2016 General Meeting

Date: Sunday 5th week, Hilary 2016 (2016-02-14)

Agenda



a) Reports from Officers

1.    Rent Negotiations [Annie & Darryl & Richard]

2.    Charity officers [Sophie & Rivka]

b) Matters Arising

3.    Updating the role of the Ball Committee in the Constitution [Daisy Cutts] Passes

This JCR notes:

1. That the JCR Constitution under ‘Part VIII Procedure for Elections’ currently reads:

‘8. Election of Non-Committee Offices

8.1. At the beginning of Trinity term, a referendum shall be held to decide whether Members wish to hold a ball at the end of the following academic year;

8.2. In the event that members wish to hold a ball at the end of the following academic year, the following Non-Committee Offices are to be elected in Trinity term of the academic year:

a) Ball President

b) Ball Treasurer

c) Ball Secretary

d) Ball Publicity Officer

e) JCR Ball Representatives

f) MCR Ball Representatives

8.3. These offices shall take over responsibility from their predecessors on Saturday of 8th Week of the Trinity term in which they are elected.

8.4. All other Non-Committee Offices are to be elected in Michaelmas term, in conjunction with the Committee, and take office at the same time as the Committee-Elect.’

 

This JCR Believes:

1. That the procedure outlined in this part of the Constitution is no longer appropriate because the JCR would like to organise a Balliol Ball once every two years instead of annually, with a garden party in the intermittent years.
2. That the Governing Documents of the JCR should be up to date and should reflect what the JCR actually does.

This JCR Resolves:

1. To amend the JCR Constitution ‘Part VIII Procedure for Elections’ to:

‘8. Election of Non-Committee Offices

8.1. At the beginning of Trinity term, a referendum shall be held to decide whether Members wish to hold a ball or a garden party at the end of the following academic year;

8.2. In the event that members wish to hold a ball at the end of the following academic year, the following Non-Committee Offices are to be elected in Trinity term of the academic year:

a) Ball President

b) Ball Treasurer

c) Ball Secretary

d) Ball Publicity Officer

e) JCR Ball Representatives

f) MCR Ball Representatives

8.3. These offices shall take over responsibility from their predecessors on Saturday of 8th Week of the Trinity term in which they are elected.

8.4. In the event that members wish to hold a garden party at the end of the following academic year, the following Non-Committee Offices are to be elected in Trinity term of the academic year:

a) Garden Party President

b) Garden Party Treasurer

c) Garden Party Secretary

d) Garden Party Publicity Officer

e) JCR Garden Party Representatives

f) MCR Garden Party Representatives

8.4. These offices shall take over responsibility from their predecessors on Saturday of 8th Week of the Trinity term in which they are elected.’

8.5. The elections detailed in 8.2-8.4 will not take place if the JCR has voted not to hold a ball or garden party in the year in consideration, as in 8.1.
 

4. Dr WHO Naming: Second Hearing [James Letten] Passes

This JCR notes:

1. That Dr WHO currently stands for Welfare and Housing Officer.
2. That Dr WHO do not manage housing since the election of a Housing Officer.
3. That there have been instances where the use of 'Welfare' in the naming of the Drs WHO has led to confusion regarding their role within college.

This JCR believes:

1. That the name Dr WHO should be retained as this is recognisable to the college.
2. That the word 'well-being' better reflects the activities of the Drs WHO than does 'welfare.'

This JCR resolves:

1. To retain the name Drs WHO, but have it stand for "Well-being and Health Officers".
2. To amend the Governing Documents accordingly.

c) Passage of Motions without discussion

d) Amendments to the Constitution

5.   Co-option of Duals: First Hearing [Duncan Shepherd] Passes

This JCR notes:

1. Part V, Subsection 2.8:
   ‘Committee Offices specified in subsection 2.5 may be jointly held by two individuals, provided that:
   a) Both individuals are eligible as Committee Officers in their own right under subsection 3.3.
   b) Both individuals are elected to that position as a dual nomination, unless one individual has left or been removed from office under subsection 3.5 and subsequently replaced under section 5’
2. That this does not reflect current practice.

This JCR believes:

1. That the Governing Documents should reflect current practice.
2. That people should be able to co-opt a partner if they want, providing that the Committee agrees.

This JCR resolves:

1. Amend Part V Subsection 2.8 to read:
   ‘Committee Offices specified in subsection 2.5 may be jointly held by two individuals, provided that:
   a) Both individuals are eligible as Committee Officers in their own right under subsection 3.3.
   b) Both individuals are elected to that position as a dual nomination (unless one individual has left or been removed from office under subsection 3.5 and subsequently replaced under section 5) or the Committee has agreed that a second officer can be added, and they are appointed under section 5.’
   
   e) Amendments to the Standing Orders
   
   f) Main Agenda

6.   JCR Renovations [Cealach McKeating] Passes

This JCR notes:

1. That many of the overhead and some of the side lights in the JCR are broken.
2. That the JCR is therefore quite dark.
3. That side light replacements cost £89.95 each.
4. That there are 6 side lights which need replacing.
5. That 6 Cooline HF 28W 4 pin 2D lights cost £342.06.
6. That track light fittings cost £16.16.
7. That we do not have to pay the Maintenance Dept for their labour.
8. That the Maintenance Dept can source paint for the JCR at cost price.

This JCR believes:

1. That a dark JCR is a sad JCR.

This JCR resolves:

1. To pass £1200 to pay for the new lighting and paint.

7.   Punt levy [Darryl Braier-Lorimer] Passes

This JCR notes:

 

1. The JCR has historically rented a punt to be used in Trinity Term, funded by a compulsory levy.
2. All JCR members pay equally for the punt.
3. Any JCR member(s) may book the punt, with a time limit of two hours per booking.
4. Booking the punt is free, because the punt has already been paid for by compulsory levy.
5. When rented directly from the company, punts typically cost £5 per person per hour.
6. The Magdalen Bridge Boathouse has quoted us £1332.00 for a punt from 0th week.
7. Divided equally, this means a levy of £3.75 per person.
8. That this means, if you use the punt even once, it’s a good deal.
9. That punts are booked from the Porters’ Lodge for two hour slots, where you are given a slip by the porters which you take to the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse.

    

This JCR believes:

 

1. Punting is excellent fun.
2. £3.75 is a small sum to pay for easy use of a punt for a whole term.
3. The system for booking punts is fair and allows JCR members to use the punt often.

    

This JCR resolves:

 

1. To book a punt for use by JCR members in Trinity Term 2016 from 0th week until the end of 9th week.
2. To charge a compulsory levy of £3.75 to pay for the punt.
3. To organize punt usage in a similar manner to last year (via the Porters’ Lodge).

 

Amendment Friendly

Add to resolves, to track use of punt.

8.   Adopting a Tortoise [Phoebe Grant-Smith & Lottie Dodd] Passes

This JCR notes:

1. Phoebe Grant-Smith and Lottie Dodd were elected Comrades Tortoise in MT15, as part of which they promised to sponsor a tortoise.
2. This office has no budget.
3. Balliol JCR is without a tortoise.
4. Tortoises live for a very long time, and student bodies only last 3-4 years.
5. We have no secure plan of who will care for the tortoise for its entire life.
6. Sponsoring a tortoise from the Durrell Foundation costs £25 a year.
7. This money will lead to a tortoise being well cared for.

This JCR believes:

1. This JCR is not able to guarantee a happy and safe home for a tortoise for the rest of its life.
2. It is not fair on the tortoise to adopt one without a secure plan of who is going to be caring for it in years to come.
3. If the JCR ‘adopts’ (using the terminology of the Durrel foundation, which should be taken to mean ‘sponsors’) a tortoise, we have technically adopted a tortoise
4. The JCR will have a tortoise!
5. We will be able to love and cherish this tortoise from afar, know that our donation is insuring its welfare, without the responsibility of caring for it ourselves.

This JCR resolves:

1. To pay £25 a year to the Durrell foundation so that we, as a JCR, can adopt a tortoise!

9.    Flight [Calum Jacobs] Passes

This JCR notes:

1. That the Oxford Students Poetry Society, Oxford Student PEN and Oxford Students Oxfam Group recently published an anthology of poetry in response to and in aid of the refugee crisis.
2. That the money sold from this anthology goes half to Oxfam’s Syria campaign and half to Oxpand, a charity enabling the continued education of displaced Syrian students.
3. That there still some copies left to be sold.

This JCR believes:

1. That charities which aid refugees are a more than worthy thing for the JCR to be giving money to.
2. That it is good to have more art in the JCR, perhaps especially if this art is in response to overwhelming human tragedy.

This JCR resolves:

1. To spend £50 buying 15 copies of ‘Flight’ for the JCR.
2. To leave these copies in the JCR for everyone’s perusal.

Amendment Al Friendly

Change resolves 1 to ‘To spend £100 buying 30 copies of ‘Flight’ for the JCR’

10.    In[SCI]te Subsidy [Molly Rogers] Passes

This JCR notes:

1. In[SCI]te is an undergraduate interdisciplinary science conference taking place on the 18th and 19th April 2016 (Monday and Tuesday of 0th week, Trinity term) in Merton.
2. Balliol has three scientists presenting during the conference.
3. Tickets are £25.
4. Those who are speaking at the conference do not need to pay for tickets.
5. The keynote speaker is Dr Ceri Brenner, a laser physicist.
6. £150 would completely fund 6 tickets or subsidise 30 tickets by £5.
7. More information about the conference (including speakers and details of the talks, when they are released), can be found at www.inscite.co

This JCR believes:

1. The talks will be interesting.
2. £25 is quite a lot of money for many people.
3. It’s nice to support your friends and peers.
4. This is a good opportunity for those interested in academia to get a feel of the atmosphere of academic conferences.

This JCR resolves:

1. To pass £150 to subsidise the cost of tickets to the in[SCI]te conference.
2. For the money to be distributed equally between everyone who purchases a ticket to the conference.
3. To mandate Molly to sort out money and make it clear to people how to claim their share.

Amendment Molly Friendly

Change resolves 3 to mandate Christine instead of Molly

Amendment Darryl Friendly

Change resolves 1 to ’pass up to £150 …’

Minutes



Annie ceded the chair to Cealach.

Annie reported that the airbed booking system would be going online at the end of the night and explained to the JCR that should a member not return an airbed, they would be charged the cost of the airbed.

 

Sophie and Rivka told the JCR that “charities are going great” and took the opportunity to advertise the charity musical, reiterating their efforts to advertise the musical via Facebook. They asked the JCR to be clearer when emailing to buy tickets. Sophie then invited Eliza to speak.

Eliza told the JCR that the Romanian Society (of which she is President) is attempting to raise money for a high performing high school girl to purchase a laptop to continue her studies. She told the JCR that the society intends to do this by selling traditional Romanian accessories, which were then passed around the JCR.

She told the JCR that they would be sold for £2 at Pantry.

She explained that the tradition of the accessories to the JCR and the history of this tradition (historically, they were given to promise good health to the recipient, but they have evolved to be a general display of friendship). She also explained the tradition of choosing a day in the first week of March, the weather of which will determine the rest of the year, which seems unhelpful in terms of how the weather influences food harvests, but alas, this humble Secretary has little sway over the powers of tradition.

 

Motion passes without discussion.

 

Motion passes without discussion.

Meg told the JCR that Welfare tea is going to be renamed JCR tea to remove confusion and doubt about the intended purpose of the tea (that is, for the JCR to relax together; not for people to receive welfare for problems that they have encountered).

 

Duncan explained to the JCR that this motion is intended to match the Governing Documents to what we do, rather than change anything about how the JCR is governed. He explained that the only change is that if the committee agrees with the officer to hold co-options for a second officer, then a second officer could be co-opted.

Motion passes without discussion.

 

Cealach told the JCR that she had been in discussions with Maintenance about replacing lights in the JCR, for which the labour would be free of charge.

It was asked when the renovations would occur, Cealach replied that this is uncertain but unlikely to occur during term time, and she imagines that it is most likely that they would occur over Easter.

Motion passes without opposition.

 

Darryl explained that the JCR typically rents a punt each Trinity term; this motion occurs each Hilary. The motion was just to affirm this continuing practice.

Duncan explained to the JCR that opposition typically comes from fourth years who are leaving. He disagrees with the issue of paying for other people.

Tom disagreed with this, and thanked Duncan for raising. He expressed that it's likely to pass, but he'd rather spend the £3.75 on something else, and that he resents paying for people's fun when the library is sucking his soul from his body. He suggested we begin recording details regarding the usage of the punt to discover whether it is good value. He brought the amendment to mandate Darryl to record the use of the punt, which was taken as friendly.

Jack suggested that should the possibility of the motion not being profitable concern members of the JCR, him and John would be able to use the punt enough for the motion to become profitable.

Ste asked if the motion could be passed for all future years, rather than having this motion brought annually. Darryl agreed that this would be beneficial, however this had been suggested and rejected in the analogous motion in the previous year.

Xav noted that punting is bourgeois, and hence anticipated that the JCR – noted for its left wing tendencies – will vote down the motion. This humble Secretary believes he may have not been honest in suggesting that he expected the JCR to vote down the motion.

Beth suggested that the JCR adorn the punt with a communist flag to appease Xav C. Xav C replied that he would be happy with this. This humble Secretary believes that this discourse was intended to be taken as facetious, rather than proposing a serious suggestion.

The motion passes.

 

Phoebe told the JCR that this was an issue brought up at hustings, and that someone else should be liable should the tortoise die – if the JCR were to look after a tortoise itself, it was almost certainly die very early on in what should be a long life.

Tom asked what the Durrel foundation is. Phoebe replied that Gerald Durrel is a dead zoologist in Jersey, and this foundation was named in his honour; she told the JCR that the foundation looks after animals, such as George the Tortoise.

It was noted that the tortoise had been seen in real life by a member of the JCR, and it was reported to be beautiful.

Meg asked if The JCR would get to name the tortoise, Phoebe replied that we would not, as it has a name, and its name is George. It was asked if the payment was a rolling payment, the Comrades Tortoise responded that it is. Meg then asked if there was any sort of bidding or competition for sponsorship of the tortoise, Lottie explained that there is not, and explained that it was a standard sponsorship scheme.

Elliot asked if the JCR would see any material benefit from the sponsorship, such as interacting with the tortoise. Lottie and Phoebe explained that mail could be sent to and from the tortoise.

Tom asked if £25 covers the costs of raising a tortoise, expressing his doubt that it does, and hence asked what proportion of the tortoise the JCR would therefore be sponsoring. Phoebe replied that she anticipates that £25 probably sponsors a few organs of the tortoise, such as the liver and kidneys.

Lizzie asked if George would be able to race in the tortoise race. Lottie explained that it would not, and hence her and Phoebe would be racing in the competition.

Duncan asked to reiterate the species of the tortoise; the JCR was told that George is a radiated tortoise. Duncan asked for clarification of the name, curious as to whether the tortoise itself emit radiation. It was answered that the name related to the appearance of the tortoise. The JCR Googled images of radiated tortoises. It seemed to receive a positive reception.

Xav C suggested the JCR asked if it would be possible to stick a communist flag attached to a cocktail stick on the tortoise. Lottie agreed to enquire; however Phoebe suggested we stick a flag on a cocktail stick on Xav C instead. This humble Secretary believes that this discourse was also intended to be taken in jest.

Molly asked if the payment would be rolling. It was reaffirmed that it was. It was asked how this would work. Darryl explained that it wouldn't be particularly difficult; he anticipates setting up a system of payment from a fund such as the charities fund. Molly then asked if the cost would be coming out of Charities fund. Darryl said that he also wanted to ask the JCR this.

Beth asked if there are any famous left wingers named George. Lottie and Phoebe suggested George Orwell.

Darryl asked for the JCR's opinion regarding which fund this should be paid from. He told the JCR that should it come from the Charities account, the £25 would be taken out of the account, and the remainder would then be divided among the JCR's charities as is currently done. Potten asked what each of the funds currently held. Darryl replied that general reserves are around £60,000 and that the charities account has around £3134.

Duncan suspected that the Constitution may prevent paying for it out of charities. It was agreed to pay the cost out of general until we found this out with certainty.

Motion passes without opposition.

 

Calum arrived late because he thought the GM would take longer than it did.

He explained that the three groups launched the Flight anthology together, expressing the opinion that it's a “great little book,” and that he thinks the anthologies would be a good artistic addition to the JCR regardless of where the money went, but noted that he believes that it's great that the money is going to a good cause.

Molly asked if the anthologies would be left in the JCR. Calum replied that he's happy for this to be discussed, but that was his idea. He said that he recognises that there would be a risk of copies being taken by members of the JCR, leaving them unavailable to other members, however he likes the idea of them being something people can flick through in the JCR.

Richard suggested the JCR put “a copy or two” in the library.

Cealach suggested that the JCR put some of the anthologies in a toilet to be read; it was noted that there are a lot of toilets, and it was asked which toilets would therefore receive anthologies.

Meg asked if the poetry was about refugees. Calum replied that some was explicitly so, and some was not explicitly so, but some seemed to be implicitly about refugees; he explained that the briefing was that of 'flight,' and poets were able to do with that briefing as they pleased.

Cealach asked if people could buy copies as individuals. Calum replied that they could, and invited people interested in purchasing an anthology to get in touch with him.

Molly suggested that Sophie and Rivka (should they agree) put details of buying the anthology on their board; everyone was happy with this.

Lizzie asked when the JCR could expect to receive the anthologies. Calum replied that he anticipates that the JCR would have anthologies by mid-week (without making promises; noting that it might be sooner, it might be later).

Al suggested that fifteen copies was perhaps too few, and suggested buying thirty instead. Calum agreed that it would be fine by him, though he stressed that people would still have to be explicitly informed that the anthologies would not be for personal ownership, and should be left in the JCR.

Richard supported this idea.

Al brought the amendment to purchase thirty copies rather than fifteen. This was taken as friendly.

The amendment found no opposition.

Calum noted that the guy who sells the anthologies currently has seventy-three copies, and that he had informed said guy of our intention to buy fifteen copies rather than thirty, and wanted to note that there may not be thirty copies available; however he would buy as many up to thirty as possible.

Meg suggested that we don't leave the anthologies in the tampon mountain toilet, to preserve easy access to the provisions available (expressing concerns that people may end up spending more time in the toilet reading poetry).

Molly suggested we hold a poll in the future to decide which loos the anthologies should go to.

Motion passes without opposition.

 

Molly explained to the JCR that In[SCI]te would be occurring in the near future; she told the JCR that it is an undergraduate science conference with talks given by undergraduates with interdisciplinary themes. She noted that there are four Balliolites speaking at the event, and hence she would like to pass £150 to subsidise the £25 tickets. She explained that the money would be split equally between people who submit evidence of purchasing a ticket. She told the JCR that should more than thirty people submit evidence of purchasing a ticket that she would ask for more money at another GM.

She brought the amendment to mandate Christine, the new treasurer of STEM Sisters, to act in her stead. This amendment was accepted without opposition.

Alice asked who would be speaking. Molly replied that it is herself, Pria, Christine, and Eliza.

Cealach suggested should more than thirty people submit evidence, that Molly discuss with college the possibility of them matching our contribution.

Darryl brought the amendment to pass up to £150 (rather than simply passing £150), in case less money than that is spent subsisidising tickets, noting that he anticipates this is very unlikely.

The amendment was taken as friendly.

Motion passes without opposition.