Monday, March 08, 1999

Downsizing Pitt Athletics -- writing on the wall

Pitt to Downsizes the Football Program

The writing is on the wall.

Pulling the Plug on the Pitt Pigskin Program
Bulldoze Pitt's athletic history and football memories by swinging the wrecking ball on Pitt Stadium. Disenfranchize the student body and alumni now so that the next step is easier to swallow. It is going to be easier to pull the plug on the program later if the program weakens further, migrates off campus and shares a stadium.

It is quite possible that Pitt is looking to downgrade football some time in the future. The football team can move off of campus on a daily basis and then be elimiated or switch to non-varsity status at a later date.

Pitt needs to continue to disenfranchize and alumni and the student body to its allegiance to the football program and football experience. Then in the future, the program's financial foudation can be eliminated or changed in radical ways.

Pitt could turn into a non-scholarship program, such as with Duquesne. Or, Pitt could got to a lower level of funding, such as with Villanova. Or, Pitt could choose to go to a new conference, such as the Mid American Conference. Or, Pitt could choose to go to another conference with similar schools, such as Louisiville. Cincinnatti, Cleveland State,

The Pitt Hockey team, a club organization, plays off campus and could come or go without too much of an impact upon the campus life. and move its football team off-campus

Sunday, March 07, 1999

How To Case, FUD concepts and living document

How are the Happening Here?

    Expect both
  1. confusion, and a
  2. hyper-experience.

Confusion

Expect confusion because UPMC and the Univ. of Pittsburgh are two of the major parties involved. These folks like to operate within a smoke-screen of their own creation so as to side-step accountability and community interaction.

    Pitt officials have:
  1. "silenced the band."
  2. Slithered in the shaddows of Plan B with secret dealings that impact donor and taxpayer funding.
  3. Kicked out student representates from Board of Trustees meetings. Pitt is locking the doors and turning back the clock on decades of witnessing and interaction.
  4. Forced students to disrobe. That's right, two students, in full view of the University President and Athletic Director, were given police escorts away from their seats at the Fieldhouse and had to take off their shirts, hence confiscation of free speech.
Pitt wants confusion and secrecy. Pitt wants to do what Pitt wants to do. And Pitt makes for a spitefull foe who does not hesitate to flex its muscles in all the wrong places.

Hence, the position paper your about to examine has been crafted by the gathering and integration of a number of chunks of information that has been troublesome to gather. Pitt won't share its plans to any extent, and we've asked.

The Hyper Experience

As things are discovered and made accessible, they are to be shared here for all to see and comment upon. This position paper is a give-and-take process, a living document. We want to connect the dots for the first-time readers and visitors, but we are moving from an unknown to another unknown destination. Things are fluid.

Help us by passing along your questions.

Looking for that simple one-page executive summary? Click here!

The FUD Concept Map


The Process of the Position Paper and Communications of Living Document



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