sobriquet.net

There was a big protest against VSU the other day, and being the good little student that I am, I went, and took some photos!

Anyway, if you want to just look at photos – see them here. If you want to read a nice long rant from me about what VSU is, and why it sucks, read on.

view more images from this album For the uninitiated (anyone who hasn’t read the papers in Australia for a very long time) – VSU = Voluntary Student Unionism. The government is trying to push through some new laws relating to student unions, and funnily enough the students are trying to stop them.

What are the government trying to do? Well, they’re trying to remove the ability of the Universities to charge compulsory fees for non-academic things (such as what Melbourne Uni currently calls a “Services and Amenities” fee). You may say, “How can this possibly be a bad thing? I mean, students don’t like paying for things, do they?”. Well, that’s half true. You’d be right in thinking that students often don’t have a lot of money, and therefore rely on free or subsidised services offered exclusively to students, but you’d be wrong if you thought that by removing the compulsory annual fee that students would somehow be better off.

To put it simply: No compulsory student union fee = No student union services.

OK, so that’s possibly going a little far. I have no doubts that the student unions will continue to operate, and continue to offer some services. I do, however, believe that by removing such a major source of income, the services offered by these student unions will be significantly reduced.

“But don’t student union’s just give students free beer and support activities like naked water skiing?” may be another question you might ask. And, very simply, the answer is “No!”. Just checking out Melbourne University’s Student Union Website, you can see they they offer:

• student advisory services,
• a computing center,
• employment and legal services,
• research support,
• a dental service,
• support for the arts,
• queer and women’s support,
• equipment hire,

and the list goes on.

Although clubs and societies at Melbourne Uni do get funding from the University, I have been told by various student Representatives at Melbourne Uni (but I am willing to be corrected) that the services and amenities funding (which VSU legislation threatens) does NOT go to clubs and societies.

So, why should students who don’t use these services have to pay for them? Well, my first question to any uni student that can honestly say they’ve NEVER benefited from their student union is – “Why the hell not? Why don’t you take advantage of their services?”. But, failing that (and, assuming that they somehow manage to come up with a decent reply), I’d say – well, for exactly the same reason that all tax-payers support the sick, elderly, mentally ill and unemployed. And what is that reason? “For the greater good” – To support those who cannot support themselves, and to offer services for those in need. If every student contributes their bit to help support the Student Unions, then the Student Union’s can do their best to support ALL students.

I’m not saying for a minute that I agree that all current Student Union services should be supported by all students (for instance, I believe that general computing facilities should be provided by the relevant faculties, or the university as a whole), there could definitely be some restructuring there. But, if you didn’t agree on your taxes supporting, say, legal aid for those charged with drug-related offenses (just a random example), would you suggest abolishing the entire idea of taxes? I doubt it. Taxes exists for a reason (even if the system does need some shaking up), but I doubt anyone could seriously argue for their abolishment.