rhifyn 1126 issue 1126
gair rhydd
26 Tachwedd 2018 26 november 2018
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Cardiff University’s student paper | Established 1972
SU President reflects harshly on the AGM
Sustainablity of Student Union finances questioned at AGM
by Sam Tilley & Matt Tomlin
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n Thursday, November 22, Cardiff University Students’ Union held their Annual General Meeting (AGM), where students debated six motions, and listened to updates from the Union regarding their annual spending between the academic year of 2017 and 2018 alongside other important announcements. Students in the audience also had the opportunity to ask questions to trustees about the spending and operations of the Union. Trustees were under scrutiny about how the SU would be funded in a sustainable manner following revelations in the 2017/2018 financial report that it had been operating at a loss of almost £2 million in 2016/2017. This was followed by a profit of a
mere £262,000 in 2017/2018. Trustees stated more than once that the Union had faced financial obstacles in recent years. No exact solutions were made clear. Within the Student Union budget, it was predicted that they will soon also face income cuts, as the University need to make £20 million in expenditure cuts, a move that will likely affect the Union. Daniel Palmer, Chief Executive of the Union stated: “When the University catches a cold, we start sneezing” in reference to the potential economic consequences this will have on the Union finances. Followed up by Fadhila Al Dhahouri, SU President: “We can’t predict the cuts or savings [within the Union] until March when we hear from the University.”
Rugby BUCS victories by Reece Chambers
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oth of the University’s rugby teams gained victories in their last BUCS fixtures. The men finally earned their first win in the BUCS Super League with a 22-14 over Northumbria. Meanwhile, the ladies team continued their impressive form with an emphatic 49-5 win over Surrey in the Cup. 31
Hands Up: Cardiff University Students’ Union AGM saw a range of motions fail and pass. Photo Credit: Cardiff University Students’ Union by Jess Warren
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n Friday, 23 November, the day after AGM, Fadhila Al Dhahouri, SU President made some controversial reflections about the evening through a post on her private Facebook account. When questioned about her Facebook post being attributed to a particular motion in the evening, Fadhila responded with a statement saying: “these were general reflections so should not be attributed to any specific motions of AGM”. Her Facebook post stated: “people who preach hope and better future... always find it difficult to convince people of their message, especially if these people don’t have a moral compass to guide them”. When asked to clarify what she meant about a moral compass, she responded saying: “Having a moral compass is having a set of values that guide your decision making. For me personally it is about standing up for justice for everyone, for me this is the core value of my living, which stems from my religion Islam.” Fadhila also stated in her post that:
“people who prey on other people’s fear to make them take action are the most cowards of all on earth.” When questioned over this, she responded saying: “For me day to day life is about giving messages of hope, that empowers people for a better future – not scaring people with messages of fear.” This comes after an interesting set of motions were debated at the AGM, with one of the motions Fadhila was seconding, failing to pass. The motion titled “Protecting our Palestinian and Jewish Students” also faced much controversy on the night, with members of the audience who were Jewish Students standing up to claim they weren’t consulted on the motion. President of the Jewish Society, Guy Oberlander tweeted stating that: “I had absolutely no idea about [the motion] until I read the AGM Schedule”. When Fadhila was questioned over the lack of input and knowledge, Guy Oberlander had over the motion, she responded by saying: “a number of students were consulted in the formation of the motion, including Jewish
students. “After the motion was submitted, the amendments were then produced after consultation with some members of the Jewish Society committee and members of the society. “The intention of the motion was to listen to all students voices, moving forward I want to ensure that everyone is heard and that we do the best by our student body.” In a statement made to The Jewish Chronicle, The Union of Jewish Students and the Cardiff Jsoc condemned the motion: “It is clear that this motion’s skindeep mention of combating antisemitism is being used as an attempt to ‘kosher’ BDS, a movement that the vast majority of Jewish students oppose and see as an attack on our identity. “Anyone who believes that they can erase Jewish experience and define antisemitism better than Jewish people cannot claim to be ‘protecting Jewish students’. “We will not accept our oppression being used to further the politics of division and hatred.”
Fire Safety risk over building cladding in Cardiff
by Hefin Rees Edwards
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oping to avoid another ‘Grenfell’ type disaster, the Senedd’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee has published a report that contains several concerns regarding Welsh fire safety practices. A number of recommendations have been made to the Welsh Government in the hope 18 that a new law be passed to replace the Fire Safety Law of 2005.