Making student lives better or worse: it's L-Tea-SA time!
As most of you may already be aware, the campaign to shut down the LTSA is well underway. But you may also be wondering, is the LTSA all that bad? They’re a student organisation, so how can they not be beneficial to students? Well, allow me to provide some insight into the - quite frankly - disgraceful nature of the LTSA.
Support for students has been the motto and cornerstone for the LTSA since its foundation early this year. The Association has sounded like a broken record for the past few months saying they are making student lives better, but ironically the only evidence of this is hosting events for regional campuses, Zoom trivia as well as Zoom yoga. Whilst all these events have been somewhat beneficial, I’d argue that the proposed Zoom yoga was by far the most insensitive. Being plunged into another lockdown in Victoria students across campuses would’ve felt disheartened at best and seriously petrified for their own lives at worst; having to weigh up the costs of either feeding themselves that night or being able to pay rent on time. So, in response to these cries for help, the LTSA stated that it was important “to take time to look after yourself physically and mentally” and that virtual yoga would cover a multitude of sins. It didn’t, and it never will. Students needed and still need adequate financial support as well as the option to not have to choose between food and appeasing their landlords. You’d think that with $2.2 million worth of SSAF they would be able to provide every struggling student, no matter the campus with support in the form of financial assistance and fresh food.
At the moment, as you may well have seen, various Facebook groups have been full of the vitriol that has come out of the LTSA in opposition to the LTSU. Since Thursday 5th August, the LTSA has launched their counter-campaign of “facts” against the LTSU. So far, they have 15 so-called facts that do nothing but discredit the Student Union and in doing so, make themselves look pretty bad. But hey, keep on digging that grave LTSA! The second-hand embarrassment is ripe, to say the least! I mean, imagine having no shame in saying that you support students and want to #makestudentlivesbetter whilst simultaneously undermining and berating the Student Union, as well as the students who run it!
(editor note: this last statement could go either way really, to the average reader who has been watching stalkerspace)
Another point to mention about the disturbing nature of the LTSA is the fact that they have made it their mission to pit regional students against metro students. The “fact” pages have consistently called out and stated that the LTSU is only for Bundoora students and that the LTSU aren’t sufficiently funded to operate on all campuses. It’s the irony for me! The LTSA functions on stolen money, your SSAF fees! The LTSU had their funding slashed by 88% and I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it would be possible to operate effectively over all six campuses with having your budget cut so severely, as well as the university siding with the creation of the LTSA! And despite such turmoil and powerful opposition, the LTSU has continued to operate City Campus in 2021, as well as being there for students when they need them, like the win for the V-Grade in Semester 2 as well as lockdown support in the form of vouchers for food. The grotesque and boastful nature of the LTSA from its staff members (not students!) is disturbing and frightening, as it demonstrates how a group of very well paid adults can and will undermine the legitimacy of student representation just for the sake of control. The LTSA is framing students expressing their genuine concerns with the operation, decisions and direction of the Association, as metro versus regional students – which is simply not the case.
Between the not-so-subtle digs at the LTSU, the LTSA’s “facts” also raved about their “outstanding support” services for students. I spoke to a representative from the LTSU about these “outstanding” services that the LTSA offers. I asked the rep whether students could expect timely and sincere replies if they were to reach out, to which they responded, it’s “all very corporate.” Whilst there is no quantitive data on the response times of the LTSA as yet, these responses are “generated responses.” It coincides with the fact that the LTSA has “bad marketing” skills. This lack of marketing skills the rep explained, was in line with the reach to students that the LTSA have or better, don’t have. They furthered this by highlighting that the LTSU have more reach and engagement from students due to the fact that they are run by and for students. And with this reach comes a “shared understanding;” students are more comfortable approaching another student rather than an organisation headed by staff who are “not invested” or give “automated” responses. So much for self-described “outstanding” services, not to mention the irony of spending $56,100 on advertising in five months and having no real reach…Yikes!
(editors note: I think she meant LTSA in that second sentence. But this paragraph reads kind of rambly)
Moreover, the LTSA has supported the “restructuring” of the University, whereby hundreds of staff have lost their jobs. This is not a restructuring, it’s a gutting of our education, it's sending the message that some degrees, professions and livelihoods are worthless. A student organisation that agrees with the obliteration of education is not one in which is run by and for students. It’s one that is run by staff for the University. If students can’t have a real say in their education it's surely a sad day for democracy. This kind of control also sets a dangerous precedent for other universities across the state and the country, one in which students are a part of the inner workings of the university, but don’t have a say on any grounds. Student organisations, unions or associations should always be run by the students themselves. Only they know what’s best for them; paid staff and ruling authorities think of what’s best for them and not the wider student body. That’s why it's high time we shut down the LTSA.