Briefly Noted

CBA Students Win National Marketing Competition

Robert Gilbert and 23 College of Business Administration students recently won a national marketing competition sponsored by American Honda Motor Co. The competition, “The Accord Coupe Marketing Challenge: New Car, New Generation,” allowed college students to compete in raising awareness for the vehicle on their respective campuses. The winning students were enrolled in Gilbert’s Projects in Marketing class, which provides students with hands-on marketing experience. Gilbert is a professor of business administration in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.

Throughout the fall semester, the student-run marketing agency, Pros In Motion, designed and implemented the “Shake It Up” campaign. The campaign featured Accord Coupe replicas in lecture halls and the Pitt Crew, a four-member street team dressed in white Honda racing suits that roamed the streets of Oakland in search of students willing to “shake it up.” The team also held a CAR-nival, which included television game-show-style entertainment and prizes.

One of three schools selected to present its campaign to Honda executives at the company’s headquarters in Torrance, Calif., the Pitt team won the challenge’s first place trophy and $5,000. During last spring’s Honda competition, Pitt students marketed the Honda Fit crossover vehicle and also took home Honda’s first place trophy.
—By Amanda Leff

Chinese Exhibition Month to Begin Jan. 28

Pitt’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) will host Chinese Exhibition Month from Jan. 28 to Feb. 29.

The events include an Olympic exhibition, Spring Festival stage show, film screenings, karaoke, Ball Night, and several tea houses. CSSA will use this month-long celebration to reinforce the Chinese culture in Pittsburgh and promote the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, whose theme is “One World, One Dream.”

Schedule of events:

Jan. 28–Olympic Exhibition and Tea House, 3-7 p.m, William Pitt Union (WPU) Ballroom. Refreshments and prizes will be provided.

Feb. 3–Spring Festival Stage Show and Tea House, WPU Ballroom, Assembly Room, and Kuztman Room. Teahouse begins at 3 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. (preregistration required, two-ticket limit per Pitt ID), stage show at 8 p.m., and festival activities at 10 p.m.

Feb. 9–Karaoke, 7-11 p.m., WPU Dining Room A.

Feb. 17–Ball Night, 7-11 p.m., WPU Assembly Room.

In addition, beginning Jan. 23, a film will be shown every Wednesday and Friday, 7-11 p.m., Swanson School of Engineering Auditorium. Films shown from 7-9 p.m. will have English subtitles.

These events are open to students, faculty, and staff. The program is cosponsored by Pitt’s Asian Studies Center, University Center for International Studies, Graduate and Professional Student Association, Office of Cross-Cultural and Leadership Development, Office of International Services, Confucius Institute, and East Asian Library and GlaxoSmithKline’s Asian Employee Support Network. For more information, contact Wan Zhu at 412-251-3597, or e-mail sorc+csfa@pitt.edu, or visit www.pittcssa.net.
—By Amanda Leff

GSPH Dean Burke Launches Global Health Blog

Donald S. Burke, dean of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health and associate vice chancellor for global health, has launched a blog to chronicle his world tour of international sites associated with the health sciences at the University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). The blog can be viewed at www.publichealth.pitt.edu/deansblog.

“An important first step in building a strong global health program is to examine ongoing research and practice activities at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC international sites where we already have strong relationships,” Burke said. “This blog will allow me to describe my travels and offer my observations in real time to those interested in global health.”

The sites Burke is visiting during his 24-day trip this month are:

• Palermo, Italy, home to the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Specialized Therapies (ISMETT) and a biomedical research and biotechnology center founded in partnership with UPMC.
• Doha, Qatar, where UPMC offers education, training and services to the emergency medical system. Several American universities have established schools in Qatar, such as the computer science program run by Carnegie Mellon University.
• Hyderabad, India, home of the MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences, a health care facility comprising two hospitals, a medical college and nursing school, and a large community health project. Pitt cardiologist P.S. Reddy founded MediCiti.
• Wuhan, China, a sister city to Pittsburgh and home to Wuhan University. Pitt’s Asian Studies Center was awarded Pennsylvania’s first Confucius Institute by the Chinese Ministry of Education. Burke is on the advisory board of the Confucius Institute, a cooperative project with Wuhan University.

—By Clare Collins