Quick Zone to stay open 24/7

This fall, Quick Zone’s hours will accommodate late-night study sessions, early risers and everything in between.

At Student Government Board’s last public meeting this semester, Food Committee liaison and SGB member Jacky Chen announced Tuesday that starting this fall, Quick Zone will stay open 24/5 and the Perch in Sutherland Hall will stay open until midnight. Abdou Cole, the resident district manager for Pitt Dining Services, confirmed the new hours.

Chen said the issue of dining hall hours has come up many times at Food Committee meetings this academic year, so he began working with Cole to extend the hours.

“We didn’t have to convince [Cole],” Chen said. “A lot was done on his part. I just provided student support and set up meetings [between Cole and students].”

The new schedules will begin in fall 2016, which Chen said Cole announced at the Food Committee meeting on April 15. Chen did not know which days Quick Zone will be open 24 hours.

Currently,  Quick Zone is open until 11 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The Perch is open until 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Chen said the initiative started when students approached him with concerns about upper-campus dining and having to walk down to Market Central to eat at later hours.

“As a freshman, I wanted to go somewhere to eat after studying at Hillman [Library] and there weren’t many late-night places open,” Chen said. “Going to Market Central was convenient.”

Chen did not know what food options Quick Zone will offer students at late-night hours, but said it is unreasonable to expect all the same fare as the daytime. He said he is unsure of how much the initiative will cost.

At the beginning of the meeting, Board members thanked SGB committees and each other for their support and work over the past year and a half.

SGB President Nasreen Harun said she is proud of the Board’s progress over three semesters, especially with projects on sexual assault and mental health awareness, and is looking forward to seeing the accomplishments of next year’s Board, which Natalie Dall will lead.

“The conversation around [those issues] shows how progressive we are getting in society,” Harun said. “Being able to talk openly about those things has been great and I know Natalie and her Board will carry that on as well.”

Harun said the Board’s success came from members’ mutual respect for one another. According to Harun, the group clicked at its first retreat, even after a contentious election.

“People truly enjoy being in the office, and they’re in there much more than they need to be,” she said. “People truly went above and beyond.”

Harun said her advice to the incoming Board, which the new SGB president will swear in this Thursday, is to remain passionate.

“Understand that you have a lot of power to do huge things on campus, but that drive really only comes from if you’re passionate about it. [SGB] is not just something you put on your resumé. You can really do a lot more meaningful stuff,” Harun said. “Get engaged with what the rest of student body is doing. Do more than chase after initiatives.”

Natalie Dall, SGB’s incoming president and current Board member, said she appreciated how much SGB members respected each other’s opinions.

“No matter how much we disagree, we can always be civil immediately after,” she said. “We learned how to set aside those boardroom conversations, making sure we stay professional but lightening the mood outside of the boardroom. It kept us productive. We felt like a family.”

Dall said she plans to maintain that healthy collaborative environment with the next Board.

“[After] working with cabinet chairs it makes me happy to see how everyone has worked together this year,” she said. “Seeing all that collaboration has made SGB stronger moving forward.”

In other news, SGB voted to renew its subscription to the Collegiate Readership Program for fall 2016 until spring 2017. The program offers free New York Times and USA Today articles to Pitt students at newsstands on campus.

Allocations

Gamma Iota Sigma requested $1,500 for their charter fee. The Board approved the request in full.       

The Aquaponics Project requested $4,425 to build a sustainable farm in Pittsburgh. The Board approved the request in full.

Best Buddies requested $1,943 for a conference at Indiana University. The Board approved $1,942.96 and denied $0.04.

Health Occupations Students of America requested $7,964.80 for a conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The Board approved $2,062 and denied $5,002.80.