Board majority votes to extend Readership Program

The fate of the Collegiate Readership Program has been determined for the next year, and the Student Government Board has decided on an extension.

At the weekly public meeting Tuesday night, the Board members voted on the status of the readership program before a room of about 20 students gathered in Nordy’s Place of the William Pitt Union. During the hour-long meeting, the Board — responsible for allocating the more than $2.3 million Student Activities Fund — also focused on developments that came about in the past week, including a conflict between the Board and the Elections Committee and the Zulema Street fire.

The Board voted to extend the Collegiate Readership Program for the next academic year. The program grants all non-College of General Studies Pitt undergraduates free on-campus access to 300 copies of USA Today and 300 copies of The New York Times each weekday. Board member Mike Nites was the sole dissenter.

Board President Gordon Louderback said that after months of discussions and student surveys regarding the future of the program, the Board felt ready to vote on extending it for the next year. The motion to extend the program for the next academic year passed, and students will have access to the daily newspapers until the 2014 Board reconvenes next April to decide whether to extend the program into the 2014-2015 academic year.

The motion to pass the program came with a few amendments. The Board proposed to extend the readership program and provide the newspapers, but decided to remove two of the lockboxes on campus with the lowest pickup rates in the hope students will pick them up at the other boxes, which will now have more newspapers in them. The Board voted to remove two of the seven lockboxes: specifically the ones on the lower floor of the William Pitt Union and the first floor of Benedum Hall.

Nites voted against the motion because he was in favor of funding the same number of papers as last year.

Louderback addressed the infraction that Elections Committee Chairman Aaron Gish filed against him on Sunday night. Amid a week of contentious discussions over proposed revisions to the Elections Code, Gish charged Louderback with attacking the Elections Committee’s autonomy in a complaint filed to the Judicial Committee. The Judicial Committee will hold a hearing this week and will announce a statement at next week’s public meeting, according to Judicial Committee Chairman Joseph Kozak.

“I have nothing but respect for Aaron, and I look forward to working with Joe’s committee and reaching a conclusion on this as soon as possible,” Louderback said.

Gish echoed Louderback’s statement, and extended his respect to the rest of the Board. Gish said he was glad the infraction would be tried and that SGB had the Judicial Committee to assess the situation.

Board member John Cordier voiced his support for Louderback and said he believes that the president had not overstepped his grounds in any way in terms of the election.

Cordier turned the Board’s discussion to the fire that occurred last Friday on Zulema Street, which left 13 Pitt students displaced. SGB members spoke about their fundraising efforts and commended the support the Pitt community has shown for the students.

“All the students and administrators have been great in helping turn everything around,” Cordier said. “It makes me proud to be a part of this University.”

Board member C.J. Bonge organized a T-shirt sale and said all proceeds will go to the displaced students. The shirts, which cost $5 each, will be on sale in the SGB office from Wednesday, April 3, until Friday, April 5, during regular office hours, Bonge said.

The Board sold some of these T-shirts before the public meeting. Bonge said that the shirts sold quickly and that he would be ordering another batch for tomorrow.

Allocations

Heroiks requested $858.67 for facility rental, setup costs, advertising, supplies and costume money for the group’s Pittsburgh Super Stroll. The Board approved the request in full.

Model U.N. requested $854.72 as a budget modification of leftover funds from the Duke conference that were pre-approved on the group’s budget into the ground transportation and parking costs associated with the New York University Model U.N. Conference. The Board approved the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation.

National Society of Collegiate Scholars requested $1,100 for registration and airfare costs for two members to attend the NSCS Leadership Summit in Houston. The Board approved the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation.

University of Pittsburgh Women’s Choral Ensemble requested $2,776 for eight hotel rooms for two nights for their upcoming spring tour in Chicago. The Board approved the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation.

The Board has allocated $187,163 from the Student Activities Fund so far this year.