As this year’s Student Government Board term comes to a close, Board members voice concerns… As this year’s Student Government Board term comes to a close, Board members voice concerns about The Pitt News.

SGB spent more than 10 minutes of its meeting last night, which lasted half an hour, sharing criticism of The Pitt News, especially involving “G-20 resolutions and [SGB’s] overall response, as well as our revision of the bylaws,” Board member Max Greenwald said.

The Pitt News’s ads were also a topic of Greenwald’s statement.

He said it is “criminal” for The Pitt News to force student organizations to spend what he said were “outrageous” amounts of money on advertisements, some of which SGB funds for the groups.

For student groups, which receive a discounted advertising rate, Pitt News ads range from $18 to $508, which is for a full-page ad. Each individual student also receives five free classified ads per term.

Greenwald also said the content in The Pitt News is “a disgrace.”

“Students don’t care about columnists’ opinion on malt liquor and 40s,” he said, referencing a recent column in the paper’s opinions section.

Greenwald referenced the fact that the University provides The Pitt News space in the Union.

“If my term was not coming to a close, I would do everything in my power to remove such a foolish institution from the students’ building,” he said.

Apart from space in the Union, the paper is financially independent from University funding and voluntarily receives no allocations money directly from SGB.

Pitt News editor in chief Drew Singer said Greenwald’s discontent was news to him.

“Like any Pitt News reader, Max Greenwald is more than welcome to contact me to share his thoughts about our coverage. Despite having my cell phone number, he regrettably has never once done so,” Singer wrote in an e-mail. “The column to which Greenwald refers was among our most popular on pittnews.com that day, which exemplifies our effort to offer a diverse range of content that appeals to all varieties of readers.”

Singer also addressed the paper’s office space in the Union.

“The Pitt News receives space in the student union because it’s a student organization,” he said.

Greenwald also said that he attributes the low number of candidates running for SGB to the “lack of interest,” adding that few students are interested in taking on leadership roles in some of Pitt’s “strongest organizations.”

SGB President Kevin Morrison agreed with Greenwald’s statement about low number of candidates running for SGB, saying there is a “general apathy within the student body.”

He also said that The Pitt News’ editorial board is lacking.

“I am not pointing at writers and reporters. I believe organizations are a reflection of their leadership,” Morrison said.

Morrison said The Pitt News failed to get a “point-counter-point” when covering recent SGB-related articles.

The remainer of the meeting included the introduction of a new student group.

Marc Schutzbank, a spokesman for a new organization called Plant to Plate, announced an event at the meeting.

The organization, an affiliate of Hillel Jewish University Center, will hold its first event tomorrow from noon to 4 p.m.

Schutzbank said the group will use a piece of land at 5721 Forbes Ave. to start an organic garden where students can grow their own food.

He said the organization wants to show students where their food comes from and how they can cook it. Tomorrow’s event will involve pulling weeds to kick off the garden’s debut.

The organization will also promote the use of compost on campus.

“You’ll never have to throw anything away again,” Schutzbank said.

Oakland Community Council’s new director, Emma Stoehr, discussed the rising increase in criminal activities including robbery and assaults in Oakland, with Board member Alexa Jennings.

Jennings said the director wants to start a neighborhood watch program and is calling for students, especially in South Oakland, to participate.

SGB also approved University of Pittsburgh Television’s request for $1,260 in full to repair a hard drive. The Board originally postponed the allocations because of the possibility of unauthorized members entering the UPTV office. Morrison said all the keys are recovered and only authorized students have access to their office.