Union Refuses to Back Down on Referendum
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In this week’s issue: the General Election, student Facebook scams, how caff eine can help you revise, why we must destroy Yik Yak and how to stay healthy in the revision period gair freeword rhydd Monday May 11th 2015 | | Issue 1053 Conservatives hold Cardiff North; Labour takes Central THE RESULTS: PAGES 14 & 15 Union refuses to back down on referendum t Offi cer team refuses to acknowledge any foul play during campaign t Barney Willis to Scrutiny Committee: “I wouldn’t change anything” elsh speakers have been behest of current part-time Welsh lished evidence last week that Stu- commercial entity before students, Anna Lewis made to feel “isolated” Language Officer, Steffan Bryn, Stu- dents’ Union officers intended to Howells was condemned by mem- and “exiled from their dents’ Union President Elliot How- “influence” students to vote against bers of the ‘Yes’ campaign for stating Wown capital” say campaigners, as ells was grilled by members of the the creation of a full-time Welsh lan- that the creation of a full-time Welsh the backlash continues following the ‘Yes’ campaign, who said that they guage officer. During the voting pe- Officer was “not in the best interest shocking behaviour of sabbatical of- believed that the current sabbatical riod, both VP Societies and VP Edu- of the Union.” ficers during the recent Welsh Lan- officer team had failed “to keep the cation sent mass emails threatening Meanwhile, VP Societies Barney guage Officer referendum. interests of the students at heart”. members of societies and sports Willis appeared before the Scrutiny In response to the backhand be- However, Howells refused to apol- clubs with substantial budget cuts of Committee to insist that he would haviour of the ‘No’ campaign during ogise to angry members of the ‘Yes’ a combined £46,000 in the case of a “do it all again”, in reference his last week’s referendum, disillusioned campaign despite complaints that he victory for the ‘Yes’ campaign. emails sent to encouraged a no vote. members of the opposing ‘Yes’ cam- and the other officers had engaged However, over the course of the In a shocking development, Willis paign have launched a scathing at- in ‘unethical’ behaviour during the meeting between Howells and the was encouraged to strike the remark tack on the Students’ Union sab- referendum. ‘Yes’ campaign, the Union were still from the record, and is not believed batical team. ‘Yes’ have issued calls Howells asserted that “no lies were unable to reveal the full-extent of the to have been included on the min- for the officers to admit the use of told” by anybody affiliated with the costs of employing a full-time Welsh utes. He revised his suggestion to say scare-mongering and exaggeration ‘No’ campaign. The SU President language officer. This is despite that he “stands by what [he] did” as by the campaign, the evidence for further denied the misbehaviour of Howells presenting conflicting fig- the sabbatical officer in charge of the which was revealed in the last issue Union officers during the referen- ures of “over £30,000” and “at most Students’ Union’s Guild of Societies. of Gair Rhydd. dum. £26,000”. In response to complaints that Continued on In a meeting organised at the Despite this, Gair Rhydd pub- Accused of putting the Union as a full-time officers should not have page 4 THE FREE WORD EDITOR Michael O’Connell-Davidson GAIR RHYDD CO-ORDINATOR Elaine Morgan A surprise turnout When people said to me at the start of the year that Shanna Hamilton joined the unseen ranks of the Nick Clegg? Well, he’ll never be popular amongst NEWS the general election would be a defi ning week for sub-editors, and I want to make it clear that if you our audience, so I won’t say anything. With the Georgia Hamer the newspaper, I thought I understood what that think this issue looks tight and tidy, it’s down to Greens outpacing the Liberal Democrats in many Katie Evans meant. But reality has a habit of subverting expec- them. constituencies, I can only wonder where the Liberal Alexander Norton tations, as it did in this instance. T e business of producing a newspaper in the Democrats are going from here. No doubt Tim Far- Anna Lewis I’m writing this on my 25th hour in the offi ce, face of a General Election as unpredictable as this ron is slated to be the next leader - they hardly have and I imagine I’ll send it to the printers the 26th. one has been is strange, and the live blog (Jordan anybody to ask! ADVICE T at the fi rst thing some people read will be the Adams’ grand contribution to Gair Rhydd) tells a But it wasn’t the resignation of three leaders that Kirsty Fardell last gasp of the newspaper’s production cycle is in- story nobody saw coming. Last night, we managed made this a landmark for this newspaper. Nor was credibly frustrating to me; much of my work goes to break news ahead of Media Wales and the BBC; it the practically unprecedented set of results. T at COMMENT unnoticed, with no byline, the result of back-room we secured an interview with Jo Stevens last night we were able to accompany people as they watched Anne Porter tinkering and design work. T at the bit with my at 5AM, and we’ll be back next week to quiz the the count online on our live blog, and that we were Gareth Evans name on it in the front has been written while I’m a candidate for Cardiff North (the Heath). It was a able to produce so much great local analysis for the Olivier van den Bent-Kelly shambling mess is a bit of a shame. unique experience to be in the newsroom as the re- newspaper - that’s what made this a defi ning elec- But I would not have it any other way, because sults came in - to get a fi rst look at what shape the tion for Gair Rhydd. COLUMNIST a general election comes once every fi ve years and country would take over the next fi ve years. I believe wholeheartedly that our digital strategy Jason Roberts lord knows people have had enough of me. With And while that would be the case with any elec- this year has been very good indeed, and this elec- just a few more issues to go before this year’s set of tion, what a brilliant election it’s been. I speak not tion has been another success story in Gair Rhydd’s POLITICS issues is set to end, I’ve had my time to shine. T is of the results, but the unpredictability of it all - transition towards being a publication that tran- Carwyn Williams issue has been all about my insanely dedicated poli- because, really, who foresaw a majority? And, of scends print and moves towards being a truly mod- Lauren Boyd tics team, who I barely hold a candle to. those, who foresaw a Tory majority? ern publication. T e web is important, and we’re Rhiannon Tapp Carwyn Williams started our liveblog at 11am I confess that I have some sympathy for Ed Mili- doing it well. on polling day. It ended 3pm on results day. Jointly band. While he has been plastered with all sorts of Whatever shape next year takes, I think that of SCIENCE with the rest of the team, Carwyn stuck with the names and been subject to character assassination late we have stood by the student body exception- Shanna Hamilton liveblog for a sustained 28 hours, an absolutely from day one, I can’t help but feel thst, at his core, ally well. If next year things are diffi cult - or if they Meryon Roderick mammoth undertaking. he is a decent man. Regardless of your politics, I are made diffi cult for us - I hope that our reputation Fresh from handing in her dissertation and with think everybody can agree that he was a unique will continue to improve and that the student body SOCIETIES four exams still to come, Rhiannon Tapp has stuck candidate who gave this campaign a sense of char- will stand by us. Hannah Sterritt it out for just as long as I have, if not longer. Forever acter that’s so often absent in Westminster. We are a public service; we exist both for our chipper, Rhi’s been writing and designing for print And who really foresaw Farage not getting his volunteers and for the student body at large. I be- PARK LIFE and media monitoring for the liveblog all night. If seat? While everybody’s favourite rubber chicken- lieve that this year has been the fi rst in some time Vidya Brainerd you’ve seen tweets from @GairRhyddPol, they were politician has claimed that he’s simply going to con- that we have genuinely embraced that. We have probably her. test the UKIP leadership again this Autumn, reduc- immersed ourselves in the democratic machina- TAF-OD Results day was Lauren Boyd’s birthday, and ing the entire thing to farce, perhaps this is the end tions of the Union, and put a real emphasis on de- Steffan Bryn Jones while I understand the results weren’t quite what of the line for his political career. Farage has unsuc- volution and the Senedd in our political reporting. Morgan Owen she would have wanted as a gift, her unerring dedi- cessfully run for parliament seven times, now, and While we might have lost our place within the Uni- cation to the newspaper has been such that I can I can’t help but feel like he’s running out of steam.