Libertarians lose in 2018 without the GOP
By Noah Manalo | For The Pitt News
January 10, 2018
After a year of hurricanes devastating countries, terror attacks shaking citizens and a seemingly endless number of cultural influencers losing their reputations and their lives, many are looking to 2018 with a mixture of caution and optimism. But hopeless optimism isn’t limited to just apolitical hopes...
Editorial: Wolf opioid declaration a step in the right direction
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 10, 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...
Self-awareness snaps unconscious biases
By Vaibhavi Patria | Columnist
January 10, 2018
Filed under Columns
Imagine you’re walking down Forbes Avenue one afternoon, and suddenly a man wearing a ski mask grabs your backpack and sprints away. You call the police immediately, and although the backpack is nowhere to be found, they’ve arrested two men who match your description of the perpetrator. You’re ta...
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...
Women in Hollywood won’t solve sexism alone
By Henry Glitz | Opinions Editor
January 9, 2018
Hating on Hollywood — the home of the unattainably beautiful and fabulously wealthy — has always been easy for those of us living in Pittsburgh’s somewhat colder climate. But with last weekend’s Golden Globe Awards marking the end of a year full of scandals and sexual misconduct in the entert...
Editorial: Sessions takes step backward on weed
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 8, 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...
Homes for the Holiday: Vignettes from winter break
By The Pitt News Staff
January 8, 2018
It’s a strange feeling to realize that each person passing you on the street has a complex life all their own — but hardly an exclusive one. It’s so common, in fact, that in 2012 writer John Koenig coined a new word, “sonder,” to describe it. As throngs of students return to the sidewalks on campus, many might...
Dream both big and small in 2018
By Henry Glitz | Opinions Editor
January 8, 2018
When I joined this newspaper’s editorial staff around this time last year, I spent my first night on the job writing a column about how I thought our readers should approach the new year. The rapidly approaching prospects of a new president and a new job, along with my natural impulse to set grandiose start-of-t...
So long to Saturday finals
By Ben Sheppard | Columnist
December 10, 2017
Opening PeopleSoft and finding your final exam dates is like opening your presents on Christmas — sometimes you’re elated, other times you’re more than a little let down. Discovering all your finals are on the first days of finals week, or earlier, is a feeling of pure joy. It’s like gett...
Put the fun back in finals
By Sarah Shearer | Senior Columnist
December 10, 2017
“You can do this Tiana — you always make it through in the end,” Tiana Han says resolutely to herself. Han, a Pitt junior and biology major, lights a candle, settles into the desk in her apartment and gets down to business. She will only be there for a few hours at a time, though, taking break...
Christmas consumerism doesn’t make for war
By Noah Manalo | For The Pitt News
December 8, 2017
It’s not truly Christmastime in my family until we’re forced out into the cold for an impromptu caroling session around the neighborhood. Afterward, we’ll drive Downtown for an evening of ice-skating under Pittsburgh’s largest Christmas tree. Another, more unfortunate telltale sign of the season is the ree...
GOP tax plan threatens grad students the most
By Maggie Durwald | Columnist
December 7, 2017
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Uncategorized
The Republican Party has once again proven itself to be an enemy of science and higher education — this time in the form of its new tax plan, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. With a vote of 51-49 during the early hours of Dec. 1, the Senate passed the GOP’s latest plan — a draft riddled with last-minute revisions scribbled in its margins — just ho...
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...
When environmental groups overstep, progress halts
By Brian Gentry | Columnist
December 6, 2017
The auditorium of Arsenal Middle School contained an eclectic mix of people Monday night. In the middle aisle, a sharply dressed younger crowd in scarves and thick-rimmed glasses conversed with representatives from environmental groups such as PennEnvironment and Lawrenceville United. Meanwhile, gruff, blue-...
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...
Oil pipelines pursue a path of turmoil
By Lexi Kennell | Culture Editor
December 5, 2017
Native Americans in the Dakotas faced police dogs, pepper spray and rubber bullets last year while trying to protect their homes from one pipeline — now parts of the region have nearly 210,000 gallons of oil spilled on it from another. Last year’s clashes on the Standing Rock Reservation in North ...
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...
Microtransactions mar gaming experience
By Thomas Wick | Columnist
December 4, 2017
A short time ago in an industry not so far away, the gaming empire Electronic Arts released a video game called “Star Wars Battlefront II” — but gamers should keep their wallets handy if they want the full game experience. This sequel to the 2015 “Star Wars Battlefront” promised to add improve...
Editorial: Data breach proves Uber needs oversight
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
December 3, 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...
Friday Fly: Nordy’s Place
By Maggie Koontz | Columnist
December 1, 2017
“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 third installment. As the flow of students through the William Pitt Union basement slows and shadows lengthen, the bright blue Nordy’s sign beckons students f...
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...
A productive, yet misrepresentative three-way debate
By Neena Hagen, For The Pitt News
November 30, 2017
At colleges across the country — from California to the University of Connecticut — political events frequently turn violent. So when I got to room 324 of the Cathedral of Learning Tuesday evening for the Pitt Political Science Student Association's three-way debate between Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians, I braced myself for a ba...
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...
When talking assault, recognize the limitations of the #MeToo movement
By Ana Altchek | Columnist
November 29, 2017
The infamous words of pre-college advice for girls at my high school graduation party were “never leave your drink unattended,” and, if you ignored that, “don’t drink the punch” — warnings against the dangers of college parties, particularly when alcohol is involved. These are valid ti...
Don’t make students foot the bill for tax cuts
By Maggie Durwald | Columnist
November 28, 2017
As our fellow Pitt students once again embark on the often overwhelming journey that is apartment hunting for next year, the voters of Pennsylvania may be inadvertently raising our rental costs. At the polls earlier this month, 54 percent of Pennsylvanians voted for a constitutional amendment allo...
Editorial: Port Authority police on trains would be a wreck
By The Pitt News Editorial Staff
November 27, 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...
A long overdue farewell to The Pitt News
By Jaime Viens | Contributing Editor
November 27, 2017
“This is an exploration of feminism by a somewhat educated, 19 year old liberal arts major.” This is the first sentence I ever wrote in hopes of getting hired as a columnist for The Pitt News back in 2015. Somehow, it worked, though the words were rightfully never published until today. It’...
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,...
Volunteer, but not on Thanksgiving
By Neena Hagen, For The Pitt News
November 20, 2017
It’s Thanksgiving, and you're bustling around the sweltering, crowded soup kitchen, maneuvering around your fellow volunteers, taking up practically every inch of space on the floor. Someone jostles your elbow, almost causing you to spill the giant pot of soup you're carrying around. Despite the...
Talking politics at Thanksgiving shouldn’t be taboo
By Anne Marie Yurik | For The Pitt News
November 19, 2017
What do you do when someone close to you says something about a topic in the news you find simply reprehensible? Oftentimes, the instinct is to shut up and pretend it didn’t happen — something that’s especially true over the holidays. If your Thanksgiving expectations are similar to mine, y...
Editorial: GOP tax plan would aggrieve grad students
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
November 19, 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...
Extend love to homeless in a city that doesn’t
By Sarah Shearer | Columnist
November 17, 2017
Nichole Cooper didn’t know a simple “How are you?” would lead to such a rich friendship when she met Shaker on the street. “You know, I just saw him and was like, hey, what’s up?” Cooper said. “He offered me a cigarette and I said no and he asked how are you?” Cooper, a woman from Tex...
To succeed, sophomores should stay on campus
By Brian Gentry | For The Pitt News
November 16, 2017
Sophomore Dolan Edinboro knew he wanted to move off campus for his sophomore year. But when he started looking for apartments in the November of his first semester at Pitt, he and one of his roommates, sophomore John Kelly, were shocked to sometimes spend five or six hours a week looking for one. “I...
Off-year election marks desire for criminal justice reform
By Ben Sheppard | Columnist
November 16, 2017
Despite our national representatives’ inability to agree on anything, the Nov. 7 off-year elections showed that the nation at large is united by at least one thing — criminal justice reform. Pittsburghers are fed up with archaic strategies of criminal justice — and Mik Pappas is their new refor...
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 ...
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 12, 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 12, 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 6, 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 6, 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 5, 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 5, 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 2, 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 1, 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 1, 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 30, 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 30, 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 29, 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 26, 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 the 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 25, 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 24, 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 24, 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 22, 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 22, 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 19, 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 18, 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 18, 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 17, 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 17, 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 10, 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 9, 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 9, 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 5, 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 3, 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 3, 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 2, 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 2, 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 28, 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...