Board to post allocations FAQs online

The allocations process will likely become more transparent with a new addition to the Student… The allocations process will likely become more transparent with a new addition to the Student Government Board website.

Board member Emily Hoover said at Tuesday’s meeting that her initiative to help student groups better understand allocations should be up and running soon.

With the the help of the Allocations Committee, Hoover compiled a list of frequently asked allocation questions and answers to be put on the site. She said she is waiting for the board to review the questions before the webmaster posts them.

Another feature of the FAQ section will allow users to submit questions direclty to the committee.

“Your question will become a frequently asked question, and then we’ll never have questions again,” Hoover said, sporting a purple shirt worn by many of the board and committee members.

The Board members wore the Pitt Make a Difference Day shirts to advertise for the annual event, which takes place on Oct. 22.

“We are going to be doing some crazy new marketing ideas,” SGB board member Ryan Gayman said. “But we are going to be needing more bodies. We are going to be doing a flash mob with the purple shirts.”

Gayman urged those in attendance to not only sign up to participate in both the campus-wide service day but also aid in spreading awareness by wearing the T-shirts each week.  

SGB president Molly Stieber opened the weekly meeting with comments on Monday’s meeting with the Pennsylvania State Appropriations Committee where she sat on a University panel with Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and other Pitt officials to discuss state budget cuts.

“To have the opportunity to do that on Pitt’s campus was an honor,” she said. “We really need to continue to have those discussions.”

Stieber expressed gratitude to those who attended the meeting and said it was a way for Pitt to open up discussion with state senators about the amount of state funding the University will receive next year.

The Board discussed SGB elections, which are set for Nov. 17. Students interested in running for president or a position on the Board can pick up a packet outside of the SGB office starting the second week in October.

Students are required to get 200 signatures if they are interested in running for board and 250 for potential presidential candidates.

Tricia Dougherty, a member of Rainbow Alliance, utilized the open floor to encourage participation at a “Safer Sex Workshop” that will take place at 8:45 p.m. on Thursday in room 837 of the William Pitt Union.  

At the workshop, a representative from the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force will be speaking and participants will play games to learn about the risks of various sexual behaviors.

Allocations

Hindu Student Council was allotted $3,474, but denied $450 as recommended by Allocations Committee for their celebration of Navratri Garba, an Indian festival. The money denied was to go toward the cost of food and attendance fees of non-undergraduate students.  

SGB approved Women’s Fast Pitch Softball Club’s request for $1,241.70 in full for a preseason tournament that will allow the club to play teams outside of their conference.

The Original Magazine received their request of $10,818.05 to publish 2,000 copies of their fall issue due out on Nov. 11.  

Mock Trial was allotted a budget modification of $1,686.16 to push back a mock trial to the week after Labor Day and was approved in full in accordance with the committee’s recommendation.