Wednesday, June 11, 2008

IT IS PARTY TIME!!!!!!!!!!

Hiya Queerbies,

It is coming towards the end of exams, it is time to let your hair down and put on your dancing shoes. Come celebrate the end of first semester and the Queer collectives achievements thus far.

Where: The Court
Time: whenever you get there, projected time 9:30pm
When: Saturday 14th June

Big Queer Love,
Emma

QUEER CAMP

Friday 1st- Sunday 3rd August @ Fairbridge.
All students involved with their campus Queer or DSG departments are invited to the camp. The camp involves many activities, workshops and general fun!

For more information email Emma Kingdon- queer@guild.murdoch.edu.au

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

VSU KILLS QUEERS

It would be an understatement to describe queer life on Australian campuses as being at crisis point in 2008.
This is not due to a lack of openly queer students on university campuses; we’re everywhere. Neither is it due to a high level of homophobia within the wider student population. The majority of students oppose homophobia.
No, the reason for the crisis is a combination of government under-funding of education; a lack of student welfare; and attacks on student unions.
The impact of the previous government’s policy of voluntary student unionism (VSU) and the refusal of the Rudd Labor government to repeal VSU has devastated students’ capacity to organise around queer issues; whether running equal rights anti-homophobia campaigns, to presenting social events and providing badly needed services at below market rates.
Our student unions, and hence campus queer departments, are under siege.
VSU has gutted many; indeed, some queer departments no longer exist.
And not having fully functional, well-funded queer departments controlled by students has silenced us.
The majority of elected student representatives, including almost all queer/sexuality officers, are unpaid. Previously they would have received a small honorarium to enable them to break from study and focus on organising activity to improve queer life on campus.
Weaker student unions have allowed some university administrations the opportunity to attack queer spaces. RMIT forcibly moved the queer space this year. Macquarie Uni closed its queer space without consultation, until a student campaign won the space back.
Relying on universities and governments to provide queer services and representation instead of students is dangerous and unrealistic. Government policy of under-funding public education has seen the ideology of the free market imposed on Australian public education. This has meant students footing a massive bill for an education system that’s been streamlined to fit the needs of Australian big business.
University administrations run campuses like businesses to ensure they make a profit; a situation that’s in direct opposition to the interests of tertiary students, as illustrated by the attacks on Social Science courses (which include such disciplines as sociology, politics and cultural studies) across the country.
Many courses that are disappearing are those challenging old social norms such as homophobia.
Australian students now pay the second highest fees in the developed world to attend a public university. In terms of student welfare, the burden again is on students. Only a few students qualify for Youth Allowance, which is not enough to live on anyway, so many students work long hours to support themselves. In effect, this means many drop out of university, or scrape though their degree with little study time; they certainly don’t have time to engage with or establish a vibrant queer life on campus.
Because of these factors a majority of students live at home, dependent on their parents. This is an outrageous situation, particularly for queers, who often suffer in the traditional family structure, where parents and/or siblings are non-accepting of gender identity, sexuality and political views.
Such situations often end in violence, or with queer students booted out onto the streets.
Only a strong collective voice of students acting in unison, in a union, can ensure that Australian campuses can once again be places with a strong and vibrant queer life that challenges, changes, and betters the world.
James Vigus is 2008 National Queer Officer for the National Union of Students.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Guild Pres Rant

Hey QC members and allies,


I'm Clare, the Murdoch Guild President for 2008. Emma has asked me to post a bit about the Guild, and why it is important for you all to join!

The Guild is the peak student association on all three of Murdoch University’s campuses, and is here to represent you. As well as providing many events and activities on campus, and discounts at our outlets to financial Guild members, we provide advocacy and representation. The Guild is here to fight for the rights of all students, and make sure oppressed groups, such as womyn, indigenous students and queer students, are represented. The Guild has a Queer officer and collective and provides a Queer safe space for Queer students on campus. As well as this, most of the representatives and staff at the guild are Allies, and we are here to help you with any problem you might have while you are at university. It is my goal that this year the Guild as a whole (not just our dedicated Queer rep) supports Queer events and is at the forefront of the movement for Queer rights. So support the Guild that supports you and become a financial member in 2008, and get active in the Queer collective!

In solidarity,

Clare Middlemas

Guild President, 2008