What do you want from the next Students’ Council?

Nathan Adams, B. Sc. Biology and Chemistry, second year. President, Youth for the Environment.

The University Students’ Council (KSU) is a body representing all undergraduates; an organisation which can act as a bridge between student organisations on campus and should be inclined to be of particular assistance to minority requirements too.

The organisation ought to assist students by processing all complaints, suggestions and ideas presented to them with the aim of enrichment of student life.

KSU is an entity which must push for the highest standards of academia, campus life, assistance to student organisations and sustainable practices in general. Ideally, this to me is what KSU is and how I would want to be represented as a student.

Besides directly funding investments in students by means of the Student Opportunity Fund and the Student Organisations’ Fund, I would definitely like to see the next KSU do more to promote philanthropy within the student society.

By this I mean emphasising the student population’s duty in become more conscious of issues calling for more awareness, ranging from organ donation, environmental situations (on both a local and international level), charitable events, fundraising for good causes and so on.

Fingers crossed for KSU’s participation and encouragement for events stressing the magnitude of ethical endeavours.

Oliver Cassar, part-time BA Criminology, fourth year.

KSU is important in helping to share and develop students’ ideas and concerns. In my opinion, particularly when considering the advantages the entity has, KSU is still not reaching its targets.

Nevertheless, for some reason, KSU still reminds me of our House of Representatives during the constitutional crisis after the general election held in 1981, when our country had problems in defining the roles for a majority and minorities within a ‘democratic’ republican state.

It was, for example, a good initiative that the KSU set up a divorce sub-committee to help University students understand what they will be voting on in the national referendum next month.

However, after a number of meetings, this sub-committee organised only two question-and-answer sessions last month. Other organisations on campus that have fewer resources, (both pro and against the issue) had effectively contributed much more to promote an informative debate between students.

I would like the next council to be an entity that represents all University students, accepting diversities and being more proactive. This can be achieved by giving less importance to parties and printed material that can be easily downloaded online, while encouraging more research and creativity.

Justin Zarb, Bachelor of Engineering and Architecture, third year.

KSU is the executive board of student representatives elected once a year. Representatives are elected according to the number of votes they receive. In theory, a mixed board can be elected consisting of members from both parties.

Here are some of my suggestions: re-establish Erasmus schemes; the library should stay open till later, and ideally open on Saturdays; more space for group-work could be useful,and the journal section of the library needs some serious investment.

Study rooms within different faculties could be equipped with microwaves and lockers, and have very flexible opening hours; outdoor power-points in the Quad and under the nearby trees would enable more students to work outdoors; specific recycling campaigns such as battery collection should be introduced.

Carpooling should be encouraged to reduce the parking problems and campaigns should be created to provide secondary schoolchildren with sound information and advice on what to base their choice of subjects.