Petition for bike lanes seeks change, faces challenges
By Zoë Hannah / For The Pitt News
October 29, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Pittsburgh bike advocates are calling for more bike lanes in Oakland following a death on Forbes Avenue last Friday. On Oct. 24, the day after Pitt adviser Susan Hicks died in an accident on Forbes Avenue, Gregory Dornseif, a Pitt sophomore, started a Change.org petition titled “#SaferForbesNOW....
Acid attack survivor speaks to students
By Emily Brindley / Staff Writer
October 29, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News
Hanifa Nakiryowa stood in front of a crowd in the William Pitt Ballroom proudly wearing a gray blazer, oval glasses and her scars. In 2011, at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, an unknown man threw something at Nakiryowa’s face after she had refused to bow to her then-husband’s demands th...
Nationality Rooms: Tours of Terror
By Emily Brindley / Staff Writer
October 29, 2015
The Cathedral’s Gothic architecture can make it a spooky place, but its resident ghost makes it even spookier. Quo Vadis, which is Latin for “Where are you going?” is the name of the tour guide club for the Cathedral’s Nationality Rooms. The Quo Vadis guides said there’s reason to believe tha...
Thorpe Documentary: Voicing the truth
By Casey Schmauder / Staff Writer
October 29, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, National News, News, Top Stories
In 2010, David Thorpe was anxious about his “gay voice,” so he began seeing a vocal coach to make his voice sound more masculine. By 2014, he realized his voice was fine the way it was — Thorpe had just finished filming a documentary about the process. Now, because of his own struggle, he work...
Pitt professor to head Latin American research journal
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
October 29, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, National News, News, Top Stories
Pitt professor Aníbal Pérez-Liñán’s new position will make Pitt a focal point of Latin American studies in 2016. The Latin American Research Review announced on Wednesday that Pérez-Liñán, a professor in Pitt’s political science department, will be the new editor-in-chief of the journal ...
CWO marches to take back the night
By Annemarie Carr / Staff Writer
October 28, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, City, National News, News
With raised fists, marching feet and rhyming chants, students stopped traffic and caught the attention of camera phones in a demonstration seeking to fight back against sexual violence. “Whatever you wear, wherever you go, yes means yes and no means no,” students chanted down Bigelow Boulevard in...
Public health program closer
By Lauren Wilson / Staff Writer
October 28, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, Health, News, Student Government, Top Stories
After 10 months of work, Student Government Board member Lia Petrose now has a potential starting date for a public health certificate for undergraduate students. At SGB’s weekly public meeting Tuesday, Petrose said introductory courses for the certificate will be “tentatively available for the fall 2017 sem...
Able to lead: Disability activist visits Pitt
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
October 28, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Mark Johnson once chained himself to a bus to draw attention to disability-inaccessible public transportation. “Rosa [Parks] wanted to sit in the front [of the bus],” Johnson said. “I just want to get on.” Johnson, director of advocacy at the Shepherd Center — an Atlanta non-profit hospi...
Media professionals give internship advice to students
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
October 27, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
If you send Sharon Walsh a cover letter addressed, “Dear Sir or Madam,” she will throw your application away. “If you don’t have the wherewithal to find the name of the editor when it’s right there on the website, I will discard your letter,” Walsh, founding editor of the investigative...
Two pedestrians killed in accident involving Port Authority bus near upper campus
By Danielle Fox and Dale Shoemaker / Pitt News Staff
October 26, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News
An accident involving a Port Authority bus has killed two pedestrians near upper campus this afternoon. Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said two passengers, a woman and a man in a wheelchair, had exited an incoming 83 Bedford Hill bus at the intersection of Centre Avenue, University Drive and...
Trustees approve Pitt plan, ADA elevators
By Zoë Hannah / For the Pitt News
October 25, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News
Pitt’s Board of Trustees put an end to phase one of Pitt’s strategic plan and said it’s time to begin implementation by making changes through campaigns and committees. At a Board of Trustees meeting Friday at 9:30 a.m. at Pitt Greensburg’s Smith Hall, board members approved the next step of Pitt...
OBITUARY: Remembering Susan Hicks
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
October 25, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Susan Hicks was always learning, often traveling and never limiting her capacity for empathy or her dedication to students. Hicks, 34, was assistant director of academic affairs at Pitt’s Center for Russian and East European Studies. She died Friday after being hit by a car in Oakland while ridin...
Pitt Black Action Society hosts Bree Newsome
By Zoë Hannah / For the Pitt News
October 25, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News, Top Stories
For Bree Newsome, the conversation on race violence didn’t end when she descended the South Carolina Statehouse flagpole, clutching a Confederate flag. Newsome is a social justice activist who climbed into the national spotlight when she scaled the flagpole in June to remove the Confederate flag amid...
Students pitch in at PMADD
By Elli Warsh / Staff Writer
October 25, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Dust, nails and shattered roof shale flew around inside the dingy house in East Liberty as a group of Pitt students worked furiously to rebuild the house for a needy family. The volunteers worked to fix up the old house so someone would be able to buy it in better condition. The home will soon belong to a ...
Female cyclist dead after Forbes incident
By Danielle Fox / Editor in Chief
October 23, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
A female cyclist has died after being hit by a car near the Cathedral of Learning this evening. Police were called to the intersection of Forbes Avenue and South Bellefield at 4:57 p.m. No word on the the cause of the incident or the victim's identity.
Incident on Forbes stops traffic, sends two to hospital
By Amy Beaudine and Danielle Fox / The Pitt News Staff
October 23, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
An incident involving a female biker and at least two cars has shut down Forbes Avenue. Police were called to the intersection of Forbes Avenue and South Bellefield at 4:57 p.m. Two people were taken to the hospital. Their condition is unknown. Pitt police arrived first on the scene. A Pitt ...
Candle smoke leads to Bouquet H evacuation
By Danielle Fox and Harrison Kaminsky / The Pitt News Staff
October 23, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News
A candle in a Bouquet H dorm room activated the building's sprinkler system early Friday morning, forcing residents to evacuate. According to Ethan Debroff, who lives in room 104H, smoke from a small candle on the stovetop activated the alarm. Pittsburgh Fire Department were called to the dor...
College Democrats, Republicans weigh in
By Elli Warsh, Megan Tingley and Mark Pesto / Pitt News Staff
October 22, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
With the 2016 presidential election nearing the one-year mark, Pitt’s two major political organizations - the Pitt College Democrats and Pitt College Republicans - are forging separate paths to secure votes. The Pitt News talked to Republican and Democrat students to map out where the groups’ membe...
Pitt professor, students receive award for community involvement
By Leo Dornan / For the Pitt News
October 22, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
For Robin Clarke, it’s the little work that can make the biggest difference. On Thursday, the gender, sexuality and women’s studies program at Pitt recognized Clarke for her social activism in Braddock and East Liberty with a 2015 Iris Marion Young Award. Clarke has been active in the fight to...
Faculty members introduce union push
By Lauren Rosenblatt / Assistant News Editor
October 22, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, City, News
A Pitt professor has publicly announced that University faculty will begin a campaign to organize a faculty union. After gauging faculty interest, William Haywood Carey, lead organizer of the campaign and United Steelworkers employee, said the committee will direct faculty members to send union authoriza...
Adopting a narrative
By Cristina McCormack / Staff Writer
October 21, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Adopting a child is meant to create a family, but narratives show that it can also isolate the individual. Four panelists specializing in adoption studies participated in an English department- and Humanities Center-sponsored panel discussion called “Adoption and Narratives of the Human.” The speake...
Remembering activist Julian Bond
By Amy Beaudine / Contributing Editor
October 20, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News, Top Stories
When Denise McCaskill was in high school, a student not much older than herself — social activist Julian Bond, a college student at the time — convinced her that young people could make a change. To McCaskill, Bond was an inspiration that led her to lifelong work in activism. Bond, a former Georgia state...
SGB to mentor women
By Lauren Wilson / Staff Writer
October 20, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News, Student Government, Top Stories
Nasreen Harun wants more strong women leaders on campus — so, she’s set out to find them. At Pitt’s Student Government Board’s weekly meeting Tuesday, Harun, SGB president, announced applications were open for the Pitt Women’s Leadership Experience, the University’s first mentorship pro...
SORC adopts new website
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
October 20, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Tech Science, Top Stories
In an effort to make running student groups easier, Pitt’s Student Organization Resource Center has given its online management program a facelift. Launched in September, SORC has been working to transition to using CollegiateLink, a site designed for organization management and event scheduling, as its...
Beyond the red
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
October 20, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, City, Health, National News, News
On fall weekends, while the air is fresh and still invitingly warm, the same scene rolls. Speakers up, drinks poured and best clothes on, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University students pour into South Oakland homes and bars for evenings of fun. While the music and students’ spirits are up, researc...
Students dance, raise awareness at LGBT prom
By Casey Schmauder / Staff Writer
October 20, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Nearly 100 Pitt students got a chance to relive their prom night last weekend, but this time they boogied in a community that didn’t push them to conceal their gender identities or sexualities. The pop music pounded out of the speakers, and students danced and laughed underneath dimmed lights and gl...
Pitt police issue crime alert following Ward Street home invasion
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
October 18, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Pitt police have issued a crime alert for Oakland after a home invasion early Saturday morning. Pitt and Pittsburgh police responded to a call for a home invasion at 3313 Ward St. at approximately 12:10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. The victim told police two black men with guns forced their way into h...
Pitt police take juvenile into custody following cell phone theft
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
October 18, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, News, Top Stories
Pitt police took a juvenile into custody Thursday for allegedly stealing a cell phone belonging to a Pitt student, police said Friday. Pitt police will not name the individual because he was under 18 years old, but officers arrested him around 7 p.m. in North Oakland Thursday, according to Pitt spok...
Produce porch feeds students
By Annemarie Carr / Staff Writer
October 15, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, City, News
Among the chairs and welcome mat on Sarah Kenney’s Dawson Street home, she’s piled boxes of tomatoes, peppers and strawberries. Depending on the day, the porch in front of her brick home and the sidewalk below it is stacked with other boxes of spinach, bannanas and apples — but little she plan...
Bonner says change takes time
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
October 14, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, News, Student Government
Students once again offered their input on Pitt’s strategic plan Wednesday night — and some of them brought very specific questions and concerns to the table. The University held its second open forum yesterday in the Connolly Ballroom of the Alumni Hall. Administration heard comments about two...
Pitt joins coalition to reach low-income students
By Shumeng Yang / For The Pitt News
October 14, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, National News, News, Top Stories
For freshman Abigail Vipperman, applying to college at the end of high school was a rush — but not the good kind. “The admissions process was very fast paced,” Vipperman, a biology major, said. “It felt like everything was thrown at me, which was especially stressful since this was a such m...
Oakland honors Indigenous Peoples Day
By Lauren Rosenblatt and Dale Shoemaker / Pitt News Staff
October 12, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, City, National News, News
With pennants and ribbons waving, marchers shut down Bigelow Boulevard as they brought native people and their supporters back to their indigenous roots. At Pitt on Monday, about 200 students and community members gathered in front of the Cathedral of Learning at 5:30 p.m. to march against Columbus ...
Pitt, FBI warn students of phone scam
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
October 12, 2015
Filed under Campus, National News, News, Tech Science, Top Stories
Pitt warned students last week of a phone scam that targets college students. The University released a warning on Friday on the My Pitt home page and through Campus Connect about a phone scam where a caller, claiming to represent the U.S. government, with a forged phone number tells the student that he or she owes delinquent student loans, dues or parking tickets. The caller, using a “spo...
Pittsburgh high school students rally for Rice
By Lauren Rosenblatt and Dale Shoemaker / Pitt News Staff
October 12, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, National News, News, Top Stories
Area high school students and community members gathered in Oakland Sunday evening to protest two professional investigations that said police officers in Cleveland acted reasonably in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Timothy J. McGinty, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, prosecutor, released the reviews late...
Pitt to discuss Cosby’s honorary degree
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
October 11, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, News
Following suit with other universities that awarded Bill Cosby an honorary degree, Pitt said on Friday that it will consider rescinding the degree it awarded him 13 years ago. Pitt gave Cosby an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his “lifetime of high achievement” after he spoke at Pitt...
Pitt royalty announced at Saturday’s football game
By Cristina McCormack / For the Pitt News
October 11, 2015
At first, Michael Hizny didn’t realize he had won. “I was shocked. For a moment, I didn’t even believe they called my name,” Hizny recalled of his crowning moment as Pitt’s latest Homecoming King — the shock still apparent on his face in the final quarter of the game. With the Pitt Pa...
Candidate count
By Emily Migdal / For The Pitt News
October 9, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Candidate countEmily Migdal / For The Pitt NewsOctober 9, 2015In the race for king and queen, candidates need a kingdom of support if they want to win. Voting for homecoming court opened for all students Oct. 8 and ends Oct. 9 at noon. This year, there are 15 candidates — seven for king and eight...
Protecting Panther Hollow
By Mark Pesto and Elaina Zachos / Senior Staff Writers
October 9, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, City, Homecoming 2015, News, Specials
Carlino Giampolo, the unofficial mayor of Oakland, has loved his community for more than thirty years, which is why he’s fighting the city’s most recent expansion project and pledging to “Save Panther Hollow.” Giampolo has long campaigned against the University for the preservation of his com...
Kissing for keeps at Heinz Chapel
October 8, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, Homecoming 2015, News, Specials, Top Stories
Kissing for keeps at Heinz ChapelAmy Beaudine / Staff WriterOctober 9, 2015When Bill Young overheard a Pitt Pathfinder telling a student about the legend of Heinz Chapel, he thought the legend was a myth.The young director of Communication Services at Pitt listened as a tour guide told a prospective...
Planned Parenthood demonstrations spark debate
By Elizabeth Lepro, Emily Brindley and Mark Pesto / Pitt News Staff
October 8, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Campus, Health, National News, News
Students on both sides of the Planned Parenthood debate demonstrated today on the William Pitt Union lawn. Students for Life of America, a national organization, and Choose Life at Pitt, a Pitt student organization, staged a demonstration calling to defund Planned Parenthood from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the l...
Students question Pitt’s plan following open forum
By Lauren Rosenblatt / Assistant News Editor
October 7, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News
Students said they came for answers and received a sales pitch at the University’s open student forum Tuesday. On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Pitt hosted an Open Student Forum from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the William Pitt Union Ballroom as an opportunity for students to express concerns about the University’s “Pl...
World Habitat Day’s Pitt debut
By Casey Schmauder / For The Pitt News
October 5, 2015
Filed under Campus, National News, News, Tech Science, Top Stories
Pitt’s Habitat for Humanity handed out Skittles and M&M packages Monday, but the messages on the candy wrappers were not so sweet. “By 2030, UN-HABITAT, [United Nations Human Settlements Program] estimates an additional 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need...
Student input, a work in progress
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
October 5, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, News
Students asked the Pitt administration to hear them out last week, and Kenyon Bonner said he’s listening. On Sept. 25, students from Free the Planet and Americans for Informed Democracy dropped off a letter for Chancellor Patrick Gallagher describing their disappointment with the lack of student e...
Fall Fest 2015: Walk the Moon brings radio hits to Bigelow Boulevard
By Jessica Iacullo / Staff Writer
October 4, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Pitt students shut up and danced Sunday outside the William Pitt Union during Pitt Program Council’s annual Fall Fest. Along with the drums and keyboard,the smells of cotton candy and popcorn filled Bigelow Boulevard Sunday afternoon as students and parents gathered in front of Fall Fest’s sta...
Hooked on hookah
By Elli Warsh / For The Pitt Study
October 1, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, City, Health, News
Pitt freshman Logan Armstrong knows smoking hookah isn’t good for his lungs — but compared to cigarettes, he doesn’t see a cause for concern. “I smoke hookah much less frequently than the average cigarette smoker,” Armstrong said. “A smoker may consume a pack of cigarettes a day, whereas I may ...
Dining Guide: Online promotion doesn’t profit
September 30, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, City, News, Tech Science
If Sorrento’s is offering a cheap pizza, freshman Brody Hastings is in. Attracting and retaining customers like Hastings at local restaurants is the subject of a study from a collaboration of researchers at Pitt’s School of Information Sciences and the Stevens Institute of Technology. The study...
Pittsburgh gathers to hear Pope
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
September 27, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
As the Steelers game came to a close Sunday, Pittsburgh’s faithful turned away from their televisions and toward someone more holy than any quarterback — Pope Francis. About 130 people gathered yesterday afternoon at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in the Strip District to watch a live broadcast from Phila...
Pitt police, dean issue guidance after home invasion
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
September 24, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Following an armed robbery of four students’ home earlier this week, Pitt police have issued a crime alert and Pitt’s dean of students has issued a statement. According to interim Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner, Pitt asks the Pitt police to issue a crime alert to all students when a ...
The big picture: School of social work talk looks to the past for lessons
By Casey Schmauder / For The Pitt News
September 24, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
Imagine if, on the first day of classes, every student walked out to protest the increasing cost of higher education. According to Tracy M. Soska, they should. Soska is the chair of the masters of social work community organization and social action concentration. On Sept. 23 from noon to 1 p.m. in 20...
More than a fad: Gluten-free fair raises awareness
By Josh Ye / Staff Writer
September 24, 2015
Gluten-free foodies rejoiced over plates of celiac-friendly pizza Wednesday on the Union lawn. The sun shone Wednesday afternoon as the fourth annual Gluten-Free Awareness Carnival united Pitt’s gluten-free awareness organizations and local organic food suppliers to share an afternoon of snacks sa...
Students deliver letter to Chancellor
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
September 24, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News, Top Stories
When student activists gathered in the Cathedral to deliver a message to the Chancellor Thursday, they left their protest signs and megaphones at home. Instead, about 20 student members of Americans for Informed Democracy and Free the Planet assembled on the first floor of the Cathedral at 12:30 p.m. t...
Symposium smooth after controversy
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
September 24, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News, Top Stories
Pitt’s Inaugural National Security Symposium went smoothly yesterday despite controversy over the withdrawal of ex-panelist Norman Finkelstein’s invitation, according to organizer Brian Sisco. “We’re focusing on who’s here, not on who’s not here,” Sisco said. Expert panelists Dan Simps...
The Pitt News wins five collegiate journalism awards
By The Pitt News Staff
September 24, 2015
The Pitt News received five Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for stories published from Nov. 2, 2013 through Oct. 10, 2014. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded The Pitt News a second place Gold Circle Award in photography, and four Certificates of M...
Communication breakdown: Finkelstein’s fury
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
September 23, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, National News, News
What Pitt says was a miscommunication with a middleman has shrouded the University’s first-ever National Security Symposium in controversy. Norman Finkelstein, a popular but contentious expert on the Israel-Palestine conflict, was scheduled to speak today at the symposium, an event sponsored by t...
Dave and Andy’s sign vandalized
By Elizabeth Lepro / Asst. News Editor
September 23, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News
An unidentified person has graffitied Dave and Andy’s iconic ice cream cone sign. Employees first noticed a purple peace sign, a smiley face and a heart on the white space underneath the words “Dave and Andy’s” on the sign hanging outside the building Wednesday evening. The markings are simi...
Signed, sealed, registered: Pitt students register to vote online
By Alex Leighton / Staff Writer
September 23, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, National News, News
As the 2016 presidential primaries loom closer, an on-campus political event looked beyond party affiliations to ensure students will get out and vote. Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., roughly 150 students registered to vote at Pitt’s National Voter Registration Day. Pitt College Democrats, Pi Sig...
Making Oakland accessible: Pitt hosts lecture on struggles for people with disabilities
By Amy Beaudine / Staff Writer
September 23, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News, Top Stories
A ride on the bus, a night out to dinner, a sexual encounter — while these things might seem mundane, Pitt students learned how difficult they can be for people with disabilities on Tuesday night. Pitt’s gender, sexuality and women’s studies program hosted “All of me ... All the time: An Hones...
Pitt releases sexual assault survey results
By Elizabeth Lepro, Lauren Rosenblatt, Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
September 22, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, Health, News
When it comes to sexual misconduct on Pitt’s campus, students are afraid to step in, seek help and file reports, according to a survey of the University’s sexual climate. The results of the 2015 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct, which Pitt released Monday, showed that female students and transgender or non-gen...
Employers plan to scout students at Career Fair
By Imaz Athar / For The Pitt News
September 22, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
This Thursday, Pitt students will fill the Pete for a different kind of workout, sporting their dress shoes instead of sneakers. The Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance will host its annual Fall Career Fair on Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Petersen Events Center. More than...
Chinese – American festival debuts in Oakland
By Josh Ye / For The Pitt News
September 20, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News, Top Stories
With lacquered lips and vintage high heels, 10 Chinese models clad in traditional cheongsams used Bigelow Boulevard as their cat walk this weekend. The fashion show was one of the highlights of the inaugural Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Festival. The festival’s organizers wanted the event to promo...
Filmmakers rolls on after summer deficit
By Rio Maropis / Staff Writer
September 20, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
After a shaky summer, the cameras are now rolling better than ever at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Pittsburgh Filmmakers, a nonprofit organization that offers for-credit film and production classes to Pitt students, hit a revenue deficit of $754,868 in May because of lost income and special project spending. ...
Students run against sexual assault
By Emily Brindley / Staff Writer
September 17, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News, Student Government
Forget the dress and heels. When Devin Dubos got dressed to go out Thursday night, she went straight for a T-shirt and shorts — then put her bra and panties over top. Instead of joining her friends at a South Oakland party, she lined up with more than 70 other Pitt students, also wearing their under...
Students do good, boost resumes at volunteer fair
By Annemarie Carr / Staff Writer
September 16, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News, Top Stories
Senior Jessica Star came to the volunteer fair for the love of community service and the added intention of bulking up her resumé. Volunteering, she said, gets her experience with other people. “There are a lot of diverse people in Pittsburgh, and by volunteering, I get to learn more about them a...
Festival coming to Oakland
By Rio Maropis / For The Pitt News
September 16, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News
Promising to “push the boundaries” of a normal festival experience, the Oakland Business Improvement District will soon give all Oakland residents a chance to walk the red carpet and check out new tech. Oakland Business Improvement District is hosting its third annual Oakland Forever event, a festival f...
Oakwatch talks Over-crowding
By Elizabeth Lepro and Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
September 16, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, City, News, Top Stories
When Hanson Kappelman attended college in Ohio, he fought for student independence. More than 30 years later, Kappelman, now living in Oakland, thinks residents need to follow the rules. At Wednesday’s monthly Oakwatch meeting, Kappelman and several other permanent Oakland residents, like Janice Lo...
Writers series announced
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
September 16, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News
For the 16th time in as many years, a series of acclaimed living authors will visit Pitt to read their work and impart their knowledge. On Tuesday, Pitt announced it will host the 16th season of the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series, with a schedule of six writers speaking each month — excluding...
SGB to add allocations alternate
By Lauren Wilson / Staff Writer
September 16, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News, Student Government
Calling in backup, Pitt’s Student Government Board said Tuesday night it will add an alternate member to its Allocations Committee in case of future resignations. In a unanimous vote at its public meeting Sept. 15, SGB approved a bill amending its governing code to add the position of alternate Allo...
Labor leaders speak to students
By Kelechi Urama / Staff Writer
September 16, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Gabe Kramer spent his Tuesday night showing students the meaning of French fries, T-shirts, briefcases and hard hats. While the smattering of items might not say anything deep to some people, to Kramer, they represent the roots of a movement. On Tuesday night, Kramer, a union organizer from Service Emp...
Faculty art reverberates in Frick
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
September 14, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, News
The pieces in this fall’s Studio Arts faculty exhibit “Reverberations” do not have a connecting motive or medium but work together to represent the similarities between artists and teachers. Vicky Clark, a Pittsburgh based independent curator responsible for organizing the Studio Arts faculty art exh...
Cheers: Pitt Rowing christens new boat
By Josh Ye / For The Pitt News
September 13, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, Health, News, Top Stories
On a sunny Saturday afternoon on the Allegheny River, Donald Burke popped a bottle of champagne to honor Jonas Salk, the father of the polio vaccine, as well as the newest addition to Pitt’s rowing team. A seemingly odd juxtaposition, the Pitt scientist and the eight-person heavyweight boat share a name, a...
Don’t forget the answers: A Telefact retrospective
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
September 11, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, News
Someone at Pitt once wanted to know how many Barack Obamas could fit inside the sun. Jake Futerfas gave them the answer. “We took their [contact] information and told them we’d call back, and then we estimated the mass of Barack Obama, and the mass of the sun, and we worked it out,” Futerfas said...
PDM to shave off 8 hours of dancing
By Liz Lepro and Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
September 11, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News, Top Stories
As of this spring, Pitt’s annual charity dance will require a little less endurance. The Pitt Dance Marathon, which raises money for Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, has previously been a 24-hour dance marathon in February held in the Charles L. Cost Sports Center. This year, the dance will m...
Training in Thailand: Allison Faust’s internship abroad
By Chidi Nwakpuda / Staff Writer
September 11, 2015
Filed under Campus, Health, News
For Allison Faust, hands-on job training is important — so much so that she went all the way to Thailand to get it. Faust, a senior biological sciences major who wants to become a veterinarian, spent two and a half weeks last July in Thailand through a summer study abroad program, Loop Abroad. W...
Tower B hit by string of thefts
By Liz Lepro and Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
September 11, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
Pitt Police have issued a crime alert to students after responding to a string of thefts on the eighth floor of Litchfield Tower B this week. Police issued the alert Sept. 9 after receiving three separate reports from the Tower B residence director that day. Two of the thefts happened last week, ...
Mental health: breaking the silence
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
September 10, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, Health, News, Student Government, Top Stories
In 2007, seventh grader Matthew Sykes needed guidance and found it in a friend and fellow Boy Scout — a “man of principle,” as he called him — who he could look up to. Sykes’ friend, who he referred to as “Jack” for privacy, was a 16-year-old Eagle Scout who took Sykes under his wing...
Pitt makes gender studies major official
By Lauren Rosenblatt and Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
September 8, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Mastering topics including sexuality, gender identity and Hillary Clinton can now earn you a major at Pitt. While the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences has always offered a gender, sexuality and women’s studies certificate, as of June 16, this will be the first semester it will be expanded into ...
SGB votes against plastic bags
By Mark Pesto and Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
September 8, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News, Student Government, Top Stories
Students can no longer receive free plastic bags from campus dining services, including Market Central’s Quick Zone, per a new Student Government Board resolution passed Tuesday. SGB voted unanimously at last evening’s meeting to approve a resolution called the “BYO[Bag] Initiative Restructure,” whic...
Pitt Perfect: Student a cappella groups harmonizing on campus
By Allison Bradley / For The Pitt News
September 8, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Robert Browne Gartei burst through the fifth floor doors of the William Pitt Union looking more nervous than excited. This was Browne Gartei’s second time in three years trying out for a Pitt a cappella group. He clutched his head and jumped up and down as he exited his Pitches and Tones tryout. Br...
Pitt installs new Title IX coordinator
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
September 7, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News, Top Stories
After the amount of reported rape on Pitt’s campus doubled between 2013 and 2014, Pitt hired its first full-time Title IX coordinator to assess the rising numbers. The University announced it hired Catherine Pope to fill the role in a release Sept. 2. Carol Mohamed, former director of diversity a...
Beds and bathrooms: Pitt starts gender-neutral push
By Lauren Rosenblatt and Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
September 3, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, Health, News, Top Stories
This fall, Pitt is welcoming students, faculty and staff to use any restroom on campus that they desire, corresponding to their gender identity. Next fall, Pitt will open Ruskin Hall as the first gender-neutral dorm on campus. In an interview with The Pitt News, the University said Ruskin Hall will accommoda...
Pennsylvania gets online voter registration
By Dale Shoemaker and Elizabeth Lepro / The Pitt News Staff
September 2, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, National News, News, Top Stories
As of last Thursday, Pennsylvania residents can now do one more thing on their laptops and smartphones — register to vote. After realizing a 2002 voter registration amendment already gave them approval, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Pedro Cortes announced last week that Pennsy...
The freshmen shuffle: How Pitt deals with an influx of students
By Amy Beaudine / Staff Writer
September 2, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
Pitt’s chief enrollment officer Marc Harding said trying to exactly predict the freshman class size is “like trying to land a jumbo jet on a dime.” Regardless of the number of applications, the University aims to bring around 3,900 new fresh faces to campus every year, and while Pitt doesn’t ...
Ninety miles of poems
By Chidi Nwakpuda / Staff Writer
September 2, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News
This fall, a diplomatic gesture following a long, troubled relationship between countries will be available to all in the form of poetry. On Sept. 30, the University of Pittsburgh Press will publish renowned poet Richard Blanco’s bilingual work, “Matters of the Sea,” or “Cosas del Mar.” Blanco ...
Don’t fear the fine
By Rio Maropis / For The Pitt News
September 1, 2015
Will Matthews pays thousands of dollars to attend Pitt, but he did not expect to owe another $1,000 to Hillman Library. Matthews, a senior psychology and communications major, checked out seven books in spring 2014 to do research for a communications project. He forgot to return the books before leav...
PeopleSoft now portable
By Rio Maropis / For The Pitt News
September 1, 2015
Filed under Campus, News, Tech Science
In a tech-savvy generation, Peoplesoft needed an upgrade. In July, Pitt released a mobile app for PeopleSoft, a previously web-only platform for students to access class information, academic progress and schedule classes. According to spokesman John Fedele, Pitt partnered in early 2015 with HighPoint Mo...
More empty seats on SGB
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
September 1, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News, Student Government
Student Government Board Allocations Chair Nick Reslink has four committee seats to fill before student groups start filing funding requests. Though SGB purposefully left two seats open in the spring to allow incoming freshmen to join the committee, two more seats opened up when senior Matthew Heiges a...
Welcome Back hits Bigelow
By Amy Beaudine / Staff Writer
August 31, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
Before freshman Leah Bailey ever competed for a top spot in an academic program or a place in line at Market Thanksgiving, she jumped into a giant plastic hamster ball and competed in a rolling race down Bigelow Boulevard. “I’ve only ever seen them on TV, and ... wow, it’s here,” Bailey, a freshm...
Lighting the way: Pitt women celebrate 95th Lantern Night
By Jessie Wallace and Lauren Rosenblatt / The Pitt News
August 31, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
In 1920, Pitt held its first Lantern Night in an Oakland home hoping to instill pride in female students and offset the savagery of college men. Now, 95 years later, walls can’t contain number of Pitt women reaching out to raise one other up. Lantern Night welcomes female first-year freshmen or f...
Email lists and League of Legends: Students hit Petersen Events Center for Activities Fair
By Chidi Nwakpuda / Staff Writer
August 31, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
Unlike other Pitt students, sophomore Isaac Goss loves getting emails from student groups and can’t wait for them to drown his Pitt inbox. Goss and hoards of other freshman students attended the Pitt Activities Fair, which took place Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. in the Petersen Events Center. More th...
Walk the Moon to headline Fall Fest
By Dale Shoemaker / News Editor
August 31, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
Pitt’s Program Council scouted its Fall Fest performer options well this year. The PPC booked Walk the Moon to headline Pitt’s annual Fall Fest a little more than a month before the indie pop band’s hit single “Shut Up and Dance” climbed to number four on Billboard. PPC announced the line...
Pitt gets WiFi upgrade
By Mark Pesto / Senior Staff Writer
August 31, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, News
For students who bought a new phone, tablet or laptop since last spring, Pitt’s Wi-Fi just got a lot faster. Pitt’s Computing Services and Systems Development created a supplemental wireless network called Wireless-PittNet-Fast in August. Where Pitt’s standard wireless connects students at 2...
$5 pizza goes 6 feet under
By Emily Brindley / Staff Writer
August 31, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News
When Malek Ameli-Grillon found out that Antoon’s raised the price of a large cheese pizza to $6, plus tax, he was devastated. College life, as he knew it, was ruined. “Who carries $6.42 on them? $5 is such a convenient price,” Ameli, an undeclared sophomore, said. One by one, the pizza shops of Atwood ...
Around the World: Greece
By Lauren Rosenblatt / Assistant News Editor
August 30, 2015
Filed under Campus, National News, News
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a new series called Around the World, in which The Pitt News breaks down world news with the help of local experts to give you the low down on what’s going on internationally. In this first installment, The Pitt News spoke with Pitt history professors Bernard ...
In Case You Missed It…
By The Pitt News Staff
August 30, 2015
Filed under Administration, Campus, City, Health, National News, News, Student Government, Tech Science
May 12 - Pitt to build Iranian Nationality Room After two unsuccessful attempts dating to 1958, Pitt will transform room 352 of the Cathedral of Learning into an Iranian Nationality Room — once it secures funding. The total cost of the room will be between $800,000 and $1 million. To fundraise f...
With influx of funding, Pitt will amp up alcohol education
By Amrita Beaudine / For The Pitt News
August 30, 2015
Filed under Campus, Health, National News, News
To aid the fight against alcohol abuse on campus, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has awarded a $34,412 grant to Pitt. The Board awards grants to organizations based on their ability to “provide evidence-informed alcohol education and prevention activities and programs,” according to Paul Supowitz...
Hardhat season: A guide to construction on campus
By Chidi Nwakpuda / Staff Writer
August 30, 2015
As most students checked out, construction crews checked in this summer, fighting through the heat to begin more than $58 million worth of campus renovations. Pitt’s Board of Trustees granted the money for construction and estimated these projects would create 430 jobs on campus. From new elevato...
‘Digital plaza’ coming to Oakland
By Elizabeth Lepro / Assistant News Editor
August 30, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, City, News, Tech Science
This fall, an organization will seek to install a high-tech art exhibition in Oakland. Innovation Oakland, a project that aims to transform the streets of Oakland into a digital community, plans to complete the “21st Digital Plaza” by mid-October. The initiative will fill the corner of Forbes...
Pitt student passes away over weekend
By The Pitt News Staff
August 30, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Campus, Health, News
Victor Firman, a Pitt senior from Connecticut, died on Sunday. He was 22. According to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office, Firman’s roommate called emergency responders to 3614 Bates St. in Oakland at 5:23 p.m. Medics found Firman unresponsive in his apartment. He was pronounced...
Pitt welcomes largest incoming class at convocation ceremony
By Jessie Wallace / For The Pitt News
August 30, 2015
Filed under 3. Breaking, Administration, Campus, News
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher kicked off a 200-year-old commencement ceremony with a selfie. During the 2015 New Student Convocation, which began at 3 p.m. on Wednesday in the Petersen Events Center, Gallagher snapped a selfie that included the more than 6,000 students, parents and faculty present i...
Oakland shop owner charged in theft ring
By Dale Shoemaker and Lauren Rosenblatt / The Pitt News Staff
August 30, 2015
Filed under Campus, City, News
A Wilkins man was charged Tuesday with using drug addicts to operate a $2 million theft ring from his record store in Oakland. Following a seven-year investigation, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office charged fifty-year-old Anthony J. Cicero, owner of The Slipped Disc on Atwood Street in...