HUS Blogs

People  attended, all motions were passed, now vote on the referendum and the candidates.

College has also produced a guide to living out, but it is messed up on their website; so get it here.

Full Agenda;

Open Meeting and Hustings Agenda

Homerton Union of Students

Open Meeting & Hustings

March 4th 2010

Agenda

1. Apologies from the Exec

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

3. Matters Arising from the Minute

4. Reports and Statements from the Exec

5. Questions to the Exec

6. Objections to the Order Paper

7. CUSU Council Reports and Motions

8. Proposals/Motions
1. Introduction of HUS Environment Officer as an Executive Position
2. Changing the Name of the HUS to ‘HUS JCR’

9. HUS Support Team Hustings
1. Vice-President (Internal)
1. TOWN, Alex
2. Vice-President (External)
1. SAHOTA, Jatinder
3. President
1. DINNAGE, Pippa

10. Emergency Motions

11. Any Other Business

12. Date/Time of Next Meeting

Item hi) – Introduction of HUS Environment Officer as an Executive Position

HUS Notes:

1. The importance of sustainability and environmental issues, especially in today’s climate.
2. The great work done by the HUS Co-Opted Environment Officers this year and in previous years.
3. The movement in CUSU to have a full time environmental officer position on the exec.

HUS Believes:

1. That creating the role of HUS Environment Officer on the exec will reaffirm the HUS’s commitment to environmental issues.
2. The presence of an exec Environment Officer will ensure that sustainability and environmental impact are considered in all aspects of the HUS’s work.

HUS Resolves:

1. To remove the position of Co-Opted Environment Officer from the HUS Standing Orders.
2. To add the following to the HUS Standing Orders in the Executive Officer job descriptions.

6.17 Environment Officer

6.17.1 The Environment Officer shall:

1. Promote and encourage environmentally friendly policies and practices within the Union and the College, particularly in Halls of Residence.
2. Liaise with the Society for Environmental Action and any other relevant clubs and societies.
3. Work and liaise with local environmental groups and sit on any relevant clubs and Committees, especially CUSU EAN.
4. Raise awareness of environmental issues and relevant campaigns.
5. Work on improving internal recycling facilities.
6. Attend a termly meeting with the Bursar to ensure a Green focus.
7. Liaise closely with the Estates manager.

6.17.2 Committees:

1. College Environmental Committee

Proposed by: Luke Shepherd

Seconded by: Jo Alexander

Item hii) – Changing the Name of the HUS to ‘HUS JCR’

HUS Notes:

1. The successful creation of a graduate union in Homerton, now known as the Homerton MCR.
2. The confusion created by the use of the current umbrella term Homerton Student Unions (HSU) in communications with College.
3. That all finances for both unions are still dealt with under the name Homerton Union of Students.
4. The need for equality between the two unions.

HUS Believes:

1. That having both unions united under the term Homerton Union of Students is sensible and less confusing both inside and outside of College.
2. That this would allow the branding of both unions to be consistent.

HUS Resolves:

1. To hold a referendum with the question “Do you agree with the proposed name change of the HUS to HUS JCR?”

Proposed by: Luke Shepherd

Seconded by: Tom Horn

Cusu elections are now open online @ https://www.vote.cusu.cam.ac.uk

There are election videos and debates online @ http://www.cusu.cam.ac.uk/elections/

Also, get ready for HUS hustings this Thursday at 7pm in the Homerton Bar. Voting will start 10pm Thursday using the same online system as the CUSU elections, with close of voting and announcement of results Sunday.

There will also be a referendum on a change of name of the HUS to HUS JCR, to differentiate us from the newly formed MCR whilst still keeping all the paper work for our joint accounts under the HUS name. This is a slightly technical issue- a more thorough explanation will be given at HUStings.

Thanks to all that came along, it was certainly the liveliest and so most enjoyable open meeting I have been to. The document on social sciences should be available in the HUS office, as is Tom Chigbo’s report on how the NUS helps CUSU. Both of these issues have facebook groups for each side. Minutes for Open Meeting 27-01-10

The next open meeting includes Hustings, where those standing for HUS exec positions present their manifestos. It will be on Thursday 4th March 7pm.

Hello all,

I thought I would update you all on what happened last night at CUSU. This would normally be done by the VP External but unfortunately Bec couldn’t make it to Council last night.

Last night was a particularly long one, two and a half hours, and quite a bit was discussed. I shall break this down motion by motion as well as informing you of how I voted on your behalf.

1. Referendum: CUSU/GU Student Support Officer and a full-time student advisor

This was a motion to create a full-time Caseworker post and the post of CUSU Welfare Officer to be changed to Student Support Officer and shared between CUSU and the Graduate Union. I voted in favour of this having heard the arguments for and against this at an earlier council and no new arguments against it. The motion PASSED.

2. Update to Standing Orders relating to Conduct of Elections

This was a motion to change the CUSU Standing Orders to ban the formation of slates. A slate is a shared platform on which a number of candidates for a number of positions run. Arguments for and against this were well put with valid points on both sides. I do however feel that slates are not a good thing and that they do not encourage people to select the best candidates for individual posts but rather to vote for people on their friend’s slate etc. For this reason I voted to ban slates but was outvoted. The motion FAILED.

3. Disabled Students Liberation Campaign

This was a motion to form a new autonomous campaign to represent disabled students in Cambridge. This was pretty much uncontested and I voted in favour of this. The motion PASSED.

4. Against Fees and Cuts

This was a motion without a clear resolution but in essence was to support the National Convention Against Fees and Cuts and encourage members of Council and the Executive to attend. I voted in favour of this. The motion PASSED.

5. To demand properly resourced universities, not under-funded graduate factories

This was a lengthy motion with a number of points in it but overall was to condemn the cuts in university funding proposed by Lord Mandelson and to mandate the executive to write to the PM and Lord Mandelson expressing this. The motion also expressed concern at the introduction of fast-track, skills-based degrees and ensure they do not encroach upon traditional 3-year academic degrees. I voted in favour of this motion. The motion PASSED.

6. Concern over Leeds

This motion expressed concern over Leeds University Union’s (LUU) opposition to strike action of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) over £35,000,000 of proposed budget cuts. In addition it expressed concern over the LUU’s aggressive rhetoric towards the UCU and alleged encouragement of verbal abuse towards members of Leeds University Against Cuts (LUAC), a body comprising both staff and student members. The motion resolved to mandate CUSU to write to LUU and expressing these concerns.  There was strong opposition to the motion on the grounds that we have no business telling another democratically elected student union how to run itself. I strongly agree with this and thus voted against this motion. The motion FAILED.

7. Funding for Green Week

This was a request for funding for Green week from the Ethical Affairs team to come from the Council Free Budget. The request was for £150. I voted in favour of this. The motion PASSED.

8. Funding for CUSU Referendum

This was a request for funding for the CUSU/GU shared officer plan as detailed in point 1 above. The request was for £300. I voted in favour of this. The motion PASSED.

9. Vote on CUSU’s External Affiliations

This was the annual review of whether or not CUSU should remain affiliated to the National Union of Students (NUS) and the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). I voted in favour of continued affiliation to UKCISA and this motion PASSED. Continued affiliation to the NUS was somewhat more contentious. There was strong feelings on both sides with those in favour pointing out that it is the only way we can make our voice heard on a national level and those opposed pointing to the failures of the NUS on many issues. Due to the voting system of Council on this issue anything less that 50% in support of remaining affiliated would result in disaffiliation, over two-thirds would result in remaining affiliated and anything in between would result in a referendum being called. It was decided that instead of this we would call a referendum in the first instance and this was supported by the Council.

If anyone has any questions on any aspect of this or would like the full text of the motions or to discuss my decisions then please do come into the office or e-mail me at hus-president@homerton.cam.ac.uk.

Thanks,

Luke

Hello everybody,

This is my first blog entry so please bear with me while I find my way around. I am going to make these blog updates at least once a week and when important news or whatever comes up I shall share it here also. This is a bit exciting.

I have been thinking over Christmas about the structure of the HUS Exec and how we work to represent the student body of Homerton College. At the moment we bring up issues in our weekly exec meetings and then decide how to proceed by, for example, getting in touch with certain members of staff or bringing something up at a meeting. This system only works if we can think of everything that the student body considers important. This is not how the system ought to work. We should listen to the student body and do what you want.

In light of this, I want to make HUS Open Meetings a time when people come and tell us what they want. Issues can then be discussed, voted upon and then carried out by the exec. I want your thoughts and ideas. Please feel free to come into the office and we can talk about what you want to see your exec doing in college.

Thanks guys and see you soon,

Luke

The results of the food survey are out- attached.

write up of Food Survey

The HUS Food survey is out- find a copy, fill it in and post it in one of our many boxes. If you cannot find a copy please print one out – download it here

Homerton Bar SKY Subscription
Last year a lot of hard work was done by HUS President Casta Jones to negotiate a contract for SKY Sports in the Bar. Under the deal struck with college, HUS contributed half of the subscription fee and half was paid by College. The Bar Manager Zini made the same offer again this year. Unfortunately, after last year’s restructure to form the new MCR, the budget is tighter than usual and the money could not be found to meet the HUS share of the fee. It was also agreed at HUS Exec Meeting that paying over £2500/year is disproportionately expensive for the number of students who use the service regularly. So, regretfully, I have informed College that we won’t be able to maintain the arrangement. The SKY contract will terminate at the end of the month, and the Bar will install Freeview.
However, there is a possibility of moving it to the Undergraduate Common Room at a much reduced rate. I’m already pursuing this with SKY and hopefully it won’t take too long to sort out. If they agree to it, we’ll also get 24hr access to SKY and more opportunity to watch entertainment channels, so there may even be a bit of an advantage! In the meantime, it looks like I’ll be spending weekends at the Rock…
Sorry to everyone who regularly watches the footie in the Bar – I did my best to keep it!

Tom, HUS Treasurer

Welcome all, especially Freshers.
Check out the weeks program at the Ents Page .

Also we are in the process of discussing prices with the catering department. Any concerns to hus-services@cam.ac.uk .

Hope to see you around our events

Matt