Transparency 101
This issue is about tying up loose ends. But it’s also a final push from the editorial board, and from a few exhausted reporters and editors, for more access to information (see the editorial on the adjacent page). Here’s a rundown of a few transparency laws you should know about, and a look into why some of Pitt’s doors have remained legally closed.
What is the Freedom of Information Act?
The Freedom of Information Act provides that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information except to the extent the records are protected from disclosure by exemptions contained in the law or by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions.
What is the Right to Know law?
The Right to Know Law is the Pennsylvania law that guarantees your right to access and obtain copies of public records held by government agencies. The law, signed in 2008, guarantees access to public records in the possession of government contractors performing “governmental functions” on behalf of an agency and establishes an online searchable database for state contract information.
What do you have the right to know? • Community colleges are now covered agencies. As a result, their records are presumptively public • The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is now expressly covered • The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and its related entities are now expressly covered • Grant applications are public records — and not just the contracts reflecting funded grants • Records reflecting a public employee’s demotion or discharge are public • The General Assembly — the law expressly identifies a number of legislative records that are public • 911 time response logs are public. • State-affiliated universities are now required to publicly disclose certain financial information, including the salaries of all officers and directors and salaries of the highest-paid employees.
What don’t you have the right to know?
In short: a lot. Privileged records, such as the attorney-client privilege or the doctor-patient privilege are not public. Records that are also expressly made non-public by another law are not able to be accessed.
how can we use this law to get all of the information we want from Pitt? We can’t, unfortunately. This is all Pitt, as a state-related University, has the obligation to tell you: Financial disclosures that include the following: • Information contained in Form 990 of the IRS — except for individual donor information — expenditures over $1,000 • The salaries of all officers and directors • The highest-25 salaries paid to employees pittnews.com
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from the editorial board
A final call for more transparency As an editorial board, we publish our collective opinion on a relevant topic every day. It might seem like we’re bashing the government, administration and authority in general, but that’s not why we do it. We don’t publish editorials to shout into the void or place blame. We do it because we sincerely care about the communities we cover and want our criticism to inspire real change, making the school and city we love better for everyone. As the school year comes to an end and the editorial board is finishing up in our current positions, we have one last take we want to bring to our readers. That issue is about transparency. It’s an idea of particular importance to us as a newspaper, since we don’t do our jobs in isolation from the community. We need not only input, but cooperation from those in power at Pitt and in Pittsburgh in order to provide the information we think you deserve. But oftentimes, we hit roadblocks that don’t allow us to do that. One of the biggest stories we covered this year focused on Pitt’s counseling center and how the lack of psychiatrists — and Pitt’s subsequent slow response in hiring new ones — gravely affected students. At the forefront of that issue was a lack of transparency between Pitt and the students. The University never issued a statement about the old psychiatrists leaving and gave little information about its process in looking for replacements. Although Pitt hired a new psychiatrist in November, the University did not make that information public until December. Since that issue, however, Pitt hired another psychiatrist and put the information out right away via press releases and communication between The Pitt News and university spokespeople. We applaud this progress. There’s
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more work to be done when it comes to student input, policing and administrative changes. A string of burglaries last semester swept South Oakland, but Pitt police and University spokespeople gave few details about what they were doing to
to Know request for a list of these officers, it was denied. (See the adjacent infographic for more information on Right to Know.) A lack of explanation about Pitt wrestling’s former head coach Jason Peters and an incident involving the
Creative Commons prevent future events and keep Pitt students safe — instead telling us that they were “increasing patrols,” with no additional information. Additionally, since the Pitt Police are covered by the University’s limited accessibility laws, we have no way of knowing exactly who the officers are in charge of keeping Pitt safe. When one of our reporters submitted a Right
team over winter break similarly left us and students with more questions than answers. This semester Pitt has hired several upper-level administrators to fill new positions, but it’s often hard to find anyone at Pitt who can give us a succinct and definitive definition of what these people are supposed to do in order to earn their six-figure salaries.
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Pitt is a state-related university, meaning it is not required to publish a lineitem budget. We can’t know exactly how Pitt is spending our money. The University is required to publish copies of its annual operating budget — including every expense more than $1,000 — but the baseline reportage often lacks details that would make understanding the expenses easy for the average person. Again, we’re not writing about these issues now to complain or to blame specific people, but as a call to action for more transparency at Pitt in the future. If Pitt’s history is any indication, students will need to lead this charge. You deserve to know what’s going on at the University you attend and contribute to everyday. Find an issue you — and lots of students — are passionate about changing pursue it vigorously. Whether it concerns environmental issues, diversity and inclusion or the financial aspects of student life, if you can garner enough support behind it, the University should be more than willing to listen. We’ll do as much as we can to keep covering these issues in all of our sections. But it’s also up to students, and lots of them, to demand this transparency along with us. It’s not an “us versus them” issue when it comes to students and the administration. We’re all part of the University. As we encourage the administration to open the blinds (note the front cover), we should do so out of mutual interest — sometimes, a lack of communication leads to false information. Transparency matters now more than ever. When it comes to topics as serious as mental health and University spending and expansion, let’s not leave room for speculation.
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Spring cleaning: [finally] taking the asbestos out of Hillman
The Hillman Library renovations will remove asbestos from the building, as well as a large portion of the book collection. Stephen Caruso CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Salina Pressimone Staff Writer
When Hillman Library opened in 1968, crates of books waited to be unloaded onto the new shelves — and asbestos lined the building’s infrastructure. Now, renovation will mean some of those same books from 1968 will disappear from the library’s shelves — a process that will also remove the asbestos that has been in the building since its construction. The renovations, which Pitt Director of Environmental Health and Safety Jay Frerotte isn’t because of the asbestos specifically, will also increase study space, add amenities such as outlets and improve the facility’s wireless connection. The renovations are slated to begin in May, and may take up to five years to
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complete. According to Pitt English professor Steven Carr, who sat on the Facilities Planning Committee in 2006, state regulations forced the committee to incorporate a way to address any present asbestos as it formed the 10-year facilities plan and before beginning renovations on the library. Intact asbestos materials can be disturbed when fibers fly into the air during construction, which can cause airborne exposure to asbestos, increasing an individual’s risk for lung cancer and mesothelioma. Carr said the library is obligated to carry out the proposed renovation floor by floor in order to treat the asbestos properly. “It’s not dangerous right now because it’s not being disturbed, but if it’s dis-
turbed you have to get rid of it,” Carr said. Asbestos minerals were once widely used for construction purposes, especially during the late 1900s. Manufacturers used the minerals in fire retardant coatings, concrete, bricks, pipe cement, insulation, flooring and roofing, until a group of English researchers and factory investigators discovered in the early 20th century the health risks of exposure to the substance. Because asbestos is only harmful if it is airborne, a large number of buildings constructed using asbestos-containing materials have not been renovated. Certified professionals will carry out the asbestos removal at Hillman and will work behind protective plastic barriers to ensure that dust does not become airborne. The ACHD will then need to pro-
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vide a clearance inspection to ensure that all asbestos-containing material has been removed, before the library can proceed with the next steps of the renovation. Frerotte said these cautious procedures will mean the asbestos removal process will not be of any health threat to people in the library. The Pitt News approached several librarians for interviews about the renovations in general, but they refused to comment without permission from Web Services and Communications Librarian Jeffrey Wisniewski. When The Pitt News approached Wisniewski, he said that any interviews would not be helpful to the renovation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demands workers follow specific guidelines when dealing with disrupted asbestos, which Pitt will have to follow when building renovations begin. The Allegheny County Health Department Air Quality Program requires a thorough evaluation to measure the presence of asbestos in a facility that is being demolished or renovated. The renovations began in the first place in part because of student complaints of limited study space and a lack of variation between group work and quiet study areas. In order to provide increased study space, the renovation plan will remove a large portion of physical books from the library, moving them instead into long-term storage. Although students will still be able to find these books through the library’s online databases, they won’t be able to stumble across texts unexpectedly anymore — something graduate student and teaching fellow Jess FitzPatrick found useful. When she was looking for “The Well Wrought Urn” one day, she came across a handful of other texts that she ended up referencing for classes. “Next to it of course there were four or five other books that I didn’t know to look up, didn’t know the title of, I hadn’t heard about before, that might be really useful,” she said. FitzPatrick and other University See Hillman on page 5
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Hillman, pg. 4 professors such as Carr, find that digitalization or searching for particular books using PittCat and having them shipped to the library in a physical copy just isn’t the same or as exciting as roaming the shelves. The renovation planners at Hillman assembled an interactive floor map, which can be found on the library’s website, to help navigate the dense stacks of books. The website also houses a materials-movement timeline that provides the Pitt community with a calendar of which books are moving and when. And there are daily deliveries to the storage facility, so that the library can guarantee a 24to 48-hour turnaround time whenever a student or faculty member requests a book on PittCat. To make room for more study space, the renovations will begin on the fourth floor. The fourth-floor books that students and faculty rarely check out will head to the ULS storage facility on Thomas Boulevard in Point Breeze. Other portions of the library’s collection will move to the ground floor compact shelving, the
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A series of renovations are set to take place at Hillman this summer. Stephen Caruso CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
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Engineering Library in Benedum Hall or will move to the second floor of Hillman, replacing about half of the East Asian Library, which will move to the Point Breeze storage facility. Ground floor government documents and journals printed before 1970 will end up in storage as well. The library staff has a detailed removal plan and method for transferring books out, but don’t be surprised if you see some of those old crates from the ’60s out again to fit the large outflow of the library’s collections. After the renovations and book removal, scholars will be more dependent on the ULS’ online resources to track down the texts they need for research projects or classes. Senior psychology major Jen Doto has used the ULS online databases as well as the Digital Scholarship Commons during most of her undergraduate career. The renovation project to replace books with practical study space seems like the logical step forward to Doto. “This semester, which is my last one, was the first time that I ever checked out a book here,” Doto said. “To be quite honest, I guess the internet is taking over mostly.”
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missing major: making fashion fit reporter’s
notebook
Emily Brindley and Andrea Spatig For The Pitt News
Senior geology major Tomas Monti spends his free time sketching watch designs and raising funds for his watch company. Monti — co-founder and CEO of BJØRN Watch Company, a startup that will donate 10 percent of all sales to philanthropic organizations of the buyer’s choice — formed his startup based on instinct and his personal style rather than formal training. Since Pitt doesn’t offer a major or any coursework in fashion design, Monti taught himself how to design watches, in part based on inspiration from other people’s designs. Although there is a costume design course through the department of theatre arts, Pitt has no fashion design or related program, prompting interested students to find other ways to express their passion for fashion. Like Monti, some use trial and error to found companies or startups that embody their goals. Other students start fashion blogs or begin designing clothing in their dorm rooms. “I don’t know why they don’t have [a program] honestly,” Monti said. “It’s a big school, we definitely have all the resources, so we could definitely make something happen.” As a course of study, a fashion design program teaches such skills as sketching, sewing, pattern-making and garment construction. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, fashion designers earned a median salary of more than $65,000 per year in 2016. The field employed 23,100 fashion designers in 2014, and is slowly growing at a rate of about 3 percent per year. Although Monti said Pitt has what it takes to start a fashion design program, senior marketing major Tommy Yanez — who co-founded Ampersand, LLC, a consulting company for tailor-made clothes — said starting up a fashion program at Pitt wouldn’t be so easy. “At least in my understanding, a fashion program would require a lot of re-
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Pitt student Sarah Filiault has been experimenting with fashion since middle school. Courtesy of Sarah Filiault sources,” Yanez said. “I would totally support Pitt starting something like that, [but] I think it might take some time before it really becomes like a strong major within Pitt.” Yanez said Pitt, which is known primarily for its medical programs, just isn’t focused on the arts, including fashion. “Pitt’s arts programs aren’t very strong ... and those have been around for a long time. It just doesn’t seem like Pitt’s specialty,” Yanez said. “I mean, sorry I am bashing Pitt but it’s just not one of its strong
points.” Instead of finding influences in the classroom, Yanez turned to the internet for inspiration, especially YouTube music videos from artists such as A$AP Rocky and Netflix shows such as “Mad Men” and “Better Call Saul.” “Saul Goodman wears really bright, flamboyant suits,” Yanez said. “I really like the way they look on him, so that kind of inspires me to pursue looks like that.”
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See Fashion on page 12
Noting a lack of fashion programming at Pitt, we thought this story would be an interesting foray into all the ways student fashionistas flourish regardless. In our reporting, we went to the College of General Studies’ office to talk with someone about the possibility of students self-designing a fashion major at Pitt. The self-designed major through the CGS allowed Pitt students to create a course plan for any approved major that the University didn’t already offer — but our simple quest for information revealed another story about missing resources at Pitt. There is no longer a self-design major program at PItt. According to Leena Paccino — recruiter at CGS who spoke on behalf of CGS academic adviser Mel Watkins — one student previously requested to create a self-design major in fashion, but the request was denied. Paccino did not elaborate on when the student requested the major or why the request was denied. After talking with Paccino, we reached out to Watkins for comment about the lack of a fashion program, and Watkins said he would consider an interview once he had permission from the University. Watkins directed us to University spokesperson Carol Mullen. Mullen further directed us to University spokesperson Joe Miksch. Miksch responded to our interview request March 17, in an email saying that the self-design program “is no longer an option at Pitt.” This had not been previously reported by The Pitt News. The self-design program’s website, however, remains up and running. In a later phone conversation, Miksch would not comment on why the self-design program is no longer being offered. Miksch also said Watkins was no longer willing to comment on the lack of a fashion program at Pitt, or on the previously denied student request. All of this means that without a formal announcement or an accompanying website update, the self-design program at Pitt — what some of us older reporters remember as a selling point in our Pathfinders tour — is kaput.
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column
Long nights, loud protests and the truth:
Four years at The Pitt News Stephen Caruso
Contributing Editor I’ve always struggled to articulate why I work at The Pitt News. In the four years I’ve spent working here, my friends have consistently commented on how much time I spend at the office. When I miss out on a night of drinks or a day in Schenley, they are understanding. They know my passion, and that I probably was running away from police horses at a protest or finishing up some expose. But what I realized over the past year is that the reason I dragged myself through those days and nights was because reporting for The Pitt News was a passion I never knew I had. From a young age, the world’s beauty captured me — literally. I was a geography nerd and spent hours running my fingers
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Stephen Caruso says goodbye after four years of reporting. James Evan Bowen-Gaddy CONTRIBUTING EDITOR across globes or looking through atlases, filled with vivid pictures of steamy jungles,
dry deserts and frigid mountains. In each image, I imagined the people
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there, living a life I would never be able to relate to. How could I, an 8-year-old wrapped in a tiny suburban existence, ever understand what it was like to live in the slums of Mumbai or a hut in the Amazon? As I got older, I did well in school, but my path forward didn’t involve what enchanted me — it seemed based off of what would make me successful. Despite the insistence of my elders that I could accomplish a lot, I didn’t know what I wanted to accomplish. I came to Pitt and decided to major in economics because it was similar to history, my true passion, and seemed like it could make more money. Do well, end up at a fancy school for a master’s, join a think tank or the government and push for smart policy. It was boring, but seemed See Caruso on page 8
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Caruso, pg. 7 important. I had, however, edited my high school newspaper. While it was my first time as a “journalist,” looking back I didn’t deserve the title. The paper never reported. It was mostly a vehicle for me to cast opinions out into the world. Armed with that experience, and confident that everyone wanted to hear the voice of an 18-year-old white guy from Poughkeepsie, New York, I strolled onto the fourth floor of the William Pitt Union for the first time, unsure of what I was getting myself into. On arriving, the friendly office manager, Marj, inquired what type of writer I wanted to be. “Opinions,” I answered, but then decided that, while I was there, I might as well get the applications for every section. With a quizzical glance, she handed over the requisite paperwork. As if I hadn’t asked enough, I also queried if they needed anyone who knew Adobe InDesign, a skill I’d picked up at my high school paper. At that exact moment, the then-Editor-in-Chief Pat McAteer stalked around a corner in a huff. Upon hearing the words “InDesign,” he whipped his head around and, looking right at me, asked a question that would alter my life’s trajectory: “Do you want to work for The Pitt News?” While I didn’t know it then — in fact, I wouldn’t realize it for nearly three years — that offer to become layout editor is the only reason I have the future I now have. That first year at Pitt, I was lost. I did all the dumb college things everyone does — parties on Dithridge, football games at Heinz and skipping 8 a.m. recitations. But the path from my classes into the real world was unclear. Yet three days a week as an editor at The Pitt News, I had inspiring coworkers, a purpose and a physical product on newsstands. Even after a day of class, I found myself looking forward to another eight hours on desk at the paper, changing fonts and adjusting headlines into the wee hours. It was with some of the best co-workers I could ask for that I grew from there. I learned to write an organized column and not just vomit ideas onto a page. I learned how to take a photo with composition and
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form. I learned the art of reporting, covering Pitt football, Trump rallies and coffee shops. But it was one night after the election — when a thousand people marched through Oakland — that I realized I had found my purpose. Standing on the Birmingham Bridge, a camera on my shoulder and a notebook in my hand, looking out on a crowd of people, heartbroken by the presidential races’ results but inspired to spend a chilly autumn night outdoors, I was overwhelmed. Every single one of these people had a story, and I wanted to tell them all. The Pitt News brought me to that moment. It let me find my voice to help others find theirs. It’s shown me a life I’m happy and proud to live — based around searching for truth, around finding ways to let a kid raised in Poughkeepsie relate to a kid from Mumbai, Dubai or Shanghai. But even more, this search itself affirms to me that there is some universal human truth. I don’t know what it is yet, but it exists — those chills on the bridge one fall night told me I was close. It’s something that no matter who you are or what you’ve seen, when you touch it you can’t help but shiver in majesty at the world and its beauty. Some people chose to find truth through religion, some through art. Some people would probably scoff at me for even asserting this and think I’m an overly sentimental slob. But in this sad age of fake news, I choose to find truth in other people — to look them in the eyes, open my notebook and write down their truth. This is not to say I’m not questioning authority or the powers that be. But offering our trust to a person, on that individual basis, is the root of our humanity, and we have embrace it. When what seems to be true changes every day, and what is actually true is inscrutable, I’m reminded how lucky I am to join a profession dedicated to this pursuit. Now that I’ve cast off my safe future in economics, the world once again looks big and inspiring. So as I trace my life’s path around the globe as a journalist, I feel like a kid again — eyes wide with wonder for what I’ll see next. Stephen is finally done at The Pitt News, but he’ll always be a proud alumni. To share your story, shoot him an email at stephencaruso23@gmail.com.
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column
What I’ve learned Elizabeth Lepro Editor In Chief
In the late 1700s, Benjamin Franklin — at the behest of King Louis XIV — served on a French Royal Commission to investigate some rather absurd claims by a German scientist. The back story is unimportant, what is important is a line from Franklin’s official report, in which he wrote, “Truth is uniform and narrow, it constantly exists, and does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of soul in order to encounter it.” Thank you for the electricity and everything Mr. Franklin, but I’d like to politely disagree on this one. If this year has taught me anything, it’s that the truth is actually quite complicated, rarely uniform and — this is the important part — the job of uncovering it does require a great deal of work, time and energy. We’ve heard a lot recently about bias — about the mainstream media’s inability, or unwillingness, to report “both sides.” I think there is validity in these concerns, and I’m not here to defend the integrity of the 24hour news cycle. What I do know is that the truth isn’t sided at all, and anyone claiming to be completely informed on a complicated issue probably isn’t. This is the first lesson journalism taught me, and it’s a valuable one: to be skeptical. It’s also made it increasingly difficult to log onto Facebook. I’m frustrated with the ease with which we come to conclusions — on an individual level and on the part of so many media outlets looking for a bold, clickable headline. “Now This” isn’t going to hit on everything you need to know about the situation in Syria in a one-minute instantly-playing Facebook video — neither is your socialist friend who forms a long-winded opinion on a story as soon as the news breaks. I could write an entire column about this frustration, but I’d like to do more than that.
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In my last piece of printed writing for The Pitt News, I want to offer a small solution and give one last push to a university I’ve spent the last three years pushing: Pitt should offer more journalism courses. While Pitt has an excellent nonfiction writing program, most of the courses are focused on creative nonfiction and there are only a few professors who teach strict journalism. Although I’d love to see a fullfledged program, I’m not writing this in the hopes that everyone will become journalists. In fact, I don’t think most people could be reporters, in the same way that I probably wouldn’t be the best neurosurgeon. Instead, journalism courses — beyond just introduction to nonfiction writing — should be offered as writing-intensive classes for the general education requirement, because I do think everyone has something to gain from learning the craft, at least at a basic level. Learning how to put together a well-reported story can teach us both how to responsibly consume the massive amount of information we’re now subject to and, maybe more importantly, how to engage with it. Here are a few more lessons I’ve learned from my days at a newsdesk — values that are applicable far beyond the margins of a newspaper: 1. To be meticulous with people’s stories When you ask people to open up to you, you’re taking on a certain amount of responsibility. It’s not the same as tagging someone in a Tweet or making a broad generalization via Facebook post. You’re in charge of the way people’s experiences will be relayed to the public, forever. You want to be someone worth trusting. So you keep going back to what you’ve written, you fact check, you check with other sources, you edit and reedit. This is especially true if you’re going to criticize someone — you want to make sure you’re right, even if it takes months. See Lepro on page 12
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op-ed
BabCock Room symbolizes Pitt’s Transparency Issues
Sage Lincoln
Op-Ed Contributor I first entered the Babcock Room in 2013. Guided by a friend of a friend, a few other Pitt students and I made our way to the back elevator on the 36th floor of the Cathedral at dusk. Two picked locks later we were there: the 40th floor, practically the top of the world. We didn’t pay much attention to the plush furnishing or woodwork of the large room. It was the four windows, each facing one side of the room, that captivated us. Pittsburgh, my city and my home, was laid out before me, glowing in the sunset more bare and beautiful than I had ever seen. Meet the E.V. Babcock Memorial Room, hidden away and locked by the Chancellor — the perfect metaphor for Pitt’s ivory tower. It is purely Pitt, both in its beauty and its only opened for the most elite and special prioritization of the elite over the common gatherings of important Pitt people. But it person. was finally opened to the public earlier this The Babcock Room stays mostly locked, month, at a price. Pitt Quo Vadis — the stu-
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Raka Sarkar SENIOR STAFF ILLUSTRATOR dent group in charge of the nationality room tours — was allowed to use the room for a two-hour fundraiser. According to Quo Vadis, this is the first time such an event has
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occurred, and the public interest was overwhelming. The room illustrates a much bigger issue at Pitt: how administrators and the Board of Trustees have total control over how the University’s assets are distributed. Students have been fighting for decades to increase transparency and have a voice and vote in this process, and the Babcock Room’s history includes this struggle. The room once housed Board of Trustees meetings, until 1969, when 50 students blocked the elevator to the room, demanding that Pitt “disengage itself from the clutches of corporate power” and instate public executive board meetings. Instead of listening to the students, the board moved rooms. Today, nearly 50 years later, students are still fighting for transparency and inclusion in the decision making process. While organizing with the Fossil Free Pitt Coalition — a group working to have Pitt divest from fossil See Lincoln on page 11
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Lincoln, pg. 10 fuels — I learned firsthand how difficult it is to get any information about the Board of Trustees, who make the most important decisions for the University. We spent months in the library poring over hard copies of board meeting minutes to find out who even had the authority to decide to divest our endowment from fossil fuels. We learned that the board has no clue which industries Pitt is invested in. Last February we were granted the first official student meeting with the Board of Trustees, a mere four minutes, showing how removed the board still is from the students they serve. At no time has the lack of regard for students been more obvious to me than during the creation of Pitt’s five-year plan in 2014. The first step to strategic plan development is stakeholder engagement — intentionally involving people who will be affected by a decision in the planning process — and strategic decisions at Pitt greatly impact students. Despite this, students were not engaged in a meaningful way in Pitt’s plan, a fact that outraged me and other students who organized a resistance to demand meaningful student input.
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While this forced the University to hold several open forums, students felt that their input was not taken seriously. This planning process showed that students are an afterthought, and that the University is not prioritizing students from the top down. It demonstrates that students must not assume we will be asked for our opinion, but instead, we must actively demand a seat at the table. Meanwhile, large decisions are made every single day in a process where students have little or no say. And when you attempt to ask questions about this, you will be told that the money stream at the University doesn’t work like that. But you will never be told how it does work. You will hear that Pitt cannot raise the student minimum wage or increase spending from its endowment because it doesn’t want to run out of money. But you will never hear that Pitt actually spends less from its $3.6 billion endowment each year than most other universities. It annually spends 4.25 percent from its endowment on everything from faculty positions and operational costs to scholarships. Meanwhile, comparable universities such as Penn State University and Carnegie Mellon University spend 5 and 5.5 percent of their endowments, respectively.
Law requires non-profit foundations to spend 5 percent of their annual endowments — meaning Pitt spends even less than them. Pitt could be spending more money on anything from scholarships and student wages to faculty pay, but chooses not to, despite past requests from the Faculty Senate to increase endowment spending. Increasing our endowment payout to 5 percent would free up $27 million, enough to reduce undergraduate tuition by $1,500 per year. But this information and this money are kept locked away, just like the Babcock Room. I’ve only come to learn about it because of my own experiences working with the administration and lobbying the board. University spokesperson Susan Rogers declined to respond Friday to the concerns listed in this letter. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Pitt can change. Instead of keeping our greatest room locked away, inaccessible and empty, we should use it as a showpiece for the University by opening it up to the public during business hours, while still allowing it to be reserved for elite events. Let the opening of the Babcock Room represent the dismantling of Pitt’s ivory tower, and the first of many changes.
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And Pitt, here’s what to do. Publish information on the Board of Trustees online: let us know who’s on each committee, how decisions are made and details about its bylines. Become transparent about what is happening to our money, including where our tuition dollars go, what we are invested in, how much Pitt spends on different events or endeavours and where donations are coming from. And then, most importantly, give students, faculty and staff input representation on the board and in the administration. This will create a new culture where the University cares about each student and employee as much as donors and board members. A culture where Pitt operates as a University, not a capital-accumulating business in the “clutches of corporate power.” Security has been upgraded since my twilight escapade, and now even a skilled lockpicker cannot open the doors. And four years after that illegal visit to the Babcock Room, I now say farewell to Pitt. I leave knowing that through student power and organizing, my alma mater will someday hopefully stop investing in locks and start opening doors instead.
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Lepro, pg. 9 2. How to take criticism Yes, every writing major knows how to toughen up for a workshop or professor’s critique. But you should see my editor’s email inbox. I have a special folder just for hate mail. 3. How to challenge your way of thinking If you’ve written a column without any research or an attempt to talk with someone who disagrees, you’ve done yourself — and your story — an injustice. 4. Words are important You can pick a better adjective than “good,” very few things are actually “unique” and a strong verb can transform your whole sentence. 5. Everyone has a story to tell This one is admittedly cheesy, but it’s the premise behind TPN’s Silhouettes edition, which annually restores my faith in humanity. But, not everyone’s story is worth telling
Fashion, pg. 6 Through his company, Yanez makes recommendations for the clothing his clients should buy, based on their body type and age group.For example, he recommends longer pants to older men, but shorter and more tapered pants to younger men. “It’s mostly letting and helping customers design things to fit their wants and needs,” Yanez said. “A lot of that is looking at trends but also just looking at what styles are in [and] what styles work for which body types and certain age groups.” Fifth-year nonfiction writing major Sarah Filiault takes advantage of the internet in a slightly different way — she used her online presence to build a fashion blog. In her middle school years, Filiault began to “experiment” with fashion, but once she got to Pitt, she noticed her friends often asked her for fashion advice. “Once I got to college, I guess it kind of took off,” Filiault said. “It seemed like a lot of people didn’t understand like the basics of how to even put an outfit together, and that was what I wanted to do with my blog
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Let me explain. We’ve had to make several tough decisions this year. Do we print the names of Pitt students who were arrested for protesting simply because it’s already public record? Do we report a story just because we know people will click on it? In both cases, the answer was no. Ultimately, you have to decide whether what you’re publishing — especially if it’s going to hurt someone — is also going to be of benefit to anyone. If you’re only saying something for its sensational value, it’s probably not worth putting it out there. I could say more. I’ll just leave it at this: I’ve learned a lot at Pitt, but none of my classes were quite comparable to the time I spent with a reporter’s notebook in my hand. Someday, I want to come back and visit a campus where more people have the opportunity to learn that way. Until then, there’s always The Pitt News. Elizabeth Lepro is the outgoing editor in chief of The Pitt News. Your opportunities to make it in her hate mail folder are dwindling, so act fast: editor@pittnews. com. originally.” Although Filiault is self taught, her sister is majoring in fashion design at North Carolina State, a school of comparable size and major offerings to Pitt. Through her own and her sister’s experience in fashion, Filiault sees ways for fashion to play into everyone’s lives, even people who don’t consider themselves fashionistas. “Fashion is important in any career because people judge you based off the first impression of you and a lot of that is just based off looks,” Filiault said. “So it’s important in everyday life.” Although she said she would have considered a fashion major if Pitt had offered one, for now, Filiault is concentrating on nonfiction writing. In the future, she would like to combine her two passions. “If I got the opportunity to, say, write for a fashion magazine or something like that, I would definitely enjoy it,” Filiault said. Just as Filiault sees the potential to combine writing and fashion, Yanez said even those not directly involved in design can make fashion into a career. Because of this, Yanez sees a variety of entry points in the See Fashion on page 19
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News
Peduto nominates two Pitt professors to PWSA Board
Pitt student dies after falling from Central Oakland roof
Caroline Bourque and John Hamilton
Photo from Steve Johnson FLICKR
Janine Faust Staff Writer
Mayor Bill Peduto nominated three people to fill vacant positions on the board of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority Friday — two of whom are Pitt professors. The nominees will fill spots left by three board members who all resigned in late March, although their terms officially ended at the end of 2016. A March 22 release from the mayor’s office said Peduto “extended invitations to proposed new board members” and expected announcements the following week. Peduto didn’t make an announcement until Friday, one month later, when he nominated Debbie Lestitian, Chaton
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Turner and Jim Turner to the PWSA board, subject to approval by City Council. The nominees include two Pitt professors — Jim Turner, who has previously served as the city’s budget director, finance director and chief administrative officer and is now an adjunct professor at the Pitt Graduate School of Public and International Affairs — and Chaton Turner, who is an adjunct professor at Pitt Law School and a UPMC lawyer. Debbie Lestitian, Peduto’s chief administration officer and personnel director, is the third nominee. She has more than 20 years of business, law and public service experience, according to the city’s press release.
In a press release Friday, Peduto said he wished to extend his gratitude to the nominees, who will be facing “systemic challenges facing the PWSA” if confirmed as board members. “There is a great amount of work ahead, and they will help us accomplish all we need to do,” he said. PWSA discovered dangerously high lead levels in the city’s water last July after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ordered the PWSA to run tests. Ten percent of homes tested had lead levels of over 22 parts per billion, well over the 15 parts per billion action level required by federal law.
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See PWSA on page 24
The PItt News Staff A 21-year-old Pitt student died Friday night after falling off a roof in Central Oakland. Colin Montesano was a junior pre-med student studying biology and an undergraduate researcher in the department of biological sciences. He graduated in 2014 from Webster Schroeder High School, in Webster, New York — a suburb of Rochester. According to Sonya Toler, a spokesperson for the city police, he fell 20 feet between two apartment buildings on the 200 block of Meyran Avenue. Paramedics transported him to UPMC Presbyterian in critical condition. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said the fall occurred at 8:44 p.m. Montesano was pronounced dead less than two hours later at the hospital. The death was ruled an accident. In light of the sudden incident, several members in the local community have posted photos and messages about Montesano online, and his family created a gofundme page to support medical expenses and funeral costs. Tyler Gokey — who played hockey with Montesano in high school — remembers Montesano as a clutch goalie who was always smiling. “Colin was kind of quiet in the locker room but he always had a smile on his face,” Gokey said. “He had some really funny one-liners that always had me laughing. He was a really smart kid as well.” The University released a statement Saturday, reminding students that counselors can be reached at 412-648-7930. “The University community is saddened by the death of our student, Colin Montesano,” the statement reads. “We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and all who knew him.”
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Sports
Softball recap ONLINE
YEAR IN REVIEW: Five moments to remember in Pitt sports Steve Rotstein
Sports Editor The 2016-17 academic year will go down as one of the most memorable years in Pitt sports for a number of reasons. Several varsity programs underwent transitions, as high-profile coaches and administrators came and went. The basketball programs stumbled, but the football and volleyball teams excelled, as the Panthers had plenty to celebrate on both an individual and team level. Here are the five most significant moments from an unforgettable year in Pitt sports: Conner beats cancer
had Hodgkin’s lymphoma on Thanksgiving Day 2015, it was easy to wonder if his playing days were over. Returning to the football field in any capacity would be impressive, let alone starting in the team’s first game of the season. Yet all through the grueling 12-week chemotherapy process, Conner continued to participate in the Panthers’ offseason workouts while wearing a protective surgical mask over his face. His goal all along? Returning in time for Pitt’s 2016 regular-season opener against Villanova Sept. 3. Conner received a clean bill of health from Stanley Marks May 23, and on Sept. 3, he was the one leading the Panthers onto the field out of the Heinz Field tunnel. With his team of doctors and nurses from the
When Pitt running back James Conner found out he
See Year In Review on page 20
James Conner’s comeback was one of the standout moments of 2016-17. Jeff Ahearn STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pitt baseball pulls upset, topples No. 3 Tar Heels Kait French Staff Writer
Shortstop P.J. DeMeo and the Panthers defeated No. 3 UNC 11-9 on Sunday. Anna Bongardino STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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The Pitt baseball team came into this weekend with low expectations for its series with the highly ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. But in the series finale, the Panthers rode an offensive explosion to knock off the No. 3 team in the country. After dropping the first two contests with just three combined runs, the Panthers (17-20, 8-13 ACC) overcame an early deficit to defeat UNC (31-9, 16-5 ACC) by a score of 11-9 for an improbable upset. Game One An early home run by redshirt senior Jacob Wright and three shutout innings from redshirt junior Josh Mitchell seemingly put the Panthers on their way to a series-opening victory. But the Tar Heels took the lead in the top of the fourth inning and held it for the remainder of the game. Wright’s lead home run over the left field fence in the first inning put the Panthers on top, 1-0. Mitchell confounded the Heels for the first few frames, striking out four over three innings while scattering three hits and giving up no runs. But his run of success came to a halt in the fourth in-
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ning when UNC made the Panthers pay for mistakes in the field. North Carolina sophomore Brandon Riley singled to lead off the inning, but advanced to second after an error during a pick-off attempt by Pitt redshirt junior first baseman Caleb Parry. Two batters later, a single from senior Tyler Lynn plated the Tar Heels’ first run, tying the score at one apiece. But Lynn advanced to second on a passed ball and reached third after a single in the next at-bat. The next batter walked to load up the bases with two outs, but Mitchell couldn’t close the door, giving up a two-run single to junior Logan Warmoth. At the end of the third, UNC led the Panthers 3-1. Mitchell left the game in the next frame after giving up an RBI double to Lynn and hitting the next batter, junior Zach Gahagan, with two outs. Senior pitcher Sam Mersing closed out the inning for the Panthers, but the Tar Heels still led 4-1. The two teams traded runs in the seventh innings, as an RBI single from Lynn in the top of the inning was answered by a single from Parry in the bottom half of the See Baseball on page 19
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top stories of the semesteR: online break a wall in Qdoba on Forbes to get the student out and the restaurant closed for a couple of months to fix the damage. This was the top story of the aca- A mural of the fateful hole in the wall demic year. An incident that occurred commemorated the bizarre night. during the wrestling team’s trip to EvanNo more walk-ins at gravel ston, Illinois, involving escorts from lot Backpage.com resulted in the firing of Pitt’s wrestling coach and a number of The owner of the legendary pre-game unexplained absences from the mat. gravel lot frequented by Pitt student tailSandusky sage has no place at gaters announced early in the season that he would no longer allow walk-in Pitt-Penn State game pre-gamers. PG Public Parking, owner Former sports editor Dan Sostek of the lot on Western Avenue and Fulpenned a column before the Pitt vs. ton Street, said it would only allow cars Penn State football game arguing against with four people or fewer, and raised the using Jerry Sandusky’s history of sexual price of parking from $40 to $60. abuse as a taunt. Using sexual assault as Stop straightening gay bars a way to trash talk another school is disrespectful to survivors, he argued, and a Junior culture writer Brandon Marx bad look for Pitt. wrote about his personal experience witnessing more straight individuals going Pitt student stuck between to Pittsburgh gays bars over the course buildings of his college career. His hot take — To kick off the new school year, Pitt that the once safe places have become made national news after a student saturated with straight people looking leaped from the roof of a building on the to party — generated debate on social 3700 block of Forbes Avenue to the next media. building but did not make it — but was luckily fine. Emergency services had to Jason Peters relieved of duties
The Pitt News SuDoku 4/24/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com
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top stories of the semesteR: editor's picks Backlogged Thousands of rapekits — or sexual assault evidence collection kits — go untested in the United States, and one Allegheny County lab found a short-term solution to fixing the problem. The story that took more than a semester to report follows the journey of Natasha Alexenko’s rapekit and why a backlogged list of rapekits across the nation needs to be addressed.
and Washington, D.C., for the full scoop. No Wall, no ban, no silence
Shortly after assuming the presidency, Donald Trump signed executive orders banning people from entering the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries — Libya, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan and Yemen — for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days and Syrian refugees indefinitely. Although no one was detained at Pittsburgh International Relief of Pitt wrestling coach Airport the day the orders were signed, people Jason Peters still went to protest in solidarity with other Jason Peters was let go as Pitt’s head wres- protests around the country. Since then, the tling coach with no clear explanation in Janu- federal appeals panel rejected Trump’s bid to ary. After he was fired, assistant head coaches reinstate the travel ban in February. Matt Kocher and Drew Headlee stepped into PWSA coverage to fill the position jointly until Pitt hired Keith Gavin was hired in April. In recent months, Pittsburgh residents The Pitt News also followed an incident that occurred during the wrestling team’s trip experienced high levels of lead in their water, to Evanston, Illinois, for the Midlands Cham- high water bills and other problems with the pionships over winter break. The event in- PWSA. Everything came to a breaking point volved police responding to a call within the when the organization declared a water crisis hotel where the Pitt wrestling team was stay- after a test showed low levels of chlorine at the Highland Park water filtration plant. PWSA ing. told locals to either buy or boil their water, but the precautionary measure only lasted a couple Inauguration and Women s days. Since then, Mayor Bill Peduto ordered Marches coverage PWSA be audited and nominated three new Two of the most influential events of 2017, people to the board, including two Pitt profesTPN reporters scoured the streets of Pittsburgh sors.
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frame. But the Panthers could not plate any more runs as Pitt dropped the first game of the set, 5-2. Game Two Senior pitcher Josh Falk dazzled in Saturday’s performance, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning against one of the best offenses in the country. But the Panthers bats were almost as quiet, as Pitt recorded just three hits over the course of the contest. Falk couldn’t keep his team from dropping the second game — and the series — to North Carolina. Over his seven innings of work, Falk walked just one while striking out seven Tar Heels. But in the eighth, Falk gave up the no-hitter — and three runs — to UNC. Riley broke up Falk’s no-hit bid with a single to lead off the inning. Falk then hit the next batter and gave up a single to load the bases with no outs. He seemed to find his groove after retiring Gahagan on a pop up to second and striking out Freeman. But senior catcher Manny Pazos let a pitch in the dirt get by him, allowing all three runners to advance and giving up the first run of the game. Falk could have stopped the bleeding with an out, but he instead gave up a two-run double to junior Brian Miller, giving the Tar Heel a three-run lead. Mersing pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the score the same, and the Panthers finally got on the board with a RBI single from junior Nick Banman. But the Panthers couldn’t manage any hits after Banman’s and the Panthers fell for the second day in a row. Game Three After two games of close-to-no offense, the Panthers avoided a sweep to the Heels with prolific scoring in a 11-9 slugfest. The Panthers seemed destined for yet another loss after first-year Dan Hammer gave up four runs on five hits to Carolina. But the Panthers began to creep back into the game in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single from senior P.J. DeMeo, making the score 4-1.
Fashion, pg. 12 fashion world, not just through design. “If you look at the fashion industry there are so many professions and backgrounds that you can come from,” Yanez said. “You’re going to need business students, you’re going to need marketing students, you’re going to need students who can promote this product, someone
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The Panthers shrunk the deficit to just one in the bottom of the second after Wright hit a two-run homer to left center — his second of the series. But the Panthers took the lead in the third, exploding for five runs on five hits, and never gave it up. Pazos plated the first run for the Panthers, bringing home Banman off an RBI single to right, and first-year Alex Amos followed him with a single of his own to take the lead, 5-4. The game broke open just a batter later when firstyear Nico Popa tripled to right field, bringing in Amos and Pazos. Popa came home off a single from Wright and the Panthers ended the inning with a commanding 8-4 advantage. Pitt put two more on the board in the fifth when a single from Parry plated two runners, and one more in the seventh as Pazos scampered home on a wild pitch to score the team’s 11th — and final — run. But Carolina showed why it is the thirdranked team in the country by almost coming back from a seven-run deficit. UNC scored for the first time since the first inning when Miller smashed a solo home run over the centerfield fence. The eighth was quiet for the Tar Heels, as first-year R.J. Freure retired the side in order. But after starting the ninth with a fly out, Carolina started hitting the ball all over the yard. Freure put two on base before being relieved by junior Isaac Mattson. Mattson couldn’t record an out, giving up a walk and a three-run double before being taken out for Mersing. Mersing allowed two more hits and one more run, but was ultimately able to shut the door before UNC could put their Heels on the Panthers’ necks by completing the comeback and the sweep. Instead, the Panthers walked off the field with an 11-9 win over one of the best teams in the country. The Panthers will next host Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, in a three-game, twoday series April 29 and 30. in the background, supply chain management.” These sides of fashion would be easier for Pitt to tap into, according to Yanez, since Pitt already has entry points established, such as through the business school. “I would support programs that help people at Pitt get into fashion — the many roles within the fashion industry,” Yanez said. “But a straight-up design school for fashion I think would be difficult.”
The Pitt news crossword 4/24/17
Baseball, pg. 15
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Year In Review, pg. 15 Hillman Cancer Center on hand, Conner scored a pair of touchdowns in Pitt’s 28-7 win — setting the tone for yet another 1,000-yard, 20-touchdown season from one of the greatest running backs in program history. Return of the rivalry The week after Conner’s return against Villanova, the team’s focus had shifted to the Keystone Classic matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Almost 70,000 fans packed into Heinz Field for a chance to witness the first battle in 16 years between the in-state rivals, and it didn’t disappoint. The Panthers jumped out to a 28-7 lead in the first half, and seemed poised to blow the Nittany Lions out of the building and back to State College. But Penn State mounted a furious second-half comeback, and had the chance to tie or take the lead down 42-39 in the fourth quarter. Nittany Lions quarterback Trace McSorley found wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton streaking wide open down the right
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sideline, but his pass glanced off Hamilton’s fingertips and fell harmlessly to the turf. Four plays later, McSorley took another shot at the end zone — but this time, Pitt cornerback Ryan Lewis skied for the interception to clinch the Panthers’ 42-39 win. Upset of the year In most years, defeating your biggest rival in such thrilling fashion and keeping them out of the College Football Playoff would stand alone as the most memorable game of the season. But roughly two months later, a reeling Panthers team traveled into Clemson’s Death Valley, where the undefeated Clemson Tigers hadn’t lost in more than two years. Pitt’s high-powered offense matched the Tigers score for score, and a 70-yard interception return by redshirt freshman Saleem Brightwell set up a thunderous 20-yard touchdown run by Conner. But the Panthers’ two-point conversion failed, leaving Clemson ahead 42-40 with a little more than five minutes left. After a crucial fourth-down stop by Pitt’s defense, quarterback Nathan Peterman led the Panthers on an efficient drive
to the Tigers’ 31-yard line. Senior kicker Chris Blewitt then drilled a 48-yard field goal just inside the left upright with six seconds left, and Pitt escaped with a 43-42 victory over the eventual national champions. Wrestling team in turmoil When the University dismissed head wrestling coach Jason Peters midway through the season, many questioned what could have led to such an abrupt change in leadership. It turns out, an incident at a hotel during the team’s trip to Evanston, Illinois, for the Midlands Championships was the cause for Peters’ firing — though the University has still not explained his involvement. Assistants Matt Kocher and Drew Headlee took over as co-head coaches for the remainder of the season, and Pitt floundered to an 0-3 start in ACC competition after losing its leader. But the team recovered, as three Panthers took home individual ACC titles. Now, 2008 Pitt graduate and former national champion Keith Gavin has taken over the program, and the first-time head coach will have to establish a culture of dis-
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cipline and accountability in order to succeed. Heather Lyke makes history After Pitt Athletic Director Scott Barnes resigned to take the same position at Oregon State University Dec. 22, Pitt Athletics spent nearly three months without a fulltime leader. The announcement of Barnes’ replacement, though, was nothing short of historic. Pitt introduced Heather Lyke as its new athletic director March 20, making her the first woman to serve as full-time athletic director in the 106-year history of Pitt Athletics. She brought nearly four years of experience as athletic director at Eastern Michigan University with her, as well as 15 years as an athletic administrator at Ohio State University. Lyke wasted no time getting to work, as she brought in several established candidates to interview for the Panthers’ head wrestling coach job before hiring Gavin April 14. Still, the glaring issue of the struggling basketball programs remains, something she’ll need to address moving forward.
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The Pitt News
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
ELIZABETH LEPRO
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PWSA, pg. 14 Peduto announced a $1 million investment in March to provide lead filters to Pittsburgh homes affected by high lead levels. The city has yet to announce a time frame for distributing the filters. Jim Turner said he has been following the city’s issues publicly, and hopes to come up with positive solutions for them using his experience in financial analysis if he is confirmed for the board. He doesn’t have any solid plans yet
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for what he will do if he becomes a board member — he first wishes to learn more about his new role and the problems he will be working to address. “I want to go in with an open mind and learn as much as I can before I begin addressing any problems,” he said. “I don’t want to just jump to conclusions on how a problem should be solved.” Chaton Turner also said she plans to become more familiar with her new duties before deciding how to approach the issues at the PWSA. “If and when I start, I want to dive
deeper into the challenges PWSA is facing from an internal perspective to understand the issues before I identify specific solutions,” she said. Chaton Turner said her analytical work as an attorney will aid her in what she will do as a PWSA board member. “Every day I analyze complex problems and find solutions for them as a part of my job,” she said. “I’m in a unique position now to do that for my community.”
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