Minutes from the Open Meeting which took place at 7pm on 29/11/2007. Includes information about the proposed compensation for the loss of cookers, showing support for the College Nurse's bid to increase her working hours and spending money on board games and a new sound+lighting system in the bar.

KSCU Open Meeting Minutes for 29/11/2007

Reports and Announcements: • Details on the proposed compensation for the loss of cookers o Stuart Smith summarised the current situation regarding the compensation for the loss of cookers. o People with no microwaves will get £3.00 a day for every day they were without cooking facilities. o In addition to the above, college have set aside £10,000 to be distributed to all students who lost cookers and ovens, and the amount of compensation everyone will receive will be determined at a meeting with Stuart Smith, Christine Berry, Dr. David Munday and Ross Harrison. This should amount to between £50 and £80 per student, and details will be circulated once finalised • Condolences to Professor Lipton’s family including his wife Diana, his two sons Jacob and Jonah, and to his department after his unexpected death on last Sunday aged 53. o Lucy McMahon has been in discussions with the Dean regarding how KSCU should express its condolences, and are considering writing a letter to Professor Lipton’s family and/or raise money to give to a memorial fund or charity in his honour. Any other ideas are welcome, so please get in touch with Lucy (lm397) if you’ve got any suggestions.

Motions:

1.

KCSU notes:

I. That the College Nurse, Vicky Few, is asking College to increase her working hours to make herself available for a more varied range of times including evenings.

II. That the current working hours of the College Nurse restrict many students from using her services.

KCSU believes: I. That the current working hours of the College Nurse are inadequate and in order to provide a more effective service to students, the working hours of the College Nurse need to be extended.

II. That many students would benefit from extended working hours of the College Nurse, including evenings.

KCSU resolves: I. To make it KCSU policy to support the efforts of the College Nurse in extending her hours.

Proposed: Rob Raine Seconded: Hannah Garner

Rob explained that Vicky Few is going to meet with senior members of college tomorrow to discuss extending her working hours. She currently works for 2 hours a day and finds that this is not enough time to provide a useful service. When asked about what her proposed extended hours were, Rob replied that she would be working on Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings and Tuesday/Thursday afternoons.

Votes: Yes- 30 No- nil Abstentions- nil

Result: Motion carries. KCSU now fully supports Vicky Few’s efforts to extend her working hours.

2. KCSU Notes: I. That people sometimes like to play board games in old man pubs

II. That Kings bar is sometimes like an old man pub but has no board games

III. That board games, unlike quiz machines, eat only time and not money

KCSU believes:

I. That it would be nice, fun and, in some cases, educationally beneficial to have a few board games for use in the bar.

KCSU resolves:

I. To buy board games (up to the value of £49.99), agreed on by the open meeting in an amendment to this motion, for use in the bar

II. To think about how they can be protected from getting stolen/bashed.

  Proposed by: Daniel Clarke 
  Seconded by: Seiriol Hughes

When asked what games are going to be purchased, Daniel stated that Seiriol is currently researching the market.

Amendments:

I. KCSU believes that we should increase the budget to £100 (or purchase four board games, whichever is of lower cost).

II. KSCU believes that arrangements for appropriate storage and access need to be made and presented to the budget committee before any games are purchased

Votes: Yes : 25 No: nil Abstentions: nil

Result: Motion carries

KCSU resolves to: I. Purchase board games up to the value of £100 (or four board games, whichever is cheaper) for use by its members II. Make appropriate arrangements for the storage and access of the games before purchase, and present these proposals to the budget committee.

3. KCSU notes: I. That live and/or amplified music in the bar is an essential part of King’s life, enjoyed by many members of the college. II. That currently the only equipment available for amplified music in the bar is that belonging to the Cellar Bar. This not only makes having music played in both locations logistically difficult, but also means that any Ents being put on in King’s must use limited and low quality sound systems. III. That several members of the new Ents committee have contacts with popular bands and have booked several to play in the in the coming terms IV. That currently a large proportion of the budgets of other events such as the Mingles, and King’s Affair, is spent on hiring extra sound systems for other locations in college V. That Andrew Jenkin, a professional who does sound and light for the Barfly, has presented the Ents Committee with an assessment of what equipment would be needed in King’s bar to greatly improve its status as a live music venue, to the value of approx £1108.01 VI. That Stephen Downie who runs 8track currently uses the catering cupboard to store his equipment and has confirmed that there is space for extra equipment as applied for in this motion. VII. That if all the money for this equipment were taken from the current Ents budget, it would greatly limit the amount of in-college fun this year… KCSU believes: I. That the Ents Committee should be given £1108.01 (or whatever amount, as specified by the treasurer, can viably and sustainably be taken from KCSU’s misc. budget) to enable the purchasing of the specified equipment to be used in King’s bar, for events open to all King’s College students

KCSU resolves: I. To allocate £1108.01 (or whatever amount, as specified by the treasurer, can viably and sustainably be taken from KCSU’s misc. budget) and mandate Stephen Davidson of the Ents Committee to purchase the specified equipment, on the condition that it is used regularly in locations in King’s for events open to all Kingsmen and women.

Proposed by: Stephen Davidson Seconded by: Charlotte Payne

Charlotte explained that we need to replace the current sound equipment in the bar. We currently borrow equipment from the Cellar Bar and that the Cellar Bar committee isn’t entirely happy with the way the equipment is being treated.

Richard Braude said that we cannot guarantee that the catering department will allow for the use of the current storage space in the cupboard, let alone more space. We NEED to know how and where the equipment will be stored before purchase. Daniel Clarke said that it shouldn’t take up any more space as equipment is going to be replaced, and added that we can make better use of the current space and therefore not ask for additional space.

Quin Frey asked how much money KSCU currently has in its Misc. Budget, and Ben Phillips, Junior Treasurer, says he’s not entirely sure and is still trying to find an exact figure, but estimates that we’ve got around £5,000 to spend.

Charlotte Payne proposed an amendment asking to include money for additional lighting, stating that it should cost an additional £200-300. When asked to bring to propose a motion suggesting this at another meeting by Richard Braude, Charlotte said she’s already got a quotation. Ben Phillips said that because he doesn’t have an exact figure for the Misc. Budget, he is not comfortable with the proposal. He also said that adding lighting to the bar will alter the function of the bar, making it more of a “venue” than a bar. It was then pointed out that the motion currently stated that the final figure would be determined and authorised by the Junior Treasurer (once he has more information) and that adding an amendment to the current motion should not be a problem.

Vote on adding an amendment including £200 for lighting, raising the figure requested to approximately £1300 passes.

Stuart Smith stated that the current wording implies that we will not have to hire ANY future equipment if the motion passes and asked if that was true. Charlotte replied saying that this would not be the case but there would be huge savings to be made if we had our own equipment. Lucy strongly agreed with this and stated that if we had appropriate sound and lighting equipment available for the bar, we would have saved £485 on tomorrow’s Mingle.

Helen Risdale asked if the proposed sound equipment was comparable to the existing equipment and if any other purchase would be necessary to complement the new equipment. Stephen Downie said it should be, as they had a professional come in and assess the needs of the bar and are working with his suggestions in mind.

Votes: Yes: 22 No: 2 Abstentions : 1

Result: Motion carries, with the proposed amendment.