Warwick SU President Hope Worsdale has applied to the SU Development Exec Committee for £600 to fund a trip taking students, to protest against the government for £6 each at the annual National Demo: Free Education Now - Tax the Rich.
The Eye wonders if President Hope remembers her first manifesto point when she ran for SU President in 2017... or do you? Well - we'll remind you why it's important, if you read on!
At present, £600 towards the protest is larger than the Annual Budgets that the Warwick SU allocates to most campaigning and volunteering student societies.
The event is organised by the so-called National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) - a staunch-left student group. One might remember the NCAFC candidate for NUS President, Malia Boliatta, who was unable to secure a second term, after she was embroiled by accusations of anti-Semitism [see BBC article] and received backing from CAGE, a widely considered terror apologist organisation [see BBC article]. What a lovely group of people...
At Warwick, WFFE is NCAFC's affiliate here.
Last year, WFFE member and SU Postgraduate Officer Nathaniel Panda made the same application for £600 towards the National Demo.
At the time, the SU Development Exec cut the Demo funding by £200 - deciding that would be inappropriate, considering that most student societies don't get anywhere near £600 from the SU for their Annual Grants.
Sources in 2016, informed the Eye that Democracy and Development Officer, Becky Gittins demanded to the Exec that they 'can't reduce it any further, as it would be unacceptable to the Sabbs'. So much for democracy.
At the vote, the then-SU Environment and Ethics Officer, UWCA Deputy Chair, and Vice-President of Warwick Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Sam Carter disagreed with Becky, telling the Exec that £600 for one trip was 'more than double' EWB's entire Annual Grant - the SU funding allocated to the Society to operate for a whole academic year.
Warwick EWB is a society that runs sustainable development projects every year in Tanzania, voluntary outreach programmes promoting engineering to girls and boys in the local area, and wind turbine projects. £300 of Annual Grant from the SU to do all that, is embarrassing.
This year (2017), the Eye understands that the SU gave Warwick Mind Aware nothing for their Annual Grant. Mind Aware is Warwick Uni's excellent student society for mental health awareness and campaigns.
This is comes amid a firestorm, where many student society budgets were not updated with new grants for months.
In light of this year's Annual Grant omni-shambles, the Eye wonders what steps will President Hope actually take to deliver on her 1st Manifesto Priority - 'invest in mental health' and 'increase funding'.
Hope's 'My Top 6': (see here)
Let's hope these aren't just election sound bites, but genuine commitments. Perhaps she will be making a £600+ funding application later this year towards a mental health campaign, if it was indeed the number '1' of her 'Top 6' priorities... (We certainly hope so) Equally, food for thought: conventionally, it is considered a bit odd, if something ranked first is not prioritised first...
We will let you know when Hope responds, but in the meantime, Hope is already selling tickets to students for £6 to London, despite the fact that the Development Exec have not even voted on her Demo Funding Application to date (31 OCT 2017). See her event and ticket details, here.
Presumptuous is probably an understatement - we hope the Development Exec will take note.
Don't hold your breath though... Recently-elected Helena Navarrete Plana (WFFE member) today unveiled the Demo banner outside the Library (31/10/2017), will be voting later on the SU Development Exec to decide the event's funding... No conflict of interest here! Trebles all round!
In the meantime, Warwick students are more than welcome to buy tickets for a £6 trip to Soho on Wednesday 20th November - details coming soon...
By Warwick Eye
The Eye wonders if President Hope remembers her first manifesto point when she ran for SU President in 2017... or do you? Well - we'll remind you why it's important, if you read on!
 |
| President Hope wants £600 from the SU, so students can protest against the Government for £6 return journey. Event details and tickets, here! |
At present, £600 towards the protest is larger than the Annual Budgets that the Warwick SU allocates to most campaigning and volunteering student societies.
 |
| Warwick SU President Hopes for £600, whilst campaigning and volunteering societies get far less from the SU. |
The event is organised by the so-called National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) - a staunch-left student group. One might remember the NCAFC candidate for NUS President, Malia Boliatta, who was unable to secure a second term, after she was embroiled by accusations of anti-Semitism [see BBC article] and received backing from CAGE, a widely considered terror apologist organisation [see BBC article]. What a lovely group of people...
At Warwick, WFFE is NCAFC's affiliate here.
Last year, WFFE member and SU Postgraduate Officer Nathaniel Panda made the same application for £600 towards the National Demo.
 |
| Originally Nat Panda was known as Nathaniel Shiers, before it was more convenient for him to change his name and run for Postgraduate Officer with a Red Panda mascot, a Himalayan bear cat - link |
At the time, the SU Development Exec cut the Demo funding by £200 - deciding that would be inappropriate, considering that most student societies don't get anywhere near £600 from the SU for their Annual Grants.
Sources in 2016, informed the Eye that Democracy and Development Officer, Becky Gittins demanded to the Exec that they 'can't reduce it any further, as it would be unacceptable to the Sabbs'. So much for democracy.
At the vote, the then-SU Environment and Ethics Officer, UWCA Deputy Chair, and Vice-President of Warwick Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Sam Carter disagreed with Becky, telling the Exec that £600 for one trip was 'more than double' EWB's entire Annual Grant - the SU funding allocated to the Society to operate for a whole academic year.
Warwick EWB is a society that runs sustainable development projects every year in Tanzania, voluntary outreach programmes promoting engineering to girls and boys in the local area, and wind turbine projects. £300 of Annual Grant from the SU to do all that, is embarrassing.
 |
| An excellent society doing excellent work, look out for their good work, here. |
This year (2017), the Eye understands that the SU gave Warwick Mind Aware nothing for their Annual Grant. Mind Aware is Warwick Uni's excellent student society for mental health awareness and campaigns.
This is comes amid a firestorm, where many student society budgets were not updated with new grants for months.
In light of this year's Annual Grant omni-shambles, the Eye wonders what steps will President Hope actually take to deliver on her 1st Manifesto Priority - 'invest in mental health' and 'increase funding'.
Hope's 'My Top 6': (see here)
1) Invest in Mental Health
2) Fight for Fair and Affordable Housing
3) Tackle Sexual Violence
4) Increase study space
5) Secure Wednesday Afternoons Free
6) Fix International Fees
Let's hope these aren't just election sound bites, but genuine commitments. Perhaps she will be making a £600+ funding application later this year towards a mental health campaign, if it was indeed the number '1' of her 'Top 6' priorities... (We certainly hope so) Equally, food for thought: conventionally, it is considered a bit odd, if something ranked first is not prioritised first...
We will let you know when Hope responds, but in the meantime, Hope is already selling tickets to students for £6 to London, despite the fact that the Development Exec have not even voted on her Demo Funding Application to date (31 OCT 2017). See her event and ticket details, here.
Presumptuous is probably an understatement - we hope the Development Exec will take note.
Don't hold your breath though... Recently-elected Helena Navarrete Plana (WFFE member) today unveiled the Demo banner outside the Library (31/10/2017), will be voting later on the SU Development Exec to decide the event's funding... No conflict of interest here! Trebles all round!
 |
| No Conflict here - as SU Development Exec member, Helena Navarrete Plana (orange) is due to vote on the funding bid, whilst she puts on Library Banner calling students to attend, for a £6 return ticket! |
In the meantime, Warwick students are more than welcome to buy tickets for a £6 trip to Soho on Wednesday 20th November - details coming soon...
By Warwick Eye
The SU does not allow student societies to sell tickets before a event/trip's budget has been approved but they are already selling tickets for this demonstration. I would like to see how they justify why their rules do not apply equally to them.
ReplyDeleteThis is just one of many examples that highlights the toxic culture of hypocrisy within Warwick SU - where Sabbs exploit their roles to further their own political agenda, rather than representing the opinions or best interests of the members they are supposed to represent.
It is very clear that a large proportion of students are unsatisfied with their SU and I believe drastic change is required to fix these failures. To do this, the union needs to get more involved at a local level, instead of wasting time and money on these national campaigns which only discredit the image of students nationally.