Stray cat coalition brings health and happiness to Oakland felines in need 

By Anna Kuntz, Senior Staff Writer • January 31, 2025

Lydia Swanson founded Oakland TNR in 2019 as a Pitt student after discovering an abundance of stray cats in South Oakland that needed care. Since then, what started as an idea has grown into a successful operation that helps hundreds of stray cats find happy homes.

The Ladybug | The birth family search and DNA kits

By Abigail Duncan, Staff Writer • March 6, 2024

In this edition of The Ladybug, Abigail Duncan discusses her recent struggles with finding her identity as an adoptee and how she answers difficult questions regarding her birth parents.

The Ladybug | One of these is not like the others

By Abigail Duncan, Staff Writer • March 27, 2023

In this edition of The Ladybug, Abigail Duncan writes about being different from her peers growing up and learning to embrace that.

The Ladybug | Figuring Out What Adoption Means to Me

By Abigail Duncan, For The Pitt News • February 10, 2023

In this first edition of The Ladybug, Abigail Duncan shares her personal experience as an adoptee from China.

Blog: Further reflections on adoption, Chinese study abroad

By Kim Rooney, Contributing Editor • February 8, 2019

When I become too embroiled in writer’s block, I often remind myself that, so long as I stay alive to do so, I can update pieces I write. I studied abroad in Shanghai in the summer of 2017, during which...

China is phasing out its one-child policy for the wrong reasons

By Kim Rooney | Contributing Editor • June 20, 2018

The small oval scar on the top of my left arm goes unnoticed by most. They have no reason to look, since the United States stopped administering the smallpox vaccination in 1972. Even I forget it’s there,...