Board states its expectations

Only a few weeks into classes, the Student Government Board had its first public meeting of… Only a few weeks into classes, the Student Government Board had its first public meeting of the year Tuesday night to discuss its plans for the new semester.

SGB President Liz Culliton and Board members Stephanie Hadgkiss, Jesse Horstmann, Charis Jones, Brian Kelly, Scott Morley, Todd Brandon Morris, Peter Stopp and Lauren Williams were eager to talk about what they have in store for students this year.

“I can definitely feel the new attitude in the room tonight,” said Culliton, who served on last year’s board.

Unlike last year, SGB had all but one of its committee chairs selected before the first meeting. The Elections chair was the only one not appointed because the Judicial Committee selects that chair, and the judicial chair was just officially appointed last night.

Last year, it took SGB several months to select all of the chairs.

Board members talked about creating something similar to eBay, an online auction Web site, for Pitt students. The site would allow students to buy and sell things, such as books, online from other Pitt students.

The committee chairs also brought new ideas to the table. In particular, the environmental committee is planning to work on a recycling project in the Pitt community.

Sam Friedman, the Community Relations co-chair, discussed creating online forums to provide students with information about off-campus living.

Solange Clarke, Academic Affairs Committee co-chair, also suggested making professor profiles – which were already made available to minority students during the summer – available to all students. This online description of professors and their style of teaching would inform students about professors’ teaching styles before they sign up for their courses.

Several Board members added that communication with students is a primary focus for the year. They added that the Board would be more visible on campus this year, visiting group meetings and manning tables in Towers lobby, so they can hear more students’ concerns.

Board member Williams also discussed continuing the administration-student forums that let students voice their concerns to members of the administration.

According to Culliton, she is planning to meet with administrators about a new way to sell basketball tickets in an effort to prevent problems similar to those that occurred last year.

Just before the meeting came to an end, Culliton said, “There’s always been hostile attitudes about this office, and we’re looking to break those down this year.”