[ucc] Services and Amenities fee : An update from your local hack

[James Cox]

On Tuesday, December 24, 2002, at 05:14  PM, Chris Coman wrote:
> I think the A&S fee walks a happy medium of both allowing freedom of
> association and allowing the guild to provide the services that 
> students
> need.

The thing is that we have this great "freedom of association", but the 
Guild is still getting 51% of the money.

> One thing to look at, from a wider perspective, which I have certainly
> gained since going to NUS this last month. Office Bearers (ie, pres, 
> VP,
> sec, treas, queer, womens, enviro, etc) at all other universities 
> besides
> WA uni's are PAID POSITIONS!

And why is this so crash-hot? I'm paying enough for the professor, the 
tute people, the lab supervisors for each of my units. The last thing I 
want is another $400 going towards paying a bunch of losers to do what 
amounts to nothing I need.

> What's it supposed to cover? Well. I don't know how involved you've 
> been
> with your student guild, but as many of you know, I've been quite 
> involved
> with mine, and even further than that, I've gone away to the National
> Union of Students conference (just 2 weeks ago) and had a further 
> shock to
> my system at the actual work that guilds and unions do around the 
> country
> for students. Since most of us don't know any better, we just see this
> discount centre at the guild, but the guild is there for many other
> things. Firstly it provides the ability and supports the ongoing 
> existance
> of student run clubs, which I think we all appreciate in one way or
> another. Secondly it provides representation to the university with
> problems to do with your education, or anythign else about your uni 
> life.

I don't know about some slackers (in Arts? :p) but I haven't had a 
problem with my education or uni life. The scare tactics are just that: 
scare tactics.
Unfair marking? Give me a break. As long as all the students in the 
course are marked the same, it doesn't matter how harshly or leniently 
you were marked.

> The whole point of student guilds is not to just take on a lobbying 
> role
> that we've seen in the past few years. Guild should also be involved in
> running Grass-Roots campaigns in order to try and change things that 
> are
> wrong with the world. Homophobia, Racism, Discrimination in all it's
> forms. We like to think that these things are changing, and perhaps 
> they
> are, but without organisations constantly pushing the mindset that they
> are wrong, things won't change.

We could have a long-winded discussion about the distinct lack of 
scholarships and representation for anyone who speaks English, is male, 
and has a "European" background, or how proposals for Gentleman's 
Societies and Male Common Rooms are continually knocked back, or how 
you never see people writing in the Pelican about the lack of males in 
teaching or nursing...

> That's why the fee is important, or well,
> in my rather considered and longwinded opinion at least, and really, 
> how
> often do you use your textbooks anyway? You can't take student
> representation out on overnight loan from the closed reserve section of
> the community.

The fact is that you're forcing people to pay for something they will 
probably never need. two-thirds of the people at UWA don't think that 
they'll ever need it, that's for sure.

> The ECU guild fell apart, yes, however there has been a volunteer run 
> guild still going,
> doing very little with very little money, but it's been there. 
> Hopefully
> this year, with help from the other guilds in WA, it will start getting
> back on it's feet and getting some infrastructure to be able to 
> function
> as a guild and to represent students at ECU (and perhaps try and 
> improve
> their social life on campus? *grin*)

I didn't exactly see ECU split apart at the seams without having a 
Guild with denerro...

May the Guild grow rich, donate money to the Labor party, and be 
outlawed when the Liberals come into power soon.

[RME] ~Coxy