Cost Cutting Leaves A Bad Taste
Andrew Quah
ISA Chair
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I for one am pretty annoyed at the latest from the hallowed halls of our student organisations. In the Sun-Herald (5 March), I came across an article featuring our so-called representatives talking about the evil VSU, and how student services left and right are already being cut, an entire year out from the introduction of VSU at USYD. I’d like to know why student services are being cut while the SRC and Union continue to fund political activism at an ever-increasing rate. Why are clubs and societies being denied more funding every day, while our SRC spent $30000 in phone calls in 2005? Why is more money than ever being spent on media campaigns, while services to affiliate campuses are being cut, prices of food on the increase and student activities curtailed or cancelled?
Our student groups might take a lesson from our friends down south. When VSU comes in at the beginning of next semester, the Tasmania University Union will continue to offer FREE access to advocacy, welfare and advice services to all students. For as little as $60 a year, it is intended that students will be able to receive the same member discounts campus-wide that we pay almost ten times that for. They can do this, because at TUU, student funding actually goes back towards students (something our own representatives could learn something about). As implausible as it may sound, their fees don’t just disappear into dubious political causes like ours do. It is painfully obvious that our student organisations need reform. And the ISA is dedicated to bringing about that reform. But we desperately need your help. If there’s any one thing you can do to enrich your university experience, it’s to contribute to the student community. Join an ISA collective, get involved with some Clubs and Societies – enjoy them while you can, and don’t just let it all pass you by.
