2018 Committee Lunch

Date: Wednesday 3rd week, Trinity 2018 (2018-05-09)

Attendance

Present: Leah Mitchell (President), Henrique Aguiar (Treasurer), Hannah Williams (Dr. WHO), Ellen Cropley (Dr. WHO), Thomas Laver (Foody), Athravan Sett (Access and Admissions Officer), Mia Liyanage (Access and Admissions Officer), Rebecca Clark (Charities and RAG Officer), Amrita Khandpur (Design & Maintenance Officer), Eleanor Cook (Student Disabilities Officer), Pria Bourne (Student Disabilities Officer), Helena Cox-Smith (Entz Officer), Jack Weatherilt (Entz Officer), Safia Khan (Ethnic Minorities Officer), Avnish Nijjar (Ethnic Minorities Officer), Xinyu Luo (International Students Officer), Mick Yang (LGBTQ Officer), Tanja Gunther (LGBTQ Officer), Antonia Siu (Website & Computing Officer), Francesca Back (Women's Officer), Lauren Tavriger (Women's Officer)

Absent with apologies: Charlotte Lee (Vice-President (Administrative)), Gregory Brinkworth (Lindsay), Joseph Al-Khalili (Foody)

Absent without explanation: Beth Thomas (Secretary), Dylan Behr (Environment & Ethics Officer), Joshua Tilley (Environment & Ethics Officer), Alexander Gruen (Housing Officer)

Agenda

1. Matters Arising

• Electoral Reform
• Mental Health Zine
• JCR Board games

2. AOB

• Charity Promises Auction

Minutes

1. Matters Arising

Electoral Reform

Thomas noted that JCR committee elections are currently administered by the Dean and the sitting President. He suggested the creation of an independent returning officer to reduce bias in elections. Safia asked what exactly he was proposing. Thomas said that he thought that it might be worth creating a separate office of returning officer in the constitution, open to any JCR member not on committee. Safia asked what the creation of this office would achieve. Thomas said that there is a lot of bias in counting votes. Leah noted that the Oxford SU software that will be used for future elections is independent of the JCR. If there is an issue with the counting, it is possible to check the code. 

Hannah noted that the workload of the returning officer would be large. Jack noted that the type of person likely to go for this role would probably also be the type of person who would want to influence election, whereas the president will not be running in any future election and hence is likely to be impartial. Hannah highlighted the difficulty of finding somebody who cares about the JCR but does not want to run for committee office. She suggested that we should just publish results to assuage concerns. Leah noted that the new system relies on SSO codes. One can only vote by being a member of Balliol JCR, and there are a set number of voter codes. This reduces the risk of voting fraud or bias. Jack suggested that this issue could be avoided by providing a breakdown of results. Leah highlighted the fact that voting for Ball president is opening in the next week. Hence it makes sense to postpone this discussion until after the new system has been used. 

Mental Health Zine

Pria requested £39.85 to buy zines that tackle mental health issues in an accessible manner. Subject to the approval of welfare subcommittee, she wishes to put them into bathrooms around college. The zine that she wishes to buy is as follows: two zines about coping with depression (£2.50 each), two about eating disorders (£2 each), three about suicidal thoughts (£1.50 each), three on self harm (£2.50 each) and three about keep going (£7.50). She also intends to buy a large one that costs £6. The postage totals £2.85. 

Henrique asked why they would be kept in bathrooms. Pria said that they are private places and hence suitable for this sort of material. Henrique asked whether people will be able to keep copies of the zines. Pria said that she hoped they would be left in the bathrooms. People can take photos of pages, and if officers have copies then at least some copies will remain in circulation. If the zines prove popular then the JCR can pass money to buy more of them. Pria noted that she wanted to create a zine in welfare week but this proved too difficult. Henrique asked if more zine sowed be purchased in the coming year. Pria said that in future she hopes to purchase or produce zines every year or even every term. Henrique asked how this could be funded. Hannah suggested taking the money from welfare funds or, if necessary, general funds. Henrique noted that this could be problematic given that welfare has a set budget. Pria said that this is only a preliminary trial and funding issues could be resolved later. Avnish suggested that an online version of the zine might be sensible. It was agreed that this option would be investigated. 

No objections, motion passes. 

JCR Board Games

Hannah noted that she wanted to hold a board game night in the JCR during welfare week. Unfortunately, there is only one board game left in the JCR even though the JCR has purchased a number of games. She noted that it's important to address the issue of stealing board games. Jack said that he thought the ‘stealing’ of boardgames is probably accidental; people take them to their rooms and then forget to bring them back. Becky suggested that it might not be sensible to buy more board games if they keep on disappearing. Avnish suggested that the librarians could manage the board games and lend them out. 

Leah noted that the TVCR fund is running low and is difficult to replenish because it is funded by an opt-in levy. A large number of items have been replaced recently. Henrique noted that about £120 has been spent on the TVCR in the last two terms. Though the levy is doing well, this level of expenditure is not sustainable. He agreed that the board games should be put in the library. Vidy said that he would ask in 6th week at library committee, or send an e-mail to the librarians. It was agreed that this was a sensible course of action. 

2. AOB

Charity Promises Auction

Becky said that she is trying to organise a promises auction for charity but does not have enough promises. She asked people to suggest promises, and to encourage their friends to submit promises. Leah suggested that she should ask Bruce and college staff for help.