Undie 500 and Fee Rises

Well, following some extreme threats from Charlie, I am making my first blog post.

It's the last week of the third term holidays and things are mercifully quiet, unlike last week. With the Undie 500 riots and fee setting, last week was extremely busy. I spent most of it in my office under siege from the media, or out with Dave (Stevens, the other student rep on the UCSA Council) lobbying other Councillors to vote for our proposed amendment to the University's domestic fee-setting motion; that is, to increase fees only at the projected rate of inflation (3.3%, according to the BNZ), not at the 4.5% proposed by the University.

The good news is that we won, 9 - 8. Obviosuly we are really pleased for our students (particularly those returning next year), but let's be clear: this is not an issue of University management. It's an issue of Government underfunding. Every year the Government projects an inflationary figure that is far too low (strangely, they only seem to use this particular figure for the Universities), leaving the Universities in the lurch to make up the funding shortfall. It is manifestly dishonest, and at the UCSA we appreciate the difficult situation the University is left in. But it is NOT the role of the students to fill the gap. Tertiary education must be available to all - and when fees are increasing at a rate above inflation every year, we cannot pretend that the University Profile's commitment to educate students of all backgrounds is anything more than lip service.

The bad news is that following the Undie 500 riots, the Dunedin City Council doesn't want the Undie back. I'm gutted. ENSOC are gutted. They put so much work into the event (and did a bloody good job) and it went off without a hitch - only to have its reputation tarnished by the idiots that rioted on Saturday night. As for what happens now, we'll have to wait and see.