9-24-19

The Pitt News

T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | September 24, 2019 ­| Volume 110 | Issue 29

WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

CUDD SPEAKS AT U.N.’S ‘SPOTLIGHT ON PITTSBURGH’

Erica Guthrie

Assistant News Editor

trainees. In April, the staff consisted of 20 clinicians and seven trainees.

Right now, Darr said, the Counseling Center has no wait list — something students have complained about in the past.

“I think over time, as the needs increase — there’s been a 30% increase in demand — the Counseling Center has been diligently responding to that over time, with some success, and sometimes it’s been challenging,” Darr said.

Eric Macadangdang, who sits on the Student Government Board and has worked on mental health initiatives in

Pitt Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Ann Cudd was among a group of Pittsburgh leaders who spoke at a “Spotlight on Pittsburgh” forum at the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York on Monday.

Cudd, along with Mayor Bill Peduto and representative leaders from the Pittsburgh Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University and Chatham University, spoke about the City’s advances towards the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals. The list of 17 goals includes items like “no poverty,” “quality education,” “reduced inequalities,” “clean water and sanitation” and “affordable and clean energy.”

“The University of Pittsburgh is proud to work together with city leadership and our neighboring universities to advance a common and powerful commitment to participate in active, effective and transformative efforts framed by the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals — all meant to benefit our students, our region, and the world,” Cudd said, according to a press release.

Cudd highlighted three University initiatives — including the Millennium Fellowship, Pitt Pell Success Match Program and two Community Engagement Centers.

The University is hosting 14 recipients of the Millennium Fellowship, a collaboration between Millennium Campus Network and United Nations Academic Impact, for the 2019-2020 academic year. This year, a total of 1,092

See Counseling on page 2

See Cudd on page 2

A Panthers Educating and Advocating for Children in Homeless Situations member discusses public health with students at Monday’s On the Issues Fair as a part of SGB’s Civic Engagement Week. Caela Go staff photographer

COUNSELING CENTER ADDS STAFF, PUTS COUNSELORS IN RESIDENCE HALLS

Charlotte Pearse For The Pitt News

Starting in October, the Counseling Center will place counselors in three residence halls on campus, allowing students to meet for informational consultations closer to home.

The new counselors will be in Towers Lobby, Sutherland Hall and Lothrop Hall and are one of the biggest changes that Counseling Center Director Jay Darr has made this fall. Placing counselors in residence halls is an expansion of the center’s “Let’s Talk” consultation services, which seek to bring counselors to students in-

stead of the other way around.

In Lothrop, Darr said, the counselors will be located behind hall security, but in Towers and Sutherland, any student will be able to talk to a counselor without swiping in, similar to the current drop-in setup in the Wellness Center.

Darr, who was hired in January, is looking to make other changes as well. In an effort to address increasing demand, the Counseling Center has hired several additional staff members in the past few months. Darr said that in October, there will be 24 senior-level staff members as well as 11 master’s- and doctoral-level

News

One high-risk health code violation found at Perch Emily Wolfe News Editor

The Allegheny County Health Department visited The Perch at Sutherland Hall Monday for its first inspection in close to a year, citing the dining hall for one highrisk health code violation and six low-risk violations.

Cudd, pg. 1 Millennium fellows were selected for 69 campuses across the globe, where they will work extensively on projects related to the 17 SDGs. Additionally, last year, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher announced the Pitt Success Pell Match Program, which matches the amount of the federal Pell Grants of the 5,000 Pitt students who are recipients. The program costs the University around $25 million per year,

Counseling, pg. 1 the past, called the plan to put counselors in residence halls “a great first step.”

“The symbolism of putting counselors where people are living shows that this is important, and I hope that, first of all, people notice it, and then [that] people utilize it,” Macadangdang said.

When Darr was hired in January, the Counseling Center’s director position had been empty for more than a year.

Shortly after he took the position, Darr met with various student leaders and held a town hall to hear students’ concerns about the center.

“One of the things I did when I initially came on board was a listening tour,” Darr said. “Not only here internally, but also with students across campus — student leaders and other student groups — to be able to hear their feedback and what we can do to improve.”

The Counseling Center has been

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According to a report filed Monday, the ACHD’s inspector found a pair of tongs with food residue stored with other clean utensils at The Perch — a high-risk cleaning and sanitization food safety violation.

The inspector cited four other food safety violations, including a dented can of kidney beans, a sausage cooling in a covered

container, improperly refrigerated coleslaw and an incorrectly positioned sneeze guard by the self-serve waffle station. All were deemed low-risk.

The inspector also recorded two general sanitation violations, including a buildup of food debris at the junction of the floor and the wall at one place in the kitchen and

making the total financial aid spending around $130 million.

Pitt also has Community Engagement Centers in two underserved neighborhoods — Homewood and the Hill District. Each of the CECs has a 15-year commitment to its respective neighborhood, aiming to improve the quality of life for community members through a number of programs, such as STEM programs with Pittsburgh Public Schools and professional development initiatives.

Provost Ann Cudd at a forum at the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. Image via University Center for International Studies

making an effort to partner with many different organizations, student-run and otherwise, in order to provide better self-help tools for students.

One of the programs, TAO Connect — “Therapy Assistance Online,” accessible from the Counseling Center’s website — provides access to both educational and therapeutic modules concerning depression, anxiety and other issues.

“We included that technology because we really felt that by empowering students, by creating autonomy in their lives for their support in mental health would be beneficial,” Darr said.

Another student that spoke with Darr was Julia Lam, the president of Pitt Active Minds. At Pitt, Lam runs a chapter of the national non-profit organization that organizes events, programming and peer education, but also seeks to provide a safe space for students to talk with their peers about what they’re going through.

Lam said that she liked the selfhelp aspect of TAO. According to Lam, TAO builds students’ independence and makes the process more interactive by giving students something to try out first on their own.

“One time [Darr] said that if you sprain your ankle, sometimes you don’t go directly to the doctor. You might try icing it yourself, or wrapping it in Ace wrap,” Lam said.

It’s important to remember that TAO is just a first step to try before moving on to higher levels of care, Lam said, and that students can go to the Counseling Center if they need more help.

The Counseling Center is also partnering with Thrive on Campus, which Darr said is another technological tool for students to take initiative on their mental health themselves. Students can use Thrive on Campus to look up unaffiliated community providers in the area, and they can adjust their results based on their insurance. Providers who

Septmeber 24, 2019

peeling paint near The Perch’s mop sink.

The Perch was last inspected in November 2018. On an initial inspection, the ACHD’s inspector cited the dining hall for 14 violations, including one high-risk violation and three medium-risk. Upon reinspection later that month, only low-risk violations remained.

aren’t accepting patients won’t be listed.

“With Thrive on Campus, they have to go through Pitt to be listed, so it’s Pittapproved people,” Lam said. “When I’ve been looking at it recently, it seems like they’re still kind of spreading the word about Thrive on Campus, so there’s not as many providers on it yet. But I think once more private therapists get word of it then there’ll be a bigger pool of people to look through.”

Overall, Darr said he hopes to provide a more accessible and personalized form of care for students going forward that can give each and every individual student the care they need. The increase in demand is positive because it means that students are seeking help, he said.

“We just have to get smarter in how we begin to manage that demand and really meet the students where they are,” Darr added. “Instead of just saying ‘Here, everybody gets a cookie-cuttertype process,’ it’s really personalized to meet the students’ needs.”

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Opinions

ONLINE Editorial: Democrats can’t stall impeachment any longer pittnews.com

column

CORPORATIONS CAN DO MORE TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE

Paige Lawler

For The Pitt News The United Nations held a summit Monday to discuss the ever increasing threat of climate change and the importance of taking aggressive action to combat it.

The climate emergency has also been recognized by individuals, many of whom have cut their consumption of single-use plastic and other non-sustainable resources with the hope of reducing their carbon footprint.

While this is an admirable goal, individual sustainability is not enough to save the planet from climate change. It is imperative that corporations join the fight to stop climate change by limiting greenhouse gas emissions and adopting sustainable practices.

Studies have shown that since 1988, 71% of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to just 100 corporations, with ExxonMobil, Shell and BP among the most notable investor-owned companies on the list. If corporations do not reduce their emissions, earth’s average global temperature could increase by 4 degrees Celsius within the century.

This increase in temperature would be detrimental to the planet, especially considering that scientists predict that a 2-degree increase would make the effects of climate change irreversible. Such an increase would be accompanied by catastrophic effects, including droughts, rising sea levels, violent hurricanes and a lower crop yield.

Given the massive impact of corpo-

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rations’ emissions, movement towards more sustainable business and operational practices would have a far greater and more immediate impact than smaller actions by individuals. Fifteen food and beverage companies in the United States — including Coca-Cola, Kellogg and Nestlé — are reported to produce 630 million tons of greenhouse gasses annually.

For comparison, the average North American’s carbon footprint is 20 tons of greenhouse gasses emitted annually.

It should also be noted that the North American average is significantly higher than the global average, which is about 4 tons annually. From this data, it is clear that reductions in corporate emissions will have a larger effect than any reduction in individual emissions.

Some companies have argued that switching to more sustainable practices, such as using renewable energy or otherwise limiting emissions, would be damaging to the business and the economy.

However, this is not necessarily the case.

The News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, announced in 2011 that it had gone completely carbonneutral and had not suffered financial setbacks. In fact, Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of the News Corporation, noted that the company was actually saving millions of dollars thanks to more energy efficient and sustainable practices.

“Our efficiency projects pay for themselves in less than two years, on average, and span from simple solutions like lighting retrofits and automatic PC shut-

Eli Savage contributing editor down to systemic changes like installing telepresence and videoconferencing technology to reduce the need for air travel,” Murdoch said in the company statement.

This clearly demonstrates that small adjustments, which can be as simple as using power-saving electronics, can make a massive difference in the sustainability of a large organization. If more companies followed the News Corporation’s example, it would certainly make a noticeable impact on overall global emissions.

Similarly, Volvo announced in 2017 that starting with their 2019 models, every car they sold would be either a hybrid or an electric model. Volvo’s goal with this shift is to reduce their environmental impact as they move towards carbonneutral manufacturing methods, which

Septmeber 24, 2019

they are expected to achieve in 2025.

Both of the previous examples are excellent steps towards a more environmentally sound future. Other corporations ought to be putting in the same thought and effort to reduce their own carbon footprints. Even if several corporations took small measures, the combined effect would drastically decrease emissions and positively affect the planet in the long run.

None of this is to say that it is pointless for individuals to be conscious of their carbon footprint, and I do not discourage anyone from limiting their consumption of single-use plastics. Corporations must be held accountable for their high levels of emissions and act now to reduce their environmental impact. Individual sustainability is no longer good enough.

3

Culture

All-female ‘Julius Caesar’ takes over Pittsburgh parks Emmaline LaRocque For The Pitt News

On a hot autumn afternoon, leaves fell gracefully from the trees in Arsenal Park in Lawrenceville — in the distance, women’s voices rang out, speaking in Elizabethan English.

Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks celebrated its 15th Anniversary with an all-female production of “Julius Caesar,” which runs Saturdays and Sundays throughout the month of September. This past weekend was the group’s second-to-last performance. Director Elena Alexandratos said she wanted to use an all-female cast to break away from male-dominated, traditional Shakespearian theater.

“Almost 500 years ago women were not permitted onstage. Shakespeare’s women were portrayed by young boys and the comedic women by older men,” Alexandratos said in the director’s notes of the program. “In the present day, I want to show that actors that are female can play all aspects of the human condition — that we are courageous and tender all in the same blink of an eye.”

“Julius Caesar” recounts the triumphs of General Julius Caesar when he returns to Rome from battle. Caesar is crowned king for his achievements, but his adviser, Brutus, fears that Caesar will destroy the kingdom. Brutus and other Senate members kill Caesar, leading them to commit suicide out of guilt.

In the latter half of the show, cast members walked into the crowd, mimicking the public moving around the outside of the Senate house.

During this scene, Marc Antony, who did not help kill Caesar, delivered a speech that would “turn the citizens of Rome against the assassins” of Julius Caesar. Jay Margolis, senior biology major at Chatham University, found this scene particularly moving.

“I really love the speech,” they said, “I had to memorize it in high school, but seeing it like done passionately and willingly, is really cool.”

It turns out the performer, Harper York, 40, who plays Marc Antony, also enjoyed this interaction with the audience. She moved to Pittsburgh six years ago to start a theater group, Pittsburgh Classic Players, for which she is the

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Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks’ production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” Image courtesy of Caiolinn Ertel artist director.

York said attending the Shakespeare and Performance graduate program at Mary Baldwin University in Virginia prepared her for the role of Marc Antony, where she studied the “Julius Caesar” monologues extensively as part of the program. This time around, she brought her own twists to the role.

“The way we stage it in the other parks, I’m actually in a specific position,” York said, “like last week I was up a tree at Highland Park and I did the speech from there but here [there was] no real access to low limbs so [I] just went with the idea of weaving my way through the audience and connecting with them more that way.”

As the show ended, the sun was just barely covered by clouds, and the only interruption was that of cicadas chirping on nearby trees.

Susan Wadsworth-Booth, a frequentor of PSIP productions with an MFA in nonfiction writing from Pitt, said she enjoyed how close the audience could be to the performers in the park, with the actors moving through the same space as the people watching.

“I love the way a group like this … can give you that little facial expression that lets you in on the joke, which I think they do a really good job of.” Wadsworth-Booth said.

PSIP condensed the traditionally severalhour production into 90 minutes. The mob scene, after Marc Antony convinces the townspeople to chase after the assassins, was cut from the show, along with some other action scenes.

Though these moments help break up monologues, Wadsworth-Booth enjoyed the way the actors brought life to their speech-heavy roles.

“It’s hard to take a tragedy like that and a history play and shorten it and make it understandable to people,” she said. “[The cast] can give you that little facial expression that lets you in on the joke.”

Irene Ably, 45, moved to Morgantown, West Virginia just three years ago to teach at West Virginia University, but she made the commute to Pittsburgh to star as Julius Caesar. Ably said she was not as familiar with “Julius Caesar” as other works of Shakespeare, which led her to research and dig deep into the role.

Septmeber 24, 2019

“I think that because we’re all women, we have the freedom to interpret men and maybe show their faults even more than maybe a man would feel comfortable doing,” she said. “We have the freedom to … not hold back.”

Lynette Asson is a Board Member of PSIP, and, according to Alby, helped substantially with promoting the show. Asson said everyone involved in the production was thrilled by the reception from the public and was grateful for their support.

“Once [the show] was announced, people were really very excited, so that makes me think that having an all-female cast perhaps is an area in Pittsburgh we need to think more about.” Asson said.

While this is almost the end of the outdoor production season, some performers wish they could do more. Shammen McCune, who portrayed Brutus, moved to Pittsburgh in 2005. She found it difficult to stay fresh with the material with almost a week between performances.

“Dare I say it … I wish we could do a five show weekend,” McCune said.

4

Four nights of laughs at Steel City Improv Festival

Matthew Monroy For The Pitt News

The Scorned Chefs began their show at the Steel City Improv Festival with one word — “saltines.”

Twenty-five minutes later, the threeperson group sat huddled in the corner of the stage, cheering on an imaginary team with sporadic whoops and screams, like a primitive group of over-invested soccer moms.

The Scorned Chefs were just one of the 34 improv groups performing over the course of the first-ever Steel City Improv Festival on Thursday night. For Mike Kauffman, one of the festival organizers and an improv actor himself, the four-day event was a great opportunity for people to see improv from around the country.

“We have 15 unique cities represented in this festival — and Canada!” Kauffman said. “We have some headliners from New York, Chicago and LA.” The festival kicked off its first day, as well as the Sunday performances, at the 90-seat Steel City Improv Theater on Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside. Shows on Friday and Saturday were held at the much larger Bricolage Theater in Downtown.

According to Kauffman, splitting up the locations was done to increase the festival’s audience capacity for teams traveling from outside of Pittsburgh.

“We have a lot of out-of-town teams coming,” Kauffman explained. “We wanted to have more space for performers in the festival to make sure that everyone got to see the improv that they wanted to see.”

Although this may be the first year of the festival, the idea existed in Steel City Improv Theater’s owner Kasey Daley’s head for quite some time. For Daley, organizing a festival was the perfect way to display the wealth of talent in Pittsburgh and around the country.

“I’ve been talking about this for years, and finally I was just like ‘let’s do it,’” Daley said. “We’ve been dragging our feet for nine years; let’s just do it, or we’re never gonna do it.”

The festival showcased a multitude of

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Thirty-four improv groups performed at the first-ever Steel City Improv Festival. Matthew Monroy contributing writer diverse acts, most performing long-form improv — a form of improvisation where the performers take a brief, one-word suggestion from the audience at the top of their set and craft a 25-minute-long story.

This is in contrast to short-form, in which performers take multiple suggestions from the audience throughout the show and perform rapid vignettes.

Although almost every group that took the stage performed long-form improv, each scene was characterized by the groups’ individual style. Some, such as My Dog Carl or Some Kind of Felony, favored outlandish and absurd situations with tenuous connections between all the scenes.

Teams like Bright Invention took a more straightforward and linear approach, using the audience’s suggestion of “a hat shop” to create one, whole, fleshed-out world.

Bright Invention member Benjamin Lloyd, 57, from Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, spoke about the group’s goals as an improv group to create a complete experience onstage.

“What we try to do is create a little play,” Lloyd said. “We also want our comedy to be based in relationships and characters,

and we want it to sustain over time.”

For Daley, bringing improv to the forefront of the Pittsburgh theater scene has been a goal for many years. In fact, the lack of a thriving improv scene in the city was what drove her and her husband Justin Zell to found the Steel City Improv Theater in 2010 in the first place.

“When we came here there were really no classes or any dedicated theaters, there were only two groups that were doing anything, and they were pretty much just doing short-form,” Daley said “And we were like, ‘Oh! Let’s start teaching classes!’”

Daley and Zell began by teaching introlevel classes in the Stephen Foster Memorial Center in Lawrenceville, but as support and interest grew, so did the need for a larger space.

“We found this really cheap space in the North Side. It was in the basement of a church, a really weird space,” Daley said.

“It was a 45 seat theater, and it just gave us the chance to do this consistently.”

Their theater has since grown from its humble beginnings to a thriving improv space that routinely features skilled house

Septmeber 24, 2019

teams, all while spreading the technique of improv through classes designed for all skill levels.

One of the improv teams who performed on Thursday night, the Fancy Boys, got its start as a Steel City Improv Theater house team — a position in which the theater highlights an improv group through multiple performances throughout the season. Even though the team hadn’t performed together in a long time, team member Ariana-Valente Johnson, 30, from Austin, Texas, described the group dynamic as being exactly the same as before.

“You remember how to play around with other people,” Johnson said. “You remember their strengths, and how to touch on them, even if it’s not explicitly in your brain.”

The teams’ devotion to the craft certainly resonated with the audience. Each set was received positively, often eliciting whoops and yells during high-energy moments. Even the occasional and unexpected mishap — such as an audience member’s phone ringing in the middle of their set — was transformed into an element of the show.

After the show, audience members and improvers mingled as the festival organizers served beer and pizza. Grouped in a corner with his friends, Raymond Giorgi of Lawrenceville said he enjoyed the show and was looking forward to the upcoming shows throughout the weekend.

“I’m excited for the rest of the festival, if tonight is any indication,” Giorgi said.

Festivities continued well after the show ended, and a massive improv group eventually formed on stage, comprised of audience members, performers from that night and anyone who wished to join — regardless of skill level. There was a palpable sense of community and excitement in the room — a theme that Daley highlighted.

“If you’re in a scene where everyone’s listening and everyone is taking care of each other and everyone’s making their scene partner look brilliant, I mean, it’s amazing.” Daley said.

5

Sports

Symposium shines light on

football, culture in Samoa

Griffin Floyd Staff Writer

With three men draped in dapper Hawaiian shirts, the conference promoting Rob Ruck’s new book looked more like a country club get-together than an academic endeavor.

Headlined by professor emeritus Richard Scaglion, Theodora Polamalu — the wife of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ beloved safety — and Penny Semaia, Pitt’s senior associate athletic director, the event highlighting “Tropic of Football,” a book detailing the culture of American Samoa and its affinity for football, certainly pulled out all the stops.

Ruck, who earned his doctorate at Pitt in 1983 and has since continued to teach at his alma mater, has done this before. This is his sixth book in total, and the fourth one that involves sports and the impact that minority groups have had on the game.

The event was held inside of a packed room at Posvar Hall on Friday afternoon, and began with an exclusive airing of the trailer for the Polamalus’ upcoming documentary, “Songs of a Lost Island.” While the audience may have bemoaned being subjected to a documentary, the trailer was far from bland.

“It really shows the spirit of Samoa,” Scaglion said. “It’s not like any of them are trained singers. They sound fantastic.”

Scaglion, an anthropologist who spent most of his career studying the people of the Pacific Islands, kicked off the event by providing some background details about the inhabitants of Samoa — the stars of the next two hours.

“Polynesians don’t get much respect, but they certainly deserve it,” Scaglion said. “I mean, how did these people do it? The prevailing opinion has been that they inhabited these islands by accident, pushed along by the winds, but they brought crops and pigs to the islands with them. You don’t bring pigs on a fishing trip.”

As would be the theme for the event, Sca-

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NARDUZZI PRESS CONFERENCE:

WITH THE BLUE HENS, IT’S PERSONAL Ben Bobeck

Senior Staff Writer

Former Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. The Repository/TNS glion mixed facts with fun, condemning the way the Samoan islands are subjugated by the West — Samoa and American Samoa, both inhabited by the same cultures and people, are cut apart by the international date line — with an amusing anecdote.

“Travelling between the two nations, the IRS didn’t believe that I could have had two hotel rooms on the same night,” Scaglion said.

Polamalu then spoke about the culture of her husband’s people. Fa’a Samoa, or “the Samoan way,” is paramount in their lives, both at home on the islands and long after they leave.

The Samoan way puts a premium on family, service, religiosity and discipline — something that came under public scrutiny after Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa revealed he and his father’s stories of his strict upbringing.

It is Fa’a Samoa, all of the speakers agreed, that has led to the disproportionate dominance of Samoans in sports today — in rugby or on the gridiron. With Pacific Islanders making up less than 1% of the American

population, the youths who join Pop Warner or school teams by the thousands each year vastly overrepresent their relatively tiny population, especially in California and Hawaii.

American Samoa, with a population of less than 60,000, had more than 30 people in the NFL as of 2014.

Although hard work, passion and discipline are the intrinsic traits of Fa’a Samoa that set the islanders apart from their peers, the pride with which they carry themselves and their penchant to live life to the fullest has also caused many problems in Samoan society.

The speakers also discussed how many talented young athletes who are recruited to play college ball find their grades suffering once they get to college. A college education is difficult enough to adjust to without having to compromise for learning a new way of life. The heightened expectations can be too much to handle, and some of them are forced to drop out, half a world away from home and See Symposium on page 7

Septmeber 24, 2019

Pitt head football coach Pat Narduzzi expects improvement from his team each week.

“I’ve said this every week, but I continue to see improvement from week one to two, two to three and three to four,” Narduzzi said, addressing reporters Monday afternoon at his weekly press conference, ahead of Pitt’s matchup with the Delaware Blue Hens this Saturday at Heinz Field.

“I still think that’s why we coach, that there’s still room for improvement. I don’t think you’re seeing a finished product yet, and I think that’s a good thing,” he said.

“We need to keep our foot on the gas pedal this week because I think it’s awfully important with who we got coming in here.”

The importance of Pitt’s matchup with the Blue Hens, ranked No. 19 in the FCS Coaches Poll, comes from a curiously intertwined history with Narduzzi and Delaware’s football program. His personal connections date back to his early days as a coach, as a player and even as a ball boy for the teams his father, Bill Narduzzi, coached at Youngstown State.

“Back in 1979 … the only team we lost to at [YSU] was Delaware,” Narduzzi said.

“I talk to kids all the time, this game’s gotta be personal. It’s personal for me.

I’ll never forget 1979. Never forget getting beat in Austintown Fitch Stadium or getting beat in the [Division II] National Championship game down in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Youngstown expected See Narduzzi on page 7

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Symposium, pg. 6 too ashamed to go back and face their communities.

“One of my brothers joined a gang. We long for that sense of community, discipline and belonging, and that can cause some problems,” Semaia said.

The Samoan community is plagued by health problems as well — according to Semaia, 47% of Samoan adults are diabetic, and as many as 90% are classified as overweight or obese. The influence of western culture that has brought them football and a chance at the American dream has also left them with the same obesity epidemic that hounds America today.

The late, great linebacker Junior Seau is perhaps the best example of the doubleedged sword that is Fa’a Samoa. Seau, revered for his passionate, fierce presence on the gridiron, tragically took his own life in 2012. He was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the neurodegenerative condition caused by repeated blows to the head, despite the fact that he wasn’t diagnosed with a single concussion in his 20 years in the NFL. His inability to step away from the game he loved and the sense of duty he

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felt toward his team ultimately cost him his life.

With the threat of CTE pushing more and more parents and their children away from football every year, Samoa remains unfazed.

Ruck explained how during a visit to Samoa, he saw youth at a football camp run around with the same joyful, reckless abandon that made Seau and Polamalu legends — many in outdated, unsafe equipment.

It is both of these things that “Tropic of Football” seeks to draw attention to — the underrepresented beauty of Samoan life and culture, and the systemic problems that threaten their way of life.

“The Samoan people are artists. Their tattoos, their singing, their dancing — [all] are so important to what defines them,” Ruck said.

Nearly half an hour of questions followed the presentation, the audience intrigued by the joy and passion of the Samoan people, and the several dozen copies of the book supplied by the University Store quickly sold out.

After he finished his energetic speaking performance, Semaia dabbed his sweaty brow with a handkerchief.

“I don’t call it burning calories,” he said. “I call it burning passion.”

Narduzzi, pg. 6 to win the championship. We didn’t get it done because of Delaware.”

Narduzzi later expanded on the importance of the personal connection to the game, and how he tried to stress that to the team each week.

“I’ve got a little-kid connection. So it’s personal for me,” he said. “Each one of us has some way, you gotta find out what gets you going and who you’re playing for. To me, it has to be personal.”

Several Pitt starters suffered injuries against UCF on Saturday, including junior quarterback Kenny Pickett and two starting cornerbacks, juniors Jason Pinnock and Damarri Mathis. Narduzzi praised their stand-ins, redshirt junior Therran Coleman and redshirt freshman Marquis Williams, while emphasizing the depth on both sides of Pitt’s roster.

“I mentioned we had 27 players, I believe, play on defense the other day. And you’re playing a pretty darned good football team, as we all know. And the most impressive thing — we played guys, they stepped up, made plays,” he said.

Septmeber 24, 2019

Narduzzi acknowledged the sweetness of the upset win over the now 22ndranked UCF Knights, while still addressing what exactly his team needed to clean up in practice this week following an imperfect victory that included a blown 21-point lead, an 87-yard punt return touchdown for UCF and two key missed field goals from junior Alex Kessman.

“Nobody else in the country was giving us a shot to win that football game,” Narduzzi said. “That’s the sweetest thing about it.”

The biggest things to improve upon this week, according to Narduzzi, include ball security, place-kicking and overall consistency through all three phases of the game.

“We’ve got to work on ball security again this week. Ball security can get you beat really quick,” he said. “‘m going to go on record saying we probably won’t miss another field goal the rest of the year …

We’ll get that fixed.”

What steps Pitt takes towards developing a more consistent output each week will be revealed when the Panthers and Delaware kickoff Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Heinz Field.

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Rentals & Sublet • NORTH OAKLAND • SOUTH OAKLAND • SHADYSIDE • SQUIRREL HILL • SOUTHSIDE • NORTHSIDE • BLOOMFIELD • ROOMMATES • OTHER

For Rent North Oakland 4BR, 2 bath house.

Newly remodeled, wall‑to‑wall carpet­ ing, equipped kitchen, deck, onsite laundry available. On busline, 15 minute walk to cam­pus. Available imme­diately. $990/ mo +gas/electric. Call 412‑548‑2214.

South Oakland 2‑3‑4‑5‑6‑7 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2020. Nice, clean, free laundry, in­ cludes exterior main‑ tenance, new appli‑ ances, spa­cious, and located on Semple, Oak­land Ave., Mey‑ ran Ave., Welsford, Bates, Dawson, and Mckee 412‑414‑9629. douridaboud­ propertymanage­ ment.com 3408 Parkview Ave. 2 BD for $950 & 3 BD for $1,295.

Available immedi­ ately. Pet Friendly & Parking. CALL NOW! 412‑455‑5600 Before signing a

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Employment • CHILDCARE • FOOD SERVICES • UNIVERSITY • INTERNSHIPS • RESEARCH • VOLUNTEERING • OTHER

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

412‑255‑2175.

Stay ahead of the housing search.

Rooms & 1‑4 bed­ rooms available from January, May, June, July, and August.

Call/Text Ron NOW at 412‑881‑1881 or email jarcon3@ya­ hoo.com. Reserve & Relax. Small deposit required.

Southside The Phlebotomy Training Center www. justphlebotomy.org 2 evening classes weekly, 5 weeks + excellent Clinicals.

Call 412‑521‑7334.

Employment Food Services THE CARLTON RESTAURANT Lo­cated in the One BNY Mellon Center, 500 Grant Street is accept­ing applications for Serving Assistants/­ Coctkail Servers. We are seeking friendly,

Classifieds

For sale

• AUTO • BIKES • BOOKS • MERCHANDISE • FURNITURE • REAL ESTATE • PETS

services

• EDUCATIONAL • TRAVEL • HEALTH • PARKING • INSURANCE

organized and reli­able applicants to work in an upscale dining environment. Please apply in per­son Mon‑ day through Friday after 1:30

Research Studies Alcohol & Smoking Research Lab at The University of Pitts­ burgh is looking for males to participate in a research project.

Must be between 21 and 28 years old and be a social drinker.

Must be willing to drink alcohol. Earn $90 for participating in 2 session study.

For more information call 412‑624‑8975 or email asrl@pitt.edu

Employment Other Drummer and guital player needed for a punk rock band. We play original music, no covers. Must have equipment.

Serious inquiries only.

Con­tact Marty at 412‑400‑5067 HIRING IMMEDI­ ATELY! Middle‑East‑ ern restaurant in Shadyside looking for positive, ener­getic and experienced people to join our team! Excel‑

notices

• ADOPTION • EVENTS • LOST AND FOUND • STUDENT GROUPS • WANTED • OTHER

R A T E S

Insertions

1-15 Words

16-30 Words

1X

2X

3X

4X

$6.30

$11.90

$17.30

$22.00

$7.50

$14.20

$20.00

$25.00

5X $27.00 $29.10

6X $30.20 $32.30

Add. + $5.00 + $5.40

(Each Additional Word: $0.10)

Deadline:

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

lent cus­tomer service, good character, and strong work ethic.

Call (412) 683‑4757 In‑home tutor wanted for 12th grade stu­dent studying elemen­tary statistics. Must have strong mathe­matics background. Sessions once a week, with additional sessions as needed for test prep.

Com­pensation nego‑ tiable. If interested, please call or text 412‑849‑4209 South Fayette Twp. School District HIGH SCHOOL AS­ SISTANT PRINCI­ PAL Complete job descrip­ tion is available at: www.southfayette.org South Fayette Twp. School District 3680 Old Oakdale Road McDonald, PA 15057 Deadline: September 27, 2019 or Until Po­ sition is Filled EOE

September 24, 2019

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