The good news for students in the Oakland Zoo and the Panther Pitt is that the University’s… The good news for students in the Oakland Zoo and the Panther Pitt is that the University’s new program, “Quest for Excellence,” will not affect them. The people they’re always trying to get to stand up and cheer more, however, it will affect.

Athletics director Jeff Long spoke yesterday at the Petersen Events Center about the new program, which is geared toward raising $45 million for Pitt athletics. It is a part of the University’s program called “Discovering A World of Possibilities,” which is aimed at raising $1 billion total in donations.

The $45 million fundraising campaign is broken down into smaller campaigns. Twenty-five million dollars will go to capital projects, $15 million to annual scholarship fund support and another $5 million toward an endowed scholarship fund, Long says.

The majority of the $25 million aimed toward capital projects will help Pitt renovate and build new facilities that several sports programs desperately need.

“We certainly have a great number of needs that we need to address in our program,” Long said. “We think this fundraising program will help us do that.”

Pitt is desperately in need of renovations for its baseball and softball fields. Trees Field, where the baseball team competes, consists of a turf infield and a grass outfield. A makeshift right-field wall is put up for the season each year. Such a thing is hardly up to Big East conference standards, and that makes it difficult at times for coach Joe Jordano to recruit.

Trees Pool is also in need of renovation for the high-profile swimming program that Chuck Knoles has built at Pitt.

The men and women’s soccer teams play at Founders Field, a soccer field North of the city — a location that makes it difficult for fans to come and support the teams. Track and field is also in need of its own facility.

Additionally, the women’s tennis team doesn’t even have a place to call home. They move around from court to court, which makes it seem like they’re always on the road. A tennis court in Oakland would surely make coach George Dieffenbach happy.

Long said the new facilities would either be on campus or as close to campus as possible, noting that real estate in Oakland is tough to obtain. The South Side could be a strong candidate for future athletic facilities.

Already built is the Petersen Events Center, which will require a 25 percent increase in donation for men’s basketball season tickets next year. Right now, to sit in the sections across from and behind the Oakland Zoo, it costs $410 with a required donation of an additional $1,000. Next year, Pitt will ask for a gift of $1,250, and $1,500 the year after that. Tickets for Loge seating — between the upper and lower decks — also cost $410 for the ticket and will require a $625 gift next year (and $750 for the following 2006-07 season).

Anyone wanting seats in the VIP section — the first and second rows along the court — will have to donate $3,000 for the 2006-07 season. That’s in addition to the $1,050 face value for the seat.

As for football, some sections that never had to add donations to the cost of the tickets themselves will now have to. Fans buying tickets for the Panther Gold, Blue and Red sections will be required to donate money with their season tickets.

The Panther Gold section, located between the 40-yard lines in the upper and lower decks, will soon require a $100 donation in addition to $144 for season tickets. Panther Blue, between the 40- and 30-yard lines, will soon require a $75 donation, and those in the Panther Red section, between the 30- and 10-yard lines will need to pay a $50 donation.

The middle club seats, which are gray in color, will call for an extra $500 ($240 regular season ticket price), and the corner club seats will need a donation of $250.

Long insists that the increases are reasonable.

“If you look at where we stand in our ticket prices, we are very moderate,” he said. “I think even with our increases, our [season] ticket prices do not get us near the top of the Big East conference. [The increase in costs] certainly doesn’t get us anywhere near the top of some of the other conferences, BCS conferences in the country.”

He also asked that fans not jump to conclusions, because the “Quest for Excellence” program is very detailed.

“I think our fans need to reserve judgment on the plan until they really see the details and how it affects them personally,” he said, “I do want to make sure our fans and our fan base know that the detail[ed] information is coming out through the mail and is on our Web site.”

Even without the details, an argument is being made suggesting that if fans are going to have to pay more for their seats, they should get a more appealing non-conference schedule. Why do they have to pay extra money to see Youngstown State come to Heinz Field?

The answer:

“It’s something that we are dealing with almost daily, trying to redo the schedules that are already in place,” Long said. “It’s just not as easy as calling up the school and saying ‘Let’s do a home and home.'”

He further explained the complexity of the scheduling:

“I know some people look at me kind of cock-eyed when I say this, it’s become difficult, because Pittsburgh has become recognized as a quality program across the county. We are not an easy win.”

It is for that reason that Long is satisfied with the product that Panther fans are getting. He mentioned the five straight bowl appearances, including the Fiesta Bowl this past year.

“That’s one point I want to make, that the steps we are taking are moderate steps and they’re steps we need to take, and we certainly have a product, I believe [in],” he said. “I’m very proud of our product.”

The plan is effective immediately, and the details are sketched out on Pitt’s athletics Web site. Visit www.pittsburghpanthers.com for all the details pertaining to the “Quest for Excellence” campaign.