Students Picket Exxon, Economic Forum

Students Picket Exxon, Economic Forum

Sunday, 3 May 2009
By: Nyki Duda

Members of the Left Society staked out day two of the St Andrews Economic Forum (SAEF) yesterday, held in Lower Parliament Hall. The small demonstration was in opposition to oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, one of the forum's sponsors.

Students distributed information to attendees and passerby alike, receiving reactions ranging from concern to fury. One forum goer engaged in a heated discussion with Seema Patel, a fourth year Neuroscience student.

"A student stomped up to me and started shouting that Exxon is helping the nations where they extract
 resources with social programs and donations. He didn't acknowledge the company's role in environmental degradation or governmental instability," Patel said.

But the trouble was not checked at the door. An uproar began inside when Connall McGinley, a protester and Scottish Socialist Party member, attempted to hand out leaflets inside the forum. A paid attendee of the conference, McGinley was threatened with expulsion from Lower Parliament Hall by one of the forum's organizers.

The Society's leaflet cited the corporation as a prominent supporter of climate change denial research and a major generator of pollution. ExxonMobil's projects are responsible for 5% of global carbon emissions.

International Relations student Lukas Ross showing off his placard outside of Lower Parliament Hall. Forum attendees and passersby expressed both support and disdain for the picket.

photo/nyki duda

Read the edited post on the Taycoast Scottish Socialist Party blog here. 

Struggle for Lower Rents in St Andrews

Dr. Louise Richardson (purple hood) walks past protesters on North Street on her way to being inaugurated as the first female principal of St Andrews University. The students were protesting Richardson's planned demolition of Fife Park, the University's only available affordable accommodation in a town where monthly rents are increasingly on the rise. photo/nyki duda

LOWER RENTS NOW! COALITION
Nyki Duda
07503347517
npduda@usfca.edu
25 March 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St Andrews Students Call for Lower Rents at Principal's Installation
    Students from the Lower Rents Now! Coalition voiced their anger as the new principal, Dr. Louise Richardson, was installed today. The picket, covered on STV and Tay FM, was to remind Richardson and other university staff that the issue of affordable accommodation is still a pertinent one for many students in the midst of this global economic crisis.

    After arriving with signs and leaflets in hand, students were promptly asked not to carry on with the protest and told they would not be allowed to protest on University premises.

    LRN!C continued their activities off of university property, passing on information to those making their way to Dr. Richardson's installation. Following the ceremony, the protesters made their way to St Salvator's Quad with leaflets, where they were asked to leave and threatened with disciplinary action by University personnel, though no official reason was given.

    "I think it's disgraceful that they asked us to leave and threatened disciplinary action while we were being civil and respectful," Mary Andes, a third year International Relations student, said of the protest.

    LRN!C is a group of students who have been lobbying the University to re-think its policies, and this protest was meant to mirror the one they held outside of ex-principal Brian Lang's retirement celebration at the end of the fall semester. The students stated that they were not targeting Richardson or her appointment, but rather letting the Principal know that they are not prepared to be ignored.   

    "This isn't a protest against the principal, it's a protest against the principles of the university," said Alex Bennett, an LRN member and first year student studying International Relations.

    At the forefront of LRN!C's platform is the struggle to keep Fife Park from becoming like the David Russell Apartments: unnecessarily expensive, 3-star accommodation.  The new principal has already shown that she is of a slightly different mindset than Lang. Dr. Richardson was recently quoted in “The Saint” calling Fife Park ‘hideous’ and ‘not of a standard that […] students are entitled to.’

    Richardson suggests an increased number of bursaries to help students pay for more costly housing at an upgraded Fife Park. LRN(!)C members doubt the effectiveness and sustainability of this measure if not combined with decreased fees.

    LRN!C is looking for the University to live up to its promise of making one-sixth of beds affordable accommodation. They have student support and mandate for a full 1000 affordable beds in the form of a petition signed by 1000 St Andrews students last year.
   
END
Notes for editor:
Photographs available upon request.