Employment Guide 2014

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Table of Contents Katz Resignation..............................................3 Student Bloggers.............................................3 Casual Fridays.....................................................4 Caruso Column.................................................4 Football Preview...............................................5 Volleyball Preview............................................5 Employment Guide: Horror Stories..........6 Employment Guide: GPA...................................7

Employment Guide: Self-Employed...............8 Employment Guide: Brown Column...........10 Employment Guide: Craig Column.............12 Employment Guide: Joe Prince-Wright....16 Employment Guide: Elvin Soto....................16 Employment Guide: Filmmakers...................17 Employment Guide: Artists...........................19 Employment Guide: Laskas Interview........20

September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

NEWS

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Business school dean announces resignation Danielle Fox Assistant News Editor Dean John Delaney of Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration announced on Thursday that he plans to step down from his position.

Delaney is stepping down because he believes organizations need new leadership to remain “fresh and vital.”

“In light of the arrival of the new chancellor and all of the inevitable changes

that will follow, the timing for change at Katz/CBA is appropriate,” Delaney said in a statement.

Delaney will remain dean until Pitt selects a successor and will then return to Pitt’s business faculty. University spokesperson Cara Masset said the person who will be filling the position has yet to be determined.

Delaney became the sixth dean of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration in 2006. Delaney was instrumental

in opening Pitt’s financial analysis lab in 2008.

Delaney earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial relations from LeMoyne College in 1977 and his master’s and doctorate in labor and industrial relations from the University of Illinois in 1980 and 1983. He previously worked at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, University of Iowa and Michigan State University.

The University will form a search committee in the coming weeks to replace Delaney by spring. Masset said the Uni-

versity has not determined who will sit on the committee, if the search will be open or closed and if the University will hire a search firm.

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia Beeson said she is pleased Delaney will remain at the University following his resignation.

“It has been my pleasure to work with John Delaney, both in his role as dean and in his participation in the activities of our Council of Deans,” Beeson said in a statement.

Working with words: Students earn cash through blogging Conor McAteer Staff Writer When Aditya Thawardas began reading TalkAndroid, he didn’t think he would become one of its writers. But since April 2013, Thawardas has been writing for the blog, which focuses on the Android operating system and phone market.

“It’s not like a normal job where you go in and have hours,” Thawardas said. “It only takes about 15 minutes per article.

That averages out to about three articles a day, which isn’t hard at all. It’s a good way to make money.”

Thawardas isn’t the only one to take advantage of the blogosphere to punch in and earn some extra cash. According to a 2012 study by Nielsen Holdings N.V., an American global information and measurement company, blogging is increasingly popular.

The report found more than 6.7 million people around the world publish blogs, and another 12 million write blogs using their social networks. Of the bloggers, roughly half are part of the 18-34 age demographic.

Bloggers are also well-educated, the study said. Seven of 10 bloggers have gone to college, a majority of whom are graduates.

Before writing for TalkAndroid, Thawardas, a junior marketing and finance

major, was a fan. He later submitted an application and writing samples, and joined the staff two weeks later.

To get paid, Thawardas is responsible for writing and publishing an average of 17 articles per week, each roughly 200300 words in length — his pay each month differs depending on the uniqueness of his articles.

“Normal articles [that] I write are just summarizing news content,” Thawardas said. “But the unique ones can be a list, like ‘top ten apps for the football season’ or something like that. They [pay] more for those. They get more hits.”

Talk Android currently has nine writers who sign up for stories through a Google Doc set up by the site’s editor-in-chief.

Thawardas said the blog gives writers a base pay between $200-300 each month.

On top of that, if a writer chooses to write a “unique” article, the writer is compensated with $50 for each of the first two in the month, and $100 for each additional “unique” articles thereafter.

Getting paid isn’t dependant on how many hours he works but by how many online posts he can produce in a period of time. Thawardas said that, while his job is unusual, it’s a good way to earn extra cash.

Thawardas is lucky to write for an established site — for blogger Robert Ward, a

junior majoring in mechanical engineering, money can be harder to come by.

Ward writes for the science section on Inside the Athletic Grind, a sports blog which launched this year.

“The science [section] is really more informative,” Ward said. “Like, how much water you should be drinking a day [or] if you have a game at 9 p.m., you should be carb loading from 8 to 12. Stuff like that.”

The site’s Twitter account has more than 3,200 followers but, because the blog is young, Ward said it’s a ways away from being able to pay its writers.

The blog has sponsorships and joint ventures with some companies, but the deals are still in their beginning stages.

“The money we’ve made so far just goes back into the site, but we don’t have enough to pay each one of our writers,” Ward said.

To pay its writers, Ward said the site would have to have advertisers that could be relied upon on a monthly basis.

According to Ward, while he is solely listed as a writer on the site, because he knows how to code, he has to deal with the overall management of the site as well.

“We haven’t had anyone advertise on our site yet. We’ve had offers, but they’re offers from companies that have nothing to do with sports,” Ward said. “We kind of want to stick to the sports side of it and

not have just some random advertisements on our site.

Despite the blog’s current inability to earn money for its writers, Ward said blogging has more than just cash benefits.

“If you just wanted to blog, you could set it up through your Gmail,” Ward said. “And, in terms of how it could benefit you — I think it’s a lot better to have an actual URL to your name rather than just a Facebook page. It shows you have a little more value.”

While anyone could potentially start independently blogging, Pitt writing professor Katie Booth worries about the less formalized level of journalism that blogging attracts.

“I think there’s a move away from traditional journalism, away from traditional interviewing and research and hard stuff, like actual observation, and towards commentary. And that’s alarming,” Booth said.

“I think commentary without work is lazy.”

But Booth does acknowledge the potential benefits that blogging can have in the future job market, like how blogging allows writers to defy traditional genres of writing, and pre-approve an audience for particular works.

“I think blogging has a lot more room for narrative and experimentation that gets edited out of a lot of other writing,” Booth said. “I think that’s important.”

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

EDITORIAL

OPINIONS

Casual Fridays

Human race comes to an end In Rochester, N.H., the human race has officially come to an end. The race for state representative, that is.

As it turns out, incumbent Democratic state Rep. Rose Marie Rogers defeated her opponent on Tuesday, a man named “human” — spelled with a lowercase “H” — by a count of 181-30. The challenger, formally David Montenegro, legally changed his name to human in 2012. All reports indicate that the human race plans to rebuild.

Rude Awakening Gina Briggs, 26, was arrested in Ormond Beach, Fla., on Monday for pulling a pistol on a landscaper. Why? Turns out the landscaper’s yard work was too noisy. According to the victim, Carlos Repicio, Briggs threatened to shoot him for disturbing her sleep. Luckily for Repicio, she forgot to load the gun, and he didn’t have to find out whether the grass was truly greener on the other side.

Humans vs. Zombies Police in Coos Bay, Ore., have arrested a woman for playing “the zombie game.”

At least, that’s what she said she was doing. Really, she was arrested for assault and home invasion. Jessica Rocha allegedly broke into a woman’s home, pushed her

down the stairs, pulled her hair and bit her on the face.

She then told her victim it was all part of “the zombie game.”

Thankfully, medical officials say they have come up with a cure for the zombie outbreak: stop smoking bath salts.

Squirrelspotting In Syktyvkar, Russia, three students were seen chasing down a squirrel. The students were stopped by a passerby, who allegedly told them to leave the poor squirrel alone.

The passerby, a former police officer, then noticed a small, red bundle in the squirrel’s mouth. It turns out the students were chasing the squirrel down because it stole their drug stash. Unfortunately, “We couldn’t catch it, so we will never know where the packet will go and where it came from,” the former officer said. In other news, the DEA has alleged that Sandy Cheeks wasn’t just breathing oxygen through her scuba suit.

Gone in 60 minutes A woman in Fruitport Township, Mich., has been arrested for shoplifting from a local Walmart. Shirley Mason took $600 worth of clothing and attempted to make her getaway in a motorized wheelchair shopping cart because she “didn’t feel like walking.” Thankfully, the police nabbed her after the slow and inglorious cart-chase.

COLUMN

Wasting away in Margaritaville: Get real about the economy Stephen Caruso Columnist

It feels that, often, this country’s understanding of the economy is like an episode of “South Park.”

Specifically, it’s like the one in which Randy Marsh convinces the entire eponymous town to spend money on nothing but “the bare essentials. Water and bread and margaritas,” to appease the economy and bring prosperity back.

Sadly, as evidenced by the past five years of recession, things are a bit more complicated than that.

GDP is increasing, and the stock market is reaching new heights.

But these numbers don’t indicate much for the everyday person on the street. All we see is the unemployment rate, which is still more than 6 percent — high for the “prosperous” times indicated by more abstracted measures.

The one thing “South Park” got right in its analysis of the recessionary mindset is the search for a scapegoat. When a slowdown occurs — or continues to occur, for that matter — people need to throw blame at somebody’s feet — especially in an age of 24-hour media coverage. So, who shall we ready the pitchforks for? The president of course!

Yes, it is a tradition that goes back to 1876 to blame the sitting president — and his ruling party — for an ailing economy. In that year’s election, the Panic of 1873 — “panic” being old-timey English for depression — had led to 7 percent unemployment. The ruling Republican Party’s candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, almost lost the election to the party of the

Confederates and secession, the Democrats, a mere decade after the end of the Civil War. Then there was Herbert Hoover, who was thrown out of office in favor of Franklin D. Roosevelt because of the Great Depression and a 20 percent unemployment rate. And even Ronald Reagan, though known now as some sort of conservative superman, had his disapproval rating touch 50 percent in the early ‘80s as the economy slowly recovered.

Thus, the general rule, as backed by a 2010 Pew study, is that if unemployment is going up, presidential disapproval will, too.

But this is unfair to any president, even Herbert Hoover. No president can single-handedly change the economy in a constitutional manner. It requires, at first, agreeable lawmakers from both the local and the federal level, not to mention a willing public.

These are incredibly difficult conditions to meet. Yet it was able to happen once in our history with FDR. In 1933, after his election, he was able to pass bill after bill to try and fix the economy, because he had the right conditions — lawmakers and a public willing to do anything to get out of the depression. And it worked, at least, to an extent.

While economists can argue for days about the exact cause, GDP rose, and unemployment fell following FDR’s election. That said, the Supreme Court eventually stepped in and found the main New Deal program, the National Recovery Administration, unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve — also not under FDR’s control — raised interest

rates, thus increasing the price of much-needed private investment.

In 1937, the economy plunged again.

What the history of the relationship between the presidential approval rating and employment shows are the issues that led Winston Churchill to utter his oftenquoted expression, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”

We, as Americans, whether liberal or conservative, want our government to be ready to react to every recession, passing the exact laws needed to get everyone their job back with a 15 percent raise. But to fight a recession in such a manner, the government would need to be acting under a unified plan that takes no regard for precedent or for even the good of the people, except as a whole — like FDR’s New Deal.

The price of living in a country with freedom is that nothing can be done overnight, and nothing can be attained without sacrifice.

Compromise is the lifeblood of the democratic process. Unfortunately, our current Congress seems to enjoy treating every issue as if it were a life and death struggle over the very ideals of the republic and that any step back would certainly end in the destruction of America.

This is unhealthy for our national mindset and unhealthy for the economy.

Take the government shutdown in 2013, for instance. Inaction on key issues, such as healthcare, inhibits business owners from planning accordingly for

Caruso

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

FOOTBALL

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SPORTS

Chryst, Pitt try to stay focused on Saturdayʼs game Ryan Bertonaschi Senior Staff Writer

It’s no secret that Florida International — Pitt’s opponent this Saturday — was a bad football team last year, and it only projects to finish this season as another bad football team.

It’s interesting, too. The program has gained almost as much national recognition in recent years for being so, well, bad, as good teams have received for being good.

Paul Myerberg of USA Today Sports put it best earlier in the year when he wrote, “Turn right at awful, drive straight through terrible, merge through dreadful and stop two miles down the road at Florida International in 2013, as bad a team as any we’ve seen in the last decade of major college football.”

Just plain bad.

The FIU Panthers recently appeared — as did the other 127 Division I foot-

ball teams — in a graphic released by the Wall Street Journal entitled “How Good (and Bad) Is Your Team?”

FIU was bad — rated in the grid’s lower-left quadrant that brought together teams both “weak” on the field and “embarrassing” off it. FIU was dead last, the weakest and most embarrassing (Pitt, on the other hand, was actually featured in the grid’s top 25).

Part of the reason for FIU’s placement in the chart is because it lost to Louisville in what was the most lopsided game of the 2013 college football season, 72-0. FIU gained 27 total yards of offense in the game, and quarterback E.J. Hilliard, who will start against Pitt, was sacked four times for -33 yards. You do the math.

Myerberg spoke about the blowout, already looking back on the game with a historical viewpoint.

“In ages to come, FIU fans will speak Florida International University finished 1-11 last season. | MCT Campus

FIU

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VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball looks to recapture winning ways in home tournament Caitlin Hinsey Staff Writer

After a successful tournament out West, despite losing their last game to Colorado, the Panthers return home and aim to recapture their winning ways this weekend when they host the Panther Classic.

This marks the first home match for Pitt, after competing in tournaments in Ohio and Colorado to open up the season. The Panthers (5-1, 0-0 ACC) have their home debut Friday at 7 p.m. in the Fitzgerald Field House against cross-city rival Duquesne. On Saturday, Pitt will take on Norfolk State, its first match of a day-night doubleheader and wrap up its weekend against Niagara.

The Panthers won their first five matches this season without relinquishing a set. They finally were halted last weekend when they faced tournament host Colorado, losing 3-1.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Wynn and sophomore middle blocker Jenna Potts both were named to the All-Tournament Team and continue to lead the team in kills and blocks, respectively.

After watching film this week at practice, Wynn reflected on the team’s loss, calling it a game that the team “could have, and should have, won” and said that match was “a learning experience.”

“We need to learn from our loss against Colorado,” Potts echoed. “We were a little shaky because it was our first truly big game. We just need to

bring a lot of confidence into this match [against Duquesne], and, if we’re confident, we’ll pull through.”

Wynn may be looking for revenge against the cross-city opponent. The senior recalled that it has been two years since Pitt last played the Dukes, with the match ending in a 3-0 Duquesne win.

“We’re most excited about that one,” Wynn said about the Panthers’ home opener. “A bunch of people from the city will probably show up, so both sides will really get up for that game and be energetic.”

Potts and Wynn, along with their teammates, according to assistant coach Lindsey Campbell, have been working on service errors along with high ball hitting to better prepare themselves.

“We’re taking what we learned as a team and a staff from Colorado and translating that into practice,” she said. “We’ve also been watching film on Duquesne to get our athletes prepared.”

Duquesne After winning the Atlantic 10 and making the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Dukes (3-3) have had a streaky season thus far. Duquesne started off its season losing three straight matches but recovered this past weekend when it co-hosted and won three straight at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational.

Besides getting the opportunity to play on her home court, junior setter

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

R

ule number one: the customer is always right. Rule number two: if the customer is wrong, refer to rule number one.

In American businesses, this is standard for customer service. Sometimes, though, the customer is not right.

What follows are three stories, from Pitt students, who work on the other side of the other side of the counter.

Editor’s Note: Some of the subjects of this article have omitted some personal information because of the personal nature of their stories.

Shay’s Tale

Pitt Students Share...

Customer Service

Horror Stories Dale Shoemaker Staff Writer

Brooke’s Tale

O

ver the summer, Brooke, a Pitt student, worked as a waitress at a Red Robin in her hometown of Dickson City, Pa. One day, she said, she watched as a man came in, sat down and ordered his meal. Then, he began making crude and sexual comments to his waitress.

“You can come to my place after this, if you’d like,” he said to her.

“If I lower my standards, you can come with me,” he said to another waitress.

His waitress ignored him and brought him his check. Without paying, the man stood up and walked out the door to his car. His waitress chased after him.

Having seen the man, a waiter followed

the carpet.

“I ain’t smoking,” the man said and shuffled past Jon into the store. Jon went out into the foyer, picked up the butt and threw it away in the trash can.

When he went back inside, the man was standing at the counter, talking to the clerk who knocked on the window.

“Honey,” Jon heard the man say, “could you buy me a pack of cigarettes?”

Art by Abigail Briner | For The Pitt News

her outside so the man wouldn’t try to hurt her.

“Sir, you have to come back inside!” she called.

“You have to come back inside and pay!” yelled the waiter.

The man ignored both of them. He got into his car, which was parked in front of the front doors of the restaurant. He turned it on and revved the engine, pretending not to hear them. Suddenly, he threw his car into reverse, crashing onto the sidewalk, nearly hitting the waiter.

“Sir, if you don’t come back inside right now,” the waiter yelled, “we’re calling the police!”

The man pulled back into his parking spot, got out, and followed the two back inside to the lobby. There, the manager of the restaurant confronted the man.

She told him that he could not leave until he paid. If he tried to do so again, she said, she would call the police.

“Wipe that smirk off your face,” the man told her, e “you b*tch.”

The manager threw him out then. He didn’t pay for his food. Fifteen minutes later, though, he returned.

“I forgot my cell phone,” he said.

Jon’s Tale

D

uring the school year, Jon, a senior history major at Pitt, works at a local convenience store. One Sunday morning last year, he said, an older man came in through the first set of glass doors of the store, into the foyer, and sat down. He pulled out a cigarillo cigarillo, lit it and started smoking it. He inhaled, and then started coughing and wheezing. Seeing this, one of the clerks knocked on the glass and told him to put it out.

“You can’t smoke in here,” she said.

The man didn’t look up and didn’t acknowledge that she had spoken to him. Then, Jon opened the door to the store and told him again to put out his cigarillo.

“Hey man,” he said, “you can’t smoke in here.”

The man looked up, but didn’t say anything.

“Seriously,” Jon said, “you have to put that out. You can’t smoke in here.”

The man continued staring and gave Jon the evil eye. He then stood up, crushed out his cigarillo against the glass window and threw the butt on

A

t Manor Theatre in Squirrel Hill, ticket prices vary based on the time of day. Shay Park — a sophomore anthropology and Japanese major at Pitt — said, as a local musician and cashier at Manor Theatre, that a movie must start at or before 6 p.m. to receive matinee pricing.

One day, at around 5 p.m., a man came in to buy tickets for an evening movie. He ordered tickets for the show at 7:30 p.m. Shay told him his total, which was full price. The man became confused.

“Isn’t it matinee price?” he asked.

“No,” Shay explained to him. “The show starts after 6 p.m., so tickets are full price.”

The man protested. “But it’s before 6 p.m. now,” he said.

“No,” Shay explained again. “Matinee prices are for show times before 6 p.m. I can’t give you matinee prices just because it’s matinee time now.”

The man then became irritated.

“Oh, don’t you start with me, sweetie,” he said.

“I’m not starting with you,” she said.

“I’m just letting you know. I can’t sell you that ticket at that price.”

“That’s not how movie theaters work!” the man exclaimed.

“At that point,” Shay said later, “you really can’t argue with them because they’re just telling you how to do your job. Clearly they have an end goal in mind.

“And it’s kind of a delicate balance, because I’m a minimum wage worker, so it’s like ‘I’m not getting paid enough to do this!’ But I’m still [in] customer service, so I have to try to keep my cool.

Sometimes people just drive you crazy.”

September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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Shred the transcript: Employers value experience, not GPA Nerine Sivagnanam Staff Writer Next time you find yourself choosing career work over class work, don’t fret. Evidence shows your transcript won’t be a one-way ticket to a dream job.

A 2012 survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education and American Public Media’s Marketplace discussed what attributes employers value most when hiring college graduates.

What employers had to say to employees: to them, nearly everything is more important than GPA. The surveyors invited 5,000 employers to participate in the study. Sixty-seven percent of employers participants were in management, executive or senior executive positions, while the other 33 percent were labeled “experienced.”

Students may think that grades are the most important part of getting hired, but employers seem to overlook GPA, according to the results of the study. Internships topped the list of “Relative Importance Of

Attributes in Evaluating Graduates for Hire,” while GPA landed toward the bottom of the list of at number seven out of eight. Also listed in order of most to least importance was employment during college, college major, volunteer experience, extracurricular activities, relevance of coursework and last, college reputation.

“Unpaid internships and volunteer work have a big impact on employers hiring decisions,” the survey said.

After graduating from Duquesne University with a master’s degree in English, Whitney Robinson said she found out “college GPA is useless in the real world.”

“What matters is that you did well in your area — that teachers can speak well of your work ethic and attitude, not if you had a 4.0,” Robinson said. “My knowledge from college classes is great and incredibly useful, but, at the end of the day, a hard worker with adaptability and intelligence is more valuable,” Robinson works for a financial investment company and said having skills that don’t come from books were what was most

helpful to her when looking for a job.

“Certainly you can program or do taxes, but, if you can’t coordinate a schedule between your co-workers or think on your feet, then book learning isn’t worth much,” Robinson said.

Pitt’s Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance regularly seeks feedback from recruiters regarding what attributes and skill sets employers value in graduates, according to Career Development director Cheryl Finlay.

“There are a number of qualities that all graduates, regardless of degree earned, should leave college with,” Finlay said. “Examples include strong communication skills, a sense of self, motivation and a sense of responsibility.”

Finlay named attributes that couldn’t be part of college course, such as the ability to adapt to changing technology.

“They also need to be reflective individuals who have clear personal and professional goals,” Finlay said. “They need to be motivated to take on the challenges and demands

of the workplace and, most importantly, they need to have a sense of responsibility toward their community and society.”

Though these traits may come naturally throughout college years, Finlay said that internships are vital, just as the survey shows.

Finlay explained how Pitt helps students to make sure they have an internship experience during their college years with the University Internship Guarantee, which is internship placement for students who complete an internship prep program at Pitt.

What do employers have to say about all this?

Lisa Crouse, the Campus Recruiting Manager at KPMG, a global accounting firm with an office in Pittsburgh, said the firm hires a large number of recent college graduates annually.

“College is typically where we find a lot of our positions. We hire college students from across the country and, specifically the University of Pittsburgh,” Crouse said.

GPA

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Be the boss: Self-employed students set their own rules Kat Prosachik Staff Writer Pitt students are changing the way we think about college jobs by becoming their own bosses.

In 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics determined that only 3.7 percent of people aged 16-24 are self-employed. In 2013, the average number of self-employed men and women between the ages of 16-19 was roughly 4.5 million, and the average for 20 to 24-year-olds was 13.6 million. Pitt students make up some of those numbers, a trend that may increase in the coming years as students look for more creative ways to help with the rising cost of tuition.

Among those numbers is Robert Burger, a sophomore and entrepreneur.

While most 17-year-olds are dreaming of prom and the big leap to college, at the time, Burger was busy starting his own web development firm.

“What attracted me most to being self-employed was the ability to choose FROM PAGE 7

GPA

Crouse particularly values employment in general during college, which was second from the top in the survey.

“Having a part time job in a sales role, although you wouldn’t say that directly relates to working at KPMG, makes the employee develop attributes that come from that experience such as customer service skills and dealing with the public,” Crouse said.

KPMG will be at the Career Conference in

who I worked with and when,” Burger, a information science major, said. “Being able to create my own schedule and fill it with clients I wanted to work with was the perfect opportunity for me.”

To get started with creating a business, Burger recommended finding a mentor to help teach the basics and make the new business a success. His own mentor, Chris Glod from WakeUpNow, a financial wellness company, helped Burger hone his marketing skills.

Burger said he now offers his own advice to other students as long as they are willing to put in the time. He believes in “finding your why,” which he said is your reason to create a business and the drive to succeed.

Burger said another key to success in self-employment is to surround yourself with positive people, as positivity will lead to business success.

Not every self-employed job comes through a firm or a company, though.

Junior Jenna Hymes took control of her

schedule through her job as a nanny to a 5-month-old infant twice a week.

Though Hymes’ route is more traditional, she still experiences the perks of self-employment. Hymes chooses — within reason — which days and hours to work, as well as her salary.

Hymes, a psychology major, said she thinks future employers will be more impressed by this job than a traditional job.

“The responsibility of [caring for] a 5-month-old is very great, especially compared to having just a minimum wagepaying job,” Hymes said.

Hymes used networking skills to find the family she works for and encourages other students to develop their networking abilities to do the same.

She began by telling people around her that she planned to work as a nanny for the semester and, through mutual associates, found a family whose needs fit her abilities.

Maya Pilevsky, a sophomore theatre arts major, founded, owns and operates a

film production company called Another Hidden Star Production.

Pilevsky’s company films events like live theater productions, bar/bat mitzvah videos, Eagle Scout ceremonies and advertisements for cookbooks and Kindle apps.

Though Pilevsky says her company is successful, she doesn’t think self-employment is for everyone.

“I don’t believe it is easier to be selfemployed. Self-employment requires a certain kind of discipline and maturity and isn’t right for everyone” said Pilevsky.

Pilevsky started her production company when she was 14 and has had other jobs in theater and internships. While it may not be easier than a traditional job, Pilevsky said being a self-employed college student still has definite advantages.

“You choose your own clients, hours and job description. When you freelance, you get to seek out the kinds of jobs that

the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on September 19. KPMG also has come in to Pitt to do resumé reviews for students.

A lower GPA could possibly be more acceptable, Crouse said, if it resulted from active involvement in college activities that showcase a student’s abilities.

“There has to be a balance. If your grades are very low yet you have no other involvement, there is no excuse,” said Crouse.

Though KPMG seemed to be less strict about GPA, in comparison to outside of the classroom strengths, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), another accounting firm, ranks

it higher on their personal list.

Alexa Merschel, the U.S. Recruiting Leader for PwC, said while they definitely take into consideration other extracurricular activities, the firm still heavily considers GPA. “Success at the firm is directly correlated with GPA. Higher GPA, in most cases, equates to work ethic and dedication to academic excellence,” Merschel said.

Although GPA is extremely important at PwC, Merschel said they still pay attention to other factors that could balance out an application with a lower GPA. Merschel said the official GPA minimum is a 3.3, but PwC will

accept above a 3.0 if a student is involved in other campus and career activities.

“However, there are other factors that go into the hiring process, such as extracurricular activities you are involved in and how you have demonstrated leadership skills through various organizations you are involved in,” Merschel said.

According to Crouse, colleges must keep in touch with business professionals to understand what they truly want in terms of preparation of students for their careers.

“Just like any career, it is forever changing,” Crouse said.

Self-Employed

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com COLUMN

The classroom is the best career service Simon Brown Columnist

American colleges and their students find themselves in the peculiar state of perpetual “crisis.” At least that’s what magazine articles, scholarly books and political speeches from the postwar era to today consistently have us believe.

Calls of crisis in the halls of higher education come at a dime a dozen — but one recent alarm is turning a considerable number of mortar-boarded heads — and for good reason. The book, “Aspiring Adults Adrift,” presents convincing arguments that the quality in college students’ education has diminished across the board and that this decline has led directly to underemployment and financial instability among recent graduates. Administrators and students ought to learn one important message from this report: academic rigor and employment preparation are two sides of the same, incredibly valuable coin.

The book, written by sociologists Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, has provoked wide-ranging commentary in several prominent newspapers and magazines since its publication two weeks ago. Most of the respondents have underlined poor study habits and a culture of “student consumerism” as culprits for the 23 percent two-year unemployment or underemployment rate for an extensive sample of graduates.

These critiques of college culture are accurate, but they certainly aren’t new. As colleges have competed for applicants and

their tuition payments, they have come to treat 18-year-old students as consumers — explicitly enticing them with expensive amenities and implicitly with inflated grades and with challenging coursework conspicuously absent. Given the increasing ease of getting straight As at prestigious private and state universities, it should come as no surprise that Arum and Roksa found the average student spends 7 percent of his week studying and 46 percent socializing.

The student-as-consumer model explains a lot about slashed funding for faculty and instruction, expanding budget for student affairs and amenities and stagnating student learning as measured by the general Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) employed by Arum and Roksa. But it also explains another troubling phenomenon: the growth of “employment preparation” as a distinct service offered in the university.

As universities compete for students while reducing challenging instruction for those students, they have increased spending on a bundle of programs under the banner of career services or career preparation.

Universities recognize that students, now more than ever, according to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, consider high-income careers awaiting them at graduation to be a very important reason to enroll. To assuage their and their parents’ concerns, colleges advertise new career centers and guidance programs. At Pitt, they have pushed the value of the guaranteed

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 10

BROWN internship program and the FutureLinks internship database.

Universities have always attracted students with the promise of better employment prospects at the end, either implicitly or explicitly. Today, universities can make the valid claim that they serve as the most important gateways to stable and lucrative jobs. Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz,

two economists at the New York Federal Reserve, described this function in appropriately negative terms: “The value of a college degree has remained high over the past decade in large part because of the declining fortunes of those without one.”

Therein lies the apparent paradox of post-college employment prospects. Universities — and, indirectly, state governments — can decrease funding to students’ instruction as a proportion of spending, thereby inflating grades and diminishing academic rigor. Yet they can still claim that

their ballooning tuition payments are a lucrative investment compared to not attending. Their students are more likely to get jobs only because employment possibilities for everyone else are so dismal, not because they’re doing a better job preparing their students for the workplace.

How do we know that colleges aren’t doing a better job? In Aspiring Adults Adrift, Arum and Roksa studied students using the CLA test of broad critical thinking and communication skills and found that the average college freshman improved less

11 than one standard deviation from his or her first year to graduation.

Yet Arum and Roksa also found that CLA scores strongly correlated to two other factors: how frequently students studied for rigorous course work and how easily students found and maintained employment. This score, they found, factored more importantly in employment prospects than connections made at college, which helped only 20 percent of students to land a job.

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com COLUMN

The human element: What it takes to be a good doctor

Johns Hopkins doctors review a copy of the “Harriet Lane” handbook. | MCT Campus

Jessica Craig Columnist It takes about 11 years to become a doctor – four years of undergraduate education, four years of medical school, one year as an intern and two years, minimum, of residency.

As a freshman pre-medicine and neuroscience student, I spent a good deal of time making sure that, in four or five years, I would be a “strong” medical school applicant — someone who, as all first-year pre-med students find out at the Health Professions Mandatory Sessions, has completed 20 hours of shadowing, 100 hours of clinical experience, 50 hours of campus and community service, leadership experience, 34 pre-requisite classes, a GPA of 3.75 and letters of recommendation from two science instructors, one research instructor and two service-affiliated employers.

In the next few years, I would learn that the implementation of such a strict pre-medicine curriculum forces students to focus on checking off all the boxes of requirements instead of really learning what it means and what it takes to be a “good” doctor. In other words, pre-med students complete all these extra-curricular activities with the short-term focus of being strong medical school applicants, rather than the long-term focus of being good doctors.

I see the connection between the on-paper requirements and the goals of the undergradu-

ate pre-health curriculum — to create a student who “demonstrates command of the basic sciences, a deep understanding of the profession and a commitment to help others through the practice in a medically related field.”

This is a seemingly fitting definition, one that encompasses everything I would hope doctors possess following their time spent earning an undergraduate education. Superior grades in science classes certainly merit understanding of the basic sciences, shadowing and clinical exposure lend themselves to understanding the medical profession and community involvement shows a commitment to helping others.

But this med-student recipe, set by the advisers and physicians who sit on the Pre-Professional Health Committee — a committee that assesses students’ potential in medicine through the lens of medical school admissions committees nationwide — is so rigid that premed students fail to recognize themselves as anything other than a list of activities on a resumé, rather than as a compassionate and empathetic human being who will one day assume the responsibility of others’ lives. Yet, as any pre-med adviser will tell you, although learning to be empathetic is great, it won’t indefinitely help your medical school application.

I learned this from personal experience.

Craig

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 12

CRAIG

Entering my sophomore year, I was hoping to gain clinical experience after having spent the summer shadowing surgeons and physicians from my hometown in central Maryland.

The pre-med advisers and all related websites suggest to volunteer at a hospital, so I did. After I quickly mastered the ability to pour water for patients and to stand at a podium greeting families who, for the most part, ignored me as they pressed through the hospital’s revolving doors, I started looking for a position where I could gain actual hands-on clinical experience.

More importantly, I started looking for a volunteer position where I could make a difference in someone’s life.

I took a job as a personal care assistant for a cerebral palsy patient. Through that, I learned about the disease, how it affects a patient’s independence and how it changes an entire family’s lifestyle. I was treating and assessing a patient’s needs, assisting in rehabilitation and administering medication and food through a gastrostomy feeding tube.

I had a decision to make, and, for the first

time, I asked myself not what would make me a stronger medical school applicant, but what would make me a better doctor: pouring water for patients or learning to be empathetic, compassionate and humble — qualities that I, and hundreds of other surveyed Twitter users, believe make a “good” doctor?

I chose what would ultimately make me a better doctor — I call it a life experience, because regardless of whether I end up at medical school or not, it has made me more aware and sympathetic towards others.

This is where the pre-med curriculum fails — it leaves little time for life experience. Physicians draw on this to connect to patients, to calm them down before surgery and to instruct and be listened to. This is life experience that makes physicians human, not just a resumé of activities and grades, nor robotic sources of information.

Medicine, at its core, is human. And that’s not easily taught, because no two people learn it the same way.

Perhaps, then, pre-med students need to stop confining themselves to the four years of a typical undergraduate education and viewing it as the only time in which they can prepare for their medical career. A pre-med adviser

at Pitt, Andrea Abt, suggests that students “join the Peace Corps., Teach For America, AmeriCorps, pursue national scholarships, internships or work prior to entering medical school which enhances their understanding of the world and people.” She went on to explain that, “Pre-med at Pitt encourages all students to take one or more gap years. The students (or their parents) create the frenzy to rush to the next step.”

But, as national aid jobs are scarce, internships are often unpaid and employers are passing up bachelor’s degrees for master’s degrees and Ph.D.s, it is not economically feasible to take a gap year, let alone two.

Maybe the pre-med curriculum needs to be rethought to align with today’s competitive job market and constricting economy, while also preparing students to be both good doctors and good people.

In the end, an updated pre-med curriculum will make the medical field more diverse, more human and composed of people who have walked in thousands of different shoes, not just the hospital volunteer-undergraduate/ researcher-campus leader shoes.

Write to Jessica at jnc34@pitt.edu

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BROWN Academic rigor and commitment, according to these results, reliably prepare students for stable jobs and post-college life.

Achievement in the classroom and career preparation are not different things and colleges and students should stop advertising and considering them as such. The more universities present their career services as if they are distinct from the diligent study that students should be expected to do in classes, the more students will think their classwork doesn’t bear on their job prospects. And, the more students accept this distinction, the more freely administrators and state governments will justify cutting budgets to instruction.

Ultimately, however, this problem will linger until universities receive the state funding — and muster the willpower — to return to their most important financial and social commitment: challenging students to think critically through robust coursework in the classroom.

Write to Simon at spb40@pitt.edu

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

SOCCER

Prince-Wright finds new career after soccer Mark Powell Staff Writer

Joe Prince-Wright is one of Pitt’s most well-known soccer alumni. Earning 31 caps in head coach Joe Luxbacher’s midfield, he graduated in 2011 in four years with a degree in English writing and communications. While at Pitt, he also earned experience in his field, interning at Root Sports, ESPN Radio Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After graduation, Prince-Wright refused to give up on either of his careers.

He spent several years doing freelance work for the MLS, The Guardian and NBC Sports while also playing professional soccer in the United Kingdom.

Shortly after his professional contract expired for Arbroath F.C. in Scotland, Prince-Wright began looking at other career options in journalism.

Eventually, he accepted his current job as lead editor and writer for NBC Sports Pro Soccer Talk.

Last week, Prince-Wright spoke to The Pitt News over the phone regarding his college life at Pitt, life as a professional soccer player and his experience covering one of the largest growing markets in professional sports.

The Pitt News: Let’s start at the beginning. Tell me about your recruitment to Pitt. How did that happen?

Joe Prince-Wright: We had a tryout game. It was really cold, in December. There were some scouts from Pitt there. I played pretty well and set up an official visit [to Pitt]. I went to the Pete for basketball, had a great look around, my teammates were great. I loved it. In seven or eight months, I went from not knowing anything about Pittsburgh to playing soccer. Honestly, I’m not just saying this because you work for The Pitt News, but those were four wonderful years of my life.

TPN: Were there any specific role models or programs at Pitt that helped you reach the level you’re at in your career now?

JPW: From an athletic standpoint, Coach Luxbacher was a huge advocate of working as hard as you can ... and making sure you are a good athlete and a good person, too. From an academic standpoint, when I came over, it took a while to get used to the American schooling system, so the people up at the Pete that tutor the athletes were a big help. I did internships whenever I could. It’d be pretty rough because I’d practice 6-10 in the morning, go to class, and then I’d do the internship in the evening. It was demanding, but I knew that being in Pittsburgh, it’s a great sports writing town, and it would benefit me in the long run.

TPN: After you graduated, you ended up playing at Arbroath F.C. in Scotland. How did they find you here at Pitt? And what was your experience like as a professional soccer player?

JPW: After I graduated, I had a year’s working visa, so I actually came back to the U.S. and worked in Manhattan for Major League Soccer for a year in

their editorial department. I played for two different teams a week ... just keeping myself fit, keeping myself ready. After 10 months I got in touch with the Arbroath manager through mutual friends and they offered me a contract. I left Manhattan to live and play in Edinburgh, and that was a great experience. I got to play against teams like Celtic ... away at Celtic Park in a 60,000-person stadium. It was a wonderful experience and something I’ve always wanted to do since I was young.

I’m positive playing at Pitt helped me achieve that goal of getting a professional contract.

TPN: So why’d you make the jump from your playing career to NBC Sports Pro Soccer Talk?

JPW: When I was playing in Scotland, I was still writing on the side. I did a whole bunch of freelance work. This opportunity came up ... and I was offered the job. At that time, my playing

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BASEBALL

Former catcher recaptures spark, work ethic in Single-A over the Vancouver Canadians. Here’s what Soto had to say about his time in the minor leagues thus far.

The Pitt News: What were the biggest improvements you made from 2013 to 2014?

Elvin Soto: Being more patient. Not thinking too much.

TPN: Did you make any adjustments in the offseason that led to a big jump in your number?

ES: I got after it a little earlier. I wanted to improve in the areas that I really didn’t have a good year in, which was hitting for the most part. I went out to the yard and just hit out there earlier and just started hitting outside a lot earlier than I usually would’ve done.

TPN: Was the adjustment to the improved pitching the hardest adjustment

Jeremy Tepper Staff Writer After finishing an All-Big East campaign in 2013 with the Pitt baseball team, catcher Elvin Soto decided to move on to the big leagues and was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 16th round. It’s oftentimes a difficult jump from college to the minor leagues, and Soto followed that trend in his rookie year.

In 45 games with the Hillsboro Hops, the Single-A short season affiliate of the Diamondbacks, Soto batted a mere .209 with a .589 OPS. But, after hard work in the offseason, Soto found success again in 2014, hitting .256 with a .748 OPS in 51 games. He was named a Northwest League midseason allstar for his efforts. On top of that, Soto was an integral part in the Hops’ winning of the Northwest League Championship

Elvin Soto finished his Single-A season batting .256. | Courtsey of Craig Mitchelldyer

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com CINEMA

Pittsburgh filmmakers need more than connections for success Ian Flangan Staff Writer

For young, up-and-coming filmmakers, a passion for the movies is now just the bare minimum.

“Don’t be afraid to bust your ass,” Tom Fisher, a 2012 Pitt film graduate currently working as multimedia producer at the Carnegie Museum of Art, said.

Fisher emphasized the importance of a strong work ethic and being perceptive when working with an art form as detailoriented as film, in addition to putting in significant effort.

Pittsburgh students interested in film have the advantage of living in a city filled with many opportunities for the dedicated, if inexperienced, artist. But a lack of experience can be a handicap for those trying to begin their careers.

“If you’re looking for a job in film studies or media production, they often require three to five years of experience, and that’s for entry level stuff, so it’s kind of a loophole — how can you get your foot in the door if you have no experience?”

Fisher said.

This frustrating catch-22 — one that might be familiar to anyone who has jobhunted — may seem like an impossibly high hurdle to jump with no running start, but it is more than feasible to sustain yourself with the right strategies.

“A lot of it is networking — it’s who you know, and it’s making connections, because there isn’t your standard chain of command, like in retail, where you start at the bottom and work your way up,” Fisher said. “Knowing somebody is the X-factor.

Filling out applications on SnagAJob.com or Monster.com doesn’t cut [it].”

Personal connections are an asset for success in the film industry, but, as students, the best place to make these connections is in the classroom.

“Basically everything I’ve done in freelance has come from a connection at school,” Fisher said.

After working a part-time gig in a photo lab as his first somewhat-film-related job, he pursued freelance work, which included

a large amount of editing for short films — the next project being one of Steeltown’s Film Factory finalists from last year, “The Beat Goes On.” He encourages young film students to always take opportunities, even if the job is without pay.

Though classes in film are also important for expanding the knowledge base, Fisher insisted that studying film is important in terms of success in the production of films — the film-intensive programs at Pittsburgh Filmmakers were particularly helpful for him.

Professor Deborah Hosking of Pittsburgh Filmmakers, one of Fisher’s former teachers, thought his commitment level helped separate him from the rest of the students.

“His seriousness and precision in his work helped [set him] apart,” Hosking said.

“That’s probably the biggest reason why he got his job at the Carnegie Museum of Art.” Fisher’s latest project was shooting a TEDx (independent TED Talk) at the Carnegie Museum of Art. The speakers were locals who have had success in the media and the arts, one of whom was indie-documentary filmmaker Julie Sokolow. The 26-year-old Pitt alumna said that keeping motivation in mind is one of the most important qualities for a young filmmaker.

“You want to remember why you’re doing it in the first place, and you want to be constantly making work and not making excuses,” Sokolow said.

According to Sokolow, the only way to grow artistically and professionally is by simply creating new content as frequently as possible, and she also partially dismissed the significance of “who you know.”

“As you build your body of work, you build your reputation,” Sokolow said. “It is who you know, but it takes a lot of work to know those people. You can’t sit around and wait to be discovered.”

Sokolow has found an advantage in the documentary format, where the films have been “not just art but advocacy.” Since her films promote social activism, she has been

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PRINCE-WRIGHT career was kind of limbo [because my contract expired]. I actually got an offer for a new contract the second day after I was offered this job at NBC. In the long term, this seemed like the best decision. I believed in my career and talents as a player, but I didn’t really think I was going to get much further in the soccer world. Crazy things can

September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com happen, you can get spotted ... but I think I was at my peak. It’s been a year and a bit in my job now, and I’ve loved every single second of it.

TPN: As a journalist, players will tell you all the time that you see the game differently when you’re playing on the pitch. Have you noticed that difference since you made the switch?

JPW: I think when you’re playing, you try and block out a lot of the media stuff. I think the big thing that I’ve seen is the tactical acumen and the tactical

knowledge [of journalists] is second to none. Just working out how teams and players play and the stats that go along with it ... I think a lot of players would be surprised. I like to think that my opinion of the game hasn’t changed too much [since becoming a journalist].

Hopefully I can explain things to people better and continue to give them a good insight on what happens on the pitch.

TPN: How do you see the game growing in the U.S. and how does the soccer culture compare to that of the U.K.?

JPW: It’s incredible. In 2007, when I came to Pitt, David Beckham had just started playing for the LA Galaxy ... and now there are 21, 22, 23 teams. The U.S. National Team, I’ve never seen a country get so excited about a World Cup campaign. I think we’re really on the cusp of something here. It’s growing even faster than any soccer analyst or fan in the U.S. could have ever hoped.

It’s a pleasure to be involved in, and I hope we’ll see it continue to grow for many years to come.

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SOTO

you had to make from college to the minor leagues?

ES: I feel like the first year, where I was coming right out to Pitt, I took a little time off ... I took, I want to say, three weeks, so my timing was kind of off. It’s kind of hard to get your timing back when you’re seeing Friday night guys every night in the pro level. In college, I was hitting everyday and I was already locked in. So, I guess, the time off kind of threw me off.

TPN: What are you looking to improve on this offseason?

ES: Becoming smart towards the game.

Getting ready for a longer season, getting my body ready physically and mentally, because it’s a grind. Minor league baseball people think it’s easy, but you kind of deal with a lot of adversity being away from home a long time. And just keeping my mental approach strong. Not letting things get to me and just going out there and having fun.

TPN: How do you best prepare your body to handle the uptick in games from Class A Short Season (76 games) to Class A (140 games)?

ES: You change your diet a little bit, you work out more. Work out your smaller muscles. People don’t understand that being big isn’t what you want to be as a baseball player. You want to be flexible. Make sure all of your small tendons and small muscles are being worked on. Doing a lot of shoulder care ... little leg workouts for my knees, back workouts. It kind of all ties in with just mentally preparing yourself. Because, if you’re not mentally prepared for it, then

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com ART

Artists from Mattress Factory discuss making it in Pittsburgh Britnee Meiser Staff Writer

For many artists living and working in Pittsburgh, creative expression isn’t just a fun hobby or a means of making extra cash — it’s a way of life.

That’s the case for local artists Danny Bracken, John Peña and Ben Sota, whose work will be featured in the upcoming “Artists In Residence” exhibition at the Mattress Factory. For the exhibition,which opens tonight and runs through the end of next May, five Pittsburgh artists created installations at the museum.

While these artists are individual thinkers when it comes to their work, they have similar views on Pittsburgh as a hub for creativity.

“Pittsburgh is pretty amazing [in terms of ] how much support there is for artists,” Bracken, who previously lived in Chicago, said. “It’s a small city, so there’s not as much competition, and it’s very affordable. You’re able to spend a lot of time focusing on work rather than paying your rent.”

Bracken’s Mattress Factory installation will be a combination of large, multisensory pieces and small, visual pieces, which are often synchronized with music, to combine the physical and the abstract.

In a profession as unconventional as art, it can be difficult to make a living based solely on creative projects.

Sota —a Pitt alum and the artistic director of the Zany Umbrella Circus, a street theater and circus company — has considered art to be his sole job for 13 years.

“My work is performance-based, so I’m different,” he said. “But it’s all about referrals. I’ve never really had money for marketing. It’s hard at times, but [focusing on art] is beautiful.”

Sota’s exhibit will be an installation portrait of the Zany Umbrella Circus. In his own words, it’s a “temporary autonomous zone that operates using community, connection and inspiration.”

Bracken, too, recognizes the importance of word-of-mouth marketing. In addition to grant funding, he relies on larger, installation-based projects to get exposure for his visual art. He also makes music for film, including the short films “Tell Me” and the 2013 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner for documentary, “Blood Brothers,” to support his income.

Alternatively, much of Peña’s work can be sold directly, and, from those sales, he earns commissions. He also takes on other tasks like speaking at universities and museums, including Carnegie Mellon and La Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. But Peña knows that his situation isn’t uniform for all artists.

“There is a whole range of people [working locally as artists], and how they earn their income is very unique to each person,” said Peña.

Peña’s installation will focus on the relationship between humans and nature, which, according to mattress.org, “evokes appreciation for the ordinary moments in daily life,” by using threedimensional word balloons supported in space by wooden scaffolding and beams.

Though their ways of making a living differ significantly, Sota acknowledges that being an artist in Pittsburgh is like its own community.

“It’s tight-knit within different genres of art form,” he said. “[Local artists] are becoming more interdisciplinary minded, which is a new thing that has happened.”

As far as a set daily routine for these artists, there really isn’t one — their schedules are typically project-based.

“I try to keep normal working hours, but I’m not super strict,” said Bracken. “It really depends what I’m working on, and sometimes I pick up last-minute projects.”

Peña’s routine is a bit more set, but that, he said, is a by-product of his process. He prefers to handle the business side of his career in the morning, and he also writes a daily note addressed simply to “The Ocean,” which, once returned to

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com INTERVIEW

Pittʼs creative writing director talks Hollywood adaptations Mason Lazarcheff For The Pitt News

The NFL has taken some considerable heat lately for issues off the field. But, when the adaptation of Jeanne Marie Laskas’ article “Game Brain” hits theaters, the conversation might shift back to effects of what happens on the field.

“Game Brain” brought Bennet Omalu, a Pittsburgh pathologist, and his studies on concussion-related deaths and suicides in the NFL to the forefront. His breakthrough came during an autopsy on Mike Webster, a former lineman for the Steelers with four Super Bowl rings. In short, Omalu discovered a new disease known as CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, in Webster’s brain. He presented his findings to the NFL, which the league declared ridiculous and inconceivable.

Laskas’ profile, which featured in GQ, is currently being adapted into a feature film with Will Smith attached to star as Omalu. It will be written and directed by Peter Landesman, with Ridley Scott set to produce.

Laskas, the director of Pitt’s creative writing program, is a renowned author of six books and several magazine articles. Her features have been included in numerous anthologies, including “Best American Magazine Writing” and “Best American Sportswriting.”

The Pitt News talked to Laskas over the phone about her involvement in the film, expanding upon reported news and speculating why the NFL resisted Omalu’s research. Here’s a portion of her edited interview.

TPN: Before you began your research, did you have any expectations?

Laskas: There had been quite a lot of reporting on concussions and football players that had been really wellrecorded by The New York Times. Alan Schwarz had really covered it so well that our idea to do a magazine piece was to sort of take the news, but go a bit deeper and turn it into a feature.

So we weren’t expecting to break any news — that wasn’t our objective. Our objective was to sort of personalize what it was like for some of these players and that of their families who had died, like Mike Webster. But in the reporting, what really stood out was the fact that this guy Bennet Omalu was hardly ever mentioned. I got really curious about why this guy, [who] apparently had discovered this disease, had just fallen off the map.

TPN: What is your involvement in the filmmaking process?

Laskas: I think it’s a pretty typical set-up when you have a book or a magazine article optioned to be made into a movie. Usually, the author is made into some kind of consultant, and you can be as involved or uninvolved as much as the director or producer want. I kind of stay away because I honor that it’s their vision now, but I’m available for consultation and to read the script if they like — to offer my opinions for further insight, to provide my research.

TPN: You talked about how the original article ignores Omalu’s discovery of CTE. Why do you think this was overlooked in the research?

Laskas: It’s a pretty systematic effort by the NFL from the beginning to kind of take charge of the narrative of what was going on in the brains of the football players. And, with traumatic brain injuries, that systematic effort started with their committee they set up long ago, which I detail in the article and [is] what the movie will be about, too. They were writing articles in medical journals, and especially Neurosurgery, where they state certain sets of research. Omalu comes in out of nowhere. He was not part of their team or anyone else’s team. He was a pathologist in Pittsburgh that got Mike Webster’s body and comes up with the finding, and this committee just said he was wrong and weird. They said this many times,

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 17

FILMMAKERS supported along the way via grants of local groups such as Steeltown Entertainment and the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Her latest and most elaborate project is the full-length documentary “Aspie Seeks Love,” which she is directing, producing and editing, in addition to composing half of the score. It follows David Matthews, an artist diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at age 41, who posts humorous personal ads on telephone poles seeking love. After 3 1/2 years of work, the film is set to release next year.

“There is no separation between my work and my life. There are no hours. It’s just constant,” Sokolow said.

Both Fisher and Sokolow agreed that part-time jobs are an inevitable part of the independent filmmaker’s career path.

“It’s hard to work a job that’s unrelated and to have the time and energy to when you get done with that [job] to do your film work,” Sokolow said. “[But] if it’s what you Julie Sokolow with the subject of her latest documentary, “Aspie Seeks Love.” Photo Courtesy of Julie Sokolow love, don’t give up — it’s trite, but it’s true.”

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September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 8

FROM PAGE 20

MATTRESS

SELF-EMPLOYED LASKAS

sender, goes on display in his “Letter to The Ocean” exhibit. He has accumulated more than 3,000 returned letters since 2003.

For his exhibit at the Mattress Factory, Bracken has been working 9-5 days with assistants to make the most out of his time.

“They invited me to take part a year and a half ago,” said Bracken. “I didn’t have to submit a proposal. They just let me do whatever I wanted. They’ve got great resources for materials and brainstorming and [have been] open and accessible to help me.”

For young artists looking to make a name for themselves locally, metropolitan areas are often a launchpad.

“There’s no book on how to be an artist,” said Sota. “Find a mentorship in the city. Take advantage of the resources Pittsburgh offers [for artists]. Think outside the box.”

interest you,” Pilevsky said.

Like Pilevsky, self-employment has shown Burger its hard side, too.

“I think a lot of people have this misconception that people who are self-employed can do whatever they want, whenever they want to and are not accountable to other people,” Burger said.

Burger said this couldn’t be further from the truth.

“If anything, self-employed business owners are held even more accountable for their business dealings than someone who is on a paid salary,” Burger said.

But for those who make it, the resulting resumé can be worth more than the paychecks.

“I think it shows a real strength of character and discipline to be self-employed during college,” Pilevsky said. “In some cases it shows managerial skills and communication skills that are difficult to describe on paper and hard to pinpoint on a resumé.”

so it wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t subtle.

TPN: Did the NFL do this for financial reasons, or because they didn’t want to deal with the repercussions?

Laskas: I think it’s hard to know for sure. I mean, there’s a class action lawsuit now with 3,000 former NFL players, and this is the question. What did the NFL know, and when did they know it? That served as the basis for this lawsuit. So you can have a theory, you can begin and wonder and vacillate between a generous response than a more cynical one. My generous response is they just didn’t want it to be true. They didn’t have time for this nonsense.

They just wanted to continue to play football like kids on the street. Until, finally, it became undeniable — in the couple years with Junior Seau’s suicide and Dave Duerson’s suicide. [Duerson] killed himself by shooting himself in the stomach, leaving a note saying, “please examine my brain.”

TPN: Has your work in Hollywood interfered with your school work?

Laskas: That kind of stuff is negotiated. Any faculty member working on a major research project has to figure out how to manage the workload. So maybe you’re teaching more classes one term and fewer the next term, depending on a giant project like this landing on your lap. We had to do a little tap dancing to give ourselves a little wiggle room.

You’re essentially trying to time it to match with your sabbatical. The real world doesn’t always fit that pattern.

September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 5

FIU

of the Louisville loss in hushed tones to small children, scaring misbehaving kids straight with tales of [former Louisville quarterback] Teddy Bridgewater, touchdowns in bunches and offensive ineptitude,” he said. “It got better from there, you’ll say, and I’ll reply: Yeah, but that was pretty bad.”

Bad, indeed.

Pitt’s Paul Chryst coaches the team that calls Pittsburgh — a city that acts as a sports media hub, among other things — its home. The program shares its home field and practice facility with the Steelers, an iconic tradition of international proportions, so the spotlight is always on Chryst and his group consisting of many former Clairton Bears.

You might wonder: How can Chryst, in biweekly press conferences, talk up his week three opponent? Does he sugarcoat the fact that Pitt is traveling to play David, if Pitt is Goliath?

“Certainly I think as far as their offense, I’ve been impressed,” Chryst said of FIU via teleconference on Wednesday. “They’ve got the ability to hurt you throwing the ball and running. I think the running back is a good player.”

Pitt wide receiver Manasseh Garner was a little more straightforward when he addressed the media on Monday.

“We’ll respect FIU, whether they were the No. 1 team in the country or what they are now,” he said. “They’re still our opponent, and we’re going to practice and prepare just as if they’re the best team in the country.”

Speaking of preparation, forecasters are calling for hot conditions (87 degrees, 78 percent humidity) for Saturday’s noon game between Pitt (2-0, 1-0 ACC) and FIU (1-1, 0-0 Conference USA). The contest is just the secondever noon game played at FIU Stadium, also known as “The Cage.”

And although NCAA’s rulebook does not specify, FIU’s athletics site claims that road teams have to agree on which uniform color home teams wish to wear. The site added that FIU’s

decision makers wanted to wear white on Saturday to fend off the Miami heat, even though teams traditionally choose to wear white on the road and dark colors at home.

According to the site, Pitt denied FIU of its wish, and Pitt will wear white uniforms.

One FIU fan added a comment to the site’s post, saying that it’s a win-win jersey situation for Pitt in its plan to keep cool on Saturday. “Gold helmets would attract much less heat. They reflect the sunlight. And the head is the most important part of the body to keep cool on a hot day. Just saying ... ” Hopefully, for Pitt fans, the game will get out of hand early. If it does, it could be fun to note with people in your living room that FIU and Pitt share a list of connections. While some of them are rather odd, they are all noteworthy.

Chryst said that his relationship with FIU head coach Ron Turner dates back a long time, adding to the discussion that the schools’ mascots aren’t the only things the squads have in common.

23 In the early ‘80s, Turner groomed Pitt quarterback John Congemi while serving as Pitt’s quarterbacks coach under then-head coach Foge Fazio.

And, in 1993, former Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, who was head coach of the NFL’s Chicago Bears from 1993 to 1998, hired Turner as the Bears offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

And, when Wannstedt resigned from Pitt in 2010 and Todd Graham left abruptly in 2011, FIU had just come off two successful seasons.

FIU’s then-coach, Mario Cristobal, took his team to bowl games in 2009 and 2010, and, after the 2010 season, he reportedly became the frontrunner to be Graham’s replacement at Pitt after interviewing for the job that December.

Instead, Pitt chose Chryst, and Cristobal’s FIU Panthers went 3-9 in 2012.

Cristobal was fired that year. It’s funny how things play out.

Maybe FIU will win some games again soon. It’ll have to wait another several weeks, though.

FIU hosts Louisville next Saturday.

24

September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

FROM PAGE 5

VOLLEYBALL

The Pitt News Crossword, 9/12/2014

Mary Henry had a memorable weekend, setting a new career high in assists. She recorded 59, five more than her previous record. With those 59 assists, Henry solely holds fourth place on Duquesne’s all-time assists list with 2,534. Freshman Molly Davet also set a career high with her double-double. The outside hitter tallied 17 digs and 17 kills.

Davet’s overall performance helped her nab a spot on the All-Tournament Team, along with teammate Sammy Kline. The sophomore libero had 40 digs.

Duquesne also took home the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament honors, thanks to senior middle blocker Arielle Love, the reigning A-10 FirstTeam All-Conference member, who had a hitting percentage of .403.

Norfolk State The Spartans come into the Panther Classic hoping for their big break. Norfolk (0-6) has yet to win a match this season, winning only three total games ACROSS 1 Pirate inducted at Cooperstown in 1988 9 Tuning shortcut 15 Try to pick up 16 Make wrinkly 17 Auto safety feature 18 Capital with an Algonquin name 19 Abound 20 Many a jayvee athlete 22 Org. with an online Patriot Index 23 Loan applicant’s asset 26 Barnyard cries 28 Much of the New Testament is attributed to him 29 Longtime Ivory rival 31 11-Down skill 32 Ins. giant 33 Citrus whose juice is used in Asian cuisine 34 Give as a task 36 Brno natives 40 1960s role for Bamboo Harvester 42 Word with run or jump 43 Self-satisfied sound 44 Requiem Mass segment 46 “The Phantom Tollbooth” protagonist 47 Loin cut 49 Words of resignation 51 URL ending 52 Did a sendup of 54 Heroine with notable buns 55 Pungent condiment 57 Took for a ride 61 Standoffish type 62 Like the trade winds 63 Hitching post attachment 64 Stop and go, say DOWN 1 Ivy, e.g.: Abbr.

during that span.

Despite remaining winless, NSU has had a few bright spots coming from the new faces on the roster. In the Spartans’ first tournament at James Madison University, freshman right side/ outside hitter Hope Forsythe made the All-Tournament Team. This past weekend, freshman teammate Clarke Tyler earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team at East Carolina.

Senior libero Noelle Eagles is looking to cement her place in the NSU record books. Eagles currently holds the top spot in NSU history and ranks 19th in the NCAA Division I in career digs with 1,427. Junior Darcy Moore also looks to continue her hot streak. The setter finds herself nationally ranked in the top 150 in assists per set, averaging 9.29.

Niagara Niagara has seen mixed results so far in the season, but the team is coming off a win. The Purple Eagles (3-4) only had one loss in their own tournament and finished 2-1, despite being ranked as the lowest seed.

Niagara is also relying on some time-

9/20/14

By Brad Wilber

2 Part of Italy where Calabria is, figuratively 3 Curtis Cup contenders 4 Bridge do-over 5 Hurt in a ring 6 Moles may cross them 7 West Point grads: Abbr.

8 Much 9 Hold (up) 10 Performer in every episode of “Laugh-In” 11 31-Across pro 12 Relaxing outing 13 Super Bowl XXXIII MVP 14 Drops during lows 21 Jump, in a way 23 Employer of vets: Abbr.

24 Four-note piece 25 It may be up 27 Casanova 30 One might include “Go skydiving” 32 Accommodating 35 Hacker’s cry 37 Knight life ideal 38 Port opener

Friday’s Puzzle Solved

©2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

39 Braking system component 41 Ones spotted in casinos 42 Carrier to Copenhagen 44 Lallygags 45 Site with an important part in a 1956 film?

46 Winless horse 47 Specifically 48 Reinforce

9/20/14

50 Measures taken slowly?

53 Seaside strolling spot 56 Rats along the Rhine?

58 Peaked 59 London’s earliest water pipes were made with it 60 Beginning to function?

The volleyball team is 5-1 this season.

Zach Schaffer | Senior Staff Photographer

ly play by freshman players. Outside hitter Nicole Matheis and setter Alexis Gray have already been improving, with both players being named to the AllTournament Team in their home tournament. Matheis and Gray are also rising in the ranks in their conference. Matheis has the top two kill performances — 22 and 21 — in the MAAC, while Gray holds the spot for the most assists by a MAAC player with 54.

Defensively, the Purple Eagles have shown that they can be strong. Senior libero Allison Reis has set a high for a MAAC player with 35 digs, while teammate Alex Stone, a sophomore middle blocker, has nine total blocks.

The Panthers will have home-court advantage when they take the court.

Pitt will finally have full support of the University with student athletes, the Pitt Band and Pitt Cheerleaders. Campbell knows the boost that can give.

“It will be good to be in front of our home crowd and let the Pitt stands see how hard we will be working,” she said.

“It’ll be a cool crowd. We’re really looking forward to it.”

September 12, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 4

25

FROM PAGE 18

CARUSO

SOTO

the future. This means no investment, no expansion and no consistent sources of new jobs.

Stable government policies encourage economic growth — realistically, this doesn’t mean rigid policies. Congress will have to adjust taxes periodically and tweak regulations. Passing and implementing policies, such as healthcare, is stable while threatening to make the government shut down over policy change is not.

Yet, stability for the economy should not be seen by the public as a constant straight line. Things like tax rates can fluctuate from 0 to 40 percent and people, acting as both consumers and producers, will know how to take these changes into account for their business or their budget.

There will always be imperfections in the regulations (or lack thereof), but legislators must change them later on. The government does not have to get the economy right the first time. The economy can help itself.

Email Stephen at sjc79@pitt.edu.

it’s going to be a real struggle for you.

TPN: How was the experience of being named a Northwest League All-Star?

ES: It shows that you put in the work and someone’s recognizing it. It was kind of a tough year for me, my first season. This year, I decided to put in the work. It was an awesome experience to be able to come back and be an all-star in a league where there’s a bunch of guys that are pretty good. To be picked for an all-star team out of eight teams and maybe 20, 24, maybe 25 catchers. To be one of the two to get picked, it’s a pretty cool feeling.

TPN: How have you adjusted to the minor league lifestyle?

ES: It’s a quick adjustment, you kind of mature [earlier]. You kind of think back when you were in college and you say, ‘Damn, I had it real easy when I was in school.’ Now you kind of got to figure it all out on your own, and you just have to work with your instincts and go along with whatever’s going on.

T P N S U D O K U

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