Panel discusses women’s menstrual hygiene
By Anandhini Narayanan | Staff Writer
November 15, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
When Pittsburgh City councilwoman Natalia Rudiak received an email from the Department of Public Works — an organization dedicated to maintaining Pittsburgh’s infrastructure — about putting pad dispensers in the vicinity of public pools, she had to explain to them why their idea wouldn’t work....
Club hosts series on dating violence
By Remy Samuels | Staff Writer
November 14, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
A Pitt student’s death is still leaving a mark on campus, more than a month after her passing. In light of Alina Sheykhet’s death, Pitt Unmuted — a club created for survivors of sexual assault to share their stories — held a series of three events discussing the topic of intimate partner viol...
Law student sues Pitt, claiming Title IX complaint was mistreated
By The Pitt News Staff
November 13, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, News
A former Pitt law student has sued the University, claiming Pitt employees mistreated her when they responded to a Title IX complaint she filed. Hannah Rullo filed a lawsuit Oct. 25 in the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh against the University of Pittsburgh saying she was subjected to gende...
Pitt alum potential CNN Hero of the Year for humanitarianism efforts
By Anna Bongardino | Contributing Editor
November 13, 2017
Filed under Campus, Health, News, Top Stories
At the age of 22, Samir Lakhani spent several long and laborious days cleaning, sanitizing and compressing used bars of soap with one young Cambodian woman. The woman, Prornh Thearang, spoke no English, but the duo sat side-by-side for hours, listening to Cambodian folk music as they worked. Lakhan...
Panel sheds light on refugee mental health
By Amanda Finney | Staff Writer
November 13, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
If you had to make a list of your four most important things, tangible or intangible, what would they be? This is the question panelist Sarah Faulx posed to 40 audience members Friday night in William Pitt Union Dining Room B. After encouraging them to take out their phones and make the list, she...
Asian-American entertainer discusses representation
By Hannah Schneider | For The Pitt News
November 13, 2017
After her sister committed suicide in 2007, Anna Akana felt she had no purpose in life — until she was drawn into the world of stand-up comedy. “It’s the only thing that made me feel alive,” Akana said. But she wasn’t even aware comedy was a viable career path for her until she saw A...
Law professor underscores reproductive rights
By Laura Howe | For The Pitt News
November 10, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
An older man in the audience of a reproductive rights lecture looked around the room and commented on the lack of people like him. “You know, I think Rep. [Tim] Murphy summed up the whole problem, and that is men sort of abandon the issue or exclude themselves from the discussion until it immediate...
Student scores scholarship to start LGBTQ+ on campus
By Remy Samuels | Staff Writer
November 9, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Amy Kelley said she was “living the life.” Why? Because she got to hear Hillary Clinton speak and had people drive her around the nation’s capital as part of her invitation to attend the Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in Washington, D.C. Oct. 28. “It was really awesome,” Ke...
Student dissatisfaction aired at Master Plan focus groups
By Elise Lavallee | Contributing Editor
November 9, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
When asked at a Campus Master Plan focus group meeting about what kind of future aesthetic students want Pitt to have, students made it clear that functionality comes before aesthetic for them. “Functionality first,” one student said, before others chimed in agreement. Students convened in the U...
Students lament low voter turnout at local elections
By Hannah Schneider | For The Pitt News
November 8, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
After last year’s presidential election results, Zoe Kovacs didn’t expect to be one of the only people at the polls Tuesday. But when she showed up at Posvar Hall at 2 p.m., she was “appalled” to find she was only the 40th person to show up. “[The poll workers] were all cheering, ...
Gubernatorial candidate gives take on economy, health care at Pitt
By Rose Luder | Staff Writer
November 7, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
When Paul Mango was at U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he had calculus six days a week. “I hope sitting here and listening to me is less painful than calculus at West Point on a Saturday morning,” the Republican primary candidate for governor joked before a crowd of Pitt students Monday ni...
Students simulate marginalized experiences
By Elise Lavallee | Contributing Editor
November 7, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
A young man sat at a table behind two black curtains in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room Monday night. Across the table, two individuals intensely interrogated him. “What religion do you practice?” asked one. “What does your name mean?” followed the other. This scenario was part of Bo...
Hijab-wearing model advocates for modesty, Muslim women
By Zoe Pawliczek | Staff Writer
November 6, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Model Mariah Idrissi asked where she could buy a hijab in Pittsburgh while speaking at the William Pitt Union Saturday night. “Fashion is present very prominently in all of our lives, especially growing up in the [United States],” Amal Saeed, a junior molecular biology major and president of Muslim S...
7-Eleven’s closing leaves students conflicted
By Nina Kneuer | Staff Writer
November 2, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Regina Brecker said 7-Eleven “saved [her] life” on more than one occasion when she pulled all-nighters in the library. “Without it, I would have had to walk all the way to the McDonald's for food,” Brecker said. “This was so important, especially when I was living in the dorms and didn't...
Pitt shoots for bigger basketball crowds
By Bailey Frisco | Staff Writer
November 1, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Tanisha Brown is a longtime college basketball fan — she started watching with her dad growing up. When she began attending Pitt, the Panthers quickly earned a place in her heart and her presence at the Petersen Events Center. “I really got into it when I came to Pitt,” Brown said. “I began root...
Amazon opens pickup location on Pitt’s campus
By Caroline Bourque | Assistant News Editor
October 31, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
A new Amazon pickup location opened on Pitt’s campus Tuesday. Located at 209 Oakland Ave. next to Crazy Mocha, Amazon@Pitt will allow customers to pick up or return their Amazon orders. Amazon Prime members will have free one-day pickup for millions of items and next-day arrival for orders placed be...
Students prepare to scare: Holland haunts with 8 spooky themes
By Anna Bongardino | Contributing Editor
October 31, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Students covered in blood shrieked cries for help in the tunnels beneath the Schenley Quad residence halls Sunday night. Other students filed through the tunnels, anxiously clutching each other’s hands and screaming in fear as they awaited lurking figures around each corner. About 800 student...
Pitt’s first female AFROTC commander encourages leadership
By Zoe Pawliczek | Staff Writer
October 30, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Hidden from civilians on floor 29 of the Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh's Air Force ROTC detachment is only accessible from two elevators. Tight hallways decorated with training schedules, cadet headshots and motivational posters lead to several small rooms. The cadet wings at Pitt are organized the wa...
Event explores conflict over climate change
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
October 30, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Highlighting the existing political lines at Pitt was not what Samuel Ressin had in mind while planning his Polarization vs. the Planet event. Ressin — the president of the Climate Stewardship Society — said the event was supposed to showcase climate change and ways to show bipartisan support on the ...
Social work dean steps down
By Rachel Glasser | News Editor
October 26, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Pitt’s dean of the School of Social Work Larry E. Davis will step down at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year. Davis is the third University dean this year to announce he will step down in the spring. Swanson School of Engineering dean Gerald Holder and School of Law dean William M. Carter, Jr. annou...
Professor discusses gun violence with students
By Xinyu Lu | For The Pitt News
October 25, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Richard Garland, an assistant professor of Public Health Practice at Pitt, has spent a total of 23 years incarcerated — almost two-thirds of his life. “Believe it or not, I have a real good relationship with law enforcement,” Garland said. “Never thought I’d say that.” Today, Garland w...
Pitt’s 10th PMADD highlights culture of service
By Caroline Bourque and Janine Faust | News Editors
October 25, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Shea Krause is confident she and about 50 other members of Pitt’s Jumpstart chapter had the Brightwood Civic Group’s Pumpkinfest under control Saturday morning. “If anything, there were maybe too many people. I don’t think there were enough jobs,” she said. Krause and her peers helped ma...
‘Guardian’ helps people on the brink
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
October 24, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Kevin Briggs thinks his unofficial title — “guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge” — sounds “egotistical.” “I’m not a big fan of the name,” Briggs said in an email. “I think there are many ‘Guardians’ all over the world, both first responder and citizen.” Briggs, a Californ...
Sigmas scrutinize race, masculinity
By Sarah Frumkin | Staff Writer
October 24, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Gabby Yearwood said he tells people all the time he wasn’t born a feminist. Toxic forms of masculinity impacted his own life as a youth, he said. But going to college helped undo his preconceptions that cultural constructs had taught him — such as his aversion to gay people. “I was homopho...
Quick Zone decreases prices, extends hours
By Rachel Glasser | News Editor
October 24, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Quick Zone is extending its hours and dropping its prices after 7-Eleven closed Sept. 28. Panther Central announced Oct. 13 that Litchfield Towers Quick Zone would be extending its hours from a 24-hour, five-day-a-week schedule to 24 hours, seven days a week, beginning that day. “Do late-nig...
Poet connects race, culture with verse
By Lauren Forsythe | Staff Writer
October 23, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
The bumping and bouncing beat of rap music filled Nordy’s Place Saturday evening as students snapped and clapped along to live music and slam poetry. G Yamazawa rapidly spit lyrics rooted in personal stories about race and culture. “When you forget where you’re from, you truly become America...
Student struggles illuminated at mental health vigil
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
October 23, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
After sustaining a concussion playing street basketball during his junior year of high school, Wyatt Macejka’s life would never be the same. The senior psychology major was diagnosed with depression and anxiety as a result of the concussion, and he struggled through his recovery. “I couldn...
Students wrestle with returning home
By Nina Kneuer | Staff Writer
October 23, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Aarthi Pookot remembered her first moment of “reverse” culture shock when she returned home from spending a year abroad in Japan. Pookot — a first-year Japanese major — was at an airport in Atlanta, Georgia, and was trying to buy a hot chocolate while waiting for her connecting flight home. ...
Author advocates for immigrants
By Remy Samuels | Staff Writer
October 20, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
From watching “Dennis the Menace,” “Beverly Hills, 90201” and “Saved by the Bell,” Julissa Arce’s American dream began at a young age. Growing up in Mexico, Arce watched American television shows with wonder and curiosity. She especially identified with Dennis from “Dennis the Me...
Israelis and Palestinian find common ground in the environment
By Nina Kneuer | Staff Writer
October 20, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
From a Palestinian point of view the Arava Institute is located in Palestine, and from an Israeli point of view the Institute is located in Israel. Students and faculty from the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies — a university that focuses on intercultural research and environmental work — led a ...
Senate council focuses on funding
By Nolan Roosa | Staff Writer
October 19, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher opened his report at the University Senate Council meeting Wednesday by addressing the killing of Pitt student Alina Sheykhet. This was the chancellor’s first public statement regarding the tragic death. “Our community was heartbroken at the loss of Alina Sheyk...
Husband relates story of wife’s Holocaust survival
By Laura Howe | For The Pitt News
October 19, 2017
Renee Sachs was hardly old enough to read when she realized that, if she made a mistake, it could cost two lives — hers and her aunt’s. When she was 4 years old, Sachs went to live with her aunt in Vichy, France, so she — a young girl of Jewish descent — could escape the genocide being car...
Students speak out about mental health
By Amanda Finney | Staff Writer
October 19, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Emiola Jay Oriola said he’s not native to writing poetry — and he didn’t used to like art — but in the eulogy he wrote for his father’s funeral, he found that a poem came out. “It was very brand new, so I started to cultivate it, seek God and ask ‘what is this?’ and more poetry cam...
Takei recounts experiences, encourages activism
By Anna Bongardino | Contributing Editor
October 18, 2017
Shortly after his fifth birthday, in 1942, George Takei and his family were forced out of their home in Los Angeles at gunpoint. Along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans, Takei’s family was sent to a Japanese internment camp. Takei and his family spent a few months in a camp on the West Coast before m...
Taking back the night: students share stories of abusive relationships
By Bailey Frisco | Staff Writer
October 18, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Dana Good held a handmade sign above her head that read “I’m not ovary-acting” as she marched through the streets of Oakland Tuesday night. More Pitt students walked alongside her, waving posters saying “reclaim the streets” and “I march for those who can’t,” while being escorted by Pitt Po...
Podcast hosts return to talk traveling
By Zoe Pawliczek | Staff Writer
October 17, 2017
Reality TV stars and podcast hosts Susie Meister and Sarah Rice think they might be qualified for Donald Trump’s current job — given that he also has a reality TV background. “This is just the beginning. Podcast at Pitt, next thing you know I’m running for president,” Meister said. ...
Students disconnect to connect to people
By Lauren Forsythe | For The Pitt News
October 17, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Your social media activity can’t ever really be deleted, Kathleen Bracken learned in her computer science classes at Pitt. “Usually whenever you click the delete button it’s not actually taking the thing out of memory, it’s not like you take an eraser and you smear it out and it’s gone,” B...
New Pitt office to encourage communication across faiths
By Sarah Frumkin | For The Pitt News
October 17, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Kyle Wyche was peacefully meditating in the prayer and relaxation room on the third floor of the William Pitt Union when a group of Muslim students walked in to pray. The junior ecology major struck up a conversation with one of the Muslim students afterward, who turned out to be as interested i...
Alina Sheykhet remembered by friends as kind and loving
By Rachel Glasser | News Editor
October 15, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
In a seventh grade stage production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” Isabel Scrabis’ grandfather mistook Alina Sheykhet — who starred as Millie — for his granddaughter. “The whole entire time he thought I was Alina, and he was so impressed. My mom had to break it to him that I was just swa...
Students face encouragement, difficulties when coming out
By Remy Samuels | For The Pitt News
October 13, 2017
Decked out in suits and dresses, Pitt’s LGBTQ+ alumni and current students congregated in the Gold Room of the University Club Wednesday, reminiscing about the evolution of the community and discussing plans for future growth. Pitt’s LGBTQIA+ Alumni Affinity Council hosted a reception at the University Club...
Alumni reflect on Cathedral’s youth
By Bailey Frisco | Staff Writer
October 13, 2017
Filed under Campus, Top Stories
As a child, Edward Murphy used to walk through the muddy construction site of the Cathedral of Learning on his way to Schenley Theater — the current site of Hillman Library — with his younger brother to watch movies. Murphy often wondered what the inside of the structure would look like, but he didn...
Big changes may come to Bigelow
By Madison Hook | For The Pitt News
October 13, 2017
Filed under Campus, City, News
The City of Pittsburgh closed Bigelow Boulevard in 1996 for 29 days. Then-Mayor Tom Murphy said they felt closing Bigelow “would make for ... a more attractive campus.” The trial program didn’t continue after those 29 days. According to city councilman Dan Gilman, “it posed a lot of issues f...
Gallagher meets with Gov. Wolf amid Pitt funding uncertainties
By Rachel Glasser and John Hamilton / TPN Staff
October 12, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Administration, Campus, News
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf met with Chancellor Patrick Gallagher Thursday morning amid a state budget impasse that's making Pitt's state funding uncertain. Wolf met with Gallagher to "reassure him of his commitment to the state-related universities," Wolf's Press Secretary J.J. Abbott said in an email....
Students Cope with Invisible Illnesses
By Amanda Finney | Staff Writer
October 11, 2017
Filed under Campus, Health, News, Top Stories
Most people wouldn’t say walking with a cane is glamorous. But to Pitt grad student Jessica Benham, “it’s a fashion statement.” Sporting her bedazzled cane — black with sparkly rhinestones — Benham shows she is not ashamed of her connective tissue disorder. But she is quick to point o...
Pitt Students Pitch Against the Clock
By Madeline Gavatorta, Janine Faust and Caroline Bourque | The Pitt News Staff
October 10, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
In the corner of the O’Hara student lobby Saturday morning, Jacob Saletsky practiced his pitch for an app, stopping to listen to the critiques and suggestions of his teammates. “You speak too much on this slide,” Veysel Gokbel said. “Can I just — real quick — we never directly asked that...
Original Milano’s Pizza receives consumer alert for code violations
By Janine Faust / Assistant News Editor
October 7, 2017
Filed under Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Original Milano’s Pizza was issued a consumer alert from the Allegheny Health Department Friday for numerous code violations. Malfunctioning refrigeration, evidence of mice and a lack of soap at the handwashing sink were among the violations the health department found at the restaurant located on the 3600 b...
Susan Rice discusses U.N., Iran Deal
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
October 6, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
The crowd burst out laughing when Susan Rice pointed out that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden talked at another Pitt Program Council event held last year. “That guy pissed— ruined a lot of my days,” Rice said. Rice — a former United Nations ambassador and national security advisor to the ...
Christensen concentrates on couples conflict
By Sarah Frumkin | For The Pitt News
October 6, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Couples looking to get to the root of their problems may have found just the man to help them. Andrew Christensen — a professor from the University of California Los Angeles and a licensed clinical psychologist — shared his latest research on a method of couples therapy he developed at the Weste...
Poets and performers explore black futures
By Anna Bongardino | Contributing Editor
October 5, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Projected onto a screen behind the stage of the Frick Fine Arts building, images of demolition were overlaid with the slow motion image of a woman twirling in a bright blue skirt. Colors shifted from negatives to sepia tone to a washed-out golden color which reflected the clouds of dust and destruct...
Pitt, Rainbow prep for Westboro protest
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
October 4, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
With the Westboro Baptist Church planning to protest on Pitt’s campus Thursday, the University and campus organizations are preparing. The WBC is known for its hateful speech against the LGBTQ+ community, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews and American soldiers. According to its onlin...
Pitt students minds at work, hearts at home
By Ellie Yoon | For The Pitt News
October 4, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Audrey Chen can’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia every time she walks into the Subway on Forbes Avenue and sees how thin the sandwiches are. “Whenever I go to Subway — we also have the same store called Subway in Taiwan — it makes me think about the difference in thickness,” she said...
Students talk cultural beauty perceptions
By Bailey Frisco | For The Pitt News
October 2, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Maria Beniaminova said many Americans have an interest in big butts that people in her home country of Russia would find peculiar. “There is a small population [in Russia] that is into curvier women, but I think that has to do with the fact that Russia used to be the USSR, so there are people fro...
Degrees of age: Professors young and old talk teaching
By Nina Kneuer | For The Pitt News
October 2, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Some professors look like they should be sitting with their students rather than standing in front of them. Others fit the teen movie stereotype of the gray-haired intellectual with wire-rimmed glasses. Professors on both sides of the spectrum have different ways of using technology and interactin...
SGB hosts fair for student safety and wellness
By Xinyu Lu | For The Pitt News
October 2, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Nicole Gormley was strolling out of the Cathedral when she saw people putting out fires on the Union lawn. With her interest piqued, the first-year English writing and communications major walked over and allowed a demonstrator to show her how to pick up an extinguisher, aim it at the base of the ...
Sweet success: Donut Dash exceeds $500,000 goal
By Bailey Frisco | For The Pitt News
October 2, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, City, News
Fried dough and philanthropy were on people’s minds this weekend in Schenley Plaza. Crowds of people dressed in donut costumes and donut headbands — even a man wearing a sparkly silver dress adorned with donuts — packed into the plaza Sunday morning for the ninth annual Donut Dash. The event wa...
Pitt students on wheels deliver meals
By Caroline Bourque and Rachel Glasser | News Editors
September 29, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
On the first night of her new job, Harley McCain witnessed a high-speed car chase. “This big black SUV comes flying by at like 75 mph, and of course it’s a 25 mph street, and I’m like what the heck,” she said. “And I turn around ... like, what is happening. All these cop cars going flyi...
Reduce, reuse, recycle: Pitt community mitigates food waste
By Anna Bongardino | Contributing Editor
September 29, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Joe’s decision to dumpster dive for the first time was based on pure impulse. It helped that he wasn’t completely sober. “I wasn’t really looking for anything, I was a little bit drunk and I saw the dumpster and thought, ‘Hmm, I bet there’s some good stuff in there,’” he said. Jo...
Students soldier on to future
By Jesse Madden | For The Pitt News
September 27, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Caitlyn Gibbs’ schedule requires her to be at Bellefield Hall at 5:45 a.m. three days per week, where attendance is taken. Then she and 150 other Pitt students head over to the Cathedral lawn for running and weight-training activities until 7 a.m. No, she’s not just a fitness freak. She’s preparing for a ca...
Pitt talks tobacco-free at Healthy U Fair
By Madeline Gavatorta and Janine Faust | News Staff
September 26, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Standing among students petting therapy dogs and getting flu shots, Student Government President Max Kneis thanked the CVS Health Foundation and the American Cancer Society for giving the University of Pittsburgh a $20,000 check for one of the University’s health initiatives — curbing tobacco use at Pitt...
Fall Fest fires up Bigelow
By Joanna Li and Sarah Connor
September 25, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Large, green and decorated with white trim and orange circular designs, a Chinese dragon sat in the middle of the William Pitt Union on Saturday. One student held up the dragon’s head while another took the rear. The dragon danced to a quick drum beat, sidling up to the student spectators and ...
Pitt celebrates late professor’s life and work
By Lauren Forsythe | For The Pitt News
September 25, 2017
Filed under Campus, Top Stories
Students studying on the ground floor of Hillman Library Saturday afternoon may have been a bit surprised to hear African drumming, poetry readings and the sounds of stamping feet and clapping hands coming from the Digital Scholarship Commons room. All this performing was in honor of Robert Johnson, a Pittsburgh...
Service dogs help students succeed
By Nina Kneuer | For The Pitt News
September 25, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Claire Ozolek’s best friend, Lexi, has big eyes and a hard-working disposition. She also has a tail and four legs and works as Ozolek’s service dog. “I mean it sounds cliche, but she is really my best friend,” Ozolek said. Ozolek — a senior psychology major at Pitt — and Lexi ha...
Students skate through school streets
By Ellie Yoon / For The Pitt News
September 22, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Some Pitt students trek to their classes on foot. Many more bike or pray the bus comes on time. But a handful can sometimes be seen rolling down Forbes or Fifth avenues with a textbook-filled backpack sagging and a skateboard or longboard beneath their feet. Robert Benjamin, who graduated fro...
Pitt-owned grocery store to replace 7-Eleven
By Rachel Glasser | News Editor
September 21, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
A Pitt-owned grocery store will move into the 7-Eleven space on Forbes Avenue, University spokesperson Joe Miksch said Thursday. After confirmation from Miksch, The Pitt News reported Wednesday that 7-Eleven will close to make room for Pitt’s Oakland Bakery. He later said Thursday that the 7-Eleven isn’t being turned into just ...
Cato vs. Heritage: Policy analyst and legal fellow debate Trump’s immigration policy
By Nolan Roosa and Bailey Frisco | Staff Writers
September 21, 2017
Protesters held signs, made disruptive noises and yelled the names of people who lost their lives crossing the U.S.-Mexico border at the Cato vs. Heritage debate Wednesday evening. After some protesters left the debate and the Pitt police escorted others out, the Kurtzman room was no longer fille...
Senate council commences academic year
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
September 21, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
The University Senate Council kicked off its first meeting of the academic year in room 2700 of Posvar Hall by condemning the hatred that occurred in front of Litchfield Towers this past week. “[A university is] fundamentally a community where everyone has the right to belong to that community a...
Individuals rally to improve accessibility
By Caroline Bourque | Assistant News Editor
September 21, 2017
Filed under Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Disability advocates crowded the sidewalk on the corner of Bigelow Boulevard and Forbes Avenue Wednesday, Sept. 20, to spread information on three key issues they want to reform. These three initiatives — distributed to passersby on multi-colored flyers — focused on problems with accessibility in ...
7-Eleven to close with Oakland Bakery moving into Forbes location
By Rachel Glasser / News Editor
September 20, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Editor's Note: We published this story after Pitt spokesperson Joe Miksch confirmed Wednesday that the Oakland Bakery would move into the 7-Eleven location. In an email Thursday, Miksch instead said a grocery story will open in the location. Read the updated article, linked here. The 7-Eleven convenience store on Forbes Avenue will close by...
Subjects for a day: Pitt students participate in studies for money
By Anandhini Narayanan for The Pitt News
September 20, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
In the second semester of her senior year, Aditi Kumar said her intensive 21-credit schedule forced her to quit her job — leaving her without a source of income. “This was the the first time I found myself without a job,” Kumar, a 2017 graduate in sociology at Pitt, said. “I like to be ind...
Students drown out bigotry in counter protest outside Towers
By Janine Faust and Amanda Finney / TPN Staff
September 18, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
A crowd of Pitt students jammed the stairway leading up to Towers Patio on Monday, waving rainbow flags and sporting “I [heart] the female orgasm” t-shirts. Others stood on nearby trashcans and benches and leaned over the patio rails, fervently chanting “God loves everyone” and “shame on you...
Water main break shuts down Cathedral of Learning
By The Pitt News Staff
September 18, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Pitt evacuated the Cathedral of Learning at about 10 a.m. Monday morning after a water main break caused the first three floors and the lower level of the building to flood. The break originated from a fire suppression line on the third floor, according to Pitt spokesperson Joseph Miksch, causing...
Kings and queens captivate audience
By Nina Kneuer | For The Pitt News
September 17, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
A runway extended out from the William Pitt Union assembly room stage, lined with rainbow-colored Christmas lights and framed by chairs on either side. It was a setup fit for kings and queens — drag kings and queens, that is. The Office of First Year Experience and Pitt Rainbow Alliance presented Panther Dra...
Panthers Past and Present Produce Profit
By Anish Salvi | For The Pitt News
September 15, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Whether its crafting art or creating apps, Pitt students are finding ways to turn their passion projects into profit. For some, the track to success took unexpected turns through cadaver labs and art studios, while for others it was a matter of making life a little easier. Pitt seniors Brian Ama...
Oakland Employees Discuss Work After Dark
By Rose Luder | Staff Writer
September 15, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News, Specials
Antoon’s co-owner Mike Abraham had one thing to say about his late-night shifts as a pizza maker. “Too many drunk students,” Abraham said. Abraham, a 46-year-old from Oakland, has run the popular pizza shop with his brother for the last 20 years. Like many employees around Oakland, Abraha...
Hustling on the holidays
By Zoe Pawliczek | Staff Writer
September 15, 2017
After the last bus home for the holidays leaves Pitt, few students remain in the dorms and on campus — those who do stay often work, including Nordenberg Resident Assistant Liam Monahan. “I’m looking forward to being productive over the break, prepping for finals and hanging with the other RA on d...
Comedians crack up campus
By Luke Stambaugh | Staff Writer
September 14, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
In the middle of his comedy act, Pitt alum Jesse Irwin asked the audience if anyone had attended Latin religious school. “I went to Latin religious school, and I’m going to sing a quick song for you from Latin religious school,” Irwin said. “If you recognize the song, please sing along.” Irw...
Films Challenge Existing Perspectives
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
September 14, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
The theater screen faded to black. Afterward there was no scuffling of feet, no whispers or laughter. Instead, the audience remained relatively quiet as several panelists took their seat at a table on the stage. Elizabeth Miller waited until after Gwen's Girls Executive Director and panel moderator...
Pitt faculty, grads present political support for unions
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
September 13, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
As grad students and faculty gathered outside Chancellor Patrick Gallagher’s door in the Cathedral of Learning Tuesday afternoon, a Pitt police officer cut a path to the front and addressed the crowd. “Who’s in charge here? Where’s your leader?” he asked the people clutching signs and came...
Pitt professors teach what they write
By Zoe Pawliczek | Staff Writer
September 13, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Few students enjoy buying textbooks for their classes, but Olivia Raymond was eager to purchase her elementary statistics textbook last spring knowing its author would also be her professor. “I was happy because I figured that the class would closely follow the book, so the book would be more rel...
Bands compete for Fall Fest opener
By Madison Hook | For The Pitt News
September 13, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News, Top Stories
The crowd hushed as INFLUENTIALJ strode onstage, mic in hand, while his original music video projected onto the wall behind him — featuring eye-catching scenes of the performer throughout Pitt’s campus dressed in an electric blue suit beside the bright red doors of Heinz Chapel. The rapper ma...
Local leaders address sexual assault
By Luke Stambaugh / Staff Writer
September 12, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
When Alexandra Hope Erickson took her own life during her senior year of high school, her friend Maggie Kennedy couldn’t comprehend it. “I felt like I couldn't breathe. Numb and empty, I shook and I wept and I clung to my family and friends,” Kennedy said. “How could she be gone?” Er...
Near and far: Pitt students’ diverse origins
By Anandhini Narayanan | Staff Writer
September 12, 2017
Filed under Campus, City, Top Stories
At Audrey Jonas’ high school, students celebrate “Tractor Day” — a day in which students drive their farm tractors to school and spend time marveling at the assortment of tractors in the parking lot. Jonas grew up in Bernville, Pennsylvania, which has a population of about 1,000 residents. “Trac...
Rival fans flock to Happy Valley for Pitt vs. PSU
By Grant Burgman | Staff Writer
September 11, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Stephen Fastuca gallivanted around the tailgate grounds surrounding Beaver Stadium dressed head-to-toe in Penn State attire. He wore blue and white suede dress shoes and Penn State-colored pants, topping his outfit off with a giant Penn State belt buckle on his waist and a Nittany Lions fedora on his h...
All in a day’s work: Students prepare ‘Annie’ in 24 hours
By Caroline Bourque and Salina Pressimone | The Pitt News Staff
September 11, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Maddie Dillen ventured into the theater on Friday night with a mixed look of confusion and excitement as she searched for a few familiar faces. Having attended only one meeting so far for the Musical Theatre Club, she didn’t know what to expect, but she was ready to find out. “It’s a kin...
Party in the parking lot: students talk tailgating
By Janine Faust and Caroline Bourque | Assistant News Editor
September 7, 2017
Filed under Campus, GameDay, Top Stories
For Keith Miller, the best part of tailgating is giving out food to strangers and listening to “dad music.” “I’ve got a huge grill that barely fits in my SUV that I bring to games, and I always share the hot dogs and hamburgers that I make with people passing by,” Miller said. “And I like the ...
Lawmakers add legislation to “It’s On Us PA” campaign to combat sexual assault
By John Hamilton / Managing Editor
September 7, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Gov. Tom Wolf expanded the “It’s on Us PA” campaign Wednesday, announcing legislation aimed at ending sexual assault in schools across Pennsylvania. Joined by college students in the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Wolf and state lawmakers announced six new bills focused on improving reporting for s...
Public and professional writing program major-ly expands
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
September 7, 2017
Filed under Campus, Top Stories
Jonathan Frye knew he wanted to write when he came to Pitt, but he also wanted to leave with skills to find a job. “I always wanted to be an English major, but the ones at Pitt seemed to be more education or storytelling focused,” he said. “I didn’t see how I could apply that to the career I want...
Students receive access to stream portable cable television
By Rachel Glasser | News Editor
September 7, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Campus Television is now portable and pocket-sized at Pitt. Comcast Corp. partnered with the University to bring on-campus residents Xfinity on Campus, a service that allows students to watch and record live television and thousands of Xfinity On Demand shows on their laptops, mobile devices or persona...
Pitt partners with UPMC to hire new vice chancellor for new position
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
September 6, 2017
Filed under Campus, Health, Top Stories
In partnership with UPMC, Pitt hired Kristin Davitt Tuesday as the University’s inaugural vice chancellor for development and alumni relations and president of UPMC’s Medical and Health Sciences Foundation. Davitt’s position will have her acting as leader of the Medical and Health Sciences Foun...
Union supporters convene at cookout
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
September 4, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Abby Cartus figured celebrating Labor Day surrounded by fellow union organizers and supporters was a good way to kick off the academic year. “Everybody’s just here to chill out and reconnect after being away for the summer,” Cartus said. “Then we’ll buckle back down on organizing.” Ca...
International students adjust to life at Pitt
By Rose Luder | Staff Writer
September 4, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Violet Jiao is no stranger to culture shock. When she first came to the United States, the openness of the people she met and their willingness to casually converse took her by surprise. “They were so different from my people. In my country, no one will suddenly talk with a stranger on the street,” ...
Students put fresh spin on Asian pop
By Janine Faust and Caroline Bourque | Assistant News Editors
September 1, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Lynn Urbina still remembers the first music video that hooked her on K-pop — “Sherlock,” by the popular group SHINee. She was struck not just by the music video’s aesthetic — which featured the band, looking like Sherlock Holmes, peering around corners with magnifying glasses— but also the...
Swipe right in: Market goes automated
By Caroline Bourque | Assistant News Editor
August 31, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
Gone are the days of waiting in line for an employee to manually take students’ IDs in order to sign them into Market Central. The dining hall received a futuristic face-lift over the summer, greeting students in the new semester with a self-swipe system at its entrance. Market implemented this ...
Pitt students, professors respond to Stephen Foster statue
By Rachel Glasser | News Editor
August 31, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
When Laurence Glasco traveled to China in 1989, a Chinese band played for the group of visiting Americans and struck up a medley of Stephen Foster songs. “I said to them, ‘Gee, you know, you don’t really hear Stephen Foster songs anymore in America,’” Glasco said. “They were just dumbfou...
Student organizers react to admin’s union oppositon
By Kirsten Wong and John Hamilton / The Pitt News Staff
August 30, 2017
Filed under Administration, Campus, News, Top Stories
Rachel Coombs was conducting research in a biology lab in late July when she found herself enraged by an email from Pitt Provost Patricia Beeson. Coombs, a Ph.D. student studying biological sciences, read Beeson’s letter outlining the Pitt administration’s opposition to the grad student union eff...
Men move in: Holland Hall goes co-ed
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
August 30, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, Campus, News
Rosina Roccamo has only lived in Holland Hall for about a week and has yet to exchange words with a guy on her floor. “I know it’s gone co-ed, but it’s not, like, super co-ed,” Roccamo said, looking around at her fellow Holland Hall residents scurrying past her curbside perch in the quad. ...
SGB welcomes new students
By Nolan Roosa | Staff Writer
August 30, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
After filing into Nordy’s Place in matching navy t-shirts Tuesday night, Student Government Board President Max Kneis and his fellow board members had to quiet down the room, packed to the brim with students. At SGB’s first meeting of the academic year, board members and committee chairs intro...
Pitt grads create food truck tracker
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
August 28, 2017
Filed under Campus, City, News, Top Stories
Paul Landry is a foodie on the move who likes food on the move. That’s why he found himself driving from his home near the Pittsburgh International Airport to Shadyside one evening in 2013 in pursuit of a specific food truck. “The neighborhood I heard the truck was in was where I stayed when I attended Pit...
Superheroes, sewing and script: Pitt clubs find creative ways to serve
By Grant Burgman | Staff Writer
August 28, 2017
Filed under Campus, News, Top Stories
With the addition of three new service clubs at Pitt, students can dress up, write letters or sew — all while giving back to the local or international community. These clubs offer creative alternatives to your typical volunteer opportunities, allowing students to help those in need in uncommon way...