This is about MUSC. If you don't really care, feel free to skip this post. 
I'm sorry to anyone that's already seen this, but I figure there's a lot of people on this forum that might be interested and aren't on the 180 Degrees list. Everyone here is affected by it (except for Doe, cause he's no longer an undergrad.) If you've got any questions, I can most likely answer them, but anyway...
Last Monday 16 May, a new proposed constitution was released via the MUSC website, the second since MUSC voted amongst themselves to postpone our 2004 elections. After careful review, it is the opinion of many that this constitution does more damage to student representation and rights than the first.
What's worse is that the 36th MUSC have developed this constitution with the association and approval of the University, once again leaving students entirely out of the process. They have offered a 'two week comment period', though the constitution is already written in full, our concerns are long since documented and the incorporation process is already planned for.
There are dozens of issues the new proposed constitution raises, but there are some more horrific than others.
Primarily amongst the issues is the proposal that all students are immediately stripped of their membership to MUSC at the adoption of the new constitution, save the 21 Councillors. Though membership is available, it is not immediate upon the payment of student fees (which are still compulsory, at least for the next semester.) Instead, membership is contingent on an APPLICATION to membership, which is subject to approval by the Secretary of MUSC.
So according to the proposed constitution, regular student members who pay their membership fees are not entitled to vote in our elections, which were due in October last year, unless they make an application to membership. This despite the fact that we are still required to pay our fees, and paid them in 2004 and Semester 1 of 2005, when we were entitled to vote in our elections.
Further, according to the wording of the constitution, only members are allowed to run, nominated by two other members. This means that at the time of incorporation, only the current MUSC Councillors are allowed to run for the 2005 positions (which are reduced from 21 to 15)!!!
A full report will be released this week on the faults of the proposed MUSC constitution. It will be an extremely lengthy document. However, the time has come for students to let their voices be heard. It is time to tell the University that we are not going to accept this complacency, or any further incorporation attempts by the 36th MUSC. We want we want the 36th MUSC removed from office, and elections called immediately.
You can download the petition letter from http://www.oneeightydegrees.org/musc/studentpetitionletter.pdf Please open it, print it out and sign it. Then forward it on to our friends, print out more and get more to sign it.
Hang on to your signed petitions for the time being. We'll collect them up at the end of the week and then deliver them en masse to the University. Our collective voices will have far more impact than a bunch of 'dissident students' writing a letter signed by half a dozen people. We're aiming for over 1000 signed letters, by students that will be disenfranchised if the 36th MUSC gets its way. We'll need volunteers to walk around during lunch to gather signatures, but the logistics of this will be released a bit later.
This is one of the most important and ambitious tasks 180 Degrees has attempted so far. We have to engage the larger student body, to get as many students defending their rights as possible. Please forward this on to as many people as possible, so that the University and MUSC will see it's not a small group who disapproves of the current state of affairs.
Cheers,
Phil
pgbetts@hotmail.com
I'm sorry to anyone that's already seen this, but I figure there's a lot of people on this forum that might be interested and aren't on the 180 Degrees list. Everyone here is affected by it (except for Doe, cause he's no longer an undergrad.) If you've got any questions, I can most likely answer them, but anyway...Last Monday 16 May, a new proposed constitution was released via the MUSC website, the second since MUSC voted amongst themselves to postpone our 2004 elections. After careful review, it is the opinion of many that this constitution does more damage to student representation and rights than the first.
What's worse is that the 36th MUSC have developed this constitution with the association and approval of the University, once again leaving students entirely out of the process. They have offered a 'two week comment period', though the constitution is already written in full, our concerns are long since documented and the incorporation process is already planned for.
There are dozens of issues the new proposed constitution raises, but there are some more horrific than others.
Primarily amongst the issues is the proposal that all students are immediately stripped of their membership to MUSC at the adoption of the new constitution, save the 21 Councillors. Though membership is available, it is not immediate upon the payment of student fees (which are still compulsory, at least for the next semester.) Instead, membership is contingent on an APPLICATION to membership, which is subject to approval by the Secretary of MUSC.
So according to the proposed constitution, regular student members who pay their membership fees are not entitled to vote in our elections, which were due in October last year, unless they make an application to membership. This despite the fact that we are still required to pay our fees, and paid them in 2004 and Semester 1 of 2005, when we were entitled to vote in our elections.
Further, according to the wording of the constitution, only members are allowed to run, nominated by two other members. This means that at the time of incorporation, only the current MUSC Councillors are allowed to run for the 2005 positions (which are reduced from 21 to 15)!!!
A full report will be released this week on the faults of the proposed MUSC constitution. It will be an extremely lengthy document. However, the time has come for students to let their voices be heard. It is time to tell the University that we are not going to accept this complacency, or any further incorporation attempts by the 36th MUSC. We want we want the 36th MUSC removed from office, and elections called immediately.
You can download the petition letter from http://www.oneeightydegrees.org/musc/studentpetitionletter.pdf Please open it, print it out and sign it. Then forward it on to our friends, print out more and get more to sign it.
Hang on to your signed petitions for the time being. We'll collect them up at the end of the week and then deliver them en masse to the University. Our collective voices will have far more impact than a bunch of 'dissident students' writing a letter signed by half a dozen people. We're aiming for over 1000 signed letters, by students that will be disenfranchised if the 36th MUSC gets its way. We'll need volunteers to walk around during lunch to gather signatures, but the logistics of this will be released a bit later.
This is one of the most important and ambitious tasks 180 Degrees has attempted so far. We have to engage the larger student body, to get as many students defending their rights as possible. Please forward this on to as many people as possible, so that the University and MUSC will see it's not a small group who disapproves of the current state of affairs.
Cheers,
Phil
pgbetts@hotmail.com