5-17-17

PEDUTO WINS LOPSIDED PRIMARY, CLAIMS ‘MANDATE’

by John Hamilton and Henry Glitz | The Pitt News Staff

D

emocrats in Pittsburgh voted Tuesday for the incumbent — Mayor Bill Peduto — to be their party’s nominee for mayor, likely giving him four more years as the city’s chief executive.

Peduto beat out challengers Rev. John Welch and Councilwoman Darlene Harris, getting 69 percent of the vote to Welch’s 18 percent and Harris’ 13 percent, with 99 percent of precincts reporting at midnight Tuesday. Peduto will be on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election, in which he is not currently facing any challengers.

An incumbent mayor has not lost in Pittsburgh since 1933, and this year was no different with Peduto grabbing more than two-thirds of the approximately 38,000 votes cast.

In his victory speech, Peduto said “the people of Pittsburgh have spoken,” and that they had delivered a mandate to continue the progressive policies of his first term.

“This isn’t a mandate just for one politician or one office,” he said to a crowd of about 100 supporters at The Boiler Room in Banksville. “It’s a mandate that we’re on the road to success. So that Pittsburgh stays Pittsburgh and we build a city for all.”

Voters also picked candidates in contested elections for Pittsburgh City Council and School Board, as well as local and state judgeships.

Anthony Coghill defeated Ashleigh Deemer in the only contested City Council race, winning the nomination for the District 4 seat that represents the South Hills. Dan Gilman ran

uncontested and will represent District 8 — Oakland, Point Breeze, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill — for another term.

Voters picked five new members of the Pittsburgh School Board, four of which won contested races. Sala Udin, Terry Kennedy, Cynthia Ann Falls, Veronica Edwards all defeated opponents to win the Democratic nomination and Sylvia Wilson won unopposed.

Not up for re-election this year, Lynda Wrenn, City School Board Member for District 4, exuded confidence in Peduto’s impending win. As a whole, the atmosphere at Peduto’s campaign after-party as election results rolled in confirming the mayor’s primary victory was subdued prior to the candidates’ See Primary on page 3

News

Cover photo by Anna Bongardino VISUAL EDITOR

Protesters respond to controversial PETA report Henry Glitz News Editor Two conflicting reports from the United States Department of Agriculture and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about conditions for animals in Pitt laboratories have caused a strong reaction among community members.

PETA’s “exposé” claims an eyewitness saw a litany of abuses in Pitt labs surrounding the treatment of mice, rats, chimpanzees and other animals.

“Pitt, as the university is called, uses thousands of animals — including dogs, cats, monkeys, rabbits, mice and rats — in cruel experiments,” the report says. “This world of suffering was secret until PETA went inside and uncovered what U.S. taxpayers are funding there.”

PETA assembled a report and sent it to the National Institutes of Health, alleging mistreatment of animals at Pitt research labs. The report prompted a Feb. 27 USDA investigation of labs at the University.

Released in early March after a “focused investigation” of specific Pitt labs, the USDA report said inspectors found

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“no non-compliant items ... during this inspection.”

Despite the results of the USDA inspection, PETA senior vice president for laboratory investigations, Kathy Guillermo, condemned the findings as too narrow in scope.

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report is not comprehensive and gives only a glimpse of some aspects of any laboratory,” she told the University Times. “It entirely excludes mice and rats — the species most used at the University of Pittsburgh — so federal inspectors didn’t even look at these animals. No experiment, no matter how painful, scientifically flawed or redundant is prohibited.

So we’re not impressed.”

Along with other animal rights groups on campus and around the community, PETA organized a protest last Thursday focusing specifically on conditions in a lab in the Department of Critical Care Medicine studying sepsis — a medical condition in which the body injures its own organs while fighting an infection.

The lab makes use of rodents in its experiments, which the protesters focused on.

Students from Pitt, Carlow, and CCAC protested animal testing at Pitt labs Thursday on Forbes Avenue Anna Bongardino VISUAL EDITOR Students from Carlow, Community College of Allegheny County and Pitt sat in cages at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard. Some wore paper mouse masks and were silent, while others held signs proclaiming “Wasted $$$, Wasted Lives,” and attempted to interact with passers-by.

The argument that animal experiments in Pitt labs were not only cruel, but also wasteful, was the theme of protesters Thursday.

One student, rising Pitt senior and political science major Rosemary Geraghty — who attended the protest as a member

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of the student group Panthers for Animal Welfare — said that many of the people she interacted with were indifferent until told that the experiments contributed little to human health or welfare.

“A lot of people are more against it for the waste,” Geraghty said. “Most people can at least get behind that.”

Pitt’s statement contradicted this argument, citing a 2016 release from the Foundation for Biomedical Research that pointed out the contributions of experiments involving non-human primates to recent advances in medicine.

See PETA on page 3

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Primary, pg. 1

“The University’s animal research program has led to a number of breakthroughs in medical care,” the release said.

Ashley Byrne, associate director of campaigns at PETA who was present at the protest, suggested that funding for sepsis experimentation on mice and rats amounted to a misuse of resources.

“This is not going to benefit people,” Byrne said. “These are resources that could be going to better places.”

A 2013 study funded and published by the National Institutes of Health found that 150 of the drugs developed over the past several decades to treat sepsis succeeded in mice, but failed in human trials. The conclusion was that reactions to sepsis in mice don’t always mirror those in humans.

Protesters continued to make demands that the lab either cease experiments on animals or face loss of funding — something Guillermo initially requested in March.

“We’re asking for Pitt to end these experiments immediately and to start using modern methods,” Byrne said.

arrival. Far from giving off the feeling of tense, election-night drama, the gathering felt more like a typical reunion for long-time political friends and allies.

Wrenn referenced her long-standing professional relationship with Peduto, beginning in 2001 when he won an election to represent District 8 in City Council and she was involved in several of Point Breeze’s neighborhood organizations.

Peduto’s political career in Pittsburgh began in 1996 with his appointment as chief of staff to then Councilman Dan Cohen. He was elected to a term on City Council in his own right starting in 2002, before being re-elected in 2005 and 2009. He won his first term as mayor in 2013 following incumbent Luke Ravenstahl’s unexpected withdrawal from the race.

“He really lives the job,” Wrenn said, praising Peduto’s career-long dedication to working in city government. “He’s really dedicated to what he does.”

Peduto has focused largely on partnerships in his first four years as mayor, he said in an interview with The Pitt News. He mentioned

a summer youth employment program that he expanded during his first term. The city partnered with the county, foundations and corporations to increase the program from employing 150 kids to 16,000, he said.

“We’re now at a point where we’re almost at where every kid that wants a summer job gets a summer job but it’s because of that partnership,” he said.

Welch often attacked Peduto from the left on issues such as affordable housing and criticized the mayor’s close relationship with Uber.

Welch, who supported Peduto in 2013, said in a concession speech that Peduto should learn a lesson from the number of voters who opposed his re-election this year.

Peduto’s victory, with around 69 percent of the electorate’s support, is significantly higher than the 51 percent he recieved four years ago.

Still, Welch pointed out that not all voters supported the incumbent.

“Between the numbers that I got and the numbers Darlene has I think there’s a faction of the city of Pittsburgh that’s not happy with the direction we’re going,” Welch said, according to WPXI. “I hope the mayor pays attention to those numbers.”

Welch echoed this sentiment last week in an interview with The Pitt News. He said

Peduto is focusing too much on the future and is forgetting about “this Pittsburgh.”

“I think the mayor’s futuristic ideas are great,” he said in an interview on May 13. “He wants to prepare the city for this new wave of technology, new industries, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But there are some things we need to address currently.”

Harris, a member of City Council for the past 11 years, is a long-time adversary of Peduto. Many of the issues she focused on in her campaign — for which she claimed to have raised zero funds — were criticisms of Peduto, namely his traveling and fondness for bike lanes. In an interview on May 15, Harris said she would be a “hands-on” mayor compared to Peduto.

No Republicans ran in their primary so Peduto will likely run unopposed in the Nov. general election. Pittsburgh hasn’t elected a Republican mayor in more than 80 years and in 2013, Peduto defeated the Republican challenger with 84 percent of the vote.

Looking forward to his next four years in office, Peduto presented a vision for further progress on the issues he had pushed in his first term, as well as new issues facing the city.

“It’s time to take on even bigger challenges,” he said.

The Pitt news crossword 5/17/17

PETA, pg. 2

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Opinions column

from the editorial board

Hold NSA accountable for ransomware How much is all of the information stored on your computer worth?

A ransomware that spread to more than 100 countries in just a few hours faced thousands with this very question. When infected users opened their computers on Monday, they were met with nothing. All of their files were encrypted by the WannaCry ransomware. If they wanted their files decrypted, the program said all they had to do was pay $300 worth of Bitcoin to the specified address.

But the catch is obvious — WannaCry and its creators have no obligation to decrypt the data if the user pays up. Essentially, people’s entire digital lives have been stolen and are being held for ransom without guarantee.

Ransomware is nothing new. These types of infection usually exploit vulnerabilities in networks using Trojan links, seemingly innocuous attachments that deceptively contain a malicious ransomware.

But WannaCry is unique. When a hacking group called Shadow Brokers released a trove of information containing vulnerabilities and exploits that they stole from the National Security Agency, they opened the internet world to a mass infection of ransomware.

Many parties are at fault here — Shadow Brokers should not have stolen NSA data, and nobody should have created WannaCry. We cannot expect criminal hackers to be held accountable for their actions, but we should hold our government agencies accountable.

Firstly, given its involvement with surveillance and safety, the NSA should have a safer network. But no system is foolproof, and even more importantly, their practice of stockpiling vulnerability is a questionable NSA practice that directly enabled this attack.

Stockpiling vulnerability involves finding and keeping hidden information regarding internet and computer vulnerabilities. The NSA stockpiles vulnerabilities in order be able to effectively combat cyber attacks — if it knows

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what tools are used in an attack before it even starts, it’s chance of stopping it in its tracks is high.

But WannaCry demonstrates the danger in stockpiling vulnerability — if those vulnerabilities are stolen and released to the general public, anybody with a computer can create ransomware that takes advantage of the vulnerabilities.

Hackers created WannaCry using NSA tools, and it’s not the only malware to be created from government documents. Other reports of cyber attacks developed using information in the Shadow Brokers dump surfaced over the past few weeks. Adylkuzz, discovered at the beginning of May, used the same exploitations and leaks, but was a much larger attack that used infected computers to mine for cryptocurrency rather than demand it from users.

WannaCry rightly scared the general public, but the ransomware shows signs of being produced by amateurs and thus is easily combatted — a 22-year-old discovered a “kill switch” in the program, an easy solution to the growing problem. Adylkuzz, however, is WannaCry’s much quieter, much more dangerous cousin that could have more serious consequences for the world. It is crucial to remember that simply because malware doesn’t reach international news doesn’t mean that it isn’t dangerous, and we should always be on the lookout for malware.

There exists a fine line between fighting fire with fire and simply being careless of the sparks.

The NSA’s decision to stockpile vulnerabilities could have already contributed to thwarting other cyberattacks, but there is an easy solution to this problem — if the NSA had alerted Microsoft to the stolen vulnerability, Microsoft could have issued a security patch, as they did shortly after WannaCry spread internationally.

The NSA is on thin ice when it comes to public trust, and if they wish to stay in our good graces they have to prove, with finality, that we can and should trust them to keep us safe.

Pittsburgh takes steps in the right direction to reduce violent crime

Liam McFadden STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

Jeremy Wang Columnist

Nearly every night last year, gunfire rang out in Pittsburgh. And nearly every week, someone was killed.

The city launched the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime in 2010 to combat this issue, but the initiative had mixed results. Homicides climbed from 43 to 71 between 2011 and 2014, and former Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay even said bluntly that he refused to call any replacement or restructured program the PIRC. “There’s so much baggage associated with [that] on any number of fronts,” he said, referring to the program’s muddled history.

But the city is making changes — Pittsburgh Public Schools launched the “Month of NonViolence,” and the city introduced a new comprehensive strategy to reduce violent crime, which includes a restructuring of police units and a new community policing initiative. The combination

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represents our best shot in years at reducing violence.

During the Month of Non-Violence, school principals and community leaders will be more actively engaging with teens to prevent students from becoming victims of violence.

A $500,000 grant from the Heinz Endowments is funding new trauma response teams that will provide counseling and mental health care to both direct and indirect victims of violence. Street outreach counterparts will join the trauma response teams to provide resources and support to at-risk individuals.

And equally important to the city’s new approach is the growing need to demonstrate that there are consequences for violence. In a move designed to harness the full potential of the city’s law enforcement resources in this new strategy, the city created a Crime Analysis Unit and restructured the Violent Crimes Unit to convict See Wang on page 5

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Correction: An editorial published on May 10 titled, “Pitt listens, but only when it’s easy” incorrectly stated that Chancellor Gallagher did not make a public statement about sanctuary campus status. He addressed the letter at a public Senate Council meeting in February. The Pitt News regrets this error and the online version of the story has been updated to reflect this.

Wang, pg. 4 more violent offenders and place them behind bars. Since their introductions, these programs are already contributing to a conviction rate well above the national average, ensuring violent offenders do not continue to damage their communities.

All of these initiatives come together in a major shift in tactics in the fight against violent crime. While attempts to change entire neighborhoods hobbled PIRC, the city’s new community policing initiative is refocused to prevent violence in the first place by aiding at-risk individuals. If the violence does occur, the Crime Analysis and Violent Crimes Units will work to convict them, keeping the streets safe.

Pittsburgh’s newest strategy is a major recognition of what recent research seems to confirm — that violence behaves like infectious disease and is better treated when approached like an epidemic. This methodology can trace its roots to the work of David Kennedy, a criminologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who laid the groundwork for almost every successful program to reduce violent crime today.

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The methodology found that violence is concentrated among small collections of high-risk individuals with lengthy criminal histories, instead of entire neighborhoods. In Pittsburgh, for example, law enforcement identified around 500 to 1,000 violent offenders, making up just a fraction of a percent of the city’s 300,000 residents.

This characteristic holds true across American cities like Cincinnati, New Orleans and Oakland, California — where at-risk individuals make up less than one percent of the city’s population. In all of these cities, homicides are clustered in neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates, lowest rates of high school graduation, highest number of drug-related arrests and most affected by decades of racial segregation.

But not everybody agrees that these are the most important primary risk factors, nor that they should be targeted for effective treatment.

As Kennedy explains in a Guardian article from Jan. 2017, these approaches are “very enormous and very often essentially out of reach.” If guns and poverty were truly the main drivers fueling violence, “that should result in vastly more violence than there is,” Kennedy said.

Instead of attempting to eliminate these in-

determinate risk factors from entire sprawling neighborhoods, Pittsburgh’s approach will go straight to the source — the high-risk individuals identified earlier. By providing aid and counseling to at-risk individuals, Pittsburgh hopes to reduce crime without targeting goals that may simply be out of reach.

One such goal receives plenty of political attention but is doomed to fail — the attempt to track thousands of crime guns. Maryland tried with their extensive “ballistic fingerprint” database, but lawmakers scrapped it after the $5 million operation failed to put a single criminal behind bars over the course of 15 years.

Tracking crime guns is ineffective and so is putting additional purchasing restrictions on firearms. The average time to crime in Pennsylvania — the time it takes from a gun being purchased to it showing up at a crime scene — is over 11 years. Implementing additional purchasing restrictions fails to recognize everything that happens to the gun in over a decade in its journey to becoming a crime gun. Instead of focusing on the guns, it’s far more effective to focus on the one constant that our criminal justice system can depend on — the individual behind the trigger.

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Pittsburgh is attempting to do just that. Generations of distrust in law enforcement officials push people to take once-trivial matters into their own hands, culminating in a spiraling web of gun battles and retaliation killings, each fueling the next. The new approach focuses on building bridges between law enforcement and local communities to foster trust, a critical component to fighting violent crime.

Pittsburgh’s strategy places renewed pressure on all of these risk factors while taking hardearned lessons from over a decade of hamstrung attempts to cut down on shootings. By focusing on individuals, these efforts hold the best chance at make Pittsburgh one of the few cities implementing a crime prevention program with a proven track records.

This city’s newest approach to violent crime is better crafted than before, and although it came too late for past victims and their families, it’s an important stride in the right direction to preventing future tragedies.

Jeremy primarily writes on gun policy and violent crime for The Pitt News.

Write to Jeremy at jiw115@pitt.edu.

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Culture DIGITAL PLAZA HOSTS pitt musicians Matt Maielli Contributing Editor Bathed in a reddish, pre-sunset glow, the Forbes Digital Plaza attracts a crowd of passers-by investigating the dream pop tunes that can be heard around the corner.

It’s an image that feels both distinctly Oakland and refreshing.

Recently, local musicians have utilized the plaza for live concerts. The Jazz Improv Ensemble brought spontaneous jazz funk to the public space on April 30. The day before that, Dave Pirozzi, an incoming senior at Pitt majoring in corporate/community relations, led a small concert at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bouquet Street.

It is well known that the plaza showcases visual art from local and international artists. Currently on display is a video piece by performance artist Bill Shannon. Diagnosed with Perthes disease at a young age, Shannon’s work resembles interpretative dance while incorporating crutches to his movements.

Shannon performed throughout Oakland — including at the Digital Plaza — on May 5 as part of Ramp Crawl 2017, a benefit organized by Oakland For All that

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highlights accessibility in public spaces for people with disabilities.

Upcoming showcased artists at the plaza include Dadpranks, a Pittsburgh-based artist collective whose postmodern “pranks” are compiled in a head-scratching Tumblr blog, and Jennifer Meridian, whose collaborative work “The Other Border Wall Proposals” has garnered national attention for suggesting a wall at the border of the United States and Mexico be made out of hammocks or lighthouses.

Now, the plaza is trying to throw another form of art into the mix — music. Pirozzi, lead singer of the Oakland band Pinstripe Sunny, worked with Oakland Business Improvement District — where he interns — and Aaron Henderson, assistant professor of studio arts at Pitt, to organize the event.

“Luckily, we had speakers and enough set up to play full band,” Pirozzi said. “We supplied all the amps/electric instruments/ drum set, but Aaron worked with another gentleman to bring the PA system and proper set-up so that our vocals and [keyboardist] could be heard.”

Pirozzi seemed particularly delighted about the atmosphere of the show, which

Left: Pinstripe Sunny plays live music at the Digital Plaza on Forbes Courtesy Dave Pirozzi Right: AllegrA strums a guitar at the Digitial Plaza Courtesy Allegra Eidinger

gave any meanderer of Central Oakland something to enjoy between the waning hours of six to eight. Pinstripe Sunny’s dancy, jangly pop rock, able to turn a basement into a dreamy place with ease, converted the highly trafficked outdoor area into an intimate event. With a fixed crowd and the occasional bunch of drifters, Pirozzi guessed there were about 40 to 50 people hanging out in the public space.

“It was so amazing to see everyone come out and support the bands and occupy the Digital Plaza — it really brought it to life,” Pirozzi said. “We played right about at Golden Hour,” referring to the period of the day shortly before sunset, “so everything and everyone were coated in a beautiful sunset, and seeing them all dance was such a mood-lifter.”

Allegra Eidinger, a recent communications graduate from Pitt and musician under the name AllegrA, played a set of her solo work, which is a combination of basement jams and dream pop. Backed by two members of Pinstripe Sunny, she was asked to play at the April 29 show when another band dropped out.

“It was really nice — I think people don’t

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hang out there at the plaza that much so it gave people a reason to,” Eidinger said.

Eidinger sees the potential for regular shows in the public art space, giving Oakland bands a new venue outside of South Oakland basements.

“If it was a regular occurrence, I think that would be so awesome, especially because there are some bands in Oakland that could use that type of reach,” she said.

Jonathan Winkler, the manager of marketing and communications at OBID, expressed his fervor for more events like these at the Digital Plaza.

“We hope to bring live music to the heart of Oakland’s commercial district as often as possible,” Winkler said.

Even if future plans are still in the making, there is a certain demand for live music in Oakland. Eidinger also mentioned the need for this different type of show in Oakland’s presently small music scene.

“There are people that are in the music scene in Oakland, but they only go to basements to play shows — so you have to know the right people,” Eidinger said. “So I think that playing out in the middle of Forbes was really good for accessibility.”

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Sports

Men’s basketball transfers, new football recruits and baseball game coverage online

Mountaineers SLOW STARTS A TROUBLING TREND FOR PIRATES outlast Panthers, earn season sweep

column

Dominic Campbell Staff Writer

Pirates and Pittsburgh as a whole, but he hasn’t solved all the team’s problems — chiefly, its inability to get off to a strong start.

In Hurdle’s first seven years at the helm, the Pirates have been above .500 only twice after 30 games. In 2013, they started 17-13 and used the momentum to earn the aforementioned playoff berth.

Last season, they began 16-14, but the team fell apart in June — losing 19 out of 28 games.

Outside of those years, the Pirates have gotten off to consistently slow starts in Hurdle’s era, giving them a tough task

The last time Pitt and West Virginia met on the diamond, it was an offensive battle as the Mountaineers got an 8-4 win on the road in March. West Virginia took the season sweep Tuesday in a much more defensive night, but the result was the same with a 2-0 Mountaineer victory in Morgantown.

Both pitching staffs had a great night, combining to allow just 10 hits. Pitt (22-28, 8-19 ACC) freshman starter Chris Gomez pitched three innings of scoreless ball, allowing three hits while striking out one. West Virginia (31-20, 11-10 Big 12) first-year Isaiah Kearns was even better, tossing almost six clean innings and collecting seven strikeouts.

Mountaineer senior reliever Jackson Sigman picked up the win — improving to 4-4 on the year — after Pitt junior T.J. Pagan gave up two runs in the sixth inning to drop to 1-1.

Kearns got the Mountaineers off to a strong start in the first, easily retiring the Panthers as junior Frank Maldonado grounded out to sophomore Kyle Gray for the third out. Gomez did just as well in the bottom of the inning, retiring the side in order.

Pitt junior Nick Banman drew a walk with one out in the top of the second, but Kearns rebounded to keep the Panthers off the board with a fielder’s choice grounder by sophomore Yaya Chentouf.

The Mountaineers had a scoring chance in the second when junior left fielder Kyle Davis advanced into scoring position on a single from senior Jackson Cramer. But Gomez worked his way out of the jam by getting back-to-back outs on a

See Pirates on page 9

See Pitt Baseball on page 10

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle has brought the club out of obscurity in his seven years at the helm, but the team’s poor starts have continued to hold it back. Matt Hawley STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Ryan Zimba Sports Editor The Pittsburgh Pirates — one of the most unsuccessful teams in sports until recent years — are officially stuck in mediocrity.

From 1993-2012, the Pirates suffered an unprecedented 20 consecutive losing seasons. The streak marked the longest of any professional team in the United States’ four major sports — football, basketball, baseball and hockey.

For the Pirates, the arrival of manager Clint Hurdle turned out to be the move needed to elevate the team.

In his first six years with the Pirates,

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Hurdle turned the organization around.

In 2013, the team not only broke its losing-season streak, but qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1992.

They won the wild card game, advancing to the National League Division Series where they took the St. Louis Cardinals to five games, losing the series 3-2.

The Pirates made the playoffs in 2014 and 2015 as well, but lost in the wild card game both years to the Giants and Cubs, respectfully. Fans were disappointed by the losses, but given where the team was just a few years earlier, it was a surprise they were even there.

Hurdle has meant a great deal to the

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Pirates, pg. 8 to catch the division leaders. Sure, it probably didn’t matter in 2011 or 2012 — when the team didn’t have the high expectations it currently does — but its effect was felt in both 2014 and 2015.

In those seasons, the teams started a combined 26-34, and each year they were forced to settle for the wild card spot come October. Unlike 2013, they couldn’t advance past the opening game, as they ran into two of the MLB’s best pitchers in the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner and the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta. The two pitchers dominated the games, with the Pirates unable to score a run in either contest.

But the thing is, the team shouldn’t have even been in those wild card games. If they had gotten off to a better start, they would’ve avoided the wild card game and might’ve stood a better chance at competing against the teams in a five-game series.

And who knows, if the Pirates win one of those series, maybe the organization turns the corner and joins the upper echelon of baseball.

It wouldn’t have taken much to earn a bye, either. They finished two games back of the Cardinals both seasons, mostly due to their fumbling start.

Some might point out the long, 162game regular season and say the team has a while to bounce back and win the division. The team did bounce back — in both seasons — and still came up short.

In the 2014 season, April was the Pirates worst month with the team winning percentage sitting at just .360. They bounced in May, going 15-14, and were superb in June, winning 17 of 27. It was a similar situation a year later, except April was the second worst month — behind May. Over the next three months though, the squad was one of the best in baseball, compiling a 53-26 record.

Both years their strong finish still wasn’t enough to place above the wild card slot.

True to form, this year the Pirates are again having a rough beginning to the season. As of May 16, they sit in last place in the NL Central with a 16-22 record. The offense has been largely ineffective, scoring the third fewest runs in the league.

It’s a troubling sight for a team with

hopes of getting back to the playoffs, or at least above .500 after last year’s 78-83 finish. But under Hurdle, this has become the rule rather than the exception, so it’s not surprising.

But this year, less of the blame should be place on Hurdle than in past years.

So much of this season has been out of his control. More of the blame should be placed on the players — both on and off the field.

Before the season even began, third baseman Jung Ho Kang was reportedly denied a U.S. Visa due to his third DUI arrest, causing him to miss every game thus far. Things got worse in April, as word came in that former All-Star Starling Marte was guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. The MLB suspended him 80 games, keeping him out of the lineup until July 18.

Recently, the team’s pitching rotation took a hit when Jameson Taillon underwent treatment for a suspected case of testicular cancer. Missing Taillon forced Hurdle to insert Trevor Williams into the rotation with mixed results. He gave up six earned runs in a rough start against the Los Angeles Dodgers before

bouncing back versus the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So with all the circumstances, the slow start is somewhat understandable.

But there are still some aspects of the team performing below the standard — namely, the batting of Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco.

The two outfielders were once the team’s premier players, but they’ve struggled in April and May. Polanco has been the better of the two, hitting .252 with 15 RBIs, while McCutchen, batting just .212, sits well below his career average of .290.

If the organization is to get back to the playoffs and become a legitimate World Series threat, the poor starts need to end. They can’t afford to sleepwalk their way through the first month of the season — even if they finish strong — if they hope to compete for the division title.

If these poor early performances fail to end, it might be a while before the group returns to the playoffs, wasting the Pirates’ only exciting era this century.

The Pitt News SuDoku 5/17/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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Pitt Baseball, pg. 8 flyout and groundout.

Freshman Alex Amos drew a two-out walk for the Panthers in the top of the third, but the team couldn’t do anything with the base runner as redshirt junior Caleb Parry struck out swinging to end the inning. Gomez easily made his way through the bottom of the frame, and the score was knotted at zero going into the fourth.

After the Panthers failed to score with a runner on second and one out, redshirt freshman reliever Kevin Henriksen got into trouble in the bottom of the fourth. Davis flew out to leadoff but Mountaineer sophomore Darius Hill and Cramer hit a pair of singles to put runners on first and third. The Panthers held West Virginia again though, as redshirt sophomore Jimmy Galusky lined out to third and redshirt freshman Chase Illig struck out.

Neither team got much of anything going in the fifth, and after the Panthers were retired in the sixth, the Mountaineers were able to break open the scoring against Pagan.

Pagan — who came on in relief to start the inning — issued a leadoff walk to sophomore Braden Zarbnisky. On the next at-bat, Davis brought him all the way home with a triple to make it 1-0. Hill followed with a single to right,

pittnews.com

scoring Davis to go up two. Pitt manager Joe Jordano quickly replaced Pagan with first-year R.J. Freure. Freure immediately took command by collecting three straight outs to end the inning.

The Panthers went down in order in both the seventh and eighth innings as Sigman replicated the success of Kearns. But the Panthers young pitchers kept them in the game, as Freure and Chentouf easily maneuvered through the two frames. Going into the ninth, West Virginia led 2-0 with Parry, Maldonado and senior catcher Manny Pazos due up in the ninth.

Sigman carried his strong command into the final frame as well, quickly ending the Panthers hopes by retiring each of the three hitters to deliver his team the 2-0 win. Sigman was perfect in his three-plus innings of relief, striking out three while not allowing a single runner on base.

The loss marks the Panthers’ fourth in a row, but the team still has a lot to fight for in its final series against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

They currently sit just one game back of the Virginia Tech Hokies for the last spot in the ACC Tournament. If the team can grab a series win, it would have a large chance of qualifying.

It won’t be easy though, as Wake Forest sits third in the conference with a 17-10 ACC record.

The series starts this Thursday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at 6 p.m.

May 17, 2017

10

I N D E X

Rentals & Sublet

Employment

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

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

1 and 2 Bedroom Apartments available August 1st. Students only. Washer/Dryer.

1 Block from Forbes.

Friendly Building.

1BR-$725/mo., 2BR $1050/mo. each plus utilities. Contact: 412-621-2742.

Email: John@oaklandrealestatecompany.com.

1,2,3,4,5,6 BR. Available August 2017. Atwood, Ward, Juliet, and Neville Street.

Call 412-287-5712.

2 Bedroom $750 1 mile from campus & off street parking.

412-225-8723.

294 Craft Avenue - 1 bedroom, equipped kitchen, secure building, coin op laundry. $900.00 - Utilities Included 412-462-1296 3BR house Orpwood St., 2 kitchens, 2 laundries. $900/mo. + utilities. 412-477-1992

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Classifieds

For Sale

Services

Announcements

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

• EDUCATIONAL • TRAVEL • HEALTH • PARKING • INSURANCE

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

2BR furnished apartment, shared bathroom & kitchen.

Available Aug. 1st, 1yr lease. $630/per month, per person including utilities. Call 412-848-9442.

Adorable house 2/3 bedroom available.

Big yard. Laundry.

Equipped kitchen.

A/C. Porch. Garage & driveway. Available August. $1600.

412-683-0363.

3 Bedroom apartment

House for Rent. Beautiful 3-BR newly renovated-Allequippa Street. Close to Peterson Center & Pitt Dental School.

Equipped kitchen, new carpeting, washer/dryer, 2 bathrooms, full basement, fenced-in back yard, security system.

Looking for 3 students to share/or single family. Discount on first month’s rent.

Security deposit required. Students require adult co-sign.

Available August 1st, $1600+ all utilities.

No pets. For more information, please call 412-303-5043.

Email: dtm1003@comcast.net.

on 2nd floor of house. 1 bathroom, separate kitchen, central vacuum, in-unit washer and dryer. All utilities included plus internet & cable TV. Free fresh fruit from garden. $1650/mo.

Call Dave at 412-478-4855.

4 Bedroom 1 Bath House. Large kitchen, new windows and paint. Security System. Available August 16th. Bates and Semple. $1,600 + Utilities.

412-287-5406.

Leave a message.

R A T E S

Insertions

1X

2X

3X

4X

1-15 Words

$6.30

$11.90

$17.30

$22.00

16-30 Words

$7.50

$14.20

$20.00

$25.00

5X

6X

Additional

$27.00

$30.20

$5.00

$29.10

$32.30

$5.40

(Each Additional Word: $0.10)

Deadline: Two business days prior by 3pm

|

Email: advertising@pittnews.com

|

Phone: 412.648.7978

M.J. Kelly Realty.

Spacious 2-BR

Shadyside: 1Bed-

Searching for a fe-

Shadyside: 1Bed-

Studio,

apartments on

room-($840). EXCE-

male rommate.

room-($760).

1, 2, & 3 Bed-

Dawson Street,

LENT LOCATION.

Available August.

EXCELENT

room Apartments,

single or dou-

Fully equipped

Rent $800/ mo.

LOCATION.

N. & S. Oakland.

ble occupancy.

kitchen, A/C, wall-to-

Parking

Fully equipped

$650-$1750.

Partially

wall carpeting. Near

not included.

kitchen, A/C,

mjkellyrealty@gmail.-

renovated &

Pitt shuttle bus stop.

814-392-8293.

wall-to-wall

com. 412-271-5550.

improved. Either

Between Walnut

carpeting.

www.mjkellyrealty.-

AUGUST 25 avail-

Street and Ellsworth

Near Pitt shuttle

com

ability or

shopping districts.

bus stop.

IMMEDIATE

No pets. Includes

availability.

heat. 412-628-1686.

Newly renovated apartments for rent.

3,4 bedrooms available for August/September 2017.

Atwood, McKee,

ing spaces also available. Call 412-692-1770 to see

Dawson, and Bates.

Please call Mike at

Walnut

August. 1 or 2 rooms.

Street and

3 bedroom house 3

On Halket St. be-

Ellsworth

miles from campus.

tween 5th & Forbes.

shopping

Kitchen,

districts.

$800. 412-225-8723.

Bathroom,

No pets.

Very affordable rent. Limited park-

Between Summer sublet May -

apartment, parking

Studios, 1, 2, & 3

spaces.

Bedroom apartments

412-849-8694 for

available August

more information &

2017 & sooner. Oak-

bar, TV, Washer/dryer. $475/mo.

Includes heat.

412-628-1686.

610-413-7126

for viewing.

2 bedrooms,

land, Shadyside,

Summer sublet. 2

Studio & 1 Bed-

equipped galley style

Friendship, Squirrel

rooms. May-August.

room. From $650.

kitchen, central air,

Hill, Highland Park,

Furnished. Each

AC window unit.

216 Coltart. Off

coin op laundry,

Point Breeze. Photos

room has private

Hampton Bay

Street Parking. Avail-

close to

& current availability

bathroom, shared

Model

able Aug. 2017. Free

universities.

online, check out

kitchen. $610 per

HBLG5004,

heat.

412-462-1296

www.forbesmanage-

month including utili-

5,050 BTU.

Greve Real Estate.

$1,250.00 + gas/elec-

ment.net, or call

ties. Call

$30/ea. Call

412-261-4620.

tric

412.441.1211

412-848-9442.

412-731-7144.

May 17, 2017

11

A Student with some background in reFT Construction Crew Leader: Armstrong Habitat for Humanity/Americorp looking for Direct Service - 10.5 months starting August 2017.

Monthly living allowance, Education Award, Forbearance on eligible loans, ACA-compliant Health Plan offered at no cost. Some construction experience, drivers license required, ability to work with a diverse group of people, basic computer skills.

For more information or to apply go to: www.habitat.org/about/careers/armstrong-hfh-national-constructioncrew-leader and send resume to Armstrong Habitat, PO Box 837, Kittanning, PA 16201.

search to analyze/collect information on the sustainability in 5 regions of the world. Would like the student to start immediately.

The compensation is negotiable.

412-521-4789. mck524@aol.com.

We're looking for healthy native English speakers between 18-35 to participate in a research study involving a fMRI scan.

You will be paid for your participation. Contact 412-624-7083 or J.tremel@pitt.edu.

AAA EAST CENTRAL is looking for an energetic, driven, and talented individual to join our team in a customer service role as a Part Time (summer) Retail Services Assistant in our East Liberty Branch, 5900 Baum Boulevard. Candidates must be computer proficient and available to work 5 hours a day (25 hours a week) between the hours of 8:30-5:30p Monday-Friday from June 1 to September 15. The hourly rate is $11.95. Link to apply: https://acecareers.taleo.net/careersection/ec+only/jobdetail.ftl?job=15305&lang=en

B&R Pools and Swim Shop looking for general help to maintain swimming pools. No experience necessary! Candidate must be 18 years of age or older with valid driver license. 40 hours per week for the entire summer, overtime possible at time and a half.

IDEAL FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS! Candidates should call 412-661-7665 to inquire. Looking for people to start immediately!!!!

Be Fit and Be Paid.

Our 5 year old dog needs daily robust walks/jogs. Preferably around 11-2. She is a lovely pitbull mutt. Area Oakland/Schenley Farms. crosano51@hotmail.com

ENGINEERING STUDENTS WANTED Need full-time workers for light-duty construction, renovation, painting, landscaping. Part-time and weekend work available. Must be 18. Experience not required but helpful. Immediate openings.

412-738-1618. bigtfeight@earthlink.net FRANJO CONSTRUCTION is seeking Summer Help for Lawrenceville jobsite. Must have transportation and able to pass background/ drug screening. EEO. Send resumes to: careers@franjo.com or apply at Homestead location.

Mid sized property management company looking for landscaper/handyman to help maintain apartments. Position is flexible, part time or full time depending upon skill level. Must have valid drivers license and truck.

Some experience preferred but will train the right person.

Please contact us at 412-586-7575 for more information.

Need student helper for school year and summer, hours flexible. $15/hr. Basic maintenance, painting, repairs of Oakland rentals. Dave 412.688.0533 NOW HIRING!!!!

Come be a part of Oktoberfest Every Day! We’re HIRING for Kitchen Staff including a Kitchen Manager. Apply in person Monday through Friday. Contact: 859-743-2408

pittnews.com

May 17, 2017

SEASONAL WORK Shadyside Management Company needs full-time dependable landscapers, painters, and assistant roofers for the summer.

Must be at least 18 years old. No experience necessary. $10/hour.

Mozart Management phone: 412-682-7003 email: thane@mozartrents.com SUMMER WORK Need full-time, dependable workers for yardwork, painting, landscaping, lightduty construction.

Also part-time and weekend work available. Must be 18.

No experience necessary. Immediate openings.

412-738-1618. bigtfeight@earthlink.net The Center for Research on Health Care Data Center at the University of Pittsburgh is seeking a faculty at the Assistant Professor level or above with a doctoral degree. The faculty should have at least 10 years of experience as faculty. The faculty will be expected to teach and collaborate with investigators in designing research projects.

Academic appointments, tenure status and salary are dependent upon qualifications and experience.

Send letter of interest and CV to Wishwa Kapoor, MD, UPMC, 200 Lothrop Street, Suite 933 West, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 or e-mail noskoka@upmc.edu EEO/AA/M/F/Vets/Disabled

The Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, is seeking clinical investigators. Candidates must have an MD with fellowship training or have a PhD. We are particularly interested in candidates in health services research, clinical epidemiology, health disparities, decision sciences and comparative effectiveness. Academic appointments, tenure status and salary are dependent upon qualifications and experience. Send letter of interest and CV to Wishwa Kapoor, MD, 200 Lothrop Street, 933 west MUH, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (fax 412 692-4825) or e-mail Noskoka@upmc.edu.

EO/AA/M/F/Vets/Disabled University of Pittsburgh, Division of General Medicine is seeking a full time Clinician Educator.

Position includes both inpatient and outpatient teaching and leadership opportunities in specific areas of medical education depending on the interest and qualifications of the candidate. Academic appointments, tenure status and salary are dependent upon qualifications and experience. Send letter of interest and CV to Wishwa Kapoor, MD, 200 Lothrop Street, 933 West MUH, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (fax 412 692-4825) or e-mail Noskoka@upmc.edu.

EO/AA/M/F/Vets/Disabled WAITER/WAITRESS, DISHWASHER/COOK: 20hr/wk, great working environment. Cafe Sam, 5242 Baum Blvd.

Apply Monday-Friday 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

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