3-31-17

The Pitt News

Assistant hoops coach laves for VCU page 9

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | March 31, 2017| Volume 107 | Issue 150

PANELISTS DISCUSS FAKE NEWS

SCULPTURE AND SAVASANA

Abhignya Mallepalli For The Pitt News

Carnegie Museum of Art hosted a Music and Yoga event in the Hall of Sculpture on Thursday night. Kyleen Considine STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

PITT PANTRY HIGHLIGHTS HUNGER Elias Rappaport and James Evan Bowen-Gaddy

The Pitt News Staff A Pitt Pantry representative pointed to an audience member in the William Pitt Union ballroom Thursday night and asked her to imagine that for the rest of night, she was no longer a Pitt student.

Instead, the student would assume the fictional role of a part-time nurse with four children. Suddenly, her life partner

passed away without life insurance, and her character dropped from the middle class to lower class.

Nearly 100 students participated in the Pitt Pantry’s role-playing event — part of the nonprofit organization’s Hunger Simulation, which began at 6 p.m. and ended at 7:30 p.m. The pantry separated students into three groups — the lower, middle and upper class — and served each a different meal to demonstrate

how class and hunger were intertwined.

Speakers at the simulation also discussed food waste as well as food insecurity — the state of not having reliable access to nutritious and affordable food.

Pitt Pantry coordinator Sarah Pesi helped plan the event in an effort to get Pitt students to think critically about food insecurity, an issue that affects 14.2 percent of Allegheny County residents, See Hunger on page 3

Five renowned political journalists sat down under Alumni Hall’s dim lights Thursday night to discuss their most recent and controversial challenge: President Donald Trump.

More than 150 people were gathered in the seventh-floor auditorium to learn about journalism’s revival — and attacks on its integrity — under the Trump administration.

Provost Patricia E. Beeson and English Professor Cynthia Skrzycki gave a brief introduction at the event’s 6:30 p.m. start. The moderator for the night, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Executive Editor David Shribman, prompted the panelists with questions about potential bias in media, responses to Trump and the presence of “fake news” in their lives.

To begin, Shribman quoted former President John F. Kennedy and said, “Only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.”

“Only a few generations have been given the role of defending journalism,” Shribman added as his response to the quote.

Senior manager of the American Press Institute Jane Elizabeth said accountability journalism, a concept rooted in meticulous fact-checking and holding news outlets to high standards, is on the rise.

It was the idea of truth — and its increasing malleability — that lay at the center of Thursday’s See Fake News on page 2

News

D.C. INSIDER SHARES TIPS WITH STUDENTS Fake News,

Nick Tabor gives advice to students on working in politics. He spoke to them via video feed. Julia Zhu

STAFF

PHOTOGRAPHER

Zoe Pawliczek Staff Writer

As is often the case with college graduates’ introductions to politics, Nick Tabor’s was more of a crash course — short, full of variety and unexpected.

At this semester’s Panthers in Politics seminar, the former senior policy advisor for the National Economic Council shared advice for current students looking to dive into the field.

“If public service interests you at all in any form — wherever you land — whether it’s this summer or in a few years, just look around you for the things you think need changing,” Tabor told the crowd of 26 students in Nordy’s Place.

Skyping in from Philadelphia, Tabor offered insights into public service and policy making based on his time in Washington, D.C., where he began as a campaign volunteer and ended with an office in the White House. The Community and

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Governmental Relations Committee of Student Government Board and the Bully PulPitt, UPTV’s political news show, hosted the event, which took place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Tabor mainly urged students to seek opportunities where they are able to express and expand their political interests, regardless of prior experience.

“It’s helpful to have had your mind in that world and have some knowledge on how it works, but not having that background shouldn’t stop you from pursuing it,” Tabor said.

This is the first year the SGB has advertised Panthers in Politics publicly — the previous event was last November, during which local representatives visited and spoke only to students in SGB after the election.

Senior politics and philosophy major Andrew Dolan — the executive vice chair for the CGRC and a previous intern of Tabor’s — said he was

proud to see students engaging in public policy discussions and interested in future political careers.

“The last [Panthers in Politics] was about the state and local level of politics, so this time around, we wanted to bring someone in from the federal level,” Dolan said. “Even though they do a lot of the same work in their respective fields, it’s good to get different perspectives.”

A Harvard Law School fellow, Tabor moved back to his home city of Washington, D.C., after graduating with an interest in financial institutions and the political workings of Capitol Hill.

Tabor started by describing his evolution from answering phones to taking an entry-level job at a consulting firm to landing his position in the White House last March. More recently, he has been volunteering for political campaigns, including the Clinton campaign.

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See Politicians on page 4

pg. 2

discussion. Trump’s team has become infamous for speaking without regard for the factuality of their claims, and his supporters likewise don’t seem to care whether he’s telling the truth or not.

Even easily disprovable statements from the President, like his assertion that his inauguration ceremony was packed, have become difficult to challenge, the panelists said.

“What’s interesting is that Trump has done such an excellent job muddying these waters,” said panelist Steven Perlberg, a media and politics reporter for Buzzfeed News.

Many people believe the press’ biggest issue is misinformation, Elizabeth said. “Fake news,” a term that is being increasingly associated with the press, frustrates her because it serves as a diversion from more pressing issues.

“We need to start figuring out what [the public] want us to write about, not about who lied and who lied more and who lied less,” she said.

With President Trump regularly attacking news outlets, labelling them fake and untrustworthy — normally via Twitter — the media must respond in a professional but effective way, said Perlberg.

The most important responsibility for modern journalists, said John Harwood — chief Washington correspondent for CNBC and political writer for The New York Times — is the still the same as it’s always been.

“The definition of a journalist is somebody who is in the truth business who sets out to tell the truth,” Harwood said.

Angela Greiling Keane, deputy technology editor for Politico Pro, acknowledged a long history of tension between journalists and political administrations — people who tend to be journalists are those who question authority, she said.

But that dynamic is now amplified.

“The information would come with a spin, but we didn’t question whether most of it was true,” she said of the difference between today’s news coverage and that of previous political administrations.

Though attacks on “the media” as a whole were prolific this election season — and some media representatives admitted fault in missing the importance of Trump’s rise — the Washington Post’s Erik Wemple said politicians are equally to See Fake News on page 10

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Hunger, pg. 1 according to the Pitt Pantry.

“We wanted to do an event to raise awareness about this issue and show what it’s like to be hungry and what food insecurity is like,” Pesi said.

Allegheny County residents also face the issue of living in food deserts — areas where people must travel more than a mile to reach a grocery store. According to the Pitt Pantry, more than 47 percent of Pittsburghers live in food deserts. This leaves people without immediate access to only corner stores and restaurants for food, keeping affordable, fresh food out of reach. Oakland has two groceries within reach of campus — IGA on Forbes and Groceria Merante — but the Pitt Pantry has seen an increase in students needing its services since it opened nearly two years ago.

Another Pitt Pantry member, Jacqueline Pines, volunteered at the simulation to remove any shame from the idea of needing a food pantry. “[Hunger simulations] get people out of their comfort zones, give them a new identity and let them see how hunger af-

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fects people,” Pines said.

Each of the three groups represented a social class based on actual Pittsburgh statistics. The upper class constituted approximately 15 percent of the room, the middle class made up 45 percent and the lower class, 40 percent. The lower class sat on the floor, the middle class sat at long tables and the upper class sat at small circular tables.

When it came time to eat, the event volunteers first brought the upper class full plates of grilled chicken, pasta and salad. The volunteers then instructed the middle class to retrieve their own bagels — which were almost all recovered from Bruegger’s Bagels — and cream cheese from the back of the room.

The lower class spent the hour and a half event sitting on blankets with only half a bagel, cream cheese and water.

Junior Regis Kearney, a neurology major who was eating chicken and salad, said it was pure luck that put him at the upper class tables but that it “felt pretty crappy.”

“We have so much to eat, and all these other people only have half a bagel,” Kearney said. “And sitting above

people makes you feel worse.”

Some students had the privilege or misfortune to move from one social class to another based on their randomly assigned identities. Pitt Pantry volunteers called out random attendees’ fictional identities, then announced their back story, which would decide their assigned class.

Pitt Pantry President Brooke McEvoy began the event in the lower class but was moved to the upper class during the simulation, making her feel uneasy.

“When I had to stand up, especially to have all of the eyes on me and know that there was no lower to go, I knew that I could only move up,” the See Hunger on page 4

Pitt Students eat their ration of half a bagel at Pitt Pantry’s Hunger Simulation.

Meghan Sunners VISUAL EDITOR

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Politicians, pg. 2 He then encouraged students to get involved in politics in any way they can.

“You really don’t have to be an expert to make a difference, and you shouldn’t let it stop you,” Tabor said. “Whatever role you’re playing, your presence is the most important thing.”

Attendees related to Tabor’s varying experiences in politics, including Annabelle Hanflig, who said she came to the event because it’s important to make politics accessible to students.

Hanflig produces videos for The Pitt News and created the Bully Pulpitt.

“I wasn’t raised to be very patriotic or politically involved, but I think public service and those who work in it are very admirable,” the sophomore and media and professional communications major said.

To get involved in public service, Tabor suggested taking internships and building up an arsenal of skills essential to any field, such as writing well and being able to adapt to the needs of the workplace.

The political world is fast-paced, wrought with challenges that extend the average campaigner’s hours far beyond the 40-hour workweek. The number of available positions in polit-

ical organizations increases significantly during the campaign season, according to the Pew Research Center — but so do the responsibilities of anyone working in the field.

Although his experience is specific to Washington, D.C., Tabor answered audience questions about how to get — and stay — involved in any political community without running out of energy.

“Folks that come to D.C. often work their tails off for five, eight, 10 years, and then they leave their policies to go find something more sustainable,” Tabor said. “Constantly finding new things that interest you: That’s the number one

way to sustain your interest in politics.”

When Hanflig asked how to start in politics without fearing failure, Tabor said to consider three points: any contribution is important no matter the size, there is always someone in the government you can ask for help and you can’t mess up anything too badly.

Tabor also shared advice from his White House colleagues, who said that they consider an honest and confident approach to be the key to making a difference in public policy.

“In any political job, you have a real opportunity to engage with values and beliefs that transcend what is in front of you,” Tabor said.

Hunger, pg. 3

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March 31, 2017

sophomore psychology and English literature major said. “Of course, it was nice because it meant I got a full meal rather than a half, old bagel, but it was uncomfortable.”

Not everyone got to move up, however. First-year computer science and political science major Albert Tanjaya sat on the floor eating his small rations of food and expressed his desire to raise awareness for food insecurity.

“I hope other people get to understand that even though this is a simulation for them, there are people out there who are literally living this,” Tanjaya said. “It’s very powerful.”

After the simulation, Sherdina Harper, coordinator of Cross Cultural and Leadership Development Programming, led a group reflection. Each class chose a representative to describe how they felt about being in their respective social groups. The lower class’ chosen speaker focused on the inferior quality of their food, the middle class’ speaker reflected on their likelihood to fall to the lower class rather than leap to the upper. The upper class’ speaker described their initial guilt, which quickly dissolved once their dinner was served.

Despite the agreement among attendees that the food distribution was unfair, Harper noted, few shared their meals with those less fortunate.

Still, she remained optimistic that the experience would change the perception of those who attended.

“It is now in your court, and I hope you leave this experience today saying, ‘I’m going to do something,’” Harper said.

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Opinions column

from the editorial board

Top 10: Silhouettes we should have written Our Silhouettes Preview came out this week, and if you picked one up, you got the chance to peek into the lives of ten members of the Pitt community. From Ricky Smith, the nighttime security guard in Holland with an uncanny ability to make anyone smile, to Sid “Frenchi” Ali and his iconic South Oakland deli, we can’t wait for you to see the rest of the profiles when they come out in magazine form on April 13. In the meantime, however, we’re having a few regrets.

Here are the top 10 silhouettes we should have written:

ably, definitely plays guitar in a really cool band no one’s ever heard of. He just seems mysterious, you know? Like he’s seen things.

6. The Digital Plaza Oh, the public art embarrassment that people love to hate. The tales it could tell might mirror more storied antiheroes, such as Severus Snape, Tyrion Lannister and The Dark Knight.

It’s truly the community art project we deserve but not the one we need right now.

10. Dippy the Dinosaur He’s a large dinosaur. He hangs out all day outside the Carnegie Library, and he’s always appropriately dressed for the weather. We know he’s got some good stories to share.

5. One of the dogs from therapy dog Tuesday Honestly, this one isn’t even a joke. We talked about doing it this year but didn’t have the funds to purchase a GoPro we could strap to their little collars. We’re planning, though — stay tuned.

9. Whoever puts the scarf on Dippy the Dinosaur in the winter What exactly does that job entail? Do they just break out a ladder whenever the temperature drops to a certain degree? How do they know what Dippy will like? Was there an application for this job? How do we apply? These are answers you guys need.

4. The Yellow Sculpture Outside Posvar The sculpture is actually titled “Light Up” by American artist Tony Smith. But people call it all sorts of names: a giraffe, a two legged stool, a great place for members of an underground collegiate society to meet late at night — we just want to know what the sculpture actually wants to be called.

8. Those new elevators at Cathy that don’t have any buttons Those suckers will get you to the top at record-making, eardrum-popping speeds. What exactly is the algorithm there that can divvy up who is going where in what elevator? We think there’s a mathematical genius somewhere inside those elevator shafts, and we want to know their secrets.

3. An entire pizza dropped on the sidewalk outside Sorrento’s on a Saturday night This life is too brief for too many of us.

2. Our upstairs neighbors that are apparently running an at-home, 24-hour aerobic studio They better have one hell of an excuse for keeping me up before every important midterm I’ve ever had.

7. The cashier at the 24-hour Rite Aid with 1. My father eyes the color of a deep ocean that we could I don’t think he’s particularly interesting, and totally just, like, drown in He never judges our 1 a.m. purchases of he didn’t go to Pitt, but I haven’t seen him in a ice cream, peanut butter and a bag of candied few years and would like some help tracking him almonds. Also, he has a ponytail, and he prob- down.

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INCLUSIVE INNOVATION SETS PITTSBURGH APART

Liam McFadden STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

Amber Montgomery

is — at least for now — making moves to involve everyone in the tech revolution.

Friday marks the beginning of PittsWhile it may be impossible for Pittsburgh’s second Inclusive Innovation Week, burgh to ever fully shake its infamous Steel a city-wide initiative aimed at increasing City nickname, the city is taking strides to equality and representation of minorities become something different. in the growing technology sector. As the After the post-1980 decline in the steel nation and the world are becoming inindustry, Pittsburgh became a city better creasingly dependant on new technology, known for its medical and educational opPittsburgh’s conscious effort to ensure its portunities through universities and hosown technological boom is inclusive is adpitals. Recently, national media outlets mirable. and city leaders have tossed around a new Pittsburgh hosted the same event in nickname for Pittsburgh that highlights its 2016 after Mayor Peduto launched his turn to innovation and technology: Silicon Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation in SepValley East. tember 2015. This year’s week will be even But unlike the California town and other tech cities around the nation, Pittsburgh See Montgomery on page 7 Opinions Editor

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Montgomery, pg. 6 more large-scale than the previous one with more than 60 events taking place throughout the city over nine days. Programs include coding classes, open houses to tech businesses around the city and panels with minority leaders in technology.

“To be truly successful, Pittsburgh’s technology boom has to be accessible for all,” Peduto said in the 2015 release detailing the roadmap. “This plan will enable us to be a model for cities around the country in providing equitable services and opportunities for residents and businesses in every neighborhood citywide.”

The lack of diversity in tech is such a large problem today that a story about women in Silicon Valley made the cover of The Atlantic’s April edition. The piece, titled “Why is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women?” explored how, despite the millions of dollars tech companies have invested in improving tech life for women, little has changed in the industry. The reporter Liza Mundy found that in addition to the low numbers of women in tech, female workers also leave the industry at twice the rate of their male counterparts — mostly due to sexual harassment, employees that constantly question their authority and the pervasive sexism of the internet.

Issues of diversity, representation and inclusion are already deeply ingrained in the tech sector, and it’s better to be cognizant of those problems while developing an industry than to try and address them later on. Only 30 percent of the workers at the nation’s top technology firms are women. Only seven percent of that workforce is black, with women of color making up just 3 percent, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

What is obvious from those statistics is just how white and male the tech field is.

Uber released statistics about the makeup of its workforce earlier this week that made its lack of diversity and inclusion painfully clear. Of its 12,000 person global workforce, 64 percent are male. And of the larger positions of leadership in the company, men hold 78 percent of them. In its U.S. workforce, 50 percent of total workers and 77 percent of its leadership roles are white. Meanwhile, the most diverse field

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in the company in terms of race and gender are the lower-ranking customer support team positions.

A 2016 McKinsey study found that even though 91 percent of female students were aware of computer science as a field, only 44 percent said they were willing to try it. Similarly, only 53 percent of black and 54 percent of Hispanic students likewise said they were willing to try. Hosting local community events provides an easy and affordable way for young people to get involved and interested in technology and innovation.

Uber and other industry powerhouses including Google, Apple and Pinterest have announced efforts to increase minority representation in their companies. A good sign for sure, even if it’s slow moving.

But the fact that they’re backtracking to do it now instead of having a diverse workforce to begin with highlights the need for programs like an Inclusive Innovation Week in the first place.

If we want a fair representation of minorities in tech companies, especially in high-ranking and leadership positions, then we need to start by making technology and innovation open to them as young people — and encouraging people of color, women and people with disabilities to pursue those opportunities.

The events this week can help them do just that. There will be a class on computer and technology refurbishing, a “crafternoon” where elementary students can build, make and design their own products and projects, as well as a tour and demo of CMU’s Robotics Institute. In addition, there will be a women in technology panel, an inclusion and importance of intersectionality lecture, a women in investing presentation and a brunch event for black entrepreneurs and minority small business owners around the city.

Pittsburgh may not be the first U.S. city to embrace the technology boom, but if it continues its commitment to creating a diverse tech workforce and leadership, it could become one of the country’s most prominent tech cities.

Perhaps living up to and even surpassing its newest nickname.

Amber is the Opinions Editor at The Pitt News. She primarily writes about gender and local politics.

Write to Amber at aem98@pitt.edu.

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Sports

PIRATES 2017 SEASON PREVIEW

After an offseason filled with trade rumors centered on the team’s star player Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates look to bounce back from a sub-.500 season and return to the playoffs in 2017. | by Steve Rotstein

Matt Hawley STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER As spring training winds down and the calendar flips to April, sports fans across the country are coming to a welcome realization.

Opening Day is almost open us.

The 2017 Major League Baseball season kicks off Sunday, April 2, with a three-game slate featuring the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs taking on the National League Central Division rival St. Louis Cardinals at 8:35 p.m. The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays will start things off at 1:10 p.m., while the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks clash at 4:10 p.m.

The other 24 major-league teams will have to wait one more day to break out the lumber and rosin bags, as Opening Day rolls on into Monday with 12 more season-opening show-

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downs.

Among those Monday tilts will be a battle between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the American League’s Boston Red Sox at historic Fenway Park, marking the Pirates’ first time ever opening the season against an American League opponent.

After 20 straight losing seasons from 1993-2012 — the longest streak of ineptitude in the history of the four major American professional sports — the Pirates broke out of their seemingly endless slump with 94 wins in 2013. They capped it off with an unforgettable win over the Cincinnati Reds in the NL WildCard Game before losing a drag-out fivegame series to the Cardinals in the National League Division Series.

The Pirates made it back to the playoffs again in 2014 and 2015 but failed to make it past the Wild-Card game. Then, in 2016, the team ended a three-year streak of playoff contention and slipped back below .500, finishing with a record of 78-83 and missing out on the playoffs.

Now, after another quiet offseason lacking any substantial upgrades to the roster and including multiple departures, there’s one question facing the team: Do the Pirates have what it takes to make it back to the playoffs, or are we looking at the beginning of another extended period of failure?

Let’s take a look around the diamond and see how the 2017 team stacks up:

March 31, 2017

Infield One thing you can’t say about the Pirates’ 2017 infield is that it lacks versatility.

At first base, rookie Josh Bell is likely to see the most playing time after a brief but explosive debut at the end of the Pirates’ 2016 season. Bell provides a bat with power that only few human beings can match, but his defense has been a liability.

Along with Bell, John Jaso and David Freese will likely see some spot starts at first base. Freese is a lifelong third baseman, but he successfully converted to first toward the end of last season. Jaso isn’t particularly spectacular in any area but will provide a veteran bat off the bench.

Josh Harrison has the versatility to play anywhere, but he should slot in as the primary second baseman on this year’s team. The 2014 All-Star has been affected by injuries the past two seasons and seen his production take a slight dip, but he is still an above-average defender and base stealer who has batted at least .280 in three straight seasons.

Freese is slated to start the season at third base with Jung-Ho Kang still on the restricted list after his December DUI arrest in South Korea. The U.S. denied Kang’s visa to return to the states last week as he awaits sentencing, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Pirates President Frank Coonelly thinks the team can help him secure one.

Some think the Pirates need Kang to succeed, but the reality is that Freese is just as reliable an option. The former World Series MVP is about as steady as big leaguers come, both at the plate and in the field.

Jordy Mercer will resume his everyday role at shortstop, where he’s been an under-the-radar yet consistent contributor.

With utilityman Sean Rodriguez now on the Atlanta Braves, Adam Frazier will take over as the do-it-all man. With less than one full year of big-league action to his credit, FraSee Preview on page 10

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ASSISTANT HOOPS COACH LEAVING TO BECOME ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH AT VCU Bayard Miller

Assistant Sports Editor Pitt confirmed Thursday that assistant coach Jeremy Ballard is set to leave the Panthers to become an associate head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University next year.

After dealing with three other departures from the Pitt basketball program in the last two weeks, Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings confirmed Ballard’s leave and ascension to associate head coach status.

“Coach Ballard did a terrific job for us and has a bright future,” Stallings said. “He and coach [Mike] Rhoades have been close friends since their time together at VCU. I know it was a difficult decision for him, but in the end, the opportunity to get closer to home and become an associate head coach was too difficult to pass up. We wish him the best of luck.”

Ballard is familiar with the VCU pro-

gram, thanks to the three years he already spent with the Rams as an assistant from 2012 to 2015. He then left to assist at Illinois State for the 2015-16 basketball season before joining the Panthers last April.

His second stint in Richmond won’t just be familiar just in terms of location, but he goes back to work with old colleagues, too.

Ballard will serve as associate head coach to VCU’s new head coach Mike Rhoades, who worked alongside Ballard as an assistant at the same school for five years. Rhoades then left to become head coach at Rice University in 2014.

After back-to-back 12-20 seasons in his first two years, Rhoades led the Owls to a 2312 record last year — the third-winningest season in school history.

Before coaching at VCU, Ballard assisted at Tulsa for five years, from 2007 to 2012. As a member of the Hurricanes’ coaching staff, he helped the team to three 20-win seasons

and coached or recruited three NBA players: Jordan Clarkson, Jerome Jordan and Ben Uzoh.

Ballard’s departure comes after three players — Crisshawn Clark, Corey Manigault and Damon Wilson — all have opted to transfer away from the Panthers.

In addition to these three losses, the team dismissed Justice Kithcart prior to the regular season finale March 3 for conduct detrimental to the team. Pitt is also graduating four seniors: Chris Jones, Jamel Artis, Michael Young and Sheldon Jeter.

In all, Stallings will have to replace eight players from the 2016-17 squad.

The tumultuous offseason comes after a disappointing first year under Stallings.

The Panthers failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament or even the National Invitation Tournament after posting a 16-17 record, Jeremy Ballard (center) is leaving Pitt their first losing season since the 1999-00 to become an assistant head coach campaign. at VCU. Meghan Sunners VISUAL EDITOR

The Pitt News SuDoku 3/31/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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March 31, 2017

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Preview, pg. 8 zier has already proven that he can play any position on the field and play it well.

Injuries to starting catcher Francisco Cervelli and top backup Chris Stewart had a lot to do with the Pirates’ demise last season, but both seem ready to go for Opening Day. Keeping these players healthy all year at the sport’s most grueling position will go a long way in deciding the Pirates’ fate in 2017.

Starting pitching Former No. 1 overall draft pick Gerrit Cole and No. 2 pick Jameson Taillon will man the top of the Pirates’ staff while veteran Ivan Nova returns to fill the middle of the rotation.

Chad Kuhl appears locked in to the No. 4 spot after a strong debut in the second half of 2016, and top prospect Tyler Glasnow should get the first crack at the No. 5 spot.

Cole is a good bet to return to the role of staff ace, while Taillon should be a dependable No. 2 option. The x-factor on this team is Glasnow. The 6-foot-8 fireballer is a former blue-chip prospect who was plagued by inability to command his pitches as a rookie in 2016. If he can get his pitches under control, he has the potential to develop from the No. 5 starter all the way to No. 1.

Bullpen The backbone of the Pirates’ three straight postseason runs has now dissolved into the team’s one glaring weakness.

From 2013-2015, the team’s bullpen was known as the “Shark Tank,” led by closer Mark “The Shark” Melancon. The Pirates

traded him to the Nationals in the middle of last season though, and longtime setup man Tony Watson fizzled in his first year as the closer.

Hurdle and his staff are giving Watson a second chance at the role this season, but if he can’t return to his prior form, the Pirates may have to try someone else in the ninthinning role. Lefty flamethrower Felipe Rivero, acquired in the Melancon deal, is primed to take over if Watson falters again.

Summary While the Pirates clearly have the talent and experience to improve on last-year’s sub.500 performance, they remain in baseball’s most loaded division, still looking up at the Cubs and the Cardinals in the race for the Central Division title.

But if McCutchen and Cole can return to MVP and Cy Young-caliber players, and young prospects like Bell and Glasnow can take the next step in their second seasons, this team has the tools necessary to get back to the playoffs and make a serious run at the World Series.

Fake News, pg.2 blame for this distrust.

“Our media gets eroded because people lie and disavow what they said before…[so] they blame the media,” Wemple said. He added that journalists shouldn’t be afraid to call someone out as a liar.

Patricia O’Malley, 62, of Brentwood, writes a blog called Community Matters that explains the news rather than reporting it. At the discussion Thursday, O’Malley said journalists are becoming “too lazy and sloppy. She came to the event hoping to ask some questions.

“The political illiteracy of so many journalists is interfering with the public’s understanding of what’s going on,” O’Malley said.

Regardless of the attendees positions on their trust in the media, all of the panelists and everyone in the audience seemed to agree on a central point.

“Truth is an issue, and truth is worth discussion,” said Wemple.

Predicted record: 89-73

The Pitt news crossword 3/31/17

Outfield The drama-filled offseason was rife with nonstop rumors that the face of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, would be traded. The 2013 NL MVP is back with the Pirates for at least one more year — but not at his familiar position.

The Pirates decided that with McCutchen’s declining play in center field, it was time to shift him over to right field and move twotime Gold Glove left fielder Starling Marte over to center. Gregory Polanco shifts over to left field, meaning all three players will have to learn a new position on the fly in 2017.

No matter where they’re playing in the field, McCutchen, Marte and Polanco should

provide the Pirates with the best outfield in baseball.

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