The Pitt News T h e in de p e n d e n t st ude nt ne w spap e r of t he University of Pittsburgh
Armed candy: Pitt professor talks Bond girls Page 6 December 3rd, 2015 | Issue 74 | Volume 106
Researcher texts to curb drinking Zoe Hannah Staff Writer
To recover from the stress of a busy week, Shaina Pomerantz and her friends let loose on the weekends, beginning at home and ending the night at an Oakland bar. Pomerantz, a 22-year-old senior sociology major, said she knows binge drinking is unhealthy, but that it’s an inherent part of the college environment. “There’s a whole issue in college culture where you have to drink to get drunk or drink to blackout,” Pomerantz said. Brian Suffoletto, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Pitt, and the StuStudents of the Musical Theatre Club perform their final rehearsal of “Drowsy Chaperone” in Heymann Theatre culture through another constant in stu- Wednesday night. Meghan Sunners SENIOR STAFF WRITER dent Health Center have tapped into this dents’ lives: text messaging. Pitt’s Student Health Service worked with Suffoletto for two years to design and implement PantherTRAC, a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board-funded text message intervention system. PantherTRAC uses positive reinforcement to discourage binge drinking among Pitt students. On Thursdays, PantherTRAC texts students who have signed up for the alerts and
Students back faculty union at panel Emily Brindley Staff Writer
dream, and it seems like I should be living the dream.”
Now, Leavens is a part of the Pitt faculty’s push to form a campus-wide
When Sarah Leavens got a teaching
Leavens is only guaranteed a full-
job at Pitt, she thought it was a good fit.
time job for the rest of the year, which
Three years later, she felt constricted.
means that next year she may not have a
As part of her involvement in the
“I got into teaching because I’m a
job. Leavens said her situation feels like
union push, Leavens spoke at a panel
writer and I love teaching and I love
exploitation, especially because she has
See Binge on page 2 writing,” Leavens said. “It seemed like a
little job security.
union, an effort English professor Robin Clarke announced publicly in October.
See Union on page 2
News
Union, pg. 1
discussion Wednesday night. Fight Back for Pitt Faculty, a student organization that advocates for the rights of faculty like Leavens, hosted the panel. Students founded Fight Back for Pitt Faculty this semester. The group falls under the umbrella of the United Students Against Sweatshops, a national organization on more than 150 campuses that advocates for the rights of garment and campus workers, as well as for educational justice. In addition to Leavens, the panel consisted of Pitt faculty members Peter Campbell, assistant professor in the English department, and Beverly Gaddy, associate professor of political science at Pitt-Greensburg. Titas Chakraborty, a history graduate student, and Alyssa Lieberman, president of Fight Back
Correction: In a caption for two photos in the Dec. 2, 2015, print edition, The Pitt News incorrectly identified a Student Government Board member and an SGB committee chair. In the photos on page 2, the individual on the right is Board member Natalie Dall, and the individual on the left is Joe Streets, environmental committee chair. The Pitt News regrets this error.
goals of the University would be to con-
“A union, especially one with faculty
tinue working together within the col-
of all ranks, will work against precarity
legial and constructive environment that
and contingency in general,” Campbell
defines our University community,” Ser-
said.
vice said.
Although Campbell sees potential
Although Leavens became a full-time
benefits in unionizing, the panel said not
lecturer in the English department this
every faculty member will be supportive
school year, for the previous two years she
of the unionization efforts.
taught part-time at Pitt and also worked
“There are going to be people who re-
a night job at Allegro Hearth Bakery in
sist, I’ve already talked to some of them,”
Squirrel Hill.
Gaddy said. “Some people feel pretty safe,
It seemed like a dream, and it seems like I should be living the dream. -Sarah Leavens, professor
for Pitt Faculty, also sat on the panel. The panel members explained why the faculty wishes to unionize, citing the $13 to $14 per hour wage for adjunct professors and new visiting lecturers, as well as the difficulty some faculty members have said they face in obtaining tenure. Pitt spokesperson Ken Service said Pitt has made progress with faculty in the past through working closely with them, though the University hasn’t released a formal statement about the union. “Moving forward, it would seem that the best path to achieve the collective
pittnews.com
feel pretty secure and don’t want to share that with others.” Kai Pang, a senior majoring in economics and philosophy and the secretary of Fight Back for Pitt Faculty, served as moderator during Wednesday night’s panel. Pang said the panel allowed faculty a chance to express their concerns and to explain the need to unionize. “One of the primary purposes is to give faculty the chance to speak directly to an audience
While working at the bakery, Leavens
of undergrads,” Pang said. “It’s really a
had no control over her teaching sched-
chance for [faculty] to say what they want
ule. Leavens said that one semester she
to say.”
taught a night class, then worked at the
Although the faculty has attempted to
bakery afterward and the next morning
unionize in the past, the efforts have nev-
had to teach early classes.
er been entirely successful. Gaddy said
“Worst case scenario, it just exhausts you on all realms,” Leavens said.
she thinks this time, with backing from student organizations like Fight Back for
According to Campbell and the other
Pitt Faculty, the efforts will succeed.
panel members, the way to ensure that
“This time is different, and I think that
Pitt treats faculty fairly and gives them job
this time with the support of the commu-
security is to create a union of faculty of
nity, of parents, of students, of others, it’s
all employment statuses including part-
going to happen,” Gaddy said. “This time
time, adjunct and tenured professors.
is the charm.”
December 3, 2015
Binge, pg. 1 asks if they plan on drinking during the upcoming weekend. If students reply, “Yes,” the system sends back messages like“Be safe.” The Health Center invited 1,000 freshmen to sign up for PantherTRAC in the fall after promising results from a UPMC study. Suffoletto led the nine-month study in which 765 young adults 18 to 25 years old all used text message intervention. The results, which came out Nov. 18, showed a decrease in instances of binge drinking for up to six months after the texts stopped. “[Text message intervention] is an evolution in how we help young adults achieve better health,” Suffoletto said. PantherTRAC became available to all students beginning in August as part of the Panther Bridge program to promote responsible drinking. Since then, Marian Vanek, the director of Student Health Service, said it has had an 85 percent success rate in lowering instances of binge drinking. The binge drinking threshold, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is four drinks for women and five drinks for men in the span of two hours. If a student’s response is over the binge drinking threshold, PantherTRAC warns them about the risks of heavy drinking, which Suffoletto said include illness, injury or poor health in the future.
Find the full story online at
pittnews.com
2
Center director to step down
Elizabeth Lepro
Assistant News Editor After more than 20 years of enhancing Pitt’s research, Richard Schulz will step down from his role as the director of the Center for Social and Urban Research in September 2016. Schulz, who is also a member of the Council of Deans, announced in a press release on Nov. 24, that he will leave his position as director of UCSUR, effective Sept. 16, 2016. He said on Wednesday that he will take a yearlong sabbatical before returning to Pitt in a fulltime research position. Pitt said in a release that it will find the next director in the summer of 2016. Pitt recruited Schulz in 1984 to work as an associate professor in the department of psychiatry, and he became director of UCSUR in 1999. He said his leave will make room for more energy in the department. “I’ve been in the position for many, many years and I think it’s time for some new blood,” Schulz said. Over the course of his time at the University, Schulz increased the funding and database for faculty researchers, according to the press release announcing his departure. He has also conducted his own research on dementia in collaboration with the University’s Aging Institute. Schulz’ success is most evident, Patricia Beeson, provost and senior vice chancellor, said in a release, in the 2015 creation of the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center. The WPRDC is a collaboration between Pitt and the city that made data easily accessible for all of western Pennsylvania. “Under Rich’s leadership, UCSUR has become a resource for faculty and community leaders who need data or analysis on policy issues facing the region,” Beeson said. “His vision and commitment have helped UCSUR contribute to advancing the University and the region.” Schulz said he is confident that whoever fills his position will continue to foster the research-oriented environment he’s put in place. “I think [the University] appreciates a lot these pieces we have in the program and I think they will carry into the future,” Schulz said.
pittnews.com
December 3, 2015
3
Opinions
ONLINE
Read a guest columnist’s perspective on the Million Student March and free college tuition.
Christmastime revives jazz legends
from the editorial board
Affirmative action brings necessary minority voice As protests rage on college
ronment treats students of color
more and more students of color
campuses across the nation, they
unequally, causing them to feel be-
attend high-profile universities.
force us all to confront the issues
littled or even unsafe in the class-
surrounding racial discrimination
room and on campus.
in academia.
So yes, these protests could very well be a result of affirmative
At Pitt’s rally for students of
action — but that’s not a bad thing.
On Dec. 9, the discourse will
color at the University of Missouri,
The protests give the ever growing
make its way to the Supreme
an organizer told The Pitt News,
minority student population a
Court of the United States, where
“We are here to demand that black
voice in traditionally white-domi-
Abigail Fisher will challenge the
students be able to feel safe. To be
nated college campuses. They have
ability of colleges to take race into
able to learn. To be able to grow. If
already led Princeton and Harvard
consideration when admitting
it’s not happening in our schools,
to abolish the term “house master,”
students.
then what next?”
because of the title’s connection to
The University of Texas at Aus-
Many argue that affirma-
slavery. They have even led the
tin denied Fisher, who is white, ad-
tive action is the cause of unrest
University of Texas itself to re-
mission — she will argue that the
among students, and provides the
move a statue of Jefferson Davis,
school’s decision violated the Con-
Supreme Court a solid reason to
the president of the Confederacy
stitution’s equal protection clause
decide in favor of Fisher.
during the Civil War, from cam-
because her race was a factor.
“Students who are recruited,
pus.
In the 2003 case Grutter v. Bol-
because of their race, to colleges
Would schools even consider
linger, the Supreme Court decided
where the average entering cre-
such moves if it were not for the
that the only justification for racial
dentials are significantly higher
relatively new, emboldened mi-
considerations in school admis-
than their own will find them-
nority voices on college campuses?
sions is to create “educational di-
selves at severe academic disad-
Most likely not.
versity so that students of different
vantage,” John C. Eastman, a law
These protests should illus-
backgrounds can learn from each
professor at Chapman University
trate to the Supreme Court that
other,” The New York Times re-
in Orange, California, told The
affirmative action is doing exactly
ported earlier this week.
New York Times. “Basic human
what it’s supposed to do: It allows
The intention is that more stu-
nature suggests that they will then
students and faculty to better un-
dents of color will equate to more
try to blame others for their aca-
derstand the perspective of mi-
racial tolerance and understand-
demic struggles.”
nority students by bringing their
ing on college campuses.
However,
this
argument
voices to college campuses.
It seems, though, that the pro-
gravely misses the point — these
And whether or not the school
tests on college campuses today
protests are not simply a result of
is hearing these voices through
illustrate that affirmative action
academic competition, but of in-
a simple discussion or through
has brought the opposite effect.
stitutional discrimination, which
a megaphone, at least they are fi-
Protestors argue the college envi-
only becomes more apparent as
nally hearing them.
pittnews.com
December 3, 2015
Maddy Kameny STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
Marlo Safi Columnist
holiday songs fill us with nostalgia and a feeling of warmth.
Everywhere from the Macy’s
While these genres have faded
shoe department to the gentle-
away over the years, we reignite
man who sits outside Rite Aid on
them during the most magical
Forbes with his radio, people are
time of the year, keeping their es-
spreading holiday cheer.
sential legacies alive.
Yet, a large section of our gen-
Regardless of your religion,
eration meets these yuletide car-
Christmas music gives us a dose
ols with groaning and animosity
of some of the greatest swing and
— we humbugs tend to view clas-
jazz performers otherwise un-
sic holiday songs as monotonous
known to millennials — provid-
and tiresome. Radio has exposed
ing them with an understanding
us to the musical equivalent of
of the sounds of a different time.
an ugly holiday sweater with
Jazz musicians like Frank Sina-
“Grandma Got Run Over by a
tra, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby
Reindeer,” and our distaste for
and Nat King Cole are legends
holiday music only starts there
whose timeless crooning has
at such a ho-ho-horrible experi-
found its way onto nearly every
ence.
holiday playlist.
Instead of festive agony, some
See Safi on page 5
4
Safi, pg. 4 Songs like “Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Dean Martin and “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, both released in the ’50s, invoke the elegance and ease of an era when jazz and swing blossomed. Trust Rolling Stone when it says, “What Jesus is to Christmas, Bing Crosby is to Christmas music.” Crosby’s cover of songwriter Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” sold 50 million copies, and went on to inspire later renditions of the song by everyone from the ’70s Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers to the American boy band New Kids on the Block. Ella Fitzgerald, the “Queen of Jazz,” sparks our holiday spirit in “Winter Wonderland” and “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” If you are sick of those songs, try Queen Ella’s 1960 Christmas Album “Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas,” a nostalgic taste unmatched by performers of our day.
pittnews.com
Murray Horwitz of NPR claims, “What
rock ’n’ roll.
saves [Fitzgerald’s Christmas album] from
Nat King Cole, another Rock and Roll
being truly corny is the fact that it swings
Hall of Fame inductee, is also a popular
all the time, and Ella, herself. I mean, she’s
name — not only jazz music but Christmas
just got that great sound. To me, her voice
music, having released an album in 1960,
defines what America sounds like.”
”The Magic of Christmas,” chock full of his
There is a minority of jazz musicians in
swing renditions of traditional Christmas
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and jazz
carols, like “Away in a Manger” and “O
performers like Nat King Cole and Louis
Holy Night.”
Armstrong are inductees who not only
While we may have gotten an ear sore
shaped the genre, but also helped it hit
from listening to Mariah Carey’s “All I
mainstream. Rolling Stone deems both art-
Want for Christmas is You” on blast all
ists’ Christmas albums as the most essen-
month, we can’t forget the iconic artists the
tial to the season.
Christmas season allows us to experience.
Every holiday season, Louis Arm-
So, rather than wallowing in Lil Wayne’s
strong’s, also known as “Satchmo,” gravelly
new album this yuletide, go dig through
vocals embellished with the smooth moan-
your grandparent’s record collection, find
ing of his sidekick trumpet reintroduce us
a Billie Holiday or Bing Crosby Christmas
to a voice of a generation. He is touted as
album, pour yourself a glass of eggnog and
one of the world’s best jazz improvisers,
have a “Mele Kalikimaka” with the musi-
bringing his gifts to fruition in “Christ-
cal legacies who shaped the sounds of the
mas in New Orleans” and “Zat You, Santa
season. Marlo Safi primarily writes about public
Claus?” Armstrong is an iconic figure in jazz, having paved the way for future genres like
policy and politics for The Pitt News. Write to her at mes26@pitt.edu
December 3, 2015
5
Culture
Star Wars see online: Episode IV
kicking out of the bond girls Walter Howard
Staff Writer For every Bond film there is a “Bond girl,” destined to shack up with the secret agent. Then, cut, roll tapes. Since 1962, Bond has received gadgets and Aston Martin cars, and the actresses have been reduced to vessels of the male gaze. With the latest installment of the daring man’s saga still in theaters, the gender dialogue has thickened in the past six decades, if not the silver-screen plot. The Pitt News sat down with Emily Deering Crosby, a Ph.D. candidate in communication and instructor in gender, sexuality and women’s studies who uses Bond clips to teach her students about the male gaze in film by discussing Bond girls and their function in gender, power and consent in film.
Q
TPN: The Bond Franchise is more than 50 years old. Outside of the Bond franchise, in Western culture, how has the representation of women changed during this time?
A
Emily Deering Crosby: You have some significant things happening in the ’60s where women were starting to recognize how the media was portraying them in particularly dehumanized ways — as props, as figures — never really a part of the plotline, but more so props to the male protagonist. And with more recognition of equal rights, gender representation, racial representation, you get a lot more diversity and you get the upswing of genres like blaxploitation films, but with that comes recognizable backlash in some forms of representation. And women in media today, you see a lot more potential in TV than you do in movies, because the movie industry is very much geared toward young white men, 18 to sometimes 25 or 34, so you see a lot of the highest grossing films fulfilling that need. This year the top films were “Furious 7,” “Age of Ultron,” “American Sniper” and so many of them are sequels. [Hollywood is] just recycling these same narratives that really resonate with young men, because they’re the ones who are predominantly going to these movies ... There’s not as much room for women to star or write their own movies, produce their own movies, but you are seeing huge franchises that are changing that, like “Hunger Games.”
Q
How do you feel about the term “Bond girls?”
A Q
I think historically “girls” is a term to dismiss women’s potential. It’s infantilizing, but when you look at ’90s feminism and the riot girl movement, you see the recycling of the term “girl” as a form of empowerment. So like rebel girl, guerilla girls, the way they’re taking a term that was historically used to dismiss women and reappropriating it into a powerful term.
What stands out to you about the Bond girls in what you’ve seen?
A
Q
I find the camerawork of the Bond franchise fascinating because it is routinely from the point of view of Bond, or pictures of Bond sexualizing the women. You never get the point of view of the Bond girl, so she just becomes the object of our visual gaze. And, more so, in the earlier ones, I find the issue of consent very interesting because sometimes we get this notion of “No means yes” with women and Bond is so enchanting. That offers confusing narratives in [regard to] romantic exchange between men and women, especially when we have the powerful main character of James Bond who sort of represents the Eurocentric or even Anglocentric [idea of] “Take what you want, it’s yours. You’re entitled to it.” That’s why I think the character of M in the most recent films has been fantastic because she’s sort of an asexual female who’s a maternal figure but also a leader, so I think she offers a lot of complexity that we don’t get to see very much in film. In “Live and Let Die,” Roger Moore uses a stacked deck of cards to trick a female character into sleeping with him. That probably wouldn’t pass today.
A
Exactly. There’s kind of this notion that the Bond girls were sort of all body, no brains. Kind of ditzy. When talking with a student who’s read the books, he actually said that he took a picture of a passage in “Casino Royale.” It was talking about Vesper and how she needs to stay with the pots and pans. [As if] she’s going to slow [Bond] down [or that] it’s embarrassing that they would send a woman for a man’s job.
Find the full story online at
pittnews.com
December 3, 2015
pittnews.com
6
KNOCK OUT
Matt Maielli
‘Rocky’ franchise given one last breath
Staff Writer
Don’t let the trailer fool you — “Creed” is not just another “Rocky” sequel. At first, another “Rocky” movie, let alone a spinoff, seems ridiculous — at this rate, his retirement comeback count rivals Brett Favre’s. But “Creed” proves that not every comeback has to be one’s own journey. Shot in Philadelphia, the film follows Adonis Creed, aka Donnie Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), who is the product of legendary fighter Apollo Creed’s extramarital affair. Adonis was born after Apollo’s deadly fight with Captain Ivan Drago, who killed Apollo in the ring in 1985’s “Rocky IV.” As a result, Adonis grew up without his father, hopping from foster homes to juvenile detention centers until Apollo’s wife, Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad), tracks him down and adopts him. Adonis — with the help of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) — seeks to leave the high-class life Mary Anne offers him behind to pursue a boxing career, just like his old man. It contains all the usual boxing movie tropes — slow-motion knuckle sandwiches, fight victories set to musical crescendos, press conferences filled with yelling, motivational speeches and, of course, training montages. But when these tropes are in the hands of director Ryan Coogler, they feel as awesome as Rocky’s first adventure in 1976. The slow motion is crisp, and the dialogue is poignant. Coogler’s one-shot sequences also give a new perspective to the almost 40-year-old franchise. These long takes are both subtle and dazzling, comprising shots of Adonis walking from the locker room to a fight and, in the film’s second act, a single take boxing match that turns the ring into the stage it really is. The final fight scene is back to the traditional quick
pittnews.com
A
Old tropes revived in “Creed”
cut and slow mo-
wouldn’t usually root for the educated, rich
tion,
that’s
kid who wants to fight with the big boys.
not to say it’s not
but
This is Stallone’s first Rocky role reading
masterfully
done.
words that he didn’t write, which allows
Opposing boxers’
him to act as an older, lifetime-beaten
career stats also ap-
Rocky with a seemingly expanded bank of
pear onscreen when we meet them, doing
emotions, conveying grief, regret, excite-
away with clunky exposition and unneces-
ment or whatever else the scene demands.
sary narratives, instead showcasing Adonis’ near-encyclopedic knowledge of the sport.
The movie is truly part boxing film, part sociology lesson. Rocky and Adonis’ re-
These kinds of movies always have a
lationship is one of an old dog and young
subtextual question attached — why do
pup, with Rocky settling into the role pre-
these people fight? Well, Rocky fought be-
viously filled by his mentor, Mickey. Rocky
cause he was a bum, Apollo fought because
trains Adonis to fight through his issues,
he was the best and now Adonis fights
while Adonis helps Rocky fight through
because it makes him feel alive — and be-
some stuff that’s not worth spoiling here.
cause he wants to create a legacy for himself
Nearly every character in this parcel
separate from his father’s, earning the name
of the boxing world is either a father or a
“Creed” in his own right.
son, and their fathers were either fighters or
The cast itself is a charming match. The
trainers. It shows why fathers and father fig-
rapport between Adonis and love interest
ures fight for their sons, what sons do to live
Bianca (Tessa Thompson) is an improve-
up to their father’s name and what they have
ment over the uncomfortable dynamic be-
to do to step out of their shadows.
tween Rocky and Adrian in the original.
This number of themes would usually
Jordan alone is at his best, a perfect rebound
muddle a film, but not “Creed.” It’s a knock-
from his performance in the disastrous
out film that blends them all and works on
“Fantastic Four.”
every level.
The casting decisions are especially important here considering audiences
Is “Creed” the best movie of the year? Hard to say. Is it a contender? Absolutely.
December 3, 2015
7
pittnews.com
December 3, 2015
8
Sports
Purdue is ranked No. 11 in the country. Wenhao Wu STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
It’s only december Early season rankings far from absolute Chris Puzia
Assistant Sports Editor When Pitt lost to Purdue — the No. 11 team in the country — they lost to a team
of its first six games — some to middling squads like University of Southern California and the University of Tulsa — and completely dropped from the polls.
that was seemingly one of the best in the
While most writers had the Wichita
nation. But the Boilermakers’ ranking
State Shockers at least in their preseason
doesn’t really say much, at least not yet.
top 15, ESPN writer Myron Medcalf said,
The NCAA Tournament selection
“Right now, Wichita State looks like a
committee won’t care what Purdue was
squad that might need a conference tour-
ranked on Dec. 1, come March. The Boil-
ney title to get into the Big Dance.”
ermakers could be the top team in the
Medcalf highlighted Wednesday’s Syr-
country by the end of the season, or they
acuse University-University of Wisconsin
could hit a wall and self-destruct, making
matchup as the perfect example that it is
Pitt’s loss look even worse in retrospect.
truly too early to evaluate teams. The Wis-
This is because early-season basket-
consin Badgers began the season No. 17
ball rankings are immensely arbitrary
and the Syracuse Orange were unranked,
and based on preconceived notions about
but the roles have already reversed, with
teams, about which some are unwilling to
Wisconsin now unranked and Syracuse
waver.
jumping up to No. 14 nationally.
While the AP Top 25 rankings can
“[The matchup] highlights the hover-
certainly help gauge team performance
ing murkiness — the uncertainty, disap-
relative to other schools, until teams
pointments and surprises — within the
like Pitt have played more than just one
game,” Medcalf said. “After three weeks,
meaningful game — sorry, Kent State —
we’re already wondering. Questioning.
it’s hard to justify setting national rank-
Second-guessing.”
ings in stone.
Some teams certainly do not fit this
About a month into the college bas-
bill, of course. AP poll stalwarts Universi-
ketball season, 10 teams in the preseason
ty of Kentucky, Duke University and Uni-
top 25 have already fallen out of the rank-
versity of Kansas checked in within the
ings to be replaced by early-season af-
top five in the preseason. And all still sit
terthoughts, like Providence College or
within the top seven in the polls, with the
Xavier University. Even Pitt could have
Kansas State University Wildcats jumping
potentially propelled into the top 25 with
to their familiar spot atop the rankings.
a win over the Boilermakers. Wichita State University, which began the season ranked No. 10, has lost four
pittnews.com
But for the more perplexing teams See Basketball on page 10
December 3, 2015
9
Basketball, pg. 9 around the country — Xavier, from preseason unranked to now No. 12, or Indiana University, preseason No. 15 and now unranked — there are other, better ways to evaluate skill than just the number, or lack thereof, next to their name. Ken Pomeroy, basketball statistician and
Currently, Valparaiso University is the best team in the country based solely on RPI rankings, and Kentucky is 18th — Pitt is 102. Once conference play begins around the new year, though, you can start looking more seriously at ranking metrics. The players, at least publicly, certainly don’t concern themselves with rankings early on. In the beginning of the season, Mar yland
cre-
ator of the website K e n Po m , uses
his
own
ad-
vanced and tempo-adjusted metrics
Early season basketball rankings are immensely arbitrary.
to provide alternative judgments, focusing more on offensive and defensive efficiency and strength of schedule. Pomeroy currently has Purdue ranked No. 6 in his own rankings, with Pitt at No. 39 after Tuesday’s loss. But other schools show a greater disparity from the AP polls. Syracuse, instead of its top-15 ranking, sits at 27 to Pomeroy, and University of Maryland is at No. 20 instead of its No. 2 spot in the AP poll. Additionally, using ESPN’s Ratings Percentage Index this early in the season can make for wacky and unusual results — but as the season progresses, the RPI rankings will even out.
pittnews.com
g u a r d M e l o Tr i m b l e said
his
t e a m wasn’t paying attention to the
pres-
sure
his
then-top five squad would carry. “The expectations really don’t matter,” Trimble said. “Last year, they thought we were going to be bad, and we proved everyone wrong. Next season, they’re going to give us our props, but we’re still going to be humble and hungry.” This is not to justify or condemn Pitt’s loss on Tuesday. Purdue had hype entering the season due to its extreme length in the post and balanced scoring attack. But the best way to evaluate the loss will be in about three months, when the dust has settled and the two teams are either solidly in the NCAA Tournament field or on the outside looking in.
December 3, 2015
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-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. **AUGUST 2016: Furnished Studio, 1-2-3-4 Bedroom Apts. No pets. Non-smokers preferred. 412-621-0457 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 412-287-5712.
2 nice 3-bedroom houses. Good location. Rent $400/room. Available August 1st, 2016. 412-881-0550 or 724-757-3367.
2-3-4 bedroom South Oakland apartments for rent. For more information or to schedule a viewing, please call 412-849-8694.
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2-3-4-5-6-7 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2016. Nice, clean, free laundry, includes exterior maintenance, new appliances, spacious, located on Meyran, Semple, Wellsford, Dawson, Juliet. 412-414-9629. 2,5,6 bedroom houses in South Oakland. Available for rent August 2016. Very clean with different amenities (dishwasher, laundry, AC, washer and dryer, 1-3 baths, newer appliances & sofas). Contact Ken at 412-287-4438. 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. 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.
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3727 Dawson: 2 BR basement apartment, 1 kitchen, 1 bath and living room. $550/student. Available January 1st. Includes utilities. Call 412-595-7682 or email:daquilantes@ yahoo.com
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 Brand new, completely renovated 5 BR, 2 full bath house. All appliances including washer and dryer are brand new and included. Too many features to list. Close to Magee Women's Hospital. On Pitt shuttle and PAT bus lines. 10 minute walk to Univ. of Pittsburgh. $2500/mo. 412-983-0400 Clean, Newly Remodeled Houses and Apartments. 1-9 Bedrooms. Call 412-680-4244 or email s.cusick@comcast.net www.superiorpropertiesgroup.com. Nice 6BR house available Aug. 1, 2016. Laundry on site. To make an appointment call 412-812-9382.
Announcements -ADOPTION -EVENTS -LOST AND FOUND -STUDENT GROUPS -WANTED -OTHER
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
Renovated Large Three Bedroom Townhome for Rent. Available January 2016. The kitchen features frost free refrigerator with automatic ice maker, fullsize range, self-cleaning oven, dishwasher, garbage disposal and microwave. The bath has been completely updated. All floor coverings and window treatments are brand new. Your own washer and dryer are included. On University of Pittsburgh shuttle and PAT bus lines. Two blocks to Magee Women’s Hospital. $1,275/mo, contact 724-422-2250. 3 & 5 bedroom. May 2016. Sarah St. Large bedroom, new kitchen, air conditioning, washer & dryer, dishwasher, large deck. 412-287-5712.
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)
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 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
December 3, 2015
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
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
Personal, professional masseuse needed. Long term position. 2X/week. Washington County location. Call 724-223-0939 or 724229-8868 any time. Pager: 888-200-8220
The Pitt news crossword 12/03/15
I Rentals & Sublet N D E X
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pittnews.com
December 3, 2015
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