waking up to good news

I woke up to the 7 o'clock news being read on the radio this morning, and this piece of news was headlining. Looks like Rudd is bringing back compulsory student services fees as of July next year, but instead of giving the money straight to student unions, he's giving it via the univeristy administration.

I'm stoked VSU is out the window. I didn't really expect Rudd to reverse the decision. I know lots of students hate it because they don't have much money, but they'd be singing a different tune if VSU continued and in 10 years time their uni gym didn't have any equipment, their uni bar didn't have any bands coming to play, and their university environment had become sterile and students were generally apathetic becuase they had no sense of ownership on campus.

I guess re-introducing compulsory fees but not putting the cash straight into the hands of the elected student union means we avoid the cash flow problems that VSU resulted in, and also avoid the criticisms that are usually directed at student unions such as spending too much money on condoms for O-Week, and not enough money on services and infrastructure.

This new plan it not perfect, it still has some ideological problems, and I don't always believe that univeristy administration will make the decision that's right for the students. But then neither do unions. But I'm pretty happy today. And hopeful. Hopeful because we're asking students to take some responsibility for contributing to their university community. Hopeful because it means universities can continue to be culture-shaping institutions. I love universities. And I want everyone who goes to one to appreciate that they are part of a process and part of a community. I want people to expect to be contributers on campus, and not simply be the passive recipients of a service. Likewise, I don't want university teachers or administrators to act like cold, hard service providers. So we all have a continuing responsibility.

Someone recently told me (ok, yelled at me) that I'm too ideological and romantic about universities. But I don't care. I have hope. In Jesus firstly. And in a less eternal way, in Rudd. And soon, in Obama.