Comments on: Nats vote against civil liberties, as usual

By: Spud

Spud — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:49:59 +0000

It’s a deal and for what it’s worth I do appreciate your point of view. I agree to disagree. P.S. I really like the name Hawkeye.

By: Hawkeye

Hawkeye — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:43:28 +0000

Well I appreciate the fact that you engaged in a reasoned debate, it’s a rare thing these days
We can just agree to disagree.

By: Spud

Spud — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:00:59 +0000

You won’t agree with this, but I think that being in the student union gives students more freedom because they are getting a lot of stuff for less money. Fiscal freedom. I think the human rights thing could be got around with an opt out policy.

By: Hawkeye

Hawkeye — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:52:58 +0000

I would argue that the vast majority of students get a bad deal from student unions. But regardless of that, I think the freedom argument is the most compelling. After all, Freedom of Association is supposed to be enshrined in the Bill of Rights and United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

By: Spud

Spud — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:49:20 +0000

Maybe there’s a case for an opt out policy. This is just my personal opinion, but I really think that students are better off paying the money and that they benefit from this. Maybe keep membership an autonmatic thing, like being charged for your papers, but allow people like you who want out to get a refund and have a limited window of time where you can do this.

I don’t think that most students mind being paid into a union and they do get a good deal.

By: Hawkeye

Hawkeye — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:37:14 +0000

And if you deem those choices to not be value for money, you should not be forced to join.

By: Spud

Spud — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:22:11 +0000

The money goes towards plenty of things, not just the gym, though the gym is value for money for those who like gyms. You put down your lump sum of union fees and then that buys you your choices, such as the gym, room hire, advocacy, food bank, magazine …

By: Hawkeye

Hawkeye — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:06:09 +0000

I think a casual visit to a gym costs about $7? Possibly less. So for the average student who only goes to the gym a few times a year, they are getting about $20-30 worth of value out of the gym, while paying far more than this in terms of fees.
There may be some gym junkies who get their money’s worth, but that doesn’t make it any less inefficient to force everyone to effectively buy a gym membership.

By: Spud

Spud — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:56:02 +0000

Aren’t gym memberships over $100?

By: Hawkeye

Hawkeye — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:53:13 +0000

Some of it is more well-intentioned than waste, but is still wasteful. For example, every student MUST pay for the gym, which only some people use. It would be more efficient for the students who like the gym to buy gym memberships.