Archive for February, 2009
Welcome to the Pitt Political Review Winter 2009! ::
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
New issues are available now in the Honors College and around campus.The Pitt Political Review is dedicated to rigorous discussion of politics on the local, national, and global levels. Our intention is to publish writing that analyzes issues, events and personalities, assuming nothing of the reader but a common interest in the subject. We take […]
No Comments »
After Beijing: China’s Progress, China’s Obstacles, by Jennifer Hirsch ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Napoleon Bonaparte once remarked, “Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.” Though this prediction came at the turn of the 19th century, China’s current state could not be more aptly described by someone actually witnessing the country’s revitalization today. This ancient nation began its renaissance over thirty years ago, and […]
No Comments »
Forgotten Men, by Meredith Hutchison ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
In the summer of 2008 I saw the two stereotypes of Africa. Working for an NGO and living in a Congolese refugee camp in Northern Zambia, I woke up every day to the romanticized version of Sub-Saharan Africa – the land teeming with life and nature, beautiful scenery, long and large landscapes of elephant grass […]
No Comments »
Conflicts Apart: The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan, by Meredith Hutchison ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Conflict in the Congo is certainly not new. Since independence from Belgium in 1960, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formally known as Zaire, has suffered in a permanent state of transition and flux. The land and its people have not once experienced a sustained period of freedom, peace, and development. The DRC boasts one […]
No Comments »
Letter from Baton Rouge, by Sam Joel ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Let me tell you a story about my second day as a teacher. As first period began most of my students were slowly getting settled and I was about to convene the class. Wiry and dark-skinned, Cory hadn’t said a word the previous day, and now he walked in late. Suddenly, after one abusive word […]
No Comments »
When It Rains, It Pours: How Sewer Issues Could Sink Pittsburgh, by Laura Meixell ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Pittsburgh has serious water problems. According to the Regional Water Management Task force, every year Southwestern Pennsylvania’s sewage system releases enough raw sewage into our groundwater to fill Heinz Field one hundred times. Southwestern Pennsylvania’s rivers, streams, and groundwater are so polluted that they are routinely in violation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]
No Comments »
India-U.S. Nuclear Cooperation, by Brandon Pfeffer ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Over the past fifteen years, India has had the second-fastest-growing economy in the world. That economic growth has meant consumption, and consumption has required energy — lots of energy. The need for power in India is higher than ever, and demand is rising fast. For the hundreds of millions of […]
No Comments »
Down on the Farm: How Agriculture Subsidies Are Hurting Taxpayers, the Environment, and the World Economy, by Lewis Lehe ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
A joke runs, “If you laid all the economists in the world end to end, you still wouldn’t reach a conclusion.” Economists are famous for disagreeing on fundamental questions, from health care to taxes to interest rates. So it’s worth listening when 87.5% of the American Economics Association agree the government should end farm subsidies […]
No Comments »
Politics and Progress: How Public Participation Shaped the Surge, by Dan Bisbee ::
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
U.S. troop fatalities in Iraq have fallen. The number of Iraqi civilian deaths and the number of violent incidents reported in Baghdad show similar positive trends. The re-opening of public parks and outdoor markets, relaxed nighttime curfews and increased alcohol sales and consumption are just a few indicators of Baghdad society inching towards normalcy. While […]