gair rhydd Monday March 05 2012 | freeword – Est. 1972 | Issue 972
NUS invite student media to question candidates Sheri Hall & Matt Jones News Editors
Henry McMorrow News Editor Last week saw the return of the annual Go Global week. Go Global’s objective lies in the exhibition and celebration of the wealth of cultural diversity at Cardiff University. During the week, the Union hosted a range of events that showed how enriched the University is as
a result of its global intake of students. The week saw a deluge of societies, largely sequestered between Freshers Periods, remerge to remind students of the breadth of societies on offer, that cater for all. Harry Newman, Societies officer, said, “I am very proud of all the societies who contributed to the success of the week.
“The way in which they inspired people to get involved was admirable and led to a lot of students discovering more about the diversity which surrounds them every day. “Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped make their events happen.”
Continued on page 7...
Student media had the chance to grill NUS candidates at an exclusive press conference last week, putting aspiring officers on the spot about their plans for student welfare. The press conference was the first of its kind and invited student media outlets to question candidates’ manifestos and demand answers about controversial student issues. The event imitated a real press conference as student editors were sat in front of a panel of NUS presidential candidates and given the chance to ask questions and record the proceedings. Editor of the London Student, Hesham Zakai felt the event was a significant step forward for student democracy: “The press conference provided the sort of intense scrutiny of candidates by student journalists that is unfortunately lacking at the NUS National Conference and thus represents an important step in making the election process as a whole more democratic.” The media event has come in preparation for the NUS National conference, where candidates will stand for election and be voted for by delegates from universities throughout the UK. The conference was split into six question and answer sessions,
each with a different panel of presidential and vice presidential candidates running for various roles as NUS officers. Kylie Barton, editor in chief of Bath University’s student newspaper, Impact, thought that the format was an effective way to tackle the candidates: “It was great that they could not see our questions first as I feel we got more honest answers that way.” The London Student Editor thought that the structure was not without its flaws: “There was no chance for students asking questions to challenge the answers of the candidates and perhaps it could have been longer on the whole.” Sheffield, Bath and Salford were among the attending institutions, and brought up a variety of issues, some specific to their own universities and some relevant to the wider student population. Concerns that appeared to be shared across universities included Vice Chancellor’s bonuses, unpaid internships, and the NUS’s relevance to students at the grass roots level. The NUS National elections, which will take place in Sheffield this year, will decide which of the independent candidates will lead the direction of the NUS and how it represents students on issues such as finance, access to education and student welfare in general.
gair rhydd looks at key issues raised at the conference on page 4
Above: Performers from the Malaysian Society and belly dancers, from the Pole dancing society inspire the audience.
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