Hi-dilly-ho, neighboureenos!

To round off the last three updates, I thought I would finish with a little about myself and the changes to the society itself.

President: Rob Hallam

Rob listening intently to the suggestions of a member.

I have been with GU Amnesty since 1897, when the society was known as ‘The Gentlemen’s Social Concern for the Plight of their Fellow Men’. Those were the days. I have been doing the website since then, and it has slowly evolved into the marvellous wonder it is today. Even though I do say so myself. I like to think that I run things fairly freely, but if there’s one thing I cannot abide it is jokes and jocularity. I may be quite strict on this point in meetings but it is for the sake of the greater good. The Greater Good. I think if we’re ever going to break the £1 million mark in the raise-off this is the year to do it!

I have kindly offered the use of my car to field trips such as Largs, Perth and Brisbane.

Changes to the Society

It was proposed that we now consider ‘University of Glasgow Amnesty International Society and Activist Group with a Remit for Defending, Promoting and Ecouraging Human Rights via Campaigns, Demonstrations and Petitions’ to be the standard orthographic representation of the society name. It was felt abbreviations such as ‘GU Amnesty’ or ‘GUAI’ were too curt, confusing and – in some cases – offensive to continue using. It was agreed that the new rendering makes things much clearer and simpler.

Due to conflict with our parent organisation, we have also been mandated to change our motto, which instead of being ‘Protect the Human’ will now be ‘Calamus Gladio Fortior’, which is more explicit in conveying our aims and avoids unnecessary reference to a specific species.

There will also be further changes to the constitution, specifically in terms of dealing with membership, voting and committee:

• It is now proposed that membership will be based not only on a list collated and updated throughout the year; but also with certain requirements: minimum number of letters written (100)
• Voting will now be considered as a multi-tiered hybrid of Alternative Voting, Instant Runoff Voting and Single Transferable Vote, to be known as Alternative Runoff. Here, individuals can form voting syndicates with votes grouped and ordered by a complex series of transformations that prioritise certain positions under specific conditions. A 47-page document will explain the process. It’s quite simple really.
• Similarly, it is proposed that each emmeber’s votes is weighted by their contribution, such as number of letters written through the year.
• Committee elegibility will be decided by a process adapted from Witchfinder Trials; with Committee eligibility eligibility constrained to those who meet prerequisites, such as minimum number of letters written.
• The number of Ordinary Board Members will initially rise to eight, with more added in proportion to the number of letters the society has written.

I’m sure you will agree that these changes will increase the transparency and simplicity of membership and the voting process.

All the best from all of us.

Here’s to a great academic year 2014-2015!

Rob

_{being hunted down by a dead man}

Hey hey hey,

I’m sure by now you’ve read the first two parts of these plans. I hope to introduce the rest of the committee here so you can benefit from knowing who they are, what they’ll be doing, and what suggestions they made for how to change the society.

Campaigns Officer: Alex Pancheva

Alex prepares to cast a spell to dazzle a room of keen Amnesty members.

Alex joined us this year as an ordinary board member, and before even that she had ideas for the Day of Silence / Jamnesty and a general keen interest an all things human rights. Her suggestions are aimed at ensuring members in meetings are never bored and always have something to kep them busy: ‘hot seating’, where everyone has to change seats at least once per minute; three presentations / guest speakers / workshops to run simultaneously; and a free packet of Proplus to be issued to everyone in attendance at the start of the meeting.

Alex has kindly offered to organise, plan and run the proposed 161 campaigns for next year.

Fundraising Officer: Nikola Cabanová

It is a little-known fact that Nikola’s hair is magical and grants her the power to fly.

Previously Publicity Officer, Nikola mobdro free download was known for kindly offering to permit her flat to be used for getting decorations made (like the 1000 sq ft Amnesty canvas which covered the Library and Fraser building during Fresher’s Week last year), and for storing materials (paper, card, sheets, fabric, several thousand litres of paint). She has proposed a ew changes to fundraisers, mainly aimed at getting more money from them: autographed photos of committee members, a new line of GUAI merchandise and apparel, and a two-drink minimum at bake sale stalls.

Nikola has kindly offered to do a charity abseil down the Boyd Orr building to paint a giant barbed-wire candle on the facade.

Publicity Officer: Milia Hau

Milia [left] wonders Ellen [right] has suddenly turned to, ready to catch with her right hand.

Milia comes to the committee from being an integral part of the SPB team laast year, where she organised the lighted champagne fountains we all enjoyed so much. She has proposed some quite unorthodox changes to enhance the publicity the society should have: a mandatory GU Amnesty Uniform, “GUAI 4 Life” tattoos, and 1984-style telescreens to monitor and enhance promotion of the group.

Milia has kindly offered to do simultaeous translations of meetings into five languages. M’Goi!

Press Officer: Bex Corbett

Bex supports all the new ideas and changes… proposed by Bex.

Bex comes to use from a background of GUST, journalism, blogging and high-stakes poker Mobdro Online TV in Las Vegas. It was her idea to expand on what we do in terms of promoting ourselves as a society; and the proposed establishment of a printing press and London offices will hopefully be ready in time for the first August edtion of the GU Amnesty Picayune, competitively priced at five British pence: “No other paper brings you more for less for more!”

Bex has kindly offered to persuade her good friend John Sessions to join our media team.

Website Officer: Siuan Portier

Little do they realise that Siuan [left] has slipped a live grenade into Catherine’s [middle] handbag. What merry japes!

Siuan is rejoining us from her year abroad, where she has spent her time travelling through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Miami on a single cylinder 500cc Norton known as La Poderosa. She has been the most vocal during the proposed changes and improvements, suggesting over two hundred new additions to the year.

Siuan has kindly offered to be our ambassador to South America.

_{the twisted ones are coming for me}

Goodest afternoonage to all and sundry,

Following on from Part 1, I wanted to continue describing some of the changes next year. But it’s also important to get a feel for the new committee, without whom these changes would not be happening.

Vice-President Duncan McNab

Duncan keeping an eye on things at the SPB afterparty.

Duncan has also been with the society for many years, learning the ropes and biding his time. In his previous role as Treasurer his creative bookkeeping and offshore accounts saved us money that ended up going towards the Raise-Off! well done to Duncan. Incidentally, he later successfully used the same techniques for technology companies such as Google, Amazon and Apple so that they could continue to do the ecellent work that they do.

Duncan has kindly agreed to be the President’s Malcom Tucker-style enforcer.

Domi’s reaction to the proposed changes for this year.

Domi is our secretary and responsible for handling emails, posting letters, receiving faxes, mucking out after the pidgeons, producing our supply of invisible ink, and ensuring the Enteral Spirit Flame of Vigilance used for smoke signals never goes out. The last item may be the most important, as it is the only thing that keeps Bel-Shamharoth at bay. Domi is not only our secretary but also SRC Clubs and Societies Officer, having been elected on a campaign that happily and unusually avoided the usual handing out of sweets, harrassing of voters and assassination of other candidates.

Domi has kindly agreed to organise daily GU Amnesty socials.

Treasurer Jana Sweeney

Jana loves to pull these subtle poses when she thinks the camera is on her.

Jana is our Treasurer, and as such is reponsible for handling they money in our petty cash, society banking, and Swiss/Cayman accounts. She has joined us as Treasurer as she has accounting aspirations; and is in fact planning to later go on do a 47-month intensive training course with the Kuàijì Monks of Beancounting Monastery in remote Tibet. We wish her luck with that when the time comes. She has requested that her position be renamed “Banana Officer” for obvious reasons.

Jana has kindly agreed to take over all official photography and will soon be purchasing a Canon 1DX to that end.

_{dark things, where reality weakens}

Hi everyone.

I wanted to express some my plans for next year, so that everyone is up-to-speed and on-board with what will be happening. There are a lot of changes coming, so it’s best that everyone is well-informed.

Our wonderful president for the year 2013-14, Ruth. We are very fortunate she used her divine powers only for good. Many others have not been so lucky.

But first it is only fair that I say thank you to Ruth. She has been with us through thick and thin, from her days as campaigns officer where she plotted a coup to overthrow the university senate and replace them with CFCI-friendly representatives; to her presidental year, where she initiated contacts and connections with over seven hundred different clubs, societies and external organisations. Her iron rule of “nobody leaves a committee meeting until they’ve submitted ten workable proposals for this week” was at times harsh and enforced through sticky notes but it was necessary to keep the committee in line.

Ruth has kindly agreed to return next year as an honorary representative with a remit to enforce order at our often rowdy and unrestrained weekly meetings.

Before I actually describe the changes I want to reassure everyone that all will be entitled to a fair say in this. To that end, it was agreed that anyone wishing to feed back on any aspect of the changes should complete a small feedback sheet with the following questions:

Feedback Sheet (#280747) – 2 A4 pages

1. Name
2. Age
3. Student Number
4. National Insurance Number
5. College
6. House
7. Rating of previous year (scale 1-10)
8. Predieted rating of forthcoming year (scale 1-10)
9. Rating of current committee (scale 1-10)
10. Rating of current government (scale 1-10)
11. Feedback on changes (min. 1000 words)
12. Proposed amendments (max 10 words)
13. Drawing of ‘ideal’ weekly Amnesty meeting (1 side of A4)
14. Proposal for GU Amnesty Theme Song* (min. 3 minutes)

*Music sheets available on request from your nearest music shop

In the interest of a fair process we are regrettably unable to consider feedback from an incomplete sheet. If you have any issues with this, please fill out ‘Feedback Sheet #280747’ in full explaining why.

Hopefully this reassures everyone that the changes are the result of a fair and democratic process. More information to follow.

_{keep watching the skies}