The AMS Annual General Meeting (AGM) Tuesday night saw three Queen’s media services fight for funding from the student body.

CFRC, Queen’s TV (QTV) and the Queen’s Journal all sought, and obtained, fee changes after being approved by AMS Assembly.

CFRC asked for its mandatory fee to be increased from $5.07 to $7.50, an increase of $2.43. Queen’s TV asked for its $3.00 fee to no longer be opt-outable. The Journal sought a $1.20 increase in its mandatory fee, bringing it from $6.96 to $8.16.

CFRC volunteers Brenna Owen, ArtSci ’14, and Eric McElroy, Sci ’16, gave a presentation on why CFRC needed a fee increase and what it would do with added funds. They were accompanied by Media Services Director Devin McDonald, ArtSci ’13, who presented on CFRC’s financial situation.

CFRC got its fee increase, and the meeting moved on to the QTV fee.

Executive Producer Travis Rhee, ArtSci ’16, and Business Manager Mohammad Kasraee, ArtSci ’14, also gave a presentation on why QTV’s $3.00 opt-out fee should become a mandatory fee. McDonald said his support was conditional on a service proving that they needed an increase, and that QTV had shown him they did.

Before Tuesday, QTV was the only campus media service without a mandatory fee.

Journal Editors in Chief Alison Shouldice and Janina Enrile gave a presentation on why the Journal needed a fee increase, accompanied by another presentation on financials from McDonald.

After 60 minutes of debate, a vote was held on whether to continue discussion or move to question. Moving to question won out, leaving several students still on the speakers’ list, and the Journal won its fee increase.

Next, Good Times Diner received an opt-out fee of $0.50. Additionally, the AMS received an increase of $9.26 to its Specific Fee, bringing it from $70.74 to $80.00 and enabling it to support a deficit for the next two years.

After the Good Times Diner motion had passed, member at large Forrest Donaldson moved to reconsider Motion 6 — the motion on the Journal’s fee increase.

“The move to reconsider wasn’t because I disagree with the Journal motion, it was actually a bizarre attempt to help protect the Journal motion,” Donaldson, ArtSci ’15, said, though he added that he was disappointed with the body’s decision to move to question rather than continue debate on Motion 6.

Donaldson had observed a group of students discussing plans to wait until the Journal supporters had left the meeting, at which time they would move to reconsider Motion 6.

“Politics at its finest,” Donaldson said.

He said he went to the doors and tried to stop as many people as he could from leaving. A number of the students who had come specifically to support the media services had begun to leave.

Donaldson spoke to Taylor Mann, who told him that, according to AMS policy, a motion can only be reconsidered once.

Mann, ArtSci ’14, suggested that Donaldson move to reconsider the motion sooner rather than later, before the Journal’s supporters could leave the meeting.

There was some confusion over procedure after Donaldson moved to reconsider; the speaker initially thought that a motion to reconsider could only be used immediately following the motion it affected.

This was not the case, according to procedural policy. A motion can be reconsidered at any time during that assembly or a subsequent one.

The motion to reconsider failed, which Donaldson said he had hoped would happen due to the number of Journal supporters remaining at the meeting.

“Procedural policy is so crucial in ensuring open debate and discussion,” Donaldson said.

“We really do need to be respectful and knowledgeable of those procedures.”