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The Oxford Union: To join or not to join...

designer

How much use do you need to get out of the Union to make it worth the money?

Reply 1

RxB

1

I'd say about a thing a week.

Reply 2

El Stevo

11

wheres "I'm a fresher, and I have joined"?

Reply 3

oriel historian

2

It's got a useful backup library for humanities subjects so I use it for that. Oh and the occasional trip to the PT but not much other than that. Their history section is great, it has quite a lot of the more popular modern books that you won't find elsewhere. It is quite expensive though!

Reply 4

Cirsium

19

I'm really not sure
It's a hell of a lot of money... and loads of people have said it's not worth it
But I got the little booklety thing yesterday and it looks really really good... :frown:

I would just feel really guilty about £170 badly spent

Reply 5

H&E

3

DVD library's also useful. £1.50 for 3 nights, no commercial shop can compete with that. They've already got 120+ DVD's, are ordering more and have a recommendation book. Judging buy the empty slots in the rack when I've used it, a fair few people are making good use of it.

Reply 6

cheapaschips

meet people in the bar before going clubbing. very cheap drinks! also make use of pool/snooker tables.

Reply 7

cheapaschips

meet people in the bar before going clubbing. very cheap drinks! also make use of pool/snooker tables.

Reply 8

cheapaschips

sorry appear to have duplicated post!!

Reply 9

ProzacNation

H&E

DVD library's also useful. £1.50 for 3 nights, no commercial shop can compete with that. They've already got 120+ DVD's, are ordering more and have a recommendation book. Judging buy the empty slots in the rack when I've used it, a fair few people are making good use of it.

Its free to sign up to the Oxford council public library (or whatever its called) by the Westgate centre - they have loads of DVDs at around 2pounds/2.50 but you can keep them for the week.

Reply 10

ProzacNation

Oh, and as to the actual question: well, I signed up, and hardly go there. But to be frank, its the presitge of joining really. Might be useful in the future. But it is kind of a waste of money.

Reply 11

designer

OP

RxB

I'd say about a thing a week.

Do people have the time? (Or is it more a 'make-the-time-for-it' type-thing?)

I know science students (and maybe law) have it hard with intense timetables, workloads and lectures. But I doubt E&M will have that much...

Reply 12

H&E

3

I think that's absurd. A thing a week works out at 20+ a year, 60 in a degree course. That's £2.50 an event. You'd pay more than that to go into a club! And loads of events at the Union I'd rate much higher than that.

If you get to a thing every two/three weeks it'll be well worth it. You'll be surprised how difficult that is though. Debates can just take forever - if you fancy a speech it's usually necessary to be there for the emergency debate from 8ish, and it won't finish till 10:30. That's longer than rugby match!

Reply 13

Cirsium

19

Well I sent the rents a long mail saying 'wasn't gonna join up, but jus got their little book thing; Good points vs Bad points'
My Dad called me up and spoke three words: Join. The. Union.

Reply 14

H&E

3

Don't be browbeaten into joining the Union by a booklet!!

I'll say it loud and clear:

The Oxford Union membership drive is deliberately designed to make people join who they know will gain no benefit from it.

There are loads of impressive speakers everywhere at Oxford; EAS, for example, have probably had as many heads of state visit as the Union since 1990 and joining them is about £10. Getting to see MP's and academics and all that is a pile of piss and can be done for free. Arguably the experience's better at smaller societies coz you get more interaction. If you really want to see a speaker you can do so even if you're not a member for just £3 and contrary to what people say by Hilary term even the really big speakers don't fill the hall. FW De Klerk, the South African President who oversaw the dismantling of the Apartheid regime, spoke to an empty gallery, I'm pretty sure. That can fit 100 people easy.

The Union is amazing - but so is most of the rest of Oxford, and the rest of Oxford isn't nearly so expensive.

If you're enthuasiastic about debating and are going to go very frequently and speak, and are interested in the social scene of the Union and will make use of the libraries and the cheap pints and snooker tables and DVD library, then it is well worth it. The very fact that you're equivocating shows you're not sure that you do, so why are you getting ready to throw away £150? Wait till you get here, have a closer look. After all you have three weeks before the price even goes up and even then it's only £14.

Why d'you think, by the way, they have the cheaper initial offer? It's to pressure people into signing up who, had they not joined initially, would've realised there's so much on at Oxford that the Union isn't worth it.

Reply 15

F1 fanatic

16

El Chueco

wheres "I'm a fresher, and I have joined"?

Or for that matter where is the "Im an undergrad and I havent joined and glad of it."

Personally I think its a complete waste of money unless you want to be a politician or enjoy debating. And even then is it really worth £100+? Not in my book it isnt. Ok they have some quite famous people go and talk there but I can live without it thanks very much :rolleyes: