Climate camp

climate camp :)

Arbitrary online power

The internet is a crucial place for any movements organising, mobilisation and coordination. I suppose it make some form of sense that guilds online power channels give arbitrary and uncountable power to the executive. I’m going to be working to change this if you want input just say.

The guilds Facebook group page, this group should be a centre of the student movements online organising….. It’s not.

Being able to send out a message at the drop of a hat to 3000+ of Birmingham Guilds most active students is a powerful tool, a powerful tool that is given arbitrarily to only a select group of students (not even all officers receive it, who gets admin status is decided by the previous year’s Admins ).

The same goes for the guilds website news feed, twitter feed and facebook page again editorial control of the content of these feeds lies solely with the executive.

The officers are not just arbitrarily given the power to mobilise, but the power to decide who gets to say what, to decide what information or events that the student body can see. If an officer disapproves of a group and that group requests publication it’s within their mandate to turn them down out of hand (if you’re wondering yes this power is used actively). This resource should be used fairly between all students of all opinions (not just executive approved ones).

The Facebook groups wall, a place to promote your views and society? as admins officers have the power to block students they disapprove of (I should I know I’m still blocked and I’m an officer!). Its good we have moderators for the wall to stop it being used and abused, I don’t think moderators of political opinion are necessary.

This amounts to a guild that actively blocks a significant portion of its activists in their activities; at the last West Midlands Area NUS meeting in a group session I contradicted an officer from Birmingham guild of students who said that Birmingham guild of students doesn’t really have a large activist base. I said that it does have a very large base, it’s just that the guild “actively disengages from them” (pisses them off).

That’s all for now in part two of this post I will be writing about guild officer blogs. That doesn’t sound very interesting to me either. However if you have anything to say or like the idea of trying to take power away from an organisation whose instincts is to hold unto it like rigor mortis has set in then please contact me however you wish.

Ethical and Environmental Committee Blog

As you may see in the top right of this blog there is a feed for the ethical and environmental committee.

have a look at it here

I had originally hoped to let all students use this blog and have a forum here but that does not seem to possible on Blogger (which the guild uses).

on wordpress all students can create account and start writing and debating about decisions at the guild that have ethical and environmental implications.

This blog is currently just a prototype hopefully soon there will be a forum and we can make changes to the design and layout. we can change the domain design logos and themes everything.

If anyone wants to be part of team that designs this website either e-mail me on emb709@bham (my guild e-mails currently off-line until Monday) or just leave your e-mail in a comment under here.

designing a website for a major organization like the guild of students (5.5 million pound turnover and 30,000 members) could be great CV experience for you.

I haven't set up a registration for students yet so if you want to start writing right away then (same again) either e-mail me on emb709@bham (my guild e-mails currently off-line until Monday) or just leave your e-mail in a comment under here.

Consensus

I was prompted create this post by a posting by xyz on The Radish on post about the new guild officer blogs.

here is a copy of that post
"@ edward bauer, for the students to have a democratic input it would help if the officers had a contact address on their blogs (which you don’t have)…as well as just the space for comments on the specific articles you have written. or even a forum on the blog if possible…where people could talk about the EEO issues they want to, not just respond to your posts.

i appreciate that an element of anonymity stops the position appearing to be run by only yourself, and that instead you are trying to make it a consensual body of all the students, it currently seems hard to interact with the blog and the EEO. give people a point of contact at least! then they can start to get involved and you can take a backseat :)"

Tom Guise VPDR, Brigid Jones VPEA, Damien Duff (green party), Lizzy Bell (people and planet) and I were defeated at last guild concil in our attempt to reform the EEO structures and make them more consensual (needless to say I'm sure we will try again).

However there no reason why for now the EEO position cannot by run by a consensous of students.

I've created this post so we can have talk here about how best to to operate consenually.

The forum on the website sounds like a plan, Perhaps allowing all students to post here so the average student can set the agenda of debate?

Next term I plan on running the ethical and enviomeantal committe weekly and in those meeting diccusing all the EEO descisions for that week.

Any other ideas, like or dislike the ones currently here and does anyone know how to make a forum or allow guest posts by students on this site?

RE: Johhny davis - anti facist weekend

Johnny Davis Vice president welfare "attended" the anti fascist protest against the English defense league. A racist group with a largely fascist leadership and strong fascist ties.

Trying to make Birmingham a less threatening city is a great use of time for the guilds welfare officer. Although for the record my idea of "attending" is not turning up 40 minutes late with my shopping in hand.

my main problem with your post is that you accuse the protest and seemingly the anti fascist movement regionally of being "a disguise for the pro Palestine agenda". I don't know why you wrote that and I cannot imagine what hoops your mind has jumped through to get to that conclusion.

With another mobilization for the same cause underway such accusations are unhelpful. The movement draws upon individuals from all walks of life and political backgrounds. Accusing it of having a pro Palestine agenda is tremendously unhelpful to a movement seeking to unite.

Read the post Here

Johnny Davis has clarified his position which is fantastic thank you, obviously there is still plenty of outstanding issues to debate here. It may now be best to do so on his blog next to his clarification message.

Birmingham students at to climate camp???

Students from Birmingham have been camping for climate action for years now! do you want to join them?

From the 27th of august to the 2nd of September students, pensioners, mothers, fathers, workers and children will be gathering were climate change is really being driven forward, London.

if your fed up with empty rhetoric or the pointless greenwash (a good example of the latter http://www.guildofstudents.com/content/index.php?page=90335). Then head down to climate camp.

if you want to join birmingham students to traveling down from birmingham or a place to stay in London then send message to e.bauer@guild.bham.ac.uk.

in the mean time check out the climate camp website for a list of what to bring you can find it here.

COP - 15 Copenhagen Climate Summit

In December, Guild Council resolved to affiliate, along with the NUS, to the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and to support their campaigns. World leaders are meeting from December 7th -18th at a "last chance global meeting" to create the successor to the Kyoto protocol.

The VPSAD, The VPDR and the EEO will be working hard to promote the Stop climate chaos mobilization and campaigns for the summit.

Additionally the guild will be providing support for students organizing for the summit creating a platform for all students and groups from any perspective to make themselves heard.

If your a student or student group and would like to organize a event around the Copenhagen summit, whatever your perspective or aims the guild will help you publicize and advertise it. If you would like to take part simply join the Facebook group.

Freedom of information

The governance of the university is a cloistered and byzantine mess. Students are held at a arms length from information concerning the university. Students are meant to have a nominal input on ethical and environmental decisions at the university. Through the guild of students formal role in the universities governance. However its hard to have a input when you don't know what is going on.

This being nearly* the equivalent of locking a bunch of people in pitch black room and asking them if there is any changes they would like to have made to the colour scheme. Then acting all surprised and disappointed at the lack of enthusiastic response.

I'm now starting as I promised in the election researching all aspects of the universities activities. I'm using the EEO position as a platform to ask questions as well as submitting Freedom of information requests.

Come the start of term I will be asking students to join as researchers and help compile information into a report, if you would like to be a researcher please do contact me at e.bauer@guild.bham.ac.uk

if there are any particular aspects of the university you would would like researched for either e-mail me or comment after this post.

*this not quite the same as we pay for the privilege