That Girl from Derwent dwells on the value of religion this Christmas.
That Girl from Derwent has learned a few more things about prejudice since moving up North.
That Girl From Derwent reckons if you're going to be offensive, you should find a better reason.
That Girl from Derwent considers why it is that some words have wider implications than others.
…involved, that is.
This week my inbox has become full of emails (and my kitchen full of posters) about the upcoming JCRC elections, and while having decided not to get personally involved, I am looking forward to this week of campaigns for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, this might actually give me a chance to realise what it is exactly that the JCRC do. Of course, I know they’re the people who “organise” everything, but who are they? Joe Rankin? Anna Claire Younger? The names ring a bell, but I wonder if many could put a face to them. I know that when I mention Sam Houlders, many of my flat mates look at me with blank expressions. And I was pretty sure that I was one of the worst for knowing people in college politics.
So, not only am I looking forward to this week because I’ll get to know the former JCRC, but hopefully, a closer bond will form between me and my fellow Derwentians – especially as I’ve already met more people as they turn up with posters to put up in our block. I am looking forward to watching the campaigns, seeing what people think that we want then to stand for, and exercising my democratic vote for the person that I think will do the best job.
Wait, no – that’s far from the case. In fact, I am only feeling that I should be feeling these things. In reality, I didn’t even realise that the JCRC elections were upon us when the first poster appeared in our kitchen, telling us the nomination deadlines and how to get involved.
Did I actually think of getting involved? Well, yeah, that’s true, I did think about it - probably for about two minutes – before realising I needed to do some reading for my seminar. Because that’s the problem: I still haven’t managed to organise my time in relation to society interests and my course yet – I knew I wouldn’t have had a chance of being able to help run the JCRC.
But this is evidently my fault. It’s I who should be more organised if I were interested in running, yes? Of course, yet I must fault the system on one account. I still can’t quite get over the feeling that asking us to vote in a JCRC election this term could be a little premature. As a fresher, I don’t have a clue about anyone who’s running unless they’re in my block, and even though I have been inundated with posters and emails and can go to Hustings and ask questions… I still don’t think I’m going to be any wiser about who will actually do the best job. I will definitely vote, because it’s important to me to have that small piece of participation. But who for? Not a clue, and I’ll probably be none the wiser on Election Day.
So, it’s a bit of a mockery of the election process, isn’t it? Surely the point of elections is that we find out about the candidates, find the one that interests us most, or that we agree with most, and then cast our vote for them?
But then again, how many people who vote in any sort of election actually know anything about the candidate they vote for? More often than not they vote on personality, or even looks.
Which reminds me – I should go and have another look at my kitchen because, ultimately, I’m going to vote for the person with the prettiest poster. Is this the way campus politics is meant to work for freshers?
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