editor@thestagsurrey.co.uk ARCHIVE

By Oliver Deed Sex, drugs and rock and roll? Pot noodle for breakfast, lunch and dinner? All nighters in the library, writing essays? A students union which encouraged participation and activism? Before you came to the Surrey, I bet you had certain expectations about what life would be like at University. Many column inches have been dedicated to the first three in the pages of this paper. I want to take a look at the last of those expectations in the proceeding paragraphs. Perhaps it’s the moaner in me but the single biggest disappointment of my time at university has been the complete and utter lack of respect for democracy that our students union has. I’m not necessarily talking about Sabbatical or Executive elections although they are purely exercises in populism without substantive policy discussion. I’m not talking about the many Sabbs or officers that I have come across in my two and a half years at this university, who work hard and selflessly, pursing the best for those they represent. I’m talking about the attitude and cultural ambivalence that is being perpetuated by a minority within our union. To my mind, the best example of this is the farcical way in which the concept of assembly has been treated in the past year and a half. In my time at Surrey, I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times a proper student assembly has been called. The name has probably been changed more times than it has been called in the last two years Why? That is the killer question. I’ll take an educated guess. It doesn’t suit the union establishment to have a forum in which students can scrutinise and engage with the decisions that have been made by their sabbatical officers. Even more frightening for the union is the prospect that students might actually pass substantive motions that have to be enacted upon by those people we elected. And of course, we stupid students would only pass stupid motions which would lead to the end of the world The worst argument I’ve heard so far against a student’s parliament with real powers is the notion that it is those with the “loudest voices” who do go to the student’s parliament, which means that it is unrepresentative of the wider body. There are two reasons why this argument is ridiculous. The first is that it assumes that all students are apathetic and will remain so forever more; the sort of defeatist attitude espoused by those who hold this view. The second is that those who attend parliament are only in it for their own self interest and don’t care for the rights and welfare of others. That is entirely untrue. All of us as individuals operate within a distinct community that the vast majority of us care about. Punishing those who wish to engage in a parliament is the quickest route to perpetuate apathy and coax self interest out of the active. So it’s about time students at this university started asserting their rights in the face of the centralisation of decision making within our union. Students’ unions are co-operative organisations, which should be driven by their members. It’s time our students’ union returned to its roots and re-asserted the rights of the average member. The further we push decision making powers down the hierarchy, the better those decisions will inevitably be. So my challenge to our next Sabb team is this:  Go against the grain and bring back a proper functioning assembly at Surrey.  If that is your only achievement during your time as a Sabb next year, you will have a legacy to be proud of.