The Pitt News
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | december 4, 2018 | Volume 109 | Issue 73
LNAP OFFERS PRE-FINALS STRESS RELIEF FOR STUDENTS
IT’S THE FINAL RUBDOWN
Emily Wolfe
Senior Staff Writer ‘Twas the week before finals, and all through the campus, students scrambled to study for the last exams of the semester. On Monday night at Hillman, some settled in for a long winter’s LNAP — the “Long Night Against Procrastination.” The event, hosted by the Office of the First Year Experience, offered students a chance to escape from the pressure of finals and de-stress. For some students, that meant receiving a massage from a trained masseuse or playing a game of Mario Kart. For others, like Riza Swartz, a junior marketing and business information systems major, it meant petting a therapy dog like Lola, a pit bull and boxer mix. “I have eight exams,” Swartz said. “It’s horrible.” She scratched the dog, cooing a little. “I love animals, so this is awesome,” she said. “Her ears are so cute!” Over the course of four hours, a few hundred people filtered in and out of the LNAP, held in the Digital Scholarship Commons on the ground floor of Hillman. The event was See LNAP on page 2
Junior non-fiction writing and communication double major Abigail Tesfay (left) received a massage from a professional masseuse during Hillman’s “Long Night Against Procrastination” event Monday night. Bader Abdulmajeed | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
STUDENTS DISCUSS GENETICS OF 'HARRY POTTER' Remy Samuels Staff Writer
Between complicated Punnett Square diagrams and mutations of genes, the study of genetics can be a confusing concept to understand. But Dr. Peter Blier, a pediatric rheumatology doctor and professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts, was able to teach a genetics lesson
using a template many students would understand — “Harry Potter.” “Genetics and ‘Harry Potter’ [are] really interesting on their own, but it’s [also] an interesting way to teach genetics in a very different way,” Blier said. “There’s a lot about genetics that informs how we think about ourselves as individuals and as a society.” Around 30 fans of science and “Harry Pot-
ter” gathered Monday evening in the Cathedral of Learning to attend Blier’s lecture, “On HalfBlood, Half-Breeds, and ‘The So-Called Purity of Blood:’ An Examination of the Role of Genetics in the Magical World of ‘Harry Potter.’” According to Lisa Parker, the director of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, this was the last event in See Harry Potter on page 2