The battle for VUWSA

When the entrenched interests in any unaccountable organisation get challenged, things always get very dirty. And so it has been in VUWSA with the vested interests being up in arms at the emergence of the A-Team ticket for the VUWSA elections.

We have seen posters describing one (female) candidate as a whore, a rigged Salient online poll with Young Labour providing instructions to people on how to vote multiple times, and most extraordinary of all an open letter from the VUWSA staff, through Salient, basically telling students to vote for anyone but the A-Team. In almost any other organisation the staff would be sacked for grossly unethical behaviour such as this.

There has been screeds of debate on the Salient blog on the A-team and obviously not everyone supports their policy of reducing the fee by $25 (which is just taking it back to what it was two years ago) and most of the debate has been focused on that.

I find it refreshing that a a group standing for student office have actually listed up front what their policies are (The main policy of another Presidential candidate seems to be to provide free printing on campus for students. Of course the chance of getting the university to agree to this is oh well around 0.1%.), and even do an alternate budget. In recent years Executives haven’t managed to put together a budget until 70% of the way through the year the budget is for!!

Also overlooked is what is probably their most significant policy:

Electronic referenda so all students on campus can participate in VUWSA decision making

This has the potential to dramatically increase the ability of students to have a say on VUWSA policies and decisions. Currently decisions are made by around 50 – 70 regulars in the Quad on behalf of 20,000 students. Students not studying on the Kelburn campus, mature students, post grads etc all are effectively disenfranchised as it is so difficult for them to get to the Quad at lunchtime to vote. But clicking on a link in an e-mail and spending 30 seconds voting online is something many students would happily do.

If VUWSA had voluntary membership, they would have brought in electronic referenda years ago as a way to increase participation, and give members a reason to stay members. But with the lack of accountability that compulsion brings, there is no incentive for those who benefit from the status quo to actually involve more students.

Electronic referenda will mean many hundreds, maybe even thousands of students, will get to make decisions currently made by a few dozen people.

And such a change might just make the difference between an association which survives and prospers under VSM and one which is such a discredited joke that no one would join it if they had a chance.

You see the irony is that the A Team’s policies are what may save VUWSA. People don’t realise that 2008 may be the last year that VUWSA is compulsory. No, not because the A Team will call a referendum on VSM (they have no power to do so and are not going to do so), but because National is currently 10% to 17% ahead of Labour in the polls, and one could well see legislation along the Australian model bring in voluntary membership on all campuses.

Now ask yourself? Based on the antics of the Executive this year, how many people would pay $125 to VUWSA if they had a choice?

But a reduced fee, to an Association which regularly gives you an opportunity to vote on matters of policy, that allows you to vote on what items in the budget should be included or not, which focuses on student issues rather than who should be the Government of Palestine – well a hell of a lot more people might choose to stay members of that sort of VUWSA.

2008 may be the final year where VUWSA has a chance to gets it house in order, so it can survive in the future.

And finally enjoy this You Tube video that the A Team put together.