Student Government Board convenes for first meeting of the school year

At the first official meeting of the year, the new Student Government Board voted to charter three new committees and a future planning task force. Over the summer, SGB made improvements and introduced a new website. Ryan Young, SGB President, said he is “excited” for this year.

“I want to welcome everybody to our first official public meeting of the year,” Young said. “The chairs of SGB, we’re really excited for this year.”

SGB, Pittsburgh College Democrats and Pitt College Republicans put out a joint statement about the state budget appropriation on Sept. 1. All three groups believe the elimination of this funding will have a “negative impact” on the Commonwealth and students. 

“Without this tuition discount, in-state students will be dissuaded from staying in Pennsylvania and will seek higher education elsewhere,” Young said. “Pennsylvania students have chosen to be educated here because of the Commonwealth’s 57-year promise of aid. To fail to directly fund these students without warning would show a disdain for higher education in the Commonwealth and a complete disregard for the welfare of students who trusted their government to maintain their support for staying in Pennsylvania for their education.” 

SGB introduced new initiatives, including adding sunscreen dispensers and Naloxone dispensers available around campus for students. 

“By putting [sunscreen dispensers] in high traffic areas, we hope to encourage people to, ultimately, reduce skin cancer down the line,” Young said. “With the Naloxone boxes, those would kind of serve a dual purpose both for students that are at risk for an overdose, but it can be kind of scary to go in and ask for Narcan in that situation. So these boxes would be a more anonymous way for people to collect that in case of an overdose.” 

Katie Fitzpatrick, vice president of initiatives, introduced the Disability Resources Ad Hoc Committee and the board voted on forming the committee during the meeting. This committee, chaired by Fitzpatrick, aims to advocate for the needs and common goals of students with disabilities. 

“This committee will bring the attention to the general student body and receive administration to issues and challenges regarding accessibility,” Fitzpatrick said. “We work with university offices and departments to create solutions to address these issues.” 

The Renters First Committee was also introduced at Tuesday’s meeting. Katie Emmert, SAP and wellness liaison and committee chair, said this committee will increase awareness of the unaffordable low quality housing problem in Oakland. 

“It is frustratingly common to hear stories of landlords violating housing codes while students continue to share their unnerving renting experiences and demands for quality affordable housing,” Emmert said. “The University of Pittsburgh and contracted developers prioritize profit and neglect community priorities and concerns. For these issues the Renters First Ad Hoc Committee service exists to educate student renters about their tenant rights and responsibilities.”

The third committee that was chartered at Tuesday’s meeting is the Pitt Workers United Ad Hoc Committee, introduced by Matt Jurich, community and government relations liaison. Jurich said it aims to empower the voices of student workers at Pitt. 

“Pitt Workers United is going to be the Labor Resource Center for students at Pitt, that’s our goal,” Jurich said. “Anyone who’s ever had a job knows that employers just out of habit tend to nine out of 10 times exploit their workers and not pay them what their work is worth. There’s no exception to that, including at Pitt. We want to create this committee to uplift the voices of workers at Pitt.”

Allocations: 

The Korean Student Association requested $27,000 to bring the lead singer of the pop band Japanese Breakfast as a guest speaker to campus. The board approved this request in full.

Club Tennis requested $10,080 to rent tennis courts off campus and to compete. The board approved this request with revisions.

Corporate Connections at Pitt Business requested $5,282 for equipment. The board approved this request in full.

Disc Golf Club requested $1,702 for registration at a tournament. The board approved this request with revisions, funds being cut to documented costs.

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers requested $5,282 to attend the SHPE national conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. The board approved this request with a cap at $3,000.

The Biomedical Engineering Society requested $5,500 to attend the national meeting in Seattle for three of their board members. The board approved this request with a cap at $3,000.

Pardus Crossfit requested $1,500 for renting space in a Crossfit gym off campus. The board approved this request in full.

The Chinese American Student Association requested $21,762.01 for their mid-autumn celebration. The board approved this request in full