Hey everyone!
Over the Easter Holidays, we’ve been hard at work drafting up some changes to the way some parts of the Society function, as well as planning the implementation of new ideas!
The following changes are expected to come into effect on Sunday 28th April 2019, just before term starts.
Weekly Socials
The first major change, is that we have opted to move our regular weekly Socials from Tuesday to Friday to coincide with the Feedback we gained, as well as to free up time on Tuesdays for the majority of our members who play games that have patch and reset Tuesdays.
This will also help us with alternate events that usually take part on Fridays as it lets us keep the same times, but provide you with much more variety in what we have to offer!
Purchase Requests
Something that has always been a bit messy in the Society, is how we choose to spend our money and how often decisions are made on what sort of things we should buy for our members.
Our new Treasurer, Josh, promised in his campaign to introduce Purchase Requisitions as a way to cut down on the money spent by the Society on things that don’t benefit everyone, as well as making it clear and transparent how members can go about asking us to buy new and cool things.
With the new system, you can simply download and complete this form using Adobe Reader, giving us a link to each piece of equipment you’d like us to consider purchasing, and email that in to luges@lancaster.ac.uk where the Committee can review and decide what to do.
With these new forms we can hopefully speed up getting equipment that the Society needs, as people can request things as they come rather than having to wait for General Meetings, and it also helps us to keep track of our spending and budget accordingly for the future!
Equipment Requests
Our new Equipment & Safety Officer, Jack, wanted to revive Equipment Loaning as part of his campaign pledges, so we’ve also now got a nifty new form for that as well!
You can download and complete this form using Adobe Reader, to request to borrow some equipment, make sure to include all the information needed as it will help us decide and plan around the request for equipment that is often used at socials.
Once you have filled that in, email that to luges@lancaster.ac.uk and our Equipment & Safety Officer will have a look to see if we can fulfil the request.
The outcome may be a simple yes or no, however, we may place the request on hold whilst we check for any clashes, and to offer alternative dates or terms if needed, such as bringing equipment to socials whilst in your possession.
Also note, that by borrowing equipment, you agree to the terms here and that in short, you are responsible for costs of repairing any damage that occurs to the equipment whilst it is in your care, or to fund a replacement where a repair is not possible.
Discord Server
In order to cut down on the mass of channels we currently have in the Discord Server, and better encourage proactive discussion, we’ve also proposed to massively restructure the Discord Server.
You can see the upcoming changes over here, though changes to the Politics Channel and the implementation of the rules are effective immediately.
We have also created a proper rule-set for the server, including a clear disciplinary path to ensure everyone gets treated fairly should they breach the rules, these can also be seen here.
Update regarding #politics
The primary reason the decision was made to remove the Politics Channel was based on the fact that during the period where it was agreed to be trialed following a General Meeting, there have been multiple occurrences by the same individuals where a person has been personally targeted and the discussion has moved from political basis to an attack on the person and their beliefs as an individual rather than the topic itself.
This sort of behavior is not tolerated in any form, and attacks on an individual member is just simply a lack of common decency, and when this is combined with sarcastic and down-right offensive remarks to a person’s character, it was clear that the Politics Channel was not suited for its original purpose, where people could discuss political issues and have fair discussion without being given abuse to their own person rather than constructive discussion on their statements.
In order to better focus the Society in the direction it needs to go in, the channel was terminated in order to stop it needing constant monitoring and discussion on what is and is not appropriate, and instead focus on growing the Society and giving better experiences and activities to the members of the Society as at the end of the day, it is a place for gaming, and there are societies and other platforms where politics is properly catered for, and can be debated properly and constructively.