Vision says:
The redundant UGM motion prohibiting the sale of free range eggs at Costcutter is yet another example of the bloated YUSU bureaucratic machine in action.
The sentiment is of course to be commended and similar future initiatives encouraged. Neither is the situation entirely YUSU’s responsibility. Lewis Bretts has acknowledged that the union is already slow to act on certain issues – obviously a comprehensive investigation into every UGM would exacerbate this and paralyze their ability to work at all.
However, the fact that seemingly none of those voting in the UGM had actually had occasion to buy eggs from Costcutter is faintly ridiculous.
In the end, it’s better to be safe than sorry, but it does strike Vision as more than a little clumsy all the same. YUSU cannot afford to waste time and money on resolved issues whilst there are other environmental/ethical concerns in more direct need of redress.
Thumbs up to:
Our new University Challenge team. The last series was blighted by unfair competition: York’s team, which was composed purely of undergraduates, was matched against a team with an average age of 30.
While our performance was admittedly disappointing, such an age discrepancy is surely against the spirit of the contest: how is one to compete a further decade of accumulated knowledge?
York’s recent re-entry into the top 10 universities nationwide affirms the high academic standard achieved by students here, so we’re expecting great things from this team. We wish them all the very best.
Thumbs down to:
The Internation Student Association’s ‘creative’ accounting. Such financial irresponsibility is inexcusable for any sum of university-granted funds, never mind the £30,000 given to the ISA annually.
Regardless of whether the ISA is indeed guilty of embezzlement or not, this lack of transparency only serves to strain relations between the ISA and YUSU. This is highlighted by Aaron Ong’s refusal to comment on the situation to campus media, after less than a fortnight as ISA President.
If the proposed integration of the two associations is to be carried through, such communication breakdowns need to be avoided in future – honesty is key to effective co-operation.