12-14-15 by The Pitt News

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December 14, 2015

letter From the editor To our readers, It’s finals week, and it feels like the world is ending. I swear it’s not, but check back with me in about five billion years (page 9). Instead of giving you our traditional stories wrapping up the semester, we spared you and went where this paper has never gone before: The Final Frontier. In this 24-page edition, we look at the commercialization of space (page 7), gender issues in astrophysics (page 4) and what it’s like to slam dunk on the moon (page 11). We examined climate change (page 15) — as living in space might soon have to be a viable option — and remembered storied history at the Allegheny Observatory (page 6), as well as Pitt’s interest in space in the ’60s (page 12). We’d never ignore the brightest star at the party, and you’ll find many pieces on Star Wars in the following pages. We reimagine Jedi as athletes (page 16) and argue that the Hollywood of the East could provide a viable set for the franchise — the Force is strong in yinz (page 17). Thanks for reading all semester, and be sure to go online for web exclusives. Now shoot for the stars, and ace those finals. Blasting off again, Danielle Fox Editor-in-Chief

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Table of contents Blasting gender barriers in space

Aliens in film

Light-years of learning

Space exploration race

Our finite universe

Space sports

Pitt in the Space Age

Climate change and national security

“Star Wars” athletes

“Star Wars” in PGH

Mars rover chat

Online

“Return of the Jedi”

Online

New “Star Wars” to unbalance the Force

Online

Pitt “Space Jam”

Online

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Blasting through the glass ceiling: Pitt’s space women Josh Ye

Staff Writer Pitt graduate student Kara Ponder studies exploding stars to find critical distances in the universe, yet some people question why she didn’t pick a more “feminine profession.” Once, when Ponder told a cab driver she was on her way to the observatory to use the telescope, the driver responded, “You seem like a smart girl, why aren’t you a nurse?” “That is what society thinks if you are smart and you are a girl,” Ponder said. “It’s frustrating.” The number of female astronomers at Pitt — both faculty and students — is slight compared to their male counterparts. Women like Vera Rubin, who helped discover invisible dark matter, have made significant contributions to the field, but female students at Pitt said studying high-level physics and math often feels like going where no woman has gone before. “I barely have any girl friends because there are none here, and these [men] are all the people that I see,” Ponder said. “Not having girls around is kind of strange. I wish we could do something more to invite more girls in.” Monica Silny, a freshman astronomy major with muscular dystrophy, said the lack of females in her desired career field makes it difficult to find someone to look up to. Before coming to Pitt her freshmen year, Silny joined the Facebook page for her class. “I looked desperately for women in physics and astronomy, and I found two. There were two girls I know as freshmen that are this major,” Silny said. “I have never seen anybody like myself, especially as a woman who is disabled.” At Pitt, Silny is one of four female astronomy majors out of 21 total astronomy undergraduate students, according to Michele Slogan, administrative assistant to the chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department.

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Based on her experience, Ponder said she is one of two female graduate astronomy students. Of the eight tenure or tenure-stream faculty and six research and assistant research professors, there is only one female in each category. According to a research survey by the American Astronomy Society, the number of female astronomy professors has been increasing but is still not com-

the past, and they are doing very well,” Rao said. “They don’t shy away from being really good at physical science.” Bingjie Wang, a senior physics and philosophy major applying to a theoretical cosmology graduate program, said her interest started with philosophical questions she could only answer through physical research. “Perhaps everyone has wondered

BINGJIE WANG STUDIES PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY AT PITT. PHOTO COURTESY OF BINGJIE WANG AND CAITLYN HUNTER parable to men in the field. As of 2013, about 65 percent of astronomy graduate students and 75 percent of adjunct astronomy professors were male. But for those women who do show an interest, Sandhya Rao, the only female research professor in the Astronomy department, said more and more of them are now in the top bracket of their class. “More girls nowadays find it acceptable to do astronomy than there were in

the origin of us — of the universe — at some point in her life. I just decided to pursue the question a step further,” Wang said. “I think without a concrete grasp of scientific achievement, philosophy alone does not suffice to the understanding of nature.” Rao said it’s not a lack of talent that makes women veer away from math, but a societal misconception that makes them feel inadequate before they even

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try. She’s discovered that while many girls in middle school show strong interest in astronomy, enthusiasm wanes when they get to high school and college. “A lot of girls come to me and say, ‘You know, I really enjoy astronomy, and I am really excited about it, but I don’t think I am good enough,’” Rao said. Outside of the astronomy department, Corinne Hite founded the Space Exploration and Astronomy Club this year as a sophomore environmental geology major with a concentration in planetary science. She said learning about space helps us understand our planet like nothing else can. Parity in space isn’t too many lightyears away. For the first time, NASA selected a class of new astronauts that were equal in gender — four men and four women — in 2013. That same year, 282 NASA astronauts were male and 48 were female, according to the 2013 Astronaut Fact Book. Organizations such as Sally Ride Science — a program created by Sally Ride, the first woman to fly in space — and Steminist — a blog that focuses on women in science, technology, engineering and math — work to encourage and inspire women to pursue science and math educations and careers. Ponder, who has been interested in the universe from a young age, never needed the extra nudge to spark her interest in space. “I watched all the documentaries about stars, planets and galaxies on TV when I was a child,” Ponder said. “What can be more exciting than learning about the world?” To encourage girls to study astronomy, Rao visits middle and high schools to act as a role model. She stresses that, “There is nothing a girl cannot do if she enjoys it and she puts her mind to it.” “I have a daughter who studies physics in CalTech and she said to me, ‘You being my mom, it never occurred to me that I can’t do physics,’” Rao said.

Phoning home: Film aliens depict human history Ian Flanagan Staff Writer

From “Transformers” to “E.T.,” no other media has had a turbulent fascination with aliens as film. The science fiction genre would be moot without consideration of intelligent life somewhere in the infinite reaches of space. Filmmakers’ consideration of aliens and our contact with them has been an American fascination for most of cinema history, growing into a real phenomenon by the middle of the 20th century. The genre is rich with films that use aliens as antagonists to brilliant effect, from horror-crossover classics like “Alien” and “The Thing,” to modern genius strokes like “Edge of Tomorrow.” From Méliès’ wonderful “A Trip to the Moon” in 1902 to the painstaking poetry of “2001: A Space Odyssey” to the numbing but popular clangs of the “Transformers” franchise, our culture has reflected the masses’ captivation with space and the creatures that we imagine inhabit it. The period in which alien movies best reflected America’s collective consciousness was the McCarthy era of the ‘50s, where the first real upsurge of the genre coincided with the paranoia of our anti-communist ideology. Look no further than films as ominously titled as the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956), “It Came from Outer Space” (1953) or the first theatrical adaptation of “The War of the Worlds” (1953). But on the fringes, certain alien-centered films opt not for dread, but wonder — and this is often where our most enduring classics and more intellectual sci-fi thrives. An alien takeover plot is nice if you want to see Will Smith duke a guy in a suit, but where would cinema even be without Kubrick’s ambitiously magnificent “2001” (1968)? The final sequence remains a beautifully ambiguous depiction of meeting

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Emily Hower LAYOUT EDITOR life that has evolved far beyond our own civilization and remains a classic piece of cinema almost 50 years later. The film’s heavy reliance on images over dialogue, and sound in general, leaves most interpretation to the audience — a satisfying departure from the sinister depictions that saturated the genre before it. In the late ‘70s, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) helped bring sci-fi back to mainstream consciousness alongside “Star Wars.” Spielberg’s fondness for sentimentality introduced an endearing depiction of alien visitors — perhaps the only ones to date to communicate with us through musical tones — that followed in many films of the following decades. Five years after “Encounters,” Spielberg returned with “E.T.,” cementing another cultural and critical conception of friendly alien visitors into his sprawling legacy, expanding audiences by bringing aliens into more of a family-oriented realm than the horror/thriller genre. In the 21st century, aliens continue to allure filmgoers with optimism and fear. While the “Transformers” films and certain Marvel adventures both use aliens in almost absurdly spectacular fash-

ion, they feel like cash grabs. In other modern entries that pose the possibility of disagreeable alien encounters with some valuable subtext, the gap between friendly and fearful reactions, and their effectiveness, seems just as polarized as ever. Now a decade old, Spielberg’s massively underrated “The War of the Worlds” reboot (2005), for example, plays heavily on post-9/11 paranoia that stars Tom Cruise in a Yankees hat. The film’s New York setting notably combines a gritty realism with a modern take on H.G. Wells’ universal tale of galactic colonialism and survival. In 2009, “District 9” improved on some of the genre’s tropes by placing humanity at the forefront of darkly political inclinations like segregating aliens into ghettos and lean-to shacks, and unwarranted human authority figures’ hostility toward them. When compared to Michael Bay and others’ casual approach to the genre via crunching metal and bright colors, “District 9” and “The War of the Worlds” prove that great alien films take proper imagination and restraint. Other recent films have had a more cerebral approach to aliens. The more

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implicit films like “Contact’”(1997) and “Interstellar” (2014) have striven for intellectualism about a connection to a more advanced civilization. Though each succeeds to arguable degrees of quality, these and others adhere to the sci-fi blueprint left by Kubrick in what is perhaps his greatest film. Though “Interstellar” implies the possibility of higher intelligence in its final act, it is still involved in a trend in films that demonstrate a fascination with space itself. From Alfonso Cuarón’s technical masterpiece “Gravity” (2014) to Ridley Scott’s entertaining “The Martian” (2015) — both of which have earned sizable box office returns — it seems the race to create the definitive modern space epic is on. The praise for each has hardly been unanimous, leading me to believe that the next classic space-set film is yet to come. Going forward, aliens will no doubt remain part of our shared imagination through film. Our depiction of aliens and our response to them will remain both an intriguing and frustrating reaction to the unknown, perhaps even after we find the real thing — or they find us.

Observatory offers light-years of learning Zoë Hannah Staff Writer

Though it started out as a recreational observatory for the rich men who founded it, the Allegheny Observatory became the home of research that changed the world and our thoughts on what surrounds it. Since 1859, researchers at the regal, tridomed observatory in Riverview Park have made world-renowned scientific advancements. Theories developed within the observatory’s walls about Saturn’s rings and the size of the universe have provided the foundation Pitt students use to further modern scientific understanding. Today, students from professor John Stein’s observational astronomy lab can use any of the observatory’s three instruments, ranging from a humble 13-inch refractor to a humongous 30-inch telescope, for their own astronomical discoveries. “Without the observatory, we wouldn’t have any way to do this class,” Stein said Stein has taught the lab for about 10 years, during which he said significant technological improvements have shifted the curriculum. For example, the newest telescope at the observatory is entirely automated. Stein said he could even access it from his home — with just an Internet connection and a password. “When we first started doing this class, we still had that 13-inch telescope that’s purely manual,” Stein said. That 13-inch refractor, called the FitzClark refractor, is the observatory’s first telescope — it’s been a part of the organization since its inception over 100 years ago. A group of around 30 men who called themselves the Allegheny Telescope Association bought the telescope in 1859 from Henry Fitz, a telescope manufacturer in New York, just to wonder at the stars. They founded the observatory and housed the telescope in a building just a few blocks down the road from Riverview Park, in what is now the Triangle Tech trade school. Around 1895, the group gave the telescope and the observatory building to Western Pennsylvania University — which be-

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Allegheny Observatory offers students a chance to look at the stars. Sydney Harper MULTIMEDIA EDITOR came the University of Pittsburgh. When the observatory moved to Riverview Park in 1912, the telescope went with it. In 1895, 36 years after the observatory opened, scientists proved James Clerk Maxwell’s theory that the rings around Saturn weren’t solid, but were rather a collection of individual particles orbiting the planet together. The telescopes at the observatory are also responsible for “[calibrating] the size-scale of the universe,” according to director Dave Turnshek. The telescope moved to Riverview Park in 1912. In the ’70s, the astronomers in Pittsburgh used a method called trigonometric parallax to collect data with the Fitz-Clark telescope to determine where and how large items in the local universe are. Now, Turnshek said astronomers all over the world use those astronomers’ methods and information. As director, Turnshek has paused astronomical research like the information

discovered using the Fitz-Clark refractor to focus on organizing the observatory’s unpublished archival data. “There’s a lot of value in archival research,” Turnshek said. “Data that somebody doesn’t want to publish ... some other scientist might think, ‘This is extraordinary stuff, it would solve a problem that I’ve been thinking about for some time.’” But that doesn’t mean the high-tech equipment is gathering dust. Pitt students use two of the three telescopes at the observatory on a regular basis to get hands-on experience. Anna Hegedüs, a professional media major, enrolled in Stein’s observational astronomy lab so that she could get hands-on experience with science. “You don’t necessarily have to have an interest in astronomy,” Hegedüs said. “The way that Dr. Stein teaches is very accessible.” Lab classes meet at the observatory for three hours per week to learn about the telescopes and practice using software to analyze

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their data. For her final project Hegedüs is analyzing shadows on the moon. Her goal is to determine why some craters have a large central peak — the bump that forms when an asteroid makes impact with the moon. Though the observatory primarily serves educational purposes, former director from 1898 to 1899 and late Pittsburgh philanthropist John Brashear also requested that it stay open for tours. From March to October, members of the public can book a tour to learn about the observatory’s history and check out the stars through the iconic Fitz-Clark refractor. Urns with the ashes of astronomers Brashear, James Keeler — former director of the observatory and contributor to the research on Saturn’s rings — and their families rest in an ornate crypt beneath the base of the observatory’s first telescope. On the headstone for Brashear and his wife, a metal plaque reads, “We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”

Competition will drive space race Henry Glitz Columnist

One of the worst parts of growing up is realizing that not everyone gets to be an astronaut. But thanks to recent developments in the space tourism industry, we dreamers still might make it to the moon. On Dec. 1, Jeff Bezos, CEO of spaceflight company Blue Origin, announced that his company had launched, reached space with and — most importantly — successfully relanded the “space vehicle” New Shepard in one piece. Private businessmen like Bezos are at the forefront of an emerging space travel industry. In an era where federal funding for space exploration is faltering, a competition-driven conquest of space is the only way we’ll reach the stars any time soon. “Now safely tucked away at our launch site in west Texas is the rarest of beasts — a used rocket,” Bezos declared in a public statement. His optimism about the re-landing — the first of its kind and a vital step in making space travel more efficient and practical — was as remarkable as the re-landing itself. According to him, this is the beginning of “a new golden age of space exploration.” If Bezos is right, this “golden age” looks very different from NASA’s heyday in the ’60s. With NASA’s meager 0.47 percent share of federal funding a mere one-tenth of the 4.4 percent of the budget it received in 1966, a federally led future for space exploration seems stuck on the ground. The competition fueling a renaissance in space travel was almost immediately demonstrated after Bezos’s statement in a response from Elon Musk. Musk is CEO of SpaceX — another space-faring company at “war” with Blue Origin. The businessman, who originally made his fortune as a founder of PayPal, extended tepid congratulations to Bezos and Blue Origin for their achievement. “It is, however, important to clear up the difference between ‘space’ and ‘orbit,’” he pointed out on Twitter. According to Musk’s following tweets, successfully launching an object in space re-

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quires speeds of only around 2,300 miles per hour. The more significant feat of launching an object that can stay in orbit requires far more speed — around 23,000 miles per hour. To Musk, the Blue Origin landing was nothing compared to the task of pulling off “orbital landing,” which his company was taking on. The ability to reuse space vessels that travel at a sub-orbital level, the PayPal co-founder suggested, is more similar to airplanes than it is to space shuttles or satellites. There is some basis for Musk’s perspective. But part of it is grounded in the competition between the two companies. The re-landing puts Blue Origin one step closer to the widely available spaceflight necessary for new markets, including broader-based space tourism, which both companies want to control. In the new Space Race between companies instead of superpowers, the support of the federal government is a valuable asset. When NASA put SpaceX in charge of its manned missions coming up in 2017, it raised the stakes for Musk’s company to lead the charge into outer space. Of course, Musk can’t let the Blue Origin landing outdo SpaceX. On the Tuesday following Blue Origin’s landing, NASA representatives at a media conference relayed the “exciting news” that Musk’s company would be skipping ocean-based landings altogether and moving to an attempt at landing on the ground at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX has been conducting experimental landings for well over a year with the motivation of fulfilling a contractual obligation to a governmental organization. It’s almost certain that the sudden re-prioritizing of the scheduled landing attempts wouldn’t have happened without the unexpected success of Blue Origin’s landing. And the outcome of SpaceX’s attempts will be of considerable interest to taxpayers — they ultimately foot the bill of the company’s $3.4 billion contract with NASA. And although 2013 Pew polls show that NASA holds an exceptionally high approval

rating of 73 percent among the American public, a 2012 General Social Survey poll showed no more than 22 percent in favor of increasing NASA’s budget. Without competition, the current strategy of space exploration by private contract wouldn’t work. This effect isn’t unknown or unacknowledged by NASA, either. Back in 2012, the agency had yet to choose a private endeavor to lead American excursions into space. Instead of selecting only one, NASA distributed almost $270 million in federal funds to four companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin. The reason? According to NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver, “Competition is key.” “We are ushering in a new era that embraces the innovation of the private sector along with the importance of what we do here in the government,” Garver said in a conference call with reporters. Nevertheless, Congress insisted on a choice of only one, and SpaceX clinched the contract due to its relatively low operating costs. Of course, Blue Origin’s landing last month shows that the choice has evidently not ended all competitiveness in the industry. But it’s clearly the Bezos-Musk antagonism rather than NASA’s decision-making that now supplies the greater part of competitive incentive in the development of space travel. Blue Origin’s successful landing and SpaceX’s reaction to it justify putting faith in private competition in the space race today. Both also point to a rapidly expanding future for human travel in space. The more these two companies and their competitors push each other, the more rapid and the more significant human expansion into space will be. The pettiness of the free market may not be the most ideal pathway to the stars. But if we want to turn childhood fantasies into reality, it’s indispensable. Henry primarily writes on government and domestic policy for The Pitt News. Write Henry at hgg7@pitt.edu.

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December 14, 2015

Universal doom should unite, not divide us Stephen Caruso Senior Columnist

It looks like my favorite image was captured by a novice who forgot to take the lens cap off. It is but three grainy streaks of light, cutting across a black background. Hanging within the beam farthest to the right is a small but distinct speck, barely the size of a pixel. To quote astronomer Carl Sagan, “That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.” That pale blue dot is Earth from 3.7 billion miles away. In an era that seems to drive people farther and farther apart, the simple lesson of human fragility this picture provides is key. That tiny pinprick of light is everything we have ever known, and unless we put aside our differences, we won’t learn anything else about our great big universe. Between partisan elections, xenophobic fear mongers, religious extremists and jerks with Twitter accounts, the world has never seemed so divided. But the fact is, cosmically, our home is tiny and insignificant, and the universe could snuff it out at any time, in many ways. And in death, we are one. If a meteor, comet or gamma ray burst just so happens to aim itself at our tiny mote of dust, no artificial human boundaries will condemn or spare any of us to life or death. It will just be the end of 300,000 years of evolution for our species. And that’s not even mentioning internal issues that could doom the planet, like climate change. The threats from space don’t even have to be so existential. According to astronomers at the University of Colorado, in 2012, a massive solar flare — a large burst of radiation from a star —was but a cosmic stone’s throw away from hitting the Earth. The flare would have overloaded most of the planet’s electronics. That wouldn’t spell the doom of our species, but it would mean the end of life as we know it.

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Zooming ahead about five billion years, the Earth itself will be destroyed anyway, when the sun balloons — part of its natural evolution as a star — until it envelops all of the inner solar system, including Earth. Our imminent demise shouldn’t scare us,

When you really think about what our species has accomplished, it’s pretty outstanding. In roughly 8,000 years — .0002 percent of the Earth’s existence — we have spread our progeny to every climate and continent, constructed societies and civilizations, learned the

Stephen Caruso SENIOR COLUMNIST though. Humanity’s greatest ability as a species is to laugh in the face of danger, to look at long odds and say, “We still have a shot.” Our heroes of science, sports, war and peace all have that trait in common.

secrets of the natural world and bent them to our advantage. But, as Voltaire and Stan Lee said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” When global temperatures are rising and people are

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still going hungry, it’s hard to say we have conquered want or mastered nature. Just try to imagine a theoretical setting, some hundreds of years in the future. Earth’s climate is stable, we’ve moved past scarcity, and the first spaceship to Alpha Centauri is set to launch. But at this seeming apogee of human accomplishment, a comet comes in and smashes our achievements to dust. There would be something noble in that end. It would be like a cosmic Sisyphus. Statistical probability says that intelligent life exists somewhere else in this universe. Scientists agree that habitable planets are rare. But according to a study conducted by the California Institute of Technology, the universe contains about one septillion planets. That’s a one followed by 24 zeroes. So just as our attempt to expand past our small homeworld fails, a new species with its own potential is sure to pop up and roll the boulder of civilization back up the hill of existence. But if we just kill ourselves off because of two theoretical stubborn ideologues with nuclear weapons or an inability to stop pumping carbon into the atmosphere, then there wouldn’t be much to be proud of. No ideology is worth ending the world over — real change comes from us banding together in our common frailty. It’s not going to happen quickly or easily, but there is always a better alternative. As soon as we stop believing in a better alternative, we might as well throw away the last 8,000 years of progress. Let the only thing matching our planet’s fragility be the heights of our ambition. Then, maybe one day, we won’t need a camera to see the pale blue dot ourselves. Stephen Caruso is a senior columnist at The Pitt News. He mainly writes on economic and social issues. He is also the production manager. Email Stephen at stephencaruso23@gmail. com.

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December 14, 2015

Q&A

sports in space: An expert’s thoughts

Ted Zhang

For The Pitt News What’s the best planet in space to dunk a basketball? What about throwing a javelin? With a background as an experimental particle physicist, a large part of Tae Min Hong’s job description is theorizing about physics in space — but he can also use that knowledge to speculate about zero-gravity athletics. The Pitt News talked to Dr. Hong, an avid sports fan and assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh, to try and answer questions about how athletics would work in the great unknown. Hong mused about “solar sailing,” Olympic athletes racing on the moon and

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other nuances of sports in the final frontier. The Pitt News: Would injuries heal faster in space? Tae Min Hong: If the injured athlete is traveling close to the speed of light, then it’d appear slower to the stationary doctor. The phenomenon of the athlete’s clock seemingly ticking slower is described by Einstein’s theory of special relativity. This theory allows amounts of space and time to convert to the other depending on the speed of the moving system. Unfortunately, the athlete’s clock doesn’t slow down in his or her own frame of reference. Let’s suppose that no one is moving that fast. Then I presume that if the injury is a cut, then bacteria growth shouldn’t be affected very much by the weaker gravitational field. But blood flow is easier, so I presume that the affected area is treated faster. TPN: How does outer space affect ath-

letes’ stamina? TMH: I would be tired from driving the spaceship. It’s a long trip. Let’s consider a floating training center high in altitude. Then endurance athletes like a marathon runner could train in an environment with thinner air. But it wouldn’t be in space or even close to it, since at some point, even fighter pilots wear oxygen masks. Oxygen is less abundant at higher altitude. TPN: Would someone be able to run faster on the moon? TMH: Is this like “me on the moon” versus “Usain Bolt on Earth?” I’ll have on all this gear, so I’m going with Bolt in any scenario. Naively, you might expect that the gravitational fields being weaker helps you. But if you had no gear on, your body wouldn’t survive, so are we considering a fantasy scenario? With a very weak gravitational field, the

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sport of running would have to change because after the initial push off there would be nothing to pull the athlete back down. So the new sport would be called “push off,” and whoever can do this best would win. Think of astronauts in zero-gravity environments and swimmers pushing off the wall when changing directions. TPN: What, if anything, would be a driving point to send athletes into space? TMH: Science awareness and raising money. I bet Shaq would do it. Almost all sports people play rely on the ability of the athlete to move precisely or react quickly. The lack of a gravitational field would take away the person’s normal sense of knowing which way is “up,” so the athlete’s sense of orientation would be confused. Space would be difficult, but what about a different planet with a slightly higher See Q&A on page 19

hen Murray “Buzz” Susser enrolled in Pitt’s School of Medicine in 1962, he hoped to someday be the first doctor on the moon. An Air Force Reserve captain and former National Guard pilot, Susser wanted to trade jets for spaceships as a medical astronaut on Project Apollo. He was ready for the gig too — Susser took polygraph tests to see how he responded to stress and learned about a device that supposedly could detect alien life. But there was one problem. “My wife wasn’t really keen on my being an astronaut,” Susser said. After he asked his wife what she thought about his ideas, she quipped, “You don’t love me.” Susser, who now has his own practice specializing in alternative medicine, wasn’t the only one at Pitt with a penchant for the cosmos. After President John F. Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech in 1962, Pitt launched into the Space Age — proposing a full-blown space research center, researching lunar samples and even hosting James Webb, the administrator of NASA, to speak to Pitt students at 1963’s commencement ceremony. We talked to Zach Brodt, an archivist at Pitt’s Archives Service Center to get the highlights from space-related happenings at Pitt in the ’60s.

Pitt in the

Space Age

andwiched between the “We choose to go to the moon” speech and the Cuban Missile Crisis, there’s little record of JFK’s visit to Pitt in October 1962. Even though he didn’t mention NASA’s space program — instead, the stop was part of a campaign for the Pennsylvania Democrats — the Fitzgerald Field House was packed with hundreds of people. According to Matthew Nesvisky, The Pitt News editor-in-chief at the time, even the basement overflowed with people who could hear JFK talk, but could not see him. “But then to the delight of the basement people, after his speech JFK came down and greeted the subterranean crowd,” he said. “I remember thinking that his hair looked the color of peanut brittle and probably — to my regret — used that in an article.”

uring his eighth summer in South America, Pitt geology professor William Cassidy dug up an 18-ton meteorite — making it the sixth largest recorded by 1969. Found at Campo del Cielo, Argentina, Cassidy’s finding outweighed the 4.5-ton “El Toba,” the largest meteorite found by the area’s early settlers. Cassidy told the Alumni Times, “I had thought at the time it would be strictly a one-summer project, but when we got there we found three new craters and discovered that in some areas we couldn’t search for more than a few seconds with the surplus Army mine detectors without finding a new meteorite.”

fter the Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft gave us our first glimpse of the moon in 1966, NASA shipped out the photographs it gathered to scientists around the country, hoping to point out spots where the Apollo missions could land. Nasa selected Pitt geology and planetary science professor Bruce Hapke to analyze the pictures, and was later one of about 100 chosen to study the lunar samples brought back by Apollo 11. His work sought to answer why the moon is so dark, analyze the effect of solar wind on lunar soil and understand the effects of weightlessness on the body. Still at Pitt, Hapke is recognized as a critical figure in space research — he even has a mineral named after him, Hapkeite.

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Photos courtesy of Historic Pittsburgh 13

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December 14, 2015

DON’T LET FEAR UNDERMINE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS Nick Voutsinos

Assistant Opinions Editor ISIS achieved one of its primary goals this year: successfully becoming the world’s primary security concern. Here in the states, 70 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Republicans view ISIS as “the number one threat to American interests,” according to the Brookings Institute. But it seems fear has gotten the best of us — because ISIS isn’t the world’s most threatening force, as it would like you to believe. The terrorist organization isn’t causing land masses to disappear, and it isn’t threatening the food supply for billions of people — that’s climate change. World leaders are currently fighting climate

change — they outlined key strategies and policies to do so last week at the U.N. climate summit in Paris. However, headlines of terrorism and “Islamic extremism” clouded the news of the historic event, causing Americans to wonder why we should even care about climate change in the first place.

continue to rise at twice the average speed they were during the first half of the 20th century. We can directly see the consequences of rising sea levels in the Marshall Islands, which is home to about 50,000 people. The ocean is slowly swallowing up the nation of about 1,500 islands, causing the residents to lose their freshwater sources and crops. In fact, if sea levels continue to rise at their current rates, scientists predict that the Marshall Islands will be uninhabitable in less than 30 years, according to The Guardian. The loss of the Marshall Islands will cause mass migrations of their people, changing our focus from Syrian refugees to climate refugees. The Marshallese won’t be the only people escaping the climate threat — in Bangladesh, for instance, up to 17 percent of the land may be flooded by 2050, displacing another 18 million people, ac-

Whether you believe it is manmade or not, climate change is vastly increasing temperatures

See Voutsinos on page 20

Illustration by Danah Bialoruski

The Pitt news crossword 12/14/15

Whether you believe it is man-made or not, climate change is vastly increasing temperatures, which is why the polar ice caps have melted by over 20 percent since 1979. And the relatively quick melting of the ice caps is why sea levels

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December 14, 2015

VADER COULD BE NEXT GRONKOWSKI IN NFL Dan Sostek Sports Editor

In a universe of planets covered with lava, multilingual robots and telekinetic powers, there is one front where the Star Wars films leaves us wanting: athletics. Numerous characters from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away were lightyears from other callings and missed many opportunities to be modern-day sports stars. Here is a sampling of some of their potential professions. DARTH VADER: NFL Tight End The big baddie of the Galactic Empire has the prototypical build of an NFL tight end. With his exceptional height and lengthy arms, Vader fits the mold of a perfect red zone target. He wouldn’t be the fastest tight end in the league — his robotic legs have never shown the capacity for great straightline sprints — but he would easily make up for that with his mechanical strength. No linebacker or defensive back would be able to stop him at the line of scrim-

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mage. We’ve also seen tight ends with robotic-looking contraptions thrive in the NFL — see the Patriots’ All-Pro Rob Gronkowski. YODA: Horse Racing Jockey Yoda’s size lends itself very well to horse racing — the miniscule green creature’s weight would hardly register on his steed’s back. He’s also been a human jockey before, riding on the back of his trainee Luke Skywalker through the wet and muddy terrain of Dagobah. Yoda sports the intellect and strategic mind necessary to win races. He is patient and well aware that the first quarter of the race is by no means the most important. With his mindfulness and unity with the force, he’ll indubitably form a symbiotic rela-

tionship with his horse.

tough. The only thing that has ever sidelined him was a Sarlacc. HAN SOLO: NASCAR Driver Back in his day, Han Solo was known as the best pilot in the galaxy. If he was able to pilot the much more complex and clunky Millennium Falcon, a stock car would be an

Illustration by Terry Tan

BOBA FETT: NBA Small Forward Granted, this idea is somewhat reliant on something that the NBA would never permit: Boba’s jetpack. But we never really see Boba without it, so I think the NBA could make an exception for the bounty hunter. With the jetpack, Boba would be an unstoppable slashing force — no player in the league could stop his penetration into the paint. Even without it, Boba is a ruthless mercenary. He would be tenacious on defense and

December 14, 2015

easy transition for the smooth-talking scoundrel . Solo is a risk-taker, but based on the skills he displayed navigating through an asteroid field while pursued by TIE fighters, he would likely be able to avoid the pitfalls of dangerous collisions, leaving the other drivers in his dust. JABBA THE HUTT: NHL Goalie I’ve always wondered why hockey teams don’t sign people who are larger See Vader on page 19

THE CASE TO LAND STAR WARS IN PITTSBURGH

An imagining of a “Star Wars” universe in Pittsburgh Illustration by Nikki Moriello

Nick Mullen Staff Writer

Who says Tatooine has to stay in a galaxy far, far away? With the resurgence of the “Star Wars” franchise coinciding with Pittsburgh’s erupting big-ticket film scene, Steeltown seems as poised as any other American city to host the Millennium Falcon. From the plethora of abandoned industrial relics to the long, winding rivers, Pittsburgh has a lot to offer the thrilling galactic series, if only for exterior clips. The forsaken industrial structures that sit abandoned alongside the Monongahela River could provide plenty of harsh and rugged scenery. Past American set locations have included Oregon and California woods, while much of the original trilogy’s production took place in London studios. With modern-day C.G.I. capabilities, though, producers could reimagine the Rust Belt’s industrial ruins as an intergalactic space pub or vessel. Kathleen Murray, a member of Pitt’s film and English departments, said Pittsburgh could be a habitable environment

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for the franchise, even if that means hiding the iconic bridges and architecture. “It would be especially important not to be identifiable specifically, as that would ruin the magic, so all the marvelous iconic buildings and bridges couldn’t really be used,” Murray said. “But the industrial detritus is so evocative without being too site specific, especially abandoned works outside of town.” Industrial relics like the Carrie Furnace in Braddock feature abandoned steel furnaces, warehouses and factories where filmmakers could shoot gritty and rugged settings, like Anakin’s junkyard abode in “The Phantom Menace” or Yoda’s bungalow shack in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Will Zavala, an associate professor with Pittsburgh Filmmakers, said Pittsburgh could offer more than just abandoned warehouses and steel mills. “[‘Star Wars’] is a mix between sleek high-tech and barren early industry,” Zavala said. “There’s places like 31st Street Studios in the Strip District, which used to be a steel mill. That’s the kind of space that special effects-heavy productions See Star Wars on page 21

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December 14, 2015

Vader, pg. 16

Q&A, pg. 11

than the net to play goaltender, as this makes it essentially impossible for a player to score. With his slimy and tremendous girth, Jabba would provide an impenetrable wall against potential goal scorers, who would break their sticks in frustration after their 10th slap shot plops in front of Jabba’s belly. Also, without any legs, Jabba would be a great skater — his worm-like shape would glide across the ice. CHEWBACCA: MLB Reliever The top MLB relief pitchers in the game rely on power and intimidation. Han Solo’s Wookiee sidekick Chewbacca would more than strike fear into the minds of opposing batters — his furry body and fearsome battle cry would give him a more ferocious presence on the mound than even Brian Wilson or Craig Kimbrel could match. He definitely has the precision necessary to pepper the strike zone — his crossbow skills prove his hand-eye coordination is elite. And with his 7-foot-5-inch frame, he’ll also be able to provide the velocity a late-inning pitcher needs.

gravitational field? Then it could prepare an athlete who wants to jump higher, for instance. It would be similar to jumping while wearing a weight vest. TPN: What planet would be easiest to dunk a basketball? TMH: Pluto. For the planet deniers, my reply is tongue-in-cheek because Pluto got demoted in the past decade. It is no longer considered a proper planet but a “dwarf ” planet. In any case, it is the smallest planet with the least mass in our solar system. In combination with its physical size, its gravity on the surface would be the least. TPN: What sport[s] would you make up in space? TMH: Solar sailing. Light from the sun imparts a small bit of momentum on the surface of the object it strikes. Since there are no external forces acting on the solar sail, the tiny bit of momentum transfer would cause it to move. It would be similar to the sport of curling, in that the sails move very slowly. But the solar sailor can be good at redirecting sunlight to move faster.

Black hole ball. The winner would be whoever throws a ball closest to a black hole that does not get sucked in. If you throw a ball and it does not come back out, you lose. Black holes exist — there are photos of them by NASA online — and exist in many sizes. So there could be different weight classes of black hole ball. Its weight could as big as 10 billion solar masses. TPN: What sport would you want to play in space? TMH: Water polo. The players would have to wear scuba gear in an enclosed aquarium. Javelin throw. Since gravity is weaker, it’d fly further. It’s fun to throw things far. TPN: How would you throw a curveball in space? TMH: Normally, a curveball is thrown with a lot of rotation while it is moving toward the plate. The curveball generates a difference in pressure zones on each side of the ball with respect to the plane defined by the ball direction and the axis of rotation. This difference causes a net force in the direction of the weaker zone. In space, the lack of an atmosphere would make this dif-

ference moot. So no curveball. In a fantasy scenario, I would put a piece of really heavy dark matter in the path of the ball. Astrophysicists have observed that a lot of dark matter permeates the universe and imparts gravitational attraction on them, but it is “dark” because we can not see it visually. Particle physicists think it might be as small as an electron. If it happens to be heavy, I can use it for baseball without anyone seeing it.

see online for A talk with the leader of the mars rover and how pat narduzzi is like michael jordan

The Pitt News SuDoku 12/14/15 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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December 14, 2015

Voutsinos, pg. 15 cording to The New York Times. This all goes without mentioning our own at-risk coastal communities, which house about 20 million Americans. As land continues to disappear, the population will continue to grow, expanding from about 7 billion today to 9.5 billion by 2050, according to U.N. predictions. Population growth alone will create larger demand for agriculture, increasing the price

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of food as a result. And climate change will greatly exacerbate this demand — droughts and floods will make irrigation extremely difficult, ruining arable land and decreasing crop yields. The world’s wheat yield, for instance, could decrease by 20 percent by 2050, according to Scientific American. Fisheries will not be able to alleviate this pressure on agriculture, as climate change creates separate problems for them. According to National Geographic, “The oceans currently absorb about a third of human-created [carbon dioxide] emissions,

roughly 22 million tons a day.” This greatly affects the marine food chain, as it results in the poisoning of the food sources — like algae and pteropods — that the fish we eat rely on. So we are talking about massive human migrations occurring during a time of unprecedented food insecurity — all caused by rising temperatures and carbon dioxide emissions. Nonetheless, the fear of terrorism veils the seriousness of this threat — only 48 percent of Americans view climate change as a

December 14, 2015

major threat, according to the Pew Research Center. No doubt this is a result of politicians and pundits setting terrorism at the top of the fear scale, skipping over climate change all together. In fact, many heavily criticized President Barack Obama for not having his security priorities straight when he attended the recent U.N. climate summit in Paris. Fox News’ Eric Bolling, for instance, said on his show, “I don’t see Christians, I don’t see Jews blowing people up and beheading people on the basis of climate change. I’m seeing radical jihadists doing it.” This is the problem. Many Americans, like Bolling, only see the threats that are the most obvious, the ones that are occurring right in their faces — making it difficult for them to see the threats building up behind them. Fear of terrorism will only divert efforts in combating climate change. Of course, scientists expect that the deals made at the recent climate summit will help to undermine the momentum of climate change. The Climate Action Tracker predicts that, if countries follow up on the deals, temperatures will rise 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100, rather than 4.5 degrees, if they were not to follow up. But this will require the United States — the world’s second largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions — to get a grip. Paranoia and fear of terrorism are diverting the necessary motivation needed for Americans to combat climate change. Yes, terrorist groups like ISIS are a threat, but climate change is a larger one — you have a much greater chance of being affected by environmental changes than terrorism. But until the culture of fear around extremism changes, many Americans will continue to underestimate the threat of climate change — resulting in a lack of effort from our politicians to pass the necessary protections outlined in the climate summit. Perhaps it’s time we started calling mother nature a “radical extremist” — maybe then Americans will see climate change as the threat it really is. Nick is the assistant opinions editor and primarily writes on American and international politics. Write to Nick at njv10@pitt.edu.

Star Wars, pg. 17 really like.” Thanks to green screens and C.G.I., film and editing crews can shoot wherever they like, Zavala said, and then edit the shots to show what they need. “Add a little here, subtract there, that’s how [movies like ‘Star Wars’] approach filmmaking,” Zavala said. “They shoot, grab the stuff they like and subtract out the rest.” Zavala also said he was not concerned “Star Wars” would be too big a production for Pittsburgh. “Pittsburgh has proven itself with the ‘Dark Knight’ production,” Zavala said. While Pittsburgh may not offer the desert wastelands appropriate for major scenic locations like Tatooine or Hoth, Murray said the city could host smaller scenes. “Realistically, I don’t think it would be possible to shoot an entire film on the scale of ‘Star Wars’ in Pittsburgh. We simply do not yet have the resources to support a production of that scope,” Murray said. “However, ‘Star Wars’ in particular always uses a lot of locations, and there is no reason on earth that Pittsburgh couldn’t be one.” “Star Wars” would be the biggest franchise to choose Pittsburgh as a filming location, but it would join a long list of feature films shot in the area, including “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Adventureland.” Lisa Smith-Reed, assistant director of the Pittsburgh Film Office — a nonprofit economic development agency that works to promote Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania to the film industry — said filming in the area has had an economic impact of over $1 billion since the agency’s founding in 1994. “Film industry projects in southwestern Pennsylvania have created thousands of middle-class, sustainable jobs and countless opportunities for local businesses and film crews,” Smith-Reed said. “More than 135 feature films and TV productions have been shot in the southwestern Pennsylvania region.” Will Zavala added that film crews

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usually film for about six to eight weeks, which is enough time to do some serious spending. “There’s a great demand for lodging, food, supplies, transportation,” Zavala said. “Usually since there’s so many people, it’s cheaper for [film crews] to just go out and buy something than to make it or shop around.” While the Pittsburgh Film Office works to attract projects to the region by offering a 25 percent tax break for projects spending at least 60 percent of their production

budget in-state, the looming state budget problem may undo some of that work. Despite the political barriers, though, to Murray, Pittsburgh offers a habitable environment for production teams, actors and crewmembers alike. “Each film that gets shot in Pittsburgh expands the possibilities for the next film,” Murray said. “Rent is a lot cheaper here, as is talent. It also becomes a wonderful opportunity for folks starting out the be involved in a way that might not be possible in LA.”

December 14, 2015

I Rentals & Sublet N D E X -NORTH OAKLAND -SOUTH OAKLAND -SHADYSIDE -SQUIRREL HILL -SOUTHSIDE -NORTHSIDE -BLOOMFIELD -ROOMMATES -OTHER

3 & 4 bedroom apartments. Available immediately. Newly remodeled. Air conditioning. Bigelow Blvd., N. Neville St. Call 412-287-5712 August 2016. Furnished 5 bedroom house in North Oakland. Remodeled. Close walk to University of Pittsburgh, Shuttle. Utilities included. AC/washer/dryer. Contact: rentalschool22@gmail.com, 412-953-8820. Furnished bedroom available. Walk to Pitt. Available immediately. $500/mo. All utilities included. rentalschool22@gmail.com. 412-953-8820. Newly renovated 5 BR, 2-1/2 bath house located next to Dental School. Wall-towall carpeting, fully furnished. Utilities included, laundry available. Available now and also August 1, 2016. Call 412656-5693 **AUGUST 2016: Furnished Studio, 1-2-3-4 Bedroom Apts. No pets. Non-smokers preferred. 412-621-0457

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1-2-3-4-5 Bedroom Houses & Apartments. 376 Meyran, 343 McKee, & Atwood, St. James, Bates St. $1,095-$2,000. Call 412-969-2790

1,2,3,5,6,7, & 8 bedroom houses. August & May 2016. Bouquet, Atwood, Meyran, Ward. Call 412-287-5712.

2 & 3 bedroom houses, Lawn & Ophelia. Available Now. Please call 412287-5712.

2-3-4 bedroom South Oakland apartments for rent. For more information or to schedule a viewing, please call 412-849-8694.

2-3-4-5-6-7 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2016. Nice, clean, free laundry, includes exterior maintenance, new appliances, spacious, located on Meyran, Semple, Wellsford, Dawson, Juliet. 412-414-9629. 3444 WARD ST. Studio, 1-2-3 BR apartments available Aug. 1, 2016. Free parking, free heating. 320 S. BOUQUET 2BR, great location, move in May 1, 2016. 416 OAKLAND AVE. - 2BR, hardwood floors. Move in May 1 or Aug. 1, 2016. Call 412-361-2695. No evening calls please.

Services

-EDUCATIONAL -TRAVEL -HEALTH -PARKING -INSURANCE

3BR apartment available for Spring semester. Central air, dishwasher, great location and discounted price. 412-915-0856 4 BR townhouse, Semple St., available May 1st & August 1st, 2016. Equipped kitchen, full basement. 412-343-4289. Call after 5:00 pm. 6, 7, or 8-bedroom house. Washer & dryer available. NO PETS. Available August 1, 2016. One year lease. Meyran Ave. 5 minute walk to University of Pittsburgh. 412-983-5222. Apartments for rent beginning August 2016. A/C, dishwasher, washer/dryer. 412-915-0856 Available August!! 430 Atwood –1&2 BR 3408 Parkview – 0,1, 2 BR $555-895! Great Prices! 412-455-5600 Come See Before Break! Brand new, completely renovated 5 BR, 2 full bath house. All appliances including washer and dryer are brand new and included. Too many features to list. Close to Magee Women’s Hospital. On Pitt shuttle and PAT bus lines. 10 minute walk to Univ. of Pittsburgh. $2500/mo. 412-983-0400

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Clean, Newly Remodeled Houses and Apartments. 1-9 Bedrooms. Call 412-680-4244 or email s.cusick@comcast.net www.superiorpropertiesgroup.com. House for RentJuliet Street. Available January 2016. Big 3-bedroom, 2story house 1.5 bath, fully-equipped eatin kitchen/appliances/new refrigerator, living, dining room, 2 porches, full basement, laundry/ storage, parking on premises, super clean, move-in condition. Near universities/hospitals/bus. $1700+. 412-337-3151

John CR Kelly Realty has 1-2-3-4 bedroom studio apartments available for rent for Fall 2016. Call 412683-7300 to make an appointment today!

Large 1-2-3 BR apartments available August 1st. 3450 Ward Street. 312 and 314 South Bouquet Street. Free parking. Minutes to campus. Cat friendly. Call 412977-0111. Looking for male sublet for spring semester. 367 Atwood St. Apt 1. $600/month. Washer/Dryer. Parking spot available. Clean and quiet roommate. Please call Patrick at 412-780-6777.

R INSERTIONS 1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X ADDITIONAL A 1-15 WORDS $6.30 $11.90 $17.30 $22.00 $27.00 $30.20 $5.00 T 16-30 WORDS $7.50 $14.20 $20.00 $25.00 $29.10 $32.30 $5.40 E S DEADLINE: TWO BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR BY 3 PM | EMAIL: ADVERTISING@PITTNEWS.COM | PHONE: 412.648.7978 (EACH ADDITIONAL WORD: $0.10)

M.J. Kelly Realty Studio, 1, 2, 3, & 4 Bedroom Apartments, Duplexes, Houses. $750-$2400. mjkellyrealty@gmail.com. 412-271-5550, mjkellyrealty.com Nice 6BR house available Aug. 1, 2016. Laundry on site. To make an appointment call 412-812-9382. Renovated Large Three Bedroom Townhome for Rent. Available January 2016. The kitchen features frost free refrigerator with automatic ice maker, fullsize range, self-cleaning oven, dishwasher, garbage disposal and microwave. The bath has been completely updated. All floor coverings and window treatments are brand new. Your own washer and dryer are included. On University of Pittsburgh shuttle and PAT bus lines. Two blocks to Magee Women’s Hospital. $1,275/mo, contact 724-422-2250. Various 1-2-6 BR houses and apartments for rent. Right on Pitt shuttle line. $425/person. Available August 1, 2016. TMK Properties. Deal directly with the owner. Call Tim 412-491-1330.

December 14, 2015

Various 1-bedroom apartments on Meyran, Pier & Ward Streets. Starting from $675-$795. Available August 2016. Call John CR Kelly Realty. 412-682-7300

Various 2-bedroom apartments on Meyran, Halket, Fifth, Ward & Bates Streets. Starting from $995-$1,675. Available in August 2016. Call John CR Kelly Realty. 412-683-7300. Various 3&4 bedroom apartments on Bates, Atwood, Semple & Meyran Streets. Starting from $1,675- $2,600. Now renting for Fall 2016. Call John CR Kelly Realty. 412-683-7300. 2 BR apartment, newly painted, hardwood floors, appliances. Rent includes all utilities. $750/mo. 412-4987355

4 BR single house for rent, Greenfield Ave. Newly renovated, 2 full baths, updated fully equipped kitchen, central air, free washer/dryer. Available 1/1/16. $1600+ utilities. 412-600-6933 3 & 5 bedroom. May 2016. Sarah St. Large bedroom, new kitchen, air conditioning, washer & dryer, dishwasher, large deck. 412-287-5712.

ATTENTION OCCASIONAL SMOKERS! UPMC seeks healthy adults ages 18-65 who occasionally smoke cigarettes. This research is examining how smokers respond to cigarettes that are low in nicotine. There are up to seven sessions lasting about three hours each. Research participants completing the study will be compensated up to $60 per session, or $20 per hour. For more information, call 412-246-5393 or visit www.SmokingStudies.pitt.edu SMOKERS NEEDED! Researchers at UPMC are looking to enroll healthy adult cigarette smokers ages 18-65. This research is examining the influence of brief uses of FDA-approved nicotine patch or nicotine nasal spray on mood and behavior. The study involves a brief physical exam and five sessions lasting two hours each. Eligible participants who complete all sessions will receive up to $250, or $20 per hour. This is NOT a treatment study. For more information, call 412-2465396 or visit www.SmokingStudies.pitt.edu

SEASONAL MARKETING ASSISTANT Shadyside property management firm established in 1960 neeeds two Seasonal Marketing Assistants to work with Word, internet, & spreadsheet files from approximately December 15th to July 15th, four days/week from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Saturday and/or Sunday hours a must; some flexibility on days and hours will be considered; most hours will be solitary on the computer with no phone work; 40 WPM and strong computer skills required; no experience needed & we will train you at our Shadyside office; free parking. $12/hour plus generous season end bonus. MOZART MANAGEMENT www.mozartrents .com 412-682-7003

Digital Marketing and Design Intern Walnut Capital Management is looking for marketing/design interns for the upcoming season. Duties include but not limited to; maintaining social media outlets, social media market research, creating promotional items for company, assisting marketing team with daily tasks, general clerical work. This is a paid internship; applicants must be open to some weekend hrs. Apply via azeremenko@walcap.com OFFFICE INTERN Shadyside Management Company seeks person w/ min 3 yrs. college, for upcoming spring semester, to interview & process rental applications, do internet postings & help staff our action-central office. Part time or full time OK starting January 2; full time in summer. $12/hour. Perfect job for graduating seniors set to enter grad school, returning grad students, and first-year law students! Mozart Management 412.682.7003. thane@mozartrents.com Accounting Intern

Walnut Capital Management is looking for accounting intern for spring/summer season to assist our accounting department and payroll processing team; data entry, accounts receivable/ payable, inventory tracking, general clerical work. This is a paid internship Apply via azeremenko@walcap.com

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ASST. SWIM TEAM COACH FOR TIDAL WAVE SWIM TEAM. The team is a small, parent-run, non-profit swim club serving Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park and surrounding communities. Our swimmers enjoy the positive benefits of a small club including less crowded lanes during practices, committed coaches who are readily accessible and know their swimmers, and a positive social environment which stresses teamwork. We compete in Allegheny Mountain swimming sponsored events. Our team supports swimmers aged 5-18 and has included both nationally ranked swimmers to novice swim team athletes ready for a greater challenge in a fun environment. Please submit resume to Ari Sobel at ams38@cornell.edu or call 412-4008637 with any questions.

College or graduate school students needed to work with elementary school children in a fun, structured after school program in the South Hills. $11-$13 per hour, flexible hours, must have own transportation. Email resume or letter of interest to jhroberts66@comcast.net

Medical and Heart Care, Students Welcome, Private Oakland Office, Craig Street, Dean Kross, MD, 412-687-7666

Real Estate Development Intern Walnut Capital Management is looking for real estate interns for the upcoming season. Interns will shadow leasing agents, support resident managers of various properties, organize move in materials, handle office tasks, etc. This is a paid internship; applicants must be open to some weekend hrs. Apply via azeremenko@walcap.com

December 14, 2015

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December 14, 2015