AGENDAPage 1of 5
of the 3rd ordinary JCR meeting of Trinity Term 2013
Meeting Details:Monday of 5thWeek
7pm, Jesus College JCR.
Key to motions:
1.Minutes Of The Last Meeting
2.Matters Arising
3.President’s Report
freshers week president elections next week, and then rest of committee in 7th.
additional elections in 7th are arts, social and entz.
bar redesign is going ahead, post water damage assesment
boycott of some freshers’ week parties including ‘hoes and CEOs’
4.Treasurer’s Report
SKY IS BEING FIXED.
£15,00 LOAN IS NOW RETURNED FROM THE BALL
5.Secretary’s Report
n/A
6.OUSU Report
OUSU MEETING THIS WEEK, MEETING AFTER FOR OUSU POSITIONS
7.Social Report
SUMMER EIGHTS PARTY AFTER VIIIs TICKETS ARE BEING SOLD
8.Welfare Report
WELFARE PACKS HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED
9.Academic Report
TARGET SCHOOLS IS BEING FOCUSED ON SHADOWING – IF INTERESTED PLEASE LET LAUREN KNOW
10.Access Report
N/A
11.Equal Opportunities Report
N/A
12.Arts Report
N/A
13.Sports Report
N/A
14.Charities Report
CHARITY GARDEN PARTY LATER THIS TERM
POSSIBILITY OF HOUSING A HOMELESS PERSON – FIVE OPTIONS ARE PRESENTED TO THE MEETING. (WITH ASPIRE CHARITY)
16 VOTE FOR ONLY EMPLOYMENT
1 FOR ACCOMODATION AND HALL
0 FOR ACCOMODATION
3 FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE
0 FOR NONE OF THE ABOVE
15.Green Report
SUSTAINABLE EVENT HAPPENING IN THE UNIVERSITY
GROUP BEING SET UP TO CHECK THAT UNIVERSITY IS NOT MAKING MONEY FROM FOSSIL FUELS
HAS HAD MEETING WITH OTHER GREEN REPS ABOUT THE EXAM REGS
16.Bar and Food Report
NO MORE THURSDAYS, BUT WILL STILL BE DISCOUNT NIGHT
17.IT Report
WORK IS BEING DONE ON THE WEBSITE
18.Questioning
19. JCTTC Prize money
This JCR notes:
i) The Annual Jesus College Table Tennis Competition
ii) Jesus College Table Tennis Committee
iii) Competition of strength, agility, speed, wit and charm
iv) Open to all members of college
v) up to £200
vi) exquisite prizes
vii) an engraved trophy
This JCR further notes:
viii) That i), hosted by the ii)is upon us.
ix) That i) is a iii), iv)
x) That v) would help the ii) cover the costs of vi) and vii) for the winners of i)
xi) That v) ish has been provided to the ii) in previous years
It therefore proposes:
To provide ii) with the sum of v) to purchase vi) and vii) for the winners of i)
Proposed: James Walker
Seconded: Tom Eastell
32 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ENETERED – WILL BE ‘UP TO’ AND IS UNLIKELY TO BE £200
TOBY SAYS THAT IT IS A LOT OF MONEY FOR THE PRIZES THAT HAVE BEEN SPECIFIED
IT IS ASKED WHY THE TROPHY IS SO EXPENSIVE AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PRIZES – IT IS SAID THAT IT WANTS TO FEEL LIKE ‘EVERYONE HAS WON’
AMMENDMENT OF £50 PROPOSED BY CHRIS YARROW
MOVE TO VOTE:
9 FOR, 22 AGAINST, 3 ABSTENTIONS
AMMENDMENT FALLS
ASKED THAT THE TROPHY CAN BE A YEAR ON YEAR RECORD OF THE WINNERS
MOVE TO VOTE
25 FOR, 0 AGAINST, 9 ABSTENTIONS
20FINALIST MASSAGES AND WELFARE PACKS
This JCR notes:
(i) Finals
(ii) Stressed
(iii) Grumpy
(iv) Jesus JCR Members
(v) Massages
(vi) Finalists Packs
(vii) £1000
This JCR further notes:
(viii) That i) have started or start soon for some iv)
(ix) Finalists are ii) and iii)
(x) That v) and vi) would mean that those iv) who have i) would be less ii) and iii)
It therefore proposes:
(xi) That the JCR Provide the Welfare Reps with up to £1000 to provide v) and vi).
Proposed: Eva Sprecher
Seconded: Eleanor Armstrong
MONEY WHICH COLLEGE HAVE TOLD US THAT WE HAVE FOR THE FINALIST PACKS, WASN’T (IT IS BEING SPENT ON WELFARE, INCLUDING TEAS AND CONDOMS)
IT IS NOTED THAT THE MASSAGES ARE VERY GOOD – PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THEM
TOM EXPRESSES THANKS TO EVA AND NIALL FOR THE PACKS (THERE IS APPLAUSE)
MOVE TO VOTE
VOTE PASSES UNANIMOUSLY
21. Somerville-Jesus Ball Committee Handover
This JCR notes
i) Somerville-Jesus Ball
ii) Ball Committee
iii) Open Letter
iv) Ball President
v) Handover
vi) JCR
This JCR further notes:
vii) That most vi) members had an excellent night at the i)
viii) That many aspects of the i), such as queuing, alcohol, music and the Rapture were very good
ix) However, that there were some shortcomings to the i) which have sparked an iii) to the ii) which as of Sunday afternoon has received 114 signatories.
x) That as of yet there has been no public acknowledgment of the concerns raised
That the vi) desires for the 2016 ii) to learn from the mistakes of this year’s ball and to follow their successes
xiii) That the vi) loaned £15,000 to the i)
xiv) That v) for triennial balls is difficult
This JCR therefore proposes:
xv) To ask each ii) member to produce a v) document with advice for future generations to ensure we can learn constructively from the shortcomings and good points from this year’s i)
xvi) To ask the iv), Samuel Levin (Somerville College), and the Treasurer, Alwyn Clarke (Jesus College) to publicly acknowledge and address the concerns raised.
(xvii) To ask the Ball Treasurer (Alwyn Clarke, Jesus College) to publish a full breakdown, as far as possible, respecting contractual obligations, of where the budget was allocated.
Proposed: Lauren Nimmo
Seconded: Tom Adams
LAUREN: THINK THE REPORT WILL HELP TO PASS ON ADVICE – INCLUDING PITFALLS AND UNFORSEEN PROBLEMS
EDDIE: THANKS TO LAUREN FOR BEING COURTIOUS. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WILL BE PUT UP (AND SENT ROUND TO THE JCR AS WELL; PLEASE SEE LATER EMAIL FOR FULL LETTER)
LUKE: APPRECIATED THAT EDDIE WOULD SAY THIS, AND THE FIVE SIGNATORIES ARE COMMENDED. HE NOTES THAT HE THINKS IT IS POOR THAT SAM LEVIN IS NOT A SIGNATORY. LUKE NOTES THAT IT APPEARS FROM THE LETTER THAT THE MAIN PROBLEM IS LACK OF EXPERIENCE. LUKE SUGGESTS THAT THERE SHOULD BE SOME FORM OF HUSTS FOR THIS EVENT
(ELLIE NOTES THAT THE ELECTIONS WERE ELECTIONS FROM SOMERVILLE, LUKE SUGGESTS THAT ANDREW COULD TAKE THIS TO THE GOVERNING BODY, ANDREW THEN ASKS TOM RUTLAND – WHO WAS PRESIDENT AT THE TIME – ABOUT HOW THE ELECTIONS WORKED AND HE SAID HE SANDS BY THEIR DECISION BUT THAT THERE MAYBE COULD BE A BETTER WAY OF DOING IT)
FRANKIE: SECONDS BOTH THE COMMENDATION AND THE COMMENT ON SAM LEVIN. SHE BELIEVES THAT THE MOTION SHOULD BE AMMENDED TO PREVENT LABOURING THE POINT, BECAUSE IT IS UNLIKELY THAT THERE WILL BE A RESPONSE FROM SAM LEVIN
TOBY: AGAIN COMMENDS THAT APPOLOGY. HE RECOMMENDS THAT IN THE HAND OVER DOCUMENT IT IS NOTED THAT THINGS SHOULDN’T BE DONE ‘CHEAPLY’ BECAUSE OF THE COST OF THE BALL. PROBABLE THAT THE EXPECTATION WAS HIGH, AND EXCEPTIONAL STANDARDS (HIGHER THAN AT OTHER COLLEGE BALLS) WERE EXPECTED.
(EDDIE NOTES THAT THE NUMBERS WERE SET TO BE LOWER THIS YEAR AT THE BALL.)
TOM RUTLAND: COMMENDS THE APPOLOGY. HE WOULD LIKE TO AMMEND THE MOTION TO ASK ALWYN TO PUBLISH THE ACCOUNTS.
‘TO ASK THE BALL TREASURER (ALWYN CLARKE, JESUS COLLEGE) TO PUBLISH AT LEAST ROUGH BREAKDOWNS OF WHERE THE BUGET WAS ALLOCATED’
SECONDED CHRIS YARROW
POINTS ON THE AMMENDMENTS:
LUKE – CONFIDENTIALLY ISSUES WITH GIVING OUT THE MONEY IS UNLIKELY TO BE THE CASE – HE NOTES THAT THE UNION THE ACCOUNTS ARE PUBLISHED AND AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION BY THE COMMITTEE AND THE MEMBERS OF THE UNION – AND THAT IT SHOULDN’T BE A PROBLEM.
(EDDIE NOTES THAT SOME ARTISTS DON’T WANT THERE BARGINING POWER TO BE COMPROMISED)
KATIE: ASKS IF THE MEMEBERS OF THE COMMITTEE WERE AWARE OF THE BUGET
(EDDIE SAYS THAT HE WAS NOT)
LAURA: MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT MONEY ON ARTISTS; BUT THAT IT COULD BE LUMPED TOGETHER AS ‘ARTIST COSTS’
(THIS IS GENERALLY AGREED)
AMMENDMENT TO THE AMMENDMENT
REPLACING “ROUGH” WITH “FULL BREAKDOWN, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, RESPECTING CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION” – AMMENDED ACCEPTED AS FRIENDLY
TOM ADAMS: WHEN THE TRESURER WAS ASKED PAY THE LOAN TO BALL IT THEY PASSED IT, ASSUMING IT WAS THE NORM (IT HAS LATER ARRISEN THAT THIS WAS PROBABLY NOT, FROM THE PERSON WHO HAD BEEN TRESURER THE PREVIOUS TIME THIS HAD HAPPENED)
CHRIS: CONCURS WITH FRANKIE’S COMMENT ON THE LIKIHOOD OF SAM’S APPOLOGY
(LAUREN NOTES THAT THE MOTION IS ADDRESSED TO SAM AS SHE WAS MADE AWARE THAT IT WAS NOT A WHOLE COMMITTEE PROBLEM)
ALEX: NOTES THAT SAM SHOULD STILL BE ASKED BECAUSE IT IS NOT FINE THAT HE HAS JUST NOT ACKNOWLEDGED THE ISSUES RAISED
EVA: NOTES THAT WE MUST BE SENSITIVE TO SAM, FEW OF US HAVE HAD TWO COLLEGES AND ALUMNI ANGRY AT US
MOVE TO VOTE:
MAJORITY (30), 2 ABSETENTION
AMMENDMENT PASSES.
TOM ADAMS: WANTS TO PROPOSE AND AMMENDMENT TO 16.
“TO ASK THE BALL PRESISDENT, SAM LEVIN, TO PUT IS NAME TO THE STATEMENT RELEASED BY THE COMMITTEE”
OWEN: MAKES IT NARROW – WE SHOULDN’T FORCE HIM ONLY TO MAKE THIS WAY A RESPONSE
LUKE: SHOULDN’T RESTRICT HIM IN HIS RESPONSE
ALEX: SHOULD AMMEND TO INCLUDE THE OPTION BETWEEN THE STATEMENT OR ANOTHER RESPONSE
(EDDIE: THE SIX OF US GOT TOGETHER AND DISCUSSED – EDDIE AND ELLIE BELIEVE THAT BY NOT ATTENDING THE MEETING AT WHICH THE LETTER WAS WRITTEN, HE HAS SAID THAT HE DOEN’T WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN THE LETTER NOR THE DISCUSSIONS THAT RESULTED IN THE LETTER; THE TWO OF THEM DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH ALLOWING THEM THE OPTION TO PUT THEIR NAMES TO SOMETHING THAT THEY COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO)
MOVE TO VOTE
MAJORITY AGAINST, 1 ABSTENTION
AMMENDMENT FAILS
ANNA: ASKS IF THERE ARE ANY REASONS THAT THE MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE ARE NOT ON THE NOTE
(EDDIE: THERE ARE RESONS THAT IT’S NOT OUR PLACE TO SAY IT)
KAT: FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD ASK ALWYN FOR ACCOUNTABLITIY.
AMMENDMENT TO THE MOTION
“TO ASK THE (iv) SAM LEVIN (SOMERVILLE COLLEGE), AND THE TRESURER ALWYN CLARKE (JESUS COLLEGE)”
MOVE TO VOTE ON THE AMMENDMENT
MAJORITY FOR, 2 ABSTENTIONS
MOTION PASSES
POLLY: THANKS FOR THE NIGHT. AT RAG THERE WAS A MESS UP AND THERE WAS AN ALTERATION TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMMITTEE.
(ANDREW NOTES THAT EXPANIDING THE COMMITTEE, CHANGING THE WAY THE PRESIDENT IS CHOOSEN AND HAVING MORE FINACIAL OVERSIGHT IS BEING PUT IN HIS HAND OVER)
(TOM ADAMS AND LAUREN SUGGEST THAT SINCE IT IS IN THE MINUTES AND THE MOTION IS NOT BINDING THIS MIGHT NOT BE SOMETHING TO AMMEND)
(EDDIE AND ELLIE NOTE THAT THE HANDOVER DOCUMENTS WERE ALREADY IN MOTION BEFORE THIS MOTION)
BEN: SUGGESTS THAT THERE MIGHT BE AS CASE FOR MORE REGULAR BALL, OR POSSIBLITY OF THE BALL IN JESUS.
(EDDIE AND ANDREW NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR THIS DISCUSSION)
MOVE TO VOTE:
MAJORITY IN FAVOUR, 2 ABSTENTION
MOTION PASSES
22.LEAVERS BBQ
This JCR notes:
(i)The Leavers BBQ
(ii)£400
This JCR further notes:
ii) is the highlight of the Social Calendar which serves as a celebration of the end of the finalists exams.
It therefore proposes:
To provide The Social Budget with the sum of up to ii) ensure that alongside the already budgeted for alcohol there is fitting entertainment and fun to ensure the i) is sick
Proposed: Rosie Colthorpe
Seconded: Chris Smith
ROSIE WISHES TO AMMEND THE MOTION TO TO “£400”
MOVE TO VOTE ON THE AMMENDMENT
MAJORITY PASSES
MOVE TO VOTE ON THE MOTION
MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY
LEO ASKS IF IT CAN BE MOVED; IT MUST BE DISCUSSED WITH CHRIS
23.Announcements Period
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN REPRESENTING TO THE UNIVERSITY SHOULD CHECK THEIR EMAILS FOR THE EMAIL.
EVA NOTES THAT PEOPLE SHOULD CONTINUE TO EMAIL FOR CONDOMS, THE ONES IN THE MACHINE ARE WORSE THAN ONES PROVIDED BY WELFARE REPS.
24.Any Other Business
25.Next meeting
Eleanor Armstrong
JCR Secretary, 19/05/2013
Response Letter regarding the Jesus-Somerville Ball
Dear All,
This message comes from six members of the Somerville-Jesus 2013 Ball Committee; Eddie Shore, Chris Smith, Richard Nias, Toby Mann, Ellie Armstrong, and Clara Collyns.
In this letter, we would like to address the concerns raised by a number of guests of the ball, and also to apologise for the unacceptably large gap in time between the raising of these concerns, and the provision of this response. First and foremost, all six of us would like to say that the vast majority of criticisms levelled at the organisation of the ball have been both fair and courteous. This response will seek to be equally fair, and we hope that once you have finished reading it, you will feel that we have been honest, open, and receptive to what you have all had to say.
There are four key areas we’d like to touch upon in this letter, and these will hopefully provide you with a comprehensive understanding of many of the problems that emerged during the preparations, set up, and execution of the ball. These four areas are: recognition of the issues themselves, explanations, the limitations that we faced as a committee, and a putting to rest of a few false claims.
It is the opinion of the six of us that there were three key flaws with the 2013 Somerville-Jesus Ball; the organisation of food, the length of queues for the maze, and the tone of our publicity campaign. We would like to apologise for these mistakes, in particular with regards to the organisation of food; the provisions we made were very clearly insufficient, and this is not acceptable for an event commanding a ticket price of £110. We also recognise that this apology is tainted by its lateness, and for that we also apologise. We would, however, like to offer some explanation as to why these three issues emerged, starting with food.
We believe that the organisation of food for the ball was not a success for four main reasons; misplaced trust in our catering company, poor set up due to unforeseeable problems, a lack of careful consideration of the demand for vegetarian food, and a lack of events management experience. These are not excuses, but explanations.
During conversations with our catering company, our head chef assured us of two things: one, that one service point would be sufficient for 1000 guests, and two, that eight staff members would be sufficient to effectively serve these 1000 guests. Had the ball committee had more experience, these claims would perhaps have been considered more sceptically, but as it stands, they were not, and we chose to trust the experience of our catering company, a decision that turned out to be a mistake.
On the day of the ball, our head chef arrived two and a half hours late due to traffic, arriving at Somerville College at around 17:00. This meant that set up was rushed, and as a consequence, improperly carried out. Perhaps the most significant and legitimate complaint of food organisation of the ball was poor provision for vegetarian and gluten-intolerant guests, and these shortcomings have a lot to do with this rushed set up. We’ve sought to provide explanations for both of these issues below.
On the night of the ball, a number of gluten intolerant individuals were unable to eat any of the food provided, and there appeared to be no gluten free option. However, we had arranged for gluten-free meals to be provided; our catering company either forgot, or simply neglected to take these gluten free meals from the kitchen and over to the service area. Again, this is not an excuse, but an explanation, and we apologise for poor execution in this area.
Vegetarian food suffered from two major set backs; inconsistent availability, and an underestimation of demand. Vegetarian food was inconsistently available due to poor set up, which meant that preparation of the three options available on the night were not in sync. This meant that there were a number of periods when one option was not available, including the vegetarian option. On top of this, we underestimated demand for vegetarian options by failing to consider that meat-eaters would be requesting vegetarian food in the volume that they ultimately did. This was a foolish assumption to make, and is the consequence of both a lack of experience in events management, and also a lack of consideration. Provision for vegetarians at the ball was not acceptable, as it led to a number of vegetarians being unable to eat anything at all, and for this we apologise strongly. All six of us see this as the biggest failure of the ball.
Many complaints have been raised both on this page and also by acquaintances of ours regarding waiting times for the maze constructed in Somerville College Hall. We believe that the maze was an ambitious project, that ultimately suffered from an under appreciation of the time it would take for guests to properly enjoy it. Whilst we as a committee did do a number of time trials during construction of the maze, these trials clearly failed to properly reflect the length of time guests wanted to enjoy it, which lead to a bottlenecking in moving groups through the hall.
The six of us are also aware that a few guests suffered injuries as a consequence of the maze being unstaffed. The main reason that the maze was left unstaffed for a small period of the night was due to a number of maze staff going rogue; a handful of maze actors attempted to leave their positions and sneak into the ball as guests. This is an issue that was difficult for maze managers to deal with whilst simultaneously managing long queues and the confusing layout of the Somerville Hall, a building they were unfamiliar with.