SGB, Chancellor push for real food

The Student Government Board traded in its usual free fare of popcorn and slushies for some “real food” at its Tuesday night meeting.

Before the Board started its weekly public meeting, members of the Real Food Challenge presented Chancellor Patrick Gallagher with a pledge outlining Pitt’s commitment to make sure 20 percent of all University-offered food meets the Real Food Challenge by the year 2020.

Gallagher and Vice Chancellor G. Reynolds Clark signed the approximately three-by-two foot document in a packed Nordy’s Place, while students looked on and ate “real food.”

The Real Food Challenge, a national college-wide campaign, advocates for local and community-based food, ecologically sound productions, fair treatment of workers and fair treatment of animals. Food that meets one of the four requirements is “real food.” Approximately 30 other schools, including the University of Vermont and University of Massachusetts, have already taken the pledge.

“Before we sign the giant agreement, thank you for all that you’ve done to make this happen,” Gallagher said to the committee. “Not only is the cause worthwhile … it’s good for the animals, the participants, the workers and the environment.” 

Kacy McGill, last term’s environmental committee chair, has pushed for Real Food Challenge at Pitt since the beginning of her term in January 2014. 

“I was overwhelmed by the support of the University, my friends and colleagues,” McGill said. “I was very proud of the Real Food Challenge interns for working diligently to have the Real Food commitment signed today.”

In other action:

SGB President Graeme Meyer introduced the nine members of the Constitutional Review Committee, the chief of staff and the press secretary. 

Meyer said he picked the Constitutional Review Committee members based on their involvement in student government and their dedication to the student body. Some of the members are seniors who will graduate in the spring.

“I wanted to bring them together and get their feedback before they graduate,” Meyer said.

Meyer said he will select more members to replace the graduating members this fall. 

Meyer also introduced Chief of Staff Arlind Karpuzi, and Student Government Press Secretary Dan Lampmann. 

Meyer chose Karpuzi from a pool of eight other hopefuls who applied for the position. 

The chief of staff is responsible for overseeing the implementation of SGB initiatives and programs and assisting SGB in planning events, as well as assisting in overseeing student office assistants and the SGB webmaster.

The chief of staff must also verify SGB minutes, record attendance at planning sessions and public meetings, hold office hours and assist the president, according to the SGB Governing Code. 

Meyer picked Lampmann, who is also a multimedia staff member at The Pitt News, from a pool of four other applicants. 

The press secretary is responsible for writing weekly press releases, uploading documents to the SGB website and distributing information to campus publications and administrative offices. 

The press secretary is also responsible for managing and uploading audio recordings as well as training the Board members on how to “appropriately speak to the media,” according to the SGB Governing Code. 

Allocations: 

African Students Organization requested $5,309.34 for its annual Wazobia event. The Board approved $4,434.42 and denied $874 in line with the allocations recommendation.

Men’s Ultimate Frisbee requested $3,351.59 to send 26 people to a tournament in North Carolina. The Board approved in full in line with the allocations recommendation.

Pittsburgh Club Baseball requested $1,263.12 for its Penn State Conference Series. The Board approved in full in line with the allocations recommendation. 

Pittsburgh Panthers Roller Hockey requested $3,286.02 to send 12 people to its national championship in Missouri. The Board approved $795 and denied $2,491.02. 

Black Action Society requested a budget modification in the amount of $20,000. The funds were originally for its Black History Month speaker but will now fund for actress Tessa Thompson to speak at Pitt in April.

Editor’s Note: The Pitt News reported on March 25 that The Real Food Challenge advocates for local and community-based food, ecologically sound production, fair treatment of workers and fair treatment of animals and that food must meet all four requirements to be “real food.” This is inaccurate. 

“Real Food” must only meet one of the four requirements, according to the Real Food Challenge website. 

The Pitt News regrets these errors.