Nov. 5, 2014

10
@thepittnews Vol. 105 Issue 64 Wednesday, November 5, 2014 Pittnews.com Photo courtesy of Wolf Facebook THE STATE THE STATE WHO CRIED WHO CRIED WOLF WOLF Democrat Tom Wolf defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett last night to become Pennsylvania’s 47th governor. Wolf, who will take office in January, has no prior experience as an elected official, but earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, volunteered in the Peace Corps in India for two years and acted as CEO of his family’s business, which manufactures specialty building products. In 2006, Governor Ed Rendell appointed Wolf to serve as the Secretary of Revenue. This was the first time a candidate unseated an incumbent in the last four decades since the Pennsylvania governor could pursue re-election. Many predic- tions about the race favored Wolf, as Corbett received low approval ratings throughout his term. “I’ve found that the only way to get things done right is to listen, to treat people fairly and to include everyone in the process,” Wolf said in his official statement on his web- site. “It’s that kind of collaboration that allowed me to turn my former business around, and it’s the approach we need to take to bring about the bright future this great commonwealth deserves.” Pitt students weighed in on the elec- tion results and the prospects of Wolf being a successful governor. Dan Lapidus said the issues most im- portant to him are education, jobs and LGBTQA rights. “One of the reasons I supported Wolf and worked on his campaign is that I felt like he was going to undo the serious damage that Corbett did to our state’s education,” Lapidus, a freshman history Tom Wolf wins Tom Wolf wins gubernatorial race, gubernatorial race, first to beat sitting first to beat sitting governor governor Harrison Kaminsky Assistant News Editor The presidential candidates told stories about throwing sea stars and building bridges during last night’s presidential debate. Andrew Stefanick, Graeme Meyer and Wasi Mohamed discussed their plans for the future of Student Government Board in a roughly one-hour debate on Tuesday in Nordy’s Place. Meyer, a junior majoring in engineer- ing and economic statistics, is running Presidential candidates debate SGB Abbey Reighard & Emily Ahlin The Pitt News Staff Pitt players Pitt players honored with honored with awards awards page 8 page 8 Governor 5 Debate 2 STUDENT GOVERNMENT STUDENT GOVERNMENT

description

 

Transcript of Nov. 5, 2014

Page 1: Nov. 5, 2014

@thepittnews

Vol. 105Issue 64

Wednesday, November 5, 2014Pittnews.com

Photo courtesy of Wolf FacebookTHE STATE THE STATE WHO CRIED WHO CRIED WOLFWOLF

Democrat Tom Wolf defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett last night to become Pennsylvania’s 47th governor.

Wolf, who will take office in January, has no prior experience as an elected official, but earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, volunteered in the Peace Corps in India for two years and acted as CEO of his family’s business, which manufactures specialty building products. In 2006, Governor Ed Rendell appointed Wolf to

serve as the Secretary of Revenue. This was the first time a candidate

unseated an incumbent in the last four decades since the Pennsylvania governor could pursue re-election. Many predic-tions about the race favored Wolf, as Corbett received low approval ratings throughout his term. “I’ve found that the only way to get things done right is to listen, to treat people fairly and to include everyone in the process,” Wolf said in his official statement on his web-site. “It’s that kind of collaboration that allowed me to turn my former business around, and it’s the approach we need to

take to bring about the bright future this great commonwealth deserves.”

Pitt students weighed in on the elec-tion results and the prospects of Wolf being a successful governor.

Dan Lapidus said the issues most im-portant to him are education, jobs and LGBTQA rights.

“One of the reasons I supported Wolf and worked on his campaign is that I felt like he was going to undo the serious damage that Corbett did to our state’s education,” Lapidus, a freshman history

Tom Wolf wins Tom Wolf wins gubernatorial race, gubernatorial race, fi rst to beat sitting fi rst to beat sitting

governorgovernor

Harrison Kaminsky Assistant News Editor

The presidential candidates told stories about throwing sea stars and building bridges during last night’s presidential debate.

Andrew Stefanick, Graeme Meyer and Wasi Mohamed discussed their plans for the future of Student Government Board in a roughly one-hour debate on Tuesday in Nordy’s Place.

Meyer, a junior majoring in engineer-ing and economic statistics, is running

Presidential candidates debate SGB

Abbey Reighard & Emily Ahlin

The Pitt News Staff

Pitt players Pitt players honored with honored with

awardsawardspage 8page 8

Governor 5

Debate 2

STUDENT GOVERNMENTSTUDENT GOVERNMENT

Page 2: Nov. 5, 2014

2 November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

independently, though he is a! liated with the 87’s slate comprised of Alloca-tions Committee Chair Nasreen Harun, current Board member Meghan Murphy and Everett Green, a sophomore major-ing in fi nance.

Mohamed, a senior majoring in his-tory, philosophy of science and neurosci-ence, is running with the Bridges slate with Matt Sykes , a junior majoring in industrial engineering and Natalie Dall, a sophomore majoring in molecular bi-ology.

Stefanick, a senior accounting and economics major, is running with the Pitt United slate with Jessica Snyder, a junior majoring in resources manage-ment and accounting, and Jack Heidecker, a sophomore majoring in German and political science.

AllocationsStefanick said he doesn’t want to ex-

pand the allocations process.“Keep it centralized, and keep it sim-

ple,” Stefanick said. Mohamed said he thinks the current

Allocations process is “too centralized,” so more on-campus organizations, such as Pitt Serves, should contribute to the allocations process.

“One Board can’t be expected to know about every group on campus,” Mohamed said.

Meyer said he “respectfully disagreed” with Mohamed’s plans to decentralize the allocations process.

Meyer said “decentralizing [the Al-locations process] and making it a larger process would just add to that confusion.”

Meyer proposed that SGB members should instead reach out to students with more specifi c guidelines for the alloca-

tions process, so student groups “know what to expect” when requesting funds.

StructureStefanick said he thinks part of the

problem with the structure of Student Government is the lack of diversity in the Board members.

“We cannot pull from the same hand-ful of students that we have in the past,” Stefanick said. “It feels as if there is a dynasty on Student Government.”

Stefanick said he fi rst wants to create a student assembly or student senate if he is President, adding that his “sense of realism” would help future candidates understand their roles before they run for Board.

“I think people resigning get frus-trated,” Stefanick said. “They have great ideas, but when they put them to practice, they realize there’s much more work to it.”

Stefanick said the Board needs to focus on relationship building at the beginning of the term.

Andrew Stefanick and Wasi Mohamed are two of the three candidates running for president next term. Heather Tennant | Staff Photographer

DEBATEFROM PAGE 1

Debate 4

Page 3: Nov. 5, 2014

3November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Page 4: Nov. 5, 2014

4 November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

“Once we get together, we need to be a team, and that needs to be harped on since day one,” Stefanick said.

Mohamed said he intends to do this by “involving student groups who already exist, using the passions they already have.” For instance, Mohamed said he has already reached out to the Campus Women’s Organization to talk about ways to combat sexual assault on campus.

“You don’t make Student Government bigger by making the committees bigger and adding more students to the com-mittee and making a campus senate,” Mohamed said.

Mohamed said future Board mem-bers need to “allow failures to happen,” and not be discour-aged when they can’t complete all their initiatives. He said he believes this may have been why there were so many resignations during the last term.

“I don’t really justify quitting for any reason,” Mohamed said. “It’s pretty com-mon that projects don’t get done. Just be-cause you hit a roadblock, you don’t stop.”

Mohamed said he wants the Board to work with student groups on more initia-tives to “empower” more student leaders outside of SGB and take on some of the workload of Board members.

Meyer said his term on Board has given him insight on what does and doesn’t work about the structure of Student Gov-ernment.

When it comes to keeping Board mem-bers around for their entire terms, Meyer said he wants to take a “preventative ap-proach.”

Meyer said he wants to establish “realistic expectations” for the Board candidates and “break things down into smaller steps,” so Board member’s proj-

ects are more manageable. Meyer used a story about sea stars

to explain his idea. In the story, a girl is trying to save sea stars that washed up on shore. An old man tells her it’s pointless because there are too many stars.

The girl in the story, Meyer said, re-plied, “But I made a di! erence to that one.”

Meyer compared the story to his plans to future Board members.

“Although you come in with lofty ideas, you need to take it slow,” Meyer said. “Take those small victories day by day.”

Why they think they’re the best can-didate

Andrew Stefanick said he would bring enthusiasm to the Board, adding that if elected, he would make sure the Board members leave the eighth fl oor during o" ce hours to communi-cate with students.

“It needs to be something intru-sive,” Stefanick said. “Because people don’t want

to reach out to [Student Government].”Meyer said his experience as a Board

member allowed him to form relation-ships with administrators, city o" cials and the student body.

“I don’t have to spend the fi rst few weeks of months [of my term] building those relationships,” Meyer said.

Mohamed introduced himself with a recap of the poem, “The Bridge Builder,” by Allen Dromgoole.

In the poem, an old man comes to a chasm and successfully crosses it. But in-stead of continuing on his way, he builds a bridge so younger people can cross chasm without di" culty.

“I made relationships without SGB,” Mohamed said. “So why did I need it?”

Mohamed said he decided to run for Student Government President to help the student body and “build bridges” to access SGB.

DEBATEFROM PAGE 2

“I don’t really justify quitting for any reason.”

Wasi Mohamed

Page 5: Nov. 5, 2014

5November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

ACROSS1 Italian scooter6 Weird

11 “This is sofrustrating!”

14 Sharon of Israel15 Old-timey

“Yikes!”16 Coventry

bathroom17 Like a fajita pan19 Perrier, to Pierre20 Casual Friday

top21 FAO Schwarz

specialty22 Turn away24 __ vivant25 Tiny bit27 Daisy-plucking

words33 Farm or home

ending34 Troubles35 “Now __ me

down to sleep ...”37 James of “The

Godfather”38 Count Chocula

wear39 Turn on a pivot40 Start of many

Internetaddresses

41 Actor Thicke42 “I can take __!”43 To the point46 Bonny girl47 Owned48 Hangout for

some 38-Down51 Word spoken

while pointing53 Short change?56 Month after

avril57 Not a likely

chance, and,literally, a hiddenfeature of 17-,27- and 43-Across

61 Pre-holiday time

62 Part of USNA63 “Keen!”64 Twin of Bert

Bobbsey65 Picket fence

parts66 Barbershop

band?

DOWN1 Like outer space2 Weird-sounding

lake3 Clothing label

number4 Candy in a

collectibledispenser

5 With everythingaccounted for

6 Choosing word7 Omelet base8 Cheering

syllable9 Binding words

10 Real __11 Delight12 Crowd

cacophony13 Defeat decisively18 Prefix with

sphere23 Disappeared24 Skinny sort25 Hawaii

component26 Siberian city27 Box score

numbers28 Moor29 Luxurious homes30 Online finance

company

31 Stan’s partner32 Gibe33 UCLA or USC36 To this point38 Some strays42 Rouses from bed44 Synthetic fibers45 In pumps, say48 “So be it!”49 Volcano output50 Burden for some

debtors51 Future atty.’s

exam52 Many Manets53 Blacken on the

grill54 Four-legged

Emerald Cityvisitor

55 Halt58 “Friendly Skies”

co.59 New Deal energy

prog.60 Put in rollers

Monday’s Puzzle SolvedBy Marti DuGuay-Carpenter 11/18/14

©2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 11/18/14

The

Pitt

New

s Cro

ssw

ord,

11/

5/20

14SGB

ALLOCATIONSAmerican Institute of Chemical Engineers: $1,613.00

Black Action Society: $9,300.00

Pittsburgh Intercolle-giate Snowboard Team: $1,230.48

Club Golf Team: $3,064.70

Lady Panther Soccer Club: $3,832.33

and political science and philosophy major, said.

Lapidus said he trusts Wolf on the economy.

“He not only ran a business, but he ran a busi-ness that treated its workers ethi-cally,” he said. “He made sure that his workers were well-paid.”

In the first six months of Wolf ’s g o v e r n o r s h i p , Lapidus would like to see details for a plan to increase jobs in the state.

“It doesn’t have to get passed [in that time]. I understand that politics work very slowly,” Lapidus said. “I would also like to see some movement on marijuana.

The results from Colorado in particular are quite good in terms of economics.”

Joseph Streets, a junior actuarial math, ecology and evolution dual ma-jor, said he would like to see Wolf revise Pennsylvania’s education budget and that environmental issues are also im-portant to him.

“There’s the whole natural gas market that’s providing a lot of jobs, but I do think [Wolf ] should try to get us to cut back on coal more,” Streets said.

Cameron Linton, president of Pitt College Republicans, said he thinks Corbett may have lost because he did not address issues regarding teachers’ unions and education funding until the final months of the campaign.

College students, Linton said, likely voted for Wolf because they are more

likely to be ideal-istic.

“Liberals are not stupid,” he said, “But young people tend to be more receptive to idealistic plat-forms.”

It is difficult to speculate about Wolf ’s possible performance since he is new to being an elected official, Linton said, but he

said he hopes to see Wolf work on pen-sion reform.

“I want to make my state better,” Wolf said at his acceptance speech.

GOVERNORFROM PAGE 1

Go online to Pittnews.com to get more details on SGB’s weekly meeting

“I’ve found that the only way to get things done right is to listen,

to treat people fairly and to include everyone in the process”

Tom Wolf

Page 6: Nov. 5, 2014

6 November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

OPINIONSSwift knew Spotify was trouble when she walked in

EDITORIALEDITORIAL

To the dismay of many open and closeted Taylor Swift fans, the pop sensation re-moved her music from the popular music streaming service, Spotify.

The sudden break-up came four days after the release of her much-anticipated album, 1989, when Swift and her record label Big Machine requested to leave the music service. Since then, Spotify has been trying to convince Swift to change her mind and return to the service, creating a Twitter campaign about the debacle with the hashtag #justsayyes — which quotes lyrics from her 2008 song, “Love Story.”

It’s unclear why exactly Swift and her label decided to leave Spotify, but there are speculations. Maybe it’s all a publicity stunt to get people to actually buy her new album? Or, maybe she just needs another breakup to write a song about?

Or perhaps Swift’s departure from Spo-tify encapsulates the perpetual confl ict

between the music industry and popular music streaming services?

Swift wrote an op-ed this past July in the Wall Street Journal summarizing her gripes with free music streaming, like that on Spotify.

“Music is art, and art is important and rare,” Swift wrote. “Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.”

In the op-ed, Swift compared music to other forms of art, like writing or painting. If creators of these other forms of art get to decide the worth of their products, why is it di! erent for musicians?

Swift has a point — music is an art form, and it seems odd that we should sep-arate it from other forms of art. After all, we don’t place the same value on a Monet that we do for something your little cousin fi nger-painted — both have inherently di! erent values, which are based on the

tastes of those consuming and producing the art. Same goes for books — a copy of “Superfudge” by Judy Blume just isn’t the same as a leather bound copy of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities.”

Clearly, value in other forms of art is derived from a connection between the artist and the viewer and/or reader. Why then, does music, a very intimate form of art for most people, not have this?

Thom Yorke, the frontman of the bands Radiohead and Atoms for Peace, told The Guardian the situation arises because streaming music services, like Spotify, act as “gatekeepers” between the artists and the fans. According to Yorke, this severs the artist-to-fan connection that allows value to be derived out of music, like other art forms.

Yorke cited the release of Radiohead’s 2007 album, In Rainbows, as an example of how this connection could be reached

through music — this album was self-re-leased online, and the band allowed fans to set their own price for the download.

“When we did the In Rainbows thing, what was most exciting was the idea you could have a direct connection between you as a musician and your audience. You cut all of it out, it’s just that and that,” he said. “{They] get in a way, like Spotify sud-denly trying to become the gatekeepers to the whole process.”

Perhaps Taylor Swift is demonstrating a frustration similar to Yorke’s — maybe she wants a deeper connection with her fans and her art.

If music streaming services, like Spo-tify, value music as an art form, maybe they should consider what they may be doing to the quality of music by giving it away for free.

After all, T-Swift doesn’t need anymore teardrops on her guitar.

SIMON SAYSSIMON SAYS

In the past year or so, the term “privilege” has become common currency in social media outlets and online think pieces. The complex and readily misused term provokes passion from most who encounter it.

The various bloggers and Tumblr users who invoke the term “privilege” do so to un-derline the di! erences in daily experience between demographic groups, usually as a result of racial or sexual prejudice.

However, one measurement of privilege is still glaringly absent from the conversation: wealth. The fact that socio-economic di! er-ence fi nds no place in this discussion speaks to just how deeply the gap runs throughout our national institutions, specifi cally, uni-versities.

The idea of ‘privilege’ itself can be hard to stomach for anyone maintaining a belief in racial and sexual equality of opportunity. To press the importance of di! erence between black and white, male-identifying and female-identifying or straight and queer, may seem to undo the progress in civil rights over the past half century.

Yet the abolition of explicit legal barri-ers should itself lead to equity. For one to tear down these obstacles, one must bean insistent on the fundamental equality of mi-nority groups, but to press the deep-seated cultural di! erences between said minority groups, may seem detrimental to the project by others.

Still, it requires a good deal of delusion to think that in progress in the civil rights of women, people of color and the LGBTQA community has reached the groups’ objec-tives. To try to list here the metrics that illus-

trate lower salaries, diminished graduation rates and higher incidence of sexual violence, would do injustice to their vastness.

The proliferation of discussions of “white privilege,” “male privilege” and “straight priv-ilege,” prove encouraging. The notion gives a language for people in marginalized commu-nities to communicate how their experiences di! er from those of their peers outside them. It helps instill a sense of community.

But the experiences of lower-income and working-class people rarely fi nd expression through the language of “privilege.” Nowhere is that fact more evident than on the college campus, where the discussion of diverse iden-tities is supposed to be most free.

To be sure, those near the bottom of the socio-economic scale draw from a common pool of experiences, just as they are also de-nied experiences. They have less opportunity to socialize in bars and restaurants, travel

around the world or perform volunteer out-reach. They feel more pressure to earn money while in high school and college and to study for a future profession that will help them pay o! student loans.

Nevertheless, the kind of open discussions about race and gender, which can take place among students, rarely touches wealth. This may result from an inherited national belief in the “American Dream” — that regardless of familial background, one can attain any level of economic success through personal responsibility. This sentiment remains alive and well among the American populace — 66 percent of whom recognize widening economic inequality, while only 47 percent recognize it as a problem, according to Pew Research Center study from 2013.

Another reason for the discussion of privi-

Check your wealth: Economics left out of discourse on privilegeSimon Brown

Columnist

Brown 7

Page 7: Nov. 5, 2014

7November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 1 0

Editorial PoliciesSingle copies of The Pitt News are free and available at newsstands around

campus. Additional copies can be purchased with permission of the editor in chief for $.50 each.

Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the students, faculty or University administration. Opinions expressed in columns, car-toons and letters are not necessarily those of The Pitt News. Any letter in-tended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than 250 words and include the writer’s name, phone number and University a!liation, if any. Letters may be sent via e-mail to [email protected]. The Pitt News reserves the right to edit any and all letters. In the event of multiple replies to an issue, The Pitt News may print one letter that represents the majority of responses. Unsigned editorials are a majority opinion of the Editorial Board, listed to the left.

The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the Oakland campus of the University of Pittsburgh. It is pub-lished Monday through Friday during the regular school year and Wednesdays during the summer.

Complaints concerning coverage by The Pitt News, after first being brought to the editors, may be referred to the Community Relations Com-mittee, Pitt News Advisory Board, c/o student media adviser, 435 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15260.

The editor in chief has the final authority on editorial matters and cannot be censored, according to state and federal law. The editor in chief is selected by the Pitt News Advisory Board, which includes University sta", fac-ulty and students, as well as journalism professionals. The business and edito-rial o!ces of The Pitt News are located at 434 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15260.

Copy Sta!Sarah Choflet

Anjuli Das Kinley Gillette Johanna HelbaEmily Maccia

Sam McGinley

Bridget MontgomerySarah Mejia

Shivani PanditMichelle ReagleMichael WilsonMegan Zagorski

Danielle Fox, Assistant News EditorHarrison Kaminsky, Assistant News Editor

Matt Barnes, Assistant Opinions EditorDan Sostek, Assistant Sports EditorJe! Ahearn, Assistant Visual Editor

Zheru Liu, Multimedia EditorJoelle Smith, Social Media EditorBecca Nagy, Assistant Copy Chief

Emily Hower, Assistant Layout Editor

Mahita Gajanan, Managing [email protected]

Maxwell HineJordan BullockRobert Capone

Rosalyn NyeAntonio Blundo

Joe LeoneJoe Kloecker

Mackenzie WalshSean Leone

Jordyn Aungst

THE PITT NEWSNatalie Daher Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]

Kevin Vanover, Business [email protected]

David Barr, Sales [email protected]

Kelsey McConville, Inside Sales [email protected]

Nicole BarrettVictoria Hetrick

Julia McKay

Stephen Ellis

Marketing ManagerKristine Aprile

Marketing AssistantRachael Hoge

Digital Manager

Inside Sales

Account Executives

[email protected]

Cristina Holtzer, News [email protected]

Nick Voutsinos, Opinions [email protected]

Shawn Cooke, A&E [email protected]

Chris Puzia, Sports [email protected]

Theo Schwarz, Visual [email protected]

Ellie Petrosky, Copy [email protected]

Stephen Caruso, Layout [email protected]

Ad Designer Mark Janavel

Senior Universal Account Executive

Matt Reilly

lege to disregard economic di" erences may be found in the identity of “poor” or “work-ing-class” people itself. This identity isn’t like “black,” “Latino/a,” “queer” or “woman.” For one, wealth seems to be a much more fl uid metric than these others.

But that is not to say that race, gender and sexual orientation are clear-cut binaries. Rather, social perceptions usually force these

more sophisticated identities into binary oppositions. For example, even though the LGBTQA umbrella covers many identities, the community unites them in common dialogue about shared experiences, but one is still ei-ther part of that general community or is not. The same could be said for people of color.

The same is not true for less wealthy peo-ple. The proliferation of polite euphemisms, from “lower-income” to “under-resourced” indicates just how nebulous the concept can be. This, coupled with the faith in social mo-bility out of their condition, makes the pos-

sibility of students forming “lower-income support groups” or touting “Poor Pride” largely unthinkable.

These explanations, however, miss a fundamental barrier to open discussions of wealth: the college itself.

If students fi rst fi nd honest conversations about di" erent identities in seminar rooms and freshman lounges, then discussions about wealth will fi nd little place at the table, because there are few seats for poor students to begin with. Among the “most competi-tive colleges,” 74 percent of students come

from families with an income in the highest quartile of American households. Only three percent come from the bottom quartile.

Students within the universities can have very productive conversations on the di" er-ences and intersections of their identities, but they won’t consider economic di" erences if there are no low-income students to share their experiences with in the fi rst place.

Therein lies the very privilege of an aca-demic environment in which peers and pro-fessors can openly discuss privilege itself.

Write Simon at [email protected]

BROWNFROM PAGE 6

Page 8: Nov. 5, 2014

8 November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

SPORTS

Despite a 51-48 loss to the Duke Blue Devils this past weekend at Heinz Field, the At-lantic Coastal Conference recognized two players on the Pitt football team Monday for outstanding performances . Sophomore running back James Conner was named the ACC co-o! ensive back of the week, while senior o! ensive tackle T.J. Clemmings was named the conference’s co-o! ensive line-man of the week.

Conner, who shared the weekly award with Florida State quarterback Jameis

Winston, was honored for his dominating performance Saturday afternoon, during which he set career highs in carries (38) and rushing yards (263) while scoring three touchdowns and averaging 6.9 yards per carry. This is the third time this season that Conner has won the award.

Conner was also named a semifi nalist for the Maxwell Award, which is given out each season to the top college football player in the nation by a panel of media members, coaches and former players . The sophomore currently leads the nation in rushing yards with 1,342 and ranks third in touchdowns with 17.

Clemmings shared his honor with Flor-ida State o! ensive tackle Cameron Erving. Clemmings — who has been cited as a potential fi rst round pick by ESPN’s Todd McShay and CBS’ Dane Brugler — was strong in both run and pass protection against the Blue Devils, opening holes for Conner while giving quarterback Chad Voytik ample time to throw. This is also Clemmings’ third time taking home the accolade.

After this week’s bye, both look to continue their strong performances next Saturday when the team travels to Chapel Hill to play the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Conner, Clemmings win ACC weekly honors

Dan Sostek Assistant Sports Editor

FOOTBALLFOOTBALL COLUMNCOLUMN

Heather Tennant | Staff Photographer

Heather Tennant | Staff Photographer

The NBA and its fans can try to stop it all they want, but tanking is here to stay.

Many people invested in the NBA are outraged about tanking — the process of intentionally fi elding a weaker team in order to lose more games and secure a higher draft pick — but that’s because they fail to see anything more than regular season wins. Fans that understand tank-ing realize that sometimes, there is no other way for a middling team to escape mediocrity and eventually compete for a championship.

Commissioner Adam Silver and NBA executives even tried to reform the draft lottery to prevent teams from tanking. It’s a reform that won’t work. Big name free agents normally don’t want to go to a team lacking in young talent or cham-pionship prospects. These teams remain mediocre because of players who, after a good season or two, demand more money than they’re worth. On top of that, these teams are often small market teams, which is another turno! for most superstars en-tering free agency.

Even the reigning champions, the San Antonio Spurs, have tanked before. They drafted David Robinson with the fi rst pick in the 1987 draft, but they knew he wasn’t going to play for two years because he had to fulfi ll his service time in the Navy after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. The Spurs had two more horrible seasons, got another top three draft pick and then went from last place to fi rst when Robin-son returned.

Two more players selected by tanking

Tanking right decision for

middling NBA teams

Alex Fischbein For The Pitt News

Fischbein 10

Page 9: Nov. 5, 2014

9November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

TPN !"#!$% &'"()*+)$%!: M"%’! B#!,"+-#..TPN !"#!$% &'"()*+)$%!: M"%’! B#!,"+-#..DAN SOSTEK, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The Panthers face one of their tougher non-conference schedules in recent

memory, traveling to Bloomington to take on Indiana, while a potential matchup with either BYU or San Diego State looms as part of the Maui Invitational. So unlike in years’ past, Pitt could enter conference play with two or three losses. While sophomore Mike Young should be able to replace Talib Zanna’s post presence, it’s unclear if there is a player on the roster capable of fi lling Lamar Pat-terson’s role as a go-to scorer.

Newcomer forwards Sheldon Jeter, Cam-eron Johnson and Ryan Luther look to make contributions, while players like guard Josh Newkirk and center Joseph Uchebo appear primed for increased playing time.

Despite their lack of traditional stars, the Panthers boast great depth and a top-notch coach in Jamie Dixon, and they should fi nish among the upper echelon of ACC teams.

Prediction: 22-10Breakout player: Mike Young

RYAN BERTONASCHI, SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Jamie Dixon is faced with one of those “good prob-lems” this year, as depth has become his team’s

strength. Pitt’s lineup will revolve around sophomore big man Michael Young and his ability to play both the power forward and center, which will provide Dixon with many options for his rotation. It will allow for Jamel Artis and Sheldon Jeter to be on the court at the same time and will provide Dixon with the luxury to give centers Joseph Uchebo and Derrick Randall increased minutes against bulkier teams.

Additionally, 6-foot-6 Chris Jones will slide into the wing when he’s not playing small forward; Cameron Wright and Durand Johnson will play at the two and three; and Josh Newkirk will play the wing when he’s not running the point guard.

Because of the positional versatility, expect this Pitt team to compete more against better teams and to dominate less against cupcakes. The Panthers have the ability to win 30 games and fi nish in the ACC’s top four, but their fate relies solely on the ways Wright and Johnson respond to their foot and ACL injuries, respectively.

Prediction: 24-8Breakout player: Mike Young

CHRIS PUZIA, SPORTS EDITOR

Pitt’s second season in the ACC sees the addition of

Louisville to the conference, a team Pitt plays twice. This, in addition to playing Syracuse twice this sea-son, gives Pitt a di! cult conference schedule on top of a surprisingly strong non-conference slate. The Panthers could potentially face Ari-zona in Maui and travel to Indiana in December.

Losing two of its top scorers in Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna, Pitt is going to need other players to step up. That being said, the team looks like one of Jamie Dixon’s most versatile squads in recent years, with several players who can fi t multiple roles — Mike Young and Sheldon Jeter come to mind as two prime examples.

Prediction: 23-9Breakout player: Josh Newkirk

MIKE YOUNG

JEFF AHEARN | ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR

Page 10: Nov. 5, 2014

10 November 5, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

T P NS U DO K U

Today’s di! culty level: HardPuzzles by Dailysodoku.com

teams were LeBron James and Kevin Du-rant. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded away some of their best players for injured or past-their-prime players at the beginning of the 2002 season. They selected James as the fi rst pick in the 2003 draft and rose to become one of the best teams in the East.

When Oklahoma City — then the Se-attle SuperSonics — drafted Kevin Du-rant, the team had two veteran stars in Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. On draft day, the SuperSonics traded away Allen to the Celtics, and they dealt Lewis to the Magic a few weeks later . They then played their way to Russell Westbrook at the No. 4 pick in the draft. Trading Allen helped the Boston Celtics win a championship and the relocated Thunder haven’t even won one yet, which means the franchise’s little tank job didn’t harm anyone.

This NBA season, fans and writers alike are complaining about the Philadel-phia 76ers and their “destructive” tanking strategy. They selected the hurt Kansas

star Joel Embiid with their third pick in the draft and then traded their 10th pick for Dario Saric, who will be playing in Turkey for the next two years. The 76ers’ general manager, Sam Hinkie, has been dealing players for all sorts of picks and stockpiling assets.

A lot of people have nicknamed Phila-delphia’s season “Tank 2.0” because of the team’s limited talent and few playo! aspirations. Analysts and experts think that this will make the fans turn against the team, but it really has given fans hope for success for the future, as they can dream of drafting the next LeBron James or Kevin Durant.

Attendance at home games may have declined, but that carries much signifi -cance. For example, the Indiana Pac-ers were one game away from the NBA Finals in the 2012-13 season, and they had an average game attendance of just 15,269 people, which ranked 25th out of 30 teams.

Tanking should be the least of the NBA’s worries. It’s smart, it’s easy to implement, and most importantly, it’s inevitable. The 76ers are the most blatant example of “tanking” in today’s NBA. | MCT Campus

FISCHBEINFROM PAGE 8