Bristol Students Put World to Right at AGM

Bristol University students will be debating the great issues of our

age this afternoon at their Union's Annual General Meeting - and

downing subsidised beer and free pizza in the process. 

The

Union requires 400 students to attend the AGM in order for it to

conduct its business and the introduction of free food and pound-a-pint

beer is part of an innovative attempt to widen democratic participation

among the University's 18,000 students.  It is hoped that the suspension

of undergraduate teaching this afternoon will further incentivise union

members to attend in large numbers and vote on a wide range of measures.

Motions

proposing 24 hour library services, a dedicated University night bus

and the creation of a sustainable policy for the Students' Union will

be debated at today's AGM, alongside motions opposing Islamophobia and

calling for increased Fairtrade products throughout the University.

AGMs

- at which any student can propose a motion - routinely attract items

for debate that might be considered somewhat quirky by those outside

the heady world of student politics. Today's AGM includes a motion for

the University IT system to block access to Facebook during the summer

term, when revision is at its height. Proposing the motion, student

Lukas Fischer notes with remarkable candour that, "it can be straining

to resist Facebook when it is only a few clicks away (in the same way

that it is harder to stick to a diet when you stand in front of a

buffet)." 

Claire Soulsby, meanwhile, has proposed a

change of name for the University's iconic Wills Memorial Building to,

"The Smoking Can Seriously Damage Your Health and the Health of Those

Around You Building" in protest at the Wills family's historic links to

the tobacco trade.

A further motion proposes the Student Union construct its own ice rink.

The

fun gets under way at 2.00 pm at the Anson Rooms on Queen's Road. It was

unclear at the time of going to press how many pizzas would be available.