Tag Archives: Grad Ball

THE STUDENTS’ UNION

Posted on September 13 2018 | Comments Off on THE STUDENTS’ UNION

It all started so well for the Students’ Union. In subtext 169 we reported on their campaign against an unnecessary rent increase of up to £249. To make their displeasure known, LUSU set up a stall and put £249 worth of pasta on display. A little gimmicky, we thought, but enough to get the usual ‘our costs are going up and we have the best halls ever anyway’ line trotted out by the university. And so, we sat back, and then… nothing. There was no further campaigning action, no publicity releases about negotiations, and no attempt to actually mobilise students into a General Meeting, or a protest, or anything.

And then the SU was complicit in the abolition of University Court (detailed above under UNIVERSITY COURT), the decision making body with the largest student delegation, the only one to which any student representative could propose motions and policy, and at which students had fought and won against the university.

But the University Court was due to be abolished anyway, and perhaps it wasn’t the best hill for the SU to die on if it wanted to pick more important fights. As the industrial action took hold of the entire higher education sector, and the student body increasingly swayed towards the side of the staff, subtext eagerly awaited the SU’s statement of intent, and its plan of action, before issue 173 went to print. The plan, it transpired, was to ’empower [student] opinion with impartial information.’ Yes. After making clear that it wasn’t best pleased that the action was going ahead, the SU decided that it wasn’t even going to OPPOSE it. Instead, it put out some tepid ‘on the one hand this and on the other hand that’ infographics. Thankfully, hundreds of students spontaneously organised, many of whom were heard shrieking with derision at any mention of the SU, joined by striking UCU members.

Even JCR officers weren’t safe. A series of posters denouncing the Vice-Chancellor’s salary and lack of funding for the counselling service quickly disappeared from campus, and LUSU’s higher-ups were reported to have advised the JCR officers responsible to take a different tack, apparently pledging to help ‘broaden’ the campaign and attract wider attention. As we predicted in subtext 177, such a campaign never came to fruition – LUSU simply quashed the activism.

LUSU might have made better decisions, be it on Grad Ball (which this year was cancelled for the first time since the 1970s), opposing strike action, or allowing fascism on campus to be funded, if it were more accountable to students, and hadn’t gutted almost all of its accountability structures in 2015 (as we recalled in issue 174). Could LUSU’s ‘scrutiny panel’ have curbed this behaviour? No. In subtext 174, we noted that the ‘scrutiny panel’ hadn’t met at any point during the nine months that the sitting sabbatical team had held office, and was denounced by a former appointee for producing toothless reports that ‘nobody reads.’ Perhaps a General Meeting of the student body could have passed policy? Not a chance – LUSU’s General Meeting failed to reach quoracy, because they failed to seize the enthusiasm around the rent increase in the first term, or the industrial action in the second term to drive attendance. In lieu of a quorate General Meeting, LUSU instead held an ‘online general meeting’, which is completely unconstitutional and has zero powers to authorise LUSU to do anything.

There must have been SOMETHING keeping LUSU’s political wing busy, because one now-former officer appeared on Bailrigg FM back in May boasting to a Labour Party representative that by-election turnout was healthy because LUSU had bothered to do a bit of promotional work, even though it ‘isn’t their job’ (it is).

subtext keeps a close eye on all of the university’s most influential wings, and the SU is one of them. You can read all of our reporting on the SU’s activities throughout 2017-18, which is far more detailed than our VERY brief recap, below.

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/11/23/the-rent-is-too-damn-high/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/02/01/court-the-final/ |

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/02/15/student-citizens-advice-bureau/|

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/02/15/student-activism-shows-some-signs-of-life/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/03/01/special-report-scrutiny-mutiny/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/03/01/analysis-lusu-elections/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/03/15/lusu-news/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/04/26/gradballs/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/04/26/sufferin-succofash/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/04/26/general-fiasco/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/05/10/poster-boy/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/05/24/democracy-does-good/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/05/24/general-knowledge/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/05/24/sheer-brass-balls/

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/06/07/another-glorious-victory-for-subtext/

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STOP PRESS – ALL IS FORGIVEN, LUSU!

That was then. This is now. subtext is pleased to report that the new team of LUSU full-time officers seem to have got off to a blistering start, by calling a student demonstration against the proposed introduction of 6pm to 7pm lectures, during this Saturday’s Undergraduate Open Day. The details:

https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/join-our-teaching-hours-protest

Don’t miss your Week 1 subtext for our full report on the ‘extended teaching day’ proposals, including why you shouldn’t dramatically increase your undergraduate numbers without also dramatically increasing your lecture theatres, and why this problem isn’t going to go away any time soon.

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BALLS UPDATE

Posted on May 24 2018 | Comments Off on BALLS UPDATE

A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME

In subtext 176, we reported that the Students’ Union had come under fire from students for what was perceived as a lacklustre Graduation Ball lineup and venue. With the event looking increasingly like a loss-making exercise, LUSU has now cancelled the event.

This is unprecedented. Grad Ball has been in existence since the 1970s, predating college extravs, so why has it died a sudden, grizzly death?

Until a few years ago, the University subsidised some of Grad Ball’s costs, and this allowed the SU to keep ticket prices down without compromising the quality of the acts and venue. The SU block grant has also been reduced recently. The University is more than happy to pump seventy grand into extra coaching for an away-Roses, when a fraction of that could be gifted to LUSU to get a popular act. Why should the university have to fund the school disco? Because a good Grad Ball = good publicity for Lancaster. Shallow, ‘ooh look at the big acts we can get’ publicity, but publicity nonetheless (it’s also the right thing to do, of course). Alas, this disaster is likely to translate into bad publicity for Lancaster. A Top Ten University that doesn’t even have an end of year ball? Outrageous!

When it comes to Grad Ball, the SU is in an invidious position – it has to strike a balance between finding an act that is JUST famous enough with providing a reasonable ticket price (not that Lancaster’s Grad Ball ticket prices are that out of tune with our ‘comparator’ universities). Also, it is easy for students to vote in some online poll demanding, oh we don’t know, P.J. Proby (Is he the In Thing? – Ed.), or for a candidate for a LUSU officer post to promise P.J. Proby, but anyone experienced in Ents booking knows that nothing is that simple. When it transpires that P.J. Proby is busy doing his hair on the day of Grad Ball, the disappointing lineup is invariably blamed on ‘LUSU laziness.’ Accountability is also a major issue. Since LUSU completely rejected transparency to the strongest degree possible, they have severely lacked a ‘sounding board’ to work out what students want from their school disco.

In 2015, the SU drastically inflated the membership price of BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) teams, in most cases by over TEN TIMES the previous price, to make up for a 22% drain on expenditure (subtext 137).

In 2017, the SU underwent a drastic restructure, making some staff members redundant, and re-deploying others to roles within University House, which took over responsibility for LUSU’s enterprise, volunteering, and international opportunities, as well as its IT provision (subtext 156). Not long before then, the SU was forced to close down one of its on-campus shops.

That LUSU has made these drastic financial cuts, yet STILL cannot afford to absorb some of the costs associated with Grad Ball, is a major issue, and causes the subtext collective considerable concern for LUSU’s future.

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SHEER BRASS BALLS

The cancellation of Grad Ball caught the attention of candidates in the recent local by-elections, some of whom offered to step in and sort it all out.

Conservative candidates Callum Furner and Guy Watts took to social media pledging, if elected, ‘to work with the Students Union […] to truly send off the Class of 2018 in magical style.’ When asked how, there came the somewhat broad response of ‘anything that’s needed’. Alas, these promises did little to aide the success of the Tories, who were roundly defeated.

Labour candidates Amara Betts-Patel and Oliver Robinson took a more placatory approach, expressing their desire for a ‘better relationship’ with the Students’ Union – a noble olive branch. Meanwhile, one of our sitting Labour councillors took to the ‘Overheard at Lancaster’ Facebook page to mock the ‘low effort SU’. So much for the better relationship.

What influence the city council actually has over the SU’s ents function is anyone’s guess.

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GRADBALLS

Posted on April 26 2018 | Comments Off on GRADBALLS

The Students’ Union came under fire (http://scan.lusu.co.uk/index.php/2018/04/24/a-glorified-school-disco-plans-to-move-grad-ball-to-the-great-hall-fall-flat-among-students/) after it announced the line-up and venue for this year’s Grad Ball. Students are deeply unhappy that the event is moving from Blackpool Tower to the Great Hall (where the majority of Grad Balls were held until 2012), and with the perceived ‘cheap’ quality of the acts on offer for £55. It has been slammed as a ‘glorified school disco’ as though it were an insult, rather than exactly what Grad Ball has always been.

We are reminded of the last time (http://scan.lusu.co.uk/index.php/2015/04/30/students-priced-out-of-grad-ball/) the student body erupted in fury over the SU’s plans for Grad Ball. In 2015, students were deeply unhappy with the ticket prices (£59), and sent numerous abusive messages to officers and staff complaining that LUSU didn’t keep costs down by… booking cheaper acts and moving the event to the Great Hall!

What do they want? Jam on it?

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GRADBALLS TO THE WALL

It’s not just the backlash to this year’s Grad Ball that reminds us of the uproar in 2015. Much like in 2015, a small number of enterprising students have decided to put on an alternative event, ‘by the people, and for the people.’

The effort three years ago quickly fell apart like a clown’s car when nobody knew who was arranging it, announcements and venues were promised and passed us by, and none of the ‘organisers’ could explain how it was going to be funded. The students quickly lost faith in the project when they began to suspect that the organisers were just a bunch of slipshod hucksters after their money. The valiant heart of the rebel uprising sunk shortly thereafter.

This year’s effort is a slightly more sophisticated one. The organisers are known (and popular on campus), they have a venue (Viva Blackpool, ‘one of the most prestigious event venues in the North.’ Apparently.), and the organisers have connections to ‘TABUKI’, a ‘well-established house music brand based in Lancaster.’

What they don’t have, however, is any guarantee that the event will go ahead. It’s a ‘speculate to accumulate’ affair, and if there aren’t enough tickets sold to cover the costs of the venue and the acts, it’s refunds all round and no harm done. But if it does work out, it’d rely on students getting tickets without knowing what they’re going to get. If enough people duly fork out for their early bird ticket, how many are going to demand a refund when they find out that they’ve paid for a front row seat to see P.J. Proby, the KPM All-Stars, and a Pat Boone tribute artist? [What’s wrong with that? Sounds like a cracking night – Ed.]

The subtext collective is mildly cynical, but we hope that both this and the official Grad Ball are a success.

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