Board approves Facebook ads

‘ ‘ ‘ Student Government Board approved funding for student group advertising on Facebook for… ‘ ‘ ‘ Student Government Board approved funding for student group advertising on Facebook for the first time last night. ‘ ‘ ‘ Board members debated for the majority of the meeting about allocating funding to Free the Planet for advertisements in both The Pitt News and Facebook. SGB gave the group $526 for one Pitt News ad and one Facebook ad. The group originally asked for $800.98 to advertise for its first ever ‘Focus the Nation’ event, which teaches students about climate change and sustainability. ‘ ‘ ‘ Board members Nila Devanath, Max Greenwald and’ Charlie Shull discussed how allocating funds for Facebook would set a precedent and change future advertising allocations. ‘ ‘ ‘ Greenwald said he thought a Facebook ad would be more effective than one in The Pitt News, because it stays on the Facebook Web site for a week and would be seen by more people. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The Pitt News isn’t as tried and true as everybody thinks,’ he said. ‘I think we should at least try this Facebook thing, especially if we’re trying to get away from using so much paper on campus.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ But he added, ‘I don’t want to set a precedent by allowing groups to request a lot of money for two forms of advertising for one thing. I don’t think it’s a good use of students’ money.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Shull disagreed, saying that groups should be able to choose how they’d like to advertise. Since the board had already approved funding for one Pitt News ad, Shull said, they should approve a Facebook ad, too. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I don’t want organizations to think we’re manhandling them into using Facebook,’ he said. ‘The choice should be up to the group.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Devanath agreed. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘If [the event] is educational, we should at least give them a chance to make it successful,’ she said. ‘I think if we give them the Facebook ad, too, there’s potential to have exposure to more students because it’s on for a full week. I urge the board to give them one of each.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Weenta Girmay, a member of Free the Planet, said she was happy with the outcome of the meeting and thought the board’s decision made sense in the end. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘When they were discussing it, I was pretty undecided about which one would be better for us,’ she said. ‘But in reconsidering it, with our Web site, www.ftnpittsburgh.org, it’s more practical.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Girmay said the event will include 15 one-hour workshops that will inform students on a variety of issues ranging from the basics of climate change, to vegetarianism and to interfaith connections between religion and the environment. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We want people to come whenever they can, between classes and everything,’ she said. ‘We really think this advertising will help this be a successful event.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ SGB Notes: ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘mdash; The board granted Some of God’s Children $1,500 to use for its spring concert. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘mdash; SGB gave Students For Justice in Palestine $669 to bring in a speaker. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘mdash; The board approved a $1,085.59 request from the Premedical Organization for Minority Students so its members could go to a conference. SGB denied the group an additional $6,414.41, saying it didn’t think the group had valid reason for exceeding the $2,000 conference allocation cap awarded to student organizations.