The Best People

Best SGB member: Todd Brandon Morris

Todd Brandon Morris – known as “TBM” to his… Best SGB member: Todd Brandon Morris

Todd Brandon Morris – known as “TBM” to his friends and constituents – humbly describes his Student Government Board triumphs as “consistent.” You, the voters, know that’s just TBM’s typical modesty shining through. “Your good works do not go unnoticed,” said the people, placing upon his humble brow the laurels of

Best SGB Member.

How did TBM react to his latest honor?

“Of course they voted for me!” he laughed, mellifluously.

It’s the kind of self-deprecating confidence for which TBM is widely known. A man of many contradictions, he is both humble and confident, stern but fair. With his can-do attitude, excellent listening skills and impeccable fashion sense, it’s Todd Brandon Morris who epitomizes everything students look for in a representative. Truly, Zeus smiles upon him and all he does.

– Jesse Hicks, columnist

Best SGB member to complain about: Jesse Horstmann

Why is it that Jesse Horstmann is so easy to complain about?

He’s been there forever.

Two years ago, he ran for Student Government Board with Rob Sully and lost. Then he was the public relations chair. Then he ran for board again, and won. Now he’s president pro-tempore (which is Latin for “president in favor of tempores”), and he’s running for the big chair in order, it seems, to eliminate the last two words of that title.

In 1787, Horstmann founded the Pittsburgh Academy to be a “beacon in the wilderness,” and piloted the school through nearly two centuries of growth and development before making it state-related in 1966. In 1909, he made the Panther the school’s official mascot, then identified the structure of Vitamin C in 1932, shortly before winning the gold medal in the 800-meter race in the 1936 Olympics with a time of 1:52.9. And, only a brief 19 years later, Horstmann formulated and tested the vaccine for Polio, winning the Nobel Prize for science.

With that much to complain about, it’s really hard to imagine Pitt students do anything else.

But Horstmann didn’t get to this hallowed ground of ubiquitousness all by himself. No, he has to give some of the credit to his big brother, the (in)famous John Paul Horstmann, who got Jesse started at what was then called Creation Station (now it’s Channel 46 or UPTV or FOX News III or something).

That’s right, the annoyance with Jesse most likely started when all of Creation Station’s viewership tuned into “Ghetto Gourmet,” to which even Jesse will admit some lack of vision.

“It was a horrible show,” he said.

– Greg Heller-LaBelle, Editor in Chief

Best sports star and Pitt celebrity: Larry Fitzgerald

Everybody’s talking about Larry Fitzgerald, and with good reason.

With 68 receptions for 1,282 yards and 17 touchdowns this year, the sophomore wide receiver has already set Big East and Pitt single-season records for touchdowns. And with eight more catches and 175 more yards, Fitzgerald will set conference and school records for receptions and yardage in a season.

Fitzgerald is also two touchdowns away from setting a Pitt record for touchdown passes in a career.

“I was at Rutgers a few weeks ago, and the assembled [National Football League] scouts left drool marks on press row after watching Fitzgerald,” ESPN Magazine senior writer Gene Wojciechowski said recently about the receiver. “One scout, a good one, said Fitzgerald received the highest rating he’s ever given a player.”

“This young man is legit,” said former Pitt running back and Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett. “He is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

A candidate for the Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp and Maxwell National Player of the Year awards and the Biletnikoff Award, Fitzgerald leads the nation in receiving yardage and total touchdowns.

And all this from a guy who is only a sophomore.

– Joe Marchilena, Sports Editor

Best administrator: Chancellor Mark Nordenberg

Former Dean of the Law School and current chancellor and chief executive of Pitt, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg was a distinguished teacher and has published books, articles and reports on civil litigation. Why is he our favorite administrator? He holds annual banquets at his house, honoring distinguished leaders throughout the University of Pittsburgh; he is often in the stands at Pitt sports events; and he is personable and willing to help students. His office is centrally located in the Cathedral of Learning, so he is also accessible. He is not only cooperative with students and faculty, but on a national level, Nordenberg has served on the United States Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules (be careful, students) and locally, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee. In 1999, Nordenberg was named as a Pittsburgh Magazine Pittsburgher of the Year. Chancellor Nordenberg is also from my home state of Minnesota, which makes him a good, home-grown Midwestern boy. Cheers to the chancellor!

– Ashley Ruszkowski, staff writer

Best Pitt police officer: Tim Delaney

Being cited is never very enjoyable. No one wants her illegal revelry to be interrupted by an officer of the law. You face fines, angry parents and public humiliation in the Police Blotter.

But if you have to be cited, for any form of illicit behavior, you’d like it to be the good Chief who writes you up.

Pitt police Chief Tim Delaney is your favorite Pitt police officer for many reasons. His friendly nature, sense of humor and excellent manners will make any encounter professional but relaxed. Never could a person bust you for breaking the law with more class and style than Delaney.

If you’re lucky, you’ll only run into the chief at Pitt events, and not on official business. But whatever the reason for your meeting, just remember to be cordial – according to your votes, he’s the best there is.

– J. Elizabeth Strohm, News Editor

Best WPTS DJ : Craig Dicht

Coming over the radio waves every Saturday afternoon from 4 to 6 on 92.1 FM, the “DJ Big Dicht Plays the Hits” and “Get Dicht” WPTS disc jockey, Craig Dicht, has certainly made an impression on campus. That’s why he’s the best WPTS DJ for 2003.

Modestly, Dicht thinks he was voted solely based on the fact that he is well-connected. He is currently the vice president of Amnesty International, he is involved with Students in Solidarity and over the summer worked for Scotty at his hot dog cart.

Dicht said that Scotty used to tell everybody that he was a DJ, calling out often to customers, “This is Craig; he works for the radio station.”

Dicht thinks that he will probably be able to move past the recognition and not let the success go to his head, though the news, he said, “Certainly made my day, [but] it seemed a little absurd.”

One thing is for certain – Dicht will continue to play the collection of vinyl he has recently found up at the station, with tunes that range from ’80s rock to Christian gospel music.

– Christian Schoening, Managing Editor

Best columnist: Melissa Meinzer

Once I had sat down and decided to start a sex advice column at The Pitt News, the choice of who to write it was easy.

Really, Melissa stood out as the obvious pick. Who else, I thought, has the breadth of experience necessary for this? She’s been doing this for years. She really knows what it’s about. She’s won awards for all different styles and techniques. She’s good in long ones and quickies. She’s loud; she’s energetic; she’s in control of what she’s doing. Melissa is clearly the one with the natural ability and years of practice necessary for this job.

And I hear she knows a little about sex, too.

-Greg Heller-LaBelle, Editor in Chief

Best local news personality: Peggy Finnegan

The local television news scene is continually in flux. Anchors come and go as often as FOX News bashes liberals. But, in Pittsburgh, there are only a couple faces that have remained constant. One is Peggy Finnegan of WPXI.

Since January, 1990, Finnegan has been a staple of WPXI news. She is one half of the longest-running news anchor team in Pittsburgh news; the other half is David Johnson. And during her tenure at WPXI, the local NBC affiliate has gone from a distant third place in the local news ratings to one that has won awards and the hearts and minds of the city – surely thanks in some great part to her contributions.

Notable also are her personal achievements. She is a breast cancer survivor and an advocate of early detection, and she carried the Olympic torch when it made its way through Pittsburgh in 2002.

But it’s her on-air personality that is most appealing. She has an obvious rapport with co-anchor Johnson. When they work together, the news comes fast and furious. And when she’s reporting the news, she does so with class and charisma – something that can’t be said for every anchor in Pittsburgh.

– Dante A. Ciampaglia, Assistant A’E Editor

Best bartender: Mike Barron

Upon hearing the glorious news that his roommate, friend and fellow barman at Denny’s Bar had earned

Best Bartender laurels, Curt Wadsworth could hardly contain his elation for Mike Barron, best ‘tender in the land.

“This is bad. This is so bad. His head’s gonna be like, ‘woo!’ He has hat problems now. He’ll never be able to fit in the apartment,” an overjoyed Wadsworth said of his colleague.

Barron, a 28-year-old law student at Pitt, said of his kind compatriot, Wadsworth, “I love that man. No I don’t. When Curtis looks in the mirror, he sees some sort of Adonis, whereas he’s Jabba the Hutt.”

Despite their overwhelming affection for one another and the fantastically friendly and unpretentious mainstay of South Oakland that is Denny’s Bar, there was no animosity from the bartenders at not being able to share the honor.

“I want a recall,” quoth Wadsworth. “I’m takin’ this to the Supreme Court.”

– Melissa Meinzer, Opinions Editor

Best Oakland regular: Sombrero Man

Some say he is a wealthy heir who spends his summers living the life of a playboy in his Squirrel Hill mansion. Others believe he is secretly the owner of a very powerful corporation. Very few people believe he actually came from Mexico.

Whatever your beliefs about Sombrero Man – who, contrary to rumors of his death, is still alive, kicking and wearing his trademark hat – he’s your favorite Oakland regular. He doesn’t sing or tell elaborate lies. He’s never held an interesting sign or tried to bargain with you. He just sits, chants and, most of the time, wears a really cool hat.

For Sombrero Man, that is enough.

– J. Elizabeth Strohm, News Editor

Best dorm security guard: Sarah Dobbins

If you’re a Pitt student living in McCormick Hall, chances are you know Sarah Dobbins. Since August, Sarah has worked as a security guard at the residence hall Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 3 to 11 p.m.

Already on a first-name basis with many McCormick residents, Dobbins says that earning the respect of the residents by being fair and friendly helps her fulfill the tougher requirements of her job when she has to be hard on someone.

“I talk to a lot of different kinds of people here every day,” she says, “and none of the students give me a hard time.”

It may help that Dobbins, 43, is the mother of two grown children, which also leads to her occasionally giving out some motherly advice.

“I’m not here to make their lives miserable or difficult or chastise them like their mom” says Dobbins. “But if it’s cold outside and I see them without a jacket I’ll say, ‘You’re gonna freeze. You better put something warmer on.'”

Apart from her security duties, Dobbins also works as a seasonal tax preparer, from around December to April, for Jackson Hewitt in Downtown Pittsburgh and takes company tax classes two nights a week to stay up to date on procedures.

– Christian Niedan, staff writer

Best Pitt professor: Ray Jones

You can’t say enough about this guy. For the second year in a row, Ray Jones is voted best teacher on campus, and for good reason. From throwing books across the room to standing on classroom desks, this guy is among the few who can pull off the sandals-and-suit look. And he’s not afraid to take that suit coat off and throw it across the room.

A professor in the College of Business Administration, Ray teaches such classes as Business Ethics and Organizational Behavior. But beyond what he teaches from the books, Ray motivates his students to “go out there and make it happen, people,” his favorite line. He truly teaches with a strong passion to make his students better people. A semester with him will carry with you all the way through the end.

– Ryan Faloon, staff writer