Pitt SGB continues to uphold spring break funding precedent

Student Government Board denied funding to both the Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball Club and… Student Government Board denied funding to both the Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball Club and men’s club baseball — money the teams were expecting to receive to fund their Florida competitions over spring break.

Though SGB has approved requests to fund these trips for the past two years, the Board denied the requests at Tuesday night’s weekly meeting in Nordy’s Place because of a guideline in the SGB Allocations Manua. In doing so, the 2012 Board has followed a precedent set last week.

The manual says that SGB cannot fund trips that conflict with Alternative Spring Break — a University-sponsored trip that allows students to spend their week off in March doing community service work in different parts of the country.

This funding issue also came up at last week’s SGB meeting when Panther Parkour requested $1,966 to fund a trip to Washington, D.C., to train during the first half of Spring Break. The club members withdrew the request after SGB President James Landreneau said that the Board would not fund a trip that conflicted with Alternative Spring Break.

But on Tuesday night, the ball teams once again requested money for this time period — and both said they expected to be approved for about $5,000 in funding to supplement money that the clubs had already raised to attend their competitions.

Representatives from both teams said that their participation in the Florida competitions is crucial for their chances of making it to the postseason.

“Baseball players need to play baseball,” said Rob Perkey, the men’s club baseball team manager.

The baseball team requested a total of $9,019.75, but the club’s president, Marc Foster, said the team only expected to get about $5,000. The women’s team requested $4,655.29.

Michael Nites, the Allocations Committee Chair, could confirm that SGB funded both teams’ Florida trips for the past two years. The men’s team received about $6,000 last year and about $5,000 in 2010 for the seven-day trip.

The women’s team received $2,800 last year for their annual eight-day trip.

Nites said that the teams received exceptions in the past from the Allocations Manual guideline because the trip gives the teams the chance to play many games in a short time period.

Landreneau said that SGB decided not to fund the team’s trips this year mainly due to the guideline — which the Board plans to continue following, making it a 2012 precedent — of not funding spring break trips for student groups. SGB also does not usually fund competitions outside the immediate area — Pennsylvania and Ohio — unless the team is going to nationals.

This year, the club baseball team declined to ask for any funding during the fall in order to make sure that they would receive money for this trip.

Foster said that the club has already sunk about $13,000 of team funds into flights and rental cars, and they were counting on the funds from SGB to subsidize the rest of the cost of their trip.

Foster said he was aware of the SGB policy but still applied for the funds because exceptions have been made for them in the past.

Ashley Pallone, president of the Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball Club, said that the team needs to take this trip during spring break because it is the only time that the team members do not have conflicts with classes and work.

“We didn’t expect full funding but we didn’t expect to get nothing,” said Lindsey Jefferis, a member of the softball team.

Landreneau said he wanted to find a more permanent solution so that the club teams know before their season what kind of funding assistance to expect SGB to approve.

Representatives from both teams said that they would attempt to find a way to get to their Florida competitions. They plan to do this by fundraising and having players pay more money out of pocket.

Both Perkey and Foster thanked SGB for past and future assistance and encouraged all student groups to work with the members of the Board for allocations assistance.

Allocations:

USITT requested $1,784.65 to attend a conference in California. The Allocations Committee approved the request in full.

Phi Beta Lambda requested $3,951.60 to attend a national conference of Phi Beta Lamda chapters. The Board approved $745.90 and denied $3,205.70, in line with the Allocations Committee recommendation.

Amnesty International requested $1,938 for three of its members to attend a conference. The Board approved the request in full.

The Italian and French clubs requested $950.78 for a cheese night. The Board denied $560 and approved $390 for non-food items.

Pitt Club Baseball requested $9,019.75. The Board denied the request in full.

The Original Magazine requested $10,361.50 to fund and print their semi-annual issue. The Board approved the request in full.

Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball Club requested $4,655.29 for a spring softball competition in Florida. The Board denied the request in full.

Ya’baso requested $916.69 for costumes for an African dance performance event. The Board approved the request in full.

Some of God’s Children Gospel Choir requested $2,500 for its 2012 spring concert. The Board approved the request in full.