2016 Committee Lunch

Date: Wednesday 6th week, Hilary 2016 (2016-02-24)

Attendance

Present: Anne Williamson (President), Cealach McKeating (Vice-President (Administrative)), Steven Rose (Secretary), Hugo Monnery (Lindsay), Meg Peyton-Jones (Dr. WHO), James Letten (Dr. WHO), Frederick Potts (Foody), Zachary Leather (Foody), Xavier Greenwood (Sports Rep), Alberto Andrade (Academic Affairs and Careers Officer), Daisy Cutts (Access and Admissions Officer), Elliot Jones (Affiliations Officer), Saad Hamid (Affiliations Officer), Rivka Shaw (Charities and RAG Officer), Sophie Conquest (Charities and RAG Officer), Ruby Breward (Design & Maintenance Officer), Molly Rogers (Student Disabilities Officer), Samuel Gibb (Student Disabilities Officer), Xavier Cohen (Entz Officer), Aidan Balfe (Environment & Ethics Officer), Lewis Scott (John de Balliol), Simon Kelly (John de Balliol), Hubert Au (Ethnic Minorities Officer), Thitapa Haritaworn (Ethnic Minorities Officer), Laura Bossino (International Students Officer), Ele Saltmarsh (LGBTQ Officer), Rory Meryon (LGBTQ Officer), Andrew Truong (Website & Computing Officer), Daisy Cockrean (Women's Officer)

Absent with apologies: Darryl Braier-Lorimer (Treasurer), Helen Davies (Sports Rep), Joseph Lee (Academic Affairs and Careers Officer), Indigo Wilde (Entz Officer), Chilla Knight (Environment & Ethics Officer), Nicholas Halterman (International Students Officer), Rachael Ince-Kitson (Women's Officer)

Absent without explanation: Emily Webb (Access and Admissions Officer), Peter Sayer (Design & Maintenance Officer)

Agenda

1. Matters Arising
2. Money for a gift for Charlotte [Darryl]
3. Boptails and Pantry during bops [Xav C]
4. Broken staple gun [Xav C]
5. Future of the JdeB [Lewis & Simon]
6. AOB

Minutes



Annie welcomed the Committee

 

Ste asked – on Darryl's behalf - for £25 for Charlotte as thanks for her work in Pantry above and beyond what was necessary.

Daisy Cutts asked what the gift would be; Annie offered suggestions such as chocolates and related pleasant things. Meg noted that Charlotte is leaving for Australia, so the gift should be something that can be conveniently used before departure so as to not complicate issues.

Annie suggested the nature of the gift be decided later.

The Committee passed £25.

 

Xav C noted that running boptail sales is a large effort involving a lot of set up and clean up (taking time to commend Freddy's efforts in these endeavours). He suggested that there should be greater communication between the bar and Entz as they offer a very similar service (the sale of alcohol) separately, and greater communication could reduce the work in a very simple way.

Molly offered that she believes boptails encourage people to move from the bar to the JCR which has historically been somewhat difficult.

Richard asked how much space the Entz cupboard had. Xav C replied that there is a lot; Richard suggested bulk buying of alcohol given this storage space. Xav C responded that this is the intention in the future however there currently exist minor complications to this.

Meg offered her perception that in Michaelmas bops, there were a lot of people in the bar and also a lot of people buying boptails.

Ruby asked where the money from boptails went. Xav C responded that it went back into Entz.

Cealach asked what the main problems with the current set up are. Xav C replied that the sheer quantity of time put into providing an incredibly similar product to the bar seems disproportionate and unnecessary, in addition to other work in setting up a bop. He also suggested that there is a difficulty in using pantry in that much more cleanup is required.

Richard suggested that starting boptails later on in bops may be a solution. Xav C expressed his support of this suggestion, noting that in the first hour of the last bop, under ten boptails were sold. Annie offered that this was perhaps an anomaly, and in her experience, between 9pm and 10pm, roughly fifty boptails are normally sold. She also offered that in some other colleges, bops have an issue with people not arriving until ten, which can create issues with people drinking in their rooms, resulting in complications during bop nights, whereas the bar and boptails together alleviate that problem within Balliol.

Hugo agreed that ordering supplies together makes a lot of sense, but suggested that the bar is already very busy on bop nights, and hence would be reluctant to increase the workload for the bar.

James asked if it would be possible to produce boptails on the tables on which they're served rather than in pantry. Xav C agreed that this possibility was worth exploring, noting that the tables already see spillage, so this wouldn't damage them further.

Cealach asked how messy boptail shifts are. Xav C replied that it can be, thought it wasn't last bop.

Molly offered that she had been made aware of people stealing boptails in the past, so cautioned against placing boptails on the front tables.

Hugo offered that spillages if the boptails were made on the tables would likely make the floor slippy, creating a dangerous environment.

Annie suggested that we reconsider this in the future when there is a more specific list of issues to address.

 

Xav C told the Committee that the electric staple gun used to put up Entz decorations wasn't firing staples, but rather the staple cannister. This renders the staple gun not only imperfect, but also unusable. He suggested that we purchase a new one. He offered that at the last bop, they managed to make use of pins already in the walls, but noted that the stapler is well used by other members of the JCR.

Cealach offered that with regards to the new JCR renovations, using staples in the walls is to be discouraged, with which Daisy agreed.

Molly offered that there exists a pot of drawing pins in the craft cupboard.

Richard asked what would happen regarding noticeboards in the JCR renovations, and in particular suggested the possibility of noticeboards with a perspex cover to protect notice boards.

Daisy Cutts asked if Entz decorations are to protect noticeboards or for aesthetic purpose. Xav C replied that he was not certain, and said that the use of bop decorations has been established by precedent. He told the Committee that he is not happy with the cost of the decorations, and that while people like the JCR to look different, largely the bops are dark events where the decorations cannot be much appreciated.

Daisy Cutts suggested a permanent fixture to cover the noticeboards. Richard offered that these may get broken at bops.

Annie suggested Xav C investigate further possibilities for Entz decorations change. She asked if Xav C felt a need to get a new staple gun in light of these conversations. He responded that he was unsure of other peoples need.

Annie suggested Xav C talk to Roland.

Molly offered that should the need for a staple gun arise in the future, the Committee could purchase one then. She also offered alternatives to stick up decorations.

Annie suggested we don't buy a staple gun presently, and that people investigate further possibilities for decorating options, noting that things will develop as the JCR renovations become clearer.

 

Lewis offered that there has been some friction between the JdeB and certain 'factions' of the JCR. He suggested that the Welfare aspect needs to be much clearer, noting that there had been confusion in the creation of the latest JdeB. He noted that the JdeB put a lot of effort into what they produce, and expressed his belief that this isn't being as well respected as other efforts by other members within the JCR. He asked the Committee how they believe the JdeB should proceed in the future.

Cealach noted that she had discussions with Ste which highlighted the lack of clear written guidelines for vetting, and suggested that Lewis and Simon bring a motion with the Drs WHO to rectify this.

Simon replied that conventionally the JdeB has been an opt-out process and asked for thoughts.

Ste strongly supported that the JdeB have an opt-in process. Lewis responded that the time constraints render this nearly impossible. Ste asked when JdeBs are printed, Lewis replied that they are typically printed on the Saturday.

Molly offered that Anna Hufton had in the past written guidelines. Simon noted that he and Lewis could find nothing in the Governing Documents, and Meg noted that she found nothing pertaining to the JdeB in her handover pack. Molly asked for clarification of the phrase 'opt-out process.'

Simon told the Committee that a welfare email is typically sent out a few days in advance, and if there is no reply, this is typically interpreted as approval. Daisy Cockrean suggested that this is a fair process. Lewis noted that for the last JdeB it was very much an opt-in process.

Cealach offered that in her experience, JdeB in the past (Colm and Oli) would give details of the slant they would take on a piece before publishing anything, and that if she hadn't responded in time, it was not printed.

Lewis noted to the Committee that he had not printed anything people had not actively agreed to be printed.

Hugo offered his strong support for an opt-in process.

Simon offered that it might be helpful to emphasise to the JCR that people can contact Welfare subcommittee rather than JdeB. Lewis suggested that this is a small and obvious change to make in welfare emails that did not require discussion, with which Simon agreed.

Lewis noted that a guideline written by an individual is not ideal in a democratic sense, and that the guidelines should be discussed in a GM. Annie agreed.

Ruby suggested that Simon and Lewis talk to Colm and Oli about how this was done in the past. Simon offered that in his experience with Colm and Oli, the conversations were typically very informal, which Lewis confirmed was true in his experience also. Lewis suggested that it would be very tricky to let people know in advance the nature of the publication given the time constraints, and while a strong opt-in process as suggested may be ideal in theory, he offered his belief that it would not be practical. Ruby noted that Colm and Oli did this successfully in the past, and hence a conversation with them would be fruitful, before bringing this to a GM.

Sam asked for clarification regarding what support the JdeB feel that it isn't receiving. Lewis compared previous complaints from Entz officers regarding a lack of respect towards the effort put into bops, and the JdeB posting in response to the JdeB being vandalised received notably contrasting levels of support.

Annie asked if there were specific solutions to this, or if this was just a general shift in tone. Lewis replies that he feels there should be a culture change regarding respect towards what is published given that it had been vetted by welfare.

Daisy Cutts offered that when asking people whether they would be comfortable in the publication that they include the 'raw materials' (i.e. the submissions pertaining to the individual in full) with which they are working.

Xav G suggest that the JdeB should use email rather than Facebook to address this.

Ruby offered that she very much values what the JdeB does, however in recent situations, she's felt unable to offer support for the JdeB, as she believes that the JdeB has not handled recent events has not been adequate.

Xav C noted that the two issues – the substance of vetting and the acrimonious atmosphere that the JdeB are encountering – are inextricably linked. He emphasised his support for an opt-in process.

Annie suggested that there seems to be a broad agreement among the Committee about how to proceed, and suggested that the JdeB engage with the Drs WHO to draft a motion to add necessary features to the standing orders.

 

Annie welcomed nominations for PESC.

Kit offered that food is a big part of his life, and he feels that this is an opportunity to give back. He's offered that he has a lot of free time and feels this would be a productive use of this time. He does PPE.

Anthony also noted that he has a lot of free time that could be more productively used.

Henrique offered that he has already shown an interest in Pantry by running for foody, and expressed his support for pantry.

They were all duly co-opted by the Committee.