Guild of Officers (Students Excluded )

I started part one of this here before I went to climate camp . I intend to put forward the issues I raise here too Guild Council in a motion, this is why I'm writing this in public blog rather than in a private e-mail to the executive.

Is the guilds system of absolving its members of power and responsibility appropriate in a age of modern communication? does it not dis-empower the guilds grass-roots while helping to create a inaccessible elite?

Obviously the guilds system of sabbatical representation is designed to defer power and responsibility to a select group. Built on a system based on simple division of labour, the average student is assumed to be too busy do certain tasks . So we have a system were activists are employed for the task of changing the students lives for them because they are assumed to be either to apathetic or busy.

To what extent is this need for this division of labour a thing of past? If it ever was the case that students were incapable of being forces for change, then the information age has certainly changed that. New communications on facebook, blogger twitter. Hundreds of students are now a hidden force for change at the guild and university. Its just a shame that the Guilds system actively disregards these students as elements for change in education.

Don't blame the guild its just that it is about as fast on its feet as a lead donkey and can't keep up with the times. The guild still only lets its executive take part in the official discourse of change. In doing so It demotes its membership who also blog, twitter etc to a lower sub platform. While the guild flops about like a lead donkey-fish out of its archaic snail speed communication water, other groups are already moving forward. The Labour parties Labour list, Conservative Home and other campaigning groups with the same structure as the guild of students like People and Planet have allowed their grass-root membership to start setting the agenda. Students are empowered and informed and don't want rely on supposed “experts” to do the work of change for them. The system at the guild is making assumptions about who is behind change at the university that certainly no longer apply/

I think the the guild needs to break down its separations which sustain a elite that are keeping students quiet and dis-empowered. Why should writers like Nick Petrie talking about the issues at the university and at the guild be given a lower platform to speak on than the president? To me the current guild seems unworthy of the explanatory descriptive of students and until it gives a better voice to its grass-root members then it will remain in my mind a guild of officers.

Take a look at the people and planet website on the front page it has a feed of blogs from its grass-root members> I've also changed the feed on this blog so that unofficial student writers are put next to guild officers on a equal platform. I will be creating a motion for the first guild council arounds the points here if you would like to help create it (or have a major problem with this) then either comment or message me.

The third part on this theme (I which I will write asap) will be on the content of officer blogs (interested?).

I do not intend "to swipe" at any of the current officers my criticisms are aimed solely at procedures that were in place before you got into office, I am sorry if you are attached to them however please don't these criticisms personally.