The 11 weeks of bomb threats faced by students at the University of Pittsburgh have stopped in time for finals, The New York Times reported Tuesday. A group known as "the Threateners" claimed responsibility for the series of threats, which totaled over 100, delivered via email to several Pittsburgh news outlets beginning on March 30. While there was no clear motive behind the threats, the group demanded that a $50,000 reward for information about the threats be removed from the university's website last weekend. The university then took down the advertised reward, but the institution's president refused to comment. Dozens of threats forced students to evacuate from classrooms and dorms at all hours over the 11-week period, according to The Boston Globe.
Massive student-led strikes and protests continue in Quebec over a planned increasing in public university tuition, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Last fall, the provincial government announced a five-year plan to raise tuition by $1,625. Public university tuition in Quebec is currently around $2,500, the lowest in Canada, but students' main objection to the 75-percent increase in cost is based on rights rather than economics, according to The Chronicle. Protestors claim that the government should provide free education because post-secondary degrees are necessary in today's workforce. However, popular support of the protests is falling given Quebec's current debt level, and without a tuition increase, Quebec's taxes already the highest in the country would increase, The Chronicle reported.
This month, the return of Harvard Yard's brightly-colored aluminum chairs marked the arrival of spring and the continuation of a recently established tradition, The Boston Globe reported. For the past three years, hundreds of colorful chairs have been left in the Yard during the fall and spring to encourage community building, according to The Globe. The initiative was originally begun with the intention of improving campus social spaces at Harvard University. Students, faculty and staff at Harvard, as well as visitors and members of the public ,have expressed appreciation for the chairs' colors and convenience, with one student suggesting that the color variation, which excludes crimson but includes red, yellow and neon green, allows deviation from the "monochrome Harvard look," The Globe reported.
