Dear readers,
Welcome to our live coverage of the 28th AUCSA GA on Wednesday 18 October. During the GA, the 2017-2018 budget for all committees will be discussed. Below you will find continuous time-stamped coverage of the GA.
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12:28 – A crowd is slowly assembling. The GA will start shortly.
12:46 – Over a hundred people have joined the GA. “Money Money Money” by ABBA is played.
13:07 – Ishvar Lalbahadoersing, the AUCSA Chair, welcomes the General Assembly and covers the check-in and check-out policy. Ishvar introduces today’s agenda. The GA unanimously adopts the agenda.
13:09 – Ishvar invites the Audit Commission to the stage. Didi Altena and Lynn Engelberts approach the stage. The Audit Commission reflects on the 2016-2017 year and advises the AUCSA Treasurer, Charlotte Kroese.
13:13 – Two new members of the Audit Commission are introduced: Laura Gerritse and Thanos Theofanakis. The GA unanimously accepts the two new members. Ishvar then introduces the Advisory Council.
13:16 – Ishvar introduces Ilen Madhavji, former CAO of the AUCSA Board, who will represent the 2016-2017 board.
13:18 – Ilen delivers the annual report names first-year experience and school spirit as the pillars of last year’s board and mentions three new committees were introduced and one old committee was revived last year.
13:21 – Ilen conveys a message from Andy O Daab, former AUCSA Treasurer, to the GA. Andy highlights changes made by himself to the treasury and commends the new leadership of the Diversity Commission. The GA unanimously accepts the annual report.
13:24 – Ishvar introduces the 2017-2018 Pillars of the AUCSA, consisting of External Communication, Internal Communication, The First Year Experience, Committee Development and Transparency.
13:26 – Ishvar introduces the rules of the GA.
13:30 – Ishvar invites Charlotte to the stage to introduce the AUCSA Budget, consisting of three parts. The GA unanimously accepts the budget for the AUCSA Events part. The budget for the AUCSA another part, aimed at alumni association. For this round, there are questions and comments from the GA.
13:37 – Tadé Hogenelst asks why the AUCSA has to pay for liabilities from up to four years ago. Charlotte responds that the main reason is that the AUCSA wants to take responsibility. Pjotr Tjallema asks what the UvA board allowance is. Charlotte answers it is funding by UvA which the AUCSA spends on the association. Tim Arbeid points out that 1000 euros, which is paid to the UCSRN, is quite a lot, and asks for justification. Charlotte responds that this money is spent on inter-UC events throughout the year which may be hosted by individual UCs.
13:43 – Noah van Genuchten asks if all the liabilities have been included in this part of the budget. Charlotte responds some liabilities are still coming up soon. Noah follows up asking if it would not be more beneficial to spread the paying back of liabilities over some years. Charlotte responds that some of the liabilities have a payment deadline and Ishvar adds that the current amount of outstanding money in liabilities is not feasible to maintain. Noah points out that 25.000 euro is still an ambitious amount of money to spend on paying off liabilities. Ishvar explains that this is not fully optional as some liabilities must be paid.
13:50 – Tadé asks for clarification regarding the AUCafé tokens reservation in the AUCSA another part. Berend Jansen, CAO responsible for AUCafé, and Ishvar explain that these reserves ensure that AUCafé can still function if people decide to spend the money left on their tokens massively. Tadé asks for clarification regarding the ASF fund and the Yearbook expenditures.
13:53 – The AUCSA Other budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
13:54 – Finally, AUCSA Merchandise. There are no questions for this part, and the budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
13:55 – Charlotte introduces the Unforeseen Costs tab and emphasises this money cannot be used by committees for any extras, but only for urgent unforeseen expenditures.
13:57 – Ishvar introduces three new committees and introduces the working order of the GA.
13:57 – AUC Web radio’s budget has no questions and is unanimously accepted by the GA.
13:58 – Pangea’s budget has no questions and is unanimously accepted by the GA.
13:59 – Due to a mistake in Solace’s budget, there is an amendment to the income tab, reducing the income by 1500 euro, made by Arthur Mclaren. Afterwards, the budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
14:04 – OnStage’s budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
14:05 – Scriptus’ budget has a question regarding last year’s board’s issues. Scriptus reacts they already lowered the number from seven to five due to budget cuts. Tim Arbeid asks what Scriptus is and how it will ensure all students get an issue whenever one is published. Scriptus reacts that, since there are only 100 samples per issue, only interested students can come and get a sample. Tim asks why Scriptus doesn’t publish online. Scriptus responds that the magazine has always been on paper. Rosa asks why those interested in hard copies should not pay for it themselves. Jesse Hoogland asks how much of the Scriptus budget has already been cut compared to last year, which is roughly 1200 euro. The question is then asked why Scriptus has no sponsors, which Ishvar answers is currently forbidden in the Policy Manual.
14:16 – Tadé raises a motion to cut half of Scriptus’ budget by partially making the transition to digital publishing. Marik Westerhof asks why all 900 members of the AUCSA should have to pay for merely 100 copies. Scriptus answers there is no committee which has events accessible for all members of the AUCSA. Lars Kouwenhoven asks Scriptus why the costs per sample have increased compared to last year. Ishvar points out Scriptus is planning to print one issue in colour, and Scriptus adds that it is not them deciding the printing costs.
14:27 – Tadé’s motion has denied in a vote.
14:40 – Ishvar asks the GA if anyone would like to vote on Scriptus’ budget. Multiple people raise their hands.
14:40 – Two new motions have been raised: The first motion suggests to request Scriptus to generate a 550 euro income by, for instance, implementing a 1 euro price for each sample. Voting has begun.
14:49 – The motion has passed, meaning the second motion will not be voted upon. Ishvar asks the GA if anyone wants to vote on the new budget. The GA unanimously accepts the new budget.
14:51 Ishvar suspends the GA for a 5-minute break.
15:03 – Twelve minutes later, the GA continues with InPrint. The GA unanimously accepts InPrint’s budget.
15:04 – SEC, formerly IdeaUC, has no questions or comments from the GA. The GA unanimously accepts SEC’s budget.
15:05 – ZEN is next. Gordon Lucas raises a motion to add 50 euros to ZEN’s budget for transition costs, which was omitted from the original budget. The motion unanimously passes. ZEN’s budget is then unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:08 – Debating is next. Without any questions or comments, the budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:10 – Curiosity, too, has a motion to add 50 euros to their budget to cover transition costs. Afterwards, the new budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:14 – Next up, possibly AUC’s most mispronounced committee: Jeugdlab. WIthout any questions or comments, Jeugdlab’s budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:15 – AUCMUN. After one question regarding the difference between AIMUN and AUCMUN by Jessie Green, the budget of AUCMUN is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:17 – Yearbook. A motion is raised by Yearbook to lower the expected earnings from yearbook sales to AUC for third-years with 2 euro per copy, resulting in roughly 600 euro less income. The motion passes unanimously. The GA unanimously accepts the adjusted budget.
15:30 – the GA unanimously accepts PubQuiz’s budget.
15:31 – Dormsessions has a question from Berend Hilberts requesting clarification on the PR costs, which Dormsessions replies is mostly for developing pictures. Tim asks why dorm sessions does not sell any drinks to generate revenue, which Ishvar answers are due to the fact it is forbidden to sell alcohol in dorms. After all, questions are answered, the GA unanimously accepts Dormsessions’ budget.
15:34 – HandsOn receives a question from Marron Loods regarding the inclusion of their lunch with Cuisine in their budget. A motion is raised by Didi to include all income generated from baking sales to be added to the budget, and the associated expenditures from donating this money to charity too. The motion unanimously passes, and the GA unanimously accepts the adjusted budget.
15:41 – Next up is RAW, AUC’s new photography committee. Without any questions or comments, the budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:42 – SlayUC raises a motion to add 50 euro to their budget to cover transition costs. The GA unanimously accepts the adjusted budget.
15:43 – Junket, AUC’s trips and excursion committee, receives a question from Jacob van der Ham asks clarification regarding the public transport costs. Junket responds that this is done to include more internationals as Dutch students had free travel last year. Afterwards, the budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:46 – AIMUN is next. A debate ensues regarding the transparency of participants costs. At the end of the debate, the budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:53 – PlayUC follows AIMUN and has their budget unanimously accepted by the GA without questions or comments.
15:54 – Next up, AUC’s sports committee, Catch. Without any questions or comments, Catch’ budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:56 – With only five committees left, Art is next. After one question regarding the expenditure on compensation for external artists, the budget is unanimously accepted by the GA.
15:59 – the GA unanimously accepts CUT’s budget.
16:00 – AUCafé’s budget is then unanimously accepted by the GA.
16:02 – TEDxAUCollege is then the subject of discussion regarding the committee’s income. A motion is subsequently raised by Christine van der Horst, keeping in mind TEDxAUCollege ambitious goals for the Lustrum edition, proposing to increase AUCSA’s contribution with 500 euro to 3000 euro.
16:37 – After extensive discussion, Christine’s motion is voted on.
16:38 – Without a majority of votes in favour, the motion fails to pass.
16:46 – Ishvar proposes TEDxAUCollege work out the details with the AUCSA board after the GA. After this, the budget is unanimously passed.
16:47 – As the final committee, Cuisine’s budget is unanimously accepted.
16:48 – Dormfest’s budget has now been proposed. A question is asked regarding the source of the income of Dormfest, which the AUCSA Board answers are generated from coin sales. After some more quick questions, the Dormfest budget is unanimously accepted.
16:50 – Ishvar announces that Spoon University currently has no board members and is, therefore, looking for enthusiasts, who can contact Berend Jansen.
16:51 – Next up, Acquisitions, a newly set up commission. Its budget unanimously passes.
16:51 – Finally, the entire AUCSA’s budget is discussed. With a total income of 187,896.54 euro and a total expenditure of 197,209.05 euro and a net total of -9,340.01 euro budgeted for the 2017-2018 period, as there are no questions or comments, the entire budget has unanimously passed.
16:56 – Ishvar asks if there are any AOBs (Any Other Business). Tim inquires into the ability for committees to look for sponsors by themselves. Charlotte replies this is not possible as the sponsors would be sponsoring the AUCSA itself, and would, therefore, have to be signed by the AUCSA itself.
16:58 – As there are no more AOBs, Ishvar officially closes the GA.
Thank you for staying up to date with the General Assembly through the Herring Live Coverage. Have a good evening.
The Herring 
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