Annual Reports to the ICU AGM on Tuesday, May 26, Mech Eng 220, 1:00pm Hon Sec, Deputy President, President Honorary Secretary: Liz Lindsay When I look office at the beginning of July last year, I was fairly confident that settling into the job and looking forward to the next session would be a straightforward issue. However, I found many things to be done which my predecessor had obviously overlokked and within a short time of taking over office I had my hands full! U N I O N & C O U N C I L P O L I C Y — R o g e r had developed a system whereby policy was to be kept in loose leaf folders. This has proved to be a very useful system as old policy can be easily removed and new policy quickly slipped in. The problem was that I had to update policy from 1978. This meant ploughing through U G M and Council minutes to try and collect all the details which had to be put together. A s this year has progressed I have been able to keep policy up-to-date and I can see no excuses for those how went before me. The policy folders are kept in my office and are available at any time for anyone to have a look. Should a student require a particular section of the policy a copy can be easily produced. I think the system which we have adopted is useful and I can see no reason why it cannot continue to work in years to come. T H E B L U E B O O K — T h e Blue Book was produced in the loose leaf folder style at the end of last year and the By-Laws had been put on floopy disc in the College Publications Department. During my perusal through Council Minutes it became very apparent that many sub-committee constitutions were very badly out of date. The major sub-committee chairmen helped me considerably in this exercise and the Blue Book now contains all updated constitutions. I had intended to have the Blue Book printed this year but I no sooner had one part typeset than it went out of date. The problem was discussed by C o u n c i l who agreed that the cost of producing a document which within a term was out of date was not a viable proposition. I contacted the College Publications Department and they have agredd to put all the major sub-committee constitutions on floppy disc along with the By-Laws. I hope to have this completed by the end of the year. With this system it will be very straightforward to produce a copy of any part of the Blue Book providing some notice is given. U N I O N D I R E C T O R Y — F o r the first time in ages the Union Directory was prepared and printed for the start of the session. Many clubs and societies were very lapse in giving us the relevant information which resulted in many gaps in the directory. Needless to say many club officials failed to return to College this session resulting in discrepancies appearing in the Directory. I cannot emphasise how important it is that club officials keep the Union Office up to date with any changes which may occur during the year. This year the Directory was printed by FELIX. I am not convinced that this is the best method. Duplicating the information on the Gestetner would be a cheaper method but the production of the stencisl is more time consuming for the office staff. R E C I P R O C A L A G R E E M E N T S — T h i s was another list which required updating during the summer vacation. S o m e forms had gone astray but the establishments in question were still on our lists. This situation was soon remedied and all forms have now been filed in alphabetical order. Several colleges have taken out reciprocal agreements with us this year. An up-to-date list can be obtained from the Union Office. T H E O F F I C E — A t the beginning of my term of office a stocktake of all paper, etc was made. This was submitted to the auditors along with the accounts and they seemed to be quite happy! During the summer we received an order of 250 reams of coloured duplicating paper. The order had been placed before I took office and for that reason I was obliged to take it despite the exorbitant cost. I would recommend to my successor to think closely about buying large amounts of paper from outside suppliers. We are members of the Students' Union Purchasing Consortium and I feel that a better deal could be obtained through them though it would have to be very good to beat our own Central Stores During the summer the Executive took the decision to purchase a Roneo Photocopier. This has proved to be a good investment as the copies produced are of a very high standard and are suitable to be used in correspondence. This has saved a considerable amount of time and has removed photocopying bills within other departments. The decision was taken to buy the machine rather than renting it as we will come out okn the winning side after five years. The Gestetner duplicating machines were serviced last summer which has proved to be very beneficial. T h e duplicating service offered by the Union has worked well with almost fifty students being proficient in the use of the machines. I have adopted a system of signing in and out when the key for the machine is collected. This acts as a check should any mess be left behind in the FELIX Office. I would recommend that this system be continued next year. I have emphasised to all sub-committee secretaries that their minute books should be kept up to date and stored in the Union Office. This has worked well, by and large! P A R K I N G P E R M I T S — T h e Students' Union was issued a total of 183 parking permits for this session. Application forms were available in the Union Office from the beginning of September and were in great demand. Approximately 600 applications were received for the 183 places that were on offer. Rae, J o h n and I allocated 150 during the first weekend of the year, leaving the rest to be allocated following the appeals procedure. The parking system has worked well this year and I feel that this is largely due to the hard work put in by J o h n Fuller who has unfortunately retired. My thanks to J o h n . C O U N C I L P H O T O G R A P H S — A t Joint C o u n c i l last year all Council members were asked to submit a photograph in order for the Ho n Sec to produce a Council Photograph. Desipte much nagging from me the Photograph was not produced utnil January. T h e only solution to this problem, that I can see, is to take the photographs at a C o u n c i l meeting!? C O M M E M B A L L — 3 4 6 people attended C o m m e m Ball on October 23 1981. Tickets were on sale i all summer at a cost of £ 2 0 a double. My thanks to Mr Marshall for producing such an attractive ticket. The menu which was chosen proved to be very popular and the entertainment afterwards a great sucess. My thanks must go to J e n and Pat for the organising of seating plans, etc, the wine waiters and those who provided the entertainment. T h e cost to the Union for the event was less than £150 which is very little considering the number of people attending and what a prestigious event It is. C O U N C I L S H E R R Y P A R T Y — T h i s event was well attended by College staff and proved to be very popular. About 120 people in total attended. I have a feeling that the larger number of females in the office certainly helped with the preparation as there was a wide variety of eats and it didn't take long to get ready!? O n a serious note I think that the Sherry Party is a very worthwhile venture and the cost to the Union is very little when compared with the good that comes from it. C L U B / S O C I E T Y C O N S T I T U T I O N S — I t came to my attention during the year that the Union Office did not have a complete collection of clubs' and societies' constitutions. With the help of the major sub-committees I have now got a reasonable collection but those now belonging to the Athletic Clubs were as old as the hilis. They are in the process of being re-written. I feel that it is essential that these are reviewed from time to time as constitutions can be easily ignroed and clubs proceed without abiding with the rules.
I N S U R A N C E — L a s t year's Hon Sec arranged with Commercial Union to have a policy drawn up to cover all Union equipment. At the beginning of the year I asked all clubs and societies for inventories of their equipment and replacement values. Most clubs were very conscientious in providing me with the relevant information but some were rather slack and needed constant reminders. David Ehren has taken over from Barry Edgeley as the Union Representative from Commercial Union. He has been very helpful and visits the Union at least once a month to sort out any queries which may have cropped up. Commercial Union are in the process of providing us with a file containing lists of all clubs equipment. This will prove to be very useful in the future as the lists on file will be easily updated. All other specialist insurance policies are to be paid by IC Union in the future. This will ensure that all equipment and students will be suitably covered in all possible circumstances. The Endsleigh Hall of Residence Policy has offered us a few problems this year with the largest being the setlement of claims for luggage disappearing from the Linstead Basement. With a lot of help from Mr Malcolm Aldridge in College Block the claims will now be settled. The Union has paid out a very large amount of money on insurance premiums this year: £1,800 instead of £200 which was budgetd for in estimates for the session 1980/1. One can only assume from this that a large portion of Union equipment had previously been uninsured. My thanks must go to Malcolm Aldridge and to David Ehren for all their help with this aspect of my job this year. C O L L E G E C O M M I T T E E S — D u r i n g the year I have attended numerous College Committee meetings; some interesting some not so interesting! 1. B O O K I N G S C O M M I T T E E : I have attended these meetings along with Rachel and I feel that the members of the committee appreciate the students point of view. Dr Jones has been sympathetic towards Ents concerts in the Great Hall but it is rather a shame these have not ben financially viable. The appointment of a new conference manager will hopefully produce a more commercial attitude within the Bookings Section. 2. R E F E C T O R Y & S U G G E S T I O N S & C O M P L A I N T S : This has been my second year as a member of the Refectory Committee and I feel that our attitude of discussion is more productive than open warfare. I have acted as secretary to the Suggestions and Complaints Committee and have found this to be very active and forward looking committee. The suggestion boxes are opened on a regular basis and the comments acted upon by Mr Mooney and his staff. Steps are always being taken to tray and improve the system but progress is slow due to financial restraints. The change in the Sherfield Main Dining R o o m which should have happened has taken a long time to prepare but will hopefully be satisfactory. 3. T H E H E A L T H S E R V I C E S U S E R S C O M M I T T E E : Again, this is a committee which I have been a member of for two years. Dr Haines has done a tremendous job in this reorganisation of the Health Centre and is always looking to the future. The main problem this year was the dispute with N U P E who refused to transport speciments to St Stephens Hospital in sterile containers inside sealed polythene containers inside polythene bags as they were nof safe!? This petrty bickering on NUPE's side worsened relations between the staff and the unions but the situation has now been resolved. Since the Welfare Office, Student Counsellor's Office and the Safety Office have all been moved to Princes Gardens to join the Health Centre I think we offer a very extensive service to students and staff alike of which we should be extremely proud. 4. R E A C T O R S A F E T Y C O M M I T T E E : I was nominated to sit on this committee as no one wanted to! However, I have found it very interesting and have felt that it encourages relatins between Silwood and the Union. The main issue this year has been the new licencing laws for nuclear reactors. This has illustrated further examples of civil service bureaurcracy! 5. P A R K I N G & T R A F F I C C O M M I T T E E : This committee does not determine the number of parking places which will be available for use in and around College, but the way in which they are to be allocated. This year the Union was allocated 163 permits and this will probably be the number we will have next session. At the first meeting in November 1980, the Committee recommended several possible sites for bicycle parking to the Estates Section. At our meeting at the beginning of May 1981, Estates have still not managed to do anything about this important issue. I can only add that this is rather typical of the Estates Section! 6. H A L L S O F R E S I D E N C E S U B - C O M M I T T E E : I have sat on this committee along with three other student representatives. Dr Hutchinson, Warden of Tizard Hall, chairs the committee but one tends to get the feeling that the Senior Warden makes all the decisions. In the autumn term a decision was taken by the committee that any party in Southside had to finish by midnight. Dr Perry, Warden of Selkirk Hall, and I opposed this but everyoe else including some of the student representatioves were quite happy with the decision. It appears that in future years the Halls of Residence will be let out by the Bookings Office for Conference during the Christmas vacation. In the present economical situation this is essential but the wardens agreed when f asked that students be informed at the start of the term if they will have to clear their rooms rather than a couple of weeks which was the case this year. C O U N C I L — C o u n c i l has met seven times this year and the meetings have been kept fairly short. Some officers tended to be rather slow in producing reports for meetings but after considerable naggings from me they finally took the hint. I have adopted the system of producing the various categories of documents for the meetings okn different colours of paper. This has helped at meetings as time is saved when people don't have to rummage through screeds of paper. I have kept the Council Minute Book up-to-date as the year proceeded which I hope will be continued next year rather than struggling at the end of the year to try and put things together. During the course of the year C o u n c i l approved and helped finance two mechanical engineering students to attend a conference in Helsinki, Finland, based on technical maths and technical physics. Reports of these conferences will be submitted to Joint Council. At Joint Council, student representatives are elected to sit on various College committees. This year several of these students have failed to attend meetings which has left many College committees without student representatives. If a little initiative had been shown and I had been informed at least one of the sabbaticals could have attended. Council took the decision this year to increase the stock of pewter pots which the Union holds. We managed buy 100 pots from Englefields Ltd, at a very reasonable price. These are available for purchase for a club on application to the Executive. UNION C O U N C I L M E E T I N G S — I have acted as Secretary to the Union Finance Committee, the Internal Services Committee, House Committee, the Executive Committee and Transport C o m mittee. These committees have all met on a regular basis and have fulfilled their duties extremely well. My thanks to all the various committee members who have helped keeping the services of the Union running very smoothly this summer. During the year I have managed to attend quite a few of the sub-committee meetings and I feel that in most cases the management of the committees has been very good. I must congratulate the secretaires of the committees as they have, on the whole, produced good minutes of the meetings and have kept the minute books up to date. This is a point which I seem to mention time and time again but we cannot stress how important minute books are as many instances arise when past records need to be consulted.
U G M s — T h i s has been another of those years where we have been plagued by low attendance at the Union General Meetings. Throughout the year we have had eight meetings and have discussed a wide vareity of issues. The meetings have generally been held in the Great Hall and I think that this is the best venue. I have arranged the Annual General Meeting in Mech Eng 220 rather than in the Union Concert Hall this year as the Great Hall is being used tor examinations at that time. I do not know whether this is a change for the better, but we can only wait and see. This year Exec News has been produced in the Union Office. This has meant an increased in typing tor Pat and J e n but they have coped admirably as usual! I have duplicated the two thousand copies required for each meeting and my thanks to all those people who helped with the tedious task of collating. Exec News was always distributed two days before the meeting in all departments and additional copies were placed in communal areas just before the meetings. Dave Wheatley has worked very hard and very competently on the production of publictiy for Union meetings. T h e posters have always been prepared welt before the meetings and could be found spread all over College. Dave's hard work has saved me a great deal of time and I hope that next year's executive will be as fortunate as I. E L E C T I O N S — D u e to a large number of exam failures last session several elections had to be held at the start of the year. The posts in question were in general very well contested although it took some time before all posts were filled. The sabbatical elections were held at the beginning of March. Due to my connection with one of the candidates, J o h n acted as Returning Officer. The elections committee had a very easy time this year as all campaigns were run in a very fair non-contentious manner. My thanks to Westminster City Council for the loan of ballot boxes for the elections. The elections for other officers and for departmental representatives were held before Easter and despite the problem of 'joke' candidates we managed to get a collection of officers for next year. I hope that all the people who have been elected to act as Union Officers in 1981/2 will manage to return to College in the autumn so the Union may get off to a good start in all aspects of its work. C O L O U R S — T h e Colours Sub-Committee met only once this session to consider the nominations for social colours. It was felt by the committee that too many colours had been awarded last session so this year each nomination was considered very carefully. I must thank some of the major sub-committee chairmen who assisted us to a very large extent by going through the nominations relevant to them and then making recommendations to the Colours Committee. I N C O S T — T w o years ago the delegates from IC Union volunteered to host the Fifth I N C O S T during Easter 1981. When I took office in July of last year a large portion of my time was spent organizing accommodation for the delegates who would be attending and other essential services such as food! Invitations were sent to all colleges who had participated in previous conferences and to various other establishments throughout Europe. I feel that the economic climate throughout Europe may have played a large part in keeping the number ot replies low. In the end we had forty-four delegates attending from a wide range of countries. U N E S C O agreed to sponsor two students from underdeveloped countries and we were very pleased to welcome a student from the University of Malaysia in Kuala Lampur and one from the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Mr Alan Goodyear, who is head of the engineeirng education section of U N E S C O also attended. Students from IC worked very hard all year preparing the discussion groups for the week on topics very relevant to Imperial and the other colleges who attended. A very wide range of speakers were invited along to talk to the delegates. These included Dr Tony Ridley, Head of L o n d o n Transport, Dr J o h n Spice who was head ot the Nuffield Science Foundation, Mr Paul Sieghart, a barrister who is very involved in privacy laws and Prof Bradshaw from the Department of Aeronautics. Visits were arranged to various industrial establishments in and around London. We were very fortunate to visit British Telecommunications at Ipswich, G E C Computers at Dunstable, Ford Motor C o m p a n y at Dagenham and the Metal Box Company at Wantage. The delegates found these visits very interesting and they stimulated a lot of discussion. O n Sunday the party went to Silwood Park where we were met by Mr Fisher who is the warden. Mr Fisher introduced the park to the delegates and after a look around the grounds we had a super lunch. In the afternoon we returned to College via Windsor which allowed the delegates an opportunity to visit the castle and have traditional afternoon tea! At the offical Dinner held for the delegates we were delighted to have Mr Peter Foster as our guest of honour. Prof Sutton also attended. Mr Foster gave a very entertaining talk to the delegates and a very pleasant evening was had by everyone. At the end of the week each discussion group presented their reports to the assembled group and it was decided that the next conference is to be held in Poland next Easter. Despite the work involved with the organisation of the week, I found the conference very enjoyable and educational. My thanks to all those people who helped in any way with the proceedings of the week for without them I could not have managed at all. T O C O N C L U D E — I have found my year as a sabbatical officer very enjoyable but also hard work. I have tried to be fair in any decision I've had to make but needless to say someone always ends up feeling they have been hard done by! My thanks to all the officers for the hard work they have put in this year and especially to Johna nd Rachel as they have put up with my persistent nagging for reports, etc, time after time. I feel that the Executive has worked as a team this year and I appreciate the work put in by the C C U Presidents for ICU on top of their own workload. T o J e n , Pat and Annie a big thank you as they have kept the office going through thick and thin and finally a 'good luck' to next year's Executive. I hope they will enjoy the year as much as I have. Elizabeth Lindsay ICU Hon Sec
Deputy President: Rachel Snee INTRODUCTION—What follows is a brief(ish) resume of what has happened this year in each of the areas which I have responsibility for, and then my comments on the various committees (both College and Union) which I have sat on that are not directly relevant to these, plus any other areas I feel are important. So here goes AMUSEMENT MACHINES—For the past few years we had traded with Brighouse Games Ltd, on a 50/50 split of takings basis which although easy for us, wasn't as profitable as some other arrangements. So over the summer I investigated various other companies and finally chose Kossway Automatics Ltd, trading on a straight rental basis. This means we pay them a rental (in return for which they service the machines, etc) and we keep all the takings, which we have to count ourselves. Although this is much more work tor the Deputy President, it definately pays off, as our profits are about 40% up on last year! The only other point I'd like to make is to express my disgust at people who can't be bothered to walk up a flight of stairs to report a machine out of order, which takes about two minutes and means the fault gets rectified straight away. BARS—The Bar Committee, which I have chaired this year, has ambled along repeatedly discussing fairly small matters in order that something is finally done about them. However, it is immensely frustrating to find that whenever something important comes up, e.g. breweries refusing to deliver because the hoists don't work; a complete ban on the use of casual staff, etc, I am told "this is a management decision—it has nothing to do with Bar Committee". Despite that we have seen quite a few things happening this year,' most of which has been connected with the new decorations to the Southside Bar, which still are not completely finished, although an obvious improvement on the previous atmosphere. The Bar Amenities Fund has provided a new sound system tor IC Radio, and money for Jazz Club to put on bands both also in Southside. Innovations included Promotional Evenings' in Southside, which seemed to be very popular, and John Bull' bitter has been installed there as a result. We also saw the return of hot food (also i/ery popular) after only a year of pushing by Malcolm, my predecessor, and I also had his proposals to extend the opening hours of the Union Bar (to 2:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) accepted by the College House Committee, to begin in the autumn. Unfortunately, the other main thing he pushed for, namely seperate accounts for each bar, are still not available as the computer (after two years) is still not working fully. Price-wise we have had brewers increases in both October and January, followed by a crippling 4p per pint budget increase which has rapidly speeded up the recession in the trade as a whole. However, we did avoid an extra 2p per pint increase which the Refectory Chairman was to have proposed, and although something not happening will never hit the headlines or be remembered, I think it was a significant victory—for the concept of working together with, rather than in opposition of College authorities. I have no doubt that if we'd screamed "we will not accept on principle" and threatened boycotts, etc. we would have been dismissed out of hand—it is by having a sensible overall viewpoint and producing well reasoned arguments that the Union will be respected enough by College to really be listened to—and our advice taken. BOOKINGS—The Union Building has been extensively booked, as usual, both by our own students and clubs, and by outside organisations several ot which we have managed to attract back regularly, and so increase our bookings income. The new furniture in the JCR has proved a significant influence in increasing its use for conferences, etc, thus also improving our income from this source. The College Bookings Committee has met twice so far this year and has mainly discussed the conference 'industry' for College. There were many reservations about the Christmas conferences, but they eventually proved to run smoothly and they will probably be repeated in the future. The College has
now appointed a Conference Manager to be in overall control of ail aspects of the organisation, and it seems that his professional approach will probably improve the conference trade at IC. We also discussed the question of Sunday Great Hall concerts at the Committee, and it was agreed that in a trial one went well (which It subsequently did) they would be allowed in future so next years ENTS—go to it! BOOKSHOP—The Bookshop went through a difficult stage at the beginning of this year without a Manager and the strain of staff having to do more than one job affected the general running ot the shop. However, since the new manager, Mr Roy Hicks, started on January 1, we have seen many and rapid changes in various areas of the Bookshop organisation e.g. layout of the shop itself, ordering and stock control, staff training, cheaper stocktaking, opening throughout vacations, improving selection of general books, introducing various new lines, book sales, promotional ideas connected with College events, and numerous others. This is in a mere three months, during which takings have risen significantly over last years, and I'm sure this is just the beginning of greater things to come under Roy's more professional management. The main decision taken this year has been over regalia which from July will be sold by ICU or C C U s as appropriate instead of in the Bookshop. This will provide some extra income, and better control of stocks by the C C U s and will release a large amount of space in the Bookshop, besides saving staff time. This space wilt probably be used to house in information desk when any enquiries about books, or ordering can be made, thus saving hold-ups in the till queue and providing a better service. CRASH PAD—Fortunately due to Michael Arthur's work in finding outside accommodation, plus the new head tenancies there was a much easier situation at the beginning of this year than there has been during the last few. Crash Pad was therefore only used slightly (a maximum of six per night) for about a fortnight, and I hope this will continue, or even improve for next year. DEFECTS—I have sent forty-six defects reports to the maintenance section, about a quarter of which were second reports of the same defects. However, looking through them I am amazed to find that most of the work was actually done—a few weeks or months after the reports were filed and I'd followed up with several phone calls etc However, I must thank Jim the carpenter for helping us out in several emergencies. DISCIPLINE—Discipline doesn't seem to have been much of a problem this year, with only one incident having to be referred to the Disciplinary Committee. The discipline in Southside Bar (officially a Union area) was discussed by Council and Refectory Committee and it was felt that Duty Officers were not necessary. It was agreed that any immediate problem could be solved by the Bar Staff banning the troublemaker for one evening after which it would be referred to us for further action. FINANCE—With the switch to per capita funding for one year we have been relatively well off this year, and so have been able to buy several large items ot equipment and been able to replace worn-out equipment for various clubs, etc. As our inventory is now fairly 'complete' for running all our activities we are now beginning to lace the problem of replacing it as it breaks down/wears out, and so have adopted a five year plan system to ensure that it is all kept in safe, working condition. Some of these plans have already been initiated, and they will all come into full force next year. I feet this is an important step forward in planning for future necessities rather than not looking further forward than the end of June. The major spenders, i.e. major sub-committees and CCUs seem to have handled their money smoothly and responsibly, with the exception of Pub Board and O S C . However, their problems this year should ensure that measures are taken to prevent them happening again (e.g. O S C have not elected a Junior Treasurer for next year), and also serve as a warning for other sub-committees. I was also pleased with the way most people prepared their estimates—this is a mammoth task which I could not have done properly without the full co-operation of the sub-committee chairmen, C C U presidents, etc. I thank them for their hard work in compiling them, time spent explaining things to me, and most of all for accepting the inevitable cuts responsibly, without getting bitchy or childish. The result is a set of estimates which are fairly distributed, fully justified and I hope will be used property as guidelines for expenditure next year. It was hard and time-consuming work putting them together, but having ironed out several anomalies and cut out unjustified expenditure, I am very satisfied with the result . FRESHERS' FAIR—This is also a fairly mammoth task, but well worth the effort of organising It, as it is vital to all our clubs and societies. Thanks to everyone who helped (if they can remember Hurt far back) and groams to all those clubs who expected me to find them a stall at a days notice—present Chairman please note; come and fill in a form in the Union Office NOW for next year's fair. HALDANE LIBRARY—This has been quite a controversial year tor the Haldane. with loan periods and fines being increased to try and achieve a better circulation of books, and a major discussion on the future of the library with regard to Humanities books, the result of which is not yet certain. We also had an interesting correspondence with a certain Mr D Afolabi on the subject of Afro-Caribbean journals. Meanwhile, the record and book buyers have been plodding away attending to all your requests and also, in conjuction with the PWP are organising a questionnaire to determine the cost effectiveness of books, records and cassettes. I would especially like to thank Malcolm Risby. the record buyer, and Ian Hanley for being a conscientious committee member. H O U S E COMMITTEE—This is a small and very workable committee which this year has met only twice per term, which I think is quite sufficient to discuss major items, and not waste time on trivial matters which can easily be dealt with by myself. We began the year with much that badly needed doing which had been not quite got around to' last year. However, fortunately because little has been done last year there was a lot of money carried over, which was used for these items, including re-organising the electrical set-up on the Concert Hall Stage, naming Committee Rooms, buying curtains for the Upper Lounge and a table for IC Radio, and refurnishing the JCR. The latter cost most of what was left from last year, but has improved the room tremendously, and this in turn has Increased our bookings income. It is absolutely essential that the furniture be regularly repaired and cleaned to keep this situation as it is. Another hang over' from Malcolm's year was the trophy cabinet alarm and Union Office Rape Alarms, the former of which is still not completed eighteen months after original enquiries were made—despite the theft of most of the trophies in the meantime. It was decided not to install a rape alrm system in the Ladies Gym Changing Rooms, but instead to issue Beit Security with personal alarms to be used by any woman using the rooms. These alarms have also been sold to students and staff. The College re-decoration allowance was used to sand and seal the Concert Hall Stage Floor, and also to re-paint the SCR, which has also had its curtains cleaned. In fact it looks quite smart when it has the right chairs in It—unfortunately, they are always moved around and despite several attempts to sort them out they rapidly move again—my conclusion being that it simply wasn't worth spending ages carrying chairs (and tables) up and down the building. Space allocation was discussed when Michael Arthur vacated the Welfare Centre to move to Princes Gardens, and the room was given to STOIC, enabling them to work outside College hours. The external phone is to come down to the Union Office to ease pressure at lunchtimes—when Estates get round to doing it. The old TV Lounge was also re-allocated from ICWA (who weren't using it anyway) to Snooker Club to house their third table. Apart from.this, various other items were seen to, e.g. repairing chairs horn the Lower Lounge, buying cupboards tor various people, repairing the Southside TV, buying a new typewriter and a bench for the Gym, equipping the Union Building with cleaning materials. I have also kept an up-to-date book of all requisitions, orders, etc, with dates orderred, received and paid, whichis of great help in keeping track of which bills we are waiting (especially useful as they may come up on the College computer in three years' time!) The Fire Audit was held in October, and most clubs were prompt about dealing with their tire hazards, especially Dramsoc. The Jazz Club however continued to leave their room in a horrible (and dangerous) mess for quite a while. We also had a visit to the Print Unit from the Health and Safety at Work Inspector and, apart from a safety guard which Steve Marshall had removed from the guillotine, all was hunky-dory. And finally—many thanks to Alt Toft for much help and advice, and especially Nick Moran tor his help, advice and expertise, without which most of the above would have been much more difficult for me to sort out. PS: We've also been discussing buying a piano for about eighteen months and nobody can decide what kind they want! INTERNAL SERVICE COMMITTEE—This Committee was set up last year, in order to take the bulk of discussion and reporting of the 'internal services' off Council, which had previously had to suffer long drawn-out and repetitive reports from the DP. It started very badly at the beginning of the year, due to firstly the mess over PWP elections and secondly that when PWP were all elected (to be "an integral part of the Internal Services Committee") they all refused to sit on it. When Council told them they must, they reluctantly agreed, but still have often not turned up. All this, coupled with clashes with various other non-IC Union Committees have led to most meetings being in or only just quorate, which is not conducive to the effective running of a committee. However, when people actually turned up we managed to make some sensible decisions on the future of the Haldane Library, Refectory services, regalia in the Bookshop, etc and it was very helpful for me to get a representative decision to take to the relevant committees. I hope it will continue to keep up this work next year, but it can only do that if the members attend the meetings—PWP please note! LOCKS AND KEYS—Malcolm kindly sorted out most of the keys for me before I took over and they've remained in pretty much the same state since. One or two locks were changed for security reasons and the only other problems were those brought about by idiots removing outside locks, breaking keys off in locks or stuffing them full of blu-tack, all of course on rooms which need to be opened the next day, making it very difficult to get them fixed In time—thanks again to the carpenters for helping out The only other problem is the system ot deposits for keys, which doesn't work if Chin Chairmen, etc, insist on handing over keys to next year's holders without going through me. I shall be issuing further details on this before the end of term. L O N D O N S T U D E N T TRAVEL—We haven't heard that much from LST this year, as after the A G M in October there wasn't another Shareholders Meeting until March, when only one other shareholder besides me turned up. However, there was a meeting last week which was slightly better attended, and they discussed the question of removing students from the Board of Directors—this will be resolved at another meeting in a couple of weeks time. At our end, things are going very well with the IC Office being the most successful of all thenbranches—currently running at about 50% over the expected trade. We also had a Travel Fair in the JCR in March, which was well attended and I think useful enough to be worth repeating. PURCHASING CONSORTIUM—We are members of the Students Union Purchasing Consortium, which entitles us to buy at substantial discounts from all their recommended suppliers. We mainly use it at the moment for furniture, cupboards, etc, for House Committee and stationery for the Bookshop, and to a certain extent for sweatshirts, etc. However, the list of suppliers is quite comprehensive, and I have just received the new price lists for next year, so I would urgeany club or society buying anything to check the file first to compare prices. REFECTORIES—The Refectory Committee has been mainly un controversial this year, with several meetings being cancelled through lack of business and the others in the main being concise and fairty straightforward.
Although I have been largely concerned with Items brought up from the Bar Committee, I have been involved in the other aspects, including the improvement of the shop, continuation of the Breakfast Service and PWP's proposals on the whole system. I think our policy of working together has been Service and PWP's proposals on the whole system. I think our policy of working together has been very successful in all these areas, and considerable progress has been made. However, It is most frustrating, after PWP, Internal Services Cttee, Council and Suggestions and Complaints Cttee, all going through the PWP paper to find it nodded through Refectory Cttee with an "of course we all agree "—but no one actually trying to carry it out. The prevadlng atmosphere seems to be one of 'we must think of the future'—without actually discussing it, and I expect ft will take at least one or two years for any major changes to be realised. SAFETY—Due to more important engagements (e.g. with Dr Rhodes Boyson) I have only been able to attend one meeting of the Safety Council this year, which is most unfortunate as I feel that even 3 or 4 meetings would leave me largely in the dark about this expansive subject. However, the day-to-day aspects, i.e. filling in Accident Report Forms when necessary are easy enough to handle, and our close relationship with the Health and Welfare Centres is a great help in dealing with closely relevant issues such as sports injuries. Moreover in the Union Building itself the most hazardous areas are looked after by clubs such as Dramsoc, who are well aware of the problems, and most responsible in dealing with them. I do feel though that this is an area which it is difficult to get to grips with in one year, es secially when one has so many apparently more urgent matters to attend to. SECURITY—At the end of last year we were mandated by Joint Council to press for improvements in security of Southside, and to oppose the reduction of guards in Beit from two to one. Fortunately, due to the arrival of the new Chief Security Officer, Mr Reeves, we did not have to press too hard as the latter was not even proposed in his re-arrangement of messengers and security guards nad his proposals for Southside were most impressive. Unfortunately, due to the Estates Section tardiness, they remained proposals tor tar too long, and although small changes such as stopping lifts going down to the basement, and putting convex mirrors in the entrance halls were achieved, the main problem of blocking access to the hall', from the bar area is onlynow being attended to, nearly a year after a rape took place there. Similarly the trophy cabinet alarm has only just been installed—ten months after the theft of most of our trophies TRANSPORT—This is the first year of the ICU Transport Committee, and it certainly seems to be a more efficient way of running things than the previous joint R C C / A C C system. Overal'. I would say they ear has been a successful one with vehicle replacements being made as planned, arvl the finances running at break-even level as proposed. However, we have had many problems, mainly getting vans repaired quickly after the inevitable small accidents, and in selling old vehicles. The Transport Service is an extremely important one, with many clubs relying on it tor their activity, and it does take a tremendous amount of hard work to keep it going. I would therefore like to thank the two Transport Officers, Steve Veats and Andy Walker, untitled heros Mike Traynor and Ray Parkinson and most of all Annie, without whom the system would probably break down completely, and we certainly would end up paying even higher repair bills were it not tor her wonderful way of dealing with Peacocks and Brew Brothers! VENDING MACHINES—Or in other words the broken-down coffee machine in the Lower Lounge. This was bought by Malcolm last year, when everyone thought it was a wonderful idea, but unfortunately very few people seemed to actually want to drink out of it, which was rather awkward as we were stuck losing money in a five-year rental contrct. As there were a couple of problems, such as a faulty coin mechanism, I got one of their sales reps around in the autumn term, who promised he'd send an engineer to fix it, and a quality controller to check the taste. The saga that followed is long and complicated, but basically the faults haven't been rectified in five months of wrangling, and I was also told by their Supplies Division that my ingredients were out of date and could cause food poisoing. Although I was told this several times, higher authorities assured me it was untrue—so I can only assume it was an underhand sales technique. The consequence is that (after tull consultation with Michael Arthur) I have broken off the contract—k which they, of course say I can't do, but I'm refusing to pay any more rent and am patiently waiting for them to take it away. I must say it does seem a gross wste of my time trying to get rid ot something which wasn't doing anyone any good in the first place, and therefore my advice to future DPs is PLEASE don't enter into five-year contracts you can't voluntarily get out of!
disappointed with this year's performance, and sad to see someone with such proven ability (as anyone wbo knows his previous publications will agree) and great potential, mar it with such sensationalism and irresponsibility. And irresponsible it has been, as ever since the first issue this year it has become increasingly difficult to carry out jobs in representing your interests to College. Fortunately those in College who know us well quickly realised the situation and so not too much harm was done, Out they also gave up treating FELIX seriously. This is a great shame as It could be used effectively to criticize areas of College (and us!) bu. when it continually produces unjustified criticism, nobody takes any notice when it is justified, just a> running regular fictional stories masquerading as fact makes people unlikely to believe in anything printed in it. Perhaps even more important, I know that many clubs and societies have complained about having their articles, adverts for events, etc, not included, and indeed in one case a first-aid course which had been setup jointly between A C C and the Health Centre. ..failed abysmally—because it was ommitted from FELIX and therefore nobody knew about It. As a Union we spend half our grant on clubs and societies—they are by far our main activity ant. t j deny them use of our main media—due to 'lack of space' is ridiculous, especially considering that inclu Jing or refusing an advert will make—or break an event that many people have put a great deal of work into organising I appreciate that three-colour covers are pretty, but I don't think that they are worth reducing the weekly size of the paper by one page, and consequently refusing important material. I was also appalled ot the gross factual inaccuracies in reporting in the autumn term, but his has steadily improved throughout the year. AND FINALLY—Looking back at the job, the thing that surprised me most was first the huge numbers of committees (and consequently reports to write minutes to read or send out etc) which sometimes take over, leaving you no time to actually do anything; and secondly, the fact that I can't sit down to do a long job, e.g. the estimates, or writing this report, without being continually interrupted by people wanting keys, reporting defects or asking questions on various topics. In fact the huge variety of tasks are what makes the job hard work, but there were ot course lighter moments, and I'd say overall I enjoyed doing it. I've also learned a hell ot a lot, and I feel satisfied that I've done the job justice, having made significant achievements in some areas, though only keeping things ticking over' in a tew. I have enjoyed working with John and Liz—I think we worked well together as a team, and also with Jen, Pat and Annie who really are an incredible set of staff. Without Jen and Annie's help and advice no sabbatical would ever get through their year, and I'd like to thank them for it, especially Annie, who has been helping me along since my Rag Chairman's days, and will be leaving this year. I am sure she will be sorely missed, not only by those in the Office, but by every club and society Chairman, and the hundreds of others she has helped in many ways during her time here. And now all that remains is to wish Barney, Nickey, and Marco, the best of luck for next year—I hope they get as much out of it as I have. Rae Snee Deputy President
President: John Passmore To write an Annual Report one immediately, I suppose, refers back to promises and intentions on election. Those I remember as being co-operation with College, more emphasis o n academic affairs such as lecturer training, improvements in accommodation, less emphasis on matters external which we can do litle about and greater communication with 'ordinary' students by getting out of the office and participating in Rag collecting, sport and anything else wonderful.
This Annual Report will deal with those, with all the things which cropped up during the year and with the issues which never really materialised. The one thing in Imperial College which I have c o m e to value more than anything else is the distinct lack of political activity. In my dealings with other colleges and universities I have The other vending machines we had were the little used dure* ones in the Union loos but these have now been removed by the company after repeated vandalism. constantly heard of X being a member of the Lett Alliance standing for this post and having Well, that was an alphabetical wander through my direct responsibilities as listed in my tiling cabinet, certain views on El Salvador and other totally external matters. I do not believe that such issues now onto the other things I've been involved with, and general comments. should be of direct concern to a students' union in itself. Another way in which this manifests C O L L E G E COMMITTEES—Most ot these have been covered under their appropriate headings but here itself is union organisation. It was only at the U L U Academic Affairs Conference that I discovered are a couple more: HOUSE COMMITTEE: that many unions had no academic affairs committee, no departmental reps, no staff/student This has met twice, the first one) attendedalone (as John overslept!) (Why didn't you give him a nudge, dear! committees and up until recently have had no interest in matters ot academic importance. -Ed\and the new messenger/security guard system (or Southside ws much criticised by Dr. Monro—but by the next meeting the system seemed to be settling down. It also passed Resident Committee's proposals on A direct result of the lack of union political activity is the cooperation and collaboration which noise (especially from parties) In Southside, which threatened to curb such celebrations drastically, but we share with College. The importance of this is tht we are listened to and our views are taken apart from heavy booking of the JCR/Union Building nearChristmas we haven't heard too many complaints seriously and when we do have a disagreement or complaint it can be discussed amicably and about this. At the next meeting I put the proposal on extending the Union Bar opening hours, which was acted upon. passed, and also brought up the question of Southside Security, asking when the electronically-locking doors would be installed—the Estates Secretary could not answer my question College committees have been reorganised and the College itself is being forced to examine GOVERNING BODY (and Finance and Executive Committees): These art* the most important committees itself in light of the cuts' and make savings wherever possible. The decision was taken last year I have sat on, and tend to be extremely serious (except for the occasional amusing remark from our that the College services should be self-financing and slowly the full costs of the refectory service beloved Honorary Senior Treasurer!). I'm sure John has covered the factual aspects so I'f! just say that I and of residence are being charged to those respective accounts. thought it most useful to know what's going on overall, and to be able to talk to members of College Admin R E F E C T O R I E S — T h e catering service has been criticised for many years and the Union's informally about it over lunch afterwards. representatives on Refectory Committee and on Suggestions and Complaints Committee have MEET IC—In my opinion the whole event, and particularly the many tedious and repetative meetings continue to press for improvements. It is impossible to make specific solutions, but the dealing with trivia are a waste of a great many important people's time, as representatives from all areas of College Admin and most departments have had to be involved, even though their collective opinions were reorganisation of Southside should allow the opportunity of reviewing the whole service. It must rarely listened to. It is a great pity that such an amount ot time, money and effort were not put into securing satisfy the consumer at a reasonable price but it must also maintain flexibility as tastes and eating our Halls of Residence against rapists. habits change. The desire for 'fast food' grows as the the traditional meat and two veg' drops UNION COMMITTEES—As an ex-officio member ot all Union Committees I have attended most several away and this must be reflected in the College. times, with the exception of S C C (sorry Ian—it always seems to clash with something else!) and O S C It has long been suggested that the Union should break away and take over the Lower which I have never had notification of (unfortunately, as we could probably have prevented the financial Refectory and the Bar. The viability of such a set-up is dubious as the academic year is only 31 mess they got in). Most seem to have run smoothly, so I'll restrict my comments to important points: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS: This practically died half-way through the year, but the new constitution should weeks long. make it effective next year, particularly in relation to ULU. This year the Holland Club has made efforts to become independent using outside caterers PWP: Was a total farce at the beginning of the year but eventually settled down to do some constructive and a decision on that is imminent. If it succeeds it can only encourage us to pursue the same. I work, that Is when they turned up to meetings or anyone could get a word in edgewise between Mark have recently written to other unions for information about their organisations but await replies. Clegg's speeches! Next year perhaps will see progress. Suggestions and Complaints Committee has improved WELFARE: This has almost collapsed, which is disturbing now that Michael Arthur is in distant Princes magnificently over the past few years under the guidance of Simon Perry and has succeeded in Gardens—I hope it will be suitably revitalised next year. making the Shop profitable and in keeping the Breakfast Service alive. It has dealt with many PUB BOARD—This is different to the other Major Sub-Committees in that it is much smaller and therefore more prone to imbalance between constituent parts, which, i appreciate, makes it more difficult for it to individual complaints some of which have been of a very serious nature. It has still a lot of function as it should. Theoretically, the Board is responsible for all the publications, but this does not potential as it is the only consumer service available. seem to work in practice, indeed there seems little control from the top, even in finances which it appears R E S I D E N C E — R e s i d e n c e , this year has progressed enormously. After the accommodation is left entirely up to each publication. seminar many of the ideas put forward were implemented, the major one being the reorganisaRAG COMMITTEE: The state of this committee this year eventually resulting in the resignation ot the Rag Chairman and Treasurer, has been a bitter disappointment to me personally after the hard work so many tion of the Accommodation Office and the Union's Welfare Service under Michael Arthur. The people put in tast year to make IC Rag an entity in itself—not just as amalgam of the CCUs, and one of the change-over progressed very smoothly and the new Students Services Office is now going ahead top Rags in the country. I thank the C C U VPs, who it inevitably fell back on to keep it going, and Algy for full steam. his dauntless loyalty, and wish Bill good luck in building it up again next year. Accommodation at the start ot the year did not appear to present as much problems as in COUNCIL: Has been shorter this year, mostly as expected due to the existance of the Internal Services previous years but it was only when the phone broke down in the Welfare Office and all the offers Committee, but also due to lack of the highly political or controversial issues which used to keep more politically-minded Execs going well on until the early hours. of accommodation in response to advertisements had to be taken through the Union Office that Most of the serious discussion has been on very relevant issues, and led to sensible decisions, though we really appreciated the volume ot work which Michael and Sue Telling got through before term there has been some bitching over whether Council can tell its sub-committees what to do, whether UFC starts. or Council controls the money, etc. Lack of political issues has also, I'm glad to say. meant that the New head tenancies were taken on in L t x h s m Gardens, Redcliff S q , and Earls Court and the e. practice of bringing numeruos arbitrary reps for members who can't attend, specifically to add votes to together with the opening of Linstead extension, also eased the situation. The new head one side of the argument, hasn't reared its ugly head. Overall, I think Council has been well-balanced, tenancies produced some problems mainly because they were taken on so late. Next year the representative and constructive throughout the year! University of London Union—I have been one of ICU's Reps on the ULU Students Representatives flats will be let as joint tenancies and the group in a particular flat will be jointly responsible for the Council this year and have found it basically a waste of time for exactly the reasons I thought Council rent. Before, new students applied on an individual basis, but for the first time this year, group wasn't—too much time spent discussing South Africa, vote Nelson Mandela, etc, etc. The new constituapplications were taken which should produce a more settled atmosphere and reduce voidages. tion has theoretically improved ULU, but at the new General Union Council's AGM it proved as ridiculous In Halls and Houses discussions were initiated on selection of re-applicants, the situation as ever—after abokut 100 delegates voting in next year's sabbaticals (theoretically representing 48,000 students!), it degenerated to a ludicrous farce discussing 'Ms Anne Phillips' chancellorship for about an regarding accommodation for students on four-year courses, wardens places and, most imporhour, with more procedural wrangling than I've seen in IC UGMs in three years, various groups screaming tant of all, the idea of giving everyone one year in Hall. and chanting, feminists spoiling their ballot papers, etc. Finally enough people left to make in'inquorate Selection procedure for re-applicants has come in for criticism before and a meeting with (after the fifth count!), but I must congratulate John on managing to chair it al all! wardens achieved little and the most important factor is that everyone gets a fair deal. Our belief UGMs—Why are UGMs inquorate? There has been much discussion on this subject this year, as inevery was that wardens should take no part in reselection as they have a veto and sub-wardens should other year I can remember—the criticisms and quorum calls are nothing new. have little to do with it. Nothing has been resolved and the next Student Residence Committee is I think the publicity from the Union has been adequate, with several hundred interesting posters and to look at the By-Laws of all Halls and Houses to approve them. 2,000 Exec News distributed throughout College at least three days in advance. However, there seems little point in producing all this, especially considering how laborious and time-consuming producing Last year the number of re-applicants was reduced to approximately seven and a half percent. 2,000 Exec News by Gestetner is, if the main media, FELIX, doesn't put in ads for UGMs, however often we This year the fall In the number of students (by around 250) and the prospective fall in the next ask, and despite the fact that the Editor knows the dates well in advance, and criticises strongly the bad few years Hue to the 'full cost' fees for overseas students led Don Monro and myself to look at the attendance. I remember past years FELIXs regularly including half-page U G M ads (which probably took problems faced by second and third year new applicants. an hour to paste-up during the summer and then were used every time) and it's interesting to note that the best attended UGM last year (about 700 people) occurred when the motions themselves were printed in In the past not all of these students have had a place in College accommodation. We discvered FELIX. Next year's Exec News is to be produced as a supplement to FELIX which I think should have been that by careful monitoring of the situation all students could be offered one year in Hall and brought about a long time ago—after all if you believe in democracy then UGMs are the three most indeed this will be the situation next year. Also it became essnetial to increase the re-ap important events in the term to advertise, so spending £22,000 a year to produce a newspaper which percentage to 10% once again. doesn't advertise them is sheer madness! Accommodation for four-year course students is still a problem. Should they be allowed two This stfll doesn't answer the original question on inquoracy. as the content (assuming people know years in Hall automatically? Should their last year be treated equivalent to a postgrad year and about It beforehand) is also important. And the reason I think UGMs have been so uninteresting this year is . . . . well no one's been playing sports with South Africa tor a start, or trying to change the laws on thus be allowed to have sub-wardens' posts? I do not know the answer but it is a problem which abortion, or any of the other emotive subjects which will attract dedicated supporters on both sides, who College are aware of. will call quorum If they think they'r losing. Like it or not this is what people will come to discuss, and you Other major changes are the reduction in numbers of Southside wardens from four to two can ask for 'relevant' issues to your hearts content, but most (e.g. the Lecturer Training motion which took which was agreed to by C o u n c i l as long as security and Hall-life do not suffer as a result. Also five UGMs to pass) won't attract people. For example had someone brough a motion on not accepting although the number of women In College fell, the percentage increased enough to allow both price increases on beer, firstly I doubt if anyone would oppose it, and secondly the Exec were already taking the appropriate action—that's our job. Tizard and Weeks Halls to become mixed as of next year. FELIX—The newspaper of Imperial College Union—or so it theoretically supposes to be. I have been very c
Suggestions of more accommodation have always been made and it has always been College's intention to continue. The mining of gravel at Harlington is one way of providing funds in future years but the main object to my mind is to be able to offer accommodation to all first years. This in a city such as London would be a considerable achievement and would surely raise and improve the standard of applications to the College. Perhaps it will be possible next year. In Evelyn Gardens Robert Pryor House (53 Evelyn Gardens) should be occuppied in October and the object here is to acquire no 52. The University also rents property there which I believe could be obtained. Rents for the next year have yet to be set but negotiations have started and I am confident that the levels for single rooms in Southside and Linstead will not increase by more than 7% (the grant level) although rents for doubles and lesser quality singles will probably rise up to 10%. Much has been achieved on the accommodation front this year, including the acquisition of a company which is being used to obtain company lets. In this, its first year, it is being used on more or less an experimental basis with only three or four rentals being dealt with but these are progressing well. Next year should see improvement but it must be carefully monitored. Many thanks must g o t o Michael Arthur and Don Monro for putting in much work and providing an improved service which is on a very sound footing. Michael has also done much to maintain the Welfare Service this year of which I think we have every right to be proud. It is something which many other colleges lack. S E C U R I T Y — T h i s year has also seen the arrival of a new Security Head who has managed to reorganise the whole security and messenger system most efficiently. Last year Joint Council instructed the new Exec to look into security and ensure that precautions in the Beit Quad and Southside were maintained. Happily this has happened and although Southside basement has taken a long time to secure it should now be safe. College now closes at 10:00pm which has not led to any major inconvenience. Anyone in before 10:00pm can remain and anyone who needs in after 10:00pm requires keycard access. A C A D E M I C M A T T E R S — L e c t u r e r training is one of the issues which I have always supported. Last year the proposals about the running-down of the University Teaching Methods Unit were accepted by the University and this was at the time I thought a very serious matter. However, when the year started I discovered the Education Technology Committee and the work being done by Prof Anderson and Dr G o o d l ad in the field of staff development. I met Prof Anderson who explained the relative merits in U T M U and how their methods really were of little relevance in science and engineering education. Education Technology Committee was developing in a direction which would provide a Research Feiloowship and ultimately a Professor of Science and Engineering Education. My thoughts had been solely on the development of a questionnaire for monitoring courses and lecturers. In physics this already is the case. A questionnaire was produced and given to departmental reps to further the cause. Meanwhile Prof Anderson produced a paper for Education Technology to be taken to Board of Studies outlining the future of staff development in the College. The paper however was not accepted at Board of Studies due to lack of finances as much as anything else but after hearing about 'lack of consumer satisfaction' the Board agreed that monitoring of lectures might be a good idea and it is now being investigated by College. It also became apparent during the year that lecturers on probationary years were not being properly supervised and as a result a series of guidelines were introduced both for those in probationary years and also for the staff members overseeing them. Supervision of postgraduates became an issue during the year when the Times reported that we lay 31st out of 35 for finishing PhDs within three years. A questionnaire was produced and sent to all research students. One hundred and fifty odd replies were received and they showed quite conclusively that the main problem lay with supervision or lack of it as the case appeared. Other problems were also involved e.g. lack of experimental equipment or no money to be able to maintain old equipment. This was also raised at Board of Studies and is still in hand but it is useful to note that when Graduate Studies Committee was first set up (in July 1978) supervision was one of the first things discussed. Both lecturer training and supervision for research students are absolutely essential but they are both issues which will take much longer than one year to solve and there is much to be achieved. Board of Studies also reviews the regulations of the University which is normally a rubber stamping procedure but one regulation this year even provoked our dissatisfaction. If passed, it would have made it impossible for any peson living more than three hours journey from University to become a part-time student. S o much for bureaucracy. Four-year courses seem to be a part of College life now, but whether or not three-year courses will be retained shall be seen. It must be remembered that four-year courses will cost overseas students a lot more ;and they would also have problems getting industrial experience. Also how many women wish to do four-year courses remains to be seen. UNION—Within the Union the year started badly for External Affairs and PWP. The External Affairs Oficer failed his exams and some of the committee resigned. Eventually two E A O s later the committee was reorganised to make the delegates to U L U S R C the ordinary members. Before they were almost accountable to the Union. PWP suffered from people filling other posts and before it really got going came in for a lot of criticism which was probably based more on earlier years activity. However, when it did gel started much was referred to it by C o u n c i l and it has managed to deal with issues effectively. The major sub-committees with odd exceptions have funcioned efficiently. The first year of Internal Service Committee has worked well after initial difficult in finding a time at which the members could meet! Welfare Committee seems to be a bit of a loss this year since Michael's transfer but next year I would hope will see some sort of reorganiation so that the demand (whatever that might be) can be supplied. U G M S — U G M s this year have been a continual source of confusion to myself. They v/ere either very well attended with 500-600 people or very badly attended (100-200 people). Or reflection those that were well attended in my opinion were those at which issues of direct relevance to our students were discussed. Looking back at my predecessor's Annual Report, one item in common on U G M s is the way people expect the Exec to vet motions that they do not like to propose lots of motions to encourage people to come along. All motions submitted go on the agenda and if you disagree you can use your democratic right. With regard to Exec Motions, I do not believe that people want to come to hear us expouding for hours on end; I proposed motions when I saw it to be fit and necessary and not for any other reason. Many motions were discussed this year, those passed include Overseas Students Fees, Greek Students, the Nuclear Fuel Technology Course, Nuclear Disarmament and Bicycles. On Fees for Overseas and Greek Students, both issues were taken to Governing Body but due to cuts and genera) lack of finance both cases were lost but not without serious discussions. The Nuclear Fuel Technology C o u r s e first arose at the end of the last year and was brought to Governing Body again in December. They reaffirmed their previous decision and we were urged by the Rector to bring the matter up at Board of Studies, which will be done in June. Nuclear Disarmament produced this year's legal hassle in the affiliation to C N D . After the motion was passed I was warned that affiliation to C N D may be ultra vires. Eventually I obtained the legal case involved and forwarded it to our solicitor who confirmed that affiliation would indeed be ultra vires. The case was also taken up by Chelsea's Students' Union whose solicitors informed them that affiliation should only be made through relevant clubs or societies. Such an organisation could then organise fund-raising events and devote the net profit to the relevant outside body. Even so, I contracted C N D albeit just before the end of the second term and advertised some of their events; I got little response. On bicycles the motion was pre-empted by discussion at Parking and Traffic Committee and is only being held up by Estates. This year once again saw an attempt to disband tCWA: this will get its second reading at the A G M and if passed will only require the approval of Governing Body to be enacted. Other By-Law changes still to come are Ents Officer and Life Membership. C O U N C I L — C o u n c i l will have met eight times in this academic session and one of those was the
Life Membership of ICU
shortest in Jen's living memory. Overall it has been effective, the meetings have not been too long, although a lot shorter than some I remember and much has been discussed and decided in a friendly agreeable manner. R E L E V A N T E X T E R N A L A F F A I R S — A t the start of the year the prospectr of loans in place of grants loomed heavily. No formal proposals were made so no formal reply could be given. I wrote to several embassies whose countries have loans and asked for information which still sits on my desk. We waited only to be told eventually that the proposals had been shelved for financial reasons. The information still remains if anyone would like to see it. Many will remember that for this acadmic year the Union changed to the 'per capita' form of financing which virtually every othe union has. The reason for that was that the form of union financing was known to be changing from per capita to subvention (which we had been on up until then) from October 1981 when the proposals were first made known it appeared as If we would lose approximately £30,000 but N U S queried the finances and the average figure arrived at was £44 per capita. I still believe that N U S deliberately misled everyone in the hope that the 'biggest march ever in N U S history' would be a success. Rachel and I met Rhodes Boyson to clarify the position which had little to do with average per capitas and really meant that next session we return to a subvention system. We did benefit in the long run however. U L U is the main other external matter. This year has once again seen full participation by the IC delegation. The Students' Representative Council disappears at the end of this year to be replaced by a General Union Council which should be more representative of U L U and its activities. It will, I fear, still deal with many issues of a more political nature which have little to do with students in the University and which go a long way to retain the belief that students have which is that U L U has little if anything to do with them as students. ICU did propose a motion supporting cross-campus ballots for the U L U Sabbatical Election and impossible as the idea seems the actual elections on May 7 would have convinced any rational person. However, more research into the idea is needed and then perhaps it may be accepted. U L U leads on to Swinnerton-Dyer and the long-awaited proposals on the reorganisation of the University. We made an initial response last June and our response to the interim document C A O / 5 0 0 has recently been submitted. The proposals should come out fairly soon and then the real arguments about closing this college, that department, the other library, etc, will really commence. I cannot really see Imperial being hit that hard, we are more likely to take on more students if other colleges and departments close. BITS A N D B O B S — T h r o u g h o u t the year I have had to deal with many minor items, some of a very general nature and some of a highly personal nature. There were two problems which were handed on to me, one was Islamic Soc and finding a place to pray and the other was the yacht. Since Islamic S o c were set up they had no permanent place in which to pray and only after much haggling with Estates through the summer and in the first term this was eventually sorted out. The yacht which was bought several years ago has continually caused problems. When it was bought it was faulty and then it was ran aground. The original seller's agreed to pay us some money but little change was obtained from the insurers who claimed that it was always badly damaged. However, it has been surveyed and put on the market and an offer has been received; hopefully it will be sold before I end my term of office. Two matters arose in the summer. One was the R C A Nursery which was in danger of closing due to lack of children. It was suggested that perhaps the waiting list for our Nursery could be accommodated there. After many hassles I obtained a list of possible interested people and found eventually that only two were interested in the R C A . The s e c o n d was Appeals. It is impossible in the College or in the University to appeal against exam results, but it is possible for students to appeal against being asked to leave. Notices were sent to all those who-failed informing them of their rights and telling them how to appeal. Three cases were taken up by the Union and they were all successful. I was surprised that there were so few but it is up to the individual student each of whom was made aware of the situation. N O DICE—It was may belief that a large Freshers' Social Event would help Ents enormously this year. So with help from Ents and individuals I tried to go ahead and organise one. Unfortunately, due to various factors such as wrong time, late publicity, no co-ordination, all of which were totally my fualt it failed miserably. To say I was disappointed would be to put it mildly. Ents however this year started well but attendance dropped off. The main problem with Ents are the regulations laid down by the G L C and the College. These seem to be in some way the petty-minded bureaucracy of some of College Block who do not seem to like seeing students enjoy themselves. We are once again allowed to have Sunday concerts but more has to be achieved if Ents is to regain its previous high standard. Also the C C U s seem to have organised bands very well in the J C R and if more co-operation could be found instead of squabbling then things could only improve. This year also we have tried to make Ents in itself responsible to Council and the second reading of that By-Law change will come at the A G M . W U S — T h i s year we continued our collection for the World University Service. The fund now stands at over £3,000 and we are now trying to find a suitable student for the scholarship. At the start of the year a field officer from W U S spoke at a U G M but interest has fallen off since then. If the scholarship is to be maintained it requires regular income which cannot be totally supplied by collection; two ideas which come to mind are Rag and the Oueensgate Trust which couid provide funding and could be supplemented by collections, etc. FELIX—In my opinion FELIX began the year with a tremendous potential which has not been forthcoming. Layout and artwork have been excellent but inaccurate stories and personal attacks have lowered it in many people's estimation. I am also sad to say that it has been of little help in the running of the Union. In previous years half page ads for U G M s were always included but this year they have not no matter how much has been said. On a good note, a new offset has been acquired which should maintain the quality of the newspaper, and enable production every week which has been a problem in the past. C O N F E R E N C E — T w o main conferences were attended, firstly the U L U Training School in Wye which was particularly useful and secondly the Presidents' Informal in Bradford at which we slagged off N U S . Most of the others there agreed but to little avail. I attended an N U S Grants Conference which I thought was particulrly useless. I was contacted during the year by the President of Birmingham with a view to setting up an informal organisation outside teh N U S . At the time they were in N U S but were to hold a referendum, this did not take place but it is promised for next year. I still feel that N U S is ineffective even though it has promised to concentrate more on student issues. M E E T IC—This has finally happened. My feelings are mixed about it; the displays were excellent and I was generally surprised at the variety of subjects and the depth to which they were studied. It was unfortunate that there were not more visitors and that the displays could not be retained so that students could view them. Mark Carlisle made an appearnace and his attention was drawn to the plight of overseas students and to the problem of graduate employment or unemployment as the case may be. The year saw a few important' visitors. In particular, Sir Keith Joseph and Mark Carlisle were invited by the Conservative Society and Shirely Williams came twice, firstly for the series of lectures on the Brandt Report and then to speak about the Social Democratic Party. Two conferences were organised i.e. Rag and I N C O S T and both went off well. I N C O S T was a huge success and all thanks must go to Liz for arranging it. Hopefully it will continue in Poland next year and Belgium in 1983. A FINAL N O T E — T h r o u g h o u t the year I have tried to get out and meet students; whether or not that has been successful I cannot say. I would like to thank Liz and Rae who I know have put a tremendous amount of work in. At all stages we worked together and discussed what was going on. I have enjoyed working with them. The permanent staff have excelled themselves as always. They must be thanked for putting up with us. Finally I would like to thank the students for making it all possible. G o o d luck to Nicky, Marco and Barney and Bye-Bye. John Passmore President
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