2013 Committee Lunch

By admin, 30 March, 2022
Date of Meeting

    2013 Committee Lunch

    Date: Wednesday 6th week, Trinity 2013 (2013-05-29)

    Present: Alex Bartram (President), Hannah Smith (Vice-President (Administrative)), Isaac Rose (Secretary), Emma Livingston (Treasurer), Angus Hawkins (Lindsay), Thomas Wainford (Dr. WHO), Rosie Bettle (Dr. WHO), Duncan Shepherd (Foody), Max Dalton (Foody), Jack Banner (Academic Affairs and Careers Officer), Samuel Atwell (Access and Admissions Officer), Jamie Mawhinney (Access and Admissions Officer), Anonymous (Affiliations Officer), Caitlin Tickell (Affiliations Officer), Alex Copestake (Charities and RAG Officer), Sam Bumby (Charities and RAG Officer), Oliver House (Design & Maintenance Officer), Harry Parkin (Design & Maintenance Officer), Anna Blum (Student Disabilities Officer), Joshua Jones (Entz Officer), Marcus Watson (Entz Officer), James Rainey (Environment & Ethics Officer), Molly Rogers (Environment & Ethics Officer), Ben Crome (John de Balliol), Paul Moroz (John de Balliol), Lukas Freund (Ethnic Minorities Officer), William Toher (Ethnic Minorities Officer), Emily Barradell (LGBTQ Officer), Richard May (LGBTQ Officer), David Janz (Website & Computing Officer), Alice Beech (Women's Officer)

    Absent with apologies: Richard May (President)

    Agenda


    1. Matters Arising
    2. Reports [Isaac Rose]
    3. Co-options [Emma Livingston]
    4. Moving the GM [Hannah Smith, Isaac Rose, Josh Jones]
    5. If you don't bring all your glasses back, I will find you and I will end you [Angus Hawkins]
    6. OUSU electoral thing [Isaac Rose, Caitlin Tickell, Chessy Whalen]
    7. AOB

    Minutes


    1. Matters Arising
      • HP explained that he had bought a JCR Laptop, the only problems being its colour—white note black, and its lack of backlit keyboard. AB said he had tried to buy it, but it hadn’t work, though assured the Committee that it would be here the next term. HP said that this episode demonstrated “Harry, one; the JCR, nil.”
      • AB said he had managed to fix the JCR desktop, after EL had broken it.
    2. Reports [Isaac Rose]
      • IR asked all officers to submit their termly report, asking for a repeat of Hilary, where every officer had submitted a report.
    3. Co-options [Emma Livingston]
      • EL noted that there had been no nominations for many positions at the Trinity Term elections, and was especially concerned about the Ball Committee. She said that if we wanted a Ball, we would probably have to co-opt one. HP said that given there had been no Ball this year, people didn’t know what they were like, which perhaps explained why nobody ran. JJ echoed this, saying he felt the extraordinary circumstances of the Commemoration Ball meant people hadn’t seen a Ball. He said he felt it would be a good idea to elect a Ball, given the controversy last year about the selection process. TW (who was Ball Secretary for the 2013 Comem Ball) disagreed, saying that a non-elected ball committee had meant that it had been selected on merit rather than popularity. HP (Ball Treasurer, 2013) said that Tessa had been a great Ball President, but questioned whether she would have been elected—citing this as an example to show that selection was perhaps a better process. AH said that in 2011 there had been an elected Ball Committee, but they had all resigned and a new one had been co-opted, while DH said that in 2008 the Ball Committee left it too late and had lost money, resulting in a subsequent dearth of Balls. It was decided that Committee Lunch was not the forum to discuss this in detail.
    4. Moving the GM [Hannah Smith, Isaac Rose, Josh Jones]
      • HS said that Susie Deedigan had approached her, IR and JJ independently and expressed her dismay at her not being able to come to her last GM. She wondered if the Committee felt it would be possible to move it, so Susie should come, given how much she has done for the JCR and how much she enjoys GMs. RM expressed concerns—suggesting a dangerous precedent could be set where GMs would be moved upon the whim of individuals. The Committee voted against moving the GM, by a margin of 11 to 9.
    5. If you don't bring all your glasses back, I will find you and I will end you [Angus Hawkins]
      • AH asked whether Committee thought it was a good idea to conduct room-raids to find new glasses, and if so whether they would be willing to participate. HP wondered how much 100 new glasses would be, but AH said this was besides the point. BC felt that this had been a historic issue for Lindsays, and the hassle which it caused to people would be minimal compared to the benefits it would bring to the bar.
      • AB noted that in some sense, the hoarding of glasses was theft from the JCR. DH noted that in the past there had been mug raids for Pantry and it had worked. The Committee decided to support a glass-raid.
    6. OUSU electoral thing [Isaac Rose, Caitlin Tickell, Chessy Whalen]
      • CT said that she, CW, IR and TW had created a system to allocate the delegate votes of the JCR at OUSU council depending on the opinion in a GM. This system would discount abstentions unless they were a third of votes, otherwise it would consider the fors and againsts and split them pairwise, allocating the three delegates votes appropriately. SA said that he had spoken to Max Goplerud and had some concerns with the system, saying that what was most important was not wasting the votes of the JCR, rather than sending an outward message. HS felt that the outward message was important, as people didn’t care about a number being put next to their opinion, they wanted their opinions to be articulated. PM felt that the system proposed by CT had flaws, and supported an alternative based on the Alternative Vote.
      • EL wondered whether OUSU council was primarily done by votes or discussion, and AB said that usually there was not enough time for every JCR to stand up and explain their views—often the vote was the most important thing. ABL said that perhaps if we wanted to send a signal, we had to do more than simply vote, such as statements to the press or on the website.
      • MW felt that this wasn’t a particularly useful debate to have at Committee Lunch, and suggested it was had at the GM. The Committee agreed.
    7. AOB
      • EL asked if Committee members could help with the running of the June Jamboree; JJ asked if hi-vis was available.
      • HP asked if the Committee could vote on whether to have a black or white laptop, noting that there was an £8 difference between the two. The Committee voted in favour of a black laptop, by a margin of 12 to 4.
      • PM asked if there could be a wheel of lunch at Pantry to help people who can’t make decisions. The Committee felt that this idea was superfluous.
      • The meeting ended.

    Isaac Rose, Secretary