The Pitt News
T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | January 9, 2019 Â| Volume 109 | Issue 80
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AFFECTS RESEARCHERS
MEET & GREEK
Brian Gentry
Assistant News Editor
Three members of Gamma Sigma host a table at a Pre-Professional Greek Activities Fair hosted by Sigma Phi Sigma Pi on Tuesday night. The event allowed students to meet Greek organizations before the organizationsâ recruitment weeks. Levko Karmazyn | staff photographer
SGB LOOKS AHEAD TO ELECTIONS, EMPOWERMENT Neena Hagen Staff Writer
Pittâs Student Government Board returned Tuesday for a shorter-than-usual meeting, where board members previewed their planned projects for the spring semester before unanimously passing a bill that reforms the SGB election process. The election is approaching quickly. The boardâs Elections Committee released candidacy packets Monday, which are due Jan. 22 for the Feb. 19 election. The packets, which contain information for prospective board candidates, can be picked up in SGBâs office on the eighth floor of the William Pitt Union. âWe had 11 or 12 people run for board last year,â Katie McLaughlin, who chairs the committee, said. âThis year weâre hoping to at least
match that number.â The bill passed Tuesday night includes several updates to SGBâs election code that could help make that dream a reality. The bill lowers the financial commitment candidates must make to run for president and other board positions by reducing the deposit fee from $100 to $50. The bill also includes measures to reimburse campaign expenses for candidates. âWe wanted to tweak a few things to make it more accessible for everyone to run,â McLaughlin said. âRunning a campaign is actually a really big financial burden.â The board aims to simplify the voting process as well, unveiling a special url for voting in this yearâs elections â elections.pitt.edu â instead of my.pitt.edu, which voters used in previous years.
President Maggie Kennedy hopes to follow up the success of SGBâs November Pitt Womenâs Leadership Experience with a strong Womenâs Empowerment Week, an annual event for the board which will take place sometime in March. âWe have a committee with a ton of different women from different organizations on campus,â Kennedy said. âWeâre hoping to meet this week to begin planning and determine who our speakers are gonna be.â Several task forces are in the works as well. Among them was one that could help diversify cuisines at Pittâs dining halls. Board members Zechariah Brown and Albert Tanjaya, who organized last semesterâs Eat and Greet events, have several more planned for the spring. The See SGB on page 2
The U.S. government shut down on Dec. 22, and research production at Pitt and other universities may slow down because of it. Some projects funded by certain federal research departments â including the National Science Foundation, NASA, the EPA and the FDA â are at risk, as these organizations are dealing with rapidly shrinking budgets that canât be refilled until the shutdown ends. The U.S. is 18 days into the current shutdown, nearing the record 21-day shutdown during Bill Clintonâs presidency in the midâ90s. The current shutdown is happening because of President Donald Trumpâs refusal to sign off on any budget that does not include $5 billion in funding for a border wall, money that House Democrats refuse to provide. Recently, Trump said the shutdown could last âmonths or even yearsâ if his requested funds are not included in the budget. The shutdown could spell trouble for future research projects. Pitt received more than $16 million in research grants for 82 projects from the National Science Foundation in 2018. There are projects in STEM departments funded by NASA. Without many federal departments properly funded, new projects may be put on the back burner for a while. But University officials are not concerned about any possible lack of funding. In an email statement, Rob Rutenbar, the senior vice chancellor for research at Pitt, said that most research is unaffected by the shutdown. âThe National Institutes of Health, the See Shutdown on page 2