Update from the Wonderful Education Collective

Well Folks, the good news is we all survived Oweek.

If you did, then you guys will be reading this after Oball's festivities which means we've gotta get down to the business of surviving the semester, which equals classes, assignments, and for the Education Action Group (EAG) and NUSA (Newcastle University Students' Association), the business of running campaigns, helping out students with grievances and generally preparing for the implementation of Voluntary Student Unionism, or as I prefer to call it Anti Student Organisation Legislation (ASOL), next semester.

For anyone who has been asleep or out of the country in the last year, ASOL is being implemented at Newcastle Uni next semester. That means you will not have to pay your GSC next semester. It also means (Meg sheds a quiet tear), that your Student Association (NUSA), your Union and NuSport will not have access to their traditional forms of funding. And that means that heaps of the stuff you guys have been enjoying over the last two weeks - the bars, the stalls, the cheap bands, the cheap gym, the free condoms, the wonderful clubs and societies, the student run collectives, the Student magazine - are under serious threat. One of the main jobs of the Education Collective this year will be to promote and help people understand the value of Student Unionism. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you can come along to EAG meetings at...

10.30am TUESDAYS @ NUSA (the building between Student Services and the Bar on the Hill)!!!

All are welcome. Just pop in and if you don't see me ask one of the uber-friendly staff for Meg. Or you can join the email list by sending a blank email to newc_education-subscribe(AT)yahoogroups.com.

If this time doesn't suit you, you can drop in to NUSA anytime on Tuesday mornings or most of the day Wednesday to chat about your ideas for campaigns, the Uni, the issues involved in education activism, or the general state of the nation. Other issues that EAG will be getting involved in this year are the fight for regional funding, which was taken away from Newcastle Uni at the beginning of last year (despite the fact that we are, yes, the ONLY university in the region) , and other possibilities include women in education, welfare issues (welfare can mean the difference between students being able to continue at uni or not), course and staff cuts, and whatever else you guys feel is appropriate!

On a more general note, something I would suggest for the week, semester and even the year: talk to people. Sounds obvious huh? But it can be surprisingly difficult, even for a leathery old third year such as myself. However, I can guarantee it will make your life at uni a whole lot more enjoyable. In the last two weeks I've been lucky enough to have some great conversations, one with a tutor I always assumed (wrongly) would find the ramblings of an undergrad too docile to engage with and the other with one of 'those people'. You know, one of those people you always see around? Maybe they're in your classes but you've never met them, or you see them in the AIC, or you have similar break times - you see them around and you may make eye contact, or even smile, but you never quite manage to ask their name. Then one day, it happened - one of these elusive creatures approached me, and it turned out we knew people in common. Hell, we even had stuff in common! And when mixed with several beers in the ever welcoming GT bar, the experience made my day. The only thing I regret is that I spent two years at uni not knowing this person. Go on, talk to the random! Maybe next time I'll even get brave and risk a little dignity myself.

Stay classy, San Diego.

Meg Clement

megan.clement(AT)studentmail.newcastle.edu.au

Education Officer, 2006

Newcastle University Students' Association

PH: 4921 6006