Opinions / The Conservatory
recent Opinions/The Conservatory
by Edward Greig | 2:47 am, 20/09/2010
Michael Laws leapt in to control the possible story over his apparently scandalous relationship and resulting text messages. His claims of there being political motivation behind the story seem a little odd, though. As Laws is not running for Mayor of Whanganui again, the only person with political motivation I can see is from Laws himself. Seeking to gain maximum exposure, and possibly gain some sympathy, Laws may have reached the point of no return in the belief no publicity is bad publicity.
by Edward Greig | 2:15 am, 23/08/2010
An increase in regulations promoting warmer houses may be populist, but it isn’t necessarily good for everyone, nor is government support actually needed for good housing.
by Edward Greig | 11:28 pm, 22/08/2010
Weeks like this don’t come often enough between elections. By now, Chris Carter will probably be gone from the Labour Party, and it’s certain that he signed the death warrant in his own handwriting.
by Edward Greig | 2:05 am, 09/08/2010
Writing from the past, I can’t determine the full fall-out and final result, but for now I am celebrating the recent OUSA referendum result.
by Edward Greig | 1:21 am, 26/07/2010
Following their investment of settlement funds and businesses, iwi are becoming economic powerhouses. It is time that the government recognised this and took advantage of this large pool of capital.
The Conservatory - 18
by Edward Greig | 2:05 am 09/08/2010
Writing from the past, I can’t determine the full fall-out and final result, but for now I am celebrating the recent OUSA referendum result.
Firstly it is about time the Executive was reduced in size, as 17 members is now beyond ridiculous, and a move to online SGMs can only increase the student voice.
Part of the original problem with the Executive was the balance that student associations try to work between representation of the so-called student body opinion and management of their assets and delivery of services for the benefit of their members. That these two roles must be within the same organisation and under the same control is more out of coincidence than necessity.
Increasing efficiency is a good thing; there is nothing wrong with fewer people being involved in the decisions made at the top level, and now that all Executive members are more accountable to the entire student body there should be increased confidence in the decisions. Contrary to the cries of opponents, there is nothing inherently wrong with OUSA being run as a company, especially with regard to service delivery.
The removal of a large number of special interest group elected positions is a great move. The power that comes with the ability to elect someone directly to the Executive to look after your own little group, however worthy in principle, inevitably resulted in representative-envy from other interest groups on campus. After all, why should one group get special representation, and effectively an extra vote on Exec decisions, and other groups be denied this? Portfolio allocation to at-large elected officers allows every student’s vote to remain equal.
Retaining specific portfolios for special interest groups seems a little counteractive to the general thrust of the reforms, though. International students, despite having their own recognised representative body on campus, still retain the benefit of a specific portfolio on the Executive. Surely these specific responsibilities fall under the Welfare head already, and this is just asking for new portfolios to be added in coming years.
Online SGMs will hopefully work to prevent meetings being hijacked by an interest group, and allow a clearer picture of where students stand on issues – at least, the students who care. Allowing online voting means those who have classes around midday are no longer disenfranchised, and means easier voting for more students. They will by no means ensure that the turn-out to elections increases, but making it easier to vote can only encourage it. Student politics will still be run by the few and for the few, but hopefully those few who are involved will increase.
