Today at 12:30 found the Great Hall in the Sherfield building hosting the first of two debates being held at the College as part of the Imperial College Union referendum on whether the Union should affiliate to the National Union of Students (NUS).
Little can be said about the debate itself, though a tape made by STOIC should be doing the rounds (and may even appear on the screens in the JCR if the referendum committee are on the ball). Attendance was very low, however, with the few members of the audience being virtually lost in the enormous seating capacity of the hall. The debates are supposed to be a key part of the referendum process, allowing interested students to learn the arguments for and against affiliation – the low attendance seriously compromises this aim. All hopes are now pinned on the second debate being held on the Charing Cross campus in the Drewe Lecture Theatre at 7pm tomorrow.
The debates were generally well advertised on a series of large (though soporific) ‘Union notice’ posters around college. However, the posters did not seem to entice students to attend, something that several members of the Union that this reporter has spoken to blame on the lack of free food available (which seems to be a key feature of virtually all other successful events).
Or maybe no-one cares. That’s apathy for you.
Email this Article
This discussion is 
