New Board outlines term goals during first meeting

The 2011 Student Government Board began its first meeting last night in Nordy’s Place by… The 2011 Student Government Board began its first meeting last night in Nordy’s Place by highlighting some of its current plans for upcoming year.

Board member Ryan Gayman wants to attend student group meetings — if they’ll have him. John Hasley wants a pictorial history of the Oakland Zoo to decorate the walls of the Eighth floor of the William Pitt Union. James Landreneau wants more chatting on Blackboard. And Alex Zimmerman wants additional classes to count as general education requirements.

But before they offered their solutions to Pitt’s campus, new Board president Molly Stieber made sure to start the meeting in a very formal manner.

With three quick whacks of the gavel, the first meeting of the 2011 SGB was in session.

Although only days into their term, the Board members already had two items of business on their agenda. They will vote on them next Tuesday.

First, a revision to SGB’s bylaws. Former president Charlie Shull began the process during his term as Board president, Stieber said.

“Most are minor changes,” she said. “The biggest additions involve the Code of Ethics.”

One of the changes assigns a Board member to the Committee Chairs to improve communication between the two.

Stieber said the changes should make it so that all involved with the Board — including Board president, members and committee members — are held responsible for their actions.

A document containing the changes is available in the SGB Office on the eighth floor of the William Pitt Union. Stieber said she was also working to get the changes on the SGB website for students to see.

The other order the Board will vote on next week is Resolution 0011 — a joint resolution establishing The Pennsylvania Association of State-Related Students. The resolution, if passed, will join Pitt with Temple University, Pennsylvania State University and Lincoln University in the civic engagement process.

Stieber said by joining, Pitt can be a part of a coalition that will “represent the collective interests of 170,000 students, 150,000 of which are Pennsylvania residents.” It will allow for collaboration on issues of mutual concern to all four universities that are not considered public, but also not exactly private.

Both the bylaws revisions and the resolution will be tabled throughout the week for students to see.

When comments from the audience were welcomed, one girl stood up and said, “I love you, Molly Stieber.”

Stieber giggled, but did not reciprocate the compliment.

The meeting adjourned with Stieber appointing Board members Matthew Riehle as Pro-Tempore and Emily Hoover as Business Manager.

Committee Chair applications are also currently available and are due by 4 p.m. on Jan. 24 in 848 William Pitt Union.

Committee Chair Positions are available in Academic Affairs, Elections, Environmental, Governmental Relations, Judicial, Public Relations, Transportation and Safety, and Webmaster.

Allocation Notes:

The Roberto Clemente Minority Business Association was denied the $6,191.72 it requested for on-campus programming.

The PantheRaas Team requested $6,040 to attend a competition. The group received $5,359.24 and was denied $680.76.

Quo Vadis requested $1,393.36. The request was postponed one week as no representative from the group attended the meeting.