Vol. 105 Issue 66
Pittnews.com
@thepittnews
Friday, November 7, 2014
WAR OF WORDS
OUSTED ELECTIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR LAUREN BARNEY PLEADS CASE AT
Save it for chemistry
Channing Kaiser on why you should stop calling girls basic
JUDICIAL HEARING
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Theo Schwarz | Visual Editor Theo Schwarz | Visual Editor
Cristina Holtzer, Harrison Kaminsky & Mahita Gajanan The Pitt News Staff After more than two hours of debate lasting until after midnight on Friday, the Student Government Board former Elections Committee Chair will find out her fate in 24 to 48 hours. The SGB Judicial Committee oversaw former Elections Committee Chair Lauren Barney’s appeal of the Board’s decision to dismiss her in a public hearing held Thursday night. Roughly 35 people attended the hearing, which started at 10:12 p.m. in a conference room outside the SGB office on the eighth floor of
the William Pitt Union. The Judicial Committee will release the hearing results within 24 to 48 hours, according to Judicial Committee Chair Audrey Winn. The Board dismissed Barney Friday, Oct. 31, via email, stating concerns over misconduct prompted in part by a hearing and deliberation she held in the Board’s office on Oct. 29. The hearing followed presidential candidate Wasi Mohamed’s complaint about competitor and current Board member Graeme Meyer and his affiliated 87’s slate. Judicial Committee Vice Chair Andrew Van Treeck heard the case after Winn recused herself, stating a conflict of interest because she and
Barney are friends. The Judicial Committee then heard opening statements from Board President Mike Nites, who represented the Board, and Barney, who represented herself. Both parties provided evidence — including text messages, email threads and names of witnesses — to the Judicial Committee. In his opening statement, Nites said the Board dismissed Barney because she “was a danger, and still is a danger, to the elections process.” Nites said the Board alerted Barney to her misconduct on many occasions before her dismissal and listed occasions when the Board was dis-
SGB
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On the road again Volleyball to visit ACC foes
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Jeff Ahearn | Assistant Visual Editor
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SGB
satisfied with her conduct. “I did not know the full reason why I was dismissed,” Barney said in her opening statement. “I was never informed until today.” Barney said, in her opinion, the charges brought against her were an attempt by Nites to help his “fraternity brother and protégé,” Meyer, secure the SGB presidency for next term, and that the Board had “no standing to dismiss me.” Following opening statements, both parties introduced several exhibits of evidence to the Judicial Committee. Nites presented a list of what he identified as mistakes made by Barney during her time as elections chair, including leaving SBG public meetings early, leaving confidential information in a printer in the SGB office, losing track of a candidate’s personal check in the SGB office, throwing a “temper tantrum” after a meeting and allowing a non-voting member of SGB to be present during an official Elections Committee hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 29. “Her mistakes demonstrate that she cannot
November 7, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com conduct a fair election,” Nites said. Barney presented correspondence with several of the candidates running for election next term, a statement from the Elections Committee stating its lack of bias, the 2014 elections timeline, attendance rosters to two of her elections workshops and a series of texts and emails with other members of SGB. Following the presentation of evidence, both parties brought forth witnesses. Nites called four witnesses and Barney called 10. Nites asked current Elections Committee Chair Kevin Tracey if he could speak on Barney’s conduct during the elections hearing on Oct. 29. Tracey said Barney did not officially motion to vote during the hearing, one of the key components of Robert’s Rules of Order. Tracey said he could not recall how many times Barney asked the Elections Committee for their vote during that hearing. Barney’s witnesses included candidates running for SGB. Barney asked each candidate if he or she thought Barney had shown bias while working as the elections committee chair. Candidate Jack Heidecker, a sophomore majoring in German and political science, said he was “very convinced” that Barney
had shown no bias and that her dismissal had “thrown him for a loop.” Presidential candidate Andrew Stefanick concurred that Barney had not shown bias during the elections process. Barney said even though Nites dismissed any allegations of bias as part of the Board’s case against her, she decided to make it a major part of her case because it was the catalyst for her removal. Nites also called Board member Sarah Klein and asked her to elaborate on what the Board discussed during the Board’s planning meeting on Oct. 31. Klein said the Board, minus Meyer and Meghan Murphy, who is also running next term, discussed only Barney’s conduct. Klein said the Board quickly dismissed and deemed irrelevant any allegations of bias by the Elections Committee. Barney called Zach Schaffer, Elections Committee member and vice president of Hillel, the Jewish student organization on campus, of which Barney is also a part. He compared Barney’s failure to use Robert’s Rules of Order to Nites’ failure to set up monthly review sessions with each of the committee chairs, as he is supposed to do based on Section 1.02 Part A, No. 14 of the Duties of the President, of the
The Pitt News Crossword, 11/7/2014
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ACROSS 1 122-square-mile republic 6 Three or four, say 10 Incise with acid 14 Voiced 15 Racing sled 16 Mozart’s “__ fan tutte” 17 Office evaluations 19 Industrialist who’s had his ups and downs? 20 Plenty 21 Syncopated work 22 Fla. neighbor 23 Posh Riviera residence 29 Peaceful harmony 31 “Bravo!” relative 32 Tied (to) 33 Riga native 34 Bamboozle 36 Damage, so to speak 37 Mischievous ones hiding in plain sight in 17-, 23-, 46- and 58-Across 40 Acute 41 Troubadour’s offerings 42 Sinus docs 43 Western treaty gp. 44 One in a sports page column 45 Art print, briefly 46 “That’s my general impression” 50 Wear (through) 51 Huffington Post parent co. 52 Whiskey choices 56 “Sea Change” musician 58 Summer venue where kids can clown around? 61 Seize 62 Pen sound 63 Part of a TV signal 64 Milquetoast 65 Pine for 66 False __ DOWN 1 Subject of clothed and nude Goya portraits 2 Frequently 3 Gray wolf
of the SGB governing code. “So, even if Lauren didn’t follow some of Robert’s Rules or some of the procedures she was supposed to,” Schaffer said, “she did intend to issue a fair, honest and efficient election, regardless of whether she missed one or two of those minute details.” Nites said his procedure in how he communicates with committee chairs differs when it is not a part of an official meeting, like Barney’s was on Oct. 29. He also said if Barney sought a formal meeting with him to discuss any problems, she was free to schedule one. “It doesn’t say that I have to do formal sitdown meetings with them,” Nites said. “I make it continuous communication. I don’t think [the two issues] are very related at all.” Following witness statements, the Judicial Committee addressed each party with questions about the necessity of Robert’s Rules of Order and whether the decision to dismiss Barney was unanimous. Nites said it was. Barney said the way the Judicial Committee ran the hearing was fair, even without knowing the official ruling. “I wanted my due process and my justice, which I think I got tonight, in terms of a fair judicial procedure,” she said.
11/20/14
By Jeffrey Wechsler
4 Becomes even more charming, say 5 Org. promoting water fluoridization 6 Police profile datum 7 Spore producers 8 Custard component 9 Broncos wide receiver Welker 10 USDA inspector’s concern 11 Gross figure 12 CBS series set in a lab 13 Presley’s “(Marie’s the Name) __ Latest Flame” 18 Serving aid 22 Street sign abbr. 24 Words to a traitor 25 Seals the fate of 26 First name in jazz 27 On a smaller scale 28 Home security letters 29 Orioles, e.g., briefly 30 Buildings from a plane, metaphorically 34 City northwest of Detroit
Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved
©2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
35 “A hot temper leaps __ a cold decree”: Shakespeare 36 Butcher’s offering 38 Worms, perhaps 39 Actor Dullea 40 Showy carp 44 Moisten 45 Ripsnorter 47 Does some gardening 48 Incredible stories
11/20/14
49 ’90s White House cat 53 When tripled, a story shortener 54 Muslim dignitary 55 Pal of Rover 56 Incidentally, in textspeak 57 __ de parfum 58 Kin of org 59 Trio on Big Ben 60 Sweden-based carrier
November 7, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
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OPINIONS
Cartoon by Fatima Kizilkaya
COLUMN
EDITORIAL
‘Basic’ rights
Casual Fridays
Starbucks, Instagram and UGG boots do not define a person Channing Kaiser Columnist If you’ve ventured into a Starbucks in the past month, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the phrase “basic” thrown around. The term “basic” is used to describe a woman who wears skinny jeans tucked into mid-calf boots, paired with a North Face jacket. When you say “Tiffany Blue,” she knows exactly which shade you’re referring to. She owns at least one Vera Bradley item in her lifetime and has multiple Instagram photos of herself holding a pumpkin spice latte. Despite what pop-culture may tell you, there’s nothing wrong with any of that. “Basic” women are getting a lot of undeserved hate for liking the things that they do — from men and women alike. Just because they
don’t have Brand New lyrics tattooed on their forearms or take pictures with vintage Polaroid cameras doesn’t automatically make them vapid and simple. Instead of othering people and looking down on them with our noses stuck firmly in the air, we need to be respectful of other people’s interests and identities, including that of the stereotypical “basic” woman. The term “basic” has its roots in a 1985 R&B song called “Meeting in the Ladies Room” by Klymaax. The culprit line goes, “I’d hate to come down to their level and become a BW/ A basic woman, but if they don’t stop it’s gonna get scandalous,” in reference to a woman hitting on another woman’s man. The phrase gained popularity in 2010 with the release of Kreayshawn’s
Kaiser
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William of Yellow
T
he Dutch Royal family has a message for the people of Amsterdam: Stop peeing on our palace! Since a multimillion-euro renovation of the Royal Palace in late 2011, there has been an increase of urination on said palace. Apparently, the nightlife crowd has found the buildings’ dark arches to be a perfect spot for public urination, out of sight of police. On an unrelated note, the Dutch Royal family has also asked the people of Amsterdam to cut down on the asparagus.
The commies are coming
C
olby Keller is a porn star, self-described commu-
nist and a master of fine art — needless to say, his resumé is impeccable. Recently, this Renaissance man has raised $45,385 to pursue his next project — drive a van around all 50 states and film himself having sex with someone in each state. Despite his profession, Keller insists that this is project is art, not porn. Yet, to the dismay of the art community, analysts say that completing the project within all 50 states will be near impossible, considering that no one lives in Montana.
Ring pops
A
rizona resident Brooklin Yazzie had a terrible Halloween this year — she lost her wedding ring that fateful night. How, you ask?
She accidently gave it away to trick-or-treaters along with the rest of the Halloween candy. Authorities are still waiting for the kid who received the ring to cough it up.
Macadamia nut job
A
Wichita woman called the police late Wednesday night after she found a robber in her home. But the robber wasn’t rummaging through her jewelry box — he was going through her freezer. In fact, when she found him, he was eating her cookie dough. According to the police report, the man said he was hungry and thought he was at his aunt’s house — this was immediately after police barged in and yelled at him to “Drop the dough!”
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KAISER song “Gucci Gucci,” where she raps, “Gucci Gucci, Louis Louis, Fendi Fendi, Prada/ Basic b*tches wear that sh*t, so I don’t even bother.” In contemporary usage, the phrase means that one is unoriginal and not cool. Urban Dictionary defines the term as “a girl who thinks she’s awesome when she really isn’t” and “one who has no personality; dull and irrelevant.” The term “basic” is problematic because it is used to segregate and demean. If you jokingly call your friends “basic,” and they’re OK with it, that’s fine. But it often isn’t used in that way — usually, you’re not a part of the joke. Instead, you’re the butt of it. In “Mean Girls,” and in many interviews since then, actress and comedian Tina Fey has repeatedly talked about how girl-on-girl hate is terrible. Calling women “basic” is just another facet of this — it pits women against one another. That’s not to excuse hatred from men, though — they should be respectful and understanding as well. But somehow it’s worse
November 7, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com coming from other women because we’ve all been shamed in one form or another by men, whether it’s for body size, skin color, not looking feminine enough, or for being too sexual or not sexual enough. Men hate on women all the time, so it’s sad when women join in the name-calling and devalue one another — which is why the term “basic” is so toxic. Girl-on-girl hatred stems from the tendency among women to want to distance themselves from each other. Women are forced to occupy a short spectrum — if a man tells a woman she isn’t “like other girls,” she is supposed to take it as a compliment because, apparently, it’s undesirable to be like other women. But if that same woman becomes too masculine, then she is too “other,” as is often the case among transgender individuals and other minority groups. For instance, in movies such as “Garden
State” and popular books such as “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, we’re introduced to the “manic pixie dream girl,” a trope for female characters that film critic Nathan Rabin defines as “that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists … to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” The term “basic” is in direct contrast with the manic pixie dream girl trope that has been used in popular media as of late — it tells women that if they aren’t unique and magical, and if they dare to like Starbucks lattes, then they’re basic and boring. Of course, deflating the “basic” woman moniker is by far not the most important issue facing feminists, and “basic” women — who are predominantly white and wealthy, judging by all the stereotypical accessories they can afford — certainly do not face the
“The term ‘basic’ is problematic because it is used to segregate and demean.”
same sort of institutional oppression that women of color and impoverished women do. There’s been a lot of talk in Internet communities recently about inclusive feminism, about how feminism needs to go beyond solely benefiting straight white women — and being “basic” is primarily an issue among white women. Yet, for inclusive feminism to work, all races, religions, classes and sexualities need to be represented. We need to talk about the problems of banning niqabs in public space, of wearing a bindi or a Native American headdress as part of a costume, of Nicki Minaj being known more for her butt than for being an advocate of staying in school And, yes, we should also talk about how demeaning it can be to call someone “basic.” This isn’t the most important discussion regarding feminism, but at a school where 78 percent of the students are white, it’s a conversation we should be having. We need to stop tearing each other down with “funny” slights and be supportive instead. If you want to reclaim the term “basic,” go for it, but don’t assume that everyone is as eager to embrace it as you are. Email Channing at clk87@pitt.edu.
November 7, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
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SPORTS
FOOTBALL
Conner wins weekly Maxwell Award
VOLLEYBALL
Pitt travels for two weekend road games
James Conner’s 263-yard performance gained national attention. Heather Tennant | Staff Photographer
Chris Puzia Sports Editor Pitt sophomore running back James Conner was selected as the Maxwell Award Player of the Week on Thursday for his performance in Pitt’s loss Saturday against Duke. Conner ran for a career-high 263 yards and three touchdowns in the game, surpassing his previous career high in rushing yards of 229 against Bowling Green in last season’s Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. The selection marks the second time this season Conner won the award. He first won it after Pitt’s game at Boston College on Sept. 5, where Conner ran for 214 yards and one touchdown. Conner has run for 1,342 yards through nine games this season, which trails only Tony Dorsett (1,525 yards in 1976, 1,348 in 1973) for the most in Pitt history through nine games. After Pitt’s loss to Duke Saturday, Blue
Conner
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Pitt plays consecutive road games this weekend at Duke and Wake Forest. Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer
Caitlin Hinsey Staff Writer The Pitt volleyball team travels this weekend, playing back-to-back matches for the first time since Sept. 19-20, and consecutive road matches for the first time since Oct. 17-19. Pitt travels to Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday to play the Duke Blue Devils and follows up that match Saturday evening against Wake Forest. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. “It’s good for us to have a short time to focus and go right away,” senior setter Lindsey Zitzke said about the team’s short turnaround. Pitt may have to play without its kill leader, outside hitter Jessica Wynn, who
has been in a walking boot and on crutches. The senior is currently day-by-day. If Wynn cannot play, the team will have to rely more on Amanda Orchard, Kate Yeazel and Maria Genitsaridi. Orchard is Pitt’s top hitter, ranking first in the ACC and sixth nationally with a .429 hitting percentage. Senior libero Delaney Clesen anchors Pitt’s defense. Clesen ranks second in the conference with 4.55 digs per set with Duke’s Sasha Karelov ahead of her, with Wake Forest’s Caroline Wolf closely trailing in third. Orchard said that Pitt’s weekend gameplan is to “pick up our offense a bit, and stick with our defensive intensity.” Duke With Sunday’s surprising 3-2 loss to Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils (17-5, 9-2
ACC) nearly fell out of the AVCA Coaches top-25 poll, but managed to grab the final spot. The Panthers will try to continue Duke’s stumble, but will have a difficult time when they travel to Durham, as the Blue Devils are 11-1 this season when playing on their home court. “It’s a really big game for us this year so we’re really excited about it,” Orchard said. “It is at their home court, so it’d be nice to get a win.” Despite being ranked third in the conference, Duke sits at the top of the ACC in hitting percentage, kills, assists and digs, and ranks second nationally in kills and assists per set. A lot of Duke’s offensive success comes
Volleyball
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November 7, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
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VOLLEYBALL from its outside hitters and middle blockers. Outside hitters Emily Sklar — reigning ACC Player of the Year — and Jeme Obeime lead Duke in kills. Middle blocker Jordan Tucker not only holds the team’s best hitting percentage, but also ranks fourth in kills. “We’re going to need a great defensive effort, but defense won’t just be enough,” Pitt head coach Dan Fisher said. “We need
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to be good offensively.” Wake Forest The Demon Deacons (12-12, 2-8 ACC) have not won since Oct. 3, when they beat NC State in five sets. During its current seven-match losing streak, Wake Forest has been swept four times, something Pitt has done 14 times to opponents. Wake Forest has won both of its conference matches at home, and has an 8-5 home record this season. Senior Jazmen Russell leads the team offensively, averaging 4.26 kills per set. The outside hitter also relies on her team-
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mate, middle blocker Matalee Reed, to help the Demon Deacons. Reed ranks fifth in the ACC with a .371 hitting percentage. But Fisher isn’t viewing this as an easy win for the team. “They play hard. We barely beat them a year ago,” Fisher said regarding Pitt’s 3-2 win last season. “They are really ready to get a win.” After a few days off, Orchard said that she and the team are anxious for the weekend. “We got some rest, and we’re ready,” she said.
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T P N S U D O K U
FROM PAGE 5
CONNER Devils head coach David Cutcliffe said Conner is “playing as well as any back in the country.” Conner has also been named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week three times this season, including once this week. Conner currently leads the FBS in rushing yards, and is averaging 6.1 yards per carry this season. Pitt has a bye this week, then plays at North Carolina at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 15. advertising@pittnews.com
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