The Cambridge Chat Thread

I've only got ukdragon on FB, but for the record I'll commit myself to this.

They basically represent the interests of the students to the university. So if you have a problem with something within the university and your college is refusing to help you out you can take it to CUSU and they will support you, which might not seem all that relevant to you but is a pretty big deal to those who need it - and who knows, you might be one of them one day They also try to make sure that the university and organisations within it act fairly to all students - for example, one of the issues at the CUSU council that I was at yesterday was to do with trying to make events and socials accessible to disabled students, and advertising those which were especially accessible. Again, not relevant to you, but important to somebody.

They also provide important training for JCR officers - I personally would not be able to fulfill my Access Officer job properly if it wasn't for the Access training and support meetings, and also just being able to email the CUSU Access Officer and ask advice. So anything done within your college by the JCR has probably been affected in some way by CUSU.

And they fund university societies. There are so many people involved in those that you can't possibly argue that they're completely irrelevant to university life

Aaannnd, plenty of other welfarey stuff.

I personally think it's good to have a centralised student body with the interests of the students completely in mind. But maybe that's just me

You're making the assumption that every person subjected to this would react in the same way (I'm guessing how you or I would react), but in reality this isn't the case. There are likely to be some people who are unaffected by a "one-to-one mature conversation" but who actually realise they need to get on with some work if they're "dragged up in front of a committee to shout at them".

I would argue that every student that needs to be shouted at in order to do work constitutes a failure in the admissions procedure. They're always going on about how they want people that are eager to learn and that would profit from education here etc etc etc, I don't see how that fits with treating people as if they were their subordinates in some kind of army.

The university wants to train independent and flexible-minded people that will both create and respond to a good argument and I think this should be reflected in the way they address those who do not meet their academic expectations.

Exactly. It sickens me to the stomach that just because the contented, privileged, problem-free majority don't every use CUSU, they're happy to just diss it and not properly consider what the implications are, when its precisely the odd person with some really awful issue that isn't going to be represented by their opinions and interests (which dominate JCRs) or by their colleges!

So take ukebert. If college were disgracefully and inhumanely harrassing in their 'meeting', the JCR would be as useful as a wet rag. If we weren't tied to CUSU, he would have no port of call in terms of advocacy, advice or pressure.

Same if there was a disabled student who wasn't being adequately cared for, etc etc.

I just absentmindedly ate an entire bag of raw carrots that I bought on the market this afternoon while summarising the most poorly presented (but still really, really interesting) powerpoint I've ever seen.

Quite. I got quite upset a couple of weeks ago when we were having drinks with the senior tutor (JCR thing) and chatting about the welfare systems in college, and someone said that he thought it was ridiculous that you have your DoS, tutor, college counsellor and ECSU welfare officers to go to, and said that he would only ever consider going to his DoS, and why couldn't all the roles be combined into one. In particular he said that there was no point in the college counsellor, and that depression was overrated in Cambridge and having so many support systems just encourages people to think up things that are wrong with them.

I know he was only baiting and looking for an argument because he likes a bit of a debate, but at the same time it made me so angry that people can be so dismissive about things like that. Just because they've never been in a position to use a college counsellor doesn't mean that they're not a very valuable role within the college, and of course there should be provision for people who find that the pressure is too much. And provision in different forms - DoSes for academic, tutors for mild things, welfare officers for studenty things, and counsellors for when you feel there's nobody else you can turn to.

And it's the same with CUSU. It upsets me when people think that because something doesn't appear useful for them, it's a useless organisation. Just because you don't have a problem doesn't mean that problems don't exist and CUSU is such a valuable institution for people who do run up against problems.

Quite. I got quite upset a couple of weeks ago when we were having drinks with the senior tutor (JCR thing) and chatting about the welfare systems in college, and someone said that he thought it was ridiculous that you have your DoS, tutor, college counsellor and ECSU welfare officers to go to, and said that he would only ever consider going to his DoS, and why couldn't all the roles be combined into one. In particular he said that there was no point in the college counsellor, and that depression was overrated in Cambridge and having so many support systems just encourages people to think up things that are wrong with them.

Well, my essay crisis lead me to turn to Stanford

I had a craving for vitamins.

And they fund university societies. There are so many people involved in those that you can't possibly argue that they're completely irrelevant to university life

I'm in the same position. There's only so much I can say about different methods of dating paleoenvironmental climate records.

My tea yesterday comprised an entire bag of salad, and my tea/supper (messed up mealtimes) tonight consists of two tins of fruit. Slightly more tame, I have to admit, but I had a craving for vitamins.

I think I'm not taking enough fibres and vitamins.

Potatoes give you vitamin C and fibres don't they?

I think I'm not taking enough fibres and vitamins.

Potatoes give you vitamin C and fibres don't they?