2-27-15

Vol. 105 Issue 123

@thepittnews TREE CLIMBING

Pittnews.com

Friday, February 27, 2015

Students, activists discuss climate change Anjana Murali Staff Writer

Reverend Lennox Yearwood lived through Hurricane Katrina and lost loved ones to the storm.

Even without the devastation of the area, he says, his home state would still be called Cancer Alley, with water runoffs, smog and pollution causing children to suffer from asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

This is the reality that Yearwood and Michael Leon Guerrero are working hard to change.

The Global Studies Center hosted the fourth part of a five-part video dialogue series titled “The Culture Against Climate Change” on Thursday afternoon in Posvar Grady Martin, a sophomore Hall. Yearwood and Guerrero both spoke Geology major, tackles the via video call to more than 50 people, inTrees climbing wall. Heather cluding students, faculty and community Tennant | Staff Photographer members. Yearwood is president of the Hip Hop Caucus, a civil and human rights organization, and Guerrero is interim national coordinator of the Our Power Campaign, a climate justice alliance.

The series is sponsored by the Department of Sociology, the urban studies program and supported by the Office of the panel of workers and experts discuss wage Provost and the Year of Sustainability. inequality in Pittsburgh, organizers said. The Through their activism, Yearwood and panel was organized by Pitt, the local 32BJ Guerrero seek to create an environmental

Service workers demand higher wages at panel Dale Shoemaker Assistant News Editor They talked and, later, chanted, but they knew it wasn’t enough.

Roughly 200 service workers — including janitors, security guards, fast food workers, students, professors and community members — gathered in the O’Hara Student Center on Thursday at 5 p.m. to hear a

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WAGES branch of the Service Employees International Union and a local branch of Fight for $15, a national organization.

Organizers hung banners around the second-floor ballroom calling for a minimum wage of $15 per hour, one of which read, “Strike! Better pay for a stronger Pittsburgh.”

University spokesman John Fedele said on Thursday afternoon that the University would not comment on the panel.

Each member of the panel gave their personal perspectives on income inequality.

The panel included Stephen Herzenberg, an economist with the Keystone Research Center, Bruce Kraus, Pittsburgh City Council president and representative for Pittsburgh’s third council district, several service workers from around the city and Joshua Orange, a junior at Pitt.

Sam Williamson, regional director for the local 32BJ SEIU, which helps organize workers union in Pittsburgh, mediated the panel and began with a challenge for the audience.

“Is your future going to be determined

February 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com by your skin or where you went to school ... or your inherent worth as a human being?” he asked.

Minimum wage and other underpaid workers, Williamson said, are fighting for the minimum wage to be raised to $15 per hour, for better working conditions and for the right to form a union without interference by employers.

“The only thing throughout American history that has raised wages is unions,” Williamson said.

One-third of Pittsburgh residents live in poverty, according to a 32BJ release after the panel. A recent study by the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board found that nearly half of the new jobs being created in Pittsburgh will pay less than $14 per hour, the release said. This data is also from “Pittsburgh’s Racial Demographics 2015: Differences and Disparities” published by the School of Social Work earlier this year.

Williamson said SEIU is currently helping to unionize security guards around the city.

Because of the actions of 32BJ, he said, 400 security guards are currently unionized, and 400 more are expected to unionize by mid-March. There are about 1,000 security

guards in total in Pittsburgh, he said.

The panel comes amid contract negotiations between service workers at Pitt and the University. Workers are calling for cheaper health care and a 3.7 percent annual raise.

Before the panel spoke, Orange stood and began to rally the audience.

“I believe!” he called. “I believe that we will win!”

Then, Herzenberg, the first to speak, spoke about the history of wage inequality in America.

“There’s an answer to inequality,” he said, “It’s $15 an hour.”

He discussed the specific economics of income inequality and explained that when all workers are paid more, the economy as a whole is better off.

“Only you can save America from itself,” Herzenberg said.

Lena Germany, who works at a KFC in Wilkinsburg, told a personal story of how she lost custody of her young son. He was taken away from her, she said, because, a few years ago, the state of Pennsylvania deemed her financially unable to support him. She expressed her frustration with working for a low wage.

“I don’t make the paychecks — all I do is work for them. I don’t want to struggle anymore,” Germany said.

She and other fast food workers around Pittsburgh, she said, are planning a strike on April 15.

Aliyya Lee, a cleaner at Pitt and a member of 32BJ, was also on the panel and spoke about how working as part of a union has benefited her. She said she is raising two daughters, one of whom is a senior at Pitt Johnstown.

“If I didn’t have this job,” she said, “I wouldn’t have been able to put her through school.”

While she was speaking, she started crying. An audience member called to her and said, “Keep that strength.”

Later, during his speech, Orange explained what a living wage means.

“It simply means that you can live with your wages. It means you don’t have to choose between [paying only] two-thirds of your utilities ... or whether or not you’ll be able to feed your children,” he said.

After the panel, Williamson opened up

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February 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 1

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CLIMATE

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movement that stresses the importance of intersectionality by encouraging minorities to be vocal in the climate change conversation.

“Minorities in poor communities bear the brunt of horrible environmental conditions,” Yearwood said.

According to Yearwood, the face of the environmental movement has typically been that of the “white, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing hippie.”

The white-dominated face of the movement has not only silenced those voices but created a culture of exclusivity that discourages minorities from joining the movement, according to Yearwood.

Yearwood and Guerrero’s efforts are focused on mobilizing the oppressed voices to join the movement. They aim to create a movement whose demographics more closely reflect those that are marginalized.

The Hip Hop Caucus released an album called HOME, which features black artists including Elle Varner, Ne-Yo and Crystal Waters. This not only serves as a “soundtrack to the movement,” Yearwood said, but also serves to create a movement that is more attractive to all types of people.

The album, according to Yearwood, was created to use people’s culture to connect them to the climate change conversation.

So far, his efforts have proven effective.

Yearwood, along with 500,000 people, participated in the People’s Climate March in New York last September. At the forefront of the march were the disenfranchised and young voices, he said.

This march was crucial in not only the fight for more environmental world but also in changing the face of the movement, Yearwood said.

For Guerrero, the march was important because it “opened up political space for victories to happen” and demonstrated “what a movement in the U.S. needs to look like in order to affect the climate or any other issue.”

Other wins for the environmental movement, he said, include young people’s environmental support, the recent veto of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the New York coalition that banned fracking.

the floor to the audience.

Later, a crowd member asked Kraus if City Council would support the right to unionize and support Fight for $15.

“You only have to ask,” Kraus replied.

This sentiment was echoed by councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, who was also in attendance.

Rudiak, who is currently running for city controller, said she co-sponsored a bill that

Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.

City Council passed in 2010 to help raise the wages of private sector service workers.

Because of legal hang-ups, though, she said, the law is being enforced, but on an unregulated basis. Because of this, she said, she and other City Council members, including Kraus, are dedicated to advocating for workers’ rights.

“It’s really powerful when elected officials lend their voices,” she said. “We show up.”

Orange said students should care about income inequality because it directly affects their lives post-college.

“This is pertinent for us,” he said during

3 his speech. “It’s hard enough for us to try to figure out how to pay off a loan with $7.25 an hour, so it must be impossible to try to figure out to how to get to a better social economic state if you can’t figure out how to pay for school in the first place.”

He called on students not to be apathetic and to take action. Taking action, he said, is important because it is the right thing to do.

“This is not our fight, but this is all of our war,” he said. “When I say this is important for students to do, I mean it’s quintessential for us as humans to do.”

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February 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

OPINIONS

EDITORIAL

Casual Fridays Casket case Back in December, Johnny Morgan Lowe III’s family was on the receiving end of a wrongly committed six-foot plunder.

After a grave error by a crime lab, Lowe’s family mistakenly buried Louie Caldwell during their closed-casket service. On Sad-urday, after the mortifying situation was finally sordid out, Lowe’s family buried the right man. Although Georgia Bureau of Investigation officials said the agency planned to pay for Lowe’s burial — morgue than they asked for — his family still had some dirty words.

That’s nuts!

Earlier this month, a dog in London suffered a harsh death by chocolate. After sun rays reflected off a Nutella jar lying on a windowsill, the blinds caught on fire, setting the house ablaze. Upon learning their misfortune, the family went hazelnuts. When asked for comment, the homeowners said that they knew Nutella was pretty fire, and they wished they’d been more careful with such a hot commodity.

Bus (p)aide A bus aide from Millville, N.J., was bus-ted last Friday for stealing lunch money and bagged lunches from preschoolers. Rosa Rios was caught yummaging through students’ backpacks on surveillance footage.

Rios was charged with robbery, theft and gluttony and is currently being held on $70,000 worth of lunch money for bail.

When asked for comment, Rios said she had it in the bag all along — it was like taking candy from a baby.

Chump change During a house party in a gated Florida community earlier this month, a partygoer had a change of heart for the worse. The suspect stole $18,000 worth of nickels from the premises. The media was anxious to hear the plaintiffs’ five cents about the cents-less crime. While there was no word on whether they got their Nickelsback, it is rumored that the thief has enough funds to book Chad Kroeger for the next house party. Without a reward, there is no incentive for the community to find the culprit.

Cold case Earlier this week, police in Hanahan, S.C., “arrested” Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen” for bringing a cold spell to the area. During questioning, cops asked Elsa, “Do you wanna build a prison?” She replied, “The jail never bothered me anyway.”

Angrily, police told her not to let it go and not to collect $200 — she had to cooperate — or Elsa.

The snow queen was released without charges, though, when the main evidence — a frozen fountain — thawed.

TNS

COLUMN

Sexism doesn’t sell: Integrate more meaningful female roles into film Adrianne Glenn Columnist

This year, not a single female director or screenwriter was nominated for an Oscar.

Women’s underrepresentation in media is no new tale, though. Women accounted for 4.1 percent of directors, 12.2 percent of writers and 20 percent of producers in the top 100 grossing films of 2012, according to Stacy Smith, an associate professor at the University of Southern California.

Women made up a mere 28.4 percent of the speaking roles in these movies.

A patriarchal society, set up

to demand this inequality in representation, is to blame for the low number of females represented in media. To combat this inequality, it is imperative that directors integrate female roles with substance into their work, such as the 2016 femaledirected “Ghostbusters” movie. Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon will star in the film.

The incentive? It turns out that sexism doesn’t really sell — films that have superficial female roles or exclude women from the screenplay make less money than those that do. By popularizing the use of female leads in film, Hollywood can

combat sexism and see higher returns on investment.

The “Bechdel test” is the tool used by screenwriters and viewers to determine whether there is sufficient gender representation in a film. The test was popularized in cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s 1985 strip titled “The Rule.”

There are three prongs to this test — There must be at least two named female characters, who speak to each other, about something other than men.

Two data sets interplay to show that passing this test

Glenn

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February 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 4

GLENN — and effectively integrating women into a film — is more profitable than excluding them.

The first — the official Bechdel test movie list — is run by moviegoers who review films and decide whether they pass the test. Over 5,000 titles have been reviewed thus far. A second analysis — from The Numbers, a leading site for box office data — has surveyed the costs of about 4,500 movies.

The intersection between these two analyses, conducted by Walt Hickey for a column on FiveThirtyEight, reveals that the total median gross return on investment for a film that passed the Bechdel test was $2.68 for each dollar spent. Conversely, the total median gross return on investment for films that failed was only $2.45 for each dollar spent.

Movies that feature more women consistently have higher returns on investment and higher gross profits. So

why don’t we see more of them?

“Movies that are female-driven do not travel,” Krista Smith, West Coast editor of Vanity Fair, told Hickey.

Since foreign pre-sales are crucial to pay for the vast majority of films, it is detrimental that investors don’t believe female roles will flourish in the box office.

Despite movies such as “Bridesmaids,” which features a hilarious cast of independent women, Hollywood still hasn’t improved in gender representation. Why? Investors think it is more likely that women will see a male-dominated film than males will attend a “chick flick.”

Films comprised solely of women, then, are not often funded. “Bridesmaids” is the needle in the haystack.

There is a cyclical nature to this absence of female figures in the media — we neglect to cast strong females, which perpetuates cultural sexism, and then we continue to believe that we shouldn’t cast female roles.

This is why the cast for the new “Ghostbusters” film is so relevant to

T P N Today’s difficulty level: Very Hard S U D Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com O K U

the scope of equality in entertainment.

“Ghostbusters” will pass the Bechdel test, so if it succeeds in the box office, it will send a clear message to anyone who still doubts that doing well economically is possible with a femaledominated movie.

It’s important to note, though, that simply representing women in the film is not the end of the job. If it were, we might only see bland side characters and tired tropes where women are left out of the main plotline.

For instance, 2014’s “The Lego Movie” showcases this trope. Wyldstyle, the lead female character, is a “master builder” in the movie, meaning she can build anything she needs — even without an instruction manual. Still, the male role, Emmet, who is not a master builder, turns out to be “the special” who resolves the conflict in the movie.

This female character can’t solve the societal problem onscreen, because an incompetent male has been chosen for the position. Men’s gender alone propels them into superior ranks. Women do not get to be heroes, even when they

5 have the exact skill set for it.

So, even though “The Lego Movie” technically passes the Bechdel test, it cannot be given credit for representing women because it does so inadequately.

There are some good examples of present-day adequate representation, though. Dystopias such as “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” feature strong female protagonists and are targeted for a younger demographic, which is especially important given the internalization of female inadequacy that can easily take place in younger viewers.

If these endeavours to bring strong female characters to light are successful, they will undoubtedly spark further discourse about including more women in future roles. When it becomes clear that female characters actually bring in more revenue, we’re bound to see more women in media. It’s all about money, and sexism doesn’t actually sell.

Adrianne Glenn primarily writes about social and cultural issues for The Pitt News.

Write to Adrianne at adg79@pitt. edu.

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February 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

SPORTS

Panthers steamrolled by No. 4 Irish despite Kieselʼs 27 Dan Sostek Assistant Sports Editor

Pitt’s women’s basketball team could not contend with ferocious onslaught of No. 4 Notre Dame’s offense Thursday evening, falling to the Fighting Irish 87-59 in South Bend, Ind. Even after falling into an early 14-4 deficit, the Panthers (18-10, 8-7 ACC) remained competitive early on in the game, as Brianna Kiesel scored nine of her team’s first 17 points to help Pitt decrease Notre Dame’s lead to 20-17.

That was the closest the Panthers would get to overcoming the Irish (27-2, 14-1 ACC) lead, however, as the hosts closed the half on a 20-10 run, entering halftime with an advantage of 40-27.

Notre Dame continued to thrive in the second half, building on its momentum to begin the period on a 21-5 run, essentially sealing the victory for the Fighting Irish within the first 10 minutes of the final period. Pitt did not diminish the deficit to anything lower than 23.

Despite the loss, the Panthers were once again led by senior guard Brianna Kiesel.

After being named on Monday as one of 15 finalists for the prestigious Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given to the best point guard in the nation, Kiesel exploded for 27 points, three assists and two steals on the evening. She was the only Pitt player to score double figures.

No player on Pitt managed more than five rebounds — a mark set by graduate student Monica Wignot, who only managed six points while going 3-12 from the field. The Panthers went dry from beyond the arc, going an abysmal 2 of 16 on 3-point attempts for the contest.

The Fighting Irish received more balanced contributions, with five players — forwards Markisha Wright, Taya Reimer and Brianna Turner and guards Jewell Loyd and Lindsay Allen– reaching double figures. Loyd led the Irish with 16 points, chipping in five assists and three rebounds as well.

Notre Dame outplayed Pitt in nearly every facet of the game, outshooting the Panthers 62.7 percent to 36.4 percent, outrebounding them 41-21 and dishing out 10 more assists than their visitors.

Pitt will have to move past the blowout loss quickly, as the Panthers’ season finale is this Sunday against the Clemson Tigers. The contest will serve as senior day for Kiesel, Wignot and Cora McManus. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.

Brianna Kiesel scored 27 of Pitt’s 59 points in the loss. Heather Tennant | Staff Photographer

February 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

COLUMN

FIVE

WAYS TO FINISH

STRONG 1

Dan Sostek Assistant Sports Editor

YOUNG, WILD AND FREE- Michael

Young, the Panthers sophomore center, has done everything Pitt could have hoped for this season in terms of switching positions from power forward to center, switching from a midrange player to doing almost all of his work in the post.

Averaging 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds a game while seeing his field goal percentage skyrocket from 41.3 percent to 52.6 percent, the Duquesne, Pa., product has been an efficient presence for Pitt. Still, Pitt needs Young to provide just a little more than his per game averages. Pitt is 10-1 in games that Young scores 15-plus points, and just 3-5 when he scores 10 or fewer. The team needs to go to what worked Tuesday against Boston College: feed Young down low and let him do work in the post.

A

s Pitt (19-10, 8-7 ACC) enters the homestretch of the regular season, the team is hoping to avoid any blemishes on its resumé before traveling to Greensboro for the ACC tournament. With a manageable remaining three games – at Wake Forest (12-16, 4-11 ACC), against Miami (18-10, 8-7 ACC) at home and at Florida State (15-14, 7-9 ACC) — here is a look at what the Panthers must do to finish the regular season with a string of victories.

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WORKINGWith the recent emergence of Sheldon Jeter as a capable offensive weapon, the shifting of Chris Jones into a sixth-man role and the significant decrease in Josh Newkirk’s minutes, there is no reason for Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon to stray from those adjustments. Jeter is capable of scoring from anywhere on the court and has earned his 25 to 30 minutes of playing time per game, Michael Young will be key for the Panthers while Jones has providas the team closes out the regular season. ed what many thought Heather Tennant | Staff Photographer Newkirk would: a guard who can come off the bench to provide a slew of quick points, as he did against Syracuse last weekend, scoring 19 in the Panthers’ 65-61 victory at the Carrier Dome. Newkirk has shown flashes of talent, but has seemed to take a step back this year, and Dixon should not feel the need to experiment with him for significant stretches until he displays some consistency.

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PRESSURE THE PERIMETER- The Panthers’ perimeter defense

has been an Achilles’ heel for the team — primarily in losses, such as their matchups against Duke and Virginia Tech. Senior guard Cameron Wright, primarily known for his staunch Five Ways 10 perimeter defense, has been hobbled

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February 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com fense to ensure that any of their remaining opponents cannot consistently hit a shot from beyond the arc to either end a Pitt rally or kickstart one of their own.

FROM PAGE 9

FIVE WAYS throughout the year, which perhaps explains Pitt’s inconsistency defending the three. Junior point guard James Robinson has thrived at times, defensively defending elite long-range shooters — notably shutting down UNC’s Marcus Paige — but still hasn’t been a definitive stopper. The Panthers will need to play solid team de-

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particularly Sunday’s matchup against Wake Forest. Records can be misleading, as the Demon Deacons have shown promise this season and nearly toppled the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers a couple of IT’S A TRAP- Every single game weeks back. The Panthers can’t overlook in the ACC is a challenge, par- any opponent, or their March Madness ticularly on the road. It doesn’t hopes could be dashed quickly. matter if it’s a top-ranked Duke team or, as the Panthers learned EFFICIENCY IS EVERYearlier this year, a last-place Virginia Tech THING- The Panthers rank squad. Jamie Dixon must have his team 10th in the nation in assists focused on seemingly easy road games, this season, thanks in part to

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Robinson, whose 5.2 assists per game ranks third in the ACC. But even more important than the team’s stellar ball movement has been the efficiency with which it has executed it. The team sports the best assists-to-turnover ratio in the country, as well as averaging the fifth fewest turnovers per game of any team. Avoiding giveaways has been key for a Pitt offense that, at times, can go stagnant, and it can’t afford to squander offensive opportunities if it hopes to enter the ACC tournament on a five-game winning streak.

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