[LIVE BLOG] 25th General Assembly: As It Happened

By Liselotte van Balen and Vivianne Hericks

— Dear readers, welcome to our live coverage of AUCSA’s 25th General Assembly, held in the Academic Building’s ground floor main hall. Below you will find a continuously updated, time-stamped summary of events.

As always, if you have comments or suggestions, feel free to contact us via our ‘news tips’ section, our Facebook page, or through Twitter. Now on to the 25th GA!

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· 17:00 – A warm welcome from the academic building as we get ready to cover the 25th General Assembly. We will begin our updates shortly before 18:00.

· 17:55 – People are signing up to vote, the GA will start with a short delay. 

· 18:13 – The main hall is filling up, the GA should be starting shortly. 

· 18:25 – Lance Bosch, the AUCSA Chair, announces that the GA has started. 

· 18:26 – The agenda is being discussed. No one is voting on changing the order of the agenda. 

· 18:27 – The Annual Report is being discussed by the previous AUCSA board. Stefanie Berendsen, last year’s treasurer, explains that the AUCSA budget kept growing last year – ending with almost €180,000. 

· 18:30 – The Annual report on the slides is illegible. A student asks what the total profit was by the end of last year. Stefanie explains that this was circa €175,000. The costs were circa €150,000. A full report will be made public by the AUCSA at a later date. 

· 18:32 – Another student asks whether there were costs being made last year that were being paid by cuts to this year’s budget. Andy O. Daab, the current AUCSA treasurer, says that some bills are indeed paid with this year’s budget. However, he explains, this is due to when the costs were made, and not because they over budgeted. 

· 18:35 – A student asks about the bills for Dormfest – and by which board they are paid. Andy explains that this is all available in the budget report and the balance sheet. Stefanie explains that this budget has not been sent out yet. 

· 18:38 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, introduces the new Audit Comission – for which everyone present could vote right now. The motion to vote on the Audit Comission fails. 

· 18:40 – The Audit Commission is accepted by a unanimous decision. 

· 18:40 – Jan Willem Bruggeman from the Audit Commission explains that two new members have been added to the Audit Commission and that he will be leaving next year. 

· 18:45 -The letter of recommendations by the Audit Commission concerns: 1. Cash Flow, 2. Savings, 3. Tax Commissions, 4. Role of the Audit Commission, 5. Communication of the budget, 6. Modification, 7. Task division (Treasurer and Vice Treasurer). 

· 18:48 – The AUCSA cash inflow has been reduced. The AUCSA is over-budgeting 8.1% instead of the recommended 5%, and the savings percentage is going up from 10% to 15%.

· 18:50 – Lance Bosch, the AUCSA chair, asks to vote on last year’s budget and the auditing on this AUCSA budget. 

· 18:50 -A student asks about the AUCSA elections GA and whether the budget was really closed during that meeting, since it was extended to the nearby Polder café. 

· 18:53 – Stefanie explains that the budget had not been closed because the elections GA was a month before the end of the semester – meaning that there were more expenses in the month to come.

· 18:53 -The student comments that this is a violation of protocol, because those who graduated were not able to vote on this budget. 

· 18:54 – Stefanie, last year’s AUCSA treasurer, explains that this was impossible – reiterating that we still had expenses in June. The Audit commission also adds that the current procedures have always been like this. 

· 18:55 – Another student adds that he feels misinformed about last year’s budget. The Audit commission explains that this is more a formality – unless you had any issues with this procedure. 

· 18:56 – Last year’s budget is passed by a unanimous decision. 

· 18:57 – Andy, the AUCSA treasurer, introduces the Advisory Council. This Council monitors the AUCSA and is in charge of recommending next year’s AUCSA board – which is not binding. 

· 18:57 – The Pillars of the AUCSA board are being introduced: Communication, Committee Development, AUC Spirit, and The First Year Experience. 

· 19:01 – Andy, the AUCSA treasurer, explains general information regarding respect during these GAs. He explains that respect is central to the manner in which these meetings proceed. 

· 19:00 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, explains that committees will be introduced prior to introducing their budget. After this, the motion to vote on these budgets will be explained. If this fails – the budget is adopted unanimously. 

· 19:00 – Voting takes place by absolute majority. Abstentions are immediately counted as a NO vote. 

· 19:03 – If students have to leave the room for any reasons – even for temporary bathroom or smoking breaks – they have to officially sign out and sign back in later. 

· 19:05 -A student questions whether the voting procedures are fair – specifically pointing to abstentions counting as a NO. Lance, the AUCSA chair, explains that this is according to the official procedures in the AUCSA statutes. 

· 19:09 – The Income of the AUCSA Events are introduced prior to the committees: Income – €17.528,47, Expenditure – €30.404,10. Total: -€12,875,63. 

· 19:10 – A student motions to display the relevant Excel file per the committee budgets. This motion passes. 

· 19:14 – This motion fails: Excel files relevant to the committee budgets will not be displayed after all. 

· 19:14 -The GA returns to the AUCSA Events budget. The budget has been passed by unanimous decision – given that no student wishes to vote on it.

· 19:16 – AUCSA ‘Other’ is introduced. This concerns printing material and extra expenditures relevant to the AUCSA. 

· 19:17 – A student asks about the costs of the committee hoodies. She highlights the discrepancy between the real costs of the hoodies and the budgeted costs. 

· 19:18 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, explains that this is due to the fact that real costs also include what has already been spent – not just the anticipated costs for the coming year. 

· 19:20 – A student asks about the ‘Boards Days’ and the prize of 50 euros to be spent at Studio K – received by the committee CUT. The question has to do with why this money has not yet been received and does not feature anywhere in the budget. 

· 19:20 – Andy, the AUCSA treasurer, does not know why this is not in the budget nor where the prize money is. 

· 19:20 – Lance. the AUCSA chair, recommends that the student e-mails the AUCSA about this to ensure that they receive their prize. 

· 19:21 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, also adds that this has indeed been included in the budget under ‘Boards Days’. 

· 19:24 – A student asks about over-budgeting and whether the AUCSA has considered if it is a good idea to change the board allowance (this AUCSA board is paid a higher allowance than last year’s board). Lance explains that this change is in line with Dutch law, as AUC no longer wants to pay the board members less than is permitted by it. 

· 19:27 – A student asks about the budgeting for a new camera. The AUCSA board explains that the camera has gone missing and asks all students present to consider if they know where it is. 

· 19:28 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, says the board will only be taking 2 more questions due to time restrictions. 

· 19:30 – Lance asks whether students like to vote on the AUCSA ‘Other’ Budget. As no students want to vote on this matter – the AUCSA ‘Other’ Budget passes unanimously. 

· 19:30 – The agenda now moves to the AUCSA Merchandise Budget. Lance limits the questions on this issue to 5 for now. 

· 19:33 – The AUCSA Merchandise: Income €6.076, Expenditure €9.223,05. Total: -€3.147,05.  

· 19:33 – Ilen Madhavji, one of the three AUCSA CAOs, explains that he and Lasse Rogie, also an AUCSA CAO, are in charge of the merchandise. 

· 19:34 – As no-one wants to vote on the AUCSA Merchandise budget, it is also passed by unanimous decision.

· 19:35 – The first committee budget to be introduced is AIMUN – the AUC Model United Nations committee.  

· 19:36 – Income: N/A, Expenditure €2.640,00. Total: -€2,640,00. 

· 19:37 – The AIMUN budget is passed by unanimous decision. 

· 19:39 – The AUCafé budget is introduced: Income €16.475,00, Expenditure €12.103,50. Total: €4.371,50. 

· 19:41 – A student asks about the Barcrew weekend which is budgeted for, and what it actually is. 

· 19:42 -Another student asks why committee members get rewarded for their work with a paid-for beer as well. 

· 19:43 – CAO Petra Stangvik answers these questions as follows: the Barcrew is not only about bonding, but is also for necessary safety regulations. Secondly, she states that other committees can also request such rewards. 

· 19:47 – Students are discussing whether the reward of a beer is justified, given that all committees work very hard and that this may be unfair. 

· 19:48 – The room is divided on the issue with both students in favor as well as against the reward. CAO Petra stresses that all committees receive some sort of compensation and that no committee has priority over the other. 

· 19:50 – The room is currently voting on the AUCafé budget. 

· 19:52 – The AUCafé budget has been approved with a majority vote. 

· 19:52 – The Catch budget is being introduced. Income: €7.560,00. Expenditure: €12.075,00. Total: -€4.515,00. 

· 19:55 – The Catch budget has been approved with a majority vote. 

· 19:55 – The Cuisine Budget is introduced. Income: €1.790,00, Expenditure: €1.985,00. Total -€195,00. 

· 20:00 – A committee member wishes to cut the bake sale from the budget completely. The student also wishes to cut the AUC cooking series which amounts to €30. The student wishes to re-allocate these 30 euros to the cook-off. They are requesting to have just one cook-off instead of two – making the remaining bigger. 

· 20:00 – The net result of the budget will be the same. No-one wishes to vote on the budget: it is unanimously passed by the GA. 

· 20:00 – The changes in the Cuisine budget have been included and are immediately accepted. 

· 20:00 – The Curiosity budget is introduced. It has been passed unanimously. 

· 20:03 – The CUT budget is introduced, the CUT budget has been passed unanimously. 

· 20:00 – The Chair of CUT is asking whether Dormessions could sell tickets for money – the profit of which would go to CUT. A board member of Dormsessions replies that they will not do this, reasoning that it would make the event less inclusive. Andy, the AUCSA treasurer, adds that this would be illegal. 

· 20:05 – The Dormsessions budget is introduced, it has been passed unanimously. 

· 20:06 – Femsoc is introduced. Their budget has been suspended until the February GA.

Author’s Note: The budgets of the different committees are available on request from the AUCSA. The slides are currently being changed at a very high rate, making it difficult to include all numbers given.  

· 20:08 – The Hands On budget is introduced. It is passed unanimously. 

· 20:09 – The IdeAUC budget is introduced. 

· 20:11 – A student asks how this money (€450) will be spent. Several AUCSA members explain that IdeAUC will have monthly events (€50 each) concerning entrepreneurship. 

· 20:12 – The room is now voting on whether to vote on this budget. 

· 20:14 – Voting commences on the IdeAUC budget.

· 20:17 – By the vote of the GA, the IdeAUC budget has passed with a majority. 

· 20:17 – Junket motions to receive an extra €200 for the camping trip transportation (unforeseen costs). 

· 20:18 – The room is voting on whether to vote on this motion. 

· 20:20 – The motion to vote on the motion of Junket to receive an extra €200 for the camping trip transportation passes by a slim majority. 

· 20:24 – The Agenda returns to Junket’s overall budget. A student asks why we are voting on budgets in general – arguing that we all agree with the budgets anyways. 

· 20:24 – Students in the room respond that it is necessary in order to guarantee democracy of the AUCSA, and that not all students will necessarily agree with the budget. 

· 20:28 – The Agenda returns to Junket’s overall budget. This budget is passed with a majority vote. 

· 20:30 – The budget of the Jeugdlab board is introduced. The AUCSA explains that most of their income comes from the municipality. The Jeugdlab budget is unanimously passed. 

· 20:30 – The budget of On Stage is introduced. The budget of On Stage is unanimously adopted. 

· 20:32 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, motions to skip the 15 minute break due to being overtime. The motion has been unanimously passed. 

· 20:33 – The Pangea budget is being introduced. The Pangea budget has been passed unanimously. 

· 20:34 – The PlayUC budget is being introduced. 

· 20:35 – A PlayUC member motions to re-allocate some of the finances within the budget. Andy, the treasurer of the AUCSA, replies that this has already been re-allocated on request in an earlier email. 

· 20:35 – The PlayUC budget is being introduced. The PlayUC budget has been passed unanimously. 

· 20:36 – Another student asks whether the AUCSA could look into the fact that the PlayUC has the biggest loss vs income. Especially, he adds, given that gaming material does not break every year. 

· 20:37 – A PlayUC member explains that in past years the main focus was on board games, which were less expensive than technology games. He also adds that they borrow technology instead of buying it to reduce costs.

· 20:38 – Another student asks the AUCSA how PlayUC will receive an income to make up for the discrepancy. 

· 20:39 – The PlayUC Chair says they only charge students for tournaments. He adds that other events are free in order to make the committee more inclusive. This means that the AUCSA pays for the discrepancy. 

· 20:40 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, adds that this is also to protect ”closet gamers” and to lower the threshold for people to start gaming. 

· 20:40 – The PlayUC budget is unanimously passed as the room returns to the agenda. 

· 20:41 – The PubQuiz budget is introduced. The budget has been unanimously passed. 

· 20:42 – The Scriptus budget is introduced. 

· 20:45 – The Scriptus Editor-in-Chief motions to add €232,50 in total from the unforeseen costs of the AUCSA to the Scriptus budget, in order to print an equal amount of issues as last year. 

· 20:48 – A Scriptus member adds that the current budget only allows them to publish half of what they published last year. They add that they will try to fund-raise more in order to put less pressure on the AUCSA. 

· 20:48 – Another student asks whether it would be useful to start printing online to lower costs. A Scriptus member replies that they do not want to enter the territory of The Herring – and that their platforms cater to their content. 

· 20:49 – Another student says that they should consider charging people for Scriptus. Scriptus members reply that this is not in line with their desire to be accessible and to give a platform to students. 

· 20:51 – The room now moves to vote on the motion to take €232,50 from the unforeseen costs of the AUCSA so Scriptus can print the same amount of copies as last year. 

· 20:54 – The motion has been passed with a majority vote. 

· 20:56 – A student motions to add €155 to the Scriptus budget so they do not have to fund-raise or place ads in order to print enough issues. 

· 20:57 – Another student adds that this motion counters the previous one, as it is based on the condition that they will indeed place ads and fund-raise. 

· 20:58 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, explains that funds ‘don’t come out of the air,’ meaning that the money cannot be granted again in the next budget GA.  

· 20:59 – The room now moves to vote on the motion to increase the Scriptus budget with €155. 

· 21:00 – A student adds that time pressure cannot be an excuse to end the discussion too soon. The student proposes to cut the GAs up into several smaller meetings in order to foster discussions. 

· 21:02 – A Scriptus member adds that this motion does not come from a Scriptus member, stating that they are not ‘tricking’ the room into giving them more money. 

· 21:05 – The motion that is currently on the table to add €155 to the Scriptus budget has not passed – with 28% in favor. 

· 21:05 – The room returns to the agenda. The budget of Scriptus has been unanimously passed. 

· 21:06 – The budget of Sharood is introduced. 

· 21:09 – A student asks what the budget consists of. A Sharood member explains that this is partly for the website, as well as a barbecue for the ambassadors of the committee. 

· 21:10 – Sharood’s budget has been unanimously approved. 

· 21:10 – Solace’s budget is introduced. 

· 21:11 – A student asks about whether the budget has been changed and if she can see the balance sheet. 

· 21:11 – The AUCSA treasurer, Andy, replies that she may come up to see the budget as it indeed has been changed. The student declines. 

· 21:13 – A student asks why there are expenses for a tennis party, even though there will be no income from this event. A member of Solace replies that this is a mistake, and that the tennis party should be taken out. 

· 21:15 – Another student wishes to to know what the costs for the DJ are and whether this is included in the event costs. A Solace member states that the location may not want you to bring in another DJ. 

· 21:15 – A question is raised on whether the mis-budgeted  €1.000 will come up as unforeseen costs. Lance, the AUCSA chair, replies that this is a slight problem which has been fixed in another way. 

· 21:16 – A student mentions that €60 from the budget goes to confetti, and €120 goes to the confetti clean up. The student proposes not to use confetti anymore. 

· 21:17 – A Solace member explains that they will not use confetti again. 

· 21:18 – The room returns to the agenda. Solace’s budget has been adopted unanimously. 

· 21:18 – The Budget of Spoon University is introduced. 

· 21:19 – A student asks where the money from the budget will go. A member of Spoon University explains that they will use their budget for their monthly events – but that this may not be entirely accurate as they are a new committee and might not use all of it. 

· 21:20 – The Spoon University budget has been unanimously approved. 

· 21:21 – The TEDxAUCollege budget has been introduced. 

· 21:21 – A student asks why there is no income on the screen. 

· 21:22 – Lance, the AUCSA chair, explains they have their own income besides AUCSA from sponsors and ticket sales. 

· 21:22 – The same student wishes to know whether AUC students get a discount on the tickets. 

· 21:24 – The TEDxAUCollege Chair explains that this is not the case. 

· 21:24 – A student asks whether CUT could provide the AV equipment. The AUCSA Chair, Lance, explains that the official TED organization does not allow this due to requiring a certain standard of videos for their website. 

 

· 21:28 – The budget of TEDxAUCollege has been unanimously approved. 

· 21:28 – The Art Committee budget has been introduced. 

· 21:29 – The Art Committee proposes to have a higher budget of €50 to buy paint brushes and pencils. This budget will come from the AUCSA unforeseen costs. 

· 21:30 – The motion to add €50 to the Art Committee budget has been approved and unanimously passed. 

· 21:32 – The CUT and Scopophilia chair comes up on stage for a short speech. She proposes to receive an extra €800 for Scopophilia so they can book their location. 

· 21:33 – A student asks how many people attend this event. 

· 21:34 – The chair replies that the amount of people has declined that attend their events due to lack of promotion. 

· 21:35 – The chair replies that they expect more people this year. 

· 21:36 – The AUCSA remarks that the numbers of attendees are incorrect. 

· 21:39 – The room returns to the motion to add €800 to the budget of Scopophilia’s location. 

· 21:42 – The motion to add €800 to the budget of Scopophilia’s location has not been passed. 

· 21:43 – The Chair of Scopophilia and Cut left the room upon the failing of this motion. 

· 21:43 – Another student motions to have a GA next Wednesday to re-vote on this motion – given that many people left the room prior to the voting of the Scopophilia budget. 

· 21:44 – The AUCSA requests Scopophilia to prepare for an interim budget later on in time. 

· 21:45 – Upon this request the student retracts his motion. 

· 21:45 – Another student mentions that we are too quick to reject motions to allocate funds to non-party events. 

· 21:47 – The AUCSA states that this is up to the students and that they have no power over where the votes go. Regardless of this, the AUCSA does recommend that students have these debates at another time. 

· 21:48 – A student that is not part of the board motions to add €450 from the unforeseen costs to Scopophilia. 

· 21:51 – This motion passes and €450 is added to the Scopophilia budget for their location with a majority vote. 

· 21:51 – The room returns to the agenda and the Art Committee’s budget has been passed unanimously. 

· 21:53 – The AUC Webradio budget has been introduced. 

· 21:53 – A motion to reallocate €80 from the decoration to DJ gear has been introduced. This motion is unanimously passed. 

· 21:54 – The agenda returns to the budget of AUC Webradio, their budget has been unanimously passed. 

· 21:55 – The Yearbook budget has been introduced and has been unanimously passed. 

· 21:55 – The Zen budget has been introduced and has been unanimously passed. 

· 21:56 – The Dormfest budget has been introduced and has been unanimously passed. 

· 21:57 –  The UCSRN Tournament budget has been introduced to the room. It will be discussed in February. 

· 21:58 – The AUCSA Acquisitions budget has been introduced- AUCSA members are in charge of this. 

· 21:58 – The AUCSA Acquisitions budget has been unanimously passed. 

· 21:59 – The Total AUCSA budget has been introduced and has been unanimously passed. 

· 21:59 -The AUCSA Chair encourages the room to come to the AUCSA another day with discussion points. 

· 22:00 – The 25th General Assembly of the AUCSA is now closed. Thank you for following our updates throughout the evening, and as always, do not hesitate to contact us with any comments or questions. Good night!