News

Reclaim the Campus

On Saturday 17th May, activists across the country will be gathering at the London School of Economics to share our ideas and experiences, to map out the next steps in the fight against fees, as well as to work on how Education Not For Sale itself should be shaped. A full introduction to the context and aims can be found here, and the draft agenda here. If you're interested in coming, email the discuss list, camensdiscuss@lists.riseup.net, and we'll try to co-ordinate transport.

ENS Nightschool

Monday, 9pm - meet at King's Porters' Lodge.
Open to all, and bring books and material you might want to share.

Agenda:
  1. Political division and unity: Free education, socialism and broad-church movements.
  2. The student movement: Occupations, direct actions and the NUS.
  3. The current climate in the UK: NUT, Northern Rock, 10p tax.
  4. The current climate internationally: Neo-liberalism; free education and capital-poor countries.
  5. On our campus: CUSU, it's structures and its possibilities.
  6. Cultural politics: Copyright and marketisation.
Obviously there's a great deal of ideas here, and we won't be able to discuss everything. But with hope this is just the start of a program of self-education this term.

"The occupation in Manchester last Tuesday, the NUT strike last Thursday: there is a vibe, and a reason to educate each other now. With this in mind, come along, ring people up, email them, tell them to come - and at the end of it we'll start forming a concrete mission, concrete ways forward. Including an action later this term."

FE Lecturers Strike

Protest at the Guildhall, Market Square, Thursday 28th April, 12 noon - 1pm.

FE College Lecturers across the England in the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) have voted to strike on Thursday 24 April in support of a demand to bring their pay up to that of schoolteachers. Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), who teach in schools, are also striking on Thursday 24 April over a separate pay claim. They are holding a joint demonstration outside the Guildhall in the city centre. Details of pickets will be circulated around mailing lists as they arrive.
Let's make it clear that it's in students' interests that teachers and lecturers are better paid, and let's demonstrate that we're behind them when it comes to strike action!

Updates

Campaign to Defeat Fees Rally

The Campaign to Defeat Fees (CDF) is a national campaign which has been organised by Socialist Students and last year was very successful in organising large-scale campaigns in campuses across the country. This year the CDF is back in full force and there will be a demo in Cambridge on the 21st of February.

We hope this will be a rally which brings together students from different institutions in and around Cambridge including Anglia Ruskin Students' Union [ARSU], CUSU, the Trade Council and local Sixth form colleges.

So come and join us - demonstrate on 21st February at 12 noon outside Anglia Ruskin University (just off Parker's Piece). In the meantime, why not get your JCR/MCR, FE Council, Student Union, or other representative body to support the demo and send a representative? Here's a model motion to get you started.

CUSU Fees Week

In week seven, CUSU is organising a series of talks and discussion about fees and funding. ENS is going to be heavily involved in making the case for free education and ensuring that CUSU maintains its anti-fee policy. For more information on Fees Week, email Richard, the CUSU HE Funding Officer, at rb440.

New student newspaper

ENS are supporting the creation of a new print forum for left wing debate. It aims to have an open and democratic editorial body. The next meeting is on Sunday 16th, 7pm, King's Bar. Come along and get involved! (If you can't make the meeting, contact Kath at krm31 for more information). If you want to send articles in, the first deadline is Friday 22nd February, for an issue to be published on 13th March.

'Supersize My Pay' Speaker in Cambridge

Since 2005, workers and activists in New Zealand have been organising together in a campaign called Supersize My Pay. Fastfood workers from Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut alike united together and walked out of work to form a picket line - and they won!

For One Night Only: Michael Treen from the innovative Supersize My Pay Campaign will be in Cambridge to speak about how they did it!

The speech is part of a nationwide tour that will be the highlight No Sweat's Week of Action (11th-18th February 2008). Come and join us in this unique opportunity to learn from their experiences!

Date: Tuesday 12th February 2008
Venue: The Gatehouse Room, Memorial Court, Clare College
Time: 7pm; meet at Clare Porters' Lodge at 6.50
Entry: FREE! (biscuits included)

NUS Reform

This term's CUSU Open Meeting is on Wednesday, 21st November at 7.15pm in the Jesus Forum. There is a motion there regarding the constitutional changes to the NUS that are currently being rushed through an Extraodinary Conference. The motion doesn't stop the changes, but it goes some way towards fixing the most dangerous problems, including the issues regarding:

If these problems are written into the constitution, they may become impossible in practice to remove. (That's true of the rest of the changes to the constitution as well).
There's also a meeting in debate the NUS reform more generally, called by King's College Student Union, That'll be on Thursday 2nd November at 6pm in King's Bar.
You can read more about the background to the problems of the NUS conference here: Word Document. The NUS Website has the details of the changes.

Update

Unfortunately, the proposal passed through the Extraordinary Conference. The Chair refused to count the final vote, but it was close, and and it may well be fully overturned come Annual Conference in April.

Freshers' Fair

Come and meet us on Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd of October on stall E19 of the CUSU Societies' Fair in the Kelsey Kerrige Sports Hall.

Feminist Fightback 07

Saturday 20 October 2007
Back for a second year, the Feminist Fightback activist conference is organised by a group of socialist feminists, including the Education Not for Sale student network. It aims to bring together feminists from a wide range of perspectives to debate ideas and develop practical strategies for fighting women’s oppression and exploitation.
Fightback 07 will build on the success of last year’s conference, attended by over 220 people, which gave rise to several activist initiatives, including the March 3 2007 Torch-Lit March for Abortion Rights. Plus film showings… Feminist Fightback’s supporters include the National Union of Students Women’s Campaign, the RMT Women’s Committee and the International Union of Sex Workers.
The conference will be held at the University of East London Docklands campus (see here for details and directions). For more information, or to register, ring 07890 209 479, or email feminist.fightback@gmail.com.

Activist Dayschool and Left Garden Party

Activist Dayschool

On Saturday the 16th of June, in New Hall College, we are putting on a dayschool for student activists, to run from 1100 to 1700. The provisional programme is includes sessions on feminism, trade unions and student unions, living wage campaigns, the police and your rights, and activist skills such as writing propaganda, promoting actions and running an activist group on campus.

We recommend that you come if you're at all able (to any or all of the sessions): the dayschool will be an excellent opportunity to keep updated on what's happening in the student movement; to meet up with student activists from across the country; and learn some useful information and skills. A good time will be had by all.

For directions or other information, email camens@cusu.cam.ac.uk in advance, or contact Edward Maltby on 07775 763 750 on the day if you get lost. If you've never been involved in anything before, whether you're a first year or finalist, or even if you're a seasoned cambaigner, come and share your thoughts and experiences.

Left Tea Garden Party

The Left Tea Party invites you to see out the year in style and in a garden. Enjoy cakes and leftwing banter. As we will be outside, larks are also a possibility. A completely eco-friendly, unsponsored, bring your own, everyone shares, interesting conversation and beautiful surroundings garden party. Veggie/Vegan as much as possible!

Monday 18th June, 1300 - King's College Fellows' Garden - contact rb440@cam.ac.uk for more details

May Day

Lots going on this May Day - and none of them clash with lectures: A demonstration before lectures, another after tea, and two socials to choose from in the evening. What more could you want?

Join the PCS Picket

0700-0900, Council Offices, Castle Hill

Privatisation is making public sector workers more precarious, more pressured, and poorer as well. The chancellor has anounced a pay freeze that will cut effectively public sector pay every year for the next four years. It takes a lot of courage to organise in the face of this, so set your alarms and show your support!

Stop cuts at Anglia Ruskin

1800, East Road Campus, Anglia Ruskin University

The Cambridge and District Trades Council has called a demonstration in response to plans to cull 90 jobs at Anglia Ruskin as well as 5 courses including Languages, Modern History and Politics. Please come and support the ARU lecturers!

May Day TU Social

1900 onwards, Romsey Labour Club, Mill Road

Cambridge and District Trades Council Invite you to celebrate International Workers Day. Live Music from: Matoki, John Meed and others, DJ's, and Turkish Food.

Cambridge Action Network Potluck

1900-2130, Ross Street Community Centre

A chance to get together with others interested in activism, community organising, and direct action. Drop by , have a bite to eat, and share information about events and organisations, discuss ideas, collaborate on projects, and meet other people working towards a more progressive, genuinely democratic world. The evening is open to finding ways that we can support each other, and coordinate our resources and skills. All welcome! Bring food to share if you can, no worries if not.

Subversive Squashes

This term, we're organising some less strenuous and more reflective political activity. If you want a break from revision, come along to one of our Subversive Squashes. Of course, if you're up for a bit of direct action, suggest it on the discuss list or send it to camens@cusu.cam.ac.uk.

Guaranteed Income and Resistance in the Workplace

Saturday 28th April at 1100-1700 in the the Boys Smith Room of the Fisher Building, St. John's College

A presentation by Ed Emery and discussion, examining, among other things, recent riots in France over the proposed CPE laws which brought thousands of young people onto the streets.

The Case for Solidarity

Wednesday 2nd May at 1900 in the the Boys Smith Room of the Fisher Building, St. John's College

A short film made by No Sweat examining the prevalence of sweatshop labour and what we can do about it.

Feminist Fightback March

During the evening of Saturday 3rd March 2007, men and women from all over the country will be marching in Central London for: This is relevant to students in particular because the prospect of having a child can cause great problems for education - just think how your college would react if you told them you were intending to have a child partway through your degree. By denying women control over their reproductive system, society potentially denies them the right to an education.

CUSU Open Meeting

If you didn't already know, CUSU Open meeting is Wednesday 21st February at 1915 in the Fitzpatrick Hall, Queens': the agenda can be found here. This is just to highlight a motion that you may be interested in:

Update

The motion passed, and should be ratified at the next CUSU Council.

Demonstrate Against Top Up Fees

Last term, CUSU were mandated to hold a mass demonstration against fees. They've settled on a date, a time, and a petition wording, and we're now building for it. So mark it in your diaries and tell all your friends.

Assemble outside the Guildhall (Market Square) on Tuesday 20th February 2007 at 1245.

Don't forget to sign their petition!

Update

Turnout was a little smaller than the CSAAT demo, which was understandable, as the Top-Up-Fees demo had only been planned last term, and was only properly announced a few weeks ago. Gemma Tumelty, NUS President, and Lianna Wood, CUSU Higher Education Funding Officer both spoke briefly before everyone went back to their lectures.

CSAAT Demo, No Sweat Week of Action

While the Portuguese campaign builds momentum, we strongly urge you to go on the CSAAT demo on Saturday 10th February: the march begins at 1300 at the Guildhall, and culminates at 1330 with a mass rally in front of Senate House. Next week is the No Sweat week of action: they're bringing in a speaker from Oaxaca to give a talk in the Bowett room in Queens' College at 1300 on Tuesday 15th; there will by that time have been a meeting at 2000 on Sunday 13th in the Bun Shop, King Street to finalise plans for a demonstration. If you're interested in Latin America, there will also be talks organised every Tuesday from 1930 in the Bun Shop until the end of February.

Update

The CSAAT demo got over 230 people; there were also speeches from David Howarth, MP for Cambridge, Mark Ferguson, CUSU President, two anti-arms-trade campaigners from St. Andrew's, and, of course, Christine Berry and Natalie Szarek, who've been organising the whole thing.

Update

The No Sweat demonstration in front of Topshop and Disney attracted interest, bemusement, and quite a lot of sympathy, including one woman who immediately joined in with us. Hundreds of people accepted leaflets, judging by the handful we had left by 1 o' clock; Visit No Sweat's website for more details on the exploitative practices of Topshop and Disney.

Portuguese Department Under Attack!

As you may already know, a decision has been taken pretty much unilaterally by the Spanish and Portuguese Department to close applications for Portuguese. Not only is this a very bad thing for very obvious reasons, it also makes a mockery of the whole process. There is at least some student representation in the General Board of the university, which is where such proposals are supposed to be discussed, but they were never consulted. The student representatives for MML were not notified, while the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, herself a Spanish professor with a vested interest in getting rid of Portuguese, pulled rank and published this statement. Varsity has a good account of it here (pdf).

We must organise quickly to ensure Portuguese remains in next year's prospectus, to stop the cannibalisation of small departments, and to assert students' rights to be included in the decision-making process. We have begun distributing a paper petition in protest; you can download it here (pdf). The CU Portuguese Speakers' Society have composed a model letter for you to send to the Vice-Chancellor, Alison Richard: download a copy here (pdf), and other students have written a different version here (Word document). Their official online petition can be found here. There are two facebook groups working on this, too - one set up by CUSU, and one by Portuguese students. There will also be a meeting at 2100 on the 31st of January in the Fitzpatrick Hall, Queens' (after CUSU council) for everyone involved to meet up and organise.

Update: Save and sustain Portuguese coalition formed

This week, a working party has been formed to continue the fight to save and sustain the study of Portuguese as a full Tripos subject. The working party is at the head of a coalition of groups from across Cambridge, working together to convince those within the University who would like to see small subjects such as Portuguese downgraded.

The coalition includes representatives from Cambridge University Students Union (CUSU), CU Portuguese Speakers Soc, Cambridge ENS and Cambridge Student Respect. All students of Portuguese within the University are also welcome to attend. Any other group which wishes to join the coalition should e-mail CUSU President Mark Ferguson (president@cusu.cam.ac.uk) for more details.

The coalition will continue to work for the preservation of Portuguese over the coming weeks and months until a final decision is made by the University. We'd like to thank all of those who have expressed support for the campaign so far, and promise to keep everyone informed of the progress the campaign is making, and what the next steps are.

ENS Fundraiser Gig; Details of Open Meeting

Education Not for Sale presents:

The Sigma

Dickie Byron & The Creatures

+ support and DJ tbc.

King's Cellars, Friday January 26th 8pm

£2 suggested donation



Meanwhile, our next meeting is on Saturday, 20th January, at 1845, in the Camden House Drawing Room in Emmanual College.

Update

The gig was a great success, and we managed to raise just over £150 for ENS. We also managed to collect 81 signatures in a few hours in protest at the decision to close the Portuguese department - see above for more details.



Older news can be viewed in the archive.