RAs get par-tay

Marquelle Matthews, Staff Writer

Two students side-by-side guzzle… RAs get par-tay

Marquelle Matthews, Staff Writer

Two students side-by-side guzzle down water. They frantically grab jump ropes and circle them over their heads several times, as fast as they can, mouths still full. They race to a bucket some distance away and spit their mouthfuls of water into it.

One of the students peers down into the bucket.

“That’s so nasty,” he says, grimacing.

This nastiness was part of Resident Assistant Appreciation Day 2006, held in the William Pitt Union last Wednesday. Residence Life and the Division of Student Affairs held the event in honor of about 120 students who devote their time as RAs.

School of Education Professor Charlene Trovato said they decided to engage the students at the event in various activities that would show off their strengths. She said the RAs are great problem solvers and leaders; they are flexible and they like to laugh and have a good time.

“Students love to play games and have fun,” she said, “so what better way to show them how much we appreciate all they do for the University.”

Trovato announced, “Let the games begin,” and the RA Olympics were underway.

There were six stations, including the water-spitting game, tug of war, Twister, a version of telephone called “instant message,” pass the ball under your neck and a trust-based game in which one teammate was blindfolded while another directed him through an obstacle course.

“I think the tug-of-war station is the favorite,” Trovato said, as two students high-fived each other and shouted in triumph.

The RAs were treated to cake and presented with prizes at the end.

They received PLAY-DOH to represent their flexibility. Trovato said that no matter which way you pull these students, they always revert back to their central core.

They were also given bouncy balls to show that they always bounce back from any situation.

According to junior Jackie Davis, the hardest part about being an RA is learning time management. Davis – who has been an RA in Lothrop Hall for two years – said she loves meeting the students at the beginning and watching them change as the year progresses. She also said that she’s acquired great references and contacts for later in life.

Sophomore Timmy Deer, who is an RA in Litchfield Tower B, said, “It’s nice that they find creative ways to show us how much they care.”

Entrepreneurs pass knowledge on

Leigh Remizowski, Senior Staff Writer

A panel of present-day entrepreneurs shared their stories with a group of future entrepreneurs Thursday.

The Entrepreneurs’ Society event featured Christine Probert and Megan Misgalla who co-founded Presenting Pittsburgh Inc.; Joey Rahimi, the chief marketing officer and co-founder of College Prowler Inc.; and Dennis Slevin, a professor at Pitt’s graduate school of business.

The panel members gave their insight about how to go about starting a business.

Presenting Pittsburgh markets the city and provides services for employees that relocate to Pittsburgh. Probert and Misgalla didn’t know each other personally before going into business and now, after seven years, they attribute their successful startup to their business plan and their passion.

“We dressed like we were real, we acted like we were real and we were passionate about the fact that we could be real,” Probert said.

Rahimi, who started a business making college guidebooks based on his unhappy first-year experience at Carnegie Mellon University said that his best advice would be to “bootstrap as much as possible.”

Starting with virtually no money, Rahimi relied on whatever he could get for free – free office space, free legal advice and free Internet. Three and a half years later, College Prowler has 15 employees and 214 guidebooks.