Minutes for General Meeting, Sunday 3^rd Week HT06

Committee apologies: Jeniv Shah, Anna Bates, Mikey Forster, Kat Hunter

Meeting commenced: 8.07pm

I have written a paper on improving vacation residence which will hopefully go through. I have attended various meetings including meeting all the other JCR presidents.

Any of you who don't know what I have been doing recently have not been reading your emails, and shame be upon you. In short, I have been sorting the ballots for room allocation and answering the many questions linked with this event, and last week worked with Secretary to organise co-options.

Have been working with the new publications rep planning the alternative prospectus, and am organising the first Equal Opportunities committee meeting for 4th week. Helped with the organisation and publicising of co-options, and have had fun minuting all the meetings so far this term.

Treasurer

Have just got information through about the money we're getting this year. Will be finalising budget at next CM. Have started posting up information about JCR outgoings on the website - if anyone wants any more information to go up there, please let me know.

Acc Aff

Have been going to Library committee - any comments on what you'd like to see in your ideal library to me ASAP. Also, updating the careers page on the website - see http://www.magdjcr.co.uk/content/blogsection/9/68/ for the current week's timetable of events provided by the careers service.

Have put up posters on the careers noticeboard (on your right on the way up the stairs to the JCR), and have been trawling through tutorial feedback forms - yay fun!

Have taken delivery of £1000 worth of beer and £2000 worth of wine. Am basically familiarising myself with the way things work, before looking into if there's anything that can be improved. Tag has done an excellent job on redesigning the DVD labels and replacing them all.

Compreps

Have put a motion for the next GM to make the compreps a part of the constitution. Will upload photos from the term so far if anyone has any - could they please get in touch with me if they do, but don't email the actual photos to me!

OUSU Rep

In the process of organising a survey and political GM about our relationship with OUSU. Have attended 10 hours of meetings with OUSU, mainly focussed on resolving OUSU's budget crisis and a referendum on subfusc.

Overseas Reps:

On Thursday we had a drinks party for the visiting american and overseas students. It was very successful--most of the visiting students attended and several Magdalen members came along to meet them. We're planning a dinner for the JCR committee and the Stanford students next week to further their relationships with full-time members of college.

Things we’ve done:

Bop, Saturday 0th week. Tickets to Bridge on Thursday 1st week. Tickets to Park End, Wednesday 2nd week. Organising play, film, and clubbing outings to London. Organising 1st year dates with Queen's College. Organising open mic night. Organising UNICEF Bop for 4th week. Trying to organise other joint bops.

We've been discussing plans to purchase a £15 admiral nelson fancy dress costume from eBay. And, otherwise, just ruminating on the delightful notion of punt jousting.

We've been very busy this week putting plans together for two big events that are going to take place later in the term: firstly, a "Lads Night In", which will include Pro Evo, pool and table footy tournaments and a pie eating competition; and secondly a Murder Mystery Dinner. Dates and details will be announced soon so watch this space. Lots of love, Nikki and Jeniv

Welfare

We have had our first welfare coffees, as well as the traditional welfare donuts and film. We have started to organise the leaflets we have collected to go in the information rack that is on order for the JCR and have finished our welfare contact photo card which will be displayed in each staircase.

Food and Fac

As Food and Fac Rep, this week I have ordered the brunch food, taken it over to the JCR Dining Room and offered my help to the Committee members whose turn it was to cook it. I have also ordered the pizza for the GM and taken the damaged keyboard amp up to PMT to be repaired.

This week I have received the college LGBT mailing list, updated it and sent out an introductory email. I have liaised with welfare to check that there are enough extra strong condoms available.

I had a couple of meetings with the people that handle admissions in college. As a result I've started planning some changes to the admissions sections on the web so we can possibly get it linked to college's site.

Sports & Soc

I have attended my first JCR Committee meeting and I have looked through the black file compiled by the previous officers of my post, regarding my duties and previous arrangements used by them.

Publications Rep

This week my main focus was on producing the first edition of the Bogsheet. This was then distributed on Friday; in the bar, the post room and the JCR. This seems to have been received quite well. In addition I have started thinking about the alternative prospectus, along with Jess and Kevin – Secretary and Admissions Rep. We have really just been brainstorming and throwing ideas around and will hopefully have some solid ideas for Tuesday’s committee meeting.

First Year Rep

Sent an email to all of first year asking them if they have anything they want me to take to the committee and also for suggestions for Freshers’ Week. Also helped VP draw first year room ballot!

This week I have been:

(1) In contact with the JCR shop about FairTrade goods: chocolate selling well, tea and coffee not so good (2) Printed out posters raising environmental awareness in college. (3) Looking at recycled paper prices on internet.

Room Ballot Motion

This JCR notes:

- The room ballot is based upon knowing what rooms in college are like

- The rooms database is not totally functional at the moment

This JCR believes that:

- We should have the most informed opinion possible when choosing rooms

- It would not take much work to complete the database

This JCR resolves to:

- Mandate the relevant JCR officers to ensure that every room has a photo and a basic description on the database

- Check that the current information and photos are all correct

Proposed: James Chapman
Seconded: Joseph Gabriel

It’s difficult to choose the best room if we can’t access the same information about them all. There’s information about most rooms, so filling in the missing descriptions wouldn’t be too much work. We don’t want masses of information, just the basics.

• What happened to the info we emailed Ed last term?

  • It’s disappeared.

No opposition. Motion passes nem con.

Hockey Varsity Motion

This JCR Notes that:

- Varsity matches are a great event that the blues men and women train hard all year for, held in London at a neutral venue so therefore costs money to hold as we have to hire the ground.

- The main sponsor has pulled out at the last minute, leaving us £5000 worse off

- The Hockey Club has raised almost £2500 sponsorship since the main sponsor dropped out but we are still in the situation that we cannot afford some things (eg. hiring of spectator stands, subsidisation of coach transport to London for student spectators)

This JCR believes:

- Excelling in sport is something that should be supported

- The varsity match is an amazing occasion and should be more special than an usual match

This JCR proposes to:

- Donate £200 to the Hockey Varsity Match Committee and for this the JCR can place a half page in the match day programme of whatever they see fit (eg. admissions advert/ Oscar playing hockey/ good luck to Oxford message)

Proposed: Catherine Reynolds

Seconded: Joel Evans

Not much money is required from our JCR, and other colleges’ JCRs are helping out too. We can use it to our advantage too, in placing an advert in the programme. Sixth form teams play too so an admissions advert or something could be good for us. The money wouldn’t be funding individual players, it’d be for the whole team.

• Why did the sponsor pull out?

  • Cambridge actually managed to persuade Deloitte to sponsor them instead.

• Couldn’t college donate some money?

  • Blues sports aren’t generally supported by college, although it might be possible to look into applying for some money.

• How much money is required?

  • £200.

No opposition. Motion passes nem con.

Oscar’s New Suit Motion

This JCR notes that:

- After years of service, Oscar’s hedonistic lifestyle has caught up with him and he is falling apart.

- He can probably not withstand another year of shenanigans without losing at least a leg, or even an arm, or piece of shell.

This JCR believes that:

- Oscar is a vital element of Magdalen College life and has been there for all

of us at one time or another.

- A worthy successor to Oscar should be found.

This JCR resolves to:

- Replace Oscar at the cost of £320.

Proposed: Jonathan Siah

Seconded: Daniel Thompson

• Are you repairing this suit or getting a new one?

  • Getting a new one.

• Have you found a suit?

  • Yes, it costs £320

• Is is still going to look like Oscar?

  • Hopefully

• Couldn’t the old suit just be fixed?

  • No, shut up. It’s beyond repair.

• If we can fix it, and buy a new one, can we have two Oscars?

  • Yes. We might go on dates.

• Will they both be called Oscar?

  • Yes.

• Won’t that be confusing?

  • Maybe. Perhaps we’ll have Oscar and Oscar’s Evil Twin.

No opposition. Motion passes nem con.

Charities Levies Motion

This JCR notes that:

- There is nearly a thousand pounds in the campaigns fund pot

- More money will come in from this terms battells

- People often do nice charity work during term, or in the vacation, but do not need funding for it since the charity they volunteer for fund-raises separately

- These charities still need all the help possible.

- Even if we take £500 out of the pot, there will still be lots of cash left for people applying to the campaigns fund over the next two terms

This JCR believes that:

- Leaving money that is already ring-fenced for giving to charity sitting in a bank account gathering dust is a waste

- Just because some volunteering organisations do not specifically require volunteers to fund-raise, this does not mean they are not worthy of JCR funds.

- Giving them the surplus £500 would be in the spirit in which the money was intended to be used

This JCR resolves:

- To offer £500 in the next GM for people who do volunteering work that doesn't require them specifically to provide funds, although the charities behind them still need money

- To hear a one minute speech from each person nominating a charity, in which they will say how much money they want

- To recommend a £100 limit if there are more than five charities.

Proposed by Anoushka Kenley

Seconded by James Tulloch

There are two funds which people can draw on, the creative courses fund and the campaign fund. The campaign fund isn’t drawn on much and so there’s quite a large surplus which we want to give out at the next GM.

• Wouldn’t it be better to wait until the applications for this year have gone through and see how much is left then?

  • That’s a good point, but the money we’re suggesting we give away is what’s left from last year; there’ll be more money coming in this year from battels.

• Can you access the money only if you’re volunteering for a charity, or is it possible to nominate any charity to give the money to?

  • It’s really for charities people are actually involved in volunteering with.

• Does the money in the fund just come from battels?

  • Yes.

• Why doesn’t it go the charities it says on the battels sheet?

  • It does – one of the things on the list is the Campaigns Fund, and so that’s what it’s gone into. We collect the money in Spring and give it out in Summer.

• How much money is normally claimed?

  • There’s a limit of £150 per person. We could potentially increase that limit to £250 and use the excess money that way.

• Is this a widely publicised scheme?

  • Yes – we put up posters an everything. People just don’t seem to claim enough.

I think we need to discuss this further.

Proposed Amendment:

Wait until the claims have been made in Trinity before dishing out the left over money.

Amendment accepted.

Proposed Amendment #2

Raise the limit of an individual claim to £250

Amendment accepted.

• If the money’s not being claimed, couldn’t we just distribute it to various charities the JCR supports?

  • It’s nice that if someone wants to get actively involved in a charity, for instance by going to the Balkans, that their personal wealth isn’t an issue. Consitutionally, it would be possible to just dish out the money to charities, but we’d prefer it to be used to allow a Magdalen member to get involved.

For: 38

Against: 0

Abstentions: 3

Motion passes.

Meeting closed: 8.58pm