First to Go?

Last week's departure of SRC Co-ordinator Mark Sainsbury is thought to be the first of a spate of resignations from Students Association executive members.

Mark Sainsbury, a 3rd year law student, campaigned last year on a promise of opening Association activities up to the "grass roots" students. He emphasised increased publicity, on current campus events and the encouragement of greater participation of the mass of students rather than a select few.

His resignation came after nearly three months of inactivity on everything except serving drinks at Barretts Hotel and poring over statute books in the Law Library. He could not fulfill his election promises, so decided to resign. There are other executive members who could be about to follow suit.

The first of these may be Cultural Affairs Officer Gerard Sharrock, whose initial bumblings have come under fire from his Cultural Affairs Committee. Because of his non-involvement in Orientation the biggest cultural event of the year turned into another mediocre performance and the Orientation Controller was left holding the can.

Gerard Sharrock, another law student, has investigated a couple of rock concerts, but his half-hearted efforts lack the necessary drive to create a "cultural scene" on a very much dead campus.

The second executive member might also be pondering resignation is Woman Vice-president Catherine Paterson, who seems to be all at sea in the world of politics. She promised, among other things, to establish a student pub. As yet she has shown little interest in investigating the chances of getting a pub or any other of her election promises. We have yet to hear a report from her at Exec or at SRC.

Neil Gray, although making a contribution to the Orientation Activities seems at a loose end. He seems very vocal at SRC and Exec meetings but we have yet to see what exactly he can make out of his open Man Vice President portfolio.

The Publications Officer, Gerard Couper, has not really burst onto the political scene either. He missed the first two Exec meetings of 1977 and has made little contribution at the meetings since. He has given a very unconvincing display as Chairperson of the Publications Board, and the Board members are tolerating him, but only just.

Peter Thrush is occupied on Easter Tournament but rarely makes a positive contribution on other issues. He frequently shows contempt for the authority of SRC. His performance on University Council as a student rep has been abysmal. Out of the last three council meetings, he has missed two and arrived late at the third. This was the Council meeting at which the library cuts received their final stamp of approval Our Council reps, Steve Underwood and Peter Thrush missed this completely and gave away any chance of blocking this retrograde move.

The Accommodation Officer, Peter Gilkison is, at present, trying to procure formerly unoccupied flats for the Students Association to sublet. How far in this task he has got, no-one knows—he missed the last Exec meeting. Overall he seems to be working better than the last incumbent although his greater involvement in other Association matters would help the Exec to develop a more integrated approach to their work.

Steve Underwood, Treasurer of the Association, is the old hand on the Executive. Along with Lindy Cassidy, he dominates Exec meetings. Not so at SRC however. Perhaps because of his experiences in last years 'Office Affair' he has learnt to keep a low profile at SRC and only surfaces to give financial reports. He is also the Company Secretary of the Victoria Bookcentre which cuts down the time which he can spend on Association matters. His role at the moment is to keep the show on the road financially. However well he does it, he like others does not take a leadership role on other issues.

The general dogsbody of the Association, Kevin Swann is hard to fault He has performed competently in keeping the Studass machine well oiled and running smoothly. His presence in the Office and around the Union Building has put him much in the role of a supporter, tidying up the loose ends.

With most of the Exec members playing a very passive role in the affairs of the Association, who is left to lead? The President, Lindy Cassidy, has taken up the challenge and initiated action on a wide variety of fronts—Mount Street objections, a class reps network for the assessment campaign, the Overseas Student Congress, the Library Cuts question and the various Committees that the President has to sit on.

Although Lindy lacks experience, especially in delegation of work, this does not explain the lack of initiative which the Exec as a whole has shown.

Looking at it, many of the hopefuls last year said they would do many things to help students and lead them on the issues which they were concerned with. With the exception of Lindy, none of the Exec members [unclear: be] have made a determined effort to do this. A few of them seem quite aimless in the way they approach such an important task.

We suggest that they have a good look at the way that they are operating individually and as a body lighting for the interests of students. Those who fail to measure up should take the same course of action as Mark Sainsbury.