Judgement Day
Loud Speakers
Another week, another cancelled Union speaker. Although some people around the University will be disappointed not to be seeing the likes of Damon Albarn and Mohammed Al Fayed this term. One of the key features in the Michaelmas recruitment drive is the promise of big names in the glossy termcard. Members are forking out over a hundred smackers for the right to sit in gobsmacked amazement. The amazement should not be aimed at an empty chair.
However in the final analysis it is hardly fair to blame these cancellations on the staff of the Union who work tirelessly to arrange such events.Complaining that such-and-such hasn't come this term is doubly unproductive - firstly because if it wasn't for the Union then Oxford wouldn't be getting as many high-profile speaker meetings in the first place and secondly because the chances are we'll be seeing them in the Debating Chamber sometime in the near future. There really is nothing anyone can do if Mr. Albarn cries off at the last minute; in this case the Union is as much a victim as any of its members.
Apathy... whatever
To paraphrase Des, some of you may have heard there's an election on... Er, right?
Living in our hack-infused world we, of course, believe that the OUSU Elections constitute the media event of the year. However ask a random student and they might beg to differ. How many people down the JCR know about the issues, debates or (gasp) the personalities behind the election? Fewer, we bet, than read this paper (but more than read the other one). The real truth about the OUSU election is that people are confused about why they should elect another set of over-earnest zealots to run their lives at University level when they already have a perfectly good set of over-earnest zealots running their lives at college level. As ever the only real response to this problem is to throw your hands up, moan to all and sundry...and vote. The reason that voting is necessary is not to elect some fantastic superstar who will reform OUSU into a hyper-efficient campaigning machine. Voting is necessary because we want to prevent someone terrible from being elected, someone who could destroy the useful things done by OUSU (Welfare, representation, publishing excellent newspapers) and not really care when they'd done it.
Sale of the Century
Roll up, roll up. Last chance only. One OUSU Presidency to go. Must decide by Sunday.
Well it's up to you folks. If there's one thing we urge you to do it's try before you buy. The Presidential candidates are, or have been, husting at a college near you and the best way to decide is to go see for yourself. Of course husting is probably a bit more of a beauty contest than a real reflection of how any candidate might do in the job as President, so make sure you speak to them afterwards and check their rhetoric at first hand. We have.
So what does the Oxford Student think of the Usual Suspects who want to be OUSU President? So far it seems the candidates are too wary of stepping on the Returning Officer's toes to commit themselves to any policies significantly different from that of their opponents. Having seen them in the flesh, though, they are certainly a capable bunch. Kirsty McNeill has husted well and shown herself to be more than capable of winning an argument. There is little doubt that she has the ability to make an impact. But is this what makes a President? Barney Sandell, on the other hand, has the experience of JCR President and we believe that he is much more capable of inspiring a consensus. However whether he can inspire people in the way Kirsty can is open to debate. George Rowell is a skilled orator who has trodden a careful line. However whether he has the concrete, constructive policies other candidates have put forward in their manifestos is open to question. The Oxford Student thinks that what Oxford needs is a President who can represent all of the University's students. Now its your turn to think
4th Nov 1999