2014 General Meeting

Date: Sunday 7th week, Trinity 2014 (2014-06-08)

Agenda

Matters Arising

1.Questions for the President [David Bagg]

Agenda

1. Charities [Aisha Simons and Henry Wisbey-Broom]
2. Doug’s Leaving money [Max Dalton]
3. PS4 Games [Rosie Bettle et al] + amendment [Josh Jones and Marcus Watson]
4. Trans Inclusivity [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]
5. The Gender Register [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen] + amendment [Richard May]
6. Whole or partial self-identification [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]
7. Gm Timings [Tom Posa and Matt Lynch]
8. Donations [Tom Posa]
9. David Bagg Motion [Oli Johnson-Munday & Tom Posa]
10. Funding “Act for Change in India: Healing Minds” [Rebecca Hannon]
11. Funding for Living Expenses for the Edinburgh Fringe [Rebecca Hannon]
12. Motion to bring the ‘Milk Bandit’ to justice [Rob Walmsley and Xav Greenwood]

 

Matters Arising

Questions [David Bagg]

 

This JCR resolves:

To ask the President:

1. What progress has he made towards his manifesto commitment to review College’s provisions for disabled students, and what discussions has he had with College on these or related matters?

 

To ask the Lindsay:

1. What is the current status of repairs to the pool room, and when will he be able to open the room again for patrons of the bar?

 

To ask the Academic Affairs Officers:

1. What assurances or guarantees have they received from College that students of suspended status will have access to Balliol’s facilities and resources for the next academic year, as will be the case for University facilities and services?

 

Charities Motion [Aisha Simon & Henry Wisbey Broom]

This JCR notes:

1.     The existence of Standing Order 3.12, detailing the process by which the JCR donates money to charity each term.

2.     That the amount of money in the JCR Charities account, excluding the reserve sum of £500, is £2464.65

 

      This JCR believes:

1.     That all the money in the Charities account, excluding the reserve sum of £500, should be donated to charity.

This JCR resolves:

1.     That the money should be divided equally between the charities nominated by members of the JCR.

 

PS4 & Games Thereof [Rosie Bettle, Anna Blum And Paul Moroz]

This JCR notes that:

1. Playing on the PS4 is fun and sociable
2. The JCR currently owns only 1 game
3. That game is FIFA, which a lot of people do not want to play
4. That there is demand for other games, e.g. Crash Bandicoot which alas cannot be played on PS4
5. The older members of the JCR remember nostalgically the days of the original PlayStation, and would like to indulge the memories of their golden years
6. That PlayStation 2 and the technological wonders playable on its stone-age motherboard are quite brilliant
7. That a PlayStation 2 only costs around £50 (including consoles plus postage & packaging), and would allow us to play both PS1 and PS2 games which are super-super-cheap compared to fifa and other modern games ugh

 

This JCR believes that:

1. This motion should be taken in parts
2. That the JCR should only purchase sociable games that people can play together

 

This JCR resolves to:

1. Purchase a PlayStation 2
2. Purchase some awesome PS1/PS2 games including Crash Bandicoot, Night Fire and Need for Speed
3. Do this soonish so finalists can play before they leave

 

Amendment [Josh Jones and Marcus Watson] (passed)

Strikes notes 4,5,6,7 and all believes and resolves. 

Adds:

 

This JCR notes:

 

4. That previous GM motions have established a system for ordering new games for the JCR games council via petition to the Entz officers. 

5. That whilst the PS4 is not back compatible, the Playstation Store has a vast library of excellent older titles to download. 

6. That the PS4 is not currently connected to the internet. 

7. That the lack of internet connection means that on demand television (e.g. iPlayer) cannot be accessed on the PS4. 

8. That the JCR currently does not have a Playstation Network account (costing £39.99 a year).  

 

This JCR believes:

1. That the members of the JCR should be encouraged to use the PS4. 

2. That the cost for Playstation Plus membership is a worthy investment. 

 

This JCR resolves:

1. To mandate the Entz officers (or whoever they wish to delegate) to investigate connecting the PS4 to the internet. 

2. To mandate the Entz officers (or whoever they wish to delegate) to set up Playstation Plus membership and download new games. 

 

Doug’s leaving present [Max  Dalton]

 

This JCR Notes

1.       That Doug is leaving at the end of the term.

This JCR believes

1.       That Doug has provided valuable support to members of the JCR for a number of years

2.       That the JCR should give Doug a present as a token of appreciation and support for the work that Doug has done

 

This JCR resolves

1.       To pass up to £100 for a leaving present for Doug.

 

Amendment I [Caitlin Tickell]

1. Adds notes 2 – Hayley Hooper is also leaving.
2. Amends Believes 1 & 2 from Doug to “Doug and Hayley”
3. Adds Resolves 2 – To pass up to £40 for a leaving present for Hayley.

 

Trans Inclusivity [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]

This JCR Notes

1. That trans issues involve both the LGBTQ and Women’s Officers
2. That ‘Gendered Intelligence’ is a pioneering and well respected company that offers training sessions.

This JCR Believes

1. That the LGBTQ and Women’s Officers need to understand trans issues
2. That given the current state of our society and education system, this cannot be assumed of the officers mentioned upon undertaking office
3. That training would further Believes 1

This JCR Resolves

1. To mandate the LGBTQ and Women’s Officers to participate in some training specifically on trans issues

 

The Gender Register [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]

This JCR Notes

1. That scrutineers are not necessarily welfare trained
2. That the de facto position of the JCR regarding the electorate for the women’s officers’ elections is the college list.

This JCR Believes

1. That it can be difficult and intimidating to change one’s gender at college and university levels
2. That the college list is therefore not an inclusive way of defining ‘women’

This JCR Resolves

1. That any wholly or partially self-identifying woman who does not receive a ballot paper for the women’s officers’ elections has the right to ask for a ballot paper, and they will be given one, regardless of their gender status on the college/university list.
2. That welfare trained officers will provide an alternative period of voting in the JCR office to meet the needs of women who do not wish to vote in the JCR

 

Amendment I [Richard May] (passed)

 

1.  Adds Resolves 3: "To mandate the JCR President and the LGBTQ Officers to lobby College for more inclusive representation of gender on the College List."

 

Whole or partial self-identification [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]

This JCR Notes

1. Constitution 4.21: “In documents of Balliol JCR, including this constitution, "women'' shall refer to all those who self-define as women.”
2. That in 5th week of ilaryHilHilary 2014, OUSU replaced “self-identifies as a woman” with “self-identifies, wholly or partially, as a woman or as transfeminine” in the redraft of their Bye-Laws
3. That the NUS uses “All who self-define as women, including (if they wish) those with complex gender identities which include ‘woman’.”

This JCR Believes

1. That gender is a spectrum

This JCR Resolves

1. To amend Constitution 4.2.1 to ‘all those who wholly or partially self-identify as women’

Amendment I [Richard May] (passed)

1. Adds resolves 2: Insert Constitution I 2.6: “Women shall be interpreted as including individuals wholly or partially self-identifying as women”.
2. Amend Constitution V 3.3g, VII 5.7, Standing Orders III 20.1a: replace “members who self-identify as women” with “members who are women”.

 

GM Timings [Tom Posa and Matt Lynch]

The JCR notes that:

1. Every GM is held at 7.30 on alternate Sundays.

2. The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) holds its weekly policy

meeting, Port & Policy, at 8.30 every Sunday.

3. During the course of this academic year, every GM (except 2) have run past 8.30.

4. 22 members of the JCR are also members of OUCA.

 

The JCR believes that:

1. It is important to accommodate the voices of all who wish to have a say.

2. Excluding politically-minded people from GMs is a bad thing.

3. GMs currently lose a specific political voice which can be beneficial to debate.

4. Clashes are inevitable, but forcing a choice between political involvement at a college

or a university level should be particularly discouraged.

5. Saturday evenings on alternate weekends to bops are a more suitable time for GMs.

 

The JCR resolves:

1. To mandate the JCR President to take any necessary measures to hold GMs at a more

appropriate time.

 

Amendment I [Richard May] (failed)

1. Strike Believes 5.
2. Strike Resolves 1.
3. Add Resolves 1: “To mandate the JCR Committee to investigate alternative times for GMs, and if necessary to bring a proposal to a future GM to move GMs”.

 

Amendment II [Richard Ware] (passed)

1. Strikes Believes 5.
2. Strikes Resolves 1.
3. Adds Resolves 1: “To hold GMs at 7:00 on Sunday instead.”

 

Donations [Tom Posa]

This JCR notes that:

1. A Balliol alumnus has offered to donate £250,000 to the College’s endowment.

2. He made this donation conditional on a 90% Finalists’ participation rate on leaving College

3. The only feasible means of reaching this target is moving from an opt-in system of     

Donations  for Finalists leaving College to an opt-out system.

4. This would involve Finalists being battled a figure of £7.51 (unless they opt-out).

5. The money raised from Finalists would go into the student hardship fund rather than the endowment.

6. One of the perks of becoming a donor to the College is to receive a free Balliol mug, which would cost around £4.50 anyway.

7. Should the JCR agree to this measure, the            College will ask each year whether that year’s Finalists should enter an opt-out relationship (so future sets of Finalists are not bound by this decision).

8. When the JCR Committee was consulted on this issue, they were divided almost 50:50.

 

This JCR believes that:

1. It is important for the College to be well funded in order to provide effective services to students and staff.

2. The financial pressures facing students are of paramount concern when considering this motion.

 

This JCR resolves:

1. To give the College our assent to move to an opt-out system for Finalists’ donations.

 

Amendment I [Isaac Rose] (failed)

1. Strike believes 1 and 2.
2. Strike resolves 1.
3. Adds believes 3: “Donations to College should never be done on an opt-out basis.”
4. Adds resolves 1: To add to Standing Policy “Donations: This JCR believes that donations to the College should never be made on an opt-out basis.”

 

David Bagg Motion [Oli Johnson-Munday & Tom Posa]

The JCR notes that:

1. David Bagg is a particularly involved JCR member.
2. David Bagg has held various committee positions in the past.
3. David Bagg is a constitutional BNOC.
4. David Bagg’s knowledge of JCR procedure is vast and unparalleled.
5. David Bagg received a standing ovation in the recent Oxford Union debate for his
6. scintillating and verbatim recounting of Union procedure from memory.
7. David Bagg is unknowingly the honorary president of Conservative Corner™.
8. David Bagg is handsome.
9. David Bagg does not like punting.
10. David Bagg makes the punting GM slower every year by opposing it.

 

The JCR believes that:

1. The Constitution is important.
2. David Bagg’s knowledge of JCR procedure is actually really helpful and means that GMs run more smoothly and efficiently.
3. He should be commemorated accordingly.
4. David Bagg is not the hero the JCR wants, but rather the hero the JCR needs.
5. Punting is a nice thing to do.
6. Opposing it is annoying.
7. David Bagg might be accused of liking the sound of his own voice.

 

The JCR Resolves to:

1. Add David Bagg to the list of Heroes of the JCR
2. Add David Bagg to the list of Villains of the JCR
3. Mandate the Secretary to describe, in the minutes, any motion which fails on procedural grounds in the GM or Committee Lunch as having been “D-Bagged”.
4. David Bagg

 

Funding “Act for Change in India: Healing Minds” [Rebecca Hannon]

This JCR Notes:

1. That a group of OUDS (Oxford University Drama Society) student actors are helping to set up a project called “Act for Change in India: Healing Minds” which aims to encourage open discussion about mental health in India
2. That this project is asking for donations
3. That £250 would cover one of the street performances

This JCR Believes:

1. That while it doesn’t fall under the duties of drama soc president is it still worth supporting

This JCR Resolves:

1. To pass £250 to “Act for Change in India: Healing Minds”

 

Funding for Living Expenses for the Edinburgh Fringe [Rebecca Hannon]

This JCR Notes:

1. Standing Orders V 3.1a) “the drama president shall promote and support dramatic productions and events involving members”
2. The Edinburgh Fringe, which is an event for showcasing drama/comedy
3. That Oliver Johnson-Munday is in a production that is being performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, but will have difficulty covering the living expenses

This JCR Believes:

1. That supporting the living expenses of a JCR member going to the fringe would fall under standing orders V 3.1 a)

This JCR Resolves:

1. To pass £100 from the drama fund to support Oliver Johnson-Munday’s living expenses

 

Motion to bring the ‘Milk Bandit’ to justice [Rob Walmsley and Xav Greenwood]

This JCR Notes:

1. Unexplained disappearances of milk have been occurring from the staircase XV kitchenette since Michaelmas Term.
2. In a survey of the twenty-five residents of staircase XV, 9 of its members have been victims of Unexplained Milk Disappearances (UMDs), or 36% of XV’s inhabitants.
3. The ‘milk bandit’ is known to indiscriminately take milk from the staircase XV fridge, and has at least one declared accomplice.
4. The milk bandit’s modus operandi is to take unopened bottles of milk and drink at least a quarter of it, but return it to the fridge without the seal totally removed on the bottle as it were unopened.
5. Milk costs 60p for a pint at pantry.
6. The notorious exploits of the ‘milk bandit’ have been reported in The Oxford Student

This JCR Believes:

1. Taking other people’s milk is a bad thing.
2. The ‘milk bandit’ is a dangerous and highly sophisticated criminal.
3. The ‘milk bandit’ should be brought to justice.
4. Soviet style denunciations of suspicious neighbours, in this specific case, are fully justified.

This JCR Resolves:

1. To encourage the members of staircase XV to form a neighbourhood watch to defend themselves against the ‘milk bandit’.
2. For the foodies to write the ‘milk bandit’ an open letter advising them that pantry sells milk, which they do not have to steal, at the price of 60p per pint.
3. For a copy of the aforementioned letter to be pinned to the JCR noticeboard.
4. To advise JCR members to remain vigilant against the ‘milk bandit’ and their accomplices until they are apprehended.

 

 

 

Appendix I – written motions

 

a.      Charities Motion [Aisha Simon & Henry Wisbey Broom]

 

This JCR notes:

1. The existence of Standing Order 3.12, detailing the process by which the JCR donates money to charity each term.
2. That the amount of money in the JCR Charities account, excluding the reserve sum of £500, is £2464.65
3. That the following charities have been nominated to receive money by members of the JCR:
4. Appendix II, containing information about each of the nominated charities.

 

This JCR believes:

1. That all the money in the Charities account, excluding the reserve sum of £500, should be donated to charity.
2. That the money should be divided equally between the charities nominated by members of the JCR.

 

This JCR resolves:

1. To donate £273.85 to Against Malaria Foundation
2. To donate £273.85 to Freedom from Fistula
3. To donate £273.85 to the Child Protection and Development Center
4. To donate £273.85 to Xavier Project
5. To donate £273.85 to Street child of Sierra Leone
6. To donate £273.85 to WATERisLIFE
7. To donate £273.85 to Watsi
8. To donate £273.85 to Shooting Star Chase
9. To donate £273.85 to The Monday Club

 

Appendix II – Charity Nominations

 

Max Dalton- Against Malaria Against Malaria Foundation distribute anti-malarial bednets. Because admin costs are covered by sponsors, all donations are spent directly on nets, which cost around £2/net. Each net protects up to 3 people for 3-4 years, so every £1 protects someone from Malaria for up to 4 years. Distribution is documented by photo and video, and use of nets is encouraged and monitored as part of the programme. This charity has a massive impact in treating one of the worst tropical diseases in an effective manner, which has massive impacts for the economies and societies where the project works. Because of this, it has been the top recommended charity of a number of independent charity evaluators, including Giving What We Can, The Life You Can Save, and GiveWell. I think the JCR should do as much good as possible with its charity money, and that AMF is a good way to ensure this happens. Lukas Freund- Child Protection and Development Center

 

(under the umbrella of the Human Help Network Foundation Thailand) in Pattaya, Thailand.
The CPDC-project was founded in 2008 and aims to provide streetchildren with protection, education and prospects for the future. It's approach is networked, comprising
not only the center itself, but also a Drop-in-center, outreach working and preventive work, as well as cooperation with the police to combat child trafficking.
The CPDC itself offers a home for about 60 children that are left without care by their parents, live on the streets in constant danger of abuse and exploitation and without provision of shelter, food and education.
Further info: http://www.hhnthailand.org/en/projects/child-protection-and-development-center/
I have been working for the Human Help Network Foundation Thailand and the CPDC for one year and I would be very happy if the JCR were willing to support this great project once more!

William Beynon- Xavier Project

 

I'd like to nominate a charity for the JCR to support!

 

They're called the Xavier Project and I spent three months in Africa working for them over summer. 

 

Xavier project exists to provide opportunities to urban refugees in Kenya and Uganda who are otherwise excluded from the means to live fulfilled and dignified lives. The vision is that through a holistic approach to development urban refugees will be able to take back control of their lives and make a positive change whether to their new communities or to their countries of origin.

 

They place a huge focus on education, of both young children and adults, which I think makes them a great charity for the JCR to support. They are also, I believe, a uniquely innovative charity that is predominately made up of young, like-minded people. It is also quite a small organisation at the moment but it has limitless ambition and inexhaustible passion. Any JCR contribution would make a massive difference to the lives of the urban refugees they work with.

 

James Kavanagh- The Monday club

 

The Monday club is a social and activities club for teenagers and adults with learning difficulties. It provides its members with two hours of sport, games and socialising every week and is a great opportunity for the members to break their normal routines and enjoy themselves for a couple of hours but also gives the parents and careers some much earned respite.

In a normal club night, activities include: table tennis, snooker, plenty of colouring books and puzzles, arts and crafts, listening to music, all of which is usually rounded off by a game of football at the end of the evening. The club also runs a number of other activities, taking the members bowling at least twice a term, trips to the theatre, sports day and, of course, the disco at the end of term which always goes down a treat.

The club provides its members with so much joy but being such a small charity, they are always in need of fundraising. Any amount of money would be greatly appreciated and would definitely be put to good use. It is a charity close to my heart and if I could say that I have been able to help them out in any way I would be eternally grateful.

 

Alex Copestake - Street child of Sierra Leone

 

It works with children left orphaned or abandoned by the civil war, offering medical attention, counselling, school fees and ultimately making contact with their estranged relatives, bringing them back into a family and into school education. They are a small charity with over 90% of donations going to SL, and with SL one of the poorest countries in the world and the charity working with the poorest, most vulnerable people within it it ranks very highly for effectiveness. 

 

Ross Murphy - WATERisLIFE

WATERisLIFE is about impact.  Showing donors and supporters how lives are being changed. WiL provides clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education programs to schools and villages to those in desperate need.  We provide opportunities for others to be involved through fundraising and field project implementation.  The global water crisis can be daunting – at WATERisLIFE we focus on making impact – community by community. 

Through community driven and community engaged integrated water, sanitation and hygiene programs, WATERisLIFE works closely with non profit partners, local governments and community organizations to focus on an integrated approach to ensure that households, schools, orphanages, and medical facilities have access to safe water, proper sanitation and hygiene programs.  The results of our work change everything.  Hours are restored each day – women can use their time to learn a trade, start a business and receive an income.  Children can receive an education.  Clean water will reduce sickness by almost a third.  Clean water saves and transforms lives, and communities

Thomas Mcdonald - Watsi

 

a charity that pays for low cost (typically <$1,500)

medical treatments that have a life changing impact for people in developing

countries.

 

Donations are matched directly to a specific patient, and Watsi email you to

let you know how the treatment went. All money donated goes towards that

treatment, as opposed to a 'general pot' that pays for operating costs,

marketing etc. All of their financial information is published online in a

Google document.

 

It would be great if as a JCR we could say that we directly helped someone to

live a normal life again.

 

https://watsi.org/faq

 

Colm Britchfield - Shooting Star Chase

 

Shooting Star Chase is a leading children’s hospice charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families.

Whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months or years, we are here to make every moment count. We support families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.

 

Our bespoke support is free of charge to families and available 365 days a year. Our care service includes short breaks at our two hospices (Shooting Star House in Hampton and Christopher’s in Guildford), Hospice at Home, day care, symptom management, end-of-life care, bereavement care and a comprehensive range of therapies and support groups for the whole family.

 

It costs £9.5 million a year just to maintain our current level of care and, with around 10% of our income coming from government funding, we rely on our supporters’ generosity to keep the service running. What’s more, we know there are many more families desperate for our vital support, so it’s crucial we raise more funds to provide more care.

 

 

Minutes

Tabled Questions

Dan Turner: My manifesto pledged to provide further training for welfare and confidentiality issues. Since taking officer I have had meetings with the Master, the Dean, the Senior Tutor on these matters, and am lobbying for training for welfare. I’m going to work with Beth Tulloch to contact disabled students. I am in dialogue with the College about redrafting status of suspended students to put what they have in more positive terms. The College is being forced to change its policy to make a clearer policy for Disabled students.

The Lord Lindsey: The pool room is now dry. We have a quote from the insurers. It will take them 10 days to decide they can still do the work, 10 days to do the work and then it will be done. I don’t think the pool room will be open this term, but it should be done next term.

ACAF: CT reported back on progress with meetings to Nicky Trott.

 

Charities Motion

There was no opposition to the charities motion.

 

Doug’s Leaving Money [Max Dalton]

MD explained that we would like to buy Doug a present. We have heard through the Master that Doug would like something made out of silver. TP asked the reason for £100 – MD said that the figure is relatively arbitrary, and less than the amount than we would give an employer leaving after 30 years. CT added an amendment to include Hayley. DB spoke in opposition to the amendment being taken as friendly, and said that he couldn’t recall a Junior Dean being given a present at all and that Doug’s role is much larger. AB said that Doug won’t see the motion and that it was the thought that was more important. The amendment passed. The motion passed without opposition.

 

PS4 games [Rosie Bettle et al]

RB said that it wasn’t good that the only game we have is Fifa. We would like more games. Josh Jones made an amendment. He explained that Sony run an online network that would allow access to lots more games – he is willing to look into how much it would cost. He thinks it’s better to be able to download games than buy outdated ones. There was no opposition to taking the motion as friendly. DB clarified that we would not buy a PS2, just download games. The motion passed without opposition.

Training for LGBTQ reps [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]

This motion passed without opposition.

 

The Gender Register [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]

RH explained that there at the moment the JCR elections use College gender registers to see who can vote for the Women’s Officer. The amendment was accepted as friendly. The motion passed without opposition.

 

Whole or Partial self-identification [Rose Hadshar and Chessy Whalen]

CW explained that this motion brought the constitution in line with recent changes at OUSU, and with recent constitutional changes to remove gender pronouns. AB pointed out that this motion would have to pass again in Freshers Week. The amendment was taken as friendly. The motion passed without opposition.

 

GM timings [Tom Posa and Matt Lynch]

TP suggested that OUCA holds its weekly meetings at the same time as GMs, and the constant clash jeopardises a particularly demographic in the JCR. AB pointed out that every other College holds GMs on Sunday evening – CT said that Wadham had them Sunday afternoon. AB pointed out that TP was criticising the conservatism of the JCR in staying with tradition. CW asked whether port and policy was more than a drinking session. TP said that the old OUCA was like that – but now there were three motions of debate every week and it is a debating forum. CF asked if this was a cross-college problem. TP said that he had spoken to the OUCA president who said that many other members had this complaint. JM said that TP first brought this to Committee Lunch and DT suggested that TP did a formal consultancy. TP said that he thought an email would receive very little response and that this would be more formal. CT pointed out that it might be easier to move the time of Port and Policy rather than multiple College bodies. OO asked if it was possible for vote by proxy in Balliol. DT said no. BC asked why there were 22 member of Balliol JCR in OUCA. TP said he didn’t know how many of those 22 regularly attended Port and Policy. DS asked if TP had gone through the motions of previous GMs and seen what he would have disagreed with after 8.30pm TP said that he attire required for Port and Policy (lounge suits) took some time to change in to. CW pointed out that DT was currently wearing a suit.

We moved to debate. AB said that we should vote in favour of individual choice of conservatism and keep things as they are, letting people decide if they want to attend GMs or Port and Policy. OHM said that Balliol was progressive, often did things first, and therefore should take the lead on changing GM times. CW said that Balliol is in a novel position in that we have a significant core of people involved in OUCA and committee. CW said that OULA hold events on different nights, and that this motion wouldn’t impact on other Colleges. She also pointed out that Saturday night is a busy one (and thus beneficial) in the bar. She also pointed out that the current members of OUCA committee were in a good position to influence OUCA to do this. We then debated on whether to move to a vote – arguments included an unclear motion, not enough research regarding the feasibility of moving OUCA, everyone making up their mind, versus interesting debate, dismissive not to carry on, and people wouldn’t think any more if we returned to this debate. The vote to move to a vote failed.

We returned to debate. CB said that we shouldn’t focus this debate on whether or not the group was OUCA, but whether we should move GMs for minority groups. ML mentioned motions such as passing money to the radical forum that might have been influenced by an OUCA quorum. JS clarified that he was not a Conservative, but that this was a sensible motion because at the moment there is a perception that the committee are “a group of lefty liberals”. He thinks it would be good for the balance of politics of GMs to pass this motion.  SB said that he disagrees with the way that the motion has been brought about. RM brought an amendment which TP took as friendly. AB said that the fact that Committee Lunch had asked TP to bring this to a GM showed that we should reject the amendment. The amendment failed.

RB said that she thought that people involved in politics should choose to come to GMs rather than “what is essentially a social”. RB pointed out that we won’t be able to find another day without losing audience members to a GM. RW said that we could reach a middle ground by moving to 7pm. JJ said that DT should just try having the GM next term at 7pm and see if it works. DS spoke against the amendment because there had been no research. It was also pointed out that Hall only opens at 6.30pm so 7pm would be too early. The amendment passed.

JJ called move to a vote. He retracted it temporarily for David Bagg’s impassioned speech to import new material. DB thanked JJ and then spoke. He pointed out that he had “foots in three camps”, which is “politically and biologically troubling”. DB is both a member of OUCA, and an active member of the JCR. The third camp he has his foot in, is being Christian. Services for students are all on Sunday at 7.30pm. For this reason he believes that we need to consider the issue of how we relate the JCR. JJ pointed out that as the motion now stands it is still useless to DB. CW said that everyone in the JCR always have other commitments that are important in various ways – so that actually people will just end up voting based on their own commitments and preferences rather than a philosophical debate. This vote will therefore just become a “massively inefficient doodlepoll”. JJ said that amendment showed that this was the wrong forum, and that DT would be trusted to look into changing the time in a more efficient way. OHM said that people make time for bops – and that it was a much fairer choice to ask people to choose between parties or GMs than important commitments and GMs. JJ made a closing speech in opposition, and ML made a closing speech in proposition.

The motion passed. GMs are now at 7pm.

 

Donations [Tom Posa]

TP explained a recent donor’s offer – to give College £250,000 if 90% of students donate. CW asked the reason for the condition – DT said that he wanted a greater link between alumni and College. DT doesn’t know if the figure is £7.51 because the College has been around for 751p for the number of years the College has been around  - or whether it would increase. The figure would not include MCR finalists. JM said that we could make the rate 1p. TW said that there might be a processing fee – but MD said that there would not be a fee for battels. CF clarified that it would be a one-off payment. CT asked what happened if people would get money back if they were battled and then College didn’t get to 90%. DT said that the 90% was set in stone, and that hopefully people would get their money back. CB asked if there were precedents of donations with strings attached. DB said that there had been matching donations linked to fundraising efforts. ML asked what College’s position on the offer was. DT said that College had been fairly unsure about the feasibility of the offer. CW asked how many finalists were in the room – it seemed to be about 12. DB asked if the £250,000 would be given each year if we reached a 90% rate. DT said no – he thought it was a one-off. It was unclear why the motion would be brought back each year. RH clarified that the money could be spent on something that the JCR didn’t agree with. MD said that given that College is currently making a profit, and the profit goes back into the endowment, adding £250,000 to the endowment it would make no difference. DT said that if necessary he would go to the Master and ask him to negotiate with the donor that the money went to a student hardship fund.

DB said that his year’s addition to the donor’s list will have been small. This is because of the domus charge that year. DB said that 4th years made up more than 10% of the finalists, and that the current third years also won’t want to give money – so he doesn’t think that this year will get to 90%. He also thinks that the recurring motion is pointless given that the donation isn’t yearly, and said that £250,000 is very little in an endowment this size. IR spoke for his amendment, against opt-donations in general and saying that we should be against such future conditions for donations. AS said we should not dismiss the amount of £250,000 – as all the money goes to help us in such ways as subsidising pantry. RB said that we should tell College that we will all pay the £7.51 if they reduce our rent by £10 so that everyone wins. AB argued that it is imprudent to make decisions for future reasons. We called to move to a vote. JJ spoke against moving to a vote, TP spoke for moving to vote. We moved to vote on the amendment. DB summarised against the amendment because membership of the JCR and levies are opt-out. IR said that point of the amendment is to differentiate between donating to JCR and to the College because they are very different organisations that do very different work for their students. The amendment failed.

There was a call to move to a vote on the main motion. AB spoke against moving to a vote on the basis that there was a broader point to be made about donations. AH spoke against moving to a vote. Move to a vote failed because we all wanted to hear his point. AB said that the College have wanted to move an opt-out system for ages, and that it was brought up with him last year. He thinks that it will keep coming up for debate, and that some of the arguments made are “pretty horrible” such as a free mug and money going  to the hardship fund is emotional blackmail. AB said that he thinks this motion has little to do with a particular donor and more to do with College wanting an opt-out system. IL said we should “kill this now” because his friends at Harvard were asked to consider Harvard in their will. The motion fell unanimously – no one voted for and 80 against and there were 0 abstentions.

 

David Bagg Motion [OHM]

The motion was withdrawn.

 

Funding “Act for Change in India: Healing Minds” [Rebecca Hannon]

RH said that she would like £250 to fund a street performance. SB asked if the street performance would raise money – RH said the point wasn’t to raise money but to raise awareness. RH said that she would like the money to come out of the JCR fund as a gesture of support – but that the Drama fund has about £1800. IL asked why OUDS are asking for money when they have lots of money. DT said that it was to raise awareness. MD said that as Treasurer he thinks that the money should come from the Drama Fund, as it is not a suitable thing for the JCR to spend money on. RH read the email we had received from OUDS about the performance. DB asked if “Act for Change in India” had a bank account or a legal existence in any way. IL spoke against the motion because if the money were to come from the JCR it should be in the charities motion. It is not what the Drama Fund is for. He thinks it’s good for raising awareness and we could give individually, but not from the JCR. SB said that this sounded like “a bunch of Oxford students going to India doing a little bit of acting and solving all of India’s problems”. BC made an allusion to Said’s Orientalism. The motion failed.

 

Funding for Living Expenses for the Edinburgh Fringe [Rebecca Hannon]

RH said that she thought this should come to a GM because it was unprecedented. RH said that she didn’t know how many Balliol people were going to Edinburgh. IL said that we had done this before, but that Balliol had then got money back from profit from the shows. There was no opposition to the motion and the motion passed.

 

The Milk Bandit

IL asked how the neighbourhood watch would operate. The answer was a facebook chat of staircase XV, they could set up a guard force. CW said that this fb chat would include the milk bandit. CP clarified that the milk bandit was not in fact the accuser. JJ asked what the proposed punishment was. BC asked how he might best remain vigilant. The advice was given to pay attention entering the kitchenette, who was leaving, and how long they were there for. IR asked if there were similarities between this and the patriot act. DB asked if College authorities or the Police had been informed. CF pointed out that by raising awareness, more people would be encouraged to join in. At this point the milk bandit set up a twitter account. SB suggested that people don’t write their names on their milk so that there can be no personal targeted account. RW suggested buying his own cow. SB said that there was an arcane law that said that Balliol could keep cows on ChristChurch meadow.

We moved to a debate. DB said that we should move back from a motion and suggest that people are having too much fun in a GM. He then said that there might be further underlying factors to the milk stealing.

CT brought a procedural motion that the motion be not put. The procedural motion passed.