10-9-15

Table of Contents

Archive Photos- Courtesy of ULS Archives Cover by Nikki Moriello

Oakland’s Unlikely Mayor

10

Cautious Of The Cavaliers

7

Heinz Chapel: True Legends

13

March Of The Panthers

9

Homecoming By The Numbers 15

Script Is It

16 4

Traditions Over Time

6

Campus Prowler

Defining A Home

5

Lost In Translation

20

19

Opportunity Rocks

26

Urban Campus Pride

Rebuilding The Base See Online The Candidate Count See Online

Letter from the Editor

P

itt has come a long way in the past 115 years. We’re not cubs anymore, and we’ve made quite a bit of history to document, like the formation of the Golden Girls (page 9) and our most iconic logo (page 16).

This year, we decided to go back to our origins and present to you tales of yesteryear, wrapped up and brought to the present.

This issue has something for all of us, such as the sports fans who would like to get better acquainted with their mascot (page 4) and the humbugs who choose Pitt for its urban campus instead of its athletic pride (page 19).

Maybe you’ve never celebrated homecoming and home for you is thousands of miles pittnews.com

away (page 20). Maybe it took a summer in Egypt for you to understand what home really means (page 5 ). We’re all part of the same Panther Pitt (online).

Sometimes we don’t always get along, but we all have the same goal — make our home great. In this issue, we profile the “unofficial mayor of Oakland” and his fight against a city expansion plan impacting his community in Panther Hollow (page 10).

But the story doesn’t begin and end in print — I wrote to you last to unveil our new website. For this homecoming edition, you’ll find multiple story exclusives, timelines and multimedia accompaniments. Come pay us a visit at pittnews.com.

To alumni who made it back to their roots October 9, 2015

for t h e g a m e , we’ve missed you so much. To the seniors, we hope you stay for all four quarters this Saturday and claim that bag of Cheetos as your trophy (page 14).

We’ve enjoyed reminiscing while producing this 32-page edition. We hope you will too.

See you in the gravel lots, Danielle Fox Editor-in-Chief

2

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October 9, 2015

3

1909

Roc-star: the life of a college mascot

present

Amanda Reed for The Pitt News

We see him everywhere. At football games, in ads, on social media and in front of the Cathedral. His image is synonymous with Pitt Athletics and school pride — we call him Roc the Panther — yet his true identity is a closely-guarded secret.

Theresa Nuzzo, coach of the cheerleading and dance team, said Pitt keeps mascots’ identities secret “to stay true to the mystery of the character, demonstrating loyalty and commitment to the University.”

Although it might seem superfluous, the current Roc said this is common practice at most universities.

“You’re playing this larger-than-life character, and people want to be able to pretend that he’s real,” he said. “That becomes way harder when people know who the guy is in the suit.”

George M. P. Baird, a student who graduated in 1909 and wrote the lyrics to Pitt’s Alma Mater, first suggested Pitt adopt the panther as its mascot, which was once indigenous to the Pittsburgh region.

The animal’s dark hue also matched Pitt’s school colors, blue and gold, and no other college or university had the panther as their mascot at the time.

Since the University opened, Nuzzo said more than 100 students have played Pitt mascots.

Before the panther, Pitt’s athletic teams were known as the ‘whups,’ after the Uni-

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versity’s former name, Western University of Pennsylvania (WUP). Pitt adopted the panther as its mascot one year after the University changed its name in 1908.

In the 1990s, Pitt named its mascot Roc in honor of Steve Petro, a former Pitt football player, coach and athletic department assistant nicknamed The Rock because “he was said to be the foundation that Pitt football [built itself upon],” Nuzzo said.

Before this year, Roc hopefuls would only have one tryout a year in April to prove themselves — this year, though, there will be an additional one in mid-October in order to cover more events.

The Roc application requirements are straightforward — applicants must be between 5-foot-8 and 6-foot-2, and have certain qualities like athleticism, natural rhythm and confidence. The Roc must be comfortable in front of crowds and have

the ability to think on his feet, according to the current Roc. The current Roc has held the position for two years after a friend on the dance team told him to come to Roc tryouts when he was a sophomore. In high school, Roc was active in theatre and sports, which prepared him for the demanding physical parts of the job.

“I definitely think that the confidence I’ve gotten from performing, the basic level of conditioning I have from playing sports and the understanding I have of the games because of my love of sports have all helped me a lot [to be Roc],” he said.

After one or two new potential Rocs pass the tryouts, it’s time to learn the ropes.

The hopeful Rocs act as handlers for a year, helping and observing the mascot to learn the mannerisms and persona. After six months, they get into the costume and

October 9, 2015

practice at smaller events like parties and on-campus promotions.

Then, the rookies measure themselves up to other school mascots at a National Cheerleaders Association camp in August.

After training at the Myrtle Beach camp, they graduate to the “Main Roc” role and perform at bigger events like football and basketball games. According to Nuzzo, there are always other Rocs working toward taking over the position of “Main Roc,” who is either a senior or leaving the program.

“There are universities who have five, six, seven people that hold the same position,” Nuzzo said, “[but] we’ve never developed that system, and I don’t think we will ... Roc’s character is very unique and is more life-like than many, so you need that time to develop yourself.”

See ROC on page 23

4

column

Home is Love, culture, belonging Mariam Shalaby For The Pitt News

What … are you?”

Since I look so ethnically ambiguous — or for a lack of small talk — people often ask me where I’m from.

I’m not sure whether my identity is tied to a single place, so I’ve always struggled to answer the question. I’d rather they ask me the meaning of life.

“Well, my dad is Egyptian and my mom is Chinese — but she was born and raised in the Philippines — and I was born in Nebraska, but I grew up here in Pittsburgh.”

Did you catch that? Or should I say it again?

This summer, I seized the opportunity to study abroad in Alexandria, Egypt.

Once there, I obsessed over the question of where I consider myself to be “from,” and what makes a place “home.” I discovered that, on the surface, it seems easy to say what home is — where we live, where we were born, where we grew up — but in reality, one’s home is based on a conglomeration of concrete and qualitative emotional factors.

As I hugged my family goodbye and finally turned toward the Pittsburgh International Airport, I felt an instant sense of loss. I was leaving behind the culture I grew up in, my family, my close friends and my mother language. And for once, the concept of home seemed simple.

When I arrived in Egypt, the frequency of my least favorite question at least doubled, if not tripled.

Egyptians are curious people. Almost every time my accent betrayed my nonnative status, I got a wide-eyed look and a “Where are you from?” Here, answering was easy.

“I’m from America.” That was where I grew up and where I live, so that was my home.

In Alexandria, I lived with my aunt and uncle in an apartment building filled with relatives from top to bottom. Every Friday,

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Terry Tan STAFF ILLUSTRATOR our whole family would have dinner at the grandparents’ apartment.

When not in class, students typically spend their free time with their families, forming a strong support system in the process — whether it be between older or

and expressions in my notebook as Aunty Nabila explained them.

At the end of a particularly long day, she returned from work at around 10 p.m.

Her eyes struggled to stay open, and I half

But why did I care?

I wasn’t Egyptian… was I? younger relatives.

The kitchen was my and Aunty Nabila’s nightly hang-out spot. As we sat on the round wooden stools, eating sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, I’d read aloud the day’s reading assignment. They were long and challenging, and I scribbled new words

expected her to fall asleep right on the couch. Instead, she plopped onto a stool in the kitchen and called, “Where’s the article for today?”

I mentioned just once that I really loved peaches. The next day, my uncle brought home a big bag of the best peaches I’ve

October 9, 2015

ever tasted.

It was wonderful inside our apartment building sanctuary. But outside its walls, I picked up on glaring problems. Piles of garbage lined the streets. Men leered and catcalled at women without an ounce of shame.

Corruption seeped through every corner of the system.

Once, my teacher and I wanted to take a side street shortcut to walk to the bookstore behind the Alexandria Library. The officer standing guard looked us in the eye, tilted his head and said, “It’s against the rules…”

My teacher responded, “Thank you,” striding straight ahead as the officer looked the other way. My jaw fell in confusion.

“You just have to read the body language, Mariam,” my teacher said, shrugging her shoulders.

Every Egyptian was frustrated about this kind of misconduct. The taxi drivers, the street artists and the elders drinking tea would all tell you so.

But why did I care? I wasn’t Egyptian … was I? I was Mariam Shalaby of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Pittsburgh, which had clean air, orderly traffic and law and order.

I appreciated law and order, which Alexandria lacked.

But at the same time, I loved Alexandria. While my name and half my blood were undeniably Egyptian, I felt like I had one foot in and one foot out.

I started to realize that another part of what makes a place home is the feeling of belonging. When one feels like they are a part of the fabric of the place rather than an outsider looking in, they belong.

I couldn’t deny that I was American.

I looked at things with an American perspective. Some Egyptians would tell me their government provided stability. I saw the lack of democracy as stifling. An aunt, See Shalaby on page 27

5

Homecoming Traditions ALMA MATER -Est. 1908 -Adopted when we changed name from Western University of Pennsylvania to University of Pittsburgh -Written by George M. P. Baird based on the German National Anthem

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PITT BASKETBALL MADNESS EVENT -Started in 2012 on Bigelow next to the Cathedral -2013: moved to Stage AE before the football game -2014: moved to the field house with a women’s volleyball game -2015: Friday inside the Pete -Oct. 5 first day of practice

October 9, 2015

PANTHER PITT -Started in the ’90s -Went away in the 2000s -Returned in 2012 -Disappeared for a few years due to lack of student leadership

6

Narduzzi prepared for first Homecoming game 2013

JAMES CONNER 10 RUSHES 120 YDS 3 TD

2011

DEVIN STREET 11 CATCHES 111 YDS 1 TD

UTAH 26 PITT 14

RAY GRAHAM 12 RUSHES 46 YDS

PITT 20 LOUISVILLE 3

DION LEWIS 18 RUSHES 65 YDS 1 TD

PITT 41 SOUTH FLORIDA 14 DION LEWIS 24 RUSHES 111 YDS 2 TD

RUTGERS 54 PITT 34

2007

LESEAN MCCOY 26 RUSHES 146 YDS 4 TD

PITT 24 CINCINNATI 17

LAROD STEPHENDS-HOWLING 13 RUSHES 100 YDS 1 TD

2005

TYLER PALKO 16/26 169 YDS 1 TD

2006

RUTGERS 20 PITT 10

October 9, 2015

2008

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TYLER BOYD 7 CATCHES 111 YDS

LOUISVILLE 45 PITT 35

-Pat Narduzzi

See Preview on page 27

PITT 14 UVA 3

2010

Get in front of our hometown crowd and try to put on a show.

GT 56 PITT 28

2012

Pitt head football coach Pat Narduzzi doesn’t put special emphasis on any game — even in the case of Pitt’s Saturday homecoming game against University of Virginia.

“It will be my first homecoming game here, but again, it’s another game,” Narduzzi said. “Just like the home opener’s another game and playing down at Virginia Tech — first ACC game — is another game.”

The goal remains the same each week — winning, no matter the opponent or its record. Against a Virginia (1-3) team that’s had its fair share of troubles thus far — the Cavaliers have only beaten FCS school William and Mary this season — the Panthers (31) will hope to avoid a disappointing loss in the 12:30 game.

After a road win against Virginia Tech, Narduzzi stressed that his team can always get better.

“It might look good on game day, but the eye in the sky doesn’t lie, and obviously you see a ton of things you’d like to be done a lot better in all areas,” Narduzzi said.

Virginia has accumulated a sole win in its four games this season, losing against UCLA, Notre Dame and Boise State, all of which are ranked in the AP Top 25. Narduzzi recognized the difficulty of the Cavaliers’ schedule factoring into their sub -.500 record.

“They’ve had it rough so far with the people they’ve played,” Narduzzi said.

In their contest last year, Virginia beat Pitt 24-19. Virginia’s defense this season,

wide receiver Tyler Boyd said, is very similar to last year’s unit.

“It’s pretty much the same as last year.

They’re more of a zone defense,” Boyd said.

That defense, though, is having a rough start, submitting 445 yards a game, good for 109th in the country.

Still, quarterback Nathan Peterman will not overlook Virginia’s defense, specifically the corners, Maurice Canady and Tim Harris, who both stand at 6-foot-2.

“Real big up front and their corners are also tall guys, very rangy,” Peterman said.

In the front seven, Virginia shows three players who have had success rushing the passer. Sophomore middle linebacker Micah Kiser has sacked the quarterback 4.5 times, ranking 14th in the country. Senior defensive tackle David Dean and senior linebacker Mike Moore have 2.5 and two sacks, respectively.

Virginia’s offense hasn’t been able to stay on the field to help its defense rest, ranking 106th in yards per game. Junior quarterback Matt Johns has had difficulty with ball security, throwing six interceptions to his eight touchdowns. Taquan Mizzell, Virginia’s junior starting running back, is a focal point of the offense.

“He’s a guy we need to keep an eye on no matter where he is,” Narduzzi said.

Specifically, Pitt will need to stay locked on to Mizzell in the passing game, espe-

2009

Senior Staff Writer

History 2014

Jeremy Tepper

PITT HOMECOMING

PITT 34 SYRACUSE 17

DEREK KINDER 8 CATCHES 81 YDS 1 TD 7

pittnews.com

October 9, 2015

8

Pitt band brings new flair to old tradition

Jessie Wallace Staff Writer

A minor throwback is making a major comeback this year at Pitt’s homecoming football game.

Every year, Pitt’s homecoming halftime show features Pitt band alumni and their current counterparts performing in step in the March of Victory. But this year’s show will have a bit of a twist.

During halftime of the homecoming game against University of Virginia on Oct. 10, nearly 150 Pitt band and Golden Girls alumni will get to reenact a tradition they had when they were in school, with current Pitt students and fans. The band will perform a field formation of the Pitt script logo instead of the contemporary blocklettered “PITT” formation.

This particular halftime routine has not

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been a part of the band’s repertoire since the original Pitt Stadium was still standing in 1999. Led by band director Brad Townsend and senior leaders Susie Smithmyer and Brian Urbaniak, the Pitt band is ready to give the Heinz Field crowd an oldie but goodie.

and the Pitt script will form, then the alumni band will make the dot on the ‘i’.”

A new routine led by one person on homecoming weekend surely carries its pressures. But senior drum major Urbaniak is up for the challenge, keeping in mind that it is just another routine to mas-

I’ll be nervous, but it’s really cool to be a big part of this.

-Brian Urbaniak “The band will start out in block formation in the end zone,” said Townsend, who is entering his third year as director. “Then the drum major will lead everyone around

ter.

“You know, the alums come back and they [jokingly] say ‘we marched better,’ or ‘we played better,’ we just want to make

October 9, 2015

sure the band is sharp that day,” Urbaniak said.

Urbaniak found his niche with the Pitt band early freshman year and instantly fell in love with its role in the Pitt community.

“There’s always a lot of pressure on me,” Urbaniak said. “I internalize it. The field is the same size as the field we practice on — I just try to do my job well like I do in practice. I’ll be nervous, but it’s really cool to be a big part of this.”

Not only will the band be showcasing a new routine, but the Pitt majorette squad, otherwise referred to as the Golden Girls, will be celebrating its 40-year anniversary during homecoming weekend by staging a special halftime performance as well — one that it is keeping under wraps.

See Band on page 29

9

One man’s fight: Protecting Panther Hollow

Mark Pesto and Elaina Zachos Senior Staff Writers

Carlino Giampolo, the unofficial mayor of Oakland, has loved his community for more than thirty years, which is why he’s fighting the city’s most recent expansion project and pledging to “Save Panther Hollow.”

Giampolo has long campaigned against the University for the preservation of his community in Panther Hollow, a tiny neighborhood which lies along Boundary Street in the Junction Hollow valley below Oakland.

Now, he wants to raise awareness for another campaign against a proposed transportation corridor through Junction Hollow and the Panther Hollow neighborhood.

That road would connect Oakland and its universities to Almono, a former steel mill site in Hazelwood, along the Mononga-

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hela River. A coalition of Pittsburgh foundations and nonprofits plan to redevelop Almono into a prime destination for new housing and office space.

According to preliminary plans, if the city builds this transit link, it will run along South Neville Street in Oakland, down from its intersection with Forbes Avenue at South Neville Street, and onto Boundary Street through Panther Hollow. It would continue onto a proposed road along the existing bike trail through Panther Hollow before reconnecting with Boundary Street as it enters Greenfield.

“Connecting the [Almono] site to the rest of the community is a priority,” Katie O’Malley, a spokesperson for Mayor William Peduto, wrote in an e-mail.

But Giampolo worries that Boundary Street becoming part of this corridor could destroy the tight-knit Panther Hollow community. Although he initially agreed to an interview, he later declined as he wanted to develop his campaign further before talking with The Pitt News. The Pitt News called him two more times and spoke to him at his home, but Giampolo

still declined to comment.

However, Giampolo has publicized his concerns in blog entries on the Save Panther Hollow website.

The project’s announcement “created anxiety, fear and dread, especially for the elderly residents” of Panther Hollow, Giampolo wrote in a blog post on Sept. 24.

“We fully intend to triumph over this proposed roadway,” Giampolo wrote in the post, “and we will do so in a manner in which we uphold our ideals, principles, self-respect and dignity.”

Save Panther Hollow isn’t the first site on which Giampolo has expressed his views on issues within Oakland. On the Oakland Dignity site, he has published numerous essays and open letters about Pitt’s expansion into Oakland, which he considers destructive to the community of permanent residents, and about studentcaused problems like noise and litter.

“For far too long, community organizations have allowed the University of Pittsburgh to dictate how residents of the community were able to live,” Giampolo wrote in a December 2013 post on Oakland Dignity.

Paul Supowitz, the vice chancellor for

October 9, 2015

community and governmental relations at Pitt, said he’s familiar with Giampolo’s concerns.

Supowitz said litter is still a problem.

Although he said community initiatives like Keep it Clean, Oakland! — a collaborative project with the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation in which students, residents and business owners adopt blocks and keep them litter-free — have improved the situation.

“I do not think we’re satisfied, especially on the litter front,” Supowitz said.

As for the other student-caused problems, Pat Corelli, Student Government Board’s governmental relations committee chair, said he doesn’t think Giampolo’s complaints pertain to most students living in the Oakland community.

“The vast majority of students living off campus are responsible,” Corelli said.

Still, Corelli said there’s not much of a relationship between students and Oakland’s permanent residents. According to Corelli, many students don’t bother getting to know residents, who, in turn, often conSee Mayor on page 11

10

Mayor, pg. 10 sider students to be nuisances.

“I think a lot of students have come to the conclusion that we should have more of a sense of community,” Corelli said.

To help build that sense of community, Supowitz said, Pitt issues the Student Guide to Campus Life, a document meant to make students understand they’re not the only ones in South Oakland and that they have responsibilities as community members.

Supowitz also said recent Pitt “block parties” — where students and permanent residents meet — have gotten them to talk to each other and address problems as they appear.

According to Supowitz, he and Pitt try to respond to Oakland residents’ concerns. He said his office has monthly meetings with comm u n i t y groups like the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, Peoples Oakland and the Oakland Business Improvement District. Although he can’t deny that Giampolo is passionate, Supowitz said Giampolo might have the wrong approach to some local problems. Giampolo doesn’t want to work with established community groups, preferring to act on his own, Supowitz said.

“He’s a person with his head in the right place, but he makes it difficult to work with him because of the way he goes about things,” Supowitz said.

Family members say Giampolo is proud of his neighborhood, which sits relatively unseen at the bottom of Joncaire Street in South Oakland. Italian immigrants from the towns of Pizzoferrato and Gamberale settled into the neighborhood in the late 1800s.

Most of those families, including Giampolo’s, still live in that area today.

Giampolo lives catty-corner to his extended family. He also lives across the street from a friend that he’s known for 40 years.

“Down here, it’s a handshake,” said George Casciato, Giampolo’s distant cousin.

“In the rest of the world, you have to have contracts.”

A small patch of grass sits in the crook of Boundary Street, the main road through Panther Hollow. Picnic tables striped with red, white and green represent the neighborhood’s Italian pride. The community planted two trees in remembrance of Giampolo’s father, Carl Sr., and his uncle, Bob. A small plaque under a white arbor in the parklet lists the surnames of the families who first settled in the area. “Giampolo” is sandwiched between a slew of other Italian names.

Anna Casciato, Giampolo’s aunt, said her nephew wears his Italian heritage “like a banner.”

Giampolo works to keep the community clean. He uses his own money to beautify the area, Anna Casciato said, cleaning up the hillside and planting flowers.

Pitt administrators have also noticed Giampolo’s dedication to keeping Panther Hollow clean. While discussing litter problems in Oakland, Supowitz singled out Boundary Street as a particularly “pristine” area.

George Casciato said his cousin fights for the people in the community. He works

Proposed Transportation Corridor

We fully intend to triumph over this proposed roadway.

Boundary St

Panther Hollow Lake

-Carlino Giampolo

Along with his outspoken activism, Giampolo’s deep history in Oakland make him a figurehead in the community.

The 68-year-old resident has lived in the area for his entire life. He attended Central Catholic High School and graduated from Duquesne University around 1970.

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Almono Development Center

See Mayor on page 29

October 9, 2015

11

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October 9, 2015

12

Kissing for keeps Amy Beaudine Staff Writer

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When Bill Young overheard a Pitt Pathfinder telling a student about the legend of Heinz Chapel, he thought the legend was a myth.

The young director of Communication Services at Pitt listened as a tour guide told a prospective student and his grandparents that couples who kiss on the steps of Heinz Chapel are destined to wed there and enjoy a long marriage.

The elderly couple turned to each other with knowing smiles.

“It’s absolutely true,” the grandparents, who wed in the Chapel, said.

Even though the “Traditions” section of the Alumni Association’s website mentions the legend of the kiss, no one from the Alumni Association, nor the chapel administrators knows exactly where the legend came from.

Tonight, blossoming couples have a chance to try their hand at working the legend’s magic.

From 7:30 to 9 p.m., Heinz Chapel is holding its recurring “I Do, I Do … Again!” event where Pitt couples can practice their walk down the aisle.

This free event began four years ago, according to Patricia Gibbons, director of Heinz Chapel, and anyone can participate, married or not.

“We have a live organist with a rose for all of the couples,” Gibbons said. “You can have your photo taken on the altar and recess down the aisle with music.”

Ashley Sosso and Andrew Chikes had their chance to walk down the aisle for their wedding last April, after dreaming of getting married at Heinz Chapel since they met at Pitt School of Law. “It had special meaning to us, we both went to Pitt undergrad and law school and started dating when we were seniors in law school,” Chikes said. “We met in January 2007 while I was rushing an honor fraternity and she was a member of Phi Sigma Pi.” The couple got married at the chapel on April 12, 2014. Heinz Memorial Chapel holds

October 9, 2015

150 to 200 weddings eddings eeach h year, according to Gibbons.

Although the aisle is open tonight, most nights it isn’t available for anyone to walk. Normally, Gibbons said couples have to wait a year and pass strict criteria before they get a chance to get married in Heinz Chapel.

To marry at the chapel, at least one member of the couple must be either a Pitt student, alumni, staff member or an employee of H.J. Heinz Company or UPMC. All immediate family members, such as grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters, of such individuals are permitted to marry at the chapel as well.

The chapel is non-denominational and allows many types of religious and non-religious ceremonies in one location, so the weddings differ in religious ceremonies.

Each wedding has a one hour and 45 minute time slot for the ceremony and photos, with an extra 45 minutes beforehand for set-up.

Sosso and Chikes said the fight for a spot at Heinz Chapel was worth it. “[Heinz Chapel] is the center of a very special place, ” Chikes said.

On Feb. 16, 2013, Chikes executed an elaborate proposal to Sosso.

He led her on a scavenger hunt to three places that held significance to the couple, such as the William Pitt Union, where Chikes remembered meeting Sosso, and David Lawrence Hall’s second floor, where Sosso remembered meeting Chikes. At each location Sosso found one of her best friends holding a letter with a clue to her next destination.

Sosso’s last clue was, “Go to the place where we had planned on getting married.” When she arrived at the chapel, Chikes was there waiting for her.

“I was standing there on the steps ... coincidentally there was a concert going on inside of the chapel, and the front was all lit,” Chikes said.

As the snow fell on the steps where he stood in the bitter cold, Chikes proposed to Sosso and kissed his future bride.

And myth became marriage.

13

from the editorial board

Stay four quarters, chips or not Pitt football fans have always had chips on their shoulders. Now, they can have chips on their rides back from this Saturday’s homecoming game too.

On Wednesday, Pitt Athletics emailed students to announce that anyone who rides Pitt’s student shuttles back from Heinz Field following the Panthers’ Saturday game against Virginia will receive a complimentary drink and snack.

There is a caveat, though: The students will somehow have to sit through three-plus hours of football to earn the goodies.

That clause might seem inconsequential for gamedays at other schools across the country. But at Pitt, students continuously flock

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to the exits immediately after Neil Diamond’s sway-inducing “Sweet Caroline” fades out at the end of the third quarter.

The promised snacks are part of a series of clear attempts by Pitt Athletics to beg fans to stay for the entire game. Pitt invited fans to come view practice. Pitt teased a surprise new addition to the fourth quarter. Pitt added more shuttles and spread them out around Heinz Field. Under new athletic director Scott Barnes and new football head coach Pat Narduzzi, Pitt Athletics is really, really trying.

But Pitt students shouldn’t also need a bag of Cheetos and a Sierra Mist to make them stay for their team. Experiencing a full college

football game during Homecoming should be an indelible item on every student’s collegiate bucket list.

What’s an extra couple minutes waiting in line for a bus? There are lines at Chipotle that are longer than the ones after a game. It’s a Saturday. It’s Homecoming. Enjoy yourself, recite some Pitt chants, rehash the game.

Home field advantage is crucial in football, and Pitt needs as many students as it can in the Panther Pitt.

We want everyone to stick around, but if not, it’s your loss and more chips for us. Cheetos taste so much better after a win.

Aby Sobotka STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

October 9, 2015

14

Homecoming 50 314,000 $50 4,000-5,000 251

by the numbers

16,843 & 11,041 $300-$600

events for alumni

annual alumni association members

living pitt alumni

lifetime members

annual member dues -

one-time fee for lifetime members

extra

alumni that come to homecoming

wyndham sold out their

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20,000-30,000

rooms

people at homecoming game

October 9, 2015

15

Hail to life, death, rebirth of a font

Stephen Caruso Staff Writer

T he University of Pittsburgh’s second most recognizable symbol — after the Cathedral of Learning — is a font.

But describe Pitt script’s curves to any alum, and you realize a font can mean a whole lot.

The famous script represented Pitt football in every battle, every bowl, every brawl from 1973 until 1996. And starting next year for all Pitt sports teams, it will follow Pitt into the future.

The story of Pitt script begins with Johnny Majors who became Pitt football’s head coach after four years leading Iowa State University. At the time, Pitt had a great tradition — eight national

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championships — and not much else. It hadn’t made a bowl game in 17 seasons.

Majors was saddled with the challenge of reinvigorating the program.

And with the likes of “Mean Joe” Greene, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris playing “dahntahn with the Stillers,” Majors knew the team was always battling for local attention after four mediocre seasons with an overall .310 winnings percentage.

“We were in a pro town,” 80-year-old Majors said last week from his home in Tennessee. “I knew that we were going to need to be competitive to get people in the stands — we weren’t winning.”

Not everyone knows this inglorious chapter of Pitt history — but Charles Bonasorte does. While he may be best

known for hawking Pitt wares on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard, Bonasorte — though everyone calls him Chas — was on the team for their awful 1-10 year in 1972. He played outside linebacker and was a punt returner.

“The locker room was horrendous,” the Pitt Stop owner said. The team’s letter jackets weren’t worth the fabric they were printed on.

Majors knew he couldn’t raise a winner in this atmosphere.

“Before I took the job, I told [Pitt] I wanted a new locker room, a new weight room and new uniforms,” Majors said.

New uniforms?

“I wanted to look good,” Majors said.

“They were g o i n g to be as well conditioned as anyone in the countr y, we’re going to be as well disciplined as anyone in the country, and I wanted us to look good when we were dressed in uniforms.”

Majors had also reimagined Iowa

October 9, 2015

State’s uniforms when he took over the Cyclones in 1968, and led the team to two straight bowls to end his tenure there.

It would be deja vu for Majors in the Steel City. Pitt improved its record for four straight years, culminating in Tony Dorsett — his script helmet covered in stickers for every touchdown he scored — rushing for more than 200 yards in the Sugar Bowl. The 27-3 win over University of Georgia gave Pitt a national championship in 1976.

Before he arrived, Majors said Pitt uniforms were old gold and navy blue, a lot like University of Notre Dame’s uniforms — then and now. But they lacked a logo, and Majors said Pitt need something to catch people’s attention.

So he looked for inspiration across the country at University of California, Los Angeles, which has a “catchy script,” and called in a Pitt-employed artist.

“I said ‘I want to see what it looks like in print, I want to see what it looks like in script.’” Majors said. He also asked for versions with letters of equal heights and with capital and lower cases. “[The artist] did about a half a dozen signs, and I picked out the one we used,” Majors said.

The result? Smoothly drawn letters, with plump tails and flowing curves, spelling out “Pitt.”

This would be Pitt football’s first helmet logo.

To Paul Lukas, a uniform expert who started analyzing sports aesthetics in 1999 for The Village Voice, Pitt waited far too long to add a helmet logo.

To him, the key to every outfit is what sits on top.

“Every football uniform starts with the helmet, you have to have a good helmet,” Lukas, who also writes for ESPN and maintains his own website, said.

With the script gracing the side, Lukas said the helmet came alive.

“There’s something sort of snappy about [Pitt script],” Lukas said. “There’s a little edge of wit to it that I’ve always liked, a playfulness. Those are elements that are pretty much lacking in today’s sports graphics.”

A shift in hue complemented the new logo. Majors updated the colors to a royal blue and a bright mustard yellow from the earlier, drab palette.

Just like a uni-

There’s something sort of snappy about [Pitt Script].

-Paul Lukas

16

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form naturally fades with time, subsequent coaches toned down the temperature of the colors. “[Later coaches] kept the script but they lightened the gold, and they lightened the blue,” Majors said. “I changed that when I came back the second time.”

Majors left Pitt in 1976 after winning a national championship to coach at his alma mater, University of Tennessee. He returned in 1993 for three more seasons in the blue and yellow, but left Pittsburgh for good in 1996.

The script had survived other coaching changes, but Pitt was going through more than a standard leadership swap in 1996 when Pitt hired former athletic di-

rector Steve Pederson.

As part of his new program, Pederson wanted to rebrand the team to appeal to a wider audience, according to Bonasorte, who was on P e d e r s o n’s redesign committee. “[Pederson] wanted to blend in with the steel town image,” Bonasorte said.

The new logo reflected that, and it appeared “chiseled out,” as he described.

Pederson brought in Peter Moore, the creator of the Air Jordan logo, to design a replacement for the venerable script. The new design featured a growling panther perched on top of the familiar blocky “Pittsburgh,” arched in a half circle.

“This mark not only standardizes all Pittsburgh athletic marks, but it serves as a new image we want to emulate in everything we do — bold and dynamic,” Pederson said in the press release announcing the rebranding.

To Lukas, Moore’s logo was a step backwards.

“So much of contemporary sports graphic is about looking ferocious. Furrowed brow, gritted teeth, all that kind of crap,” Lukas said. “What made the script special was how it didn’t take itself so seriously.”

By branding the University’s athletics generically, Bonasorte said alums of other universities like Washington and Jefferson College, Thiel College, Ohio State University and Robert Morris University make Pitt their second team. By replacing the Pitt script — and all its Pitt-specific connotations — the team could market itself better to neutral fans.

October 9, 2015

“You can be a Panther fan and not hurt that you are a Robert Morris dad,” Bonasorte said.

Part of Pederson’s redesign also toned the colors down to the current navy blue and old gold, like they were before Majors came to Pitt.

And present Pitt fans have noticed how generic that logo feels. “[Pitt script] looks so much slicker compared to the block lettering,” said Colin Gilbert, a freshman marketing and supply chain management major, as he browsed the script hats at the Pitt Stop.

“It’s more tailored to Pitt itself, it’s more of a logo.”

Pitt removed the last vestiges of the script in 1996. But the fans’ love for the script never left.

Fans freaked out when Pitt announced it would place Pitt script stickers over the current block Pitt logo on the team’s helmets for last year’s homecoming.

By popular demand, the script was back. And the popularity of the vintage emblem ensured it would stick for the rest of the year.

The pressure that made Pederson — he resigned in December of last year — reconsider also hit his replacement, Scott Barnes. And Barnes didn’t bother fighting back. In August of this year, he announced that the script would be back See Script on page 24

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October 9, 2015

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column

pitt anomaly: Urban campus pride

Henry Glitz Columnist

I know Oakland isn’t paradise, but I didn’t expect the disgusted look on my Penn State friend’s face as we walked down Forbes Avenue toward Essie’s Original Hot Dog Shop.

“How can you live here?” The question caught me off guard. Having spent more than a year living on campus in Oakland, I barely noticed the side-effects of the dense population that annoyed my visiting friend so much.

But when I think about it, there’s definitely something to my friend’s point of view.

From the supposedly unpleasant neighborhood environment to the brutalist style of buildings like Wesley W. Posvar Hall and David Lawrence Hall, our campus can be offputting. Some critics even connect the urban atmosphere to what they see as low student and alumni unity and poor

school spirit. The pondering on threads like College Confidential, a community forum for college-bound students and their parents, paints Pitt’s urban campus in a disconcerting light. Parents wonder if the typical, enclosed campus would serve their students better than the urban atmosphere that forces them into bewildered independence.

when calling Pitt and Oakland home. But, overall, there’s still some truth in saying that the student body’s school spirit — especially at football games — is underwhelming.

It certainly doesn’t help that our region is home to three of the five universities with the highest average home football game attendances in 2014 — Ohio State University, University of Michigan and Penn State. By comparison, while Pitt comes up fifth in the nation in the category of “largest average attendance increase from previous year,” we don’t make the list when it comes to highest attendance overall.

Interestingly, all three of these schools — as well as the

And while our campus may not create the kind of belongingness that comes with burning couches for beloved sports teams, it more than makes up for it in the kinds of connections and the academic community it creates.

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Of course, the night after a Pitt win, no one can avoid the pull of the glowing victory lights and feel anything but proud

October 9, 2015

See Glitz on page 22

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false advertising

Foreign students’ perceptions of Homecoming not always reality Alessandra Roberto for The Pitt News

Homecoming week is meant to generate school pride, but for international students familiar with American stereotypes, it can end in disillusion.

American universities’ homecomings continue many of the traditions that begin in high school, like pep rallies, football games and ample school spirit, but the dance is noticeably absent. The majority of international students, however, learn about homecoming traditions — particularly the romanticized high school homecoming dance — from American movies and TV. For international students studying in the United States for the first time, the collegiate homecoming reality —

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including the dance’s absence — can be confusing, disappointing or irrelevant.

Lavanya Kochhar, a junior finance and business information systems major from Indonesia, has only a vague idea of homecoming.

“To me, homecoming is just something we celebrate and name a queen and king and there’s a pep rally before it too,” she said. “All of this I know from American movies.”

According to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid’s website, international students make up 27 percent of Pitt’s student body.

Chisom Eni-Kalu, a sophomore bioengineering major from Nigeria, said she knew about homecoming before enrolling at Pitt, but “never really quite understood the point, though.”

“I plan to participate in the celebrations more this year,” Eni-Kalu said.

“Now that I’m actually thinking about it.”

Often, international students have no one to explain homecoming to them, as Americans do their freshman year in high school.

“No one really helped other than my friends, but honestly, homecoming isn’t something I feel like the Office of International Affairs has to help you adapt to,” Kochhar said. “It’s part

See International on page 21

October 9, 2015

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International, pg. 20 of the culture here and your friends and the football games itself will help explain everything.”

Nikita Karulkar, a sophomore neuroscience major, and Desislava Iolova, a sophomore engineering major, also didn’t know the meaning of homecoming their freshman year.

Karulkar is a student from Indian parents and considers herself a “third culture kid,” having grown up in Hong Kong and Indonesia and living in India for five years. Before coming to Pitt, Iolova, who is from Bulgaria, lived in Dubai for 15 years.

“I feel like [homecoming is] a football game and then it’s a dance,” Karulkar said. “I think it’s one of those things that’s always in the back of your mind because of Hollywood movies.”

Iolova also equates the week-long custom to a dance. Her first thoughts upon hearing homecoming are “time to buy a dress!” when those already familiar with the tradition call for Pitt script shirts in-

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stead.

“It’s like an American thing, but we don’t know what it is,” she said.

Unlike the Hollywood portrayal, Pitt’s collegiate homecoming places emphasis on the student body and alumni through various alumni-specific events the University puts on throughout the week, ranging from scholarly lectures and luncheons to mixers and block parties.

The Office of Int e r n at i o n a l Services, located on the seventh floor of the William Pitt Union, offers different events through its Global Ties program to help all students thrive in American culture.

According to Shawntia Key, the co-

ordinator of international programs, homecoming is an event that is best learned through experience.

“In the past, Global Ties has encouraged international students to participate in the many homecoming programs that are sponsored by various groups on campus offered during homecoming week, such as the football game, and the fireworks and the laser show,” Key said.

E v e n though Kochhar, Eni-Kalu, Karulkar and Iolova attended American and international schools all over the world and some grew up in expat cities where 90 percent of the population are foreigners, their knowledge on American culture

I think it’s one of those things that’s always in the back of your mind because of Hollywood movies -Nikita Karulkar

October 9, 2015

was still very vague.

“It’s like I grew up in a pseudo-American culture,” said Karulkar. “So I understand some parts, but at the same time there are others that I don’t.”

Karulkar and Iolova remembered seeing campaign posters for the homecoming court nominees last year, but never knew who the students were.

“I only voted for the engineers,” Iolova said. “You’re asking the entire University to vote for you, but no one knows who you are.”

When Kochhar compared her experience here with her expectations from movies, there were still many gaps.

“I expected there to be some type of dance or party by the university related to homecoming,” Kochhar said. “But I guess that’s just a high school thing.”

The reality that collegiate homecoming isn’t always as romantic as Hollywood makes it out to be leaves many students, including Karulkar, wondering about its significance.

“People put all this effort in, for what?”

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Glitz, pg. 19 slightly less popular, yet similarly rabid University of Notre Dame and West Virginia University — have exactly what visitors to Pitt’s campus complain about most — an enclosed urban campus.

There seems to be a connection between the school’s campus and the amount of conventional school spirit.

Pitt is urban in the truest sense of the word. And while our campus may not create the kind of belongingness that comes with burning couches for beloved sports teams, it more than makes up for it in the kinds of connections and the academic community it creates.

Where Pitt’s academic buildings blend in easily with the rest of Oakland, these schools have self-contained, strictly defined campuses. Most of them are in cities smaller than Pittsburgh and have larger student populations with a higher percentage of undergraduates.

Through our athletics, Pitt flows into the city of Pittsburgh — particularly when it comes to our football team. Since the

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December 1999 demolition of Pitt Stadium, the Panthers have shared Three Rivers Stadium and now Heinz Field with the inescapably popular Steelers. Ironically, this facility-sharing is often used to explain supposedly anemic attendance at Pitt football games. After all, average attendance at Pitt games in Heinz Field has been almost 4,000 lower than the average at Pitt Stadium.

In any case, the movement from an on-campus to an off-campus venue didn’t help the sense of Pitt community. We’re no longer physically centered on Pitt football, and what we still have here says a lot about the new direction of Pitt pride. One of the best medical centers in the United States, UPMC, sits on the hill directly below where the Pitt Stadium once stood.

The 12th best public law school in the United States sits unassuming in our midst on Forbes, and Pitt School of Medicine is listed at an intimidating 11th best in the world, according to the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities in Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy.

Pitt’s Oakland campus gives us some-

thing to rally around beyond highly-visible sports teams. No matter how good the football program is or how many student and alumni fans it draws, it won’t be at the center — physical, emotional, mental or otherwise — of the Pitt experience.

We’re connected to Pittsburgh and Oakland in a unique and important way.

Oakland exemplifies the best implications of the “urban” moniker: professional, engaged, ambitious and — although connected — remarkably independent. And, living in this stew of adjectives, we as Pitt students absorb much of its dynamism.

A decentralized campus confirms one of former Chancellor Mark Nordenberg’s favorite things to say to students about the community we coexist with: “the city is our campus.”

As students of both a university and a city, we benefit both from one of the country’s largest endowments funding world-class academic programs, as well as one of the most dynamic, fascinating and rejuvenated cities on the East Coast. And regardless of when you choose to move off campus, you can’t experience Pitt without

October 9, 2015

experiencing at least a few of Pittsburgh’s kaleidoscopic neighborhoods outside of Oakland. Oakland living acclimates us to working and existing in the real world, a far cry from the close, clannish mentalities that the big state schools can often produce.

True, we’ll never have the experiences of students at schools like Penn State of living four years only interacting with other people inside the university. We’ll never feel the sense of community that comes from belonging to the only significant group of people for miles around. The question, however, is: why would we want that?

My visiting friend from Penn State seemed less troubled by the Oakland environment after indulging in a plate of O fries. He was taking part in something that makes Pitt as great a school as it is — half the Pitt experience is off-campus, unofficial and independent. While the O is a part of it, the school pride that encompasses Oakland — and even the city of Pittsburgh — is just as unexpected and just as integral to the Pitt community.

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ROC, pg. 4 Developing the Roc mentality comes with practice, but once the performer captures it, everything else comes naturally.

“It’s all muscle memory at this point.

I know how he behaves ... and it’s weird I’m saying ‘he’ but when you put it on, it’s like a whole new persona,” the current Roc said. “But that’s been freeing in a lot of ways because I don’t have to think about it, so I can just go out and have a blast and do as much crazy, fun stuff as I can.”

In order to get to that point though, each Roc has to first get used to the costume.

The suit weighs about 20-30 pounds, and sometimes Roc must perform in extreme conditions.

“I remember the Delaware game last year was brutal,” he said. “It was 90 degrees, and I’m doing an hour and a half of pregame and then running the team out and then an entire football game.”

Roc gets to Heinz Field five hours before kickoff, when most other students

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are still sleeping. As the cheerleaders prep, Roc stretches, drinks a lot of water, and listens to music.

Two and a half hours before kickoff, he gets into the suit, out into the parking lot for the tailgate festivities, and then walks the team into the locker room when they arrive. Then, it’s the March to Victory parade, where Roc, the cheerleaders and the band march from PNC Park to Art Rooney Avenue near Heinz field.

Then, he has a short break, runs the band onto the field, the national anthem is played, runs the team onto the field, and finally, kickoff. After that, it’s “standard gameday procedures,” like hyping up the crowd and interacting with the cheerleaders.

Although rigorous, being Roc has its perks. The biggest one, Roc said, is traveling.

“I get to go to every away football game, I get to go to a bunch of tournaments, I get to do a lot of stuff with the other ACC mascots, so I basically get to go on trips all across the country for free, which is awesome.”

Roc has also met Pitt legends like Aar-

on Donald, Larry Fitzgerald and Tony Dorsett, along with former Panther mascots.

“I’d say I’ve had around 10 different guys come up to me and tell me they

October 9, 2015

used to be Roc. It’s cool that they’re still so involved and passionate about Pitt,” he said. “I can’t wait to be the old guy telling Roc ‘back in my day’ stories 30 years from now.”

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Script, pg. 17 for good, for every sport, for the 2016-17 athletic seasons.

Pitt’s first game after the announcement was the home opener against Youngstown State University. Bonasorte, selling gear outside Heinz Field for the game, had caps with both the blocky font and the script on them.

“All [the fans] wanted were the script hats, we didn’t sell any of the other ones,” Bonasorte said.

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This makes sense to Lukas. “[In general, fans] have fonder memories of an ugly uniform that the team won a championship in then rather than a nice uniform they had a losing season in,” Lukas said.

So if a team has won a championship while looking sharp, like Pitt did in 1976, you have a timeless aesthetic.

“We had some of the greatest uniforms in America,” Majors said. “Our players loved them, our fans loved them and they catch on you.”

October 9, 2015

Majors was a consummate disciplinarian — “pride and enthusiasm” doesn’t work unless you train the team hard.

“His thing was ‘whatever it takes,’” Bonasorte said of Major’s coaching. “They dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s in 1973, where nobody in life even thought about it.”

This attention to detail won Majors, Bonasorte and all of Pitt glory in 1976.

But the spiraling i’s and t’s, along with the big P.?

They’re a timeless bonus.

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October

25

Bands battle for spotlight

Annabel Hanflig for The Pitt News

Ten bands compete every year for opening slot at Fall Fest and Bigelow Bash. Christine Lim STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

T P N S U D O K U

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October 9, 2015

O’Hara wasn’t a solid act when the group first auditioned for Battle of the Bands in 2013.

“We were pretty disjointed at that point, as we only had three members,” O’Hara’s lead singer and founding member, Jake Sternberg, said. “Of course we lost the battle the first time we played.”

They stormed the battle stage again the following year, only this time they came out on top. O’Hara won first place at last April’s Battle of the Bands and opened for American Authors at Bigelow Bash. Now, they’re promoting an EP, playing major music festivals and touring the Midwest.

Weeks before every major concert on campus, the Pitt Program Council holds Battle of the Bands to find a student act with the potential to bring a crowd of See Battle on page 30

Today's difficulty level: Easy Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com

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Preview, pg. 7 Specifically, Pitt will need to stay locked on to Mizzell in the passing game, especially on screen passes. As a defense that sends lots of pressure to the backfield, the Panthers must balance their aggressiveness with locating Mizzell. He’s rushed for 157 yards and caught 22 balls for 292 yards.

“We’ve got to be careful. We’ll have our pressure in, but we’ve got to be smart. Virginia loves to run screens,” Narduzzi said.

That pressure has produced a Panthers defense that ranks fourth in the country in yards allowed per game and ninth in total sacks. This success and high defensive ranking mean little to Pitt, defensive tackle Mark Scarpinato said.

“We don’t care [about national statistics rankings]. Coach Duzz said, ‘they don’t give out middle of the season awards,’” Scarpinato said.

“When we win whatever bowl we win — when we win the ACC Championship — then you can ask that question and we’ll say, ‘we’re celebrating, we’re having a beer.’ But until that happens, we don’t care.”

Though he’s been pleased with his defense thus far, defensive coordinator Josh Conklin still

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thinks it can improve, specifically in filling gaps in run defense and making his corners more aggressive.

For the impressiveness of the defensive unit, the offense has had its difficulties, ranking 116th in yards per game. Part of improving that unit will come in consistency in the run game, which has been up and down since star running back James Conner’s presumed season-ending injury.

Against Virginia Tech, the numbers were up, as the team accumulated 166 rushing yards, 122 coming from running back Qadree Ollison. Part of that success came in clean fundamentals, center Artie Rowell said.

“We played with such lower pad level and more force,” Rowell said.

In the passing game, Pitt will try to establish a stronger presence in its deep throws.

“We’ll hit a few of them. It’s nice to win without them, but we’ll hit them when we need to,” Narduzzi said.

A successful passing game will help rally the Pitt crowd, an audience Narduzzi is happy to return to after three consecutive road games.

“We’re going to enjoy it,” Narduzzi said.

“Homecoming game, get in front of our hometown crowd and try to put on a show.”

Shalaby, pg. 5 It was where I had come from, and here I was, back. I’d see “freedom,” “remember God,” and other messages and art in graffiti on the streets and think, “I adore the energy of this country.” Sometimes I agreed with Egyptian values, like unconditional respect for elders, that back in America had made me the odd one. People talked with their hands here, like I did. For once, I wasn’t the only person wearing long pants in summer for the sake of modesty. While Arabic sometimes confused me, there were times when I couldn’t get over its beauty and precision. I felt like it was a language meant to be mine by birthright.

Only a week before I left Alexandria, another person asked me, “Where are you from?” I found myself saying “I’m Egyptian by origin, but I live in America.”

I’d come to realize that a home wasn’t only where a person lives, or where one grows up. To belong to a home is also

October 9, 2015

to love the place and want to return to it, despite its flaws. To love the people within it, and also feel like you are one of them. To feel like you owe something to the place, for what it’s given you.

As hugged my relatives goodbye and turned towards the airport, I felt a familiar sense of loss. I left behind the culture I had grown attached to, my family, my close friends and my other mother language. And again, the concept of home seemed so simple — it was a place of love, culture, belonging.

It’s who I am and where I’m from.

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Band, pg. 9 For senior Golden Girl Smithmyer, being a member of such a long-standing tradition has been extraordinary.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world because the Golden Girls started out with big fluffy hair and crazy costumes and they just kind of did stick work,” Smithmyer said. “Over the years, our advisors helped us really expand, and now we’re doing really great tricks.”

Smithmyer, an Altoona, Pennsylvania, native, has been a baton twirler since she was four years old. When she was looking at colleges she was searching for a school that was close to home but far enough away that she could be independent. She yearned for a school that had a strong majorette program — enter the University of Pittsburgh.

Over the past three years, Smithmyer has found a family in her Golden Girls group and has come to look forward to the rush of game days the most.

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“I love the feeling of performing for crowds on Saturdays,” Smithmyer said.

“It’s so exhilarating to run out of [the tunnel] with everybody cheering for you.”

Townsend looks forward to interacting with alumni band members about their own homecoming experiences and hopes to make the Pitt script routine an annual tradition at Heinz Field, like it once was in Pitt Stadium.

“It’s really awesome to be part of a tradition and be a part of something that’s been alive for longer than I’ve been,” Urbaniak said. “You have more of a connection with what is here now and what will be here after.”

On her senior homecoming, Smithmyer said she anticipates returning as an alum in years to come.

“It’s crazy that it’s coming to an end [this year],” Smithmyer said. “But I have the joy of coming back as an alumnus year after year. I have something to come back to. Even when I’m 50 and 60 years old I can always say I was a Pitt Golden Girl.”

ties that the Almono project might affect, should it come to fruition. pg. 11 The Urban Redevelopment Authorcommunity to respect the native resiity board of directors recently ratified dents in Panther Hollow. an application to the Pennsylvania De“This is our town,” George Casciato partment of Community and Economic said. “He fought, and has been fighting Development for a $3 million grant to that forever.” design the link, according to an Oct. 5 Anna Casciato post on Save Panther also testified to Hollow.

Giampolo’s work Although the projethic. ect is still in the plan“He wants to do ning stages, O’Malley it all the right way said any plans for an and he never gives Oakland-Almono up,” she said. “He’s George Casciata transportation corrisomeone who gets Cousin of Carlino Giampolo dor would engage the an idea and he community. sticks with it.”

“Mayor Peduto Whether he’s fighting for his comand Chief of Staff Kevin Acklin care a munity or dancing across the country, great deal about the effects that projects family and friends say Giampolo always have on a community,” O’Malley wrote keeps moving. in an email. “If and when the transpor“I don’t know if he has spare time,” tation corridor project comes to light, George Casciato said. community stakeholders will be at the And the city assures that it cares table and community feedback will be about the people living in the communivital to the process.

Mayor,

October 9, 2015

“

This is our town. He fought and has been fighting that forever

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Battle, pg. 26 hundreds to its feet. Pitt students have brawled with drumsticks and bass guitars in hopes of filling the opening slot at for the likes of Lupe Fiasco and Ke$ha at events like Fall Fest and Bigelow Bash for the past 17 years. Two judges from Pitt’s student radio station, WPTS, and one other special events judge from PPC decide the winner.

By hosting Battle of the Bands, PPC

gives students a chance to do what most small acts will only dream of.

O’Hara went from house shows in South Oakland to opening for an international artist in a matter of weeks.

Sternberg said playing both Battle and Bigelow Bash “opened our eyes to how hard we would have to work to get where we wanted to be with our music.”

This year alone the band has released an EP, played at Musikfest — a major 10-day festival in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania — and embarked on a

multi-state tour.

There’s more to competing in Battle of the Bands than getting to open for a major artist.

PPC Special Events Coordinator Shawn Cassidy said the real reason for the battle is to provide a place “where bands on campus can showcase their talent, and to implement some of this talent into our annual concerts. This also gives student acts the opportunity to perform in front of a large crowd.”

The battle gives aspiring artists, like

junior psychology major Voodoo Lu , a chance to put on their first live show with a crowd.

“I thought it was a great opportunity for me to finally get on stage for once,” Lu said. “I’ve been recording for a while, but I haven’t had any live performances yet so it was the first one.”

It’s hard enough for bands like O’Hara to get past the local bar scene, much less garner an audience of hundreds.

For Pitt musicians looking to make themselves known , the difference between 14 people in a basement and 400 people on a professional stage lies in the uncertainty of the battle.

Indigo Zoo, who won second place at this fall’s battle, joined first place — The Naughties — to open for Walk the Moon at Fall Fest after only playing one show together before last year’s Engineering Week in the spring.

“Other than [that first show], we had only had our own practice time to prepare,” said drummer Tim Heller, a junior engineering major.

Despite the lack of practice, Indigo Zoo found themselves on stage in front of hundreds of people days after the battle.

“Winning gave us a lot of confidence in what we’re doing, and it gave us the opportunity to play in front of a great crowd and with some other amazing bands,” Heller said.

PPC budgets for 10 bands to compete, which sign up voluntarily, with two alternatives if some acts drop out.

It’s first come, first serve, as the first 10 bands to register are the only ones who will take the battle stage.

For the sake of giving every Pitt student the chance to live out their dreams, past battle winners are not permitted to audition.

“It’s not every day that a college band gets to play on a huge stage in front of hundreds of people in the center of campus,” said Stenberg on opening last April’s Bigelow Bash. “It might be the biggest stage I ever get to play, and I got to play it with some of my best friends.”

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Counter help wanted.

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Little's Shoe Store looking for Cashier, part-time/full-time.

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October 9, 2015

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October 9, 2015

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