Pitt Student Government Board inducts committee chairs

The 2012 Student Government Board continues to form after the induction of committee chairs… The 2012 Student Government Board continues to form after the induction of committee chairs Tuesday night.

At their weekly meeting in Nordy’s Place, Board members welcomed the seven new students who will lead committees within the Board and congratulated the individuals on their new positions.  

“You all have tremendous shoes to fill,” Board member Halim Genus said, adding that the preceding chairs played a role in achieving 24 percent student voter turnout at the SGB elections in November, extending library hours and organizing the largest Pitt Day in Harrisburg last year.

The Board voted to add a Community Outreach Committee this term to work with individual organizations on campus and create community service projects in Oakland and Pittsburgh. Webmaster was eliminated as a formal chair position, but Board President James Landreneau said that he will continue to work with the former webmaster to update the SGB website.

The 2012 chairs are C.J. Stavrakos for Academic Affairs, Michael Nites for Allocations, Mary Mallampalli for Community Outreach, Annie Brown for Elections, Rachel Meyer for Environmental Relations, Robert Beecher for Governmental Relations, Emily Crawford for Judicial, Shannon Held for Public Relations and Richard White for Transportation and Safety.

In the open floor segment of the SGB meeting, six students grabbed the microphone to speak to the Board about reinstating the Collegiate Readership Program.

The program, funded by the Student Activities Fund, distributed copies of The New York Times and USA Today around campus. The program was suspended over winter break with a general consensus from the Board and SGB advisor Kenyon Bonner.

The students who spoke at the meeting were not only Student Activities Fee-paying non-College of General Studies students, but also recent graduates and medical school students.

The suspension of the program revolved around the ability of students from Pitt’s schools that do not contribute to the Student Activities FUnd to pick up the papers.

After the halt of the program, a replica edition of the two newspapers remains available to students online through their my.pitt portal.

One member who spoke out said, “Yes, the replica edition is online. It’s terrible.”

Landreneau acknowledged that the online version, which is still available to students, is “clunky software.”

“I’m moving as fast as I can so the Board can vote for the next public meeting,” Landreneau said about the program. He hopes to hold a vote with the Board about whether or not they will continue the program and add locked drop boxes.

Landreneau said at the meeting that he spoke with a University architect about the implementation of locked drop boxes around campus that would limit papers pick-up to only Student Activities Fee-paying non-College of General Studies students.

Landreneau announced that his town hall forum initiative — which is meant to allow students to voice their concerns to the Board in a less formal way — will take place the first Tuesday of every month one hour before the Board’s public meeting. He did not specify the location of the forum.

Allocations

Pittsburgh Club Baseball requested $350 for the fees associated with renting a field for competition. The Allocations Committee approved the request in full.

Bachelor of Arts in Social Work Club requested $1,332.29 to attend a conference. The Board denied the request in full in line with the Allocations recommendation, because the conference focused on personal development.

Black Dance Workshop requested $1,997.02 for an advertisement in The Pitt News, postcards and costumes for an event. The Board approved $141 to fund the ad and denied $1,856.02.

Women’s Water Polo submitted three requests totalling $4,028.24. The Board approved the requests in full. The funds will cover the costs of hotels and transportation for three competitions.

Mock Trial requested $4,142.24 to participate in a tournament at Georgia Tech. The Board denied the request in full because the organizations had already exceeded the $5,000 cap set forth in the Allocations Manual.

Laasya requested $147.96 to fund the purchase of an event-specific banner. The Allocations Committee denied the request.

The Robotics and Automation Society requested $690.14 for robotics parts and tools. The Board approved the request.

The Chinese American Student Association requested $1,959.50 for refreshments and clothing for an event to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Board approved $1,400 for refreshments and denied $559.50 for clothing and additional refreshments.

Nrityamala requested $1,785.64 for costumes and the shipping of the costumes for an event. The Board approved $1,560.74 for the costumes and denied $224.90 for shipping costs.

The Board postponed PantheRaas’ request for $2,710.04 because a representative from the organization was not present at the meeting.

Student Government Board requested $934.44 to fund transportation and hotel rooms for a weekend trip to Lincoln University. The Allocations Committee recommended that the Board approve $467.22 and deny $467.22. Landreneau spoke on behalf of the request, and the Board amended the motion to fund transportation for two vehicles, but not the hotel stay. The Board approved $666.60 and denied $267.84.