Our Union is crumbling around us, and no-one seems to care. 13:14

Josh James.

The last year has been an incredibly turbulent one, for all of us students in Aberystwyth even if you don’t know it. Our hard-working officers are now desperately trying to grapple control of the Union's affairs, yet the majority of students remain somewhat callously unaware of this massive threat. So, why is the Union collapsing in on itself; with what is now remarkable speed, why does nobody care, and why is this all such a bad thing? Let me explain:

The Union has always made a decent amount of money off us, whether we are buying things in its shops, buying BOS cards, or drinking in its bars, and all this has been relatively successful. This is the arm of the Union that is most recognisable, and perhaps where a lot of the apathy comes from. Because this is the union that is so very visual, many believe that this is the only purpose the union serves, “to get people drunk”, and we students are the ones that pay for it. They do not realise that this profitable arm of the union is in fact only a very narrow slice of the union in its entirety.

The other half of the Union is not a business, but a charity. Protecting student’s interests, campaigning for better quality of academic and welfare services the university provides, as well as providing some itself. Housing initiatives, counselling, societies and sports clubs funding, and helping those who encounter the worst of problems the University can offer; accusations of unfair practice and the like. We pay to, eat and drink, and at the same time fund things that facilitate the serious matter, of “student experience” the University boasts so much about. The union is in fact the source of nearly all the things we as students submerge ourselves in while at university.

Only recently, despite it being beyond reason itself, the university seems to have launched almost a campaign on the organisation that so silently works on our behalf, on academic boards and in student cases; and now seems to want it to close. It seems, it no longer appreciates the input the union has into its own workings, or at least that is the opinion of the Vice Chancellor (head-honcho).

The money the union makes doesn’t cover all the work the charity arm does, and so the university has historically invested large sums (it being in its own interests after all that the student voice can be heard). However, recently it has cut this funding, drastically, most recently by £75,000, leaving the Union with limited room to manoeuvre, less so with the recent resignation of Chief Executive; Geraint Edwards. As a result, it has started to downscale, presumably to try and plug the leak. It has not worked it has only made it worse, quickly.

If the Vice Chancellor’s plan is to reduce the union and the student voice to the minimum law will allow, she is doing a good job.

The result will be not “bad” but catastrophic; for students at least. There will be no support when we need it, funding for societies will likely decrease, the union bars may close just as the bars in PJM and Cwrt Mawr have over the last 5 years. Worst of all, we will have no voice. The student experience will be no more; things will be run how the University big wigs want them, not how student’s want them, and considering students are now paying £9000 a year; does that really sound fair?

It may be too late to reverse the destruction of our union, we will just have to wait and see. However if the Union is going to survive the next few years, it needs as much student support as it can get. You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone.

This piece represents Josh James' view on the situation, not that of AULS.  If you have a piece you'd like to contribute, or reply to this post, email tdk@aber.ac.uk.

November Socials with AULS 02:00

NOVEMBER SOCIALS WITH AULS 

Ready for a packed November? No matter how much or how little you want to be involved Aberystwyth University Labour Students has something for everyone (even the Tories...)


November 1st

Skyfall Social 

Want to see the Best Bond yet? Come along to the Commodore Cinema at 7.00pm on Thursday 1st November with the rest of the AULS gang and make up your own mind! Strap in for an evening full of thrills,  spills and great acting (and that's just in the audience). Advanced booking is recommended.

6/7th of November 

US Election Special! 

Ready to watch the fate of the free world be decided? Will Obama hold on to the Presidency? Will Romney become the 45th President? Will Jill Stein stun the world and become the Green's first U.S President? Join AULS for this special event being laid on at the Union between 12am and 12 pm where the Bar will be open ALL NIGHT if the tension gets too much! Last chance for four years!

Monday 12th November 

Question Time

Special Cross-Party Debate! Following up on last years massively successful mental health debate. Watch the finest representatives from the Conservatives, Lib Dems, Plaid, Greens and our very own Labour Party cross swords in this special event hosted by the Aber Uni Debating Society. If you're their to back our man or just watch the sparks fly should be a great evening for everyone. Followed by a chance to mingle with the enemy at a Cross Party Social!

Thursday 15th November 

Polling Day 

Chance to show the Yanks how its done! With elections in Cardiff, Corby and our very own backyard, this is a great chance for everyone to get involved! Great opportunity to make a difference, gain some communication skills and most importantly have a really good laugh!

Saturday 17th November 

 Political Football Social 

Hopefully having beaten them at the ballot box this is a chance for us to show the other parties (and Aber Student Media) how to play football as well! Come along to the Astroturf for a football tournament with a twist! Whether your the next Ronaldo or just want to lend moral support from the sidelines grab your shirt and lets show the other parties what AULS is made of!

Friday 30th November 

Meet Vaughan Gething!

Meet one of Labour's up and comings AMs! For one lunch only, Mr Vaughan Gething AM and former AULS Chair will be visiting Aberystwyth and will be doing a Q&A session afterwards! Great chance to find out about the Welsh Assembly, what it's like working there and what working as a full time politician is really like!

Why The Welsh Assembly Matters 19:19

Why the Welsh Assembly is Still Important

The Welsh Assembly. Shiny building in Cardiff. Can't miss it. Big slate steps and huge glass walls, sitting in front of Cardiff Bay? Well, kind of. The Sennedd building is a major feature in the landscape of Cardiff but the organisation itself is a little bit invisible. Even when elections for the Assembly roll around the national media pays scant attention, too busy watching Mr Johnson schmooze around London or Alex Salmond rouse the Scots. Even the electorate is less than enthused, with a piddly 4 in 10 bothering to vote. You would be forgiven for asking 'whats the point?' What relevance do the 60 worthies who sit in the Assembly really have on the lives of the Welsh people? 

Firstly its about representation, representation, representation. It's about representing the overwhelming preference in Wales for a Labour government over a Tory one. At the last Assembly election Labour took 43.5% of the voted versus the Tories' 25%. No one wants a reversion to the days when the Celtic nations struggled to get their voices heard at the table, like when Thatcher decided with the tact of a hyperactive rhino to use Scotland as the guinea pig for the Poll Tax and people wonder why there're more Giant Pandas in Scotland than Scottish Tory MPs). There's always been a suspicion that the Tories are synonymous with England and unrepresentative of Wales, so the Assembly is even more important now there is once again a Conservative government.  

Admittedly the "Wales doesn't like the Tories Card" can be over played. They are now the second largest party in Wales (although that says more about the state of Plaid and the Liberals than anything else). 

But the principle that stuff shouldn't happen in Wales without the Welsh getting a fairly large say in the matter still stands. For example, there have been occasions when Welsh MPs have opposed things almost unanimously and yet have still gone through. Ask any of the older locals about Capel Ceyln for starters! Proper representation for national sentiment is great, but representation is not going to make a lot of difference on its own. For example, having a Grand Committee of Welsh MPs at Westminister never achieved much apart from producing some very grumpy meetings. 

Much more important is the fact that the Welsh Assembly is doing stuff. It might seem an obvious point to make, but when the Assembly was introduced a lot of people were worried that it wouldn't make much difference to anything. But now, there's always at least one point in a week when you're walking to the till with a basket full of wholesome student food (mostly microwaveable), when you realise your bag's at home filling a bin or has been cut up by a drunken flat mate. So now, you are going to have to pay 5p courtesy of Carwyn and Co in the Assembly. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. From the education minister saying "Nac Ydw" to the idea of Academies in Wales, being the first to ban smoking in pubs so you could go for a pint without slicing 4 years off your life expectancy (now it's only the alcohol which will kill you), to opposing Foundation Hospitals and the mess of a bill the Conservatives call "health reform". 

One of the things that people often lay at the door is it only really opposes. It's against you having a free plastic bag, it's against you having a fag in the Slug and Lettuce or against Virgin running your healthcare. But the Welsh Assembly done a lot of empowerment as well. Working towards a Living Wage for Wales, 40000 new apprenticeships, 500 extra PCSOs... you get the idea! 

Sometimes, the Assembly can seem to be a rather expensive talking shop, an ego trip for Welsh Nationalists. But when you get down to it, life in Wales is very different than it would have been had a few people woken up in a different mood on 18th September 1997. In most surveys, it now appears to enjoy the support of the Welsh people. 

So why the low turn-out? This can probably be laid at the door of the fact the national media seem to give the Tiddlywinks World Championship more coverage but also the "hang the lot of 'em" attitude that prevails against politics, which you can find at all levels. But perhaps, just perhaps, the Assembly with its more collegiate manner and local roots embodies a new kind of politics. Perhaps.

It's all a little bit incredible when you consider that all this was built from the slenderest of majorities and on the back of a 30% swing. If 1 in 100 of the people who didn't vote had turned out and voted "No", all of this would just be a Nationalist pipe dream. A lesson, I suppose, on the importance of voting and how stubborn campaigning can really make a difference.

What we did last year: Socials 01:59

Hi all.

I thought I'd kick start the new blog with a review of the socials we did last year (2011/2012), to give people an idea on the sorts of things we did and (Hopefully!) make people look forward to the year to come.You'll see in my next blog post that we'll have an even larger range of things to do, which is why I'm excited about the forthcoming year.

I'll point out now that I'm not a 'blogger' so you might have to bear with me with the layout etc. But there is a first time for everything!

Before the November march

As we have done for the past few years and plan to for the first social this year. We kicked off the year on the Thursday of freshers week in Scholars. Which does seem to be one of our more favourable pubs in Aber. The first social has always been a good one, it's a good way of getting to know a few more people and having a laugh. It's one of those where there is no real structure we'll gather together, go to a few pubs, maybe play some games and get to know each another. You'll probably find that you find out things that you didn't know about the other people, the party and politics in general as well as having a good time. I remember from my first social, a couple of years ago, everyone was really welcoming and enjoyed a good bit of socialising. I believe last year was similar as well. This forms the basis of the regular Thursday night socials which run throughout the year. Expect a mix of debate, general conversation, humour, and sometimes even outright ridiculousness.

As some will know, and others will find out very quickly. I'm quite a big sports fan. So when the weather was improving last year, we came up with the idea that we should play some old school style 'jumpers for goalposts' style football. This was quite popular. So we made a regular thing of it. We even had a day down to Ynyslas (near Borth) to attempt some beach football. This had to be cut short due to someones idea to not wear shoes which culminated in an injury. Wonder whose idea that was... My attempts to “save the day” was foiled by my driving and some wet sand but it is something that we all look back fondly on (except the person who got injured, presumably. Ed). We also competed in a cross party football tournament. Special thanks have to be given to Heff and Huw who dropped everything to help out. We managed to reach the final due to a questionable decision by the Lib Dems to force the Greens to pull out of the final. My hope is that we can do one better and win it fairly this year!

AULS football team, pre-final

One of the most enjoyable socials we did was the trip to the cinema to watch The Iron Lady. Odd choice, I know, as many don't think highly of Thatcher (Justice for the 96! is one thing that springs to my mind given recent events). It gave us the excuse to talk politics and to talk recent history. We have done a few one off socials such as this, as well as a couple of curry nights, just to mix things up a bit. The November 30^th protest springs to mind. We'd got up early in the morning and made our way to the top of the hill to march in solidarity with those who were on strike. While this wasn't essentially a social event, it is one that I'll remember fondly. Like most of the events we will lay on, I'd like to incorporate a social aspect to it. Be it going for a meal after wards or even a coffee so we get a chance to have a good old talk about the days events, something we did after the N30 protest.

After the Iron Lady

Another thing which was almost a mainstay of last year was the pub quiz. We've trialled many around Aber and one of our members even created one. It's always a good laugh with some reasonably intelligent discussion, but sometimes that discussion has bordered on the ridiculous! We've also got a pretty good record of wins/ second places in many quizzes. This culminated in our 2nd place result in the Cwrt Mawr bar quiz, and us winning a rather large bottle of vodka. This was re-invested into the society, something that I barely remember. Rumour has it that our own chair, Tom Keane, had to crawl home after that reinvestment (something he likes to be reminded of).

Tom responsibly enjoys his quiz victory

Two dates to fix on the calendar (when I know them) will be the Christmas meal and end of year meal. This is an excuse to get suited and booted, put on that fancy dress and have a jolly time. The Christmas meal is always a popular one. A mix of good food, some nice wine and a rendition of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air rap, which spontaneously happened at the last one. Not sure if the members of staff at the restaurant were too impressed with us after that... We normally put together a secret santa, as you do. This is something which normally gets people in the christmas spirit, and any excuse to wear those paper hats is good for me! The end of year meal is a bit like the christmas meal but without the presents and the paper hats (which is a bit sad).

Union events are something we did quite a bit last year. Comedy Works in the union gets a big crowd. Whilst some of the comedians have been somewhat questionable, on the whole it's normally an event worth going to. The yearly event which normally gets a good attendance from us, and one of my favourite events, is Ginesis. I was gutted I couldn't make it last year. Bloody essay deadlines! But it's a mix of a wide varieties of gin and a questionable Phil Collins tribute act. What is not to love! Back in the day (last year), Reload used to run pretty much every week. For any fan of cheesy music of the past few decades, it's one that should be attended. It normally incorporates some shocking attempts at dancing from well.. most people.

The last thing I'll mention is the cross party socials. We normally do one a semester. They provide an opportunity to question/ argue with the other parties and show that we are clearly the best political society on campus. Not that we need to prove that! The one we did in the first semester last year was a dress up social. We each could dress up as someone stereotypical of the other parties. So of course some of us dressed up in typical Tory attire, such as a top hat and cane. My Boris Johnson face mask was also passed to around to pretty much everyone. The second semester cross party social was a white T-shirt affair, each party had to bring pens in their own party colours. As you can imagine our t-shirts filled up with questionable statements, even some from our own members! These socials are all done in good humour, even if the debates can get a bit heated at times.

Myself and Hyw, stereotypical Tories

That's just some of the social things we did last year. I hope that by this time next year, whoever takes the realm of social secretary will have a much longer list, with a wider variety of activities to include on this blog. We've got many things that we want to do. One thing that I'm excited about is attempting to do a treasure hunt! It's something we've never done before and I hope it makes it onto the list next year as just one of hopefully many new and different activities we'll do throughout the year. If anyone has any suggestions don't hesitate to let me know. Also any feedback, constructive or otherwise is much appreciated.


Here's to a very enjoyable 2012-2013!

Adam.
Social Secretary
(adw6@aber.ac.uk)

AULS' Cardiff Day Out 23:49

Aberystwyth University Labour Students' first trip of the new year (or the last trip of the old year, if you’re feeling pedantic) was a great day out followed by a night out in the Welsh capital. Members came from as far afield as Edinburgh to help in the By-Election campaign for Cardiff South and Penarth, as part of a Welsh Young Labour Campaign Day. The member from Edinburgh was so eager he turned up at 00:20 am on the day of the campaigning and had to survive a trip through a Cardiff City Centre in full swing to reach somewhere to crash. 

A slightly blurry Welsh Labour doorstep team

The day began properly with a general meeting at the Unite HQ in Cardiff… once the motley team of councillors, students and young people was gathered we were greeted by the irrepressible Shadow Welsh Secretary Owen Smith who had some important points to make about the upcoming by-elections. First and foremost, he said, we cannot afford to assume the contest in Cardiff is any less important than the contest in Corby. The majority in Cardiff South and Penarth is only 4709 votes and by-elections are strange things (just ask George Galloway). Any margin of victory in Corby is mission accomplished, but in Cardiff South and Penarth we’ve got to do more. We’ve got to increase our majority to say that we’ve really won the election. He also had some interesting things to say about changing how we talk about things in the party and not being afraid to disagree, but that’s a topic for another post. 

Once the rounds were handed out, the Vice-Chair was given charge of getting us to our first canvassing round in Grangetown (slightly worryingly given his legendary map-reading skills). However despite the occasional panics and almost heading off down completely the wrong street, we managed to locate our rounds and were ready to meet some voters (whether the voters were happy about this is another issue). 

Canvassing is the act of bothering voters about which way they are thinking of voting. If you’ve never done it before it can be enjoyable, horribly awkward or a weird mixture of the two. But it is one of the main things political parties do locally to keep in touch with the people they’re supposed to represent. It’s not fun sometimes, but there’s always a great team spirit. 

We had a really positive response from the people that we spoke to and we contacted people from all walks of life, young, old, professional, retired. That in itself is a great experience. Towards the end of our last round we received reinforcements led by Welsh Young Labour Organiser Lauren Allpress. With their help we finished the round, but barely paused to catch our breath before being whisked off to join the Right Honourable Alun Michael MP and our candidate Mr Stephen Doughty in Butetown, which was a great opportunity to talk to the current and hopefully soon-to-be Labour MPs for the area. 


By the end of the day we’d made such great progress we’d not just run out of energy and leaflets but were almost out of voters. Staggering into the Westgate we met up with the rest of our comrades and decided to call it a day. With that we headed out to enjoy Cardiff for an evening and take a hard earned break in the City Centre. A great day was followed by a great night out where we rounded off our star studded day by running into Joe Calzaghe in a bar on St Mary’s Street!

None of this would have been possible though without the hard work of the Welsh Young Labour Team, so hats off for them for a great day in the ‘Diff! We’ll be back… 

Matt
Vice-Chair
mdb12@aber.ac.uk