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Pitt Tonight names new host
high flyers
Ashwini Sivaganesh and John Hamilton The Pitt News Staff
For a show that is only wrapping up its second season, “Pitt Tonight” is already at the end of an era. “Pitt Tonight” announced on Twitter Wednesday that first-year Andrew Dow will be the next host of the show, starting fall 2017. He will be the successor to Jesse Irwin, who is finishing his reign after creating the show and hosting the first 12 episodes. The executive producer will also be new next year, with sophomore and former writer for The Pitt News Annabelle Hanflig taking over for junior Hayley Ulmer. Irwin, a senior film studies major, started “Pitt Tonight” — a late-night talk show taped on Pitt’s campus — in 2015. The first season, which included an appearance from Mayor Bill Peduto and a live autopsy, was nominated for two college Emmys. The show’s second season, which included a women’s empowerment episode in March, will wrap up later this month. According to Ulmer, who is leaving the show at the end of the year, they started planning the second season in the summer of 2016, See Host on page 3
Bryan Morgan of Pittsburgh Acro hovers above David Good in front of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Wednesday evening. Elaina Zachos POSITION
Laughing matter Jewish, Muslim stand up duo promote unity through comedy hosted by Pitt’s Hillel Jewish University Center and Muslim Student Association. Stand Up for Peace is a comedy show encouraging conA Jew and a Muslim got up on stage in the flict resolution between Jews, Muslims, Arabs William Pitt Union Ballroom — that’s not the and people of all backgrounds and religions by punchline of a joke, those are the comedians. exploring what they have in common through Comedians Scott Blakeman and Dean humor. Obeidallah brought their act Stand Up for “The goal of our show is to bring people Peace to Pitt Wednesday night, at an event
Janine Faust Staff Writer
from two different groups together to notice the similarities in their lives through positive comedy,” Blakeman said. ”After all, the best way to start a conversation is through laughter.” Blakeman and Obeidallah have been performing Stand Up for Peace together for See Stand Up on page 2
Stand Up, pg. 1 13 years. Blakeman has served as a mentor for the likes of Jon Stewart and Caroline Rhea, and is a frequent news contributor to news outlets such as MSNBC and Fox News. Obeidallah is a regular contributor to The Daily Beast and has his own SiriusXM comedy show. Meital Rosenberg, senior economics and international and area studies major and former vice president and active member of Hillel, said the intent of bringing in the duo was to show people that two groups often seen as very different actually have much in common. “At the end of the day, we’re all human,” she said. “We’re not isolated categories. We want people to walk away from this understanding everybody wants to have peace and be able to laugh together.” Blakeman guffawed along with the 30 students in front of him — some Jewish, some Muslim, some neither — as he joked about Judaism and politics. “I went to a diner that said they serve Kosher-style food. What is that? Ham wrapped in pork, drizzled with cheese and milk only
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ian, came primarily to see Obeidallah, who he served on Yom Kippur?” he joked. “Hillary Clinton claimed she was part described as famous in the Arab community. “Politics are crazy right now, and as an Jewish during her presidential campaign. I looked it up, turns out it’s true. She had a Arab I can relate to a lot of the stuff he talks ninth cousin twice removed who ate a brisket about,” Kurzum said. “I’m here mostly for a laugh, but I think it’s a spectacular idea that sandwich once.” His comedy partner, Obeidallah, fol- they’re using humor to talk about controverlowed his act with humorous observations of sial issues.” According to Blakeman, the duo’s show his own about Islam and the trials that come has always focused on with being Muslim. breaking down barriHis witty and sarcastic ers between Muslim remarks had the audiand Jewish communience’s shoulders shakties. But they believe ing with laughter and the political and soheads nodding with cial relevance of what understanding. they do has grown “Arabic Muslims say ‘Inshallah’ all the Scott Blakeman recently, with the rise Comedian in hate crimes and time. It means ‘God threats against the two willing.’ I once asked groups. where the bathroom “Our message now is more important was in an Arabic restaurant, the guy said it than ever, given the rise of anti-Semitic and after he told me.” “During an interview on ‘Fox and Friends.’ anti-Muslim sentiment in America,” Blakethey asked me, ‘As an Arab and a Muslim, how man said. Elyssa Steinberg, a junior psychology mamany terrorists do you think are out there?’ I jor and member of Pitt Hillel, said she thinks was like, ‘I don’t know? Eighty-three?’” Senior Spanish language and literature the duo’s mission serves an important purmajor Jordan Kurzum, a Christian Palestin- pose in bringing together two communities
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The best way to start a conversation is through laughter.
April 6, 2017
that are going through tough times. “We’re both groups facing injustices right now,” Steinberg said. “This act shows a unity that isn’t necessarily brought to light, and which really needs to be seen nowadays.” Pitt Hillel and MSA partnered for the event, but Yosra Kandil, a sophomore history major and president of MSA, said the relationships between Jewish and Muslim people are often misrepresented. “There’s this idea that Muslim and Jewish populations can’t get along,” Kandil said. “But I think a comedy event, where everybody comes together to laugh and enjoy themselves, defeats that idea.” Obeidallah said the duo perform a lot at mosques and synagogues, but college students are their favorite audiences because they tend to be more “intellectually curious” than older crowds, according to Obeidallah. Blakeman said the two jokesters enjoy performing on campuses because they have the biggest impact. “Younger people got their whole life ahead of them, and they’re at a time when they’re making a lot of their own decisions,” Blakeman said. “We hope that the message our act conveys inspires them, that they take this stuff with them when they leave.”
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Host, pg. 1 while also working on finding the next host in anticipation of Irwin’s graduation at the end of the spring 2017 semester. “I decided I was going to leave the show when [Irwin] did,” she said. “It just felt right.” After spending countless hours getting to know Irwin as a comedian and person on and off stage, Ulmer said the choice for her to leave the show, even though she is a junior, was a no-brainer. Besides wanting to study abroad fall 2018, she knew the relationship she established with Irwin was vital to the show. “Everything that’s going on onstage basically comes down to us two communicating and making sure things are running smoothly,” Irwin said. Irwin and Ulmer both agreed that beyond the comedic qualities of a late-night talk show host, they wanted to find someone that could work well with the existing staff — particularly Hanflig. “It’s about fit,” Ulmer said. “It’s about who jives with the staff.” Dow began auditioning for the role of the show’s next host in January, alongside about 20 other students.
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Irwin said he stood out during the second These conversations were taped so the execuaudition and callback segment when all the fi- tives of the show could see the potential hosts nalists were asked to mock interview Hanflig. in their natural element and then decide who Rather than simply interviewing her, Dow de- was the best fit for the job. “It just felt really right to hand whatever cided to play a game with his guest. After askthis is off to ing her what Andrew,” Irwin it’s like to be a said. “We’re all mother — to pretty confiher two cats dent.” — Dow started While some reeling off a of the people list of names who audiof celebrities tioned were and asking from within the which ones she “Pitt Tonight” thought were family, Irwin the tallest. seemed confi“That was dent that Dow so fresh and so would bring interesting. We new ideas and really cracked his own take to up,” Ulmer the show. said. Andrew Dow was named the next host of Pitt “When you Following Tonight Wednesday. John Hamilton CONTRIBUTING have a fresh face the callback, EDITOR come in, there’s Irwin sat down with the final three people they were consid- nothing set,” Irwin said. “I think that’s a huge ering for the job, and just chatted with them advantage that Andrew has.” one-on-one to get to know their personalities.
April 6, 2017
Dow’s interest in the show sparked after he watched the taping for the November 2016 episode. He was particularly struck by “Vote or Vomit” — a segment where Head Writer Ossia Dwyer asked Councilperson Dan Gilman to guess if a location in Oakland was a place students could vote or a place she’d vomited in the past. “I remember going to a ‘Pitt Tonight’ show and just being mesmerized by it,” he said. For Dow, a sociology major, this was just the opening he was looking for. “Comedy is such a good tool to talk about the serious and the funny,” Dow said. “It’s a very human way of speaking to people.” As of now, the “Pitt Tonight” staff is focusing on their last show, which they will tape on April 15, in the Charity Randall Theatre. Dow and Irwin had a Facebook live segment Wednesday to make the announcement and are working on making Dow more wellknown to fans of the show. Dow and Ulmer said although Dow is a first-year student at Pitt, his run on the show will be taken on a year-to-year basis. “I’m really excited get so know so much more about Pitt and the people who go here,” Dow said. “It’s such a wonderful privilege.”
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Opinions
column
SEEKING COUNSEL
from the editorial board
Pepsi ad trivializes important social issues When Pepsi released a new advertisement earlier this week, it probably wasn’t hoping for it to go viral in quite the way that it did. Pepsi’s ad, which starred model and member of the Kardashian family Kendall Jenner, appeared on YouTube Tuesday and almost immediately attracted massive amounts of criticism online for its tone-deaf treatment of a demonstration. Within a day, the company pulled the advertisement, acknowledging in a press release that it had “missed the mark.” With a runtime of more than two minutes, the video shows what appears to be a group of protesters marching down a street before being joined by Jenner. As the crowd confronts a line of police, Jenner comes forward to offer a can of Pepsi to a police officer, who accepts it as the protesters rejoice. Pepsi’s choice for the ad’s setting in what is transparently an allusion to a Black Lives Matter protest is unquestionably bizarre. While the company’s official explanation was that it was “trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” the video has an undeniable feeling of trying to commodify and cash in on a social movement. And the more you look at the video, the worse it comes across. If it weren’t for the presence of police and picket signs — most of which either read “Join the conversation” or featured a peace sign — the main event of the video might seem to be a music festival rather than a protest. With characters laughing, smiling and dancing, the atmosphere the video gives off seems to suggest that its creators have never been to an actual demonstration. It certainly looks nothing like the number of protests that have taken place here in Oakland since last November’s elections.
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Panthers of Color provides vital service to minority students
The disconnect between the video’s portrayal of a rally and its real-life counterpart didn’t go unnoticed by Twitter users. Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., tweeted an image of police accosting her father along with the words, “If only Daddy had known about the power of #Pepsi.” Another user juxtaposed an image of Jenner — who is white — approaching the line of police officers unharassed with one of black BLM activist Ieshia Evans being rushed by police officers in riot gear at a demonstration in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last July. Perhaps most emblematic of all the images in Pepsi’s commercial, however, was one of a peripheral character — a female photographer wearing a hijab. This character, whom a viewer could assume to be Muslim, appears to be looking for inspiration for her photography at the video’s beginning before being drawn into the protest. She’s shown admiring Jenner, smiling as she takes photographs of her approaching the police. Beyond illustrating an almost textbook use of a white savior complex, this part of the video’s storyline almost perfectly encapsulates what the commercial does as a whole. That is, Jenner takes something originally intended to be about the issues of non-white Americans — the protest — and makes it about someone white — herself. Pepsi, whether it intended to or not, took a social movement intended to be about the needs of minority Americans and made it about a white celebrity selling a product. It made the right choice by pulling the ad, and we can only hope that the company makes better decisions in the future. It’s more than just an issue of suffering through a cringey video — it’s a matter of taking issues of life and death for some Americans seriously.
April 6, 2017
Terry Tan SENIOR STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
Danielle Pierre For The Pitt News
College comes with many costs. And for many students of color, one of the biggest prices they pay is their mental health. While mental illness is extremely common on college campuses among every racial group, little attention is paid to how racism and mental illness intersect. Students of color often find themselves dealing with many issues their white classmates don’t experience: combating racism, exceeding family expectations and dealing with stereotypes all while trying to find their place in academia. Whether it’s seeing other students in blackface, being called racial slurs or dealing with racial microaggres-
sions, students of color encounter racism daily. They are expected to grin and bear it in order to succeed. And the stress associated with that burden can be difficult to handle at times. If colleges and universities truly care about students of color and their academic success, they should start focusing on these issues. Solutions to the problems surrounding mental illness in the black community and in other minorities have been varied, including the establishment of counseling centers specifically dealing with the mental health of people of color. However, the fundamental issues ostracizing students of color from the community as a whole often go unresolved. Numerous studies show racial See Pierre on page 5
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Pierre, pg. 4
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If you want to have people competent in that culture, you need people from that culture.
tention of many students of color at Pitt, even if the University administration hasn’t taken many steps to solve it. One student, Zuri Kent-Smith, a sophomore and the Student Government Board vice president-elect, worked with the Counseling Center to found a group called Panthers of Color to work on mental health issues for racial minorities on cam-
of color who understand what it’s like to be a racial minority. “If you want to have people competent in that culture, you need people from that culture,” Kent-Smith said. The presence of counselors of their own race can be important for students of color to bridge the gap between their own identities and the identities of those around
them in predominantly white institutions. However, it’s obvious that the very need for this bridge is only possible in an environment where minority students are partially separated from the rest of the community. Kent-Smith referred to the product of this partial othering as double consciousness, a term W.E.B. Dubois coined to describe the dissonance people feel when different parts of their identity conflict. “You’ve seen all the destructive things that have been happening and you still have to wake up the next morning and take your test,” he said. “It’s definitely the constant struggle of having to put aside the fact that you are black when you are in the classroom, which is so hard. It’s having to constantly juggle those two identities as a student and a black person.” Panthers of Color came into existence to address a very concrete, very real issue on Pitt’s campus that affects students of color here. While the group’s founding is a step in the right direction, it’s important to recognize that we still need to make improvements to inclusiveness in the community as a whole. The well-being and health of students of color may depend on it. Email Danielle at dap157@pitt.edu.
The Pitt news crossword 4/6/17
discrimination is detrimental to an individual’s overall health. A 2012 study by Kathryn Freeman Anderson of Sociological Inquiry found discrimination makes people more vulnerable to stress, depression and hypertension. The same research also found 18.2 percent of African-Americans experience emotional stress, compared to only 3.5 percent of white Americans — likely a result of the strong connection between overall mental health issues and the stress that comes with perceived racism. On top of that, there are huge racial disparities in mental health care in the United States. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, only 25 percent of African-Americans, compared to 40 percent of white Americans, seek mental health treatment. This disparity, according to the NAMI, is caused by a combination of prejudice in the mental health care system, a lack of access to adequate health insurance and very few black professionals in the mental health field. Ebony McGee, an assistant professor of diversity and urban schooling at Vanderbilt
University, found students of color in pre- pus. The group hosts drop-ins, which Kentdominantly white collegiate environments are more subject to high rates of “anxiety, Smith describes as “a culturally competent stress, depression and thoughts of suicide, counseling group just for students of color as well as ... physical ailments like hair to come in and share their experiences and loss, diabetes and heart disease.” Black stu- be able to talk through them with some dents are devoting huge amounts of time counselors.” When students of color enter majorityand energy to combat racism at a huge white colleges, these cost to their mental issues remain largely and physical health. unresolved. Many And at a school like are encountering Pitt, where over 75 counseling services percent of the unfor the first time, but dergraduate student these services are body is white, this often not designed challenge can feel with students of coloverwhelming at or in mind. A very times. Zuri Kent-Smith easy solution is hirThe issue is one SGB Vice President-elect ing more counselors that’s come to the at-
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April 6, 2017
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Culture
upcoming
The Pitt News profiles Pittsburgh’s new vegan restaurant Onion Maiden
FORGIVE AND FORGET?
CMOA struts stuff in fashion exhibit Andrea Spatig For The Pitt News
WHEN RAPPERS ARE ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, FANS’ RESPONSE MATTERS Matt Moret
Contributing Editor A rapper drops his first mixtape and builds a cult following off of a positive Pitchfork review. He steadily expands that fan base, earning critical acclaim along the way. But then, something happens. He gets shot at, he goes to jail or some combination of the two. This story could apply to countless artists from any point in hip-hop history, and Freddie Gibbs is one of them. Gibbs — the 34-year-old who would be the biggest cultural export of Gary, Indiana, if the Jackson family hadn’t already taken that title — released his third solo album March 31. The album, titled “You Only Live 2wice,” is Gibbs’ first project since his June arrest for allegedly
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drugging and sexually assaulting a woman during a 2015 tour stop in Austria. The woman initially accused Gibbs’ bodyguard but included Gibbs nearly a year later after saying she had a flashback to the incident. By August, Gibbs was out on bail. A month later, he was acquitted of all charges. That’s all the public information about Gibbs’ case available. None of the evidence came out, the woman’s identity remains anonymous and Gibbs’ only statement on the matter comes during “YOL2’s” first single, “Crushed Glass.” “I just beat a rape case, groupie b***h I never f****d / Trying to give me 10 for some p***y that I never touched,” Gibbs raps. Full disclosure: Gibbs has been a contender for my favorite rapper since my first year
of high school. I have memories of sitting in school parking lots with friends and blasting his music from my terrible cell phone speaker, and I had a two-year stretch of listening to at least one song from his Madlib-produced album, “Pinata,” every day. My streak ended when the allegations against him emerged, but many others didn’t miss a step. I’m not usually one to romanticize my relationships with celebrities, but Gibbs had been an exception. I’d watched him go from relatively unknown to featured on the cover of XXL Magazine’s 2010 “Freshmen” edition, at which point he says he was still stealing air conditioners in order to feed himself. Gibbs improved with every project, and I was right there
April 6, 2017
See Gibbs on page 7
Artist Iris van Herpen designs dresses that are so geometrically complex, they literally stand on their own — and her work has caught the eye of big name celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Now, van Herpen’s fashion artwork has found a temporary home at the Carnegie Museum of Art. CMOA’s “Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion” exhibition makes a statement in the realm of fashion, showcasing couture dresses with organic shapes and outlines. Van Herpen, 32, is the Dutch fashion designer behind the 15 eye-catching collections, most of which were inspired by some aspect of the world around her. Using unconventional materials and design mechanisms, such as 3-D printing, umbrella tines and lightbulb chains, van Herpen created the dresses and shoes in the exhibit with otherworldly appeal. The pieces on display appear to belong to a powerful queen, with geometrical-structured bodices, metallic tones and intricate details. The CMOA is the exhibit’s third stop on its North American tour, after its previous stop at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. The exhibit will remain at the CMOA until May 1. According to Alice Lieb — who has been a docent at CMOA for six years — van HerSee CMOA on page 10
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Gibbs, pg. 6 repping him the entire way. “Pinata” is a classic, and, as instantly classic albums often do, a whole new fanbase joined behind him. I was legitimately proud of a man I had never met because I knew how hard his grind had been. The arrest hit me hard on a personal level I didn’t expect — especially after seeing Gibbs in concert for the first time only a month beforehand. Gibbs has a criminal past he references without any trace of pride, but violence against women was not part of it. Though Gibbs’ music still references misogynistic tropes, his use of them falls on the lighter end of gangsta rap’s admittedly flawed standards. At the time of the arrest, he had just celebrated his daughter’s first birthday and recently proposed to her mother. His social media presence indicated he had fully settled into life as a family man, though most of that material has since disappeared as part of Gibbs’ postarrest reboot. As I heard more baseless speculation about the arrest, I found myself dangerously close to the thought pattern keeping so many sexual assault survivors silent and so much justice unserved:
“He just seems like such a good guy.” On some level, my fandom seemed like a type of evidence that Gibbs was innocent. I fully understood the possibility that he was guilty, but the allegations came so suddenly, so without warning, that it made them feel impossible. It didn’t help that I would go online and immediately see people talking in circles, concluding that there was no evidence of the assault happening. They made this conclusion even though no other information — other than his arrest — has even been released. The internet’s knee-jerk reaction was to either immediately support Gibbs or immediately retreat into the stereotypical “What do you ex-
pect from a former criminal?” stance. You’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but the reaction to Gibbs’ arrest was something more. It was rationalizing. It was denial. But most of all, it was silencing a sexual assault survivor by implying that she couldn’t possibly be telling the truth. That she couldn’t possibly have been assaulted by “a good guy.” Ult i mately, the Austr ian judge handling Gibbs’ case dismissed it for lack of evidence. Legally speaking, Gibbs is innocent. At the same time, I can’t dismiss the initial reaction of many of his fans, because this is a recurring problem in our culture — especially when it comes to hip-hop.
We too often accept a person’s artistry as compensation for personal failings.
Take Tupac Shakur as an example. It’s far from controversial to call Shakur one of the best rappers ever, if not the greatest. Shakur spent most of 1995 in jail for participating in an alleged sexual assault involving his entourage. Despite facing nearly five years in jail, he posted bail after nine months and released his classic double album “All Eyez on Me” the following February. It would eventually become one of just eight rap albums ever to go diamond. The sexual assault often gets left out of Shakur’s legend, notable only as background info, as the catalyst for his imprisonment and for his resurrection as the lyrical god of Gfunk. The same thing is happening now with the latest trap breakout, Kodak Black. If you expand focus to include any history of violence against women, the list becomes far too long to compile and includes even bigger names. In many of these situations, the male rapper gets a short jail sentence or none at all. He goes on to create an amazing piece of art, and we collectively agree to start focusing on that instead of the “old news.” We too often accept a person’s artistry as See Gibbs on page 8
The Pitt News SuDoku 4/6/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com
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April 6, 2017
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Gibbs, pg. 7 compensation for personal failings. A great discography may have improved upon or become the background music to your life — but that performer is still capable of ruining someone else’s life, and they may have already done so. As fans, we don’t truly know these rappers any better than we know their anonymous victims, but it can feel like we do. What we have to remember is that sexual assault, and misogyny in general, continues because people brush it off on a case-by-case basis. We take the tarnishing of one person’s reputation as an attack on the entire rap culture and, in defense of that culture, make baseless excuses for why one particular person couldn’t have possibly done “something like that.” The group of supposedly infallible people slowly grows until we finally become skeptical of any sexual assault allegation. Gibbs is, I think, innocent. I hope he was rightfully acquitted and if that’s the case, he shouldn’t have to spend his entire life answering for a false charge. But without evidence, I don’t really know whether that’s the case because I wasn’t in the courtroom. I certainly don’t know the situation well enough to claim that someone 4,000 miles away lied. How much I like Gibbs as a rapper is irrelevant to his guilt or innocence, as is the cuteness of Snapchat stories featuring him and his daughter. “You Only Live 2wice” is a solid Gibbs project with a very good second half. Artistically, the biggest knock against Gibbs’ performance might be that he hasn’t developed enough since his last album, 2015’s “Shadow of a Doubt.” Still, I’d be lying if I said I could listen to the album without constantly thinking of the sexual assault allegations. Gibbs just doesn’t affect me the same way he used to. But that’s probably how it should be.
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April 6, 2017
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Sports
upcoming
Pick up The Pitt News for a feature on softball standout Brittany Knight
softball
PANTHERS SNAP SAINT FRANCIS’ WIN STREAK IN 8-3 WIN Steve Rotstein Sports Editor
Returning from a humbling three-game sweep at the hands of the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles, the Pitt softball team got back on track Wednesday night. The Panthers (18-16) defeated the Saint Francis Red Flash (27-9) 8-3 in an extra-innings nonconference clash in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Pitt snapped Saint Francis’ 15-game winning streak thanks to a five-run outburst in the top of the ninth inning, but the win didn’t come easy for the Panthers, who left 15 runners on base over the course of the game. Pitt put runners on first and second in the top of the first inning and loaded the bases in the top of the second, but came away empty both times — setting a troubling trend for the team. The Panthers got the scoring started in the top of the third inning with an RBI double from first-year right fielder Alexee Haynes. First-year catcher Valerie Ortega got held up at third base, and Pitt stranded two more runners after a pop
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McKayla Taylor hit a home run in Pitt’s 8-3 extra inning win at St. Francis. Kyleen Considine STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
out by sophomore second baseman Alexis Solak. Sophomore third baseman Olivia Gray added onto the Panthers’ lead with a solo home run in the top of the fourth, her fourth homer of the season. Red Flash first baseman Madison Cabell responded with a solo homer of her own in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 2-1 game. First-year pitcher Brittany Knight tossed four solid innings for Pitt, giving up just one run on three hits and three walks while striking out three. The Panthers left two more runners on base in the top of the fifth, and head coach Holly Aprile turned to junior Kayla Harris to relieve Knight for the bottom of the fifth. Things got off to a bumpy start for Harris as she loaded the bases after a pair of walks and a throwing error by Gray. But Harris induced a pop out from designated hitter Taylor Hoover to escape the jam. After a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth for Harris, Pitt shortstop McKayla Taylor led off the top of the seventh with a solo home run to give the Panthers a two-run cushion.
Harris came back out to try to finish the job in the bottom of the seventh, but she issued a leadoff walk to second baseman Cheyenne McKee. That brought Saint Francis’ best player, Jordan Seneca, to the plate representing the tying run. Seneca, a junior shortstop from nearby Plum, Pennsylvania, has established herself as one of the very best players in the country this season. She ranked second in the NCAA with 15 home runs entering the game and third in the nation with 46 RBIs. None of those home runs were as clutch as the one she hit Wednesday, though. Seneca drove a two-run homer over the wall in right field to tie the game at three and give the Red Flash new life. Saint Francis then put runners on first and second with one out, but Pitt turned a double play to send the game to extra innings. The Panthers left a pair of runners on base in the top of the eighth, failing to bring home the go-ahead run. Harris then retired the side in order in the bottom half of the inning to keep
April 6, 2017
Pitt’s hopes alive, and the Panthers’ bats erupted in the top of the ninth. After a pop out by Taylor, Pitt got backto-back walks from junior center fielder Erin Hershman and Ortega. Hershman advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice by sophomore right fielder Taylor Myers. But the Panthers weren’t done. Gray got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring another run home, then senior first baseman Kaitlin Manuel delivered an RBI single to keep the line moving. Junior cleanup hitter Giorgiana Zeremenko reached on an error to score another, then Taylor absorbed a hit-bypitch to make it an 8-3 game. Hershman struck out looking with the bases still loaded to end the inning, but the damage was done. Harris sat the Red Flash down in the bottom of the ninth to seal Pitt’s 8-3 win. The Panthers will return to Vartabedian Field this weekend to host the Virginia Tech Hokies for a three-game ACC series. Game one is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, April 7.
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CMOA, pg. 6 pen’s first step in designing a dress is to ask the client if they will need to sit at all while wearing the dress. If they do, they might be out of luck — the rigid, hooped skirts and three-dimensional designs of some of van Herpen’s dresses make it impossible to sit without ruining the clothing. Each collection in the exhibit portrays a different vision van Herpen had in mind, representing components of the physical world or biological sciences, according to Rachel Delphia — the Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman curator of decorative arts and design at CMOA. “[Her inspiration may] be primary forces like magnetism and radiation,” Delphia said. “[Or] the idea of human-machine hybrids or what microorganisms look like through an electron microscope.” Delphia said van Herpen stands out in the world of fashion and also in the world of art because of her success in a historically male-populated industry. “Unfortunately, there still are not as many solo exhibitions about women as there are about men,” Delphia said. “So the opportu-
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nity to feature a women designer was really exciting.” The very first collection that visitors see when they enter the exhibition is called Refinery Smoke. It is made of a metal mesh and fades from a metallic grey into a rusty tone, with the metal mesh widely surrounding the bodice of the dress in a skirt. “Iris was drawn to, what she says, is ‘the duality of industrial smoke,’” Delphia said. “So the fact that it’s both beautiful and ethereal, we also know that it is toxic and dangerous — she was trying to create a line of garments that would evoke that.” The exhibit’s stop in Pittsburgh is particularly fitting with this industrial theme. Pittsburgh and the surrounding region has an extremely complex relationship with industry — after seeing both the rise and fall of the steel industry — which has sparked inspiration among artists for centuries, according to Delphia. “I think it is very fitting for Pittsburgh because of its art-science connection,” Delphia said. “That made it particularly interesting for this city and also for the Carnegie.” Sarah Schleuning, the curator of decorative arts and design at the High Museum of Art, worked directly with van Herpen to
shape the exhibit in Atlanta. Schleuning met with van Herpen, assisted her in selecting the works to be displayed, developed the content of the exhibition and wrote the labels and publications for the pieces. Throughout her time with van Herpen, Schleuning was particularly struck by the artist’s use of nontraditional materials. “You can really make anything out of anything,” Schleuning said. “If you can dream it, you can build it and you can make it.” Schleuning said it was an unusual opportunity to work with an artist who is alive today, as she often works with pieces by artists who are no longer living. In this case, Schleuning was able to hear van Herpen’s input, better understand her ideas and produce what van Herpen envisioned for this exhibition — an intersection of science, industry and art. “You have really incredible dialogues about how you see the work, how [the artist] see the work, and it’s really enjoyable.” Schleuning said. According to Schleuning, the curators wanted to portray van Herpen as more of a scientist and experimenter in this exhibit, which is largely different from traditional fashion.
April 6, 2017
The process to get this idea across properly and to get the exhibit up and running for the local presentation at the CMOA took about 12 to 15 months, according to Delphia. This time was spent adapting the collection pieces to CMOA’s galleries, preparing educational materials and planning associative programing. But, so far, the time investment has paid off. According to Media Relations Manager Jonathan Gaugler, the exhibit has been extremely popular thus far. Gaugler said there are about 1,000 visitors to the van Herpen exhibit per day — although he also said the average number of visitors varies widely for each individual exhibit. “That’s big,” Gaugler said in an email. “When you consider just how huge and complex our museum is and how much there is to see and do here.” CMOA does not have a textiles and fashion department, so the exhibit is the first of its kind at the CMOA, according to Delphia. “This exhibition is about much more than just gazing at beautiful ball gowns — not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Delphia said. “But I loved thinking about her creative process. She has an incredible, inquisitive mind.”
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