Internship Opportunities for All Incoming Freshman

The University of Pittsburgh is starting a new project to guarantee that every undergraduate student has an internship opportunity.  This program will help give undergraduates the edge when they enter the competitive world after they graduate.   All freshman students are eligible to participate in the Internship Preparation Program, which is the first step in obtaining that crucial internship.

In an effort to help University of Pittsburgh students obtain a competitive edge and prepare for life after graduation, the University’s Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance (CDPA) is unveiling an initiative that guarantees every undergraduate the opportunity of an internship. 

Starting this fall, any registered Pitt undergraduate on the Pittsburgh campus is eligible to participate in the Internship Preparation Program (IPP), which is the first step in a student obtaining an internship placement.

“We are pleased to offer this opportunity to all of our undergraduates. Internships, like undergraduate research and study abroad, provide students with opportunities to deepen their understanding of what they have learned in their classes and are an important component of ensuring that Pitt graduates make wise career choices and are adequately prepared for the next phase of their lives,” said Pitt Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia E. Beeson.

 “The University’s Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance has developed a thorough preparation program for students wanting to obtain an internship placement. Pitt’s internship guarantee is one of the University’s many offerings intended to meet students’ academic and career needs,” Beeson added.

 As one of the nation’s leading public research universities, Pitt places a high priority on having its students engaged in experiential learning, said Cheryl Finlay, director of the CDPA, whether that means conducting research with world-class faculty members or performing internships designed to build on what students learn in the classroom.  

“Employers are looking to hire new graduates with experience, so we are working diligently with employers to make more internships available and accessible to our students,” said Finlay. “At the same time, we want our students to understand the importance and value of completing successful internships.” 

The IPP will include a series of six sessions that can be completed during walk-in appointments made at a student’s convenience. Each session addresses a different aspect of preparing for an internship: résumé formatting and content, résumé review and internship focus, preparation for an internship interview, networking skills, and internship search, as well as a session focused on succeeding in the internship. 

Once students complete the IPP, they meet individually with CDPA staff for personal résumé reviews, mock interviews, and support in identifying strong matching opportunities for internships. Finlay said the guaranteed internship opportunities will begin for students in the spring and summer semesters of 2013.

Alyson Kavalukas, CDPA internship coordinator, said the internship guarantee program could be the first of its kind. 

“To the best of our knowledge, after researching this issue, benchmarking at other schools, and through outreach at national conferences, we believe the University of Pittsburgh is unique in guaranteeing experiential learning for all undergraduates who complete a preparation program,” said Kavalukas.

CDPA, which was recently ranked as one of the best career services departments at a college or university in the 2013 edition of The Princeton Review’s annual college guide, will encourage students who haven’t yet determined their career paths to use internships as a chance to explore potential career fields, their

individual strengths, and work dynamics.

Finlay said the effort to help students gain experience-based learning helps the University reach its goal of 95 percent employment placement for new graduates. She said the closer her office is to attaining that goal, the better Pitt is able to recruit and retain top students and to maintain an engaged alumni population. 

“Experiential learning provides students with skill sets and professional savvy that they will use in their careers, and these experiences are highly desired by employers,” said Finlay. “It also helps students identify their true passions and strengths in order to make smart academic decisions and choose the right career paths.”

For more information check out the University of Pittsburgh.

Happy 100th Birthday to a University of Pittsburgh legend!

 Today would have been Gene Kelly's 100th birthday.  He is a dancing, singing, and acting legend from Pittsburgh.  He has strong roots here through family, and also is the legacy of the Gene Kelly Awards.  Many people know him from his movie Singing in the Rain, but he also revolutionized the way dance and theater is filmed on camera.  University of Pitt students are celebrating his legacy today along with the University's 225th anniversary.

The University of Pittsburgh is observing its own 225th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the birth in Pittsburgh of special Academy Award-honored dancer, director, choreographer, actor, singer, and Pitt alumnus Gene Kelly with two events:

• From 3 to 4 p.m. Aug. 23, Kelly’s actual birth date, some 3,000 incoming University of Pittsburgh freshmen are slated to hold umbrellas while taking part in a choreographed dance on the lawn adjacent to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

• From 8 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 25, Patricia Ward Kelly, Gene Kelly’s widow and the author of a forthcoming memoir about him, will host “Pitt’s Gene Kelly Centennial Celebration,” an evening of Kelly on film with Pittsburgh- and Pitt-centered commentary on Kelly’s life and career. The leading authority on the cinema and stage legend, Mrs. Kelly has recently given sold-out presentations on Gene Kelly at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles and Lincoln Center in New York City.Patricia Ward kelly

Part of Pitt’s New Student Orientation 2012, the Aug. 23 event will attempt to shatter the Guinness World Record for the “Greatest Number of People Simultaneously Performing an Umbrella Dance at a Single Venue.” The current record, set in September 2011 in Bucharest, Romania, involved 1,461 participants.

Holding aloft the umbrellas, which will be handed to them as they enter the Petersen Events Center’s lawn area, the Pitt students taking part in this attempt will dance the Cupid Shuffle, a popular line dance. Witnesses, head-counters, and videographers will document the event and send the information to the Guinness authorities for their verification of the new world record.

The dance event honoring Kelly, one of Pitt’s most renowned alumni, has been designed to remind spectators and participants alike of Kelly’s iconic dance sequence from the classic 1952 film musical Singin’ in the Rain, in which he dances up and down a rain-drenched street twirling an umbrella and splashing in puddles. This sequence is considered by many to be the most memorable dance performance on film. Kelly is credited with bringing an energetically athletic, authentically American dancing style to Hollywood musicals, and for changing the look of dance on film through his revolutionary innovations with the camera, choreography, and animation.

Kelly received the Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Pitt in 1933. While at Pitt, he became involved with the University’s Cap and Gown Club, serving as its director from 1934 to 1938, and taught dance at his family’s dance studio in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood; he would also choreograph musicals at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Nixon Theater. Kelly enrolled in Pitt’s School of Law but left after a couple of months to concentrate on teaching dance.

Kelly’s younger brother Fred, also a Pitt alumnus, was honored in 2004 when the lobby of Pitt’s Stephen Foster Memorial—home to Pitt’s Charity Randall Theatre and Henry Heymann Theatre—was renamed the Fred Kelly Lobby.

Pitt students set new Guinness World Records at the last two New Student Orientations, for the “World’s Largest Torch-lit Logo” in 2010 and the “World’s Largest Glow Stick Design” in 2011.

For more information please see the University of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Restaurant Week

Eating out all the time can become expensive.  However, thanks to Pittsburgh's Restaurant Week, trying new restaurants can be affordable.  Pittsburgh has a variety of restaurants from Thai to American all throughout the city.  Pittsburgh restaurant week allowed patrons to try out different restaurants with a set affordable price.  These restaurants have different specials and deals throughout the week. 
 
Event: Pittsburgh Restaurant Week
 
Location: Various locations around Pittsburgh
 
Date: August 13-19, 2012
 
Time: Various times (depending on restaurants hours)
 
Cost: Around $25-30 for fixed price 3-4 course dinners (some as low as $15!)
 
Description: Pittsburgh Restaurant Week embraces the melting pot of restaurants in our great city in a week-long celebration of dining and food. For the week of August 13-19, 2012, the Pittsburgh community is invited to celebrate the wealth of options in the dining scene by enjoying a wonderful meal at a participating restaurant at a discounted price.  In return, Pittsburgh’s restaurants are celebrating their food, cuisine and livelihood.  Their participation in Pittsburgh Restaurant Week demonstrates their dedication to and appreciation of the Pittsburgh community – a community that has supported their passion for food and dining.

Visit pittsburghrestaurantweek.com for the official listing of participating restaurants. Restaurants are encouraged to visit this site and register their restaurants to take advantage of this opportunity to reinforce their bonds with the community and celebrate the burgeoning food culture in Pittsburgh.
The mission of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week is to highlight the wide-ranging dining options that Pittsburgh has to offer and bring individuals from surrounding boroughs or suburbs to the city to walk the streets and enjoy a dinner at a special discounted price.

For more information please see Living Pittsburgh.

Steeler Camp is Underway

The NFL Season is quickly approaching, and the Steeler fans are starting to get ready.  Terrible Towels are starting to be displayed, jerseys are starting to be worn, and people are starting to make their way to Training Camp.  Training camp in Latrobe is a time honored tradition of most Steeler fans. Practices are held during the afternoon, and most are open to the public.  It is a great way to witness the six-time champions before the season, and you might even get a chance to meet some players.

Pittsburgh Steelers Training Camp kicked off last week for its 47th consecutive season at St. Vincent College in Latrobe. Given a nod as the best training camp in the NFL by Peter King of CNN, Steelers training camp features plenty of action, the opportunity to get player autographs, and a chance to watch first-hand as the players battle for key positions. 

Among those who reported to camp was first-round draft pick David DeCastro, who signed a four-year contract, and is expected to start for the Steelers at right guard this year. Veteran Max Starks was also re-signed and will be battling rookie Mike Adams for the job at left tackle. However, the biggest news was the absence of restricted free-agent wide receiver Mike Wallace from training camp. The Pro Bowl receiver has declined to sign the one-year, $2.7 million tender offer, and the Steelers have now suspended negotiations on a long-term contract until Mike Wallace reports to camp. Also notably absent for only the second time in 15 years is recently retired Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward. 

Training camp will be fun as always for fans, but also not the same without Hines, James Farrior, Aaron Smith, Chris Hoke, Bryant McFadden, William Gay, and Daniel Sepulveda. The 2012 Steelers training camp runs from Wednesday, July 25, when the players first report to camp, through Friday, August 17th, and most afternoon practices are open to the public. The first public practice for Steelers Training Camp 2012 is Friday, July 27th.

For more information see The Steeler Guide.

The Guitar Exhibit is Rocking in Pittsburgh

 Guitars are something that have shaped American music for the past century.   The new exhibit down at the Carnegie Science Center is complete with history, fun activities, and performances all summer long.   The exhibit features over 70 guitars and 17 interactive stations that are great for all ages.

A new set of guitar heroes may step forward as a first-of-its-kind exhibit opens a summer-long run Saturday at the Carnegie Science Center.

The world’s most popular and iconic instrument is being celebrated in myriad educational and entertaining ways in “Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked The World,” through Sept. 30.

The National Guitar Museum, billed as the first museum in the U.S. dedicated to the history, evolution and cultural impact of the guitar, created it. The exhibit is touring in advance of the National Guitar Museum finding a permanent home.

“We have not had an exhibit that merged topics in the way that this one does, the science, the art and the history (of the guitar),” says Dennis Bateman, the science center’s director of exhibit experience. “It’s an experiment for us, and we’re eager to see if the community responds to this new approach. It was something that looked like a sure-fire winner.”

 

Music, he says, is very much a science topic “and an excellent way of showing the merging of the arts and the sciences.”

The 5,000-foot traveling display, launched a year ago, explores all aspects of the instrument over the past 400 years, including its role in popular culture and the science of creating sound with wood and steel. It also references the origins of the guitar, descending from instruments that have been around for more than 5,000 years, such as the oud, tanbur and nyatiti.

“It will be great to open people’s eyes to the range of instruments that fall under the simple moniker ‘guitar,’ ” Bateman says.

The collection features more than 70 guitars, from the early sitars of the Middle Ages to modern electric guitars.

“We’ll have guitars from 16th-century Spain and 19th-century Germany; the classics from Martin and Gibson; into the electric age with the Rickenbacker Lapsteel, the Fender Stratocaster, and into the electronic gaming age, with ‘Guitar Hero,’ ” he says.

Johnny Winter, Adrian Belew, Steve Vai and Joe Bonamassa are among real guitar heroes who have loaned instruments for viewing.

“I hope people will have a new understanding of the guitar, and a greater appreciation for what it takes to build one, as well as how the guitar works and how it has evolved,” says HP Newquist, founder and executive director of the National Guitar Museum. He is a musician and former editor-in-chief of Guitar magazine. He also wrote the screenplay for the award-winning documentary, 

“Going Home,” featuring guitarist Robbie Robertson, and wrote and directed “A Portrait,” a documentary featuring John Denver.

“I hope this exhibit inspires people to play. There really is something unique about playing the guitar that can be part of you throughout your entire life,” Newquist says.

The exhibit includes 17 interactive stations, where kids and adults can learn about vibration, pitch, soundwaves and engineering.

“It will allow them to spin, pluck, touch and experience different components of the guitar,” Newquist says.

Touchscreens are built into guitar amplifiers inviting visitors to test their memories using guitar riffs and to learn about decibel levels. “An amplified electric guitar is one of the loudest things ever created,” Newquist says.

From time to time, the science center will demonstrate “Reuben’s Tube,” a way to visually see sound waves using gas flames. “It’s basically like hooking your Stratocaster up to your gas grill,” Bateman says.

There also are “some crazy things,” he says, like the Rock Ock, an eight-neck guitar with 51 strings, playable with eight of your very close friends. Bateman likens it to “Twister for guitar.”

Not to be missed is the “world’s largest playable electric guitar,” certified by the Guinness Book of World Records, more than 43 feet long, with aircraft cable for strings.

“Everyone has something different they’ve told us they like about the exhibit,” Newquist says.

At least an hour is recommended to tour the exhibit.

Special programming through the summer hopefully will encourage repeat visits, Bateman says.

In addition to acoustic concerts by noted local artists, there will be a range of events, including on-site group guitar lessons, and an expert evaluating the collector guitars. 

For more information on the exhibit go to TribLive.

Pitt Panthers Receive A Small Taste of the Olympics

Opening ceremonies for the Olympics are set to take place next Friday.  Everyone is gearing up for their favorite events such as basketball, gymnastics, and swimming.  Three Pitt Panther athletes got a small taste of the Olympics when they were selected to compete in the Olympic Trials a few weeks ago. 


Three University of Pittsburgh swimmers: Luke Nosbisch, Jon Lierley and Austin Caldwell have qualified to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. from June 25-July 2 at the CenturyLink Center. 

The top two finishers in every individual event at the U.S. Olympic Trials will advance to the to the 2012 London Olympic Games as a member of the USA Olympic team.

A local product from Monroeville, Pa., Nosbisch qualified for the Olympic Trials in both the 100M and 200M breaststroke events. Last summer, he recorded a 2:20.15 finish at the Erik Namesnik Senior Circuit meet in the 200M breast. He also earned a time of 1:04.25 in the 100M breast at the 

USA Speedo Championship Series/Eastern Zone South Regional this March. During his rookie season, Nosbisch advanced to the consolation finals at the Big East Championships in the 100M breast (13th) and the 200M breast (10th). He narrowly missed the consolation finals in the 500M free at the conference meet.

Lierley first qualified for the Olympic Trials when he won the 200M butterfly with a time of 2:01.81 at Senior Sectionals in Athens, Ga. Voted the squad’s co-MVP, the Mount Pleasant, S.C. native swam the team's fastest time in the 200M fly this season. He recorded a fourth-place and NCAA B cut in the 200M fly (1:46.40) at the Big East Championship. That time eclipsed the previous school record (1:46.72) and the freshman standard. Lierley also placed seventh in the 100M fly and 11th in the 200M IM at the Big East Championship.

A freestyler from Loveland, Ohio, Caldwell qualified for the Trials in the 50M free during the USA Swimming Sectionals held at Busbey Natatorium last July. Caldwell won the event and was the only swimmer to touch the wall in less than 24 seconds during the prelims of the 50M free. This past season, Caldwell recorded the team’s fastest time in the 50M free (20.63). He advanced to the consolation finals of the 50M free at the Big East Championship and placed 11th overall. Caldwell also finished eighth in the 100 fly and narrowly missed the finals for the 100M free. He served as the lead leg of the 200M free relay and anchored of the 400M free relay at the conference meet. Both teams finished fourth.

In addition to the three U.S qualifiers, Kourosh Ahani (Richmond Hill, Toronto) earned an alternate seed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. An All-Big East performer, Ahani placed second in the 100M fly (54.08) during the Canadian Olympic Trials in late March and will compete in several international meets as a member of the Canadian National Team.

The Three Pitt Athletes did not qualify for the Olympics this year, but we look forward to them competing in the next Olympic Trials in 2016.   For more information please go to the University of Pittsburgh Athletics Website.

A Great New Pittsburgh Event!

Another reason for Pittsburghers to make their way downtown!  Market Square will host a Night Market featuring music, vendors and various types of food.  The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is sponsoring the event to showcase Liberty Avenue and all it has to offer.

For the first time in recent memory, an unused lot in Downtown Pittsburgh is being transformed into a one-night-only Night Market, giving city residents one more reason to venture to (or stay in) the Golden Triangle after work.  The Night Market, which takes places this Friday from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. will feature music by DJ Soy Sos, independent vendors of jewelry, art, and crafts, and food from a variety of local eateries.

Jeremy Waldrup, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, says his organization created this event in order to showcase this particular stretch of Liberty Avenue as a block filled with activity, including a variety of bars and restaurants, and the August Wilson Center.

“By providing individuals with another reason to come to this street we hope to encourage more folks to mill around downtown and see what opportunities there are to experience,” Waldrup says. 

At Friday’s market (located at 917-919 Liberty Avenue), the restaurant Meat & Potatoes will offer a preview of food from its new concept, Pork & Beans, which is expected to open later this fall.  And Conflict Kitchen, which is set to open Downtown in the coming months, will also be serving food.

Among the 15 independent vendors will be Tugboat Printshop and Devorah Naturals.  And café tables and chairs will be set up at the Night Market to encourage guests to linger in the space.

This Friday is also the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl, which begins at 5:30 p.m.

“It should fit very well into the [Gallery Crawl] with people exploring that area,” says Ida D’Errico, of PDP.

D'Errico says this is the only Night Market currently planned, but based on the event’s success there could be more in the future.

“Pittsburgh enjoys various markets and our outdoor plazas, and so potentially this could expand into another location at some future point in time,” she says.

The Night Market is the latest endeavor to come from the Project Pop Up Program, a partnership between Mayor Ravenstahl, the URA, City Planning, and the PDP.


For more information on the Night Market please see PopCity.