Vol. 105 Issue 106
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Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Pittnews.com
Board appoints Judicial Committee Emily Ahlin and Abbey Reighard The Pitt News Staff
Former Student Government Board President Mike Nites’ power still lingers over the current Board’s decisions. The Board voted to approve nine, including one alternative, Judicial Committee member nominations at its public meeting on Tuesday in Nordy’s Place. A Nominating Task Force selected nine out of 16 applicants after interviews on Feb. 1 in the William Pitt Union. The applications were available last November, according to Board President Graeme Meyer. Nites, Meyer, Executive Vice President Nasreen Harun and former and current Judicial Committee Chairs Audrey Winn and Kyle Hoch, respectively, sat on the task force. This is the first year that such a task force has selected standing committee members, who were
previously selected by committee chairs. Standing committees include Judicial, as well as Elections and Allocations. The creation of the task force ultimately resulted from Bill 024, passed on Nov. 11, which Meyer could not provide at the time of publication. The passage of Bill 024 created the Code’s Article 4, which states that former and current presidents would select standing committee chairs and members. In this case, those members were Nites and Meyer. Nites, who graduated last December, could not be reached for comment before publication. Revisions to the committee selections processes were just a few of many changes adopted by the former Board in its SGB Governing Code on Jan. 14, 2014. Nites drafted the code, according to a previous article in The Pitt News. The Board then voted to changed the nominating
SGB
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Students to compete in startup competition Harrison Kaminsky and Abbey Reighard The Pitt News Staff
Hannah Fitzpatrick, a nursing student, instructs the yoga club in the William Pitt Union. Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer
Andrew Buchmann wants more people to save their money. One day, while he was eating lunch at Hemingway’s Cafe, Buchmann — a senior majoring in finance and supply chain management — learned that the restaurant offers half-off meals from 2 to 4 p.m. each day. In the three years Buchmann’s been at Pitt, he said he never knew about the special, even though the restaurant is less than half a block from campus. “We realized that there are all kinds of deals like that at a lot of places in Oakland, and most people only know a handful of those deals at most,” Buchmann said. “So why not provide an interactive way for people to find out about all of them in one central place?” To solve this problem, Buchmann and a team of three other Pitt students developed Boon, a mobile app concept designed to help students find daily deals. The team is so confident in the success of their app that they’ve decided to enter their proposal in this year’s seventh annual Randall Family Big Idea Competition. The registration period for teams participating in the competition ends Feb. 15.
The Big Idea Competition awards cash — totalling $100,000 — to student entrepreneurs who want to market their ideas. This year’s competition will award $25,000 to the team whose idea has most commercialization promise. In addition to the grand prize, the competition will also award three first-place teams $15,000 each, four second-place teams $5,000 each, two third-place teams $3,000 each and two video submission winners $2,000 each. Pitt’s Innovation Institute— a collaboration formed in 2014 between the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Office of Technology Management and Office of Enterprise Development — hosted the competition for the first time last year. Teams, which must be made up of at least two members and students from at least two of Pitt’s schools, can apply on the Innovation Institute’s website. After student groups register, the competition will have three elimination periods, leading up to the final round on April 2. Students who participate get more than just competition experience by stepping up to the challenge, according to one organizer Babs Carryer. Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.
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SGB task force’s makeup from its initial conception last year once more on Nov. 11, Meyer said. It originally had an even number of seats, thus lacking a tiebreaker, Meyer said. Article 4 also states the committees’ outgoing chair, outgoing vice chair and, if the “Committee bylaws do not state a fifth person to sit on the nominating task force,” then the incoming Executive Vice President or the Outgoing Executive Vice President, will fill the fifth seat. “It gave the new Board too much power to pick the Judicial Committee,” Meyer said. “The committee could’ve been composed of all the new Board’s best friends, if they’re the ones picking them.” In Other Action: Vice President and Chief of Finance Matt Sykes said the Board is currently working on reclassifying student organizations into categories so that the Board can monitor allocations. With the reorganization, Sykes hopes to make weekly online reports on how much the Board allocates to each
February 4, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com category. His reports will also include information on the Research Travel Grants program. Sykes said this measure will help “increase transparency between the students and the Student Government Board.” Currently, the totals for Research Travel Grants and funds allocated to student groups by both the Board and the Allocations Committee are available on SGB’s website, and Sykes said he hopes the reclassifications will be completed by the end of the semester so that the spending categories will also be on the website. Allocations: Pitt Men’s Volleyball Club requested $6,338 for registration, airfare and lodging for a tournament in Kansas City, Mo. The Board approved $6,134 and denied $204 in line with the allocations recommendation. Panther Swim Club requested $1,404.24 for registration, ground transportation and lodging for their trip to Penn State. The Board approved the request in full in line with the allocations recommendation.
Steel City Bhangra requested $2,234.64 for ground transportation and lodging for a Bhangra conference. The Board approved the request in full in line with the allocations recommendation. Pitt Archery Club requested $2,835 for registration and ground transportation to attend seven practice sessions at a local practice facility. The Board, with the exception of Board member Jack Heidecker, amended the allocations recommendation of approving $2,240 and denying $545 to
approve $1,215 and deny $1,620. The Board amended the allocations recommendation because the club has done very little fundraising. Vice President and Chief of Cabinet Natalie Dall told the group that if it fundraised in the future, for instance by raising dues by $5 or $10, then the Board would be more lenient with allocations. The Board has allocated $67,183.62 this semester.
Judicial Committee Nominations i. Reena Naik
vi. Natalie Patura
ii. Jad Hilal
vii. Emily Szopinski
iii. Praneeta Govil
viii. David Moffa
iv. David Dimond
ix. Alternate: Edward Wei
v. Estizer Smith
T P N S U D O K U
Today’s difficulty level: Medium Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com
February 4, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
EDITORIAL
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OPINIONS
Guns on public grounds a complex issue
The right to bear arms isn’t a novel concept in American society. But today, citizens and legislatures continue to ponder: to what places does the Second Amendment extend? Do individuals have the right to bear arms wherever they’d like, or only in designated areas? On Monday, the Wyoming House of Representatives approved legislation that would allow individuals with concealed gun permits to carry firearms into public schools and government meetings. The bill, which the Senate still needs to approve, would repeal “gunfree zones” around schools, from the elementary to university level. Seven other states have provisions permitting concealed weapons on public college and university campuses, including Wisconsin, Colorado and Oregon. While we respect these states’ interpretation of the Second Amendment, states should allow individual districts to decide whether or not to allow guns on school property — outside of a sweeping policy. In Wyoming, this exception wasn’t the case. The House rejected an amendment that would permit school systems to keep their gun-free classifications. Furthermore, if the government allows guns in public places where children and citizens are densely situated, it should offer training to those wielding lethal weapons in public. Even though the Wyoming bill mandates a concealed gun permit to legally carry a firearm in public, citizens should be subject to more vigorous situational training, such as identifying criminals from innocents under pressure. Otherwise, those wishing to protect their fellow citizens may
accidentally cause more harm than good. No one wants that. Additionally, states allowing public gun wielding must ensure that buyers pass proper background checks. Guns should in fact be available to citizens, but only if they have a clean criminal record and are in a state of appropriate mental health. So, when discussing whether or Cartoon by Fatima Kizilkaya not governments should allow guns on public property, we should focus MORGENSTERN on people, not weapons. If people pass background and psychological checks, they deserve the right to exercise their Second Amendment rights. At the same time, school districts should have the right to set the gun Ben Morgenstern For The Pitt News policy they deem appropriate for their particular setting. An urban school has a different environment than a Much to the delight of milrural one. Inner-city schools typically lions of commuting Amerihave higher crime rates than affluent cans, a gallon of gas costs on suburban schools. average less than $2 for the Alternatively, urban schools are first time since mid-2008 . usually closer to first responders, Gas prices have been plumwhereas their rural counterparts are meting since June 2014, more isolated from immediate help. largely due to the sudden Consequently, each school’s school growth of shale oil producboard and officials should have the tion in the Midwest. freedom to decide what is best for Commuters may be their districts. pleased, but cheap gas carThey have an understanding of ries detrimental factors. how quickly outside forces can reAbove all, according to the spond to a situation, and can thereCenter for Climate and Enfore calculate if arming faculty is inergy Solutions, drivers use tegral to the safety of their students fuel less efficiently when gas and staff. prices are low. Additionally, We applaud Wyoming and other if the federal government states for allowing individuals to carry does not impose a small tax out their Second Amendment rights on gas when prices are low, in public, but we urge states to do so it will miss out on a great responsibility, and grant districts the opportunity to increase nafreedom to decide what is best for tional revenue. their own safety and security. The average American commuter’s fuel efficiency
Fueling clean energy research through taxing gasoline has declined in the past five months from 25.8 miles per gallon to 25.1, according to Nick Nigro, the senior manager at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. This difference might seem trivial, when you take into account that, according to pacommutes.com, there are 128.3 million commuters in the U.S. But that small decrease in fuel efficiency equates to an extra 11 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, according to discovery.com. If gas prices continue to drop, then, we can expect fuel efficiency to drop as well, since people will feel less pressed to get as much out of each tank as possible. To combat fuel inefficiency, the federal government should add a small tax to gas prices. Adding a $.05-$.10 price to each gallon of gas would only raise the total
price of filling a tank of gas by a few dollars, but it could provide the federal government with millions of extra revenue. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. used 134.5 billion gallons of gasoline in 2013. With a gas tax, with the rate proposed above, the government would earn an extra $13.5 billion. With more than 100 million commuters in the U.S., the gas tax would cost less than $105 on average per commuter per year. This extra money can help fund research for better, greener energy methods. With gas prices continuing to drop, there has been a proportional decrease in interest in costly research for renewable energy like solar and wind.
Morgenstern
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February 4, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
FROM PAGE 3
MORGENSTERN According to Smithsonian Magazine, from coast to coast in the United States, solar power has been consistently growing in the past decade and shows no signs of slowing down. While, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, it only accounted for 0.5 percent of global energy in 2011, solar power has a promising future.
THE PITT NEWS Natalie Daher Editor-in-Chief editor@pittnews.com
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Unlike wind power, solar power peaks when temperatures increases. Along with that, solar energy has room for much more growth than other renewable sources like hydro and wind. Solar energy can adapt to newer forms of technology and benefit from them much more than other renewables. The biggest barrier for solar energy is the cost of installing it, according to Michael Levi, an expert in energy security and climate change. With federal funding generated from this small
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increase in a gas tax, research and installation of more solar energy plants would do nothing but help countries produce cheaper energy and reduce carbon emissions. The federal government taking advantage of these low prices can be a useful step in advancing technology toward more eco-friendly energy sources. In 2012, according to the Washington Post, there was $21 billion in incentives for renewable energy. Providing an extra $13.5 billion would be a huge amount
of extra funding that research facilities all across the globe desperately need. While plummeting gas prices may currently seem great for the average consumer, we must pay caution to our environment. A small increase in gas taxes while the prices are low will only help to ensure that we are making an effort to help our ecosystem. Ben Morgenstern primarily writes about education and social issues for The Pitt News. Write to Ben at bdm46@pitt.edu.
Editorial Policies Single copies of The Pitt News are free and available at newsstands around campus. Additional copies can be purchased with permission of the editor in chief for $.50 each. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the students, faculty or University administration. Opinions expressed in columns,- car toons and letters are not necessarily those of The Pitt News. Any letter - in tended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than 250 words and include the writer’s name, phone number and University affiliation, if any. Letters may be sent via e-mail to letters@pittnews.com. The Pitt News reserves the right to edit any and all letters. In the event of multiple replies to an issue, The Pitt News may print one letter that represents the majority of responses. Unsigned editorials are a majority opinion of the Editorial Board, listed to the left. The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the Oakland campus of the University of Pittsburgh. It is-pub lished Monday through Friday during the regular school year and Wednesdays during the summer. Complaints concerning coverage by The Pitt News, after first being brought to the editors, may be referred to the Community Relations -Com mittee, Pitt News Advisory Board, c/o student media adviser, 435 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15260. The editor in chief has the final authority on editorial matters and cannot be censored, according to state and federal law. The editor in chief is selected by the Pitt News Advisory Board, which includes University staff, - fac ulty and students, as well as journalism professionals. The business and edito rial offices of The Pitt News are located at 434 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15260.
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FOOTBALL
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SPORTS
Linebacker commit flips to Penn State on eve of signing day Chris Puzia Sports Editor
Linebacker Kevin Givens will be sending in his National Letter of Intent today, as all high school football recruits will. But instead of sending it to Pitt as he’d planned for almost a year, Givens will now give his commitment to play for Penn State in the fall. The Altoona native, who committed to Pitt last February, flipped his future play to Penn State head coach James Franklin
to become a Nittany Lion. National Letter of Intent Day is when every college football commit officially sends in his letter of intent to play at the university of their choice in the fall. Givens was rated as a three-star recruit by sources including ESPN, Rivals and Scout. Recruiting website 247 ranked Givens as the No. 18 high school player in Pennsylvania. Though he was committed to Pitt at the time, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound linebacker made an unofficial visit to Penn
State in November. He also held offers from Temple, Massachusetts and Western Michigan. With Givens now joining tight end Nick Bowers as former Panther commits to flip to Penn State, Pitt is now projected to have 15 recruits for the upcoming season, a coach can offer a maximum of 25 spots each year. Narduzzi recently poached a player of his own from the University of Pennsylvania, when quarterback Ben DiNucci decommitted from Penn to become Nar-
duzzi’s first quarterback recruit at Pitt. DiNucci was the third-leading passer in WPIAL history with 7,619 career passing yards. For now, all of these recruits have only verbally committed to their respective schools. Though many recruits — including Ohio linebacker Anthony McKee, who is committed to Pitt — have recently tweeted out reaffirmations to their schools, nothing will be official until players send their National Letters of Intent to coaches on Wednesday.
COLUMN
NBA must overhaul All-Star selection process, remove fan vote Imaz Athar Staff Writer
The NBA All-Star selection process is exciting. The ultimate unveiling of which collection of superstars will showcase their talents always entertains. And, most of the time, the most deserving players are selected. Sure, there are a couple of snubs every year, and “NBA on TNT” analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will exchange barbs and criticize questionable selections during TNT’s All-Star announcement show, but the immediate reaction isn’t usually overwhelmingly negative. Soon after the selections are announced, the conversation often shifts from who got snubbed to something like who will win the dunk contest or whether the Western Conference All-Stars are better than the Eastern Conference All-Stars. The NBA announced the 2015 AllStar starters on Jan. 22 and the reserves on Jan. 29. As usual, fans and analysts debated some selections. However, unlike in past years, heavy scrutiny replaced the light criticism — not only by analysts but also by NBA players. Much of the disappointment was over the players who got left out of the game at the expense of less-deserving players. For instance, it didn’t make sense to
Damian Lillard was left out of the All-Star game lineup. Jose Carlos Fajardo | TNS
many that Kobe Bryant — whose poor shooting performances have caused many to believe that the holier-thanthou Los Angeles Lakers might actually be tanking — was named a starter over Houston Rockets guard James Harden, an MVP candidate on a contending team. Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (who recently replaced the now-injured Bryant) were
also considered big snubs. The All-Star voting process is faulty, and the reaction to this year’s selections has only emphasized that. The criticism traces back to those who make the selections in the first place: the fans. In order to increase fan involvement in All-Star weekend, the NBA asks the fans to choose the game’s starters. But only a small percentage of NBA followers actually vote, even though game viewership
has been consistently strong. Also, fans who participate don’t always choose the most deserving players, as evidenced by the selections of Bryant and New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony as starters. Because the fans don’t always choose the most worthy players and only a small fraction of fans actually care to vote, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban argued that the NBA should get rid of fan voting completely. The broken selection process also has roots in the talent difference between the Eastern and Western Conferences. The Western Conference is indisputably better than the Eastern Conference, simply because the west has better players. One could easily argue that Lillard is a more deserving All-Star than Washington Wizards guard John Wall or Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry — both of whom are starting for the Eastern Conference AllStar team. Having a team from each conference puts a limit on the number of talented players who can play in the game. There are ways to fix the process. NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently stated that he’s in favor of ex-
Column
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FROM PAGE 5
NBA
panding rosters from 12 players to 13-15 players. While this would allow players like Lillard to play in the All-Star game, it doesn’t guarantee that the very best players, despite the conference that they are from, will have the chance to play. It also doesn’t solve the issue of the fan vote. In order to solve these problems and create a more exciting All-Star game, the league should consider totally revamping the selection process. This would involve eradicating the fan vote — instead, the construction of the All-Star teams would depend solely on player voting. Players would choose two captains from a larger pool of players selected by coaches and team executives. To avoid bias, they would publicly announce their choices. Then, on a Thursday night episode of “NBA on TNT,” the two player captains would each draft a team based on the large pool selected by coaches and executives. The captains
February 4, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com could choose players from either conference, and each team would consist of 15 players. Of course, this new system would not be without flaws. For example, guidelines must be created to prevent a captain from choosing multiple players of the same position or from his home team. Nonetheless, a revamped selection process would make the AllStar game more exciting, and would be necessary to solve the problems of the current process. Not only would this be a new and very entertaining way of choosing AllStars, but it would also get rid of the talent-conference disparity. In addition, selections would be based on the thoughts of players, coaches, and executives – all of whom are knowledgeable about the talent within the league. This might also pique fan interest. The new draft process could be a highly watched event in itself, and the All-Star game might gain more viewers because it would truly be a collection of the most talented players in the league.
The Pitt News Crossword, 2/4/2015
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ACROSS 1 Recitals showing promise 6 A way off 10 Big name in PCs 14 Braid 15 Where to get a bite on the street 16 Clue weapon 17 Abe’s youngest son 19 Friend on “Friends” 20 West Point newbie 21 Latin phrase usually shortened 23 Old hand 25 Exhortation from Santa, in Moore’s poem 28 Wrestling maneuver 30 Term of respect 31 “Liar!” in a playground 32 Nerdy types 35 Target 37 Shipping wts. 38 Halls product 41 NCR product 44 Reed in a hall 45 Stable rides for kids 49 Whodunit surprise 51 Org. with Eagles 53 Coin with 12 stars on its reverse side 54 Late-inning substitute 58 Like some grins 59 Crate up 60 Organisms of a region 62 Not fer 63 Gets the unspoken message ... which includes one of five synonyms found in this puzzle’s longest answers 68 53-Across fraction 69 Maui music makers 70 Lingerie fabric 71 Envelopepushing 72 Huff and puff 73 Bard’s “between”
2/18/15
By Jeff Stillman
DOWN 1 Go (for) 2 __ française 3 Pond juvenile 4 “This Kiss” singer Faith 5 Kept in a pen 6 Tap into 7 __ Schwarz 8 CIO partner 9 Keep up on the issues? 10 Neat arrangements 11 Nuclear reactor need 12 Delta-zeta connection 13 Seasons a bit more 18 Pistons’ org. 22 Worker who gives people fits? 23 Honorary deg., perhaps 24 Fracas 26 Uppermost 27 Three-time MLB home run king 29 Advent mo. 33 Voting enclosures 34 Deli order 36 Word with modern or cave
Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved
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39 Mongolian expanse 40 Key lime __ 41 Free from strife 42 Hurt suddenly, as a muscle 43 Preparing garlic, in a way 46 Persian Gulf native 47 Make a faux pas 48 Traditional Asian sauce base
2/18/15
50 Like a string bikini 52 If all goes according to plan 55 Hopping mad 56 Frozen Wasser 57 Holiday entrée 61 Turn to slush 64 Letters in a police record 65 Novelist Kesey 66 Eighty-six 67 Explosive stuff