Articles Archive - Page 30 of 153 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

After graduating from South High in 1956, I spent the next five years in Pittsburgh drifting through mind-numbing jobs in gas stations, factories, and warehouses, until I finally ended up working as a stock boy in Gimbels Downtown department store. The only distraction from my misery was playing softball, touch football, basketball, and volleyball at …

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Regional News

Region Adds Jobs, But Growth Is Slow

by Julia Fraser

Jobs edged up slightly in the Pittsburgh region in November, but not enough to signal a return to pre-COVID employment levels in the new year. Employers in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area added 2,000 jobs from October to November — a 0.2 percent monthly gain, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of …

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Opinion

A Christmas Story

by Charles R. Altman

It was a December Saturday in 1956 when my surgeon father decided he and I would go out and cut down our Christmas tree just as he had done as a boy. Equipped with a rope, a canvas tarp, saws, an axe and several hatchets, we left our house in suburban Pittsburgh at 9:00 a.m. …

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Nonprofits Nonprofits

Stepping into the Breach

by PQ Staff

J. KEVIN MCMAHON, president & CEO, Pittsburgh Cultural TrustOne Saturday morning early on in the pandemic I received a call from a longtime Cultural Trust trustee, Murry Gerber. Murry read an email I sent to the board detailing challenges the Trust was facing, including canceling thousands of events and performances. He felt compelled to do …

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Education

Why Grove City College Doesn’t Accept Federal Funding

by Paul J. McNulty

America is home to thousands of higher education institutions, but only a small handful reject funding from the federal government. Grove City College is the largest of this small group. We are occasionally asked by other colleges and universities how we do it. After all, turning off the federal money spigot may require enormous determination …

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PQ Poem

Even So

by Richard St. John

Even So My friend wants to be a tree that’s blazing out its autumn so when it’s done, its reds and golds, oranges and browns –lie sudden all around. Outside, chill wind. Trees beyond the strip-mall – bare and thin. I pass a huge, unbalanced ginkgo,leftward branches absent from a winter storm, then grasp the frost-tinged handrailof my front …

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The Spirits of the Season

by Barbara Eichenlaub

Pittsburgh has become known for some outstanding, big-production distilleries over the past few years, but some interesting smaller ones have been opening their doors as well. The holidays are the perfect reason to try them — whether you want to enhance your home bar or are looking for a distinctive gift. Each distillery has a …

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Creative Capital

What Do We Know About Time?

by Greg Curtis

“There is no coming into being nor passing away, there is neither genesis nor decay; the elements out of which everything is composed assemble or disassemble while themselves remaining unchanged.” Parmenides, c. 475 BC” “Time does not flow … it just is.” Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The History of Time” Previously in this series: On Consciousness Part II: …

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Food & Wine

Holiday Temptations

by PQ Staff

As the festive spirit creeps slowly back into our lives, there’s a new appreciation for the simple pleasures of dining out. Take out was great during the pandemic, or at least it offered some variety and relief to homebound cooks. But not all foods travel well and some of Pittsburgh’s better restaurants chose not to …

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History

Continuing to Evolve

by Evan Pattak

Whatever contributions Isaac Morley and J.B. Stilley made as mid-19th century municipal engineers have been lost in the mists of time. But we do know they made history. In April 1846, the pair received the first two engineering degrees from the Western University of Pennsylvania, later the University of Pittsburgh. In 2021, the Swanson School …

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Creative Capital

How Little We Know

by Greg Curtis

“I think I can safely say that nobody really understands quantum mechanics.” Richard Feynman Previously in this series: On Consciousness We are taking a quick look at the quixotic nature of the quantum world as part of our long-way-around approach to examining the nature of human consciousness. We’ll begin with how little we actually know …

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Food & Wine

A Festive Sidekick

by Lidey Heuck

Hearty, comforting dishes might be the backbone of winter home cooking, but every stew or roast needs a trusty sidekick to balance and complete the menu. This salad fits the bill perfectly. Full of color, crunch and zing, it’s a breath of fresh air and flavor on even the coldest winter night. Brussels sprouts make …

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Regional News

Lower Unemployment Reported In Region

by Julia Fraser

The unemployment rate in southwestern Pennsylvania dipped below six percent in October, but a shrinking labor force remains a challenge for employers looking to hire, according to the latest Pennsylvania Department of Labor data. In October, 5.9 percent of workers in seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area were looking for work—down from 6.1 percent in September …

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Opinion

Into the Woods

by Douglas Heuck

June 15th was crisp and cloudless. carrying a chainsaw, orange surveyor’s tape and a compass, I started walking in a straight line into the pathless woods. Trailing me was my Airedale, Hawkins, and behind both of us was the little cabin that a group of friends and I built the previous summer on an island …

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An Exemplary Life – Sunil Wadhwani Tells His Story

by Jeff Sewald

I grew up in India and have lived in Pittsburgh for more than 40 years. I came here to study at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and then decided to stay. I started my first company here, which failed. My second company did better. It’s been an exhilarating ride — but the story starts a few …

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Creative Capital

On Consciousness

by Greg Curtis

“God does not play dice with the universe.” Albert Einstein “If you are not profoundly shocked by quantum physics you have not understood it.” Neils Bohr Across the long intellectual history of the human race, reaching back at least to the pre-Socratic philosophers (beginning, apparently with Thales of Miletus), there have been a handful of occasions …

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Regional News

Region Gains Jobs; Braces For Infrastructure Surge

by Julia Fraser

Jobs ticked up in the Pittsburgh region in October, but failed to put much of a dent in the number of jobs lost during the pandemic. Employers in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area added 9,000 more jobs in October than they did one month earlier, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of …

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American Spirit

How the Mighty Have Fallen

by Diane Vrabel

Last October, my husband and I were driving through the eastern Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills when our physics buff son Mark blurted out, “Hey, there’s an old atom smasher around here somewhere. Can we go see it?” “Atom smasher?” I asked, with a blank look. “What’s that? A Kennywood coaster?” “It’s a nuclear reactor,” …

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Creative Capital

The Long War Had Definite Pluses

by Greg Curtis

We are speculating about how the Taliban will govern Afghanistan the second time around. Last week I concluded that one prevalent fear – that the Taliban would protect terrorist groups that are a major threat to the West – is unlikely to happen. Previously in this series: “The Taliban and Future Terrorism: A Positive Take (You …

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Regional News

Post-Pandemic Education Survey

by Jeffery Fraser

More than a year after COVID-19 disrupted the education of 115,000 elementary, middle and high school students in Allegheny County, residents are concerned that it has impeded their progress and favor rethinking the way public schools go about teaching them. According to the results of a new survey, schools generally earn passing grades for the …

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Health

Is There Such a Thing as Exercise Addiction?

by Joseph A. Luxbacher

Question: I began an exercise program about a year ago? Initially I worked out two or three times a week, but I felt so good that I began exercising five days a week, and now it is every day per week – sometimes twice a day. Lately I feel tired most of the time and …

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Arrivals

Shelley, Kiesel, Green, Lichtveld, Walker, Moynihan, Adore

by PQ Staff

The Rev. Austin Crenshaw Shelley will become the senior pastor and head of staff at Shadyside Presbyterian Church on Sept. 27. Currently associate minister at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Rev. Shelley is nearing completion of her Ph.D. in practical theology homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she received a master’s of …

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