The community of Oakland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is "home" to
the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center (UPMC). This community provided the foundation for
the growth and development for both of these multi-billion dollar institutions.
Oakland is also the "home away from home" for
students of Pitt and UPMC. Although most people will agree that the vast
majority of these students cause no problems, there are tremendous problems
in our community caused by those students who do not have a deep sense
of caring and respect for the elderly long-time residents of Oakland.
The impact of Pitt and UPMC’s expansion in our
community has helped to contribute to a decline in population of long-time
residents, whereby long-time residents now may comprise only 20-30% of
the present day population. Nevertheless, these elderly long-time residents
deserve to live out the remainder of their lives with dignity.
There are many problems in regard to University related issues in our
community. These include but are not limited to: never-ending expansion,
binge drinking, litter and trash, fireworks danger, lack of transparency,
pitiful funding, no faculty support, illegal dumping, and inadequate
student support.
There are certainly many communities such as ours throughout America
that face similar problems. The fact that this website exists at all
is a testament to the frustration of our community at not having the
numerous problems resolved. We hope this website will bring to light
the need for all leaders at Pitt and UPMC to have a deeper sense
of caring, and to assume greater responsibility for the community they
have impacted so severely.
We will not mention the names of all the individuals involved in our
correspondences, because the solution to our community’s problems
involves the changing of a collective consciousness within
Pitt and UPMC. The leaders of these institutions are
mentioned though, because they are representative of this consciousness
and of the resistance our community is facing.
Our grassroots movement began in March 2007. We look forward to the day when the long-time residents of Oakland will enjoy
the quality of life they so well deserve and this website
will no longer be necessary.
Carlino Giampolo
January 26, 2009