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This week’s Executive meeting was more akin to a marathon, clocking in at nearly three hours long, with a disappointingly large amount of the meeting taking part in Committee of the Whole, which Critic does not have the right to report on.

Despite this, Ruby competently chaired the meeting and the Executive as a whole rose to what their political roles expected of them, offering some good insight into many of the matters discussed. One slight slip-up on Ruby’s behalf saw her introduce a group by saying “these people are here to talk about OUSA and the Cook,” before moving into Committee of the Whole for 45 minutes. A motion was later moved in the meeting that a working party exploring a partnership between OUSA and OUMSA be formed.

The College Committee Minutes, presented by Brydie, revealed the Vice Chancellor has mandated that all colleges must use internal services for their balls, limiting them to University venues such as Union Hall and the Aquatic Centre. A number of Colleges were “not happy,” saying that students “don’t want to have to eat at the food court or dance in Union Hall.” Despite the rationale being pretty clear to everyone that the University wanted to keep money internal, Unicol had little concern considering “nowhere else would take them.”

The Grants Committee minutes and recommendations were received and recommendation approved, as were the club Affiliations and Disaffiliations. The Disaffiliations were only mildly questioned, with Henri concluding, “If they’re not going to be part of the OUSA family, that’s fine.”

The Boots Riley visit to Dunedin sparked questions about whether OUSA were paying their $500 sponsorship deal toward his flights twice, considering that Radio One, which somewhat falls under OUSA’s wing, also contributed to the event. It was eventually understood by everyone that this would not be a double payment, with Nick quickly adding that “this is not commercial sensitivity, this is just addition,” to those slower on the uptake than himself. According to Ruby, the sponsorship deal was just another part of the “money-go-round,” reminding everyone of how last year’s President Francisco Hernandez had phrased the financing of OUSA and Radio One.

Ruby steered the exec well when it came to presenting the first quarter reports and asked each of them about their challenges in the quarter. Henri spoke to his report first, saying that his role was slightly different to previous officers with the demise of Unisports, but he was commended for being “super on to it,” and “always in the bullpen.” His apparent competence is obviously deeply embedded in him after he said “nothing I’ve really had to do in life has been soul crushingly hard.”

Brydie felt she’d come into her role “blindly” but said that she was enjoying the position and was particularly positive about the Colleges Committee; something the previous Officer had been less successful with. Her report was received by all with “snaps for Brydie,” given her good performance in the role.

The chair was passed to Ryan in order for Ruby to give her report, which she referred to as being “a bit meaty.” She reflected on her first quarter as President as being “pretty full-on” and said that she had “definitely aged.” While Ruby seemed content with her performance over the quarter, she apologised for being hard on the others, and added a classic Ruby sentiment to the report, saying, “I just want you guys to really fly as beautiful butterflies.”

Ex-Education Officer Jordan’s report was dealt with in his absence, with a number of Executive members particularly vocal about Jordan’s performance. It was suggested multiple times the meeting be moved into Committee of the Whole, but the two most vocal opponents of Jordan’s report, Nali and Nick, vehemently declined. Eventually, Nali voted against receiving Jordan’s report, and Nick and Brydie abstained. The Executive do appear to be slightly two-faced at times, especially considering Jordan’s resignation was initially received with a motion by Nick to give him a group hug, a tone considerably different to that which his report was considered in his absence.

Nick’s report “ticked all the boxes,” in his own opinion. His major criticism was towards Ryan, regarding the two not getting onto Internal Policy and Committee matters concerning both of them. Despite the criticism, he was “sorry to call you out,” but it appeared to be an issue he had also encountered with Zac Gawn, last year’s Admin VP.

All received Kamil’s report and he was acknowledged for his work on the International Food Festival as “the king of the food festival.” Nali’s report only included part one, with her citing she “didn’t know there was a part two and part three,” but that she would “do them again.” Despite her only partial report, it was received, and Nick added she “seems pretty stressed out most of the time, but that’s a good sign.”

Hamish apologised for missing O-Week, and said time management appeared to be a challenge for him when at one point he was holding two jobs and papers, but he has since dropped one of those papers. He humbly added that he “didn’t see much success for myself,” acknowledging he’d been doing a lot of “aiding” for others. But his report was received positively and he appeared to not be giving himself as much credit as was his due. Kurt also acknowledged missing O-Week, due to a conflicting internship, but his report was received with no objection, and he was particularly happy with the progress of quiz show University Challenge.

Ryan’s report was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the meeting, but with it coming at the end of a near three-hour meeting, the fatigue of everyone led to a rushed run through. He did acknowledge that Hyde St had taken up a lot of his time because it was a “very needy child,” and it seemed a lot of his other responsibilities had taken a back seat to the event planning. While Ryan said he was mostly happy with his workplace relations, Brydie questioned her own involvement with Ryan on a working level, citing that the two had not worked together and it wasn’t clear what was required of her. Despite being a valid criticism, Ryan’s Hyde St priorities were not questioned any further and the meeting was speedily closed with his report being received.