Features

You probably don’t realise, walking around campus all rugged up in your puffer jacket, that the world is going to end. It’s not the Mayan calendar, Global Warming, or thermo-nuclear war that’s going to take us all out. There is a tiny little bill in front of parliament right now that has the power to destroy the entire world.

Or at least Radio One. Apocalypse or not, the Voluntary Student Membership Bill further threatens Otago’s already under siege student culture. And it looks like the first head on the chopping block is going to be Radio One. Confused? Come now with Joe Stockman on a journey into the dark heart of student politics, libertarianism, and the future of student services at Otago.
 
VSM, coming to a Union near you…
Voluntary Student Membership, or VSM, is an idea based on the right of voluntary association (read John Locke’s “A Letter Concerning Toleration” if you feel like boning up on the ethics of the argument). It is a tenuous argument in the case of student associations. There are existing provisions to allow individuals members to apply to get out. Yet Act MP Heather Roy introduced a private members bill requiring that all student unions be voluntary, based as she says, on principles rather than considered outcomes.
The Bill has reached its third reading in parliament, however Labour and the Greens are preventing its third reading by filibustering, a common parliamentary technique of talking everyone to death. This is however, a short term fix. Unless the government of the day decides to abandon reading the Bill, eventually it must come before the parliament, and third readings are usually little more than ceremonial. If Critic were a gambler, they’d be beating on VSM.* 
 
PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that student unions will lose 73-48% of their revenue stream under VSM. Student levies make up 83% of OUSA’s nearly 2.5million dollar budget (the rest is produced by assets such as the University Book Shop). History suggests that student unions will in fact lose this entire revenue stream under VSM. Both Waikato’s student union (WSU) and Auckland University’s student union (AUSA) attempted to charge for membership following their own student initiated moves to VSM, and both saw membership plummet by over 90%. Student services were slashed as both unions struggled to survive massive financial shortfalls. AUSA eventually established free membership for all Auckland Uni students, and is contracted by the University (which raises its funds for this contract through a student levy) to provide what amounts to critical services to the student population.
 
OUSA is for winners
You’re probably wondering how OUSA manages to burn through $2.5million dollars, so let’s go now into the minutiae of the OUSA budget… No, I kid, but let’s outline the basics. OUSA has two functions; a student executive that governs the association and represents student’s interests at the university and government level; and a service side that provides students with relevant and otherwise unavailable services. For $180 per year every student gets equal access to all of OUSA’s services, representation and support. Half the budget gets spent on student services like Unipol, Clubs and Soc’s, Radio One, Critic, the Aquatic Centre, Squash club, etc. Another third gets spent on “capital expenditure” (buying or upgrading assets), while a measly 8% gets spent on representation.
 
It is OUSA’s services that are threatened by VSM. There will always be geeky (I mean awesome) students that want to sit on the executive board to get experience of student politics - or fluff their C.V.s - and they will do it for free if no one is going to pay them. But services cost money, and if OUSA is suddenly $2million dollars short, they will start disappearing. OUSA hasn’t been sitting on their hands. In May 2011 they employed Deloitte, an international accountancy and consultancy firm, to assess the impact on OUSA from the projected loss of funds resulting from VSM. Deloitte got back to OUSA on Monday with their report. Deloitte made a few minor recommendations to alter some in house positions at OUSA. And they recommended one other thing too; selling Radio One.
 
It’s Planet Media!
Come with me now to Planet Media. No seriously, it’s a real thing. OUSA owns Planet Media ltd, and Planet Media in turn owns Radio One and Critic, costing OUSA roughly $172,000 every year. It might sound strange that owning businesses is costing OUSA money, but they were separated from OUSA proper to provide protection from either declaring bankruptcy. Neither is intended to turn a profit; their aim is to provide a valuable service to OUSA’s members. They do attempt to make money to cover their costs, but are constrained by the small size of their demographic, and university imposed restrictions on their advertising. Radio One is in fact specifically prevented from covering its own costs. Its license states that only half of its total budget is may be garnered through advertising. The rest must be provided by fundraising, sponsorship, or from a parent organisation (like OUSA).
 
This seems to have been lost on Deloitte. Radio One cannot be sold. Rick Julian from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage explains that the non-commercial broadcasting license that Radio One holds is of no commercial benefit. If OUSA were to transfer the license to another operator “OUSA would remain bound to continue to oversee the license, and could not benefit commercially from its transfer,” Rick says. While the tangible assets of Radio One could be sold, Radio One Station Manager Sean Norling suggests that the total value of their assets might raise a few thousand dollars, if anyone would buy it.
So it can’t be sold, but it can be shut down. Radio One has silenced their regular hosts and musical output for a week to show Otago students what life will be like without them. Norling argues that Radio One “plays a crucial role in the media landscape of New Zealand … and championing the emerging artists of Otago.” And this is the failure of the Deloitte review. It has measured the financial worth of Radio One, but not its value to the student community. OUSA played loose and fast with the truth on its website, describing the estimated annual cost of Radio One ($108,000, a figure disputed by Radio One) as a deficit. Norling insists that Radio One is in fact operating well within its budget.
OUSA has just begun its internal consultations with affected staff (they retrospectively decided to ask students generally to make submissions about the future of Radio One). Which brings us to a very important point, no individual has the power to sell or close Radio One; the decision rests with the Executive as a whole. The future of Radio One remains very strongly with the students. In fact, until the VSM bill is enacted, OUSA has no interest in, and no mandate to, sell or end Radio One.
 
Logan Edger vs the world
Newly minted OUSA President Logan Edgar received a rousing welcome to the world of student politics with the news of the threat to Radio One. Edgar made some rookie errors, staking out a strong position against Radio One while responding to a Critic thread on facebook, “…it's bullshit that radio one has received the funding (a v large amount of student money) for as long as it has while only being relevant to a hand-full of Scarfies … I'm sure 99.99% of students would rather watch paint dry than listen to (Radio One)” wrote Edgar. Yet after the “Save Radio One” facebook page reached over 2000 members (2,492 at going to print) he demonstrated admirable political flexibility by stating that he actually did support Radio One, and his real gripe was with VSM, which was forcing OUSA into this position.
 
Things got pretty heated on Facebook. But the debate had the usual clash of both cultures and ideologies. Alternative creative types who value Radio One and the unique environment it nurtures, versus mainstream types who feel ripped off having to fund something that they do not use. Communitarians who value social goods and community services, versus libertarian capitalists who want free markets and user pays. There has always been ideological and cultural divides amongst students at Otago. But the election of Edgar has triggered more than the usual animosity. Politically involved students feel cheated that someone who admits running as a joke now heads up an organisation that they feel passionate about. Edgar’s supporters meanwhile suggest that “real Scarfies” are underrepresented at OUSA, and unconsidered in the associations thinking.
Luckily, cooler heads prevailed. Francisco Hernandez, OUSA’s colleges and communications officer, helpfully reminded the Facebook thread that Logan was in fact, not Hitler; a valuable contribution. And Logan got back to enacting his popularist approach to student government, organising a Re-Oweek of protest action against VSM on the university lawn, including gigs, laser/light shows, political debates, and Edgar himself imprisoned on the Union Lawn for 48hrs.
 
 
The End is Nigh…
There are ways to ensure the survival of OUSA, and to continue to provide many of the services and functions that are so integral to a positive university experience. OUSA won’t comment on any of their other plans for living in a VSM world, and neither will the University, so it’s unclear whether there is a super-secret plan to deal with VSM, or whether the extent of their thinking is to close Radio One and think happy thoughts. The VSM debate isn’t over, but just like global warming, the planning to deal with it needs to
start now. The debate has certainly begun.
 
* The Bill will return to parliament next year for its third reading, despite Heather Roys retirement. 
 
 
 
 
To get involved in the debate on the future of Radio One, Critic suggests emailing your thoughts to OUSA at consultation@ousa.org.nz by 29 July 2011.