Failing it to a man
There is a London university, dedicated to the study of the 'dark continent' and everything east of France, who, shall we say, has one of the last remaining militant student bodies.

Now, some of you might have heard of the flotilla of little ships that were involved in a ruckus with Israel recently. It took the student body in question quite a lot of persuasion from the union not to go ahead with their plan that:

1. Occupying the University Directorate is not going to help the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

2. The Directorate, despite having power over the issuing of degrees and stuff, doesn't have power over Israel, their government or indeed, the USA.

3. The reason of 'sticking it to the man' only works when the 'man' in question is related to the problem, not just the closest position of authority on the way to the pub.
(witty_ditty has made multiple miaows since, Mon 21 Jun 2010, 21:17, 9 replies)

We have protests all the time over this on campus
and it's so stupid!

Clicky.
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Mon 21 Jun 2010, 21:28, closed)

^ This
A friend of mine goes to this university, and is one of said militants. I think deep down she knows it's not going to make the tiniest shred of difference, but to her, life would be meaningless if she weren't protesting against something.
( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Mon 21 Jun 2010, 22:34, closed)

Student unions are so full of shit
It's been nigh 20 years since I was at uni and I can still remember the experience that was my first student AGM. I attending naively thinking it would be interesting, addressing issues related to the university, student life etc.

First item on the agenda? Whether to boycott Nestle because they promoted powered baby formula in the 3rd world. For fucks sake. The next hour was spent listening to a handful of egomaniacs from the left and the extreme left debate a series of equally pathetic items with points of order, resolutions, show of hands etc, I resolved to eat more Kit Kats as a form of protest. The student building even had a coffee shop named Winnies after Winnie Mandela long after she was exposed as a murdering bitch.

It was about this point I concluded it would be an excellent idea if student contributions to the union were split between political and non-political with the political portion being voluntary. I was strapped for cash through uni and it irritated me no end that some of my money was helping fund these tossers.
(MagicMoose, Mon 21 Jun 2010, 22:49, closed)

There are elections
and since only about 1% actually vote, you could have got a few mates together and taken over.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 1:22, closed)

What's the point?
Any people I could have mustered would still have been out voted. Besides even if I *had* won, I'd be stuck in hell with these extremist idiots attending every meeting and being as obnoxious as they were that night.

I'd much rather leave them to pass their stupid resolutions but not at my expense.
(MagicMoose, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 18:59, closed)

At Uni
For a couple of years the Union was run by the Communist Party. Which was as awesome as it sounds. Then the young conservatives got organised, and changed the name from 'Student Union' to 'Students Club' (wasn't club, but something more commercial and as banal).
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Wed 23 Jun 2010, 12:27, closed)

It depends on what the Uni is doing
I've heard of Unis boycotting Israel. So, occupying the Directorate might influence the Uni's policies/attitudes towards Israel. Most likely though, it will put them offside. I imagine most of the Uni staff would be sympathetic, anyway.

Probably has a lot more to do with the us and them attitude, and the general feeling of powerlessness that they are just starting the feel they can overcome.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 1:26, closed)

Haha, bless them, the fucking idiots.
Their union was always interesting. It's considered polite and possibly a borderline legal requirement* if the police want to raid a student union to inform the Provost of said Uni in advance.

SOAS bar being, well, the least secret source of any drug you choose in the UK, was raided on and off. Every time it happened when I was around the Provost would put big signs up in the bar beforehand warning people and giving the date of the raid.

they consequently lost their license for a bit. Is that the man successfully sticking it to himself?

*University unions being private members clubs, although even after running a union bar for a while I still don't know if the legal bit is actually true.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 8:45, closed)

actually, it occurs to me
4. the Directorate don't even have the power of degrees, do they? that'll be UCL or ULU.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 8:47, closed)

You are quite right.
However, given their propensity and lack of real reasons to occupy dA mAnz offizz, I suspect the student body in question probably think they do, aside from being the Illuminati and other such nefarious forces that conspire against them. I will edit for clarity.
(witty_ditty has made multiple miaows since, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 12:50, closed)

You should have agreed
passionately that something should be done, that a protest was well in order, that you were glad that others felt the same way. Just say it's about time something was done about "those fucking Juden parasites". Throw in a few references to subhumans, sending them all up the chimneys, and propose you all wear armbands and snazzy uniforms, and lo and behold, you will find that the support for such a protest will have swiftly evaporated.



NOTE: You might find that attitudes towards you become permanently frosty, some people might not understand such a jolly jape. It's a bit like going to an Animal Rights Rally dressed in your full Grizzly Adams fur coat, hat and boots ensemble ie. fucking dangerous, especially if you are only doing it for a hoot.
(Rsoles, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 11:32, closed)

I have to make it clear that I am in no way affiliated with the institution in question.
It's been years since I was a student, and not there either. I am, however of knowledge of the staff.
(witty_ditty has made multiple miaows since, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 12:47, closed)