It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old fashioned riot. Feeling nostalgic? Just check out this footage from The Pitt News that shows students rioting in the streets on Saturday night — one day after the G20 and the protests that left hundreds of protesters in handcuffs, local activists gathered to demonstrate alleged police brutality from the day before.
Post-G20 Protest Against Police Brutality from Pitt News Multimedia on Vimeo.
The G20 summit, so named because it is a gathering of 20 leaders of nations representing 85 percent of the world’s wealth, was designed to facilitate discussion about the economy. James O’Toole and Dennis B. Roddy of the Philadelphia Inquirer describe the riots that prompted the alleged police brutality on Friday:
Two squads of Greenpeace activists tried to rappel simultaneously down the sides of the Fort Pitt and West End Bridges. Police nabbed the five activists on the Fort Pitt Bridge, but eight protesters at the other bridge managed to unfurl an 80-by-30-foot banner proclaiming “Danger: Climate Destruction Ahead,” while dangling above the Ohio River as police waited them out.
By early afternoon, those protesters climbed back up and were all arrested, along with a ninth team member who remained on the bridge to assure police that the activists were peaceful and were experienced, equipped climbers.
All 14 demonstrators were taken to the Allegheny County Jail.
At other universities, administrators are giving their students reasons not to riot.
University of Florida, for example, is implementing a new initiative that would allow students to get digital versions of the same textbooks required for their classes for free. For those who really want a hard-copy, the university system will offer custom-bound ones for less than $50, wrote Shannon Colavecchio of the St. Petersburg Times.
At other universities, admissions officials are worrying about how the economy will impact enrollment, and what they can do to help families and soften the blow, Jacques Steinberg and Theo Emery of the New York Times reports.
The talk this week at an annual gathering of college admissions officers and high school counselors included the usual topics, like how to deal with “difficult” parents and the names of hot student prospects. But the conversations — in panel discussions, in hallways and over crab cakes — always seemed to circle around to one subject: the economy.
Quick Hits:
- The Washington Post alleged the Metro’s new initiative to sandwich older train cars was a PR move used to off-set bad press caused by Metro crashes and passenger deaths.
- Acclaimed director Roman Polanski was finally arrested — after more than 30 years on the run, during which time he made movies and won an Oscar. Go figure.
- St Paul looks to hold landlords responsible for underage drinking in their rental properties, according to the Minnesota Daily.
- Drugs used to medicate attention deficit disorders are being used by college students to allow working 24 hour days, reports The Guardian, begging the question of how far is too far to go for mental enhancement.
- The New York Times asks: is college really worth it?
[...] of the recent G-20 summit, you may have heard about the riots and protests that went on — if you read Campus Drive, that is. Now the university administration is reviewing student arrests to sort out who was caught [...]