4-3-19

The Pitt News

Kumanchik secures spot on primary ballot pittnews.com

Video: Squirrel Hill’s Northeast Kitchen pittnews.com

T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | april 3, 2019 ­| Volume 109 | Issue 134

TEDxPITT 2019: THAI BOXING GYM COMES TO MURRAY AVENUE ON BURNOUT AND DRIVE (PART 2) Brian Gentry

Assistant News Editor After a pizza lunch and musical performance from a cappella group C-Flat Run, attendees of the TEDxPitt event gathered again to listen to four more speakers discuss their internal ignition.

Nesra Yannier, founder and CEO of NoRILLA Yannier is originally from Turkey, and was passionate about teaching during her time in a university setting there. She coached a robotics team, and said they did well at national competitions. But when they hit hardship, she turned the moment into a lesson about persistence.

“I began to explain to them that it’s not always about the end result, it’s about what you learn and experience along the way,” she said.

She kept this persistence after completing her undergraduate degree, and in May 2017, Yannier founded NoRILLA, an educational system that mixes digital and physical, in-person teaching to provide fundamental education to young children. She said this system has shown significant promise, and that she will continue improving it based on scientific literature about teaching.

“Learning can be fun, but it’s not enough to just make learning fun,” Yannier said. “In order

Sitkiatnin Muay Thai head instructor David Reese (right) assists with the blessing of the gym’s ring by local Thai Buddhist monks on Sunday morning. Sitkiatnin Muay Thai is a Thai boxing gym in the basement of 1918 Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill. Thomas Yang | assistant visual editor

SGB WILL VOTE ON SUSTAINABILITY MEASURES Maureen Hartwell

attendance, which the board will vote on next week.

These resolutions include inserting a statement of Following a 15-minute board meeting, Pitt Stu- diversity and inclusion in the bylaws, including the dent Government Board held its final town hall of the position of executive vice president in the terms for academic year Tuesday night, facilitating a discussion tie-breaking, supporting student organizations’ use of Venmo for fundraisers and approving a proposal on sustainability.

Before the town hall kicked off, President Maggie to raise student activities fees from $80 to $100 per student.

See TEDxPitt on page 2 Kennedy read off five resolutions to the 40 students in Another one of these resolutions — board resoluStaff Writer

tion 201901 — began the discussion on sustainability by laying out changes to the way students access food.

Junior Clara Grantier, studying environmental studies, worked with SGB to produce this resolution two weeks ago after a meeting with Kennedy and Nick Goodfellow, the sustainability coordinator for Business and Auxiliary Services, who Grantier inSee Town Hall on page 2

News Town Hall, pg. 1

terns under. She said the resolution isn’t sponsored by the school or Business Auxiliary Services because it’s beyond what they’ve agreed to so far.

“That’s actually the point,” Grantier said. “They don’t think we have student support for this, but actually we do.”

Grantier, who came up with this idea in the summer, said the resolution has four main components.

First, it states that SGB supports making the OZZI machines — which dispense reusable containers — free under a new program called “Choose to Reuse.” Though these machines are currently only located in the William Pitt Union and Schenley Cafe, Grantier said the University will be expanding in the fall.

“There are a lot of benefits this change would have,” Grantier said. “The University spends $40,000 per month on disposable containers which could be going to better mental health resources, lower tuition, better Bigelow Bash per-

TEDxPitt, pg. 1 to make learning effective, we need to provide the necessary guidance and support for our children, utilizing proven learning methods and techniques.”

AJ Edelman, Israeli bobsled and skeleton athlete Sporting a yarmulke, Edelman, who holds a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, gave a talk about how he has adjusted his views on fear. As a skeleton athlete, he encounters fear frequently — the sport requires one to slide down a track under five Gs of force at more than 90 miles per hour. But he said he’s embraced this fear and uses it to his advantage.

“Fear is a funny thing. It’s not static, it’s dynamic, it changes every time,” Edelman said. “I used to fear fear, but now I relish it, I run towards it.”

Using his engineering know-how, Edelman changed the way he approached the sport with physical modifications to his equipment. He made minor alterations to his sled and his helmet and significantly changed the way he sat on the sled. Through thousands of hours of training, Edelman became the first Israeli to qualify for a sledding sport at the Winter Olympics, compet-

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City Council passes gun control bills amid legal threats pittnews.com formances, you name it.”

The second term of the resolution places a fee on using an unused disposable containers if the option to reuse containers is available. Grantier said the purpose of this is to make reusable products the rule rather than the exception.

The resolution also aims to hold students accountable for returning the reusable containers via a function on their account which charges them if they don’t return the containers. Finally, Grantier said food servers across campus will automatically assume patrons want reusable containers — another initiative to make reusable the default.

“We need the University to pay attention to this,” Grantier said. “They need to recognize that there is a business case for this and that there’s student support.”

Following the reading of the resolution, the board turned the microphones over to a six-person panel of professionals from the University and the City of Pittsburgh. One of these panelists was Alicia Carberry, assistant to the chief operations officer in the mayor’s office.

Carberry addressed some recent updates to the City’s waste and recycling code, noting that it hadn’t been updated for more than 20 years. She, along with other City employees, overhauled the code, focusing on storage and collection and changing the language so that all citizens can read and understand the code.

“The core of the legislation is to make it that much more easy to communicate what’s expected of all residents, whether they rent or own,” Carberry said.

Carberry said the most important adjustment is that under the new code, all property owners are now responsible for providing recycling containers for their residents.

“These provide the space for people to do what’s expected of them,” Carberry said. “If the onus of purchasing those containers is on renters, who may not have the best financial positions or are focusing on things like academics and being a good community member, then it’s one less thing for them to worry about.”

Pitt’s Director of Sustainability Aurora Sharrard

also spoke on the panel, highlighting Pitt’s Sustainability Plan. Sharrard said this plan, adopted in January 2018, sets out 61 goals for the University to pursue over 15 impact areas toward achieving sustainability. Some of the goals under this plan include reducing GHG emissions by 50%, increasing tree canopy by 50% and replacing 15% of lawn area with indigenous and adapted plants by 2030.

Sharrard said sustainability depends on balancing equity, environment and economics so that future generations can thrive. She said the University Sustainability Committee — comprised of staff, faculty and students — drafted the resolution after working with a consultant for a year and half to determine the areas on campus which needed the most attention. As a result, the Pitt Sustainability Plan contains three themes for impact areas, including community and culture, stewardship and exploration.

“The goal with materials and waste is to strive for sustainable consumption and diversion practices, so we need to do that across campus by considering sourcing, usage and disposability when you make a decision,” Sharrard said.

ing in the 2018 Games in PyeongChang.

But some of his modifications were deemed illegal only 16 hours before the skeleton finals, and so he had to change his helmet to a standardissue one. Without the helmet he practiced with, he knew he wouldn’t do as well, and was terrified of disappointing the country he was representing. But he said he turned this terror on its head, and saw his achievements so far — he was the first Israeli to qualify for a sledding final — as victory enough. He was elated to come in 28th in the skeleton finals.

“When fear is present, potential exists.

When failure is fear, it is only because it can be overcome,” Edelman said.

Victoria Shineman, professor of political science Shineman’s discussion focused on felony disenfranchisement, laws that prohibit felons from voting in elections. Each state has a different law that governs this disenfranchisement, and the net result is that more than 4.5 million people cannot vote due to past felonies. But rather than focus on felony disenfranchisement from an electoral perspective, she focused on it from a psychological perspective.

“Imagine how hard it would be to get rid of that stigma, to move forward from the identity of being a criminal, to feel like a full citizen, to

feel invested and included in American democracy,” Shineman.

To test how the act of voting affected one’s investment in the democratic process, Shineman paid people to vote in California, one of two states where paying someone to vote is legal. Shineman found that voters who were paid had significantly higher turnout — 85% compared to 43%. Not only that, she said, but voters who were paid were more engaged with the process and further researched the candidates and issues.

She found the same results when she informed people who didn’t know they could vote that they indeed could. In Virginia, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe individually restored voting rights to more than 150,000 felons, but many were not notified of this restoration of rights.

Shineman gathered some who didn’t know and informed them of their right to vote.

“Their reactions were extraordinary. When people found out that their right to vote had been restored, their whole face would light up,” Shineman said. “They’d say things like, ‘Wait, you mean I can vote? Can I put that on my resumé? I can’t wait to tell my family. I feel like a citizen again.’”

Dr. Joseph Maroon, professor of clinical neurosurgery

Maroon was remarkably successful in his academic and medical career. He was the chief of neurosurgery at UPMC Presbyterian, a consultant for the Steelers and pioneered important medical techniques for neurosurgery.

Then, within a week, his father died of a heart attack and his wife moved with his two children to another city. This sudden change in his life caused him to burn out — he quit neurosurgery and moved in with his mother in West Virginia, working at a truck stop his father used to own.

“One day I was doing brain surgery, the next I’m flipping hamburgers and literally filling up 18-wheelers,” Maroons aid.

This experience fueled Maroon’s talk about burning out. He said he needed to find a better work-life balance, as the sudden change in his personal life caused his focus on work to become destabilized. He began running, and eventually worked his way up to competing in an Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. This gave him another outlet for his stress, and since then, he’s returned to neurosurgery, working as a professor and surgeon.

Overall, he offered three pieces of advice to the audience: ensure your physical and mental health are secure, your relationships are stable and you’re living your life to the fullest.

April 3, 2019

2

Opinions

Editorial: Don’t dismiss Biden allegations pittnews.com

column

OUR POLICE DESERVE BETTER MENTAL HEALTH CARE

Jeremy Wang

Assistant Opinions Editor Police in America faced a deadly year in 2018 with 144 line of duty deaths from gunfire, car crashes and more. Though these violent deaths highlight the dangerous nature of police work, far less attention is paid to police suicides, which are just as deadly.

At least 165 officers took their own lives in 2018, marking the third straight year that police suicides outnumbered line of duty deaths. Despite progress in Pittsburgh to address mental health among officers, officials disagree on how far the City has come and still struggle to get the resources they need to do more. Pittsburgh must do more to support its officers’ mental fitness and preparing them to manage emotional trauma, not simply supporting them if and when it does happen.

What are the challenges?

While there were 165 known police suicides in 2018, it’s unclear how many went unreported. The federal government does not track police suicides — the best estimates are collected by groups like Blue H.E.L.P., a Massachusetts-based nonprofit supporting officers suffering from emotional injuries, that utilize reports by individual law enforcement agencies and surviving family members.

“We know there are other tragic deaths by suicide that we don’t know about,” Steven Hough, cofounder of Blue H.E.L.P., said to HuffPost. “So as bad a number as we have this year, we’re saddened by the fact that we know in reality the number is higher.”

What’s known is that emotional trauma and thoughts of suicide are common among police officers. A 2018 survey of thousands of officers found nearly 1 in 5 have had thoughts of suicide and 3 in 5 are haunted by recurring or unwanted memories of critical incidents.

Though Pittsburgh hasn’t seen a recent police suicide, Detective Poloka, the employee wellness and resource coordinator for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, points to a major incident in 2009 that triggered a greater

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awareness for officers’ mental health.

A shoot-out erupted in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh on April 4, 2009, when a gunman ambushed and killed three Pittsburgh police officers while wounding two more.

The incident was one of the deadliest attacks on law enforcement in America since 9/11.

According to Poloka, the incident rejuvenated interest in then-limited but underused resources for officers to cope with emotional trauma. “[The resources] were always there but got forgotten,” Poloka said. “After 4-4-09, they’re being used more.”

But historic divisions between line officers and their superiors and a fear of professional repercussions have discouraged officers from talking about mental health.

“We separate supervisors from line officers because the line officers often don’t trust the supervisors,” Poloka said. “If they [want to] say something … because they’re stressing about it, they might not say it because they could possibly get in trouble [for it]”.

Barriers that discourage officers from managing their mental health aren’t unique to Pittsburgh.

To Jeffrey McGill, vice president and co-founder of Blue H.E.L.P., this is a problem seen across the country and it starts on day one.

“Officers are trained from the first day of the Academy to mask emotions and push through trauma because we cannot have an officer fail to perform in the field under pressure,” McGill wrote in an email. “But this same training allows them to cover many issues they may be having.”

What is Pittsburgh doing about it?

Up until recently, Pittsburgh police officers involved in critical incidents could expect few institutional measures to address trauma while undergoing a cold and robotic process of submitting incident-related paperwork.

“There were incidents where an officer had to shoot somebody and then they’re sitting down in the lobby by themselves for two hours waiting to give their statement,” Poloka said. “Like ‘oh my gosh, this guy was just in a major incident; why are

they sitting by themselves?’”

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police took steps three years ago to end the lack of institutional support and established the Pittsburgh Members Assistance Program, a group of trained officers for peer support, debriefings and defusings. Today, PMAP officers are a required part of the process officers undergo after facing critical incidents.

“They’re written into the policy now, they’re one of the boxes that have to get checked off,” Poloka said.

In addition to PMAP, the Bureau maintains a chaplain corp and family auxiliaries where police family members support officers in a community that intimately understands the challenges police face on a regular basis.

Chris Togneri, the public information officer for the Public Safety Department, hopes the new measures coupled with encouragement by command staff can push officers to use the resources provided by the City and do away with stigma surrounding mental health care.

“If an officer experiences something that prevents them from doing their work, then they’re going to get the help that they need,” Togneri said. “In terms of it being acceptable to go talk to a counselor to seek any sorts of help, we’ve moved past that at this point.”

Despite Togneri’s optimism, Detective Poloka isn’t so sure.

“It’s all confidential so there’s just no way to say how many people are using the resources,” Poloka said. “Whether everybody uses them, I mean, I’m not sure if you know but police kill themselves at a rate double what they deal with out on the street, so we’re our own worst enemy.”

It’s unclear whether messages from supervisors are making it past divisions between officers and supervisors, and disagreement lingers on exactly how far Pittsburgh has come in removing barriers to mental health care. Though uncertainty remains, Poloka emphasizes the Bureau has taken important steps to support officers.

“I think we have a long way to go but it’s

April 3, 2019

definitely way better in the last 10 years than it’s ever been,” Poloka said.

What needs to be done?

Despite the progress made, preventative resources are sorely lacking and Pittsburgh needs to do more for its officers by creating an environment that promotes mental fitness before officers are forced to confront acute emotional trauma.

Physical and emotional health of officers ought to begin with small but important preventative steps and research suggests healthy dietary habits are linked to improved mental health. Poloka hopes to make healthy drinks and snacks accessible through vending machines in each patrol zone. Another priority has been maintaining gym equipment.

“Organizations sometimes donate equipment and that’s great but then there’s no maintenance and then it just ends up rusted and nobody uses it,” Poloka said.

Sleep deprivation also erodes mental health, and officers who work long shifts and juggle family obligations are struggling to get sleep. The problem only worsens among younger officers who are frequently mandated to cover short-staffed shifts.

“Younger officers get forced on overtime — they might have worked the p.m. shift, got forced on to overtime and then have court in the morning,” Poloka said. “And now that we don’t have residency, they might be driving a fair distance like 20 miles to get home.”

Poloka hopes a quiet room in the courthouse where officers can catch up on sleep while waiting for cases can help alleviate sleep deprivation. But just because these are the wishes of the employee wellness and resource coordinator doesn’t mean they actually materialize for Pittsburgh police officers.

“So healthy snacks and drinks in the patrol zones, good places to work out within the patrol zones and quiet areas in the courthouses if I had an unlimited budget — which I don’t have, I don’t have any budget,” Poloka said. “It’d be nice to have one, though.”

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column

NORTHEASTERN KITCHEN BRINGS TRADITIONAL CHINESE FOOD TO PITTSBURGH

Ben Spock

For The Pitt News Northeastern Kitchen is easy to miss. The Chinese restaurant sits in a basement on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill with its narrow storefront nestled between a bank and a consignment store. Inside, it’s a cozy and humble space, sparsely decorated aside from the red tapestries that adorn the walls and the waving plastic cat that greets you at the cash register.

But don’t let the decor fool you — the menu is anything but typical. Instead of the classic General Tso’s chicken and lo mein, Northeastern Kitchen stays true to the cuisine from the region where it gets its name. In this case, “northeastern” refers to Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province. A world away from the cultural hubs of Beijing and Shanghai, Heilongjiang is one of China’s agricultural and industrial hubs.

However, what makes Heilongjiang culture differ more from China’s other regions is its proximity to Russia. It has long been a region where the two countries have conducted trade.

Waves of Russian immigrants, attracted by the need for labor to build a railroad, settled in the area in the mid-20th century. The result of mixing the two cultures can be clearly seen — or rather tasted — in the ingredients used in its food.

Heilongjiang is brutally cold. Whereas most heavily populated Chinese regions are in the warmer southwest regions, winter temperatures in Heilongjiang can dip down well below -30 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of this, there is a limited number of crops that can grow in time during the short growing season, such as corn, potatoes and barley. Unsurprisingly, these foods provide the base of many dishes you will find on Northeastern Kitchen’s menu.

Senior finance major Yan Liu manages the restaurant while her parents manage the kitch-

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Squirrel Hill’s Northeast Kitchen serves Stir Fried Eggplant, Potato, and Green Pepper (right) and Dried Tofu with Chili Pepper.

Levko Karmazyn | staff photographer en. Levko Karmazyn — a videographer for The tional Chinese cuisine, the menu at NortheastPitt News — and I got the opportunity to sit ern Kitchen can feel overwhelming. Chicken down with her to discuss her experience man- gizzards, cutlassfish and sliced kidney are sure aging such a distinct restaurant in Pittsburgh. to raise some eyebrows. Yet for the less advenRestaurant management has always been turous eater, like myself, there are plenty of delipart of Liu’s life. Before her family moved to the cious options to choose from.

United States, they owned and operated a restauFor a first-timer, I recommend ordering the rant in her hometown of Shenyang. Liu moved sauerkraut dumplings to start, with a pot of barto Pittsburgh six years ago with her mother, fol- ley tea to wash it down. The flavors are a perfect lowing her father who had already been living in balance of sharp and mild — definitely sour, but the country and working as a chef for 20 years. not overwhelmingly so.

For Liu, it was an easy transition.

With such specific foods, Liu often has dif“My father first told my mom about Pitts- ficulty describing the dishes to new diners, as the burgh, ‘It’s so lovely.’ He loves it. I like it here, menu itself offers no descriptions. As she would it’s really like my hometown, really similar. My with any other diner, she slid a menu over to me hometown was about steel, like Pittsburgh,” Liu and pointed to the dried tofu with chili powder. said.

“I think you’ll like this, it’s very good,” Liu Liu manages the front of house in an even- said. keeled manner, which contributes to the welAnd she was right. The food, served in large coming environment that the dining room enough portions to share, is hearty and mild, emanates. It is clear that the restaurant has a ded- often fried in a thick sauce, in contrast to other icated following. Even as the lunch rush started styles of Chinese food such as mouth-numbingto pick up, Liu found time to stop at each table to ly spicy Sichuan cuisine. converse with the diners.

On the cold and windy day when we For those who aren’t familiar with tradi- stopped by, it was easy to imagine how such

April 3, 2019

food would be comforting during the winter months of northeastern China. Mama’s shredded vegetable salad — Ma Ma Liang Cai — was a light, tangy and crunchy contrast to the heavier dishes.

After our meal, Liu gave me and the videographer a tour of the kitchen. Traditional Chinese cooking tools lined the stovetops. The air was filled with steam from the rice cooker as well as the Chinese broccoli that was being sauteed. Though two chefs were busy at work, they were more than happy to show off their cooking prowess. I watched in awe as one chef effortlessly tossed the vegetables around, being snapped back into reality as a waitress brushed by me, hands full with a plate of two entire steamed fishes.

The other chef pointed at the fish and proudly proclaimed “Yu!,” the Chinese word for fish. As a high school student, I had spent time working in restaurant kitchens. There was a tangible sense of pride and satisfaction in Northeastern Kitchen that other restaurants seem to lack.

Certain dietary differences have proved difficult for trying to operate a business in America. In Squirrel Hill in particular, which has a heavy Jewish population, she’s found its harder to sell dishes containing pork. “[In northeastern food] there’s a lot of pork, but people here, they don’t like it. We cook more beef instead,” she said.

She also cited stringent health regulations and differences in tipping culture as two additional issues she was unprepared to face when operating a restaurant in the United States.

With such a strong business, Liu is confident that the future could hold more restaurant openings. But for now, she is satisfied that she has been able to establish herself in the community and give Pittsburghers a chance to try an entirely new type of food that is close to her heart.

4

Sports

NBA Playoff race set up for a photo finish pittnews.com

SITKIATNIN OFFERS FITNESS, INCLUSION THROUGH MUAY THAI

Trent Leonard Sports Editor

As a group of local Buddhist monks went through an elaborate, hour-long blessing ritual in the basement of 1918 Murray Ave. on Sunday morning, a group of roughly 40 people crowded around to watch — not a bad turnout for a Thai boxing gym holding its opening.

But the ceremony was more of a formality. In reality, Sitkiatnin Muay Thai has been operational since February, with a steadily growing clientele since the space was first usable. Sunday’s event just marked the official completion of all the necessary renovations.

“We set up the business in September, and it came together really fast,” co-owner Mike Seamens said. “We have a whole community of people that come already … we have people from all kinds of different lifestyles and backgrounds that feel really safe coming into the gym and feel comfortable there.”

Seamens, who runs the gym with wife Marissa BarrHartman and head trainer David Reese, felt that it was necessary for the monks to bless their facility considering Reese’s Buddhist upbringing and the religion’s customary connection to the sport of Muay Thai.

Muay Thai, as Seamens explained, is a combat sport that originated in Thailand and is often called “the art of eight limbs,” referring to the ways one can strike an opponent — using the fists, legs, knees or elbows. It also incorporates various clinching and grappling techniques, making it a sort of tactical chess game that combines other disciplines like boxing, kickboxing and wrestling.

“It’s a very subtle art,” Seamens said. “It really is like upright wrestling.”

A career centered on a combat sport may have been a more straightforward path for Barr-Hartman, who grew up participating in martial arts. Reese, too, brought an almost lifelong passion for Muay Thai to the table, having worked as a trainer for decades and competed in nearly 100 fights in Thailand.

But for the now 37-year-old Seamens, a Pittsburgh native and Pitt alum, staking a career in this field would’ve seemed unfathomable until just a few years ago.

Seamens was born and raised in the Wilkinsburg neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He spent much of his youth around

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A monk from the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center places a mark in the Sitkiatnin gym during its opening ceremony. The marking signifies that the area has been blessed.

Thomas Yang | assistant visual editor Squirrel Hill near where his gym is now — what used to be “And so I saw it all, was in the midst of the whole thing, a video rental store when he was a kid. He briefly attended and it was a pretty traumatic experience,” Seamens said. “So Oakland’s own Central Catholic High School before gradu- I tried to stick it out and stay in school, but I just needed to ating from Shady Side Academy. After high school, Sea- take a break and come home.” mens chose to pursue photography at New York University.

Seamens took some time off before enrolling at Pitt, In Seamens’ first year at NYU — his 15th day living in where he graduated with a degree in urban planning and the City — he happened to be out taking pictures on the development in 2006. From there, he embarked on sevmorning of Sept. 11, 2001. eral stints as a small business owner, including launching “I used to get up early every morning to shoot photos a brewery and a record store. It was Seamens’ wife who when the morning light was nice. I was out taking a walk introduced him to martial arts about a year after the two … shooting photographs, blue sky, early fall, late summer formally met in 2007. Barr-Hartman was taking classes in day,” Seamens said. “And I was not in a shadow, and then I jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, and she would take Seamens out was in a shadow, and then I wasn’t in a shadow and I looked to her brother’s boxing gym. up and that was the first plane.”

“Then she decided she really wanted to try Muay Thai After that plane crashed into the World Trade Center, and was like, ‘We should check this out,’” Seamens said.

Seamens wandered closer to the site. He was just under half “And it just sort of took off from there.” a mile away when the second plane hit.

See Gym on page 6

April 3, 2019

5

Gym, pg. 5 Through their lessons, the duo came into contact with Reese, a seasoned local trainer, in 2014. They struck up a partnership and took their first trip to Thailand with Reese in 2016. Since then, the group travels to Thailand twice a year to train in the homeland of Muay Thai, typically staying for two to four weeks at a time. Seamens credits Reese with coming up for the idea of a gym solely dedicated to this art.

“He wanted to start a sort of Thai-style gym in Pittsburgh and really have it just

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be Muay Thai — not MMA, not fitness kickboxing, but just really the Thai style of boxing,” Seamens said.

Now, each member of the trio has his or her own role within the gym’s operations. Seamens typically handles the business side, while Reese and Barr-Hartman serve as the head trainers. Together, they run Sitkiatnin under one primary mission statement — inclusion. The gym offers classes for kids, women and those who just want an outlet to stay active, while also training a competitive team that competes in Muay Thai bouts all along the east coast.

“If you’ve never wanted to fight in your life, we want you to come to our gym,” Seamens said. “It is a great way to be in shape, it’s great for self defense and it’s also fun.

That’s the big thing that we really want to bring from Thailand to the United States is just like, it’s a fun thing to do.”

The gym is the first of its kind for Pittsburgh, Seamens said, as other facilities in the area offer Muay Thai programs, but none are solely dedicated to its practice. While going all in on a specific sect of martial arts could be seen as a gamble, the sport’s

April 3, 2019

unifying effect can already be seen in Sitkiatnin’s membership base that currently consists of more than 40 people.

And with the growing popularity of MMA — along with a nationwide fitness boom — Seamens has high hopes for the art that was foreign to him for most of his life.

“There’s a whole community of gyms in Philadelphia and New York,” he said. “It’s something which has been a little more sustainable in bigger cities up until now, but I think Pittsburgh’s finally ready for a dedicated Muay Thai gym.”

6

I N D E X

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Available May & August 2019 move‑in.

Call 412‑361‑2695 Apartments for rent. 2 and 3 bedroom apart‑

ments available. Some available on Dawson

Street, At­wood Street, and Mc­kee Place.

Newly re­modeled.

Some have laundry on site. Min­utes from the Univer­sity. For more

info please call Mike at 412‑849‑8694

3408 Parkview Ave. Studios, 1‑2‑3 BRS Available June &Aug. Pet Friendly & Park­ ing. CALL NOW! 412‑455‑5600

Before signing a lease, be aware that no more than 3 unre­lated people can share a single unit. Check property’s compliance with codes. Call City’s Per­mits, Licensing & In­spections.

412‑255‑2175.

3436 Ward. Spacious 2‑Bedroom, 1 bath, equipped kitchen,

Brand new remod‑ eled spacious duplex.

5BR, 2BA, second

R A T E S

Insertions

1-15 Words

16-30 Words

1X

2X

3X

4X

$6.30

$11.90

$17.30

$22.00

$7.50

$14.20

$20.00

$25.00

5X $27.00 $29.10

6X $30.20 $32.30

Add. + $5.00 + $5.40

(Each Additional Word: $0.10)

Deadline:

Two business days prior by 3pm | Email: advertising@pittnews.com | Phone: 412.648.7978

and third floors with wooden floors.

Laun­dry room in apart­ment. $3000 +utili­ties. Call 412‑871‑5657 Dawson Village Apts. near CMU and Pitt. One bedroom apt. available for immedi­ate move in.

On bus line, close to restau­rants and shops. *CALL IN FOR SPE­CIALS!* Contact Jerry at 412‑722‑8546 M.J. Kelly Realty.

Studio, 1, 2, 3 and 4 Bedroom Apart­ments, Duplexes and Houses.

N. & S. Oakland from $750‑$2500. mjkellyrealty@gmail.­ com. 412‑271‑5550. www.mjkellyrealty.­ com Newly Updated 4‑bedroom, 2‑bath townhouse. Laundry & new bath in base­ ment. $1800+ Utili­ ties. Available Au­gust.

Call 412‑292‑1860 Now Renting Fall 2019! Various Two

April 3, 2019

BR units in South Oakland, Bates, Coltart, Edith, Halket Place, Ward Street; rent starting from $975‑$1410 Contact: John C.R. Kelly 412‑683‑7300 www.jcrkelly.com info@kellyrealtyinc.­ com

412‑328‑6236, pan­ therproperties2@ g­mail.com. pan‑ ther‑life.com/oakland

Now Renting for Fall

Shadyside

2019 One Bedrooms

located conveniently throughout South Oakland

Rents Starting at: $740‑$825

Contact: John C.R. Kelly

Office: 412‑683‑7300 Email: info@kellyre­ altyinc.com

Website: www.­ jcrkelly.com

Recently reno’ed S Oakland 3BR house, $1750/mo + utilities.

Spacious, beautiful, well‑maintained.

Dishwasher, wash­er/ dryer, central AC. Close to Pitt campus & shuttle. Off‑street parking available.

Panther Properties,

Welsford St. ‑Large 6 bedroom house, 3.5 bathrooms. Recently renovated with dish­ washer, washer/ dryer. $2900/month.

724‑825‑0033

4909 Centre Ave. Great location for this spacious 1BR apartment located be­ tween Pitt and CMU. On buslines, near restaurants, hospital.

Rent includes heat.

Laundry, storage & parking available.

Up­dated kitchens and hardwood floors. $100 Amazon gift card upon move in. Avail‑ able spring, summer and fall. Contact Sue at 412‑720‑4756.

Brett/Thames Manor Apts. (Ellsworth & S. Negley Ave.) near CMU and Pitt.

Stu­dio‑One‑Two bed­ room apts. available

for immediate move in. On bus line, close to restaurants and shops. *CALL IN FOR SPECIALS!* Contact Jerry at 412‑722‑8546 Shadyside: 1 and 2BR, great location, hardwood floors.

Free heat. Immedi‑ ate occupancy. Call 412‑361‑2695 Shadyside: Studio ($740) or 2 Bedroom ($1190). Quiet, clean, well‑main­tained apartment house.

Great location ‑ in heart of Shady­side!

Fully equipped kitchenette, A/C, laundry, wall‑to‑wall carpeting. Near Pitt shuttle and city busline and shopping.

No pets, no smoking.

Available Aug. 1st.

412‑628‑1686.

Rental Other 3+ BR 1.5 BA home in Swissvale. Gas Ap­pliances. Washer and Dryer. Pictures at tinyurl.com/swiss­

7

valehome 25 min bus ride to Pitt campus. $1,250/mo. Call 412‑467‑6665 union­ ave7819@gmail.com Studios, 1, 2, & 3 Bedroom apartments available August 2019 & sooner. Oak­land, Shadyside, Friend‑ ship, Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, Point Breeze. Photos & current availabil‑ ity online, check out www.forbesmanage­ ment.net, or call 412.441.1211

Employment Employment Other OFFICE INTERN Shadyside Manage­ ment Company seek­ing person w/ min 2 yrs. college, for up­coming spring semester, to inter­view & process rental ap‑ plicants, do inter­net postings & help staff our action‑cen­tral office. Either part time or full time OK now; full time over the summer. $13/hour.

Perfect job for sopho‑ mores/ju­niors, seniors plan­ning to enter grad school, returning grad students, and first‑year law stu­dents!

for the summer. Must be at least 18 years old. No experience necessary. $11/hour plus additional atten­ dance bonuses are available, if earned.

Work involves land­ scaping, painting, roofing, and general labor. Perfect sum­ mer job for college students!

Mozart Management phone:412‑682‑7003 email:thane @mozartrents.com Team Scotti (insur­ ance broker for major league baseball) seek­ ing an information technology intern to assist in technical sup‑ port, troubleshoot­ing issues, organiza­tion and maintaining IT resources. Help with upgrading net­work equipment, as­sisting IT and other depart‑ ments with re­ports, tracking hard­ware and software in­ventory and other du­ties as assigned. Ideal candidate would have strong computer skills and a passion to learn. Fa­miliarity with Access is required.

Ability to work in a team en­vironment as well as independently is nec­essary. Contact Dave Webster at dweb­ster@team‑ scotti.com for further informa­tion.

Mozart Management 412‑682‑7003 thane @mozartrents.com SUMMER WORK Shadyside Manage­ ment Company needs full‑time dependable landscapers, painters, and assistant roofers

pittnews.com

April 3, 2019

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