The Pitt News
T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | february 3, 2020 | Volume 110 | Issue 212
ELEVATE MEAL PLAN FALLS SHORT FOR OAKLAND RESTAURANTS
PITT-Y IN PINK
Alaina Vento
For The Pitt News In its first month on campus, the Elevate Meal Program has left Oakland restaurant owners uncertain about its potential. The off-campus dining plan partnered with 16 local restaurants to offer students at nearby universities meal swipes and discounts starting at the beginning of January 2020. Niko Akar, owner of Oakland Milano’s Pizza, partnered with Elevate to attract more student customers, but said the plan hasn’t been much help so far. “Nobody has showed up,” Akar said. University of Virginia graduates Seth First-year guard Amber Brown (5) pushes around Florida State’s River Baldwin at the annual Pink the Pete women’s Kramer and Josh Cohen launched the basketball game for breast cancer awareness on Saturday. Joy Cao | staff photographer company in 2016. It currently offer meal plans to 10 college campuses in the nation — now including Pitt and other Oakland colleges. The company gained Rebecca Johnson a single-entry student visa, which meant he didn’t between the United States and Iran following the momentum at its first launch location, Senior Staff Writer see his siblings for 10 years until he was granted a death of Iran’s highest level military commander, UVA, and just opened in Oakland a few Gen. Qasem Soleimani. According to BBC News, When Hessam Babaee reunited with his fam- green card. weeks ago. Elevate offers customers the “When I saw them, I had to rediscover my Soleimani was killed by an airstrike launched ily in 2016, it had been a decade since they had ability to purchase semesterly meal plans, own brother and sister, ” Babaee, who has not seen on Jan. 3 under orders from President Donald been together. from a five-meal “starter pack” for about them again since 2016, said. Trump. Iran fired missiles on two U.S. bases in Babaee, an assistant professor of mechanical $33 to 105 meals, or seven meals per Babaee’ s separation from his family is not Iraq in response. engineering and materials science at Pitt, immiweek, for $1,112. uncommon for other Iranian immigrants. Some While Al-Jazeera reported that fears of ingrated to the United States from Iran in 2006 to “Our goal is to create the most convehave seen discrimination rise alongside tensions See Elevate on page 3 attend college. He entered the United States under See Iranian-Americans on page 3
IRANIAN STUDENTS, FACULTY DISCUSS PITT ENVIRONMENT
News
SCIENCE SCOOP: NEW, MORE EFFECTIVE TUBERCULOSIS VACCINE DEVELOPED
Madison Brewer
Staff Writer The origins of vaccines go back to the turn of the 19th century when Edward Jenner noticed that dairymaids who had been previously infected with cowpox were immune to smallpox. From there, he created the first “vaccine” — he gave patients cowpox to protect them from the more deadly smallpox. But a Pitt researcher is putting a new spin on the old model of giving vaccines to patients. Pitt researcher JoAnne Flynn published a January study that found that a tuberculosis vaccine injected intravenously — administered via the bloodstream — is more effective than the same vaccine injected into the muscle. The current TB vaccine remains largely ineffective, and 1.5 million people died of the disease in 2018, according to a World Health Organization report. Intravenous vaccines are a modern conception — there are no intravenous vaccines currently on the market, according to Flynn. The only other intravenous vaccine — an experimental malaria vaccine being developed at the National Institutes of Health — was Flynn’s inspiration. “[The vaccine] proved to be protective against malaria in monkeys and in human challenge trials,” Flynn said. “This led us to think that delivery of a vaccine [intravenously] might work for TB too.” Flynn tested the TB vaccine in a trial with monkeys and found that the monkeys given the vaccine did not get TB. The unvaccinated monkeys became sick with the disease. According to Pitt influenza researcher Seema Lakdawala, the idea of an intrave-
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Pitt researcher JoAnne Flynn published a study that found a tuberculosis vaccine injected intravenously is more effective than the same vaccine injected into the muscle. Photo Courtesy of JoAnne Flynn | pittwire nous vaccine comes from the idea that vaccines are most effective if they are administered to the place where the virus or bacteria replicates. “A big idea back in the ’70s and ’80s was if you gave a live, attenuated vaccine straight to the sites where flu virus replicates, to your upper respiratory tract, you would have a better immune response,” Lakdawala said. “And that does seem to be the case in kids. It’s not very effective in adults.” Lakdawala said this likely occurs because everyone develops an immune response to the flu by age 5. Lakdawala said an interesting problem in vaccine research is the connection between efficacy and the means of administration. Like the flu vaccine, the intramuscular TB vaccine isn’t completely protective, motivating Flynn and other
researchers to look for a better solution because a vaccine is not a guarantee of no disease, according to Lakdawala. “If you have a vaccine, you’re more likely to be protected,” Lakdawala said. “You might still get the flu, but you’re less likely to have a very severe flu infection.” The TB vaccine is made of a live, attenuated — weakened — version of the bacteria, but not every patient can receive an attenuated vaccine. Even with the more effective intravenous vaccine, an immunocompromised patient — one with a weak immune system — cannot receive the new vaccine. Immunocompromised patients are especially susceptible to disease. For example, newborn babies, who haven’t had time to build up immunity, are considered to be immunocompromised, along-
February 3, 2020
side patients with HIV/AIDS and those undergoing chemotherapy. Having a compromised immune system means a person might not be strong enough to fight off a vaccine. According to Pitt researcher Doug Reed, attenuated vaccines aren’t safe for immunocompromised patients. “Attenuated vaccines are very good … they generate the most immunity,” Reed said. “The problem is that immunocompromised patients … cannot receive a live vaccine.” Instead of direct protection from vaccines, immunocompromised people can still stay safe indirectly. They rely on herd immunity, the idea that if enough members of a population are vaccinated, everyone is protected from the disease. The percentage of the population that must be vaccinated depends on how contagious the disease is and how well the vaccine works. Since the TB vaccine is not totally protective and the disease is highly contagious, a single TB incident can quickly spread throughout a population. About 13 million people in the United States have a latent, or inactive, TB infection, according to the Center for Disease Control and Protection. Of those, only 9,025 people got sick with TB disease. The CDC says a latent TB infection activates when a patient becomes immunocompromised. Lakdawala said it is critical that those with immune systems that can tolerate the vaccines do utilize them, to protect themselves and others. “A lot of the mortality cases right now are people who are unvaccinated,” Lakdawala said. “I think it’s an important message that we all take care.”
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Iranian-Americans, pg. 1 creasing “Iranophobia” has troubled many members of the Iranian-American community, Iranian Pitt students and faculty who immigrated here say the University environment has remained welcoming and accepting. Ali Amiri Margavi, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and materials science at Pitt, said he always knew studying in the United States was his dream. “When I was a kid and someone asked me, ‘Ali, what do you want to do with your future?’ I always told them I want to go to college, be an engineer, go to the U.S., get my Ph.D. and work at NASA. That’s my dream,” Margavi said. “People around the world know the U.S. is the land of opportunity.” U.S. Census data estimates that there are up to 1 million Iranian immigrants living in the United States. In the years leading up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, thousands of Iranians relocated to the United States, especially students and professionals. The revolution marked the end of the pro-American monarchy in Iran and the creation of the current Islamic Republic. According to Census Bureau data, at least 60% of Iranian im-
Elevate, pg. 1 nient and affordable meal plan solution for students across the country. We’re focused on providing the best experience possible at our current college towns, but we are also looking at new opportunities for the future,” Kramer said in an email. While Pitt students who live offcampus or in University apartment-style housing are able to purchase an Elevate plan, those who live in a resident hall are required to purchase a meal plan through the University. According to Pitt’s current dining services meal plan guide, each swipe into a dining hall is priced between $9 to 12. Besides Milano’s pizza, other restaurants near campus like Forbes Gyro, Lotsa Pizza, Treats ’n’ Beans and JJ Poke Bowl partnered with Elevate in the hopes of attracting more students. But Akar said he feels like students do not know what Elevate is. “[Elevate] need to get in contact with students and families to get things started,” Akar said. Forbes Gyro owner Yakup Unlu agreed with Akar about the need for
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migrants to the United States today have earned at least an undergraduate degree. Peyman Givi, a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, said that despite the heightened tensions between the two countries, the discrimination he faced 40 years ago when he first immigrated to the United States was much worse. Givi immigrated to the United States before the Iranian Revolution and attended Youngstown State University in Ohio during the Iranian hostage crisis. During the crisis, Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and detained more than 50 American workers for 444 days from Nov. 4, 1979, to Jan. 20, 1981. “During the ’70s and ’80s, if you were from Iran it was ridiculous,” Givi said. “There were bumper stickers everywhere with Mickey Mouse flipping off Iran. You couldn’t walk into the University without seeing it on a T-shirt.” The U.S. government froze Givi’s accounts while he was completing his undergraduate degree, which he said made these years financially difficult. “Jimmy Carter decided to freeze all Iranian assets, so we couldn’t get the money our parents sent us. We couldn’t pay to the University, we couldn’t pay the rent,” Givi said. “They came
from the government and were fingerprinting us, taking mug shots simply because you were from Iran.” Ultimately, Givi said the revolution was the reason he stayed in the United States and continued his education at Carnegie Mellon University. “I came here right after high school and the idea was to get your degree and go back. But during my studies, the Iranian Revolution happened so many of us could not go back and many didn’t want to,” Givi said. “Here they hated the Iranians and in Iran they hated the Americans, so you’re in kind of a tough situation.” Givi added that while subtle prejudices still prevail, it has motivated him to work even harder. “All the prejudice against other races has been recognized, but I think Iranians have been the subject of the most prejudice, but no one even talks about it simply because they look white,” Givi said. “I knew anything I wanted to do, I had to be better than others.” But, Babaee said he hasn’t faced discrimination in the United States, and he’s never heard of any of his 12 Iranian students in the mechanical engineering department experiencing discrimination either. This is a fact he said he credits to the City of Pittsburgh. “I knew stories about Pittsburgh so I knew it
could be one of the cities I would like to live in,” Babaee said. “People are super kind here and welcoming. They’re curious and want to learn more about your culture and your people.” Givi also said that Pitt’s environment is “openminded” and part of the reason Pittsburgh is his “favorite city in the universe.” “Our University is amazing,” Givi said. “Seriously, in other places, they don’t even know what Iran is, but they automatically think the moment you are walking with them you are going to pull out a machine gun.” Babaee said, especially during particularly turbulent points in the U.S. relationship with Iran, Iranians are just as terrified of violence as Americans. “I remember that evening when we heard the news and … that one week from the killing of Soleimani until Iran launched missiles towards the U.S., that was the most stressful week I’ve had here,” Babaee said. Margavi added that despite politics and government relations, people in Iran and the United States have the same basic life goals. “I think people and government are two different things. Back in Iran people really love anyone,” Margavi said. “We are all human and want the same things from life. We all want to be happy.”
greater communication. He stated no one has used Elevate at his restaurant either. “They should send an email to every student to make them aware. Promote at the dorms,” Unlu said. When asked how many students purchased Elevate at Pitt, Kramer stated they do not publicize their customer numbers. Unlu also said Elevate’s launch might not have been timed right. Students at Oakland schools already chose their meal plans at the start of the school year, prior to the January launch. “They have to really show themselves, especially next school year,” Unlu said. “It’s too late this year.” In response, Kramer said sales will improve following this school year. “A lot of students have told us they’re locked into the school plan this semester, but that they’re planning to switch next semester,” Kramer said in an email. “We just launched at Pitt a few weeks ago so we’re still brand new to the City. I would expect sales in all our restaurants to be significantly higher after a full semester for Elevate to grow in Pittsburgh.”
Kramer also said he wants to expand the company’s marketing strategies. They currently utilize online advertisements, promotions around campus and offer a new member 40% discount for five meals. He and Cohen are also looking to hire brand ambassadors in the future. Dziyana Zubialevich, a sophomore politics, philosophy and Russian major, agreed with business owners in that students know little about the company. Zubialevich is an employee at Treats ’n’ Beans, another one of Elevate’s Oakland partners. Zubialevich lives off campus without a Pitt meal plan, but has hesitated at buying an Elevate plan because of the cost. “It’s more convenient to make food at home,” Zubialevich said. “I would end up spending less money using my own money without a meal plan.” Elevate is still an enticing option to other Pitt students, according to Heather Dillman, a sophomore information science major. Dillman is interested in purchasing an Elevate meal plan for next fall. But her decision is contingent on her housing location. “I have definitely strongly considered
buying the Elevate meal plan. It depends if I get off-campus housing for the next school year,” Dillman said. With an off-campus apartment, or on-campus apartment-style housing, Elevate may be her dining reality. The company drew Dillman in with features that Pitt’s meal plan lacks, like the ability to roll over meal swipes from one school year to the next. “I love the idea that you can use this plan to go and venture to different local venues and restaurants, because it’s annoying how we are very limited in dining dollars, and even with Panther Funds at Pitt,” Dillman said. “I feel a lot of my money — whether it be Market swipes or dining dollars — goes wasted or unused every semester.” Kramer said this tends to be one of the students’ favorite features, along with advance ordering. “Advance ordering is one of our most popular features, making it easy for students to grab and go when they’re in a rush. We’ve also heard great feedback about the fact that unlike dining halls, Elevate meal swipes don’t expire until students graduate,” Kramer said in an email.
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Opinions
satire
HOW TO MAKE GROUNDHOG DAY UNFORGETTABLE — IF YOU ONLY GET 10,000 CHANCES
Michael Clifford Staff Columnist
It’s 6 a.m. There are few things many people dread more than the sound of their morning alarm. Some might describe it like clockwork, at least as far as Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You, Babe” — the only appropriate song to wake up to on Feb. 2 — is concerned. You swipe away all the notifications that show up on your phone, until you see an email about an exam from one of your professors — an exam that you already took. Your friend texts you about meeting for lunch — at the same time and place as yesterday. The hot water in your apartment is off again, even though they apparently fixed it last night. Two cold showers on back-to-back days is only a harbinger of what’s to come. That annoying guy on your floor that you try to avoid on a daily basis greets you again on the way out, violently shaking your hand. He hasn’t changed his clothes in 24 hours, either. If this was you, you might shake off any suspicions early on. After all, everyone has seen Harold Ramis’s “Groundhog Day,” the movie starring Bill Murray as Phil Connors, a Pittsburgh weatherman in Punxsutawney who repeats the day of Feb. 2 — and all of the groundhog-related festivities — to the point of insanity. Every single iteration brings out more details. The same car runs a red light after stopping in the crosswalk. Another dreary overcast day, despite predictions all week of no clouds in sight. Only by the time I arrive in class, now a completely empty room, can I confirm what I am seeing. You have an instant to consider the possibilities, then it’s 6 a.m. again, and everything is undone. Everything ex-
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Shruti Talekar | staff illustrator cept your mind’s state of being is washed away. Even catapulting yourself off of the Cathedral of Learning could not undo this. You, like Phil Connors, are a force acting independently of time. Of course you’re going to attend every party on campus at least once — you’ll just wake up sober anyway, ready to sprint across a green-lit Forbes Avenue in the rain or ride through Market on a dirt bike. A few more cold showers might even put you in a bad enough mood to deck your building’s pariah on his first or 500th attempt to greet you — who’s counting anymore? Of course I’m going to start a bonfire on Cathy Lawn and ride on top of the campus shuttles. I might even try my hand at scoring myself a date. Who knows who much money I would end up spending when my balance is always the same?
Surprise — it’s 6 a.m. again. You could just about crush your phone with your bare hands to stop this godforsaken alarm, knowing it will just end up right back here tomorrow. Exam. Check. Lunch. Check. Cold shower. Check. Even the annoying guy in the other apartment can’t bother you anymore. It’s reassurance, if nothing else. Check. Slamming your backpack on the floor again and again, you sit and listen to lectures you’ve already memorized by heart. You catch someone’s coffee before they drop it. You give a homeless man all the money you have and take him to get food, knowing he’ll ask you to do it again next time. What happens when you’ve learned every name, every face, every conversation? What happens once you know every single one of your peers on a deep personal level, despite none but a few
February 3, 2020
having any clue about you? That’s it. You know everything. It’s not a trick when you predict every NBA score of the day while playing pool in a bar for money. It’s not a trick when you run into a restaurant to perform the Heimlich maneuver on a random choking man, when you help a couple of old ladies change a tire or when you know exactly where to be to catch a kid falling out of a tree. You just know everything. What does that make you? Who does that make you? Something more than human? Perhaps. It means that eternity for you is an instant for all others. And once you have spent eternity on selfgratification, but a whole eternity still lies ahead, what else is there to do? This is about a lot more than taking the same exam so many times that you know the questions like the back of your hand, or saying the things your friends were going to say before they could. The future is in your hands, and consequences are nowhere to be seen. Yet this is a sort of metaphysical equivalent of letting a bull loose in a china shop — every action has unknowable consequences for the rest of space and time. What if the loop stops right now, and the choices you have made now are destined to become reality? There might well have been numerous attempts to drive straight into the Monongahela — knowing, of course, that nothing can be done. Like Phil Connors, you have been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted and burned. Invincibility is nothing to take lightly. As Phil Connors said, “I’m a god … I am an immortal.” Michael writes primarily about politics and economic policy. Write to Michael at mjc199@pitt.edu.
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FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 3, 2020
from the editorial board
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
PETA, stay in your lane
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02/03/20
way to express speciesism. Especially Kaepernick’s platform, which became a major controversy within professional football a few years ago. The NFL faced scrutiny for the way it handled Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the national anthem — due to racism in the United States — back in 2016. PETA framed the NFL’s rejection of the ad as further ignorance on the part of the organization. “THIS is the PETA #SuperBowl ad the @NFL apparently didn’t want you to see and pressured @FOXSports to snub,” PETA wrote in its tweet of the rejected ad. “It envisions a world where respect is the right of every being and pays homage to Kaepernick and movements rejecting injustice.” But as many people pointed out, the ad itself takes a complicated human issue like violence against black Americans — which many activists have fought hard against — and simplifies it in order to push an animal rights agenda. “PETA colonized the Black Lives Matter Movement; disrespected Colin Kaepernick’s protest against injustice, and made a mockery of 400 years of systemic oppression by comparing Black lives to grizzly bears and bald eagles,” black activist Michael Harriot wrote. There’s no harm in fighting for animal rights, but PETA needs to stay in its lane and fight for animal rights without simplifying social justice movements. It’s offensive, and PETA simply doesn’t belong in Kaepernick’s neck of the woods, as black journalist R. Eric Thomas wrote. “Be nice to animals,” Thomas wrote, mocking the ad. “And I guess black people, if you have the time. Play ball!”
The Pitt news crossword
Instead of saying “bring home the bacon” and “grab the bull by its horns,” PETA wants you to say “bring home the bagels” and “grab the flower by its thorns.” But that’s old news. PETA, an animal rights organization usually mocked by meat eaters, is now under scrutiny from vegetarians and people committed to social justice, too. PETA is under fire for a Superbowl ad, or what was supposed to be a Superbowl ad, but was rejected by FOX and the NFL. The ad features several animals taking a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” emulating a gesture American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick began doing during games to protest police brutality. The minutelong commercial proposal ends with a banner that reads, “respect is the right of every living being. #EndSpeciesim.” PETA decided to release the ad on its Twitter account anyway. While the ad was probably not made with ill intentions, it’s inappropriate to use taking a knee — which is a gesture Kaepernick and other black Americans used to fight racist violence — and apply it to an animal. PETA has a history of controversial takes, and while the organization does a lot of important work, it’s extremely problematic to put animal rights on the same level as human rights. “Speciesism — like any form of discrimination — is a supremacist worldview,” PETA wrote in a news release explaining its choice to release the ad. “It allows humans to disrespect other living, feeling beings and to treat their interests as unimportant.” And while there might be truth to this, using a social justice movement as a platform in an ad isn’t the
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis
ACROSS 1 Actor Beatty 4 Spirited horse 8 Cold-weather omen on Groundhog Day 14 Prefix with Pen 15 Leisurely pace 16 Dwell 17 Getaway car driver 19 Flowery van Gogh painting 20 Superficially highbrow 21 Play segments 23 Cheese go-with 24 Injured in the bullring 26 Golfer’s dream 30 Put inside 32 German “east” 33 Dead __ Scrolls 34 Bank acct. addition 35 Little trickster 36 One of 50 on the U.S. flag 37 You can’t go back after passing it 42 Went up 43 35-Down relative 44 Land in the Seine 45 Lennon’s love Yoko 46 Chinese chairman 47 Everlasting 51 Kit and caboodle 54 Hundred Acre Wood creator 55 Help 56 Lab safety org.? 58 Clinton and Obama, astrologically 59 Escape 62 Tops of sewing fasteners ... and what the starts of 17-, 26-, 37- and 51-Across can have 64 In a fair way 65 Ivan or Nicholas 66 Observe 67 Common people, with “the” 68 “Family Guy” creator MacFarlane 69 “Cats” monogram DOWN 1 Genre for Enya
February 3, 2020
2/3/20
By David Poole
2 Screenwriter Nora 3 Low-calorie cola, familiarly 4 100 percent 5 Most populous città in Italia 6 Geronimo’s tribe 7 Japanese box lunch 8 __ Lanka 9 Hardly a social butterfly 10 From China, say 11 “The Simpsons” character named for a dance era 12 Keats’ “__ on a Grecian Urn” 13 Director Craven 18 Face sketcher’s horizontal reference 22 NFL replay review aid 25 “Please stop!” 27 __ de corps: camaraderie 28 Not at all far 29 Pull down, as a salary 31 Minn. college named for a Norwegian king 35 Business name abbr.
Saturday’s Puzzle Solved
©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
36 Squeaky clean, as an operating room 37 “No __!”: “Easy!” 38 Charlie Chaplin’s actress granddaughter 39 Quarantines 40 Runs smoothly 41 K thru 6 46 The “M” in LEM 47 Type of tax 48 Phillies’ div.
2/3/20
49 Voltaic cell terminals 50 Tenant 52 Detroit NFL team 53 Dr. visits 57 Med. school subject 59 Diamond, for one 60 Sister of Zsa Zsa 61 TV’s Burrell and Pennington 63 Princely title: Abbr.
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Sports
Weekend Recap: Gymnastics, men’s basketball return to win column over weekend pittnews.com
PANTHERS FALTER IN SECOND HALF VS. FSU, LOSE 66-41
Dominic Campbell Senior Staff Writer
In a lopsided matchup against No. 14 Florida State in the 13th annual Pink the Pete game, Pitt women’s basketball played close for most of the game, but were unable to sustain solid play, eventually being blown out, 66-41. The loss for the Panthers (4-17 overall, 1-9 ACC) prevents them from getting back-to-back ACC wins for the first time since the 2016-17 season and keeps them in last place in the conference. The Seminoles (18-4 overall, 7-4 ACC) outscored the Panthers 46-21 in the second half and handed head coach Lance White his second straight loss against his former team. White said he was pleased to see his team play so well for so long and that they’re headed in the right direction, but consistency is the key to stacking wins. “I was really pleased with our resiliency again and just how we started so poorly on the offensive end but our defense was great for a long time,” White said. “I thought our kids held to the game plan and then they made a run and we just couldn’t sustain it … we just made a few too many mistakes in that third quarter.” The first quarter started off horribly for Pitt, as Florida State went on a 9-0 run, forcing head coach Lance White to take a timeout with just 6:40 remaining. It looked like Pitt would start to find some rhythm after first-year guard Dayshanette Harris made a layup right out of the timeout. Instead, Pitt missed every shot and were scoreless the rest of the quarter. Senior guard Nicki Ekhomu outscored the Panthers, who posted their lowest scoring quarter in almost a year, 9-2 in the opening period. Pitt came back to make it a close game early in the second quarter, forcing 13 straight FSU
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misses and going on an 8-0 run, thanks to two 3-pointers from Harris and a shot in the paint from first-year forward Rita Igbokwe. The rest of the second quarter was a struggle offensively for both teams. Pitt improved, but still shot a lowly 6-19 in the second quarter, while FSU shot an atrocious 2-16, using four free throws to keep the offense afloat. Both teams ended the second quarter deadlocked after a 3-pointer from Panthers’ junior center Marcella Lamark with five seconds remaining tied the game at 20. Midway through the second quarter, the Panthers were left without one of their best players when redshirt senior guard Aysia Bugg suffered an apparent right leg injury, which kept her out for the rest of the game. White said postgame that he hopes it’s just a bruise but could not confirm how bad the injury was. With Bugg out, the Panthers only had eight players from their usual rotation. FSU completely changed after being unable to separate from Pitt for much of the game. They spread the floor more, took advantage of Pitt’s lack of depth and finally started to get some shots to fall that weren’t going in during the first half. To close out the third quarter, the Seminoles went on a 16-4 run and lead by 12, putting the game out of reach for this young and inexperienced Panthers’ team. As a team, FSU shot an effective 8-16 from the field and finally converted from behind the arc, making four of their seven 3-point attempts. Pitt would only shoot 3-10 from the field, with Harris scoring nine of the 11 points in the quarter and finishing with a team high 17 points in the game. FSU continued their dominance in the
SOPHOMORE STARS COME IN CLUTCH IN 62-57 WIN VS. MIAMI
Au’Diese Toney prepares to shoot against Miami Sunday afternoon. Kaycee Orwig | senior staff photographer
Stephen Thompson Assistant Sports Editor
Sophomore guard Au’Diese Toney concluded his postgame press conference with a definitive answer to a complex question: How has this program progressed in head coach Jeff Capel’s See Pink on page 7 second year?
February 3, 2020
“Change is gonna come,” he said. Toney’s guarantee comes as more of a bird’s-eye view of Pitt’s standing compared to other national basketball powers, but could have easily applied to Sunday’s gut-check victory over Miami on Sunday. See Men’s on page 7
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Pink, pg. 6 fourth quarter, out scoring Pitt 23-10 and going on a 15-0 run as well. They also shot 1019 from the field and 3-7 from 3-point range, while Pitt got all their points from junior guard Gabbie Green, who made two 3-pointers and shot 4-6 from the field overall. Towards the end of the game, the Panthers looked exhausted and couldn’t replicate their stellar defensive effort in the second quarter, leading to easy baskets for the Seminoles. It also didn’t help that first-year guard Emy Hayford fouled out early in the fourth quarter, bringing the Panthers down to only seven players. Green later said the Seminoles defense stopped the Panthers from really getting anything offensively most of the game, as they shot 24.6% for the game, and spoke about why that made it hard for them to come back when they were down. “They’re very aggressive and athletic,” Green said. “I think they did a really good job of attacking and keeping us going and we tried to move around the perimeter with [Ekhomu]. We think they adjusted well.” Pitt will finish off its three game homestand with a game next Thursday against the Duke Blue Devils, in hopes of getting back on track and out of the ACC cellar.
Men’s, pg. 6 The Panthers (14-8 overall, 5-6 ACC) had dropped seven straight to the Hurricanes (11-10 overall, 3-7 ACC) before defeating the Hurricanes, 62-57, at the Petersen Events Center this weekend. The Panthers were tenacious on defense all afternoon. And as has been a theme all season, Pitt got its best offense off of turnovers and in transition. It converted 13 Hurricane turnovers into 22 points. According to Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga, Pitt’s proficiency did more to affect the game than any shortcomings from his squad. “I thought their defense in the first half was outstanding,” Larrañaga said. “I thought our defense in the first half wasn’t bad, but our offense turned the ball over too many times and gave them points where we didn’t get a chance to defend because they stole it and laid it in on us.”
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First-year guard Dayshanette Harris finished with a team-high 17 points in the game. Joy Cao | staff photographer Defensive intensity drove Pitt to lead as large as 10 in the first half and its crisp offense helped maintain a nine-point lead at halftime. Toney continued his hot streak in the opening 20 minutes. He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting and gathered three rebounds while playing the game’s entire 40 minutes. His scoring regressed in the second half, adding only one field goal, but Pitt head coach Jeff Capel was more impressed with the way Toney’s game expands beyond the box score. “I think one of the things that’s going very very underrated is what he’s done defensively,” Capel said. “What he did to DJ [Vasiljevic] today, what he did to Cassius Stanley at Duke, what he did to Elijah Hughes. And [Buddy] Boeheim went nuts, then we made the switch and he shut down Boeheim … I think he’s one of the best defenders in our league.” Like Toney, Pitt’s shooting deteriorated in the second period. After
a 46% clip from the field in the first, the Panthers mustered only 29% in the second. Capel credited the poor shooting to Pitt’s own hesitancy against Miami’s switch to zone. In the meantime, the Hurricanes had battled back to a 51-all tie with 3:54 remaining in regulation. At the under-four minute media timeout, Capel implored his players to wipe clean their poor shooting, particularly sophomore guards Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens, and win the final minutes. The most heralded members of Capel’s first recruiting class, McGowens and Johnson are burdened with much of the blame and credit for Pitt’s performance in a given game. And as stars, their inefficient 35% field goal rate and 4-15 mark from distance will be first and foremost in the minds of spectators, but their clutch shot-making in the contest’s waning minutes carried the Panthers to a win. “Those guards are good,” Larrañaga
February 3, 2020
said. “They didn’t shoot great today, but the idea is to win the game and they did what was necessary to win.” The pair of sophomore stars scored all of Pitt’s final 11 points from the under-four media timeout on. That run included marks of 3-5 and 4-4 on field goals and free throws, respectively. McGowens finished with a gamehigh 17 points. Johnson recorded six assists and three steals to only a pair of turnovers in addition to his 13 points. First-year guard Justin Champagnie was also outstanding in the win, with nine points and nine rebounds. Miami was powered by four double-digit scorers. Red-shirt junior Rodney Miller Jr.’s 16 points paced Hurricanes. The Panthers next travel to South Bend, Indiana, to battle Notre Dame. Entering the weekend with identical 4-6 conference records, both teams will attempt to separate themselves in the crowded middle of the ACC. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.
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I N D E X
Rentals & Sublet • NORTH OAKLAND • SOUTH OAKLAND • SHADYSIDE • SQUIRREL HILL • SOUTHSIDE • NORTHSIDE • BLOOMFIELD • ROOMMATES • OTHER
For Rent North Oakland Apartments for rent. 2 and 3 bedroom apart‑ ments available. Some available on Dawson Street, Atwood Street, and Mckee Place. Newly remodeled. Some have laundry on site. Minutes from the University. For more info please call Mike at 412‑849‑8694 North Oakland. Up to 5 bedroom available. Bus line and walking distance. Multiple properties, all east side of Pittsburgh! More info at www. nationalbuilderspitts burgh.com
South Oakland 1‑2‑3 bedroom apart ments available for August 2020. Owner Managed. 40+ years on campus. Fully fur nished or unfurnished, most units are newly remodeled Kitchens and baths , located on Atwood, Semple, Oakland Ave., Ward, Mckee Place, Juliet. Call or text Tim @ 412‑491‑1330 www. TMKRentals.com
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115 Chesterfield Road ‑ nice 3‑bed room house. 1.5 bathrooms. Laundry in unit. Recently remodeled. Good location, close to Cathedral of Learn‑ ing. Rent $1350/ month + utilities. Available February 10th. 412‑881‑0550 2 BR apartment, newly painted, hard wood floors, appli ances. Private home ‑ 2 & 3rd floor. 2,000 sq. ft. Rent includes all utilities. $790/mo. 412‑498‑7355. 264 Robinson St. 2 BR, 3 bath, $1000+utilities. Available August 1st. 412‑884‑8891. 322 S. Bouquet. Huge 2 BR apart ments. Available May 1, 2020 or August 1, 2020. 412‑361‑2695 3322 Hardie Way. 2 BR, 1 bath. $1100/mo. w/s incl. Call/Text 412‑953‑3295 3444 Ward St. We have studios, 2, and 3 bedroom apartments. Bright and spacious. Free heating and free parking. Move May 1, 2020 or August 1, 2020. Call 412‑361‑2695 3BR house, South Oakland Niagara St. Central Air, Dish washer. $1350+ utili ties. Available August 2020. 412‑276‑6974. Apartments for rent on Semple ‑one bedroom ‑ availabil‑ ity Aug 1 recently renovated and great location. $795/mo..
Classifieds
For sale
• AUTO • BIKES • BOOKS • MERCHANDISE • FURNITURE • REAL ESTATE • PETS
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• EDUCATIONAL • TRAVEL • HEALTH • PARKING • INSURANCE
Includes heat, electric is metered sepa rately. Call or text 412‑720‑5023. Before signing a lease, be aware that no more than 3 unrelated people can share a single unit. Check property’s compliance with codes. Call City’s Permits, Licensing & Inspections. 412‑255‑2175. Dawson Village Apts. near CMU and Pitt. One bedroom apts. $935 + electric. Avail‑ able for immediate move in. On bus line, close to restaurants and shops. Contact Jerry at 412‑722‑8546 Now renting for Fall 2020. Apartments and houses of all sizes. Conveniently located throughout South Oakland. Rents start‑ ing as low as $620. John C.R. Kelly Realty. Call today at 412‑683‑7300 www.jcrkelly.com Oakland Court‑ 2 bedroom house, 1.5 bathrooms. Air con ditioning. Laundry in unit. Newly remo dled. Good location, close to Hillman Li brary. Rent is $800/ month + utilities. Call 412‑881‑0550 Parkview Ave and Blv of the Allies. Nice. 3BD 2.5 BA. Rent 1500+ utilities. Laun‑ dry in Unit. Available Aug 10th 2020. Call 412‑881‑0550 Pet Friendly!! Studios ‑ $695‑$705 1Beds ‑ $795‑$815 2beds ‑ $975‑$995 3beds ‑ $1,245
notices
• ADOPTION • EVENTS • LOST AND FOUND • STUDENT GROUPS • WANTED • OTHER
412‑455‑5600 or www.pghnexus.com Studio, 1, 2, 3, and 4 BD apartments avail able in South Oakland from $800‑$2500 M.J. Kelly Real Estate mjkellyrealty@gmail. com. 412‑271‑5550.
Shadyside Brett/Thames Manor Apts. (Ellsworth & S. Negley Ave.) near CMU and Pitt. Studio, One, Two bed room apts. Thames Ef‑ fecency: $790 Thames 1BD: $990 Brett 2BD: $1600 Available for immediate move in. On bus line, close to restaurants & shops. Contact Jerry at 412‑722‑8546
Rental Other Studios, 1, 2, & 3 Bedroom apartments available August 2020 & sooner. Oakland, Shadyside, Friend‑ ship, Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, Point Breeze. Photos & current availabil‑ ity online, check out www.forbesmanage ment.net, or call 412.441.1211
Employment Employment Other 1992 ACURA LEGEND 4DR CLEAN WHITE, GOLD EMBLEMS, REWORKED
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Two business days prior by 3pm | Email: advertising@pittnews.com | Phone: 412.648.7978
ENGINE,AIR AND AUTO TRANS $2500 412‑621‑6600 134,000 MILES Medical and Heart Care, Students Welcome, 155 N. Craig Street, Dean Kross, MD, 412‑687‑7666 OFFICE INTERN Shadyside Manage ment Company seeks person w/ min 2 yrs. college, for upcoming spring semester, to interview & process rental applicants, do internet post‑ ings & help staff our action‑central office. Part time or full time OK starting now; full time over the summer. $13/hour. Perfect job for current sopho mores & juniors, graduating seniors set to enter grad school, returning grad stu dents, and first year law students! Mozart Management 412.682.7003 thane@mozartrents. com Personal, professional masseuse needed. Long term position. Washington County location. Call 724‑223‑0939 any time.
For Sale Pets FREE TO GOOD HOME,2 YORKIE PUPPIES RE‑HOM ING, AKC REG, CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL FOR MORE DETAILS ON:lwrnc marc01@gmail.com .
February 3, 2020
Approximately 21,000 students look for housing every semester
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