First SGB meeting of year focuses on Pitt improvements

The Student Government Board held their first public meeting of the school year last night,… The Student Government Board held their first public meeting of the school year last night, where President Shady Henien and the rest of the board addressed the many changes students are discovering around campus.

“Our university is off to a great start in regards to renovations and new opportunities for all of our students,” Henien said.

The most notable of these changes were those to Pitt’s dining services.

“I want all of you to take a second and think back to your dining hall experiences in the past,” he said. “The progress that I have seen during my tenure as a student has been phenomenal.

“Freshmen, you don’t know how good you have it.”

In the wake of the recent shootings at Virginia Tech, Henien endorsed the new text message alert system that Pitt has put into place this year.

“This is going to be important because the university is able to communicate important information to [students],” Henien said. “So I urge all of you to sign up for it. If, God forbid, anything happens in the future, you will be aware.”

Henien also plans to meet with Pitt’s Chief of Police Tim Delaney to potentially make items such as whistles and pepper spray more easily available to students to prevent robberies.

Another safety matter that the SGB plans to address is the issue of underage participants at Pitt football tailgating events.

Citing the numerous arrests for underage consumption of alcohol made prior to last Saturday’s Pitt-Eastern Michigan football game, board member James Priestas said he hopes to find a solution in the near future.

“The student tailgate was busted in, like, 45 minutes, so I just want to talk to Chief Delaney a little bit,” he said. “I heard some underages were put in. It’s a concern that was brought to me by some students and I don’t feel safe about that section.”

While Priestas reinforced that he in no way condones underage drinking, he hopes to find a resolution that permits students below the legal age to still be present at these tailgates. He wants to make students aware of exactly what they can and cannot do while tailgating.

While some students see their football Saturdays cut short during the pre-game festivities, SGB is working on some special events at this season’s games for those students who make it to kickoff without being arrested.

This season’s Pitt-West Virginia game will mark the 100th time the two teams have met.

Henien has been collaborating with WVU’s student government to work on what he called “a new tradition to spice up our rivalry.”

Last night’s meeting also marked the first test of SGB’s new $5,000 budget caps, which apply to travel and lodging costs for club sports teams. SGB voted to ignore the cap for the Panther Cycling Club, granting it more than $3,000 over the limit.

“We look at things on a case by case basis,” Allocations Chairman Rhajiv Ratnatunga said. “This budget cap did hurt this team’s growth, so I think our money is being well spent.”