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Elections 2010
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2010 Election Manifesto
By President Naz Harrison
I’m Naz Harrison and I’m standing for re-election as your Union President. During my time at Brighton, I have served as President of the Men’s Rugby team, the first President of the RAG society, faculty rep for Management & Information Sciences and this year I have been serving as your Union President.
Since taking over as President in June 2009 I’ve been working hard to ensure that the introverted culture of the Union, is replaced by a new, more open system. The Student’s Union has always operated on the assumption that decisions are only made by those who get elected and show up to council, this is simply unfair. This is why as President; my administration has created a new model of governance in order to include those voices that have been ignored. I have based this new model on one key principle, that individual communities have the knowledge, judgement, and right to decide things for themselves. That’s why I’ve pushed to create reps for each campus as I promised I would, that’s why I’ve pushed to create ent’s forums for each site as I promised I would, that’s why I pushed to create school reps as I promised I would. And most importantly it’s why I’ve pushed to devolve the Union budget so that these communities have access to money in order to achieve the things that they decide they want and need.
However the new model is only as good as the communications strategy to back it up. There’s no point in constructing a new system of governance for the SU if no-one knows how to use it. It will be vitally important over the coming year for the Union to ensure that students know how to get involved. Student groups and societies have, for a long time, been the source of student media at Brighton SU, organisations like BURST radio, BrightON TV and The Pebble have allowed students to come together to bring information and entertainment to the student body. However these groups have struggled to get the resources and exposure needed to reach a significant audience. By bringing these groups together under a unified Pebble brand they will be able to get the type of support and exposure required in order to reach a larger audience across all campuses.
No president has had a bigger to commitment to community relations than I have, since taking office in June I have been to dozens of Local Action Teams across Sussex advocating on behalf of students in local communities. This is one of the most important debates of our time as potential legislation could restrict where students can live and what quality housing they can expect to receive. I’ve been working with local politicians, the NUS, and the university to ensure that such legislation is curbed because you deserve the right to live anywhere you want in this town not where the local government tells you you should live.
There is no doubt that the entertainments programme at Brighton has been seriously lacking for a number of years. This is because instead of a 21st century attitude for entertainments the Union has been using a 1990’s method for promoting our events. When I was first elected last year I promised to increase the number of nights the SU offered. By September we had three regular nights a week in Brighton including over the weekend. However because we were still relying on outdated models of promoting our nights they didn’t last long. Since then I’ve been working on a new media strategy that will enable us to effectively deliver our nights. If re-elected I will recruit an army of ents volunteers to help promote these nights. Students already do this for local promoters so why not for their union.
Volunteerism is the backbone of the union and how we deliver our core representation work. However for too long our volunteers have gone without the recognition that they deserve. I believe that if you are a course rep, a Union officer, captain of a sports team, or a society admin you should get recognition for your time and effort. This is why, if re-elected I will push for the creation of the Brighton Award similar to the ones available at Warwick and Leeds. This will be a nationally recognised award that can go alongside your degree.
Finally the biggest issue facing the union over the coming few years will undoubtedly be the cuts in higher education. I have been working closely with the universities senior management to ensure that these cuts are managed in a way that won’t adversely affect the student experience. One of my proudest moments this year was getting the university to overturn their decision to start charging some of the grand parade students an extra £200 for materials. This was done through a mixture of our negotiations with the university and grassroots activism from the students of grand parade. As we go forward we are going to have to rely more and more on each other in order to ensure that we come through the other side stronger than ever. I believe that theses troubling times also provide us with a tremendous opportunity to change the way the system works for the better. It’s going to allow our course reps and school reps the chance to push for common sense ideas that will create more efficiency and drive down costs in our classrooms. It will allow our campus reps to push for common sense solutions to service provision on your sites of study and in your halls of residence. It will allow you the students more of a voice in demanding the best possible value in your education and your student experience. I believe that I am the only one with the ability to bring this all together ensuring a successful future for Brighton SU.
Don’t stop believing in a better future, vote Naz Harrison #1 Union President for a New Direction for Brighton SU.
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