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The Pitt News

Students handling loss Page 3 and 6

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | february 22,2017 | Volume 107 | Issue 128

Pittsburghers demand Toomey Town Hall John Hamilton

Contributing Editor A cardboard cutout of Sen. Pat Toomey stood in place of the actual politician at a makeshift town hall in Station Square Tuesday.

Frustrated with Toomey’s decision to not hold a town hall over congressional recess, about 250 Pittsburghers held their own town hall as the latest installment of Tuesdays with Toomey, a recurring protest outside the Republican senator’s offices across the state.

Past Tuesday with Toomey events have focused on topics such as protecting First Amendment rights, asking Toomey to keep legislation that supports the LGBTQ+ community since he has supported banning same sex marriage in the past and creating fair economic growth in Pennsylvania. But this week’s Station Square protest called for a town hall rather than commenting on his legislative measures.

Representatives typically hold town hallstyle meetings to hear input from their constituents in a casual, easily accessible setting.

But Toomey — who was re-elected in this year’s November election — hasn’t held an in-person town hall since 2013. He held his 48th telephone town hall this past Thursday — which he announced on Facebook less than two hours before it began.

Toomey took 10 questions during the See Toomey on page 4

Kneis wins SGB presidency Max Kneis celebrates with his slate after finding out he’ll be the new Student Government Board President. Li Yi | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Nolan Roosa and Abhignya Mallepalli The Pitt News Staff

With a voter turnout more than double from the previous election’s, Pitt students elected Max Kneis as the next Student Government Board president Tuesday.

Kneis, a junior studying economics and finance, received 2,114 votes to win the presidency, which will start at the end of April.

Arlind Karpuzi and Justin Horowitz came in with 1,680 and 1,238 votes, respectively.

Zuri Kent-Smith, an undecided sophomore, received the highest number of votes among board candidates with 1,625, making him the next executive vice president.

Kneis ran with the 42 Stories slate with a focus on creating 42 changes to Pitt’s campus. Some of these proposals include pushing for a longer winter break, making women’s healthcare options more accessible and creating a “Blue Light” app to increase student safety.

As the results were announced, the members of Kneis’ slate immediately began hug-

ging — some shed a few tears as Kneis leaned in for a celebratory kiss with his girlfriend.

“How can we replicate what just happened?” Kneis said as he shook yet another hand after the results were announced. He was referring to the record-breaking number of students who voted in this year’s election.

This year also saw an increase in the number of students running for board member positions. In the election for the 2016-17 academic year, only eight candidates ran for See SGB on page 5

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News

Videos of SGB election results

Online

Actively Moving Forward: grieving students form support group

Max Datner Staff Writer

Halfway through her first semester at Pitt, Selaam Araya’s college experience came to an abrupt halt.

Araya’s father, 65, died of an unknown medical cause, and she traveled to Asmara, Eritrea — 6,991 miles away — for the burial.

When she returned for the beginning of the spring semester a month later, Araya, now a junior majoring in economics and environmental studies, sought help from Pitt’s Student Government Board and her academic advisor on handling school while grieving.

Neither source was aware of what resources, if any, Pitt offered.

Araya’s father came to the United States as a refugee and retired early in her childhood, and the two spent most of Araya’s after-school time together as she grew up. But hosting visitors paying respects in Eritrea provided distractions, and Araya didn’t feel the full impact of the loss until returning to the U.S. She’s still hit with moments of grief three years later.

“He was very big on politics and just being a knowledgeable global citizen,” Araya said. “I’ll find an interesting article in the New Yorker, right, and I will try to call him or send it to him, but I can’t do that.”

After returning to Pittsburgh, Araya had the added challenge of being far from her family, some of whom had stayed in Eritrea with distant relatives following her father’s death.

“It was difficult enough being away from home,” she said. “Academically, I really struggled. I had spoken to my academic advisor and made it known what I was going through… but I wasn’t aware of all the resources available to me on campus.”

Araya did some research. She found Pitt’s bereavement policy for faculty and employees — which allows for five days of paid leave within a week of the death for full-time employees and an adjustable amount of days for part-time employees — but nothing comparable for students.

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Kathryn Fike, a Pitt spokesperson, nei- even just in my classes it was really challengther confirmed nor denied that a student be- ing for me to focus and concentrate.”

Unlike Araya, Stohler was able to find reavement policy exists, saying “the Division of Student Affairs often works with bereaved group counseling at Pitt through the Unistudents to make accommodations for their versity Counseling Center her sophomore year, which lessened the daily burdens of studies.”

Araya had not met with anyone from Stu- grief. When her counselor asked if she was dent Affairs, though she searched for a be- interested in starting a chapter of Actively reavement policy with the help of the Student Moving Forward — a national organization Government Board. At the same time, an- that aims to connect bereaved students and advocate other stufor their d e n t , needs Caroline — she S t o h l e r, said yes. was facStohler ing a m e t similar Araya, pro b l e m who was handling broug ht grief. She on as the also got club’s adin convocacy tact with chair, SGB to through let them their muknow she tual SGB was escontact tablishing in Sepa club for tember student s of that dealing year. with loss, Wi t h p r o mp t ot h e r ing SGB chapters to put at CarnStohler Caroline Stohler with her father during parents weekegie Meland Araend, 2013. Courtesy of Caroline Stohler lon Uniya in conversity tact with and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, each other.

Stohler lost her father to a heart attack in the club became an official Pitt organizaSeptember 2014 — the summer before her tion in November 2016 and has an execusophomore year — and was having a difficult tive board of six students, headed by Stohler.

She said it offers a specific outlet that wasn’t time adjusting to campus life again.

“It was hard because you come back into available previously.

“There is a pretty good difference bean environment where everyone is so happy and everyone’s excited — it’s college, it’s sup- tween regular group counseling and AMF,” posed to be a great time,” Stohler said. “And Stohler said. “AMF is an organization that for me, I really struggled my sophomore year, helps create an environment for students to

February 22, 2017

meet other students who experience loss... maybe we’ll go out to eat together or watch a movie, just to create that atmosphere.”

Stohler said the support of her friends helped her through many instances, though she knew they didn’t really understand what she was going through. The social aspect of AMF integrates that same strategy: offering group support that extends beyond just meetings and event planning.

“Because it’s not as fresh anymore and I’m not going through those initial shocks and changes, I would rather have AMF here,” Stohler said. “It does create that environment where you can meet other students but you don’t necessarily need to talk about ‘oh, today I’m feeling sad,’ ‘today, I’m feeling angry.’”

Stohler said these kind of events could help students cope with the unpredictable process of grieving. She remembers sitting in a lecture about the cardiac system and different types of heart attacks, one of which was called “the widowmaker.”

“That really struck me because my mom is now a widow, and I just remember crying a lot in class,” she said.

The group held its first general body meeting Feb. 19 with five officers and four other students in attendance. Since becoming an official club, about 50 students have expressed interest at Pitt’s spring activities fair, mental health fair and through the Counseling Center.

At the meeting, students chatted over free candy and ice cream, shared their reasons for joining and discussed their ideas. Stohler said there were possibilities of social and service events and that the club would like to create an official bereavement policy for students at Pitt.

The club is beginning to take shape as a resource of its own, a place for students with shared experiences to communicate about death, to connect and learn how to celebrate rather than mourn the lives of their loved ones. One project that the club may establish See Moving Forward on page 9

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Toomey, pg. 1 45-minute call — leaving several protesters, including Jennifer McDowell, unsatisfied with the answers about holding an in-person town hall.

“We decided it might be a nice idea to show Senator Toomey how easy it is to hold a town hall. Look at all these friendly, patriotic people here who just want to be heard,” McDowell, who is a Tuesdays with Toomey organizer, said.

The Tuesday with Toomey protests have focused on the perceived inaccessibility of the senator. When his constituents tried to call him, they got a busy signal or were directed to a full voicemail box. When they tried to email him, they were met with an impersonal response.

The week after Presidents Day is a typical time for lawmakers to hold town halls because of the congressional recess. While this year has seen a slight increase in lawmakers meeting with their constituents to address their questions, according to a RollCall report, only 67 of the 537 senators, house members and delegates have or plan on having a town hall this week.

The protesters questioned the cardboard cutout of the senator about the President’s comments about the press, workers rights, the Affordable Care Act and legislation Toomey has opposed. When constituents called his office, either during the teleconference or over the last month, to ask these questions and give their opinions, many said they couldn’t get through.

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“How many of you got a chance to ask a question of Pat Toomey during the call?” McDowell asked the crowd, who booed in response. “He’s not talking to us.”

Janna Zuroski of Squirrel Hill said she felt ignored by the senator when she couldn’t get through to his office.

She also said she was frustrated Toomey seemed to be voting against the wishes of many Pennsylvanians.

“He’s been extremely difficult to get in touch with,” Zuroski said. “That’s not a representative.”

Toomey made a Facebook post on Feb. 6 defending his vote for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos — despite opposition from people contacting his office — by saying that many were not his constituents.

“My D.C. and PA offices are receiving a high volume of calls and emails from people outside of our state weighing in on President Trump’s cabinet nominees,” Toomey said in the post.

Liz Klie, an organizer with Planned Parenthood, addressed the crowd gathered in front of Toomey’s office at The Landmarks Building as cars passed by, some honking in approval.

“Like many of you, we are caught wondering ‘Where is Toomey?’” she said as the crowd cheered in agreement. “We deserve answers in PA.” Along with calling for a town hall, this week’s protest focused on protecting First Amendment rights. McDowell read the text of the amendment to the crowd, who cheered when she read about “the right of the people See Toomey on page 9

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Pittsburghers gathered outside Toomey’s office Tuesday to demand he host a town hall. Anna Bongardino STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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SGB, pg. 1

Max Kneis celebrates with Natalie Dahl after winning the SGB presidency.

Meghan Sunners ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR cations this year to mimic how voting happens in national elections but received very little interest from students. Lee said the locations in Towers Lobby seemed less effective than handing out tangible objects, such as pins, encouraging students to vote.

Vice-president elect Kent-Smith attrib-

uted his success to his running mate Karpuzi and Phil Anderson, a campaign staffer.

Kent-Smith ran on initiatives — including advocating for students with disabilities and working with admissions and administrations to encourage more local Pittsburgh students to apply — he said he can accom-

See SGB on page 9

The Pitt news crossword 2/22/17

board, while 16 ran in this election.

This year, 5,177 students voted, which is about 28.76 percent of the student population, an increase from last year when 2,665 students voted in the election. In 2014, a total of 4,127 students voted for an SGB member or president. In 2013, a total of 2,520 students voted.

Current SGB President Natalie Dall said she was excited to see the increased voter turnout for this election, which she credited to increased competition among the candidates. In addition to posting in various groups on social media, chalking the sidewalk with colorful campaign slogans and blasted music in front of the William Pitt Union. Student Affairs also ran election notifications on screens across campus from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the first time.

“I’m so excited students got engaged this year — we catch a lot of flak for low student involvement,” Dall said. “This year, one of our big priorities was to get students involved in SGB. We all just worked really hard to promote the election this year.”

According to Elections Chair Julia Lee, SGB attempted to set up physical voting lo-

plish regardless of the presidential outcome.

Board candidate Ami Fall, a sophomore political science and psychology major, received 1,519 votes. Nihita Manem, a junior neuroscience and psychology major, received 1,474 votes. Maddie Guido, a sophomore biological sciences major, received 1,471 votes. Ciara Barry, a junior finance and marketing major, received 1,373 votes.

Ian Callahan, a junior electrical engineering major, received 1,297 votes. Krishani Patel, a junior biology and religious students major, received 923 votes, and Alex Spenceley, a sophomore neuroscience major, received 778 votes.

Of the board member-elects, all three 42 Stories board candidates and all three Allies board candidates won seats. Two members of Summit — Patel and Spenceley — also won seats.

Fall — a member of 42 Stories — was shaking while Lee announced the results. While Fall said she felt nervous, she “thought that [they] had a good chance” of winning because of how hard they worked throughout their campaign.

“All the work we put in the past couple months, it was showing throughout, but it

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Opinions

column

Grieving students need resources

from the editorial board

Colleges can cut costs outside tuition With the costs of college and student debt looming for many students, that some universities are helping make their degrees more affordable is a refreshing notion.

New York University announced Friday that it will be instituting a new way to make its education more affordable. While the school already raised student wages to $15 an hour and froze costs for housing and meal plans last year, NYU is now giving students options to save on tuition by being able to graduate in less than four years.

The new method is an innovative way to ease the burden of college costs on students — especially for NYU where undergraduates pay upwards of $60,000 a year — and a commendable example of a university giving students what they need to succeed.

The new program, called NYU Accelerate, will create more two-credit course offerings for students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Four departments in the College launched new two-credit classes this year, with a combined enrollment of over 200 students, and more will be offered in the coming year. At NYU, as with Pitt, full-time tuition pays for any course load between 12 and 18 credits. So the option for two-credit classes offers students flexibility for courses and the ability to take more credits in a more manageable way. The program also includes training advisers to help students find ways to use their credits more efficiently, shaving time off their college careers.

While the program is an inventive way to positively affect college affordability in the short term, it’s certainly not a sustainable solution to cure rising tuition and student debt long-term.

While we herald NYU and other universities for their ability to cut costs and save students valuable dollars in the meantime, we still need to be searching for ways to make college more affordable for all students, no matter how long it takes them to graduate.

According to the U.S. Department of Educa-

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tion, less than 60 percent of Pitt students from 2008-2011 graduated in four years — compared with 62 percent at Pennsylvania State University, 69 percent at Carnegie Mellon University and 88 percent at the University of Pennsylvania. This means 40 percent of students at Pitt are paying more than they anticipated to complete their degrees. But Pitt has yet to offer innovative solutions to help its students balance the cost of tuition and other fees. The University’s Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences advising center did not comment on any current or future plans to increase affordability for students in time for publication.

Students rushing through semesters to save money isn’t a new trend. But institutionalizing the practice is a much newer occurrence as college students today must find better ways to finance and finish their degrees. NYU acknowledged their changes may not benefit every student, nor is it best for every student to take advantage of them, but they do present a way for students to save money right now while the nation figures out how to deal with the larger student debt crisis.

That larger issue is one in dire need of attention. But in the meantime, universities like Pitt should be taking the initiative to help decrease their costs for their students, even in minimal ways like increasing opportunities for food sharing or paying their students workers a higher minimum wage. NYU started modestly, and their changes grew from there. They first increased tuition costs by the smallest margin in two decades last year before moving on to the new Accelerator program this spring. And other schools around the country can make similar changes that have big impacts on students and their wallets.

Today, college is often a necessary expense for many American students. And while the debate on costs and loans rages on, universities should be doing everything they can to make changes that are helpful and attractive for what should be their main priority: the students.

Amber and Mark Montgomery at Amber’s high school graduation in 2012. Photo courtesy of Amber Montgomery | Opinions Editor made it to the hospital, my family had already Amber Montgomery decided it was time to bring dad home and let Opinions Editor nature run its course.

Many people woke up this past Nov. 9 feelAfter a week of saying goodbye, three days ing like they had entered an alternate reality — of services, and some time to help my mother Donald Trump’s fresh presidential win elicited adjust after the loss, I was back at school a few emotional responses in the form of shock and days before the Thanksgiving break. Although panic. it seemed like ages, I was only gone from camBut I woke up that morning at 6 a.m. to pus for about a week and a half. My professors a ringing phone and a different kind of crisis. and bosses granted me the time I needed to be My mom’s unsteady voice on the line told me away, but after I returned, I was surprised at she was sorry, that my dad’s condition had how quickly I was expected to return to norworsened and that I needed to come home. I mal. And I was disheartened to see the lack of made a cup of coffee, packed some clothes — support, comfort and understanding visibly mindful to grab my black dress — and hopped available to students who are grieving. in the car on a foggy Pittsburgh morning. It It’s not anyone’s fault specifically but my exwasn’t until I crossed the Maryland border that perience does raise an important notion about I bothered to turn on the radio and discovered how deeply uncomfortable we are with death the identity of our next President. and grief, so much so that we often choose to My dad was sick for a long time before avoid and ignore it rather than talk about it — that day, battling with chronic kidney and liver something I’m guilty of as well. disease for years, but the phone call was still See Montgomery on page 7 sudden and unexpected. And by the time I

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Montgomery, pg. 6 Between 22 and 30 percent of college students have experienced the loss of a family member or close friend over the last year, according to statistics from Actively Moving Forward, an organization that supports young adults who are grieving. At Pitt, that means between 3,893 and 5,308 undergraduates are dealing with grief and loss right now. Pitt offers help to these students mainly through the Counseling Center, addressing the psychological needs of the bereaved but offering little extensive support.

“Students experiencing the grief and loss of a loved one are encouraged to access the Counseling Center’s services,” said Ed Michaels, director of the Counseling Center. “The Center offers individual counseling and a support group specific to issues related to grief and loss.”

While commendable first strides, it’s wellknown around campus that appointments with the Center are hard to come by. Students often wait more than a month after their initial call to be seen by a counselor. And with the high number of grieving students, the long wait times and only one support group — called Coping with Grief — at the Center intended to help upwards of three thousand potentially bereaved students just isn’t enough care.

Outside of the mental aspects of death, 8.6 percent of those grieving students are likely to suffer academically, according to AMF. but Pitt offers no guidelines for excused absences due to death of a family member.

“Pitt does not have an official bereavement leave policy for students,” said Michaels. Instead, it’s up to the student to negotiate with advisors and professors about how they can make up the work they missed or fell behind in.

While my advisor was helpful in explaining this process to me, and most of my professors encouraged me to stay home as long as I needed, the reality when I returned to campus was less forgiving. Most of my professors gave me extra time to complete the work I’d missed over the two weeks I was gone, but with only weeks left in the semester and finals swiftly approaching, the make-up work was a daunting task, my focus and concentration noticeably drifted and my grades took a hit.

This lack of bereavement policy and procedure affects more than just making up work in the aftermath of the death of a loved one. My dad was sick for a long time before he passed and I took as many opportunities as I could, while juggling school and work, to go home and be with him and my family. Looking back, I could have — and maybe should have — taken a semester

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Amanda, Mark and Amber on vacation in 2001. Courtesy of Amber Montgomery | Opinions Editor off to stay home.

But I didn’t because school and my life here seemed like a priority, and I didn’t know taking time off was even an option. College often takes precedent over other aspects of life for four years — and rightfully so — but we don’t always need to make our studies the be-all end-all of our time here. It’s okay to take time away, and that time is something the University should make sure students know is available.

We’ve come a long way in ensuring colleges offer proper outlets for students who are victims of sexual assault or in need of mental health treatment — both of which are extremely important resources to have. But people have worked for years to emphasize the importance of sexual assault awareness, and we should be doing the same with grief among college students.

It’s not that I expected a professor to let me turn in the elegy I’d written to replace a term paper, but I was surprised at how little concern my professors showed. When I came into office hours to talk about what I missed, one of my professors didn’t acknowledge the reason I was gone but preferred to tell me about his rough, exhausting semester.

And even fewer of my friends asked how I was doing or reached out, probably out of fear and worry they’d say the wrong thing. What was probably intended to spare my feelings instead made me feel like I was weak and wrong to be struggling.

So instead of opening up about my dad’s death, I hid it and acted like everything was normal. I took care of my grief by myself. I retreated from my housemates and into my room more. I told my friends I was too busy or too tired when they wanted to hang out — because you can’t really tell people you aren’t going to dinner because you’re too busy staring at the wall in silence all night or that you’d rather sit around in old sweatshirts watching your dad’s favorite movies instead of going to the bar. And no one really questioned me.

When you’re dealing with the loss of a loved one, it can only exacerbate the stress and uncertainty of college life. And it’s a never-ending cycle. We’re uncomfortable with death and grief because we never talk about them, even though dying is perhaps the most inevitable aspect of life.

We — as friends, students, teachers — should be more willing to acknowledge death and grieving. And we — as a university — should be offering more extensive services to help our students deal with loss and grief. We will be forced to deal with loss eventually, so we might as well learn to deal with it now and do so together.

For a story on the Actively Moving Forward chapter here at Pitt, see page 1.

Amber is the Opinions Editor at The Pitt News. She primarily writes on gender and politics.

Write to Amber at aem98@pitt.edu.

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Sports

Wrestler Ryan Solomon named ACC Wrestler of the Week See online

How to sneak past the Deacs: what Pitt needs to do beat Wake

Steve Rotstein Sports Editor

Just when it seemed like the Pitt men’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament chances disappearing, the Panthers beat their second top-25 team of the season and keep some hope alive.

Pitt’s 80-66 win over the No. 17 Florida State Seminoles Saturday was arguably the team’s most impressive all-around performance of the season, but the Panthers (15-12 overall, 4-10 ACC) will have to match or exceed that level of play the rest of the way to have a chance at making the tournament.

The team’s next opportunity to boost its tournament resume will come Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when Pitt squares off with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (15-12 overall, 6-9 ACC). Here’s a look at how the two teams stack up: Boost from the bench The Panthers have sorely missed having junior forward Ryan Luther in their lineup.

Since he suffered a foot injury in practice prior to the team’s 72-46 loss against Miami Jan. 14, the Panthers have relied on their starting five to play an overwhelming amount of minutes.

The team lost its first six games without Luther, but has won three out of the past four — and while the starters are still doing most of the work, contributions from reserves have certainly helped.

Five bench players saw at least five minutes of action in Pitt’s win over Florida State Ryan Luther’s absence has been sorely missed by the Panthers, who lack a on Saturday, while redshirt junior Rozelle Nix consistently productive bench. John Hamilton VISUAL EDITOR and true freshman point guard Justice Kithcart played 10 and 12 minutes, respectively. The was nice to see those guys come off the bench from dominating at the rim and on the glass.

Stallings called Collins “as good if not betPanthers still only received seven points from and give us a shot in the arm the other day and ter than any post player in the league.” That’s give us some good minutes and help us win. ” their bench, but the ability for the reserves to certainly high praise in such a stacked conferIn order to keep up the strong play down step in and provide the starters with muchence, but it’s hard to argue with Stallings. Colthe stretch, Pitt will need its bench players to needed rest made sure the starters were ready lins ranks in the top five in the ACC in both not only provide quality minutes but contribto close out the win at the end of the second scoring and rebounding, averaging 19 points ute more off ensively as well. half. and 9.6 rebounds per game.

Containing Collins “One of the challenges of not winning is the Although Pitt has tall, lengthy guards in If the Panthers want to pick up their fourth guys that don’t play as much tend to be a little 6-foot-7 point guard Jamel Artis and 6-foot-8 win in fi ve games, they’ll need to fi nd a way to less engaged,” Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings shooting guard Cameron Johnson, the Pankeep Wake Forest power forward John Collins said at his Monday media teleconference. “It

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February 22, 2017

thers lack a true post presence down low in their starting lineup.

Senior forward Michael Young is the team’s tallest starter at 6-foot-9, but he’s not a traditional power forward. Pitt may need to turn to 6-foot-11, 310-pound center Rozelle Nix from the bench earlier than usual to try to limit Collins’ presence in the paint.

The three is the key In today’s game, the 3-point basket is incredibly important — and the Demon Deacons know how to use it.

Wake Forest is shooting 38.5 percent as a team from beyond the arc, good for third-best in the ACC. The Panthers aren’t far behind, ranking sixth in the conference at 37.8 percent as a team. Both teams have multiple players capable of knocking down long range shots, but each of them has a distinct 3-point threat that can alter the outcome of any game.

For Pitt, it’s Johnson, who leads the ACC with 67 3-pointers made on the season and 2.5 made 3-pointers per game. He is shooting 43.2 percent from deep, ranking ninth in the ACC. But the Demon Deacons have a sharpshooter of their own: sophomore guard Keyshawn Woods.

Woods isn’t chucking up nearly as many threes as Johnson, who attempts 6.1 threes per contest. Woods only attempts 3.4 shots per game from behind the line, but he makes nearly half of those tries — giving him the secondhighest 3-point percentage in the league at 47.3 percent.

The key to this game could come down to which sophomore guard is able to get into a rhythm and which team is able to force the opponent’s long-range shooter off the 3-point line.

“I think that what jumps off the page about Wake is their ability to score both inside and outside,” Stallings said Monday. “They can really stretch you out, and they’ve got a guy inside that can score 25 or 30 on any given night.

That’s a handful ... it will be a big challenge because, again, they’re deep, they’re very talented and they’re very well-coached.”

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Toomey, pg. 4

Moving Forward, pg. 3

peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Though the speakers at the protest and questions at the town hall centered on free speech and the right to assemble, many in attendance had additional concerns about Toomey and Trump’s similar plans, including the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Toomey, who pledged after his reelection not to be a “rubber stamp” for Trump, has voted for all of Trump’s cabinet nominations so far, including DeVos. Zuroski also said she is concerned about health care but that she is most worried about positions the new administration has taken on the environment.

Trump’s recently confirmed pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has long been an advocate for reduced environmental regulations, which he says have destroyed jobs. Additionally, Trump’s 2012 Tweet about climate change, calling it a Chinese invention to hurt the U.S. economy, has been sharply criticized by climate scientists.

“I don’t have a sign because I have too many things I’d like to protest against,” she said.

is a “Before I Die” wall, where students can write ideas about what they want to accomplish in their lives.

Stohler said there isn’t a second meeting scheduled yet, but the community service aspects of the club make it more likely that all types of students will eventually join, whether or not they have experienced loss.

Both Stohler and Araya said in retrospect, they feel remiss about not reaching out to the Counseling Center more actively or asking for help in the classroom. Araya would have, she said, if she knew the resources were there.

“When you deal with grief, you don’t focus very well,” Araya said. “I could’ve gone to the disability services for extra time on exams.”

Given her father’s life philosophy, Araya said, her involvement as advocacy chair for Pitt’s AMF chapter has a special meaning to her.

“I’m not going to sit around and mope about it just because there are, like, more productive things to do,” she said. “I think that my father would’ve thought the same way. I’m pretty sure he’d be upset if people were not being productive citizens just because he’s not here.”

SGB, pg. 5 finally is manifesting, and it feels so great,” Fall said.

Throughout the day Tuesday, presidential and board candidates handed out flyers, candy and pizza, encouraging students to vote. Sidewalks outside Towers, the William Pitt Union and Posvar Hall were covered in chalk art advertising slates and candidates.

President-elect Kneis’ slate used 252 pieces of chalk the night before the election and handed out a couple thousand pieces of candy the day of the election.

“I got to interact with so many Pitt students. It was a celebration for everything we’ve done in the past few months,” he said.

Both Karpuzi and Horowitz were confident in Kneis’ ability to fulfill the obligations of president and plan to continue working toward their campaign initiatives.

Although Horowitz was not sure how he plans to push his initiatives in the future, he said he wanted to continue his work in the University Counseling Center on the Mental Health Task Force. He would like to stay involved in student affairs and possibly SGB in the future.

“If it’s not me it’s him,” Horowitz said, referring to Kneis’ position as future president.

Karpuzi said he did not have any regrets about his campaign. He plans to push for his initiatives during the transition period between SGB Slates, which begins now until the new board takes over, and plans to stay involved through his resident assistant position.

“To be able to run for president of this organization and represent these 18,000 undergrads was a pleasure and an honor,” Karpuzi said.

Kneis said now that he’s won the election, he and his board need to decide how to capitalize on the momentum they already have, “not just putting stuff out but taking stuff in,” he said.

Guido, another member of 42 Stories, said she wasn’t ready to express her enthusiasm for the board position before the election because she didn’t want to jinx it. Now that she has secured a spot on the board, she’s ready to start working on her initiatives, particularly regarding women’s health.

“Knowing Max, we’ll probably start as early as possible,” Guido said. “Preparations will be starting next week. Now that we’re done [with] the campaign, he wants something else for us to do.”

The Pitt News SuDoku 2/22/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

pittnews.com

February 22, 2017

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