Hey everyone,
My friends and I wrote up this petition for the university to push the city to drop all charges against student arrestees and to refrain from putting us before the Judicial Review Board. Please sign it and forward it to everyone you know!
(Some of us went around the campus earlier today getting signatures, and we've already got about 300)
Support the Students
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Bike Girl
I'm assuming you've all seen the video of "the bike girl", as she is being referred to in the media and on the streets. She's become the embodiment of the protesters' beef with the actions of the police during the G-20, and today she came to my newspaper class because she's apparently friends with my instructor's daughter (pgh's a small town, eh) and we were able to group interview her about the whole ordeal.
For the voyeurs (all of us): Her name's Lauren Wasson, and she's not a protester or an anarchist, but a curious onlooker that got caught in the melee. (Really? No way!) Why she threw the bike? Anger, incited by the love taps from the riot police. ("I don't just go throwing my bike at cops everyday.") She's never had a speeding ticket and she's facing a felony now. According to her, the police were hitting her and pushing her before the news camera started filming them, and then they dislocated her shoulder when they had her on the ground and, of course, bruised her. (Oh! And the big bad professional news programs got both her age and information about her work wrong. Ha. Fact checking at its finest.)
Obviously, it was really awesome to get a story of such timeliness and significance straight from the source, since--as I'm sure you all know too well--.... people don't care to talk to student reporters. Or students in general.
But there's a certain aspect about this that I think relates to our class, and it's the more substantial reason why I posted this: Thanks to the internet, Facebook, YouTube, and TV news stations posting videos online, her story has spread like mad throughout the region and she's become a psuedo-celebrity in days. Although this has exacerbated her torment in some ways, I also think she's been handed a soapbox and a megaphone. But, of course, that means other people have too. She said that when she got out of jail Friday, a guy she's never met from Columbus, OH, emailed her to say he set up a Facebook group and a petition site for her cause. Conversely, an unknown woman called in to Honsberger Live (a controversial program on KDKA news radio that I've never heard of) and told him that she lived next to Lauren in Shaler (where Lauren doesn't and has never lived) and was happy she was arrested because she was a piece of shit and is going to hell, or something like that--I'm paraphrasing what Lauren paraphrased so don't quote me.
It reminded me to some extent of Emily Gould, and how quickly the internet can inflate or deflate someone's ego or fame-- or rather, how quickly we can, by shouting from the rooftops via one innocent, inconspicuous click. Worth thinking about.
For the voyeurs (all of us): Her name's Lauren Wasson, and she's not a protester or an anarchist, but a curious onlooker that got caught in the melee. (Really? No way!) Why she threw the bike? Anger, incited by the love taps from the riot police. ("I don't just go throwing my bike at cops everyday.") She's never had a speeding ticket and she's facing a felony now. According to her, the police were hitting her and pushing her before the news camera started filming them, and then they dislocated her shoulder when they had her on the ground and, of course, bruised her. (Oh! And the big bad professional news programs got both her age and information about her work wrong. Ha. Fact checking at its finest.)
Obviously, it was really awesome to get a story of such timeliness and significance straight from the source, since--as I'm sure you all know too well--.... people don't care to talk to student reporters. Or students in general.
But there's a certain aspect about this that I think relates to our class, and it's the more substantial reason why I posted this: Thanks to the internet, Facebook, YouTube, and TV news stations posting videos online, her story has spread like mad throughout the region and she's become a psuedo-celebrity in days. Although this has exacerbated her torment in some ways, I also think she's been handed a soapbox and a megaphone. But, of course, that means other people have too. She said that when she got out of jail Friday, a guy she's never met from Columbus, OH, emailed her to say he set up a Facebook group and a petition site for her cause. Conversely, an unknown woman called in to Honsberger Live (a controversial program on KDKA news radio that I've never heard of) and told him that she lived next to Lauren in Shaler (where Lauren doesn't and has never lived) and was happy she was arrested because she was a piece of shit and is going to hell, or something like that--I'm paraphrasing what Lauren paraphrased so don't quote me.
It reminded me to some extent of Emily Gould, and how quickly the internet can inflate or deflate someone's ego or fame-- or rather, how quickly we can, by shouting from the rooftops via one innocent, inconspicuous click. Worth thinking about.
Your story, a G20 tale
One of our reporters at the Post-Gazette is interested in talking to students who were arrested during the G20. His name is Jerome Sherman and email is jsherman@post-gazette.com
If anybody has a good story to tell, go ahead an shoot him a line.
If anybody has a good story to tell, go ahead an shoot him a line.
Downtown Iraq
Walking around downtown last Thursday morning felt a lot like being back in Iraq. I deployed in 2008 as a public affairs Soldier, and the downtown scene had that same silent, on-guard feel of walking through the roads of Camp Victory or the Green Zone in Baghdad. The only difference this time, I didn’t have my M16 rifle with my load of 30-round magazine, and I was in civlian clothes instead of in uniform. In Iraq, I never had to fire a shot. Downtown, I’ll continued my walk with my own personal digital camera. I guess, you could say that I went out armed.
Like in Iraq, my mission now with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was similar. Take photos. Get the action. Write stories.
The various checkpoints around town were cut off by concrete blocks and military humvees with National Guard and Air Force troops standing by. Most of them are wearing their ballistic vests (for those of you who know the military lingo… the dreaded IBA). No rifles and no kevlar helmets this time around, but the feel of security was still similar. Up-armored trucks weaved their way around the streets. Instead of Military Police, various police officers and law enforcement walked around with zip-tie handcuffs clipped to their belts.
In Iraq, we had these 20-foot, concrete T-walls that surrounded every inch of our base. On top, there were coils of concertina wire that looked like hollowed snakes. In downtown Pittsburgh, instead of walls, massive buildings blocked the view of the grim sky at various angles. Fences surrounded Market Square and various other spots. The same concertina snakes wrapped their way around the chain-linked fences blocking off streets. At one checkpoint, security forces installed a ramp that jutted out to block off any speeding vehicle coming that way. The ramp lowers to allow access to vehicles with credentials and police cruisers. That same kind of ramp is installed in the Green Zone at the gate of the main palace.
On Camp Victory, which is located just a few miles south of Baghdad, we had our famous Green Beans Coffeehouse. This morning, I stopped by Crazy Mocha for old time’s sake. Not bad, but I still miss the cappuccinos in Iraq.
The only other vehicles downtown, other than police and military, were Port Authority buses transporting passengers to and fro.
Just like in Camp Victory, I had that feeling of being on the inside. The feeling that any danger or harm may be "out there" but would try to come "in here." It was only later that news reports would show that most of the activity took place in Oakland.
Police and Military stood by awaiting any potential attack. This time, it might be protestors on foot holding signs and digital cameras instead of insurgents riding on beat-down trucks armed with AK-47s and explosives.
The city stood silent as I walked around the perimeter for about an hour that morning. Was this the silent before the storm?
I hoped not.
Like in Iraq, my mission now with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was similar. Take photos. Get the action. Write stories.
The various checkpoints around town were cut off by concrete blocks and military humvees with National Guard and Air Force troops standing by. Most of them are wearing their ballistic vests (for those of you who know the military lingo… the dreaded IBA). No rifles and no kevlar helmets this time around, but the feel of security was still similar. Up-armored trucks weaved their way around the streets. Instead of Military Police, various police officers and law enforcement walked around with zip-tie handcuffs clipped to their belts.
In Iraq, we had these 20-foot, concrete T-walls that surrounded every inch of our base. On top, there were coils of concertina wire that looked like hollowed snakes. In downtown Pittsburgh, instead of walls, massive buildings blocked the view of the grim sky at various angles. Fences surrounded Market Square and various other spots. The same concertina snakes wrapped their way around the chain-linked fences blocking off streets. At one checkpoint, security forces installed a ramp that jutted out to block off any speeding vehicle coming that way. The ramp lowers to allow access to vehicles with credentials and police cruisers. That same kind of ramp is installed in the Green Zone at the gate of the main palace.
On Camp Victory, which is located just a few miles south of Baghdad, we had our famous Green Beans Coffeehouse. This morning, I stopped by Crazy Mocha for old time’s sake. Not bad, but I still miss the cappuccinos in Iraq.
The only other vehicles downtown, other than police and military, were Port Authority buses transporting passengers to and fro.
Just like in Camp Victory, I had that feeling of being on the inside. The feeling that any danger or harm may be "out there" but would try to come "in here." It was only later that news reports would show that most of the activity took place in Oakland.
Police and Military stood by awaiting any potential attack. This time, it might be protestors on foot holding signs and digital cameras instead of insurgents riding on beat-down trucks armed with AK-47s and explosives.
The city stood silent as I walked around the perimeter for about an hour that morning. Was this the silent before the storm?
I hoped not.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Pitt News updates
I don't have the exact numbers right now. But from what the editor-in-chief told me, traffic hits to the website went up at least 10-fold from Thursday to Sunday and the paper's Twitter saw about 300-400 new followers.
The photo editor recapped his desk's G-20 experience here. It's an interesting post and really shows how much time the media, not just The Pitt News, really put into their covering of G20 and especially the protests.
A lot of the news was started on the streets by students and onlookers who would use Twitter to update events and was eventually picked up by media sources. There was a big push from independent media sources that helped show an even closer look at the protest/riots through the use of video on the streets.
The photo editor recapped his desk's G-20 experience here. It's an interesting post and really shows how much time the media, not just The Pitt News, really put into their covering of G20 and especially the protests.
A lot of the news was started on the streets by students and onlookers who would use Twitter to update events and was eventually picked up by media sources. There was a big push from independent media sources that helped show an even closer look at the protest/riots through the use of video on the streets.
London Vs. Pittsburgh
I was in London last semester during the G-20, although I did not personally see much of anything. As American students we were told to stay as far away from the protests as possible and the information I received was from the news and accounts of coworkers. Obviously I saw a lot more of this G-20 and I think that Pittsburgh was better off than London. Although there was some police brutality and whatnot, overall our city seems to have survived the summit. In London one man died due to police brutality... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HECMVdl-9SQ&feature=fvw and there were countless other attacks and arrests.
Of course, London is a lot bigger than Pittsburgh and 8 million people are a lot harder to control than 400,000. Did Pittsburgh handle the summit any better than London given it's size?
Of course, London is a lot bigger than Pittsburgh and 8 million people are a lot harder to control than 400,000. Did Pittsburgh handle the summit any better than London given it's size?
It seems like no one explained to the police that there are students who live in Oakland and couldn't get to their apartments/dorms because they were being ordered to disperse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etv8YEqaWgA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etv8YEqaWgA&feature=related
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)