The Pitt News
Exploring Oakland’s house show scene Page 6
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | March 21, 2017 | Volume 107 | Issue 142
JUST LYKE THAT
For the first time in the 106-year history of Pitt Athletics, a woman is in charge. Chancellor Patrick Gallagher hired Heather Lyke Monday to be Pitt’s new athletic director.
Ta-Nehisi Coates inspires writers Stephen Caruso
Contributing Editor With a packed crowd spread out in front of him in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room Monday night, awardwinning journalist and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates picked a raised hand. The hand belonged to a professor, who said her class had finished his most famous work, “Between the World and Me,” and felt “disturbed” by its unflinching look at race in America. But when the students closed the book, the teacher said they wondered, what were they to do? As she continued the question, asking if it was in fact a writer’s job to provide possible solutions, Coates threw his hand up, palm forward. “It’s not,” he said. The at-capacity crowd responded with laughter and applause, as they had Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and new Athletic Director Heather Lyke arrive at Lyke’s introductory press conference. throughout Coates’ lecture, part of the John Hamilton VISUAL EDITOR Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series. athletic director in the 106-year history of Pitt director in the wake of Barnes’ resignation, was Steve Rotstein The Series, partially funded by Pitt’s Year the committee’s chair. The rest of the committee, Athletics. Sports Editor of Diversity, has also hosted author and “A new barrier has been broken,” Gallagher made up of coaches, student-athletes and adminBasketball season is over, but history was essayist Maggie Nelson and will bring said before officially introducing Lyke at a press istration, included: Susan Albrecht, Patricia Beemade Monday on the hardwood floor of the Peauthor Edwidge Danticat April 13. Both conference at the Petersen Events Center Monday son, Marcus Bowman, Andin Fosam, Daniel Furtersen Events Center. the Assembly Room and the overflow man, Jay Irrgang, Wendy Meyers, Pat Narduzzi, afternoon. Less than three months after Scott Barnes’ room next door were full, and four Pitt A 12-person committee assisted Gallagher John Pelusi, William Valenta, Geovette Washingdeparture, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher hired Police officers standing near the entrancwith the search for Pitt’s new athletic director ton and Alonzo Webb. Heather Lyke as Pitt’s new athletic director, makes turned latecomer attendees away Gallagher offered special thanks to Juhl, the along with the search firm DHR International. ing Lyke the first woman to serve as full-time See Coates on page 3 Randy Juhl, who served as the acting athletic See Lyke on page 8
News
WAVERING WINTER WEATHER CAUSES CLIMATE CONCERN
Taking advantage of the warm weather, first-year students Sheridan Feck and Kiel Hillock play soccer on the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial lawn. Three days later, campus was covered in a few inches of snow. Anna Bongardino and John Hamilton VISUAL STAFF
Maggie Medoff For The Pitt News
Linh Le, a first-year finance major from Garden City, Kansas, is used to the high-hitting winds of the Great Plains, not wearing crop tops in the middle of a Pittsburgh winter. “I expected it to be much colder moving up north, but based on what the locals say, the last couple winters have been a lot warmer than usual,” Le said. Pittsburgh is generally known for its tough winters — on average, winter temperatures are about 31 degrees, and the city averages 42 inches of snow annually. Although mid-winter temperature spikes can occur in Pittsburgh, it’s unlikely for temperatures in winter months to climb to the high 60s, which was the case a few weeks ago. In February, the average temperature was nine degrees higher than normal. But this month, Pittsburgh’s daily temperature averaged 33 degrees — 15 degrees colder than last year’s average of 48. With recent temperatures still in flux — including the winter switching from spring to winter over the course of a day — students and faculty alike are addressing climate change and delving into their research to learn more about the effects of global warming. “With climate change becoming a bigger issue, I think it’s extremely important to start the conversation about how we in the next generation can help improve the earth we live on,” Le
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said. The faculty in the department of geology and environmental science at Pitt regularly conducts research to find out how and why the climate is changing by observing human interaction with the environment. Josef P. Werne, director of Pitt’s Graduate Studies program and a biogeochemistry professor, tackles climate-related issues with his students in his classes. He teaches geochemistry, the study of the chemical composition of the earth, and paleoclimatology, the study of the past climate. Part of Werne’s research involves reconstructing past climate conditions by observing the geologic makeup of materials in the ground. “When looking in lake sediments, you’re moving further back in time to reconstruct various climate parameters and the environmental responses to those changing climate parameters,” Werne said. For example, during the Mesozoic Era — the time of the dinosaurs — scientists know the climate was hot, humid and dry because of the rocks and minerals found in the ground. When discussing climate change, Werne said it’s important to recognize the difference between climate and weather: climate is how the atmosphere changes over a long period of time, and weather is how the atmosphere changes over a short period of time. The day-to-day or week-
to-week fluctuations shouldn’t be cause drastic concern, Werne said. “One warm week or month or year doesn’t prove anything,” he said. “In order to really look at whether or not there’s change in climate, you need to have many warm years in a row, relative to many previous years in a row.” According to NASA, two-thirds of global warming, which started around the 1880s, has occurred since 1975 at a rate of 32 degrees per decade. Werne also highlighted the connection between climate change and El Niño, a Pacific Ocean climate cycle that happens every two to seven years and impacts global weather patterns. During an El Niño, warm water that is normally pushed toward the western half of the Pacific Ocean travels to the east from California to Chile, causing rain and storms. The global temperatures rise since the warmer ocean waters release heat into the atmosphere. Each new El Niño is warmer than the last, as a result of changing climate, Werne said. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, from 1901 to 2015, sea water temperature rose at an average rate of 0.13 degrees per decade and have caused an increase in ocean heat levels. “This [El Niño winter] is the warmest one, and it’s a big one, so it affects us more strongly,” Werne said. “Part of the reason why it’s a big one
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is because of the changing climate systems as things warm.” Brian Thomas, a hydrologist and assistant professor from the geology and environmental science department, studies the influence of humans on the water cycles — the process in which water goes from vapor in the atmosphere to rain to vapor again. He also studies the behavior of groundwater by using remote sensing devices and models. “The major component [of the research] is understanding how the climate is going to change in the future, to be able to understand the sustainable use of groundwater and surface water in those systems,” Thomas said. Because climate change can lead to wetter or drier seasons, it affects the water cycle from the atmosphere to earth — meaning we might not have water when we need it. “If we don’t manage water systems well, we’re not only impacting the environment but also the efficiency of energy being used,” Thomas said. Thomas also said if steps aren’t taken to decrease climate change, its effect on the weather year-round will only increase, no matter what season it is. “So we’re probably going to see warmer temperature spikes in the summer than we have seen in the previous years,” Thomas said. “We may also see colder spikes because [the climate change] variability is increasing.”
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Coates, pg. 1
write, it’s like abstract for you ... you feel yourself kind of trying to conjure something up,” he said. “And then when you before the talk. read it it’s like, ‘Oh sh*t, this is happenDuring the 40-minute speech, Coates ing.’” shared an excerpt from an upcoming unAfter the reading, the floor was open titled novel about slaves in the pre-Civil for questions. Most kept to his writing War American South and answered some process, or focused on “Between questions from the room the World and Me.” Because the about his previous work and lecture was part of Pitt’s writers writing process. series, when Coates did try to Munching on Taco Bell teach lessons, they were usually near the back of the room, directed toward writers in the undeclared sophomore John room. Talley and two friends sat “I’m saying this to you, but awaiting the start of the lecI have to say it to myself too,” ture. After reading the book, Coates said. “The joy for me, at Talley went to the lecture to the end of the day, is when I go come ”full circle” and hear back to that page ... and I go to Coates speak. work on what’s next.” “I really related a lot to Elizabeth Birra, a Pittsburgh [the book],” Talley said. resident and retired French Coates’ has gained acteacher, thought the talk was claim for his ability to blend ”magnificent” afterward, saying political commentary with she “couldn’t have been more his personal experience as a proud if it was [her] own son.” black man in America. As a Birra, married and with adult senior editor and contribuchildren, thought Coates stood tor for “The Atlantic,” and as apart because of his astute obseran essayist and author, he’s vations and clear voice. But her won both the National Book admiration for Coates is simple: Award and the George Polk Award for journalism writing. Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke to a crowd of close to 1,000 Monday night at the WPU. Stephen Caruso “Because he is a proud black man.” It was Coates’s journalistic CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Despite Birra’s feelings, work, not his fiction or longCoates’ attitude was humble. When one form nonfiction, that brought Akirah Wy- his time at Howard University, with Har- South who decide to escape. One of the characters, an older woman person asked him for advice about pushatt, a 32-year-old Pitt alum who works as vey, but said it was mostly awful. Still, he relates what he learned about mused, “I have spent most of my life a ing through writer’s block, Coates was a social worker, to the lecture. Wyatt said she takes “an hour to just writing from his peers and from the po- slave, and will spend the last on that run- hesitant. He claimed he might not always have the answers to “fix someone’s life” pore over” the journalist’s columns. His ets he was reading during that time to his ning game.” After finishing the excerpt, he was with words. column “The Black Family in the Age of work now. “People think you sometimes have “Poetry is the essential idea of trying greeted with a half-minute of applause. Mass Incarceration” has caused Wyatt to apply Coates’ observations on race in to control words on the page, trying to say He briefly rubbed his eyes and rehydrated, something to say to the world, but you might not,” he said. “Sometimes all you America to how she cares for her patients, as little as possible and at the same time, before quieting the crowd. “One of the weird things is when you had to say was in that book.” especially other black Americans like her- to get the maximum emotional impact,”
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self. When Coates took the stage at about 6:45 p.m., after a heartfelt introduction by his longtime friend and Pitt English professor Yona Harvey, he started with some brief remarks on the power of word, and especially poetry. He wrote poetry during
Coates said, before continuing, his hands clapping together with each word, “Make people feel it.” Then Coates put his own lesson on display in a 20-minute reading from a new project. The piece is a work of fiction about three slaves in the Antebellum
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Opinions column
from the editorial board
New AD should focus on funding for all sports For the first time in a several-weekslong vacancy, Pitt’s athletic department will once again have an athletic director. And for the first time in history, the new AD won’t be a man. Pitt confirmed rumors that surfaced online Sunday night in an ESPN report at a press conference yesterday — the University chose former Eastern Michigan University Athletic Director Heather Lyke to fill the same position here at Pitt. Lyke’s hire comes nearly a month after the departure of former AD Scott Barnes, and makes her only the third woman to serve in the position in Pennsylvania and the first at Pitt. Lyke’s achievement is undoubtedly important, and Chancellor Patrick Gallagher made reference to Women’s Empowerment Week as he introduced her at yesterday’s conference. It will be beneficial to finally have someone in the director position who’s had a different perspective in college athletics. Her personal experience playing softball at the University of Michigan means she knows what it’s like to be an athlete in a program with less funding and less attention than football or basketball. But her gender identity doesn’t mean we should ask anything of her that we wouldn’t ask of any other athletic director: a strong focus on maintaining an inclusive environment, reducing violence against women and making sure that funds are spread fairly. Her strong fundraising record at EMU is encouraging, especially since it means she’ll continue what Barnes started at Pitt. And her commitment to doing the grunt work and working hard to prepare for long-term athletic program success — she obtained passports for football players to travel to the Bahamas Bowl nearly two
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years in advance of the game — bodes well. But some elements of Lyke’s past work experiences are somewhat less promising. While her tenure saw EMU’s football program go from one of the worst in the MidAmerican Conference to attending a bowl game in a matter of two seasons, it came at a massive cost. Under Lyke’s tenure, the school spent more than $33 million per year out of the University’s general fund on sports — mostly on the school’s football team. That kind of focused attention to football turned EMU’s program around, but it’s not what Pitt needs right now, especially not at the expense of other programs. Lyke’s demonstrated focus on improving fundraising techniques should be used to the benefit of all parts of the athletic department — not just the big moneymakers. Plus, we hope she will lobby for issues that affect women in athletics, including violence against women and disparities in funding. It’s far too early to assess how Lyke plans to bring changes to Pitt’s athletic department or to maintain the status quo. Some of her largest tasks once she gets into the thick of her work will be more to bring stability to an athletic program in chaos and to recoup after an unequivocally disastrous basketball season, and it would be unfair to be harsh during her first few months. As she moves forward, we hope that Lyke shows more of the vision and determination that she had at her previous employment than the shortsightedness of an exclusive focus on the men’s basketball and football teams would show. If Lyke truly wants to be successful here, she won’t simply keep doing more of the same.
KEEP THE SEX IN SEX ED
Jordan Mondell LAYOUT EDITOR
Elise Lavallee
For The Pitt News The birds do it, the bees do it, we do it — so why can’t we talk about it? Sex talk makes some people uncomfortable. But comprehensive sexual education shouldn’t. Sex ed addresses the root issues of making healthy personal and sexual choices, and this type of education is widely effective at producing graduates who are actually knowledgeable about a variety of issues related to sex. Throughout most of history, Western cultural norms meant that it was the parents’ responsibility to teach their children about sex. But personal beliefs, combined with rapidly changing medical information, left this at-home education lacking, and many people saw sexual education in public schools as the solution. Unfortunately, this movement still hasn’t
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brought an end to poor sexual health and education. Widespread reluctance to provide all students with a comprehensive sexual education has proven to be just as detrimental as not providing students with sexual education at all. It wasn’t until the late 1800s, following epidemics of syphilis and cholera, that movements for organized health and sexual education began in the United States. After gaining White House support, educators introduced sexual education into high schools as a health and family planning curriculum that included information about both reproduction and general sexual health. At the time, the public was highly accepting of school-based sexual education. People believed that risk prevention information — about contraception and sexual See Lavalle on page 5
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Lavalle, pg. 4 safety — should be readily available. But as sex ed began to move out of the household and into the schoolhouse, many conservative groups began to more strongly oppose sex ed. If children were taught about sexual intercourse, people thought they would be more likely to engage in it at a younger age. Instead of requiring courses on how to maintain sexual health, state sex education policies began mandating abstinence-only courses instead. We’ve seen the “Mean Girls” scene where the gym teacher tells students that if they have sex, they’ll die. In a less dramatic fashion, these courses teach students that in order to prevent the negative consequences of sexual intercourse, such as sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy, they must refrain from engaging in sex until after marriage. Twenty states, including Pennsylvania, voted to restrict or abolish sex ed policies by 1975. Today, the state of sex ed in states across the country is largely inconsistent and erratic, with no standards mandated on the federal level and curriculums varying wildly from state to state. Twenty-six states require that teachers stress abstinence, while only 18
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mandate sex ed that includes information about birth control. And a mere 13 require that the information taught in these programs be medically accurate. Despite legislation to the contrary, scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that these abstinence programs do not change teen sexual behavior. Debra Hauser, president of Washington, D.C., think tank Advocates for Youth, conducted a study in 2003 that found that Pennsylvania’s state-sponsored programs were largely ineffective in delaying sexual intercourse or promoting skills and attitudes consistent with sexual abstinence. In another study, researchers found that individuals who made “virginity pledges,” a common element of abstinence programs, were one-third less likely to use contraceptives when becoming sexually active than their peers who did not make the pledge. Though abstinence itself is an effective method of avoiding unwanted pregnancy and STIs, most abstinence-only programs are ineffective and misleading. Comprehensive sexual education includes age-appropriate, medically accurate information on a broad set of topics related to sexuality including relationships, abstinence, contraception and disease prevention. Pennsylvania’s current sexual
education policy does not ensure students are fully educated on any of these topics. According to a study from Douglas Kirby of the National Campaign to End Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, comprehensive sex ed programs tended to delay sexual initiation, reduce the number of sexual partners and reduce the frequency of sex far more effectively than abstinence-only programs. Not only does comprehensive sex ed more successfully reduce the rate of teen pregnancy, it can help in the fight against sexual violence. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network publications state that Child Protective Services agencies found strong evidence of nearly 63,000 children a year who are victims of sexual abuse — a full third of whom are under age 12. When teens are fully informed of the signs of sexual assault and domestic abuse, they are better equipped to recognize and avoid them than they are with no education on this topic. By the time they get to college, they’re less likely to take risks with their own — and their partners’ — health. Abstinence-only programs simply refuse to acknowledge this reality, and 2017 should be the year we put an end to them.
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Culture
CONTROLLED CHAOS:
EXPLORING OAKLAND’S HOUSE SHOW SCENE Students and Oakland residents spurn large-scale concerts in favor of small shows held primarily in their friends’ and neighbors’ basements. | by Dan Day
A
On weekend nights and weekday evenings, musicians across the city set up their instruments and step up to the microphone, flanked by eager crowds of modern groupies
and casual fans. But a growing number of students and Oakland residents are skipping concerts at Stage AE and the Petersen Events Center in favor of something a little more familiar — like a friend of a friend’s South Oakland basement. Underground and away from high-profile events, the never-dormant Pittsburgh DIY music scene comes to life. Bands active in this culture play shows in the basements of students’ houses, away from the red tape of the music business that takes the form of sponsorships and the pressure of potentially performing in front of label executives. Freer spaces foster a sense of community and belonging, performers and fans say. Showrunners take a more hands-on approach to their music selection, opening their houses to friends, acquaintances and sometimes strangers in the name of a good time. The foundation of the shows is inherently Do-It-Yourself — a movement grown out of the 1970s punk scene. DIY is the deliberate act of moving away from the music business, in favor of simply inviting bands to play in a shared space. The house show subculture didn’t spring out of an animosity for larger venues, DIY insiders say, but out of a desire to offer more direct and individualized experiences for both touring acts and local talent that may not score a slot in a larger setting. Similar to the larger shows they’ve stepped away from, musicians in the scene sell CDs, cassette tapes and clothing, which they either ordered or made themselves. But unlike the big-name events, promotion is done exclusively through social media, text messaging and word
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of mouth, straying from public advertising both in fear of attracting negative attention and to help maintain a carefully cultivated aesthetic shared by fans. With Christmas lights adorning the ceilings, custom-painted backdrops behind the playing area and no real stage to speak of, house venues have to have just the right “feel.” The Legend of Bates Hardcore Gym Across the Boulevard of the Allies and nestled into a rivet off of Bates Street is Bates Hardcore Gym, a former house venue. Previously run in part by Anthony Resch — a senior fiction writing major who currently performs as the indie artist Royal Haunts — Bates Hardcore Gym holds a certain mystique in the Oakland house venue community, despite its short life span. Resch opened the venue in summer 2014 and closed its doors in October the next year. “I’d say the vibe was the beginning of what eventually started getting called ‘soft grunge,’” Resch said. “Essentially it was a crossroads of garage indie rock and pop … hardcore emo and straight-up punk. I think the most important vibe was that of generosity and care. Most people who came knew we were trying to cultivate a space where anyone could feel comfortable.” According to Resch, this “crossroads” of musical styles tapped into and expanded on the existing punk music scene in Pittsburgh. In addition to local acts, touring acts including The Sea Life from Washington, D.C., and Sleeping Weather from Denver found themselves playing to Oakland crowds at Bates Hardcore Gym. Resch said the venue’s popularity had something to do with the established venues in Pittsburgh — such as Club Cafe, the Smiling Moose and Mr. Smalls — and the need for less restrictive music outlets. “We got a lot of bands … that were associated with the music outside of houses, who were Above: Lewis’ venue is one of the newest in the house show scene, but the playing in clubs and dealing with promoters and crowd often fills the basement to capacity. Photos courtesy of Lewis Right: Bates Hardcore Gym, a defunct house show venue, used to hold condealing with age restrictions and dealing with a certs for both local and touring acts. Photo courtesy of Anthony Resch
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bunch of the other conflicting factors of playing music live,” Resch said. “We created a space that allowed for people who wanted to escape that, but still play shows.” But nothing lasts forever. The members of the Bates’ household lined up a show that would be their biggest yet in October 2015. Five hundred Facebook RSVPs later, the law intervened. “[The police] said, ‘Hey, we know about this. You can’t have that many people in this house. We’re going to drive by that day, so don’t even try,’” Resch said. “It got too big. There was too big of a thing, it couldn’t manage itself.” Looking at the house venue culture now, post-Bates Hardcore Gym, Resch said it isn’t what it used to be — not positive or negative, just different. Resch said much of the DIY music scene is subjective and up to interpretation. In his view, while the vibrancy of the scene has remained unchanged, there’s been an upswing in the sheer number of bands and variety of music styles playing at house shows. House venues are no longer just about the punkinspired style that Resch’s venue specialized in. “The definition of what a house venue is has changed a little bit. The potency, not as much,” he said. “But the diversity and the scope [is now] much wider.” As both a former showrunner and a current house show musician, Resch sees the house show culture as more than just basement parties. “I kind of view house venues as testing grounds,” Resch said. “I’ll get a little looser if I have different performance techniques that I want to try out. If it doesn’t sound exactly the way you want it to sound, you can revise it later.” The stress of owning and operating a venue from your own is compounded by worries about disruption, Resch said — complaints from neighbors about the crowds or the noise. Bates Hardcore Gym didn’t have to worry about this as much because of its location, which was isolated in comparison to the row houses with shared walls that comprise most of Oakland and South Oakland housing. “You can’t be a communal space if you’re
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going to disrupt your community,” Resch said. Cranked High on the Down Low In North Oakland, a recently established house venue, has quickly become a staple in the local indie and DIY music scenes. Due to the showrunner’s desire to maintain a relative sense of privacy, The Pitt News is not naming the venue or its address. The basement seems to exist for the purposes of live music. As you walk down the stairwell that runs down the center of the basement, you’ll see the playing area on one side and a place for bands to congregate — to sell merchandise or to relax after playing — on the
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grown in popularity since its inception in November 2016. Lewis, a senior film studies and business double major who asked not to use his full name for privacy reasons, started the venue after attending shows at other similar spaces. But he noticed a disturbing reality. “I’ve been probably inspired by the lack of house venues [in Oakland],” he said, noting that the Gym was once the “staple house venue” in the area. In the period following its shutdown, activity around house venues softened and slowed, leaving an obvious gap in the market. That’s where Lewis and his relatively new venue came in. He said he has seen a rebirth in the house show movement this year. “I think [the scene] is picking up speed,” Lewis said. “There could always be more [house venues] because there’s plenty of bands that want to play that can’t.”
Chairs and couches barricade the playing area in the living room, along the same wall that holds Henson’s vinyl record collection. The musicians themselves sometimes stand no more than a foot away from excited members of the sizable crowd gathered, including some who have to stand in the kitchen or on the stairs behind the living room. FoundSound is a live music curation organization that also hosts media content in the form of articles and videos featuring local artists. Starting in April 2015, founders Henson and Sam Ward, along with videographer Sam Suter, began to release videos of bands playing acoustic tracks in his living room. Since then, the organization has graduated to hosting entire bands in the same space, often featuring the artists who were previously featured in the videos. FoundSound also organizes small concerts. While it currently focuses on local acts, it didn’t start out that way. “FoundSound started off as trying to be a legitimate business,” Henson said. “I sort of come from a start-up background myself, and FoundSound was going to be the next start-up that paid the bills and became a national business.” While the living room shows are related to FoundSound, Henson hesitates to call his apartment a “house venue.” “FoundSound is more of an organization and I throw shows in my apartment sometimes for FoundSound,” Henson said. “But I don’t really run it as a venue and try to book it.” Henson also doesn’t call his apartment a “house venue” because he doesn’t consider himself a member of that culture. “I think FoundSound is probably different because my impression of house concerts is usually sort of more on the underground hardcore hard rock and we stick to pretty acoustic,” Henson said. “Because we’re on a third-floor apartment rather than the basement of a house.” That’s not to say, however, Henson doesn’t take notes of what he sees when he attends events around the city. “I think there’s excellent community. Everyone wants to help everybody out and everyone’s really nice,” Henson said. “I feel like everyone really just wants to do what they can to help other musicians, and it’s a great atmosphere to be a part of. It’s definitely a big part of what I’m going for, for sure.”
the most important vibe was that of generosity and care
other. There is no indication of any lull in activity on a packed Friday night at Lewis’s house in mid-February. The crowd is rowdy and dancing to each act on the bill, which that night included local musicians Skull Kid, Jack Swing, Short Fictions, Surf Bored and Amir Miles. Each band in turn takes the “stage” on a red and blue patterned rug level with the rest of the basement floor. Those who tire of the music head upstairs to the living room for a quieter evening more removed from the speakers. The crowd members — friends of the musicians, newcomers and veterans of the scene — stand directly in front of the band dance and sweat to the music, while the rest stand and observe the action from a slight distance, lighting their friends’ cigarettes or taking pulls from flasks. On a packed night, there’s little room to move. Despite this, the spot seems to have only
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Since the only rules in a house are the ones established by the showrunner, any combination of bands can appear on the bill. Along with the usual DIY punk and indie offerings, Lewis’ house has been “groundbreaking” for hosting hip-hop artists — atypical for other Oakland house venues. “I’d say it was to make music more of a community. That was the goal,” he said of his house shows. “I wanted to supply a venue where you would actually get good turnouts, where people would actually get what they needed and also have a good time.” The Quiet Magic of FoundSound Kyle Henson’s Shadyside apartment can be described many ways, but chief among these is not “great for live music.”
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Sports
ACC CHAMP TESHAN CAMPBELL TRANSFERRING TO OHIO STATE Steve Rotstein Sports Editor
The Pitt wrestling team absorbed another huge blow just two days after the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season, as 165-pound ACC Champion TeShan Campbell announced his intention to transfer to Ohio State University. “Pitt Wrestling, you showed me so much over these two past years — we made some great memories! I wish nothing but great things for this program in the future,” Campbell wrote Monday on his Facebook page. “I thought hard on this decision and it wasn’t an easy one, but I believe in my heart it is the right one. I will be finishing my college academic and wrestling career at the University of Ohio State (sic).” Julie Jurich, assistant director of media relations at Pitt, confirmed Monday that Campbell has been granted his release. Campbell is a sophomore from Pittsburgh who established himself as the face of the program along with fellow local product Dom Forys. Campbell worked his way up from a runner-up in the City League Championships
Lyke, pg. 1 retired vice president and dean emeritus of pharmacy, who assumed the role of acting athletic director while leading the search committee for the second time in two years. “We should have a saying here at Pitt: ‘When in doubt, call a pharmacist,’” Gallagher said. Juhl said there were dozens of qualified people in the University’s pool of candidates, but Lyke’s resumé stood out. “When you get to meet somebody personally, you get an idea of how they would fit with our University, our values and our system,” Juhl said. “She had outstanding experience, and she nailed the interview. She grabbed it by the throat and never let go.” Lyke, a native of Canton, Ohio, comes to Pitt after serving as vice president and athletic director at Eastern Michigan University since July 2013. She said she’s excited to now assume the role of athletic director at a Power Five program. “I love the people at Eastern Michigan, and I love what we were able to build,” Lyke said. “I wanted to be at a place where athletics is in the
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in his first year at Westinghouse High School to a PIAA regular-season record on his way to his first ACC title. Now the program will have several holes to fi ll. champion as a senior at Penn Hills High School. At Pitt, he became an NCAA qualifier as a true freshman in 2016 before capturing the 165-pound ACC Championship in 2017. He went 2-2 at the 2017 NCAA Championships, falling two wins short of becoming an AllAmerican after losing a couple of hard-fought decisions against top-15 opponents. The Panthers endured a midseason coaching change, absences of multiple key wrestlers and a 0-3 start to ACC competition to finish the season in impressive fashion. Three Pitt wrestlers took home individual titles at the 2017 ACC Championships, and four qualified for the NCAA Championships, which wrapped up Saturday in St. Louis. Before Campbell’s announcement, next year’s team seemed poised to boast the Panthers’ most loaded roster in years. Campbell would TeShan Campbell is transferring to Ohio State University next have been a key centerpiece after posting a 20-2 year. Anna Bongardino STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
university’s DNA. That is exciting to me. And to be at a platform where you can compete against the best of the best.” Lyke had a distinguished athletic career of her own before making the transition to the administrative field. She was a two-time team captain and four-year letter winner as a first baseman on the University of Michigan’s softball team, helping lead the Wolverines to the 1992 Big Ten championship. “Athletics is in my DNA, too ... my parents were both college athletes and my brother, too,” Lyke said. “I fell in love with everything about intercollegiate athletics and what it represents.” She earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Michigan and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron School of Law. Prior to arriving at Eastern Michigan, Lyke served as an athletic administrator at Ohio State University for 15 years, rising to the rank of senior associate athletic director in 2013. Lyke also held positions at the University of Cincinnati and with the NCAA. At EMU, Lyke oversaw 21 varsity athletic programs with more than 550 student-athletes while improving both the athletic and academic
performance of the student-athletes. EMU captured 16 Mid-American Conference team championships and 17 MAC Coach of the Year awards in Lyke’s time with the program. The MAC awarded the Eagles with the prestigious Cartwright Award for all-around athletic department excellence in 2013-2014 — her first year at the school — then EMU followed up by winning the Jacoby Award for female athletic excellence in 2014-2015. The Eagles were no slouches in the classroom either under Lyke’s watch. EMU’s studentathletes earned the highest term and cumulative GPAs in school history during the fall 2016 semester, and EMU achieved a school-record 81 percent Graduation Success Rate for 2015-2016. Lyke also made strides with the athletic department’s fundraising at EMU. She conceived and implemented “Eagles Pride,” the first annual fund in EMU athletics history, in 2014. Her engagement with donors helped garner a $6 million donation in 2017, the largest cash gift in the university’s history. EMU is also finalizing plans for $35 million in spending on improvements to athletic facilities, according to the Detroit Free Press.
March 21, 2017
But her time at EMU did include a minor controversy involving the school’s athletic budget and concerns over excess spending on the football program. According to Michigan Radio, the university lost $52 million over the 20142015 and 2015-2016 seasons, with the majority of those losses paid for by students and taxpayers. The football program’s ineptitude caused many, including Michigan Radio’s John U. Bacon, to suggest the school drop its football program altogether or at least consider moving down from the Division I level. But Lyke refused to budge, and the Eagles rewarded her persistence with the biggest turnaround of any major college football team in the country last season. After the Eagles finished the 2015-2016 season with a dismal 1-11 record, Lyke began looking into acquiring passports for the team to travel to the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl — even though it would require at least six wins for EMU to qualify for a bowl bid. Sure enough, the Eagles finished last season 7-5 and earned the trip to the Bahamas Bowl — their first postseason invitation in 29 years.
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