In an open letter to the Chancellor published on Apr. 25, a group of 49 educators claimed that Pitt students’ dedication to human rights and justice displayed in the Palestine Solidarity Encampment should be celebrated by the University. That same day, I aimed to open a dialogue with these students by distributing a letter of my authorship, which will be available in an abridged version at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday, May 5. But I cut my attempt short once I read the “Camp Rules,” specifically rule 2, “Don’t talk to Zionists.” These Zionists who may have approached the camp to talk a ..read more

A woman died after she was hit by a large cylindrical steel drum that rolled away from the construction site by the Petersen Events Center on May 3. The woman was walking with her colleagues when the cylinder rolled down the construction site, broke through construction fencing and struck her on the sidewalk, according to a statement from Pittsburgh Public Safety Public Information Officer Emily Bourne. Medics pronounced her dead at the scene at 10:45 a.m. “The City of Pittsburgh and Occupational Safety and Health Administration will lead the investigation with the full support of the Universi ..read more

Hundreds of student protesters and community activists gathered in front of the Cathedral of Learning and William Pitt Union throughout Sunday evening for a march and subsequent rally in support of Palestine. The protesters demanded that Pitt divest from any funds supporting Israel.  The protest is a continuation of the sit-in in support of Palestine that began at Pitt on Apr. 23. The protest at Pitt is occurring in tandem with a number of similar student protests across the country, which are demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and for universities to divest from Israel. The encampment at Pitt ..read more

Student Government Board released a statement on Sunday “regarding the Pitt Gaza solidarity encampment,” in which the board offered its support for student advocacy on campus and expressed solidarity with the protest taking place.  “We condemn University investment into genocide and any association with entities furthering Israel’s endless abuse and murder of Palestinians,” SGB said in the statement posted on Instagram. “We call on the University of Pittsburgh to listen to encampment student organizers, divest from Israel and aid Palestinians.” The sit-in protest, which began on Tuesday ..read more

Today is my last official day as editor-in-chief of The Pitt News. Just like that, the four years I’ve spent at this newspaper and in college have come to an end. While I was originally going to use this senior column to just recount my time at The Pitt News, I feel as though there’s a few things I must say first.  This past week while my fellow graduates and I have run around trying to finalize essays, take grad photos and prepare for commencement, our campus, like many others across the country, has been in a state of protest. For the past five days, a group of students at Pitt, joined ..read more

Product: Sony Handheld Camcorder  Rating: 0 stars Weak Memory: LOST ALL MY RECORDINGS Reviewed by Donna Linden    When a company advertises that its product has “ultra-reliable data storage” and has “more memory capacity than ever before” and the catchphrase for its advertisement is quite literally “Keep Your Memories Safe”, one would perhaps expect that the absolute last thing their brand-new, ultra-reliable camera would do is LOSE THEIR RECORDINGS. If anyone reading this is located in Clinton, New Jersey, DO NOT go to the Best Buy store on Donnard Street, and DO NOT talk to An ..read more

“Ten thousand years of Death King rule!” the crowd screamed and howled. Grumgux didn’t understand that. Obviously, he loved the Death King and would peel the skin from his soul in service of the cause, but 10,000 years seemed pretty extreme. People don’t live that long; why would they agree to a rule that they wouldn’t even be around for? He’d totally understand something like “100 years of Death King rule!” A hundred years is a pretty reasonable amount of time. Ten thousand? Yeesh. The heralds stood in a perfect circle on the sandy colosseum floor below waving the Death King’s blood-painted f ..read more

The sweet smell of jasmine warm on my scalp, her soft hands, calloused palms weaving through my hair with scented oil aged rich by generations, braids in my hair donned like armor. Fried okra, mutton curry, and porridge humming lightly against the base of my chest. I ate too much. One day in second grade I told her these are the things I like best, and since then this has been the first meal I have at her house, always. It tastes the same, always. I overeat, always.  She takes me out to see her roses, and we sit on the big swing on the porch, my head on her lap staining her saree … tradit ..read more

I spit on the uneven, cracked sidewalk and watch as the pink-red domes spread flat. I watch some of the spittle run down a crack and think of beginnings. I used to look at that same street outside my window and think of the mindless people who walked it before me. I was eight when I first argued for that street, insisting and pleading it was in pain. I would stand outside, forbidding passersby from accessing that particular splintered section. Of course, it bothered the wretched neighbors greatly to take a slight detour into the one-way road. The neighborhood allocations committee apparently d ..read more

Your composition is weak. Four years of unrelenting critique still echoed through his head in a cacophony of unimpressed sighs, dismissive glances, and outright ridicule.  Where is the passion? This work has no soul. During school, he’d recoiled from the constant scrutiny of his work; now, he let these bitter memories flood his mind, fueling the fire of his ambition.  You’ll never make it in the art world. For a time, it had seemed his professors and peers were right. Despite extensive study of the masters — constantly seeking to understand what had made their work persist across the ..read more