Pitt Hosts Fourth Annual Pittsburgh Federal Career Day

Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs will host the fourth annual Pittsburgh Federal Career Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 16 in the William Pitt Union (WPU). This free event is open to all college students and graduates interested in employment with the federal government.

Today is the deadline for registration. For more information and to register, visit www.gspia.pitt.edu/fcd.

More than 50 federal agencies will be represented at the career day’s job fair in the WPU Ballroom and Assembly Rooms. Marta Brito Pérez, associate director of Human Capital Leadership and Merit System Accountability in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, will deliver the keynote speech at 10 a.m. in the Kurtzman Room.

The workshops will include the following:

• “Getting the Knots Out of the Federal Application Process String (Understanding the Federal Employment Process),” 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Room 609;

• “The ‘Mins.’ The Minimum Knowledge Needed to Get Your Skills and Abilities Noticed in the Federal Application Process (Understanding the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Application),” 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Room 637;

• “High End! High Tech! The True Test of Finding Mission Critical Occupations Within the Federal Government,” noon, Room 540;

• “Success in 30 Seconds With Your Résumé: The Time It Takes a Recruiter to Review Your Résumé,” 1:30 p.m., Room 540; and

• “Securing Internships With the Federal Government,” 2:15 p.m., Room 609.

Cosponsors include Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, School of Law, College of General Studies, and Office of Career Services; Carnegie Mellon University’s H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, Tepper School of Business, and Career Center; Duquesne University’s School of Law and Career Services Center; Carlow University’s Center for Career and Professional Enrichment; the Pittsburgh Federal Executive Board; the Partnership for Public Service; and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

—Audra Sorman

Legalized Gambling Effects Will Be Profound, Dean Says

The effects of legalized gambling on Pennsylvania communities will be profound, Larry Davis, Pitt School of Social Work dean and Donald M. Henderson Professor, told a Press Club of Western Pennsylvania audience Oct. 27. “You’ll see more divorce, more suicide, more bankruptcy,” he said. But it’s also true that communities near casinos might get an economic boost, Davis added.

The tension between those probable results once slot casinos are operating in the region was the theme of the Press Club panel discussion, televised statewide from the Engineers’ Building downtown.

Panelists included Davis; Pittsburgh’s outgoing mayor Tom Murphy; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Andrew Conte; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Gary Rotstein; and Evan Stoddard (Ph.D., GSPIA ’74), past president of the antigambling lobby, No Dice, and associate dean of McAnulty College at Duquesne University. Tonia Caruso (B.A., CAS ’92), WQED-TV reporter and anchor, moderated the discussion, which was introduced by Maddy Ross, Press Club president and Pitt associate vice chancellor for national media relations.

Welsh Room Committee Close to Reaching Goal

The Welsh Nationality Room Committee at Pitt has announced that David M. Roderick, former chair and CEO of U.S. Steel Corporation, has solicited gifts from three major Pittsburgh institutions toward the establishment of the Welsh Nationality Classroom at the University. U.S. Steel Corporation, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have made contributions of $50,000 each.

According to Jack Owen, cochair of the Welsh committee and attorney-shareholder at Polito & Smock, PC, the Welsh committee has raised approximately $400,000 toward its $450,000 goal.

“Thanks to Mr. Roderick, our dream of adding a Welsh Nationality Room to the 26 already there is now a reality,” Owen said. “Mr. Roderick is chairman of our business endorsement council, and it is because of his leadership and efforts that we have been able to secure numerous other contributions.”

Roderick recently gave a personal gift of $10,000, which is being matched by both Texas Instruments and Procter & Gamble.

The drive to establish a Welsh Nationality Room at Pitt is being spearheaded by members of the Welsh Fellowship of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. In Pittsburgh, the fellowship is known as The St. David’s Society; it has woked with other Welsh societies in the United States to create a room that is a representation of an 18th-century Welsh chapel and attached longhouse.

Owen said that the exact age of the local St. David’s Society is not known, but Roderick had shown him a gold pocket watch given to his grandfather on March 1(St. David’s Day), 1890, by the local St. David’s Society.

“This proves,” Owen said, “that the society existed before 1890, making us more than 115 years old. We are grateful to Mr. Roderick for helping us document the age of our society, for his personal generous pledge, and for helping us secure pledges from businesses.”

—Patricia Lomando White

Heinz Chapel to Host Douglas Levine Trio

The Douglas Levine Trio will present “Standards and Originals” as part of the Heinz Chapel Pittsburgh Artists Series at 8 p.m. Nov. 17 in Heinz Memorial Chapel.

The Douglas Levine Trio performs standard and modern jazz repertoire and improvisation. The trio includes pianist and composer Douglas Levine, bassist Paul Thompson, and drummer Thomas Wendt.

Levine is a piano soloist, composer, arranger, musical director, and teacher. Early this year, he released Kromatica, his debut recording of original piano compositions and arrangements. Levine has written original music for City Theatre, Attack Theatre, Gateway to the Arts, Pitt Repertory Theatre, Renaissance City Women’s Choir, and Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

Thompson recently celebrated his 10th year of playing bass professionally. He has shared the stage with Stanley Turrentine, James Moody, Maynard Ferguson, and other jazz legends. He’s been in the pit orchestra for productions of Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and the Playhouse Rep and Conservatory companies. He is also an adjunct teacher at his alma mater, CAPA High School.

Wendt has been playing the drums professionally since the age of 14. He has taught on the faculty of Pittsburgh’s Afro-American Music Institute since 1997. Wendt has performed in and around the Pittsburgh area with Gene Ludwig, Dwayne Dolphin, Jimmy Ponder, Sean Jones, Joe Negri, Maureen Budway, and Sandy Staley. He also has played with such visiting international artists as Donald Byrd, Javon Jackson, David “Fathead” Newman, James Moody, Clark Terry, Cecil Bridgewater, Monty Alexander, and Papa John Defrancesco.

Admission is $12. Tickets for the entire concert series are $50.

For more information, call 412-624-4157 or visit www.discover.pitt.edu/chapel.

—Natasha M. Surles