)
Rafferty is currently serving his fourth term as a Pennsylvania senator. As senator, his policies focus on improving the Pennsylvania transportation system and fighting drunk driving and prescription drug abuse. He also sponsored a law to create a new crime category — aggravated arson. In addition, Rafferty sponsored legislation to increase penalties on people who recruit potential gang members.
PA AUDITOR
John Brown (R)
Brown is currently the Northampton County executive. Brown advocates for efficient spending of tax money, without fraudulent or frivolous waste. Brown plans to work with other elected officials to create legislation that will prevent governmental waste and the abuse of tax money. Brown pledges to be “a watchdog, not a lapdog.”
Eugene DePasquale (D, Incumbent)
DePasquale currently serves as Pennsylvania’s 51st auditor general. Prior to serving as auditor general, DePasquale was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. His campaign includes running audits to eliminate wasteful and inefficient spending, advocating to the governor to invest in infrastructure and auditing all of Pennsylvania’s economic development programs to revise and eliminate those that are unsuccessful.
Roy Minet (L)
Minet currently serves on the state and national Libertarian Party platform committees and formerly served as a member of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania board of directors and chaired the marketing and the media relations committees for the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. If elected Pennsylvania auditor general, Minet plans to recommend ways to shrink government and reduce burdens on taxpayers while maintaining proper state functions.
John Sweeney (G)
Sweeney is currently serving in his second term as auditor of Wyoming County. Sweeney is also running for state representative in the 117th district, which includes Wyoming County and parts of Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. Sweeney owns a small painting and wood-finishing business in Wyoming County.
PA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 23 Dan Frankel (D, Incumbent)
Frankel currently serves as the House representative for Pennsylvania’s 23rd district, which includes Oakland, Squirrel Hill and part of Shadyside. Frankel, who was first elected to the House in 1998, advocates for LGBTQ+ equality and against limiting women’s health care options. Frankel is currently the Democratic caucus chair and previously served as the Allegheny County delegation chair. Frankel is racing in an uncontested election this year.
PA STATE SENATE DISTRICT 43
Jay Costa (D, Incumbent)
Costa was first elected to the Pennsylvania Senate in 1996 and has served as Senate Democratic leader since 2010. Throughout his time as senator, he has supported the expansion of CHIP and Medicaid. Costa has also advocated for increased transportation funding and for stronger public safety and security — including maximum penalties for burglary crimes and no penalties for residents who contact emergency services. Costa is racing in an uncontested election this year.
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from the editorial board
Police should be part of communities they protect Communities work best when residents have a vested interest in each others’ happiness and safety. Pittsburghers seemed to recognize that fact in 2013, when 80 percent of residents voted for a referendum to the Home Rule Charter that would require city employees to live within the city limits. A year later, an arbitration panel ruled that city police officers could live within 25 miles of Downtown, a large radius that extends even beyond the Allegheny county limits entirely. But that decision was thrown out in April 2015 by the Commonwealth Court, an appellate court that hears cases involving local governments agencies. Now, the issue is in the news again. Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard arguments from the Fraternal Order of Police and lawyers representing the city on whether the 25mile radius rule should exist. The FOP wants the radius so officers have more freedom to choose their residency, while the city contends that the public referendum should hold. The court should back the will of the people and uphold the referendum. While police officers do a necessary service and are entitled to the same freedoms we all enjoy, there are clear benefits to placing people in the communities they serve and protect. Every other city employee has to meet a residency requirement — the police should be no exception. A key criticism against residency requirements is that it can be difficult to support life in a growing city on a public salary. But other city employees face that same problem, many earning less than the starting officer salary of $40,896. The past several years of heightened criticism against police centers around the perception that officers don’t care
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about the people they are protecting. There’s a lack of trust between community members and officers because there’s little common-ground contact between each side. And since Police Chief Cameron McLay has made community policing a focus, eliminating the residency requirement would be counterproductive to his plans. Most police officers don’t walk beats anymore, they sit in squad cars. There’s very little reason for these officers to interact with the people around them unless they receive a call to do so. Hostile tones, a lack of speedy response, reciprocated biases between authority figures and minority communities — these factors lead to police forces that function as attack dogs rather than guard dogs and citizens who hesitate before calling for help because they don’t know who’s going to arrive. But if the neighborhood cop lives next door, families might feel more comfortable calling her for support — or communicating with her when they’ve run into trouble. Perhaps the biggest problem affecting Pittsburgh’s police department is the lack of diversity. While a residency requirement wouldn’t address this issue specifically, putting people of diverse backgrounds in regular contact with one another is a benefit for everyone involved. The city relies on its police to protect its citizens, and those citizens decided its employees should have a stake in their communities. A 25-mile radius does not fulfill that request. If officers care enough about this city to defend it each and every day, they should be equally willing to be a part of it.
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Culture
See Online Backstage with musician, artist and poet Watsky
Kurlander dreams big for pittsburgh film industry Mackenzie Rodrigues Staff Writer
Carl Kurlander hated growing up in Pittsburgh. “I was a shy, unathletic kid in a sports town whose mother had been divorced and [run] away from home to become an actress when I was 15 or 16,” said Kurlander. The Squirrel Hill native went on to cultivate a successful career in Hollywood — most notably as the writer of the story that would inspire “St. Elmo’s Fire” — but now he’s found himself finishing off his 15th year back in the Steel City. Kurlander, an excitable, quick-talking man who sometimes dons athletic sneakers with his dress clothes, has spent his years in Pittsburgh have since been filled with writing screenplays, teaching at Pitt, producing documentaries and serving as the president
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and CEO of the nonprofit, Steeltown Entertainment Project. This dedication to the city stems from his belief that Pittsburgh has the resources to reinvent itself as a regional leader in the film industry, to rival even Hollywood. When his mother decided to leave to pursue a career as an actress in New York City, she enrolled Kurlander and his brother, Tom, at the Shady Side Academy, where they boarded during the week. Instead of spending weekends with his mother, he was now babysitting for a Pittsburgh family to make ends meet. This family owned the St. Elmo Hotel in Chautauqua, New York, and offered Kurlander a job there as a bellhop. Coming from a sports town, he wanted to move somewhere with a culture much different than Pittsburgh’s. So he left for Durham, North Carolina, to attend Duke University. “I grew up wanting to change the world,”
said Kurlander. He pursued a pre-med major, then switched to pre-law. Eventually, he found himself taking an English course taught by Deborah Pope, a professor emerita of English at Duke University. “I recall him as someone who stood out for his curiosity about writing and life,” said Pope. It was in her class that Kurlander began to see the powerful potential of writing. “I asked [Pope], ‘Is it possible to write a short story so good you could get a girl to fall in love with you?’” asked Kurlander. This inquiry lead to one of his most well-known stories, which became the film “St. Elmo’s Fire.” While working at the St. Elmo Hotel, Kurlander met and became infatuated with Lynn Snyderman, a waitress he met during his sum- Carl Kurlander returned to Pitt 15 years ago, mer job at the hotel. He sent her the story he and is now the CEO of the nonprofit, Steeltown See Kurlander on page 13 Entertainment Project. Anh Vu STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
November 3, 2016
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The Pitt news crossword 11/3/16 pittnews.com
Voters Abroad, pg. 5 Not everyone is so proactive. To help out students who might be confused about voting from overseas, Vanessa Sterling, an associate director at the Pitt Study Abroad office, sent an email from the U.S. Department of State about how to contact home voter registration boards and how to vote abroad at a U.S. consulate or embassy. “The difference this year is that there are far more web-based resources for Americans who are planning to vote from abroad,” Sterling said. Grossman’s biggest concern was not getting the ballot or not mailing it back in time. “What kind of sucked was how hard it was with [the] different mail[ing system] and such,” Grossman said. “But that’s just life, I guess … the mail coming from here is really iffy, so I’m just hoping it gets there.” Miranda Bridgwater, a senior majoring in psychology and sociology, can attest to the legitimacy of Grossman’s concerns. While Bridgwater was studying abroad in Florence, Italy, during the spring 2016 semester, she tried to vote in the Democratic Pennsylvania primaries. “I was really excited to take part in my first presidential election,” Bridgewater said. “I tried to stay updated through social media and my mom, because in Europe, especially in Italy, they don’t care about American elections, because they have their own problems to worry about.” When it came time for Bridgwater to cast her vote, she ran into several problems. She initially received an absentee ballot meant for military personnel. By the time her precinct sent her the right form through the Italian postal service, it was well past the voting deadline. “It’s frustrating because you would think by now, with the number of people who travel abroad every year, they would have a system in place that didn’t rely on mail,” Bridgwater said. There are rare circumstances that allow people to submit a vote through email, fax or online, but registered voters can get a ballot via email that they can mail in by contacting the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Besides unreliable mail service, absentee voters also worry about whether the state will consider their ballot valid and if they will really count it in time for the election. Most states only count absentee ballots the day of the election, and all ballots require a
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signature from the voter for authentication and tamper-free sealing of the envelope. Gayle Rogers, an English professor at Pitt, said he did not have an easy voting experience abroad. Originally from Tupelo, Mississippi, he sent in his ballot from Perth, Australia, where he was studying aboriginal literature at Vanderbilt University. Rodgers wrote a letter to the secretary of state from Mississippi and, two weeks later, received a ballot in the mail. But on Election Day, in one of the most controversial races in recent history — George W. Bush versus Al Gore — he said his ballot probably didn’t count. “Absentee ballots used to be counted only when races were within a margin smaller than the total number of absentee ballots, and Bush won Mississippi by a landslide,” Gayle said. According to a statement on vote.org, it is a common misconception that absentee ballots only count in close races. But since they are still being counted days after the election, a winner is usually announced beforehand, which makes absentee ballots coming from a distance seem, as Gayle said, meaningless. This is an election that could decide if the next president of the United States is the first woman or the first candidate since Reagan to be elected president after a career not primarily in politics — either way, it’s going to be historic. But Bridgwater doesn’t agree that any election is more important than another. Rather, she said, you are using your right to voice your choice — no matter where you are in the world. “When you’re studying abroad, you get so immersed in the culture you’re studying, sometimes you forget where you came from,” Bridgwater said. “Voting in an election is the one thing you can and should do to remember that.”
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Kurlander, pg. 11 wrote, “St. Elmo’s Fire,” about love and growing up. She rejected his affections, but later encouraged him to be a writer. He took the story, folded it up and stuck it in his back pocket. The memory of Snyderman was never far from his mind. He received what he refers to as “a freak scholarship” to intern at Universal Studios after graduating from Duke. Kurlander packed his belongings and ambitions and traveled across the country. Once in Hollywood, he performed every lowly chore associated with being an intern. Joel Schumacher, a director and Kurlander’s boss, eventually gave him the opportunity to pitch one of his own stories. Kurlander dusted off his story for Snyderman. This would be his grand gesture of love. And thus, “St Elmo’s Fire” transformed from a story to a big-screen movie. It starred the group of actors known widely as the Brat Pack, and grossed $6,128,157 on its opening weekend on June 28, 1985. After the success of his first film in 1985, Kurlander wrote for shows such as “Saved by the Bell: The New Class” and “Malibu, CA.” Even though he was making a name for himself and being paid well, he still felt like there had to be more he could be doing with his life. Kurlander donated money to Shady Side Academy in 2000, which led to a chance meeting with David Bartholomae, the then-chair of the English department at Pitt. Together they worked out a way for Kurlander to be a visiting lecturer at the University for a year. He began to direct his firsthand experience and passion toward the students he taught. He and his wife moved to Pittsburgh in 2001. A shocking move that he ended up being interviewed about on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Since then, Kurlander has been raising his now17-year-old daughter, Campbell, and teaching at Pitt. He has found a home in the city he once dreaded living in. “What does Pittsburgh have that Hollywood doesn’t?” asked Kurlander. He saw these opportunities for building Pittsburgh’s film industry and knew he could use them, along with his experience, to help his students succeed. Several of his students have gone on to lead successful careers, such as Jon Hill and Nate Cornett. Hill and Cornett have both worked with the comedy website Funny or Die. One of his students, senior Jesse Irwin, is the son of Kurlander’s muse, Snyderman. Kurlander’s students describe him as a pusher with the best intentions. His passion is evident when he speaks about film culture. He talks as
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quickly as film threads through a movie reel, and gets so excited his words begin to jumble. “He’s very passionate,” Cornett said. “He really knows writing and screenplay.” Cornett, a 2005 Pitt grad, is now a cinematographer based in Los Angeles. His work has been featured on television networks such as the Public Broadcasting Service and Nickelodeon. While he only remembers one class with Kurlander, they spent a lot of time working together. Cornett worked on two of Kurlander’s documentaries, one about high school musicals in the Pittsburgh area and “My Tale of Two Cities,” a film about Kurlander’s return to Pittsburgh and the potential for the city to reinvent itself. His classmate, Hill, also assisted with “My Tale of Two Cities.” “Pittsburgh has the resources to change the world,” Kurlander said. He has demonstrated this through efforts to increase film production in Pittsburgh and to connect with talented youth in the area. The largest piece of evidence regarding his work with the young people of Pittsburgh is the nonprofit he founded, Steeltown Entertainment, with Maxine Lapiduss and the late Ellen Weiss-Kander. Steeltown, which grew out of the student organization Pitt in Hollywood, aims to make Pittsburgh one of the places people reflexively associate with the film industry. It also offers opportunities for Pittsburgh’s young people to be involved in television and film projects such as “The Reel Teens,” a TV show created by the Teen Film Crew. Another similar upcoming initiative is a micro-budget feature film called “The Rehabilitation of The Hill District Housing Projects by Gwendolyn Livingston,” which students will be able to work on during a class at Pitt this spring. “It is so well-run,” said Irwin, who — in a strange twist of fate — considers Kurlander a mentor. Kurlander has a reason for pushing to build the film industry in Pittsburgh. His views aren’t always reciprocated, but according to Irwin, “he comes from a good place.” As part of a class in Pitt’s film studies program, Kurlander and Irwin, along with other students, produced the 2016 Year of the Humanities documentary together. Irwin shares Kurlander’s passion for bringing a stronger media program to the University’s students. After knowing Kurlander for so many years, Irwin has come to one conclusion about Kurlander’s intentions. “It’s complete altruism,” he said. “It’s literally just wanting the best for the people he doesn’t even know yet.” Disclaimer: Jesse Irwin works for The Pitt News.
The Pitt News SuDoku 11/3/16 courtesy of dailysudoku.com
November 3, 2016
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Sports Men’s soccer squashed by Syracuse in season-ending 4-0 loss Alex Butelli
For The Pitt News
Josh Coan attempted Pitt’s only two shots on goal in a 4-0 loss to Syracuse. John Hamilton SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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The Pitt men’s soccer team’s season came to a close Wednesday night with a shutout loss against the No. 5-seeded Syracuse Orange in the ACC Tournament. The Panthers (2-13-3 overall, 0-6-2 ACC) fell to Syracuse (11-3-3 overall, 3-2-3 ACC), 4-0, in the first round of the 2016 ACC Tournament at the SU Soccer Stadium in Syracuse, New York. Despite their No. 5 standing in the conference, the Orange entered the game as the No. 7 team in the country. Meanwhile, Pitt finished last in the ACC and entered the tournament at No.12. Syracuse went to work early on offense, spending much of the first half deep in the Panthers’ territory. Pitt goalkeeper Jacob Rooth made a crucial mistake, losing the ball to Orange forward Chris Nanco in the 11th minute for an easy one-on-one goal. The Orange nearly added another score four minutes later on a cross from midfielder Sergio Camargo, but the strong header went just wide of Pitt’s goal. The Panthers began to control possession as
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the 20th minute approached, but the Orange offense quickly fired back with an unassisted second goal by Nanco. The shot deflected directly into the middle of Pitt’s net. Pitt defender Stephane Pierre attempted the Panthers’ first shot of the match in the 32nd minute but the kick sailed wide left. The Syracuse offense pushed two consecutive threats afterward, with Nanco at the forefront of both failed attempts. The Panthers saw their first real chance in the 34th minute when Orange goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert lobbed a weak kick to the Pitt offense just outside of the box. The Panthers lost the ball shortly after. Syracuse continued its assault on Pitt’s net, putting up four shots in the last five minutes of the half. Orange forward Johannes Pieles created a golden opportunity toward the end of the half, but Rooth made a diving desperation save at the goal line to keep the game within reach. The Orange entered the half in total control, and the game wasn’t nearly as close as the 2-0 score indicated. Nanco and Pieles dominated the first half with a combined seven shots, helping the See Soccer on page 15
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Voter Turnout, pg. 2
Soccer, pg. 14
is that this election has been so heavily influenced by media saturation — which millennials are particularly vulnerable to. Campaigns tend to use social media — like Obama’s use of Snapchat — to consistently get their platforms on young adults’ radars. “In general it got to the point of exhaustion and numbness and that is what the election is turned into,” Ferguson said. “I think it’s more about scandal and just Hollywood TMZ reporting instead of actual policy reporting.” And, he added, millennials aren’t all single-issue voters. “I really haven’t seen either candidate address the gap in wealth, too much how to get lower class people in line with middle class, and get the 1 percent to stop rising so rapidly,” Ferguson said. Gabriel Kaufman, sophomore finance and marketing major, also said social media has overhyped and dramatized the election and wants to see more focus on international issues. “The scandals in this election have distracted away from the Syrian Civil War and Iran deal issue,” Kaufman said. On campus, political groups such as the Political Science Student Association, NextGen Climate and campus Democrats and Republicans, have been pressing their peers to vote for months. Kait Pendrak, president of the PSSA, said the group has tried to draw students’ attention toward the other, less publicized races. The PSSA will host a candidate fair Nov. 6, where local campaigners can plug for their candidates in a last-ditch effort to garner support on Election Day. “It is not just the presidential election, it’s also the Senate election that’s happening in Pennsylvania,” Pendrak said. Shineman said students should plan ahead by making a “voting day plan” — one that includes figuring how to get to and from the polling place and still make it to class, for example. Because Pennsylvania is a swing state, college students in the area could have a big impact in this election. “We really do have a voice in this election and we need to make sure we claim that and actually get out and vote,” Pendrak said. For information on polling places and a run-down about who will be on the ballot this Tuesday, see pages 3, 8 and 9 and visit votespa. com.
Orange outshoot the Panthers, 11-2. After an extended halftime because of a power outage in the stadium, the second half began under heavy rain in New York. Pitt midfielder Luca Mellor created an opportunity in the 60th minute but fired a shot that went just high over the crossbar. In the 63rd minute, Nanco continued to torment the Panthers. He found the ball inside Pitt’s box and dished it to Syracuse midfielder Jonathan Hagman. Hagman gathered the ball and
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immediately fired a shot inside the near post for the Orange’s third goal of the game. Seven minutes later, Syracuse struck again. Orange midfielder Camargo launched a shot off of Pitt’s crossbar in the 70th minute, allowing Hagman to net his second goal off an easy rebound. The Orange jumped to a 4-0 lead before the Panthers even placed a shot on net. Forward Josh Coan placed Pitt’s first shot on goal of the game in the 74th minute, but Hilpert easily collected it. Coan fired a shot on target the next time the Panthers entered the zone, and again, Hilpert made the save. Rooth stopped Nanco’s last chance to earn his
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hat-trick goal in the 81st minute. Neither team found the back of the net again, and the onesided matchup ended in a 4-0 win for Syracuse. The Panthers concluded their first season under new head coach Jay Vidovich in the same place they ended last season — at the bottom of one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. After finishing 5-9-3 overall last year, Pitt’s record dipped to 2-13-3 in 2016, and again the Panthers failed to pick up an ACC win. It’s still unclear whether Vidovich’s hire will pay off for the team in the future, but it’s clear that the program still has a ways to go to compete in such a loaded conference.
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