Often, Student Government Board member Amit Kotz is seen but not heard. At SGB’s open… Often, Student Government Board member Amit Kotz is seen but not heard. At SGB’s open meetings, she sits quietly while many of her fellow board members become quite aggressive with one another.

But her timid demeanor does not mean she doesn’t have strong opinions, she said

According to Kotz, some other board members share her opinions, and instead of simply repeating what they have already said, she chooses to remain quiet. She added quickly, though, that she’s made her voice heard at times.

Kotz, a senior majoring in applied developmental psychology, is serving her first term on the board, after serving on SGB’s Freshmen Affairs and Allocations committees.

During her campaign, she talked about creating more pride and unity at Pitt, starting a freshman orientation program and creating more on-campus parking for students.

According to Kotz, the board hopes to increase Panther Pride-Campus Wide, a series of activities on campus during Homecoming Weekend that started last year under SGB President Liz Culliton. Kotz, a Virginia native, added that the board wants to get more student organizations and some Pitt departments, such as athletics, involved with the festivities.

Panther Packs, her proposed freshmen orientation program, has been pushed aside. Fellow board member Joe Salvatore ran on a similar platform, and since they both got into office, he has taken control of that initiative, she said.

And as far as the parking situation, the loss of the parking lot in front of Hillman Library has suggests an unpromising future. According to city plans, the lot will be turned into Schenley Plaza Park.

“It’s at a little bit of a standstill,” she said of her program’s progress.

She added that she now plans to work with the transportation and parking departments at Pitt to at least keep the current number of spaces accessible to students. However, Kotz said the new park would add to the aesthetics of campus.

Kotz hopes the extra money stemming from the student activities fee will fund groups that were unable to get the money they requested under the former, tighter budget constraints. She also hopes that groups that were denied funding in the past will come to SGB again to request funding.

Throughout the first half of her term, Kotz said her biggest challenges were learning which administrators could help her with what problems, and becoming familiar with all of the resources Pitt offers students. To overcome these challenges, she has relied on the help of the second-term board members, who have already learned where, and to whom, to go for help.