{"id":598,"date":"2018-05-24T21:45:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T21:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=598"},"modified":"2018-07-30T22:18:31","modified_gmt":"2018-07-30T22:18:31","slug":"general-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/24\/general-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"GENERAL KNOWLEDGE"},"content":{"rendered":"

In subtext 176<\/a>, we reported on the Students\u2019 Union\u2019s Annual General Meeting, which was held at the end of Lent term and aborted due to inquoracy. Keen to be of assistance, we pointed out that, as per their bye-law, LUSU was required to hold another AGM within a week.<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019re a few weeks late, but LUSU have finally got round to holding another AGM. But with a twist…<\/span><\/p>\n

… This year\u2019s \u2018Annual General Meeting\u2019 is being held online as we write. Students are to click on a link, which as far as we know was not emailed to them (and isn\u2019t visible on LUSU\u2019s Facebook or website, um…), taking them to a video of the LUSU Full Time Officers talking about what they\u2019ve done, and why students should vote to approve their affiliations for that year.<\/span><\/p>\n

We know this because one of subtext\u2019s student pals sent us the link. When we clicked on it, we got an error message, and a \u2018try again\u2019 button. We clicked the button, and got a new message, this time \u2018thanking\u2019 us for \u2018voting\u2019. Our pal was aghast \u2013 through some technical error, subtext had cost them their ability to vote!<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, by entering the link into an incognito window on Google Chrome, they were able to vote again…<\/span><\/p>\n

… And again. And again. And again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, anybody wishing to vote on the affiliations of a multi-million pound organisation can, apparently, do so as many times as they please. A creative masterstroke to boost voter turnout figures? Probably not.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

WE THE PEOPLE<\/span><\/p>\n

It should go without saying that an online survey that can be voted on an infinite number of times is not a \u2018meeting.\u2019 But, this is where we are, so: an online survey that can be voted on an infinite number of times is not a \u2018meeting.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

We touched on this in subtext 146, when the Students\u2019 Union tried to say that proxy votes would count towards an AGM\u2019s quoracy. We envisaged scenes of a chairperson, sat alone with a minute taker, emptying a basket of \u2018proxy votes\u2019 onto a table and declaring the meeting \u2018quorate.\u2019 The issue with proxy votes is that voters do not get to listen to debates from the floor and possibly have their minds changed, nor can they propose or vote on amendments that come from the floor. But at least it was only absentees casting ill-informed votes – with this new online AGM, EVERY vote cast is going to be ignorant, there is no opportunity for LUSU members to hear debates, no means of proposing and voting on amendments to motions, and no means of a flowing dialogue with union officers. Still, it does solve LUSU\u2019s issues with inquoracy – all they need is for one person to vote 150 times on their online form. That\u2019s if it were a legitimate meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

LUSU\u2019s claim that proxy votes counted towards quoracy was abandoned shortly after we pointed out that this was unconstitutional, although a rule change approved in early 2018 means that it now is in fact constitutional. Fantastic. Will they abandon this \u2018online AGM\u2019, which is currently being used as the legal means by which they are seeking to approve their affiliations, when we point out that an \u2018online AGM\u2019 is totally unconstitutional, has zero precedence, and is not in any way accounted for or permitted by LUSU\u2019s bye-laws?<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

IT\u2019S NOT HARD<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is LUSU finding it so difficult to get their general meetings quorate? We know exactly the given reason why – they are \u2018outmoded\u2019 (a word that is not, despite its usage, interchangeable with \u2018old\u2019). But Students\u2019 Union General Meetings being inquorate are not new things, and the \u2018students just don\u2019t want to show up\u2019 is an age old excuse for lazy promotion and lack of drive. There have been many bustling and quorate AGMs in between the failures. There was the one in 2012 opposing the centralisation \/ redundancies of admin staff, the one in 2013 opposing the closure of the music degree, and the one in 2015 opposing cuts to fees and rents. What they all had in common was an impassioned union officer team which ran effective campaigns that educated and galvanised students to attend, and an exciting headline act that made students feel like their voices were necessary to affect change.<\/span><\/p>\n

Putting drab discussions about space, constitutions, and affiliations at the top of the bill ain\u2019t gonna pull the punters, and that is why no-one cares. It really is that simple.<\/span><\/p>\n

subtext welcomes letters from readers with their own memories of quorate union general meetings, few and far between though they may be.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In subtext 176, we reported on the Students\u2019 Union\u2019s Annual General Meeting, which was held at the end of Lent term and aborted due to inquoracy. Keen to be of assistance, we pointed out that, as per their bye-law, LUSU … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[332,20],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-issue-178","tag-lusu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-9E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":397,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/01\/special-report-scrutiny-mutiny\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":0},"title":"SPECIAL REPORT: SCRUTINY MUTINY","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 1 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"subtext spent a large amount of the 15\/16 academic year remonstrating with the Students' Union and advising it not to implement its 'democratic review', an initiative which involved LUSU reviewing democracy and deciding it wasn't very good. LUSU subsequently abolished its council, and handed all of its power to two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":508,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/04\/26\/general-fiasco\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":1},"title":"GENERAL FIASCO","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"April 26 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"subtext was unable to report on the LUSU General Meeting last month, so here's SCAN's report:\u00a0http:\/\/scan.lusu.co.uk\/index.php\/2018\/03\/15\/union-on-the-defensive-in-ill-tempered-agm\/ What was of interest to subtext was the excuses reeled off by the officer team for the poor attendance. Students were blamed for not tabling exciting agenda items and instead expecting their elected officers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":644,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/06\/07\/another-glorious-victory-for-subtext\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":2},"title":"ANOTHER GLORIOUS VICTORY FOR SUBTEXT","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"June 7 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In subtext 178, we helpfully noted that LUSU's online general meeting was not only completely unconstitutional, but also easy to game, as it was possible for students to vote as many times as they wished. Since our report, we note that LUSU has sent out a 'special newsletter' to promote\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":709,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/09\/13\/the-students-union\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":3},"title":"THE STUDENTS’ UNION","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"September 13 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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 \u00a3249. To make their displeasure known, LUSU set up a stall and put \u00a3249 worth of pasta on display. A little gimmicky, we thought, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "history"","block_context":{"text":"history","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1098,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2019\/11\/01\/special-feature-lancaster-university-students-disunion\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":4},"title":"SPECIAL FEATURE: LANCASTER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ DISUNION","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 1 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"SPECIAL FEATURE: LANCASTER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' DISUNION Contributed articles by Ronnie Rowlands ONE SUGAR, PLEASE When we covered the Students' Union officer elections for the 19\/20 academic year, your subtext correspondents observed that the new crop of officers ought to make short work of becoming popular. LUSU had been awash with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "contributed article"","block_context":{"text":"contributed article","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/contributed-article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":393,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/01\/analysis-lusu-elections\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":5},"title":"ANALYSIS: LUSU ELECTIONS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 1 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The nominations for the next batch of LUSU Sabbatical Officers have closed, and it has the potential to be historic. The winners will have been announced by the time subtext's next issue is out, and readers can expect a full analysis of LUSU's new lineup. For now, we will focus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":618,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions\/618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}