2019 General Meeting

Date: Sunday 7th week, Hilary 2019 (2019-02-24)

Agenda

Hilary Term 7th Week Agenda

 

1. Matters Arising
1. JCR renovation

 

1. Amendments to Governing Documents
1. Student election impartiality (TL) (Fails)
2. Motions Relating to Financial Matters
3. Any Other Motions

1. Raising the LGBTQ+ flag for the entire month of February (MP) (Passes unanimously)
2. Rent discussions proposal (TL) (Passes)
3. Bi-Termly Donation to ‘Bloody Good Period’ (IR&NF) (Passes unanimously)

1. Appendices

1. Matters Arising

1. a) JCR renovation

The President will confirm the final details of the upcoming renovation to the JCR in Hilary term.

 

2. Amendments to Governing Documents

1. a) Student election impartiality (TL)

 

This JCR Resolves:

1. To amend section 2 of the constitution by adding a new clause 2.3(c): ‘be impartial in matters concerning elections to the student union and other student societies; and’ and renumber other clauses accordingly.

 

3. Motions Relating to Financial Matters

 

4. Any Other Motions

 

1. a) Raising the LGBTQ+ flag for the entire month of February (MP)

 

This JCR notes:

1. That Balliol College posses a LGBTQ+ flag
2. That February is LGBTQ+ ‘month’
3. That the majority of colleges in Oxford raise the aforementioned flag for the entirety of the month
4. That Balliol raises the flag for the final week of the month

This JCR believes:

1. That to raise the flag all month indicates that the college supports the LGBTQ+ community
2. That to only raise the flag for the final week of the month could be perceived as indicating that, unlike those colleges who raise it for the entire month, that the college does not entirely support its LGBTQ+ students or LGBTQ+ issues
3. That to not raise the flag for the entire month may alienate potential students (LGBTQ+ or otherwise) as it may seem to indicate that Balliol is not an entirely welcoming environment

 

This JCR resolves:

1. To support raising the LGBTQ+ flag for the entirety of February going forward.

 

1. b) Rent discussions proposal (TL)

 

This JCR notes:

1. The opportunity for Rent Negotiations in Hilary Term of each year at Rents & Charges.
2. That in exchange for a rent increase of the level of VNI – 3.38% this year – the student body asks for a series of concessions from college.
3. That the standard room lease in Balliol runs from Sunday of Week 0 to Tuesday of Week 9 in Hilary and Trinity Terms.
4. That many other colleges have leases that extend to Saturday 9th week.
5. That a large number of people apply for vacation residence in 9th week, creating an administrative burden on college and the student body.
6. That a large proportion of the JCR in a recent poll signaled a preference for extending leases in Hilary and Trinity Terms until Saturday of 9th week.
7. That the cost per day of vacation residence is flat (£23.11 per day) and does not reflect individuals’ choice of term-time rooms, which is often affected by their financial situation.
8. That the Vacation Study Grant is applicable from the end of the standard room lease, and is currently at a level of £8.50/night, for a maximum of 14 nights per vacation.
9. That the current level of Vacation Study Grant does not fully cover the costs of remaining in the vacation.
10. That by extending the leases to Saturday of 9th Week, money will be saved by the Vacation Study Grant.
11. That the JCR – on average, and adjusting for outliers – prints £3.96 worth per term, mostly of academic items.

This JCR believes:

1. That less admin is better for everyone.
2. That the extension of the standard lease in Hilary and Trinity Term would be beneficial to the student body, allowing completion of academic work, and easing the burden of moving out.
3. That the current level of vacation study grant is too low.
4. That finalists in particular are benefited by the Vacation Study Grant, and so the Vacation Study Grant should be improved for them particularly.
5. That college should support printing for academic purposes.

This JCR resolves:

1. To submit to Rents & Charges a paper that accepts the level of VNI increase, in exchange for:
2. Proposal 1a, which is an extension of the standard student tenancy agreement from Tuesday of Week 9 to Saturday of Week 9
3. Proposal 1b, which is a compensating increase in the level of the vacation study grant.
4. Proposal 2, which is the extension of provision of the vacation study grant, involving greater advertising of the details of the programme, and an increase in the number of days that finalists can access the grant from 14 to at least 21 days per vacation.
5. Proposal 3, which is a fixed amount of free printer credit for students each term, to assist with academic printing.

1. c) Bi-Termly Donation to ‘Bloody Good Period’ (IR&NF)

 

This JCR notes

1. That sanitary products are provided to Balliol students throughout their time here.
2. That sanitary products are expensive.
3. That because of (2), period poverty exists across the country.
4. That refugees and asylum seekers are particularly affected by the inaccessibility of sanitary products.
5. That BME women are the predominant demographic within the refugee and asylum seeker communities affected by period poverty.
6. Bloody Good Period is a charity that provides a sustainable supply of sanitary products to 16 asylum seeker drop-in centres in London and Leeds.
7. BGP seeks to expand in response to increasing demand, to supply more drop-in centres and begin doing so in food banks across the UK.
8. That the budget of the Women’s Officers already contains a buffer zone of ~£30 which means that a £10 donation at each tampon avalanche would have no impact on sanitary product provision for women in Balliol.

This JCR believes

1. That women have a right to sanitary and feminine hygiene products.
2. That it is important to take part in tackling prevalent period poverty, particularly in the most marginalised and disadvantaged communities, such as those that BGP predominantly works with.
3. The JCR could, in conjunction with the provision of sanitary products to Balliol women known as Tampon Avalanche, support other women who desperately need access to sanitary products.

This JCR resolves

1. To make a bi-termly fixed donation of £10 to Bloody Good Period, in conjunction with the occurrence of the bi-termly Tampon Avalanche in Balliol.
2. To focus the funds of this donation on the products BGP most needs at that time.
3. That the responsibility for these donations should be written into the handover pack for future Women’s Officers in order to forge a long-lasting relationship with BGP.

5. Appendices

Minutes

JCR Renovation (MOC)

Michael says that speaking generally the process is going well. The only remaining thing to decide is the paint colour for the walls, which will likely be put to a vote to the whole JCR. It would be too expensive to reupholster the old chairs so we’re getting new ones. Michael says that we have a donor for the renovation who is supply a very large amount of money.

 

Raising the LGBTQ+ flag for the entire month of February (MPH)

Millie introduces the motion by explaining that we look like we aren’t welcoming for LGBTQ+ students because we only raise the flag for a week, and it comes across as Balliol not really understanding the problems these students face and the need to raise awareness of these issues and show support for them. Most other college raise the flag for the entire month and Millie doesn’t understand why we aren’t raising it for the whole month anyway.

 

Short factual questions

Daniel Gonzales questions what the word ‘support’ means in the context of the notion

Michael and Mille explain that we are just sending a strong message endorsing doing this, rather than actually doing it, as this something only college has the power to do, not the JCR.

Rory asks about the likelihood that the fact we don’t fly the flag for the whole month could be picked up by the press and result in Balliol being portrayed negatively. Members of the committee note there have been Cherwell people asking them and others about it.

 

The motion passes unanimously.

 

Student election impartiality (TL)

Thomas introduces the motion by explaining why he believes that supporting electoral campaigns is not in line with the JCR being fair and democratic, but notes that the motion will still allow the JCR to lend its support to apolitical campaigns.

Short Factual Questions

Daniel Gonzales asks which elections this applies to. Tom says literally any student society, which means it would include student union elections, Oxford Union elections and political party clubs (OUCA, OULC etc.).

Bee asks Tom why we shouldn’t be letting future members of the JCR endorse campaigns that they agree with.  

Tom says people can still use the platform of the JCR FB page to endorse people if they want, so it’s not limiting people’s capacity to support a candidate, just preventing them from using the platform of the JCR to do so. In addition, Tom thinks it’s better to focus on the policies rather than individual people and campaigns.

 

Points of Debate

Tom is asked why he wouldn’t want to restrict the JCR from endorsing all political campaigns, even non-student ones. Thomas explains that he believes personal involvement of people in the JCR in student politics can lead to corruption and conflicts of interests.

Conor asks how Thomas’s opinions are impacted by his own participation in student politics. Tom says they aren’t and that his arguments are independent of his experience.

The question is raised of why we can’t trust the JCR to have good opinions about student politics. Thomas thinks that the JCR may well be on the ‘right’ side, but that it is more important that we protect against worst case scenarios.

Ethan mentions his concern that if we endorse political student campaigns we are at risk of lowering ourselves to the level of slates and union politics, thereby reducing the value of the JCR’s endorsement and worsening its reputation as well as making it seem partisan.

Cerian wonders if we risk depoliticising the JCR entirely, and if we are putting ourselves on a slippery slope. Tom notes this is a standalone thing, and can be removed if the JCR changes its mind.

Rory makes the final point by concurring with Tom that we should be about policy (see LGBTQ+ flag) and not individuals.

The motion receives a clear majority of votes, but not the 75% required to pass a motion on constitutional change and so it fails.

 

Rent proposals (TL)

Thomas introduces the motion by describing how college wants to raise rents by 3.38% because of a VNI inflation figure which many committee members do not think adequately reflects the cost of living changes students face. He outlines the different proposals we might make to college:

Proposal 1a is to extend the length of the leases from Tuesday of week 9 to Saturday of week 9. Proposal 1b is to increase the level of the vacation grant, focusing on finalists.

Proposal 2 is to increase the number of days of the vacation study grant from 14 to 21.

Proposal 3 is for college to make printing free up to a certain limit per person.

Short Factual Questions

Ethan asks if we are submitting all of these proposals to college. Thomas makes it clear that we are submitting all of them. Michael adds to this by saying that this will come into effect in Michaelmas.

Daniel Rastelli asks what we do if college says no. Thomas and Michael think it’s unlikely college will disagree, but the motion provides fall-back positions.

The motion passes

 

Bi-termly donation to ‘Bloody Good Period’(NFP&IR)

The women’s officers introduce the motion by explaining that BGP is a charity which gives sanitary products to asylum seekers. They explain that this won’t impact Balliol women because it comes from a funding source that is never actually used. They think it will have a very positive impact on many vulnerable women’s lives and that we shouldn’t only worry about Balliol women.

The motion passes unanimously.