St Andrews NUS referendum 2001/2

[niall]

hey all,

just wondering if anyone knows what the results were in the above referendum when we voted No to join the NUS.

For what it's worth, there is a referendum next week for Strathclyde to leave the NUS, so if you know anyone there, let them know to vote YES to disaffiliate

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[Okocim]

According to an old article on Strathclyde Union's website it was 94% against affiliation. From memory, that sounds about right to me.

[munchingfoo]

Well Niall, they beat you in terms of content in their "No Campaign" youtube video. You can tell the guy is a seasoned speaker.

Other than that, good luck. They seem to have a lot of spin going on, and the support of Edinburgh will be a big vote winner.

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Tired Freudian references aside - your mother played my mighty skin flute like a surf crowned sea nymph trying to rouse Poseidon from his watery slumber!

[niall]

yeh, i know. I'm not a big fan of public speaking!

Unfortunately, they do have that backing, but we're hoping that people will see sense!
That said (litterly just off the phone) we have the support of the GUU and the QMU so thats not so bad!

It also seems that a complaint has been put in by a former Strathclyde president about the No campaign's posters, as they are on the most lies, so lets hope this is upheld and their posters are removed



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[BenEsq]

It was defo 94% no.

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Lions and tigers and bears...Oh my!

[Gealle]

Agreed. I remember voting.

Ah. Those were the days. Wasting association funds on that campaign...

Quoting BenEsq from 12:54, 21st Mar 2007
It was defo 94% no.

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Lions and tigers and bears...Oh my!

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Funky flunky munky...

[David Bean]

I remember voting, too - what a great time that was. It was the only election I can remember when almost literally everyone was on the same side, and the cameraderie outside the polling booth was amazing. W"Are you coming to vote 'no' to the NUS?", was what people would ask one another. Invariably the answer was 'yes'.

Can I ask what, if anything, the Students Association are doing to support our brothers and sisters at Strathclyde in their struggle for liberty? Are we at least sending a bus of campaigners over to help them out? Personally I'd be for funding a campaign of guerilla warfare, but that might not quite get through the SRC...

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Psalm 91:7

[Frank]

Quoting David Bean from 22:37, 21st Mar 2007Personally I'd be for funding a campaign of guerilla warfare

Again, there is a group of assassins in St Andrews. If you can find them...

Anyhow, I've always been keen on a spot of gurrilla campaigning too. Any thoughts/plans from the student leaders out there? Former Master Assassin for hire...

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"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."

[niall]

be carefull, the referendum rules down here state that capaigners should only be matriculated Strathclyde Students. This means i have grounds to appeal the result as NUS cronies are in glasgow already in hotels. If people could have helped, i know that the GUU and QMU would have sent down hoards of people to assist us!

please don't get the referendum invalidated

EDIT: I remember voting too, i jsut couldn't remember the exact result, aside from it being a No one.

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[Frank]

Quoting niall from 08:46, 22nd Mar 2007
please don't get the referendum invalidated :(

Gotcha ;)

Now, where is that list of fake-matriculation-cards-from-other-unis I had lying around...*








* This isn't real. I won't do anything to risk invalidating it :)

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"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."

[Jono]

Yay, disaffiliation!

2001/2. So now that everyone from that bracket is safely graduated,how long before we get forced into wasting more association money on another affiliation campaign?

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[[James]]

I know nothing about the NUS. Nor do I know why most British universities are members and St Andrews is not. Can anyone provide a quick review of the pros and cons?

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[Jono]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_U ... ed_Kingdom

This article should give you a bit of insight, though to my mind incredibly biased in favour of the NUS. The criticisms section is little more than a three paragraphs, when it should be much more substantial. perhaps one of the wikipedia boffs on here could give it a spring-clean.

As far as I'm aware, the main arguments go that it's too expensive, and not worth it. We're members of CHESS already, so we do have national representation. In spite of not being affiliated, we have one of the cheapest unions in Scotland (Though if you count Britain as a whole, we're still pretty pricey).

The main one at the moment is that the NUS exec committee ignores its membership unions in favour of neo-socialist ideals, and left-wing solidarity. This was nicely demonstrated when the issue of lecture strikes last year was ignored by the annual conference, and the execs decided, despite of vocal protest from many affiliated associations, to tacitly support the strike. It's dominated by political factions, and even self-styled independents are almost all card-carrying members of various political parties, including the current President.

Also, If we got in, it'd be almost impossible to get out. Disafilliation is based on criteria almost completely impossible to fulfill in the current climate of student apathy. We'd also have to keep paying our membership fee for a year thereafter even if we did. That, and we'd lose out on discount cards (which I realise doesn't technically bar us from student discounts). Still, there we go!

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[Jono]

Quoting jono from 16:13, 22nd Mar 2007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_U ... ed_Kingdom

This article should give you a bit of insight. To my mind it's incredibly biased in favour of the NUS though. The criticisms section is little more than a three paragraphs, when it should be much more substantial. perhaps one of the wikipedia boffs on here could give it a spring-clean.

As far as I'm aware, the main arguments go that it's too expensive, and not worth it. We're members of CHESS already, so we do have national representation. In spite of not being affiliated, we have one of the cheapest unions in Scotland (Though not if you count Britain as a whole).

The main one is that the NUS exec committee ignores its membership unions in favour of neo-socialist ideals, and left-wing solidarity. This was nicely demonstrated when the issue of lecture strikes last year was ignored by the annual conference, and the execs decided, in spite of vocal protest from many affiliated associations, to tacitly support the strike. It's dominated by political factions, and even self-styled independents are almost all card-carrying members of various political parties, including the current President.


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[Okocim]

My current university is a member of NUS and I'm baffled as to what the benefits of it are. OK, so the union reps get training for their role, but it can't be much good because the reps here are far less professional than most in St Andrews. We allegedly get national representation, but so far nobody from the NUS has asked my opinion about anything, not have I recieved any information about what it is they're doing on my behalf. Allegedly, I also get NUS discounts. However I have to pay £10 for the card which works out at far less value for money than my non-NUS snapfax. And.... I can't think of anything else they might be good for. I'd launch a campaign for disaffiliation only it's almost impossible to achieve. St Andrews should never, ever join them. NUS are rubbish.

[David Bean]

Don't forget that you can always 'disaffiliate' unilaterally. I might find myself at a university some time soon doing a professional qualification, but as I have no desire to be connected with the NES (National Empire of Students) but most unions around here are affiliated, I discovered on a close reading of the 1994 Education Act that it is possible to withdraw from the NUS whilst remaining a member of the institution's students' union.

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Psalm 91:7

[Jennifer Loves Chewitts]

Isn't that just the same as saying "ner ner ne-ner ner" or choosing not to buy Kitkats?

Don't the NUS still get the same membership fee from your institution's students' union?

"Here's the same big pile of cash, but hey! you don't have to represent ALL of us!"

[David Bean]

Probably they do, but for me it's a point of principle: I want nothing to do with that organisation, so under no circumstances will I ever consent to being a member. Moreover, if more people did the same, it would put the lie to the NUS's absurd claim to be truly representative of anybody other than the self-interested career hacks who stink up its ranks.

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Psalm 91:7

[niall]

Quoting Okocim from 18:02, 22nd Mar 2007
OK, so the union reps get training for their role, but it can't be much good because the reps here are far less professional than most in St Andrews.

well, they would have you believe that. At strathclyde, the union still has to fund the training we're supposed to get from the NUS!

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[Bonnie]

Quoting jono from 14:17, 22nd Mar 2007
2001/2. So now that everyone from that bracket is safely graduated

Not so true.