Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Cultural Divide...

http://www.theage.com.au/national/backlash-feared-over-uni-students-cultural-divide-20080722-3jck.html?page=2

Left leaning journalists, academics and student union types might like
to push the anti VSU line wherever they can, but having taught in the
Faculty with the largest number of international students at Monash
(Australia's largest university) for some time, my view is that VSU
funded activities did little to address the issues raised here.

VSU provided funding for many student clubs etc - but these club and
their activities were just as segregated. The discipline based club
activities revolved around participants getting inebriated (frequently
pitching events as 'all you can drink'), the clubs based around
country of origin - such as Malaysian Students Club offered other
activities. This divide and the diversity of clubs remains.

The real issue raised in this article is Federal lack of funding,
Kevin07, for all the talk has not delivered a new funding model that
will reduce the universities total dependence on international students.