Fury as St Andrews honours Hezbollah backer?!????

[HEED]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2393935,00.html

Has anybody else heard about this at all?? I got a text off my brother back home saying that the truly fanstastic and 'balanced' Fox News Channel were saying thousands of students were taking part in this demonstration, describing the students as "heroes". Im sorry, but am I the only one that never knew about this??

What are your views?

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[Rilla]

"Student leaders" does not necessarily mean st andrews student leaders.



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Be good to yourself because nobody else has the power to make you happy.

[macgamer]

Sounds like a 'cash for honours' agreement to me.

"You give us some expensive books and you can have a Doctor of Laws, even though we don't have a Law School anymore."

[[James]]

Apparently the protest is an NUS thing, with one of their people claiming "there will definitely be a protest". Really? This is not an NUS university, as far as I'm aware.

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http://www.auditmypc.com/freescan/antispam.html

[[James]]

Besides, aren't we meant to be busy protesting on Tony Blair's arrival in town as well?

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http://www.auditmypc.com/freescan/antispam.html

[Irish Frank]

Quite belligerent of the NUS to stage a demonstration in a university where it is widely reviled. I'd be surprised if it drew many St Andrews students to it, they will probably ship in students from other universities.

Its tempting to think about an anti-NUS demonstration, which would certainly attract more St Andrews students than their anti-Khatami media stunt.

Why did they sit on their hands for 3 months over the whole AUT/Lecturer's Fees fiasco, then get mobilising when Khatami lands in St Andrews? Did anybody hear even a soundbite from the NUS during that mess? Where were they?

[Batman]

Quoting Irish Frank from 11:31, 10th Oct 2006
Quite belligerent of the NUS to stage a demonstration in a university where it is widely reviled. I'd be surprised if it drew many St Andrews students to it, they will probably ship in students from other universities.

Its tempting to think about an anti-NUS demonstration, which would certainly attract more St Andrews students than their anti-Khatami media stunt.

Why did they sit on their hands for 3 months over the whole AUT/Lecturer's Fees fiasco, then get mobilising when Khatami lands in St Andrews? Did anybody hear even a soundbite from the NUS during that mess? Where were they?

Sums the NUS up quite nicely i think

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Have you ever danced with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight!

[iab2]

Irish Frank sums them up nicely. How dare they speak for us.

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I am Insanity Prawn Boy, I am on the moon!

[rob 'f*ck off' wine boy]

“The honour was conferred only after the widest consultation with experts in modern Iran, both in academia and beyond.”

I wished they had expanded on that - they give plenty of people who are against, yet poor Ansari (who I am sure featured in an article in Time magazine criticising "Ahmadinejad’s hardline regime")is on his own to defend the action - would they care to be more biased?

I'd agree that this is the NUS capitalising on something that is barely any of their business. Once again many people from the West are aghast that in other parts of the world are less enlightened than we, the most magnanimous and wise West. I think to decry the man opening the institute is to miss the point of the institute itself.

(editted to repair syntax)

[Freaker]

It took months of organising to get 250 people out for the last political demonstration - Ethical Investment last november. It took an issue that was extremely close and personal to get students out on the streets the last time at the end of last semester with the AUT strike. And those two were organised from within St Andrews.

I do wonder how anyone from outside can dream of bringing together hundreds of students in St Andrews when hardly a quarter of students turn up to association elections and most students probably don't even know who Khatami is, not to mention what it would be they would be protesting against.

Unless they encourage people from NUS unis to come to stage a protest here though. I'd like to see them try that. Now wouldn't that be fun!

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I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.

[harmless loony]

Does the Union have a plan of action should NUS come and invade our territory? Shouldnt someone from the Union be releasing a statement about the protest by NUS - ie: whether they are in agreement or not, etc etc........

I absolutely hate it when NUS interfere with our business and make it look like they're standing up for the rights of St Andrews students - they shud go bogg off back to the Labour ministers' jacksies from whence they came and leave St Andrews in peace.

I'm sure from past experience if St A students were bothered - they'd do something about it - but quite obv most students are not bothered so students and almunus don't need NUS championing causes on our behalf.

*rant over*

[Nick82]

Does anyone actually object to the confering of this honory degree.
I agree that it's none of NUS business but do any St Andrews students actually feel he shouldn't get it.

[HEED]

Quoting Nick82 from 13:00, 10th Oct 2006
Does anyone actually object to the confering of this honory degree.
I agree that it's none of NUS business but do any St Andrews students actually feel he shouldn't get it.

In the words of Sid the Sexist "ah cudnt give a f**k man"

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[Senethro]

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Heed, can you change your sig image? The animation makes my computer stutter :<



If we play nice with the less fuck-witted ones, maybe the more fuckwitted ones will behave better. Encourage good behaviour, rather than invade bad behaviour.

I'm speaking about foreign politicians, not the NUS here.


TBH, I see this as a totally different thing from whatever he did as a politician. If hes helped academia along, give him an academic award. its not like we're giving him the Nobel for Being a Nice Chap, is it?

[Jono]

As much as I hate to admit it, The NUS do seem to be on the right rails with this one. Which is more than can be said for our own elected officials.

End of the day we're talking about a guy implicated in human rights abuses being given implicit support by our university. Worse, If it weren't for them kicking up a stink, this shit would have passed under the radar.

Why isn't our illustrious leader vocally protesting over this?
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[exnihilo]

Well, this may surprise some people, but I have no problems with this award, and I think that it is - as it so often is - unproductive for papers and TV stations to cite The Board of Deputies of British Jews (or the British Muslim Council) as though they in any way represented Jewish (or Muslim) opinion. Neither one does, they're both pressure groups, and this looks a lot like a storm in a teacup. Again. Although I do wish the University could be more circumspect in awarding degrees quite so hot on the heels of large cash payments.

Still, gratifying to see no reference to Prince William in the article.


(BTW there's absolutely no reason not to award a higher, or honorary, degree in laws just because there's no faculty. Honoraries are just that and highers are assessed on a body of submitted work, both of which Senate are quite competent to do.)

[flarewearer]

Quoting Senethro from 13:25, 10th Oct 2006
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Heed, can you change your sig image? The animation makes my computer stutter :<

Why don't you get with the times, use firefox, and adblock out that image (and the sinner's ads while you're at it, it's not like you'll ever click on them)

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[Lid]

There was a lengthy discussion at the last SRC with various members of the IR department, some Iranian, and the SRC decided to fully support the University in awarding.

At the end of the day, the NUS can protest all the hell they like. I fail to see what an invasion of people from other universities will do.

See http://www.yourunion.net/news/index.php ... ws_id=2147 for the full SRC statement.

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We are not drunks, we are multi-millionaires

[Dave the Explosive Newt]

There seems to be a furore whipped up over the crimes Khatami has supposedly been implicated in - the majority of human rights abuses that occured in his country (including, I believe, the imprisonment of that student) did not occur when he was in power. Khatami kept a great deal of the religious fanatics that otherwise hold sway over there under control by promoting a strongly liberal agenda and his time in office was a much better period than that of his predecessors and successors.

Quite far from doing nothing about this subject, our elected officials have spent a great deal of time and effort finding out the facts and coming to a balanced (and, in my opinion, correct) conclusion rather than allowing themselves to be swayed into action by a vocal minority. If only the same could be said about the NUS...

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Mmmmmmm, cake.
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[harmless loony]

oooh good - glad the Union have been up to something - perhaps it is worth making it more public - media and email to students so as to stop NUS nicking their headlines. It'd be egg in the face of NUS if the Student Association publically declared their viewpoint to the media (although this may have already happened and you may have been on scottish news - apologies in that case cos I'm stuck in England!)

It is nice to see that the Union is becoming more vocal and active in supporting students and causes eg: EI and the NUT strike protest - long may this work continue!