By admin, 30 March, 2022

Date of Meeting

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 12:00

2015 General Meeting

Date: Sunday 8th week, Hilary 2015 (2015-03-08)

Agenda

a) Matters Arising

1. “The Kennel” – Secret Ballot: Passed

At the previous GM, it was decided that the motion “The Kennel” should be voted on by secret ballot. Unfortunately, the GM dropped below quorum before this could occur. The ballot will be held at the start of this GM.

b) Passage of Motions without discussion

The list of motions will be read out. Those motions that do not concern amendments to the Constitution or the passing of money may be passed without discussion, if there are no objections and no requests to hear more about the motion.

c) Amendments to the Constitution

2. Second Hearing - Constitutional Errata [Richard May]: Passed

This JCR notes:

That as part of a Secret Santa present, Richard May received a fill-in-the-gaps copy of the first section of the Constitution.
That as well as being a fantastic and incredibly entertaining present, it led to the discovery of a mistake in the Constitution.
That Part I, Section 1 of the Constitution states that “Ordinary General Meeting means a General Meeting other than the Annual General Meeting”.
That Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and Emergency General Meetings (EGMs) are not defined in this section either.

This JCR believes:

That EGMs are not Ordinary General Meetings.
That we should define AGMs and EGMs, since we make reference to them in the body of the Constitution.

This JCR resolves:

To amend Part I, Section 1 of the Constitution, striking the definition of the Ordinary General Meeting and adding the following with the following:

Annual General Meeting means the General Meeting held in 8th week of Michaelmas Term, as defined in part VII, subsection 1.2.

Emergency General Meeting means a time-sensitive General Meeting, as defined in part VII, subsection 1.3.

Ordinary General Meeting means a General Meeting other than an Annual General Meeting or Emergency General Meeting.

3. Second Hearing - Suspended Status Students [Ryan Diamond, Jess Poole & Richard May]: Passed

This JCR notes:

That section 3.2 of the College Handbook states that suspended students ‘may not participate in the activities of any College society, represent the College in any team, obtain credit in college, or vote in JCR elections whilst on leave’, but does not explicitly forbid them from remaining as members of the JCR.
That College decides whether suspended students can use College facilities or enter College grounds on a case-by-case basis.
The Constitution states that JCR members must be current members of the College, but is unclear about the status of suspended students.
That many suspended students require access to JCR services (particularly welfare support).
That the paying of levies would disproportionately affect suspended students, who are less likely to use the facilities which the levies support, and who do not receive student loans.
That the JCR can easily cover the cost of the levies for suspended students.
That students on years abroad are able to vote in JCR elections.

This JCR believes:

That if the JCR granted suspended students rights that College has not granted them, the only obstacle remaining would be College’s policies.
That the Constitution should make clear that all Balliol students are an important part of the Balliol community and the JCR, including those that have been suspended.
That suspended students should have the right to access JCR facilities as often as is deemed appropriate.
It is right that students on years abroad are able to vote; and it is unfair that suspended students cannot.
Suspended students are directly and indirectly affected by JCR elections, both whilst away and if they return.
That suspended students should not have to pay JCR levies, but should keep full access to JCR services and facilities.
That it would be inappropriate for a suspended student to hold an elected JCR position, or to be a member of a JCR subcommittee, as they would most likely be unable to fulfil their duties.
That a wider awareness of how suspension works would help destigmatize the topic.

This JCR resolves:

To amend Constitution I 1: Define "Suspended Status Student” as “An undergraduate student who has been temporarily granted suspension of their studies by the College's Academic Progress Committee”.
To amend Constitution III 1.2b) from “is an undergraduate student currently a member of the college” to:
"is an undergraduate student who:
i: is currently a member of the College; or
ii: is a Suspended Status Student.”
To amend Constitution III 1.3c) from “stand or vote in JCR elections” to:
”vote in JCR elections”; and to add Constitution III 1.3d): "stand in JCR elections, unless they are a Suspended Status Student.”
To support a change to section 3.2 of the College handbook, which would strike the prohibition of suspended students’ voting.
To amend Constitution III 1.4 from “An Ordinary Member is obligated to pay all JCR compulsory levies” to:
"An Ordinary Member is obligated to pay all JCR compulsory levies, unless they are a Suspended Status Student.”
To amend Constitution V 3.3a) from “Subject to the restrictions in this clause, all Ordinary Members shall have the right to stand for any Committee Office.” to:
"Subject to the restrictions in this clause, all Ordinary Members who are not Suspended Status Students shall have the right to stand for any Committee Office.”
To amend Constitution VI 1.3 from “Supporting Committees may contain both Committee Officers and Non-Committee Officers.” to:
“Supporting Committees may only contain Ordinary Members who are not Suspended Status Students.”
To amend Constitution VI 3.3a) from “Subject to the restrictions in this clause, all Ordinary Members shall have the right to stand for any Non-Committee Office.” to:
“Subject to the restrictions in this clause, all Ordinary Members who are not Suspended Status Students shall have the right to stand for any Non-Committee Office.”

4. First Hearing - Manifesto Length [Richard May & John Clark-Maxwell]: Passed

This JCR notes:

That we passed this motion in 1st Week, but forgot to rehear it in 3rd Week. Oops.
That we have to pass constitutional amendments at two consecutive GMs. Double oops.
The current rules for election manifestos, which state that manifestos may be no more than 500 words in length for a Presidential candidate and 100 words for all other candidates.

This JCR believes:

That 100 words may be insufficient to adequately explain your ideas, and that a fixed word limit creates pressure to use it all.
That restricting candidates to one side of A4 would solve both of the above issues.
That candidates will not take advantage of the proposed rule to write an essay instead of a manifesto, because nobody will read it.

This JCR resolves:

To amend Part VIII clause 3.2 of the Constitution, striking and replacing it with “3.2. All candidates are entitled to produce a manifesto, limited to one side of A4 paper in length.”
To mandate the Secretary to try and remember his own motions in future.

5. First Hearing – Emergency General Meetings [Richard May]: Passed

This JCR notes:

The recent situation, in which we had to call two Emergency General Meetings immediately following one another.
That this is due to Part VII, clause 4.2 of the Constitution, which states that “Emergency General Meetings may only discuss a single motion”.
That this restriction is intended to prevent an EGM from turning into a normal GM rather than being used for time-sensitive issues.

This JCR believes:

That this restriction is overly broad, in that it prevents multiple time-sensitive motions being discussed at the same EGM.

This JCR resolves:

To amend Part VII clause 4.2 of the Constitution, striking and replacing it with “4.2 Emergency General Meetings may only discuss urgent time-sensitive motions.”

d) Amendments to Standing Orders

6. Standing Orders Errata I [Richard May]: Passed

This JCR notes:

Part III, section 4 (“Duties of the Secretary”), subclause 4.2(e) of Standing Orders, which states that the Secretary is responsible for minuting various meetings of JCR bodies, including the “Advisory Council”.
That the “Advisory Council” was a body consisting of all current and previous Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurers, Foodies, Lindsays and Drs. WHO, which could be officially convened to advise the sitting President.
That the “Advisory Council” no longer exists, in an effort to cut back on needless bureaucracy.

This JCR believes:

That even a Hero of the JCR cannot minute meetings of a body that does not exist.
That Standing Orders should be relevant and up-to-date.

This JCR resolves:

To strike Standing Orders III 4.2(e)(iv), and renumber the parts as necessary.

7. Standing Orders Errata II [Richard May]: Passed

This JCR notes:

Part III, section 11 (“Duties of the Affiliations Officer”), subclause 11.1(d) of Standing Orders, which states that to decide the opinion of the JCR on a controversial motion, the Affiliations Officers must bring a motion to the ‘next Ordinary General Meeting’.
That a motion was brought recently to an Emergency General Meeting due to timing issues.
That while this would initially appear to clash with Standing Orders, a mistake in the body of the Constitution means that in fact it does not (see the ‘Constitutional Errata’ motion being heard for the second time this GM).

This JCR believes:

That if the next General Meeting happened to be an Annual General Meeting, the Affiliations Officers might want to bring a motion to it.
That the Affiliations Officers should have greater flexibility in when they can bring these motions.

This JCR resolves:

To amend Standing Orders III 11.1(d), replacing “next Ordinary General Meeting” with “next General Meeting”.

e) Amendments to Standing Policy

8. Fire Safety Redux [Richard May]: Passed

This JCR notes:

The Standing Policy items ‘Fire Safety’ and ‘Fire Safety & Toast’.
That at the previous GM, it was felt that these items make important points related to how early fire drills are held and College’s restrictions on toasters.

This JCR believes:

That it is nevertheless worth consolidating these items, provided the meaning is preserved.

This JCR resolves:

To strike the Standing Policy items ‘Fire Safety’ and ‘Fire Safety & Toast’.
To add the following as an item of Standing Policy, under the title ‘Fire Safety’:

This JCR notes:

College’s practice of testing the fire alarm at 8am in 1st Week.

College’s restrictions on having toasters.

This JCR believes:

That this time is unreasonably early, and causes people to ignore the alarm so that they don’t have to get out of bed or the shower.

That this restriction is excessively harsh given the limited availability of kitchenettes, many of which lack even a communal toaster.

This JCR resolves:

To request that fire drills be held at a later hour, which should result in increased participation by JCR members.

To request that at the very least, all kitchenettes should have a communal toaster.

9. Protest [Richard May]: Passed

This JCR notes:

The Standing Policy items ‘Occupation’ and ‘Protest’.
That these Standing Policy items are both very similar, and only one line long.

This JCR believes:

That Standing Policy should be coherent.
That these two items would be better as a single item.

This JCR resolves:

To strike the Standing Policy items ‘Occupation’ and ‘Protest’.
To add the following as an item of Standing Policy, under the title ‘Peaceful Protest’:

This JCR believes:

That the right to protest is important, both to students and to other groups.

That peaceful occupation is a legitimate means of protest.

This JCR resolves:

To support the right to peaceful protest, including through occupation.

f) Main Agenda

10. Scooters [Anna Hufton & Orla Oakey]: Passed

This JCR notes:

That JCR members like to celebrate after finishing their exams.
That scooters are fun and easy to use.
That you could attach helium balloons to the handles of a scooter.
That the pathways through the back quad are quite smooth.
That scooters can be bought for £20.

This JCR believes:

That scooters are “good, clean fun.”
That JCR members would feel good scooting away from their final exams.
That JCR members would look good scooting away from their final exams.
That it would be fun to scoot around college.

This JCR resolves:

To pass £100 to buy 5 scooters for JCR use.
To store the scooters in the JCR, near the computers.
To mandate the President to advertise the scooter opportunity to JCR members, particularly for post exam celebrations.

11. Oxford Hub [James Rainey]: Passed

This JCR notes:

That the Oxford Hub is an important resource engaging students in social and environmental action, supporting at the last count, 47 projects, 50 members of its ethical network, engages around 600 student volunteers, putting 2‐3 events per week, plus conferences such as OxFID and OCF, and campaigns such as Student Volunteering Week. The Hub also runs the Impact Internship scheme, helps to set up social enterprises and Student Leadership Award.
That the Hub previously received around 40% of its core funding from the University Van Houten Fund, which ran out in at the start of the academic year 2014/15. The Hub has thus lost core funding from the university.
That onversations have been ongoing, but as of yet the Vice‐Chancellor’s office has been unable to offer opportunities for funding elsewhere.
That the Hub has made a conscious effort to make itself as sustainable as possible in all senses of the word, including by actively seeking a long-term core funding solution.

This JCR believes:

That the University should support the Oxford Hub, as a student-run organisation which is impacting positively on students’ lives and future prospects as well as the local community, and the relationship between the two.
That this is particularly important given the current difficulty in securing core funding.

This JCR resolves:

To mandate the JCR President to sign the petition asking the University to reconsider its position towards the Hub on behalf of the JCR (note – this does not exclude individual members from signing on their own behalf).
To encourage the JCR President and other voting members of the JCR to look upon any relevant motions in OUSU Council favourably, but they are not mandated to vote in any specific way.

12. Defacement of Library Books [Duncan Shepherd]: Passed

This JCR notes:

That the amount of defacement in JCR library books is on the up.
That the JCR President has been asked to bring a motion to a GM to remind people not to deface library books.
Prose.
Poetry.

This JCR believes:

That books are nice.
That the library is nice.
That books are nicest when they can be read, and scribbling on them makes this harder.
That the library is nicest when the books are nicest.

This JCR resolves:

To remember the library rules which say not to deface books.
To stop defacing books wherever possible.

13. TV Room [Matt Lynch]: Passed, with amendments

This JCR notes:

That we have a TV room.
That the JCR capital reserves currently hold £31,136.12
That the microwave in the TV room is broken, but that Pantry has a spare one we could probably borrow. Otherwise a microwave costs about £50‐£70 from Argos.
That there is no fridge in the TV room. Some people like to buy food/drink to consume in the TV room, but there is no way to keep it cool. Also, there is a strict size limit on fridges in rooms, and most people living in college don’t have access to a decent size fridge. There are fridges that college are about to throw out, that they give us. Otherwise a fridge costs £100‐£120 from Argos.
That the walls of the TV room are not pretty. College are happy to paint the room if we provide the paint. We might have some paint, or it might cost us £50.
That there is something charming about the “derelicte” décor, but not the gloom. Relighting would cost £5‐£20.
That the couches are not very comfortable. The MCR is getting rid of couches. We could buy a 3-seater couch, two 2-seater couches and 3 armchairs off them for some money, up to £100-300. Bean-bags are also nice. They cost about £20. 3 of them would cost about £60.
That there is lots of sports equipment on the floor. There are not any other places in college that it could go. It would be better if it were in big lockable boxes. We could buy 4 for £120. 4 combination Padlocks could be bought for £25.
That we need more lockers for students living out. We currently have 16 (some of which might be broken). We need to buy new keys for these, which would cost up to £160. We could also buy 3 blocks of 6 lockers, bringing our total number of lockers up to 34 (300x290x460) for £370.
That a convex safety mirror would cost £20.
20+370+160+120+25+300+60+20+50+120+70 = £1315. This represents the realistic upper limit of these proposals.

This JCR believes:

That the TV room should be refurbished so as to make it a nicer environment for all those who use it.
That it should be done during 9th week of this term, when repainting can be done without causing major disturbances.
That the JCR’s capital reserves should be spent on improving its assets.
That students will experience the benefits of this project for a long time into the future.

This JCR resolves:

To pass £1315 from the JCR’s capital reserves to finance the TV room refurbishment.
That any money not used will remain in the capital reserve.

Amendment I [James Rainey]: Accepted as Friendly

Add Resolves 3: "To buy a Wii U for the TV room."

Amendment 2 [Rose Hadshar)]: Failed

Strike Notes 10.

14. Bar Upgrades [John Clark-Maxwell]: Passed

This JCR notes:

That the bar is not accessible to disabled students
That plans have been drawn up to improve the bar to allow disabled access.
That these plans will also include refurbishment of the bar loos.
That the total cost of these plans is roughly £70,000.
That the JCR president and treasurer have indicated that the JCR would be willing to contribute £2000.
That College will pay the remaining £68,000, financed jointly by the capital bids fund, and a donation.
That the bar reserve is currently £21,779.13.

This JCR believes:

That disabled access is important.
That the bar loos are not nice and it would be a good thing if they were nice.
That it is a good thing that this work is going to be done.
That it is a good thing that College have been extremely helpful, both in discussions and in providing the majority of the funding.
That it would be a good thing to invest money from the bar’s capital reserve in this project.

This JCR resolves:

To pass £2000 for the bar access and loos project.

15. Art Repairs [Duncan Shepherd]: Passed

Discussion of this motion will occur in camera. For more information, please contact the President in person.

Minutes

1. The Kennel

We began with the secret ballot. Duncan summarised the question, and Aisha began distributing ballot papers.

2. Constitutional Errata

Richard May summarised the motion. Max Dalton called for a move to a vote.

The motion passed.

3. Suspended Status Students

Ryan summarised the motion. Anna Hufton asked whether anything had happened since the first passing of the motion; Ryan responded that this was not the case. Dan Turner asked what College’s general stance on the motion was; Ryan said that he wasn’t entirely sure, but that they seemed broadly receptive to the idea of suspended students voting.

Aisha asked if Ryan had spoken to any senior members of College before bringing the motion; Ryan answered that they had spoken to the Dean. Jess added that the Dean had wanted them to make sure they understood that passing the motion would not lead directly to suspended students having voting rights.

Richard May called for a move to a vote. The motion passed without opposition.

4. Manifesto Length