employment guide spring 2015

T H E P I T T N E W S V O L UM E 1 0 5 I S S U E 1 0 8

2 February 6, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

TABLE OF CONTENTSALS: 3

Heinz Chapel: 3

Casual Fridays: 4

Column, Dusky: 4

Men’s Basketball preview: 5

Tattoos in the work place: 6

Mike Shanahan: 7

Humanities: 8

Column, Linder: 10

Cartoon, Kizilkaya: 11

Co-ops: 13

Student athletes: 17

International Panthers: 18

Lessons from burgers: 20

Saving and spending: 22

Cover by Theo Schwarz | Visual Editor

3February 6, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

NEWS Pitt plans to open a new center dedicat-ed to researching treatments and cures for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, the University announced Thursday.

In 2011, Neil Alexander, an O’Hara Township native, was di-agnosed with ALS. On Thursday, he and his wife, Suzanne Alexan-der, agreed to raise $2.5 million over five years to go toward the fund of the Live Like Lou Center for ALS Research, which will be part of Pitt’s year-old Brain Insti-tute. The University will match this donation.

ALS first became a widely known disease in 1939 when baseball Hall of Famer Lou Geh-rig was diagnosed with and later died from the disease. Recently, ALS has come back into the spot-light with the virality of the Ice Bucket Challenge last summer, a method people used to spread awareness about the disease and raise money for research.

“It is a great honor to have this opportunity to combine the Uni-versity’s vast experience and resources in neuroscience with the Alexanders’ commitment and passion,” said Arthur Levine, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and the John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of Medicine , in a statement. “Like them, we want to

galvanize our scientists to pursue trans-formative avenues of research to find treatments — and, better yet, a cure — for this devastating disease.”

The partners plan to raise the $10 million required to create the center in the next five years.

The center will work to find treat-

ments and a cure for the disease, as well as helping those already diagnosed with it, according to the press release.

The center outlined six main goals to kickstart the projects, including hiring an expert in the neurobiology of ALS, developing a non-human primate model of the disease, creating a prototypical

house model to test new technologies, using technology to increase patient in-dependence, supporting clinical trials that may slow the disease’s progression and awarding innovator grants to explore new approaches.

The center will be a part of Pitt’s Brain Institute. The University has a history

of progressive medical research and discoveries. Among others, the Brain Institute is credited with fostering the research behind the polio vaccine, the Gamma Knife — used for minimally inva-sive brain surgery — and a way to detect Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages.

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said in

the press release that he was honored to be a part of this project.

“[The Alexanders’] dedication to helping others with this debilitating disease is inspirational. We are looking forward to putting the resources and expertise of the University to work on this task, and we are honored that they

have chosen the University of Pittsburgh as the site for this center,” Gallagher said.

The disease causes pro-gressive paralysis and makes it difficult for the patient to breathe or swallow. Only 10 percent of patients survive 10 years after diagnosis, ac-cording to the release . Most die within two to five years of diagnosis.

Currently, there are no ef-fective treatments for ALS, but supporters of the Cen-ter are confident in future success.

“Treatments and cures are going to come through basic research, and that is what our Brain Institute

is designed for,” said Peter Strick, Thomas Detre profes-

sor, chair of neurobiology and scientific director of the Brain Institute, in the press release.

Strick envisions a successful future for the center.

“The new center’s goals are bold,” Strick said. “We haven’t chosen easy targets.”

Brain Institute to include ALS research center within fi ve yearsLauren Rosenblatt

Staff Writer

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, along with current and former Pitt basketball players, took the Ice Bucket Chal-lenge this summer. | Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

Heinz Memorial Chapel is currently undergoing a $600,000 preservation process, according to Pat Gibbons at the Heinz Chapel Office.

SSM Industries, Inc. is installing a climate control system in the chapel,

Gibbons said. The project was started in December 2014 and is expected to be completed in Ma y 2015.

“The objective [is] to achieve hu-midity and even temperature control,” University spokesman John Fedele said.

Heinz Chapel was built by architect Charles Klauder and was dedicated

by the Heinz family on Nov. 20, 1938. University organist Robert S. Lord and Chatham College organist Russell G. Wichmann dedicated the current organ on March 21, 1971. The current organ replaced the original organ, which was damaged in the 1960s.

The climate control system will help preserve the organ, stained glass and

interior woodwork, Fedele said, and the University has taken proper pre-cautions to make sure that the organ and stained glass are not damaged dur-ing the preservations.

“The organ itself was professionally demounted, crated and stored to pre-vent any damage and will be remounted at the end of the project,” Fedele said.

Sabrina Romano Staff Writer

Extreme Makeover: Heinz Chapel undergoing preservation process


OPINIONSCasual Fridays

EDITORIALEDITORIAL

Bullet-proof bra

A woman from Rio de Ja-neiro got the true value out of her Wonderbra this week. The underwire of Ivete Medeiros’ bra was the only thing standing between her chest and a bul-let when she was shot outside a Belem market. A thief hold-ing up a passerby on the street opened fi re, and a bullet struck Medeiros under her left breast. Protected by some extra pad-ding, her bra supported her in her time of need. Authorities say that the thief in question has been bust-ed.

Ear-rational Rodent

On Groundhog Day, Wiscon-sin’s mildly famous groundhog Jimmy was a bit hungry after being stirred from his hiber-nation for his big moment. Jimmy was sick of living in Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow, so he gave the press something to remember. This feisty rodent bit the mayor’s ear after his handlers held him too close to the mayor’s head. When asked for comment, the mayor said he had his Phil of groundhog for the year.

Red in the face

Voldemort’s got some com-petition in the nose depart-ment. Thirty-seven-year-old Henry Damon, of Venezuela, has had several procedures to make himself look like Red Skull, the villain from Captain America. He has several sub-

dermal implants in his fore-head, all-black contacts, sili-cone implants in his chin and cheeks, his face tattooed red and, now, he has had his nose completely removed. While he may look unusual, a friend that nose him best said he was “an excellent son, husband and fa-ther.” In fact, his wife said he looked Marvel-ous.

Peasants on a Plane

Paris Hilton isn’t the only one living the “Simple Life” anymore. Her younger broth-er, Conrad Hilton, was arrested this week for fl ipping out on an airplane last July. Drugged out on marijuana, sleeping pills and a superiority complex, Hilton punched the bulkhead of the plane, called the passengers peasants and threatened to “f*cking rip through” the sta! . It turned out Hilton was going to California to serf. When asked for comment, Paris Hil-ton said, “That’s hot.”

Separation of church and taste

As an atheist, Trevor McK-endrick just doesn’t have faith in religion, but he does have faith in money. Divine inspira-tion led McKendrick to create a Spanish audio bible app for the iPhone. McKendrick says he believes that what he sells is fi ction. Opponents call him a hypocrite, especially the Catho-lic Church, which McKendrick managed to beat at their own game.

February has arrived, and while you are preoccupied considering what to get the “bae” for Valentine’s day, you should also consider a greater predicament. In the wake of the Michael Brown verdict, the failure to indict the police offi-cer in the Eric Garner case, and the emergence of the #Black-LivesMatter campaign, this Black History Month should trump February’s more frivo-lous celebrations.

February is oftentimes syn-onymous with Valentine’s Day and, more recently, the Super Bowl. I recently asked a friend about her plans for the next few weeks, thereby starting a conversation about Valentine’s weekend followed by discus-sion of the controversy that this year’s Super Bowl ads have generated.

Mind you, these are mere one-day events, lasting a few hours — yet our country per-ceives them as all-important. Rarely is February associated with the 28-day celebration of Black History Month, a much longer event. Seldom do you come across promotional ma-terial for Black History Month events more than a few days away.

Rather, you scroll through pages of outdated informa-tion and hope to find a snippet about a Black History Month celebration . In my own re-search, I found it hard to come across events in a timely man-

ner. Either the time and place were “to be determined,” or the event was “still up in the air.” It is imperative that we educate ourselves on black his-tory through the use of what is available to us — Netflix, the Carnegie Library and our re-sources here at Pitt. The recent events involving Mike Brown and Eric Garner have sparked national outrage and a call to action.

Activism has been seen not only on Pitt’s campus, but throughout the country. How-ever, it was @_MissBre’s tweet on Dec. 3 that got national at-tention. She wrote, “My grand-mother is in tears. Tears. She said they marched because she didn’t want us to have to. And now look.” Her words sum up the urgency and importance of this month’s celebration. His-tory is repeating itself and it is on us as individuals to break the cycle by seeking informa-tion to better understand the ramifications of our past.

Having evolved from Carter G. Woodson’s “Negro History Week,” founded in 1926, Black History Month seems to have become a staple for curricula in many elementary school classrooms, but seldom evolves from there. Black History Month fits into an elementary school’s curriculum far more easily, in fact, than that of a junior high or high school. An elementary school curriculum is much more malleable in the sense that these students are getting the broadest education.

The U.S. Department of

Education plainly states that “there is no national curric-ulum in the United States.” There is a standard set within each school district, however. Still, curriculum is very much reliant on an individual educa-tor’s teaching style. This free-dom in style allows for more flexibility in the classroom and ensures that each student learns basic fundamental prin-ciples to work toward a higher education. This, in combina-tion with hands-on activities, serves as the perfect introduc-tory course in black history. The higher you climb the edu-cational ladder, the more spe-cialized curriculum becomes, though. Our fourth-grade so-cial studies class turns into our 10th-grade Western Civiliza-tions class.

This is not to say that schools have completely dis-regarded the month. However, the events that arise can turn into social gatherings more than anything of true edu-cational value. Communities will make headlines for their involvement with Black His-tory Month — but one event does not characterize an entire month. There is no standard for celebration.

In light of this, we must educate ourselves. The easi-est, most entertaining way is through Netflix. Press pause on “Gilmore Girls” and search for more enlightening pieces that shed some light on black history. Netflix has proven to

Forget Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about Black History Month

Elizabeth Dusky For The Pitt News

COLUMNCOLUMN

Dusky 11


SPORTSMEN’S BASKETBALLMEN’S BASKETBALL

Jamel Artis doesn’t seek it out. He saw the replay on SportsCenter once and then im-mediately turned his TV o! . Cameron Wright doesn’t talk about it, even when asked.

“I’m kinda mad you just brought it up,” Wright said.

The last time Pitt’s and Syracuse’s men’s basketball teams met, a year ago this month at the Petersen Events Center, point guard Tyler Ennis preserved the then-No. 1 Orange’s un-defeated record by making a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat No. 25 Pitt, 58-56.

“I still haven’t gotten that taste out of my mouth,” Artis said. “That one hurt.”

“It’s not gonna happen this time.” Ennis has since departed for the pros, and,

while Wright wasn’t actually angry about hav-ing to revisit the loss — or so he said — that dramatic ending reignited a competitive rivalry between the two programs. Neither squad has won by a double-digit margin the last three times they’ve played. It’s an annual meeting that Wright says is a rivalry game for the Panthers (15-8, 4-5 ACC).

This year’s fi rst of two matchups between the schools, at 4 p.m. on Saturday back at the Petersen Events Center, will likely have a di! erent feel than their last handful , though, with both teams unranked for the fi rst time since 2008.

News came out on Wednesday that Syra-cuse (15-7, 6-3 ACC) had banned itself from postseason play in advance of the NCAA re-leasing its fi ndings of an investigation into the school’s men’s basketball program – looking into violations committed before 2012 – to the governing body’s Committee on Infractions.

Artis doesn’t expect the a! ected players will ease up knowing that they don’t have a tournament, even the conference one, to work towards.

“It’s gotta be motivation for them,” Artis said. “They’ve gotta be coming out and playing hard every possession, even though they’re not gonna make it.”

Wright, who has seen four years of these

games as a redshirt senior, agreed, saying they’ve come to expect a challenge from their former Big East counterpart every year.

And while the current version of Syracuse’s

team has struggled, barely defeating ACC bot-tom-dwellers Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, it isn’t without talent. Senior forward Rakeem Christmas averages almost

a double-double every game: 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds in 33.4 minutes of action.

Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon says con-taining Christmas will require a mix of ap-proaches.

“It’s amazing what he’s become as far as a low-post threat o! ensively,” Dixon said. “He looks thinner, he looks quicker, more agile.”

Artis says keeping Christmas away from o! ensive rebounding opportunities, defend-ing him early inside and having awareness on the weak side of where he is and what he’s doing will be key.

Two of his teammates, Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije, also average double-digit scoring.

What makes Syracuse tough collectively on the other side of the fl oor is its well-known 2-3 zone which relies on athletic, lengthy bod-ies. It ranks fi rst in steals in the conference, second in blocks and fourth in fi eld goal per-centage defense and points allowed.

“Just taking a shot when you’re open, guys knowing when you’ll shoot it, making the right decision, not turning the ball over,” Wright said of the keys to success against it. “Obvi-ously, you have to be patient.”

Pitt has exhibited some of the latter quali-ties this season, ranking fi rst in assists, sec-ond in assist to turnover ratio and fourth in turnover margin.

Artis, coming o! a career performance against Bryant when he scored 32 points, has fi nished with double fi gures scoring in each of the last seven games. This performance has earned him the nickname “zonebuster” by Wright for his ability to fi nd space in such schemes and make shots.

The sophomore has a simple explanation for his recent success.

“My teammates, they fi nd me,” Artis said. “They want me to shoot the basketball, [and] I shoot it.”

He will need to keep up his attacking ways for Pitt to emerge with the result Artis wants: one that will involve less stress this time around.

“I don’t want it to be a close game at all,” Artis said.

Memories of Ennis shot in the past for Artis, PanthersJasper Wilson

Senior Staff Writer

Jamel Artis led Pitt with 32 points on Monday. Alyson Derrick | Staff Photographer


Professional Inkemployers, job-seekers talk tats

Decorations of love might be sweet, but a! ection etched into your skin could turn employers sour.

While tattoos are commonplace in American culture, spirits toward skin modifi cation in the workplace aren’t as bright as the hues embellishing inked-up arms. About 76 percent of participants in a 2014 Salary.com survey felt bearing a tat-too during a job interview was a deterrent to getting hired, and 42 percent aren’t in favor of visible tats at work.

Companies can impose dress codes, according to the federal law, but they can’t violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits less-favorable treatment based on national origin or religious practices. Employers also must make exceptions or amend the dress code for employees with disabilities upon request.

Some Pittsburgh locals, many of them with tattoos and others who oppose ink in the workplac e , weighed in on whether or not they think employers should allow tat-toos beyond the borders of work uniforms.

James Fabrizio, a career consultant at Pitt’s o" ce of Career Development and Placement Assistance, said he expected unfriendly tattoo policies when he decided to get multiple tattoos.

“While my tattoos are occasionally visible while in my o" ce, I have made a point in my career to keep them covered in professional or public settings,” Fabrizio said in an email.

True to his expectations, some of his previous employers have required him to cover tattoos.

“I don’t believe it is discriminatory any more than telling someone to wear a tie is discriminatory; it is a rule that applies to everyone,” Fabrizio said.

An advocacy group in Pittsburgh has made it its mission to end restrictions against people with tattoos and piercings

in the workplace, which they, unlike Fab-rizio, view as a form of discrimination.

Support Tattoos and Piercings at Work advocates for reform in hiring and dress code policies through petitions and aware-ness events. Nathan Madden , STAPAW’s communications director, said profes-sionalism is about attitude, not appear-ance.

“I’d much rather

have an employee that treats people with respect and honesty. I think that speaks more to professionalism than someone who just looks the part,” Madden said.

At Pitt, there is no tat-too policy for employees, though they must dress in a professional and ap- p r o -priate manner to perform their job, ac-cording to spokesman John Fedele.

“The University of Pittsburgh believes that a person’s physical appearance is not an indicator of talent. As such, the Univer-sity does not have a specifi c policy regard-ing tattoos in the workplace,” Fedele said in an email.

A Pitt English writing professor, Peter

Trachtenberg, currently has 10 tattoos and a memoir, “7 Tattoos: A Memoir in the Flesh,” documenting his body art and the images’ meanings.

The fi rst chapter of his book is about the tattoo on his collarbone, he said, a traditional indigenous design from Bor-neo. The tattoo represents a trip he took to Borneo in 1991, where he participated i n a death ritual, and

also com-memorates

the death o f

his fa-

ther. “I guess in certain professions that

require interacting with a larger and may-be more socially conservative public, a ban on visible tattoos may make sense,” Trachtenberg said. “On the other hand, I’m not sure what those professions would be. I’ve seen cops and E.R. nurses with full arm sleeves.”

Whether it’s a tattoo sleeve or an ink butterfl y, some Pittsburgh companies,

like PNC Bank, forbid all visible tattoos. “In our bank branches for example,

visible body decorations, body piercing other than on the ear and other similar adornments are not permissible except for religious and medical purposes,” Fred Sol-omon, PNC’s director of external commu-nications, said in an email. “Body tattoos should be covered whenever possible.”

Trachtenberg acknowledges that re-strictions like these might be reasonable for some companies but also feels as if some may be going too far with these policies.

“My gut feeling is it’s an unneces-sary intrusion,” Trachtenberg said. “And considering that, I think there’s a huge proportion of people under the age of 40 who have tattoos, so why impose these exclusionary rules?”

When Trachtenberg got his fi rst tat-toos, there was only a small subculture that had them, which he says were “bikers,

convicts, punks and hippies.” In 2012, a Harris Poll surveyed

2,016 people and found that 21 per-cent of American adults have tattoos.

However, some of these American adults are looking to shed their tattoos.

Tattoo removal has become a mul-timillion dollar industry. MarketWatch

found that, in 2014, revenue for tattoo removal has risen to an estimated $75.5 million in the past 10 years.

Wesley South, a laser technician at Dis-appearing Ink in Pittsburgh, said clients, many of them government employees, come to his shop in Penn Hills to remove their tattoos that are visible in uniform.

“A lot of what I do is for the military, and they also changed the laws on the police force. They now have to cover up below the elbow,” South said.

Mahita Gajanan | Staff Illustrator

Tattoos 21

Lauren Wilson Staff Writer


T P NS U DO K U

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

FOOTBALLFOOTBALL

Former Pitt wide receiver Mike Shanahan has had an active several years since graduating from Pitt in 2013. He went un-drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, worked out for sev-eral NFL teams and was eventually cut from the New York Jets and Tam-pa Bay Buccaneers. Now, he finds himself back at his alma mater, working as a graduate assistant for Pat Narduzzi and his staff. The Pitt News re-cently spoke to Shanahan about his journey back to Pittsburgh.

The Pitt News: So you graduated in 2013, went

undrafted and were do-ing workouts over the summer for teams. What was that process like?

Mike Shanahan: I signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent. I went through all the OTAs [organized team activities] up there, I practiced the first few weeks in camp, then they cut me. Tampa Bay picked me up, then they cut me. Then noth-ing happened over the next couple months. In January, I signed a con-tract with the [Canadian Football League team] Montreal Alouettes and went to their camp in May, but it didn’t work out. I thought about

what I wanted to do, until eventually Coach [Paul] Chryst let me volunteer with the team. I worked with the receivers then, then coach Narduzzi gave me a graduate assistant spot in January.

TPN: Did you ap-proach Pitt about com-ing on as a graduate assistant, or did they contact you?

MS: I contacted Chryst — I forgot to add that while I was waiting around, I was at Norwin High School, where I’m from, coached basket-ball and was the head lacrosse coach in the Spring. That’s when I

figured out I wanted to do coaching, and see if I liked college coaching. That’s when I reached out to Chryst.

TPN: You’ve then worked under Chryst and current head coach Pat Narduzzi. How do they compare, in their coach-ing and leadership styles?

MS: I would say Chryst and Narduzzi are differ-ent in some cases. Chryst is just a really great guy, an offensive coach, and he really is a great lead-er. Coach Narduzzi’s the same. I’d say their ap-proach is a little different, obviously with Narduzzi being active on Twitter is

Former Pitt receiver returns as graduate assistantChris Puzia Sports Editor

Shanahan 9

MIKE SHANAHAN PLAYING DUR-ING HIS PITT DAYS. BOBBY MIZIA | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER


From the fi rst rosy day of freshman year, be-

ing an art history major has been a challenge.

Even other students, amidst their own “starting-college-I’m-a-grown-up-now” high, would blurt out, “What are you going to do with that?” This question has clung to me like a bad hangover for the past four years: What am I going to do with an art history degree?

Three years ago, I would have tossed my hair, glared daggers and smiled dangerously as I replied, “I will pursue a postgraduate degree and become a world famous curator, and, like the last curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, my pension will outlast me.” Bam. Take that, doubt-ing Thomas!

I marched through the past three years with that mental-ity. I would be Grace Kelly, famous not because I shared my name with the actress and princess, but on my own accord as a curator of contemporary Latin American art at a top museum. Suave and sexy, future me had it all.

But like many of the sidewalks around Pittsburgh during the spring thaw, the cold ice that had fortifi ed my idea of who I was and what I was doing started to melt, exposing cracks in what I had thought to be a solid foundation.

My sidewalk towards the good life as a curator began to crumble.

I call this the “20-something-year-old-quarter-life crisis,” the TYOQLC. Bad acronym aside, apparently this is a common panic.

When I studied abroad at University College Lon-don, it amazed me that the system in the U.K. dic-tates that students must essentially pick their career when they apply to attend University. They are then shu! ed through three years of ultra-specifi c tutelage and spat out at the end, expected to go straight into that career. Most of the time they wander around, scared and dazed, as they experience the real world for the fi rst time.

But let’s think about it — we enter college at 18, just becoming legal adults, and we graduate at 22, still babies in the eyes of the world. We, especially humanities majors, are armed and ready to whip out research papers but know nothing about how to input and track data in Excel spreadsheets. Not to toss the humanities aside like a bad date, but has this educa-tional path failed us?

Not necessarily. You could have a type A per-

ACROSS1 “Invisible Cities”

author Calvino6 “I ran away from

you once. I can’tdo it again”speaker

10 Ford Field player14 Surgery acronym15 It’s a gas16 “Snow White”

character flaw17 Forgeries that are

easy to spot?20 By way of21 French pronoun22 Habituate23 Dude in the CIA?28 Essen’s valley29 Spotted30 Slug relative33 Roll34 Word after clip or

pop37 Trivial blunder?42 Colorado native43 “About his head

he wears thewinner’s __”:“The Two NobleKinsmen”

44 Guanaco cousin45 Beantown athlete47 Peek follower49 Pancake cook in

pinstripes?54 Some Highlanders56 U.N. workers’

agcy.57 Roasting time in

Toulon?58 “My fireplace is

defective!”?63 “Footloose” co-

star Singer64 Word after

“funny” thatclarifies itsmeaning

65 1995 Stallone titlerole

66 City NNE ofBoston

67 SenateRepublicanleader before Frist

68 Sources ofwisdom

DOWN1 Affectionate text2 It’s often just

inches3 Syrian leader

4 Full deck Nerowasn’t playingwith?

5 Gave a thumbs-up

6 Like some soccergames

7 Pope beforeBenedict III

8 Plant9 Taylor of fashion

10 Pressure11 Finish, as a tat12 Finished13 Where to see

MMM18 “Toy Story”

character whodraws

19 County on theFirth of Forth

24 Composer Satie25 Gag __26 Isaac’s eldest27 Team whose logo

involves a“wishbone C”

30 Mustangs’ sch.31 Trivial objection32 One-spot33 Pan for Yan34 Recipe words35 Mojito ingredient36 Not yet

determined, inskeds

38 It’s surrounded bywhite

39 Game ender40 Morlock prey41 Bomb45 He served

between Warrenand Herbert

46 Bay State mottostarter

47 Like most rafts48 Rorschach image49 Ache

50 “__ Men Out”:baseball scandalfilm

51 Pequod co-owner52 Chopin’s “Winter

Wind,” e.g.53 Orchestra group54 Fish feature55 “Hi, sailor!”59 Vezina Trophy org.60 Lao Tzu principle61 Some pop-ups62 Brother

Thursday’s Puzzle SolvedBy Frank Virzi 2/20/15

©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 2/20/15

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5 ‘The 20-something-year-old-quarter-life crisis’

A humanities student embraces her uncertain futureGrace Kelly Staff Writer

Humanities 9


a little different. I’m excited to learn from Narduzzi on this staff.

TPN: What have been your duties and responsibilities since then?

MS: These past couple of weeks, I’ve been helping out with recruiting, go-ing on official visits on weekends. They called us “troubleshooters” to make sure that everything goes smoothly. I’ve been watching some film on recruits with coaches and trying to learn what they look for and what they like. Now we’re getting to putting in the offense and hav-ing general discussions about what we’re leaning to in games.

TPN: What are your thoughts on the incoming recruiting class? Obviously they’ve signed earlier this week.

MS: I’m excited. I think we have a lot of good guys. Some guys will be great additions to the program. I’m looking forward to getting to know them even more, especially on offense. I’m just ex-cited we have guys that want to be here and are excited about Pitt, which is the biggest thing for me.

TPN: You may be coaching some play-ers that were your teammates for a year or two. Will that be strange for you?

MS: That was one of my concerns coming in last year, I think the players now handle it really well. [Laughs] I’m not the one to be giving out orders or be that type of guy. I just try to stay in my role and be there for them. I like to think, when I played, they respected me as a player. I think I have a good relationship with a lot of the guys, there’s a respect there. They respect that I’m trying to get into coaching.

TPN: Does this mean you want to get into a career in coaching, or is there a different plan for you?

MS: I believe this is what I want to do. I don’t have another plan right now, which might be bad, but I’m invested in this. I know it’s a big commitment, so I’m willing to do it. Who knows what will happen down the road. I could also see myself teaching and coaching at the high school level. But right now, I’m invested in this and excited to have an opportunity here. I definitely want to make a career out of coaching.

SHANAHANFROM PAGE 7

sonality, do all your work on time (or even early), have a 4.0 and volunteer on weekends and still graduate sans job. But this time of post-graduation stress, uncertainty and moving back in with your parents does not dictate that you are a failure. The key thing is to shake o! any lingering resentment at that History of Art and Architecture diploma you may carry and do something. Apply for

jobs, blog, travel, work and save money — the opportunities are there. I have learned it’s up to you to make the most of them.

As graduation day rolls closer with ev-ery passing week, I realized that while the going may be tough, it is still going. My art background, while now perhaps not explic-itly what I want to do, has given me some valuable skills that I can apply to a broad range of opportunities. “We are young,” as fun. sings, “So let’s set the world on fi re.” Go forth, fellow TYOQLC-ers — explore and don’t be afraid.

HUMANITIESFROM PAGE 8

10 February 6, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.comCOLUMNCOLUMN

I have a two-and-a-half-foot-long tattoo running down my side, from my shoulder to below my hip.

My skin is shaded in various pig-ments, but an earthy orange and striking cerulean dominate the scene — a koi fish swimming upstream through tangles of lotus flowers. The fish is one of my sev-eral tattoos, but it is definitely the creme de la creme. I also have 19 piercings as well. Depending on the circumstances in which we meet, you may or may not know this about me.

In a professional setting, there is no reason for anyone to see my tattoos, con-sidering they rest primarily on my ribs or thighs — places no employer has any business looking. However, not everyone schematically designs their personal living canvas as carefully as I have. It is quite common to see men and women

sport visual tattoos and piercings.While I understand that employers

don’t want their employees to look like a biker gang, it seems that associating tat-toos and piercings with deviant behavior is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If

the taboo were eliminated, employers wouldn’t need to censor their employees’ bodies as closely. In effect, expensive discrimination and freedom of religion lawsuits could be avoided .

So, I think the best way to combat the stigma of these body modifications in the workplace is to actively work to make them less taboo by making them a familiar part of life.

Examining the media, specifically

television, it is evident that modified people are misrepresented. While 2010 data from Pew Research Center reports that nearly four in 10 millennials and roughly 32 percent of Gen-Xers have

tattoos, that proportion is not repre-sented on TV. Although many actors and actresses have tattoos, they are covered with makeup for production. Similarly, most news anchors would never dream of exposing their ink.

If the visual media makes it seem that no one is modified, it keeps the stigma alive. Since we only see average people with tattoos and piercings and almost never any successful people, we continue to cover up and continue to believe that body modifications are the province of gangs and garage mechanics.

In an interview with the New York Times, Iman Thomas, an employee at an insurance brokerage firm in Florham Park, N.J., discussed covering her arm tattoos with a cardigan. She is an edu-cated woman, but for fear of losing her job, she covers up.

Hiding tattoos is a common practice,

Tolerance is key to ending body modifi cation stigmaCourtney Linder

Assistant Opinion Editor

Linder 12

Change will come, and successful, tatted role models can throw off

their cardigans.


Fatima Kizilkaya | Staff Cartoonist

be equally educational and entertaining with its gripping documentaries. Here are a few of my recommendations:

“The African-Americans: Many Riv-ers to Cross” is a series that consists of six, one-hour episodes, document-ing different eras of black history from 1500 to 2013.

“Spies of Mississippi” documents a secret agency formed by the state of Mississippi that employed black spies to infiltrate and take apart various civil rights organizations.

“Dark Girls” touches on the more controversial conversation of color-ism, which is a phenomenon that occurs within one’s own race.

“30 for 30: Ghosts of Ole Miss” is an ESPN documentary that revisits the integration of Ole Miss during the Civil Rights Movement.

A second resource made readily

DUSKYFROM PAGE 4

Dusky 16


one that I am guilty of as well. While edu-cated people should show their tattoos to help deplete the negative stigma associ-ated with them, it is a risky move. When I go to interviews for internships or jobs, I’m always sure to wear conservative clothing that covers the microdermals on my collar bones. I put clear plastic jewelry in my nose and lip. Although I

may not be dismissed for having my tat-toos or piercings visible, there’s a great chance I may never be hired.

While there are no federal laws pro-tecting individuals with tattoos from discrimination, the issue is complex if the tattoos or piercings are religious. The analysis is different in this scenario because it complicates our First Amend-ment right to freedom of religion. While Iman Thomas has a tattoo of the Virgin Mary, she still covers it.

Others aren’t as accommodating as

Thomas. Kimberly Cloutier, an employee at a

Massachusetts Costco store, sued the company in 2001 for not allowing her to wear an eyebrow ring under their new dress code. The store deemed all tat-toos and facial piercings unprofessional. Cloutier, though, said the ring was part of her religion as a member of the Church of Body Modification .

The Church of Body Modification rep-resents a collection of members practic-ing ancient and modern body modifica-

tion rites. They believe these rites are essential to spirituality and strengthen the bond between mind, body and soul. Cloutier filed a discrimination case as a

result of being unable to practice physi-cal spirituality, but lost. However, in the process, Costco lost a great deal of money. Judy Vadney, Costco’s person-nel director, called it “very expensive litigation.”

LINDERFROM PAGE 10

Linder 16


While many students gain experience at internships, co-ops are where the cash is at.

Pitt’s co-op program cites a 3.22 aver-age GPA among participants and an aver-age salary $4,000 higher than someone who hadn’t had co-op experience, upon graduation, according to their own num-bers. Even with these statistics, Pitt didn’t make the cut when U.S. News and World Report compiled a list last spring of the top 10 schools for co-op and internship programs, which included Northeastern University in Boston and Drexel Univer-sity in Philadelphia.

Both of these schools o! er co-op op-portunities to students outside of science, technology, engineering and medicine-related fi elds. For instance, Drexel Uni-versity o! ers positions for English majors in museums, law fi rms, radio stations and television agencies, to name a few.

Seth Kahanov, a junior majoring in me-chanical engineering, co-ops in Maryland for a general contractor. He recalled that his most rewarding experience was when he was asked by the president of the com-pany to design a system to carry volts back and forth in the water.

“It was similar to the work we did in class. It was like a homework problem,” Kahanov said.

After his project’s completion, the president emailed Kahanov with pictures of the raft in use to inform him that his design had worked.

“[Co-ops] let you see how work is ap-plicable to the real world,” Kahanov said.

Because the numbers in the co-op of-fi ce’s annual report prove engineer co-op participants will make $4,000 more upon graduation after completing three rota-tions in college, Don Bialostosky, chair of Pitt’s English Department, said he found the prospect “quite exciting,” even though, to his knowledge, there has never been any mention of extending the pro-gram to the School of Arts and Sciences.

Caren Dieglio balances a 15-credit

course load, an RA position in Forbes Hall, program coordinator duties for a Forbes Hall Living Learning Community and, for the remaining six months of the year, she’s employed full-time at a defense corporation through Pitt’s co-op program.

Although “it’s common knowledge in the engineering school that you either co-op or you intern,” according to Dieg-lio, students studying English or social science-related fi elds are fi xed to the internship track — the University cur-rently does not o! er co-ops for students in these fi elds.

The idea has been passed on to Pam O’Brien, Undergraduate Placement Com-mittee chair, who has no knowledge of any progress yet.

What advantages does a cooperative education o! er over an internship?

Dieglio , a junior mechanical engineer-ing major, chose the former because she liked the idea of having a secure job for three rotations without having to re-in-terview or fi nd a new job.

It probably also doesn’t hurt that she’s making roughly $1,500 a week, or $18 to $19 per hour. Few internships pay this much.

According to a 2012 study by the Na-tional Association of Colleges and Em-ployers, paid college freshman interns make an average of $13.91 hour, which increases to an average hourly wage of $17.57 for college seniors.

Re-established in 1987 after falter-ing during the Great Depression, Pitt’s co-op program has expanded to extend to engineering, chemistry and computer science students the opportunity to al-ternate between a semester-long rotation working full-time with a corporation and a semester of classes. While other univer-sities around the country o! er similar co-op programs, Pitt’s doesn’t o! er the same opportunities to social science or humanities students.

Dieglio is one person out of the 50 per-cent of engineering students at Pitt who

Best of the real world: Co-ops provide cash, experience

Elizabeth Lepro Staff Writer

Co-ops 21


Time is a precious commodity when it comes to building up a résumé. College students need to make time for intern-ships, part-time jobs and other work ex-periences. This time is much harder to fi nd as a student athlete.

Student-athletes are worked hard per-petually throughout their college careers. Between classes and practice, games and travel, players try to bolster their resume with sporting experience rather than training in the workforce.

As a volleyball player here at Pitt, I know personally that collegiate athletes rarely have time to factor work experi-ences into their busy schedules. Imag-ine having to go to meetings with your coach, your dietitian and your academic adviser to ensure your eligibility, health and academics are on track. Then you have weightlifting, conditioning, team practice, individual practice — and you

can’t forget about medical treatment, because god forbid you miss your ankle rehab and tear a ligament next week. Ac-cording to Business Insider , the average student-athlete spends 40 hours a week practicing.

It’s not as if these commitments are a light undertaking on a physical level, either. Trudging up the Cathedral steps to the third fl oor to make it to your phi-losophy lecture on time can be physically laborious after a tough morning of squats,

cleans, RDLs and ladder sprints. Then, of course, there’s traveling and

competition. In-season athletes are tra-ditionally not on campus for half of the week that they travel, making the chances of attending all classes that week slim.

There’s hardly any room for a good night’s sleep, much less any work experience. In-stead, the skills gained as varsity athlete will have to su! ce on my résumé

As I’ve never found time to work at a job or internship during my Pitt athletics

career, I got the perspective of someone who did. The softball team’s Morgan Choe worked in the service industry over win-ter breaks in Kirtland, Ohio . Choe actu-ally continued her job into her o" season, but had to sacrifi ce her scarce and pre-cious free weekends to return to work — or else she would have lost her job.

Choe, a junior, reiterated that having an extra professional commitment during the academic year would be extremely demanding in addition to athletics.

“If we were actually [at Pitt] and hav-ing a job, it’d be impossible,” Choe said. “We do lack job experience.”

For the majority of athletes, the absent work experience alongside undergradu-ate studies can be detrimental to landing your dream job after graduation. That being said, the job market isn’t anything collegiate student-athletes can’t handle.

Although, perhaps, lacking an in-ternship or two, an athlete’s resumé can

Building up resume a challenge for student-athletesJessica Boddy

For The Pitt News

Athlete 19

“If we were actually [at Pitt] and having a job, it’d be impossible.”

Morgan Choe


TurkeyLamar Patterson

GermanyBrad Wanamaker

SpainGary McGhee

ItalyGilbert Brown

GGGGGB

IItaGGGGGGGGGGGGGilb

EstoniaTravon Woodall

When Travon Woodall fi nished his Pitt basketball career in 2013, he may not have known where his professional aspirations would take him.

The answer, apparently, is Estonia. Woodall, who graduated from Pitt in

2013, has reportedly signed with Esto-nian team Rakvere Tarvas after playing in two games with Bashkimi Prizren in the Kosovo SuperLeague. Woodall has also spent time playing professionally in Mexico, Greece and Turkey.

Coming out of college, where he aver-aged 11.5 points per game in his senior season, Woodall’s fi rst professional con-tract came with Istanbul BSB in the Turkish league. In 16 international games during the 2013-24 season, Woodall averaged 6.3 points per game.

While Woodall most recently made news for continuing his career abroad, other former Pitt players also have had similar career paths. Players who were not taken in the NBA Draft, yet still want to play professional basketball, often sign contracts to play in less-glamorous European leagues. While the fanfare is not always as prevalent, it still provides players an outlet to follow their dream of professional basketball. Here is a rundown on all the former Panthers since 2011 who are currently playing abroad:

Lamar Patterson (Pitt 2009-14): Tofas Basketball Club (Turkey)

Patterson, who averaged 17.1 points per game his senior season at Pitt, was se-lected with the No. 48 pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee traded that pick to the Atlanta Hawks, who cut Patterson after playing in six summer league games with the team.

“The Turkish league is extremely com-petitive and the team also plays in a great international league,” Patterson said in a statement in August. “My goal absolutely remains for me to play for the Hawks, and this is an important step to help me get there.”

Patterson regularly starts for Tofas and

averages 10.5 points and 2.1 assists per game for the Turkish team.

Gilbert Brown (Pitt 2006-11): Pis-toia Basket 2000 (Italy)

Brown was another Pitt player who moved overseas after a long collegiate career. The small forward averaged 11.3 points per game during his senior season at Pitt, but has had several stops on the way to Italy, where he now plays.

After going undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft, Brown signed a one-year deal with s.Oliver Baskets of Germany, but left after just eight games. Shortly after, he signed with the Boston Celt-

ics, but was cut less than two weeks later.

After several brief stints with teams in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Turkey and Venezuela, he landed in Italy. There, he starts and averages 11.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

Brad Wanamaker (Pitt 2007-11): Brose Baskets (Germany)

Wanamaker starts for Brose Baskets in the German Bundesliga, where he averages 14.8 points and 5.2 assists per game. After going undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft, he spent some time with two clubs in the Ital-ian basketball league before settling in Germany, where he has p l a y e d s i n c e

July.At Pitt, Wanamaker was a 1,000-point

career scorer and averaged 11.7 points per game during his senior season.

Wanamaker’s play with Brose Baskets earned him a place in the BBL All-Star Day

in January. After the game, Wanamaker took the defensive prin-ciples he learned from Pitt h e a d coach Jamie Dixon and said “the

key is defense.”“If our defense stays consistent, we

should be all right,” he added. Gary McGhee (Pitt 2007-2011): CB

PITT GLOBETROTTERSFormer Panthers continuing careers in various countries

Chris Puzia and Dan Sostek The Pitt News Staff

Left, Brad Wanamaker. Top, Travon Woodall. Bottom, Lamar Pat-terson | TNS (left and top) and Pitt News File Photo (bottom)

Foreign 21


include something very unique – inter-collegiate sports. Many athletes at Pitt, including myself, have added this sec-tion to our resumés to give them the extra punch they needed.

Certainly we have gained signifi cant skills through the process of practicing a sport from childhood, getting recruited and continuing to play that sport at a high level — especially Division I — while bal-ancing other important aspects of life.

During my volleyball career at Pitt, I became more committed and responsible after attending practices, workouts, meet-ings and other team functions on a regular basis. Quick thinking and decision-mak-ing skills are an essential part of the game of volleyball, but these skills are also easily transferred to the workplace. Mentoring younger players allowed me to hone my leadership skills, and obviously working together in a team setting is something that comes naturally after being forced to communicate and perform e! ciently under pressure situations during practice and, more importantly, during matches. Those describing a part-time job or in-ternship also list similar abilities on a resume. Showing these skills gained from athletics is most defi nitely comparable to what another applicant would list as gained from work experience.

After all, athletes work hard to get and keep their spot on a collegiate team start-ing at a young age and continuing through the end of their careers. All of the abilities gained along the way are equivalent to those from a job and should be considered as such — let’s hope our future employers think so, too.

ATHLETEFROM PAGE 17

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

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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.

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Matt Reilly


BURGER JOINT BIBLE

Dress Code

pressure

coworkers

customers

Forgetting a nametag or hat results in being sent home for the day, without pay. The same goes for wearing nail polish, too many bracelets or rings, not wearing a belt or having inadequate footwear. The end result? A completely androgynous-looking human being.

Working at the family restaurant carried pressure to perform well and make sure the job was done right. All the crew members — except the bartender and myself — were the owners’ family and friends from Mexico. One server, Jorge, always told me that he works long hours to make money to send to his family in Mexico and saves up money to bring them to the States. Workers like Jorge made me want to do the best job I could.

No matter whether or not I was at the family or the fast food restaurant, I had custom-ers who were polite, customers who were apathetic, customers who were rude and customers who were grateful. Ultimately, the food service industry is a form of retail, and we are there to give the customers the best quality product possible. In the minds of some customers, it seemed that if we failed to provide the best, then we were deemed incompetent. If we succeeded, then we were merely doing our job. Other customers seemed to realize that employees are people, too, and treated us as such.

At the fast food restaurant, I worked with many kids my own age — and we all spoke the same language, too — so I made a few friends. When the drive-thru was slow, my coworker Simon and I would play ring toss with the onions and the condiment bottles. A car once came through the drive-thru with a kangaroo in the backseat, so another coworker took a picture and showed everyone for a week straight

Anna Tomani For The Pitt News

Part-time jobs can be a drag, working long and hard hours for minimal pay, but we can gain more than just a paycheck. I’ve worked at a family-owned and -operated Mexican restaurant, Don Tequila, and several fast food locations, like Wendy’s. If we pay attention to the experiences we have at work, we can learn much about workplace environments and dynamics, life and even ourselves.

COLUMNCOLUMN


Breogán (Spain)After a brief stint with the Golden State

Warriors as an undrafted free agent in the 2013 NBA Summer League, the 6-foot-11 big man trekked across the Atlantic Ocean to begin his European basketball career.

Since 2013, he has played for MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (Germany), CSM Oradea (Romania), and Sigal Prishtina

(Kosovo), before signing with Breogán this past December.

With Breogán this year, McGhee has been a solid contributor in the post, av-eraging 8.5 points per game and leading the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest.

While at Pitt, McGhee really blossomed in his senior season in 2011, becoming a premier post defender in the Big East, and helped vault the Panthers to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament that season. He averaged 6.9 points and 7.7 rebounds that year.

FOREIGNFROM PAGE 18

Sonya Toler, spokeswoman for Pitts-burgh’s Department of Public Safety, con-fi rmed that the department typically does not allow tattoos to peek out of employee uniforms.

“For the most part, [tattoos] cannot be exposed while in uniform,” Toler said. “However, we do have undercover o! cers and [for them] that policy is relaxed.”

Regardless of profession, Trachtenberg said people should consider tattoos’ per-manence. Although tattoos fade over time as new skin cells grow, according to mayo-clinic.org, tattoos are permanent because the needle on the tattoo machine punctures the top layer of skin, so the ink lingers under the skin’s surface.

“The thing is, it is a big deal. It is this thing you’re going to wear for the rest of your life, unless you get laser procedure, which is not necessarily reliable, and it’s expensive,” Trachtenberg said.

TATTOOSFROM PAGE 6

participate in the cooperative educa-tion program, according to Maureen Bar-cic, Engineering Cooperative Education Program’s director.

Dieglio just fi nished her second of three, three-month rotations , working for the Curtiss-Wright EMD Corporation in Cheswick, Pa., which specializes in defense, nuclear power and generators.

Dieglio, who has worked one-on-one with experienced mentors and employ-ees, describes with painstaking detail the process of using 3-D color map images and computer software to measure parts during her co-op rotation and challenges, like working with a precise measurement software called Polyworks, which she hasn’t encountered at Pitt.

This out-of-the-classroom experience is why sta" members like Barcic encour-age engineering majors to visit the co-op o! ce on the fi rst fl oor of Benedum.

She recalled an engineering student from years ago who wrote her a letter. In the letter, the student wrote he consider-ing dropping his engineering major but didn’t because of he co-op program. He’s now the vice president of a major corpora-tion, Barcic said.

Co-ops can help participants develop a sense of pride in applying their classroom knowledge.

For Dieglio, who has three sisters, two of whom still rely on their parents for money, earning money while developing her expertise has helped her — not to mention the fact that Pitt provided her free room and board while working as

CO-OPSFROM PAGE 13

Co-ops 24


Casey Rose was part of the 69 percent of Pitt graduates who left Pitt with degrees and debt in 2013. When he left Pitt and started his first full-time job as a man-ager trainee at a car rental company, his only savings were in an emergency fund he had saved up with the help of his parents.

Ear- ly sav-ings

can reduce the burden of student debt. The average payback of student loans takes 10 years, according to the Con-sumer Financial Protection Bureau. The average debt for a Pitt graduate in 2013 was $34,623, according to a report by the Project on Student Debt. On a na-tional level, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimates that college debt was worth $1.2 trillion.

To reconcile with these figures and pay off either impending or real debt, students and recent graduates must find a way to set aside money.

Setting goals and carefully planning are the keys to saving, according to Jay Sukits, who teaches a personal financial planning course. Don’t allow debts to build up right out of college, Sukits said.

In his course, students set personal finance goals for one year, three years and five years in the future. The goals become more general reaching the five-year horizon. The very first savings goal

is one Rose has already achieved.“Put money into an emergency fund,”

Sukits said. Beyond that, Rose, who now sells in-

surance at State Farm and makes about $30,000 per year, which is about what he made at his first job, said he currently doesn’t have any long-term financial goals except to continue working.

Rose was able to save up his emergen-cy fund, he said, because he limited un-necessary costs when he was in school.

“[In college] it was about paying the bills. But I didn’t save for anything more long-term for after school,” Rose said.

Though he wasn’t saving for the fu-ture, Rose paid his bills and built his emergency fund by limiting his spend-ing at bars while in college. Study Breaks College Media surveyed more than 500 college students and found that 70 per-cent spend money at bars each month.

“If I was going to do a night out, I’d take out maybe $30. I’d leave my card

at home,” Rose said. “I know too many people that have been surprised with a $150 tab the day after [going out].”

Students looking for immediate sav-ings can do so by keeping record of ex-penses, according to Sukits.

“Make a list of your bills,” Sukits said. “See where you’re spending your money and eliminate everything that is unnecessary.”

A full-time hourly wage makes it eas-ier to put away cash, Rose said. Since graduation, he has started saving be-tween $10 and $20 a week. At this rate, and assuming Rose left Pitt with the average $34,623 in debt, he would be debt-free in a little more than 33 years.

Eliminating debt early helps savings down the road. In an unsure job market, a paycheck from the first job out of col-lege will not guarantee financial secu-rity. In 2013, a Bankrate survey found

Balancing budgets: Students reconcile debt, savingsLauren Wilson

Staff Writer

Saving 23

69 percent of Pitt grads left with debt in

2013


that 76 percent of Americans were living paycheck-to-paycheck with very little savings. Many recent college graduates exit the University, Sukits has found, without financial goals. The average overall starting salary for college gradu-ates was $45,473 in 2014, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

“They think, ‘I have a job, I have money, now I’m gonna spend it.’ That is a b a d

a p -

proach that invariably is going to get them in trouble.” Sukits said. “You never get ahead of the game when you’re in that situation.”

In a study called “Money Matters on Campus,” EverFi surveyed 40,000 first year college students and found that 80 percent of students were stressed about debt. For current students who worry about paying student loans after gradu-ation, Sukits recommends immediate payoffs as a part of the first-year stage of the plan.

Nationwide Insurance gathered data and found that average student income, through a combination of part-time jobs and parental assistance, is about $1,200 per month. The College Board found that the average non-tuition nine-month expenses for a college student are $17,410, and the lower budget average is $11,660. Loans are often necessary for simple living expenses because of the low income of the typical college student. Saving is not an easy task, and it means skipping out on expenses and buying only necessities.

To jump the gun on paying off her

debt, India Hunter, an exercise science major at Pitt , works two jobs. Hunter is one of the 71 percent of college un-dergraduates with a job, according to statistics from the 2011 U.S. Census.

She works at the Pitt University Store and at Rivers Club Athletics, a fitness center Downtown, to pay tuition, rent and utilities.

“It can be stressful at times, but it’s a nice feeling knowing I can do it myself,” Hunter said.

Set to graduate in 2015, Hunter is considering her financial future. She saves about $50 a week, she said, hop-ing to pay off her substantial student loans from a five-year program as soon as possible. She also keeps a record of her expenses.

“I document every rent check, every utility bill in my name and keep track of other spending such as school supplies, textbooks, clothing purchases,” Hunter said.

Wheth-er or not students are saving, most consider it important. A 21st Century Insurance study found that 92 of 100 students surveyed say saving money in college should be a priority.

With long-term goals such as buying a car, taking trips and paying off student loans, Hunter’s finances rely heavily on saving as much as possible.

“[Warren Buffett] said ‘Do not save what is left after spending. Spend what is left after saving,’” Hunter said. “That’s what I try to do.”

A 2008 Sallie Mae study found that 84 percent of college students report-ed that they needed more financial management education. The students surveyed reported that general money management, including budgeting, was a topic that interested them .

Sukits’ efforts are helping to fill this

SAVINGFROM PAGE 22

The average debt for a Pitt grad in 2013 was $34,623

On a national level, college debt

was worth $1.2 trillion

80 percent of students are

stressed about debt

Saving 24


knowledge gap. Matt Swan, a Pitt finance major and a

junior in Sukits’ corporate finance class, does not yet have a personal budget but says he will prepare one as part of the course’s curriculum later this semester.

Swan has a work study job at Jump-Start, an early childhood development program and part of PittServes. Accord-ing to Swan, the work-study job program

has been useful for his finances. “It’s also convenient for students to

be able to get a specific amount of in-come throughout the year without hav-ing to work too many part-time hours,” Swan said.

Swan normally prefers to save most of his income, especially because of stu-dent loans.

“My plan after college is just to try and pay off my loans as quickly as possi-ble, because I cannot stand the stress of debt,” Swan said in an email. “Whether or not that all works out, I’ll have to see.”

SAVINGSFROM PAGE 23

an RA. Humanities students could use this

boost. In 2014, the National Association of

Colleges and Employers (NACE) released a compilation of data showing the average starting salary for college graduates in the class of 2013. The data showed that humanities and social science majors were still making the least amount of money

post-graduation, at $38,045. Dieglio, who has a 2.8 GPA, has ben-

efi ted from her co-op experience more than just monetarily.

Dieglio said that during an interview for one of her co-ops, the interviewer asked her what someone close to Dieglio would say about her. Dieglio said her sister would describe her as “determined and self disciplined.”

“You kind of have to be that way, espe-cially to study engineering,” Dieglio said, hesitating slightly before adding, “And do ... all this other stu! .”

CO-OPSFROM PAGE 21

employment guide spring 2015

Documents

known disease

als research

alzheimers disease

debilitating disease

devastating disease

lou center

lou gehrigs disease

new center dedicat