SGB brings the bills, renews NYT subscription

It was a busy Tuesday night in Nordy’s Place as Student Government Board passed three bills and introduced four more.

Of the total seven bills, six deal with internal SGB structure, adding new committees and redefining or clarifying code and procedure.

The only bill introduced not about internal matters renewed the Collegiate Readership Program at Pitt, which provides an electronic New York Times subscription to Pitt students. SGB reported more than two-thirds of Pitt students activated and accumulated 268,778 articles views in the first year of the digital subscription. SGB President Max Kneis said this is important to keep students informed.

“I think it’s important to be informed in what’s going on in the world and to make sure we’re offering opportunities for students to further their education outside of the classroom,” Kneis said.

Another introduced bill made the Diversity and Inclusion Committee their own independent committee instead of being housed within the board. Authored by board member Nihita Manem, it adds a chair and committee members to the committee.

“Diversity and Inclusion are two big topics that are very important in our political climate, not just even political climate, social climate,” Manem said.

SBG approved and announced next year’s chairs for the Judicial Committee, John Boyer, and Elections Committee, Katie McLaughlin. The current chairs, Marina Sullivan of Judicial and Anastasia Bodea Crisan of Elections commented on the selections.

“She has love of elections and in general community outreach, and I think she had a lot of really great ideas of how to increase voter turnout,” Bodea Crisan said. “She just seemed like a very solid candidate.”

Sullivan also talked about her initiative to get medical amnesty expansion, which SGB discussed during the March 14 meeting. Under current state law, a person who calls 911 for an underage person experiencing a life-threatening alcohol emergency does not get in trouble for violating the law. It does not, however, cover the person experiencing the emergency. Pitt’s policy grants amnesty to the person experiencing an emergency, and SGB is advocating the state to adopt a similar policy.

“We should give every encouragement possible to people and we should give every incentive possible to people because the biggest priority for everyone — legislators, Pitt students and Pitt administrators — overall should be the safety of students and well-being of students,” Sullivan said.

Executive Vice President Zuri Kent-Smith attended the Black Men Summit Sunday in the Center for Urban Education in Posvar Hall. Attendees talked about their experiences on campus, and Kent-Smith said it is tough for students to fight stereotypes about black men. He said better education about the issue can lead to change.

Near the end of the meeting, board members discussed some prospective events for the end of the semester. Vice President and Chief of Cabinet Krish Patel brought up Sustainability Service Day — a volunteering event on campus Sunday. The event is focused on sustainable volunteering.

“Everyone thinks volunteering is good, but not all volunteering is actually good. A lot can be very harmful if it’s not done correctly,” Patel said.

Board member Alex Spenceley talked about Clutter for a Cause, which will take place the following Monday outside of the William Pitt Union on the patio and lawn. Residence halls will compete — though anyone can donate — to see which can collect the most donations of clutter per pound, such as furniture, between noon and 2 p.m. The prize is to be determined.

“A lot of students, when they’re moving out, always just take all of their stuff they haven’t used and just throw it away,” Spenceley said. “And so this way, it’s reducing waste in the world and reusing these products that are normally perfectly fine.”

Allocations:

Controlled Chaos requested $69.99 for a purchase, rental and service. The board approved in full.

TAMID at Pitt requested $656 for a program expense. The board approved $381 and denied $275.

Food Recovery Heroes requested $2,000 for a program expense. The board approved in full.

Wushu Club requested $1,200 for a competition expense. The board approved in full.

Wushu Club requested $808 for a purchase, rental and service. The board approved $129.50 and denied $678.50.

Global Medical Brigades requested $1,962 for two EyeNetra Lensometers. The board approved $987 and denied $975.

Global Medical Brigades requested $355.50 for a program expense. The board denied in full.

Pakistani Student Association requested $710 for a purchase, rental and service. The board approved in full.

Best Buddies requested $350 for a purchase, rental and service. The board approved in full.

Pitt Women’s Rugby Football Club requested $1,078.86 for a competition expense. The board approved in full.

Spanish Club requested $144.84 for a purchase, rental and service. The board approved in full.

Girl Up requested $1,570.24 for their Girl Up Leadership Summit for registration, ground transportation, lodging and parking. The board approved in full.

Arabic Language and Culture Club requested $176.55 for a purchase, rental and service. The board approved $125 and denied $51.55.

Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball Club requested $780 for a competition expense. The board approved in full.

Club Cross Country Team requested $1,110.08 for a competition expense. The board approved in full.

Pittsburgh Fencing Association requested $340.14 for a purchase, rental and service. The board approved in full.

Panther CrossFit requested $400 for a competition expense. The board approved in full.

Men’s Ultimate Frisbee requested $1,761.86 for their conferences for registration, lodging and ground transportation. The board approved in full.

Panther Team Handball Club requested $257.04 for a competition expense. The board approved in full.

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers requested $3,445.77 for their national conference for registration, airfare, ground transportation and lodging. The board approved $1,553.40 and denied $1,892.37.