Reader alert: this is a proud mom story, if not an art story.
Stella, the star, sent me a link this morning to a video called Word on the Street featuring her and other University of Pittsburgh students talking about the value of the G-20 talks to Pittsburgh. Check out the range of responses by these students–everything from the math student who fled town to escape the chaos to the pre-med sophomore who thought the heavy police presence was total overkill. The video — a little over 3 minutes long — was produced by the student newspaper, The Pitt News. During the G-20 Stella called a number of times. While she wasn’t on the street during the protests she saw the police marshalling for action. The police were armed and prepared for the worst. And they looked mighty dangerous moving in phalanxes down the streets. It reminded me of Madison, WI, in the 1960s when they called out the National Guard to beat back student protesters against the Vietnam War. It was overkill and it was scary.
