Men’s Rugby have won their appeal against disaffiliation from UCLU. Hav- ing been under a suspended sentence dating back two years, the club were automatically disaffiliated in December after receiving disciplinary action on the grounds of sexual harassment for leaving pornography in the Phineas bar. The pornography in question has since transpired to be copies of Nuts and Zoo magazine. An Appeals Panel found the initial Activities Disciplinary Panel deci- sion to have been too harsh and Men’s Rugby were re-instated.
The situation is much more complex than this, however. In a separate incident that occurred around the same time as the leaving of pornography in Phineas, four rugby members were accused of groping a woman in Moonies as part of an initiation ceremony. The Activities Disciplinary Panel deemed these allegations, which are far more serious than those relating to Phineas, as the actions of the four individ- uals involved and not of the Rugby Club. A union insider told us that the Moonies case is being “pursued through different channels” to those which were used to disaffiliate Men’s Rugby.
There have been accusations from Rugby Club that UCLU acted unfairly in their disaffiliation case, which solely regarded the incident in Phineas. They cite the misapplication of a key case-law against them as a subversion of Union bye-laws, claiming that UCLU effectively broke their own rules to kick out Rugby. The fact that Rugby’s appeal was success- ful is embarrassing for UCLU and the Activities Disciplinary Panel. Some have questioned whether current Union pro- cedures are adequate for cases as serious as sexual harassment and have suggested that distinctions between different cases must be more rigorously enforced during disciplinary hearings.
Referen-done
The results of the most recent referen- dum were a small victory for the left cabal within UCLU, bringing them one step closer to changing the union’s bye-laws. The referendum asked students whether UCLU should create up to four new full- time paid officers, which would bring the total number to ten.
Question one asked voters whether Education and Campaigns officer should be split into two roles and whether Medi- cal and Postgraduate officer should be split into medical, pharmacy and health officer and postgraduate officer. 83.6 per cent voted yes. Question two asked whether a full time women’s officer and a full time black and minority ethnic of- ficer should be introduced. 68.15 voted yes. On top of the new officers, the ref- erendum also voted to change UCLU’s decision-making processes; more General Assemblies will be held. Michael Ches- sum, ULU President, and Ben Towse, UCLU post-graduate officer, were the main drafters of the constitutional chang- es. The changes are largely a reversing of those made by Mandy Smith, UCLU De- mocracy and Communications Officer, 2010-11 - known amongst lefty hacks as the Thatcher of UCLU - who took away the black and minority ethnic officer and the disabled officer.
The referendum was inquorate. Less than two per cent of UCL students vot- ed. Only 469 votes were cast for question one and 485 for question two. But this did not matter: the referendum was not binding, UCLU Council always had the final say on whether the changes would pass. Michael Chessum said, “the refer- endum will only ‘advise’ council on how to vote, though it would be weird if coun- cil didn’t take the advice”. A 75 per cent affirmative vote at UCLU council is re- quired to pass the changes, which should be an easy win for the lefties who are well represented within the body
In Rod We Trust
UCLU’s Democracy and Communi- cations officer, Sam Gaus, is running for NUS President. In a comment on the NUS leadership, and especially the president, Liam Burns, Gaus is standing as the ‘bearer’ of the ‘inanimate carbon rod’. Starting as a Simpsons-based meme on facebook in mid-January, Inanimate Carbon Rod #1 for NUS President has grown to acquire 1,400 ‘likes’. Gaus is tak- ing the trolling of the NUS a step further, producing a manifesto which reads: “As an Inanimate Carbon Rod, it has already done more than any National President in the last 3 years to challenge the agenda of the government”. Gaus intends to make a campaign video and will be giving a seven minute speech to the NUS conference. He has said that he will use his seven minutes on stage saying nothing but holding up a large fluorescent green glow stick, the rod.