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(Note: This article also appears in the WUSA publication "Tertangala" - Heroes and Heroines edition)
The biggest lie about VSU that you will see around campus is 'This service will not exist under VSU'. It will exist, as will everything else. Very little will change.
Other 'misunderstandings' about the effects of VSU are:
The Unibar will close.
No, it won't. The Unibar makes a profit from students already. The Unibar will continue to exist.
Student's will lose their 'voice'.
No. Students are free to organise under VSU.
Counselling services will cease to exist.
No, counselling will continue to be funded by the university.
And the Truth
When we have VSU, will we still have childcare?
Yes
How about food?
Yes, food outlets will continue to serve food
Will bands come to the uni?
Yes, they will
How about clubs and societies?
Clubs can continue to join up members. Societies are free to associate, as always
Will there still be uni movies?
Yes
What of the post office, and the bookshop?
Yes, they will still be there
So, OK, if the services we take for granted will continue at the uni, then what is the fuss about?
It is all about the money. Your money.
UOW charges students a flat fee of $350 to $450 (for a new student) to come to uni. If you do not pay, then you cannot stay. Most of this money goes to UniCentre, a company that runs some of the student services around uni.
A little of your money, about $40, goes to WUSA, the students union. WUSA employ a few staff, have a paid and elected president, and a full-time editor for the Tertangala, the student newspaper.
The rest goes to a little-known place stuck over the north side of campus, the Sport and Recreation centre. Sport and Rec has a pool, squash courts, and a big gymnasium to work out in. But so does Beaton Park leisure centre situated near Werona campus, about a kilometre from uni.
So who loses?
Your money mainly goes to pay a whole bunch of people's wages. If VSU goes through, guess who will lose their jobs? Now guess who is noisiest about how bad VSU will be for you, the students paying the bill? The same people.
Compulsory Student Service Fee - the unfairest tax of all
That $350 to $450 is the most undemocratic tax you could pay. You pay the same no matter whether you are on the dole, or driving a Maserati. You pay the same whether you are on campus one day a week, or seven. You pay whether you use any and all of the services provided, or none.
At the moment, for course fees, we have HECS. When you get a job you pay back some of the cost of your uni degree - the more you earn, the more you pay. Reasonably fair, wouldn't you say?
'Service Fees' are the unfairest flat tax of all. They must be paid in advance, and discriminate against the poor in favour of the rich. What if you are on the dole and want to better yourself by getting an education, and a decent job? How can you afford Service Fees on top of text books and course materials and whatever else you need to start uni?
Answer: you can't.
What if all you want to do as a single mum is go to uni, then go home to look after your kids? You have no time for all that great subsidised stuff on campus, like . . . cheaper gym fees.
Result: you still have to pay money you can't afford for other people's good times.
What if you are a student who wants only to study, work hard, and get good grades? You guessed it, you still have to pay.
And what if you are 'well off'?
You pay the same, of course. And if you are smart, you can be one of the few students to actually benefit from Service Fees. You can get elected.
Once elected to a club, society, or association, you can start making the system work for you. You can organise things so that you are paid to go to 'conferences' in say, Adelaide, or Canberra. If you have a political drum to thump, you can get students to pay for the drum, and for the brass band as well. You can organise bus tours and private parties, or just plain old misappropriate funds.
Really, though, there isn't much of that. Only a few students get much benefit from the money flowing into Service Fees.
What really happens is that UniCentre and Sport and Rec are used to receiving a handout from students. They get this handout no matter whether they do a good job, or a bad one.
There is nothing that makes UniCentre or Sport and Rec particularly accountable for the dollars that students are forced to give them, because UniCentre and Sport and Rec has already got your money. Up front.
You may have noticed recently that UniCentre, WUSA, and Sport and Rec have been making a bit of an effort to sell themselves. They are attempting to show that they matter to students, and how much they need a handout. They are trying to show you what you get for your money.
It won't last. You don't get much.
UniCentre, Sport and Rec, and WUSA are full of nice, well-meaning people.
Yet if VSU is defeated, those organisations will go back to being well-meaning, bloated, and self-indulgent.
VSU is fair, equitable, and a winner for students. Support VSU.
[In my next article I will detail how UniCentre, Sport and Rec, and WUSA must change to meet the challenges that await them under VSU. I will show how to maintain and improve student life and amenities. And I will tell you why this must happen so that Wollongong University can demonstrate relevance and social value.]
Michael Sweet is a member of the UOW Liberal Club. The views presented in this article are those of the original author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the UOW Liberal Club.
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