Yes, talking about politics with some students is like keeping a sleep-deprived sloth awake. And how this image tars the rest of us. Everything, from McCain chips (with their student newspaper advert: “Students Get Back To Doing Nothing Quickly“) to this blog, gives an ironic wink to the stereotype of the dosser student.

As the Independent columnist, Mark Steel, wrote a while ago: “The youth of today – they just don’t show no disrespect“. It’s the “quasi-proverbial, and not wholly undeserved, reputation students have cultivated over the years for extreme political apathy”, according to Hicham Yezza writing in The Guardian. Even the system is against us. Yezza continues: “Many universities have now grown to see their task as that of churning out generic, malleable clones for the consumption of ever more regimental recruiters…they view the very act of students engaging with the wider reality of their world as a subversive phenomenon to be nipped in the bud before it infects the rest of the student population”.

Talking about politics with some students is like keeping a sleep-deprived sloth awake. This image tars the rest of us.

No, we don’t have the freak banner of a modern day Hendrix, or the geeks and one-eyed midgets of Dylan. “Change” happened in America and the recent Greek student protests happened in…well, Greece. And there are some apathetic dossers out there: “Do we really care?”, one student commented on a York University newspaper website article that detailed the amount of money uni‘s invest in the arms trade. “Worst front page ever. So incredibly boring” another student put. One cheerful soul typed on a ‘Campaign Against the Arms Trade York Uni’ Facebook group: “The vast majority either don’t care or support it”. It seems being a student radical is so 1992.

But positives change happens regardless of negative perceptions. In recent months, over 20 universities were occupied by student activists, demanding action over Gaza and uni arms trade investments. The occupation of Queen Mary’s, University of London, caused the university to withdraw investments in the arms trade and review it’s ethical policy. The School of Oriental and African Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London and Bangor University have also withdrawn investment from arms companies after student pressure.

Sit-ins are one off demonstrations. Nevertheless, at York University at least, there is a healthy political student community. We have a model UN, Labour Society, Liberal Democrats Society, Conservative Society, Amnesty International Society, Oxfam Society and Friends of the Earth Society. Then there is all the independent groups like Gig For Gaza and The Campaign Against The Arms Trade. There are regular film showings on everything from The End of Suburbia to The Zionist Story .

Both the university newspapers have thriving politics sections, featuring interviews with Nick Clegg, Mozzam Begg, George Galloway and more. There are countless talks, always so popular that everyone from Hilary Benn to The Prince of Jordan enjoys a full house. Oh, and as for the “System”, York’s large Politics Department and the Centre for Applied Human Rights would have something to say about it’s production of “malleable clones”.

Why must the student activist always be on the defence against the stereotypes of the student radical and the student apathetic? We don’t want either Project Mayhem OR two-for-one drink deals. So what does your average politically active student sound like?

“Do we really care? Clubbing tomorrow night instead. And, yeah I’ll be going to the talk on Gaza tomorrow, no need to cook, just re-heat some leftover pizza. Send me the link of the Amnesty group over Facebook, I’ll see if I can make the meeting. My essay isn’t due in ‘til next week, so should be fine. Don’t wear a keffiyeh tomorrow, you’ll look like a twat. Pub?”

Related posts:

1. Politics, pirates and Papadofragakis, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love union elections
2. Occupational hazard
3. Labour are losers when it comes to university funding

He maintained his buccaneer character – ‘’ahoy’s’ and all – throughout his campaign. The Cap’n secured the position – and it’s £10,000+ salary – to a great uproar of anti-Cap’n petitions and talk of no-confidence votes. So this year YUSU elections will be reported in a purely straight-faced, factual manner in an attempt to instil a sense of proper decorum amongst the candidates. The student newspaper is as dour faced as ever, with a special supplement packed with all those serious student politics facts. This is student politics damn it, not a sketch show. Serious stuff.

So what can be learned about the serious candidates from their extensive (read a poster on nearly every window on campus) serious marketing campaigning? With fliers, leaflets, posters, t-shirts, Facebook pages, billboard, sandwich boards and…plain boards, what do the serious candidates’ serious campaigns have to say?

The political paradigm that one sinks by levity and rises by gravity has been turned on its head

Paradigm seems to be all the rage this year. Rhianna Kinchin has used the Kellogg’s Special K font and trademark K to suggest a candidate that is handy with Photoshop and/or is obsessed with low fat breakfasts cereal. Whether Rhianna is edible is undisclosed. Rory Shanksis another potentially edible candidate, opting for plagiarising the packaging for Kellogg’s pop tarts. Are we to believe Rory has a warm, gooey centre of strawberry paste or that he will be popped into a giant toaster prior to every YUSU meeting? Again, this is undisclosed.

However the nutritional pie chart on his flyers tells voters he is high in policies, low in salt. Rory’s arithmetic seems as lacking as his salt content; his flyer outlines 5 policy plans but advertises “8 SOUND POLICIES”. Could the unexplained three policies be cereal/breakfast bar/Kellogg’s/strawberry based? Is a Kellogg’s collation to be formed between Rory and Rhianna? Even more worrying is the flyers declaration that Rory’s net weight is 400g – how can a man the size of a Borrower work a toaster? It is even possible for him to hold one of his own flyers? Time will tell.

George Papadofragakis (so glad this isn’t a podcast) has chosen to create a Wikipedia page to print off as his poster. Campaigning with a website know for its factual inaccuracies and heavy handed opinions (I was once told Chaos is “Your Mum!!!”) is a daring move, especially when the poster declares “The neutrality of this article is disputed” and says “citation needed” after certain facts. George’s Wikipedia page has been now deleted, so any changes made to the article will have to be made with marker pen.

Ed Durkin has decided nothing says perfect candidate for the Democracy and Services position like…erm, Monopoly. Ed’s flyer and poster campaign sees Ed’s face representing the whole of Islington, with the tactical choice of leaving the Jail tile off the board – which begs the question as to whether Mr Durkin has something to hide. Worryingly, one of his policies takes up a “Chance Card” tile; will Ed be relying on a dice and card set up to make executive decisions? Again, time will tell.

Other plagiarisms include Dave Sharp’s ingenious “Fix Up, Vote Sharp!” tagline (Dizzie will turn in his grave when he dies) and Mandi and James ‘I heart NY/MJ’ logo. These raise just as many questions as the other candidates campaigns, but one thing is obvious from the campaigns; the best candidates have learnt from the Mad Cap’n’s madcap success.

The political paradigm that one sinks by levity and rises by gravity has been turned on its head; student politics doesn’t have to be dryer than a digestive biscuit holidaying in the Sahara. Politics is too important to let politico’s bore people into disinterest. Take advantage of student’s love of pop tarts. Monopoly themed flyers is barely pushing the boat out. It’s OK to break the suit-and-tie dress code. Cry a-vast once in while. Student politics may be serious, but students sure as hell aren’t.

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