Student Government Board introduces G-20-related resolution

Student Government Board members Charlie Shull and Lance Bonner introduced a resolution… Student Government Board members Charlie Shull and Lance Bonner introduced a resolution outlining the Board’s plan to address G-20-related concerns at the meeting last night.

The motion said the Board would “work with the University administration to inform the students of the reasoning for specific police action in the Oakland community during the G-20 Summit and to dispel associated misinformation.”

Board member Nila Devanath didn’t believe the resolution had enough “teeth.”

“Put some ideas into the resolution so students reading the resolution would know what ‘working on’ means,” she said. “That’s why in my board reports … I try to be as concrete as I can.”

The resolution also said that the Board would help the University identify students who violated the Student Code of Conduct during the G-20 and support those who were arrested and charged with crimes they didn’t commit.

The Board will vote on the resolution next week.

SGB president Kevin Morrison introduced a motion to amend the Board’s bylaws, which he said can change according to the sitting board’s preferences. He said the Board made the changes to incorporate wording that is more professional and grammatically correct.

Devanath raised a point during the meeting about how the new bylaws would give the president the power “to appoint students to the standing committees of the University Board of Trustees, University Senate Council and any other appointments deemed necessary and/or requested by the University administration.”

“There could be cronyism. There could be some kind of bias,” she said, adding that it might not be a problem now, but it could be in the future.

Morrison said he makes appointments when the University approaches him.

“The nature of appointments is that appointments are the privilege of the president,” he said. People run for SGB president instead of a board member to possess a higher authority and privileges, but the position comes with more responsibility, Morrison said.

The approval process to change the bylaws takes two weeks to allow for more discussion.

The Board also plans to propose amendments to its constitution, but students will have the opportunity to vote on those changes in a referendum on Pitt’s election day, which is Nov. 19.

Shull said that the University’s General Council signed off on the Simplicity program he’s been spearheading. The program, which will be available in about eight weeks, will help make the Student Organization Resource Center paperless and streamline communications between officers of student organizations and their members, Shull said.

The Board approved the allocation committee’s recommended amount of $694.98, out of $873, for Pitt’s Engineers Without Borders student group.