3-24-15

Vol. 105 Issue 135

@thepittnews

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Pitt students “Hail to Diversity”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Pittʼs season ends despite herculean effort by Kiesel

Dan Sostek Assistant Sports Editor Despite a season in which the team overcame numerous odds, the Pitt women’s basketball team couldn’t surmount the challenge of the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers, falling by a score of 7767 in Nashville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Monday evening.

The Panthers, who the official ACC preseason poll chose to finish 14th in the conference, defied all expectation in 20142015, finishing seventh in the ACC and making the program’s first NCAA tournament in six years. The team also won its first tournament game since the 2008-2009 season last Saturday, upsetting the No. 7-seed Chattanooga 51-40.

The magic ended on Monday, as the No. 10-seed Pitt team struggled mightily with rebounding and Tennessee outworked Pitt on the boards by a 47-39 margin. Despite an impressive second-half effort from senior guard Brianna Kiesel, who

scored 24 of her career-high 32 points in the final period, the Panthers could not overcome that lack of efficacy on the boards.

The Volunteers opened up the game with a torrid pace, kicking off the contest with a 15-4 run.

Pitt kept the game somewhat in reach in the first half, though, thanks largely to seven steals in the first period.

While the Panthers closed the gap a bit, narrowing Tennessee’s lead to 24-17, the Volunteers still extended the margin, leading 3523 heading into the intermission.

Kiesel finished the first half with eight points on 2-8 shooting. She would triple that output in the second half alone.

Pitt burst out of the locker room surging, as the team opened the final period on a 10-0 run within the first three minutes to minimize the deficit to just 35-32, with seven of those points coming via Kiesel.

Despite the early run, Tennessee stayed composed and gained

W Hoops

Pittnews.com

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Elaine Linn dons a hijab at “Hail to Diversity” in the Frick Fine Arts auditorium. Theo Schwarz | Visual Editor

Dale Shoemaker Assistant News Editor When the panel started, Elaine Linn wasn’t wearing a hijab, but, halfway through, she put one on.

Linn, assistant director of academic affairs of the global studies center, is a Muslim American and spoke on a four-person panel that launched Pitt’s Diversity Council in front of about 200 students on Monday night at Frick Fine Arts building.

The council is a coalition of 22 student groups promoting awareness, acceptance and appreciation of diversity on campus. The organizers did not outline how the council will operate at the launch.

The council is forming amidst recent events including nationwide protests against police brutality and the murders of three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Linn, a white woman with blue

eyes and blond hair, grew up practicing Christianity but converted to Islam in 1983 and later married an Arab man. Her life illustrates the importance of diversity and tolerance, she said.

“I went from being a majority to a minority,” she said as she wrapped a hijab around her head. “Pitt needs to become a more diverse place with your steps. You are the future par-

Diversity

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DIVERSITY ents, the business leaders and the educators.”

She cited recent movements in Pittsburgh, such as the Black Lives Matter protests in December — following a New York circuit court’s ruling on the Eric Garner case — and Fight for 15 strikes in Pittsburgh in September, as well as the massive debt facing students as reasons for students to get involved.

“I’m not tenured, but I’m telling you to stand up. We have to make a stir,” Linn said.

All of those who spoke, organizers and panel members, agreed that Pitt could benefit from diversity and a more inclusive student body. According to Pitt’s 2015 factbook, of the 18,575 undergraduate students enrolled on Pitt’s campus last semester, only about 4,400 were non-white.

Julia Johnson, a social justice organizer for We Change Pittsburgh, also spoke on the panel, and gave her personal definition of diversity.

“For me, whenever I think of diversity, I think of the ways we change the human race and the way we add to our growing pool of knowledge,” she said. “It means individuals

March 24, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com who are able to express themselves. It’s a very fulfilling way of living. Diversity is everything.”

Even though diverse organizations came together to form the panel, Johnson said, it is important for the groups to keep in mind that all of their causes are equal.

“My cause is important, your cause is important as well. It’s important we don’t dis one another. We have to lift each other up,” she said.

The council, known for now on social media as “Hail to Diversity,” stated its goals on its Facebook page.

“If diversity and inclusion are core values to our university,” its page reads, “they should be a focus of our education — not at the periphery.”

According to Johnson, one of the goals of the council should be accountability.

“There are ways this group can be very strategic to hold this university accountable.

This council can build power for one another across movements,” Johnson said.

Ernest Rajakone, senior adviser for Pitt’s South Asian Student Association and brother of Iota Nu Delta, helped form the Diversity Council and organize its launch Monday. The council, he said, will be an open door for students to approach the council with their concerns about diversity on campus.

Rajakone cited the Residence Life photo diversity campaign that met criticism for a lack of inclusivity last semester as one example of a diversity concern. In December, The Pitt News reported that Residence Life removed a poster campaign it created to promote diversity after several students approached the University on behalf of 794 other students who signed a petition calling for its removal on Change.org.

Rather than circulate a petition, Rajakone said, students who disagreed with the campaign could have approached the council with their concerns.

Unlike a similar diversity initiative started in the early 2000s, which was started by the Asian Student Alliance, Black Action Society, Campus Women’s Organization and Rainbow Alliance to redistribute space in the William Pitt Union more fairly, the council will utilize “grassroots” methods, Rajakone said, from within the student body. Rajakone said he expects students to be more receptive to the council’s initiatives because of its student rather than administrative leadership.

Rajakone said there is a need on Pitt’s campus for this initiative.

“There’s not much precedent, but we have a vision, and there’s a need,” Rajakone said. “We

T P N S U D O K U

look at Ferguson and we look at Chapel Hill, and we see a commonality in our struggle, no one is free until everyone is free. This isn’t just in Ferguson and Chapel Hill, this is nationwide.”

University spokesman John Fedele also said he didn’t have details about the earlier initiative but said it likely failed due to a lack of leadership.

While Rajakone said the logistics of the council are still being worked out, he said Monday’s launch was important, “just to show it can be done.”

Just as the council brought together diverse student groups, the representatives from each of the member organizations cited diverse goals and visions for the group.

Claire Matway, a junior and the representative for the Campus Women’s Organization, said her goal for the council was collaboration and empathy.

“I think it’s a huge opportunity for us to be acting in solidarity with one another,” Matway said.

For Joshua Orange, a junior global and urban studies major, the council will “continue to pave the way for civil rights.”

“There is still victory to be had,” Orange said. “We’re all human beings here.”

Today’s difficulty level: Hard Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com

March 24, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

EDITORIAL

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OPINIONS

Massive open online courses indicate student potential It’s concerning that the SAT — a test whose scores are known to vary according to relative wealth — dictates who gets into college and who doesn’t.

In early March, the Washington Post found a steady trend illustrating that students from families earning more than $200,000 a year average a combined score of 1,714 on the SAT, while students from families earning under $20,000 a year earn a combined score of 1,326.

The SAT is not always indicative of a student’s potential success in college — but it can correlate to how wealthy your school district is. SAT prep classes are expensive. So are Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests, which demonstrate college-level knowledge. It’s laborious for low-income students to stay afloat when passageways to college are unaffordable.

Students should be aware of the alternative resources available to them for free — such as massive open online courses

(MOOCs) — because standardized tests just don’t tell the whole story.

Open source textbooks have gained popularity in the growing market for free higher education materials, but MOOCs aim to boost students’ access to college in an even more pivotal way. One nonprofit consortium called EdX offers students video lectures and discussion forums to engage with one another.

EdX’s MOOCs are a gateway for students of all income levels to prove their ability to excel in a college environment.

Universities such as Harvard, MIT, the University of Texas and Caltech offer complete online versions of their prestigious classes — for free.

Universities sometimes directly accept a student that excels in one of their MOOCs. “Given that we know how rigorous MITx classes are, seeing a student’s performance in that class can help calibrate us to their readiness for an MIT education,” says Stuart Schmill, MIT’s

Dean of Admissions.

If not, the student may still choose to list the MOOC on his or her resumé under skills or relevant education. A completed MOOC is a valuable asset, comparable to a week-long leadership conference.

Most of the MOOCs are in computer science, mathematics and engineering, though EdX also hosts more specific courses, like Chinese history and poetry, according to the Washington Post.

A school district with low funding may not be able to afford the training it takes to license an AP teacher — it can range from about $2,050 to $4,650 to develop each course. So, some schools cannot offer those courses. In much the same way, wealthier students can afford SAT prep courses that may help them pass an aptitude test, which doesn’t necessarily amount to real achievement. The economically disadvantaged might not have these same opportunities. The student from the less-advantaged school

district may be just as intelligent as a wealthier student, but it’s hard to prove that without the availability and challenge of rigorous coursework.

MOOCs also lend crucial insight into certain areas of study. When about one in four full-time students drops out or transfers within three years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, it’s necessary to know what sort of coursework one would like to pursue.

The unfortunate truth is that time wasted in the wrong major is a major sunk cost.

MOOCs offer students a chance to really experience college courses in the areas they’re curious about, rather than leaving the students to flounder.

With the expansion of the Internet, competition will only increase and more schools will develop their own open online courses. Such options can overshadow the singular authority of the SAT and instead give the most qualified students a chance at a degree.

COLUMN

Social media a quasi-addiction for attention seekers Katie McGrath For The Pitt News

It’s 7 a.m., and that annoying cell phone tone you’ve set as your alarm urges you to wake up. You yawn and open your eyes, reaching instinctively for your phone and silencing it.

But you don’t put it back down — you plug in. You mindlessly scroll through social media feeds such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr, as the instant gratification of likes and favorites keeps you awake.

When you do detach from your phone, it’s only a matter of time before you turn over and check it again out of instinct, hoping for another favorite, another tag, another comment. We love Facebook and

Instagram not just for others’ content, but for the instant gratification we get from posting content of our own and receiving praise for it in the form of “likes.”

This positive reinforcement becomes a quasi-addiction for users. According to a 2014 study by the University of Albany, SUNY, roughly 10 percent of the 253 respondents reported “disordered social media use.” Those who reported social media addiction were also cited as more likely to be susceptible to problems such as impulse control and alcohol abuse. This Internet addiction is creating a more vain, materialistic culture. We must recognize and curtail this social media dependence.

Social media causes us to become addicted to attention.

In fact, we are so conditioned to re-

spond to our phones that we even imagine them vibrating when they’re not. Michelle Drouin, an associate professor of psychology at Indiana University–Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Ind., reports that up to 89 percent of her students experienced this “phantom pocket vibration syndrome,” according to Psychology Today. We are hard-wiring ourselves to seek instant gratification wherever we can find it, so when we do finally put our phones down, we still imagine them buzzing.

Just look at the queen of social media herself, Kim Kardashian. With a heavy presence on Instagram, Kardashian recently unveiled her cropped, platinumblond cut to her 28.2 million followers.

As social media is a digital platform to fish for compliments, celebrities get the

most attention. High-profile social media vanity only reinstills impossible standards of beauty or accomplishment, but with a new-age twist.

A study by Science Newsline Psychology found more than half of the 600 participants said that looking at photos on Facebook added to their body-consciousness, and the same number said they compare themselves to others when they view photos or status updates, according to Forbes. Whether consciously or not, the common mantra says, “Wow, I wish I could get millions of likes on my Instagram selfie like Kim Kardashian.”

When rappers, models, athletes and rock stars flaunt their money and success

McGrath

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MCGRATH on their social media accounts, it teaches us to value materialism, excessive wealth and other toxic values — similar to the way television and movies can bombard us with false realities.

In “Blood on the Leaves,” a song from Kanye West’s 2013 album Yeezus, he notes the vanity of our Internet-obsessed culture. “She Instagram herself like ‘bad b*tch alert’/ He Instagram his watch like ‘mad rich alert,’” West rhymes. A quality education, healthy lifestyle and smart spending habits don’t look as sexy when they’re not covered in diamonds and filtered through VSCO Cam. The reality is that everyday people just don’t live up to these standards.

Writer Chelsea Fagan recently wrote a piece, “The Financial Diet,” in which she explains her hatred of the Minimalist Pixie Dream Girl trope, or the girl who exists only in a Pinterest utopia. A manic pixie dream girl is an attractive, quirky female character that only really serves to prog-

March 24, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com Katelyn Binetti | Staff Illustrator

ress a male hero, according to Tvtropes. org. Fagan addresses how these types o f characters a r e b a d for our mental health — they’re bad for our future generations, too.

I should disclose that I have accounts on most major social media sites, and I interact on them regularly. If I’m not careful to limit my use, I can get sucked into the social media vortex just as easily as anyone else.

Research f r o m Harvard University in 2012 stated t h a t “disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding.” Think of the rush you get when your posts on social media attract an aud i ence, inviting all your friends to congratulate you on that great n e w job, engagement announcement or new haircut.

What is social media doing to our selfesteem? It’s difficult to stay grounded and

keep your values in line when you’re constantly exposed to a stream of photos that wrap up the lives of the rich and famous in a nice little bow.

Social media can still serve wonderful, innovative purposes. Strangers on social media recently saved a boy’s 13th birthday party after no one RSVPed. Back in 2011, word of Bin Laden’s death spread viciously through Twitter, before President Obama could announce it — a turning point for social media.

It’s all about moderation and realizing what’s real and what’s fantasy.

Millennials are lucky because technology was gradually introduced to us — we weren’t swarmed. It’s time we think critically about our social media use.

The constant updates cause constant distractions and weakened concentration.

We need to take a step back and focus more on living life rather than doing everything for the Vine.

Turn off your push notifications, and pledge to post unedited photos. It’s better to live life in the moment than to remember it through a filter.

Write to Katie at kmm214@pitt.edu.

March 24, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT FASHION

ʻRADʼ blogs: Pitt fashion bloggers bring latest trends to campus Britnee Meiser Staff Writer

Some students are turning to the Internet to vary the campus style palette of sweats or Uggs that accompany a long Pittsburgh winter.

Fashion blogs allow students to become representatives for national fashion platforms while still showcasing their own personal style. Many national fashion sites, such as CollegeFashionista and Her Campus, are divided into separate pages for participating universities, creating smaller on-campus networks. Meanwhile, other websites, such as Boohoo and Jewelerry, simply hire individual representatives to market their products on campuses.

As its name suggests, Jewelerry.com plants representatives at college campuses with a focus on selling jewelry. Boasting affordable products for college students, the website sells products for $20 or less.

Jordan Cook became a campus representative after her sorority hosted a Jewelerry trunk show. The representative position is unpaid, but she receives 20 percent commission on all sales as well as occasional jewelry samples to show off the brand on campus.

“I fell in love with all of the products from the trunk show,” Cook said. “I wanted to help Erica [Bernstein, Jewelerry’s founder] spread the word about her company.

Going into fashion and social media [as a career] is one of my dreams, so this is a great opportunity for me to get started on what I love.”

Boohoo, a clothing company based out of the U.K., works similarly to Jewelerry.

Recently, the company has teamed up with Her Campus to create the Boohoo Style Squad at 15 college campuses in the U.S. Jessie Iacullo, who writes for The Pitt News, and Naomi Kliger are Boohoo brand ambassadors at Pitt.

The Style Squad’s job is to represent the Boohoo brand on campus. Iacullo is the social media and marketing manager, and Kliger is the PR and event planner. While

unpaid, ambassadors receive free merchandise, online shopping credit and have access to possible internships with Boohoo.

In addition to representing the brand, Iacullo is required to keep the StyleSquad social media pages up to date, as well as inform students around campus of Boohoo’s discounts and promotions.

She and Kliger meet weekly to fill out status reports.

The event planner is also required to do one event per semester — this year, it will be at the Porch at the end of the term.

According to Iacullo, the editorial work she does as social media and marketing manager has made her well prepared for internships and careers in the field.

“Being a Boohoo rep has broadened my interest for a future career and makes me stand out from someone with just editorial experience,” Iacullo, a sophomore English and Communication major, said. “I also have background in advertising because of the internship I have held for the past three

summers, so [I can] use what I learned there, as well as my own knowledge, to curate content across social media.”

CollegeFashionista is a website that features photos of and articles written by college-age interns who have their own style.

The internship is unpaid, but it allows the bloggers to potentially gain n a tional e x-

general application, they needed to write a mock article and include style photos.

CollegeFashionista requires Style Gurus to own a personal camera.

“I think, in college, it can sometimes be hard to find your personal style,” Kearns, a senior general management major, said.

“With CollegeFashionista, you can read about what other college students from all over the country are wearing, find out where they get their style inspiration from, and, from there, you can piece together the parts you like the most and it can help you put together your own style.”

Style Gurus post an article and accompanying photos each week under specific categories: Style Guru Style, All in the Details, Style Advice of the Week, What to Wear and All Around Town. Style Guru Style features the specific blogger, while all the other categories feature students around campus. These profile subjects could be friends, family members or anybody the Style Guru thinks has headturning style.

“I really like to write about trends and specific pieces, as well as the individual and their preferences, [or] me and my preferences,” Medgaus, a sophomore Photos courtesy of College communication major, said. “I like Fashionista to incorporate humor into my arposure. ticles to make them fun to read, instead Readers can of making them purely fashion advice and search for looks critiques. I don’t claim to be any pro at this and articles by col- stuff, I just enjoy it.” lege, article title or fashThough the internship is unpaid, acion trend. They can then cording to Kearns, style posts that receive a click the “RAD” button if lot of exposure through the “RAD” system they like what they see. (similar to “likes” on Facebook) can gain Pitt has six Colleg- national exposure. eFashionista representa“[Style Gurus] gain a lot of really great tives, or “Style Gurus” — experience in photography, writing and Meredith Kearns, Lauren promotion,” Kearns said. “There have been Kucic, Cat McNulty, Lexy Style Gurus who have been contacted by Medgaus, Brianna Dela Torre companies that offer them the chance to and Abigail Weaver. represent their products, all because of To apply, the Style Gurus a post on social media. It’s all about how filled out an application on you market your article, and a lot of Style the website. In addition to the Gurus have been very successful.”

6 MUSIC

March 24, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Courtney Barnett sits, thinks and emotes on excellent debut LP Dan Willis Staff Writer

No one asked “SNL”’s Dan Aykroyd to make Crystal Head Vodka. No one sat around wondering when singer-songwriter Nathan Williams from Wavves would start releasing instrumental hip-hop. No one picked up Toby Keith’s 1993 debut album and thought, “I can’t wait to visit this guy’s Bar & Grill.”

As a society, we’ve developed a nasty habit of encouraging the polymathic ambitions of people who should stick to one skill. We don’t have to worry about Courtney Barnett, though. She knows that people listen to her music for the lyrics, and, on her brilliantly titled debut album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, she meets those expectations.

It sounds backhanded and reductive, but I’m inclined to say that Barnett herself would agree. On record, she comes across as pathetic and self-effacing. One scan of the tracklist confirms this, with titles such as “Pedestrian at Best,” “Debbie Downer” and “Nobody Really Cares if You Don’t Go to the Party.” But she still embellishes her lyrics with prosaic details — the “Elevator Operator” of the album opener says, “I come up here for perception and clarity/ I like to imagine I’m playing SimCity.”

Ever since her breakthrough single “Avant Gardener,” this Australian singersongwriter has fascinated the American underground with her ability to spin lyrical mastery out of a tedious existence.

Sometimes consistently delivers on that single’s promise whereas her 2013 double

Courtney Barnett Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

Grade: A

EP, A Sea of Split Peas, occasionally failed.

Plus, it rewards honest listening as much as lyric-sheet scrutiny.

On Sometimes, Barnett only skirts with profundity when a heavy dose of sarcasm or apologia is involved — in “Small Poppies,” she admits “I used to hate myself, but now I think I’m all right.” It’s this tension between apathy and perceptiveness,

between the loss of purpose and the accidental beauty of the quotidian that makes her music effective. By denying herself the right to be “deep” in any conventional sense, she captures the refreshingly anticonfessionalist meaning in often-overlooked banalities.

Barnett’s singing may not be virtuosic, but her devotion to diction and tone over pitch is smart. Her expressive guitar playing handsomely carries the melody, along with the tight (I mean, hermetically sealed) rhythm section of bassist Bones Sloane and drummer Dave Mudie.

But the band isn’t just there to whittle her witty ramblings into pop songs. Subtle flourishes throughout the album sympa-

thize with the content of the lyrics.

For example, when Barnett’s voice glides carelessly up the line, “I’m sure it’s a bore being you“ in “Small Poppies,” her guitar responds by bending the note back down and the effect is not unlike a yawn.

The strangled guitar leads on the chorus of “Pedestrian at Best” seem to scream on the behalf of a singer too self-defeating to break out of her own deadpan.

“Aqua Profunda!” uses the caffeinated peck of a piano in place of a cowbell, highlighting the frenetic energy of Barnett’s yarn about trying to impress a romantic prospect at a public pool. Her unwashed T-shirts and uninvolved fingernail strumming may project “slacker,” but the brainwave lockstep of music and lyrics on Sometimes says something else entirely: “auteur.”

There’s a point in the song “Depreston” during which the memory of a property’s deceased owners interrupts a home showing: “Then I see the handrail in the shower/ a collection of those canisters for coffee, tea and flour.” It’s here that a ghostly hum, half guitar and half organ, floats quietly across the stereo field. It dovetails into silence so imperceptibly that you wonder if it even happened.

Moments like this represent everything that makes about Barnett a talented songwriter. She chooses deeply moving details from her own life for her songs, but she lets the tone of the music do the interpretation where her words might leave gaps. She lets the space between her observations seethe with pathos. The wit and emotions of her lyrics are each substantial in their own right, but they lock together so perfectly on this album that they make roadkill hilarious and waterstained ceilings horrifying without ever telling you why.

Barnett knows you’re listening for the lyrics, but she isn’t afraid to master every other facet of songwriting.

THE PITT NEWS Natalie Daher Editor-in-Chief editor@pittnews.com

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CINEMA

‘Insurgent’ an inexplicable, but entertaining dystopian sequel Brittnee Meiser Staff Writer Despite its all-star cast and ongoing action, the “Divergent” sequel ultimately can’t live up to its promising predecessor.

Director Robert Schwentke, best known for his 2010 action film “RED,” is in his element, considering that much of “Insurgent” finds Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) shooting people, running from people or facing off against the wicked dictator Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet). Jeanine wants to punish “Divergents,” or citizens who exhibit characteristics from multiple factions — divisions that organize citizens by their aptitudes and values. Unfortunately, much of the action is stilted or plain unbelievable.

The dystopian trope of “unlikely girl finds inner strength and hot boyfriend to take down the government” is still at play, which is fine. Yet when that girl scales a floating, burning building and swings from cords thousands of feet in the air, it warrants a head scratch or two.

“Insurgent” picks up slightly after where the previous young-adult adaptation left off, and finds wanted Divergents Tris, Four, Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) hiding out in Amity, the peace-loving faction. The lovable Octavia Spencer makes an appearance as the leader of Amity, and, for five minutes, the world is calm.

It’s here that Woodley begins her performance as Tris the Tormented — a task that she pulls off fairly well. Woodley as Tris is still an unfavorable casting, but her performance is one of the film’s most engaging and poignant points. Tris blames herself for

the deaths of people close to her, and her grief drives the plot during the second half of the movie. Unfortunately, the latter half of the movie is where the plot also loses momentum.

A large portion of the movie takes place in a simulation, which isn’t exactly the most riveting scenario in a dystopian universe.

This is a questionable move by the writing team (Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman and Mark Bomback), since the simulations are a fairly minor part of the book. The upside?

This sequence gives Teller more screen time, and his one-liners become the most entertaining part of “Insurgent.”

Winslet gives a disappointing performance as Jeanine Matthews. She stays rooted in the same spot for most of the film, focused on overseeing the factions, and it makes her seem tired and bored.

The movie eventually introduces us to her equal in age and power, Factionless leader Evelyn (Naomi Watts), who seems more invested in her role.

There are many more Factionless members portrayed in this film than I initially thought existed, which brings up another unbelievable element — if there are so many members, and this city is completely enclosed by large walls, how do they remain unseen? Tris and Four are wanted

“Insurgent” Directed by: Robert Schwentke Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Kate Winslet Grade: C+

“criminals,” and Jeanine’s rogue Dauntless forces are constantly on the hunt. How has Jeanine not discovered the Factionless headquarters yet?

These moments are better off ignored for the sake of enjoying the film, which, aside from the plot holes and the surface-level performances of some actors, can be an entertaining dystopian adaptation.

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March 24, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

FOOTBALL

SPORTS

Players getting acclimated to Narduzzi, staff in spring practice Jeremy Tepper Staff Writer

Starting spring practice with a different head coach and staff isn’t anything new for the Pitt football team, as Pat Narduzzi marks Pitt’s third new coach in five years.

What’s different about this staff, though, is the energy and enthusiasm it boasts in a stark contrast to the more reserved demeanor of former head coach Paul Chryst’s staff.

This excitement is rubbing off on the players, too, as they try to match the new staff ’s attitudes in these spring practices at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex.

“If Coach [Narduzzi] wants high energy, that’s what we have to give off,” senior defensive tackle K.K. Mosley-Smith said. “I feel like we are doing a good job.

We know what he wants, and we are here to give him what he wants. It’s definitely high energy. [There is] great enthusiasm, and the players are on board, and we are just ready to work.”

Here are a few of the main storylines emerging over the first four practices as the team looks to master this new playbook and become acclimated to the newly implemented offensive and defensive philosophies.

Development of the defense With an offense that averaged 31.8 points per game, Pitt’s defense usually couldn’t keep up last season. Though Pitt’s position as the 59th-ranked defense in points per game last year isn’t awful, the performance goes beyond the numbers, as the team struggled to make big plays and get necessary key stops.

Enter Narduzzi, former defensive coordinator at Michigan State University — a school heralded for its stout defenses during his tenure there.

The simplicity of Narduzzi’s defense sticks out to the players and acts as a catalyst in the effectiveness of his strategy.

“Definitely, I think [the defense is]

100 percent simpler,” junior linebacker Matt Galambos said. “We are just playing football. Obviously we have our certain schemes and everything, but, at the same

Compared to the former coaching regime’s defenses, this one’s gameplan has been easier to execute and play without thinking much.

Chad Voytik and the Pitt football team have been busy picking up their new playbook this spring. | TPN File Photo

time, he wants us to be fast, play fast and just fill the gaps.”

“At times [we were thinking too much].

It wasn’t all the time that we were think-

ing. But, definitely, it’s easier this year with the scheme we have,” Galambos added.

The fundamental difference in Narduzzi’s defense from past Pitt defenses is the lack of changing formations from play to play. Instead of letting the offense control what scheme the defense plays, Narduzzi wants his defense to have that same impact on the offense.

“We’re going to run what we run,” Galambos said. “It’s not like, if this formation comes out, we’re going to line up this way. It’s almost like we’re going to be almost the same every time. This is us, this is our defense, you got to stop us. We’re going to dictate the game.”

Secondary offensive playmakers Junior quarterback Chad Voytik admits that the offense hasn’t yet learned much of the offensive playbook.

“We don’t have much installed. We have a fraction of what our offense consists of,” Voytik said.

Regardless of the offensive scheme, junior running back James Conner and wide receiver Tyler Boyd will continue to be relied on to wreak havoc in offensive coordinator Jim Chaney’s gameplan.

The reliance on the two stars was apparent immediately in Pitt’s first scrimmage as Conner, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, ran the ball 65 yards the first play and Boyd made numerous big plays or, as Voytik put it, “Tyler [was] Tyler.”

On the two offensive dynamos, Narduzzi had plenty to say about both of them. He referred to both as “ACC Players of the Year.” Beyond the star duo , it’s unclear who will emerge as Pitt’s offensive playmakers. At 1,261 receiving yards last year, Boyd had more than half of Pitt’s 2,417 receiving yards.

Currently, junior Dontez Ford looks to emerge as a playmaker beyond Boyd and Conner. Voytik lauded that Ford has taken ownership of the receiver spot op-

Football

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March 24, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 8

FOOTBALL posite of Boyd.

Ford has made numerous plays throughout spring practice, according to coaches and teammates. Saturday’s scrimmage was no exception, as Ford caught an important touchdown in the two-minute drill.

“We were down by seven, and we drove down and scored. I threw the pass to Dontez and he caught it, tip-toed in the back of the end zone,” Voytik said.

Scrimmages Though they represent a small portion FROM PAGE 1

W HOOPS

The Pitt News Crossword, 3/24/2015

control of the game, extending its lead to a game-high 14 points following a made free throw by sophomore Andraya Carter, extending its advantage to 64-50.

The Panthers responded, though, as the team busted out a 10-2 run, capped off by a ACROSS 1 Halloween costume part 5 640 acres: Abbr.

9 Longtime employee 14 Death Valley’s is the lowest in North Amer.

15 Mammoth feature 16 China’s Zhou __ 17 “Dirty Jobs” host Mike 18 County Kerry’s isle 19 Deep chasm 20 *Manhattan site of Strawberry Fields 23 “So long” 24 Young horse 25 One from Nairobi 27 Ultimate conclusion 30 Made of oak, e.g.

32 Small swallow 33 Pumps or clogs 35 Thin piece of change 38 __ out a living 39 *Prepare for printing 42 Guy’s partner 43 Bank (on) 45 Glue in a hobbyist’s kit 46 “Let me think ... ” 47 Utter madness 50 Michelangelo masterpieces 52 Tallied, with “up” 54 Group after boomers 55 “How relaxing!”

56 Process for selecting theatrical performers, and a hint to the first word of the answers to starred clues 62 Bit of luck 64 Place for koi 65 Prefix with distant 66 Italian ball game 67 Woodworking tool 68 Put on a pouty face 69 Filled (in), as a comic strip 70 Frog’s kiddie-lit friend 71 Yard event

9

of spring practice, intersquad scrimmages are of special interest to fans and onlookers, as they provide a tangible system by which to measure the team.

In Pitt’s first of three scrimmages, the offense found itself victorious, 77-71 via Narduzzi’s point system. The game remained tied until redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jester Weah caught a touchdown to give the offense the lead and eventually the win.

As a head coach, instead of a defensive coordinator, such touchdowns put Narduzzi in a different situation which evokes a sense of ambivalence.

“There are big plays on offense, that’s great for the offense. But then you feel bad

for the defense,” Narduzzi said.

Voytik was pleased with the effectiveness of the offensive unit.

“I feel like we scored, we moved the ball, we got first downs and, when we were in backed-up situations, we got away from our own end zone. I feel overall we did pretty well,” Voytik said.

Strictly looking at his players’ energy,, Narduzzi was content with his team’s output during the scrimmage.

“I think our coaches did a great job of getting our guys out there. [We] really prepared for a game. That’s what we tried to do and the kids came out with great emotion. [They] came out and played hard,” Narduzzi said.

As Pitt works toward its next scrimmage on March 28, the defense will look to outplay the offense, something Galambos said it’s been doing more often than not.

“Throughout the week, we’ve been really dominating the offense. We’ve been penetrating the line starting up front, then the linebackers and d-backs are filling [in the gaps] after that,” Galambos said.

If they’re able to continue dominating, they’ll earn the right to wear the blue jerseys for the week, which Narduzzi gives to the superior unit. “[The offense is] in the blue jerseys this week, and, as a defense, we’re fighting to get back in the blue,” Mosley-Smith said.

Brianna Kiesel layup, to diminish the Tennessee lead to 66-60 with 1:42 remaining.

Still, despite some tough play by Kiesel and freshman guard Yacine Diop, who finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, the Volunteers converted all of their final eight free throws, winning the game and advancing to the Sweet 16.

Junior forward Bashaara Graves, who tallied 21 points and 14 rebounds on the

evening, led Tennesse.

The game marked the final career outing for Kiesel, as the senior guard finished her Pitt career fifth in program history in points with 1,938 and tied for fifth in assists with 433.

In head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio’s second season at Pitt, the team saw its first 20-win season since 2008-2009, going 20-12 on the season.

The Panthers seem on track to remain formidable next season, with freshmen Diop, Stasha Carey and Aysia Bugg all returning, as well as a highly touted recruiting class incoming. The team also hopes to get 6-foot-11-inch Marvadene “Bubbles” Anderson, who missed the entire season with a knee injury, back next year. Despite the loss of Kiesel, the team’s ascension doesn’t look like it will be ending anytime soon.

4/6/15

By Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

DOWN 1 Bygone Ford division, for short 2 Sunburn soother 3 Stitched up 4 Complain 5 Furtive 6 Comforter to get comfy in 7 Car sticker abbr.

8 Swedish furniture chain 9 Didn’t hold water 10 Having five sharps, musically 11 *Untrustworthy, as a business 12 Course that’s good for one’s GPA 13 Ascended 21 Barnyard perch 22 MGM rival 26 Homer’s nice neighbor 27 Password creator 28 High-speed highway 29 *Word processor error finder 30 Teary-eyed 31 Bone, in Italian

Saturday’s Puzzle Solved

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34 Oil gp. with 12 member nations 36 Papa’s partner 37 Stately shade trees 40 Paid out 41 Making, as a knot 44 Big laugh 48 Did some smooching 49 Aquafresh tube letters

4/6/15

51 Overabundance 52 Talmud expert 53 Brother of Moses 54 Tokyo shopping district 57 Petty quarrel 58 Chore list heading 59 Greenish-blue 60 Temporary calm 61 Similar to 63 Unreturnable serve