Derwent JCRC Elections 2010/11

Contesting for the office of chair this year are two second year students, Freddy Harris and Matt Jenkins. The Yorker caught up with the candidates to discuss their aspirations and goals if elected.

The Yorker: Why did you choose to run for chair?

Harris: I'm incredibly passionate about Derwent, and I loved to get involved in everything Derwent-related I could last year. From Derwent Sports (Rugby, Football, Table Tennis, and multiple sports-day events) to Derwent Rag (Being "Mr Derwent" and competing in "Mr York" to help raise money for charity) and helping out on the Big D committee, I just love everything about Derwent. I feel that the best way I can continue to contribute is to be Derwent Chair!

Jenkins: I chose to run for chair because I feel that I can make a positive contribution to the JCRC and the college as a whole. I’m a sucker for college spirit, and throughout my fresher’s year I got involved in as many sport teams and college events as I could. This included the role of Sponsorship Rep on the JCRC, which gave me great insight into how a JCRC works, but also how it could be improved. This is not to say the 2009-2010 JCRC did not do a great job; Holly Burton has been a phenomenal chair this year, especially her contribution to the survival of Derwent Bar and her relentless effort to ensure the best possible fresher’s fortnight.

The Yorker: If elected, what changes can Derwenters expect for 2011?

Harris: This year in Derwent the introduction of catering was introduced. Obviously, this scheme is still in its infancy, and many problems have been raised about it. I believe that a "fresher rep" needs to be implemented in some form or another, and be someone who the freshers can go to with any problems about catering or accommodation. Secondly, I think that the JCRC is too bloated and that redundant positions need to be removed. The JCRC should be for people who really want to fulfil their roles, and not simply a way of getting free Club D tickets.

Finally I would love to partner Derwent with another college from a University such as Durham or Cambridge. This would involve sporting and social visits to that college, and would result in another dimension to Derwent life, truly marking us as the most tightly-knit college on campus.

Jenkins: Derwent is a college that is evolving. I feel that I can lead the JCRC into the exciting prospect of expanding into the Langwith blocks, as well as the introduction of Onity locks for a more secure college. Knowing how important college spirit and welfare is, I want to ensure that key issues such as portering, catering, integration and the running of Derwent Bar are carefully managed to ensure that the expansion of the college not only leads to strength in numbers, but also a stronger college overall.

If elected, I’ll make sure the JCRC is a committee guided by the student body, rather than a committee that decides how the college should be run. Our job should be to listen to the concerns, issues and changes suggested by the student body, so that we can best adjust to the changing needs of an expanding college. There are a number ways in which I would implement this. I would send JCRC members to the blocks to find out how they could improve in their individual roles. As well as this, I would hold regular meetings with the floor reps, ensuring that any issues can be highlighted and put forward to the relevant JCRC members or Senior Welfare Team within days. Also, holding more open meetings as well as increasing their publicity would ensure that the student body could update the constitution regularly if changes are needed. These measures would ensure that problems with catering and integration can be dealt with immediately, as well as ensuring that events run by the JCRC are diverse enough to cater for the needs of everybody in the college.

Contesting for the roles of Vice-chair this year is a trio of partnerships, Ben Woolley and Greg Brocklehurst, Tash Cutts and Harriet Evans, Miranda Reilly and Natalie Jones As JCRC vice-chairs, they will be responsible for Derwent’s flagship event Big D, which in the past has hosted acts such as Chase and Status, Simian Mobile Disco and Pendulum.

If elected, Wooley and Brocklehurst intend to correct the problems with ticket sales experienced before previous events stating, “We've looked into alternative ways to sell tickets, having talks with both See tickets and TicketMaster to host the sales on their huge servers, which would have no problem coping with the very high demand for what is the University's premier event.” Asserting that this route was cheaper than YUSU ticket hosting, the duo also intends to diversify the musical acts to cope with event capacity problems.

Tash Cutts and Harriet Evens also support this diversification, intending to host, “three big, yet varied acts, so as not to draw all attention to one particular venue”. They also intend to expand the scope of Big D by using Central Hall as a venue. Doing this they hope to expand the event’s capacity and raise more money for charity without drawing the focus away from Derwent College.

Championing the inclusion of university based bands and DJs alongside the big name acts are Miranda Reilly and Natalie Jones. They hope to transform Derwent with, "a number of original ideas for themes" and to place a greater focus on fundraisers leading up to Big D itself.

Voting closes at 5pm this Friday (3rd December) with the results at Derwent Bar, 7.30 the same day. For a full list of Derwent JCRC candidates, see below:

Chair ( 1 position): Matt Jenkins, Freddy Harris

Vice Chair (max 2 positions – running as a pair): Ben Woolley and Greg Brocklehurst / Miranda Reilly and Natalie Jones / Tash Cutts and Harriet Evans

Treasurer (1 position): Amy Robertson

Welfare Reps (max 2 positions – 1 pair): Stephanie Hill and Alex Miles / Charlotte Jackson and Max Schrijnen

RAG Reps (max 2 positions – 1 pair):Leonie Blakeway and Eliza Ackland /Jenni Coles and Jess Bird/ Beth Finnie and Lucy Hoban

Visual Entertainment Reps (max 2 positions – 1 pair): Krishna Yellappa and David Kirk/ Ed and Sam

Sponsorship Reps - (max 2 positions – 1 pair): Milly Carlson and Harry Moss / Katy Tinman and Kate Bowden

International reps: (max 2 positions – 1 pair): Federica Turner and Milana Knezevic

Ents Reps: (max 4 positions – team of 4): Paul Kelly, Jet Vevers, Sophy Bullard and Amy Moss / Chesca Knight, Conor Scanlan, Harry Pampiglione and Izzy Pratt

Edens Court Reps: (max 2 positions – pair): Amy Ratcliffe and Kitty Tester

Bar Reps (max 4 positions – team of 4): Ellen Blake, Alex Szepietowski, Katherine Hannah, Ric Morris

Ordinary members (max 2 positions – vote for TWO individuals: Sakina Sheikh, Andy Pickard, Tommy Staite, Catherine Gobert-Jones

Press and publicity reps (max 2 positions – pair): Penny Longstaffe and Harriet Mills / Tor Richards / Oliver Brown and Daniel Corne

Campaigns officers (max 2 positions – pair): Zoe Lederman and Bradley Lineker

Merchandise Reps (max 2 positions – pair): Camilla Dutton and Fiona Christie / Sarah Harris and Ellie Chalk / Tim Parkin and Jamie Criswell

LGBT Reps (max 2 positions): Baxter Willis

Sports Reps (max 4 positions – team of 4): Kat Redmond, Margaret Edwards, Joe Boughtflower, Oscar Wimshurst

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