Using phrase ‘hooking Students win grand prize Comic artists Anders Nilsen up’ initiates important in Yahoo! Open All-Stars and Marc Bell talk about discussions on sex • A9 competition • A6 their latest works • B8 FORUM SCITECH PILLBOX

thetartan.org @thetartan October 3, 2011 Volume 106, Issue 6 Carnegie Mellon’s student newspaper since 1906 CMU commemorates Gandhi Jayanti holiday OIE study abroad fair MEERA LAKHAVANI and other various organiza- Junior Staffwriter tions. Sunday’s event included interfaith presentations, cul- offers new programs Throughout the past week, tural performances, and a lec- ZHUOSHI XIE summer program in Greece,” Carnegie Mellon students, fac- ture titled “Gandhi’s Legacy Junior Staffwriter she said. She was worried, ulty, and staff commemorated of ‘Satyagraha’ in the Modern however, that the programs Gandhi Jayanti, a national In- World” by Uma Majmundar, a Almost 60 study abroad would not have courses re- dian holiday that signifi es the published author and Gandhi- programs and foreign colleg- lated to her major. birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, an researcher. Performances es set up tables in the Univer- Many students fi nd study- who was considered to be In- consisted of a patriotic Indian sity Center last Tuesday at the ing abroad a worthwhile dia’s leader during its inde- song sung by students Alim- annual Study Abroad Fair, experience. John Mailley, pendence movement through pon Sinha, a fi rst-year com- allowing students to explore a senior photography and his promotion of non-violent puter science major, and Neel options of going abroad for a graphic and communication means of protest. Nadkarni, a sophomore busi- semester. Multicultural student or- ness administration major. The fair is one of several ganizations OM and Mayur- M. Shernell Smith, coordi- informational events that the “I think SASA presented a series of nator of student development, Offi ce of International Educa- events with themes rooted in also spoke at the celebration. tion (OIE) holds each year to students awareness, service, and refl ec- She noted that “the practices introduce students to study have the tion to honor Gandhi’s legacy. and principles of Gandhi had abroad programs, according opportunity to These events culminated in a an impact on other move- Kathy Lee/Staff to Jaycie Galbraith, the coor- “Mahatma Gandhi Birthday ments, such as the direct in- dinator of study abroad and grow so much Celebration” in the University fl uence that he had on Martin awareness.” She also said that tree planting service initia- international programming. of Pittsburgh’s Frick Fine Arts Luther King Jr. and the Ameri- the point of these events is tive, “Planting the Seeds of “Coming here is a good professionally Auditorium last Sunday. The can civil rights movement.” “about empowering our stu- Non-Violence,” in Frick Park. and easy way to get some and celebration was sponsored by Smith called the series of Gan- dents to engage as well. It is About 20 OM members par- resources quick and sift the Alliance for Humanitar- dhi Jayanti events, which she about meaningful dialogue ticipated, and, in conjunction through them later,” said personally.” ian Initiatives, Nonviolence, helped to plan, “vital to the and engagement.” with Pittsburgh Parks Conser- Alex Kozhemiakov, a sopho- and Spiritual Advancement vibrancy of our campus com- In addition to the lecture vancy members, they planted more majoring in mechanical —Christine Menand (AHINSA), Carnegie Mellon, munity in regard to cultural by Majmundar, OM hosted a about 50 trees. engineering. “The purpose of this ser- Some students found the Coordinator of study vice initiative was to sup- fair overwhelming. H&SS abroad programs port the positive values that fi rst-year Imaobong Essien Gandhi stood for, including said that there was so much peace and non-violence,” said information that she didn’t design double major, is cur- Vishalsai Daswani, the vice know when she would be rently attending Carnegie president of OM and a sopho- able to read all of it. Emily Mellon as an exchange stu- more electrical and computer Khaykin, a fi rst-year in H&SS, dent from New Zealand; he engineering major. felt the same. “It’s been very said that studying abroad Trisha Ambe, a sophomore overwhelming. There are so should be mandatory. “A lot materials science and biomed- many tables with so many of [what I learned] is people ical engineering double ma- different resources available skills and independence,” jor, is a part of hOMies, OM’s to me as a student,” she said. he said. “Traveling by your- planning committee, and “Luckily I can go back to my self is one thing, and getting participated in the tree plant- dorm and unload my bag here and making friends in ing initiative. “It was cold and to look at all my materials, a totally new environment, rainy but still a rewarding ex- narrow down the ones that not knowing anyone, is really perience and good bonding interest me, and come back good to building your charac- activity,” Ambe said. next year when I’m defi nitely ter.” Ambe, who considers Ma- ready.” Christine Menand, a co- Some, like Khaykin, at- ordinator of study abroad Tommy Hofman/Photo Editor tended the fair with the in- programs, agreed. “I think a Buddhist monks of the Baha’i faith recite prayers and readings at Sunday’s ceremony. See BIRTHDAY, A4 tent of exploring their op- lot of it is the independence, tions and simply seeing what creativity, and ability to net- programs were made avail- work and handle yourself in a able through Carnegie Mel- variety of manners,” she said. Town meeting shares updates to master plan lon. Other students, who al- “I think students have the op- ANDY PENG ready knew they would want portunity to grow so much Junior Staffwriter to study abroad, went with professionally and person- specifi c plans in mind. ally.” Katherine Basore, a soph- According to Menand The Carnegie Mellon ad- omore chemistry major, said and Galbraith, an increasing ministration held a town she specifi cally searched for number of students are going meeting last Monday to up- summer abroad programs in abroad, and the fair has at- date the campus and Pitts- Greece. “I’m surprised how tracted more programs every burgh communities on the many people actually have a year. progress of its 10-year master plan. As required by the Pitts- burgh city code, the plan out- lines the university’s course for development and expan- Policymakers discuss sion for the next decade and beyond. The plan, which was accuracy in reporting fi rst made public in March, could lead to new academic SUJAYA BALACHANDRAN Communications Commis- buildings and signifi cant al- Junior Staffwriter sioner Michael Copps were terations to Forbes Avenue. distinguished guests on the Monday’s presentation A panel of media experts, panel. was held in Rangos Ballroom policymakers, and Pittsburgh Joining them were other in the University Center, and it residents engaged in a com- experts: Deborah Acklin, drew around 100 people from munity dialogue last Mon- president and CEO of WQED campus and the greater Pitts- day that covered a variety Multimedia; Marge Krueger burgh area. Bob Reppe, di- of issues concerning quality of Communications Work- rector of Campus Design and of reporting and the state of ers of America; Khari Mosley Facilities Development, stated Tommy Hofman/Photo Editor media in Pittsburgh. Titled of the Urban Green Growth that continuing the growth of Bob Reppe, director of Campus Design and Facilities Development, shares the university’s expansion goals. “Owning Our Airwaves: A Collective and Pittsburgh campus and increasing con- Community Dialogue with United; Jon Peha, professor nectivity were some of the add bicycle lanes, and recon- future, the university plans out that, at this point, this was Media Policymakers,” the at Carnegie Mellon and chief main goals. fi gure intersections to make to create additional paths to just a proposal. The plan will event was held in the Univer- technologist of the Federal The plan details several them safer. Some of the con- Fifth Avenue, as well as walk- be submitted to city council sity Center’s McConomy Au- Communications Commis- projects that include the de- cerns that campus leaders ways to connect the east and this week, where it will start ditorium at 7 p.m. sion; and Chris Ramirez of velopment and expansion of have had are the speed of cars west sides of campus across the months-long process for Panelists discussed re- the National Association of the campus along Craig Street traveling down Forbes and Panther Hollow. approval. A strong character- forms that, if implemented, Hispanic Journalists. and in the Morewood parking the prevalence of jaywalking Travis Rozich, a fi rst-year istic of the plan, Reppe noted, would ensure that Pittsburgh The evening began with a lot. The university has identi- among students. The hope is architecture major, expressed is its fl exibility. “We need to residents have accurate re- listening session as panelists fi ed the Morewood lot as a that the bicycle paths will pro- his praise for the plan. “I’m a be able to adjust so we can ac- porting from a diverse ar- gave their opening remarks. possible location for a new vide a buffer between pedes- fan of how we’re expanding.” commodate the next big thing ray of viewpoints. They also The rest of the event was academic quad, which would trians and vehicles. “I think it’s been mostly that comes over the horizon.” discussed government and dedicated to a Q&A session. include a new Tepper School Reppe told The Tartan last positive,” Horgan said of stu- The plan also includes the corporate accountability in The discussion arose in of Business building. year that a main objective is to dents’ reaction to the plan. addition of a new recreation promoting policies that foster light of the FCC’s 2010 An- One project that is in “embrace Forbes as the main Many residents who were and fi tness area to the Univer- these viewpoints. Diversity nual Ownership Review. the works right now is a street of campus.” As Carnegie present, however, were dis- sity Center, additions to Mar- in viewpoints among women Beginning in 2002, media 75,000-square-foot nano-bio- Mellon expands northward, pleased with what they saw garet Morrison Carnegie Hall and racial minorities was ownership reviews have oc- medical energy research facil- the university aims to break as a proposal to reduce traffi c and Hamburg Hall, and reno- also of paramount concern to curred every four years, pay- ity. In his presentation, Reppe down the aforementioned lanes in an already congested vations to Skibo Gym. panelists. ing particular attention to called it the “most real” of all barriers to student safety. street. Anne Curtis, a resident Currently, only the nano- The panel featured mod- media consolidation. Current the projects proposed. Ralph Horgan, associate on Unger Street, worried that biomedical facility is being erator Matt Wood, policy deliberations center around Students can also expect to vice provost of Campus De- these changes would aggra- planned and worked on. Ac- director of Free Press, a na- concerns of cross-ownership see changes to Forbes Avenue sign, said one of the main vate traffi c problems and ig- cording to Reppe, the imple- tional nonpartisan organiza- arrangements that propo- in the near future. The plan goals of this master plan is to nore the problem of students mentation of the other proj- tion that advocates media nents argue would improve proposes to reduce vehicular “increase connectivity among jaywalking. ects would be contingent on reforms. Congressman Mike traffi c to one lane each way, current real estate.” In the Reppe was quick to point funding. Doyle (D–Pa.) and Federal See POLICY, A4 A2 « thetartan.org/news The Tartan » October 3, 2011

CAMPUS NEWS IN BRIEF Statistically Student government surveys Dietrich gives $125 million on-campus wireless signal to University of Pittsburgh Speaking Carnegie Mellon’s student phy came to an undergrad William S. Dietrich, the mother, Marianna Brown Di- Founded in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service, Netfl ix government has created a Senate meeting,” Imbrogno philanthropist and oil entre- etrich. quickly expanded into the market of streaming video survey to identify wireless said, “and I asked him point- preneur who recently gifted In a statement, Dietrich and developed a large customer base. However, in re- connectivity problem areas blank, ‘Will the internet work Carnegie Mellon $265 mil- said, “As a graduate who per- cent weeks, Netfl ix has become the subject of contro- on campus. The results of the on campus next year?’ and he lion, has donated a $125 mil- sonally benefi tted from my versy after the company announced price changes and survey will be made available said yes.” But Imbrogno said lion fund to the University of own studies at Pitt, I want internal restructures aimed to discourage use of its DVD to Computing Services, in the that the survey results, which Pittsburgh. to ensure that the university service. With customers facing a dilemma, here are hopes that Carnegie Mellon’s total at least 185 so far, indi- Dietrich holds a Ph.D. can continue to provide edu- some statistics on Netfl ix: wireless network will be im- cate that the internet is not from Pitt, and is a member cational opportunities of the proved. working to students’ satisfac- of the university’s Board highest quality to its under- Jason Imbrogno, the pres- tion. of Trustees. According to graduate and graduate stu- ident of the Graduate Stu- Imbrogno has already met Bloomberg, the fund, like dents.” dent Assembly (GSA), said with representatives from the one that Dietrich gave The Pittsburgh Post-Ga- that student government is Computing Services, whom to Carnegie Mellon, will be- zette reports that Dietrich’s 24.6 million particularly concerned be- he said were not aware that come active upon Dietrich’s donation is more than double cause of the recent $300 in- so many students were hav- death. the amount of any of Pitt’s Netfl ix subscribers as of June 2011 crease in Carnegie Mellon’s ing issues with the campus A resolution will be intro- previous one-time donations. technology fee, nearly double wireless network. duced to rename Pitt’s School The Pittsburgh Post-Ga- what it had been in recent He urged any students of Arts and Sciences the Ken- zette also reports that it is the years. According to an email who experience trouble neth P. Dietrich School of 10th-largest private gift ever sent out by the GSA, Carnegie with the internet on cam- Arts and Sciences, after Diet- given to a public university in Mellon received $2.4 million pus to fi ll out the survey at rich’s father, just as Carnegie the United States. from the tech fee this year. bit.ly/cmuwireless, or to con- Mellon’s College of Humani- 22.2% “Last year after the tech tact Computing Services via ties and Social Sciences has Compiled by percent of all U.S. broadband traffi c consisting of fee got raised, Michael Mur- email at advisor@andrew. been renamed after Dietrich’s MADELYN GLYMOUR Netfl ix streaming CAUSE launches lecture series with reception 19% the price percent shares in Netfl ix dropped after the announcements of restructuring and rate increases 60% percent of price increases for Netfl ix subscribers who use both DVD and streaming services

Sources: www.wired.com, www.money. cnn.com, www.businessweek.com, www. Compiled by usatoday.com BRENT HEARD

Lecture Preview Brain Injury from Two Rethinking the Threat Perspectives from Brain Scans in the Tuesday, Oct. 4 Courtroom at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6 Rangos 3 at 4:45 p.m. Carnegie Mellon profes- Baker Hall A53 sor of mathematical sciences Adina Roskies will present Deborah Brandon and her the arguments for and against neuropsychologist, Dr. Wil- the admission of brain scans liam J. Hawthorne III, will as evidence in the courtroom, Jessica Sochol/Staff discuss the path to recovery explaining the reasons that The Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) launched its 2011–12 Speakers Series with an opening reception in from brain injury. Schatz Dining Hall last Friday. The speakers series aims to go beyond the Carnegie Mellon campus and create ongoing communication between the some people believe they university and the larger Pittsburgh community on issues of history, race, and social change. Brandon is a survivor of could be misleading, and the brain injury and has had possible implications of new three brain surgeries; Haw- arguments. thorne has aided in her reha- Roskies is a professor of bilitation. They will describe philosophy at Dartmouth Campus Crime & Incident Reports brain injury recovery from College, specializing in the the perspective of patient and philosophy of science. She Public Intoxication was on the fi eld. Offi cers are Elevator Entrapment Carnegie Mellon Police and doctor. has published many journal Sept. 22, 2011 investigating the incident. Sept. 24, 2011 EMS were able to aid the stu- articles and book chapters on dent. Pittsburgh fi rst respond- neuroscience. Carnegie Mellon Police Developments in Field Carnegie Mellon Police and ers arrived and transported Pittsburgh EMS were sum- Recovered Cell Phone and FMS were called to assist of Electron and Related the patient to UPMC Presby- moned to the athletic desk Sept. 23, 2011 two ETC students who had terian Hospital for treatment. Transfers: Early and Scaling Machine in the University Center on a been trapped in the elevator. Carnegie Mellon Police Recent Learning to the Internet report of an intoxicated male They were removed from the took possession of a Nokia cell Tuesday, Oct. 4 Thursday, Oct. 6 who was passed out nearby. elevator in less than 30 min- Theft phone with distinctive stickers at 4:45 p.m. at 4:30 p.m. Offi cers located two male stu- utes. Sept. 27, 2011 and foreign script that was left Mellon Institute Auditorium Gates Center 8102 dents who had been drinking. on a shuttle bus. The phone University police respond- After being assessed by EMS, Nobel laureate and chem- Alex Smola will lecture has not been claimed by the ed to the University Center af- it was determined that one of Disorderly Conduct ist Rudolph A. Marcus will on techniques for dealing owner yet. ter receiving a report of a theft the males would need to be Sept. 25, 2011 discuss the history of work with models of situations that had just occurred. The transported to UPMC Presby- in electron transfer, and the with both observed and un- Offi cers responded to a offi cers located an employee terian Hospital. Both males direction in which the fi eld is observed variables. He will Suspicious Vehicle report of disorderly conduct. in the Merson Courtyard with were cited for underage drink- headed, as part of the bien- discuss computer algorithms Sept. 24, 2011 A group of males were mak- a male who matched the sus- ing. nial John A. Pople Lectures that deal with problems such ing inappropriate remarks A Carnegie Mellon offi cer pect’s description. The victim in Theoretical and Computa- as classifi cation, recommen- to passing females and were on patrol observed a pickup was brought to the scene and tional Chemistry. dation systems, topic model- displaying signs promoting Theft Report truck parked at the top of positively identifi ed the male Marcus is a professor of ing, and user profi ling. marijuana use. The group was whom he stated had just sto- Sept. 22, 2011 Frew Extension. The driver chemistry at the California Smola’s research is fo- gone upon offi cers’ arrival, initially lied to the offi cer re- len his wallet that contained Institute of Technology; he is cused on methods for es- however they are working University Police respond- garding the reason for his be- $100 in cash. The suspect also a member of the Interna- timation. He received his on identifying those involved ed to a theft report. A student ing on campus; he later stated was arrested, processed, and tional Academy of Quantum Ph.D. from the University of through Student Life. reported that he was on the that he was homeless and liv- transported to the Allegheny Molecular Science. Marcus Technology Berlin, and has fi eld at Gesling Stadium with ing in his truck. The male was County Jail. The male who received his Ph.D. from Mc- published and edited several a group of friends. The victim identifi ed and checked for was with the suspect was Gill University, and his re- books on machine learning. Medical Assistance reported that he placed his outstanding warrants. He was not charged, but was given a search has focused on chemi- Sept. 26, 2011 wallet and cell phone in a pile issued a warning and directed warning and told not to return cal reaction rate theory. In Compiled by of belongings of the group in to stay off of campus property. There was a report of a stu- to campus property. The wal- 1992, he received the Nobel MADELYN GLYMOUR the east end zone and his dent having a seizure in the let and cash were both recov- Prize in chemistry. items were stolen while he College of Fine Arts building. ered.

WEATHER Corrections & administration, not just Clarifi cations university advancement. In the articles “Annie In the article “Student sprinkles love across Carn- 50/50 organizations to be re- egie Mellon” and “ imbursed donation fees” discovers humor in cancer (News, Sept. 26), the ad- struggle” (Pillbox, Sept. ministrative fee was insti- 26), both events discussed tuted to recover admin- in the articles were spon- istrative infrastructure sored by Activities Board. TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY costs for many services High / Low High / Low High / Low High / Low High / Low provided by the central 62 / 48 68 / 46 69 / 48 71 / 50 75 / 54 Source: www.weather.com

A4 « thetartan.org/news The Tartan » October 3, 2011 ‘Owning Our Airwaves’ panel discusses issues of diversity in media POLICY, from A1 pursuant in its obligations to lieves that, to enrich our soci- not just a nice idea. It’s federal ed to make major changes to cut the federal budget, will ety, the media must report on law, which requires the FCC to “Free Press the media ownership rules to journalism with enhanced also determine the budget for and portray diverse ideas or avoid excessive concentration help a few big special interests resources. Critics argue that public media. opinions,” he said. of licenses and to disseminate believes that, buy up more and more inde- such arrangements reduce Each panelist started the According to Wood, “En- licenses among a wide variety to enrich our pendent local outlets.” staff and limit the number of discussion with individual suring diversity of voices on of applicants.” Copps combated Powell’s voices in the media market- opening remarks. the air specifi cally by making He argued that the FCC society, the efforts through town-hall place. The newly formed Con- Wood initiated a discussion broadcast licenses available to has not fulfi lled that man- media must meetings held by members of gressional “super- committee,” about diversity. “Free Press be- women and people of color is date. Despite a growth in mi- Congress and citizen groups. nority populations, he noted report on “Three million people wrote that FCC license fi gures have to Congress and the FCC say- stayed fl at or have started to and portray ing ‘no’ to Chairman Powell’s drop for these minorities. diverse ideas or rules — thumbs down,” he The notion of giving cer- said. He added that Congress tain communities a voice in re- opinions.” overturned Powell’s rules, porting was a common theme. and the Third Circuit Court The panelists argued that a —Matt Wood in Pennsylvania deemed the truly free press is dependent laws defi cient. Copps, lauding upon local involvement and Policy director of these efforts by ordinary citi- increased democratization. Free Press zens, declared, “A movement Doyle advocated empow- was born.” ering local low-power radio Throughout the proceed- stations throughout the U.S. to apply for a license to run a ings, panel members discussed He championed the bipartisan radio station,” Doyle said. their concerns about an in- Local Community Radio Act, Copps also endorsed the crease in media consolidation which encourages the forma- notion of “a media that fosters and a decrease in diversity. tion of low-power community localism, diversity, and compe- These two threads permeated radio stations in cities, towns, tition.” Drawing from his own the discussion about freedom and suburbs across the coun- experience, Copps explained of the press, which Mosley de- Tommy Hofman/Photo Editor try. “Finally, anyone with the how the FCC under Commis- clared as “the hallmark of our Michael Copps (left) and Mike Doyle (right) discuss their concerns over a lack of diversity in the media. passion and drive will be able sioner Michael Powell “want- democracy.” Students, community commemorate Gandhi BIRTHDAY, from A1 major and OM president, OM puts on a variety of is the Diwali Garba on Oct. 14 Get experienceeririence in thetth fi eld. noted the importance of com- other events throughout the in St. Nicholas’ Greek Ortho- hatma Gandhi to be her per- memorating Gandhi. “His year; the next upcoming event dox Church. Report breakingbreareakakinking news. sonal role model and hero, message is so strong and pow- also pointed out, “This service erful that we must take mo- event and the other events for ments of our day to celebrate [email protected]@thetarta Gandhi Jayanti successfully with the CMU community the made students aware of Gan- power of non-violence and dhi’s teachings, which is why perseverance,” he said. it is important to continue to The Gandhi Jayanti events celebrate his life.” seemed to have an effect on Other events held through- students. Senior economics out the week included passing and Chinese double major out slices of a “Happy Birth- Crystal Wray saw the “Be the day Gandhi” cake and “Be the Change” wristbands and said Change” wristbands, as well that it inspired her to try to as selling Gandhi T-shirts. Cu- become a more selfl ess per- linArt also stepped in to cel- son. “I want to get more in- ebrate, adding “Gandhi spe- volved with volunteer work,” cials” on menus throughout she said. “Remembering Gan- campus dining locations. dhi and everything he stood Archit Kumar, a junior in- for simply empowered me to formation systems and social take more time to think about Tommy Hofman/Photo Editor and decision sciences double others.” M. Shernell Smith refl ects on Gandhi’s legacy at last Sunday’s events.

A6 « thetartan.org/scitech The Tartan » October 3, 2011

HEALTH TALK CMU students win Yahoo! contest Metabolism: Energy processes BENJAMIN MADUEME that would fi ll a niche between had a logo and [our app] Staffwriter two existing fi le-sharing tools, looked nice. Chong did most NIHARIKA SINGH ation by simplifying the ideas with a lower BMR. Does this Dropbox and Google Docs. of the front-end, I did a little Staffwriter involved. mean metabolism is in some Four Carnegie Mellon un- “There’s no obvious choice bit of the front-end, and Amos The Basal Metabolic Rate way responsible for one’s dergraduates have won the for when you just need a cou- did most of the back-end. My Many weight loss adver- (BMR) is what most people weight? fi rst-ever Yahoo! Open Hack ple of fi les shared,” Hayes said main job was presenting.” tisements use the word “me- are thinking of when they talk Not exactly. Weight All-Stars competition with via email. “Like if you want In contrast to the previ- tabolism.” Several weight loss about metabolism in connec- change is largely controlled Ruum, a fi le-sharing web ap- to work on just a few [docu- ous HackU tournaments, this methods claim to be able to tion to weight loss. The BMR by the body’s calorie balance. plication they created. Com- ments, pictures, videos] ... competition placed a huge change a person’s metabo- is a measure of how much If people consume more calo- puter science majors Chong maybe not editing them, but emphasis on the quality of the lism to help them lose weight energy a body uses just for its ries than they burn, they gain Xie and Amos Yuen, electrical just communicating about presentations each team put faster and more effi ciently. daily upkeep. Every human weight. If they burn more cal- and computer engineering them. That was sort of how on, in addition to the quality It’s not just weight loss adver- body needs to perform sev- ories than they consume, they major Arjuna Hayes, and art we built the idea.” of the apps they wrote. tisements that associate me- eral metabolic tasks in a day lose weight. While part of this major Ethan Gladding were This idea, after many “I had to present to the tabolism with weight; people just to stay alive, like ensuring burning of calories can be due awarded the grand prize of hours and lines of coding lan- Yahoo! judges,” Hayes said. often credit their metabo- circulation of blood, produc- to BMR, it is also affected by $10,000 for their efforts. guages such as PHP, HTML5, “Once we got into the top lisms with preventing weight ing and releasing hormones, one’s level of physical activity. Their journey started in JQuery, and MySQL, evolved six, I had to give a 90-second gain, even if they don’t have building and repairing cells, Consuming the right the fall semester of 2009, into Ruum. presentation to the business- the best eating habits. What controlling body temperature, amount of food is also impor- when Yahoo! held “HackU” “What we envisioned people. The idea was that the is metabolism, then, and is and making sure all systems tant to maintaining a healthy tournaments, open to any col- Ruum as was a fast, easy-to- project had to be a little more it responsible for a person’s in the body are functioning. weight. Many fad diets try to lege student, on college cam- use fi le sharing tool,” Hayes business-oriented.... It had to weight? These tasks happen unceas- make people believe they can puses around the world. The said. “We marketed it as a tool be [marketable].” According to the U.S. Na- ingly and are responsible for lose weight by increasing their rules were simple: Within a for publishers to share docu- So will we in fact see Ruum tional Library of Medicine, a large percentage of daily metabolism either through 24-hour time constraint, the ments with their editors. In come to the marketplace any- “metabolism refers to all phys- energy consumption for most eating at special times or by participants had to create a like three seconds fl at, you time soon? Hayes regrets the ical and chemical processes in people. adding special ingredients to revolutionary computer ap- can create a Ruum, link other fact that he and his team- the body that convert or use According to the Mayo their food. However, it is im- plication using Yahoo! tech- people to the Ruum, and drag mates’ busy schedules have energy.” This defi nition makes Clinic, the BMR stays fairly portant to know that BMRs, nologies and open applica- and drop fi les really easily into delayed any extensive work it clear that metabolism is not constant for most people, except in extreme conditions tion programming interfaces Ruum.... There’s a live chat, on the project. a single entity or process in- and can be responsible for or due to disease, are stable (APIs). The same team of so you can chat with people “I wish I had more time side a body responsible for up to three-fourths of daily and are unlikely to be greatly four (fi rst-years, at the time) about the fi les.” to work on it,” Hayes said. weight control; instead, it is calorie consumption. Differ- affected by tactics like this. won the CMU HackU tourna- Of course, Ruum wasn’t “We’re going to talk to Yahoo! the group of all processes re- ent groups of people have The body has a self-regulating ment with FlickrThrough, an the only impressive applica- about possibly incubating the lated to energy conversion different BMRs: large people, mechanism and is not likely app that takes a Flickr search tion at the competition. Other project.... We made it because and use. There could be, in people with developed mus- to change its BMR greatly. and generates a photo mosaic interesting projects included a there wasn’t anything there, fact, thousands of metabolic cles, young people, and males People aiming to change their comprised of relevant search photo-essay generator for con- and it does fi ll a gap. It would processes occurring in your generally have a higher BMR. weight should focus on the results. suming online news articles, a be something I’d like to see body right now, according to A person with a higher BMR food they consume and the Two years later, the group media player with a song se- implemented and hopefully KidsHealth.org. will burn more calories in the physical activity they get if found themselves at the Ya- lection mechanism based on we can actually do that.” All of these processes can course of a day than someone they want to see change. hoo! Open Hack All-Stars the current context (time of Yahoo! held another be split into two broad cat- competition in New York City, day, GPS location, etc.), and HackU tournament at Carne- egories: anabolism and ca- which pitted the winners of an iPad app to interact with gie Mellon this past weekend, tabolism. Anabolism refers to past HackU events from all content playing on a SmartTV. from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, and the processes that create new around the world against each Refl ecting on how outstand- will be hosting the Open Hack cells and tissues in the body other. The groups were sub- ing the programs of other All-Stars competition again by putting together smaller ject to the same constraints, participants were, Hayes ap- next year. proteins and molecules, but their app also had to solve preciated the effort he and “Hack Days are the perfect while catabolism refers to a problem faced by the digital his team put in to obtain this venue to create cool and in- the destructive processes of media industry. After much monumental achievement. novative apps,” Yuen said in the body; they break down deliberation, the students, “We couldn’t have done a Carnegie Mellon press re- large carbohydrate and fat whose offi cial team name this missing any one of us,” lease. “The opportunity to fo- molecules in food to provide throughout the competition Hayes said. “Ethan was our cus on a singular problem and energy to cells. In short, me- was “D1W,” eventually settled secret weapon since no one bring a solution to life is what tabolism is responsible for on creating a fi le-sharing tool else really had an artist. We hacking is all about.” collecting energy from the food people eat and using it to keep them alive. Weight loss is not really an integral func- tion of metabolism, but many people have made this associ- Justin Lin/Staff

SCITECH BRIEFS Twitter study Twins give clues to Company converts shows trends in schizophrenia and discarded plastic people’s moods bipolar disorder into crude oil

Sociologists at Cornell Researchers at King’s Col- Oregon-based startup Agi- University published a study lege London are one step clos- lyx claims that it has devel- this week analyzing mood er to drawing a link between oped a system of converting rhythms among average peo- environmental factors and discarded plastic into crude ple, pulling their data from gene activity in people with oil. The process consists of Twitter. They examined mes- schizophrenia and bipolar dis- heating and vaporizing the sages posted between Febru- order. The scientists looked at plastic and condensing the ary 2008 and January 2010 22 pairs of identical twins in vapors onto a pool of hydro- by more than two million which one twin in each pair carbons that can further be people in 84 countries. Not was diagnosed with schizo- converted into diesel or other surprisingly, the researchers phrenia or bipolar disorder. fuel types. The company says found people’s overall moods All twins were found to have that about a gallon of gas can to be at their lowest at the be- identical DNA, but showed be produced per seven to 10 ginning of the workweek and exterior differences on the pounds of plastic. A proto- highest in the weekend. Dur- gene sites that dictate how type of the system has been ing the day, moods peaked active they are. Similar genes in development for about 18 around breakfast time and with exterior differences have months, and the company right after dinner, with a dip been previously found in lab hopes to start selling com- between 3 and 4 p.m., re- mice, presumably infl icted by mercial systems in about nine gardless of whether the day environmental factors such as months. was during the workweek or stressful events and diet. weekend. Source: The New York Times Source: New Scientist Source: Science

City cyclists at air- 3-D mammograms Fewer asteroids fell quality risk reduce recalls than expected

Research recently present- Magee-Women’s Hospi- A NASA space telescope ed at the European Respirato- tal of UPMC has begun using recently surveyed the sky for ry Society’s annual congress 3-D technology for mammo- nearby lurking asteroids and in Amsterdam suggests that grams. This comes as a result found fewer than expected. cyclists in large cities are at an of an effi ciency study reveal- This study, which NASA is increased risk of lung injury. ing that the technology would calling the most accurate cen- This is due to the higher lev- reduce false recalls — when sus of near-Earth asteroids to els of black carbon, or soot, patients return for additional date, suggests that asteroid- in large cities. The results of tests — by 30 percent. The induced hazards to Earth the study, which observed hospital says that recalls oc- may be signifi cantly less than amounts of soot in the lungs cur about 10 percent of the previously thought. In addi- of cyclists and pedestrians, time, but only a small fraction tion to knowing the location showed that cyclists had over of those recalls actually have of 90 percent of the largest, two times more soot in their cancer. Most recalls occur be- potentially mass-extinction- lungs than pedestrians. The cause of overlapping tissue causing asteroids, the study scientists suggested that this that is normal, so generating also suggests there are only could be due to a combina- a 3-D image allows for this about 19,500 mid-size aster- tion of factors; cyclists have a problem to be largely allevi- oids, almost 50 percent fewer higher inhalation rate and are ated. than scientists had expected. closer in proximity to car ex- haust than pedestrians. Source: Pittsburgh Post- Source: NPR Gazette Source: Science Daily Compiled By DANIEL TKACIK October 3, 2011 « The Tartan thetartan.org/scitech » A7 ‘Ideas for Good’ competition repurposes technology for greater good ELLIS ROBINSON working prototypes. Deeplocal electricity fans powered by nal thought was to guide the ligently guide the ladder from board and mouse that use Junior Staffwriter enlisted the expertise of Carn- the Prius solar panel helped ladder without human in- a distance. touchscreen sensor and vi- egie Mellon’s Robotics Insti- rapidly remove cooking emis- volvement, but we scrapped The other winning tech- sualization technology from Toyota conducted an ex- tute, asking robotics professor sions from a temporary hut that,” said Carnegie Mellon nologies included the “Power Toyota steering wheels. periment in democracy last Illah Nourkbakhsh, research constructed outside of the engineer Joshua Schapiro, Plant Gym,” which employs “Prototyping Weekend was November, when the company engineer Josh Schapiro, and Gates Hillman Complex. who was a part of the project. the hybrid drive system to reminiscent of a science fair presented the following chal- a handful of students for ad- Near the hut, a fi re truck The logistics of borrowing a harness energy from weight for grown ups,” wrote the au- lenge: If we gave you Toyota ditional help. was parked outside of the fi re truck from the Pittsburgh and cardio equipment and thors of the Deeplocal blog, re- technologies, how could you, “Ideas are everywhere,” Gates garage, where design- Fire Department made fully turn it into electricity; “Build a fl ecting on the weekend. The the public, imagine using Martin said in a promotional ers and engineers used the automating the system an un- Better Bicycle Helmet,” which weekend was one of jubila- them in a way that would ben- video for Ideas for Good, “but concept of Toyota’s Advanced realistic goal for the weekend. applied an injury-simulation tion and creativity, especially efi t humanity? when you take an idea into Parking Guidance System Instead, the team focused on software model to identify for the winners of the contest, The competition Ideas for the physical world you’re go- (APGS) to create a kind of collecting a robust variety of weaknesses in existing bike who were fl own in to be a part Good was born in just this ing to learn a lot more about ‘smart’ fi re ladder. “The origi- data (e.g. infrared images, helmet design; and lastly, an of the event. “Carnegie Mellon way, seeking plans to creative- it.” This was the intention be- temperature, and air quality), ergonomic computer key- is the perfect place [where] ly repurpose fi ve different hind the early June weekend from a custom sensor-array. people with completely differ- Toyota technologies. Submis- of frenetic prototyping on This information was then re- ent disciplines can all come to- sions lasted until the end of Carnegie Mellon’s campus. layed to a computer gether with crazy ideas, work February 2011, at which time “You’re going to learn some where a fi refi ght- it out in a weekend,” said a panel of gurus from around of the things you might have er could safely Nourkbakhsh in the Ideas the country whittled down the otherwise taken for granted,” and intel- for Good promo video. pool to fi ve fi nalists for each he said. Three weeks ago, cmu. technology. After public vot- “Pure Air,” the winning edu/ideas-for-good was ing online in April, the compa- submission by inventor launched. And since ny selected a winning submis- Tim Witmer from Houlton, Toyota has donated sion for each technology. Maine, repurposed Toyota’s the rights to the win- In April, however, this na- Solar Powered Ventilation sys- ning ideas to Carne- tional competition took on a tem (which normally adorns gie Mellon, as well as more local Pittsburgh fl avor. the Prius) to reduce cook stove $100,000, stay tuned Deeplocal, a Pittsburgh- emissions in confi ned spaces. for what comes next based design company formed Woodstoves and meat-cook- with Ideas for Good. by Carnegie Mellon alumnus ing, especially when confi ned Nathan Martin, indicated on in huts or tents, are potent Twitter in April that it was sources of ultrafi ne particu- teaming up with Toyota on late emissions, which are Ideas for Good to transform linked to both asthma the winning designs into and mortality. Low- Adelaide Cole/Art Editor A8 « thetartan.org/forum The Tartan » October 3, 2011

FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD New Facebook changes make experience awful locations on the screen, allowing for overwhelming spam attacks like the one I experienced. I can no longer simply scroll through my news feed at my own leisurely pace; these fea- tures make that nearly impossible. EMILY DOBLER Not surprisingly, this was not what Facebook executives intended Many of you probably know that to do with the new changes. the Carnegie Mellon sororities host- “Now, news feed will act more ed their annual Formal Membership like your own personal newspa- Recruitment (FMR) this past week. per. You won’t have to worry about Would you like to know how I knew missing important stuff, said Mark it was FMR week? Through Face- Tonkelowitz, Facebook’s engineer- book, of course! — through multiple ing manager, in a Huffi ngton Post excited wall posts and exclamatory article. “All your news will be in a status updates incessantly stream- single stream with the most interest- ing through my news feed. ing stories featured at the top. If you Throughout the week (especially haven’t visited Facebook for a while, on bid night), my Facebook would the fi rst things you’ll see are top pho- update every two seconds with a tos and statuses posted while you’ve Adelaide Cole/Art Editor new post about how great FMR been away. They’re marked with an was and how much my friends and easy-to-spot blue corner.... If you Administration communicates master plan effectively acquaintances “<3” their new so- check Facebook more frequently, rorities or members. Quite frankly, it you’ll see the most recent stories The new Institutional Master Plan the master plan implementation. by community members at several was a bit much. Don’t get me wrong, fi rst.” 2012 is a great example of how the With an increase in students over of the public master plan meetings, I’m not blaming the sororities for Obviously Tonkelowitz and the administration can effectively com- the past several years, more housing where the administration fi elded this attack; I’m blaming the new other Facebook employees are try- municate with the campus commu- is a must. We are also a bit worried questions and listened to local opin- Facebook. ing to make their website the No. 1 nity and the community at large. about the proposed buildings on the ions on the plan. Of course, not all of Yes, Mark Zuckerberg and com- social media site, and consider many Planned over 18 months, the master Morewood parking lot. This area is the initiatives described in the mas- pany initiated some minor facade new and similar sites serious compe- plan details the way the university the long-time home of Spring Car- ter plan will come to fruition, but if changes to their website once again. tition. However, despite the number wants to expand over the next 10 nival, a Carnegie Mellon tradition it is as successful as the last master They introduced a sidebar that of social networking sites popping years. With over 80 public meetings that alumni, students, faculty, staff, plan, the community and students streams live updates, a top story up on the internet scene, Facebook on different parts of the plan that and the Oakland community all en- should be well aware of the proposed feature, and a subscribe feature. set the standard by which all other included campus and community joy. We hope the administration has changes. It seems that the company is try- sites are measured. Throwing so input, the university has made the thought about a suitable place where The administration should be ing to encapsulate features from many features, applications, special master plan and the decisions lead- Carnival could be moved and made congratulated for a well-thought- every popular social media and additions, and games onto the site ing up to it quite transparent. Grant- provisions to keep one of Carnegie out, transparent piece of documen- networking site and squish them will not make it any more competi- ed, the university is required to sub- Mellon’s most important events in- tation that lets the Carnegie Mellon into Facebook. You could credit the tive or any more appealing for that mit a master plan to the city every 10 tact. community know what direction the live-stream sidebar to Twitter and matter. To be honest, Facebook years, but it is wise that the univer- Even more important are the pro- university is headed in. We hope that the subscription feature that allows doesn’t need all that fl uff. sity recognizes that the input of the posed alterations to Forbes Avenue, this master plan is a sign that the uni- you to choose what you share to People fi rst swarmed to Face- community is paramount to passing which include converting the road versity continues this trend of good Google+. book to connect with people across such a plan. from four lanes into two with add- communication well into the future. As of now, Facebook’s new lay- the world; they did not sign up to We believe that the administra- ed bike lanes. Although Oakland is out and features are just messy. The play Farmville or take quizzes about tion should prioritize the building known for its high density of bikers, Patrick Gage Kelley recused himself main news feed does not update or which Disney princess they are. The of certain structures and amenities we wonder if this change might im- from this article because of his involve- refresh as quickly anymore; focus company should keep that in mind included in the plan. Housing should pede traffi c, buses, and emergency ment as a member of the Master Plan seems to have shifted to the smaller the next time it tries to introduce be one of the topmost priorities of vehicles. This sentiment was echoed Steering Committee. version that follows you as you scroll more changes. up and down the page. These recent additions are just annoying. Updates Emily Dobler (edobler@) is News Propel Pittsburgh commission must prove usefulness and posts now show up in multiple editor for The Tartan. How can a handful of young work to improve voter turnout in the adults who have already decided to adults fi x the city of Pittsburgh? 18–30 demographic. It could focus stay and live in Pittsburgh, or the This question could be answered on transportation issues that plague majority of students who are count- by the mayor’s Propel Pittsburgh the city: Port Authority’s unreliabil- ing the weeks until they can gradu- Revolving doors are unsafe Commission, a group “dedicated to ity, the lack of taxis, transportation ate and leave the city? We hope that meeting the concerns and needs of diffi culties between core neighbor- the members of the commission ZANETA GRANT in the face or caught in the door. the City of Pittsburgh’s young adults hoods such as the South Side, Law- work to survey those who are leaving Staffwriter If you have a heavy backpack, you and young professionals.” Formed in renceville, and Friendship. It could and have left the city to better under- probably want to avoid these doors 2007, the commission has been de- focus on a lack of communication stand what others are looking for. There is one thing that always altogether and save yourself from scribed as unwieldy, and many claim between the city and its youth, pos- While we call the effectiveness of seems to plague students here at letting them clamp onto your back- it has not lived up to its potential. Af- sibly preventing issues like the 2009 this commission into question, we Carnegie Mellon when they attempt pack, jerking you to an embarrass- ter being inactive for 10 months due tuition tax proposal. recommend that its members focus to enter a building — getting stuck ing halt. Then of course, there is the to lack of rehiring after the members It is currently unclear if the people on economically feasible, short-term in a revolving door. Though these surprising “after-smack” of the door of the previous commission fulfi lled who will serve on this commission solutions to the city’s issues (two to doors can be annoying and haz- hitting the back of your book bag, their terms, the group has been are the best for the job. The mayor fi ve year plans). In this way they can ardous, many times it is humorous causing a shock and possibly caus- downsized from 35 to 13 members, has not announced if any college stu- deliver tangible results that prove watching others struggle in and out ing you to stumble a bit. leaving us to wonder how effective dents from universities like Carnegie they are of use to the city. of buildings. I absolutely loathe the revolving the new commission will be. Mellon, Pitt, or Dusquene will be se- Their main responsibility in the Perhaps it is the immature part door “conveniently” located imme- There are most defi nitely issues lected to serve on the commission. It coming years should be to prove to of me that likes the entertainment diately in front of a few entrance that a group like this, if used prop- is also unclear who the mayor is tar- their peers, and the city, that they are these doors provide. Witnessing steps at Margaret Morrison. Not erly, could address. The group could geting with this commission: young valuable and effective. someone getting their backpack or only is this door annoying, but it has clothes stuck is pretty funny. Then the potential to cause accidents. En- there are always those people who tering through this door is not near- Wall Street protest draws brutal response from NYPD insist on rushing through them, ly as dangerous as exiting through pushing the door with great force it. Each time I pass through, I imag- The most recent Wall Street pro- ly resistance despite the campaign’s The most recent incident occurred on and causing any people following ine what would happen if I were tests, or “occupation,” has received a dedication to peaceful protesting. Oct. 1 when the protesters marched them to either do the same or wait wearing a large backpack, and the lot of media attention. We feel that the protesters had on the Brooklyn Bridge, where over until the door slows down. These thought scares me. Imagining what Members of this occupation, every right to speak their minds, as 80 people were arrested and several situations can be either really amus- would happen on a rainy or snowy dubbed the “Occupy Wall Street” provided for in our Constitution, and videos were taken of seemingly non- ing or really annoying depending on day is even scarier. campaign, have been met with should not have been treated this threatening protestors being blind- whether or not you are the person These revolving doors are not a alarmingly hostile reception from way by the NYPD. sided, punched, kicked, beaten with waiting to enter the door and what huge problem because there are only the New York Police Department News of the police’s unexpectedly batons, and eventually arrested. mood you happen to be in. However, a few of them, but they are not really and local authorities assigned to the violent reaction toward protestors The level of NYPD police brutality if I am having a bad day I don’t need necessary. I appreciate the fact that, area. Protesters refer to themselves fi rst broke when several sources, in- against people exercising their First a revolving door to cause unneces- if I am not in the mood to tussle with as “the 99 percent” because they cluding ABC News and The Guard- Amendment rights is a concern — to sary chaos in my life. them, there are always alternative claim to represent the majority of the ian, reported that an offi cer, Deputy see protesters on fi lm being beaten I found that being on the receiv- entrances nearby; on a day when I population being taken advantage Inspector Anthony V. Bologna of and dragged, and to see those with ing end of a revolving door mishap am in a hurry, I do not want to be of by the 1 percent that make up the the NYPD, was caught on fi lm mac- video cameras being targeted by is not something to laugh about. smacked, shoved, or rushed through wealthy population. The protesters ing peaceful protestors and making the police, suggests that authorities One annoying aspect of these doors a revolving door. I don’t want to ma- began occupying Wall Street on Sept. several aggressive arrests. Through- were well aware of their unethical is that you cannot merely walk neuver through an obstacle course; I 17 to protest the way the U.S. politi- out this past week, there have been conduct. The police should not pro- through them. You must time your just want to get to where I am going cal and fi nancial matters were being several reported incidents of police tect only a handful of people, but entrance to avoid getting smacked on time and without any injuries. managed and were met by unfriend- abuse toward peaceful protesters. also the larger majority.

Editorial Board Editorial Staff Staff MEELA DUDLEY MEELA DUDLEY * ADELAIDE COLE PATRICK GAGE KELLEY * SENIOR STAFF Publisher Publisher Art Editor Asst. Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Blotner, Stephanie Guerdan, Jackson MICHAEL KAHN * MARICEL PAZ MADELYN GLYMOUR Lane, Alan Vangpat, Courtney Wittekind MICHAEL KAHN The Tartan is a student newspaper at Carnegie Mellon University, funded in part by the student Editor-in-Chief Online Editor Asst. News Editor Editor-in-Chief COPY activities fee. It is a weekly publication by students during the fall and spring semesters, printed CELIA LUDWINSKI * ALEX CRICHTON COURTNEY CHIN Juan Acosta, Connie Chan, Allison Cosby, by Trib Total Media. The Tartan is not an official publication of Carnegie Mellon University. The CHRISTA HESTER first issue is free; subsequent issues cost $0.50 at the discretion of . Subscriptions are Operations Manager Systems Manager Asst. SciTech Editor Jay Chopra, Hannah Dellabella, Evan Kahn, The Tartan Forum Editor available on a per semester basis. EMILY DOBLER KATIE CHIRONIS ADAM GRUBER Samantha Landen, Michael Setzer, Jessica Sochol, Stephanie Stern EMILY DOBLER News Editor Copy Manager Asst. Sports Editor The Editorials appearing at the beginning of the opinion section are the official opinion of The News Editor Editorial Board. , , and are the opinions of their DANIEL TKACIK SARAH ZAKRAJSEK KELLY HARRINGTON LAYOUT Tartan Columns Editorial Cartoons Reviews SciTech Editor Personnel Manager Asst. Systems Manager individual creators. The Tartan Editorial Staff reserves the right to withhold from publication GREG HANNEMAN Radowan Khan, Sun Kyung Park, Hafsal any copy it deems unfit. Contributing Editor CHRISTA HESTER STACEY CHIN KATHY CHEN Ponthal, Kathryn Thomas, Megan Winsby, Forum Editor Zhuoshi Xie PATRICK GAGE KELLEY Layout Manager Asst. Advertising Letters to the Editor are the opinions of their authors. Letters from within the University com- ALEX TAPAK JENNY CHANG Manager munity take precedence. Letters intended for publication must be signed and include the author’s Asst. Editor-in-Chief ADVERTISING address and telephone number for verification; letters must not exceed 350 words. Authors’ names Sports Editor Advertising Manager GRACE CHUNG Richa Khosla, Seo Young Hwang, Tahirah may be withheld from publication upon request. reserves the right to condense or reject KATIE CHIRONIS Asst. Advertising The Tartan ANNA WALSH * JONATHAN CHUNG Green any letter. Letters must be submitted by 5 p.m. on the Wednesday before publication by mail or to Copy Manager Manager Pillbox Editor Business Manager [email protected]. BUSINESS NICOLE HAMILTON GREG HANNEMAN BONITA LEUNG Kenneth Wong Comics Editor Contributing Editor Asst. Copy Manager Office: University Center 314 Mail: Phone: (412) 268-2111 The Tartan © 2011 The Tartan, all rights reserved. TOMMY HOFMAN Fax: (412) 268-1596 Box 119, UC Suite 103 Library of Congress ISSN: 0890-3107 Photo Editor * Denotes executive committee member Web: www.thetartan.org 5000 Forbes Avenue E-mail: [email protected] Pittsburgh, PA 15213 October 3, 2011 « The Tartan thetartan.org/forum » A9 ‘Hooking up’ with the lights off: Phrase exploits social ambiguity

WILL PENMAN if last night was less of a carousal and words with which to talk about sex. Don’t get me wrong. This study But I believe we should continue im- Junior Staffwriter more of a snuggle. As they say in An- “Hooking up” allows us to determine says that when it comes to sex, peo- proving our ability to talk about sex, chorman, “60 percent of the time it our impression of sexual activity less ple listen to the people they know. and part of that is admitting to the ar- Let’s talk about “hooking up.” A works every time.” on intuition and inexperience and Disembodied columns in the school eas where we’re defi cient. “Hooking study published in Health Commu- More awesome reasons to use the more on the discourse of our commu- newspaper don’t exactly top my list of up,” as it refl ects an attitude in which nication shows that it’s a great term. phrase “hooking up,” you ask? It al- nity. Yay for communication! friends, either, so I understand that the other person is mere fl esh instead They didn’t phrase it that way, of lows us to talk about sex with people But before we give ourselves a pat my perspective might not do much. of a human being, is one such area. course. In fact, they were a little con- we know. Let’s face it, if this column on the back for our ability to com- cerned that if people talk too much was strewn with “vaginal inter- municate with each other, it’s worth about hooking up, the next minute course” (the phrase, not the — what pointing out the limitations of how they’d have an STI. Hooking up “truly a picture), I would hardly be able to we use “hooking up.” The study ana- is a risky behavior,” they say. But they read it. My editor wouldn’t even let lyzed hook-up talk between college do point out that the way we talk me use the word “lame-ass” in last students and their “friends from about hooking up shows that we use week’s column; how would she ever university,” “friends from outside people in our social network to coor- let me talk about sex? Well, “hooking university,” and “family.” That seems dinate our ideas about sexual norms. up” is the catch-all that lets us navi- like a pretty clean way to do it, except First things fi rst: do you know gate shifting sexual mores together. that it leaves out the person you’re what “hooking up” is? 94 percent of Health Communication’s study hooking up with. Having never actu- people in the study did. CS majors found that some people even talk ally hooked up myself, I’m not much comprise about 6 percent of Carnegie with their family about hooking up. of an authority, but it seems to me Mellon’s population, right? Personally, I think that’s weird, but that people who hook up don’t actu- Let me put it this way. Imagine if it does show a trend. Going back 150 ally talk about it with each other. your “object” was “oriented” to hers, years to the Victorian era, it was inap- In fact, I would say that half of and one night you got drunk and propriate to even say the word “leg” the noncommital aspect of “hooking hacked into her “mainframe.” Or in mixed company. In that cultural up” is an inability to talk about the just made out — people have differ- context, people would end up do- act with the other person. It’ll create ent defi nitions. In fact, the ambiguity ing all kinds of things they couldn’t drama, it’ll make things awkward, of “hooking up” is what makes the talk about. That’s not to say that one and we both already understand phrase a great linguistic achieve- needs language to be happy with that it doesn’t mean anything. That’s ment. Girls can use it and not feel like one’s behavior, merely that if we can’t short-sighted, and it encourages an sluts to their friends, because it might talk about something, it’s diffi cult to intimacy of invulnerability, in which just mean fooling around. Guys can change. you don’t give anything of yourself so use it and feel like a sex panther, even So it’s great that we can have you don’t get hurt. Adelaide Cole/Art Editor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Flat tax would increase charitable gifts from rich H&SS strengthened by diversity I write in reaction to the Sept. 26 My reactions, in reverse order: of professional training complement- KYLE HENSON philanthropy and charitable giving Tartan editorial entitled “Dietrich The university’s undergraduate ed by the liberal arts that would not Junior Staffwriter to causes that the less wealthy ma- Pride Day indicates deeper H&SS admissions offi ce reports that the only train one for a profession, but jority deems meaningful and will problems.” I found myself both be- number of students applying for ad- that would also educate one for en- Imagine the United States as we perpetuate a livable society. mused and bothered by this piece. mission to Carnegie Mellon and Diet- gaged and responsible citizenship. know it now, but with a fl at income If the wealthy start to stray from First, the suggestion that criti- rich College who name this as their Finally, there is the observation tax rate. If you make $1 a year or a philanthropic social norm, the cisms of the recent Dietrich Pride “fi rst choice” college within Carnegie that the college has a “great range $1 million a year, you get taxed the media will play an important role Day — not enough food, fewer give- Mellon is as high as it’s ever been, of diversity” in its departments and same proportional amount. The U.S. in continuing charitable giving. For aways, imperfect venue — signal and is by far the rule rather than the programs, but that this results in a doesn’t currently utilize this system, example, in the late 1990s Bill Gates “deeper problems” in the college re- exception for the students who the lamentable “lack of focus,” and an but instead taxes you more as you had hardly used any of his vast for- fl ects a leap of logic that is, frankly, college enrolls. And while I cannot inability to defi ne itself “in unifying make more money. Many people tune to work social good. Then sev- silly. But no matter, as this was sim- cite defi nitively reliable data regard- terms” or build a “singular, branded argue that a fl at tax rate would al- eral articles, from respected news- ply the chosen segue to the editorial’s ing where in their hierarchy of col- identity.” Here I agree with the edi- low the super-wealthy to hoard their papers like the New York Times and main criticisms of the college: lege choices Carnegie Mellon and tors’ observations about the college’s money instead of the government the Kansas City Star, came out high- 1. The diversity of its programs Dietrich College fell for our students, intellectual and artistic diversity, but putting it to better use for social lighting his extreme wealth and his (“from statistics and English to in- my sense from many encounters with I come to radically different conclu- good. I believe that this is not the lack of giving, which prompted him formation systems and cognitive prospective students and their par- sions about its signifi cance. Dietrich eventuality of a fl at tax rate, and to create the Bill and Melinda Gates science”) makes it the “grab bag” ents in recent years is that the college College is a very diverse college in that, given complete control over Foundation. Yet this argument is college (I presume this was meant can hardly be characterized as the terms of departments and major pro- their money, the wealthy will use it also assuming that the wealthy, and negatively), lacking in focus and “'last choice’ college for many of its grams, and proud of it. In how many for social good and have a selfi sh in- people in general, are inherently unable to defi ne itself in "unifying students” as the editorial so casually colleges — here or anywhere — can terest in doing so. selfi sh and only care about what’s terms.” claims. you boast of having on the faculty a There exists an exceptionally in their best interest. I don’t believe 2. The college has the added prob- Then there is the claim that the National Book Award winner, and large income disparity in the United that this is the case, and I believe that lem of “being a liberal arts college college “faces the ... problem of being world-class scholars in cognitive States, which would be augmented especially with a 24-hour news cycle in the midst of a university where a liberal arts college in the midst of a neuroscience, behavioral economics, with a fl at income tax rate. This constantly making people aware of liberal arts degrees are not taken as university where liberal arts degrees Bayesian statistics, language learn- means that the wealthy would be the incredible injustices that exist in seriously.” are not taken as seriously.” I’m left ing theory, and social history? This exceptionally wealthier than their the world, people will donate to pro- 3. The college suffers from linger- to wonder what defi nition of “lib- diversity does indeed make it very counterparts on the other end of the mote global social equity. ing negative stereotypes, such as be- eral arts” the editors are using here. hard to seize on any single image, spectrum. This is the natural result Many ask why the wealthy don’t ing the “last choice” college for many Merriam-Webster defi nes liberal arts label, or brand, but is this a liability of the difference in talent that exists already do this. Many do, but many of its students who didn’t get into as: “(C)ollege or university studies ... as the editorial implies? I think not. in any society. Yet even with a natu- wealthy people are disincentivized their “fi rst choice colleges.” intended to provide chiefl y general Rather, it is our strength and distinc- ral income disparity that the gov- from giving because they feel that Then, interestingly, at the bottom knowledge and to develop general tion, and not a weakness at all. ernment doesn’t diminish with the the government already takes mon- of column two, the editorial offers intellectual capacities (as reason and Moreover, Dietrich College facul- income tax rate, I believe that the ey from them for the purpose of pro- very positive comments about the judgment) as opposed to profession- ty and students in these diverse areas wealthy will take it upon themselves moting social equity. Someone who college, and then seems to complain al or vocational skills.” If this was the collaborate in ways that continue to to work for social good. makes $500,000 a year loses about that the university fails to give it its intended characterization, it is far off amaze me, linking seemingly dispa- Should there be an income gap 60-70 percent of his or her income due in terms of attention and funding the mark. The college has long been rate disciplines in ways that refl ect between the wealthy minority and each year to federal, state, and local so that it can “build an identity.” recognized nationally as a cutting- what a colleague of mine in social the poor majority, action will be tak- taxes. This is the equivalent of work- Then back to the negative: Rath- edge example of how “liberal” and and decision sciences calls the true, if en to promote social equality, espe- ing from January until September er than make efforts to address the “professional” education are not an- elusive, “unity of knowledge.” cially if exploitation is taking place, for the government. Many in that deeper problems (lack of identity; tithetical, but complementary, in the So rest assured, Dietrich College which tends to happen in this soci- position resent the governmental “no singular academic goal, no ‘an- ways that it has shaped its programs students: You have made a “great etal model. If a revolution occurs, imposition of taxes on their income chor’ by which to unify its students”; within the college, and in partner- choice” of college, in ways that you the majority will most likely win, and therefore take what’s left for no “singular, branded identity”), the ship with other units of the universi- may have only begun to discover and and even if they don’t, the wealthy themselves. college administration has “again ty. And how ironic that the rest of the appreciate. have to spend egregious amounts of With a fl at income tax rate, the and again chosen to apply only topi- university, by implication, is charac- money to come out with a remotely wealthy have both a selfi sh and self- cal remedies, of which Dietrich Pride terized as purely vocational and dis- Joseph E. Devine desirable outcome. Obviously this less interest in charitable giving and Day is one such case.” It concludes: dainful of the liberal arts when Carn- Associate Dean for Undergraduate outcome is not good for the wealthy, will donate to causes that they see “Before students can be proud to be egie Tech was in fact the birthplace of Studies and so the wealthy will take steps to fi t and, in doing so, close the income part of a unifi ed H&SS, they need the “Carnegie Plan” for professional Dietrich College of Humanities and prevent it. Such steps will include gap on their own. something to be proud of.” education, which extolled the virtues Social Sciences

A PERSON’S OPINION Compiled by Meera Lakhavani Autumn is upon us, and with it a whole host of television premieres. So we asked, If you could be any television character, who would you be and why?

Amy Desalazar Blake Artushin Carolina Flores Christian Manoli Lelia Byron Mechanical Engineering Statistics and HCI Business Administration Global Studies Art First-year Senior Sophomore Sophomore Junior

“I would be Castiel from “Barney Stinson. ‘Let’s suit up!’” “I would choose Susan Meyer “Tony Soprano from The “I would be Veronica Mars Supernatural because he was from Desperate Housewives Sopranos, because he’s a boss, because there is no other female learning to deal with his feelings because she is so genuine he’s an OG gangster.” character on TV who’s as gutsy, and I’m learning to deal with my despite living in a very superficial clever, and acidly funny.” feelings.” environment.” October 3, 2011 « The Tartan thetartan.org/sports » A10

ATHLETE PROFILE Sam Thompson has multi-faceted life ALEX TAPAK the football team and the NROTC FAST FACTS Sports Editor unit. Both organizations are great to be a part of and they accommodate SOCCER This week The Tartan had the each other well. They don’t fi ght over opportunity to catch up with Sam my time too much which allows me to MEN’S Thompson, a junior football player participate in both while doing school Next Game: Sunday from Alcoa, Tenn. He began playing on the side,” Thompson said. vs. University of Chicago football in seventh grade for his mid- “The thing I enjoy the most is being dle school team, and continued play- able to compete and continue to play WOMEN’S ing in high school. this great game. Additionally, some Next Game: Sunday Thompson started off playing safe- of my best friends here at CMU are on vs. University of Chicago ty but was moved to cornerback his the football team,” Thompson said. fi rst year, and has played the position Thompson went on to share some ever since. of his favorite moments of Carnegie Thompson currently studies me- Mellon football. “My proudest mo- VOLLEYBALL chanical engineering at Carnegie ment was probably knocking down a Next Game: Mellon. Upon graduation, Thompson fourth-down pass at Wittenberg my Friday, Oct. 15 wants to become a pilot in the Marine freshman year. It was my fi rst game as @ New York University Corps. For football, Thompson’s goals a starter against a nationally ranked UAA Round Robin #2 for this season include winning the team,” Thompson said. UAA and fi nishing with an 8–2 record. “My funniest moment was picking Thompson is a dynamic student off a pass during practice and doing athlete; he not only excels on the fi eld an end zone celebration dance before and in the classroom but is also a mem- giving the ball back to the scout team FOOTBALL ber of Carnegie Mellon’s NROTC unit. QB. I thought practice was kind of “One of the reasons I came to CMU lethargic and the team needed some Next Game: Saturday was the great relationship between energy.” vs. Ohio Wesleyan University David Chang/Photo Staff TENNIS MEN’S Next Game: Saturday Women’s soccer defeats Denison at home vs. Robert Morris University WOMEN’S Next Game: Saturday @ Oberlin College

CROSS COUNTRY Next Meet: Saturday Carnegie Mellon Invite

UAA ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Ian Epperson Men’s Soccer

ITA REGIONAL CHAMPIONS Laura Chen and Courtney Chin Women’s Tennis

File Photo by Alan Vangpat Junior Brianna Magill maintains Tartan possession of the ball from onlooking opponent.

ALEX TAPAK nied. Washington and Jeffer- Mellon goalie sophomore the team and we are back on Sports Editor son was able to get two goals Anna Albi had a great game, track,” said junior Stephanie off the Tartans, and that was with two saves that kept the Hare. “Now we are focusing Sports wrap-up Carnegie Mellon women’s more than enough to win the Big Red at zero. on our UAA games.” soccer got back on track last game. In the second half, both The Tartans now begin Wednesday after its loss to The Tartans had a strong teams stepped up the defense, their University Athletic Asso- Washington and Jefferson as start to Wednesday’s game making it diffi cult for either ciation games. The fi rst UAA the Tartans took the reins and and a home fi eld advantage. team to create scoring oppor- rival for the Tartans was No. beat Denison University 1–0 Denison had a strong record tunities. This resulted in the 12, Washington University at home. In the Washington of 4–3–1 while the Tartans teams only taking two shots in St. Louis, who they played and Jefferson game, Carnegie were at 5–3 prior to the game. each on goal throughout the Sunday at St. Louis. Mellon had trouble convert- This was a big game for entire half. Next Sunday the Tartans ing its offensive moves into junior Brianna Magill, as she “It was great to win the will take on the University of goals. The Tartans had 10 was able to score her second game against Denison; it Chicago Maroons at home at shots on goal, but all were de- goal of the season. Carnegie was a boost of confi dence for 1:30 p.m.

SPORTS COMMENTARY Major League Baseball playoffs get underway

JEREMY KING hitter in the divisional series guys that scored over 100 three times. There have been Staffwriter last year, and he will be count- runs and drove in over 100 multiple instances where the ed on to win opening games of runs throughout the season. team that is considered the With the rise in popularity the series and potentially the They had six players who hit worst team in the playoffs has of the NFL in the past decade, fi nal games of the series. over 20 home runs, making won it all, such as the 2005 many people tend to forget Next in the Phillies’ rota- the Yankee lineup the best in Chicago White Sox, or either when the MLB playoffs begin tion is Cliff Lee, who was the baseball this year. of the two Florida Marlins to get underway. best pitcher on this year’s free One problem with the championship teams. This past week featured agent market by far, and ac- Yankees is that their pitching What we do know is that Courtesy of Katie Cecil probably the best day in base- tually chose to sign with the rotation is known to be pretty there will be plenty of great Seniors Laura Chen and Courtney Chin won the ITA Southeast Regional Doubles Championship on Monday, Sept. 26 and will ball history, as two teams, the Phillies over the New York weak, and they will rely on memories that will be made, go on to play Nationals in Mobile, Ala. Atlanta Braves and Boston Yankees for less money in the the portly C.C. Sabathia. Sa- such as the epic 2004 Boston Red Sox, completed the two offseason. He brings a great bathia, who will probably fi n- Red Sox comeback against biggest chokes in baseball postseason pedigree to the ish second in the AL Cy Young the Yankees, or the underdog history. In fact, some experts team, which includes a World voting this year, can probably San Francisco Giants making Volleyball tabbed the chances of the Red Series championship with the pitch three games in a seven a historic run just last year. vs. Washington Univeristy in St. Louis L 0–3 Sox missing the playoffs as a Phillies, and is easily the best game series, and I wouldn’t be With the parity in the MLB vs. New York University W 3–0 one in a million event. With No. 2 starter in the playoffs. surprised if he is called on to right now, I can defi nitely see vs. Brandeis University W 3–1 the new playoff schedule, With two of the best pitch- do that in a later series. How- an up-and-coming team such the MLB began the playoffs ers in the league, expect the ever, the story of this post- as the Milwaukee Brewers or last Friday in order to avoid Phils to be extremely tough to season has to be rookie Ivan Tampa Bay Rays making a run weather problems in the later beat, especially because their Nova, who led all rookies in for the ages and tearing up a Men’s Soccer months, so there is no stop offense is nothing to laugh wins this year. ton of better teams. vs. Washington University in St. Louis L 1–4 to the excitement that the about. In fact, Nova picked up the So far, the games have been MLB has built in the past few The favorite in the AL has win on Saturday, pitching a pretty uneventful, but I guess weeks. to be the New York Yankees, gem to give the Yankees a 1–0 we can’t get lucky with every Women’s Soccer The favorite in this year’s who had the best run dif- lead in a short series with the game. I’m hoping we get a few vs. Denison University W 1–1 World Series chase has to be ferential in the league. They Detroit Tigers. extra-inning games, maybe a vs. Washington University in St. Louis L 0–3 the Philadelphia Phillies, who actually have a very different However, if there is one few walk-off home runs, and fi nished the year with base- team than the Phillies, as the thing I have learned about the maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll see ball’s best record by a good Yankees team is clearly based MLB playoffs in the 15 years the second perfect game ever three or four games, mostly on having a high-powered of- I’ve been watching baseball, thrown in the playoffs. Either Football because they have one of the fense. They feature two MVP it is to expect the unexpected. way, it will be exciting, and vs. Hiram College W 24–7 best pitching rotations in the candidates in the middle of Over the past 20 years, the being a Yankees fan, I hope past decade. Roy Halladay, the lineup in Curtis Grander- team with the best record has that the Yankees win their the Phillies’ ace, pitched a no- son and Robinson Cano, two only won the World Series MLB-best 28th title. Art meets fantasy in Bell’s and Nilsen’s comics

inside: Blind Pilot inspires Classic childhood Wood-Fired Words emotion fi lm returns to big unites music, 10.03.11 557screen 10literature, art Volume 106, Issue 6 by Kyle Henson by Ashley Irving by Caroline Kessler ...this week only Creative writing 3 Last Thursday, the audience was greeted by pirates at the creative writing student reading. Philippines 4 This summer, a team of students traveled to the Philippines to perform service work. Blind Pilot 5 Blind Pilot delivers a polished and meaningful sophomore album with We Are The Tide. Chromeo 6 The electrofunk duo surpasses expectations with its performance at Mr. Small’s Theatre. Lion King 3-D 7 Disney fans celebrated the theatrical re-release of The Lion King and the addition of 3-D. Nilsen and Bell 8 Anders Nilsen and Marc Bell discuss their latest works and the artist community. 10 Wood-Fired 8 Wood-Fired Words, a community literary event, took place this past Saturday.

4 5 6 10 regulars...... diversions

Advice Comics 3 Learn how to flee the country and how to look 11 Benjamin Franklin makes an appearance in this classy. week’s comics. Paperhouse Puzzles 5 Some great bands are being overlooked as a 13 This week’s puzzles include kakuro, a result of their buzzband status. Japanese mathematical logic puzzle. Dollar Movie Horoscopes 7 Discover what movies AB Films is presenting 14 Discover what the stars have in store for you this week in McConomy Auditorium. this week. Did You Know? Calendar 10 A study at Duke University discovers which 15 Find out what’s happening on campus and major has the biggest cheaters in academia. around Pittsburgh this week.

PUBLISHER Meela Dudley EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Kahn OPERATIONS MANAGER Celia Ludwinski PILLBOX EDITOR Anna Walsh COMICS EDITOR Nicole Hamilton ART EDITOR Adelaide Cole PHOTO EDITOR Tommy Hofman LAYOUT MANAGER Stacey Chin COPY MANAGER Katie Chironis COVER Adelaide Cole

The Tartan . Box 119 . UC Suite 103 . Carnegie Mellon University . 5000 Forbes Ave . Pittsburgh, PA 15213 . www.thetartan.org . © 2011 The Tartan Pirates present quirky works Advice for awkward people

Fun theme brings creative writing student reading to life About fleeing the country and looking classy

Themes can bring life to any event. They can be Foley, Ines Pujos, and Danny Kane — read at a Dear Patrick, Dear Patrick, cute. They can be funny. They can be creative. podium under a dim light. It set the mood nicely, bringing a greater sense of relaxation and tranquility I woke up this morning with I just bought this sweet The theme for the recent creative writing student into the room as the writers read aloud. a large lump on the back of fedora! I wanted something reading was all of the above: Walking into the my head, a puddle of blood that’ll make me look classy, creative writing room in Baker Hall 260 (also known “The event is low key, and places students in a low- on my bathroom fl oor, and and I think no one looks as The Glad) last Thursday, the audience was pressure situation. It allows us to hang out with the a Browning semi-automatic classier than Don Draper. welcomed by a handful of friendly pirates to Pirates creative writing community,” said Foley. with two bullets missing from The only problem is I don’t vs. Ninjas: The Creative Writing Student Reading. the clip in my hand. I can’t have anything to go with it Various creative works were read, such as poetry fi nd a body, there’s police (other than my xkcd shirts). Every semester, the English department sponsors inspired by Frida Kahlo, a personal essay about the sirens in the background, Do you have any tips for three creative writing student readings. They always supernatural, and a poem inspired by the recent AB and someone cut my face fedora accessories? have a theme, and the organizers encourage the Lecture guest, Annie Sprinkle. All the works were out of all my family photos. attendees to dress up in accordance with the theme. inspiring and highly creative. It was nice to see the Thanks, The works read do not have to relate to the theme incredible talent that the students from the English Please help, Looking for Outfi ts, Nice — it serves more as a source to allow students to be department have to offer, especially since their Whatever Help is Ensembles, Low-cost silly and have a great time. talents tend to be publicly displayed less often than Available To Divulge Is Yet still Nice; Enjoying those in, say, the College of Fine Arts. Desperately, Increasingly Resembling Draper Junior creative writing major Adriana Rodriguez, Desired at Once who attended the event, said, “I want to hear The night ended with a raffle that had random Dear LONELY NERD, students read their original works — things that I prizes, such as a map of Europe from the 1970s. Dear WHAT DID I DO, have not yet been exposed to. I want to hear the Caroline Kessler, a senior creative writing major who There’s one key accessory different rhythms in the works.” helped to organize the event, said, “I think the night This can all be easily for any fedora: a time turned out really well. There was a very friendly explained. Last night, machine. Hop in with your The Glad could not be a more ideal location for this atmosphere.” There wasn’t a large turnout, but you cut yourself shaving, fedora, and go back to the event to take place. Its intimately sized room, book- perhaps that worked to the event’s advantage — the resulting in a large puddle 1960s. Then your fedora lined walls, and use of copious wooden furniture small crowd lent well to the intimacy of the evening. of blood on the fl oor. Out will actually be in fashion! immersed the audience in a relaxed atmosphere and of toilet paper, you decided You’re not Don Draper; a reflective mood. The next creative writing student reading will take to cut your face out of all you’re a 20-year-old guy place on Nov. 3 and is sure to host another delightful your family photos to use as in 2011. Fedoras only look The lights were turned down, and the students theme and more wonderfully offbeat student work. bandaids. As an American, good when you’re wearing sharing their work — seniors Aaron Bernkopf, Ila you proudly own a gun, but a suit, and they leave your are too poor to afford a full hair greasy if you wear them Juan Acosta | Junior Staffwriter magazine, so you stopped for more than 20 minutes. two bullets short. You woke They went out of fashion for Editor’s Note: Caroline Kessler is a staffwriter for The up in the middle of the night a reason. Tartan. to pee, but slipped on the puddle of blood on the fl oor However, looking classy is and bumped your head. a good goal. The fi rst and easiest way to do it is to Okay, did the cops buy it? trim that neck beard! Either Good. Go to the airport go clean-shaven, or have and get on the fi rst plane a nice-looking beard. No to Mexico. If you don’t mustaches, and no neck have a passport or visa, beards. Shower regularly. go somewhere along the With soap. Buy some nice border. Then sneak across. button-downs and slacks. Go to Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Most importantly, get clothes Get an old boat and start to that fi t. Also, use deodorant. fi x it up. Open a bar. Never Lots of deodorant. speak of your past. Seriously, no neck beards, If you’re in jail, invest in a Patrick Hoskins rock hammer, Patrick Hoskins Need advice? Send queries to [email protected].

Courtesy of Kyle Rood community pillbox 10.03.11 3 Tales from Abroad: Philippines The author describes her time helping poor villages with engineering improvements

Luckily I forgot to pack an alarm clock. Instead, I pump needed to be readily accessible even during the he didn’t try to speak to me in Tagalog. Angelo and I awoke each morning in the guesthouse to the sound flood season. communicated with each other through a language of of a rooster’s crow. As I climbed out of my bunk bed, I gestures, and we became the best of friends. needed to do a quick reality check: You are in San Pedro, We spent hours designing and estimating in preparation Philippines. for construction. When our materials arrived, however, The Philippines are plagued by poverty, high the work was literally taken out of our hands. The local unemployment, and homelessness. It is estimated The pace of travel had left me disoriented. I had been men hoisted the lumber and bags of cement and rushed that at least 1.5 million children nationwide have been taking spring semester final exams in Pittsburgh to get to work. These Filipinos were dignified workers abandoned by their families and live on the streets. This one day, and the next I was on a plane to Southeast who appreciated our design advice, but our contribution statistic became very real to me when a six-year-old boy Asia with 12 other students and one professor. My that made the greatest impact was money to pay for walked up to me one night trying to sell me a necklace team and I had been graciously sent to San Pedro by building materials. Although many of us came to the of sampaguitas, the aromatic national flower of the Carnegie Mellon’s mechanical engineering and civil and Philippines expecting to get dirty by doing the physical Philippines. A series of events unfolded which ended environmental engineering departments to serve poor labor ourselves, this was no Habitat for Humanity with me spending all of the money in my pockets on families in the Philippines. trip. It was much better for the locals to perform the food for him and a dozen other children who sleep on the construction for themselves and their families than it streets. I felt helpless and nearly hopeless. Our local hosts were the men and women of Holiness would have been if the americanos had done all of the in Jesus Christian Church (HIJCC). Each day’s itinerary work for them. Hope came near the end of our trip when we visited was chosen by Pastor Marcelo Ramirez and professor two orphanages supported by HIJCC called Ang Bahay Robert Reid and was guaranteed to challenge us and While members of my team took turns helping with Parola (ABP), meaning “lighthouse.” I had never been to engage us with Filipino community and culture. the construction, I took on an equally exhausting role: an orphanage before, but I’ve watched the movie Annie keeping the children out of the way of construction. several times and expected the orphans we visited to We devoted the majority of our energy and time toward We played for hours upon hours, sometimes dodging be sad and depressed. On the contrary, the boys and serving communities living in “squatter” villages. The bicycles in the streets and sometimes on a field covered girls of ABP were some of the most blessed and joyful people we worked with live on low-lying parcels of land with broken glass. I gave the children all of the energy I children we met in all of the Philippines. Unlike the that are inundated annually by typhoon flooding. Multi- had, and by the end of each day I was drained physically street children, the ABP kids were loved and cared for by family homes constructed on plywood stilts become as well as emotionally. attentive staff and dreamt of going to college. Hearing islands when the floodwaters rise — that is, if they each child’s unique story of renewal showed me that, don’t first collapse under the forces of fast-moving water I yearned to talk to the children about their interests, although poverty seems insurmountable, even small acts currents and storm debris. but our conversations were limited to the few simple of love make a large difference. phrases that I knew in Tagalog. The language barrier Our first task was to design and construct a community proved to be a major source of frustration until I met toilet. In most communities, the existing sewer Angelo, a 10-year-old deaf boy. Unlike the other children, Sarah Zakrajsek | Personnel Manager infrastructure is simply an uncovered, one-foot-deep ditch running parallel to the streets. Ordinary evening rain showers supply enough runoff to cause the sewer ditches to overflow into the streets where children run and play barefoot. Use of the new public toilet, which resembled a Western outhouse with a concrete holding chamber beneath, would surely promote cleaner streets and a healthier community.

Our second task was to rebuild and repair several homes damaged during the previous typhoon season, using local building materials such as coconut lumber while staying within our budget. Our third task was to design a platform for a new water pump and to drill a potable water well. It was a thrill and a challenge. Water was vital to the impoverished families we served, and the

Zakrajsek spent the majority of her stay in the Phillippines playing with local children. Despite a significant language barrier, the children showed their affections for her and called her Ate, Tagalog for “sister.”

Sarah Zakrajsek | Personnel Manager travel 4 pillbox 10.03.11 Blind Pilot inspires emotion Paperhouse New album successfully navigates emotional depths On Buzzbands

Although not widely known on the East Coast, Blind placed, subtle banjo-plucking and a newfound drum Most of my free time is spent reading music blogs and Pilot delivers an unbelievably polished, unique, propulsion accompany Nebeker’s vocals, all of which talking about new music with the people around me. and — most importantly — meaningful sophomore feature sufficient depth for him to believably plead, Recently, the topic of buzzbands has been coming up pretty album with their Sept. 13 release, We Are The Tide. “I got wise and I got old. Not once did I fall, so don’t often. My friends are sick of reading about buzzbands, you now,” on the last track, “New York.” sick of hearing about them on Pitchfork, sick of obsessing The album centers around Israel Nebeker’s heavy, over them and then forgetting them a month later. It’s a smooth, and passionate voice, which delivers Subtly crafted instrumentation and impeccable weird, endless cycle of mediocre bands gaining temporary simultaneously familiar and fresh melodies vocals are not the album’s only strong points. fans and then being replaced almost immediately by some supplemented by harmonies that offer refreshing Nebeker’s lyrics also add a layer of sophistication to newer, cooler band. aesthetic brilliance. Yet even with such a vocal the album that, like many of We Are The Tide’s other focus, the album offers subtly artful instrumentation features, fully reveals itself only after being played But is that really what’s going on here? I’m not convinced that deftly weaves in and out of the mix just enough several times. that all buzzbands are so bad. In fact, I think there are some to create a cohesive counterpoint to Nebeker’s great bands out there that are being unjustly overlooked vocals. What sets We Are The Tide apart from other and forgotten as a result of their status as “buzzbands.” I’ve albums is not only its unbelievable craftsmanship seen countless articles online mocking buzzbands and even Expanding from its initial duo of Nebeker on guitar and immediate beauty, but also its soul. Under providing step-by-step guides to becoming a buzzband. I’ve and vocals and Ryan Dobrowski on drums, Blind each catchy melody or lonely trumpet interlude seen writers try to undermine hipster media by publishing Pilot has evolved into a fully equipped sextet of is a statement about Nebeker’s songwriting. The scathing satires of what it means to be a buzzband. But multi-talented instrumentalists featuring banjo, band’s execution is able to convey not only a certain this just seems silly to me. A lot of bands that were once piano, vibraphones, trumpet, violin, and stand-up emotion — be it pain, regret, or awe — but also the classifi ed under the apparently reputation-ruining label of bass. Blind Pilot has achieved a fuller sound than on sheer depth of that emotion that human experience “buzzbands” are actually talented musicians putting out its debut album Three Rounds and a Sound. Though tends to only produce in the moment, and not in quality music. both albums credit the same six musicians, a wider retrospect. Nebeker tells stories of love and longing expanse of creative input and influence can be felt as well as apparent pain, heartbreak, and sheer awe Buzzbands have a bad reputation because people make on We Are The Tide than on the band’s previous throughout the entire album that leave the listener unwarranted assumptions about them. People assume they release. with emotional rapture after each listen. aren’t actually very talented or that they won’t matter in a month, so why bother? But the reality is that buzzbands do This fuller sound has helped Blind Pilot invoke a We Are The Tide represents the kind of music that more than occupy the blogosphere for a few weeks. They whole new level of emotion in the listener. Where anyone can listen to and enjoy. It is masterfully can use their newfound fan base as a way to get noticed Three Rounds featured largely insightful but never crafted, and has the capability to inspire by record labels, which puts them in a position to grow as overpowering tracks, We Are The Tide has produced overwhelming emotion. musicians and put out more music with better production songs which stay true to previous form but also and professional promotion. Bands like Girls, Twin Sister, invoke hope. This optimism is achieved not just Real Estate, and Neon Indian are prime examples of through lyrical interpretation but also through Kyle Henson | Junior Staffwriter genuinely talented artists who have continued making quality upbeat instrumentation that commands attention. music despite their previous status as buzzbands. So next Longing string and horn parts accompanied by well- time you fi nd yourself rolling your eyes at some new, hip artist on Pitchfork, stop and give them a fair listen instead of immediately writing them off. You might be surprised.

Allison Cosby | Junior Staffwriter

top 10 on WRCT 88.3 FM most played albums of the last week

1 Thunderball — 12 Mile High Remixed 2 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — Hysterical 3 Primus — Green Haugahyde 4 Mogwai — Earth Division 5 The Cynics — Spinning Wheel Motel 6 Grouplove — Never Trust a Happy Song 7 Neon Indian — Era Extraña 8 Gillian Welch — The Harrow and the Harvest Courtesy of musicisentropy on Flickr 9 The Drums — Portamento The extensive creative influences on Blind Pilot’s We Are The Tide reflect the band’s growth into a sextet. 10 Thomas Marriott — Human Spirit

music pillbox 10.03.11 5 Chromeo plays to adoring crowd at Mr. Small’s Electrofunk duo surpasses expectations with enjoyable, high-energy performance

The lights were dimmed, the crowd was pumped, and up, he pointed to the disco ball hanging in the middle P-Thugg disappeared off stage. The audience, however, two fi gures walked onto the stage. Someone let out of the church’s domed ceiling and, chuckling, looked was having none of it, and started chanting “Chromeo, a banshee-like scream of glee and the crowd started at P-Thugg. With a nod, P-Thugg fl ipped his white, fl at woaah” hoping to coax the band out for one last song. chanting, “Chromeo, woaah, Chromeo, woaah.” bill snapback around, placed the tube for his talk box This happened not once, not twice, but three times, and between his lips, and it was off to the races. — after three encore performances — the crowd was With that, the lights shot on and standing before fi nally satiated. the crowd were Dave1 and P-Thugg — the kings of The opening lines to “Fancy Footwork” caused collective electrofunk and the creators of the band Chromeo. It insanity and drew shrieks of joy from the crowd, nearly With one last goodbye, Chromeo left the stage and by was a Tuesday night, Sept. 28, and the band graced drowning out the lyrics of the song. “Two step, two step, 11:30 p.m. Mr. Small’s had regained a bit of its church- Pittsburgh with its presence at the intimate venue of two step,” chanted the audience. The next line had the like austerity. The road crew came in to disassemble the Mr. Small’s Funhouse, an 18th century church turned audience singing “let her see that fancy footwork, show stage and pack away the glowing legs while lingering concert hall. Standing beneath a Catholic-inspired arch, her you’re that type of guy” in full force. Going off the fans gazed toward them, hoping to see the red-heeled Dave1 and P-Thugg took a look at the crowd and then vibe of the crowd, Dave1 stood to the right of his laptop legs and the kings of electrofunk again soon. bowed their heads over their instruments. stand — which was custom-built with a glowing pair of legs in red heels and fi shnet stockings where the normal Of course, Dave1 and P-Thugg are not the pair’s real metal legs would have been — and sang his heart out. Christa Hester | Forum Editor names. Christened David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel, this Jewish and Arab duo formed the band “Young boy don’t be late, this girl ain’t really got time Chromeo in 2001. The band made its fi rst breakthrough to wait,” P-Thugg harmonized. Standing to the right of onto the music scene with the worldwide club hit Dave1, he cut a striking fi gure throughout the concert. “Needy Girl.” After that, Chromeo developed a tight With a matching pair of glowing legs attached to the group of faithful fans with albums like Fancy Footwork underside of the keyboard he stood in front of, he and Business Casual. faced the crowd looking like a half-man, half-woman, technological LED-lit marvel. P-Thugg stayed behind his “How you doing, Pittsburgh? Can you believe this keyboard all evening, making music with his synthesizer place?” said Dave1. “Can’t believe we’re playing in a and coaxing magic sounds from his talk box. While church with a disco ball!” Lifting his red leather-clad arm P-Thugg kept it steady, Dave1 hyped it up and played the attentive frontman, giving high-fi ves to the crowd and picking out adoring, hysteric fans to sing to during songs.

The duo fulfi lled and surpassed expectations, playing their fans’ all-time favorites, including “Tenderoni,” “Night by Night,” “Don’t Turn the Lights On,” and “Hot Mess.” Accompanying each song was a dynamic light show that added to the drama of the moment. Green and purple lights refl ected off of Dave1’s signature hipster, horn-rimmed glasses during “Needy Girl” and white light seemed to shoot out of P-Thugg’s raised hand as the song came to its end.

Although Chromeo has only been to Pittsburgh a few times, the love this crowd showed the band will no doubt bring it back soon. After the last song came to a close, Dave1 yelled, “Thank you Pittsburgh!” and he and

Left: P-Thugg plays the keyboard during a Chromeo concert. Right: Dave1 sings a fan favorite at Mr. Small’s last Wednesday. Christa Hester | Forum Editor Christa Hester | Forum Editor music 6 pillbox 10.03.11 Classic childhood fi lm returns to big screen Lion King 3-D allows viewers to rediscover movie’s stunning visuals, favorite characters

Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba! (“Here comes a lion, and reclaim his throne from Scar, the scheming and hidden messages, and years later, audiences can still Father!”) manipulative uncle who nearly destroys Pride Rock in fi nd something new in a familiar story that inspired a Simba’s absence. On this journey, Simba reunites with generation. At the very least, nostalgic adults can unite These iconic words form the intro to “Circle of Life,” his childhood friend and later mate, Nala, and attracts to the tunes of “Be Prepared” and “Can You Feel The the beginning of one of Walt Disney Pictures’ most the loyalty of quirky sidekicks Timon and Pumbaa. The Love Tonight.” beloved fi lms of all time. Since Sept. 16, Disney fans have entertaining personalities of outcast hyenas (their leader celebrated the theatrical re-release of The Lion King, a voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) still manage to amuse the One more aspect that separates this release from the megahit that still holds records as the highest-grossing masses while they tremble (and laugh uncontrollably) 1994 original is its conversion to 3-D. Unlike most 2-D animated fi lm and best-selling animated home at the mere mention of Mufasa’s name. Zazu remains headache-inducing fi lms made intolerable by 3-D video in history. It is a classic directed by Roger Allers a sarcastic mentor, Scar a formidable presence, and effects, The Lion King’s magic is not hindered by this and Rob Minkoff, brought to life by the vocal talents of Rafi ki’s display of ninja skills are no disappointment in technology. Very few scenes are shaky enough to cause Matthew Broderick as Simba, Jeremy Irons as Scar, and the latest edition of Disney’s animated classic. mild irritation, and for those audiences who simply resist James Earl Jones as Mufasa. With a timeless story and 3-D glasses, the original 2-D version was also re-released. a soundtrack made memorable by the contributions of But why go see a movie you’ve seen, quoted, and sung Hans Zimmer, Elton John, Lebo M., and Tim Rice, The along to a thousand times before? As an adult, one is Not surprisingly, The Lion King has grossed $61.5 Lion King re-release can only be considered one of this able to analyze and appreciate it as a fi lm with many million since its Sept. 16 opening. Zimmer and Lebo year’s hugest successes and a milestone in cinema layers; there are plenty of details to discover that one M.’s African-inspired score is as powerful as ever and history. might have overlooked as a toddler. For example, when complements the stunning visuals beautifully. During Zazu sings “I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts,” the movie, many viewers are reminded of their own The movie closely parallels Shakespeare’s Hamlet as it Scar is holding a skull in his hand, a clear reference to childhood connections to Simba, Mufasa, and the rest of follows Simba, a young prince exiled from his kingdom Shakespeare’s Hamlet. One of the bugs Timon pulls the wonderful characters. The Lion King, whether in 2-D after an unfortunate family death. Years after his out of a knothole during “Hakuna Matata” is wearing or 3-D, has always been an epic tale and experience to banishment, he returns to Pride Rock to seek revenge Mickey Mouse ears. In a scene shared by Timon and remember, and it is certainly one for which a generation Pumbaa, Simba collapses on a cliff and the dust that fl ies of Disney lovers will always be grateful. into the sky forms the letters “SFX,” an abbreviation of the special-effects team that worked on that portion of the fi lm. The Lion King is riddled with symbolism and Ashley Irving | Junior Staffwriter

dollarmovie Anna Walsh | Pillbox Editor Celia Ludwinski | Operations Manager

Animal Kingdom X-Men: First Class X-Men Source Code Thursday, Oct. 6 Friday, Oct. 7 Saturday, Oct. 8 Sunday, Oct. 9 7:30 10 12:30 7:30 10 12:30 7:30 10 12:30 8 10 12

Despite what its name suggests, The most recent fi lm in the X-Men The existence of mutants with special Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this action Animal Kingdom is not a series, X-Men: First Class delves into abilities has come into the public eye, thriller as Colter Stevens, a soldier documentary about the Disney the background of mutants Charles and the government is dicussing how to who, after being shot down by theme park of the same name — far Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik approach the new population. Charles enemy fi re in Afghanistan, wakes up from it. Rather, Animal Kingdom is Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). Xavier (Patrick Stewart), a mutant with on a commuter train in Chicago in an Australian fi lm about Joshua “J” Interestingly, the two had great control telepathic abilities, tries to encourage another man’s body. When the train is Cody (James Frecheville), a teenager over their mutant abilities when peaceful coexistence while his old friend bombed, he fi nds out that he is part who has to move in with his criminal they became friends, and they use Erik Lehnsherr (Ian McKellen), now of a government experiment where relatives after his mother dies. As their abilities to fi nd and train new known as the villain Magneto, tries to he can occupy the last eight minutes his grandmother (Jacki Weaver) and mutants. Xavier and Lehnsherr also ally even the playing fi eld between mutants of another man’s life in order to three uncles (Joel Edgerton, Luke themselves with the U.S. government and humans. Magneto’s plan to come discover who bombed the train. The Ford, and Ben Mendelsohn) engage to try to prevent the war that villain (and out ahead in this upcoming war involves movie also stars Michelle Monaghan in an all-out war with the Armed mutant) Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) the clawed and aggressive Wolverine as Gyllenhaal’s love interest. Robbery Squad, J fi nds himself is trying to start. (Hugh Jackman) and the young, energy- caught in the middle and has to absorbing Rogue (Anna Paquin). fi gure out how to get himself out.

film pillbox 10.03.11 7 Fairy tales and future autobiographies abound in Anders Nilsen’s and Marc Bell’s comics

Bell grew up in London, Ontario, where he attended a When asked about the story’s 10-year development, Pittsburgh’s own ’zine community gathered two weeks by Carolyn Supinka | Staffwriter []vocational arts high school called Bealart. He then went Nilsen said that he always saw the story as a whole. ago at AIR in the Northside for the Pittsburgh Zine Fair. on to study art at university. He creates comics and “That’s one of the reasons why I like this book being Another upcoming event is PIX, the Pittsburgh Indie Canadian artist Marc Bell sat in the sunshine in Polish mixed media pieces, which have been described as “a out — it’s really one big story,” he said. “A lot of people Comic Expo, which will be running at the Guardian Hill, drinking an iced coffee from Lili Coffee Shop and mix of commix, high art, typography, and cartoons” by thought it was just this slow, meditative little vignette, Storage Facility on Oct. 8 and 9 in the Northside, and pondering the existence of two of his main characters. the National Post. His drawings are incredibly detailed, [like] it just seemed to come out of nowhere. The birds will be free to the public. And of course, there is always imaginative windows into a world full of fantastic in the story came out of this weird drawing exercise that Copacetic Comics, which houses an incredible range “Maybe in a general sense, I was trying to make a characters and surreal landscapes. Zany text swirls I did. Writing this story — it’s like, you are inventing it, of graphic novels and print pieces. Boichel is extremely comedy duo,” he said, referring to the “Shrimpy and throughout the images, labeling objects as a “cloud but it feels like it’s this story that already exists in the knowledgeable about the world and history of comics, Paul” strip which populates many of the pages of his cave” or a “gnewest machtoe.” world, and you’re trying to see it as best you can and get and is always willing to inform and help visitors. The new collection, Pure Pajamas. “I mean, Shrimpy’s it down.” store is a valuable resource for Pittsburgh artists and dynamic — Shrimpy’s very straight and fl at, he doesn’t When asked about his working process, Bell described comic writers themselves. talk a lot. He’s kind of annoying and deadpan, and Paul’s his reliance on experimentation and impulse. “I don’t The aforementioned birds are central characters in always stressed out. I just present them with problems, plan too much,” he explained. “I start things out trying the story. Many comic artists take pains to draw their That evening at the store, readings, talks, and comic and things get kind of convoluted.” to make a bit of a mess, then turn it into something more characters as individuals, but Nilsens’ birds, though interpretations of music took place in Lili’s — as Bell concrete. I start out in sort of a fl imsy way and then very distinct characters, have no visual markers for explained, “[comic interpretations] started for Vice “There’s a lot of comedy duos where the one guy doesn’t build on that — for example, there’s a lot of collage in my readers to differentiate one from another. “They started magazine — they said draw Rebel Yell, draw R.Kelly’s talk,” Chicago-based artist Anders Nilsen remarked from work, and I use scraps and casual drawings for those, out as generic birds,” he said. “I was presented with the ‘World’s Greatest,’ and then they gave me this Bruce his lawn chair beside Marc. and then I concentrate on turning that into something problem of should I differentiate them, and I thought Springsteen song; it had so many lyrics in it I could only bigger.” that was probably a good idea. I played around with the do part.” “Really?” idea of giving them markings, but then I found that I was Another collection of Bell’s, Hot Potatoe, was published really interested in the fact that they’re the same. Like Afterward, the crowd trouped upstairs to Copacetic “[Stan] Laurel and [Oliver] Hardy, doesn’t one of them not in 2009 and is a collection of comics, mixed media, they’re this group that is essentially the same being.” Comics for the book signing. The store, though much talk?” water colors, and a monograph on the author and artist’s larger than its previous location in Squirrel Hill, was own life, written with Matt Soucie. The book details his “Big Questions is a lot about how people make packed with fans and comic lovers. Tables were piled “Well, there’s also [magicians] Penn and Teller,” Bell said life, career, and even his death in 2075, which involves meaning,” he continued. “All these little birds are high with comics and graphic novels, and Copacetic after a moment of thought. “But I’m pretty sure Laurel George Stroumboulopoulos, a small soapstone sculpture, watching human events unfold, and they all have Comics’ owner Bill Boichel made his way throughout and Hardy both talk.” and a case of breaking and entering. Bell refl ected on his different interpretations of what’s happened, and they’re the room expertly, handing out fl yers for upcoming future life: “I hole up in this French hotel room, doing this all wrong. They can’t know that it’s beyond their limits Pittsburgh comic events and working the register. Bell and Nilsen make an interesting duo themselves. laissez faire European art style, painting cupcakes, and to understand.” When asked about whether he knew the Both are celebrating new releases with a road trip across later I go back to Canada.” conclusion of the story all along, or ‘discovered’ it as he Meeting and talking with Bell and Nilsen was an the East Coast, giving out readings and book signings wrote it, Nilsen thought for a moment before responding, amazing experience. Both have created incredible work, along the way. Nilsen recently released Big Questions, In a way, Nilsen’s own book is also a collection. Nilsen “There’s a quote I heard about the conclusion of a good and are very passionate and dedicated to their art. With his complete graphic novel. Bell’s new collection Pure has published Big Questions in parts over the past story: it should feel surprising, but also inevitable. The them, a conversation about comics was like sitting in Pajamas is a collection of his work in newspapers and 10 years, and as of this fall, the story is available as a only advantage you have as a writer is that you have the middle of a crossfi re: References to artists, favorite anthologies. Just after starting out on their tour, they had whole for the fi rst time. A haunting modern fairy tale, time to think about it and fi gure it out, but to the reader comics, obscure artworks, and inspiration shot back stopped in Pittsburgh on Sept. 16 to host a reading and it has been called Nilsen’s magnum opus. One of the it should feel obvious from the start.” and forth at a high speed, revealing their knowledge book signing at Copacetic Comics. Located in Dobson fascinating things about Nilsen’s work is that the plot and place within the supportive culture of the ’zine Street in Polish Hill, the store also houses the Lili Coffee and characters of Big Questions feel deeply rooted Nilsen’s unique drawing style has a strong infl uence community. Shop and Mind Cure Records. in reality, in spite of the many fantastical elements on the tone of the narrative itself. His line marks are throughout. detailed and concentrated in some areas, and sparse or Bell and Nilsen also offered advice to art students. “When completely absent in others. This creates a dream-like you’re in art school, you have big ideas, but you can do quality, as though the characters are passing through a a lot more with less — I would actively collect paper, and stark, barren plain broken by only a few places of rest. “I just use what was immediately around me,” Bell said, think it’s just the way I draw, but I am defi nitely aware referring to his collage work. of it informing the content of the story,” Nilsen said. “It’s sort of realistic, but I have this idea of wanting the “It’s sort of a truism in art that accidents can create the drawings to be indifferent to the story, and to the reader.” best work,” Nilsen added. “The thing about art school that has the best potential is that you get to experiment Nilsen and Bell both spoke about the importance and and try so many different things. Enjoy what you do, but support of the artist community. “Groups of comic artists also do it a lot. And if you have to do it a lot, do what you and writers, those communities existed before the love. A lot. And don’t smoke crack.” internet began to play a role,” Bell said. “There was this thing called Factsheet Five — it’s gone now, probably online — it was in the ’90s, and it was this magazine that listed tons of different zines and comics. It didn’t do reviews, it just gave short blurbs, explaining what these works were, and giving addresses.”

Courtesy of Marc Bell Courtesy of Marc Bell

feature feature 8 pillbox 10.03.11 pillbox 10.03.11 9 Did you know? Wood-Fired Words inspires A writer decides to calculate the Community potluck event unites literature, music, art amount of money that students spend 100 in a year to study at Carnegie Tech and determines that 600 students would Despite the death of Pittsburgh’s beloved Gist Street collectively spend $246,460, equaling Oct. 5, 1911 reading series (in December 2010), a literary event about $410 per student a year. called Wood-Fired Words continues to carry the Nowadays, that wouldn’t even get you Gist Street spirit, if less frequently. The third annual one class at Carnegie Mellon, let alone Wood-Fired Words took place this past Saturday in a whole semester. Braddock at UnSmoke Art Space.

The front page announces the As people fi led into UnSmoke, white clouds billowed upcoming dedication of the new Hunt up from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson plant, the only 50 Library. The university president is working blast furnace left from Pittsburgh’s steel quoted as saying that the Hunt Library era. The event offi cially started at 7 p.m., with the provides “an environment that is Oct. 4, 1961 dynamic Sherrie Flick, former co-host of Gist Street, inviting and conducive to studying.” I greeting friends at the door and collecting the $5 wonder how conducive to studying he admission. would think the library is now that it’s been turned into Club Hunt. As was typical of Gist Street, everyone from college students to grandparents gathered in the large, In a letter to the editor, two fraternity high-ceilinged space to eat, drink, and mingle. brothers argue that Animal House Guests brought food and wine to share, encouraging doesn’t paint an accurate picture of 25 the sense of community and camaraderie. Seven- fraternities, and accuse The Tartan layer dip found a home next to blueberry pie. of giving “major headlines to the Volunteers carried in veggie-laden pizza from Oct. 7, 1986 occasional bad sides (such as alleged Braddock’s community brick oven, which sits beside stabbings) of fraternity life.” Gee, I UnSmoke. Patrick Gage Kelley | Asst. EIC wonder why someone getting stabbed John Fleenor, a teacher at the Pittsburgh Center would get front-page coverage over a The centerpiece of the evening was a fi ction reading for the Arts, creates paintings of news anchors. fraternity’s service projects. by current writer-in-residence Josh Barkan. Recently The Arts & Living section documents a relocated from Mexico City, Barkan is the fi rst writer and studied music in Chile. Bassist Layo Puentes performance art piece that took place to be a part of the Into The Furnace residency, and cajon player Lucas Savage made up the rest of 10 in a men’s bathroom in the University where a writer lives for up to nine months in the St. the trio. Center. A student sat in one of the Michael’s parochial school convent in Braddock, Oct. 1, 2001 stalls with a table balanced on his lap benefi ting from the town’s work ethic and energy. and proceeded to enjoy a full gourmet Following the literary thread of the evening, The East End Book Exchange “popped up” a bookstore meal. Today, you’re probably more likely The uniqueness of this writer-in-residence program in the space as well, offering popular titles for as find a student in the bathroom with a was highlighted when Barkan joked that he was little as $3. Lesley Rains, the creator of the book computer on his lap, coding. probably the fi rst atheist Jew to live in the convent. exchange, often sells books from her own personal He read from his fi rst novel, Blind Speed, about A Tartan article mentions a recent library. The work of John Fleenor, a local artist, was Paul, the bumbling male protagonist from a family study by the Center for Academic also displayed — a series of oil paintings depicting of overachievers, who is in danger of losing his Integrity at Duke University, which the forced smiles of news anchors. 5 teaching job at a community college in Boston. has found that MBA students are the biggest cheats in academia. In the Between the fi ction, the pizza, the paintings, the After the reading, the Emily Pinkerton Trio played Oct. 6, 2006 study, 56 percent of MBA students South American folk music, and the mismatched Pinkerton’s South American compositions. Although admit to cheating. They are closely books, it may have seemed like a disjointed evening. a native of the Midwest, Pinkerton has traveled to followed by engineering students at 54 But the people — friends of Gist Street, Braddock percent, and science students at 50 residents, college students, artists, readers, and percent. writers — brought different elements together in Alpha Chi Omega hosts a giant game an evening of revitalization, art, and community of “Ultimate Ninja” as a fundraiser for building. 1 the Pittsburgh Women’s Shelter, in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Ninjas Against Domestic Caroline Kessler | Staffwriter Oct. 4, 2010 Violence had about 30 participants and raised over $1,000.

Emily Pinkerton spent 12 years traveling between Anna Walsh | Pillbox Editor Chile and the United States, which inspired her non-traditional compositions.

Patrick Gage Kelley | Asst. EIC community 10 pillbox 10.03.11 Apartment 4H by Joe Medwid and Dave Rhodenbaugh jmedwid@andrew

Online at www.4hcomic.com

[email protected]

Online at www.licd.com and www.lfgcomics.com comics pillbox 10.03.11 11 Don’t Tell Anyone Else by Doghouse Diaries

Think you can do better?

Something funny

Then submit your comics to [email protected] now and prove it.

[email protected] Hark, a Vagrant by Kate Beaton

[email protected] comics 12pillbox 10.03.11 Sudoku Puzzle: Hard Difficulty Kakuro Puzzle: Easy Difficulty

Sudoku courtesy of www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/ Kakuro courtesy of www.knobelfieber.com sudokugen/ Fill all empty squares using numbers 1 to 9 so the sum of each row equals the clue on its left, and the sum of each column equals the clue on its top. No number may be used in the same row or column more than once. Solutions from Sept. 26, 2011

Crossword Medium Difficulty Hard Difficulty

puzzles pillbox 10.03.1113 Horoscopes In the words of the great and wise Ms. Frizzle, it is time for aries you to “take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!” march 21–april 19

Though you’d love to stay curled up warm in your bed, life taurus stills goes on. The weather will not be getting better anytime april 20–may 20 soon, so bundle up and brave the cold.

When discussing stupid decisions one of your friends made gemini with another friend, try to do so where others can’t hear it. I may 21–june 21 really don’t need to know when your friend’s court date is.

Cast your fears aside and do something that puts you out cancer of your comfort zone. It won’t help to make you a more june 22–july 22 well rounded person, but it will be a change of pace to your boring week.

You talk a big game, but inside you are just crying out for leo attention. Keep at it and you will finally annoy someone into july 23–aug. 22 paying attention to you. But will it make you happy? Crossword courtesy of BestCrosswords.com

No matter how bad you want to win $1 million or a brand ACROSS DOWN virgo new sports car, there is no excuse for beating up a little kid 1. Idolizes 1. Circle segment aug. 23–sept. 22 and taking his McDonald’s Monopoly game board. 7. Bingo! 2. ___es Salaam 10. Goad 3. Man-mouse connector 14. Seldom 4. Restoration to life 15. Little one 5. Actress Verdugo Remember, glitter makes everything better. 16. Actress Petty 6. Harmony libra 17. Cowardly 7. Makes amends sept. 23–oct. 22 18. Metal-bearing mineral 8. Multitude 19. Culture medium 9. Suit to ____ 20. Glowing with heat 10. Located 23. The Hindu Destroyer 11. Man of many words The only way you will survive this week is through sheer 26. Born 12. Praying figure scorpio willpower and determination. Game on. 27. Minor 13. Grimy oct. 23–nov. 21 28. Actress Olin 21. Head garland 29. Airline to Oslo 22. Cellular marine animal 30. Turf 23. Yacht 31. Seaport on San Francisco Bay 24. Moor Whatever you do, don’t ever insult another person’s favorite 33. Have 25. Signed sagittarius Doctor. nov. 22–dec. 21 34. AOL, e.g. 29. Pry 37. Suffix with Capri 30. Graceful birds 38. Cedar Rapids college 32. Right to enter 39. Bender 33. Indian people of Canada 40. Advanced degree? 34. Opening capricorn As much as you don’t want to admit it, the thing you fear 41. High degree 35. Stench dec. 22–jan. 19 might actually be true. Don’t beat yourself up over this, 42. Dot follower 36. Facet because you’re human, and flaws are just something you 43. Sluggishness 44. Venerates have to deal with. 45. Equinox mo. 45. Stanza of six lines 46. Delivery room docs 46. Study of eggs 47. Sea eagles 48. Bell-shaped flower It’s cold outside, so time to grab a warm blanket, lots of aquarius 48. Domesticates 49. Old-womanish jan. 20–feb. 18 popcorn, a few close friends, and settle on the couch for 51. Haul 50. Craze long and enjoyable nerd TV marathons. 52. Bring to mind 51. Wave-related 53. Not vulnerable to attack 52. Delight 56. Bits of thread 54. Intentions Last week was a doozy to say the least, but this week will 57. Altar words 55. Endure 58. Breadwinner 59. Not for a Scot pisces be so much better. Look for a happy, unexpected surprise feb. 19–march 20 62. Netman Nastase 60. Computer key on Thursday. 63. Periodical, briefly 61. Emeritus: Abbr. Nicole Hamilton | Comics Editor 64. Comfortable 65. Heating fuel 66. Artful 67. Perform major surgery horoscopes 14pillbox 10.03.11 MONDAY10.3.11 The Menzingers. Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. Primus. Stage AE. 7 p.m. Author Andy Laties. Copacetic Comics Company. Flash Gordon. Andy Warhol Museum. 7 p.m. Classifieds 6 p.m. David Lewis Lecture: Dhiru Thadani. Carnegie SATURDAY10.8.11 DermatologistOnCall: If you believe you have Museum of Art Theater. 6 p.m. acne, rosacea, or any other skin, nail, or hair August Wilson Center Reading Round Table. August Pittsburgh Vinyl Convention. 162 Sheridan Ave. 9 a.m. Ohiopyle Sustainable Energy Fair. condition, your answer to safe, effective, quality Wilson Center for African American Culture. 7 p.m. Ohiopyle-Stewart care and treatment is less than 72 hours away! Cafe Scientifi que: From the Amazon to Southwest Community Center. 10 a.m. Online expert-directed skin care by Mark P. Pennsylvania. Carnegie Science Center. 7 p.m. PIX: Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo. 2839 Liberty Ave. 10 a.m. Seraly, MD. DermatologistOnCall.com or call us TUESDAY10.4.11 Author Henry Rollins. Andy Warhol Museum. 2 p.m. 724) 969-2504 Teal Ribbon Comedy Ovarian Cancer Research Molotov Solutions. Smiling Moose. 6 p.m. Benefi t. Stage AE. 6:30 p.m. Want to change the world? ME student and Dream Theater. Amphitheatre at Station Square. 7 p.m. 10.ATE.11 Zombie Pub Crawl. Rex Theatre. 7:30 p.m. know how to design an electrical generator, Pretty Lights. Stage AE. 8 p.m. 21+ coil/magnet concepts and calculate output? Passafi re. Rex Theatre. 8 p.m. Starlicker. Andy Warhol Museum. 8 p.m. We are strictly in the Proof of Concept phase and may be barking up the wrong tree so a lot WEDNESDAY SUNDAY 10.5.11 10.9.11 of help is required. Interested, contact Chip at [email protected] The School of Art Lecture Series Presents Stelarc. PIX: Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo. 2839 Liberty Ave. Rashid Auditorium, Hillman Center. 4:30 p.m. 10 a.m. Angel Investor seeks next great idea or early The School of Design Presents Cameron Animal Friends’ Howl-O-Ween. Schenley Park. Noon. Tonkinwise. Breed Hall (Margaret Morrison 103). 5 p.m. Pittsburgh Steelers Football. Heinz Field. 1 p.m. stage enterprise. If you believe you posess an Stacks: A Lecture on Romare Bearden. Sweetwater Author Stephen Segal. Elijay’s Books. 2 p.m. exceptional opportunity that you could benefi t Center for the Arts. 6:30 p.m. Haunted Oakland Walking Tour. University of from equity capital and proven entrepenuraial Faculty Recital: Cyrus Forough. Kresge Theater, Pittsburgh. 6 p.m. experience,you are invited to contact prkltd@ College of Fine Arts. 8 p.m. att.net. Please reference “CMU Genius”. ONGOING Absolute confi dentiality and the utmost in THURSDAY10.6.11 ethical business practices are assured. 2011 Pittsburgh Biennial. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts The Greenhorns. Melwood Screening Room. 6 p.m. and Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Through Oct. 23. Author Shannon Cain. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Rust Belt Freak Show. Gallery on 43rd Street. Through 6 p.m. Oct. 29. Sites of Passage. The Mattress Factory. Through Jan. 8. . 2011 Pittsburgh Biennial. Good Person of Setzuan Philip Chosky Theater, Purnell Miller Gallery, Purnell Center Picturing the City: Downtown Pittsburgh, 2007–10. Center for the Arts. 8 p.m. for the Arts. Through Dec. 11. Carnegie Museum of Art. Through March 25. Botany and History Entwined: Rachel Hunt’s FRIDAY10.7.11 Legacy. Hunt Library. Through Dec. 15. . Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey Want your event here? . Genocide Revealed Father Ryan Arts Center. 6 p.m. Carnegie Museum of Art. Through Dec. 31. Email [email protected].

calendar pillbox 10.03.1115 shenandoah davis.

Jessica Sochol | Staff Shenandoah Davis, a classically trained indie musician, performed at The Underground last Thursday. The concert, sponsored by AB Underground, featured Davis and her bandmates Danah Olivetree and Ethan Demarest. The trio is currently on tour promoting Davis’ newest album, The Company We Keep. gallery 16pillbox 10.03.11