SGB makes plans to revise constitution

The Student Government Board made plans to revise its constitution during last night’s meeting… The Student Government Board made plans to revise its constitution during last night’s meeting in the bottom of the William Pitt Union.

The Board approved the creation of a Constitutional Review Committee to fix sections of the five-page document. Judicial chair Scott Krzywonos said the constitution was “sloppily written” in parts and that this committee would be responsible for rewriting certain amendments. He didn’t mention which amendments would be revised or when the committee will finish the revisions.

Three SGB members, Krzywonos and one non-CGS Pitt student will review the constitution. All revisions to the document must be approved by the Board before becoming official.

SGB also ended a three-week debate in last night’s meeting when it allotted the Society of Women Engineers $1,565.60 to attend a conference.

The group originally requested $3,986 to send eight members to a four-day conference. They later amended the proposal to send only four women and chose to cover part of the remaining cost themselves.

Emily Wolff, business manager and treasurer of the society, addressed the Board for a second time last night.

“It’s been a long and grueling process; anything would be greatly appreciated,” Wolff said.

SGB rejected the original proposal because it involved “deficit” spending, where the group would spend funds for four flight tickets and lodging for eight — then ask the Board for reimbursement.

SGB does not fund deficit spending. The society has already purchased four plane tickets, and the allotment from SGB will pay for four  additional flight tickets for the group.

Board member Kieran O’Leary felt strongly about denying the amended request because of the group’s deficit spending, but Board member Zachary Bombatch made it clear that the amended request only funded the registration fees and four new airplane tickets.

Charlie Shull, Board president, also clarified that the allocated money is not funding deficit spending because the Society of Women Engineers was not compensated for the four airplane tickets it had already purchased.

The request was approved in an five-to-one vote, with O’Leary voting against it and Molly Stieber abstaining.

At the end of the meeting, Public Relations Committee member Hyla Wallis was unanimously appointed to fill the Public Relations Chair position.The position opened when O’Leary was inducted on Sept. 24 to serve as an interim Board member for the rest of the term. O’Leary nominated Wallis for the position.

Allocations Notes:

Women’s Club Gymnastics received approval for  the $583.08 it requested to attend a conference.

Pitt Dance Ensemble was denied $3,396.60 for 17 members to attend a conference. The Board amended the request to cover expenses for four members.

The Board approved the Pitt Women’s Club Volleyball’s $553.92 request to attend a competition.

Pitt Club Baseball received approval for its  $779.38 request to attend a competition.

STAND was allotted the $904 it requested to bring a speaker to Pitt.

Some of God’s Children requested $2,168 for its annual operating budget. It received $1,368 and was denied $800.

National Society of Black Engineers requested $4,030.24 to attend a competition. The request was postponed to settle issues with transportation.

Lady Panther Soccer Club was allotted the $787.80 itrequested to attend a competition.

Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to reflect an error in the vote count for the Society of Women Engineer’s allocations.