SGB loses member, helps establish new council

While just three board members attended Monday’s summer SGB meeting, there was no shortage of… While just three board members attended Monday’s summer SGB meeting, there was no shortage of news from Pitt’s student leaders, including the loss of one board member and the ratification of a new Pittsburgh student government council.

Board member Phil LaRue will not return to campus this year for personal reasons, according to SGB President Charlie Shull.

The board will not host another election to replace him. Instead, Pitt students interested in the seat will be able to submit applications to the board to be reviewed at a public meeting, in accordance to the board’s constitution.

Board members will direct a question-and-answer session at the public meeting and then choose a new member, Shull said. Because LaRue was among the top three vote-getters, the fourth highest vote-getter from last year’s election will fill LaRue’s empty seat at University Senate Council meetings.

Public records of the last year’s vote totals were not immediately available, but Shull said he would announce the new Senate representative soon.

The board also announced that it has a new faculty sponsor, Director of Student Life Kenyon Bonner, and the ratification of Pittsburgh’s Student Government Council.

The new council consists of 10 local student government presidents, including representatives from Pitt, CMU, Duquesne, Carlow and Chatham.

“We wanted to be more proactive in terms of getting the student voice into local government before any issues like the ‘Fair Share Tax’ come up again,” Shull said.

Shull said the council does not have any power to regulate student life on each individual campus, but will instead provide a resource for dealing with government. The council members are deliberating whether to push local officials to write the student government council into the city’s bylaws, a move that would add legitimacy and strength.

“We are weighing both sides of the argument pretty heavily at this time,” Shull said. “The pros and cons are both strong arguments, and were going to simmer on this one until we make the right choice.”

Among the pros to legitimizing in the eyes of the city government would be establishing an official student voice in the local legislative process that could ideally abate such tax troubles as students saw last year, Shull said. The City Council would be legally obligated to bring pending legislation before the student government council for “conversation and input.”

The cons of joining the city would be a loss of some appointment power: The mayor and City Council would likely get to appoint some members on the board. Shull did not have a time frame for that decision.

One other major announcement was the board’s decision to pursue a new Student Civic Engagement Committee, piloted by former board member Alexa Jennings. The new committee would look to turn around dismal turn-out numbers in last year’s election by implementing “pragmatic, grassroots efforts to get as many people involved with as little personal obligation as possible.”

“We could have all RA’s help register all the students on their floors in one afternoon, then they would be done,” Shull said. “We need that kind of thinking if we want to see real results.”

The board also expects a decision on a downsized proposal to bring The New York Times and USA Today to campus, a bid that could potentially bring the Times’ White House correspondent to Pitt for a number of lectures.

Shull said he approached Pitt Program Council about co-sponsoring the program and expects a decision within two weeks.

Board members David Gau, Molly Stieber and Sam Rezaeian attended Monday’s meeting, as well as Shull. Most of the other members were out of town, Shull said.

Check back later for more information.