Issue 150

Student General Meeting - Nov 23

04th December 2006

On 23 November an SGM (a Student General Meeting) was held in the Faraday A lecture theatre. The three motions raised included, a Climate Change Action Forum, Personal Safety, and tackling the BNP in Swansea.

The first motion raised was on climate change. The motion, which passed without opposition, proposed that the creation of a Climate Change Action Forum which will 'facilitate and support Climate Change action and campaigning'. Bradley Day, who proposed the motion, expressed concerns about the consequences that climate change would have on the environment. He said that, "More than a simple rise in temperature, could have consequences including rising sea levels, disappearing forests, the extinction of species and mass famines."

The second of three motions raised at the SGM was the 'tackling of the BNP' proposed by Mathew Tavoularis. Mathew Tavoularis believes that the BNP is a fascist and racist organisation which must be dealt with to ensure that the influence of the party does not cause further discord in our already fragile society. Recently, Nick Griffin leader of the BNP was arrested for inciting racial hatred and later left court without a sentence or fine. Gordon Brown has consequently stated plans to revise the law on racial hatred, in the hope that future incidents of this nature will be dealt with in a more adequate way. This motion and its amendments were passed without any real opposition.

The third motion proposed by Sian Ruddick, was for student safety. The motion was aimed at improving students' safety whilst walking through the park, as there had been three reported incidents suffered by female students since the start of September. The motion proposed actions such as lobbying the council, Senior Management Team and the local police authority to provide more security for the park, and also lobbying the University to provide a porter 'shuttle' service every hour after dark. The motion was passed unanimously.

At the end of the SGM students once again raised issues about the Green Room. Students were keen for the Green Room to be reopened, stressing that they were not consulted in the decision to shut it down. In response Owen Morris said that, "the re-opening of the green room is not an option because steps are now in place to provide a better service in the new location."

The next SGM will take place on the 14 December at 6 p.m. in Faraday A.

Ross Edwards