2013 Student Government Board holds first meeting

The new Student Government Board members are now officially in office at Pitt, but they have their sights on the state capital — and they want students to go with them.

During its first public meeting, the 2013 Board inaugurated committee chairpersons, gave updates on the Board members’ projects and announced the opening of registration for Pitt Day in Harrisburg — a yearly activity supported by SGB during which students travel to the state Capitol building to speak with lawmakers about state and University issues.

“It’s a good way to get educated,” Board President Gordon Louderback said, referring to the day of lobbying at the Capitol. Registration for this year’s event, to be held on Feb. 12, is currently open to students online at the University website and closes on Feb. 1.

In regard to state funding, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg will address the student body regarding state appropriations on Jan. 28, Louderback said. He added that he hoped the address on appropriations would get students excited to register for Pitt Day in Harrisburg, at which students can represent the University and argue for fair levels of state appropriation.

Louderback also updated the audience of about 15 attendees on the progress of his projects.

As part of his campaign initiatives, Louderback sought to institute a Fundraising and Advertising Committee to help student groups raise money for their activities and events, and he completed that initiative with the inauguration of the new committee’s chair, Erin Worbs.

Another one of Louderback’s goals, the creation of a system allowing any student to propose ideas for new campus improvement projects, is also under way. The link to submit a project is now available on the SGB’s Facebook page.

“The projects submission project is up live today,” Louderback said.

The other Board members touched on the progress of their initiatives, as well, noting that they had either held or scheduled meetings to begin accomplishing their goals.

Board member Amelia Brause has meetings scheduled with University administrators to work on both the expansion of the Healthy U Campaign at Pitt and her goal of encouraging more students to take the Princeton Review Survey.

Board member Michael Nites said he was advancing with his project to move the request process for allocations from the Student Activities Fund online.

“I’m going to be doing a lot of the programming myself,” Nites said. “But I could still use student input.”

Reporting on his initiatives, Board member David Rosenthal said an attorney will be coming to campus to discuss rules involved with off-campus housing, one of his three projects. According to Rosenthal, he will also be working closely with Brause on the Healthy U campaign to implement a culinary class to teach students how to cook.

Board member Sarah Winston said her efforts to move Student Health Services appointment reservations online were under way.

“[The reservation system] will hopefully be live at the end of the semester,” Winston said.

The Board also inducted the 10 new committee chairpersons after listing their names and titles. According to Louderback, the Board held about 75 interviews to select the committee chairs.

The committee chairs for 2013 are: Alex Majchrzak on Allocations Committee, Aaron Gish on Elections, Robert Beecher on Governmental Relations, Mona Kazour on Community Outreach, Joseph Kozak on Judicial, Mizane Johnson-Bowman on Environmental, Abigail Zurschmit on Transportation and Safety, Nuwan Perera on Academic Affairs and Mahen Seneviratne as Webmaster.

Louderback also officially inaugurated Board member Sowmya Sanapala, as she was on a leadership retreat in Israel during the 2013 Board’s inauguration last week.

Although the new committee chairs were inducted, the Board members forgot to officially name the Board’s business manager and president pro tempore, who would assume Louderback’s duties should he become unable to fulfill them.

“Technically we don’t have to have an inauguration to let them officially start their role,” Louderback said. “They can start to do their job before they are inducted.”

The as-yet-uninitiated president pro tempore is Board member Amelia Brause and the business manager is Board member John Cordier.

Allocations

The Roberto Clemente Minority Business Association requested $1,180.46 for registration, lodging and transportation for 4 people to attend a conference in New York. The Board approved the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation.

PantheRaas requested $2,139 for registration, lodging and ground transportation for a competition in Michigan. The Board approved the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation.

PantheRaas requested $2,081.60 for registration, lodging and ground transportation for a competition in Indiana. The Board approved the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation.

Asian Students Alliance requested $544.55 as a budget modification to move funds from a previously approved budget item into two other approved events. The Board approved the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation.

The Japanese Culture Association requested $3,327.42 for honorarium, lodging and transportation for an extra person for an event. The Board denied the request.