Fees for me but not for thee

Most research at universities is carried out by academics and scientists, but at Victoria University student politicians have made a remarkable breakthrough. Student politicians have just discovered two types of fee increases – bad fee increases and good fee increases.

A bad fee increase is when an institution wants to charge students more for their education.

A good fee increase is when a compulsory student association wants to charge students more for….err, well, for things like quiz nights, cheap bands, and err…car parking.

You can recognise a bad fee increase by student politicians’ rhetoric. Bad fee increases treat students like ‘cash cows’ they say. Student politicians like VUWSA president Geoff Hayward say bad fee increases show a severe and systemic lack of leadership, and “every time fees are raised, the University are literally passing the buck to students.” NZUSA co-pres Joey Randall says Vic council, by wanting to impose a bad fee increase, had “taken the easy road out and focused solely on students in order to increase revenue.” People who vote for bad fee increases are ignoring student opinion and abusing the democratic process.

However a good fee increase is different. When a compulsory student association wants to increase its fee it’s an absolute necessity. Without a good fee increase life as we know it will come to an end. Opponents of good fee increases are greedy and selfish. People who vote for a good fee increase have listened to the overwhelming weight of student opinion and exercised their democratic rights.

So be on the lookout for bad fee increases and good fee increases. If in doubt, remember this simple rule of thumb: students paying more for education is bad, students paying more for compulsory student association membership is good.

Self-delusion continues at NZUSA

You've probably seen one of those old cartoons about the crazy guy who thinks he's Napoleon. Well in Wellington there's a group which thinks it's the representative body for all New Zealand's tertiary students.

The 9 March edition of The New Zealand Education Review carried a story about how NZUSA has gained two new member associations since the demise of the Aotearoa Tertiary Students Association (ATSA). ATSA collapsed and was liquidated following a series of financial disasters. The article said some former ATSA members had not wanted to commit to membership of NZUSA because of questions about their financial liability for ATSA's debts.

NZUSA currently has 16 members. The article said the organisation was in the process of "making other changes to ensure it was addressing all students' needs." NZUSA co-president Joey Randall said the point of national representation " is about ensuring all students have a voice nationally".

So let's see, NZUSA claims to be the "voice" of all students yet it's an organisation:
- which individual students cannot join on an individual basis
- has leaders who are not elected on the basis of 'one member, one vote'
- is based on compulsory membership; students are forced to belong to member associations and through this are forced to pay the costs of NZUSA
- supports policies and takes positions which many individual students oppose
- students can't disassociate themselves from

If NZUSA wants to have any legitimacy it should allow students the freedom to join on an individual basis. Of course this would mean selling the benefits of the organisation. It's much easier to tap into the money provided by compulsory membership.

not in our name: NZUSA backs Green bill

Ever heard of the Tertiary Women's Focus Group (TWFG)? No? You're not alone then.

TWFG is a collection of women's rights officers from NZUSA member associations. Under this banner, TWFG have signed up to support a member's bill on flexible working hours put forward by Green MP Sue Kedgley.

Predictably the media have failed to draw any distinction between TWFG and NZUSA itself and are now reporting that "students" have joined a coalition to support Kedgley's bill.

Once again a significant number of students have to stand by and watch as their so-called representatives at NZUSA use their institutional clout - funded by compulsory membership - to illegitimately conscript all tertiary students into supporting a particular political initiative. Students who don't support this initiative are misrepresented by NZUSA yet again.

If Jennifer Jones and the rest of the TWFG gang want to support the Kedgley bill that's fine. Just don't do it with other people's money, and don't claim that you're representing all students. Speaking on behalf of someone without their permission is misrepresentation pure and simple.

You'd think TFWG, supposedly being concerned with imbalances of power, would understand this.