Lame ducks grant four grand for San Diego trip

Student Government Board members plan to use $3,936 from the student activities fee to fund a… Student Government Board members plan to use $3,936 from the student activities fee to fund a trip to San Diego for a leadership conference this fall.

Four SGB members – three of whom will not be running for re-election in November – will attend the National Conference on Student Leadership at Catamaran Resort in San Diego Oct. 27-30.

President Brian Kelly submitted a request for funds from allocations on Sept. 14. The allocations committee voted on the Sept. 15 to deny the request

For requests of less than $500, the allocations committee can grant or deny funding on its own.

For amounts of more than $500, the committee makes a recommendation to the board members, who then vote on the recommendation.

According to the SGB constitution, the board has to approve the allocation committee’s recommendation by a majority.

If the board does not approve the recommendation, the allocations committee can submit a second recommendation to the board.

The board has one week to act on the second recommendation.

If the board overturns the allocations committee’s second recommendation, the matter is left up to the board.

The board voted to overturn the committee’s second recommendation, in an emergency session conducted through e-mail during the weekend – thus granting themselves $3,936.

Kelly and board members Dilinus Harris, Rebekah Bambling and Jarrod Baker are set to attend the conference. Bambling is the only one of the four seeking re-election in November.

“We generally send most student organizations to one conference a year,” allocations chair Michelle Turbanic said in an interview Wednesday. “This is the third conference this year for SGB. We voted on general precedence.”

Board member Harris said that SGB will use the trip to work on Pitt’s election codes.

SGB is finalizing the election codes this weekend in a special session, but Harris feels that even though the code will be completed before the conference, the board members can use the information they gather at the event to help deal with unforeseeable issues.

“We need help with certain issues because no other schools have faced the same issues we face. This is the only conference that addressed those issues that we know of,” Harris said.

The San Diego trip’s price tag falls below the cost of a trip approved in February. The board approved a total of $6,446 for board members Dilinus Harris and Monica Higgins – and 10 other people – to travel to Arlington, Va., and Washington, D.C.

The February conference was held by the United States Student Association. The board members participated in National Student Lobby Day.