2-17-17

The Pitt News

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | February 17, 2017| Volume 107| Issue 125

DePasquale to audit PWSA

STITCH BY STITCH

Ashwini Sivaganesh News Editor

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced Thursday that he and his staff have started taking measures to perform an audit on the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.

After a water scare Feb. 1 and months of speculation over lead in the Pittsburgh water system, Mayor Bill Peduto requested Feb. 3 that DePasquale lead an investigation into the PWSA, because he’s a Pittsburgh outsider.

DePasquale and City of Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb outlined plans for how the audit could identify problems within PWSA and potential solutions at a press conference Thursday morning at the Office of City Controller.

“The trust and confidence of city residents has been eroded by a series of problems originating with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority,” DePasquale said during a press conference Thursday. “At the invitation of the authority’s board and Mayor Peduto, my team is ready to put the PWSA under a new magnifying glass.”

In light of this announcement, Lamb released his most recent routine audit of PWSA, which took place from 2012 to 2016. He said this audit is a draft because the PWSA has not responded to the proposed recommendations yet.

“With the Auditor General being asked to come in and take a look at some of the newer issues that have arisen, we wanted to make See PWSA on page 3

Senior Sarah Fullerton makes a T-shirt blanket during a PittServes service project Thursday night. Kyleen Considine STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

STATE PROPOSES FLAT FUNDS FOR PITT Amanda Reed

Assistant News Editor Despite asking for a five percent increase in state funding, Pitt could receive the same amount of money as it did during the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ’s $32 billion 2018 fiscal year budget includes increasing state educational support at all levels by $209 million, but Pitt’s portion of that money will remain the same. In his

budget remarks on Feb. 7, he proposed a nearly $200 million increase for early education, special education and basic education funding, plus an $8.9 million increase for the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities, including Pitt.

Despite the increase in funds to education, Pitt is slated to receive about $147 million from the state, according to the governor’s proposed budget. This is $7 million

less than the $154 million the University requested on Sept. 30 in its annual budget request to the Department of Education.

In a statement accompanying the budget request, Chancellor Gallagher said the funds would be used to expand Pitt’s innovation programs, offset operating expenses and manage tuition increases for in-state students.

See Funds on page 3

News

Pitt revises facultystudent relationship policy Lauren Rosenblatt Managing Editor

Pitt’s Faculty Assembly approved a revision to its consensual relationship policy Tuesday that now bans students from engaging in relationships with faculty or staff who are or could be in a position of supervision over them.

The assembly voted to include staff members in the policy — which includes anyone in an administrative or support position at the University, including deans, registrars and secretaries. Faculty members, including professors and graduate teaching assistants, were already included in the policy. Supervisors also may not initiate relationships with their employees, in the revised policy.

The policy, which has been in effect since July 1996, prohibits faculty and staff members from entering into relationships with students whose work, teaching or research they are evaluating.

The revision also prohibits supervisors from initiating a relationship with an employee.

In instances where faculty and staff are not directly supervising a student, the University “discourages” relationships, but does not prohibit them, according to the policy —”due to the potential for significant disruption to the academic and/ or professional environment.”

If a student engages in a relationship with a faculty or staff member who is in a supervisory position, the superior must disclose this to their own supervisors, who are then required to create a plan ensuring the student is no longer under that faculty or staff member’s authority.

Under the new policy, it is now necessary to establish an “educational and work environment [that] is based on

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professional relationships in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.” The University said the policy is in place to avoid conflicts of interest, favoritism and exploitation.

An ad hoc committee has been working to change the policy since 2015 after it drafted a new sexual misconduct policy. Now that the Faculty Assembly has approved the revision, the Senate Council will discuss it at the next meeting on Feb. 22.

According to a release from the University, the Assembly voted 30-1 with two abstentions to approve the policy.

The change was also proposed in the October 2016 and December 2016 meetings, but the Assembly did not vote in favor because of concerns that the policy would leave faculty susceptible to accusations or administrative abuse.

Chris Bonneau, an associate professor of political science, led the efforts to vote down previous revisions to the policy because he felt they did not properly outline procedures or allegations.

“It was way too vague and opened up faculty to being disciplined for unfounded rumors,” Bonneau said. “Moreover, it also allowed for arbitrary punishment from administrators, and I worried this could be a way to undermine academic freedom and have petty supervisors discipline faculty they did not like.”

Bonneau said he thought the original policy was enough to protect students and faculty, but he voted for the revision anyway.

“I think the policy is unnecessary since the status quo was fine,” he said.

“But I voted for it because this version of the policy protected the rights of the faculty.”

The Pitt News

Editor-in-Chief ELIZABETH LEPRO

Managing Editor LAUREN ROSENBLATT

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News Editor ASHWINI SIVAGANESH

Opinions Editor AMBER MONTGOMERY

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Sports Editor STEVE ROTSTEIN

Culture Editor EMILY BRINDLEY

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Amanda Reed | Assistant News Editor Alexandria Stryker | Assistant Copy James Evan Bowen-Gaddy | Assistant News Editor Copy Staff Henry Glitz | Assistant Opinions Editor Maria Castello Alexa Marzina Bayard Miller | Assistant Sports Editor Matthew Maelli Amanda Sobczak Meghan Sunners | Assistant Visual Editor Bridget Montgomery Mia DiFelice Michelle Reagle Corey Foreman Emily Hower | Assistant Layout Editor Rachael Crabb Kelsey Hunter Matt Moret | Online Engagement Editor Rielly Galvin Kim Rooney Stephen Caruso | Online Visual Editor Kyleen Pickering

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Funds, pg. 1 J.J. Abbott, Wolf ’s press secretary, said Wolf has made past efforts to increase the school’s state appropriation.

“The governor fought to increase Pitt’s state funding the last two years to recover from cuts made under the last administration,” Abbott said in an email.

Pennsylvania’s other state-related schools — Penn State, Temple and Lincoln — are also not expected to receive additional state funding. Penn State requested $25.3 million increase from the state for a total of $350.5 million in support.

State-related universities do still have a chance to present their case for further funding on March 1 to the state Senate appropriations committee. According to University spokesperson Joe Miksch, Pitt will send its budget briefing package to the Senate “very soon.”

In addition, voluntary advocates from the University will plead on behalf of the University March 21 at the annual Pitt Day in Harrisburg, an annual event to tell state lawmakers why Pitt needs their support.

This means Pitt could still receive the $154 million it initially requested for the

2018 fiscal year.

Although the University might not get the increase in funding that it’s requesting, a flat fund is still better than the budget cuts Gallagher was planning for in December.

“A state cut is something we’re actually going to have to contemplate,” Gallagher said at the University’s Senate Council meeting on Dec. 14.

According to the University’s 2016 cost containment page, Pitt has made cost-cutting efforts in the past by moving the College of General Studies administration into the School of Arts and Sciences, redesigning the University’s post-retirement medical benefits program and electronically distributing departmental budget reports, student bills and paychecks. The General Assembly must finalize a state budget before July 1 — the start of the new fiscal year.

Until then, the University will have to wait to find out if they will need to take other financial measures to further reduce costs.

“It will probably be at least June before the University has a sense of the probable range of amounts for the FY [fiscal year] 2018 appropriation,” Arthur G. Ramicone, senior vice chancellor chief financial officer, said in a January email.

PWSA, pg. 1 this information available to him — to help him for what he was doing — and since we are releasing it to him, we thought we should release it to the public as well,” Lamb said at the press conference.

DePasquale’s audit will first focus on PWSA’s current governance structure and decision-making process. He will review the PWSA from 2014 through an undecided date later this year.

“Every resident and business owner here has lived through the problems, and City Controller Michael Lamb is providing extensive recommendations to address what happened,” DePasquale said.

PWSA Board Chairman Alex Thomson also released a statement Thursday stating the PWSA Board of Directors and Executive Team are reviewing Lamb’s findings and taking the appropriate actions for improvement.

He also said they are prepared to accommodate DePasquale and his staff when they conduct an audit.

In Lamb’s audit, he gives reasons for the water issues that have plagued locals for the past year — including high water bills and lead levels in the drinking water.

“This was a very difficult audit for us,” Lamb said. “It seemed that everywhere we turned at the PWSA, there was a problem.”

In terms of lead, the report highlighted that while the water leaves the PWSA water treatment plants with no lead, lead can infiltrate the water when it is being transported from main lines and services lines to Pittsburgh homes.

One of Lamb’s main concerns was that PWSA does not have an inventory of all the main lines and services lines that contain lead, but PWSA has stated its plans to release an interactive map of this information during the summer.

The Environmental Protection Agency established the Lead and Copper Rule in 1991 which calls for water providers to monitor corrosion treatment to meet regulation standards. Because of this, the PWSA started to use soda ash — otherwise known as sodium carbonate — in 1995 to control corrosion in the water lines. They previously got permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to use the soda ash.

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February 17, 2017

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Opinions from the editorial board

Top 10: SGB Platform Proposals

The Student Government Board candidates pitched their plans at the debate in Nordy’s Place last night, in preparation for the election on Tuesday. There were some pretty interesting ideas floating around, but none of the slates had platforms quite wide-ranging enough for us. Here’s a list of possible additions that would really swing student voters.

10. Sports drinks in the water fountains It’s the classic fantasy that we’ve been waiting for since middle school. We have the power(ade) to make it a reality. Plus, when was the last time anyone got a giardia infection from a long swig of Gatorade Mango Extreme™?

9. Jacuzzis in Hillman Everyone knows Hillman Library is the single most stressful place on campus. Why not take advantage of the ongoing renovations and put some relaxing hot tubs between the stacks?

8. Therapy Panthers Therapy dogs are fine enough, but they don’t quite convey school spirit the way a panther would. It’s hard to think of someone as a weak liberal snowflake when they are calmly petting a purring jungle cat.

7. Longer recess This one’s been in the works since the third grade, but we’re confident we can finally get those extra ten minutes this year.

Nap time would be an obvious follow up proposal.

Find the full top 10 at

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Letter to the editor see online

Vagina Monologues speaks to everyone Henry Glitz

Assistant Opinions Editor

My first personal memories related to the Monologues were in middle school.

My entire pre-collegiate education was in Catholic schools, and so I heard about college performances of the play through an exclusively religious viewpoint. Smatterings of Catholic colleges from Oregon to New York flatly banned its performance, calling it nothing but “vulgarity.”

Catholic higher learning organizations,

I hadn’t heard the word “clitoris” spoken out loud as many times in my entire life as I heard it last Saturday night.

A friend brought me to see the Campus Women’s Organization’s annual production of the Vagina Monologues. As I sat in the darkened ballroom in the William Pitt Union, I watched with surprise as some of my friends and classmates stood on stage and emphatically spoke about experiencing life with a vagina.

But my surprise wasn’t so much because I found the brazen talk of normally taboo material shocking — it was because I didn’t at all.

The actors on the stage performed monologues focusing on everything from tampons to lesbian prostitution — things that I, as someone without a vagina, very infrequently dis- TPN File Photo cuss personally. But it seemed to perfectly line up with what I later discovered were the Monologues’ in- like the Cardinal Newman Society, railed tended purpose: to educate and to allow for against what they saw as the glorification of unrestrained sexuality. Patrick Reilly, the a sharing of experiences.

Trisha Klan, a sophomore neuroscience Society’s president, told conservative outlet major and one of the actresses in last week- CNS News that banning performance of the end’s performance, said these two goals are Vagina Monologues at Catholic universities was a “defense of their students’ spiritual complementary.

“Everyone in the cast bonded over the and mental health.”

In short, the Monologues were thormonologues,” she said. “And as we performed, we could see that we were helping oughly fixed in my adolescent imagination as a stronghold of shocking depravity — the audience do the same.”

The Vagina Monologues were written by otherwise, the reaction didn’t seem to make Eve Ensler, based on real interviews with sense.

But curiosity overcame me, and the real women and first performed on Broadway in 1996. It has since become a staple reality of the play came crashing into my annual performance on college campuses imagined version of it as I sat in the audience last Saturday. I was surprised at how around the country.

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uncontroversial and frankly sympathetic the play’s performance was, not just because of my mistaken expectations but because of my sheer wonder at the newness of what I was hearing. I may have never been taught in school what a clitoris was or did, but there I was — listening to a discussion about all 8,000 of its nerve endings. The vast complexity of how people with vaginas experience life — a collection of both social and biological phenomena I’ve never experienced — began to take shape before me as something that, up until then, I had completely ignored.

My unfamiliarity with some of the basic facts of life for women and people with vaginas is far from uncommon. Everyone — regardless of gender or sex — can benefit from greater understanding and empathy for the other.

Klan said several male friends had asked if they should even attend at all, assuming that it was something intended only for women or people with vaginas.

“They’re the ones who should most be seeing the performance,” she said. “It gives an insight into both the good parts of the experience of being a woman and some of the not-so-good parts, too.”

The not-so-good parts can be difficult to discuss frankly and openly, and they often get ignored as a result.

“There are some things where you just feel the need to censor them,” Klan said of the play’s tense monologue dealing with female genital mutilation. “There were things that made me uncomfortable to talk about at first that I ended up realizing shouldn’t.

It needs to be said — both for myself and for the people out there who just don’t know about it.”

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SPONSORED CONTENT

FINANCIAL FRIDAY:

Know Your Options Before Loan Repayment Begins Mark Mulkeen

If you’re graduating soon and have financed your college education through student loans, it is time to start thinking about how you’d like to repay those loans, and yes, you do have options. Prior to graduation a federal loan servicer will contact you and provide repayment information. If you don’t specify otherwise, you will be enrolled in the standard repayment plan. This could be the best repayment plan for you, but there are also other plans offered for repaying federal student loans. It’s wise to learn about all the repayment plans and consider which is best for you before enrollment begins.

So what types of repayment plans can you enroll in? The U.S. Department of Education sets a variety of repayment plans based off of the length of the plan and the types of payments you make over time. If you want more information about repayment options after this article, visit the site, “Homeroom: The Official Blog of the U.S. Department of Education.”

Standard repayment is a plan with a tenyear maximum term that requires monthly payments of $50 or more, depending upon the total amount you have borrowed. This is one of the more common plans and the one you are enrolled in automatically unless you specify otherwise. Because of its short term and standard payments, this plan accrues the least amount of interest and costs the least overall of all plans. However, reasons do arise that can make alternative plans more advantageous.

If you owe $30,000 or more in student loans and don’t think you’ll be able to achieve full repayment in ten years or less, extended

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repayment may be for you. The plan operates similarly to the standard repayment plan, but the loan term ranges from twelve to thirty years, allowing more time to pay off larger amounts of debt. This plan does tend to cost more over time because of its longer term, so make sure you can’t reasonably pay off your debt in ten years before considering this alternative.

If you’re starting out with low income but expect it to rise over time, then enrolling in the graduated repayment plan may be beneficial.

It allows payments to start off low and gradually increase every two years. The term of this plan can either operate on a standard ten-year basis, or on an extended thirty-year basis. The downside to this is that you would pay out more interest over time, once again making it more expensive than the standard plan. Additionally, the extended graduated plan costs more over time than the standard graduated plan.

Other plans exist for borrowers who begin one of the aforementioned plans but experience financial duress that prevents them from affording their monthly payments. Among these are income-based, income-contingent, and pay-as-you-earn plans. These plans are based off the income the borrower makes, and if the borrower follows the plan and has not managed to pay off his or her debt in 25 years, the remaining balance is forgiven. They are more of a last resort for borrowers who are in serious financial trouble, so hopefully these plans never apply to you, but it is good to be aware of them just in case.

Deciding which loan repayment plan is best can be an overwhelming choice, consid-

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ering how big of a decision it is. Luckily, helpful resources are available for making this important decision. The U.S. Department of Education’s “Federal Aid” site offers the “Repayment Estimator” tool, which helps borrowers decide which plan is best for them. Using information such as your loan types, amounts, interest rates, income, and family size, the tool shows what your payments would be under each plan, giving you hard data to make the decision that works best for you financially.

Deciding which repayment plan is a difficult decision, but it is undoubtedly an impor-

February 17, 2017

tant one, as it will have an effect on how you contribute your after-school income to payment of student loans. That’s why you should spend time before graduation researching which plan will be most advantageous to you.

Doing so can give you piece of mind that you made the best decision for yourself.

You may also wish to track your federal loans through the National Student Loan Data System or NSLDS. www.NSLDS.ed.gov. This is a complete list of your federal loans and can be accessed by using your Federal Student Aid ID, or FSA ID.

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Sports

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PITT ATHLETICS

TOP 5 PANTHERS TO DON PITT SCRIPT

Kevin Bertha

For The Pitt News Despite its overall fluctuating performance, the Pitt men’s basketball program has produced a litany of great basketball players throughout its illustrious history.

Many have made their marks in the block Pitt font and infamous “Dinocat” Panther logo, but others have left their legacies in the classic royal blue script uniforms — which the Panthers will rock at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday afternoon against the No. 17 Florida State Seminoles.

Stars such as Brandin Knight, Julius Page, Aaron Gray and Carl Krauser helped cement Pitt as a Big East power during Ben Howland and then Jamie Dixon’s tenure.

Older Panthers fans will remember 5-foot8 guard Don Hennon dazzling defenses in the 1950s to the tune of 24.2 points per game for his career, long before the trio of Levance Fields, Sam Young and DeJuan Blair led Pitt to the Elite Eight in 2009.

But when the Panthers take the court this Saturday in their throwback royal blue-and-yellow uniforms, they’ll be harkening back to a different time period: 1973-1996.

This is the first time in more than 20 years that Pitt’s basketball team will be wearing the royal blue jerseys with Pitt script font, although the football players

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already flaunted theirs in a Homecoming win against Georgia Tech in the fall.

Here are the top five players to don the royal blue Pitt script jerseys for the Panthers: 5. Jerome Lane “Send it in Jerome!”

Bill Raftery’s iconic call following Jerome Lane’s glass-shattering dunk vs.

Providence in 1988 is what Lane will always be remembered for. But aside from that thunderous throwdown, Lane was always a solid contributor on both ends of the floor — averaging 13.1 points and 10.4 rebounds over his three seasons at Pitt in the mid-80s.

The Denver Nuggets selected Lane in the first round of the 1988 NBA draft, and he played professional basketball for 12 seasons.

4. Clyde Vaughan Clyde Vaughan was another efficient scorer and rebounder from the 1980s, averaging 16.9 points and 7.7 rebounds from 1980-83. Vaughan finished his Pitt career with 2,033 points, one of only two Panthers ever to reach the 2,000-point plateau.

He still ranks in the top five at Pitt in career points, scoring average and rebounds.

Following his Pitt career, Vaughan was a sixth-round selection by the Indiana Pac-

ers in the 1984 NBA Draft. Vaughan instead chose to play professionally in England, where he averaged 28.2 points per game over his eight-year career.

3. Billy Knight Billy Knight was the highest-scoring player in the Pitt script era, averaging 22.2 points per game while playing for Pitt from 1971-74. Knight was especially prolific in the 1973-74 season when he helped Pitt win 22 games in a row and led the Panthers to the Elite Eight where they lost to eventual national champion NC State. Knight earned second-team All-American recognition following the NCAA tournament run.

Knight went on to have a successful career in the ABA and NBA, making an AllStar team in both leagues. He also was general manager for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks before stepping down following the 200708 season.

and 12.1 rebounds a game in his first year, then raising his scoring average to a career-high 16.3 points per game as a senior in the 1980-81 season. He finished his career with averages of 14.4 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

Clancy was the first Panther to reach 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and still ranks as Pitt’s all-time leading rebounder with 1,342 career boards. He is now the coordinator of Pitt’s Varsity Letter Club, which is dedicated to helping establish enduring relationships between Pitt’s varsity sport letterwinners and the University.

1. Charles Smith Charles Smith teamed up with Lane in the 1980s to form a formidable duo in the Big East. Smith had an illustrious career at Pitt, winning Big East Player of the Year in 1988 and making the All-Big East First Team in back to back seasons.

Smith was prolific in the paint and on the glass, averaging 16.8 points and 8.1 re2. Sam Clancy Before embarking on a 10-year NFL bounds in his Panthers career. He is Pitt’s career as a defensive end with the Seattle all-time leading scorer, racking up 2,045 Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and India- points in his career and ranks second in napolis Colts, Sam Clancy was a monster school history with 987 career rebounds.

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Smith in the paint for the Panthers’ hoops teams as the third overall pick in the 1988 NBA from 1977-81.

Clancy averaged a double-double in all Draft, and he went on to play 10 seasons of four seasons at Pitt, averaging 14 points professional basketball.

February 17, 2017

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WISE DROPS 31 TO SNAP PITT’S 6-GAME SLIDE IN 7264 WIN VS. VIRGINIA TECH Mackenzie Rodrigues Staff Writer

The Pitt women’s basketball team snapped its six-game losing streak Thursday night, and it might not have happened without sophomore forward Brenna Wise breaking a program record.

Wise tallied a career-high 31 points — including 25 in the second half — while shooting a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line as the Panthers (13-13 overall, 4-9 ACC) defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies (16-10 overall, 3-10 ACC) 72-64 at the Petersen Events Center. The 6-foot forward broke the school record of 12-for-12 foul shooting previously held by Brianna Kiesel and Shavonte Zellous.

“Honestly, I could have scored zero points. It just feels great to win,” Wise said. “It’s awesome.”

Pitt head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio holds Wise to a higher standard than that though — a standard she lived up to and then some on Thursday.

“Brenna Wise — what a performance. I found out that it’s a school record, 13-for-13 from the free throw line. She was impressive,” McConnellSerio said. “My expectations are high for Brenna.

I’m probably hardest on her.”

Both teams struggled to find successful paths to the basket early on. The game remained tied at two for almost three minutes before sophomore forward Kauai Bradley gave Pitt a one-point lead with a free throw.

The Hokies broke a 5-5 tie with a jumper from sophomore guard Chanette Hicks, who then put up a layup to give VT a 9-5 lead.

Hokies sophomore forward Regan Magarity nailed a jumper with 48 seconds remaining in the first quarter, then Hicks pulled up just outside of the arc and sank a three with three seconds remaining in the first quarter to give VT a 16-5 lead.

True freshman point guard Jasmine Whitney started the second quarter with the first points, tallying two layups for the Panthers. Following two baskets from the Hokies, Whitney drove to the basket for her third layup of the quarter, cutting VT’s lead to 20-11.

“We had played nine players at that point and just couldn’t find any rhythm, couldn’t hit shots and we played with no energy,” McConnell-Serio said. “Then, all of a sudden you insert Jasmine

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Whitney into the game, and I just had flashes of Brianna Kiesel coming off of high on-ball screens, getting to the rim, being able to score. She was a great spark off the bench.”

Comparing Whitney to Kiesel — one of the most decorated point guards in program history — is certainly high praise for a true freshman.

But Whitney has played with the composure of a veteran as the team’s starting point guard since day one.

Hill followed a Whitney layup by draining a triple for VT. But Wise scored off an offensive rebound and turned around to score again, making it a 26-21 lead for the Hokies at halftime.

Whitney led Pitt with eight points and three rebounds in the first half, followed by Wise with six points and two rebounds and Harvey-Carr with four points and three rebounds.

“I felt good,” Whitney said. “I was trying to get my teammates involved, going off the screens, looking to dish, doing whatever I could to help the team.”

Wise started off her scorching second half with a triple, then a three by Bradley gave the Panthers a 27-26 lead. Wise squared up from the top of the key and converted another 3-pointer to give Pitt a four-point lead.

Pitt graduate transfer guard Destinie Gibbs made her first shot of the night with 2:47 left in the quarter. Wise followed with another basket thirty seconds later to make the game 38-30.

Another trip to the line for Magarity gave the Hokies one more point, Hicks added a free throw with 14.9 seconds left in the third quarter and the Panthers led 40-35 entering the fourth.

The Hokies turned to a full-court press in the final quarter, putting the pressure on Pitt’s offensive play. Whitney accrued her second foul with a little more than eight minutes left, sending Hicks to the line where two successful free throws made the game 44-39.

VT junior guard Diandra DaRosa nailed two jump shots and a free throw, and all of a sudden, the game was tied again. Magarity then gave the Hokies a 49-47 lead midway through the final quarter, and Pitt seemed on the verge of its seventh straight loss.

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