Democracy re-born at Essex

I saw this (a bit late by the wording of it but I don't remember spotting it before) and thought I was going to be sick. Though that could just be the bottle of wine...

---EDIT--- it turns out it was posted yesterday (10th Feb) although at one point it says 'Last night proved this'. Petty complaint but if you're busy and can't post it when you intend I personally find (having missed many blog deadlines) that editing the text slightly doesn't cost too much.

QOTD:

Robin: Yeah, it's the end of the world. But so what? We're still here, still fighting, still friends.
Young Raven: Look at me, Robin! There's nothing I can do! There isn't any hope!
Robin: Then I guess... I'll just have to have enough hope for the both of us.

Last Thursday (5th) I went to my first ever General Meeting in my time here at Essex University. I then proceeded to interrupt two people as they enjoyed themselves at Alternative night with one question. "Is it normally like that or was that uniquely horrible?". As I expected (as would anyone else who was also there for the first time) the answer was the latter.

It's too much like hard work (and somewhat sickening) to try to recount the events of the general meeting so I'm going to try and describe in single words my thought at various points during the meeting and why:

Boredom - not the first one you'd expect but yes. For portions of it I was just bored out of my skull. This was mainly around the Gaza issues where it was just the same speeches they'd given over two weeks ago. You'd have thought in that time they'd have at least been smart enough to reword things, if not come up with new arguments and concessions for the 'opposition' group.

Amusement - yes, some of the arguments just seemed ridiculous and left me feeling amused. For example the claim that putting up the Union Jack is a reminder of colonialism. Personally I didn't realise you could colonise your own country but now that I've been informed I will have to work it into my plans for world domination. Another example was when it was suggested that instead of the Union Jack flag we should put up flags of all nations. I was so very tempted to comment on that asking if they'd be happy to have the national flags of Zimbabwe, the Peoples' Republic and the Republic of China, and most importantly Israel. It wouldn't have helped the situation at all but it amused me greatly. A final example of the amusement was when someone tried to argue that the SU wasn't trying to support one side or the other in the Gaza conflict just oppose the killings (or something to that effect). This may be what the and protesters wish. However, the motion being debated had as it's first point under resolutions "To call for an immediate end lifting of the siege, and to support the broadly-based demonstrations demanding an end to the attacks and the lifting of the siege". Seems there's some confusion somewhere (may just be me).

Disgust - indeed. Most would assume this was over the results of the various votes and I'll admit that I'm not pleased with most of them. However, my disgust if precious and saved only for special occasions. This occasion is when a argument broke out towards the end of the meeting resulting in one voter threatening to punch another. The fact that someone is stupid enough to think that this is an appropriate response during a democratic meeting is bad enough but my disgust is more over the fact that the aggressor wasn't thrown out on his arse immediately after this. It has been pointed out to me that there probably wasn't anyone legally able to remove someone from the room but the alternative was at least a dozen people pilling in from both sides to 'settle' the dispute.

However, credit where it's due. The VP Education is a very good orator and nearly talked me round to voting yes for the new constitution. But only nearly as I still stuck up my hand for no and make sure to stare straight into the eyes of any Saab who appeared to look back at me (petty as that is).

I'm too tired to continue ranting right now so I'm just going to post this (as it's already pushing it's relevance being 3 days late). I'll be randomly tagging anyone I spotted at the GM I'm friends with on the facebook version of this. I just leave one final thought (hopefully you can read it):

For those no longer at university who might read this there's a list of motions discussed at the latest GM (whilst it lasts, will need to remember to update the link): http://www.essexstudent.com/your_union/gm/

QOTD:

John Crichton: If he masters wormhole technology, what will he use it for?
Scorpius: Faster delivery of pizzas.