Christmas: the most wonderful two months of the year
By Alexis Buncich | For The Pitt News
November 15, 2017
Based on my friends’ Snapchats, the last moments before the Christmas season ended the night of Halloween. Everyone was still getting into their Halloween candy when suddenly, the clock struck midnight — and each Snapchat story was filled with carols as my friends traded jack-o’-lanterns for S...
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...
Whitefish debacle points to dubious dealings
By Bianca De | For The Pitt News
November 14, 2017
As a small-town business owner, what do you do when a local Facebook friend suddenly becomes Secretary of the Interior? If you happen to live in Whitefish, Montana, you simply wait for the next natural disaster. Puerto Rico was almost entirely without power after Hurricane Maria devastated the isl...
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 ...
“What are you?”: Embracing a mixed-roots identity
By Erica Brandbergh | Columnist
November 13, 2017
I once asked my dad, out of curiosity, whether he put Caucasian, Asian or both on surveys that ask about his race. He paused for a bit and said he didn’t know. I asked if he identified with one more than the other, and he was unsure of that as well. My dad is half-Japanese. He was born on an American Army base in...
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...
Friday Fly: Cathedral Commons Room
By Maggie Koontz | Columnist
November 10, 2017
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Top Stories
“Friday Fly” is a recurring column dedicated to a fly on the wall’s perspective on campus spots and daily life here at Pitt. This is the second installment. The Cathedral of Learning Commons Room is a feat of Gothic architecture, crafted out of limestone, slate and iron. Pathfinders passing t...
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...
Sticks and stones may break our bones, but memes should never hurt us
By Neena Hagen | For The Pitt News
November 9, 2017
The Senate is used to strange occurrences, but Nov. 1, our legislators discussed a group of memes which are purportedly evidence for Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. The U.S. intelligence community thinks the memes were part of a sophisticated network of propaganda used to suppo...
When the whole world collides: global music hits the charts
By Levko Karmazyn | Columnist
November 8, 2017
If you turned on your car radio during the summer of 2016, chances are you came under the influence of the tropical pulse of Drake’s “One Dance.” As the first song to hit one billion plays on Spotify, it marked one of the 2010s’ biggest music stars hitting a viral peak. But it wasn’t just Drake’s magical touch that made the song a success — sweeping sample...
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...
Hollywood homophobia complicates Spacey scandal
By Thomas Wick | Columnist
November 7, 2017
Coming out as gay can be a struggle. The experience can be even harder if you’re 14 years old, the victim of a sexual assault — and in the film industry. This is exactly the unfortunate situation actor Anthony Rapp faced in 1986 when, after attending Kevin Spacey’s party in Manhattan, the 26...
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...
Hartford hate crime shows what happens when students stay silent
By Sarah Shearer | Columnist
November 6, 2017
Imagine walking into your dorm room at the end of a long day. You get ready for bed, brush your teeth and apply lotion. The faint smell of — moldy clams? — doesn’t quite hit but lingers questionably in the air. You want to ask your roommate if she smells it too, but can’t find the strength t...
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...
Horror movie classics should be standard for scares
By Maggie Durwald | For The Pitt News
November 3, 2017
Johnny and Barbara arrive at their father’s grave in rural Pennsylvania, a storm brewing in the distance. A gaunt, staggering man approaches silently across the landscape of headstones. He murders Johnny. Barbara flees. The man — a zombie — gives chase. Her brother’s last, teasing words of warni...
Column: Angela Davis visits Pitt
By Henry Glitz / Opinions Editor
November 2, 2017
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Top Stories
The first time Angela Davis was fired, race riots were rocking America, Ronald Reagan was governor of California and students at colleges across the country — including Pitt — were forming movements for black liberation. “I’m proud of the fact that I was fired by Ronald Reagan — but that’s a...
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...
Rejecting his legacy, Flake boldly speaks out
By Ana Altchek | For The Pitt News
November 2, 2017
Growing up in a town between Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey, I was exposed to a diverse population — both racially and economically. And while I am grateful I grew up in a place that encouraged a progressive mind-set, this naturally precluded conservative views. A lot of people in my town thought this was ...
Change the system to avoid pay-for-play scandals
By Will Schulman | For The Pitt News
November 1, 2017
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Uncategorized
The Federal Bureau of Investigation made headlines in the sports world when it arrested 10 people Sept. 26 for a pay-for-play scandal, in which coaches, agents and shoe company employees sent and received bribes involving college basketball recruits. Among the arrested were multiple college basket...
Movie murderers make killer crushes
By Henry Glitz and Jaime Viens | The Pitt News Staff
October 31, 2017
In a darkened movie theater, a pale face appears, grinning evilly from the depths of a sewer grate. A masked man in a dark jumpsuit stalks menacingly down a corridor with a knife. A creepy loner stares fixedly at a female guest over the front desk of a motel in the middle of nowhere. Most of the audi...
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...
Don’t let groupthink ruin Greek life
By Vaibhavi Patria | For The Pitt News
October 30, 2017
As Maxwell Gruver, a first-year at Louisiana State University, was wheeled into the hospital last month, his blood alcohol concentration was eight times the legal limit — nearly 0.5. Gruver, who was a pledge for Phi Delta Theta, died in the aftermath of a hazing incident at his fraternity. Brothers...
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...
Spencer’s free speech fails to further dialogue
By Jaime Viens | Contributing Editor
October 27, 2017
I had just returned from Shabbat services with my grandpa, president of his temple in central Florida, on Friday, Aug. 11. Following his nightly routine, he switched on the news. But instead of the local traffic report, he was confronted with video clips of men shouting “Jews will not replace u...
Op-Ed: Chancellor Gallagher: Now’s the time for fossil fuel divestment
By Fossil Free Pitt Coalition
October 26, 2017
Filed under Letters To Editor, Opinions, Top Stories
Dear Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, At the Fall Sustainability Fair this October, Mayor Bill Peduto signed our petition demanding the University of Pittsburgh divest its holdings from fossil fuel companies, expressing his support as an alumnus and as the mayor of our city. This is consistent with ...
Listen to Takei: start small to make change
By Alexis Buncich | For The Pitt News
October 26, 2017
George Takei, actor and activist, has seen a lot of discrimination in his life. At 80 years old, he has lived through a Japanese internment camp, the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement and countless other protests. He may be originally known for his role in “Star Trek,” but he’s used his fame to bec...
Bush 2020? One great speech can’t erase eight years
By Brian Gentry | For The Pitt News
October 25, 2017
Defying all expectations of his speaking ability, former President George W. Bush gave an eloquent speech last week criticizing the Trump administration. “We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism — forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America,” he said. The for...
Editorial: Senator Flake denounces, but forfeits to the new normal
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 25, 2017
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Uncategorized
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake from Arizona delivered a 17-minute speech on the Senate floor Tuesday denouncing “the new normal” and declaring he won’t seek reelection in 2018 — but his powerful political call to action was a resounding forfeit. In a Washington Post op-ed the same day, Flake ...
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...
Girls won’t burn the Boy Scouts’ house down
By Sarah Shearer | Columnist
October 23, 2017
Between completing badges in financial literacy, car maintenance and proper dining etiquette, I learned the importance of diversity during my time as a Girl Scout — at just 10 years old. That’s why, when the Boy Scouts of America announced earlier this month that they’d soon begin allowing girls i...
Editorial: Military rhetoric marks harmful double standard
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 23, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
From what we’ve heard in the past week from the Trump administration about respecting a former four-star general, you’d think it would show greater deference for other members of the military. A political dispute that began last week highlighted this sharp contrast between words and actions. A...
Term limits could transform congress
By Ben Sheppard | Columnist
October 23, 2017
Imagine the hectic day-to-day life of a senator — rushing from meeting to meeting, negotiating legislation and dealing with media and constituents. Now try doing that without even being able to remember where the Senate meets. In an interview with Politico last week in one of the hallways of the Cap...
Pitt: Then and Now (Part Three)
By Liam McFadden | Staff Illustrator
October 20, 2017
Filed under Cartoons, Opinions
...
Friday Fly: Hillman ground floor
By Maggie Koontz | Columnist
October 19, 2017
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Top Stories
“Friday Fly” is a biweekly column dedicated to a fly on the wall’s perspective on campus spots and daily life here at Pitt. This is the first installment. Midterms have begun at the University of Pittsburgh’s campus in Oakland and Hillman Library, a focal study point for students, is busy for...
Editorial: In wake of Weinstein, keep pushing forward
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 19, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Most English teachers — and certainly any editor — will say to use the active voice when possible. Jackson Katz, an educator and author at the forefront of the male feminism movement, wants to make sure you remember that too. “We talk about how many women were raped last year, not about how many men...
When fans turn toxic: the Szechuan sauce riots
By Thomas Wick | Columnist
October 19, 2017
Hundreds of people stood last weekend outside a big business to protest. They raised their fists, chanted at the representatives and demanded they provide for them. What were these people so furious about? A 19-year-old sauce for McDonald's Corp. chicken nuggets. “Rick and Morty” made headlines with McD...
Editorial: Commemorating a slain journalist
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 18, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
It was a sunny afternoon yesterday in the island nation of Malta, between North Africa and Sicily. Daphne Caruana Galizia was driving her Peuguot near her home when a car bomb exploded, killing her and tossing the wreckage of the car into a nearby field. When The Guardian broke the news last night,...
In wake of Maria don’t blame Puerto Rico, blame the U.S.
By Maggie Durwald | For The Pitt News
October 18, 2017
In the wake of Hurricane Maria, an overwhelming 80 percent of the 3.4 million Americans in Puerto Rico are still without electricity, adequate amounts of food and hospital supplies and, most alarmingly, potable water. Shipments of water can’t keep up with the demand, and the islanders are turning to w...
Editorial: Marino is a mistake for drug czar
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 16, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
If President Donald Trump wanted to spit in the face of his most ardent supporters, he probably couldn’t have chosen a crueler way to do it than with his nomination of a new drug czar last month. Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), who represents one of the whitest, most rural and most pro-Trump districts in...
JFK documents promise transparency, not conspiracy
By Ben Sheppard | Columnist
October 16, 2017
Three shots rang out from Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963. Those fatal shots killed President John F. Kennedy, wounded the American spirit and left many burning questions — some of which may soon find answers. The National Archives’ plan to declassify documents regarding ...
Continuing Kosher customs at Market to Go
By Ana Altchek | For The Pitt News
October 15, 2017
Sitting by the candle lights and surrounded by the people I loved, I experienced my religion — Judaism — as a culture of warmth and comfort. Growing up, Friday nights at my home were a time of decompressing from a week’s worth of work, a time I could spend with family without worrying about...
Editorial: Trump breaks promises on CHIP funding
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 15, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Policy changes stalling have been a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s first several months in office. But for a politician who’s promised health “insurance for everybody,” Trump should find the events of the past two weeks an especially striking reversal. The Children’s Health Insurance Program — a federal project designed to provide health care coverage fo...
Top 10: Master Plan suggestions
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 13, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
With Homecoming upon us once again and campus flooded with Pitt alumni, we’re tempted to look not only backwards at our school’s past, but forward at its future as well. Pitt’s looking for student input for the new Oakland Campus Master Plan — a road map for campus development over the next 30 years. And of ...
Editorial: Trump’s big, empty tax promises
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 12, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
President Donald Trump visited Harrisburg Wednesday, Oct. 11 to discuss his plans for tax reform in front of a crowd of roughly 1,000 people. The crowd comprised mostly of truckers and small manufacturing business owners — the types of people Trump promised to help while campaigning for the presiden...
Respect Catalan referendum, for democracy’s sake
By Ben Sheppard and Christian Snyder | The Pitt News Staff
October 12, 2017
Voters tried to take to the polls in Catalonia Oct. 1 for a landmark independence referendum in the Spanish autonomous community — but the day ended in chaos. Spanish police brought in from outside Catalonia by the Spanish government injured more than 800 Catalan citizens in conflicts across the regio...
PA ‘Right to Try’ bill: who is it really helping?
By Ana Altchek | For The Pitt News
October 11, 2017
Several years ago, my next door neighbor was diagnosed with stage four cancer — within six months she tragically passed away. Not only was this an agonizing experience for her, but it was painful for her devoted husband, children and grandchildren. While she was too sick to consider any options, the...
Editorial: Trump’s contradictory contraceptive rollback
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 11, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Touting the decision as a defense of religious liberty, President Donald Trump rolled back an Obama-era federal mandate Friday that required employers to provide contraception in their health care coverage. The decision might appease his voting base, but it is both a morally and constitutionally...
WBC message fails to divide Pitt protesters
By Sarah Shearer | For The Pitt News
October 10, 2017
Donning a rainbow flag in the rain at a counter protest last Thursday on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard, Hannah Riley said the Westboro Baptist Church’s planned visit to Pitt wasn’t shaping up to be violent. “I think this one, if it happens, will be more intense because WBC is [an...
Editorial: On Columbus Day, teach explorer’s whole history
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 10, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Pitt students undoubtedly enjoyed yesterday’s day off — officially the University’s designated fall break. Unofficially, however, the day’s status as Columbus Day has long created more controversy than calm. Columbus Day — named after the Italian-born, Spanish-financed explorer from the 1...
Trump’s NFL comments ignore players’ real concerns
By Will Schulman | For The Pitt News
October 6, 2017
After taking the gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter dash at the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos shocked the world — the two Olympians held up black gloved fists for the entire anthem. When Colin Kaepernick, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback, decided last year to kneel for th...
Dear WBC: Hate doesn’t have a home here
By Sarah Shearer | For The Pitt News
October 4, 2017
It only takes reading a few sentences into the “about” page on the Westboro Baptist Church’s website to understand one thing: this is a group fueled by hate. The WBC is well known for its protesting tactics, picketing at events from military funerals, such as Sgt. Dillon Baldridge’s in No...
Editorial: Murphy’s abortion hypocrisy helps no one
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 4, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Politicians can often debate the issues — even the most emotional ones — into a state of almost humdrum normalcy. There’s only so many times you can revisit a public outrage and still realize the issue’s real impact. One of Pennsylvania’s pro-life members of Congress appears to have reach...
Editorial: Puerto Rico deserves better than Trump
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 4, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
President Donald Trump’s criticism of Puerto Rico’s pre-Hurricane Maria infrastructure compelled The Pitt News to speak out against his divisive rhetoric last week and emphasize the real need for aid in Puerto Rico. We feel compelled yet again this week to speak out against the president’s commen...
A new iPhone in a post-innovative age
By Levko Karmazyn | Columnist
October 4, 2017
A decade before Apple released the first iPhone, the hottest new technology included the Tamagotchi virtual pocket pet, Motorola's StarTAC — one of the first widely popular cell phones — and the trusty mp3 file. When the iPhone was introduced 10 years ago it shook every aspect of the technolog...
Chipotle queso cheats cheese science
By Bianca De | For The Pitt News
October 3, 2017
You’re in line at Chipotle, going over your order in your mind. Imagining your perfect burrito bowl, you consider several qualifications: how spicy you want your salsa, skipping the guac unless you really want to pay extra and — until recently — being forced to forgo queso altogether. For years,...
Editorial: Don’t ignore the politics behind gun violence crisis
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 3, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
For President Donald Trump’s administration, sensitivity in the face of tragedy hasn’t been the norm — just last week, Trump took to Twitter to insult the mayor of an American city ravaged by multiple hurricanes. So when voices everywhere — from the conservative blogosphere to Washington, D.C., ...
Editorial: Now’s the time for redistricting reform
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 1, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
After nearly six years, Pennsylvania residents dissatisfied with the current scheme of representation for the commonwealth in the House may finally get some relief. A lawsuit from the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, originally filed in June, received new attention last week as a Republican staffer in the state legislature came forward in...
CIA constricts debate at Harvard
By Maggie Durwald | For The Pitt News
October 1, 2017
When Edward Snowden appeared via internet connection for a speech in the William Pitt Union this February, students reacted to the presence of the controversial figure, best known for leaking documents from the CIA, with both curiosity and distrust. But while Pitt allowed the event to go forward, st...
Let’s do fast casual right
By Will Schulman | For The Pitt News
September 29, 2017
Students at Penn State one morning in 2014 were shocked to find the Chipotle in State College, Pennsylvania, closed. On the door a sign read: “Ask our corporate offices why their employees are forced to work in borderline sweatshop conditions,” followed up with “People > Profits.” Constant pr...
Editorial: The Pitt News bids 7-Eleven farewell
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 28, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Today is the last day Pitt students can get Slurpees, cheap coffee, pizza, cigarettes and condoms on campus, 24/7. Pitt will open a University-owned grocery store in 7-Eleven’s place, which has a few clear positives for some students. But closing 7-Eleven is a blow to every student who studies ...
Editorial: Trump’s revisionist history leaves everyone behind
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 28, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Presidential endorsements of Senate hopefuls can often make the difference between a candidate winning and losing the election — though that wasn’t the case in Alabama this week. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence publicly supported Republican Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama’s...
Ending whitewashing is simple: just look at Ed Skrein
By Thomas Wick | Columnist
September 28, 2017
Hollywood has a complicated relationship with racial injustice in America, and for good reason — minority actors still struggle for representation in the industry. But when I heard controversy brewing about whitewashing yet again, I couldn’t believe that our nation hasn’t made more progress. ...
The American prison system: justice or exploitation?
By Vaibhavi Patria | For The Pitt News
September 27, 2017
In Washington, Pennsylvania, a county jail captain was charged this week with stealing more than $2,000 from inmates. Charges like this are nothing new — especially in Pennsylvania. According to Prison Legal News, at least 14 Pennsylvania prison and jail guards were arrested between 2012 and 2014. Som...
Editorial: Don’t forget about Puerto Rico in wake of Maria
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 27, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When it made landfall in Puerto Rico Sept. 20, Hurricane Maria was the largest storm the island faced in the last 80 years. Almost the entire population of the island — nearly 3.5 million American citizens — still do not have electricity. Many also do not have running water, and 95 percent of ...
Good gaming journalism needs know-how
By Thomas Wick | Columnist
September 25, 2017
As I watched the video game character move back and forth on the screen, struggling and failing to make a simple jump, I couldn’t help but cringe. I was shocked to discover the identity of the player grappling with a game tutorial with so much difficulty was an “experienced” gaming journalist. Video gam...
Editorial: St. Louis police endanger freedom of the press
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 25, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Conventional wisdom proposes that it’s difficult to truly care about an issue until that issue affects you personally. For journalists in St. Louis, the controversy surrounding police brutality in America is coming to that point. In the light of protests during the past week and a half, local, national...
Editorial: Critics of anthem protests aren’t patriotic
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 24, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When the Steelers walked onto the field before yesterday’s game against the Chicago Bears, the booing they received wasn’t just because they were the away team. Shortly before the game began, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told Jamie Erdahl of CBS Sports that Pittsburgh’s NFL team would rem...
No mercy for Menendez
By Ben Sheppard | For The Pitt News
September 24, 2017
The last time the U.S. Senate had to expel a member, the country was tearing itself apart in the Civil War. With a country that feels almost as divided today, 2017 may see another Senate expulsion — Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Federal prosecutors in Menendez’s home state opened a trial again...
Don’t tempt Amazon with tax cuts
By Ben Sheppard | For The Pitt News
September 22, 2017
In the struggle between American cities for economic dominance, an influx of 50,000 new jobs seems too good to be true. But that’s exactly what tech giant Amazon is offering. More than 100 cities — ranging from Boston, to Toronto to a collective of several small North Carolina towns — have signale...
The Blame Game: Trump’s simple, yet divisive rhetoric
By Vaibhavi Patria | For The Pitt News
September 21, 2017
In his mind, President Donald Trump can never go wrong — his actions are justified, his words are nothing but the truth and his band of followers is loyal and ever-growing. And when he’s not praising himself, he’s shifting the blame to others. “I inherited a mess, it's a mess at home and abroad. A mess,...
Editorial: Graham-Cassidy plan ruins progress and instills division
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 21, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
On one side of the aisle, U.S. lawmakers are tackling the issue of health care with the broadest strokes possible by introducing a constitutional amendment that affirms access to health care as a basic human right. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans are attempting to repeal and replace former ...
Maduro vs the world: Venezuela’s hopeless crisis
By Saket Rajprohat | Senior Columnist
September 20, 2017
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Uncategorized
The streets are filled with protesters. The shelves at grocery stores are empty, and pockets are even emptier. Right now, Venezuela looks bleak — and Veronica, a Venezuelan immigrant living in Pittsburgh who requested that her last name be withheld for her family’s safety, said the country is f...
Editorial: Pitt must condemn professor’s threats
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 20, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
More than 200 students gathered at the base of Litchfield Towers Monday to protest a group that spewed homophobia, racism and sexism on our campus. Thankfully, no one was hurt — students drove the bigoted group across the street and off campus. But it seems that if it were up to State Rep. Aaro...
Climate change should hit close to home
By Brian Gentry | For The Pitt News
September 19, 2017
The apple core I had just tossed had no sooner hit the bottom of the bin when I heard the familiar scolding from my mom. Once again, I had forgotten to put it in the compost bin. As a kid, I didn’t really know why I needed to be environmentally conscious, whether it was recycling water bottles, ...
Pitt students’ protest represents model of free speech
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 19, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When protesters descended on campus yesterday afternoon to push a controversial message, they weren’t the only ones ready to exercise their freedom of speech. Members of Christian Interviews, an organization from the Philadelphia area, appeared on the Fifth Avenue-side patio of Towers around 1 p.m. ...
Don’t count out conservative Democrats
By Henry Glitz | Opinions Editor
September 17, 2017
With a mix of fear, anger and sheer disbelief, I watched the television screen in my friends’ apartment as CNN’s correspondent tapped an interactive map, coloring Pennsylvania red. Last fall’s presidential election came as a shock to many, but for me the blow came when my home state cast its ...
Editorial: Recognize the consequences of comedy
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 17, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
On the sidelines at the football game between Pitt and Oklahoma State this weekend, a female Pitt fan likely had little idea she would be one of the highlights from the game on social media. But that’s exactly what happened. A clip of Gianna Rockoff, a sophomore psychology major at Pitt, taking part in a ra...
Unlivable wages: why the federal minimum isn’t enough
By Elise Lavallee | Contributing Editor
September 15, 2017
If you were on campus last Friday, you might’ve seen an RV sporting a cartoon photo of Donald Trump hiding behind a smiley face mask. This unusual RV serves as the mobile headquarters for the 2017 Trump and Walmart Make America Worse Tour. Dighan Kelly, a sophomore urban studies and French major, organi...
Blue collar to green collar: Pittsburgh’s sustainable future
By Jaime Viens | Contributing Editor
September 14, 2017
A Pittsburgh skyline dominated by smokestacks once denoted the bane of environmental destruction to some — but to many, it was a livelihood. More than ever before, Pittsburgh is shedding its long-standing status as the “Steel City” as it continues to transition from a City that is economically reliant on fossil fuels toward a City with more sustainable future in renewable energy. But our local economy is fa...
Editorial: On union, University should stay on sidelines
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 14, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The push to unionize grad students at the University, while in the works since the beginning of 2016, has heated up significantly in the past few months. When Pitt graduate students arrived in the common room of the Cathedral of Learning on Tuesday to deliver a list of demands, the police presence seemed ...
Editorial: Health care proposal detracts from urgent issues
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 14, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The last health care bill Congress voted on would have left 22 million Americans without health care. Thankfully, it failed — but in its place are radical new suggestions. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) introduced a new bill in the Senate today that he’s calling Medicare for All, and for the first ti...
Piazza case should be a lesson: to be an adult, be accountable
By Anne Marie Yurik | For The Pitt News
September 14, 2017
Imagine you’re an average college student at a fraternity party. It’s cold — February in central Pennsylvania always is. Suddenly, someone falls down the stairs. They’re drunk enough that they don’t wake up when they hit the floor of the basement. Through the rest of the night, you see ...
Editorial: House revenue plan threatens Pennsylvania
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 13, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In an email sent to the student body Friday, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher warned Pitt students that if the state fails to pass appropriation bills that fund state-related universities, our school will face serious consequences. But this merely demonstrates the broader issue at hand. The state has y...
Scared to study abroad? Do it anyway
By Sarah Shearer | For The Pitt News
September 13, 2017
I was in the candy aisle of a bookstall April 19 when I first heard the emergency alarms and looked up to see the main concourse of London Euston Train Station in a dark frenzy. I grabbed my bag, shuffled out the nearest exit and stood outside with other travelers for almost half an hour before someone announced ov...
DeVos takes backward step on sexual assault
By Erica Brandbergh | Columnist
September 11, 2017
For a cabinet member who’s already one of the most controversial in the Trump administration, it would have seemed difficult for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to become even more divisive. Then she started to talk about rape on campus. DeVos gave a speech on Sept. 7 at George Mason University...
Editorial: Racism in humanities isn’t the problem
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 11, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Race relations in the United States are rapidly returning to the foreground of the public’s consciousness. It seems nowhere is immune from the rising tensions — not even the study of classical antiquity. At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, student protesters are at the center of a controversy dealing with...
Clinton’s focus on 2016 doesn’t help Democrats
By Ben Sheppard | For The Pitt News
September 11, 2017
Letting go of the past can be difficult. And no one, it seems, knows that better than Hillary Clinton. Last year’s Democratic presidential candidate still appears to be reeling from her stinging defeat by Donald Trump. In her new book, “What Happened” — set to hit bookshelves Tuesday — C...
Editorial: Recognize student debt’s real toll on campus
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 10, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
With grades, a fluctuating social life and life after graduation all weighing heavily on our collective conscience, any college student can tell you they’re no stranger to stress. And according to research released recently by collegiate contracting giant Sodexo, students in the United States ...
Don’t punt on LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports
By Henry Glitz | Opinions Editor
September 7, 2017
Filed under Columns, GameDay, Opinions
When Pitt’s football team faces off against Penn State tomorrow at Beaver Stadium, both teams will continue a tradition which began in the 19th century — but in a vastly different culture. At the teams’ first meeting in 1893, Pitt had yet to integrate, and Penn State had never admitted a black s...
To understand injustice, listen to the lawyers
By Henry Glitz | Opinions Editor
September 7, 2017
In most American courts of law, a raised voice or an opinion stated too aggressively will typically earn you the censure of the presiding judge. But that certainly wasn’t the case Tuesday night in the Teplitz Memorial Moot Courtroom, nestled deep within Pitt’s Law School. A panel of five memb...
Analysis: How a 1999 NATO operation turned Russia against the West
By Christian Snyder | Assistant Opinions Editor
September 7, 2017
The name Boris Yeltsin should ring a bell, whether it brings to mind images of him leaping upon a tank during a coup in 1991 Moscow or standing drunk in his underpants in Washington, D.C. in 1995. Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation, may be remembered for his drinking habits, but...
Editorial: Stand strong to protect DACA recipients
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 6, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions, Top Stories
Imagine living in the United States your entire life — from your earliest memories, you’ve been here. And in 2014, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protected your status, keeping you safe from the ever-looming threat of deportation. But as of Tuesday, because your parents immigrated illegally sho...
Next-day shopping? How Whole Foods and Amazon could change the game
By Levko Karmazyn | For The Pitt News
September 6, 2017
You could never accomplish today what John Mackey and Renee Lawson did in 1978 Austin, Texas. The college-dropout couple opened what would eventually become Whole Foods, which Amazon bought in August for $13.7 billion. Many criticized the natural food marketplace for “selling out” to Amazon, and feel tha...
Eradicating racism is about responsibility, not statues
By Elise Lavallee | Contributing Editor
September 5, 2017
With racial violence gripping Charlottesville, Virginia, last month, the nation’s moral conscience was transfixed. The full scale of hatred on display from white supremacists and neo-Nazis was enough to persuade communities across the country to reconsider the continuing public position of racially i...