Looking at this photograph, with a swastika spray-painted on the window and the obvious sprayed on the floor, you would assume that this article is about something in the distant past. In actuality it happened just under a week ago in Staffordshire.

Some local students, with rumoured ties to the British National Party (BNP) and English Defence League (EDL), began a smear campaign against the sitting President, Assed Baig, handing in one hundred signatures as a vote of no confidence, which led to a referendum on Baig’s position.

The ploy was two months in the works from the group of students and, upon handing in the signatures, the graffiti work shown in the picture appeared overnight on the Students’ Union building on campus.

Baig beat the referendum back, telling all students that he would not let it affect the Union’s day-to-day life, as they have tried and they have failed. Now it is back to business.

The University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) have said that they completely back Baig in his bid to combat racism on Staffordshire’s campus, and will offer any and all support that they can.

Personally, I cannot believe that, in this day and age, there are people, especially people studying in Higher Education, that are so closed minded. To some extent, I expect it from the ill-educated, ‘on-benefits’ waster who thinks that “immigrants are taking our jobs” – but a student? There just literally aren’t enough words.

The new constitution being passed at yesterday's EGM

The new constitution of the University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) was unanimously passed at yesterday’s Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM).

The constitution, the rule book by which the Union must abide, has been streamlined and written to comply with the UK Charities Act.

Among the changes, the five sabbatical officer titles and remits have been changed to further develop student interaction.

As of next academic year, the VP Education and Welfare role will be split into two – creating a VP Education and  a VP Welfare and Equalities.

The role of VP Communications will now be VP Communications and Democracy and will have a larger role in co-ordinating Union Council sessions, elections and other democratic processes of the Union.

The VP Internal Affairs role has been dropped and the role of President will remain much the same.

The VP Sports and Societies will be replaced by the VP Student Activities whose remit will increase to cover charities and other extra-curricular student activities.

The new constitution will also increase the number of current Union councillors, electing two first-year representatives and expanding to include one representative from each of the University’s academic schools.

Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) officer and Woman’s officer roles will also be created alongside a Radio Station Co-ordinator position.

VP Education & Welfare Haneef Rashid leads the voting to reject class time changes

A University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) Extra-ordinary General Meeting this afternoon voted to lobby against the University in its plans to change the timetable from quarter past the hour to on the hour.

A vote, which saw only one vote against and one abstention, was unanimously passed by students who wished to preserve the 15-minutes at the start and end of lessons.

“We have to ensure we keep the pressure on the University and we’ll be campaigning for it next semester,” said VP Education & Welfare Haneef Rashid who built the motion against the changes. “We’ll be doing a petition and taking photographs to ensure we keep the pressure on.”

Sorcha Johnson, a student rep who attended and spoke at the meeting, told assembled members of the Union that the time changes would cause massive inconvenience to commuting and parent students.

Rashid informed members before the vote that 59% of students at the University lived in the surrounding area and travelled in to study.

The “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” campaign, headed by Rashid, will run from January.

UHSU Council will vote on whether to accept proposed changes to the timetable or lobby against them

The University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) Council last night discussed plans to lobby the University against their proposal to move class starting and ending times from quarter past the hour to on the hour.

The stance, proposed by VP Education & Welfare Haneef Rashid after consulting with course reps, will be voted on in the next Council meeting on 7 December.

The changes, proposed by the University in a meeting attended by Rashid, have been thus far met with a negative response from students the Union has contacted.

Union Chair, Andy ‘Frodo’ Blunt urged part-time officers of the Union and UHSU Councillors to discuss the issue among their peers and colleagues to build up a greater picture of student opinion on the matter.

Blunt also urged students to attend the next council meeting, at 6.30pm on 7 December, should they wish to air their views.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Top of the running for Union Council, John Pawsey pulls of his signature election pose

The four candidates running in the Unversity of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) by-elections for the position of Union councillor have all been elected.

The positions, of which there were eight available, were expected to fill up with around 30 application forms taken away during the nomination period, at the end of October.

The four candidates who did put themselves forward for the position did not find out their fates with the other by-election candidates last night due to an unknown technical error with the voting system.

This morning it was announced on the UHSU website that John Pawsey had received the most votes for the position, followed by Saiqa Ahmed, Tahira Alia and Binesh Hafiz.

Hafiz received less votes than calls to re-open nomination (RON) but was elected due to the open spaces on the council.

Newly elected Disabilities Officer Michael Mattinson celebrates with the A Team in The Graduate

University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) by-election results for the majority of positions were announced last night.

Andy ‘Frodo’ Blunt was elected as Union Chair after the former Chair, Zehra Ali resigned from the position last month.

Michael Mattison, the newly-elected Disabilities Officer, was elected to the post over Ben Medley in the only contested position. Mattison received 109 votes, 38 more than Medley, with only five voters opting to re-open nominations (RON).

Adam Ingram, uncontested for the Environment & Ethics Officer post, was elected with 147 votes, the highest number for any candidate in the election.

Jp Austin was elected as University Campus Barnsley (UCB) Chair, with Veejay Bhuta elected as UCB Ordinary Member.

Mofozzul Choudhury Imran, Nazmin Sultana and Aaron Biszby were elected as University Campus Oldham (UCO) Ordinary Members.

Turnout for the by-elections was around 1% of the student population, with just 196 votes cast across all three participating campuses.

Jenny Haigh, Returning Officer, explains the situation to candidates

Candidates running for University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) council positions are waiting to hear their fate after a technical error meant Union staff were unable to check the results for the position.

Jenny Haigh, UHSU Membership Services Manager and Returning Officer for the by-elections, last night apologised to the candidates concerned and assured them that the results would be published as soon as the cause for the unknown error was resolved.

Only four candidates were running for the eight positions available but the result of the vote can not be announced without confirmation that a vote to re-open nominations (RON) was not victorious against any of the candidates.

Saiqa Ahmed, Tahira Alia, Binesh Hafiz and John Pawsey who were running for the positions are expected to receive the results later this morning.

A collection of UHSU by-election candidates post-training last Thursday

A list of candidates for the 2009/10 University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) by-elections have been announced.

The by-elections will see a total of 14 candidates running, 12 of whom will be uncontested.

Andy ‘Frodo’ Blunt is running for Union Chair and, if nominations are not re-opened by the vote, will oversee the Union Council, which comprises of two councillors, elected in March, and four candidates vying for election.

Running for Union Councillor positions are Saiqa Ahmed, Tahira Alia, Binesh Hafiz and John Pawsey.

Ifran Raja is running for Mature & Postgraduate Officer, whilst Adam Ingram runs for Enivornment & Ethics Officer.

Standing for Disabilities Officer, the only position to be contested, are Michael Mattinson and Ben Medley.

Voting takes place online from 1pm on 2 November and continues until 5pm on 5 November. Details of how to vote were sent to theuniversity email inboxes of all eligible to vote on Friday.

Students at Queensgate, Barnsley and Oldham campuses are able to vote for all of the above candidates and positions.

At University Campus Barnsley (UCB), Jp Austin is standing to be elected as UCB Chair, while Vijay Bhutada is standing to be a UCB Ordinary member.

Aaron Biszby, Motozzul Choudhury Imran and Nazmin Sultana are running to become University Campus Oldham (UCO) Ordinary members.

Students at UCB and UCO can only vote for members of that campus and the Queensgate campus positions.

President Junaid Ejaz takes to YouTube to get more students involved in their SU

University of Huddersfield Students’ Union (UHSU) President Junaid Ejaz has recorded a message urging students to get involved with their Union and attend Monday’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The AGM is being held in Quayside, near Café on 3rd, at 12pm on Monday, 26 October.

Ejaz recently blogged about the inactivity of the student body in a post that received mixed responses from students.

With turnout for the last elections standing at just over 7%, it is hoped that the AGM will attract students wishing to take a greater role in the future of their SU.

The meeting will allow students to discuss and question the plans and budget for the academic year ahead.

Vote stand set up in iZone providing information on the UHSU by-elections

Ladies and Gents, Boys and Girls, the next month or two at the Students’ Union is to be positively buzzing for all those who care to know – with the By Elections which will hopefully see 13 part time officers elected to the Union Council!

The part time officers are literally the most important part of the Students’ Union, excluding the executive sabbatical team, all of which are given a remit by the constitution to oversee relevant campaigns, vote in the Union Council and ensure those that they represent are done so equally and fairly. Amongst the positions up for grabs at the Huddersfield campus are eight Union Councillor positions – of which myself and some politics writers shall be running for – Disabilities Officer, Environmental and Ethics Officer, Part-time and Placement Officer, Mature and Postgraduate Officer and a Multicultural and Faith Officer. The Barnsley campus has a committee member up for grabs, as well as the position of Chair, and the Oldham campus has three committee member positions.

So what is the point in getting involved? Well I asked Sohail Afsar, the current VP Internal Affairs Officer, that very same question. Sohail told me that he went to a couple of Union Councils and realised that he wanted to not only be more involved, but have a vote in what happens at the Students’ Union. The Union Councillor position fits perfectly into the hard working students’ timetable, with the main responsibility of attending the Union Council which happens around about once a month on an evening.

When I asked Sohail if it was worth getting involved, he told me that as a Union Councillor he acquired a real understanding of how the Students’ Union works – it is not just a bar and a shop, it is a massive system which he saw problems with. From his position as a Union Councillor, Sohail chose to run for the Internal Affairs position last March and won. Sohail continued by pointing out that he is very passionate about the Students’ Union and wants to see a more active student movement, and in his new position he has begun the move towards a more active union by a simple philosophy. Sohail wants to get more personal with the student body, get in our faces and tell us the facts – not just hand out leaflets – but tell you why he is campaigning for you, and ask you to get involved. So if you fancy understanding how the Students’ Union works, and believe that you have something to give the student body that you can represent then pick up an election pack from the reception desk after October the 15^th, and get involved.