After begging students to submit questions for the biannual OUSA referendum, the Exec has slashed the final list of 103 questions to just 19. Students will soon be invited to flex their democratic muscles and vote a hearty “yes”, disapproving “no” or an apathetic “I dunno” to each question from May 26 to May 28.
The OUSA Referendum is one big exercise in student outreach from the Executive. They were elected by the student body (well, 12.7% of it) last October as the representatives, and have been merrily meeting once weekly to meet the demands of their constituents – without a whole lot of “demand” involved. For instance, bold political postures have been made with nary a whisper of input outside of the Exec bullpen (lest we forget OUSA’s anti-Dominos BDS saga).
The Referendum’s quest for students’ input isn’t as simple as walking around campus with a megaphone and a clipboard. Like most Exec processes, there’s a healthy amount of jargon and bureaucratic hoops to jump through before everyone sits in one room to chat about it. First, the Exec welcomed students to submit their questions. Then Critic penned a last-minute news piece about how little advertising there was and the Exec bothered their mates and late-night Central Library studiers the night before the deadline on May 2nd.
The next step was to whittle down the questions, which proved to be somewhat controversial at the May 7th Exec meeting. After the Great Question Panic, somehow the Exec had 103 questions to cut down to just 19 – including a token “silly” one to be cool and relatable. For the better part of an hour, the Exec went one by one through the list either green-lighting or slashing as they went in what Clubs and Socs Rep Deborah dubbed to be a “ruthless” process that left her questioning if OUSA should be more proactive in helping students write their questions. Critic Te Ārohi kept note of the best green, orange, and red lights.
MOST POPULAR:
There were the typical ten questions asking whether OUSA should bring back more student bars (which students will probably vote “yes” to for the millionth time). It’s been a hot topic for years since Starters Bar took a knee, and with the recent demolition of the former bar’s corpse, students are still yearning for a place to piss-up without the dusty Sunday flat clean up. The second most popular question with three submissions asked whether OUSA should decrease the price of saunas from $6 to $4, which the cash-strapped Exec were not in favour of – every sweaty dollar counts.
TEA:
Three particular questions were especially juicy: whether OUSA should adopt BDS, be allowed to accept alcohol company sponsorship, and if the Exec should endorse candidates in the upcoming local body elections. The first was especially important to include in the referendum as part of the “review” of OUSA’s BDS posture (essentially removing any financial link to the state of Israel committing genocide in Gaza) that caused BDS-listed Dominos to be turned away from Tent City this year, despite the franchise owner claiming to not have links to Israel. The incident landed President Liam in some hot water with some strongly-worded complaints from students, so they’re canvassing student opinion in the referendum.
The latter was off the back of a tense Exec meeting where some members were in strong opposition to a proposal that they back certain candidates in the local body elections – a meeting where Critic reported that Liam would be willing to back away from outright endorsing people. As for the alcohol sponsorship, the Exec practically salivated at the idea of being able to be the next brand ambassadors for booze companies targeting the student market – sometimes to the point of literally using a Castle Street flat as a billboard.
SILLY:
“Is it ethical for the finance and strategy officer to scam people if the funds are used for betterment of student outcomes?” Daniel Leamy will never escape this one, a call-back to that one time last year when he was scammed out of $1000 by someone posing as then-President Keegan Wells. In all seriousness, Liam asked the Exec, “Who thinks this should be the fun question that we proceed with.” It sadly didn’t make the final cut. Other rejected goofy questions include whether OUSA should have branded scarves (Liam’s personal fave), whether the President be allowed to tickle Grant Robertson once a semester (just no), and if the Exec should have a tree house. In a classic Liam-Stella clash, Liam said he didn’t think it was funny after Stella said it was her favourite question (“there can be a no boys allowed sign!”).
SLASHED:
Any questions relating to University operations, not OUSA, were immediately slashed. Students wanted free language courses, more paper towel dispensers in bathrooms, and evening shuttle services to major campus locations. The slash-spree of seven questions in a row prompted Deborah to point out that perhaps next time it would be helpful to provide students more guidance on questions. “The takeaway from this is that information needs to be more accessible,” she said, explaining that the process of cutting students’ questions seems besides the point of the referendum and “might leave a bad taste in students’ mouths”.
The final list of questions – having been adjusted by lawyers, then readjusted by the Exec – is now available on the OUSA website. There’ll be an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons at a forum on May 20th at 12pm in the Main Common Room. Then the well-informed and politically engaged student body will be invited to vote on each question, open from May 26th to May 28th. Note that the referendum questions aren’t constitutionally binding, meaning that yes they’ll hear you out, but no they don’t have to do what you tell them to. But Critic will be there to nark on them if they try to pull something fishy.