The Student Government Board held its annual summer meeting, after a number of members returned… The Student Government Board held its annual summer meeting, after a number of members returned from abroad.

Seven of the nine board members attended the constitutionally mandated summer meeting in the conference room in the back of the SGB office on Tuesday morning, where they outlined their initiatives for the year.

Board President Molly Stieber brought up the annual Panther GOLD Retreat this weekend at Camp Kon-O-Kwee, which will be a two-day event where many student organizations will attend lectures and workshops such as “Being A Persuasive Leader,” a lecture by Director of Student Life Kenyon Bonner, and “Role of SGB,” where the board will outline information and goals of SGB.

The GOLD Retreat is free to student organizations, and it is an initiative through SGB and the Division of Student Affairs.

Stieber, who spent the summer in Prague, listed about 20 student organizations that would be attending.

“It’s organizations we see all the time, asking for money,” Stieber said.

Board member Alex Zimmerman, who spent the summer in Pittsburgh, has been working on numerous initiatives which he brought up at the meeting.

He said that the graduate exam resource center, located in the Alldred collection of the Cup and Chaucer of the Hillman Library, is now open for student use.

The area will include study books for tests such as the LSAT, GRE, MCAT and GMAT. Several of the books are also available as E-books, which students can access through Pittcat, the online catalog of University libraries.

Zimmerman said that he is continuing discussion with Pitt administration about an alcohol amnesty policy at Pitt. He has been meeting with various administrative groups since last spring, when the issue of an amnesty policy at Pitt became a big topic on campus.

Board member Ryan Gayman brought up another initiative that suggested adjusting SGB chair positions.

“We should think about getting the environmental chair as something around for good, and not as an ad hoc,” Gayman said.

Creating a new chair of a standing committee would require changing the bylaws. A chair provides additional resources and expertise to the board.

The board members discussed the possibility of holding a referendum for Gayman’s idea, which Gayman said can be voted on at any time, not just during elections. The board just needs to have a majority vote by non-College of General Studies students.

Stieber said that the major goals she wanted to accomplish while in office are complete, which have included working with the Book Center to introduce electronic textbooks, making the allocations process clearer for students and defending students against budget cuts.

“My goal now is to help every one of you to get your goals accomplished,” Stieber said.

Board members Matt Riehle and John Hasley did not attend the meeting because they weren’t back in Pittsburgh.

Allocations:

No allocations were put through for today’s meeting, but several have been submitted for the next meeting. Because one was time-sensitive, the board voted on it today.

The Biomedical Engineering Society requested $2,000 to send four students to a conference. The Society submitted that it would take care of the registration fees for one of the students. The board approved the request.