Issue 2, april 2019
MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
The prevalent Impotence of the 21st century thought. COMMENTARY | OPINION Continued from Front Page. BLAZEJ WARTALSKI However, do we really believe in it? And, if we do, why has no meaningful action has been taken? Greta Thunberg (the founder of the Youth Strike for Climate movement), a 15-year-old student from Sweden, has recently been nominated for the Nobel Prize for inspiring children from around the globe to walk out from schools, taking their frustration out of the classrooms into the streets, and to protest the general inaction regarding climate change. Let’s be clear – the children know that adults are powerless. Why are we not able to address the climate change problem? Is it something entirely new for humanity, a world-scale issue almost impossible to comprehend?
This is the time for exploring the unknown, as the degree of cooperation and change is required at levels never seen before. I believe that current nation-states no longer provide us the tools needed to enter the next century without a collapse. Is our impotence in this crisis just an effect of the lack of institutions necessary to find a solution? To attack our lack of action from another angle, maybe some blame may be directed towards the media? The rubbish passed as ‘solutions’ by some media outlets – if you recycle plastic or use public transportation, you’re doing your part, and are guiltfree with nothing to worry about. Great! However, this is a global
NO MORE 'HUSH, HUSH' COMMENTARY | OPINION | A call for drastic changes to our Students’ Union and the way they conduct their elections. MELISSA NABRE Unfortunately, in comparison to past years, what Ed Marsh said at the beginning of the results night could be considered true. After all, it is not the first time that there have been very politician-like, dirty tricks used to win a position of presidency in the SU. But, even if the specific allegations, which will be mentioned throughout this article, made about this year’s elections process are true, it has still been relatively tame and attracted a lot less attention than previous years. Regardless of the result of their investigations, that these complaints are even being made by candidates who once wanted to work for the Students’ Union speaks volumes. Even if they cannot be proven, they can negatively affect both the students at this university and Middlesex University itself. It could reduce the number of talented people, that could actually
make a difference, from wanting to run for a position that gives them the power to do so. The controversy and negative image of the elections process that appears in light of these claims, even if they turn out not to be true, not only effects the Students’ Union itself, and the image that they portray, but also effects the candidates that do have the courage to run for presidency, by shaking their confidence and making the campaign process seem more ruthless and terrifying. It also makes us as a university loose face. I mean, who would want to come to a university where the student union has so many rumours about cheating during their elections? How would that make our lives as students better? It also defeats the purpose of the enjoyment of elections. The elections are supposed to be friendly competition that you’re meant to enjoy, and you are running
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problem. Such miniscule efforts don’t accomplish much. The only thing they really achieve is a boost to the ego, “you’re saving mother nature” by doing something miniscule. Only massive collective effort can change humanity’s course. What is necessary to combat climate change is a massive overhaul of our system and cooperation. The Paris Agreement is nice, but it only takes us an inch, it’s not the solution. Even if the Paris Agreement signatories pledged and stayed true to the target, the temperature would still rise above 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial revolution. Maybe action is not being taken because of our apathy? We think we’ll be okay, we live in the wealthy part of the world and can build amazing dams (it’s worth knowing that one third of Netherlands is under the sea level, and they seem to be doing fine). In the United Kingdom, we will probably not starve due to soon-tocome scarcity of resources. However, the most damaged areas (according to global climate risk index released
in 2019) will be the poorest. Notably almost the entirety of Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Vietnam, are on top of the list for risk. And let’s be honest, we don’t really care about ‘distant’ places like that. UK even decided to cut membership in European Union to be more sovereign. If we don’t trust our neighbouring countries, can it honestly be said that we care about the struggles a little bit further away? My instinct tells me that this country cares, but not really. If we cared, millions of children would not die of hunger while we overproduce food to the point we throw away 10.000.000 tonnes of food every year in the UK alone. The question remains unsolved, what is to be done about climate change? What is to replace the system? The answer is yet to be found, but it is certain that what we need most is creativity and a belief that the system can be changed. At some point, things cannot go on as they are. Maybe our desperate impotence is a sign that it is the time to think, not act.
because you believe in something, not because you want to defeat other people. By running for these presidency positions and using these unfair methods to garner votes, these people cannot be considered suitable to be the representatives of the students. Being able to run for a position you think will help you make the lives of your fellow students better is an amazing opportunity, but these negative actions make others forget that fact. It’s difficult to say exactly what these ‘negative’ actions were. The Students’ Union has strict policies regarding confidentiality, as it should, and so the facts behind the complaints and allegations are unclear. However, according to Reygan Davidson, 21, a candidate for the President position, and Derek Lamb, 21, a candidate for Vice President of Business and Law, some of the ‘negative’ actions included campaigning in slates and threatening other campaign teams. What should be done to prevent this negative behaviour in the future? First off, the student union need to be less focused on saving face by keeping complaints and
any controversy “hush hush”, and instead invest more time in operating in a more transparent way, revealing details of allegations and how these are responded to. This will limit the rumours and allegations that are spread around by word of mouth. Furthermore, the Students’ Union may even benefit from a change of policy surrounding the elections, with an increased focus in policing candidates. A lot of students wouldn’t have even been aware of the scandalous actions certain people have taken in order to win a position of power. This factor also allowed those people to get away with those actions since, in their ignorance, the students might have voted for the people that squashed the voices of other candidates. This article in particular may not be appreciated by many, but I am taking that first step in preventing the lack of transparency that the SU have had over the past few years in regards to the elections. By providing knowledge to the students that vote, we can reduce the amount of people that are affected unfairly and really give equality to all.
