MMUnion Goes Governance

MMUnion's sovereign body, Student Council, unanimously voted on Tuesday to accept the proposals of the union's governance review.

In the two and a half hour meeting, proposals for amendments were also voted on, including to include a no platform policy banning people holding fascist or racist views from standing for election, or speak at meetings of the union.

The new constitution has to be agreed by the university's Board of Governors in October before it is able to be put into operation, however if they do pass the proposals then Tuesday's meeting of Student Council will have been the last ever at MMUnion.

The members of Student Council (including myself) who haven't got a position in the union in the next academic year, and who will still be students of the university, can remain active in the union by participating in the Student Forums and sub-groups created by the new structure, as can every other student in the university.

What a momentous occasion and I was proud to be in the chair of the meeting that it happened.

JR

The End of Student Respect?

Respect have been wiped out in their flagship union of Manchester, and failed to stand in many elections across the country, as their support has dried up. Why is this? Have students decided to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Probably not. More likely it's Student Respect's domestic policy (if you can call it that).

Apart from their position against the NUS Governance Review, they have general disagreement with the NUS leadership, probably because they want it, where they oppose anything they say. It's opposition for opposition's sake.

But the worst crime against representation of the students, must be forgetting to fight for the rights of students as students. Things like library opening times, exam conditions and student finance. Where's the campaigns on certain universities failing to award bursaries to students who need them?

Student Respect will be finished within a year unless they change their direction to include "normal" students in who they represent.

JR

Election Week

It's the week of the MMUnion elections and I think I've just caught the election bug.

Hustings are today and voting starts tomorrow! (Remember to vote Students First)

I'm re-standing for Chair of Student Council, so wish me luck!

More info at the Students First website.

See ya

JR

Election Dates Announced

Yes, they're out! The 2008 MMUnion Executive Committee Elections will be held from 4th to 6th March.

Check out the poster (it should be noted that the dates on this version of the poster are wrong)!


Nominations close 25th February.

JR

Governance

I've got Student Council tonight. We are having a discussion about the union's governance review, which should be very interesting. I obviously have ideas of my own, but I'm interested to hear what others think.

A question I'd like to pose is whether we should have a full time Sports & Societies Officer, or two part time officers? Should non-sabbaticals be elected from within their own liberation groups, rather than cross-campus ballot? Should we even have an executive committee any more!?

These questions and more will be asked (although maybe not answered).

More soon.

JR

Why do we call the far left crazy?

Simple really. They are so partisan that when faced with very simple, and seemingly uncontroversial, proposals from anyone other than themselves, they argue and vote against them.

Now I'm not talking about the NUS governance review here, but a motion submitted to the University of Manchester Students' Union's own Union Council about arrangements for the forthcoming executive elections.

The proposals were; a polling station in Owens Park (the major halls of residence of the university), allowing online campaigning, and video recording hustings and putting them online. They were all defeated.

Even before the meeting, the opponents were calling the proposals "undemocratic". What a load of bull crap! How can widening participation in elections possibly be undemocratic (short of violence or threat).

So who are the opponents to this sensible set of proposals? You've guessed it, it's the crazy far left idiots, Student Respect! Just for the record, if there was a bus headed for the real world, I'd happily pay the fare for each and every one of them!

Thank goodness there's not so many crazy people down the road!

JR

Working Late and Upcoming Vote

Good afternoon bloging fans!

Last night wasn't very busy in the union while I was working, in fact half the staff were sent home at midnight! I give the night three more weeks before it's cancelled.

There's elections next week for the NUS Conference Delegation and I'm standing (which is all I'm allowed to tell you about myself). There are 34 candidates for 18 positions, so the race will be tight!

More on that next week.

JR

Hello

Welcome to my first ever blog post. Check back here to see what I've been getting up to recently. You never know, you might even find it interesting!

Everything from my radio show and me playing Cricket to my student union work and NUS stuff.

Thanks for reading.

JR