Things don't look too great with the new student association. About a week and a half ago I attended a meeting with the people heading the whole thing, and all they did was yell at each other. I feel a bit deceived, since it seems part of what I was told (which I later told people at the stands, believing it was true) was false. Even if we get more than half the students to sign up, we still have no guarantee that we'll replace the current association.
Last week there were elections to the student council of the current association. Because of rules put in by the old council, the new council won't have much power to change anything. People have to be in the council or in another high position in the association's executive branch at least six months to be eligible to be elected chairperson or department head - so even though the new council elects the new execuitves, they won't have anybody new to choose from. It's like saying that the new government after a parliamentary election must be from the outgoing coalition!
Anyway, I still hope that somehow either the new council will be able to make changes from within, or the new association from without. I know four people who were elected to the new council - three of them are good people (the guy I voted for from my department, a friend of mine and one guy who is also active in the alternative association) and I don't like the fourth one very much, but it doesn't mean he's corrupt, though I'm not sure how much he'll work hard to better the system.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Saturday, December 13, 2003
Wow, it's been a month since I last posted. I'll make it up by posting a long entry this time:
It's been a busy week. I don't think I've written anything here about our university's student association being corrupt, and that a new one was created. Anyway, a few days ago the president of the university met with the heads of the new association and told them that if more than half the students join them, they'll become the official student association. So on Wednesday they started a campaign to sign up people - they set up stands in the university's entrances and in the Student Center. I volunteered to be in the stands twice - Thursday and Sunday. You know those irritating people that stand at all kinds of places and try to get passersby to sign up for something? Well, that was me two days ago, and will be me again tomorrow. We stood at an entrance from 2 PM to 4:30 and signed up about 300 people. That's quite a remarkable number considering the fact that at that hour on Thursdays people are hurrying to get home (since there are no classes on Fridays).
On Wednesday I was at a friend's birthday party (the same friend I said I'm interested in but I now don't think I have much of a chance with her). A day before the party she and her roommate went door to door in her building so people will know about the party and won't complain about the noise. Half an hour before the guests were supposed to arrive, two of her neighbors, an 80-year old Russian couple, showed up with a cake and 100 shekels as a present. They had misunderstood and thought that they were invited to the party. They don't speak any Hebrew. Lucky for the birthday girl, another friend of ours was there to help her set things up and she knows Russian, so she talked to them. But they felt awkward - they didn't want to insult them and tell them to leave. The Russians ended up staying an hour. When I arrived I thought they were my friend's grandparents or something, though I found it odd that they were there.
It's been a busy week. I don't think I've written anything here about our university's student association being corrupt, and that a new one was created. Anyway, a few days ago the president of the university met with the heads of the new association and told them that if more than half the students join them, they'll become the official student association. So on Wednesday they started a campaign to sign up people - they set up stands in the university's entrances and in the Student Center. I volunteered to be in the stands twice - Thursday and Sunday. You know those irritating people that stand at all kinds of places and try to get passersby to sign up for something? Well, that was me two days ago, and will be me again tomorrow. We stood at an entrance from 2 PM to 4:30 and signed up about 300 people. That's quite a remarkable number considering the fact that at that hour on Thursdays people are hurrying to get home (since there are no classes on Fridays).
On Wednesday I was at a friend's birthday party (the same friend I said I'm interested in but I now don't think I have much of a chance with her). A day before the party she and her roommate went door to door in her building so people will know about the party and won't complain about the noise. Half an hour before the guests were supposed to arrive, two of her neighbors, an 80-year old Russian couple, showed up with a cake and 100 shekels as a present. They had misunderstood and thought that they were invited to the party. They don't speak any Hebrew. Lucky for the birthday girl, another friend of ours was there to help her set things up and she knows Russian, so she talked to them. But they felt awkward - they didn't want to insult them and tell them to leave. The Russians ended up staying an hour. When I arrived I thought they were my friend's grandparents or something, though I found it odd that they were there.
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