Editorial - 26
It finally happened! The lumbering elephant in the corner, the symbol of freedom, the subject of doomsday proclamations, the cause of the nearing apocolypse. Yep, the notorious VSM passed through its third reading last Wednesday.
To be honest, I’m secretly quite relieved. Not because the bill necessarily brings liberty and rainbows to the students as suggested by ACT on Campus, but because it’s wonderful to finally have some certainty, and to finally put the VSM debates to rest. Two years of will she, won’t she has been a tiresome and destabilising road for students (not to mention fairly boring). And, because you likely share my frustration with the ongoing nature of the bill, I promise that this is the very, very last editorial in which I’ll attempt to make the bill that shall not be named interesting.
So, putting the rhetoric aside, how will the bill affect you? Well, things won’t be changing overnight. The bill that shall not be named will come into effect on the first of January next year, which means that when you enrol in a university, you won’t automatically become part of the students’ association; instead, you’ll have to make the tick yourself. OUSA voted last week to have zero levies for next year, which means becoming a member will be free. It’s not that OUSA think their services are worth diddly-squat, it’s more a come-one-come-all measure.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. OUSA is currently in negotiations to get the University to contract for some of their services. If the University agrees, they are likely to put up their own levies to compensate (this is what Auckland University did). If the University isn’t into the whole contracting shebang, OUSA’s funding will substantially decrease, and the OUSA services will be stripped down. You can see the worst case scenario in the proposed OUSA budget.
But enough of this OUSA stuff (unfortunately, there’s quite a lot of it within our glossy pages this week, what with the OUSA elections and all. Soz). Last weekend was also the Oscar awards of student journalism; the Aotearoa Student Press Awards (ASPAs). The Critic team cleaned up big time, taking home 5 first places, 4 second places and 3 third places, and winning 2nd best student publication in the country. Special congratulations to our lovely first place getters: Charlotte Greenfield, Gregor Whyte, Aimee Gulliver, Joe Stockman, Teiula Fuatai and Andrew Oliver (finally, the much talked about Dr Z, the man behind “Fear and loathing in North East Valley”, is unveiled.). I am super proud of the whole Critic team’s hard work. You guyz are just the best.
Lots of love,
Julia Hollingsworth