Only a year ago, apathy seemed to sum up Election Week. Why are these people on Houghton Street? What are they running for? Wait…some of them are going to be paid £27,000 to do… what, exactly?
The Beaver, in its usual holier than thou style, urged our readers to basically care enough to turn up, scribble on a piece of paper and cast their vote that will determine the fate of our Union. And indeed, we could not have been more right. Imagine how different the year would have been had the composition of our current sabbatical team been even slightly more different. Perhaps these pages would not have been filled with so many bitter words and disillusioned rants against the Union and those who lead it.
Stakes this year could not be higher. As we report on hustings, lay out election manifestos and photograph the vibrant campaigning on Houghton Street, crucial issues remain unsolved. The fate of St. Philips, our resident NHS medical centre, advertised in every single Fresher’s pack and all over the LSE website, hangs in the air. Officials from the School insist that the centre will be relocated, but worried doctors feel like these are but empty promises. This could mean the country’s worst funded NHS GP practice, which has treated thousands of students and local residents on a shoestring budget, may be going the way of Wright’s Bar and the Hare Krishna food stall (whose futures also remain uncertain). Complaints that LSE is hardly a community have not gotten any less vociferous, and student satisfaction remains sub par at best.
Even if the new Union officials do not manage to make LSE a loving, warm, happy community (think penguin colonies, perhaps) and save the world, one LSE student at a time, perhaps we can at least count on them to not tear the Union apart next year. We have seen what a lack of consultation and a misunderstanding of what students’ interests are can lead to. Cries of unconstitutional reforms and a subversion of democracy has led to C&S being no confidenced, and now, even an official complaint put forward to the School concerning the Union’s conduct throughout the referendum. Many a student has been so unwilling to get involved after the whole debacle, and we only hope that those brave souls who have stood up, promising to unite us and give us more from this Union, will actually deliver. We do need more than false promises, after all. How many of those 57 policies did you actually deliver, George?
This week, we urge you to look beyond flashy campaigning, brutal electioneering, petty complaints and pretty faces along Houghton Street. Look at the manifestos. Look at the substance behind every single one of the candidates. And, vote. Please. The future of your Union could not be more important.
Related posts:
- Government cuts £2.1m research funding for LSE
- Measured Musings – Copenhagen consensus: wishful thinking?
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 04:37 and is filed under Comment.
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You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
“I’m on the pavement, thinking about the government”
by Editorial on 3 Mar 2010 in Comment
Only a year ago, apathy seemed to sum up Election Week. Why are these people on Houghton Street? What are they running for? Wait…some of them are going to be paid £27,000 to do… what, exactly?
The Beaver, in its usual holier than thou style, urged our readers to basically care enough to turn up, scribble on a piece of paper and cast their vote that will determine the fate of our Union. And indeed, we could not have been more right. Imagine how different the year would have been had the composition of our current sabbatical team been even slightly more different. Perhaps these pages would not have been filled with so many bitter words and disillusioned rants against the Union and those who lead it.
Stakes this year could not be higher. As we report on hustings, lay out election manifestos and photograph the vibrant campaigning on Houghton Street, crucial issues remain unsolved. The fate of St. Philips, our resident NHS medical centre, advertised in every single Fresher’s pack and all over the LSE website, hangs in the air. Officials from the School insist that the centre will be relocated, but worried doctors feel like these are but empty promises. This could mean the country’s worst funded NHS GP practice, which has treated thousands of students and local residents on a shoestring budget, may be going the way of Wright’s Bar and the Hare Krishna food stall (whose futures also remain uncertain). Complaints that LSE is hardly a community have not gotten any less vociferous, and student satisfaction remains sub par at best.
Even if the new Union officials do not manage to make LSE a loving, warm, happy community (think penguin colonies, perhaps) and save the world, one LSE student at a time, perhaps we can at least count on them to not tear the Union apart next year. We have seen what a lack of consultation and a misunderstanding of what students’ interests are can lead to. Cries of unconstitutional reforms and a subversion of democracy has led to C&S being no confidenced, and now, even an official complaint put forward to the School concerning the Union’s conduct throughout the referendum. Many a student has been so unwilling to get involved after the whole debacle, and we only hope that those brave souls who have stood up, promising to unite us and give us more from this Union, will actually deliver. We do need more than false promises, after all. How many of those 57 policies did you actually deliver, George?
This week, we urge you to look beyond flashy campaigning, brutal electioneering, petty complaints and pretty faces along Houghton Street. Look at the manifestos. Look at the substance behind every single one of the candidates. And, vote. Please. The future of your Union could not be more important.
Related posts:
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 04:37 and is filed under Comment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.