On campus it’s not ALL work

Looking for something to do in your spare time? Whether you’d like to train for a marathon, bowl a strike, row on the Allegheny or even try to strike up a chat with the king of Spain, there’s a Pitt group for that.

Whatever your talent or interest, indoors or out, chances are good you can find like-minded staff and faculty, right here on campus.

Ham Radio

Among the University’s oldest clubs is the Panther Amateur Radio Club, founded in 1915. Not to be mistaken for Pitt’s radio station WPTS, the group is made up of amateur radio operators and includes faculty, staff, students and alumni among its members.

While the group has an abundance of engineering student members, participants need not be techies to join. Club adviser Juan Manfredi, vice provost for undergraduate studies, said that while many operators enjoy maintaining and repairing the equipment, the skill is in operating the radio. “There is a social side of communicating in addition to the technical side,” he said.

Amateur radio operators must be licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, but the exams are not technical and focus largely on regulations, said Manfredi.

“There is a lot of emphasis on emergency communications,” he said, adding that ham radio operators also enjoy chatting with fellow radio aficionados. When radio contact is made, operators exchange postcard-sized QSL cards to confirm the communication. Recent contacts by the club have included operators in France, Germany and Switzerland.

“People like to talk to people all over the world,” he said, adding that there is an implicit code: no talking about politics or religion. Most operators speak some English and there is a universal lingo among radio operators.

Ham radio operators share a camaraderie that extends worldwide, said Manfredi, who carries his radio wherever he travels.

Among radio operators, everyone is equal, going by first names and call signs, he said. Manfredi is Juan, NA0B, or November Alpha Zero Rebel.

Even King Juan Carlos of Spain is simply Juan Carlos, EA0JC.

Radio operates independent of the Internet or cell towers and thus is important in emergency communications. “When everything else fails, you still have amateur radio,” Manfredi said, citing the importance of amateur radio operators in disaster situations, such as Hurricane Sandy last fall.

Rich Colwell, a staff member in engineering who is active in the Pitt club and other area radio groups, said Pitt’s equipment is used to aid communications during the Pittsburgh marathon and has been utilized in emergency situations locally.

Manfredi said the club’s three main operations are its radio shack on the 11th floor of Benedum Hall, its repeater atop the Cathedral of Learning and its field location at the Laurel Ridge observatory.

The club’s equipment, including a new state-of-the-art antenna that was installed atop Benedum Hall earlier this academic year, is available for members’ use.

Each summer, members participate in a field day at the observatory where they practice using non-commercial power sources such as batteries and solar energy in their communications.

For information, contact club president Geoffrey Wolfe at grw20@pitt.edu.

Musical groups

A number of the University’s musical groups are open to faculty and staff. While some require auditions, others are open to musicians of all skill levels. Details can be found at www.music.pitt.edu/performance.

University Symphony Orchestra

The University Symphony Orchestra is geared mainly toward non-music majors, but staff and faculty are among its members, said director Roger Zahab, a music faculty member. The orchestra performs music ranging from new compositions to pieces from the Baroque period. It rehearses once a week on Wednesday evenings and performs three or four times each term.

Prospective members may schedule an audition at the beginning of the term, said Zahab.

For information, contact Zahab at rzahab@pitt.edu.

Carpathian Ensemble

The Carpathian Ensemble, led by music faculty member Adriana Helbig, is among the newest performance groups at Pitt. It began in 2008 with a half-dozen students as an alternative to the orchestra and has grown to nearly two dozen members. Most are Pitt students, but the group is open to faculty and staff as well as to students from other universities.

The ensemble performs a wide range of ethnic music including Armenian, Bulgarian, Moldavian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovak, Macedonian, gypsy and klezmer.

Not all participants have performance experience, nor do all read music, she said, adding that the style of music performed by the group typically isn’t written down and that members of the ensemble are encouraged to improvise and find their own musical voice. Participants need no audition but  should simply bring their own instrument and join in.

“We want to make everyone feel welcome,” she said.

The group practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays 4-5:15 p.m., with some weekend and evening workshops. It performs as part of Pitt’s annual world music festival each December and has collaborated with ethnic community groups on performances elsewhere in the community. The Carpathian Ensemble is scheduled to perform as part of the Pittsburgh Folk Festival Friday and Saturday at Soldiers and Sailors Hall.

For information, contact Helbig at anh59@pitt.edu.

Women’s Choral Ensemble

Music faculty member Lorraine Milovac, who directs the Women’s Choral Ensemble, said the choir performs three main concerts on campus and at a women’s choir festival each year, and sings at other local events. The group will embark on a mini-tour of Chicago over Memorial Day weekend, she said.

Auditions for the group are held during the first week of the fall term. Rehearsals are Mondays and Wednesdays 4-6 p.m. in Bellefield Hall.

For more information, contact Milovac at lmilovac@verizon.net.

Gamelan Ensemble

For those who aspire to escape Western musical tradition, the gongs, drums and tuned metal bars of Pitt’s Gamelan Ensemble provide the opportunity to perform Indonesian music. No auditions are required, but participants must commit to attend, said director Andrew Weintraub, chair of the music department. “It’s not like with a Western instrument where you can work by yourself and get good at it; you have to work together with the group,” he said.

Most members are Pitt students, but the group includes some members from the community as well.

Musicians of all ability levels are welcome, Weintraub said, adding that the ensemble aims to create a community around music. “Everyone has a role to play in the community. Everyone is welcomed in and appreciated,” he said.

The ensemble meets in Bellefield Hall twice a week, typically 4-5:20 p.m. during the fall and spring terms. New participants can join the group at the start of the term.

The Gamelan Ensemble performs at Pitt’s world music festival each December and ends the spring term with concerts in Bellefield Hall.

The group also performs in the community, Weintraub said, noting that the ensemble has played at local hospitals and schools as well as at the Pittsburgh Zoo (in conjunction with the Komodo dragon exhibit) and during a WQED holiday special.

Contact Weintraub at anwein@pitt.edu for information.

Sports

Bowling

The Panther bowling league is finishing its current season April 30 but bowling will resume in September.

The social league is open to staff, faculty, grad students, retirees and spouses of all ability levels. It meets at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at the PAA in Oakland.

The new season will start with an open house on Sept. 3 and wraps up with a banquet and prizes in May.

Bowlers can join as individuals or form their own four- or five-member teams. Unlike other leagues, bowlers pay only when they bowl. The cost is $10, which includes three games and shoe rental. A cash bar is available.

Organizer Howard Goodman, a financial analyst in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s budget and financial reporting department, said the league has eight teams this year and has averaged about 25 participants per week with more than 30 total members.

The league welcomes new members; a second weekly bowling night could be added if there is sufficient interest, he said.

For information, contact Goodman at 4-8956 or hgoodman@cfo.pitt.edu or Dan McCue at the PAA at 412/586-2075 or Dan.McCue@paaclub.org.

Running

Runners who would like to train on and near campus can join the Panther Pride. The group, new this academic year, is open to faculty, staff and students of all ability levels.

Group leaders have developed a training regimen that includes intermediate-length weekday runs and a longer run on Saturday mornings. In addition, seminars on topics such as conditioning, injury prevention and nutrition are offered every two weeks.

Runs for beginners, intermediate-level or advanced runners are organized online with leaders posting their availability and participants signing up for runs, which typically depart from the central campus area and vary in length from one to 18 miles, said Samuel Vescovi, recreational sports coordinator in the Department of Intramurals and Recreation.

Most current participants are training for the May 5 Pittsburgh Marathon or half-marathon, but Vescovi said he hopes the Panther Pride will become an ongoing community of runners.

More than half of the current participants are training for their first marathon, he said, adding that the group also includes some with extensive racing experience.

The Pitt group is partnering with the Steel City Road Runners Club, which organizes group runs and offers seminars and special events.

More than 100 faculty, staff and students have signed up for the group, but Vescovi said he’d like to have 200 participants and continue the group over the summer and beyond.

For details visit www.intramurals.pitt.edu/RunatPitt.php.

Rowing

A new season is beginning for the Pitt Masters Rowing Club.

The club practices Mondays and Wednesdays noon-1 p.m. in the Bellefield Hall crew room, with water practices on Thursday evenings at Three Rivers Rowing at Washington’s Landing, weather permitting.

Fun, fitness and camaraderie are among the goals of the club, said coxswain and co-captain Sherry Shrum, a staff member in Public Affairs. In addition to faculty and staff, graduate students also may participate in the masters club.

Although members must have basic swimming skills and must pass a swim test before being permitted to row on the water, most have no prior rowing experience, she said.

The group is open to men and women of all ages.

Shrum said participants have the opportunity to race against other masters groups in competitions such as the Head of the Ohio regatta, but racing isn’t required. In fact, rowing on the water isn’t required: Some members choose to row strictly for fitness indoors.

Currently, the group has about 15 members, but not all compete on the water.

“We would love to have more members,” Shrum said, adding that in addition to rowers, “We also need short, loud people to cox.”

She said the group hopes to have at least enough rowers to fill an eight-person shell and a four-person shell this season.

Fitness memberships that include access to the rowing room and sessions twice weekly are $90 for a half year or $180 for a full year. Water and fitness memberships that include one water practice per week May-October are $150 for a half-year and $240 for the full year.

Prospective rowers can find information on the club at https://sites.google.com/site/pittmastersrowingclub/home.

Student groups

Students have hundreds of choices on the Pittsburgh campus and, while not all student groups have non-student participants, University administrators say that faculty and staff can join student groups as associate members. A list of clubs can be found at www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/SORCstudentorgs.

—Kimberly K. Barlow