ANU Cans Terrorfest

ever revolving never evolving

Having decided to get a real job instead of going to Uni, I feel that I can approach this situation from a uniquely perspective angle. I note that there have been comparisons to tax and student unionism, SU paying for wannabe politicians, and discussion about what SU actually discounts.

Let me get this out of my system first. Tax is compulsory. Student Unionism is a FEE that is attached (currently) cumpulsorily to attendees at a university.

To put it another way, I don’t go to uni, therefore I don’t have to pay CSU. Any income I earn in Australia, no matter where I live, contains a tax liability to the ATO.

So don’t fucking compare tax to CSU again aight ?

If you want to compare it to something, consider it a membership fee for things comparable to such as a Gym, private club, etc.

Ok, onto Student Unionism paying for wannabe pollies. Yes there are those who know how to use the system, in the trade we have a word for them, it’s leeches.

They seem to be so damn busy sprouting their leftist ideals on anybody who will listen, that you begin to wonder how they are managing to do any work at all (afterall you are there to study – apparently).

Very simple solution #1: toilet wall journalism, you’d be surprised how many people read what’s on the walls and how long their memories are.

Very simple solution #2 (extremely rapid) Within abovementioned toilets, politely inform the leech what you think of their policies, and how they could improve them. (I’m employing veiled speech incase nobody has noticed)

Very Simple Solution #3 Don’t vote for them, surely they are a member of a representative body, get onto the body and have them removed as spokesman and/or leader. Stand against them if you’re that way inclined. When they are holding public talks, stand up and speak up, get them to justify just what the hell they are receiving your money to do.

OK, rant nearly over.

Bulldog was right. I’ve worked at military pubs, when you walk up to a liquor store and say words that include ‘beer’ and ‘pallets’, the next word included is generally ‘discount’.

As I have indicated in alternative posts, we are currently in this rut of ‘we’ve never done it, so it can’t be done’.

Well here’s a wakeup call, If you don’t evolve, evolution catches up.

Well, that put cat with pigeons – excuse the delayed response, bastards making me work.

Student unions also provide subsidies for many of the caf’s, shops and businesses (bookshops etc) that are run on uni campuses that are otherwise unviable given the amount of time that there are no students around during the year.

There are also all the sports clubs and facilities and all the other clubs and organisations that allow students to develop their minds, bodies and Buffy collections.

There’s counselling services, student papers/magazines/websites, safe sex stuff, entertainment, support for international students, mature age students, blah blah blah blah.

Kerces is right, the legislation strictly prohibits the collecting of any kind of fee to pay for such services – Barnaby (“I’d like to vote from home”) Joyce even floated a similar idea of allowing regional and rural unis to charge a service fee.

Does this help?

Bulldog, if you join a club, any club around Canberra, you’ll get your subsidised cheap beer. Why do you think that beer is so much cheaper at tuggies for example?

Student politicians are the most unpleasant loathsome prats I’ve ever met, however, they represent a very small portion of what union money is spent on. Cheap food, counselling services, childcare are the most important. I predict that loss of childcare and counselling on campus will have a noticable negative affect on students in the short term.

Thumper, the Government would allow it but we would be charged a special tax for it.

I’m all for this plan AD. Tell me more.

mmmmm what if you were to not state that it was say a union… just a club… that has meetings at various pubs on those specified nights…with random members turning up on random nights….. it might last for a while…. why do governments have to ban everything that makes life ‘interesting’

you could have focus nights eg… if you have 8 bars keen to participate.. you have a rotation spanning 2 months whereby every thursday, friday and saturday a different bar is the focus… but still have the other bars not on focus offer cheap beer to members!! if we claim this as business then we open ourselves up to heaps more loopholes!!!

MMM…. cheap beer union (CBU!!)…. what if we set-up a pseudo union, where by pledge solid patronage to certain bars in return for cheaper beer…. so basically you promise more numbers through the door for cheaper prices… obviously people want to be where the action is… so that would draw non-CBU members in aswell and would probably increase profits for any struggling bar…

AD I feel you knockin’. I don’t have a problem with cheap beer; but why can’t I have it at the same price as students? Is there a cheap beer union I can join in the public or private sector? N fucking O, there is not. THAT is real the injustice.

tish tish… isn’t cheap beer what we all really want anyway…. cheap beer and free sex seems to be the ultimate human ambition….

If student unions subsidise beer then I have a problem with that. I don’t get subsidised beer, and I happen to love beer. I love it a lot. This also proves what a poor analogy it is to compare student union fees to taxes. My taxes don’t subsidise beer, tobacco or any other fun activities.

As I have said previously, aren’t we supposed to be grooming these people for the work force? No wonder most (not all) of the graduates I’ve seen in the workplace take a year or two to pull their heads out of their arses.

As for the solution to cheap drinks for uni bars, why don’t they approach the breweries. With the amount students drink I’m sure they could get some serious bulk discounts and quantity price breaks.

Still not sold people. Hit me with something a bit more meaningful than cheap beer (I can’t believe I said that…)

From the cheap beer provided by (ta da) your student union!

I’ve got an open mind on this K, but still nobody has explained exactly what services these fees pay for?

You make a good point about my taxes and the dole, but I’m struggling to see the correlation between student union fees and taxes. Why should the union hold the power to ‘tax’ students? Are the fees resourced back into the facilities and equipment available to students as taxes are?

And once again; if it’s not compulsory in the workplace (and it shouldn’t be), why make it compulory in universities?

Kerces, I am sure ‘we’ can find some way around that!

The trouble is, Mr Evil, that under the proposed legislation the unis won’t be able to collect money for anything non-academic (at least, that’s my understanding of it).

So they can’t just “collect another fee from the students to pay for the services that students require”.

I still say roll on VSU. The universities can collect another fee from the students to pay for the services that students require, which isn’t then bled off to pay for wanking student politicians to go on junkets to bleat about how cruel and unfair the world is! Let Labor, The Greens, Liberals, et al pay for student pollies if they want to.

Bulldog, do you mind that your taxes are used to pay for the dole even though you don’t use/access it?

I certainly don’t mind that my ASF and GSF (and going to both ANU and UC I pay both) go to fund support services that I don’t use. But that’s my choice about how I feel about it. I’ve certainly never heard anyone complaining about having to pay, it’s just what you do. Just like you have to pay taxes.

What people just don’t seem to understand is that most of the money doesn’t go to student politicians at all, but to the services provided. And at UC and ANU at least there are two organisations these funds go to — the student union and the student association. And it’s the SAs that the student politicians are in, not the things that are called unions at all.

Unfortunately the government propaganda seems to be working and the majority think there’s all this money going to nasty wannabe politicians and not to things that can potentially benefit the whole student community.

Colsim – meh, you’re probably right about the motives behind it. But can you clarify just what services are offered to the students as a result of coin collected by NVSU?

And are all the students taking up these services or, like the dole, is it the same people going back again and again?

Paying money for services is just the same as paying taxes. You might prefer not to pay the tax in the first place but you benefit from the services.

I don’t give a rats about funding student politics, that can go, politicians should come from the community in my book but that doesn’t appear to be an acceptable compromise to the govt.

I do suspect that this is much more about payback for little Johnny and Bren-bren being given a hard time for being young Libs than any particularly useful social goal.

I’m with you Evil, bring on VSU. If it’s not compulsory in the workplace then why in the universities? Aren’t we supposed to be grooming these students for the workplace?

I know when I had mates at uni they could have used the extra couple of hundred dollars in their own skyrockets rather than helping an elitist pack of wankers build a platform to voice left wing political opinions…

Roll on VSU…? (calm down, it’s just a troll 🙂
Yeah, let’s have no bar at all. University is for studying after all.

I quite like PC/conservatiness it gives me someone to rile up!!

Roll on VSU……….

what happened to freedom of speech? Association? Perhaps the fact that it all might be a stage show? These neo conservatives are beginning to piss me off. Another example of this stupidity is this hullabaloo

I still don’t see how religous bigotry equates to racial bigotry….. religions are the biggest purveyors of bigotry there is…. they deserve it!! Racial bigotry can get fucked though

According to Lailoken, the ANU cancelled the gig for a number of reasons even after Baal Gadrial was removed from the lineup.
His comments can be found here:
http://canberrametal.proboards32.com/index.cgi?board=Gigs&action=display&thread=1127704472

The venue has been moved from the ANU to the Holy Grail, with Tasmania’s Intense Hammer Rage now headlining.

Also of note, FightDemBack clarified that most of the bands involved (many of them local) are definately not racist, and in particular pointed out that local lads Darkim stood out as taking a stand against racism. Clarification can be found here:
http://www.fightdemback.com/2005/09/23/bye-bye-baal-gadrial/