Wednesday 03 March, 2010.
Friends, students, countrymen..
The time is nearly upon us. After a some truly mad weeks of campaigning, polls open today at 9am.
You'll hear this a hundred times over the next few days, but please do remember to vote on MyEd before polls close at 7:00 on Thursday. People will only listen to student opinion if we speak loudly and with one voice, so let's elect representatives who we can trust to stand up for us over the next year.
I'd be absolutely honoured if you'd vote for me to be Vice-President Societies and Activities. I won't list all my policies again here, but please check out my election video.
Spread the word any way you can, including posting who you're voting for in your Facebook statuses. And if anyone fancies helping me drive out the vote in these last two days then please get in touch!
Cheers,
Neil Thursday 25 February, 2010.
Thought I'd draw your attention to the potential merger between the Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh University. While it's sad that the funding situation means ECA might lose its independence, this could potentially have huge benefits for students in both institutions.
Right now ECA students are pretty much excluded from our societies and events since they're not matriculated at Edinburgh University, but they're obviously a huge part of the student community in Edinburgh.
Any merger is still quite a while off, though if I'm elected and it looks like it's going ahead, I'll certainly pave the way for ECA students to be fully integrated into our network of societies as quickly as we can. I'll also make sure University of Edinburgh students and societies can take full advantage of the ECA's resources.
Any ideas on how the two institutions can work better? Get in touch and we'll see what we can be figured out!
Wednesday 24 February, 2010.
So sadly the GM didn't reach quorum last night. A shame, but there's still loads that can be done in making EUSA work better.
Manifesto will be launched tomorrow, check back here or on Facebook.
Tuesday 23 February, 2010.
I'd just like to remind everyone about the General Meeting of the Students Association tonight. It's at 7:00 in McEwan Hall, and it's really important that we get as many people there as possible.
This Meeting is special, we've got a great chance to really change the way EUSA works by altering the constitution to allow online referendums on issues that students bring forward. One of the most frustrating things for me last semester was when the motion to enable this fell at the Annual General Meeting due to only just falling short of a 75% supermajority.
I want a more accountable and democratic EUSA, and one that students on years abroad can still contribute to. Having policy set by long, dull, poorly attended meetings doesn't allow this.
So please come along tonight. If I have to say one more thing to tempt you, you'll get a stamped Soc Card if you show up, so cheap drinking awaits afterwards.
Saturday 20 February, 2010.
So neilpooran.com went live earlier this weekend. Web critics are already calling it the greatest Neil Pooran-related site since I last blogged on pooranponders.blogspot.com. Which is going on three months now... yeah, a sabb's blog probably won't be in my manifesto.
Today I also (briefly) attended a huge rally off Princes Street against the Scottish Defence League, a far-right group of football hooligan loonies. Thankfully the SDL's much-threatened attempt to stoke up racial violence in Edinburgh seemed to be confined to getting drunk in a pub, and they were massively outnumbered by police and anti-fascists. It was great to see so many students and people from all walks of life in Edinburgh come together to oppose racism and bigotry.
Thursday 18 February, 2010.
OK, a break from all this campaign malarky, as I'd like to plug some phone-based geekery. The Student has just launched its own iPhone app that allows you to access the paper from your phone anywhere with an internet connection. You can find it on iTunes here or search for it in the App Store.
This project has been simmering away for a few months now, so it's great to see it finally bear fruit (no pun intended, Apple fans). Credit goes to web design legend Jamie Toolin for creating the UK's first entirely student-designed student media phone application. Wednesday 17 February, 2010.
Right off the bat, there's an issue that's very important to students which you can help me out with. There's talk within the University higher-ups of moving the Uni's Counselling Service, Careers Service and Disability Office into the library. While this will have some benefits (especially if we have a 24hr library soon) there's a worry that these services won't get the resources they need (like office space, entrance lobbies etc).
So if you've used these services before, or haven't and are wondering what I'm harping on about, fill in this survey here.
It's important the uni knows what students think before they uproot important services.