|
Absent with apologies:
|
|
Absent without apologies:
|
|
Pete |
Get Housekeeping to approve a Bedders’
Contract, publicise JCR minutes and events in toilets/kitchens around College,
get someone to organise third year dinner, get input from students regarding
bar redecoration and smoking in rooms |
|
Dave Kerr |
Replenish the Quiet Room board games and renegotiate the newspaper
contracts (and email the Bursar about this) |
|
Jenny |
Ask Maintenance Dept. to replenish stock of energy-saving lightbulbs, talk to Mrs Doughty regarding recycling
arrangements in College |
|
Katy |
Ask kitchens for place mats in formal, and salad dressing; get
figures for bar prices in other colleges |
|
Nat/Krzys |
Decide on a theme for this term’s bop, tidy up ents
equipment in Quiet Room |
Actions Summary
Jenny said that lightbulbs are being sorted, and asks if we have Fairtrade vending machines in the JCR yet. Pete suggested
that she pass on this idea to her successor.
Information from a meeting
with the Bursar on
Recycling: Apparently the
city council can deal with the big bins in College and providing recycling
facilities for houses, but are not able to provide recycling boxes etc. for
in-College accommodation. The Bursar will agree to any arrangements that are
agreed to by the Housekeeper, Mrs Doughty, who has some experience in this
field.
Smoking: The bar will
become non-smoking later this year (probably in Easter term). Junior Members
will be allowed to smoke in their rooms, provided
their bedders don’t mind. If the bedders complain, then no smoking will be permitted in the
rooms (as the bedders have a right to a smoke-free
working environment). The Bursar wants to know what people think of being able
to smoke in their rooms, and would like feedback from students.
Billing: It was noted
that cheques sometimes go missing in the College Office. Soon, students will be
able to pay their College bills by debit card.
Bicycle
tagging: All bicycles must be tagged according to College Regulations, but it
was noticed that this practice has lapsed in recent years. However, College has
obtained some bicycle security ‘wristbands’ which will be rolled out to
undergraduates later this term. This will be handled by Mr Meade, the Head
Porter.
Bar
prices: Mr Speller says that our bar prices are in line with other colleges’,
and asks for proof if we claim the contrary. He says that people are not coming
to the bar as much as they used to – students need to drink more!
Bar
redecoration: Pete thought that the College would not be inclined to redecorate the
bar as it is going to be moved to
Kitchens: According to
the Bursar, the amount spent on meals has dropped recently. He concludes,
therefore, that we should have more Superhalls. The
committee noted this as clear proof that Superhalls
are a means of ripping students off. The committee decided that the current
frequency of Superhalls is suitable for the demand –
and that, at the moment, they are much too expensive.
Mark asks about place mats
in formal, and salad dressing. Katy will bring this up with the kitchens.
Katy also reported that, at
a recent meeting with Mr Speller, he asked her if she knew of any bagpipe
players for the
Energy
conservation: Apparently we have the second greenest energy suppliers available on
the market (Scottish and Southern). This assertion was met with some doubt
(particularly by Jenny).
In other news, the new
Electricity: Almost everyone is on
individual metering now. The electricity bill is typically £15 per term, and ranges from £3 to £30.
PAT Testing: It was noted by the Bursar that the PAT Testing
exercise revealed that undergraduates have a great deal of illegal equipment in
their rooms, including cooking equipment, rice cookers, toasters, kettles and
refrigerators. Pete noted that, due to this, the College has acquired a lot of
equipment by putting ‘Property of Peterhouse’
stickers on them.
Some statistics: The results of the testing
indicated that undergraduates were much better than graduates – we only had
about 10 – 20 failures although there are 4 – 5 times as many of us. In total
there were about 6 – 8 dangerous items for each of the undergraduate/graduate
categories. Only 3 undergraduates had had all their
appliances already PAT tested.
From now on, PAT testing will be done on
matriculation for all undergraduates as a one-off event (regardless of what the
PAT label says).
The Bursar suggested that the JCR committee, or its
successors, could organise its own PAT-testing event
if it wishes.
WSB: WSB will not be in operation next year. Among the
renovations will include new electrical work, a new heating system, double
glazing, en suite rooms, solar
panels, and more storage space. It will be back in operation in Michaelmas 2008, and next year’s freshers
who would normally be housed in WSB will be housed in
Council legislation
on hobs: The City Council wants to
remove hobs from gyp rooms in College (SPT and Parkside
are unlikely to be affected). Trinity and Caius have
ripped out all their hobs; Peterhouse’s solution is
simply not to fix any broken ones. Pete wants CUSU to put pressure on the
Council to withdraw this stupid law, instead of focusing too much on things
that are not directly related to student welfare.
Bops tis
term
The new committee will do
the Miss Peterhouse bop this term. Ideas were sought
for another one earlier this term, and suggestions included the following:
Nat will consider the issue
and decide on a theme.
Elections and Handover
Today, Pete will send out an
email announcing the JCR elections. Nominations for positions open in a week,
and close next Sunday. Manifestos and hustings will
follow, and everything will culminate in Handover Hall on Tuesday 20th
February (which happens to be Pancake Day). The committee felt that pancakes
were a very good idea.
Any Other Business
Emma wants to buy a welfare
phone. She asks if she can use half the welfare budget for this; the committee
says yes. Nat suggests a Welfare bop to help with fundraising.
Emma wants a condom machine;
she states that Dr P is fully in favour of it, it costs £250, and we can set the price of individual
condoms to be whatever we like. Emma suggests using the money saved from buying
the jukebox; Nat suggests merging the jukebox with the condom machine. Finally,
it was decided that Ben would make a decision as to whether we have enough
money or not.
Nat suggests a condom
machine ceremony.
Pete says he is not opposed
to a condom machine, provided the JCR
can afford it.
The Rooms Committee for this
year consists of Sam Genway, Lara Stewart, Rowenna Wood, Trevar Kolodny and Chris Hopkins. They will start their work
shortly.
Pete asked Nat why the ents equipment was lying all over the place in the JCR
Quiet Room. Nat will sort this out.
Pete will send an email to
get someone to organise the Third Year Dinner in Easter term.
The date of the next meeting will be arranged by email.