Editorial: Texas schools to erase important historical figures
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
12:19 am
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The Texas Board of Education is denying students the opportunity to learn about individuals and events that have directly influenced their lives. This ignorance makes them less informed and less able to participate in current politics.
Editorial: New immigration proposal is unnecessarily strict
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 23, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The new proposal is an unfair and inhumane way to weed out immigrants whom the Trump administration deems unsuitable candidates for American citizenship.
Editorial: ‘Sesame Street’ misses educational opportunity
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 21, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Bert and Ernie — the beloved roommates of “Sesame Street” — aren't gay. For a show that has made concerted efforts to portray the kind of diversity that children experience in real life, this is a disappointing revelation.
Editorial: Kavanaugh sexual assault investigation necessary
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 20, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Although Ford’s sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh appear credible, Republicans have decided to forego an investigation — but they shouldn't be so dismissive of alleged victims.
Emmys emulate Hollywood’s shortcomings
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 19, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Emmys ratings dropped dramatically this year — proving that Hollywood has lost touch with everyday Americans on all sides of the political spectrum. This becomes more clear with every passing awards season.
Editorial: Boundaries necessary when billionaires buy newspapers
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 18, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The trend of billionaires buying newspapers raises the ethical questions of how to prevent them from influencing the content published by their papers, and what kind of relationship the editorial section and the new owner should set up to ensure there is no such influence.
Editorial: Trump plays victim as Hurricane Florence hits Carolinas
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
To argue over a death toll as a political tool is disrespectful and useless, but to do so in the midst of another deadly hurricane shows that Trump's priorities lie in defending himself and not the American people.
NRA goes off the rails on Thomas the Tank Engine
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 14, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Comparing “Thomas & Friends” characters to the KKK, as the NRA did, is neither a proper assessment of the TV show nor child-appropriate.
Editorial: Trump disappoints as consoler-in-chief
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 12, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The 17th anniversary of 9/11 required a certain decorum and level of sobriety that were conspicuously absent in President Trump’s behavior outside of a prepared speech.
Editorial: Obama’s speech exposes divisive politics
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 11, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Obama’s assessment of today’s polarized political climate in his speech is largely correct. Trump’s election reflects a recent exacerbation of the already vast political divides in our country.
Serena Williams controversy mars U.S. Open
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 10, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Serena Williams was mistreated by the umpire during the U.S. Open final — but it’s not surprising. These calls are a blatant attempt to stifle Williams’ success in a sport dominated by white men.
Editorial: Op-ed reveals fractured democracy
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 6, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The New York Times' anonymous op-ed reveals a rupture in our democracy by painting those surrounding the president as heroes for running the nation behind the president’s back, rather than taking the responsible measure of removing him from office.
Editorial: Kaepernick campaign: great for Nike, a touchdown for equality
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 6, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Nike's 30th anniversary campaign ad featuring Colin Kaepernick has sparked outrage all over social media — but free publicity is great for the sports giant. And sponsoring Kaepernick's cause ensures social justice will get more attention.
Editorial: Pitt’s new surveillance cameras: well-intentioned, but not useful
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 5, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Increased surveillance may seem like a step in the right direction — it could bolster security in Oakland where thousands of Pitt students reside and attend class. But Oakland isn’t in dire need of more security — and installing cameras will hardly combat domestic violence, which is one of the primary reasons they were implemented in the first place.
Editorial: Remember ongoing efforts of PA labor unions
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 4, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions, Uncategorized
The first Monday in September serves to remind us of the challenges and setbacks labor unions in continue to face today as they work to improve the lives of their members.
Editorial: RMU’s new scholarship: great first step, but not enough
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
August 29, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Since many students eventually settle in the same area where they went to college, keeping talented students in Pennsylvania is important to ensure a flourishing job market. Exorbitant college tuition rates only push students out of the state.
Editorial: Eliminating superdelegates is the best policy for democrats
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
August 29, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
But since superdelegates have never voted against the decisions of primary voters, granting special voting rights to party officials — including elected Democrats — never had any real influence on the election. And if Washington elites did have the audacity to vote against their base, they could throw the Democratic party into a hugely divisive state.
Editorial: Boundaries necessary when employing school resource officers
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
August 27, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
To create a safe environment free of brutality, there needs to be an enforced divide between students and school resource officers. Rather than consider them responsible for discipline, it would be better to call them security officers and set their main function as external security.
Editorial: McCain deserves respect for continued integrity
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
August 26, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
McCain’s devotion to what he thought was right in spite of party lines show his undeniable commitment to the United States, willingness to work with all sides and a strong belief in fighting for one’s country.
Editorial: US caused undue stress over WHO breastfeeding resolution
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
July 11, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When Ecuadorian delegates introduced a resolution at the World Health Assembly in May imploring governments worldwide to encourage breastfeeding and discourage inappropriate promotion of baby formula as a better choice, it was seen by most other countries as uncontroversial and expected to pass quickly. B...
Editorial: Patience required in Antwon Rose case
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
June 27, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Antwon Rose, a 17-year-old black Woodland Hills student, was shot by a white East Pittsburgh police officer, Michael Rosfeld, on the evening of June 26. Since then, coverage of ensuing protests has been extensive — as has speculation surrounding the two parties involved. What is known to be true is...
Editorial: Separating families is unethical no matter how it’s handled
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
June 20, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Reporters were recently permitted to visit to a shelter in Texas housing 1,500 migrant boys who crossed the southern U.S. border illegally. The children staying in the shelter have been deemed “unaccompanied minors.” Not all of them arrived that way. Nearly 2,500 children have been separated from ...
Editorial: North Korea-United States summit wasn’t worth it
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
June 13, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
President of the United States Donald Trump and Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un met in the first summit meeting between the two countries on Tuesday. It was a historic meeting for that reason — and not much else. The summit was held with the intention of striking a deal for peace and co...
Editorial: ABC prioritized views over values with ‘Roseanne’ revival
By The Pitt News Editorial Staff
May 30, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The revival of working-class sitcom “Roseanne” was cut short Tuesday after two months on ABC — and unlike “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” it probably won’t be picked up by another network after the creator and star of the sitcom, Roseanne Barr, compared black former White House aide Valerie Jarret...
Editorial: A royal wedding does not solve racism
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
May 23, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
American actress Meghan Markle’s marriage to the British Prince Harry featured celebrity guests, beautiful decor and a well-dressed, smitten couple — staples of any royal wedding. But when Markle walked herself down the aisle May 19, viewers around the world knew something was different this time. Pe...
Editorial: US made mistake in moving embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
May 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
For the past seven weeks, protesters in and around Palestine have taken to the streets to demand their right to return to areas they were forcibly expelled from when the state of Israel was created. And on Monday, at least 60 protesters were killed by Israeli forces — the same day the United States ...
Friday Fight: After April tears, May’s in the clear
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 20, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
It’s April ― flowers around campus are starting to bloom, the weather is finally warming up and the end of the semester is upon us. Pitt lets out for the summer earlier than most other schools, and while we can’t wait for classes to be over, the early ending can have its downsides. Here’s ...
Editorial: Keep the final exams in finals week
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 19, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
As the end of classes rapidly approaches and the promise of summer begins to peek its head over the horizon, Pitt students have one final demon to deal with before they can breathe a collective sigh of relief — finals week. Stretching in the formless expanse of time between the last sessions of the semes...
Editorial: Hip-hop’s presence in Pulitzer Prize long overdue
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 18, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When perusing a list of past Pulitzer Prize for Music award winners and their compositions, it’s not hard to spot Kendrick Lamar’s presence. His 2017 album, “DAMN.,” dropped onto the list with a thud, breaking up the delicate musical embroidery and lace of symphonies, concertos and operas. For the first time since the aw...
Editorial: Comey’s media blitz detracts from Trump probe
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 17, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If James Comey’s recent return to the public eye looks to you like a publicity campaign, you probably aren’t wrong — the former FBI chief’s book comes out today. Comey’s foray into nonfiction writing has all the signs of a dramatic release. Even the book’s title, “A Higher Loyalty,” makes a ...
Editorial: Address landslides in local infrastructure plans
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
More than 70 landslides have hit Pittsburgh this year — but the one on Route 30 last week was possibly the worst. The collapsed roadway severely damaged four residences and raised the City’s landslide cost to an estimated $12 million in 2018 so far. But funding for repair efforts remains slim...
Editorial: Zuckerberg testimony tells us nothing new about privacy
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 12, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Nearly two-thirds of adults in America use social media today — and for good reason. It provides us with news and information, connects us to our friends and gives us a platform to share tidbits of our lives — but access to such open sites puts our privacy at risk. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ...
Editorial: Pa. abortion law will fail to catch fallout
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 11, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Even though the Supreme Court declared abortion a constitutional right 45 years ago with Roe v. Wade, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Speaker Mike Turzai seemingly pushed against that decision Monday. The Republican lawmaker unveiled a controversial bill in front of the Health Committee that wo...
Editorial: Erie diocese’s list of abusers demonstrates openness to change
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 9, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie has started the month off by releasing a list of 34 priests and 17 laypeople who it believes have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct over the past several decades. The majority of the accused were never criminally ch...
Editorial: PA GOP has no room to talk on negative ads
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 8, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If feel-good positivity is your thing, you probably already know not to go looking for it in Pennsylvania state politics. But if you needed a reminder, Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul Mango was ready to help this weekend. Mango, who’s hoping to win the GOP primary May 15 and go on to challenge in...
Editorial: Justin Baldoni’s feminism is too male-focused
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 3, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Students passing through the William Pitt Union last week may have noticed a sign announcing a University-sponsored talk with television actor and speaker Justin Baldoni. But unless they looked any closer, it’s unlikely anyone realized what he was invited for — Women’s Empowerment Week. Baldoni, w...
Editorial: Not enforcing State pension forfeiture laws wastes tax dollars
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 3, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
It’s no secret that Pennsylvania public schools have a deficit that seems to get larger and larger as the gap in federal funding widens between poor and affluent districts. Many lay off or threaten to lay off teachers and cut funding for music and theater arts programs. In an environment like this...
Editorial: Don’t let Remington fool you
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
April 2, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Forcing a gun manufacturer into declaring bankruptcy might sound like an undeniable victory for gun control activists — particularly when that manufacturer is Remington, America’s oldest gun manufacturer, and when that announcement came just one day after the March for Our Lives March 24. But...
Editorial: Citizenship question on 2020 census could cut PA funding
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 29, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
It’s no secret that for undocumented immigrants and other noncitizens, life can be rough under President Donald Trump’s administration. As of Monday, it just got significantly tougher. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced a new component of the 2020 census Monday night, requiring that Americ...
Editorial: Biden Twitter bout promises more brash leadership
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 27, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
For those who fear a woman would be too emotional to be president, last Thursday’s Twitter scrap between two men — one currently in that position, one potentially the next in line — might change their minds. Behaving characteristically like an upset toddler, President Donald Trump called out f...
Editorial: Santorum surrenders to chaos on gun control
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 27, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
For most of the participants at anti-gun violence marches in cities across the country Saturday, there was a broad agreement: Gun laws are currently too lax, and we need to tighten them up to avoid future carnage. Some people, however, were busy proposing bizarre alternatives to gun control. ...
Editorial: PA GOP’s impeachment efforts threaten democracy
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 22, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Ever since they redistricted in 2013 after winning the state legislature, Pennsylvania Republicans have played ball by their own set of rules — and now that those rules are being threatened, they’re going after the refs. The Commonwealth’s GOP suffered a serious blow to its continued hold on ...
Editorial: Union’s attack on Sonja Finn unnecessary, harms restaurant
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 21, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When Sonja Finn makes her daily trip to open the doors of Dinette — the restaurant she opened in 2008 — she won’t be thinking about the special election race she lost to Erika Strassburger on March 6. She’s more concerned with the union that endorsed Strassburger’s campaign, which may be si...
Editorial: “No Irish” pub misses the point on St. Patrick’s Day
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 20, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Pretending to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day is a time-honored American tradition. But at one pub this year, the luck of the Irish wasn’t on the side of drinkers who wanted in because of their Celtic heritage. To honor the holiday, Detroit resident Dan Margulis rented out a space over the weeken...
Editorial: Pitt’s union lawsuit wastes time, tuition
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 18, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions, Top Stories
If insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result, then administrators at Pitt must not agree with that definition. Pitt graduate students engaged in unionization efforts said last week that the school’s administration will challenge a petition to hold an election to decide whether or not to unionize. According to a Facebook post from the group, th...
Editorial: Casual Friday — the Shamrock Shake debate
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
So, Shamrock Shakes — let’s get one thing straight. The Shamrock Shake is not a middle-of-the-road food group. One cannot simply “take it or leave it.” Whether you think the shake is a collision of toothpaste and green highlighter fluid with a milkshake base or a blended miracle sent from...
Editorial: Third parties show need for all candidates to step it up
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 15, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If any aspect of the massively hyped special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District went unnoticed, it was Libertarian Party candidate Drew Miller. After a preliminary count of the ballots cast Tuesday, Miller emerged with a paltry 1,379 votes — slightly more than half a percent of all votes cast in the election, which would usually relegate a ca...
Editorial: DeVos’ poor school choices affect PA public school success
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 14, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Betsy DeVos said it herself — “We should be funding and investing in students.” A student focus is certainly necessary, and the statement would have been fine on its own had she not followed it up with the ear-twinging modifier, “not in schools, school buildings, not in institutions, not in syste...
Editorial: Keep a local focus on special election
By The Pitt News Staff
March 13, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When President Donald Trump appeared at a Pittsburgh airplane hangar Saturday night, his role, ostensibly, was to pump up the assembled crowds to vote for Rick Saccone, the Republican running in today’s special election to fill the vacant seat in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District. Bu...
Editorial: Unplugging from media ignores civic responsibilities
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 12, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions, Uncategorized
Whether it’s reports of an adult film performer’s lawsuit against the president or the all-too-consistent drumbeat of mass shootings in the country, following the news is becoming more and more an exercise in mental strength. In an environment like this, it doesn’t seem far-fetched to react in mu...
Editorial: Conservatives show hypocrisy on Delta tax
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 1, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The aftermath of the Parkland, Florida, high school massacre the past two weeks has been fraught with departures from long-standing political norms. Republican President Donald Trump called for comprehensive gun control measures at a televised White House meeting yesterday, suggesting the governmen...
Editorial: 60 Minutes’ sexist interview with New Zealand PM
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 28, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
President Donald Trump is known for his off-the-cuff remarks in speeches and interviews, but it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see the day when laundry or his baby’s birth is the topic up for discussion. When you sit down to watch an interview with a world leader, you expect to hear question...
Editorial: CNN can step up its coverage
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 27, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Whether it’s TMZ, Buzzfeed or the National Inquirer, we Americans love celebrity gossip. And in the age of President Donald Trump’s tabloid presidency, it seems only natural that more mainstream news outlets — like CNN — would want in on the game. That’s why it came as little surprise yest...
Editorial: Trudeau demonstrates skin-deep commitment to diversity
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 26, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Travelers in a foreign country have two options — they can learn the culture and blend in, or they can fake it until they make it. And while it’s impossible to know which strategy Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took on his official visit to India, it’s clear he didn’t make it. Trudeau...
Editorial: After shooting, student walkouts lead the way
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 22, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Florida’s state legislature disappointed gun control advocates Monday when it declined to consider a ban on the assault weapon used in last week’s high school massacre in Parkland, Florida. But for students, both in the state and around the country, that wasn’t the end of the story. From Minnes...
Editorial: Despite new district map, parties still responsible for success
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 21, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The Supreme Court released a new Pennsylvania Congressional District map Monday, redrawn to correct the state’s 2011 Republican-drawn version of the map, which the Supreme Court ruled as being an “unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.” Democrats feel encouraged by the new map, while Republicans are understandably concerned this new congressional map...
Editorial: “Black Panther” sets standard for Hollywood inclusion
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 20, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If pop culture in the 2010s is remembered for anything, it’ll have to be superhero movies. Marvel, DC and smaller franchises have populated the silver screen with countless heroes over the past several years, almost all of them white — until last weekend, that is. “Black Panther,” a Marvel Studios produc...
Editorial: The Pitt News endorses Maggie Kennedy for Student Government Board President
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 19, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions, Top Stories
Candidates for the position of Student Government Board president run campaigns every year, requiring them to sit down with any number of student organizations, clubs and social groups and explain their case. With election day right around the corner, this year’s two candidates met with one more gr...
Editorial: Presidential portrait captures Obama’s presidency
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 15, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Among a sea of white faces belonging to former commanders in chief, Barack Obama marked a decisive change in what an American president looked like 10 years ago when he won his first term. And with the unveiling of his official presidential portrait Monday, the nation’s first black president is continuing to affect the visual pr...
Editorial: Don’t take hugging controversies lightly
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 13, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
With Valentine’s Day being tomorrow, romantic gestures are rapidly proliferating across the country. One particular gesture, however, has been receiving unexpected new scrutiny: the hug. In a piece for The Washington Post this Sunday, reporter Lavanya Ramanathan asked whether some kinds of hugging — an ancient human behavior that’s seen an uptick over the past several decades — should be included in the growing conversation surrounding sexual abuse. Citing...
Editorial: Credit Pence for stand on North Korea
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 11, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The last time Mike Pence made a political statement at a sporting event, he criticized pro football players for kneeling through the national anthem — but the vice president was the one sitting on his hands this weekend in Korea. Pence was in Pyeongchang, South Korea, at the end of last week, accompanying...
Editorial: Military parade an exercise in wastefuleness
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 8, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Though he was democratically elected, President Donald Trump seems to relish every opportunity to look like an autocrat. His first year in office has seen everything from attacks on the free press to a resilient personality cult — soon, he’ll even get a military parade. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed at a pre...
Editorial: Wolf’s budget is progressive, but needs Democratic legislature to pass
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 7, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled the fourth yearly budget of his term Tuesday — and unlike his previous three, we might actually see it fully passed before the end of the year thanks to the 2018 midterm elections. The 2018-19 budget is notably progressive — Wolf is calling to raise both funding for publi...
Editorial: Cynical Super Bowl ad shows superficial concern for civil rights
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 6, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When he first delivered his “Drum Major Instinct” sermon Feb. 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Martin Luther King Jr. had little way of knowing how his speech would come across in the moment — let alone 50 years in the future. The civil rights icon likely never foresaw a sound bite of the s...
Editorial: Peduto’s Amazon optimism dangerous for City
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 5, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Mayor Bill Peduto is gazing into Pittsburgh’s future as a possible home for Amazon’s HQ2 wearing what appears to be a pair of rose-colored glasses. The proposition of a $5 billion economic bolster sits untouched in the distance, a prize Pittsburgh and 19 other cities are ruthlessly racing toward ...
Editorial: Cleveland mascot’s departure signals good first step
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 1, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
With statues of Confederate generals removed across the South last summer and likenesses of Christopher Columbus vandalized across the North last October, it was only a matter of time before the next symbol of racism in America came down. This time, it was in our own backyard. The Cleveland India...
Editorial: Trump calls for unity, shows none
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 31, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
President Donald Trump took a brief hiatus from Twitter Tuesday night to deliver his first State of the Union address, touting high hopes for unity across his audience — which seemed divided and stiff with discomfort. It took no more than a wide pan of the camera around the room for Nancy Pelosi...
Editorial: Supervised sites won’t solve PA’s heroin problem
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 30, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
A proposal that would have been absurd only 10 years ago almost seemed to make sense this week when officials in Philadelphia suggested drastic measures to combat the growing opioid abuse epidemic afflicting the city — and the entire country. Philadelphia Public Health Commissioner Thomas Farley announced ...
Editorial: Trump, Conway misstate facts on feminism
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 29, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In an era of women’s marches, the #MeToo trend and fourth-wave feminism, it’s astonishing how frequently the movement for women’s rights is still widely misunderstood. And President Donald Trump took the opportunity this weekend to exemplify the intellectual disconnect. After an interview Saturday with the preside...
Editorial: Meehan confuses ‘soul mate’ and sexual assault
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 25, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan sat on the House Ethics Committee for three terms, investigating several representatives’ alleged violations of the law and ensuring members maintained proper conduct — until this past Saturday. Now, Meehan himself is under investigation by the committee in response to se...
Editorial: State gerrymandering decision needs action now
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 24, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
As midterm elections loom and Pennsylvanians prepare to deliver their opinion on President Donald Trump’s first two years in office, the Commonwealth’s Supreme Court added to the drama Monday when it ordered a change to the lines of battle themselves: Congressional district borders. In a long-...
Editorial: Pro-Trump ad shows lack of real concern for cops
January 23, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In a time when both ends of the political spectrum have sought to bring issues surrounding police to the forefront of public discussion, it’s hard to think the dialogue could get any more polarized. Of course, nothing is impossible in the age of President Donald Trump. The latest ad from the president’s 2020 re-ele...
Editorial: Second Women’s March goes beyond resistance
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 22, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
One day after the anniversary of Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, downtown Pittsburgh looked a lot like it did a year ago — dense with the picket signs and pink hats common among the president’s opposition. According to organizers, nearly 30,000 people — including women and others who...
Editorial: PG publisher silences staffers, increases tension
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 18, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
One of our newspaper’s daily features is the editorial — a short piece briefly discussing an issue our community is facing and presenting the editorial staff’s collective point of view. Editorials are deliberately not credited to any specific author. This isn’t meant to be a way for the writer ...
Editorial: Post-Gazette editorial not representative of newspaper or city
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 17, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If the Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes’ Monday editorial “Reason as racism” put a bad taste in your mouth, you’re not alone. The editorial defended President Donald Trump’s inflammatory statement he made in a meeting Thursday with lawmakers discussing immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and sev...
Editorial: Nuclear scare proves unpreparedness
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In less time than it takes to log into a two-factor authenticated Pitt email account, an employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency caused pandemonium in the state with the click of a mouse. During a routine checkup of the state’s nuclear response system Saturday, a worker responsible f...
Editorial: Wolf opioid declaration a step in the right direction
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 11, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Yesterday, Gov. Tom Wolf confirmed something we all already know to be true: Pennsylvania is in the midst of a drug abuse crisis. In a statement released from Wolf’s office, the governor added Pennsylvania to a list eight other states that have already declared states of emergency over rampant opioid and heroin addiction. Wolf said Pe...
Editorial: Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech not grounds for presidency
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 10, 2018
Filed under Editorials
A touching personal narrative and optimistic view of the future, both surging with classic American ideals — this was the blueprint of Oprah Winfrey’s much-applauded speech at the Golden Globes Sunday night. And according to Matt Bennett of USA Today, these are also the elements of presidential speech. Despite Winfrey’s repeated statements denying her interest in running for any public office, her...
Editorial: Sessions takes step backward on weed
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 9, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
It’s no secret President Trump’s attorney general has a strong antiquated streak — even his full name, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, conjures up images of Confederate generals and “Gone with the Wind.” As for policy choices, Sessions’ memo last Thursday — which ended federal tolera...
Editorial: Franken shows need to unite against sexual assault, regardless of party
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
December 7, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions, Uncategorized
Twitter’s time stamps proved just how planned politics can be yesterday. Over the course of an hour, 11 female Democratic senators made coordinated statements calling for Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota to resign from office amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment. As of now, eight women have...
Editorial: NFL player safety more important than politics
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
December 6, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
It seems like the National Football League won’t leave the headlines. The week 13 game Monday night between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals turned violent, resulting in a potentially life-altering spinal injury for Steelers’ linebacker Ryan Shazier and multiple players’ ejections...
Editorial: Senate tax bill sets dangerous precedents
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
December 5, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
With last-minute amendments being proposed left and right, deals being struck and an extensive tax bill being passed late into the night, the U.S. Senate floor might have been wilder Friday night than the streets of Oakland. Under the leadership of Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., 51 Republicans, incl...
Editorial: Data breach proves Uber needs oversight
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
December 4, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If you took a ride with Uber before last year, your personal data may have passed into and out of the hands of hackers — and before two weeks ago, you wouldn’t have even known. According to a Nov. 21 memo from Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s recently installed chief executive, the company fell victim to a hack last October that compromised the p...
Editorial: In cases of sexual misconduct, no story is too small
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 30, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
To bring down Harvey Weinstein, it took the accounts of thirteen women. It took five to bring down Louis C.K. And yesterday, it took just one woman’s account of sexual misconduct to bring down ex-NBC “Today” host Matt Lauer. After The New York Times released the story, NBC took swift actio...
Editorial: Pittsburgh’s veil of Amazon secrecy leaves residents behind
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 29, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
With little more to go on than a slogan, Pittsburghers don’t know what to make of the City’s proposal to house Amazon’s second headquarters. The online retail giant announced its search for a location in September, and has since received 238 submissions from cities, states and metropolitan areas across North America. Cities responded by offering Amazon a s...
Editorial: Port Authority police on trains would be a wreck
By The Pitt News Editorial Staff
November 28, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Even though many Pitt students don’t even know it exists, Pittsburgh’s humble commuter light rail might soon look a lot more like the transit systems of New York, Los Angeles and Miami — but only as far as security measures go. The Port Authority of Allegheny County put forward a proposal ear...
Editorial: Journalists shouldn’t be afraid to contextualize evil
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 27, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
What was unusual in the response to a recent New York Times story wasn't its negativity so much as where the hate came from. With figures on the political right, from President Donald Trump to Joseph Curl of the Washington Times, frequently deriding The New York Times as “failing” and “very,...
Editorial: GOP tax plan would aggrieve grad students
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 20, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Republicans acted last week with their tax bill to relinquish the United States’ status as a country with one of the highest official corporate tax rates in the world. In its place, the GOP plans to tax another group at record rates — graduate students. Despite uniform resistance from congressional Democrats, Republica...
Editorial: ACLU threatens Harris with strong First Amendment lawsuit
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 16, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Darlene Harris somehow manages to regularly get herself into the petty types of quarrels that make Buzzfeed headlines — in April last year, she made local headlines when she got into a verbal altercation with a bicyclist. She took up bike lanes as a major aspect of ...
Editorial: Peduto demands non-profit conscience — Pitt included
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 15, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Pennsylvania’s lawmakers may have struggled with a budget crisis this year, but Pittsburgh feels a little more confident of its financial competency. In his annual budget address Monday, Mayor Bill Peduto asked the state to remove Pittsburgh’s Act 47 status, an inhibitory financial oversight status meant to aid financially distressed municipalities placed on Pittsburgh in 2003. Now, he claims, the city doesn’t need the oversight. Recognizing the im...
Editorial: Saccone would underserve Pennsylvania’s 18th District
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 14, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
With the Republican Party’s announcement of their nominee over the weekend, the race to replace disgraced former Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., just got a little more eccentric. Rick Saccone, currently a member of the state legislature for the town of Elizabeth, received the nod from the state Republican ...
Editorial: GOP establishment enables Moore’s misconduct
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 13, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The party of “family values” spent the weekend in a peculiar position — defending a man accused of child molestation. The Washington Post reported last week that four women had accused Roy Moore of making sexual advances on them while they were in their teens. Moore is the Republican nominee for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old seat in the U.S. Senate. At the time of the alleged advances, Moore was in his early thirties. One...
Editorial: PA ballot question doesn’t solve property tax problem
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 9, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If you voted Tuesday in Pennsylvania’s election, you were presented with an interesting ballot question — should the state legislature allow local taxing authorities to exempt 100 percent of any family’s primary residence value when collecting taxes? Pennsylvania voted yes by a margin of 54 to 46 percent, effe...
Editorial: Paradise Papers demand transparent tax reform
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 8, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
What do Nike, George Soros, Facebook, Queen Elizabeth II, Apple, Bono and the Kremlin have in common? Their allegedly evasive financial maneuvers were exposed Nov. 5 in a massive project called the Paradise Papers. Ring a bell? Just like the 2015 Panama Papers, Sunday’s trove of documents was leaked by the International Consortium of Invest...
Editorial: Use Election Day as opportunity for progress
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 7, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In the aftermath of last fall’s presidential election, many young voters eagerly looked forward to the next chance they’d have to influence their communities through the ballot box. Unfortunately for those of us in Pittsburgh, however, some of today’s most visible municipal elections offer littl...
Editorial: Slow start highlights flawed state cannabis law
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 6, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
A new era in Pennsylvania drug policy started last week with the opening of the Commonwealth’s new Medical Marijuana Program. But for many Pennsylvanians, that new era is now on hold — perhaps indefinitely. When the Pennsylvania Department of Health opened applications last Thursday for medical mar...
Editorial: Responding to sexual misconduct, NPR succeeds where Dartmouth fails
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 2, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Sprawled across Dartmouth College’s campus last week were posters that read “Where is Prof. Paul Whalen?” and “Where is Prof. Bill Kelley?” The signs refer to two of the three professors at Dartmouth who had been absent from campus for quite some time — as it turns out, the three profess...
Editorial: Spacey’s coming out wrongly reinforces negative stereotypes
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 31, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The wave of sexual assault allegations that have roiled Hollywood in the wake of revelations earlier this month about producer Harvey Weinstein dragged down another celebrity this weekend, but this time the accusation came with a twist. According to actor Anthony Rapp, Kevin Spacey, the actor famous for his roles in...
Editorial: State budget should react to rising prices
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 30, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When Gov. Tom Wolf signed Pennsylvania’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year last week after a four month impasse, it came as a relief to many. Some, however, were more cautious about the release of funds. Republican Speaker of the Commonwealth’s House of Representatives, Mike Turzai, warned speci...
Editorial: PA Republicans’ education bill offers little choice
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 23, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The first full school year under new Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is well underway and, in a bill passed last week, Pennsylvania’s state legislators are mirroring the federal administration’s school policy. House Bill 178 is this year’s iteration of the state’s annual list of propose...