Hall change for President
The JCR PRESIDENT-ELECT of Teddy Hall has resigned, only one week after being elected.
Paul Smith was elected JCR President a week last Tuesday at St. Edmund Hall, after writing in his manifesto that the JCR was a 'farce'. He also stated that he wanted to change the college constitution, 'abolish JCR meetings' and to dissociate Teddy Hall from FAG, the college's fees action group. He defeated his rival for the post, Catherine Daunt by 93 votes to 89. Daunt is leader of the FAG.
Smith wrote in his manifesto that the JCR becomes skewed by the type of people that attend JCR meetings, so it is not representative of the college as a whole. Instead, he intended to distribute posters around college once every two weeks, to update the students on their president's recent actions, regarding the JCR.
Smith, who first considered standing for JCR President at the end of Trinity term last year, said that he did not intend to ever become President. But stood because he wanted to get his point across. He believed that numbers attending JCR meeting were dropping because the meetings were too long.
He described the meetings as 'socialist.' Smith said that it was principally only Barney Sandell and friends that were present at the meetings describing them as 'socialist.' He claimed that this did not seem to be a fair representation of the college. He also complained that the agenda for the JCR meetings were also not always published at least 24 hours before the meetings.
It would be illegal, under the 1984 education act, to carry out Smith's controversial manifesto. A Teddy Hall student, who wishes to remain anonymous, stated on Monday, that 'if Smith tries to go ahead with what he said in his manifesto, he will face a motion of no confidence'.
Smith believes that 'Sandell seems to have been slightly distracted by his involvement in FAG and OUSU, but now he appreciates what I have done'. Smith did not imagine that he'd get elected, and he had made his manifesto 'deliberately extremist'. He had only expected to win 30-40% of the votes, and was very surprised to find out that he had won.
He then decided to wait five days until the next JCR meeting, to explain why he could not accept the position. However, the meeting was subsequently cancelled and postponed until Monday of eighth week.
Smith decided to publish his resignation last Monday night, by putting posters up all over college. This included four main proposals about how he believed the running of the JCR should be improved. They included better advertising for JCR meetings, and that referendums should be run to ensure that everyone in college can have their say about more important matters.
Sandell and Smith then came up with various suggestions together in the college bar that night. They came up with the idea that JCR meetings should perhaps be held in a more central and more popular venue, such as the college bar. There is also going to be a bigger JCR noticeboard put up. Proposals, such as those involving choosing charities can then be publicised on this new noticeboard. If anyone has a complaint, it can be either written on the board, or brought up in the next JCR meeting, so the proposal can be reconsidered.
Barney Sandell, the present JCR president at Teddy Hall believes that 'Smith made his statement effectively, and it will be worth it in the long run.' Sandell is now in the process of rewriting the constitution, which was probably last written over a decade ago in relativly legal language. He intends to go through the constitution keeping the main points the same, and to publicise the new constituion with changes, by the end of this term. There will then be a referendum in college about whether to accept the new version or not, and the new version must also be accepted by the Governing Body.
Sandell also intends to write a 10-step easy guide to the constitution to distribute to every college member's pigeon hole. This guide will illustrate what the constitution actually represents, how meetings work, and how people can actually suggest new proposals, for example. Sandell agrees with Smith that there was a lack of awareness of how people could get actively involved in their JCR, and get things done. Sandell says he will 'set up a new, more clarified and effective system for his next successor.'
Presidential rival Catherine Daunt told the Oxford Student that 'Smith made a fair point' and he brought various issues to everyone's attention, even if it was 'extreme'. In general, Daunt said that the JCR ran well, but not enough people go to meetings.
There will be a by-election later this week, and Daunt will be standing again, but against whom - if anyone - it is not yet known.
18th Nov 1999