There were moments of laughter, business and sincerity at the final Student Government Board… There were moments of laughter, business and sincerity at the final Student Government Board meeting of the spring semester Thursday night.

Members spoke of what they will be working on this summer and shared words of appreciation.

Board member and food committee chair Alli Winn discussed how the food committee will be on hand at Arrival Survival this year. Members of the committee and other Arrival Survival workers will be spread throughout the campus cafeterias to help incoming freshmen understand how the food payment systems work, Winn said.

“We will explain what makes a block and when it’s better to use a block or dining dollars. We also need to show that blocks are done at the end of a week and dining dollars carry over,” she said.

Barb Burk, marketing manager for the food committee, and Jodi Ludovici, Sodexho resident district manager, brainstormed the idea and then pitched it to the group.

Committee members believed that freshmen have trouble paying efficiently when they first begin using the system, so they approved of the proposal.

They also considered the thought, as Winn explained it, that there are upperclassmen to help freshmen move in, so people should also be there to help them use the food payment methods correctly.

The helpers will be hanging around the cafeterias waiting to be approached by new students for help and to approach anyone who appears to be confused. They will be dressed in Arrival Survival shirts so that the freshmen will have no trouble locating help when they need it.

Winn thinks that this new installment to Arrival Survival will be well received.

“The whole process is new to the freshmen. I just think they’re very overwhelmed at the time and thrown into the unfamiliar situation.” Winn added, “And to know that there’s friendly faces to help, it’ll be welcomed.”

Other possible projects discussed by board members included campus beautification and a retreat for freshmen who are interested in leadership opportunities at Pitt.

After SGB wrapped up the business portion of the meeting, praiseworthy words were shared.

Board member Will Powers spoke of how he liked serving as a member.

“I really enjoyed working on the board this semester. SGB’s been more fun than I thought it was going to be,” Powers said.

President Joe Pasqualichio not only spoke highly of his members, but also of the different committees, both of which he thinks has accomplished a lot more than groups of past years.

“Allocations [committee] spends a lot of time on their work, and I hope their decisions are considered very strongly next semester as they have been this semester,” Pasqualichio said.

He went on to say, “[The] freshmen affairs [committee] is absolutely amazing. They have outperformed what I expected of them.”

Pasqualichio also said that “being a board member means thinking about the 16,000 plus students and not just about a certain few.”

He said that the current board has done well in doing this and hopes that they continue to focus on doing things on a macro level.