General Secretary: Aled Dilwyn-Fisher
In his second and last term as the General Secretary of this Union, Fisher has this to say about his performance:
“As promised, my main focus has delivering ‘no-holes-barred reform… to focus resources on campaigns, societies and sports’ through internal change. I led a full restructure of Union staffing, launching the first collaboration of its kind that has seen sharing of staff with another Students’ Union. This has led to an overall increase in staff and a shift in investment from commercial to membership services, meaning more support than ever before for societies and sports, and staff for the first time in campaigns, training and democracy.” Although he had taken a backseat in the lead up to the referendum, he ended up campaigning strongly for it as “students are crying out for change”. Noticeably absent from Houghton Street were the said students. (Most of the reforms passed by a large margin.) He believes that they will “ensure better representation for postgrads and reduce bureaucracy on student activities”.
However, despite being accused of being on a “tyrannical rampage” or just a “dictator” during most of his reign, and even having a formal complaint put in to the School towards the end of his tenure (though no decision has been taken regarding it, and of course the Beaver is not implying that he is indeed guilty of anything), we will miss him.
Wise words
“Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise; focus on the long-term, not just the weekly cycle of checking The Beaver and going to the UGM; always maintain a focus on increasing student participation in your campaigns; always focus on the main point of a Students’ Union – campaigning to change the lives of students and others.”
Education and Welfare Officer: Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang
Perhaps more known for his “chats” with students in the Quad, no one really understands what his role encompasses, although he is “tirelessly serving students”.
Ever the great communicator, he had this to say:
“I have often been commended for my chats with students. Actually talking students and finding out what their concerns are can only be a good thing.
I do work very late nights, often due to the fact that I have been engaging with students during the day, attending meetings and making a positive change on their behalf. This is one of the reasons why we moved our offices to the Kingsley Rooms, so that any students can come in and talk to us.
I am sure that there a few students who do not know my name and I have never claimed to know every single one of LSE’s 9,000 students, but I do know many, and a great many more are either aware of what I have done or will recognise me at a glance.
Even those who have disagreed with my decisions have said that I will be missed by all.”
Akpan-Inwang is also the most vocal of the four in his beliefs on a wide variety of matters. However, he is always in the Kingsley Rooms, or attending a variety of meetings with the School regarding teaching and other welfare issues concerning students. Consequently, one respondent observed, “I didn’t even know he existed.”
There is no general consensus as to whether he will be missed.
Wise words
“Students’ matter first and foremost. There will come times when you will need to make the right albeit unpopular decision. Aways remember that the students who are most in need often don’t shout as loud.
Don’t let everything you read or hear discourage or detract you from your goals. There are parts of the student population who have a clear agenda and don’t mind fabricating information to push their own views or opinions – don’t get bitter, focus on what matters.”
Treasurer: George Wetz
With a campaign that has gone down in Union history as one of the most memorable, (a Wetz beans can and selling himself as a “Beancounter”) whether Wetz’s creativity has been utilized to its fullest potential is up for debate.
Although comments in a Beaver survey have generally seen Wetz as “rude” or “very helpful”, he claims to have fulfilled 40 of his 57 policies.
“On balance, I will walk away with my head held high from my year as Treasurer. I set myself a tough (and somewhat gimmicky) target of 57 things I wanted to achieve. Since over 40 of them have been achieved over the past 8 ½ months, the initial indication is of relative success. The three main areas I focused on were developing societies, improving our social space and taking action on the environment, and I feel that we’ve made good progress in all of these areas. It’s not been an easy ride, but it sure has been a thrill. The best thing is that you get to see the (hopefully positive) effects your decisions make right in front of your very eyes. I learned more than I could have imagined.”
Wise words
“If I was to pass on one piece of advice to next year’s sabbs, it would be this: Do what you think is right. So long as you’ve based your decisions on sound research and advice, and you’re comfortable with your judgement, you have nothing to worry about. People won’t always understand, or agree, with what you’ve done, but always remember that students elected you for a reason: you were better than the other candidates.”
Communications Officer: Robin Low
The most prevalent question on students’ minds is: Where is our website, Rob?
Low’s reply: “The website – last year the Annual Fund gave us money towards building a new website. Whilst the website and its maintenance fall under my remit, I am not a website designer, and for that reason external companies with expertise in the field were used. Obviously the site was anticipated at the start of the year, and the companies that we worked with failed to deliver what we expected of them. I am currently continuing to work on resolving this situation, as clearly it is unacceptable, and we will definitely have the new and updated website for the start of the next academic year.”
Otherwise, in the same Beaver survey, Rob Low has been described as “beautiful” and thought of as the only Sabbatical Officer. Low saw this year as “interesting” as it “has opened my eyes to the world of student politics”.
We will most definitely miss his report at the UGM: “Report as tabled.”
Wise words
“I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was just some bastard with a torch, bringing me more work.”
“If at first you don’t succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.”
What do you think?
No related posts.