9-29-2015

The Pitt News T h e in de p e n d e n t st ude nt ne w spap e r of t he University of Pittsburgh

ROBBERY ON FIFTH

September 29, 2015 | Issue 32 | Volume 106

Dale Shoemaker, Elizabeth Lepro and Lauren Rosenblatt News Editors

New Funding for Hiv Research Rina Zhang

For The Pitt News

Police respond to a robbery at Citizens Bank on Fifth Avenue on Monday. Stephen Caruso ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Police are still searching for an unidentified man who robbed the Citizens Bank in Oakland Monday afternoon.

According to Pittsburgh Police Sergeant Brian Elledge, a black man in his 50s entered the bank minutes before its closing time at 3718 Fifth Ave. and stole an undisclosed amount of money before fleeing the scene. He headed outbound on Fifth Avenue toward North Oakland and Shadyside, according to Elledge.

The release said the man approached the teller with a note and said he had a

gun, but did not reveal the weapon.

Both Pittsburgh police and Pitt police responded to the call at 4:50 p.m. on Sept. 28.

Another Pittsburgh police sergeant, Michael Piscitelli, said police had reviewed surveillance video footage of the robbery and had obtained an image of the robber from the tape.

The man was wearing a black Tshirt, pants, white tennis shoes, a dark baseball cap and glasses, according to a release from the Pittsburgh Police.

Shortly after 5 p.m., four Pittsburgh police units were searching for the unidentified man.

Two police units, one from Pittsburgh and one from Pitt, including a police sergeant from the robbery squad, responded to the robbery, according to Elledge.

According to Piscitelli, Citizens Bank is responsible for determining how much money the man stole and likely will not release the number to the public.

With millions of federal funding secured, a team of Pitt researchers has set out to do what has never been done — find a cure for HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first published a report about what would come to be known as the AIDS epidemic in 1981. Thirtytwo years later, more than one million people are currently affected with HIV/AIDS in the United States. Effective — but costly and time-consuming treatments — can keep the chronic disease at bay, while dedicated scientists around the world work toward a cure.

In Pittsburgh, a pair of researchers at the UPMC Center for Vaccine Research were awarded a total of $6.3 million in grants last week from the National Institute of Health for their work on a cure for HIV/AIDS. The husband-wife team of Dr. Cristian Apetrei and Dr. Ivona Pandrea has reSee HIV on page 2

News

Experts weigh in on Iran deal Lauren Rosenblatt Assistant News Editor

Editor’s Note: Around the World is a semi-regular series in which The Pitt News breaks down world news with the help of local experts to give you the low down on what’s going on internationally.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the United Nations general assembly Sunday that the latest nuclear deal marks a new chapter in United States and Iranian relations. Yet, some opponents of the deal question whether this chapter will give Iran too much leeway in nuclear development.

In July, The P5+1, a group that consists of the United States, Germany, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom, settled negotiations with Iran to keep the country from building a nuclear weapon, while loosening the already existing sanctions on the country’s nuclear program. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action promises to cut off all of Iran’s pathways to obtain a nuclear weapon, including filling the core of Iran’s heavy water reactor — a nuclear power reactor that uses uranium as fuel — with concrete.

The deal has staunch right-wing opponents, like Speaker of the House John Boehner, who will leave his position at the end of October, and members of the Zionist movement who couldn’t block the bill bepittnews.com

HIV, pg. 1

fore the end of a 60-day time limit that ended on Sept. 18. Now, the Obama Administration and the other members of the P5+1 want to implement the terms of the deal, Matt Hyre STAFF GRAPHIC DESIGNER which will include easClawson: The Pittsburgh Syming previous sanctions on Iran. phony Orchestra visited Iran 50 The Obama Administration has years ago. They tried to reorganize said that if Iran does not uphold the another visit this past year, but it deal, the sanctions will “snap back didn’t work out, that’s a good examinto place.” ple. The organization that wanted Assistant News Editor Lauren to sponsor the orchestra also sponRosenblatt sat down with Patrick sored a contest for cartoons denying Clawson, the director of research the Holocaust, so the orchestra said, for the Washington Institute for “Oh forget that.” The visit seemed Near East Policy, and Professor like a great idea, but then problems Daniela Donno of Pitt’s political arise. science department to talk about The great challenge will be that the pros and cons of the deal. the next president is going to want The impact of the deal on the to show that [he or she is] different United States: than the previous president. The exDonno: It’s going to change the tent that which Obama has defined U.S. policy and stance in the Middle this as the crown issue of his second East as a whole. Some traditional term makes the national temptaallies, like Saudi Arabia and Israel, tion [for future candidates] to show are very unhappy about this deal. that they can handle this issue betIt won’t change overall the fact that ter. The grave risk is that the next we are still strong allies with Israel, president will feel under pressure to I don’t think in the end that those show that they can do better — and friendships are going to be comthat’s true for whoever gets elected. pletely destroyed. But it allows for new possibilities for the U.S. to start Find the full story online at finding ways to have a better relationship with Iran, and that could help us achieve our goals in Iraq.

September 29, 2015

pittnews.com

searched AIDS at the CVR for the past six years.

The mid-Atlantic AIDS Education & Training Center, based at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School for Public Health, also won a $10.7 million grant last week from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration. The money will go toward researching ways to improve the quality of life for those affected with AIDS and combating the spread of the virus, by funding, training and consulting health professionals.

According to Dr. Robert Montelaro, co-director of the CVR, before winning this award, Pandrea and Apetrei had already won a combined $17 million in NIH grants in the six years they’ve been at UPMC. The Pittsburgh AIDS Center for Treatment has treated HIV patients since 1989 and became a site for NIH-funded clinical trials in 2000.

“The significance is,” Montelaro said, “that the University of Pittsburgh has been recognized as a leader in HIV research for the past 30 years, and these awards kind of validate the reputation of the University.”

Montelaro stressed that although those affected by HIV/AIDS currently have effective treatments for controlling symptoms, a final solution hasn’t been found yet.

“We’ve succeeded very well in making HIV a manageable disease with drug treatment, but we have these residual reservoirs of infection that we need to figure out how to target to See HIV on page 3

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HIV, pg. 2 eliminate them completely, so that disease doesn’t come back when you remove drugs,” Montelaro said.

Apetrei’s research aims to develop a cure that could potentially rid all traces of the virus in affected patients.

His cure involves reactivating the cell “reservoirs” of HIV — small amounts of the virus that remain in quiescent cells even after the disease has been mostly eradicated from the body. The inactive virus is difficult to kill because the immune system will not attack it. If treatment for AIDS stops, these reservoirs leave the patient vulnerable to infection.

Apetrei is attempting to eliminate these reservoirs of HIV through the “shock and kill” method. After reactivating the virus with a biological agent, the patient’s own immune system partners with the drug treatment to kill the virus.

pittnews.com

“By the end of the day, if we conduct this treatment enough and appropriately, we will have an impact on the reservoir and cure the infection,” said Apetrei.

While Apetrei searches for a cure, Pandrea is working on improving the quality of life of those who still suffer from HIV. Pandrea’s investigation focuses on the link between hypercoagulation — excessive blood clotting — and accelerated aging that is associated with HIV. Even if the patient’s condition does not deteriorate to AIDS, HIV patients are more susceptible to cardiovascular, renal and liver diseases.

In addition to investigating the biological mechanism behind these diseases, Pandrea is testing drug therapies to treat the hypercoagulation that may cause the co-existing conditions, called comorbidities. Last spring, her team showed that the drug Sevelamer, which is usually used to treat dialysis

patients, reduced comorbidities in monkeys infected with the simian strain of HIV. Even though researchers have developed effective treatments, much work goes into providing care to those who need it.

The AETC focuses on the prevention and treatment of AIDS through funding, training and consulting health professionals throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C. It provides training through onsite and remote sessions to doctors, nurses, dentists, social workers and other professionals who work with AIDS patients, as well as providing ongoing care to people affected with HIV in the mid-Atlantic region.

The grant will allow the AETC to continue its work in the region for four more years and distribute funds to other treatment centers to provide patient care locally.

September 29, 2015

Linda Frank, associate professor of infectious diseases and microbiology, is the executive director of the AETC and has worked in the field of AIDS treatment since 1988.

When the AETC first received funding in 1988, Frank said they did not have any anti-viral medications available, so instead they treated patients for the opportunistic diseases that came with the weakened immune system of an HIV/AIDS patient, including cancer and pneumonia. The AETC formed support groups to help staff cope with the high number of deaths, Frank said.

Since it began using anti-viral medications in 1996, has reduced the mortality rate by 50 percent.

“We want every person to know their HIV status. Because we know if you get people with HIV on treatment, they can live a relatively long life,” Frank said. “People are living now who would have died 30 years ago.”

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Opinions Correction: In Sept. 22nd’s edition of The Pitt News, an editorial claimed that the University does not provide a 24-hour confidential hot line for victims of sexual assault. That was false, the University does currently provide sexual assault assistance through a 24-hour crisis hot line that does not require callers to identify themselves. The Pitt News regrets this error.

Column

from the editorial board

City-wide effort needed to welcome refugees As the Syrian civil war continues to devastate everything in its path, thousands of Syrians are fleeing one insecurity for the next, as the risks of staying overrun the perils of the journey out.

The United Nations predicts there could be up to 4.27 million Syrian refugees by the end of 2015. Some of them will soon call Pittsburgh their home.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, along with 18 other mayors from different cities across the United States, have all co-written a letter to the White House, stating, “We will welcome the Syrian families to make homes and new lives in our cities.”

In total, John Kerry said on Sept. 20 during a visit to Berlin, that the United States plans to accept 85,000 refugees in 2016 and 100,000 in 2017.

It is imperative that Pittsburgh does its part pittnews.com

in help the Syrian refugees, simply because this is a problem that requires as much help as it can get. The refugee crisis has created an extremely dangerous and unstable Middle East. Many Syrian refugees have fled to the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. However, these countries lack the infrastructure and resources to meet the extremely high influx of refugees — and Iraq, in particular, has its own insurgent conflicts to deal with, trapping Syrian refugees who have fled there into yet another war zone.

The consequences are not isolated to the Middle East. Rather, the outcomes of instability ripple into the global economy and create national security issues — seeing that extremist groups tend to take advantage of such volatile political environments and vulnerable peoples.

This is a large reason

why the United States has already devoted $4 billion in humanitarian aid since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. Due to the pressures that accompany a large number of refugees, financial aid can only do so much for countries currently hosting refugees.

The United States has agreed to start taking in Syrian refugees to its own soil — to hopefully provide them with the resources and space they need to live better lives and to help exacerbate the growing costs of humanitarian aid currently needed in the Middle East itself.

Housing refugees will promote an atmosphere of inclusivity in our city.

It won’t be easy — but it won’t be impossible.

The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh will be one of many to help Syrian refugees transition into Pittsburgh by providing them with resources such as a food pantry, commu-

nity-donated items and support programs that will surround them with a network of supportive Pittsburghers.

A difficult challenge will be finding housing for the refugees.

“This will also be one of the biggest limiting factors in bringing more refugees to Pittsburgh,” Permveer Longia, a Pitt Pulse fellow volunteering for the Center, said in an email.

“Fortunately, there are still many houses in many neighborhoods that are still unoccupied.

These houses are the remnants of a drastic population decrease that took place over the course of the 20th century in Pittsburgh, and the city only recently started to rise in its population for the first time in decades,” Longia said.

Find the full story online at pittnews.com

September 29, 2015

Williams won’t make msnbc more objective

Matt Moret Columnist

When your sole job requirement is to deliver information to millions of people every night, the audience’s trust matters.

In January, Brian Williams, then anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” lost that trust. After a very public fall from grace for sensationalizing reporting experiences, the network suspended Williams — leading many to question whether he would return at all.

Now Williams is back, but rather than returning to his old desk, NBC has moved him to its liberal cable news network, MSNBC. While this may end up being a lucrative move for both Williams and the channel, it speaks to how misguided the network really is — his past will only serve to undermine MSNBC’s already polarizing reputation.

Williams’ troubles began when NBC learned he embellished a story from his 2003 trip to Iraq. According to multiple interviews in which he recounted the incident, the helicopter he was in took fire from an RPG. Members of the plaSee Moret on page 5

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Moret, pg. 4 toon on board, however, claimed that this never happened, according to The Washington Post.

The inaccurate report forced NBC to investigate some of his other reports. As it turns out, the helicopter fib may have been part of a larger trend.

For instance, New York Magazine,

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CNN and the Washington Post have all reported conflicting accounts of some of Williams’ recollections of big stories. One such account was when he claimed to have contracted dysentery while reporting from Hurricane Katrina-stricken New Orleans. He said he had declined IV and had “no medicine, nothing.” However, the general manager of the hotel Williams was staying at told

The Washington Post that there were enough medicine and doctors available to help him.

Williams returned to television for the first time since his ousting to apologize on “The Today Show” for his actions in June. NBC announced his return to reporting soon after to help rebuild MSNBC. Williams’ is actually part of a larger attempt by MSNBC to focus on news rather than its traditional progressive punditry. For instance, the network has moved journalist Kate Snow in as regular news anchor and will work more closely with NBC News proper to produce content, attempting to shift the focus from political and social commentary to objective news reporting.

With its lowest ratings since 2005, the network is undeniably in need of a change. Politico’s Dylan Byers reported in March that since the start of 2014, the network’s viewership dropped 21 percent overall and 41 percent in its core

September 29, 2015

25-54 demographic. Falling far behind both CNN and Fox News, the network attracts an average of only 300,000 viewers during the day.

One reason for the slump may be that with a liberal president in office, the liberal masses aren’t interested in broadcast news. MSNBC’s peak ratings were during George W. Bush’s administration, when pundits like Keith Olbermann would go on the air nightly and fume about wars and economic turmoil. As a result, the commentary side of the network took over MSNBC. Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews came to define MSNBC as a whole: a source for liberal venting to push back on Fox News.

For mainstream liberals today, however, there is just less to be angry about.

Gay marriage is legal, the Affordable Care Act is secure for the foreseeable future and the economy has made a steady See Moret on page 8

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Culture

mac awakens with “Go:od am” Tarun Sathish

for The Pitt News

The Pittsburgh kid has grown up.

Mac Miller has matured into a sage rapper with lyrics to match his excellent beats in his first major studio album “GO:OD AM,” which dropped Sept. 18.

It’s the rapper’s best work to date, as he mostly ditching the “frat rap” lyricism of sex, party and drugs for love and heartbreak.

The Pittsburgh native, who started as EZ Mac in his high school rap group The Ill Spoken, is now selling out Stage AE all by himself. Miller started rapping when he was 14 and dropped his first solo mixtape as Mac, “The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown,” in 2009. The Taylor Allderdice High School graduate then signed with Pittsburgh-based Rostrum Records when he turned 18, which had already signed fellow Pittspittnews.com

burgh rapper and Miller’s friend Wiz Khalifa.

Miller jumped into the scene at a young age, hitting number one on the charts with his independently released mixtape “Blue Side Park” at 19 years old in November 2011. This was the first indie debut album to reach number one since 1995, but it got mixed reviews despite his large following. Pitchfork scored it a 1.0 out of 10, calling Miller “a crushingly bland, more intolerable version of Wiz Khalifa.”

Miller has had worse troubles, though. As recently as last summer, he was struggling with drug addiction in Los Angeles before moving to Brooklyn in August. Amidst his floundering in drugs and depression, the first words on his last mixtape, 2014’s “Faces,” are “I shoulda died already.”

Though critics praised his last official album, 2013’s “Watching Movies with the Sound Off,” “GO:OD AM” feels like Miller finally waking up from his bad dreams and addictions. It is the first true time that he has proven himself worthy of the fame he’s had for so long.

At 23, Miller is still on the younger end of his peers, and it’s difficult to listen to this record without drawing comparisons to Vince Staples, the 21-yearold west coast rapper who also released his first major studio album — the widely praised “Summertime ’06” — earlier this year.

Similarly to “GO:OD”, “Summertime” is an album about maturation. Where Staples raps about escaping the gangs and crime of poverty-stricken Los Angeles, Miller raps with a pain in his voice about letting his family down, alluding to his drug problems.

His album’s tracklist, though — at 17 songs — feels distracting. “Watching Movies with the Sound Off ” was also a lengthy record, though Miller’s self-portrayal as a young philosophizer slipping into drug addiction feels less significant than his return from it. It’s worth wondering if trimming a couple songs off would have amplified the rapper’s welcome back party.

Over the 70-minute run time, Miller explores depression, substance abuse, sobriety and women, all in his attempt to grow and be a better man.

The epitome of these attempts comes in

September 29, 2015

the near eight-minute “Perfect Circle / God Speed,” where he contemplates his maturity, or lack thereof, and how his substance abuse could hurt his mother.

He mixes vulnerability with confidence as he points out “I’m only 23, but my mind is older and it’ll forever be.” He breaks down later imagining his mother’s reaction to hearing her son has died from an overdose.

The tracks’ order strategically represents the struggles of sobriety, alternating from songs about self-improvement to those about indulgence. It’s a tricky balance to maintain and some of the songs didn’t work, like “In The Bag” or “When in Rome,” whose lyrics are less introspective, serving as reminders of how Mac fell into the “frat rapper” label earlier in his career.

Luckily, there is enough wit and energy in successes like “100 Grandkids,” “Weekend” and “Ascension” that overshadow the record’s weaker tracks.

Miller’s always had an ear for beats, and on “GO:OD,” Miller worked with notable west coast producers like Tyler, the Creator and Flying Lotus, as well as some finely-selected guests. He went back and forth perfectly with Ab-Soul on “Two Matches,” and Miguel complements him beautifully on “Weekend.”

However, the highlight feature will be Little Dragon wrapping up the album with a trippy verse on “The Festival,” the record’s dreamy finale.

While the album focuses on Miller’s personal growth, it also works as a sign of his career as well. Miller is no longer the kid who got famous quickly and worked to validate his platform.

“GO:OD AM” is Miller’s artistic awakening — alive and not nearly ready to call it a night.

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pitt choirs unite for fall showcase Rio Maropis Staff Writer

Rarely together under the same roof, Pitt’s four student choirs will join forces and voices for this weekend’s Fall Showcase.

The Pitt Men’s Glee Club, Pantherhythms, Women’s Choral Ensemble and Heinz Chapel Choir — all of the faculty-directed choirs on campus — will perform a free show Sunday at 4 p.m. at First Baptist Church on North Bellefield Avenue. The showcase will feature three performances from each group and a final combined piece.

The showcase has been an annual tradition for the past four years, growing in popularity so much that it now needs a new venue. Previously hosted in Bellefield Hall, this is the first year the concert will take place in First Baptist Church. “[Last year] there was standing room only,” Dr. Susan Rice, director of the Heinz Chapel Choir, said.

First Baptist will seat 750 guests — 175 more than Bellefield.

This year’s show is happening a week earlier than usual to avoid fall break, causing the choirs to scramble more than usual.

“In past years, we’ve taken a little bit of a relaxed approached getting the music learned. This year it’s pretty much off to the races from the very beginning,” Richard Teaster, director of the Pitt Men’s Glee Club, said.

The choirs held auditions during the first week of classes. Since then, the groups have had four short weeks to get their new members up to speed and to prepare music for the concert on Oct. 4.

“We’re doing well, but it’s a lot of stuff to prepare in a very, very short amount of time,” Teaster said.

Unlike other school choirs, Pitt’s are pittnews.com

all a capella.

“That’s one thing that Pitt is quite good at, and a lot of schools don’t have that tradition,” Teaster said of the faculty-directed choirs. “It’s something we do that’s unique to [us].”

First Baptist Church is the home rehearsal and performance space for the PMGC, which will open the showcase with its rendition of the University of Pittsburgh Alma Mater.

The 65-piece club will go on to perform a wide selection of songs, including “Beati Mortui,” a Mendelssohn piece from the 19th centu- Pitt’s Women’s Choir performs in last year’s fall showcase. Courtesy of Heinz Chapel Choir ry written specifically for a men’s choir, Chapel Choir, said the choir is most exthe choir, said. “You can see the differan arrangement of the Vietnam-era cited about the African piece. ences in how we style our voices to fit Crosby, Stills & Nash song, “Find the “We learned [it] orally, meaning our our members and the tone of the piece.”

Cost of Freedom” and the Italian song director taught it to us without sheet The WCE will sing ing five numbers “O Che Incanto.” music,” she said, in order to stay as true — an Appalachian-themed -them song, an Pantherhythms, another all-male to the song’s sound as possible. arrangement of a modern pop tune, mod group that includes 12 PMGC mem“The songs are usually very upbeat, an early 20th century Gershwin song ury G bers, will follow with “Come Again with movement, and allow for the called “Embraceable le You, Yo ” a madrigal Sweet Love,” an English madrigal writgroup to add its own interpretation and and a gospel piece. ten by John Dowland, an arrangement musicality, which is fun,” Cahill said.

Bovalino said the he WCE W is most exof Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” and The final song of the concert will cited about its last piec piece.

Eric Clapton’s “Change the World.” be a collaboration of all three choirs.

“We We like spirituals spi tuals because of their The group originally formed in They’ll sing an arrangement of the folk vivacity,” she said. said d. “This piece has an the late ’90s, when collegiate a capella hymn, “How Can I Keep From Singupbeat style and energy that makes it d en ne groups began “hitting the scene” on fun and the choir.” un for both the audience aud ing?” directed by Teaster, who wrote it campuses across the country, accordFinally, for mixed voices. ll 50 men and women will ing to Teaster. come together in the Heinz Chapel Teaster said he feels that students “They have a repertoire leaning Choir — 24 of whom joined this semesprobably think Pitt is “just a sports toward jazz, pop [and] barbershop,” ter — and perform together after only school,” or “just a research school,” Teaster said. “[They’re] doing [the] eight rehearsals. but the Fall Showcase tries to generate most contemporary repertoire on the Heinz Chapel Choir’s international student in some of the lesserdent interest i program, I would say.” pallet is considerably different from the known student activities, like choir. wn stu In contrast to the all-male openers, others. Its setlist includes “Vela Vela,” a “I think there are a lot of people on the WCE will take the stage next.

South African piece, “Verbum caro faccampuss that don’t really know the en“What I particularly like about tum est,” a Hassler piece from the late ergy that’ at’s h happening in choral music ha the Showcase is that you get to hear a renaissance period and the Latin jazz at Pitt,” Ri Rice ce said. “We’re “W hoping all of mixed group, a male group and a fesong, “Bailando.” this gets on people’s radars in a way that male group,” Alexis Bovalino, a junior Kelly Cahill, a senior applied matheencourages them to come back and see marketing and human resources manmatics major and the secretary of Heinz us again.” agement major and vice president of September 29, 2015 7

Moret, pg. 5 turnaround since President Obama took office. Obviously the country still has massive issues, but fewer points of outrage means fewer reasons to watch others be outraged.

To fit the successful model of Fox News, which garners an average of about 2.667 million viewers for “The O’Reilly Factor” alone, it seems as though MSNBC has nowhere to go but further left. However, it’s doubtful that MSNBC is not quite liberal enough for the entirety of the 26 percent of registered voters who identify as liberal in the first place.

Hoping for a conservative president to criticize is not a very sustainable business model. Instead, the network has decided to move to the center, closer to CNN in its news coverage rather than liberal analysis — this is where Williams is supposed to come in.

During his return to television, Wil-

liams anchored MSNBC’s coverage of Pope Francis’ arrival in the United States last week. MSNBC did not promote Williams’ appearance, and it did not mention his prior indiscretions. He was perfectly adequate, though, spending most of the program throwing to other correspondents like Chuck Todd for comments, rather than lending his own. From now on, he will be a “breaking news anchor” for the network.

The problem is that Williams, the sensationalist, celebrity anchor, who lobbied to replace David Letterman, is supposed to spearhead a push for objective news. That math does not work for me. Yes, he has earned credentials from all of his years spent on “Nightly News,” but he checked those at the door once he put himself before the news.

Back in 2004, legendary CBS anchor Dan Rather reported on documents alleging that President Bush had received special treatment while in the Air National Guard. CBS later found them to

be inauthentic, and CBS forced Rather to resign, ending his 24-year career as an anchor.

I don’t believe that Williams deserves softer treatment than Rather. His fabrications undermine both his personal trustworthiness and his network’s push for objectivity. Maybe Williams has changed and is genuinely going to fight for his credibility, but even if he does, this is a step in the wrong direction if MSNBC wants to be an impartial news source.

Don’t get me wrong, I have fond memories of Williams. He is the only anchor I knew growing up, and his visits to “The Daily Show” and “Saturday Night Live” helped make news accessible to me. I sincerely hope that he wins me back. But he is the opposite of what MSNBC should value during this transition. Credibility and insightful perspectives make up the core of reporting and commentary. Williams offers neither.

T P N S U D O K U

pittnews.com

September 29, 2015

On the first day of Williams’ return, MSNBC saw an astounding 169 percent increase in viewership. That being said, it still remained behind CNN and Fox News, with all three seeing a spike from coverage of the Pope’s arrival. It is entirely possible that he could help save the network, but this bump is neither sufficient nor reliable.

Investing more in news is a commendable move by MSNBC, if only because it is reinventing itself while maintaining the progressive commentary that made it important. However, news should come before the personalities.

MSNBC has chosen to lead with the most recent figure to fail at that task. In doing so, it entirely misses the point of the journalism, and that’s a point I don’t need to embellish.

Matt Moret primarily writes on politics and rhetoric for The Pitt News.

Write to Matt at mdm123@pitt.edu

Today's difficulty level: Very Hard Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com

8

Sports Pitt football notebook: Week four

Qadree Ollison, Darrin Hall and Chris James will all fight for playing time in practice. Jeff Ahearn and Meghan Sunners PITT NEWS PHOTO STAFF

Jeremy Tepper

Senior Staff Writer

After Week 2’s last-second loss to Iowa, Pitt head football coach Pat Narduzzi and his team had a bye week to lick their wounds and prepare to face Virginia Tech.

Now heading into this weekend’s contest against the Hokies, Narduzzi addressed his team’s running offense, starting quarterback and defense at his weekly pittnews.com

press conference Monday.

Running Back Competition Pitt has rotated Qadree Ollison, Chris James and Darrin Hall at running back this season, setting a trend that won’t fall off anytime soon.

The two-deep depth chart lists the three running backs as costarters, with an ‘OR’ separating their names. Narduzzi said their effectiveness in practice each

week will determine their playing time.

“I wish there were no ‘ors,’” Narduzzi said. “It’s a work in progress. It’s going to go with the hot guy, and they’re going to compete during the week to see who it is.”

Against Akron, Ollison got the start and majority of carries, while versus Iowa, Hall started and played most. Hall rushed for

September 29, 2015

38 yards on 14 carries against Iowa.

“I think he did a good job,” Narduzzi said. “Obviously we didn’t run the ball like we wanted, but it’s a good front at Iowa, and we knew it wouldn’t be easy to run the ball against them.”

A good running game will depend on the offensive line, which See Notebook on page 10

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Notebook, pg. 9 Narduzzi said will need to exert more physicality in the trenches.

“We’ve got to get movement up front. Alex Officer and Artie Rowell have got to get movement on the three techniques and nose tackles up front,” Narduzzi said. “That’s going to be key.”

Narduzzi also pointed to right tackle Brian O’Neill as needing to improve in run blocking. O’Neill, who moved from tight end to offensive line in training camp, has executed better with pass blocking, something that hasn’t surprised Narduzzi given the quick transition to a new position.

“He’s very athletic and light in the feet, but he doesn’t have that power behind him yet. He’s still got that tight end power,” Narduzzi said.

Definite Starter at Quarterback Narduzzi announced that Nate Peterman would be the starting quarterback going forward during the ACC coaches teleconference last Wednesday.

Peterman had been competing with Chad Voytik, as they split time in the first three games, with the coaching staff hoping to separate themselves from the other. Peterman eventually did so and received the large majority of playing time against Iowa, completing 20 of 29 passes for 219 yards.

Peterman, who led Pitt to a game-tying drive late in the 4th quarter, impressed Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney with his accuracy.

“He’s been throwing the ball well. He’s been very accurate. I think Coach Chaney said he was like 90 percent accurate [against Iowa], as far as where he’s putting the ball,” Narduzzi said. pittnews.com

So the starting quarterback position doesn’t figure to be in question , a change from the first three games, when Narduzzi brought in Peterman — then the backup — in the third series and rotated from there.

“We’re going to stick and try to stay with one guy,” Narduzzi said.

Though Peterman is the definite starter, Voytik will see the field occasionally in a package to utilize his running ability.

“It just might be for a play to sprinkle it in here and there,” Narduzzi said. “It might just be a package where it’s a play or two or three in a row then get him out.”

Improvement on Defense Despite a national standing as 18th in yards per game and 23rd in sacks, Narduzzi said his defense still hasn’t reached his lofty expectations.

“I don’t know if that will ever happen. They’ve played OK,” Narduzzi said.

Narduzzi would like to see them generate more of a pass rush on the quarterback without blitzing.

“We still need to get more fourman pressure on the quarterback, which we haven’t done,” Narduzzi said. “They’ve been solid, and we just need to keep getting better.”

He’d also like to see Pitt’s defense finish games stronger, something it didn’t do when it allowed Iowa to drive down the field in the last minute to set up a game-winning field goal.

“When you’re on the field with 44 seconds left to go, you expect them to step up and be tough enough and resilient enough to stop them,” Narduzzi said. “As a defense, you embrace the opportunity to go on the field and win the game at the end when you’re out there, and we didn’t do that.”

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September 29, 2015

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