17 Days Later

'I am an architect, they call me a butcher
I am a pioneer, they call me primitive
I am purity, they call me perverted'
Manic Street Preachers - Faster

And so beings my two-and-a-bit weeks overdue review of NUS Extraordinary Conference. When I was last at Conference representing Birmingham, the flaws of NUS were as evident as its strengths. Although you had impassioned speakers and important issues due to certain factions and compositing, things that we needed to discuss never even got to the table whilst really basic stuff like external trustees and adopting the European working definition of anti-semitism took an age. The governance review, the sole motion that was debated at Extraordinary, was evidently necessary. There is little good in sailing a sinking liner with good intentions, at the end of the day you still end up clinging to an iceberg thinking 'I could probably have prevented this somehow.' And much like the governance review the Guild is undergoing, it all got rather unpleasant.
I should take a moment to point out that I'm not going to go into the Guild Governance review in depth here, I'm chuffed with the outcome of last GC on the matter but I really don't think that there are many of us who can look around that room and say we haven't treated each other pretty nastily over what isn't actually that big a deal in the grand scheme.
Anyway, back to NUS. Sometimes with events such as these, and the reviews that come thereafter, you cannae help but wonder (Carrie McBradshaw moment over) if people are watching several different events. I'd tell you I saw a balanced, well chaired, if a little over-heated debate. I'd tell you I saw students discussing many issues, shaping a reasoned and sond future for NUS. There was also the show where people didn't seem to realise 
what a trustee board was or did, which was a bit less enthralling. There was also the show where the 
NEC got every speech, the chair was an unreasonable cow, the debate stifled and represenation
murdered faster thean a Caribou in a Coppola movie. I can't say I ever felt that, I felt a huge range of views were expressed and the vote was fair, there was pause, there was dignity and yes, there was shameless factionalism and politick. Well, whatever, this is student politics and that has to be taken as part and parcel of the whole thing. Holding hands under a rainbow all the way to the winter gardens would be lovely but unlikely (and a logistical nightmare besides).

On motions.

'You laugh, he said, you think you're immune, go look at your eyes, they're full of moons.'
Joni Mitchell - The Last Time I Saw Richard

Did you ever wonder what happened? I was having a look, comparing Guild Council motions this year to Guild Council motions last year up to December. It was, to be quite honest, depressing. By this point a short twelve months ago we had discussed where you could use your hub-grub card, persecution of Islamic students, had our first Gender Neutral Toilet debate and whether animal tested cosmetics should be sold on campus. This year, we’ve been a lot more internal, most of the big debates, council tax for PhD students, students with children, have come from the exec rather than the representatives on GC. Most of what GC has discussed has been on a smaller scale still, society forms, locker rooms, procedural motions… this is all important too but it’s having a range of topics that engage more students that allow the motions we pass to make us more representative. I for one found it pretty depressing that a motion like the debate on whether the BAE should be allowed on campus withdrawn. One motion about pressuring the Uni into making the Vale less muddy has far greater an impact for students than how long the basement is open in the evening but both are valid. So, for January, can we please do both? Can we discuss the Guild not only as a building with services and groups but as a representative body that is capable of lobbying for you on this campus outside of its own walls?

Come so far...

'Yesterday is history and it's never coming back.'
Hairspray - You Can't Stop the Beat

Good weekend, saw the Manics, amazing as usual. A brief shout-out to their support act, Cherry Ghost, who did a brilliant renendition of Amy Winehouse's 'Back to Black'. Then I popped home to have a lovely bit of Chanukah with the family. Term really is winding down but it gives way to time for reflection and preparation for next year. I've been giving some thought to the upcoming LGBTQ campaigns and events (I'm actually off to a meeting about it in 10 minutes) and it's all very exciting!

In the meanwhile, have a look at this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-g8VNUkIemw

It's as oddly amusing as it is homophobic and horrific. Please ask yourself why on earth this should ever qualify as news.

A Polite But Misdirected Rant

'The problem with silence is that we know exactly what it will be like.'
Hanif Kureishi

This post isn't directly realted to my role but I do want to talk a bit about our current methods of student representation. Someone asked tonight about how we reflect diversity on campus in the Guild and I feel that there was more to say on that topic. We could have spoken about our liberation campaigns and what they've achieved, we could have discussed safe-space and 'no platform' policies that allow for minorities to be both included and defended. We could have spoken about mini-forums that talk to faith groups and representation groups within our Guild.
These are things that we have the capability to do really well, we should be proud of them.

Homophobia is Gay 2

'Let's dance! Put on your red shoes and dance the blues.'

David Bowie - Let's Dance

So, welcome to my officer blog. On my old blog I always started each post with a vaguely appropriate song lyric or quote. Don't get confused, that's meant to be there.

Oh, yeah, did I mention there was a bar crawl? Did I also mention it was the biggest event in recent uni memory for both the LGBTQ and Liberal Democrats? Did I mention all the proceeds go towards a campaign to combat Homophobia is halls; a campaign both developed and voted on by LGBTQ students? Did I mention that the woman who kicked this off isn’t even LGBTQ? Isn’t that just a little bit extraordinary? Guild Councillors, Executive committee, all students at Birmingham, I invite you to tip your hats to Elaine Bagshaw. I invite you to doff your cap to Emma O’Dwyer. I have no more hat based compliments.
What happened on the night of the 29th November 2007 was an amazing blend of social activity, liberation intentions and student inclusion. I said on that bloody awful poster of me that all students should want to care about liberation, and there’s proof in these images. That makes me so happy as a student officer you have no idea.
Still, the event was not without incident, one participant was spat at on the bus, just because the word ‘gay’ was on her T-Shirt. There is a reason we have liberation officers, a reason we lend time and importance to these campaigns. Hate crime still happens, bullying still happens, discrimination still happens. I won’t be satisfied until it stops and neither should you be.