Issue 271 Monday 10th February 2014 University of Bristol Independent Student Newspaper
www.epigram.org.uk
Inside An unAMMicable evening Epigram
• Officer role review derailed • AMM fails to reach quoracy Josephine Franks Editor Laura Jacklin News Editor Apathy and self-interest were the characteristics that dominated this year’s AMM. Despite Bristol boasting a student population of almost 20,000, only 263 students made it to the union’s largest annual democratic event. This meant that the meeting did not reach quorate and all the motions passed will have to be ratified at at Student Council on Monday 17th February. Of those in attendance, a large number left after the first motion failed to pass. This motion debated the proposed officer role reviews, which would make the fulltime officers more representative of the student body and include the positions of Postgraduate Officer and Student Living Officer. One of the proposed changes included the merging of the current VP Sports and VP Activities roles into the new position of
Opportunities and Student Development Officer. Sports teams turned out in force to question the motion, which eventually failed to pass with a slim majority of 52% voting against and many promptly left following their victory. The low attendance figures and departure of many students during the meeting generated feelings of frustration in the elected officers. Both Imogen Palmer (VP Activities) and Alessandra Berti (VP Welfare and Equality) expressed disappointment at the fact that the student body was not accurately and equally represented by those present at the meeting. Attendees were largely students already engaged with the union, while the union wishes to reach out to those currently underrepresented, such as postgraduate and international students. Speaking to Epigram, Berti labelled the evening a ‘disappointment’, calling it a ‘beautiful example of why AMMs don’t work’. Palmer echoed this, telling Epigram that ‘many people in the room couldn’t see how important [the role review proposal]
was.’ However, she continued to say that she ‘still had hopes’ for the officer role review, which may yet be taken to Student Council. Similarly, Ellie Williams (VP Community) said to the attendees of the meeting that it was ‘not completely over’, with an online referendum a possible course of action. The recent staff strike action was another major issue at the meeting and students voted in favour of UBU supporting staff strike action over issues of pay. Support from the union would entail raising awareness of the issues, encouraging students to not cross picket lines, working more closely with striking unions and organising student events and demonstrations to show visible support. Ethical policies were also a key subject of the evening; Tyrone Falls proposed a motion for the university to create a central record of animals used and killed in research. After some debate, the motion was not passed.
Comment centre spread: LGBT rights around the world pages 28-29
Continued on page 3
L ife on Mars
Kai Staats
Bristol PhD students’ expedition a success, full report on page 4