MCR Weekly Bulletin

w/c Monday 1st March 2010

MCR Notices
• Sign-up for the Arts Week Formal on Thursday 11th March closes on Thursday 4th March.
• Sign-up for the Castle Inter-MCR formal closes on Wednesday 3rd March. Email Vicky Brown at
v.h.brown@dur.ac.uk if you would like a place.
• There will be an early tea on Friday 5th March.

MCR Events
Hi Guys! Here is my social life update for the next couple of weeks. Megan x

Mon 1st March — Vodka Tasting Session

Graham Rawlinson will be hosting this not-to-be-missed night! He has eight different vodkas for
us to try and in addition to drinking, you may actually learn something too!
Currently signed-up: Megan, Ali B., Vicky, Claire, Jackie, Bruce, Michael, Alice, Chris L. We
can have another 10 people and have 2 sessions soooo...invite a boy/girlfriend or some 4th years
that you think would enjoy themselves! Just e-mail me at m.j.wainwright@durham.ac.uk! First
come first serve.
MCR, 7.30pm.

Tue 2nd March — MCR Exec Open Forum

The MCR Exec will be holding an informal Q&A session in the MCR. Feel free to come along,
grab a drink and talk about any issues or problems you may have (no matter how small!).
MCR, from 8.30pm.

Tue 9th March — Ordinary General Meeting

An Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) of the MCR has been called. Please send any agenda
items to the MCR Secretary at christopher.carr@durham.ac.uk.
Lakeside Room, 7.30pm.

Wed 24th March — Day-Trip to Keswick

Come spend the day in the gorgeous lake district! It’s the first Wednesday after term ends! Per-
fect break mid-week! Enjoy the flexibility that come with academic life and take the day off!!!!!
Let me kow if you are interested THIS WEEK! I need a minimum number of people to rent a
van or mini-bus! £5 for transport plus spending money!

Tue 11th May — Inter-MCR Formal

We are hosting an inter-MCR formal @ mildert with 220 postgrads!!! This event helps raise
quite a bit of cash for the MCR so please promote it amongst your friends so that when we start
advertising, we get a full-booking. Alice Gardiner (Facilities Officer) and I have been soliciting

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 donations from local businesses for a fundraising raffle for the Durham Women’s Shelter with
some success. If you have any ideas let us know! Also, I’ll be looking for volunteers to help
welcome our guests at formal!

Mon July 12th — Postgrad Summer Ball

The postgrad Social Secs of all colleges are uniting to organize a massive Summer ball at Castle!
Put the date in your calendars! We are currently working on Fundraising so anyone who has any
ideas or contacts please speak to me if you want to get involved!

College Events
Tue 1st March — Stigma and Mental Health
Challenging our assumptions about mental health - a topic that often goes un-discussed. An
academic talk by Dr Mark Cresswell. All welcome.
Ustinov Room, 7.00pm.

MCR Treasurer’s Report

Hi all, here’s an update on what’s been happening with MCR finances:
This week I’ve met with the rest of the Exec, Simon Goatcher and Andy Tattersfield, JCR
Treasurer and Livers Out Officer, Seb Payne, JCR Vice-President, Anne Olley, accounts manager
and Paula Dawson, the Bursar. These have been due to the defeat of the motion to give the
MCR £1000 to spend on AV equipment for the common room out of the money raised from bar
profits. The financial relationship between the MCR and JCR is not a clear one and this will be
discussed extensively over the next few weeks - it is my intention to allow for a decision on the
matter to be made outside of a JCR general meeting, and therefore ensure that this issue does
not occur again in the future. We are holding a joint Exec meeting with the JCR next week to
clear up some of the confusion. Another topic for discussion is the £1000 owed to the MCR from
the JCR - this money comes from the Higher Education Fund and is paid on a per-head basis to
the JCR on the understanding that it is subsequently transferred to the MCR.
Although the due date for MCR fees has passed, these funds have not yet been released by the
university to the MCR due to non-payment by a number of members. Cash flow at present
is therefore very limited as the bank account has less than £100 in it. Recent spending has
included £34.40 spent on the “Girls Night” and “Monty Python Night” socials; money collected
from attendees I have left in the hands of Megan for further spending on social events.
I am currently investigating the purchase of a coffee machine for the MCR - I believe this will
be of benefit to members, but I welcome comments. College Ops have raised health and safety
concerns about us having a coffee machine in the room, so I will also look to resolve these.
Other issues outstanding include the mounting of the TV on the wall, which has not yet been
completed by college, and the installation of a sink in the MCR, which college are currently
working on. There is also an insurance claim outstanding for the items ruined by the flooding in
January, which include the DVD player, striped rug and one of the lamps. College Ops are ad-
ministering this, and I would ask that members be patient as we try to replace the aforementioned
items as quickly as possible.
If anyone has any questions regarding the above, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at:
christopher.lang@durham.ac.uk. Best wishes to all.

Chris Lang

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Durham Events
Mon 1st to Thu 4th March — Invictus
Fantastic film starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman and directed by Clint Eastwood.
Morgan Freeman stars as Nelson Mandela in the inspiring true story of how a divided nation was
united by sport.
More information available at http://www.galadurham.co.uk/cinema/index.php.
Gala Cinema, various times.

Tue 2nd March — Life after Teletubbies by Anne Wood

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning is host to the Enterprise Lecture 2010, delivered by
Anne Wood, Founder and Creative Director of Ragdoll. Chaired by Durham Universitys Vice
Chancellor, Professor Chris Higgins, this will be an excellent opportunity to interact with Anne
Wood and to hear her story. Contact entrepreneurial.learning@durham.ac.uk for more in-
formation about this event.
Durham Town Hall, 5.00pm.

Tue 2nd March — Alt Soc Open Mic Night

The Alternative Music Society are hosting an open mic night at the Angel Inn. Free entry - all
welcome!
The Angel Inn, 8.00pm.

Tue 2nd March — Extra-solar Planets: Liquid Water

This is the fifth lecture in the Water on Earth and Beyond Public Lecture series. The level of the
talks will be aimed at a general audience to encourage everyone from undergraduates, non-science
faculty and the interested general public to attend, and there will be time for questions following
each lecture. All the public lectures are free to attend.
Kenworthy Hall, St. Mary’s College, 8.15pm.

Thu 4th March — New Horizons

New Horizons is a new informal discussion event to be held in Mary’s bar and modeled on the
format of Cafe Scientifique. There will be free beer and coke courtesy of money placed behind
the bar to lubricate the first gathering! Come along, interact and relax over the topic “Space -
The next frontier”.
Bar, St. Marys’s College, 6.30pm.

Thu 4th to Sat 6th March — Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind

Bailey Theatre Company present this unusual, yet necessary, piece of theatre explores the balance
between several polar opposites: confusion and clarity; knowledge and ignorance; innocence and
experience; as well as the differences between the older and younger generations, and gender roles
and equality. NUS tickets cost £5.00.
Leech Hall, St.John’s College, 7.30pm.

Thu 4th to Sat 6th March — Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

DotDotDot Productions is proud to present a groundbreaking new interpretation of Sophocles’
classical tragedy Oedipus Rex. Brought into a nightmarish modern wasteland, this production
is bold, dark, and terrifying - a theatrical experience not to be missed. NUS tickets cost £4.50.
The Assembly Rooms, 7.30pm.