2-9-17

The Pitt News

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | February 9, 2017 | Volume 107 | Issue 119

Panel outlines protesting’s best practices

BRAVING THE ELEMENTS

Zoe Pawliczek Staff Writer

With the abundance of protests and marches happening around Pitt’s campus recently, many students are wondering if the public’s calls for change will be left unanswered. At a Wednesday night panel, Pitt professors and activists encouraged students to continue championing local movements.

The Fossil Free Pitt Coalition and Free the Planet hosted a two-panel event Wednesday to discuss how to effectively protest and organize social support in the beginning weeks of Trump’s presidency. Pitt sociology professors and local social justice organizers spoke during the one-and-a-half-hour event, answering audience questions and discussing their personal contributions to the Pittsburgh community.

Speakers also gave advice to Pitt students about how smaller efforts — including calling local leaders or engaging in social media — can contribute to larger change.

Dana Moss, a new assistant professor in the department, co-founded the Yemen Peace Project in 2010. YPP is the only organization in California dedicated to lobbying against misconceptions about Yemen — from clarifying detail on malnutrition in the country to emphasizing the importance of humanitarian efforts taking place in Yemen. Now, Moss said she is most concerned about the immigrant and refugee ban because it “directly impacts

A Port Authority bus waits on 5th Ave at Bigelow Blvd as snow falls late last night. John Hamilton VISUAL EDITOR

Students concerned with Toomey’s vote for DeVos James Evan Bowen- Gaddy and Grant Burgman

Donald Trump’s Cabinet, was split 50-50 Tuesday afternoon. Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey was on the “yes” side — deThe Pitt News Staff spite earlier reports that he was wavering Never in American history has a Cabin his decision. inet member needed the vice president to The news of Toomey’s potential break the tie that would elect them into flip-flop inspired many constituents to the president’s Cabinet. contact his office in an attempt change But the Senate vote on Betsy DeVos, his mind. After a week of constituents’ who was later confirmed for the secreSee Panel on page 3 tary of education position in President voicemails and emails clogging his in-

boxes, Toomey released a statement on his Facebook page on Monday saying that many of the calls weren’t “getting through” because of their sheer volume.

Ultimately, it was Vice President Mike Pence, not Toomey or any other senator, who was the deciding vote in DeVos’ favor. Perhaps Trump’s most contentious Cabinet appointment, DeVos is a busiSee Protests on page 2

Protests, pg. 1

tion is filled with people who have related experience and are still failing the public school system.

“It’s a benefit to have a reformer coming from the private sector,” Armstrong said.

Republicans in the Senate were DeVos’ primary backers — only two voted against her Tuesday. Before the vote, the Pitt College Democrats acted in line with their higher political counterparts, hosting a phone bank just before her confirmation. During the phone bank, 30 students called into Toomey and other senators’ offices to request that they not vote for DeVos’ appointment.

Kevin Burk, a junior political science and history major who helped put on the event, said DeVos is not giving enough solutions on how to solve our current public school woes such as America’s troubled inner-city schools.

“She’s really just offering distractions rather than actual solutions,” Burk said.

One of those distractions, Burk said, was DeVos’ commitment to backing charter schools, which are publicly funded and independently run. Burk said that schools need a more “hands-

on” approach rather than simply advocacy for the private sector.

DeVos supports the expansion of charter schools and a federal voucher program that would allocate funding for parents, giving them the ability to send their child to a school of their choice.

Both positions fall in line with Trump’s.

Pointing to his own experience attending Allentown School District, which he said is struggling, Armstrong said Pennsylvania’s at a critical point for the kind of change DeVos could offer.

“If any state needs school choice, it’s Pennsylvania,” Armstrong said. “There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed around here.”

Armstrong pointed to Philadelphia and Reading as other “impoverished” and failing school districts in Pennsylvania that needed change.

Chepega agreed, but doesn’t think DeVos has the right solutions.

“Now more than ever students will need qualified individuals to teach them,” Chepega said.

Opposition to DeVos hasn’t ceased now that she’s cinched the position. DeSee Protests on page 3

The Pitt news crossword 2/9/17

nesswoman, a former member of the Republican National Committee and a four-time chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party. DeVos has also been a prominent contributor to Republican campaigns, including Toomey’s.

Her lack of experience in the education sector, coupled with her plans to privatize schooling, has wrought criticism from education advocates, Democrats and teachers. At Pitt, young Democrats and future educators, including junior Morgan Buck, are concerned over the potential impact her appointment could have on their futures, and those of the children they work with.

Buck, who tutors and mentors at Arsenal Elementary School in Lawrenceville and University Prep in the Hill District, said Wednesday she’s still not convinced DeVos “knows even the basics of child development.”

“What we have is somebody who is completely out of touch who doesn’t have a degree in education making decisions for families and children who

don’t have a voice in the academic community,” Buck, an applied developmental psychology major, said.

DeVos will be the first education secretary who hasn’t attended or sent her children to public school, according to Education Week. She also has no experience taking out a student loan for herself or her children — a point democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren pointed out in her hearing.

That’s especially concerning for Stephanie Chepega, who is pursuing her Master of Arts in teaching at Pitt. She dreads the possibility of DeVos weakening the public schools she plans to teach in.

“DeVos’ school experiences have not taught her anything about public schools,” Chepega said. “She therefore knows nothing about them, which will make it challenging for her to provide any true insight or leadership.”

Arnaud Armstrong, communications director of the Pitt College Republicans, didn’t debate DeVos’ lack of experience, but said right now “experience doesn’t really count for anything.” According to Armstrong, the Department of Educa-

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Panel, pg. 1 communities [she] knows and works with.”

She said she is encouraged by people who stand up but knows that it can be scary. She emphasized that planning ahead and organizing resources are what make social movement effective.

“We can pontificate all day about social movement theory, but it’s great to have people come in who work locally,” she said.

Fellow sociology professors Tarun Banerjee and Jackie Smith followed up with com-

ments on Trump’s first days in office. Banerjee, whose focus is public policy, said there are many ways the current administration is “pretty damn terrible.” To make an impact, he said social movements should target large corporations rather than government institutions.

“There is a lack of democracy and responsiveness in the government,” he said. “It is a mistake for people to think we can bring about change by targeting elected officials.”

Smith, who began her career in sociology by studying globalization and international social movements, now advocates more for localized efforts, connecting them to an “ac-

celerating snowball” that quickly gains momentum.

“This is where we have to act: in Pittsburgh,” Smith said.

In response to public concern that the heavily Republican government is resistant to pass progressive legislation, the professors encouraged students to get creative with their efforts.

“Protest is pretty cheap and easy, but it’s not necessarily what you always need to bring about change,” Moss said.

Instead, Banerjee recommends reaching out to banks, large corporations and even local

military branches to find the right resources and people who can solve a social issue. Smith mentioned the value of local networking for sharing ideas and protecting each other during the fight to defend our democracy.

When asked how students can get involved in local social movements, Moss and Smith spoke about the importance of getting a message out to the public, finding supporters and gaining recognition through social media.

“We need more communicators to tell the story that the mass media doesn’t,” Smith said.

Eva Resnick-Day, who graduated from Pitt in 2012, spoke after the panel on her involvement with Greenpeace USA. Through the organization, she participated in nonviolently protesting international issues including oil drilling in the Arctic and non-inclusive legislation. While the job taught her about asking people in power tough questions — like asking Hillary Clinton at a rally to reject fossil fuel contributions — she left to focus on Pittsburgh’s issues.

“It takes a lot of behind the scenes work to create change and make that final product,” Resnick-Day said.

After the event, panel members provided the audience with contact information for specific organizations that Pitt students can get involved with, both on and off campus.

With her hands full of flyers, junior psychology major Savanna Melton said students should take notes from the activists who have come before them.

“It’s important to show up and learn from other people’s experiences,” Melton said. “In this age you really need all the advice you can get.”

Protests, pg. 2 spite political support for her ideas on privatization, she’ll be taking the job under intense skepticism from a number of voices in the American education system.

Charlotte Goldbach, vice president of the Pitt College Democrats, said she doesn’t think DeVos’ approach is a good sign for the future of education.

“Education should never be a political issue,” Goldbach said. “When you have professors, students, education unions and organizations speaking out against a candidate, you should know something is up. They know about the system better than anyone.”

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February 9, 2017

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Opinions

column

from the editorial board

On abortion, sanctuary cities, oppose state GOP While political clashes in Washington, D.C., continue to grow more frequent and more intense, Republicans in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are feeling little pushback against their agenda — and they’re making the most of it.

The GOP majority in the state senate voted to consider a singularly restrictive abortion bill Monday. The bill would reduce the legal limit for performing abortions in the state from 24 to 20 weeks and effectively ban one of the most common methods for the procedure — the dilation-and-evacuation method. This method is most typically and safely used during the second trimester of a pregnancy and is often performed in the case of a miscarriage.

The next day, another bill reached the House floor that might have faced more opposition in a left-leaning legislature — a proposal to remove up to $1.2 billion from up to 32 cities and municipalities across the state. The criteria for suspending state support would correspond to so-called “sanctuary cities,” municipalities where local authorities have pledged not to cooperate with state and federal immigration officials. Under the parameters set by the proposal, Pittsburgh would be considered one of them.

Both of these bills threaten considerable damage to the state and its residents. The Pennsylvania Medical Society sent a pointed letter to the measure’s supporters in the state legislature, asking that legislators reconsider the bill’s specific targeting of dilation-and-evacuation abortions. The legislature has never before banned a specific kind of medical procedure, and this procedure specifically is one of the safest, according to the

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society’s letter.

In their haste to pass the restrictions, Republicans have yet to receive any input from the Pennsylvania medical community — something that should concern both pro-choice and pro-life advocates.

The bill to defund sanctuary cities and counties in the state received similarly short treatment before legislators when it was introduced in the House Tuesday. The bill’s chief sponsor, Allegheny County Republican Guy Reschenthaler, appeared anxious to shut down debate and ram the proposal through the lower house.

Reschenthaler shot down questions about his bill and the potential effects of budget cuts for residents of the affected communities, saying that they weren’t relevant. But the concerns of Pennsylvania residents, both undocumented and native-born, remain unanswered.

Gov. Tom Wolf released a statement Tuesday promising to veto the proposed abortion legislation. His spokesman, J.J. Abbott, called the sanctuary city bill concerning. And for now, it appears both bills’ backers have insufficient support to override a veto from the governor.

But the reprieve is temporary — while we appreciate the governor’s use of his veto powers in this instance, it’s likely that the balance of power in Harrisburg will stay mostly the same for at least the next year.

The governor must remain strong on these important issues. He needs not only to veto these bills, but the bills that are bound to follow in their path in the near future — if not, the lives of the most vulnerable among us might be at stake.

Tobacco ban should go up in smoke Christian Snyder For The Pitt News

Some evenings, as I’m walking home from class, I decide to take a shortcut up the stairs that wind through Carlow’s campus to shorten the trip home.

There are a few noticeable differences between Carlow and Pitt: the size, the architecture, the religious imagery. But one of the most noteworthy features dotting the map of the 1,399-student private school is the signs scattered across campus declaring Carlow to be a tobacco- and smoke-free campus, with violators subject to a $25 fine.

Pitt Student Government Board proposed a similar policy last year, but the resolution was dropped. SGB voted Tuesday on whether to apply for a $20,000 grant which would provide funds to educate students about the harmful effects of smoking, with the ultimate goal of creating a “smokefree or tobacco-free campus policy.”

According to board member Malcolm Juring, the enforcement of the policy would be “the responsibility of the community. In other words, no one would be issued a citation or fine for smoking on campus.”

A policy of community enforcement sounds like it could have one of two results: either the policy goes unenforced for the most part or it leads to a further shunning of a completely personal decision.

Regardless, Pitt shouldn’t ban smoking, especially by community enforcement.

With a few exceptions in some states, most

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Jordan Mondell LAYOUT EDITOR individuals over the age of 18 have a legal right to buy and use tobacco products in the United States. And while it is undisputed that smoking is harmful to individual and public health, smoking is still a very personal decision. Nobody has a right to judge or condemn people based on the choices they make regarding their own health — the inevitable result of a full-on ban.

Of course, smoking on campus does have an effect that other substances don’t: secondhand smoke. But whether we look at that problem from a basis of improving safety or comfort, a campus smoking ban would fall short of actually solving it.

Claims that secondhand smoke is the worst source of harmful carcinogens in a city don’t completely line up with research from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Kurt Straif, the section head of the IARC, told CBS that exposure to diesel exhaust is “on the same order of magnitude See Snyder on page 5

4

Snyder, pg. 4 as passive smoking” in cancer-related danger.

Banning diesel engines in cities would affect people’s health as much as a smoke ban, but would never be up for consideration.

City-dwellers would be right to call for tighter diesel emissions regulations, but such a policy is more comparable to designated smoking and non-smoking areas — still allowed, just restricted. Designated non-smoking areas would have to be tightly defined and well-monitored in order to ensure compliance, much like emissions bans.

The ban wouldn’t just be difficult to enforce, it would also be difficult to follow.

According to Juring, the policy would only apply to Pitt property, not city or privately owned property.

Yet, on some of the most familiar places on campus — Fifth and Forbes avenues — privately owned businesses intermix with city-owned Health Department buildings, while scattered among them are various University-owned buildings, such as the PantherExpress Payments building on Atwood Street. How could a blanket smoking ban ever fit well into the complexity of this urban jigsaw puzzle?

Other legal substances, including alcohol, are not banned on Pitt’s campus, because the University recognizes that many students have a legal right to drink— even if it affects their health. With some limitations, students who are of legal age to purchase and consume alcohol may do so here at Pitt. And with the exception of first-year housing, students are allowed to bring alcohol in several on-campus dorms.

Alcohol is a leading cause of death among college students, making it a much

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more harmful drug than nicotine or tobacco as it applies to our age group. But Pitt continues to allow some alcohol use on campus out of respect for a person’s legal right to drink. If alcohol use isn’t facing scrutiny, legal tobacco use certainly shouldn’t be either.

Appeals to non-smokers’ comfort also fail to make a convincing argument. Fresh, comfortable air isn’t a right in a city, nor something we should expect. If I’m seeking fresh air, I’ll go to Schenley Plaza, or Schenley Park — designated non-smoking areas where the policy is well enforced.

These policies are amenable to all, as is the enforcement of city laws that prohibit smoking within 15 feet of a building entrance. A compromise exists in the possible expansion and stricter enforcement of nonsmoking areas.

Some arguments against a smoke-free campus rest on more convoluted concerns about students leaving campus to smoke and being assaulted. Others worry about the traffic resulting from more students driving off-campus.

But you shouldn’t need to reach that far to see why Pitt shouldn’t ban smoking on campus. It’s within an adult’s right to purchase and consume tobacco in Pennsylvania, regardless of where they live. And if that basic right isn’t enough, the logistical implications of a smoke-free campus make it obvious that it simply isn’t feasible.

Campus smoking bans don’t and shouldn’t work. It’s time we let them go, in favor of a more nuanced, fairer approach that gives space for both smokers and nonsmokers. We need to balance respect for individuals’ choices regarding their health and the accommodation of personal preference — all that takes is a more nuanced approach.

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Culture

Dust jackets and dog-ears: Pittsburgh's thriving book scene

Married couple John Shortino and Allison Mosher stock more than 3,000 titles in their bookstore, Nine Stories. Elaina Zachos SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

James Evan Bowen-Gaddy and Elaina Zachos The Pitt News Staff

While brick-and-mortar bookstore chains fight with online shopping giants like Amazon. com for the bookselling market, independent bookstores quietly thrive.

With new storefronts sprouting while the internet’s back is turned, Pittsburgh’s independent bookseller scene seems to be staging a revival.

Some bookstores pair themselves with coffeehouses and cafes while others focus purely on the written word. But all have one thing in common — in a world where backlit screens seem to dominate, these storefronts remind readers to keep on reading.

Treasure hunting at Rickert & Beagle Books While spring cleaning revealed crumpled up receipts and loose change hidden under couch cushions for some, Chris Rickert has uncovered priceless antiques while dusting out the corner of

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her bookstore.

Rickert found a paper shopping bag full of novels in the backroom of her store, Rickert & Beagle Books, about five years ago. Someone had scrawled “Donate to library,” on the outside, but decided to drop the junk collection off at Rickert’s store instead.

Buried underneath mass-produced paperbacks, Rickert discovered a first printing of American author William S. Burrough’s classic, “Naked Lunch.” The copy was one of 5,000 published in 1959.

The copy of “Naked Lunch” is one curiosity of many that live on the shelves of Rickert & Beagle Books in Dormont. The independently owned store opened six years ago after Rickert took over the space formerly occupied by the closed Eljay’s Used Books.

“A lot of times, it’s one thing in the bottom of a box that someone doesn’t really know about,” Rickert said. “We’ll pull out one piece and take a look at it and realize it’s a rare piece.”

Rickert named the store after herself and her writer friend Peter S. Beagle. Beagle, a Pitt alum who majored in creative writing, is most known for his fantasy novel, “The Last Unicorn.”

Although print is her passion, Rickert admits that “owning a bookstore does not pay the bills.”

Her store’s location, sandwiched between car dealerships on busy West Liberty Avenue, can be a challenge in attracting customers. But she said the Pittsburgh bookstore scene is gaining momentum, as shown by the large number of shops opening in and around the city.

“I’m hopeful that a lot of people come to the bookstore to learn about something new,” she said.

“Anything new.”

Breaking the comic norm at the Copacetic Comics Company In the center of the residential Polish Hill neighborhood, the Copacetic Comics Company sits on the top floor of a hip Wayside school — a coffee shop ground floor and a vinyl record store second floor, with a comic book company on the

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third.

Bill Boichel, of Forest Hills, opened the shop in 2000, as a way to take comics out of their current context of just a superhero medium.

“I wanted to put comics in the context of books and films and music and art and poetry,” Boichel said. “I wanted to have a store where you could come in for every one of those things and cross-pollinate.”

The walls of Copacetic prove his point. All around the small shop, the dense displays of comic books overflow into piles of literature, jazz CDs and DVDs. “People can come in for a novel and see the interesting comics coming out,” Boichel said. “And if you’re into just comics, maybe you can branch out a little bit.”

After his college days at Carnegie Mellon University, Boichel just couldn’t keep himself away from comics. He started selling mail order comics in 1977 and eventually opened his own storefront See Indie Books on page 7

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Indie Books, pg. 6 in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania — BEM Publications — in 1985. Boichel had a daughter 10 years later and closed up shop to focus on his family, though he said he was tired of the stand comic bookstore model anyway.

People who were already interested in comics kept coming in and buying the same thing, instead of branching into new comics or independent artists.

“At that point, I stopped selling, for the most part, superhero comics like DC and Marvel,” Boichel said.

Now, focusing instead on independent and local comic book artists, Boichel’s inventory is filled with many titles — such as “Overgrowth and Underbrush,” which Nate Taylor and other Pittsburgh authors published, and Theo Ellsworth’s “Logic Storm” — that the average bookworm wouldn’t recognize. There are a couple classics he keeps in stock, including “Watchmen” and “Akira,” but besides those few, Boichel’s stock displays what he sees as the potential of comics.

Boichel said he prefers this model as it helps foster the independent press “ecosystem we’re all a part of,” pointing to examples such as the Pittsburgh Zine Fair, Autumn House Press and Braddock Avenue Books. According to Boichel, these opportunities for independent artists make it an exciting time for the comic book scene, especially for someone like him who’s long been watching the scene for new and interesting material.

“I was always doing comics,” Boichel said. “I just had the bug.”

Big love, small space at Nine Stories It’s the romance you’ve never heard of.

With a shared passion for local bands, John Shortino and Allison Mosher met at a concert at Toast, a coffeeshop in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 2002. Instead of exchanging phone numbers, the 16-year-olds began exchanging books. “[We] exchanged a lot of Vonnegut,” Shortino, now 31, said in an email. “She lent me her dad’s copy of ‘Welcome to the Monkey House,’ and I lent her my copy of ‘Cat’s Cradle.’”

The couple combined their book collections in 2010, and found they had a number of duplicates. Those copies made it through many moves, including one from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh two years later. Today, the 31-year-olds live in Stanton Heights.

As avid readers who wanted to build on their experience working in museums, libraries and bookstores, Mosher and Shortino aspired to have their own independent location. They started selling books at temporary venues such as the Garfield Night Market and Stephen Foster Com-

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(Left) John Shortino, co-owner of Nine Stories, sits behind the counter at the Lawrenceville bookstore.

Elaina Zachos SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Alternatives can work

"

-Kyle Verma, co-owner, The Big Idea Bookstore munity Center. With their revenue, they built up their stock of books, buying from yard, garage and library sales.

The two began hunting for a place to set up shop, zeroing in on a space next to Butler Street’s Caffe D’Amore. Mosher and Shortino celebrated Nine Stories’ grand opening in October, in a 480 square-foot shop. As “rabid Salinger readers,” Shortino said they christened the store after the American author’s 1953 short story collection.

Though it’s smaller than your average studio apartment, the store fits about 3,000 titles.

“We don’t have a ton of room but we try to have a lot [of books] for the size shop we are,” Shortino said. “[The] idea of specialization and curation, I think, is how independent bookstores are carving out that space for themselves.”

No money, no problems at The Big Idea Bookstore Ask to speak to the owner at The Big Idea Book Store and you will hear a collective “that’s me” from every employee working that day.

The Big Idea Book Store began in 2001 as a

(Right) Rickert & Beagle Books, in Dormont, carries books from science fiction to horror to rare titles. Elaina Zachos SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

non-profit, volunteer-run store primarily stocking progressive texts through an anarchist business model. At that time, it had no storefront and focused mostly on tabling at music shows. Today, it operates out of the Bloomfield storefront as a democratic cooperative — one in which there is no sole owner, no hierarchy and no pay.

Though volunteers at the shop don’t make a salary, they do pool all their tips and divide them based on how many hours they worked that week.

Any money the collective makes through book sales goes toward paying the store’s rent.

While patrons wandered through the aisles in January, Kyle Verma, of Greenfield, sat behind the counter of The Big Idea Bookstore and fiddled with a Rubik’s cube. Verma, a member of the 20-person collective, found the gig online a year and a half ago.

“I was just looking for part-time work at a bookstore and I found this place,” Verma, 27, said.

“It’s all volunteer, and I figured it would be faster getting a volunteer job than a part-time job.”

As Verma walked around the store, pointing

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out the different sections of books along the wall — anti-work and primitivism, anarchism, underworld history, queer studies — he said the store is committed to “getting out all of the hate” by educating people about systems other than capitalism.

“Alternatives can work,” Verma said. “We don’t have to have the system we have. We can have a store that runs successfully with no one in charge that is not intending to make money.”

And for the first time in 16 years, The Big Idea Bookstore can point to its data and show that this is true. The bookshop recorded its first year of profits in 2016, which it is donating to multiple causes around the city. Verma said that after some brainstorming, the group plans to donate to the Pittsburghers arrested at the presidential inauguration as well as the two protesters arrested in Towers Lobby in November.

“We haven’t had to think about what to do with profits until now,” Verma said.

There’s also a row of donation jars sitting in front of the cash register — all for different causes, See Indie Books on page 8

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Indie Books, pg. 7 including the arrested Pittsburghers — so bookshoppers can decide where they’d like to channel their money.

Further down the counter, the store sells patches, posters and onesies that read “exhausted by capitalism.” Verma pointed to the mural on the wall behind it all, which reads, in Spanish, “lee un piche libro.”

“I think it means ‘Pick up a f***ing book,’” Verma said.

Caliban Book Shop: indie veteran Tucked between Pitt and Carnegie Mellon, a veteran of the Pittsburgh book scene sits quietly, its shelves so full that the owner has to pile books in stacks between the aisles.

John Schulman, of Squirrel Hill, opened Caliban Book Shop with his now-wife, Emily Hetzl, in 1990. Schulman said the bookstore’s structure is simple.

“I opened it as a used and rare bookstore,” Schulman said. “And that’s what it still is.”

When he opened the shop, Schulman had just finished his Master’s degree in education at Pitt, but couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do.

Though he considered teaching, Schulman kept coming back to the idea of a bookshop. As a teen-

ager, he’d worked at Tucker’s Book Store on Murray Avenue, and in college, he sold books at shows to pay his rent.

“I didn’t want to be a teacher, I just wanted to open a bookshop,” Schulman said.

Since then, Caliban has become a symbol of successful independent book shops in Pittsburgh.

Through the early 2000s, though Schulman’s continually rotating inventory kept his business alive, few other bookstores managed to keep their doors open. Schulman attributed this to the internet and to larger, chain bookstores — but that’s changing, he said.

“There seems to be a new generation of indie bookstores opening up, so I only see positives going forward,” Schulman said, adding that independent bookstore owners in the city have formed a network. “We’re all close and we all share advice and information. We’re supportive of each other.”

Another important element of the Pittsburgh book scene, according to Schulman, is the diversity of products each store offers. At Caliban, the inventory offers everything from cookbooks to medical texts to novels in foreign languages.

In the current political climate, Schulman said a lot of people are scared, but each bookshop in Pittsburgh offer resources to help remedy those fears. Some books offer forms of a distraction, while others offer information.

“People can read to escape the nightmare or learn more about it,” Schulman said.

Local meets international: City of Asylum Pittsburgh’s newest bookstore is celebrating its one-month anniversary on Valentine’s Day. City of Asylum, a nonprofit based in North Side, provides a space for marginalized writers who have been exiled from their home countries.

And now, it’s unrolled a literary storefront — City of Asylum books — on Jan. 14 as a stage for some of those writers to display their works.

The 1,200-square-foot bookstore shares its space with the wine-and-cheese restaurant Casellula @ Alphabet City, which opened Jan. 28. A performance space bridges the two vendors, complete with a stage and seating.

The bookstore specializes in translated works, working with groups like the New Directions Publishing Company, to bring a world of literature to Pittsburgh readers. Lesley Rains, the store manager, started working for City of Asylum in June after she sold her other store, the East End Book Exchange, in Bloomfield.

“Our speciality is what sets us apart from other bookstores in the city and elsewhere,” Rains, 36, from Lawrenceville, said in an email.

The shelves of the store are stacked with titles from award-winning authors, as well as history, travel, philosophy and poetry books. There’s a sep-

arate section for used books and a wide selection of international writers from Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The store also boasts a wealth of literary locals, including Terrance Hayes’ poems and August Wilson’s plays along with new novels like Michael Chabon’s “Moonglow.”

In addition to selling books, Alphabet City hosts free weekly events and readings on crosscultural exchange. American authors and international writers have walked through the venue’s doors — Feb. 9 at 8 p.m., the venue will host Chinese/British author Peter Ho Davies.

“All of our events here are really about opening up conversations about different communities,” Rains said.

Rains is optimistic about building community in Pittsburgh and about the city’s independent bookstore scene. She said the store highlights a diversity of stories, characters and authors, which is particularly important now, while the nation is divided by politics. With the local universities and large population, the city is a viable place to open a store like City of Asylum Books.

“We’re committed to pushing back against the idea that people who come to the U.S. are some kind of ‘other,’” Rains said. “We’re here and we’re open and we’re just wanting to do something that’s distinctive and different from the other bookstores in town.”

The Pitt News SuDoku 2/9/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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February 9, 2017

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Sports panthers snap 8-game skid with 83-72 win at boston college Steve Rotstein

Sports Editor After eight straight losses, the Pitt men’s basketball team is back in the win column — and for now, out of last place in the ACC. Thanks to a vintage performance by senior forward Michael Young and workmanlike contributions from fellow seniors Sheldon Jeter and Chris Jones, the Panthers (13-11 overall, 2-9 ACC) defeated the Boston College Eagles (9-15 overall, 2-10 ACC), 83-72, Wednesday night in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Young tied a career-high with 30 points along with seven rebounds and a pair of crucial late-game blocks. Jeter tallied 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting, while Jones added 14 points, five

rebounds and three assists. Jones only attempted five field goals, making three, but he finished 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

Pitt needed every bit of those impressive efforts to snap its losing streak and send BC to its eighth-straight defeat, as the game got off to a disastrous start. On the game’s opening possession, Panthers senior Jamel Artis — the leading scorer in the ACC — landed on a defender’s foot and appeared to badly twist his ankle, hobbling off the court in visible pain.

He returned to the game less than eight minutes later, but clearly at less than 100 percent, as he finished with just six points in 23 minutes of action. Artis played about six minutes in the first half before Panthers head coach Kevin Stallings inserted true freshman point guard Justice Kithcart back into the

lineup.

Kithcart went to work as soon as he took the court. After making only one of 15 3-point attempts coming into the game, Kithcart drained his first two shots from beyond the arc to give Pitt a 12-8 lead less than five minutes in.

The Eagles took control of the game from there, making six shots in a row as part of a 17-5 run to take a 25-17 lead at the third media timeout. Then, with Pitt trailing 29-22, Kithcart drained his third 3-pointer of the game, sparking a 12-2 run that gave the Panthers a one-point lead late in the first half.

BC took the lead back with an uncontested layup after Pitt left 6-foot-11 forward Nik

Michael Young scored 30 points Wednesday night at Boston College.

See Basketball on page 10 Jeff Ahearn SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Six Panthers make All-ACC Academic Team Steve Rotstein Sports Editor

Already well represented on the various All-ACC teams for their performance on the field, members of the Pitt football team are now receiving accolades in the classroom.

After placing four players on the 2016 AllACC First Team, with nine players recognized overall, Pitt had six players named to the 2016 All-ACC Academic Team Wednesday morning. The Panthers’ six representatives tied for second most in the conference out of 14 schools.

According to the press release, a studentathlete must have earned a 3.00 GPA the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his undergraduate and/ or graduate academic career to be eligible for consideration.

Senior offensive lineman Adam Bis-

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nowaty, sophomore offensive lineman Alex Bookser, senior linebacker Matt Galambos, senior safety Reggie Mitchell, senior tight end Scott Orndoff and senior quarterback Nathan Peterman all received the honor.

“We want our student-athletes to be achievers in everything they do and these six young men embody that quality,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said in a press release.

“Their work ethic and commitment made them standouts on the field and in the classroom.”

Bisnowaty, a Pittsburgh native who has already earned a bachelor’s degree in communication, made it onto the All-ACC Academic Team for the fourth consecutive year. He is currently pursuing graduate work in health and fitness, and CBS Sports projects him as a third-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Matt Galambos was one of six Panthers named to the All-ACC Academic See Academics on page 10 Team Wednesday. Jeff Ahearn SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

February 9, 2017

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Basketball, pg. 9 Popovic all alone in the paint — the second free layup the Panthers allowed in the half.

Young then made one of two free throws next time down the court, and the teams went into the break tied at 31.

Young led all scorers with 11 points at halftime, along with a team-high five rebounds. Meanwhile, the Eagles received eight points from graduate transfer forward Mo Jeffers along with seven from true freshman point guard Ky Bowman.

Pitt carried its momentum from the end of the first half to the start of the second, as Young tallied a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer on the Panthers’ first two possessions.

Jeter added a pair of free throws, followed by a thunderous fastbreak dunk after a behind-the-back pass from sophomore guard Cameron Johnson. He then drilled a three on Pitt’s next possession to give the Panthers a 43-35 lead with 17 minutes left in the game.

A jumper from Jeter made it 51-40 Pitt, then a three by Young gave the Panthers a comfortable 14-point lead with 12:39 to play.

Young continued to heat up from mid-range,

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nailing three jumpers in a span of 2:20 to make it a 66-54 game.

The Eagles kept fighting, cutting the deficit to seven at 67-60 with 6:10 remaining. But Pitt stretched its lead back to 12 after another jumper and a pair of free throws from Jones.

The Panthers converted seven out of eight free throws the rest of the way, sealing the 8372 victory and moving them out of the ACC’s basement.

Pitt will return home to host the Syracuse Orange at the Petersen Events Center at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11. The Orange defeated the Panthers in their first matchup Jan. 7, 7766, the first of eight straight losses for Pitt before Wednesday night’s victory.

Academics, pg. 9 Bookser, another Pittsburgh native who is majoring in communication, started all 13 games this year at right guard, playing well enough to earn Honorable Mention All-ACC recognition.

Galambos, a media and professional communications major, started all 13 games at middle linebacker the past two seasons. He also played in all 13 games in 2013 and 2014 at the same position while making a combined 12 starts, racking up 283 total tackles over his four-year career.

Mitchell, who also hails from Pittsburgh, has already earned his Bachelor’s degree in marketing and is now enrolled in Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business.

He played in one game at the University of Wisconsin as a true freshman in 2012 before transferring to Pitt and sitting out the 2013 season. Mitchell then started all 13 games as a sophomore in 2014, playing the first eight as a cornerback before moving to strong safety for the final five.

A foot injury shortened his 2015 season, but he played in all 13 games as a senior in 2016, making four starts at strong safety.

February 9, 2017

Orndoff, who earned his Bachelor’s degree in administration of justice in 2016, is now a three-time All-ACC Academic honoree. After playing in all 13 games — including seven starts — while making five touchdown receptions as a junior, Orndoff started all 13 games as a senior and racked up 35 catches for 579 yards and five more touchdowns.

Bisnowaty and Orndoff are the only holdovers from last year’s All-Academic team, when five Panthers made the cut.

Peterman, meanwhile, enrolled at Pitt as a graduate transfer from the University of Tennessee before the 2015 season and quickly supplanted Chad Voytik as the Panthers’ starting quarterback. He played in all 13 games in 2015, starting the final 11, while completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,287 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound quarterback continued to excel in 2016, leading the ACC with a 163.4 passer rating while completing 60.5 percent of his passes for 2,855 yards, 27 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

Peterman, who is pursuing his MBA in Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business, is projected by CBS Sports as a fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

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