By admin, 30 March, 2022

Date of Meeting

Tue, 03/07/2017 - 12:00

2017 General Meeting

Date: Tuesday 8th week, Hilary 2017 (2017-03-07)

Agenda

Hilary Term 8th Week Agenda

Matters Arising
1. JCR Poetry anthology (Meg)
Amendments to Governing Documents
1. Arts Officer (Zack)
2. Summer Event President (Juliet)
3. Non-Committee Role of Balliol Student Scholarship Rep (Annie + Hubert)
Motions Relating to Financial Matters
1. Edinburgh Fringe Funding (Cealach)
2. The Safe (Richard)
3. Prescription fund (Juliet)
4. Anti-Malaria Fund (Zack)
5. JCR Student Publications (Ele)
6. JCR Non-student Publications (Ele)
Any Other Motions
Appendices - Note that as we have two motions to change the standing orders. Technically the wording of appendix 6 depends on the outcome of motion 2. a. If motion 2. a. should happen to pass, then read appendix 6 as reflecting these changes (ie section 25 becomes section 26 and the list of non-committee officers is longer)
1. Duties of Arts officer with motion 2. a.’s proposals
2. List of Non-committee Offices with motion 2. a.’s proposals
3. Standing Orders Section 4: Arts Subcommittee with motion 2. a.’s proposals
4. JCR Publications survey data
5. Constitution Section 8: Summer Event Elections with motion 2. b.’s proposals
6. Changes to the Standing Orders proposed in Motion 2. c.

Matters Arising
1. JCR Poetry Anthology (Meg Peyton Jones) passes
  1. This JCR notes:
    1. The 2016 JCR poetry anthology compiled by Ellen Ellis (after passing a similar motion to this one at a GM) was well received, with approximately 70 people contributing and 80 people ordering copies (battled), in addition to the copies bought for the JCR and bathrooms (Scrawl budget)
    2. That Oxprint have given a quote of 80p per booklet to print booklets in a similar format to last year
    3. That there is approximately £30 excess in the Scrawl budget
  2. This JCR believes:
    1. Reading poetry is fun and interesting
    2. Friendly recommendations are a great way of experiencing a wide range of poetry, especially outside your normal experience.
    3. Reading another person’s favourite poem is a fantastic way of getting to know them.
    4. A poetry anthology would unite the JCR as a community.
  3. This JCR resolves:
    1. To produce a collection of poems chosen by members of the JCR, buying communal copies with the Scrawl budget

Amendment (Meg Peyton Jones) (fails)

Add notes 4 and 5:

1. 1. 1. That producing a new collection every year might be overkill (fewer people might contribute and buy it)
    2. That if an anthology is not produced every year, it’d be more likely not to pass out of institutional memory if it is in some way documented

Remove resolves 1 and replace with:

1. 1. 1. To mandate the Comrades Shakespeare to add something about compiling a JCR poetry anthology to their handover pack , ideally encouraging it to be brought as an idea every two or three years

Amendments to Governing Documents
1. Arts Officer (Zack) passes
  1. This JCR notes
    1. That there is an Arts Subcommittee
    2. That it is chaired by the Treasurer
    3. That the treasurer is the only committee member on Arts subcommittee
    4. That chairing arts subcommittee isn’t usually the reason people decide to be treasurer
    5. That arts week was not great last year
    6. That the year before that arts week was organised by a broader base of people, including people not on committee who were explicitly interested and experienced in arts, and it was not shit.
    7. That arts subcommittee currently rarely meets or organises arts events
    8. That arts stuff can be quite expensive
  2. This JCR believes
    1. That art is great.
    2. That committee members do best when they’re chosen to do the jobs they do
    3. That there is scope for better organisation of arts related events in college, including but not limited to Arts Week.
    4. That the treasurer, because of notes 3) and 8), should sit on arts subcommittee, but because of notes 4), 5) and 6) and believes 1) they should not chair it.
  3. This JCR resolves
    1. To create a non-committee position called Arts officer, who chairs the arts subcommittee and promotes arts within college.
    2. To add Appendix 1 to section V of the standing orders
    3. To amend section 1 of part V of the standing orders to appendix 2
    4. To amend Part IV Section 4 to appendix 3

1. Summer Event President (Juliet) passes
  1. This JCR notes
    1. That currently the president for the 2018 summer event will be elected after the 2017 Ball in trinity.
    2. That this pattern is in the constitution and the 2019 Ball president will be elected after the 2018 Summer event has taken place.
    3. That a ball or summer event takes an immense amount of organising.
    4. That the next president would benefit not only from advice in the form of handover pack but also from being involved in the event before theirs, even if just for the set up and taking down of the event.
    5. That although traditionally a fresher rep on the committee has become the president for the next event and has therefore been involved in the set up already, that this will not always be the case.
    6. This has also been recommended by College.
  2. This JCR believes
    1. That any president would benefit from as much experience as they could possibly have.
    2. That holding husts in 2nd week in the lead up to the ball still allows all students the Easter holidays to decide if they would like to run.
  3. This JCR resolves
    1. To move forward the elections and husts for the president for the summer events and ball to 2nd week of Trinity term.
    2. To amend section 8 of the constitution to appendix 5

Amendment (friendly)

Add: The referendum will be held prior to husts to know whether or not there is an event

1. Non-Committee Role of Balliol Student Scholarship Rep (Annie and Hubert)
  1. This JCR notes:
    1. In 2016, the Balliol Student Scholarship was created to offer a fully funded place for refugee students to study an undergraduate degree at Balliol. This is funded from an opt-out student levy combined with generous matching from alumni and College.
    2. For this scholarship to be most effective each application cycle, it must be advertised through a number of refugee organisations and partners to reach a large number of potential applicants.
  2. This JCR believes:
    1. In offering this scholarship, we have a responsibility to support potential applicants as much as we feasibly can.
    2. A dedicated student non-committee position would enable a committed individual to take the lead in driving both outreach and applicant support throughout the application process.
  3. This JCR resolves:
    1. To create a new non-committee position, ‘Balliol Student Scholarship rep’, to be held by one individual.
    2. To mandate this individual to increase awareness of this scholarship, support all potential and ongoing applications, and work with the College Office and Development Office to ensure the best possible running of the scholarship.
    3. To collectively support this individual in their efforts where possible.
    4. To amend the standing orders 1.1, 1.2, and to add standing orders 25.1 to reflect appendix 6

Motions Relating to Financial Matters
1. Edinburgh Fringe Funding (Cealach) passes
  1. This JCR notes:
    1. The Edinburgh Fringe runs throughout August
    2. Most shows do a short (approx 2 week) tour in the last weeks of July
    3. That there are 11 students involved in Gruffdog Theatre’s Peer Gynt (Pete, Conor, Cealach, Gaetano, Emily W, Daisy C, Daisy P, Rachael, Ruby, Calum and Emma)
    4. Peer Gynt is doing a 2 week tour and a full month at the Fringe
    5. Cast and crew members have to pay their own rent and transport costs, unless they are subsidised by JCRs and Colleges
    6. Historically, Balliol JCR gives £100 per student in a Fringe show
    7. Rent for a month in Edinburgh is £4-500 each, even with 4-5 people to a room
    8. That there is currently around £50k in the JCR reserves
    9. That the Drama Fund has much less money, which is required to fund shows within Oxford
  2. This JCR believes:
    1. That the arts should not be limited to those with the ability to self-fund
    2. That the opportunity to go the Fringe should not be dependent on your personal financial circumstances
    3. That the Fringe is a great, fun event, and an important opportunity for those who want to go into acting / producing etc.
  3. This JCR resolves:
    1. To donate £75 per Balliolite going to the Fringe with Peer Gynt (a total of £825)
    2. To take this money from the Drama Fund account / General Reserves
2. The Safe (Richard)
  1. This JCR Notes
    1. The TV Room
    2. The PS4
    3. The PS4 games (or lack thereof)
    4. The broken safe
    5. That several PS4 games were recently stolen ‘by an interloper’
    6. That previous consoles have been stolen during vacations
    7. That this is the second safe to break
    8. That we have previously always bought the cheapest possible safe
    9. The Phoenix Vela SS0803k, laptop safe, which costs £103.20 from www.safe.co.uk and requires a key to open
    10. The Phoenix Vela SS0803e laptop safe, which costs £103.20 from www.safe.co.uk and requires a code to open
    11. That www.safe.co.uk offer a lowest price guarantee, and that this is indeed the lowest price that Richard could find on the internet
    12. That ww.safe.co.uk offer free weekday delivery
    13. That this scratch resistant, carpet lined, sexy little number will fit the PS4 and, at a push, 52 PS4 games
    14. That Richard will ask maintenance to screw in any safe we buy.
  2. This JCR Believes
    1. That shit should stay locked up
    2. That people who want to use the PS4 should have to get the key out from the lodge, to encourage them to lock shit up once they’re done
    3. That the Phoenix Vela SS0803k will be an honest and true friend of the TVCR
    4. That the threat of stolen games not being replaced will encourage people to include PS4 games in ‘shit that should get locked up’.
  3. This JCR Resolves
    1. To pass £103.20 for the Phoenix Vela SS0803k
    2. To let it be understood as standing policy that games which go missing and were not left in the safe will not be repurchased by the JCR.

Amendment (Richard)

1. 1. 1. Strike Believes 2 and 3, replace with
      1. That it is an unnecessary pain having to get the key out from the lodge
      2. That the TVCR consists entirely of attentive, diligent, tidy individuals who will remember to lock up the PS4 and games without the reminder of having to return the key to the lodge to retrieve their bodcard
      3. That the code for the safe won’t end up being written somewhere in the TV room
      4. That the Phoenix Vela SS0803e will be an honest and true friend of the TVCR,
      5. and renumber Believes 4 appropriately.
    2. Strike Resolves 1, replace with
      1. To pass £103.20 for the Phoenix Vela SS0803e
      2. To make the code for the safe known to the members JCR in some way (to be decided) which does not also make the code known to non-members of the JCR.
2. Prescription fund (Juliet)
  1. This JCR notes
    1. That there is currently a fund for prescription reimbursements.
    2. That there are members of the JCR who need to travel for medical reasons, whether that be for appointments or prescription pick up.
    3. That there are members of the JCR with mobility constraints who may need to pay for normal travel.
    4. That our student loans often do not cover everything we need.
    5. That the prescription fund is currently overfunded, and makes £400 profit per term.
  2. This JCR believes
    1. That spare money from the prescription fund should be used to cover these kinds of small (but for many significant) travel expenses.
  3. This JCR resolves
    1. To allow students to claim up to £50 a term in transport reimbursements from the prescription fund.
3. Anti Malaria Fund (Zack)
  1. This JCR notes
    1. That Giving What We Can’s Oxford chapter are currently running the ‘Big Match’, in which they raise money for AMF and double each donation with their own resources.
    2. That AMF distributes long lasting insecticidal nets to people at high risk of malaria and do so at a price of only £2.50 per net, which can each protect multiple people.
    3. That because of the huge number of benefits of malaria prevention and the low associated cost, many charity evaluators believe that donating to AMF is the cheapest way to save and improve lives.
    4. That Balliol has a long history of donating to AMF.
    5. That our regular donation would not occur during the Big Match, making it, by notes 1), a smaller donation holding cost to the JCR constant.
  2. This JCR believes
    1. That taking opportunities to save and improve more lives than otherwise possible is a good thing.
  3. This JCR resolves
    1. To donate £200 to Giving What We Can’s Big Match campaign.
4. JCR Student Publications (Ele)
  1. This JCR notes:
    1. That we buy a number of student publications for the JCR’s use.
    2. That several Balliol students are involved in producing these.
    3. That many of the more infrequent publications are taken by individuals directly after purchase.
    4. That the Comrades Shakespeare were asked to review the JCR’s publications so that the selection can be updated to match what people actually want.
  2. This JCR believes:
    1. That people should be able to read publications they are interested in.
    2. That paying JCR money for people to take publications without sharing them is not very fair.
    3. That wasting paper is a bad thing.
    4. That supporting students involved in extra-curricular activities is a good thing, but can be done in ways that do not create waste.
  3. This JCR resolves:
    1. To adjust the number of student publications we get to reflect demand, as assessed by the publications review and detailed in the appendix.
    2. To decide whether or not to support publications beyond these purchases at a GM if needed.
    3. To make sure that the termly publications are available for use by the whole JCR, keeping them on the bookshelf.
5. JCR Non-Student Publications (Ele)
  1. This JCR notes:
    1. That we buy a number of non-student publications for the JCR’s use.
    2. That the Comrades Shakespeare were asked to review the JCR’s publications so that the selection can be updated to match what people actually want.
  2. This JCR believes:
    1. That people should be able to read publications they are interested in.
    2. That wasting paper is a bad thing.
    3. That finding that all the crosswords have already been done is a bad thing.
    4. That having a wide range of publications is a good thing.
    5. That Murdoch is not a great person and we do not support NewsCorp.
  3. This JCR resolves:
    1. To adjust the number of non-student papers we get to reflect demand, as assessed by the publications review and detailed in the appendix.
    2. To have a box/shelf where old newspapers can be placed for use by students.

Amendment 1 (Ele):

Add resolves 3, to stop buying Murdoch owned papers (the Times and Sunday Times).

Amendment 2 (Ele):

Add resolves 3, to reduce number of The Times and Sunday Times purchased.

Any Other Motions
Appendices

Appendix 1:

25. Duties of Arts Officer

25.1. In addition to other duties imposed by the Constitution and Standing Orders and by the resolutions of the Committee or of General Meetings, the Arts officer shall

Chair arts subcommittee at least twice per term
Lead the organisation of arts week in 5th week Michaelmas
Promote the engagement with and organisation of arts related activities in Balliol beyond the scope of arts week.
Encourage the coordination of members of arts subcommittee.

Appendix 2:

List of Non-Committee Offices

1.1. The following positions are Non-Committee Offices:

The Duckworth
The Drama President
The Drama Treasurer
The Drama Secretary
Maestro Music
Comrade Tortoise
The Picture Fund Rep
Comrade Shakespeare
Comrade Bike Rep
The Bar Social Secretary
The Ball President
The Ball Treasurer
The Ball Secretary
The Ball Publicity Officer
The Ball Representatives
The Garden Party President
The Garden Party Treasurer
The Garden Party Secretary
The Garden Party Publicity Officer
The Garden Party Representatives
PESC Members
The Arts officer

1.2. The Offices of Drama Treasurer, Comrade Bike Rep, Ball President, Ball Treasurer, Ball Secretary, Ball Publicity Officer and the Arts officer may only be held by a single individual; all other Offices may be held by a single individual or by dual nominations.

1.3. The duties of the Non-Committee Offices are given in the following sections; these duties are binding upon the Members holding the NonCommittee Offices.

Appendix 3

4. Arts Subcommittee

4.1. The Arts Subcommittee is a body which exists to co-ordinate Arts provision in Balliol, facilitate Arts Week and patronise students across the University.

4.2. The Arts Subcommittee shall consist of: a) The Treasurer; b) Maestro Music; c) the Picture Fund Officer; d) Comrade Shakespeare; e) the Drama President; f) the Drama Treasurer, g) the Drama Secretary and h) the Arts Officer

4.3. Meetings of the Arts Subcommittee shall be chaired by the Arts officer and minuted by the treasurer. [ was: the Treasurer and minuted by a member of the subcommittee ]

4.4. The Drama President shall submit a report on their activities to each meeting of the Arts Subcommittee

[ Removed: 4.4.The Treasurer shall present reports to the Committee as and when required, and to the final General Meeting of each academic term. ]

Appendix 4 - JCR publications

Response rate was 86, a high proportion of the JCR’s regular inhabitants.

Assumed that 1 paper can be read by ~10 individuals.

Non-Student Publications

Daily Papers Mon – Sat

2 'I' (increased from 1)

2 Financial Times (increased from 1)

4 Times

6 Guardian (increased from 4)

1 Daily Telegraph (decreased from 2)

1 New York Times

1 Le Monde

1 Morning Star

Stop getting the Mirror

Stop getting the Wall Street Journal

Sunday Papers

3 Sunday Observer

1 Sunday Telegraph (decreased from 2)

3 Sunday Times

1 Sunday Independent

Stop getting the Sunday Mirror

Weekly

1 Die Ziet

1 El Pais

1 La Republica

1 Spectator

1 New Statesman

1 The Week

1 New Yorker (increased from 0)

2 The Economist (increased from 0)

Stop getting the Oxford Times

Periodicals

3 Private Eye – Fortnightly (increased from 2)

2 London Review of Books – Bimonthly (increased from 0)

1 Jacobin – Quarterly (increased from 0)

1 Frieze- 8/year (increased from 0)

1 The Atlantic- 10/year (increased from 0)

1 The Elephant – Quarterly (increased from 0)

1 Culture- Quarterly

Student Publications

Weekly

6 Cherwell

3 OxStu

Termly

5 BANG

5 PAN

5 Isis

5 Missing

5 Cuntry Living

Appendix 5 (changes highlighted in red)

8.1. At the beginning of Trinity term, a referendum shall be held to decide whether Members wish to hold a ball or a garden party at the end of the following academic year;

8.2. In the event that members wish to hold a ball at the end of the following academic year, the following Non-Committee Offices are to be elected in Trinity term of the academic year:

a) Ball President

b) Ball Treasurer

c) Ball Secretary

d) Ball Publicity Officer

e) JCR Ball Representatives

f) MCR Ball Representatives

These elections are to be held after the Ball in all cases except that of the Ball President election, which shall be held in second week of trinity term

8.3.These offices shall take over responsibility from their predecessors on Saturday of 8th Week of the Trinity term in which they are elected.

8.4.In the event that members wish to hold a garden party at the end of the following academic year, the following Non-Committee Offices are to be elected in Trinity term of the academic year:

a) Garden Party President

b) Garden Party Treasurer

c) Garden Party Secretary

d) Garden Party Publicity Officer

e) JCR Garden Party Representatives

f) MCR Garden Party Representatives

These elections are to be held after the Garden Party in all cases except that of the Garden Party President election, which shall be held in second week of trinity term

8.5.These offices shall take over responsibility from their predecessors on Saturday of 8th Week of the Trinity term in which they are elected.’

8.6.The elections detailed in 8.2-8.4 will not take place if the JCR has voted not to hold a ball or garden party in the year in consideration, as in 8.1.

Appendix 6 (changes highlighted in red)

1. List of Non-Committee Offices

1.1.The following positions are Non-Committee Offices:

a)The Duckworth

b)The Drama President

c)The Drama Treasurer

d)The Drama Secretary

e)Maestro Music

f)Comrade Tortoise

g)The Picture Fund Rep

h)Comrade Shakespeare

i)Comrade Bike Rep

j)The Bar Social Secretary

k)The Ball President

l)The Ball Treasurer

m)The Ball Secretary

n)The Ball Publicity Officer

o)The Ball Representatives

p)The Garden Party President

q)The Garden Party Treasurer

r)The Garden Party Secretary

s)The Garden Party Publicity Officer

t)The Garden Party Representatives

u)PESC Members

v)Student Scholarship Rep

1.2.The Offices of Drama Treasurer, Maestro Music, Comrade Bike Rep, Student Scholarship Rep, Ball President, Ball Treasurer, Ball Secretary and Ball Publicity Officer may only be held by a single individual; all other Offices may be held by a single individual or by dual nominations.

25. Duties of Student Scholarship Rep

25.1.In addition to other duties imposed by the Constitution and Standing Orders and by the resolutions of the Committee or of General Meetings, the Student Scholarship Rep shall

a)increase awareness of this scholarship

b)support all potential and ongoing applications

c)work with the College Office and Development Office to ensure the best possible running of the scholarship.

Minutes

GM Minutes Hilary 2017 Week 8

Cealach brings a procedural motion to go first, no objections.

Cealach:

Every year people come and ask for money to supplement living costs during fringe, it costs several hundred pounds on rent alone and there are other expenses. There are 11 of us who are involved in the drama and jcr college scene. They can’t afford to go without the money from the JCR. Usually it’s £100 and they’re asking for £75, but there are more of them.

How much is usually spent? 3-4 hundred pounds but there is a graduating company this year that increases this substantially.

Richard supports paying Cealach to go away. There is no objection and the motion passes.

Hubert cedes the chair to Zack, no objections to this.

Hubert is giving a report on what’s going on this term:

He loves being asked questions. The pride and trans flags are now being flown for 5 extra days each. Rent meeting went ‘pretty well’. Building works have been formalised into four bands of compensation, the ones in Jowett will be likely the lower bands and the work currently happening on main site would be the highest band. The masters field project will have a new sports pavilion and there are meetings happening to determine the design - all on one floor and it should be very nice! There will be a new common room in Jowett, the details of which haven’t been finalised yet. All sports will mostly stay the same after the current building works, minor adjustments to some playing fields ask Hubert for more details. The reach scholarship is for people who can’t come because of political instability - next year we’ll take a new reach scholar. The Ball is on track. The fridge scare has been sorted out with some good work from the ISOs. The tourism policy will change, charged £3 for entry and groups will be limited to 8 people and the guides will no longer get in for free - with the exception of blue badge guides. The policy on accessible rooms will be formalised soon. Also Hubert noted that the election for the new master is coming up.

Will croquet still be available in Jowett? Possibly not, Hubert doesn’t know.

The rent compensation is not specific to towers, tower 4 was used as an example case only. If there’s any disruption to other towers there’s now a system in place to determine want compensation is appropriate.

Hubert retakes his power.

Meg on poetry:

Last year there was a poetry anthology and it was really successful. Her amendment is to only have an anthology every couple of years, which she doesn’t support. We need to choose if we want no poetry ever, poetry every so often or poetry every year.

Zack really really liked this last year.

Ele asks if people have to buy these? There would be communal copies, at 80p each. Zack asks if this is passing any money? It is passing money from the scrawl budget but it would not be very much. Meg clarifies that this is mainly asking for people to submit their fave poems not write their own, although they can. We can also distribute a digital copy.

The amendment to do it less frequently failed, the motion as a whole passes with no objections.

Hubert invites Zack to take the stage:

(The computer broke here, so this is a broad summary) - Zack mainly summarised the motion as written: The treasurer is not necessarily great at organising arts week and each member of arts subcommittee has their own priorities so they might not be focused on arts week, last term arts week wasn’t overly well advertised.

Amrita asks if you can be arts officer and arts rep: you could run for both or just for one.

Meg asks if we should restrict the applicants for the position to those who are on arts subcommittee. Zack doesn’t want to restrict the pool of applicants because then it couldn’t be an official non committee position, with a mandate in the standing orders.

Aiden suggests instead we expand the role of the picture fund reps to do all these things, the current picture fund reps already organise things like this. They only have responsibilities at two times of the year anyway.

Zack has thought of this but felt like managing a large curation budget should be an important role in and of itself. Even though it may be undesirable to have an extra non committee rep - this is only bad because there would be an extra election. He acknowledges that he may be underestimating the disadvantages of having lots of non committee officers. Also we don’t want art to become mainly visually focused.

Aidan feels that being in charge of the fund should be held by someone interested in art generally to make the most of it.

Nicky says that the visible part of the job is to give out the pictures but there is more to the role. She doesn't see how having lots of money in the budget is relevant and doesn’t think of the picture fund as being much of a management or campaigning thing. She’s doing campaigning things too but mostly she sees the role as curating the art collection. She sees the flexibility of the role as one of its great strengths.

She understands some people would be able to do both, but feels that this wouldn’t always be the case.

The picture fund wouldn’t be used for events in arts week anyway because it has a specific mandated uses - namely buying fine art.

Zack see there are ways to combine the two roles but the attitudes that would make you want to do curation are different from those that might make you want to be in charge of organising arts events.

Hugo points out you could split any role into lots of different parts and if the parts have any impact on each other at all having one person overseeing it all is a sufficient benefit.

Zack disagrees that there is that much crossover between the roles at all.

Hugo feels that buying the art and being involved with JCRs art aren’t clearly distinct.

Aiden says that chairing committee and organising arts week aren’t huge commitments and the last two mandates are quite vague. Combining the two would give a more defined role with a wider variety of possibly prompts to them doing good things. They could be very motivated to do lots of things and having a grand vision but they could end up doing very little.

Zack still feels very resistant to this change for the reasons he stated before - he thinks someone could easily be very invested in one of the roles and not at all in the other.

Meg says there doesn’t seem to be a huge disadvantage to having an extra election, particularly as you could run for both if you wanted.

An amendment was brought by Hubert to formalise Aiden’s argument. Hubert noted that this amendment needs to specify some resolution to the problem of two picture fund reps being unable to share the chair of a meeting. Aiden argues that one of the picture fund reps could be in charge of chairing meetings and that side of things and one could be more involved in curating. He now realises that this is essentially the same as founding a new role and withdraws his amendment.

No objections and the motion passes

Juliet on Ball Elections:

Historically people often have previous experience working on the event of the year before but it would be good to guarantee this would happen every time. Juliet emphasises that seeing the summer event before taking the role is very useful as there are many unforeseen problems that having some experience with can help.

Hubert points out that we would need to have the referendum on if the summer event will happen at all before the election. He proposes an amendment to this effect. Amendment passes with no objections and there are then no objections to the motion as a whole.

Hubert cedes the chair to Freddy.

Hubert summarises the purpose of the fund and posits that the position would be filled by someone who feels passionately about this scholarship. It would take pressure off the president.

Is this scholarship always awarded to an undergraduate? Yes.

We don’t have anyone currently receiving the scholarship and if no one takes it next year then we need a process to make sure it is properly advertised.

Why isn’t this part of access and admissions mandate? Hubert feels that they should have a very specific mandate because whilst they share the publicity aspect in other ways the roles are quite distinct.

Richard feels like you would need lots of contacts in college to be effective and access and admissions are in a position to have those contacts already.

Zack notes that this might make access and admissions less accessible (heh) to freshers, but this may not be a notable problem.

Calum is maybe going to found an access subcommittee next term and this could become part of that.

Freddy calls for a straw poll: Do we think it’s worth handing this to access and admissions as part of their mandate? This received reasonably broad support.

Hubert suggested that we vote on the motion with the understanding that if it didn’t pass then Calum would work on it without being mandated to. Then Calum could bring it to a gm next term to make the decision official.

It was pointed out that if access takes on the role then it will be enacted formally next year but if it’s a new position it can happen immediately. As it happens Calum is happy to take on the responsibility immediately so this technical detail is irrelevant. Zack is confused as to whether he wants to bring an amendment and on hearing that the time sensitivity will not be an issue he decides to bring an amendment to bring this under the mandate of access and admissions. Eventually it was agreed that the best option was to vote on the motion as a whole with the understanding that Calum will start working without being mandated to if the motion is rejected and that a new motion will be brought next term to formalise the arrangement. The motion was voted on and rejected.

Richard brings his motion to buy a safe. He is in favour of the key safe rather than code safe because the code will be left around and the act of having to get a key might remind people to lock things up in it. Will people not just leave the games out and hand the key in? Richard: We can’t prevent people being shits. Meg points out that the gym works this way and it goes well there. We can also ask the porters to check when they do their night rounds. We will add it to the standing orders that games stolen will not be replaced if they were left out. The amendment received no support and the motion passed. (That is the safe with a key was chosen).

Juliet on the prescription fund:

She summarises the points in the motion, noting that the prescription fund is relatively ill defined and that supporting medical related transport costs is a good use of the extra money in there. Richard agrees that it’s a great motion and that the fund is young enough the current levies were set without any knowledge of how the fund would be used. No objections and the motions passes.

Zack on the against malaria fund:

Giving now will be matched by giving what we can so it’s more efficient than the money we would give at the beginning of next term anyway. He suggests a potential amendment to use the money from next term for this instead of just donating twice as much. Hugo worries that this isn’t very effective given that we don’t know where the money for it comes from, Zack says that even if it’s not then it will increase success for the project which is good generally. Richard expresses support. No objections and the motion passes.

Ele brings a procedural motion to bring forward the non-student publications motion. There are no objections.

The numbers in the motion are based on matching proportions to the survey given, with slightly larger numbers of copies allocated per person for weekly papers, as these will potentially accumulate more ware. The Times amendment may be an issue because of the crossword section, which is very popular. Ele notes than many of the people who said get rid of The Times also answered that they complete its crossword.

Should the JCR stop having any involvement with anything Rupert Murdoch owns? Particularly given he’s in charge of many things so we can’t get rid of him entirely. Zack: either we think of it the principlist way or the consequentialist way. We’re either trying to stick to an ideal or we’re trying to reduce demand. If you go by the latter then this is still a good reason to not buy the times. He tends towards the consequentialism. Will: Are we essentially supporting this over banning the simpsons, say, because people like the simpsons more than The Times. Richard disagrees, this is still a marginal improvement, and we are still depriving Rupert of his £2.00 a day. Are we really going to make any difference to his finances. Richard feels that we should still agree that we don’t like Murdoch but that we can’t do anything that will make a difference so we should continue to buy The Times. Straw poll revealed that the room was split. Vote on amendment 1 to continue to buy the same number of Murdoch owned papers. This amendment fails. The second amendment also fails. Richard brings a new amendment to stop buying the spectator. The amendment passes. Aiden asks if we could keep old papers for a while. This is already resolves 2! There is no objection and the motion passes.

Student publications: This was done in much the same way as the last motions, mainly reducing the number and people don’t like that they are bought and then taken away immediately, we could mark them with a sticker and keep them on the bookshelf so people know not to take them. There is still some controversy on whether we continue to buy large numbers of these publications. She notes that we could continue to support these institutions through GMs when people know where their money is going. How many people said they read the cherwell? 40. How many people read the bang? 4. But bang is termly so the calculation was different, which Nicky understands but still feels that the straight proportional difference should be reflected in the number of papers we buy.

Point of information: Cherwells, bangs and Isises are bundled so you commit to them as a package deal. Also they sell them in bundles of 25 generally. Also the cherwell does have puzzle section.

John Maier: The problem with cutting the number of papers we get would finacial affect the paper disproportionately partly because of how the advertising revenue works. Also the environmental argument is an issue because the cherwell will continue to print as many anyway. The JCR has a history of supporting student endeavours in the form of sports, drama, music. He feels that this is the same thing - a small number of people benefit in all these cases. Ele says that she feels that people want more publications more than they want to support people's hobbies.

Richard disagrees with Will totally because we should be supporting the cherwell openly if we’re going to support it at all. We don’t want to underhandedly support the Cherwell and inflate their readership figures when we should give them money outright. Richard and Zack point out that four weeks ago we agreed to buy papers based on their readership and that we shouldn’t be re-debating it now The vote happened and we’re now mandated to make our decision based on readership. Richard emphasised that we should support student endeavours but we should do it openly and via GM motions that people can vote on.

The debate moved to whether the survey figures have been well translated into the number of papers we should buy. Ele supports the idea that the number of people who didn’t answer the survey would be evenly split between those who care and those who don’t, and if it wasn’t it was more likely that those who read would answer the survey

Ste brings a point of information that we resolved to buy an ‘appropriate number’ rather than a number proportional to the number read. This would open the floor to the kind of debate currently happening.

Stephen agrees with Ste’s point. Aiden points out that each of the student endeavours Will and John mentioned (Sports, drama etc) are supported explicitly via GMs and that “ignoring the economic fact that fewer people read the papers is sticking your head in the sand a bit” He brings an amendment to buy 100 Cherwells and 50 Oxstus.

Meg says we could always re review the situation if the numbers we decide aren’t appropriate after a trial period.

Zack says that we decided if we fund Cherwell’s we should do it via GMs rather than by buying waste, and that in the last four weeks no one has brought any motions to fund the cherwell. Zack thinks we should buy 50 maximum and that if a new motion were brought to ask for money then it would almost certainly pass. He doesn’t like to go against the motion that we voted on 4 weeks ago. Zack brings an amendment to buy 50 cherwells and 25 oxstus

There was dissent over the interpretation of the motion that passed 4 weeks ago - is it definitely to be taken as meaning we will reduce the number of papers in line with readership? Dan Kodsi mentioned that if the environmental impact of the cherwell goes down then also the cherwell will do worse financially necessarily.

Ele doesn’t like the image problems caused by us throwing away large amounts of paper.

Nicky feels that student newspapers are different from other newspapers in that you have to go to the JCR to get it because they don’t have such a wide distribution. More people take cherwells home than people who work for cherwell and the reductions suggested are too extreme.

Hugo disagrees with the arguments about what happened four weeks ago as any GM can always overturn anything that happened in a previous GM. He also believes that buying an appropriate number for the number of people who is a very natural idea and he wants to hear what exactly the argument for keeping the number that it is the same is. Do we need to artificially inflate the readership numbers for the cherwell?

Will feels that the attitude of support for student activities is absent from this debate and that supporting the cherwell is intrinsically valuable.

Ele compares the number of Guardians and Cherwells by pointing out that we had twice the number of people reading The Guardian as read The Cherwell and there have been no outcries so 25 papers will almost certainly meet the demand.

The problem with these arguments according to Will is that the most effective way to financially support the Cherwell is by buying papers. This will work better than by giving money directly because of the way advertising works.

Zack says he feels it’s unfair to say that ‘we’ don’t want to support the Cherwell, we do want to support the Cherwell, just want to do it in a more transparent way.

Zack gives a summary speech: We had the Gm motion 4 weeks ago and we agreed to reduce the number we buy in line with the number that get read. This is environmentally and economically sound and we should stick to this decision. The motion is appropriate for the results of the survey so we should support it.

Will: The pros of keeping the number of publications are that we get to support students, in terms of the environmental factor, reducing the number we buy wouldn’t have any effect. Whilst there are ways to fund papers directly you can’t over emphasise the importance of advertisers who give money based on subscribers. We might believe we would give them extra money, but if we pass this motion then it will get spread around to other JCRs and then the advertising revenue gets depleted further and further. Finally, the choice between having more of other publications or having student publications isn’t actually a choice, we can have both.

Ele suggests a new amendment to have another survey.

Aiden isn’t swayed by the arguments in favour of inflating readership. He doesn’t like decreasing readership but that's cherwells problem. He thinks 100 and 50 is a reasonable middle ground and that it represents our commitment to student journalism whilst still representing the other side of the arguments concerns.

Aiden’s amendment passes, and Zack withdraws his amendment in response. The motion is put to a vote and passes.

2017 General Meeting

2017 General Meeting

Agenda

Minutes

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