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The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | JAnuary 29, 2018 | Volume 108 | Issue 99
Pitt wrestling icon Rande Stottlemyer dies at 62
QUEENS ONLY, PG. 3
Jordan Mondell
Assistant Sports Editor
Uyai Akpakpan, representing the country of Somalia, danced to original choreography as her talent portion at the sixth annual African Pageant hosted by the African Students Organization Friday night. Issi Glatts | ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR
District 8 candidates debate housing, Amazon Remley was joined on stage by fellow candidates Sonja Finn, a local award-winning chef and the Democratic nominee, The corporate relations manager of the businessperson Martin Healey and District Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre stood on stage 8 chief of staff Erika Strassburger, the Inat Chatham University Sunday afternoon dependent candidates — both of whom ran and sang: “one of these things is not like against Finn in the Democratic primary. the other.” The special election for the seat — vacated Rennick Remley wasn’t rehearsing for by Dan Gilman, now the mayor’s chief of an audition, but instead preparing to parstaff — will be held March 6. ticipate in a debate against one Democrat The four candidates addressed a crowd and two left-leaning Independents, all that filled the Eddy Theatre at Chatham running against him, a Republican, for University and included Braddock Maythe District 8 city council seat, which repor John Fetterman and District 24 State resents parts of Oakland, including Pitt’s House Rep. Ed Gainey. campus.
Grany Burgman
Contributing Editor
After a brief address from Gainey and opening statements from all four candidates, moderators Matthew Weiss and Krysia Kubiak Vila-Rogers of the 14th Independent Democratic Club began the debate. Four major issues were prevalent throughout — affordable housing, constituent services, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and the possible arrival of Amazon’s second headquarters. Strassburger said the city needs to expand its development of affordable housing as well as take measures to protect the See District 8 on page 4
Rande Stottlemyer, an iconic former Pitt wrestler and longtime coach, died today due to complications of early onset Alzheimer’s, according to the University. He was 62. Stottlemyer — whose association with Pitt spanned nearly four decades — was a three-time All-American wrestler for the Panthers. Enrolling at Pitt in 1974, he compiled a career record of 68-16-2 and became team captain for the Panthers. Following his graduation from Pitt in 1978, Stottlemyer served as assistant coach for the Panthers. In 1979, he took over as head coach, leading the Panthers for 34 seasons. He retired as the winningest coach in program history with a 304-231-12 record in April 2013. When Stottlemyer retired, he thanked Pitt for giving him the opportunity to coach right of out college. “I have been blessed to have lived my passion for 35 years. I hope in that time I have been able to make a positive impact on a lot of young men’s lives,” he said. “It has been an honor to be their coach and to promote the great sport of wrestling.” The Pitt wrestling community reacted to the news on Twitter, sharing memories of Stottlemyer’s presence and spirit as a coach. Former Pitt News sports editor and Pitt wrestling camp attendee Steve Rotstein recalls the coach’s kindness. “I still remember losing $20 one night at wrestling camp so I couldn’t buy any snacks,” Rotstein tweeted. “He let me have all the candy I wanted for free. Safe See Stottlemyer on page 4
News
Pitt’s LifeX project to support entrepreneurs
Anish Salvi Staff Writer After moving on from his career as a pediatric endocrinologist to become a professor in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, David Finegold never forgot about the patients he treated. He was especially moved by his patients who had suffered from Type 1 diabetes mellitus, a disease that prevents people’s bodies from making insulin. His clinical experience inspired him to collaborate with new colleagues and develop a therapeutic drug to treat this disease. For the drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and brought to market, however, it had to first pass a series of FDA-created safety and efficacy studies. While the drug was able to make it past phase I of the FDA’s trials, Finegold and his colleagues were unable to secure funding to get it past phase II, which required them to carry out costly studies proving the drug was safe and effective. “We sort of ran into what’s called the Valley of Death. We couldn’t get the money [for] phase II,” Finegold said. “This was pretty frustrating for us because this was like 25 years-plus of work.” Then Finegold ran into his former student Dietrich Stephan, who came to Pitt to deliver a lecture in 2012. During their meeting, Finegold first considered starting a company to fund his potential treatment. “I was there sort of whining to him how we couldn’t get past this barrier of not being able to put enough money together,” Finegold said. “[Stephan] looked at me and said, ‘Well, why don’t we start a company to do that?’ and there was a long silence because I don’t start companies, I’m an academic.” After receiving permission from his colleagues who had also been involved in the drug’s development and entrepreneurial help from Stephan, Finegold co-founded a San Diego-based company called DiaVacs in 2013, which is now part of Pitt’s LifeX product development platform. LifeX is a new initiative the University started in 2017 that will provide funding to early-stage health science research companies who want to turn their work into commercial products. LifeX is made up of four separate entities — LifeX Port-
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Pitt professor and LifeX overseer Stephan Dietrich hopes the initiative will attract a more robust life science industry to the Pittsburgh area. Photo via University of Pittsburgh folio, LifeX Labs, LifeX Capital and LifeX Seed. LifeX Labs, which will be housed in the Strip District and fully operational later in the spring, will be a place where life science-based companies can have access to lab equipment and business expertise. LifeX Seed is an investment fund targeted at $25 million which will invest in the companies within LifeX Portfolio. LifeX will fund the 15 to 20 startup biotech companies from around the world which currently make up the LifeX Portfolio. LifeX Capital is a larger venture capital fund which will invest in biotech companies across the nation. The plan is to centralize the platform in Oakland in the next three to five years so students can have access to the projects associated with LifeX. The target amount of funding for LifeX Capital will be decided over the next 18 months — it currently does not have a number associated with it, according to Rebecca Bagley, Pitt’s vice chancellor for economic partnerships. LifeX’s creation is supported by several investor groups including Thiel Capital and Mitsui Ventures. LifeX also partnered with companies such as Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and the Pittsburgh
Supercomputing Center that provide resources including intellectual property protection and high performance computing. Stephan, who is now a Pitt professor and chair of the Department of Human Genetics at Pitt, oversees the initiative. Pitt’s Dean of Graduate School of Public Health, Don Burke, recruited him in 2013 with a mandate to establish the LifeX platform. Stephan said traditional sources of revenue for the University — such as research funding from the federal government — had been decreasing when he was brought on board. This developed an economic need to export science to the marketplace. “What this platform does is it takes the enormous amounts of life sciences work that we do here at the University, packages it up, turns it into product, and those products can be sold to help people who are suffering and dying,” Stephan said. “In exchange we can bring new sources of revenue back to the University to continue to fuel the research enterprise.” Bagley was involved in developing the LifeX platform. Her office conducted a study which
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found Pittsburgh’s life sciences community needed to generate more regional startups and high growth companies to develop an industrial base. “In our role as a University we have significant research that we do,” Bagley said. “A lot of our common purpose is to make sure that research gets into the market and helps patients.” Finegold said DiaVacs’ involvement with LifeX, besides enabling him and his colleagues to raise money needed to begin FDA phase II trials, has given him a richer understanding of translating research into commercial applications. “[This experience] made me have greater value to some of my colleagues who have not been through this,” Finegold said. “I find I’m able to give them my perspective and my experience and hopefully help them augment their own endeavours.”. Stephan said LifeX is worth investing in because it provides a net positive for the University and the region, meaning it will put back more into society, the environment and the global economy than it will take out. By deploying several hundreds of millions of dollars to support companies in their early stages, LifeX can build a network of medical companies and attract even more investments in Pittsburgh’s life sciences industry, he said. Bagley said LifeX might help students find more jobs in the biomedical field since the project has the potential to attract a more localized and robust life sciences industry. “Our hope is that we’ll have a very robust program for being able to engage [students] — particularly in the lab level where they can understand how these companies are built ... either through internship opportunities or through graduate level work,” Bagley said. According to Stephan, students will be able involved in the biotech companies associated with LifeX through internship programs late this year. Classes centered on building biotech companies will also be offered in the Graduate School of Public Health. “Students will be able to have practicums within these portfolio companies. Actually get their hands dirty on how you build a company,” Stephan said. “And that’s a rarefied skill set.”
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Queens Only:
Pageant showcases African countries Remy Samuels Staff Writer
Thando Dube, representing South Africa, sang Adele’s “All I Ask” with a piano accompaniment as her talent portion at the sixth annual African Pageant hosted by the African Students Organization on Friday night. Issi Glatts | ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR
With silver sashes draped across their chests, the African queens flaunted their traditional garb and knowledge of the countries announced on their sashes at the Annual African King & Queen Pageant Friday. With contributions from the African Studies Program and Outside the Classroom Curriculum, the African Students Organization held their sixth Annual African King & Queen Pageant in the O’Hara Ballroom, and crowned Frances Akwuole as the new queen. The proceeds from the $1 entry fee went to the Duduzile Academy in Gambogi, Kenya — a school founded in 1998. Nicole Njuguna, a senior majoring
in biology, who has attended the pageant for all four years of her time at Pitt, said this event is important because it spreads awareness about African culture and diminishes misconceptions about it. “It’s important to show people that Africa is not a country,” Njuguna said. “It’s a continent full of different cultures, and we’re all different.” This year was a little different, though, because it was a “queens only edition.” President of ASO Ruba Idris said the reason for it being “queens only” was because the event is based on participation, and no kings wanted to sign up this year. But she said she thought the event was successful and its theme of education was important.
“Because we are at an educational institute, we feel it is our duty to give back to the academic community [and] also to where we come from — whether that’s giving back physically, financially or just giving support,” Idris said. “We want to spread awareness about education issues that go on within the continent of Africa.” The pageant was not only an opportunity for contestants to model different outfits, but also a chance to introduce the culture and history of different African countries. The contestants were required to research their countries, presented on a person they thought best represented the country, perform a talent and answer questions See Queens Only on page 5
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VIRAL VIDEO SHOWS CYCLIST ATTACKED IN OAKLAND
Janine Faust
Assistant News Editor Police are investigating a physical altercation between a cyclist and the driver of a red SUV that occured Thursday evening at the intersection of South Bellefield and Fifth avenues. A video filmed at the scene by a man identified as Matt Hajduk, 26, shows the SUV driver, having already exited his vehicle, throwing the cyclist in the adjoining lane to the ground. The cyclist then stands up and the two men begin shouting at each other. The SUV driver then picks up the cyclist’s bike
District 8, pg. 1 housing that already exists. “We need to preserve our existing affordable housing and put policies in place to create even more affordable housing to make up for the 17,000-unit shortfall of affordable housing that we currently have in this city,” Strassburger said. Finn echoed Strassburger’s interest in affordable housing policy. She proposed instituting a tenants’ bill of rights and rent control to keep tenants in affordable homes. She also focused on the need for better services from the city for District 8 constituents, including snow removal from public streets. “I dropped my son off at Linden [Elementary School] last Tuesday and nothing had been done to Linden street, in front of a public school,” Finn said. “We can at least clean the streets in front of our public schools.” Remley fell in line with his Democratic counterparts on both the issue of constituent services and that of the PWSA, specifically with regards to the city’s ongoing problem with replacing decades-old lead pipes. “The city is vibrant, has diversity and is full of promise, but I’m running for city council because I don’t feel that that promise has yet been fulfilled,” Remley said. “It was evident this past summer when our parents had to tell their kids they couldn’t drink from the hose.” Strassburger agreed with Remley, and
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Stottlemyer, pg. 1
and throws it at him, striking him with it. Before and during this action, Hajduk filmed the SUV’s license plate number and repeated it out loud twice. The video goes dark for a few seconds but then shows that the cyclist got back on his bike. It ends with Hajduk calling the cyclist over and confirming that the man is alright, and then asking what he wants Hajduk to do with the video. The cyclist’s face is not filmed. No one involved filed a report, but Pittsburgh Police are investigating the incident, according to a press release. proposed a plan to fix the PWSA by finding and replacing all of the lead lines in the Pittsburgh water and sewage system. “We’ve heard a lot about the lead mainlines and lead service lines and how difficult it is bureaucratically to get around that,” Strassburger said. “First thing we need to do is map all of those out. And then we are finding the money and replacing all of those lines.” Strassburger was also vocal in her support of bringing the new Amazon headquarters to Pittsburgh, citing the estimated $5 billion in investment the move would bring. Healy took a stance in opposition to Strassburger’s optimistic view of Amazon’s potential arrival. His concern came from the lack of information citizens have been given about Pittsburgh’s bid for the headquarters. “I think that it would be a wonderful thing, as long as we’re approaching it in the right way,” Healy said. “I think we should know as much as we possibly can without being irresponsible to the bid, we should know what’s in there.” After the debate concluded, Remley said he thought the debate went well for him as the only Republican in a district that has been represented by a Democrat for 81 years. “I didn’t really have any expectations going in,” Remley said. “I think it was successful in so much as showing people that I’m not the enemy and that there are still some Republican ideals that can work for the city.”
to say he’s been a legend in my book ever since.” Donnie Tasser, a former Pitt wrestler, was part of Stottlemyer’s last senior class as a coach. He wrote a 2013 Pitt News column that “the positive impact ‘Stotty’ — as we liked to call him — had on so many of his wrestler’s lives cannot be measured in simple statistics.” PJ Tasser, Donnie’s brother and also a former Pitt wrestler, took to Twitter Sunday to express his condolences. “The wrestling & Pitt communities lost a true mentor and friend this morning,” he wrote. “Rest in paradise, Coach Stottlemyer. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.” Remley stood out as the only Republican on the stage. Finn, the Democratic nominee, said that she wished she would’ve done more to separate herself from her left-leaning competitors. She said she needs to learn how to get her ideas out more concisely. “I don’t think I did enough. It is hard to learn so quickly how to self promote,”
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Now-head coach Keith Gavin also wrestled under Stottlemyer during his time at Pitt. “Coach Stottlemyer gave me an opportunity of a lifetime by bringing me to Pitt,” Gavin said. “He never gave up on me when a lot of other coaches probably would have and for that I am forever grateful.” Stottlemyer’s Hall of Fame recognitions include selection to the Eastern Wrestling League Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award. Visitation will be this Thursday and Friday, 2-8 p.m., at Ferguson Funeral Home in Belle Vernon. There will also be an additional visitation Saturday, 9-11 a.m. Finn said. “I am very thoughtful about things and therefore I try to explain too much in too little time.” Healy and Strassburger couldn’t be reached for an interview after the debate. Barry Nathan, an organizational psychologist from Point Breeze and Strassburger supporter, said he was pleased with his candidate’s performance in the debate.
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from the five judges — one of them being Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner. To kick off the event, the Ya’baso Dance Team performed a lively routine, which excited the crowd for the rest of the event. Then, each contestant stepped up to the podium to introduce themselves and give a brief history of their country. First up was Blya Krouba, or Miss Côte d’Ivoire, a first-year student on the premed track. Growing up in Côte d’Ivoire, her first language is French and she moved to the United States when she was eight years old. Upon moving to America, she said she noticed people were more individualistic, whereas in her home country there was more of a sense of community. “[In the United States] you can’t go over to your next door neighbor’s house and just have dinner with them,” Krouba said. Uyai Akpakpan — a first-year neuroscience major representing Somalia — and Aderinsola Popoola — a sophomore on the pre-med track representing Morocco — followed Krouba. Both of these contestants are originally from Nigeria, but said they chose different countries to expose themselves to different cultures and learn more about them. Kayleigh Gaborek was the next queen presented. A graduate student in Pitt’s Master of Special Education program, she is currently a social studies teacher at an elementary school in Wilkinsburg. Gaborek said this event was important to her because she was representing Ghana — where two of her friends are from — and because of her passion for education. “I think it’s important because as a history teacher a lot of our studies in America are focused on Europe, and we don’t really hear a lot about Africa, and definitely not in a positive way,” Gaborek said. “[Africa is] a whole continent [with] so many rich and diverse cultures.” The final two contestants were Thando Dube, a first year majoring in sociology, representing South Africa and Frances Akwuole, a junior microbiology major getting a certificate in American Sign Language, as Miss Kenya. During the intermission, where traditional African foods like jollof rice and mandaazi — also known as Swahili Coconut Doughnuts— were served, Dube
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talked about how she loves performing and singing, which she would soon do in the upcoming talent portion. “I love being on stage, and maybe I like it a little bit too much,” Dube said. “There’s just something about it that appeals to me. It’s like how you pick your favorite color. You don’t know why it’s your favorite color — it just is.” Each contestant then performed and presented different talents. Krouba displayed her artwork, Akpakpan performed a dance and Popoola presented a video of her photography. Gaborek talked about her teaching methods and her experience at a school with children who come from rough home lives. Dube and Akwuole closed out the talent portion with musical acts. The queens then made speeches about the person they picked, followed by answering the judges’ pageant questions. Krouba spoke about Félix HouphouëtBoigny — the first president of Côte d’Ivoire. When asked by one of the judges what single thing would she change in the world if she could, Krouba said it would be the lack of access to education. “I would give everyone access to education, especially in Africa where there a lot of low income families,” Krouba said. “Education is important because you use knowledge [as] power to make change.” Akpakpan discussed Hawa Abdi, Somalia’s first female gynecologist who promoted equality over clan loyalty and protected women from getting beaten by their husbands. Popoola presented South African civil rights activist Desmond Tutu, and Gaborek talked about the chef Elijah Amoo Addo. Dube chose to talk about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — the first woman to lead an African country — and Akwuole wrapped the portion up with Mellen Marucha, the Educational Support Program Coordinator of Deaf Aid Kenya who helps those with hearing impairments. After much deliberation from the judges, the host, Chauncey Alexander, announced Miss Kenya as the new queen. “I’m not the type of person to be cocky or arrogant and think I’m gonna win, so I was just hoping that my best was shown,” Akwuole said at the end of the pageant. “I’m happy that I won, but the contestants were amazing and I’m just happy that I had this experience.”
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Queens Only, pg. 3
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Opinions
column
from the editorial board
Trump, Conway misstate facts on feminism
In an era of women’s marches, the #MeToo trend and fourth-wave feminism, it’s astonishing how frequently the movement for women’s rights is still widely misunderstood. And President Donald Trump took the opportunity this weekend to exemplify the intellectual disconnect. After an interview Saturday with the president, media hanger-on Piers Morgan tweeted out a definitive declaration of Trump’s attitudes toward feminist thought. He hates it — or at least, he hates what he imagines it is. “I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist. I mean, I think that would be, maybe, going too far,” Morgan quoted the president saying. “I’m for women, I’m for men, I’m for everyone.” It’s difficult to imagine what kind of person would find the statement from Trump — who’s bragged about sexual assault and treated women in his beauty pageants like objects — surprising. But even putting aside his checkered history on women’s issues, it’s clear the president’s position of power distorts his perception of gender politics. For Trump and other men in positions of largely unearned status, it’s no coincidence feminism comes to stand for something primarily focused on tearing down men. The word, whose dictionary definition explicitly qualifies advocacy for women’s rights in the name of “social equality of the sexes,” doesn’t seem to carry that connotation into the American public. According to an April 2013 YouGov poll, 82 percent of Americans said they supported “gender equality” — yet only 20 percent considered themselves either a “strong feminist” or a “feminist.” And that huge disparity doesn’t appear to have occurred by accident — conservative pundits
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from Rush Limbaugh to Tomi Lahren have consistently trashed members of the movement as unattractive women looking to be made into victims. Probably the best — or worst — example of this seemingly intentional misrepresentation of feminist values and goals comes from Kellyanne Conway — a member of the Trump White House and the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign. In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last February, Conway explained she didn’t consider herself a “classic feminist” because it was too “anti-male” and not “individual” enough. “There’s an individual feminism, if you will, that you make your own choices,” Conway said. “I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances.” Conway — and apparently Trump — view gender politics as a zero-sum game. Either men have rights and power, or women do. It’s difficult to see how the demands made by mainstream feminists, whether it’s freedom from sexual harassment, access to women’s health care or equal pay for equal work, would hurt men. And while women like Conway have been fortunate enough to meet with success because of personal effort, anecdotes of success don’t equate to a negation of systemic disadvantages women face. While it’s hardly a new development, we shouldn’t ignore the absurdity of someone like Trump claiming to be simultaneously in favor of women’s equality and opposed to the feminist movement. A worldview in which every gain for women comes at men’s expense simply misstates reality — and distracts from the real struggle for women’s rights.
Education can eradicate the health care gap
Brian Gentry Columnist
Americans of all walks of life held their breath last year as Republicans tried over and over again to ram bills through Congress to repeal Obamacare. Health care policy is notoriously difficult to pass — and not without reason. Not only does it impact every single American, regardless of age, socioeconomic status or race, but health care spending accounts for 18 percent of our GDP — the second largest share of our national spending after Social Security. The Congressional Budget Office predicted in a July 2017 report that if Congress leaves current legislation unchanged, we will see an astronomical increase in the national deficit. But our approach to lowering health care costs doesn’t only need to focus on health care legislation. While we need to continue to work on national health care legislation, another viable — and cost-effective — focus is education. And there’s no better issue to attack through changes to the education system than obesity, one of the largest contributors to our healthcare spending. According to data from the CDC, 36.5 percent of American adults are obese. Pennsylvania ranks near the middle of the pack among the states, with a 30.3 percent rate for adults in 2016. Statistics for children are troubling as well with 10 percent of children under the age of five and more than 20 percent of teenagers obese. These high levels of obesity have a huge impact on general health. Obesity
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increases one’s risk for Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, both conditions requiring expensive medical attention and contributing heavily to health care costs. Obesity-related treatments alone accounted for $147 billion, or 9 percent of all federal spending on health care, in 2008. The education system is one of the best places to fight obesity, and it comes through two channels: education about nutrition and accessibility of healthy food. Focusing on these two points can not only aid public health but also reduce spending. Eating healthy is the keystone to being healthy. A healthy diet is rich in fruit, vegetables and nuts, and avoids processed foods and refined grains. Nutritious choices, however, are often difficult to make because healthy foods have a much lower addictive potential than unhealthy, processed options. It’s also a particularly difficult choice for low-income people — sugary confectioneries and lower-quality, processed foods are cheap and keep people satiated, while nutrient-dense, healthier options cost significantly more. This is why it’s important to educate people from a young age about healthy food choices. Not only can this teach kids to reject unhealthy foods, but it can also teach them how to do so frugally. Researchers at Columbia University’s Tisch Food Center are striving to make this solution a reality. Researchers there found that investing in childhood education about nutrition is highly cost-effective, See Gentry on page 7
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Gentry, pg. 6 saving anywhere from $900 to $12,000 per year per child on obesity-related treatment in the long-term. Education about obesity-related issues is currently far from adequate. Roughly 35 to 50 hours per year of nutrition-based education is required for children to consistently make healthy decisions, but only about four hours per year are dedicated to children in elementary schools. Schools simply need to devote additional in-school time to health education. This is essential to allow for enough time to properly educate children about healthy choices. Education can also work toward giving individuals the financial know-how to afford to eat better. According to a 2013 press release from Harvard University’s School of Public Health, healthier diets can cost only $1.50 more per day than ones heavy in unhealthy food. Though this may still be too expensive for some, it still puts health within the reach of others. This investment in nutrition saves money in the long run by avoiding medical care costs.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama unveils the new, modernized Nutrition Facts Label on May 20, 2016, at the Building a Healthier Future Summit in Washington, D.C. Cheriss May/NurPhoto/ZUma Press/TNS Beyond education about nutrition, children need to have access to affordable, nutritious foods in school. While school lunches have improved since most current college students were kids — largely thanks
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to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act — there’s still much improvement to be desired. In some ways, food policy for children
has even moved backward recently. Congress is responsible for reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act, an act that mandates certain foods be served in school breakfasts and lunches. Though this reauthorization process is supposed to happen every five years, it did not happen in 2015, and so the requirements for school lunches have been loosened. By mandating and funding healthy meals to schoolchildren of all ages, we would ensure that children are provided for while they build healthy habits for their futures. Simply improving upon these two things could drastically reduce the childhood obesity rate, improve public health and save billions of dollars in medical fees. Waiting for Congress to pass sensible laws that make progress on public health could take years — or even decades. But by simply working on improving our own diets today, the rest of us can help fix public health in the United States on our own.
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Sports
weekend sports
Panthers set records on the track, in the pool
The Pitt News Staff Though Pitt athletics experienced a few bright spots this weekend — which included record-setting performances and wins — there were usual losses for Pitt’s struggling teams. While both Pitt men’s and women’s basketball suffered double-digit defeats at home and wrestling lost a grapple to a ranked team, track and field took home the gold and swimming and diving closed out the season with wins. Wrestling — Michael Nitti, For The Pitt News The Pitt wrestling team hit the mats, losing 26-10 to No. 25 North Carolina Friday in Chapel Hill, dropping to 2-8 overall and 1-3 in the ACC. The Panthers started off strong, winning the first two matches, but they proceeded to win just one more match by the end. The only wins Pitt managed to get were from junior LJ Bentley, senior Dom Forys and redshirt first-year Jake Wentzel. Forys had the sole major decision, winning his match 9-1, while Bentley and Wentzel won their matches 8-2 and 7-3, respectively. Though the team won a few close matches, head coach Keith Gavin sees room to improve. “We lost three overtime matches tonight and that’s frustrating,” Gavin said in a press release. “We did some good work but were inconsistent and didn’t close out matches.” The Panthers set their sights on next Friday, Feb. 2, as they host No. 6 NC State at 7 p.m. Track and Field — Cale Berger, For The Pitt News Pitt track and field traveled to South Carolina this weekend for the Bob Pollock Invitational at Clemson University. It was a successful trip, with both individuals and teams claiming wins. The Panthers were dominant on Friday, taking first in three separate distance events. Junior Miranda Salvo ran her personal best, winning the women’s mile with a time of 4:47.21, while senior Melanie Vlasic won the 5000m with a personal record of her own at 17:22.07. The men’s distance medley relay team also took first place with a winning time of 9:53.61.
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Sophomore swimmer Shan Hochkeppel placed second in the 10-meter backstroke. Thomas Yang | VISUAL EDITOR The Panthers also earned second place finishes in the women’s distance medley relay and 5000m. Saturday was a relatively quiet day for the Panthers, but they still found a way to make history. Sophomore Dante Watson set a school record in the 600m by running a 1:18.17, besting the previous record of 1:18.26 set by Desmond Palmer just over a year ago. Adding to Watson’s career day, junior Gillian Schriever took second place in the women’s 3000m with a time of 9:39.58. Pitt’s next stop is at Notre Dame next weekend, where they are set to compete in the Meyo Invitational. Watson and the Panthers will look to build on their strong performances this weekend, as they work towards the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships at the end of February. Gymnastics — Cale Berger, For The Pitt News Pitt gymnastics visited East Lansing, Michigan, for their first quad meet of the season at Michigan State University this past Saturday. As the Panthers attempted to crack the top 25 rankings, they received key performances from senior Catie Conrad and sophomore Deven Herbine.
Conrad and Herbine shined for the Panthers, winning individual titles on beam and vault. Conrad recorded an individual score of 9.850 on beam, with Herbine’s 9.825 on vault including her in a five-way tie for the top mark. The individual successes of Conrad and Herbine, however, were not enough for the Panthers, as they finished fourth with an overall score of 193.125. Michigan State finished first, followed by Eastern Michigan and Rutgers, respectively. Pitt will be back at the Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday, Feb. 3, for a quad meet that will feature Towson, Temple and NC State. Swimming and Diving — Michael Nitti, For The Pitt News It was an eventful weekend for the Panthers as they hosted the 2018 Western Pennsylvania Invitational — their last meet of the season. Swimming and diving both asserted their dominance with successful performances all around. Senior Meme Sharp set a school record on Friday, scoring a 337.45 on six dives. The previous record, also held by Sharp, was set in 2016 when she scored a 327.08. Along with Sharp, the rest of the women’s diving team impressed, as several divers had top five
January 29, 2018
finishes in their events, including first-year Lydia Rosenthall, sophomore Krista Jones and sophomore Cortnee Williams. On the men’s side, first-year Noah Mable won both the 3-meter and the 1-meter. Pitt came out victorious in the swimming portion on Saturday as well, winning 26 out of 28 events. The most notable individual feat of the day came from sophomore Madelyn Shaffer, as she her time of 1:59:20 in the 200-yard fly broke Pitt’s record, previously held for more than a decade. Shaffer became the first woman in school history to finish the event in under two minutes. The Panthers closed out the season strong, as the men finished with an 8-3 dual meet record, while the women finished with a 15-2 dual meet record. With the ACC Championships just two weeks away for the women and three weeks away for the men, the Panthers will have some time to prepare before they head down to Greensboro for the competitive meets. Men’s Basketball — Trent Leonard, Staff Writer The Pitt men’s basketball team seemed closer than ever to winning its first ACC game of the season after Wednesday’s close loss to NC State. The Panthers came into Saturday’s home game looking to amend the late-game mistakes that cost them their previous match. Instead, Pitt (8-14 overall, 0-9 ACC) once again failed to make shots in the late minutes and fell to Syracuse (15-6 overall, 4-4 ACC), 60-55, for its ninth straight loss in the ACC. “We got a lot of good opportunities,” junior guard/forward Jared Wilson-Frame said. “We just got in a shooting slump in the second half. Guys who usually make shots, myself included, just couldn’t hit tonight.” The Panthers battled with the Orange for the majority of the contest, but made just two of their last fifteen shots from the field in what was one of their worst shooting performances of the season. Pitt shot 28 percent from the field and 26 percent from the three as the team struggled against Syracuse’s notorious 2-3 zone. Read the full recap online at pittnews.com
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Panthers drop 4th straight, lose to No. 18 Duke, 58-46
Dominic Campbell Staff Writer
With more than 2,000 fans in a sea of pink in support of a cure for breast cancer, the Pitt women’s basketball team fell 58-46 to No. 18 Duke in the 11th annual Pink the Peterson game. “It’s fun when you have all those people there. And today it was bigger because it wasn’t just for us, it wasn’t just about us,” sophomore guard Jasmine Whitney said. “It was fun to play. First half was a little slow, but second half we kept them in it. It just gave us energy.” The Panthers’ (9-13 overall, 1-8 ACC) strong comeback in the second half was not enough to upset the Blue Devils (17-5 overall, 6-3 ACC). This marks the fourth loss in a row for Pitt in the ACC and the team now sits dead last in the conference with only one win. To start the game, redshirt senior guards Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell both sunk threes, driving the Blue Devils to a 12-2 lead with 5:30 left in the first quarter and leading Pitt head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio to take a timeout. Redshirt sophomore guard Haley Gorecki led Duke in scoring in the first with six points and the Blue Devils led the Panthers 16-7 at the end of the quarter. The Panthers had a tough time scoring in the first quarter as they shot a collective 3-14 from the field and 1-for-6 from 3-point range. Redshirt junior forward Yacine Diop couldn’t get the offense going, shooting only 1-for-5 in the quarter. The second quarter started off on a drive to the hoop by Diop. While Diop was able to score six points in the quarter, Pitt continued to struggle on offense. The rest of the team shot 1-11, including sophomore guard Alayna Gribble shooting 0-5, including 0-4 from 3-point range. In total, the Panthers shot 25 percent from the floor and 10 percent from 3-point range, while Duke shot 42
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percent and made 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Though Duke had nearly as many turnovers — with 12 to Pitt’s 10 — they were still able to grab a 30-15 lead by the end of the first half. “I think the biggest thing today was the first half, that we weren’t really scoring, so that was an issue in the first half,” Diop said. “But if we made our shots and limited the turnovers, it could’ve been a different game.” The second half saw a change from the Panthers as they cut into the Blue Devils’ lead. Junior guard/forward Kauai Bradley scored eight points in the third quarter, including two 3-pointers, after not scoring any in the first half. Sophomore guard Jasmine Whitney scored eight points as well, shooting 4-for-5. With this, Pitt was able to cut the lead to 41-34 at the end of the third quarter. Diop led the Panthers back into the game in the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points of a 10-0 run. A 3-pointer by first-year guard Kyla Nelson gave Pitt the lead for the first time in the game at 44-43 with 6:43 left in the quarter. “I think once we settled in and had a little success the players just started to see, you started to see the energy change among our team,” McConnell-Serio said. “You started to see it change in the arena, and with each possession, our players just continued to believe and fight and we actually came back and had a one-point lead.” Duke was able to counter Pitt’s run with a 15-2 run of their own to close out the game. Brown played a big role in the fourth quarter for the Blue Devils, scoring 10 points on 4-7 shooting. Pitt couldn’t capitalize on their early fourth quarter lead as they turned the ball over six Junior forward Yacine Diop (12) is blocked by Duke senior center Bego Faz Davalos (21) times and shot 1-8 down the stretch. Pitt will look to end their losing streak when they during Pitt’s 58-46 loss to Duke at this travel to South Carolina to take on the Clemson Tigers Sunday’s Pink the Pete game. this Thursday at 7 p.m. Thomas Yang | VISUAL EDITOR
January 29, 2018
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January 29, 2018
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January 29, 2018
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