The spectre of VSM crouching in the corner like the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a curious anomaly. Should it slink its way into the walls of student associations up and down the country, those in charge will find unprecedented gluts of transformation shoehorned into an already packed work calendar. Current VUWSA President Jasmine Freemantle told the VBC last week that she pines away approximately 120 hours of work a week in the dungeons of the Student Union Building; an absolutely astounding figure, and one even the most foolhardy of company executive would cock a brow at.
What cannot be underestimated is the appalling state of affairs VUWSA was in following the departure of the grossly incompetent Joel Cosgrove last year. VUWSA is certainly in better health than it has been in a great number of years, thanks in large part to Freemantle’s efforts, but it still finds itself stammering about the forest like so many lost bear cubs. Freemantle’s decision not to seek re-election may have come as a surprise to some, but her endorsement of short-term Admin VP Max Hardy as a successor aroused surprise in many.
A cursory examination of Hardy shows he’s got the smarts. A law, history and theatre student, and a dedicated and productive execateer, he has the makings of a perfectly adequate student politician. His talents in finance have been established, with the association sporting a more streamlined financial structure, the efforts of which will be realised upon the arrival of VUWSA’s new website. But he is young, so very young. And new, so very new. The crux of the year’s financial doodlings was more or less completed with the departure of Alexander Neilson, and while Hardy has no doubt brought change, it is by no means indicative of the squalor he will almost certainly encounter at the bow of VUWSA’s ship. He has yet to wear the taint of VUWSA’s incredible propensity for absurdity, and while this may or may not be a good thing, it stands to reason a leader should have at least one or two scars from battle.
Hardy has made a concerted effort to learn about VUWSA. His knowledge of what the organisation does, what services it provides, what kind of socio-economic climate it sits in, and what cogs in its financial mechanics need oil must be acknowledged. That knowledge will almost certainly expand in the top job, but Hardy realises many decisions will be played by ear. One has little choice but to say he has arrived a year or two before his time.
One cannot fault Alan Young’s enthusiasm, or at least his propensity to convey that through florid gesticulations. What one can, however, find fault is his astonishing ignorance and painful lack of interest in the position he has waved his hand up for. As the interview quite clearly shows, Young has absolutely no idea what it means to be the president of VUWSA. His comically inarticulate responses to the most mundane of questions are just pieces in a jigsaw of eye glazing, ear bending insanity. It is literally a case of a person looking at an advertisement for a job and saying, “I might like a go at that.” Although the office of president hasn’t lent itself well to professionalism in recent times, it is an office that demands some modicum of respect. At least Cosgrove knew what NZUSA was.
Perhaps Young would be better served plying that moxy of his in a position where he can serve students, as he clearly longs to, while learning about an organisation he has little to no understanding of at present. A 19-year-old could do much worse.
Overall, it is moot. This interview will do little to stem the tide in favour of one candidate, or stammer the inadequacies of the other. It is important to remember that come hell or high water, one of these two will be overseeing an organisation with a $2 million budget, and may perhaps be charged with facilitating (with the Association Manager, lest we forget) the change to voluntary student membership. You know, itty bitty things.
Whether the storm of 2010 can be weathered by a couple of near-enoughs remains to be seen. For their sake, let’s hope so.