Out of a job!

Well comrades, that's it, I have handed over to new general secretary Sarah Woodvine and all that is left to do is help her get to grips with the role.

Throughout my year as gen sec I have placed my focus on two things that go hand in hand, union democracy and communicating that to students.

Whether it was blogging or live minutes from the final SGM being shown in JC's I have tried to get the hard the work that the union is doing out to students.

In truth I was barely able to scratch the surface of exciting new ways to communicate directly with our members but I hope I have got people thinking outside the box.


Campaigning for gen sec with housemates

As general secretary I also had to chair the officer responsibility group, which involves the unenviable task of collecting complaints about the sabbatical officers from any student. In hindsight I could have dealt with this responsibility better and perhaps the frankness of my report was not the best approach to take.

I wish I could continue the work I started as general secretary but I can't wait to get stuck into the role of education officer in earnest from July 1st and I have no doubt new general secretary, Sarah Woodvine, will do a great job and hopefully benefit from some of the lessons I have learnt this year.

For now, as a technically unemployed member of the students' union, I wish my sole regular reader of this blog, whoever you are and if you haven't given up reading it yet, a great summer.

Needless to say there is a more ambitious blogging project in the pipeline!

Hwyl!

The referendum question - no good time for Swansea Union

“Do you want the Assembly to have the power now to pass laws on all the subjects which are devolved to Wales?

1. YES

2. NO”

This is the question that First Minister Carwyn Jones sent new Secretary of State for Wales (and Chesham and Amersham) Cheryl Gillan for her approval.
If she agrees with the question we can then move on to setting a date for the referendum.




There is plenty of debate currently occurring about whether the question is right and what date the referendum should be held on amongst politicians, experts and the twitterati.

Thankfully there is no debate about what stance the students’ union will be taking on the forthcoming referendum – the students’ union, pending a motion to SGM, will throw its full weight behind the ‘yes campaign’.

In the 1997 vote on whether there should be a Welsh Assembly Swansea voted yes, just about. 53% said yes and 47% no, with the margins this fine, the student body could decide whether Swansea votes yes or no this time.

So when could our students’ union make the most positive impact on the yes campaign?

October 2010

A referendum in October this year seems to be the First Ministers choice, but how much time would people find to campaign for a yes vote in the mayhem of fresher’s fortnight and its aftermath?



There will be many Ents shaped distractions for students and our staff will be just about recovering from the stress of whatever joys the busiest two weeks in the calendar has served them up.

Maybe we could combine welcome speeches with rip roaring political addresses asking our new intake and their grannies that have come to help them move their stuff in, to vote yes.

March 2011

Well how about the romantic patriotic option of a March 1st referendum? Although, that has been tried before in 1979 when the people of Wales voted no, and not for the first time in our history conspired to end our own existence.

The referendum would either be held on Wales national day, March 1st, or because elections are always on Thursdays, March 3rd is another possible date, which is close enough to St David’s day for the yes campaign to ride on the wave of patriotism.



But assuming that the students’ union sticks to our 2010 timetable, a March 3rd referendum would be on the day that the sabbatical elections are launched.

With a large bulk of union activists of all political colours time being taken up preparing their own sabbatical campaign or helping friends, either way a lot of potential yes activists could be a little pre occupied.

May 5th, 2011

The last and least likely option is to hold the referendum on the same day as the Welsh general election on May 5th.

It isn’t hard to imagine that students involved in political parties would put the referendum on the back burner in order to campaign for their party.

With all four party’s supposed to be campaigning together for a yes vote this could be disastrous to our efforts in a national and union context.

Added to this that May is exam season and you have a recipe for total apathy for the referendum.

So all in all…

There seems no good time to hold a referendum if your Swansea University Students’ Union.

The fact that all of the dates hold serious perils for our efforts in the yes campaign means that we will have to put time and effort into preparing our contribution to the yes campaign in Swansea and the country.

But on a positive note our union was number one in Wales for promoting the ‘Vote for Students’ campaign in the Westminster elections, in now small part down to Luke Young’s energy for the campaign.

And with similar preparation I am sure we can beat all these set backs and provide just as positive a boost to the yes campaign, whenever we’re needed.

Live SGM banter blog - get involved!

Student General Meeting, Faraday A, 6pm



Tomorrow I will be blogging live from the SGM with the hope of taking union democracy to the (a few more) people.

The blog will start with the SGM at 6pm, keeping everyone up to date with the Students' Unions hot topics.

You can get involved in the blog, whether you're are there, at home or in JC's, by tweeting your views on what is being discussed and including the hashtag #swanseasgm

Keep up with events by viewing the blog here or at www.swansea-union.co.uk

To view the blog simply hover your mouse over the play symbol on the blog below from 6pm.

If you are going to the SGM then you can view the blog again anytime on either website.

Executive elections: new faces, new challenges

The Observer’s feature on Westminster’s new faces got me thinking about the fresh faced executive the Students’ Union will have come late on Tuesday night.

As if everyone hadn’t had enough of elections; their were some bleary eyes round Mandela House on Friday morning and most students don’t look back fondly on the campaign gauntlet laid down on the mall during sabbatical election week, Tuesday brings the Students’ Union executive elections.

Twenty-two students will be campaigning to try and convince you they are the right person to elect to one of the 12 positions that need to be filled for next year.

Those lucky enough to be elected, who will no doubt seek advice on how to be a good officer, could do worse than taking heed to the advice dished out in today’s Observer article.

Former Labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley, speaking about finding his way as a newly elected MP way back in 1964 says: “avoid veneration. Respect is essential, but revereance encourages the belief that parliament is important in itself. It’s a workshop not a shrine.”

Basically, you’re on the exec to do a job, represent your fellow students, not to get friendly and comfortable with the SU’s political leadership, hang out on level 3 and have a picture of your mug on the stairs.


Don't let your face get to your head

Hattersley advices new MP’s to have the courage of their convictions and that simple message can be applied to new exec members. Remember that you were elected as an individual to represent students, not as part of a team and sometimes you need to speak up even if it will cause an argument with someone you like and respect.

But at the same time Hattersley says “a member who constantly does the whip’s bidding becomes as ridiculous as one who rebels three times a week for no better reason than hope of notoriety.”

For those not familiar with political language, a whip is someone responsible for making MP’s of a certain party all vote the same way – for the team.

What Hattersley says is as relevant to the exec as it is to MP’s. If you come in with an axe to grind and are set on voting against a certain group of exec members or one member then you will quickly become ridiculous and unhelpful to union democracy, probably finding yourself on the receiving end of a boot out the door next election.

But at the same time a “good House of Commons man or woman” type person in the executive, who always votes with a group or person on the exec, is just at useless.

From my experience Hattersley is right, sometimes you need to be a team player, be flexible and stand with your fellow executive members and sometimes you need to rebel and stand firm for what you believe in.

The Labour man says in Westminster the only amenity he enjoyed “was my own coat hook” and he worked where ever he could find desk space and paid for his own phone calls.

New exec members might get a hoody but certainly don’t get a coat hook and shouldn’t be looking forward to any exciting freebies.

There is no queue jump for Tooters, no name or position dropping for tickets or free sandwiches allowance at Level 2 Spar, the only privilege you get is representing the interests of your fellow students.

Although with the quality of candidates that are standing that is no doubt the only privilege they seek.

But the most salient advice from the feature comes from Stoke-on Trent’s new MP Tristram Hunt who say’s come election day “one (vote) is enough; the rest is ego” but after your election you’re there to work hard for the people that put their trust in you and there is no room for ego in that.

Everyone should hear that advice now and again.

Peter May, Labour, HMO's and the election - TAKE 2

So Labour's Geraint Davies has been elected in Swansea West and Peter May, villified over his views on students living in the community, has been edged out.

I posted an entry yesterday highlighting the fact that the difference in politicians views on HMO's was not necessarily different between parties but people.



I've noticed quite a few Facebook status updates aimed at Peter May's record on HMO's or homes of multiple occupancy to the council - so to you and me a student house - in the last few days.

Naturally in this key marginal of Swansea West Labour supporters want to make the most of their oppositions weak spots.

But I can remember the HMO argument raging back in early 2009 when I covered it for a Waterfront front page.

The headline, a quote from a Swansea councillor read - Students 'would be better in hostels'.



A public gaffe from Counciller May? Nope. It was Labour Party councillor Derek James who called students "the transient population" who should be "housed in hostels".

James said: "In a country that presumably has a housing shortage, it is criminal to lose eminently suitable two and three bedroom family houses to a transient popultion more easily house in hostels."

After what I remember as a very, very lengthy chat to Peter May over the phone in response, which I then had to listen back to again, he said: "Whilst students should have a choice there should be a distribution. A consequence of the uncontrolled growth that's happened is seen in the summer when it's a very quiet area indeed."

"One of the most poignant things you can see is at Christmas time where you can go into streets in Brynmill where you're lucky to see one window decorated with Christmas lights."

"It's got to the point where if we tried to get a mass exodus of students from the Brynmill area you would have the problem of converted properties that no-one wants to buy."

So May's words arn't quite as bad as the Labour man, but then again Derek James is not the Labour candidate in this election and Peter May would have been well aware of the audience he was speeking to through the Waterfront.

Sources I trust have told me May isn't being totally straight here and wants to seperate students from the community.

But I have no agenda here, just thought it was a relevant time to fish this out of the archives.

MP for the University of Wales?

The hugely successful Vote for Students campaign run by the National Union of Students means that students in many seats may just hold the balance of power between candidates, forcing them come clean on where they stand on tuition fees and other important issues.

The scheme makes our MP’s accountable to students once again, but could we do better? How about a MP just for Welsh Universities?

From 1918 to 1950 that is exactly what we had. The University of Wales returned one MP to Westminster in a first past the post system, with the electorate consisting of graduates of the University.



Liberal candidate Herbert Lewis was the first elected to the new seat in 1918, defeating Mrs H Mackenzie by 563 votes – the electorate was a mere 1,066.

But Swansea votes didn’t count until the 1922 election when Thomas Lewis, who fought the election from his nursing home, was elected only to die a year later at 41.

The Liberals held the seat from its creation in 1918 until it was abolished in 1950. Although both Liberal MP’s were also members of the Welsh home rule movement Cymru Fydd.

And William Gruffydd, who held the seat from 1942 until 1950, was also the vice-president of Plaid Cymru until a feud broke out when he stood against the Swansea University academic and founder of the party Saunders Lewis.

Whatever happens this time I doubt we will see representation like that again.

The Police and the party

As an enthusiastic connoisseur of all things alcohol related I was pleased to hear about some plucky freshers organising a house party in the village that has already gained semi legendary status.

But then there was some news from the police. It would have been no surprise if Sting and the boys had got wind of this gathering from America and announced they would be rocking up to provide music for the over 1000 strong guest list on Facebook.

Unfortunately the Police in question were the boys in blue who have allegedly decided to contact the party organiser to kindly inform them that should the party go ahead they could incur a fine of up to £10,000 and face being booted out of university.

A few things strike me about this intervention. Firstly, did the university estates bosses just happen to come across this Facebook event or are MI5 not busy enough at the moment.

Secondly and more seriously, what happened to the right of assembly? Last time I checked getting a 1000 people together in a four bedroom house didn’t constitute a crime.



But in all honesty this is far from a human rights tragedy and the police and the University have probably done the organisers a favour putting the breaks on before hand.

Trying to explain your way out of couple of grand’s worth of damage when its all over and everyone’s gone home would be more challenging than a degree in Medicine.

Plus there's always the distinct possibility that nobody turns up, an event from my first year springs to mind, and that's never nice for the organiser - word tends to get around on the quasi automous state of Hendrefoeland Student Village.

Although judging by the Facebook message, which says they have people in Germany now facing a night in watching the Pobl y Cwm omnibus after it was called off, that probably isn't the case here.

All in all though best not to get your house destroyed. But, if or when the university finally sell the village to developers, an impromptu festival to see off the village would surely be the only right thing to do!