July 16, 2014

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS OPINIONS

NEWS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

Kitestring................................4 Soccer Hotties............10 Oakland Gardens.........14 Former Panthers.. . . .20 Summer Jobs..................4 Marriage Equality...10 Dragon of Sausage.....15 Pittsburgh Pirates.. . .20 Rush Miller.............................6 Israel’s Antiterrorism...11 Fireworks...................................16 Minor Leagues.. . . . . . . . . . . 21 Crowdfunding................6 Global Warming.......12 Roundtable...........................17

Ben Brownlee | Senior Staff Photographer Cover design by Sheldon Satenstein

Cover photo by Theo Schwarz

THE PITT NEWS

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NEWS

Kitestring: Let your friends know you got home safe Abbey Reighard Senior Staff Writer “Text me when you get home.”

We say this to the friend leaving the bar at 2 a.m. who lives on the other side of town, to the colleague who walks home alone after a late work night or to the significant other with a long commute.

Kitestring — a new text message-based safety service launched in February 2014 — may curb such worries of friends and families.

Kitestring users text the service the amount of time they expect to be out of the house. After the set amount of time, Kitestring sends a text message to check in with the user. If the user doesn’t respond after five minutes, Kitestring texts the user’s emergency contacts to notify them that something may be wrong.

Stephan Boyer, 23, came up with Kitestring last January when his girlfriend was walking home one night after work. Boyer’s girlfriend had asked him to text her later to make sure she arrived at her house safely.

“It occurred to me that there should be an app or service that can check up on you in situations like these,” Boyer said. “After all, not

everyone has a boyfriend they can rely on.”

Boyer, who graduated from MIT last June with a degree in computer science, said he launched Kitestring on February 4, 2014 — four days after he came up with the idea for the service.

Kitestring is available to download from the service’s website, www.kitestring.io. The service is free to users, although there are some plans with extra features such as unlimited trips and customizable check-in periods.

Boyer said he didn’t come up with the name “Kitestring” on his own. His friend helped him choose a name for the service during a brainstorming session.

“It resonated with me because kites convey a positive image and the string allows the kite to fly and feel free,” Boyer said. “But, at the end of the day, you can always reel it in and bring it home.”

As of the end of June 2014, 68,522 people have signed up for Kitestring, according to Boyer.

Kitestring servers currently use only text messages to communicate with users, but Boyer said he is thinking about adding email to the application, too, so users can have another

way of communication.

Kitestring users typically send messages to the application that give only the amount of time they will be out, but Boyer said he encourages users to customize their messages to Kitestring with information about where they’re going, who they’re going with and what to do in case of an emergency.

Kitestring users can also use code words or duress messages. Normally, users text back Kitestring “OK” or any other short response to let the application know they are home safe. If the users choose to, they can set a different term or code word to send to Kitestring so that no one else can check in with the app.

“If an assailant forces the user to enter their check-in password, the user would use their duress code instead,” Boyer said. “We encourage users to use both a check-in password and a duress code.”

Duress messages are texts to Kitestring that notifies Kitestring servers that the user is in trouble and needs their emergency contacts to be notified immediately.

Kitestring is currently only available in English and can only be used in the United States. However, Boyer said he would like to

expand the Kitestring target market to include the United Kingdom as well.

Boyer said he hopes Kitestring will help users to feel safer when they go out and don’t have anyone to check in on them, but added that he “didn’t want to scare people into using it.”

“I wanted to build something that people love and gives them peace of mind,” Boyer said.

Although Kitestring could help to ease minds, there are drawbacks.

Christopher Cullen, a former Pitt grad student, was nearly mugged on a Friday night in March 2011. He said a service like Kitestring, with its five-minute response time, may not have been as effective for him because the confrontation happened so quickly.

A junior liberal studies major at the time, Cullen, now 24, said he was only a few doors away from his apartment when one of the men lifted up his shirt to reveal a gun tucked in his pants. As the man lifted the gun a street lamp suddenly came on “and lit up the corner, bright as day.” The men fled.

“I stood there in complete shock,” Cullen said. “I was somehow more surprised that it

Kitestring

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Working retail isnʼt the only thing to do this summer Macie Ellis Staff Writer

Erin Ludlow couldn’t imagine spending her summer working in an office.

Instead, Ludlow, a sophomore marketing major, prefers to spend it working at a summer camp where she can spend her days helping kids, running around outside, playing games and working with her friends.

While many students spend their summers working at internships or typical summer jobs, such as food service or retail, some Pitt students use the extended break as time to gain experience in different types of jobs that provide benefits other than resumé building or money for monthly bills.

Internships and summer jobs help students attain skills like professional communications, technical experience and teamwork, Cheryl Finlay, director of the Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance, said.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of employed youth (ages 16

Senior Katie McMullen with her fellow counselors at YMCA Camp Onyahsa. Photo courtesy of Katie McMullen.

to 24) increased by nearly 12 percent from 2.1 million people to 19.7 million people between April and July 2013.

According to the report, the sharp increase in working youth is common during that time of year because students are finishing school and graduates are entering the workforce.

For students who prefer to stray away from internships and cash registers, there are many

other money-making options, such as working as a summer camp counselor, an organic farmer or an au pair in a foreign country.

Ludlow said she loves her job as a counselor in training at International Sports Training Camp in East Stroudsburg, Pa. Ludlow described ISTC as a “magical” place because she gets to have fun and help kids make lasting memories. She said she wouldn’t trade

her time there for anything.

“For me, every time I get to go to ISTC, it’s like a kid going to Disney World for the first time in their life,” Ludlow said.

Katie McMullen, a senior English writing major, also worked as a summer camp counselor at the YMCA Camp Onyahsa at Chautauqua Lake in western New York.

“I really love my job,” McMullen said. “I love it because it’s a real community you feel you are contributing to all the time. You get a sense of belonging.”

McMullen warned that while being a camp counselor sounds like fun, it is still a lot of work.

Besides taking care of a new group of kids every week, she also runs the rock wall at the camp — a huge responsibility because of its potential for danger.

“Don’t [be a counselor] if you are looking for a job where you can slack off, because that is not the way it is,” she said. “There was this big

Summer Jobs

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20 years at Hillman, librarian’s long career to end Aileen Ryan Staff Writer

Though “Club Hillman” is sometimes known as the finals week hot spot for students, one staff member has had his fill of the place.

After 20 years as Pitt’s library director, Rush Miller, 67, has decided that it is time to retire. Miller, who will finish his career at Pitt at the end of this year, worked at three other universities before coming to Pitt in July of 1994.

As the library director, Miller is responsible for the University Library System, which is made up of about 15 libraries, including regional campus libraries and Pitt’s main campus libraries.

During his two decades at Pitt, Miller worked to change many aspects of the ULS, which he said was quite “troubled” in the early years of his career. He said the library management worked in a traditional, hierarchical structure when he came to the position.

“I set out to make a more lean, mean

and efficient system,” Miller said.

He did — and his changes are still in place today.

One change to the system involved moving large collections of books — which had been growing since the Hillman Library was established in 1968 — to make more space in the library.

To make room, Miller organized the renovation in an off-campus warehouse on Thomas Boulevard in Point Breeze to store collections that weren’t used as frequently as others.

The space, vacated of the obscure collections, allowed the library to add more seating areas for students. The warehouse is still in use today, providing easy access to the less-popular collections students still occasionally request.

Mike Dabrishus, Assistant University Librarian, has worked with Miller for 12 years.

“It’s hard for me to believe it’s been that long, as the years have practically flown by,” Dabrishus said. “I take that as an extremely good sign.”

Miller always encouraged his staff to explore how the ULS can better position itself to respond to challenges, which Dabrishus said makes Miller a strong leader among major university library directors.

“Rush recognizes that change is very important in order for the library system to respond to the needs of students and faculty,” Dabrishus said. “And while change can sometimes be very challenging, it’s wonderful to be able to see the benefits.”

As technology advanced, Miller hired Ed Galloway in 2000 to head the Digital Research Library. Galloway was responsible for scanning and maintaining archives and special information, which are now available online to library users. The DRL, located in room 306 of 7500 Thomas Blvd. has scanners and other technology to allow students to “digitize” material from the archives.

“He gave me the necessary resources — human and equipment — to really get the DRL off the ground and become

a first-class digitization unit,” Galloway said. “He should be very proud of what he created and has sustained.”

Now, Galloway is the head of the Archives Service Center and no longer reports directly to Miller, but still views him as a boss, mentor and friend.

Miller said he realized that surveying students about their activities in the library was beneficial in making improvements. When presented with survey results, Miller brought forth improvements such as keeping the library open for 24 hours a day during the week, a common request from students, or serving coffee and food in the Cup and Chaucer cafe on the ground floor.

James Maher, who was provost at the time Miller began working at Pitt, worked closely with Miller from 1994 to 2010.

“I was very ambitious for our libraries and it was wonderful to have someone in his position who really knew how

Rush Miller

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Bye bye bake sale: raising money for the arts online Ilya Yashin Staff Writer Crowdfunding has been in the news for allowing a Columbus resident Zack Brown to collect thousands of dollars to make … a potato salad.

For others the goal is art, not a side dish.

With the help of friends and fans, dreams of producing a play, bringing a film script to life or putting together songs for an album can come true — within days.

Websites such as Kickstarter.com and Indiegogo.com work to connect artists with supporters who donate money for ventures in a practice known as crowdfunding. Crowdfunding has increased in popularity in the last few years and provides a way for artists, among others, to accomplish projects at a limited personal cost.

David Bubenheim, singer and guitarist in a Pittsburgh rock band Pet Clinic, had long been reluctant to ask people for financial support of his band’s work-in-progress album. His friends’ success and advice convinced him to use Kickstarter to raise money for the band’s first fulllength album, which is still untitled. Within 26

days, Pet Clinic had more than enough money to produce the album.

According to its website, in Kickstarter’s five years of existence, 6.5 million people from 224 countries have used it to contribute $1.1 billion to roughly 64,000 projects ranging from art, to journalism, to technology. Although similar websites exist, according to web traffic data provider Alexa.com, Kickstarter has the most visitors among its competitors and has been increasing in popularity every year. Indiegogo is the runner-up, with about one-third as much traffic, although other statistics are unavailable on its website.

Bubenheim, 24, estimated his band would need about $5,000, mostly for mixing and mastering music, and made his request on Kickstarter April 8. The band has already recorded seven songs for the album and it has more in the works. By May 5, 96 people had donated $5,406, 5 percent of which went to Kickstarter as a service fee.

Bubenheim said he likes crowdfunding because it breaks down the wall between the artist and the fans, allowing for a two-way relationship.

“In the fans’ minds, they don’t see us every day, so it’s like we don’t exist,” he said.

The Kickstarter campaign shows that artists exist — and need help.

Cole Egbert, a Pitt senior majoring in theater arts and English literature, said he thinks there are quicker ways to get money for art projects than crowdfunding, such as artistic grants and soliciting local businesses for donations in return for advertising, which he has used in the past. Crowdfunding brings the audience into the picture, unlike grants and trades.

“I like crowdfunding philosophically,” Egbert said. “[It] gives the audience a sense of purpose and power in the making of the work.

I like the idea that the show itself is being made by them, for them, that they are paying for it and, therefore, it is theirs to learn from and to experience.”

Egbert used Indiegogo to fund the production of his adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” which played beneath the Tufa Bridge near the cafe and visitor center in Schenley Park from July 2 to July 6. He said he’d needed about $600 for the production and received $1,265 from nine donors in about 17 days.

To some, crowdfunding provides more than just money. For Kayla Martine, a senior fiction writing major, crowdfunding shows that people trust your artistic desires.

“It’s a feeling of support even if they give you anything,” she said. “It’s like a statement, ‘I believe in you; I have faith in what you’re doing and in your dreams, and I want to be a part of that.’”

Martine used Kickstarter in June to raise funds for the production and promotion of her second short film, “Life as a Canvas.”

Though her goal was to raise $2,000, 46 people contributed a total of $2,310.

Martine chose Kickstarter because it’s a more popular website, but another decisive factor for worried artists choosing between Kickstarter and Indiegogo is often Kickstarter’s all-or-nothing policy: donors get all of their money back if the goal isn’t reached in time, which can be up to 60 days.

Because of the policy, Egbert chose Indiegogo. He had used Kickstarter in the past and decided that it would be better to make do with

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FROM PAGE 4

KITESTRING was over than that it had happened at all.”

When Cullen got to his apartment, he notified the Pittsburgh City Police about the incident and, the next morning, Cullen filed a report with the Pitt Police.

Guy Johnson, Pitt Police community relations officer, said Kitestring “could be beneficial” to students, but added that he doesn’t think students would consistently check in with the service.

“We’re talking about thousands of students, and not all of them are going to remember to check in,” Johnson said. “I know students have a lot on their minds.”

Johnson said if students don’t check in when they are supposed to and Pitt Police are listed as an emergency contact in students’ phones, Pitt Police could end up taking calls every time a student using Kitestring forgets to check in with the service.

“It would put us in a situation where we’d be like ‘how do we respond to all these calls?’”

Johnson said.

Johnson said students should take advantage of the resources provided by Pitt Police, such as the informational safety packets distributed to students during freshman orientation.

Johnson also recommended that students always try to walk home with a friend but, if that isn’t possible, he added that students should FROM PAGE 4

SUMMER JOBS camp movie craze where you would see this fun, luxurious lifestyle, but that is not what it is ... it’s still fun, but you can’t work at it half-assedly.”

Ludlow also had a warning for interested camp counselors.

“Don’t take being a camp counselor lightly, especially if it is at an overnight camp — it is a 24/7 job,” Ludlow said.

Ludlow and McMullen said they’re not in the job for the money, but for the experience.

The mean hourly wage for a camp counselor in 2012 was $10.70, according to Careerbuilder. com, a website that compiles job listings and offers career advice.

“I was fully aware that I could find a better paying job or some internship,” Ludlow said.

“But, honestly, I love camp too much.”

For McMullen, the devotion has paid off and helped in her future endeavours.

McMullen said the time she spent at Camp Onyahsa helped prepare her for her new job at

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

take the Pitt shuttles or call Safe Rider.

“At no point should students be walking home alone late at night if they think they can’t get back home safely,” Johnson said.

Rachel Gartz, a junior majoring in rehabilitation science, had never heard of Kitestring, but said she might have used the service when she went out with new people if she had known about it.

“I could see where [Kitestring] would have been helpful then,” Gartz said.

Gartz said there were times when she went out on dates and felt uncomfortable. A service like Kitestring could have helped her to feel safer, though she pointed out that the service might not work for her because she doesn’t always remember to check her phone.

“For me, I think [Kitestring] could be more of an issue because I might forget to check my phone and then I would just freak my friends and family out,” Gartz said.

Cullen agreed. “[Kitestring] runs the risk of accidentally calling someone’s parents or the police because their child innocuously fell asleep early or unexpectedly decided to go home with someone they met at a party,” Cullen said.

Cullen also added that he thinks Kitestring’s effectiveness is probably mostly dependent on the student using the service.

“I believe a dedicated user of Kitestring could help their concerned friends or anxious parents to breath a sigh of relief several times each week,” Cullen said.

Teach for America, a non-profit organization that aims to eliminate educational inequality, where she will start teaching in the spring of 2015.

Other students see the summer as a chance to travel abroad without having to worry about classes and homework.

Morgan Walbert, a 2014 Pitt graduate with degrees in political science and history, spent the summer of 2011 after her freshman year working at Moulin de Braux, an organic farm in rural France.

Walbert heard about the opportunity through a friend who worked on the same farm the previous summer. She connected with the farm through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms — an organization that connects organic farms around the world with volunteers.

As of 2010, WWOOF had 11,899 hosts farms and 80,014 volunteers.

Walbert said the fieldwork she did on the

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SUMMER JOBS

farm varied daily.

“I would work in the field from 8 until around 2, when we broke for lunch,” Walbert said. “Some days, we would plant thousands of onions. Others, we would harvest spinach and beans or prepare produce for the weekend markets.”

Walbert described her experience on the farm as demanding but interesting and, although the work was hard, it was extremely rewarding.

“I would definitely encourage people to

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

consider this experience. It’s extremely unique and not many people have the courage to put themselves out there in such an unfamiliar situation,” Walbert said.

Nahja Martin, a 2014 Pitt graduate in political science, also had an international summer job experience.

Martin, a 2014 Pitt graduate with a degree in political science, was an au pair in Valencia, Spain, for three months the summer after her junior year. An au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country who helps with housework and child care in exchange for room and board. Martin found her host family through aupairworld.net, a website that connects host

families and au pairs.

Aside from the challenges of living abroad with a family she met only recently, Martin said building a connection with the family’s 4-year-old daughter improved her experience.

“It’s taught me so much about myself that I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else,” Martin said.

Spending summers in jobs that take you out of your comfort zone can look good on a résumé, as well as strengthen a person’s character.

Finlay said that students interested in child psychology or teaching could gain meaningful experience working as camp counselors and that working on a farm could benefit environ-

mental studies majors.

Experience related to students’ prospective career fields should be the primary goal, Finlay said.

“It should be every Pitt student’s goal to have at least one experience related to their field in order to be considered a competitive candidate for full-time positions,” Finlay said in an email.

Walbert said she hopes to eventually work in international relations, so her work on the organic farm is indispensable in her prospective field.

“Immersing myself totally in a foreign culture and language is definitely an experience that you can’t get at an internship or summer job in the States,” Walbert said.

Walbert said she mentions the foreign culture and language aspect of working on the farm in France during job interviews. She said that spending four weeks alone in a foreign country shows independence and a willingness to try new things.

As an au pair, Martin learned how to deal with setbacks in a professional environment.

She also became nearly fluent in Spanish.

“I had been learning Spanish since sixth grade at that point and still wasn’t exactly fluent.

I’ve come out of that experience with a much better grasp of Spanish and can speak fluently with just about anyone,” she said.

Ludlow also learned many professional skills working as a CIT, including responsibility, teamwork, leadership, communication skills, patience, creativity and how to make a killer friendship bracelet.

Meghan Dashe, marketing director for ISTC, said the staff learns a lot of different skills during the summer such as team building, problem solving and communication with adults of all backgrounds.

Dashe said she believes that working at a summer camp prepares staff members for a career later in life.

“It teaches you how to be responsible for not only yourself, but for other people too,” Dashe said. “The summer camp mentality is incomparable to any other out there. I can assure you that the camp mentality will carry over into any post-camp career.”

Like Ludlow and Walbert, McMullen said she learned many professional skills — customer service, time management and work ethic — throughout her time at her summer camp position.

“People criticize me for not being career-oriented,” McMullen said. “I’ve worked a variety of different jobs and I don’t think there is another job where you learn so much in so little time.”

FROM PAGE 6

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

FROM PAGE 6

RUSH MILLER CROWDFUND to get our library where I wanted it to be,” Maher said. “The main improvement while Rush was here was reorganizing the library with the No. 1 and overwhelming most important criteria, which was what the customers needed.”

Miller said he will leave Pitt with great reluctance, but feels that it is time to retire and let someone younger contribute new ideas.

“The best part about retiring now is that people aren’t asking me to,” said Miller. “You don’t want to leave when you’re in the way of progress. You want to leave when you’re still being innovative.”

Miller and his wife have lived in Pittsburgh during his 20 years at Pitt, but he is originally from Mississippi, where the rest of his family now awaits their return.

“You know it’s time to leave when you have things drawing you away,” Miller said.

Miller said he is happy to be retiring and returning home while he is still in good health and can enjoy himself and spend time with his wife and family, especially his 2-year-old grandson.

The University hasn’t yet decided on a replacement to fill Miller’s position.

When looking back on his 20-year stay, Miller is most proud of accomplishing a change in the culture of the library.

“Culture is essentially the ambiance and how people work and relate to one another,” Miller said. “It is a very time-consuming, difficult, lengthy process but the thing I’m most proud of is that the people working here are in a happier, healthier, more collegiate environment.”

not enough money than to have to scratch the entire project if donors didn’t meet his goal.

Bubenheim chose Kickstarter because of its all-or-nothing policy. He said he didn’t want to compromise his album’s quality because of insufficient funds.

Two days before their goal time, Bubenheim and his band members had only received half the amount of money they needed. But within 48 hours, they received more money than they had in the preceding month.

This would not have happened, he said, had they been allowed to keep their money without reaching the goal — another reason he likes the policy. The fear that the band would receive nothing sparked people to donate money in the last two days.

Though the difference in policies may not be the only factor, numbers tell a similar story: According to a 2013 analysis by news and media network The Verge, only 9 percent of projects on Indiegogo reached their goal, versus 44 percent on Kickstarter.

The question of money and success aside, there are other issues to consider before using crowdfunding.

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Bubenheim, for example, said that he would not use crowdfunding to fund the band’s second album. He believes bands should resort to crowdfunding only for their first costly endeavor.

“If there isn’t an upward, progressive movement, you have to rethink what you’re doing,” he said.

Because of the audience’s crucial role in his work, Egbert said that there is also a question of morality artists must consider.

“If it’s just work you’re making for yourself or work that is important to you and not because of anyone else, then I think that crowdfunding is selfish,” he said.

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EDITORIAL

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

OPINIONS COLUMN

Do we judge athletes unfairly on sex appeal?

Germany celebrates their recent win at the World Cup. MCT Campus

The World Cup has brought us a lot of fodder for discussion this summer: A bite from Luis Suarez that will live in infamy, a new U.S. Secretary of Defense in Tim Howard and a plethora of GIFs of Brazilian soccer fans sobbing.

But Buzzfeed, along with the rest of the Internet, managed to capture the public’s primary World Cup fascination: the male form. Stories such as “The most bootyful butts” and “The definitive ranking of the best bulges,” cropped up during the weeks of matches.

This obsession with the body is not necessarily new to men’s soccer — billboards of David Beckham in tight underwear could be found hanging everywhere prior to this year’s World Cup. But such fixations provide a noticeable contrast between what is considered important in both men’s and women’s sports.

These listicles demonstrate that audiences enjoy judging male athletes on looks just as much as they enjoy judging female athletes on looks. But for the men, the final product always remains on the field. Their talent is rarely overshadowed by how attractive they are — something that occurs all too often for female athletes.

Because they are known more for their talent, lists that objectify male soccer players did not prompt the outcry that an article on “The best butts in beach volleyball” would have. The soccer players were sexually ob-

jectified, sure, but Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are also known for being some of the best players in the game.

As Slate Magazine staff writer Amanda Hess wrote, “When it comes to coverage of male soccer, sexual objectification is the icing, not the cake.”

Unlike their male counterparts, the talents of female athletes often end up as the icing on a cake of pervasive sexual ogling perpetrated by the media.

Financially successful female athletes must back up their talents with sex appeal, as demonstrated by the countless ads that portray them as models first and athletes second.

Perhaps that’s why FIFA President Sepp Blatter thinks women’s soccer would be more popular if the players wore “tighter shorts.”

Maybe he’s right, but female athletes do not deserve to have their hard work and dedication compromised by what the media deems to be attractive. Women’s sports should not have to cater to a market that doesn’t appreciate the game itself.

Beckham, Messi and Ronaldo have been judged based on their physical qualities by the media, but that never undermines the respect people have for their abilities on the field.

If sports really are supposed to be a meritocracy, then we must change the way we view them — for the sake of women who work just as hard on the field as men do.

The summer of love in PA: Let it spread Danielle Dyal For The Pitt News

The court ruling in Harrisburg on May 20, which struck down the law barring same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania, marked this summer as the summer of undiscriminated love in Pennsylvania.

Federal Judge John E. Jones declared Pennsylvania’s former same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. The exact ruling bans Pennsylvania authorities from withholding marriage licenses from same-sex couples.

Jones wrote on the effects in his ruling: “Same-sex couples who seek to marry in Pennsylvania may do so and already married same-sex couples will be recognized as such in the Commonwealth.”

Jones overturned Pennsylvania’s “Defense of Marriage Act.” DOMA prevents the recognition of same-sex marriages by the federal government and defines marriage as “the legal union between one man and one woman.”

Apart from recognition, the act also denies same-sex couples the tax and Social Security benefits received by people in heterosexual marriages. Congress passed DOMA — which should have been titled “Defense of Inequality Act” — in 1996 and it was signed by President Bill Clinton.

Eighteen years later, Pennsylvania joined 19 other states and the District of Columbia to rightfully and officially reject DOMA. Though commendation for the legislatures of these 19 states is warranted, it is more important that we continue to place pressure on the 31 states where gay marriage is still not permitted by law.

In several of these states, such as Oklahoma, Virginia and Michigan, federal judges have declared the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, but they did not pursue prosecution of the ban, leaving actions toward the ban’s revocation suspended and the bans against same-sex marriages in these states intact.

This still has consequences for samesex couples living elsewhere — Section 2 of DOMA details that participants in a legal

same-sex marriage in a state where the act has been overturned will not have their marriage recognized in a state where DOMA is still considered valid.

But hope is swelling with headlines often announcing that another state has legalized same-sex marriage. The upswing for the equality movement is linked to the Supreme Court case of Windsor v. United States on June 26, 2013, where the verdict declared DOMA unconstitutional.

The defendant was Edie Windsor, who sued the federal government for its denial of her marriage to Thea Spyer. Spyer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Windsor, her partner of 44 years and wife of two years, supported Spyer through her battle until her death in 2009.

Spyer left her property to Windsor but the refusal of the federal government to acknowledge same-sex marriage would have forced Windsor to pay more than $360,000 in estate taxes — a price she would not have owed if her marriage had been recognized.

It has been a year since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Windsor and, this summer, its impact finally hit Pennsylvania. Support for same-sex couples is manifested in the term pride and it has never seemed so fitting.

We should be proud — proud of our state and the 18 others that have realized civil unions are not enough, proud of the same-sex couples who refuse to stop fighting for their right to be in love and proud of this country for getting its act together in the name of equality.

It has been said before and will be said until equal rights are finally guaranteed around the world — the fight for marriage equality is reminiscent of the 1950s when separate but equal was supposed to be enough. Sexuality and race are not the same, but the word equality does not waver in definition. Each and every individual in all 50 states deserves equality.

Love is in the air in Pennsylvania this summer — here’s to love being in the air regardless of state boundaries before the next.

Write to Danielle at dnd20@pitt.edu

COLUMN

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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Israel’s anti-terrorism policies counterproductive Nick Voutsinos Opinions Editor

It started with three missing Israeli boys: Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer — both 16 years old — and Eyal Yifrach, 19.

It ended with their deaths — the young men were kidnapped and then spitefully murdered in the Gaza Strip simply for committing the crime of being Israeli.

Eleven days later, more than 100 people from the Gaza Strip were dead and 600 were injured, most of them civilians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Why? Guilty by association, it seems.

It must be terrifying to know that you can die at any moment for superficial reasons, but that is the nature of politics based on the dogma of “eye for an eye” — one that results in a never-ending cycle of violence.

In this real-life scenario, the deadly game involves two players: The Israeli government and Hamas, the largest of several Palestinian militant Islamist groups that govern the Gaza Strip.

Since the murder of the innocent Israeli

Israeli rocket attack results in destroyed building in Gaza.

boys and the disturbingly similar murder of the 17-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Abu Khdair, the two sides have been exchanging non-stop missile fire and Israel has moved a sizable amount of its forces toward the Gaza Strip in preparation for invasion. Both sides’ actions have killed any progress made in 20 years of PalestinianIsraeli negotiations.

The emotional reactions were, at first,

natural, but were they rational? If we believe that each side wants, mainly, to protect its citizens and prevent acts like the kidnappings that refueled the conflict, then no, it’s far from rational.

Fighting violence with more violence will only exacerbate the magnitude and the intensity of the problems.

Israel has failed to realize this. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by

the Israeli government — understandable, considering that the group, according to its charter, is committed to the destruction of Israel.

Despite launching vast military campaigns in the Gaza Strip since 2008 in efforts to eliminate the organization, Israel was unable to prevent Hamas’ prominence from growing.

In fact, its political power has remained unscathed. Hamas was the first militant Islamist group in the Arab world to gain power democratically, thus, becoming legitimate in the eyes of many Palestinians.

This begs the question: how has such an extreme agenda resonated with Palestinian voters?

Considering that ordinary Palestinians continue to bear the brunt of Israeli retaliation, perhaps we should expect hate-filled extremism. Take Israel’s occupation of Palestine, for instance. The occupation has dramatically decreased the quality of life for Palestinians — violent resistance may

Voutsinos

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Summer’s getting hotter, but there’s no need to freak out Eli Talbert Columnist

Summer: a time of grilled meats, baseball and, of course, the heat.

The Fourth of July wouldn’t be the same if it was 20 degrees outside with 30 mph winds. But as temperatures rise slowly and surely in the United States, those of us frolicking in the sun are left wondering how much time it will take for liberals to start harping on climate change again.

Sure, the past year has displayed some extremely unusual changes in weather patterns, including the worst winter for the east in decades and a multi-state drought that has engulfed California.

But it’s a bit of a buzzkill to discuss climate change. After all, a drought and a polar vortex aren’t nearly as pertinent as that 50foot wave I saw in 2012. Trust me, we won’t have to actually worry about climate change until it’s staring us in the face — but even then it might be a hoax. You never know.

Climate change is a suspicious concept.

It just doesn’t seem plausible that humankind can change the weather. We can travel faster than the speed of sound, communicate with anyone in the world instantaneously and even split atoms, but the idea of inadvertently changing the climate is just silly.

Yes, I am aware that — according to NASA — there is a so-called “consensus” among 97 percent of climatologists who disagree with my position. But you have to ask yourself, do you really trust NASA? Who do you think would be in charge of moving to Mars if the Earth became uninhabitable?

Clearly they have ulterior motives in mind.

Unsurprisingly, some people will automatically ask what could cause temperatures to rise at their current rate other than human activity.

The answer is what it has always been: nature.

The Earth’s climate has changed periodically in the past — in fact, it was quite warm during the medieval period, though, the exact temperature and prevalence is

actually quite murky. Regardless, meteorologists can barely tell the weather a week from now. It’s just too complicated. A 40 percent jump in carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution can’t possibly trap heat and warm the Earth. Such an explanation is too simplistic for a complicated system like the climate.

Remember, climate change is just a theory, like gravity. There are other plausible explanations for both phenomena.

Even if climate change is true, it doesn’t actually matter if Earth gets warmer. Sure, organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, the American Medical Association and the National Academy of Sciences predict that it will result in some bad stuff — longer heat waves, more droughts, more floods, wildfires, rising sea levels, serious health effects, disruptions in the food supply and the destruction of plant life.

But people make mistakes. No one knows what our future truly holds.

What is certain is that “going green” would negatively affect our economy. How

TPN

could we deal with energy costs increasing during the time it takes to for new green technology to fully develop? Just think of how long it took for cell phones to evolve.

The certain pain of going green will far outweigh mere doomsday conjecture — like the prediction made in a recently released, non-partisan report by the Risky Business project, which projected more than 60 billion dollars in costs resulting from coastal flooding and the effects of extreme heat. Even in the unlikely event that climate change is not a hoax, I’m confident future generations will be able to deal with it — thanks to our prestigious education system, of course.

With that in mind, we should turn our attention to the motivations of the climate alarmists. The supposed effects of climate change are not severe enough to warrant their paranoia. For instance, Florida is not necessarily an essential state — think of all the old people who live there, wasting Social

Talbert

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

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VOUTSINOS

be seen as the only alternative in their eyes.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development found, in 2011, that because of Israel’s “restrictions on movement, faltering aid flows, a paralyzed private sector and a chronic fiscal crisis … One in two Palestinians is classified as poor.”

The conference’s report said the impact of the Israeli occupation on the productive base of the Palestinian economy since 1968 “has been devastating.” Former lands used FROM PAGE 12

TALBERT Security money — and droughts teach our citizens personal responsibility skills.

There must be a seedier motive for these heat wave haters.

Coincidentally, in 2013, the federal government spent roughly $1.4 billion on NASA’s climate change research program while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received $300 million.

These organizations that compile data used as “proof” of climate change definitely have profit incentives in mind.

There can be no doubt that climate change is just another political Frisbee used by the far left to propel their scheme to enrich windmill manufacturers and makers of electric cars. Climate change is a myth made by business-savvy scientists and liberals trying to ruin your summer for their profit.

So next time you hear President Obama or Al Gore try to blame humans for the weather, laugh a bit at anyone foolish enough to fall for their Ponzi scheme and take a ride in your 15 mpg truck with your windows down and your AC on.

Write to Eli at ejt26@pitt.edu

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

for agriculture by Palestinians have been taken over by Israeli settlers in recent years and 85 percent of fishery resources were inaccessible to those living in the Gaza Strip due to a persistent land and sea blockade

by Israel, according to the report.

Of course, that doesn’t make the violence Hamas commits right. But it does give the group justification to promote its agenda to the Palestinian people.

Israel ignores this and, instead, continues to attack the problem on its face rather than at its source. Recent events exemplify this — originally following the murders of the Israeli teenagers, Israel initiated a

policy of destroying the homes of the men suspected of these killings — before ever finding them guilty.

Such action has inevitably led to full-on bombardment from both sides, resulting in the deaths of many innocent civilians.

When innocent civilians die, especially children, it is hard to keep a level head.

But, for the sake of future lives, emotions must be checked when it comes to policy.

If Israel had been patient and pursued only those responsible for the original crime, rather than jumping to rash conclusions, then perhaps the violence would have never escalated to its current point.

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Unfortunately, the collective form of punishment Israel has decided to dish out has led to an atmosphere of hate and violence worse than either side has seen in years, thus, fueling Hamas’ cause and conviction.

There is little indication that the conflict will soon be resolved.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to foreign pleas for peace, “No international pressure will prevent us from acting with all power.”

The cycle of violence will repeat itself.

And when “justice” equates to a life for a life, no one wins.

Write to Nick at njv10@pitt.edu

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Plant to Plate, which began as a class project, donates the entirety of its produce to the Oakland Community Food Pantry. Christine Lim | Staff Photographer

Plant to Plate an urban garden ‘oasis’ for Oakland, Pittsburgh Stephanie Roman Staff Writer Eleanora Kaloyeropoulou crouched by the wooden planter box picking beets and kale.

While this sounds like a scene from a rural or suburban landscape, she harvests these vegetables from a lot on Oakland Avenue.

Kaloyeropoulou, a Pitt junior majoring in Africana studies and history, is co-president of the student organization Plant to Plate, which runs Oakland Gardens, a patch of greenery owned by the University. The organization grows all manner of plants, including fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs in addition to making its own compost.

Originally the project of a class on sustainable agriculture in the Honors College, Oakland Gardens exists as the result of efforts by many students since its conception in 2007.

For about seven years, Oakland Gardens has donated the entirety of its produce to the Oakland Community Food Pantry located on Lawn Street, which is managed by Community Human Services. The Oakland Community Food Pantry partnered with the University of

Pittsburgh and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in 2009.

The Oakland Community Food Pantry caters to people in Oakland who meet the poverty guidelines. It also supplies resources, programs and support to the homeless and those with mental health disorders.

Plant to Plate harvests every Wednesday evening and takes its produce to the food bank as part of its weekly meetings. Unlike rural farming, urban gardening has the advantage of being in the same vicinity as its consumers.

Last year, Plant to Plate donated 300 pounds of tomatoes alone to the food bank.

Additionally, the garden has always been pesticide free and 100 percent organic. Because it was developed in the name of sustainability, Plant to Plate and the engineering students try to improve the garden consistently and keep its resources renewable.

As Kaloyeropoulou pulled onions from the planter boxes, vice president Sarah Kenney was nearly indiscernible as she picked raspberries from the towering patch in the center of the garden. The raspberries and strawberries Kenney gathers are placed in plastic bins that are

then transported to the food bank.

“They’re ripe when they nearly fall of the stem,” Kenney, said, as she tasted a raspberry.

Though the garden focuses mainly on yielding food, it isn’t devoid of more aesthetic plants. A plot of sunflowers sprouts next to the greenhouse, reaching heights of several feet.

Golden-orange blossoms of nasturtiums — a variety of edible flower with a spicy taste — grow in the planter boxes. Although the flowers don’t serve the same purpose, they add some color to the rows of green foods.

Some flowers function differently. The urban location means that herbivores, including rabbits, squirrels and deer, are less common but Kaloyeropoulou and Kenney said that marigolds are natural deterrents for those kinds of animals. Pigeons occasionally snack on fruits from the garden, but Oakland Gardens’ most notorious predator is a local cat named Pawsta who likes to dig holes.

Initially, constructing compost beds and developing the compost proved to be difficult.

Kenney, a junior studying biology, religious studies and fine arts, said the compost could still “use some love,” but Plant to Plate has im-

proved it greatly. It’s made and maintained by the students and they’ve created two tumblers of fresh compost high in nitrogen to be used for leafy green plants like lettuce, cabbage and kale. Another kind of compost, vermicompost, utilizes worms to endow the soil with lots of nutrients.

Kaloyeropoulou said “none of [the Plant to Plate members] are experts on everything,” so the garden has been a project of the masses.

Organizations like Grow Pittsburgh, which is heavily invested in urban farming, advises Plant to Plate on the best means of management. Plant to Plate also receives feedback from Oakland Community Food Pantry and funding from the Student Government Board.

Many of Oakland Gardens’ features are the products of engineering students and the projects from the Honors College’s sustainable agriculture class.

“Gardening is really dependent on improving its engineering,” said Troy Salvatore, a Pitt junior majoring in civil and environmental engineering and Oakland Gardens’ main engi-

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

ʻDragon of Sausageʼ updates ʻUbu Roiʼ with darker humor Sam Bojarski Staff Writer

When Alfred Jarry’s classic play “Ubu Roi” first premiered in France in 1896, it was something of a “Colbert Report” of its time. But instead of laughing, theatergoers staged riots in response to its taboo political satire.

Alarum Theatre founders Shannon Knapp and Jordan Matthew Walsh, along with company member and co-writer Connor Pickett — all 2013 Pitt graduates — are not expecting riots at their performances of “Dragon of Sausage: Truly Ubu Krisis,” a retooled version of “Ubu Roi” on July 18 through 20 and 24 through 26.

After all, the audience at Alarum Theatre productions is almost exclusively made up of 20- to 26-year-olds who are much more exposed to daring political satire than the French were in 1896.

The term “pataphysics,” or the science of imaginary laws that go beyond the realm of metaphysics, was introduced by the 19th century playwright Jarry. “Ubu Roi,” Jarry’s controversial 1896 production, was the French writer’s fusion of pataphysics with edgy political commentary.

“In Jarry’s work, reality is an intellectual construct and not fact,” Walsh said.

“The way Jarry writes about it, pataphysics is the science of the imagination.”

Alarum’s take on the play consists of various stories from those who lived under the tyranny of the one and only Ubu, who also appears onstage. Loaded with political satire and physical humor, “Dragon of Sausage” is hilariously violent — a seemingly impossible pairing. But in the context of Jarry’s work, the impossible does not exist.

A prime example of such a contradiction in Ubu Roi comes when Ubu is killed, and appears again in the next scene as if nothing ever happened.

“The weird logic of [ Jarry’s] original work is that if you use your imagination, that is possible,” Walsh said.

Knapp and Walsh want theatergoers to see a reality completely divorced from that of conventional theater in their upcoming performance. When they founded

the company in March 2013, they had no interest in following the established settings, modes and constructs of modern theater.

“We have really big, broad theoretical ideas of what the theater should do, and we don’t see that the theater does those things. So we wanted to do it ourselves rather than work within the establishment that already exists,” Knapp said.

“Due to our worldly commitments, it is easier to exist in a way that is numb. So the first thing we want to do is wake you up.”

The founders and co-writer stressed that an Alarum production should expand the depth of feelings and emotions in ways that conventional theater cannot.

“The goal for every Alarum show is not to make you feel a specific thing, but to be so in touch that you feel in a boundless way,” Pickett said.

Alarum performances strive to be distinctly original, since the company rarely performs on a traditional stage.

Past productions have occurred under bridges, on street corners and in abandoned warehouses. So far in its 2014 season, which began in April, Alarum has performed “Slowly, Saudade: a senseplay” and “Iphigenia and Other Daughters.”

Many of the productions Alarum has staged in its short history have never been seen before in Pittsburgh. “Dragons of Sausage” is an exception — but you’ll never see an Alarum play that sticks to the original playwright’s script.

“If we ever did a Shakespeare play, we would do our take on a particular concept of the play,” Knapp said.

Alarum’s conceptual take on “Ubu Roi” involves eight actors playing the part of a Polish refugee group whose members are living witnesses to the tyranny of King Ubu. The actors’ names have been withheld from the public, because the characters they play are constantly hiding from potential agents of Ubuism in America.

The actors play a refugee troupe called Polska Wolny dla Doskanatych Jutra (Free Poland for Perfect Tomorrows) and will tell their tragic, yet excessively sarcastic, stories of oppression onstage. The

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Boom clap: Fireworks and Bay provide similarly dumb thrills Shawn Cooke A&E Editor

As I left a recent Pirates game, there were loud bangs, explosions of flames and a new Charli XCX song playing in the background. My personal hell wasn’t fuelled by chaotic riots responding to a 7-1 loss — the Pirates defeated the Mets, 5-2 — but simply a routine production of the postgame Skyblast fireworks show.

My discomfort wasn’t triggered by this particular show — it was a lovely display — but from years and years of a certain summer staple slowly growing tiresome.

As the explosions boomed and clapped in rapid succession, another summer staple was introduced to thousands of theaters across America: a new Michael Bay actioner. “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” Bay’s latest exercise in bankrolling mass destruction, was likely wrapping up its Thursday night preview screenings (the movie’s a mammoth two hours and 45 minutes long) just as Skyblast was underway.

Though I haven’t seen the latest robot romp, Bay’s “Transformers” series has maintained its reputation as a visually stunning summer popcorn spectacle with all the depth of a Chevy commercial. No matter how badly the movies

Michael Bay films take a critical bludgeoning, but aren’t much more offensive than fireworks.

are critically panned (“Age of Extinction” sits at 17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 32 percent on Metacritic as of this writing), audiences still flock to the multiplex en masse because it’s one of the few contemporary releases that still has “You have to see it on the big screen” appeal.

Despite the series’ vast commercial success, most “high-minded” filmgoers — or even those who consider a Christopher Nolan blockbuster high art — thumb their noses at Bay’s movies.

Chances are that many of the same people who snub Bay’s films enjoyed some explosions in the sky this past Fourth of July. But both wildly popular summer phenomena are

driven by a rotating cast of gorgeous eye candy, mind-numbingly loud noises and next to nothing in the way of meaningful themes and plot development.

One of these cultural touchstones is widely enjoyed by almost the entire American public while the other is thought to be reserved for just nostalgic old fanboys, young action-figure consumers (They do still sell those, right?) and tween boys about to catapult into puberty, thanks to a smokin’ hot female plot device — the cheerleader who mainly serves as rescue bait for our human and robot heroes.

Sure, fireworks may be more about the shared experience with loved ones — sheep-

ishly reaching for your crush’s hand, watching your children dance to the eccentric rhythms and going for that kiss when the finale goes “boom.” But do you really need to watch stuff blow up for that catharsis?

The artificial bombs bursting in air date back to 7th century China where they were used as a means of cultural entertainment, before people found a utilitarian military purpose for them. In 1747, Amédée-François Frézier reintroduced fireworks as a recreational mainstay in his work “Traité des feux d’artice pour le spectacle,” translated as “Treatise on

Fireworks

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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The Talkbox dissects Nickelodeon pop star Ariana Grande The A&E Staff Mostly so The Talkbox doesn’t come across as a club of jaded and uptight “hipster youth,” we’ll be discussing one of our favorite Top 40 artists of the summer who wouldn’t make it anywhere near a college radio rotation.

Shawn Cooke: One of the most interesting artists in mainstream pop right now is the Nickelodeon star turned “miniMariah,” Ariana Grande. Dan, I know we both share a common admiration for “Problem,” but what do you make of her just-released second single “Break Free?”

Dan Willis: “Problem” is a wonderful song. The thing about good Top 40 music is that as long as you don’t do absolutely everything by the books, you can make a seriously great song. Most of the best pop songs from the past few years contain about one or two left hooks — unless you’re Beyoncé and your music consists exclusively of left hooks. I’d say the two eccentricities that make “Problem” so wonderful are the huge, bombastic saxo-

Grande has released one excellent single and one ho-hum single leading up to her new album, My Everything.

phone hook and the way the pre-chorus builds tension so elegantly and then releases it, not by attempting to get any louder, but by breaking things down to a delightfully quiet whisper of a chorus.

Also, it’s got a positively fiery verse from Iggy Azalea, which is never a bad thing.

And I get the feeling that those quirks are

already becoming tropes. Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty” and “Wiggle” respectively use saxophones and minimalist choruses in very similar ways.

But I was not as impressed with “Break Free.” It’s cool that the song is being billed as Grande feat. Zedd and that producers are finally getting some credit, but this is

neither of their best work. Zedd plays it safe with an EDM instrumental that has none of the affective melody of his megahit “Clarity.”

Because Grande is the only vocalist, her desperate coquettishness is missing the overconfident foil she had in Iggy Azalea and Big Sean on “Problem.” Her voice, while capable, has yet to shed the shrillness of adolescence and it gets a little grating by the end of the song. There’s no relief — it’s got too much Ariana Grande for its own good. I get the feeling that we’re still riding high on the euphoria of “Problem” and the preposterousness of her trajectory from “Sam & Cat” cast member to Pitchfork Best New Track-laureate and we’re being a little too forgiving of “Break Free.”

SC: I don’t know that I’m as charmed by Iggy’s empty boasts, but I also can’t say I’m sold on “Break Free,” either. When Pitchfork’s Larry Fitzmaurice dubbed it as her “boldest song yet,” it was something of a

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GARDENS

neering consultant. “Pretty much everything here [at the Garden] is one of the Honors College projects.”

Salvatore pointed out Oakland Gardens’ planter boxes, painted fence, grape trellis, greenhouse and compost beds as examples.

Kaloyeropoulou said that engineering students also designed the watering system for the field.

She said she hopes the next step will be a fully irrigated garden.

Salvatore brandished a shovel and worked on filling in the holes Pawsta dug. He is the

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

president of Engineers for a Sustainable World, another Pitt student organization, and takes his role very seriously. “[Plant to Plate’s members have] to work together to be sustainable,” he said.

Currently, Plant to Plate randomly assigns one of its 30 core members to water the garden every day. Sundays are “work shifts” where everyone gathers to pull weeds and maintain upkeep. Throughout the year, Plant to Plate sees visitations from roughly 300 honorary members, which includes people like middle school students and sororities who come to harvest the plants.

Even when covered with snow in January,

Oakland Gardens keeps running and harvests hardy plants, such as kale, year-round. Strong winds blow seeds around the whole garden, so rogue tomatoes pop up in nearly every corner.

Unpredictable weather doesn’t harm the plants anymore because they’re in an urban location; they are still resilient and continue to grow.

This small garden strives to feed many people below the poverty line and allows students and the University to promote a sustainable future — in addition to providing a respite from South Oakland bustle.

The organization thinks of Oakland Gardens as “an oasis in the middle of the city,” Kaloyeropoulou said.

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DRAGONS

eight-man troupe will perform the entire play, with one of the actors playing Ubu himself.

But there’s an important catch — the refugees would prefer not to be rounded up by Ubuist agents and subsequently be tortured. So, a time and location for the play will not be released to the public.

Anyone who wants to attend the play must send an email to alarumtheatre@gmail. com, and will receive a reply with a location and time prior to the performance.

The “Polish refugees” will represent an element of Alarum’s production that Jarry never envisioned. But it will also stay true to Jarry’s original work, while also feeding the Colbert fans who come to watch with its politically charged humor.

A dark comedy through and through, “Dragons of Sausage” strives to brighten up these tragic situations. Through the voices of eight people who lived under tyranny, the audience will get a look at some of the ridiculous excesses of a true dictatorship.

“The stories are crushingly upsetting, but they’re also hilarious,” Pickett said.

Don n't ' t fo rget rge t to to chec ck k out our Welcome Back is ssu u e! e!

o n st a nd s A u g ust 1 9

FROM PAGE 16

FIREWORKS

Fireworks provide mind-numbing and deafening entertainment. MCT Campus

Fireworks.”

So, more than 250 years later, I propose a new “Treatise on Fireworks:” Since they’re far too ubiquitous and beloved to do away with altogether (that’d be downright cruel), can we at least recognize the mindless thrills they provide and hold other shallow spectacles — like big action movies — to the same standard? Or at least buy some more Michael Bay tickets — the guy needs all the help he can get.

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

FROM PAGE 17

ROUNDTABLE

head-scratcher. Grande’s as commanding as ever, but cookie-cutter synth-pop is still cookie-cutter synth-pop — no matter who’s belting the lyrics.

These first two singles from Grande’s forthcoming album, My Everything, are all about the familiar, but they utilize it to varying degrees of success. “Problem” is an amalgam of her influences and predecessors — the sax loop from J-Lo, the low-key “The Whisper Song”-inspired chorus and a nod to Jay-Z’s finer days.

Any one of these gimmicks on their own might have inspired a few eye rolls but, together, they make for an assured and self-aware tribute to a decade that feels way more remote than it should. I think you’re exactly right — these quirks are becoming tropes, because of this emerging “retro” fondness for 2000s pop and hip-hop. Perhaps a revived interest in this aesthetic can be credited to EDM backlash — but if so, that makes her second single all the more baffling.

“Break Free” sounds like a single that Zedd could have produced for any other modern pop artist, be it Katy Perry, Lady

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Gaga or even Coldplay. Since “Problem” threw so much at the wall, it didn’t sound like anything else in recent memory. But Grande’s second single is hardly distinguishable, aside from those shrill vocals, just on the cusp of maturity. And while she previously seemed to be in control of her cliches, they get the best of her here.

The song’s driven by an empowering line of independence (“This is the part when I say I don’t want ya / I’m stronger than I’ve been before”), but it’s one that we’ve heard a million times before. “Break Free” lacks the inner-conflict and contradictory back-and-forth of “Problem,” and also

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

FEATURE

SPORTS

Pittsburgh remains home for three former Panthers Jasper Wilson Sports Editor

After Ronald Ramon finished his first season as a pro basketball player, he knew where he wanted to spend his offseason.

The former Panther men’s basketball player from the Bronx, N.Y., who graduated in 2008, came back to Pitt after finishing his first season with his team in Argentina and spent the summer of 2009 working out on campus with old teammates and using the facilities just as he did when he was a student.

“This was home,” Ramon said.

Now, years later, it’s become an annual routine.

Pittsburgh serves as a summer home base to Ramon and his family. He closed on a house on Tuesday and has had an apart-

ment here since 2010.

“I never really left,” Ramon, who currently plays in Brazil, said.

Ramon, John DeGroat and Chevon Troutman make up a small group of former Pitt players, all current pros, who return to Oakland every summer in between their pro seasons, which can run six-eight months, depending on how a team does.

DeGroat, a fellow New Yorker and college teammate, who now plays in Argentina, comes back every summer to work out at the Petersen Events Center and compete in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am as a member of the South Hills Audi-sponsored team with former Pitt player Chevy Troutman.

“We all look forward to it. The seasons can be so long sometimes; we all look forward to being here together, relaxing [and] just en-

joying each other’s friendship,” DeGroat, who lives in an apartment when he’s here, said.

DeGroat said when they get together, the pro players go to the gym, play basketball and sometimes go to Sandcastle Waterpark in Homestead.

Troutman, a Williamsport, Pa. native, has come back every summer since he finished his studies at Pitt in 2005. He also has a house in the area to which he returns for the summers after playing in Europe, most recently in Germany. His mother and young son live in Pittsburgh now, and his father lives close by.

According to Troutman, not all former players feel as comfortable returning to Pitt as he does, whether it’s for a little or a long time.

“A lot of the guys seem a little bit intimidated coming back because you’re supposed

COLUMN

to move to the next part [of your life],” he said. “But you can still move to the next part and still come back and show your face, because you were a part of building this program.”

Troutman understands the uncertainty, though.

“Once you leave the college program, you kind of get out of it, especially if you become a pro, because then it’s kind of weird for you to come back,” Troutman said. “Sometimes guys don’t know who you are.”

The trio credits the men’s basketball staff and its foundation of long-time employees for establishing and maintaining an environment where former players don’t feel like hindrances when they return after their time

Players

21

Pirates navigate unexpected issues in seasonʼs first half Nate Barnes Senior Staff Writer

One of Clint Hurdle’s often-repeated mantras is to do “the best you can with what you’ve got at the time.”

He’s had to follow it himself this year — he will likely need a hip replacement at the end of the season and he currently manages the Pittsburgh Pirates while enduring pain such that he can’t even sit comfortably.

While Hurdle’s mantra is a cliche that translates to trying your best within the circumstances, his team has had to do just that.

Following up their 95-win season, the 2014 campaign hasn’t gone as the Pirates likely expected it to when they arrived at spring training in February.

At the All-Star break, Pittsburgh’s record resides at 49-46, bolstered by a recent 15-7 stretch that vaulted the Pirates back into playoff contention. Although 13 of the wins came during a 15-game stretch against sub-.500 competition, a winning record at the break is no small feat for a team that was eight games below .500 on May 20.

Roughly a year ago, the Pirates hit the break at 19 games over .500 with a run differential of

plus-46. Pittsburgh has been out-scored by two runs through 95 games in 2014 and the team clawed its way to a winning record.

Why such a difference between this year and last?

First, Pittsburgh’s pitching has not been quite up to par with last year’s. While a slight drop in performance was expected after the Pirates pitched incredibly a season ago, the sharp decline came as a surprise.

The pitching staff owns a 3.74 ERA at the break after finishing 2013 with the league’s third-best mark at 3.27.

Pirates starters carry a 28-33 record into the All-Star break after going 64-48 last year and the bullpen carries a 3.42 ERA, which is elevated from the 2.89 clip with which it ended last year.

The pitching staff has also been wracked by injuries this year. Young ace Gerrit Cole has already landed on the disabled list twice this year, alongside Francisco Liriano — two crucial pitchers in Pittsburgh’s run to the playoffs.

Injuries and lack of performance have caused a steep decline for Liriano, who appears to be setting himself up to take a stab at a third National League Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2015. He made his first start

since June 10 on Sunday and gave up three runs in four innings.

The loss dropped his record to 1-7 with a 4.72 ERA in 15 outings during 2014, of which only three have been quality starts — at least six innings pitched, three runs or less allowed.

This occurred after he went 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA in 2013.

Wandy Rodriguez, another starting pitcher, began the season by going 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in six appearances. It was a poor enough performance that the team was willing to jettison him while continuing to pay his $13 million salary and designated him for assignment on May 22.

The issues facing those pitchers also opened the door for some other phenomena within the team.

For one, who would have expected Edinson Volquez to lead the team in wins after he gave up more runs than any other pitcher in 2013?

Or that Jeff Locke would find his way back to the major-league rotation and pitch better than he did during his 2013 first half, which resulted in his tabbing as an All-Star?

Everyone could have predicted Jason Grilli or Mark Melancon to be the team’s best reliever, but who would have expected it to be Tony Watson instead?

No one thought Grilli’s tenure in Pittsburgh would implode so magnificently and come to such an unceremonious end.

The oddest part of the Pirates’ season? Pittsburgh’s offense has actually carried the team through the first half of its season.

Behind the work of Andrew McCutchen — who is having another MVP-caliber year and leads the team in nearly every major offensive statistical category — Pittsburgh ranks in the top five among NL teams in batting average, runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits and home runs.

Through 95 games the Pirates’ offense leads the league in OBP with a .333 clip, 20 points higher than when it finished eighth in 2013.

As anyone from general manager Neal Huntington on down to the players will say, the Pirates have stayed “stubborn” in their approach to being “intelligently aggressive” at the plate.

Basically, hitters swing at the pitches they like and not the ones that pitchers want them to swing at.

Simple, I know. But it’s actually working.

If the pitching can somehow find its way back to 2013 form, possibly through Cole or Liriano’s health getting back on track, the Pirates could be primed for another playoff run.

Soto, Mildren adjust to life in the minor leagues Jasper Wilson Sports Editor

Minor league baseball players can begin their careers in a number of places across the country — just ask Elvin Soto or Ethan Mildren.

Soto’s’s destination, after getting drafted last June, was Hillsboro, Ore., home of the Hillsboro Hops, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In this brand new environment, Soto didn’t know anyone at first.

“You have to start building relationships with people all season,” he said.

During his two years at Pitt, Soto would often drive the six hours home to New York City to see family and get a home-cooked meal.

He can’t do that anymore. Soto’s current setup has forced him to grow up — something the catcher has come to appreciate.

“Being on my own, I’m maturing and learning day by day through my experiences,” Soto, 22, said. “I’ve become a man.”

Personal growth is inevitable in this enFROM PAGE 20

PLAYERS in the uniform has ended.

“People are so happy to see these guys,” Troutman said.

He said his first day back at Pitt usually involves catching up with people on campus.

Troutman, DeGroat and Ramon’s roles within the basketball team during the summer have changed now that their former teammates have also finished their collegiate careers. Now, the veteran players are mentors to the current players.

“If we see them doing something that’s not right on the court, we feel like it’s our job to correct it, which is kind of funny. It’s like a big brother type of thing,” Ramon said. “We always watch and make sure that they’re all right and everything is going well with them.”

DeGroat said the bond he’s formed with the current team is similar to the relationships he had with his former teammates because everyone shares the same passion.

“That’s all a part of brotherhood because, at the end of the day, every man in that locker room loves this game of basketball,” he said.

vironment, where the safety net of college, with its coaches and support staff and the subsequent structure that has everything laid out, is nowhere to be found.

For Mildren, a former Pitt teammate of Soto’s who pitches in the Minnesota Twins organization and is also in his second professional season, one of the biggest adjustments has been that baseball is now his full-time occupation — a welcome development.

“It’s a lot more self-responsibility and staying on track with yourself,” Mildren said.

Newfound responsibility is the norm for young adults finding their way through postcollege life, but minor league baseball is different than the norm with its eight-and-a-half hour bus rides, per diems and wacky gimmicks such as Zombie Apocalypse Night. Players in the minors — with seven levels and a system of player promotion and demotion — have to learn to adapt to new situations both on and off the field.

Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.

The summers in Oakland also help prepare the players for their professional lives.

Troutman said playing in the Pro-Am, which he started doing two years ago, is a good way to stay in shape for the upcoming season and work on his game. It also gives him an opportunity to show the current players that he can still run with them.

“They see me on the court, and they can see that I can play,” he said. “They can’t be like, ‘Oh, this old guy.’ I come back and give them a little taste of what the pro game is like.”

For the players, building relationships with prior athletes is a longtime tradition.

DeGroat first met Ricardo Greer, a Pitt player who left in 2001, the summer before his junior year in 2004 and recalled spending time with him, playing basketball, getting food and just hanging out.

While they’ve stayed in touch via email and phone over the years, this summer was the first time the two had seen each other since then. Greer was back in Pittsburgh for the first summer session to finish up his degree.

“When he came back,” DeGroat said, “it was like we never lost touch.”

The Pitt News Crossword, 7/16/2014

FEATURE

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com ACROSS 1 Electrical pioneer Nikola 6 __ and bolts 10 Take the chance 14 Not whispered 15 Morales of “NYPD Blue” 16 Charles Lamb pseudonym 17 Nautically themed boy’s outfit 19 Repressed, with “up” 20 Caesar’s rebuke to Brutus 21 JFK prediction 22 Thinly distributed 24 Hi-__ image 25 “9 to 5” singer 27 Beethoven’s “Für __” 29 Direction after Near, Far or Middle 30 Three-layer cookies 32 Greasy spoon orders, briefly 33 Green __, Wisc.

36 Overplay on stage 37 Nil 38 More than chubby 40 NBA tiebreakers 41 Put down, as linoleum 43 Femmes fatales 44 Pretzel topping 45 Far from posh 47 Filler for Tabby’s box 51 Space between things 54 Pre-riot state 55 Dinghy propeller 56 Aww-inspiring?

57 March Madness org.

58 Friendly greeting, and a hint to the starts of 17-, 25and 47-Across 61 Poster-hanging hardware 62 Jump on the ice 63 Eye surgery tool 64 Picnic spoilers 65 Wobbly walkers 66 Credits as a source

21

7/28/14

By D. Scott Nichols and C.C. Burnikel

DOWN Stun gun kin Lift the spirits of “Evidently” Doozie Commotion Get snuggly Bar regular’s order, with “the” 8 “__-Pan”: Clavell novel 9 Refuses to make changes 10 Leave 11 Like a sentry 12 Classic laundry detergent 13 All finished, as dinner 18 Antique autos 23 Holiday with a seder 25 Showroom exhibitions 26 Website providing restaurant reviews 28 Reed of The Velvet Underground 30 “Now I get it!”

31 Lab rodent 32 Bridge player’s call 33 “Help yourself” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Saturday’s Puzzle Solved

(c)2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

34 Snake on a pharaoh’s crown 35 Thumbs-up 37 Pasta tubes 39 Like stormy weather 42 “It’s __ and a bag of chips” 44 Outback specialties 45 Delays on purpose 46 Designer Saarinen

7/28/14

47 Kinte of “Roots” 48 Peruvian native 49 Parcel of land 50 Apartment vacancy sign 52 “... poem lovely as __”: Kilmer 53 Social equals 56 Indian spiced tea 59 Prefix with thermal 60 Compassionate handling, briefly

22

North Oakland, Craig Street. Safe, secure building. 1 bedroom, furnished.

Newly remodeled, wall-to-wall carpeting, no pets. $775 and up. Heat included. Mature or Graduate students.

412-855-9925 or 412682-1194.

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

North Oakland, Craig Street, Small 1 BR, Air Conditioning, Laundry, Great Location, $695+ electric, 412-271-5550

Schenley Farms.

Large one bedroom apartment. Newly remodeled.

Parking.

Close to campus. Security deposit required. $950/mo. and all utilities included.

Please call 412-6702036.

1, 2, 3, 4 BR available August 1st on Bates Street/Melba St. Close to campus.

Clean, living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and porch. Call 412-4229734, 412-780-8909, or 412-521-7121

1-2-3-4-5-6-7 bedroom houses, 2 baths, 2 kitchens, hardwood floors. Available August 2014. Please call 412-287-5712.

1-3 BRs at 3408 Parkview Ave. PET FRIENDLY! PARKING AVBL! Call Jodi at 412390-4584.

1-9 bedroom houses, wall-to-wall, washer/dryer, dishwasher.

Available Fall 2014.

Call 412-609-4340.

1BR and 3BR Apartments (AUG 1) $650-$1295/month + utilities.

Pets OK(fees apply) Walking distance to Pitt, CMU. Call 412-455-5600

2 Bedroom House on Dawson. Close to Pitt.

Utilities included. Call Jim 412487-3805 2BR, 345 Coltart St, kitchen and dining room, living room, call for more information 412-466-0952

6 BR House. 3.5 Bath. Prime location, 300 block of Atwood Street, totally renovated. Available Aug. 15th. 412-414-9629.

Need a nice place for next year?

Only a few left!

412-38-LEASE www.amomgmt.com

July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com House for Rent. Beautiful 3-BR house newly renovated-Allequippa Street. Close to Peterson Center & Pitt Dental School.

Equipped kitchen, new carpeting, washer/dryer, 2 bathrooms, full basement, fencedin back yard, security system. Looking for 3 students to share/or single family. Discount on first month's rent. Security deposit required. Students require adult co-sign.

Available August 1, $1500+ all utilities.

No pets. For more information, please call 412-303-5043. Email: dtm1003@comcast.net.

Single-person apartment available next to Katz School on South Bouquet Street. Available August 1st. $625 +Electric.

412-5214257

Shadyside spacious 2 BR, 1 bath, hardwood floors, new kitchens, laundry, free heat.

Aug. 15. Call 412361-2695.

Shadyside/Bloomfield, 2 bedroom, full bath, large living room, 2nd floor, carpeted, fullyequipped eat-in kitchen, coin laundry, rent $900, Call 412687-2661 or 412-4961014.

3 BR Apartment.

5552 Phillips Avenue. $1500. HARDWOOD, FIREPLACES, LAUNDRY. Call Jodi 412390-4584.

Available August 1st.1 bedroom, large furnished 3rd-floor apartment. Near campus buslines. Large living room, kitchen and bath.

Bright and sunny. Great location.

Grad students preferred. $800+ gas & electric. CALL AFTER 2:00 PM. 808572-6699.

2,3,4 Bedroom Apartments.

PET FRIENDLY, HARDWOOD! Awesome location in the flats.

Call Jodi at 412-3904584.

East End/Point Breeze, 1 bedroom.

Near Frick Park, close to busline, equipped with appliances. $350+gas/electric. Available August 1st. Call 412-2421519 or email durham@duq.edu.

A large one-bedroom efficiency located on Oakland Ave. Available in August/September.

Call 412-877-6555

Looking for volunteer to coach basketball at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Shadyside. Clearances required.

Contact Michele Cromer m c r o m e r @ g t n l a w. com

Student needed to stay/ go around with big children in the afternoon, till the end of August. Call, Anastasia 412-291-0045

Driver Wanted. 10 Hours/Week.

Call 412-781-0815 Personal, professional masseuse wanted. Permanent position.

Washington County.

724-223-0939 or pager #888-200-8265 any time.

WEB DESIGNER STUDENT POSITIION AT PITT MASS SPEC LAB- The purpose is to design high quality web content (e.g. art): Some items include the lab map, photos, descriptions of instruments, pictures of instruments, example of data (chromatograms, etc) requires at least 6 hours a week. Pays ~$7.50 to start. Email resumes & cover letters to AML143@pitt.edu

23

Chucks. Blow guns.

Cuffs.

Billies.

Knives. Swords. BB, Stun Guns.

Sais.

Crossbows.

Kamas.

Throw Axes. Gold, Silver Chains. Diamond Rings.

MARY’S SHOPPE. 4114B Clairton Blvd.

30 Minutes from Pitt.

412-881-2948.

*ADOPT* NYC At-Home Mom & Successful Dad, LOVE, Laughter, Beaches awaits your baby.

Expenses paid 1-800-352-5741 *Laurie & Lawrence*

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July 16, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com