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St John’s College Junior Common Room

The People’s Republic of St Giles

Agenda for the 2nd

meeting of Hilary Term 2016 31

st of January 2016 8:30pm, JCR.

i/ Minutes of the previous meeting

ii/ Matters arising from the minutes

iii/ Officers’ reports

President: Jess Colston

It’s been a busy few weeks for me! I attended OUSU council, and hosted a social for the committee with the MCR counterparts which went well. I attended PresCom (the meeting of all the JCR Presidents) and raised the price of our auditorium. Given by a show of hands ours was the most expensive, I think we have a good case or reducing the costs! In addition I have been involved in many meetings with college, the highlights of which are below: Domestic Committee

This had a loooooooooonnggg agenda! Of most relevance to the JCR were the following items:

Registering guests in rooms o College is keen to have more idea of when people have guests staying so they have a record for fire

reasons. o They’re going to set up an email account very soon which you message to say ‘I have 1 guest staying

on X night’ Should hopefully be a bit more straight forward than signing people in at the Porter’s Lodge.

o Guests will not have to be named, and this system will hopefully ensure greater privacy than the current system!

Room Booking for Students o Eden (MCR pres) and I have been working with college to create guidelines on how to book rooms

for events. o So far these are still ‘draft’ versions but should be approved soon o The P&L rooms and the Kendrew Events Room will be free of charge for students to book for any

event, John’s or otherwise! o As above, we’re also working on the auditorium.

Formal Hall on Mondays and Wednesdays o Firstly, thank you so much for filling out my survey - it was really helpful when speaking in the

meeting. o Subject to Governing Body approval (and this may not happen if fellows are opposed) formal hall on

Monday’s will be dropped, and instead there will be an extended informal. o The committee were very receptive to ideas like having more themed nights, more special food and

generally improving formal hall, so hopefully we can work on improving formal hall on other nights!

Nurses room/Beehive Computer Room o The Nurses room will move into the new (accessible) room soon - I’ll report the exact location soon. o Unfortunately there are no current plans to add in any more computer facilities into North Quad,

partly because of the new study centre which will be built in two years. o I’m going to chat to the library and see if maybe we could put a computer in there that students

could use!

SALTO fobs o Our black fobs will soon be replaced by the larger flat blue fobs o These ‘SALTO’ fobs are personal to you (like your bod card) and various permission can be added

onto them e.g access to the JCR Office o The switch for JCR members should be made at the start of Michaelmas next term

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o Possibly this is an opening to reform the vac res system, as they may be able to track whether you’re in college using data from these fobs!

Education Policy Committee

Work in 0th week o The Academic Dean, Ellie Clewlow is keen to build more of an academic induction into Freshers

week, for example study skills workshops and setting academic expectations. o In general I support her in this to make the transition into first week a little smoother. o However I expressed my reservations to the committee that tutorial work should still not be set for

Fresher’s week. o There will be further consultation and discussion before anything happens, so watch this space!

Meeting with the Domestic Office

Tom and I met with the Domestic Office to discuss the room ballot and other student issues.

I’m sure Tom will write more about this, but we hope to receive the list of rooms by early 5th week and start the ballot process after that.

We will hopefully also produce more of a guide to how to apply for Vac Res this term.

Academic Feedback

You may be wondering, in the absence of an Academic Affairs Officer the fate of Academic Feedback (the process by which we feed back to college about our tutors) this year.

We will be running the sessions between members of the committee as a sub-committee.

Keep an eye out for more information, coming out very soon!

St John’s Ball 2017

I’ve started some conversations with college about the ball.

We won’t be able to use the Gardens in 2017 due to the construction work on the new Study Centre, so it might be a somewhat smaller scale ball than previously.

I will submit a proposal to form a Steering committee to Governing Body in 5th week, and then we will begin to advertise for ball positions (provided it’s approved!)

Again keep an eye out for more information soon!

As ever, if you have any thoughts, concerns or questions about the above or anything else please get in touch!

Vice-President: Tom Wadsworth

I have been working to get the room and housing ballot up and running - answering a number of peoples queries and so on. Also have had multiple meetings with college to get things sorted on a number of issues.

Secretary: Alastair Graham

Since the last report I gave, term has started and much has happened. Below a full account of my JCR activities:

- The Constitutional Reform Sub-Committee has met three times when you read this report (if you ever bother to read

my reports, I am probably talking to myself here). We have now reviewed our drafts of the Articles and Standing

Orders, as well as discussed consultation methods, surveys and many other constitutional matters. Sadly since the last

meeting, Arran resigned from the committee so we now have six members.

- The Constitution has been updated with the motion ratified at the EGM being implemented. The Standing Policy has

now been updated and the website has been edited to include the names of our new Reps and Officers.

- Talking of the EGM, I facilitated the wine and drinks orders from college. I have yet to receive the bill for this. Since

the by-election didn’t elect an Academic Affairs Officer, I have found precedent to clarify an ambiguous wording in the

Constitution so we are now clear that a by-election must be held.

- I have handed over to the new PRAT, Clarissa, who has now ascended to the throne as Queen of the Kingdom of

Beans. I wish her well on her reign. The last meeting was my final time providing the pizza, snacks and drinks!

- I have been working on the Summer Ball Committee appointment procedure by digging through old JCR files in the

office regarding this process. I have now got a fairly clear draft and will finalise this before the next meeting, in liaison

with the MCR Committee.

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- I have continued my quest for a tidy JCR Office and have been able to reunite many people with their belongings.

There is still a lot of unclaimed items which will be given to the library or sold in a charity sale, most likely.

- I have been facilitating the account audit process and ensuring that the auditing was completed by this meeting.

- I attended the JCR/MCR Committee Social and drank my lemonade merrily.

- I read sections of my new joke book so I have joke primed for action if needed at this meeting.

- I ran a motion help session which was actually useful and helped someone. I also advertised the termly charities

nature of this meeting in the hope of getting more charity motions which I think has been a success.

- One of the highlights of my week was reading the minutes from JCR meetings from 1997 and I have learned a lot

about the history of the JCR, especially its honorary members. I now know the origins of the “Tony Blair Major John”

plaque in the JCR Office and have an insight into the changes in levels of societal discrimination in Oxford across the

last two decades.

- Fixed a date and time with the College Archivist to say goodbye to many of our treasures.

- Set up a Google document for the Camp Bed Scheme which is nearly ready to go live.

- I found the lost Dictaphone so JCR meetings can be recorded again. I had great fun listening to the November 2013

final General Meeting of the Shaahin Pishbin era.

- Written the 1st

OGM minutes and the EGM, the Committee minutes, two lots of CRC minutes, three agendas for CRC,

the agenda for the EGM, three agendas for CRC in addition to publishing the results for the last OGM and EGM.

* My to do list includes talking to Matt Jennings (IT Staff) about the Rural Economy printer maintenance to see

whether there is something quick and easy that can be done to ensure a functional computer rep.

* I will also be talking to SusCam and the Academic Dean to clarify the status of suspended students in relation to

attending JCR meetings and events. While I cannot promise an ideal outcome, I will try to get the best clarification that

we can.

*Special Mentions*: - To Ben Huston for allowing us to use his microphone and showing me the band room to arrange

a PA system for the By-Election hustings. – To Hugh Tappin and Anna Bozzo for their great perseverance with a rather

thankless task of account auditing. I owe you more than one. I don’t have a special mention for officers or Reps this

week.

Live Long and Prosper, \\//.

Treasurer: James Taylor

As a JCR we receive a termly sum of money, called capitation, from St. Johns college to be spent on all things JCR. We receive a cheque of roughly £10,000 in 7th week of each term which goes into the JCR business account.

I can now say that the accounts for 2015 have been independently audited and I can present this budget to you with some confidence in its accuracy.

In 2015 we received a total capitation of around £32,630, in addition to an extra annual £3000 for sanitary products. Coming into the new year we can expect a 2% increase in capitation.

At a glance, a total of £42,400 was projected and £39,000 was spent. The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that we budgeted and spent over capitation. Not to worry though, as we do have roughly a £20,000 reserve.

According to the attached accounts for 2015, there was one overspent budget (ethnic minorities) amongst a majority of underspent budgets.

Ignore the large overspend for Women’s. A lot of this overspend was on sanitary products which was supposed to come from the separate pot of £3000 with I did not include in Women’s income.

The most important change made is to some liberation budgets to bring them on a level amount. I have set Ethnic minorities, LGBTQ, Disabilities action, international and Equality and diversity a £300 budget this year. This means an increase in the most part.

The biggest cuts have fallen on Arts week, Mummers and Music due to they're large underspends.

I have given a large boost in funding for bikes scheme. Our fleet of bikes have suffered heinous injury out there on the streets, major repairs and replacements are needed this term. I decided not to pass that cost directly onto the members of the scheme.

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The computer rep’s budget was changed upon consultation with the secretary after pricing up the expected upcoming purchases.

The current budget for games room/jukebox was enough only to maintain monthly payments. Due to members protests over the dire state of the games room, i’ve added £600 to the budget to cover repairs and possibly, new equipment….

The large overspend in freshers week is due to an outstanding deposit which we can expect later this term, which will bring us into the clear.

I have set aside a budget of £200 dedicated to the constitutional reform, run by your Secretary, this term and part of next term. This money will be spent on pizza and soft drinks to incentivise members to join in the reform events. So please do go try to go to them.

If there are any changes that you would like to make to this budget, you can bring a financial motion to the JCR. Financial motions budget is £4,500

Access & Admissions Officer: Amelia Wrigley

Since the last JCR meeting I have met with Emma (Schools Liason Officer) to discuss setting up another Student Ambassadors’ training session. She will send out an email to gauge interest, and then the training will probably be held in 5th week. I’ve also set up an Ambassadors Facebook page, which should be helpful for communicating access initiatives (both in college and uni-wide) to the student ambassadors. If you’re not yet a Student Ambassador, but you still want to get information about such events (many of which are very well paid!) then I’m happy to pass on all the information/ get you added to the mailing list. I’ve also met with Rochelle and Feyi, our BME reps, who provided loads of useful feedback and ideas specifically around BME access, which I’ll be discussing at the Access sub-committee meeting later this term. I also raised the idea of holding a women in STEM open day at St. John’s with Emma, (Hertford held one last year which was really successful), so we’ll also suggest that at the meeting. Before the next meeting I plan to review the alternative prospectus and get some more printed for upcoming events, and go further in developing a women in STEM open day. I’m also starting to think about what video content we could produce for St. John’s this year. We plan to film a college tour (as the current college tour predates Kendrew) and a series of student profiles. If you’d be interested in being part of either of these videos, please get in touch!

Academic Affairs Officer: VACANT

(By-Election to be Held Later in Term) No-one ran for me…I was devastated.

Disabilities Officer: Clementine Smith

Over the next term, I would be interested in organising a mental health drop-in session and trying to improve

accessible bathroom facilities in college (e.g. by having changed signs which designate that accessible bathrooms are

gendered). I also aim to improve knowledge among JCR members about college and university resources available to

students with disabilities- for example exam adjustments, support groups, individual and group counselling- and to

support anyone whose disability is proving detrimental to their ability to take full part in all aspects of college life (e.g.

by ensuring that all events are accessible, as far as is possible).

Discounts Officer: Khush James

Since the last meeting I have continued distributing discount cards and Mission Burrito tattoos to those who want

them. By popular demand I have been in discussion with Jimbobs about getting a discount, which will probably be

announced in the near future. By the time of the meeting I will have met with representatives from the TeamFirst

scheme to discuss how we can best co-operate with them in the future for our mutual benefit. For the next two weeks,

I intend to distribute more cards and tattoos and raise more awareness, maybe by a Facebook advertising campaign

for example. I also intend to announce some more discounts, with Jimbobs and maybe some others like G&Ds.

Domestic Officers: Fran Belsham & Aalia Hulf

Since the last JCR meeting we have primarily been organising the upcoming guest dinners. All the decorations have

arrived, and the balloting process has commenced. We have also purchased new air beds for the JCR, which are

available for borrowing. We also attended a Domestic Committee meeting, where the running of the air bed lending

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scheme was discussed.

Over the next few weeks we will be organising the guest list, seating plan and menu for the Casino Royale guest dinner

(Friday 12th February). We will also look into which form of online booking system for the air beds will be most

successful.

Entz Officers: Tom Ritter & Matt Smith

A massive thanks to everybody for helping the wizards make a cracking first bop, we hope you loved it! We’d be really

interested to hear your thoughts on any improvements you might have, specifically on the questions of 1) increased

quantity / decreased cost of bop juice vs 2) quantity of pizza in general (some warning: we’re leaning towards

decreased pizza to increase funds kitting out bops – we know, you’re angry – but think bouncy castles) OR – 3) motion

for increased enzt budget = both? Come on… we’re John’s… ;)

Coming up:

• Inaugural ‘Megabop’ experiment (combo of swag colleges throwing down together – likely Val day.

• Regular pub quizzes in John’s bar (it’s fun now – fantastic chat from the new staff + £6.20 bottles of wine!) – start

thinking of embarrassing fun / interesting / tragic / questions to ask for bonus rounds.

• More wacky ideas from the wizards’ think tank.

Entz peace from the wizards xx

Environment & Ethics Officers: Zoe Carmichael

Last Saturday I put on a Swap Shop in the Prestwich Room, and thanks to everyone who came along and helped to

make it a success. All kinds of weird and wonderful (mainly wonderful) things found themselves a new home, as

people browsed over the various items on offer whilst enjoying food from the oh-so-ethical Oxford Co-op (look them

up, they do veg boxes). The bags of leftover goodies will be going to the Swap Shop at the Oxford Hub which starts at

6pm next Tuesday so make sure to check it out. I also enjoyed attending the E&E meeting the other E&E Officers and

discussing what everyone is doing in their different colleges, which has given me lots of ideas for the coming year. Go

Green Week is taking place in 4th week with lots of environmental events taking place across the university, so look

out for information about that, which will be coming your way! Sorry that the Effective Altruism event had to be

postponed, but it will be happening later on in term instead – watch this space. I am also holding a meeting with

people from lots of different colleges to discuss how we can improve the provision of veggie/vegan food in halls across

the university. If you’re interested in being part of that discussion, or think you have some ideas/experience to

contribute, please come along to the P&L rooms at 7pm Wednesday of 3rd week. As always, feel free to email me

with E&E-related suggestions.

Equality & Diversity Officer: James Cain

I'm happy to be elected into the role of E&D officer and am looking forward to being able to start finding ways to

celebrate our colleges diversity. I also plan to have the equalities sub committee first meeting of the year in 4th week.

Welfare Officers: Louise Chegwidden & Rohan Hazell

Since the last meeting Louise and I have Welfared to the max - including a really well attended brunch after bop with

bacon and hash browns; hosting a first responder training event with the MCR; the first Welfare lunch; dishing out

condoms and much more. We're looking to finalise preparations for 5th Week Blues with more speakers and get more

ideas from you guys for what you'd like for TW Teas (and maybe another brunch?) Welfare love xoxo

Women’s Officer: Katy Haigh

Hi everyone, I hope you’ve all settled back into college and are keeping happy and healthy.

Women’s Lunch: 3rd week lunch will be on Wednesday 3rd February, 1pm, Garden Quad reception room. There is a

google sign-up sheet you can use to let me know if you have any dietary requirements; if you’re planning on attending

the lunch please fill in the sign-up sheet by 2nd February at the latest, so that I can tell the staff what requirements to

cater for. Sign-up sheet is available on the JCR Facebook page and in your emails.

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Women’s Dinner: This event is approaching quickly and is set to be a fantastic evening: Marina and I have been

working hard to make sure this is a really fun event for all those who identify as women in college, and invitations

(with an RSVP sign-up sheet and opportunity to tell us your dietary and/or access requirements) will be sent out to

your email inboxes in the coming week!

Sanitary Products: Orders were distributed in the pidge room on January 27th and 28th. The order form will be

available again in 4th week for products to be distributed in 5th week. If in the meantime you require products, don’t

forget to use the OUSU tax-free system (form is attached to the sanitary product email I sent out at the start of Hilary

term).

The St Hilda’s welfare officer also contacted me recently to gather information about how we run and maintain our

sanitary product scheme; our scheme is going from strength to strength and other colleges are keen to emulate us- go

John’s JCR!

First Respondents: Thank you to everyone who went along to get trained to be First Respondents on Wednesday

evening. If you haven’t already done so, please could you let either Rohan or Louise (welfare officers) that you

attended the training so that we can add you to our list of trained JCR members.

That’s all folks!

Equality Love xoxo

iv/ Reps’ reports

Alumni & Development Rep: Evelyn Collins

On Saturday, I will go (or will have gone by the time this is read) to a session of the Women's Legacy Network Meeting

which is to discuss the legacy of the 2000 Women Project by creating a SJC Women's Network, a Graduate Leadership

Programme, and a "Springboard" for (by the sounds of the briefing email) mentoring, careers and internships

presumably for the women of John's. I will attend Session Two entitled "Where do we want to be?" where there will

be a discussion on what they actually want to do, surprisingly enough. Seeing as it hasn't yet happened (at the time of

writing), I can't actually report what was said. On Monday, I will meet with someone called Caitlin from the Alumni

and Development Office whereshe will brief me on projects they have in the pipeline and things that they would like

me/students to be involved in and show me the alumni guest rooms. I know, I lead an exciting life.

Art Reps: Lauren Kennedy & Fania Weatherby

We are continuing to plan the 3rd week exhibition of JCR collection and student art.

Bike Rep: Alistair Hankey

The Bike Scheme Inventory:

I. Nine workable, but not-roadworthy bikes II. One bike beyond repair

III. An assortment of bike lights and locks

The Bike Scheme, at present, has £600 to its name, consisting of:

I. £450 annual budget II. £150 from membership fees

The currently Bike Scheme has 41 members.

Thus the primary objective of the bike scheme is to repair or replace these ten bikes.

A secondary objective is to establish a termly maintenance service.

The Bike Scheme has entered into negotiations with the Broken Spoken Bike Co-op (BSB) to assess and repair the nine

bikes:

The inspection was completed in January, for which they have asked £78. I am negotiating with regards lowering this fee

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They have quoted £1001 for the repair of all nine bikes

I have asked them to fix Bikes 9 and 4, for a cost of £174 – this would give the bike scheme a roadworthy mountain bike and a roadworthy hybrid bike.

BSB have also quoted my £54/hour for a maintenance service – suggesting a single bike would require a half hour to service.

At the JCR meeting on 31/1/2016 I am bringing a financial motion to the JCR requesting:

I. Up to £1200 to fix or purchase new bikes II. £175 for the purchase of ten helmets

III. £150 for the purchase of ten locks from OUSU.

The Treasurer has also been approached to raise the annual budget to £900. This would pay for three termly services

for the ten bikes, and allow for an additional small fund to pay for replacement parts etc. on an ad hoc basis.

Charities Reps: Felicity Green & Mike Jennings

Mike and I have spent the majority of the last two weeks telling people that we're are the new charity reps. We have

also set up a competition to design the college sweatshirts and have been heavily involved in Pink Week, helping

organise the college formal and making sure as many people as possible bought a Basil Blush. We'd like to thank the

bar staff for supporting Pink Week. We are currently thinking about setting up a "send a rose" charity service for

Valentines Day, and are trying to help those lonely hearts in the JCR find their bae through the RAG blind date.

Computer Rep: Marius Gavrilescu

Since last meeting I have built an online booking system for the St John's Bike Scheme, which will most probably be

unleashed upon the unsuspecting public when we get some functional bikes. One idea I have (that I will start

implementing in the vacation) is to modernise the technology used for hosting the JCR website -- that is, move the

website from shared hosting to a more capable virtual server.

DVD Rep: Charles Clegg

I'm still here with the D.V.D.s. Barring the mention of some very kind donations which I am yet to catalogue, that

statement need not be expanded upon.

Ethnic Minorities Reps: Rochelle Morrison & Feyi Adegbite

In the past couple of weeks we have attended a meeting with Amelia, the Access and Admissions Officer to discuss

ways in which outreach to BME potential applicants could be improved. We also met with the MCR BME rep to discuss

future collaborative events. Preparations are underway for the Ethnic Minoritea which will be happening in 4th week,

as well as the Race and Mental Health panel event which will take place in 7th week as part of the St John's Mental

Health Awareness Week.

International Students Reps: Syrie Byfield

Hello all, Saturday of 1st week saw the successful first JCR/MCR bar trip in the college bar. Turn out was decent

(partially attributed to the first free drink haha) and everyone seemed to have a good time getting to know a bit more

about the other international students in college. It was great to see the interaction between our two common rooms

and Trevy (the MCR rep) and I hope to host more events like this in future! In 3rd week plan we have the international

free wine formal so stay tuned!!

LGBTQ Reps: Jacob Brennan & Dalva Gerberon

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

Hi friends!

The first couple of weeks have been really successful, with the ratification of our new rep Dalva, a very good turn-out

at out first meet up of the term, and the news that the LGBTQ society will be holding uni-wide drinks for all queer

students and their friends at St John's next Tuesday (this will mean postponing the film night so as many people as

possible can go). We're both relatively new to the role so we've prioritised getting to know reps from other colleges -

both of us went to the OUSU campaign meeting on Friday which was really useful for pooling ideas for LGBTQ history

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month which is just around the corner. If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch with either of

us.

Queer love,

Jalva

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OUSU Rep: VACANT

(I have remained vacant for a while) No-one ran for me…I was devastated.

PRAT: Clarissa Mayhew

(Failed to submit a written report) The Secretary notes that Clarissa was last seen this morning while he was handing

over the PRAT role to her. Clarissa plans to buy the supplies for the next meeting and may offer a verbal report in

addition to this shadow writing.

Returning Officer: Dan Mead

My main news to report is that the election all went smoothly and a big congratulations to our new officers,

Clementine and James! Hustings were also a success and thanks to all those that turned up. Nothing really exciting

Returning Officer-wise will happen before the next meeting however later this term we should hopefully get a new

Academic Affairs officer and finally fill out our committee.

Sports Rep: Valery Charachon

No events were organized this past week, but the sports poster was finished and put up in various visible areas. Contact with the Sports Coordinator of SJC, Zoltan, has been made to discuss further Sport Promotion in college, and discussions over the upcoming Sportman/woman/ team of the year award has begun. Organization of Sports dinner is now also in talks. In the next week, I intend to begin looking into the creation of a sports cupboard for the JCR teams, and establish contact groups for the teams, in order to have a more up-to-date Sports result weekly post.

v/ Ratifications

a) OUSU Rep - (To be ratified)

vi/ Items for discussion

None.

vii/ Agenda Items

a/ The “Condition of the Republic Report” Motion Proposer: Danny Waldman Seconded: Alastair Graham (ex-officio)

This JCR notes that: a. At the last meeting, the report was presented and it was incomplete. b. This motion has to be put by the former Secretary.

This JCR believes that:

c. The former Committee have a duty to give their annual report on the state of the JCR. This JCR resolves to:

d. Accept the ‘Condition of the Republic’ report in Appendix 1. e. Accept the additions to the ‘Condition of the Republic’ in Appendix 2 since last meeting. f. Ensure that the former Secretary, when their computer is working, merges the two documents.

b/ The “Account Auditor Report Presentation” Motion Proposer: Hugh Tappin Seconded: Anna Bozzo

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This JCR notes that: a. The accounts of the former Treasurer must be audited by two JCR members ratified by the JCR

meeting.


b. The auditors have been thorough in their auditing. This JCR resolves to:

c. Accept the auditor report in Appendix 3.

c/ The “Big Red Box Motion” (Budget Motion) Proposer: James Taylor Seconded: Alastair Graham (ex-officio)

This JCR notes that: g. The Treasurer presents a budget each year based on the figures available to them from the

previous year. h. The Budget was delayed from 1st week’s meeting due to the account audit report not being

completed.


i. Financial good management of a charity is important. This JCR resolves to:

j. Accept the proposed budget attached in Appendix 4.

d/ The “999 Club” (Charities Motion) Proposer: Evelyn Collins Seconded: Anna Bozzo

This JCR notes that: a. The 999 Club (reg. charity no. 1091077) is a charity that works with the homeless in south-east

London, running a night shelter between October and March and a day centre to provide homeless people with advice and support

b. This advice and support includes one on one sessions to help people access benefits, deal with housing issues, find accommodation, get into employment, register with a GP, and obtain National Insurance numbers

c. Their learning and activities team provide programmes teaching computer skills, cooking, cycling proficiency, reading and writing, art, drama and yoga

d. It costs £50,000 to run their Winter Night Shelter for 2015/16 This JCR believes that:

e. The work of the 999 Club is very important for homeless people in south-east London and we believe it is a good cause

This JCR therefore resolves to:

f. Give the 999 Club the sum of £300

e/ The “Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team” (Charities Motion) Proposer: Evelyn Collins Seconded: Anna Bozzo

This JCR notes that: a. The Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team (reg. charity no. 1098885) is a crisis intervention, search and

rescue charity endeavouring to prevent people from committing suicide off the cliffs of Beachy Head by patrolling the cliffs

b. Beachy Head is one of the most popular suicide spots in the world c. The team is made up of volunteers and is the busiest in the UK averaging over 760 searches

resulting in over 270 rescues each year since 2009 d. In the week 11th to 17th May 2015, the team were involved in 13 searches/incidents resulting in the

rescue of 8 people who were despondent/suicidal and called to 4 searches by Sussex Police for despondent/missing/suicidal people and 1 by the general public. The Frontline Pro-active team came across another 8 people during routine patrols

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e. It costs £150 to kit out a volunteer, £320 for a handheld radio, £120 for a torch and is entirely funded by voluntary donations


f. The work of the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team is very important in suicide prevention and we believe it is a good cause


g. To give the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team the sum of £300

f/ The “Donate to Stroke Association” (Charities Motion) Proposer: Danny Waldman Seconded: Jake Hurfurt

This JCR notes that:

a. Over 150,000 people suffer a stroke in the UK per year a. This is more than one every five minutes b. A fifth of these are fatal c. Survivors are left with serious cognitive, physical, and emotional problems, and high risk

of a second stroke b. Stroke is responsible for 7% of deaths in men and 10% in women c. A quarter of strokes affect younger people and even children d. Stroke Association provides a number of support programs, including:

a. Carer support b. Communication support c. Information & advice d. Re-enablement & social inclusion e. Stroke prevention

e. Stroke Association is engaged with multiple research projects, including: a. Brain repair b. Mechanical clot retrieval treatment c. Motor recovery d. Second stroke risk mitigation


f. Stroke sufferers and their families need support g. Research into stroke and its treatment/prevention is sorely needed h. Stroke Association has done and continues to do an excellent job in providing that support and

investing in research i. Stroke Association deserves our personal contribution to enable it to continue its work


j. Donate £300 to Stroke Association

g/ The “St Margaret’s Hospice” (Charities Motion) Proposer: Ria Dinsdale Seconded: Henry Howard-Jenkins

This JCR notes that: a. St Margaret’s Hospice provides compassionate, high quality and effective care to patients, families

and carers who are facing life-limiting illness. This JCR believes that:

b. We should help St Margaret’s Hospice to continue to provide excellent care to patients, families and carers in the Somerset area.


c. Donate £300 to St Margaret’s Hospice.

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h/ The “Alex Hulme Foundation” (Charities Motion) Proposer: Caitlin Jones Seconded: Jen Lord

This JCR notes that: a. Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) is a cancer of the lymphatic system, the fifth most common type of

cancer, affecting 11,500 people in the UK each year, including children, and can be fatal. b. More than 80% of the children who get NHL recover completely, but the chances of successful

treatment depend on the specific type, stage and grade of lymphoma. c. It is not properly understood why the treatment of NHL is not successful in some individuals. d. Currently there has been no funding made available into the causes and treatment of Non Hodgkin

Lymphoma in children. e. The Alex Hulme Foundation is a charity which was formed in memory of Alex Hulme, who sadly

died of NHL aged 12 in 2011. It works to improve both research into and the treatment of NHL and thus to provide diagnosed children with a better prognosis for the future.

f. The Alex Hulme Foundation is working in collaboration with Dr. Suzanne Turner, the only Paediatric Lymphoma Researcher in the UK, on a long-term research project into NHL.

g. In order to fund the research project over the next five years, the Alex Hulme Foundation has set the target of raising £250,000 by 2017.


h. We should help the Alex Hulme Foundation towards its target of raising £250,000 for vital research.


i. Donate £300 to the Alex Hulme Foundation.

i/ The “SOFEA” (Charities Motion) Proposer: Zoe Carmichael Seconded: Dan Sowood

This JCR notes that: a. The South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance (SOFEA) is a local charity aimed at providing

educational and training opportunities for those coming from backgrounds of disadvantage, disability, and difficulty.

b. It also redistributes surplus food from local supermarkets to charities in the local area who support the homeless, those on the breadline, and elderly people: eight tonnes of food was saved from landfill in order to fill stomachs in March 2015 alone.

c. SOFEA spent 2014 teaching 120 young people, and provided 3000 meals to the hungry: next year it would like to teach 200 and double those meals.

d. The lack of major overheads for SOFEA mean that virtually every penny of any donation would go directly to supporting education, socialisation, and training opportunities as well as to keep open the food service that so many have come to rely on.

e. SOFEA has been reaching out to all the different subsections of Oxford Universities, meaning that even a small donation from each could mean a very large difference in its ability to fund its work.


f. Basic English, mathematics, and workplace training are simply a must in today’s society. For those lucky enough to be where we are, at university, the gaps left in our education system have rarely affected our lives. We should help to support those who have not benefited from the education system in the way many of us have.

g. The amount of fresh and perfectly edible food that is wasted through inefficiencies in the supermarket supply chain is unacceptable when others are struggling to afford food. We should support the work of SOFEA which helps to solve both of these problems.

This JCR resolves to:

h. Make a donation of £300 to South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance.

j/ The “Don’t Leave the President Out of Pocket Motion!” (Financial Motion) Proposer: Jessica Colston Seconded: James Taylor

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This JCR notes that: a. The President of the JCR attends ‘PresCom’, the meeting of JCR Presidents, once a fortnight b. The format of these meetings is a formal meeting with an agenda followed by a meal in the

college hosting the meeting, followed by informal socialising c. The informal aspects of PresCom are important for sharing good practice and ideas and also for

creating a support network for the President d. Attending the informal section requires the purchase of a meal the cost of which varies up to

around £15. e. Sometimes alcoholic drinks are bought by the host for the meeting or after dinner, and each

President pays towards it. f. Alcohol is often also bought individually for the meal.


g. The role of President should not incur financial costs, as the President is a volunteer and future candidates may not be able to pay.

h. While the current and previous Presidents have paid from their own funds it would be unfair and a barrier to office to always ask this of the role.

i. While it is possible to attend without purchasing food or drinks, to do so would deny the President the benefits of the informal aspects of PresCom, and would be difficult for the President to explain to other members of PresCom.

This JCR therefore resolves to: j. Set aside £150 annually for these expenditures. k. This may be claimed for food and drinks which are bought for everyone and the costs split, or any

other costs which are necessary to attend the informal part of PresCom, but not for alcohol or other drinks bought individually.

l. To propose to add this expenditure to next year’s budget.

k/ The “Arise, Honorary Member” (Honorary Membership Motion) Proposer: Alastair Graham Seconded: Khush James

This JCR notes that: a. This JCR has honorary members. b. Honorary membership is bestowed upon those living beings (human or otherwise) or fictional

characters who the JCR feels are special enough to warrant this significant title. c. Masood has provided the JCR with a number of very attractive discounts at Najar’s and Najar

himself is an honorary member already. d. The Mr Men are also honorary members, but the Little Miss characters are not. e. Many honorary members have been honorary members for two decades.


f. Masood has been extremely generous to our JCR members in their times of need. g. In the spirit of the honorary member motion passed last year to increase women’s representation

among our honorary members, that the patriarchal presence of the Mr Men characters should be challenged by the Little Miss characters.

h. That some honorary members have had a good innings, but should retire from their honorary status.


i. Remove Olga the Dog, born in 1995, as an honorary member and take a moment to pay our respects to this fine dog.

j. Remove Brian Clough, who passed away in 2004, as an honorary member and take a moment to pay our respects to prolific goal scorer for Middlesbrough FC.

k. Remove Matthew Jeffrey from St Benet’s, the monk who used to help run the bar at St John’s College many years ago, as an honorary member and pay our respects to this top monk.

l. Remove Johnny Alison’s horse, the now unknown mystery figure, as an honorary member and to pay our respects to this mysterious figure.

m. Confer honorary membership upon Masood from Najar’s. n. Confer honorary membership upon the Little Miss characters o. To wish the Little Miss characters well on their alliance with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Princess

Leia (honorary members) in overturning the Mr Men dominated realm.

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l/ The “Prevent PREVENT” Motion Proposer: Tom Wadsworth Seconded: Jacob Brennan

The JCR notes that: a. The college is currently thinking about how to implement the PREVENT policy

b. PREVENT has been denounced as racist for its exacerbation of racial stereotypes

c. The JCR is currently trying to push to reduce stigma and intolerance surrounding these issues

d. PREVENT has also been denounced as being anti-free speech, with many groups speaking legally

being targeted

e. Many of the college senior staff disagree with much of the PREVENT policy implications

f. OUSU has been mandated to refuse to engage with the implementation of PREVENT at all

The JCR believes that: g. Discrimination in all its forms is bad and we should have a firm anti-discrimination stance.

h. The JCR should be consulted on the implementation of policy that affects us and should get a say.

i. The JCR believes that the PREVENT policy has the potential to negatively affect John’s students

and this should be communicated to college when they implement the policy.

The JCR resolves to: j. Make believes (g), (h) and (i) part of Standing Policy.

k. Mandate all the JCR Officers and Reps to communicate the JCR’s views on PREVENT to college.

l. Mandate the President and/or Vice President to ask college to meet with them and our JCR Ethnic

Minorities Reps, should they wish to attend, to discuss the JCR’s concerns about PREVENT. The

MCR BMR Rep shall also be invited to this and our JCR officials must report the outcome of this

meeting to the JCR.

m. Ask the relevant officials at the meeting to do their best, within reason, to stop the college

implementing policy that could create damaging environment in college or result in discrimination

to students of this college.

m/ The “Restore Pilcher’s Pedals Scheme” (Financial Motion)

Proposer: Alistair Hankey Seconded: Alastair Graham

This JCR notes that:

a. The JCR has no working bikes for our bike scheme. b. There are approximately 40 members who paid £10 to use this scheme. c. The Bike Rep has consulted with the JCR about which bike types to purchase. d. A Varsity single gear bike in the larger and smaller size costs approximately £100 each. e. The Bike Scheme also lacks any helmets and most bikes require a new lock. f. The Bike Rep has a budget of approximately £600 and this will be used to maintain the bike

scheme across the next year. g. There are possibly two, perhaps three, bikes which could be restored to usable condition. This is

why the motion asks for an upper limit of money since the exact size of the orders is yet unknown. This JCR believes that:

h. Being one of the few colleges to have a bike scheme, we should have a working one. i. Paying members of the Bike Scheme should be able to get value for their money. j. The financial motions budget is best used to directly benefit John’s members.


k. Allocate £150 from the financial motions budget to purchase 10 bike locks from OUSU. l. Allocate £125 from the financial motions budget to purchase 5 higher quality helmets. m. Allocate £50 from the financial motions budget to purchase 5 lower quality helmets. n. Allocate up to £1200 from the financial motions budget to purchase 8 to 10 new bikes.

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n/ The “Veggie Default for Go Green Week” Motion Proposer: Zoe Carmichael Seconded: Jenny Smith

This JCR notes that: a. 4th week is Go Green Week – including lots of events around Oxford to support environmentally-

friendly causes and action

b. The St John’s hall sign on system currently uses meat as the default meal option, unless you

choose to change you default meals to vegetarian/vegan/allergies/other diet

c. Reducing consumption of meat and/or dairy has significant environmental advantages

This JCR believes that: d. St John’s JCR could play a role in the University-wide Go Green Week.

e. Temporarily altering the meal booking system such that the ‘default’ meal was vegetarian, unless

meat is selected, would create a supportive attitude in favour of eating vegetarian in hall, without

changing the food options on offer.

This JCR therefore resolves to: f. Support the JCR E&E Officer in asking college whether they could change the hall booking system

such that the default meal choice, for the duration of Go Green Week is vegetarian rather than

meat. This would only affect JCR members, and it would not affect the meal choices on offer, and

it would not affect the meals you could choose to eat in hall if you had not booked on.

g. If this temporary change is accepted by college, the E&E Officer would ensure this was widely

publicised so that everyone was aware and able to freely choose what to eat in hall.

viii/ Any other business

- Room Ballot Regrading Deadline at Midnight Monday 1st

February (From Tom Wadsworth)

Alastair Graham

JCR Secretary

30/01/2016

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