Lame-duck SGB holds final meeting

The atmosphere was jovial for much of last night’s SGB meeting — the final Tuesday night… The atmosphere was jovial for much of last night’s SGB meeting — the final Tuesday night installment for the lame-duck Board.

President Charlie Shull called the meeting to order shortly before 9 p.m., wielding his wooden gavel for the last time. It took him longer than usual to quiet the roomful of Board members, committee chairs and student leaders eager to defend their allocations requests.

“Despite the tone of this meeting, so far I’m taking this very seriously, and we need less chatter from the audience,” Shull said after whacking his gavel on the long wooden table set up in Room 630 of the William Pitt Union.

The Board could not meet in its usual spot — Nordy’s Place — because the room was occupied by other student groups.

When the room finally quieted, Board members and committee chairs made their regular reports.

Board member David Petrone mentioned a planned “Black Out Day” to be observed on campus in February. The day will honor students and community members who have been killed by drunk driving accidents.

Board member Kieran O’Leary announced that the new Student Affairs website will be up and running in the near future, whereas academic affairs chair and Board member-elect Alex Zimmerman gave an update on his work expanding the number of classes that meet general education requirements.

Zimmerman said he will meet with the Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Council on Friday to formally present his research and recommendations.

Other business discussed by various committee chairs included the planned return of the Blue, Gold and Green Sustainability Festival to be held next semester as well as the installment of the first Student Sustainability Project.

As a part of the project, Pitt maintenance crews installed new aerators on sinks in the bathrooms of six Tower C floors. The aerators are meant to save up to 77 percent of water usage in the sinks, and more are slated to be installed throughout Tower C if the project proves successful.

The Board also announced that Friday will be the last allocations meeting of the semester. Any organizations with pressing allocations requests should get them in as soon as possible.

At the end of the meeting, Shull made an appeal to next year’s Board and the Pitt student body to stay active in civic processes — specifically by attending next year’s Pitt Day in Harrisburg.

“In the face of further and deeper cuts in state and federal allocations as stimulus funding runs out we could realistically see huge hikes in tuition next year,” Shull said. “I’ve heard from other state-related schools, and they’re in similar situations. Keeping an eye on and protecting students from increasing financial burdens is going to be the most important work the Board does next year.”

Shull also passed along a number of recommendations for next year’s Board, including a motion to enact ethics reforms and committee chair performance reviews.

Allocations Notes:

Women’s Fastpitch Softball received $1,162.50 to rent facilities for an additional day of practice per week during the coming semester.

Free The Planet received $634 to host a film screening and a question-and-answer session with the film’s director.

Ambassadors for Christ received $1,240 to attend a conference.

Panther Bowling Club received $1,680 to cover half the cost of bowling for the next season.

The Pitt Ski Team received $3,349 between three requests to attend three races during the coming season.