So where do we stand after Wednesday’s council meeting. Lets first look at what we have learned and move on to what what will happen in the coming days. I’m feeling very much like Alice today and so this post is influenced by Carrol’s fantasy world, one of my favourite books.

Where we stand

Now, I give you fair warning, either you or your head must be off, and that in about half no time! Take your choice! - The Queen from Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland

I believe that there is little doubt that last nights meeting sent a clear message to the President and Vice President External. So far, their strategy has been one of changing the rhetoric of the debate. I, like all councilors, have received numerous e-mails from lots of students. The voices from students has taken one of two tones. They are essentially as follows:

“How can council be in support of tuition increases? You should support Tim and Blake in their efforts to reduce tuition.”

“Blake and Tim have embarrassed me and all students by abusing their power to pursue their own political goals. I am not a fan of increasing tuition but I am also not a fan of allowing crazies to represent me”

A little artistic interpretation there but that’s what I take as being the gist. I doubt anyone would disagree with me on this point.

Both of these issues were brought up at council last night. Both are legitimate concerns. Lets start with tuition.

As I’ve already stated, there is a tuition issue; students have made that very clear. The response should be to allow students to voice their concerns to committee over several weeks. As Tahara put it very well at council meeting on Wednesday: “What about the students who couldn’t make it out tonight?”

This whole issue is about students and ensuring that they have their voices heard in AMS decisions. Pushing a huge policy issue to council and saying ‘Decide now!’ without proper consultation is an irresponsible way to be making policy. I would challenge anyone to argue differently. If you don’t trust me, trust the Duchess from AiWL

Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves. - The Duchess

If we can set up a council that doesn’t allow anyone to push their own agenda and that students can easily voice their opinions (as they have this week) policies will take care of themselves and will become self evident. In the end, this should make our councilors jobs easier.

The other type of e-mails I’ve been getting speak to the other side of the same coin as in the previous debate: involving students in decisions.

More contributions from the Duchess, this time in not so good a way:

If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.

It most certainly would dear Duchess. But would it be a better world? No. This issue isn’t about speed, its about responsibility. The reckless actions of the President and Vice President were done without consultation with anyone (publicly at least). This isn’t the first time it has happened either. It is my opinion, and certainly the opinion of many students who have e-mailed me, that we can’t open ourselves up to more risk from the two of them. They have already done massive amounts of damage to us as a society.

What does this mean to students? It means that large scale projects (most notably the new SUB) are put at risk because of recklessness. It isn’t out of anger or retribution that there has been a move to recall Blake and Tim, it is about bringing the AMS into damage control mode, and not letting anything else happen to the society until the new executives are elected in January.

If you think the President and Executives should be able to run the AMS like their little fiefdom, without hearing the voices of students then you should support Tim and Blake. If you think that there should be checks and balances to our system and no one person (or small group of people) should be able to control the whole system, you should support their removal.

It was clear to me that the majority of students who came to council on Wednesday night chose the latter.

What happens from here?

In a strange twist, the future is probably actually clearer than the present. In my opinion this is what will take place:

1. Blake and Tim will be impeached on Monday night unless they can suddenly justify their actions better than he has been to date.

2. They will proceed to go to try and take the AMS to court.

3. They will finance their legal fees through the Student Legal Fund Society (it just so happens that Blake’s girlfriend sits on the board).

What happens after that is beyond the looking glass. It is Blake and Tim’s absolute right to take the AMS to court for what has happened. I would offer them some friendly advice if they are planning to go this route (as I’m sure you have discussed).

I’ll begin with some advice from the King:

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop. - The King

You have gone through the motions and have reached the end of the road. Stop. Your passion about tuition is appreciated and you have successfully managed to make tuition a talking point for students. This is a good thing even if how you did it broke any standard of ethics I can think of. Over the next months we will be having a discussion with students around tuition and looking at the issue critically. I wasn’t around the AMS when our previous policy was passed and I look forward to learning more about the issue. What more do you get by not resigning? It would be the best thing for yourself and your sanity and the best thing for the AMS and council, who are keen to see you out the door.

You are verging on being viewed of as a zealot. Before everyone gets in a tiff about my use of that word I would like to define it. My definition of a zealot: ‘someone who, having lost sight of their objective, redoubles their effort’. Your back is against the wall and the issues are clearly over. What is more fighting going to gain you?

I wish could just close my eyes and count to 20 and this would all disappear. I’m sure you feel the same.

Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is — oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! - Alice