2004 Student Government Board finds peace, praise in final hours

Though meeting fireworks exploded over issues ranging from Pitt’s relationship with the United… Though meeting fireworks exploded over issues ranging from Pitt’s relationship with the United States Student Association to what constituted bold face type, the last meeting of the 2004 Student Government Board was a time of peace.

President Brian Kelly and board member Todd Brandon Morris saw their two-year history come to an end — at least as far as SGB is concerned. The two served as board members together, as president and board member this year, and as competitors for the 2005 SGB president.

But after it all — the arguments, the personal comments, the conflicting opinions — Kelly surprised many people in the audience when he offered one thing to Morris, who ate a plate of chicken throughout much of the meeting.

After commending the work of each board member individually, Kelly spoke to Morris.

“We don’t agree about a lot of things,” Kelly said, in a much lower voice than many of his prior comments. “But I still would like to be friends with you.”

The comment resulted in a burst of laughter.

Despite all of the differences between the two, Kelly said Morris is the one person who has kept him in check during the last year. Whenever Kelly made a decision, he said, the one thing he always thought about was what Morris would say.

Kelly went on to describe the past year as his best year at Pitt — “probably because I can’t remember my freshman year.”

Morris’ schedule is now freeing up, and he’s looking for a new calling.

“It’s a bad semester,” he said. He lost the race for his fraternity presidency. He lost the race for SGB presidency. So now he’s looking to be a cartoonist.

But Morris’ other comments reflected many of Kelly’s sentiments.

“We looked out on each other,” he said, adding that their relationship kept them from getting “sloppy.”

Later in the meeting, Morris made one last jab at Kelly. As the board approved funding for blue-and-gold Pitt spirit bracelets, Morris asked for a free one because “Kelly doesn’t seem to be buying board members sweatshirts like [former President] Liz Culliton.”

During the meeting, the board reversed or increased recommendations made by the Allocations Committee. One such decision involved a business group’s demand for a sit-down dinner, which would help teach the students proper etiquette for future business dinners.

“Would etiquette teach me to not eat wings during meetings?” Morris asked a student representing the organization.

“It would teach you not only to not eat wings during a meeting, but to use a napkin,” the student responded.

As the recommendations came and the board continued to reverse them, Kelly commented on the board’s actions.

“We’re not in a cutting mood,” he said.

Later in the meeting, the board approved the next members of the Allocation Committee. All of the new members in attendance stood up and introduced themselves to the board. One of the people to introduce himself was Jim Wright — the student who filed a complaint about a flier handed out by the Black Action Society during the SGB election.

“Oh,” said Morris, who was endorsed by BAS. “You’re Jim Wright.”

Morris and fellow member and BAS Vice President Charis Jones went on to abstain from approving the new members after making additional comments on having waited so long to meet him.

Board member and BAS President Lauren Evette Williams did not attend the meeting.

Jones, who served two terms, later admitted to having wanted to quit SGB and not having wanted to run. But she said she recognized the need for a different voice on SGB and thought she would say things other people wouldn’t.

“This was the biggest stress of my life,” she said in her final statement. She asked for the next board to revive the Pitt-USSA relationship and warned that if some people attempt to contact her in the future, they might be “sadly mistaken” when she does not answer or respond to their calls.

Board member Matt Hutchinson, who this summer was the only board member to say he did not receive an SGB e-mail about the increased student activities fee and SGB’s new role in the fee distribution, once again admitted to feeling out of the loop.

Commenting on fellow board member Liz Blasi’s opening comments and her apparent knowledge of what is going on in the office, Hutchinson said there must be some “information pipeline I’ve been left out of.”

At that point, Blasi, who will return to serve on the next board, made a last plea for the Hutchinson Board Member of the Year award; Morris gave out his own award at the previous week’s meeting. But after many pleas from fellow board members, Hutchinson disappointed many on the board by announcing that he would not hand out his own award.

“Does anyone care?” Hutchinson asked.

To which Morris quickly responded, “I do.” Since he could not win his own Board Member of the Year award, Morris had hoped to win Hutchinson’s.

Hutchinson said that if he handed one out, it would probably go to Blasi, because of the amount of work she puts into SGB.

Board member Joe Salvatore received Morris’ award because of his open mind. According to Morris, when Salvatore spoke, it meant more than when some others spoke, because everyone knew that Salvatore listened to both sides before making a decision.

Kelly’s final comments to each member included accolades for some members’ hard work, level-headedness and ability to stand up for what they thought. And for Hutchinson’s sense of humor.

Kelly reminisced about checking Hutchinson’s Instant Messenger away messages and noted one that he found particularly amusing: “Final week is a lot like Brian Kelly. You think he’s tough, but it’s really not.”