JCR Committee Minutes Meeting on 6.10.2021 at 16:00 UK time ________________ List of Committee members Name, initials and pronouns Role and attendance Zachary Aw Zheng Quan (ZA, he/him) President Kit Edgecliffe-Johnson (KEJ, he/him) Vice President Annie Huang (AH, she/her) Treasurer Dominic Bielby (DB, he/him) Secretary Ben Mulley (BM, he/him) Welfare Annie Willis (AW, she her) Welfare Toby Mayhew (TM, he/him) Welfare* Jamie Charles (JC, she/her) Academic and Access* Sophie Mance (SM, she/her) Green George Stokes (GS, he/him) Catering, Accommodation and Facilities* Geethana Yogarajah (GY, she/her) Sports and Societies* Eimear Pickstone (EP, she/her) Ents Anitta Sibin (AS, she/her) Ethnic Minorities* Giorgi Melia (GM, he/him) International Students James Walker (JW, he/him) LGBTQ+ Nell Ivimey-Parr (NIP, she/her) Gender Equalities Claire Collins (CC, they/she) Disabled Students Izaac Mammadov (IM, he/him) Computing ________________ Agenda 0. Administrative matters 4 1. Provision of alcohol at upcoming slack (ZA) 4 2. Punting (ZA) 4 3. Alternative arrangements for formals (ZA) 5 4. JCR booking (DB) 6 5. AOB 6 Summary of key points: 1. Committee votes to consider using the alcohol left over from the JCR Welcome Drinks. 2. The JCR is in talks with College and the MCR to secure a JCR punt which will be available for JCR members to use at a nominal fee. 3. The JCR Committee intends to provide additional activities, akin to those put on during Freshers’ Week, whilst formals have been suspended. 4. The JCR will work to create a new and improved online booking mechanism for the JCR room. ________________ ________________ 0. Administrative matters Committee begins at 16:05. JM, TM and GY are absent with notice. GS is absent without notice. ZA welcomes the Committee. There is applause and jubilation.[1] ________________ 1. Provision of alcohol at upcoming slack (ZA) ZA and KEJ note that there was a significant volume of alcohol left after JCR Welcome Drinks. Free alcohol is suggested for the slack. AH raises problems about licensing and using alcohol in the bar when the bar is serving drinks. EP suggests cocktail testing night for the JCR.[2] CC suggests a cocktail bar for charity, emulating ‘Pink Week’.[3] Green causes are also suggested. AH suggests that the Committee think on it. Vote: Committee votes to further consider its options regarding the alcohol left over from the JCR Welcome Drinks: 11 in favour, 1 abstention. ________________ 2. Punting (ZA) AH is communicating with finance regarding funding for a JCR punt and how the JCR will fund stash and the punts. KEJ confirms that one punt costs ~£6,000. The MCR is also being encouraged to buy a punt, although doubts are raised as to affordability. EP asks about punt-sharing; KEJ suggests that JCR and MCR would share their punts. IM asks if punts can be insured. KEJ says yes.[4] ZA notes that a nominal fee will have to exist for booking out the punts, i.e. £2-5. AH still has to liaise with finance and chase up additional payments from some sports societies, but the matter is all in hand. ZA states that the canape event tomorrow will be funded 50% by the JCR, costing roughly £375. AH will find the money for the event. EP notes that around £800 of additional cost is expected from club tickets which have yet to be paid. Summary: The JCR Committee is continuing to liaise with the MCR and College about securing a JCR punt which would be available to JCR members for a nominal fee. Other JCR financial commitments were discussed. ________________ 3. Alternative arrangements for formals (ZA) ZA, KEJ and GS have met with catering and the kitchens. It is relayed that the kitchens are operating at 40% capacity, meaning that only one formal per week can be arranged. Calendar events are being prioritised, such as Commemoration Dinner and Halfway Hall. Hall will not be affected, as has been promised by the Master and Senior Tutor. All Colleges are suffering from staff shortages, mainly in areas such as pantries or bedmakers - Corpus is an exception in this regard. NIP, EM and SM suggest a ceilidh[5] event every week. ZA notes that the Hall will be made available to the JCR, hence it could be opened for self-catering. SM suggests a potluck, although limitations for COVID and Old House facilities are cited as barriers. CC suggests JCR-funded theatre visits and AH notes that the Corpus Playroom would be a prime location, due to the Corpus link. IM suggests a picnic, although the weather is mentioned as a potential barrier to this also. ZA has found Freshers’ Week very fulfilling and, due to the previous lack of JCR activities over the previous year, there may be a good opportunity to put on more JCR events. KEJ mentions running ‘re-Fresher’ events, although the Committee will have changed by the time that the opportunity rolls around. BM, EM, ZA, KEJ, CC and JW all state that they will be happy to work over the Christmas vacation to make ‘re-Freshers’ events happen by considering events and working with the new Committee. Summary: The JCR Committee intends to provide additional activities, akin to those put on during Freshers’ Week, whilst formals have been suspended. BM, EM, ZA, KEJ, CC and JW have committed to work now and with the future Committee to ensure that such events can take place. ________________ 4. JCR booking (DB) DB asks about how JCR booking will work. ZA likes the spontaneity of paper. KEJ suggests QR code on the door for a Google Sheet that can be edited, which will be set up. Computer talk follows. The sheet will be kept open, monitored for silliness.[6] ZA notes that the JCR is JCR territory.[7] Summary: KEJ and IM will liaise in order to create a new and improved online booking mechanism for the JCR. ________________ 5. AOB KEJ brings the new draft of the Constitution to the Committee’s attention and the lack of ratification by the Governing Body; it is suggested that it be unfair to enforce a new Constitution on the JCR and that we have the chance to amend some provisions, namely those relating to quorum. IM suggests that quorum provisions should be put to an open meeting. SM and AH note that problems with quorum may be down to COVID-related circumstances. The matter will be left to the open meeting tomorrow. Vote: The JCR Committee votes with 11 votes in favour, with 1 abstention, to star certain minutes in accordance with Section 3(d) of the JCR Constitution of 4th November 2019. The starred content concerned an incident after the JCR Welcome Drinks on Sunday 3rd October. ZA states that he would like to have a Committee dinner, JCR jumpers being non-compulsory for the event.[8] Meeting ends at 16:38.[9] ________________ [1] This is the first in-person JCR Committee meeting since a certain former President, now Secretary, headed the Committee. It is good to be back. [2] If any readers have an idea for an official JCR cocktail, please send your proposed concoction to djb250@cam.ac.uk for appraisal. [3] Pink Week is a week of events aimed at raising funds and awareness for Breast Cancer charities run at the University. [4] Thrilling. [5] Thanks to SM for assisting with the spelling. [6] If you’ve never had to moderate a JCR open edit spreadsheet, have you ever truly known pain? [7] cf. the rest of Old House which falls under the jurisdiction of the College and therefore cannot be subject to a well-run JCR-managed booking system. [8] This lack of dedication to the JCR jumpers is concerning, cf. #Camfession7841. [9] This is accompanied by a round of sporadic applause that injects a certain pathos into the JCR’s proceedings.