Hello, faithful reader. Since Seth and I were here most of the weekend and Jeremy's inconsiderate enough to be sick today, the usual Monday update will be an atypical Wednesday update this week.

In the meantime, I wanted to quickly post a kinda-letter that a friend of mine Matt posted on Facebook after reading this week's issue. I'm sure many of you have similar memories - if so, please comment below.

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Voluntary membership for 2012 and beyond

Well its now official, from 2012 MUSA be a voluntary to join. The biggest loss though is the ability to represent such a large number of students, advocating for their basic rights in the New Zealand tertiary system and wider community. Another huge impact will be on MUSA’s services, with just under one million dollars wiped from our budget for 2012.

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This week a remarkable thing happened: I found myself agreeing with Don Brash.

It was only a few seconds before I was back to throwing things at his shiny head as it bobbled about on the TV screen, but for a few moments the Brashter and I were of one accord. It was kinda moving.

Simultaneously, John Campbell was very much not agreeing with Don Brash, baiting the ACT Leader with such boggle-eyed fury it was hard not to assume there was some simmering lover’s tiff causing all the surface tension. Because on the issue itself – the decriminalisation of marijuana – Brash was completely, 100 percent, bang-on-the-nail right.

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By Jeremy

Hey guys and girls,

Will has asked me to write a guest Editorial this week, and given that it’s Friday afternoon and I have just finished the news, there are only two things on my mind:

1)      The fact that the cafeteria has just closed, and I missed out on deliciously-seasoned fries.

2)      It’s almost the weekend, which means six more Rugby World Cup matches.

I know that I’ve been writing a lot about the World Cup in recent weeks, but it is dominating my life. It’s so hard to escape. It’s all over the newspapers and television. I’m bombarded with RWC advertising and merchandise whenever I pop into town. It’s even invaded my subconscious; a lot of the dreams I’ve had recently have been about rugby (though there was one dream in which I went to Disneyland and couldn’t go on any of the rides because I was carrying a very large and heavy suitcase).

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Firstly it is fantastic to see that there is a small number of students exercising their democratic rights, co-ordinating and submitting a petition for me to address the student body. This certainly reflects on how members are finally coming to grips with the implications of the freedom of association amendment bill and how it will significantly change the landscape that MUSA operates within.

I do however take exception to what has been outlined at in the petition itself. I am confused as to why no member has approached me with their concerns either verbally or formally prior to preparing this petition. As I have outlined in all of my columns this year, my door is always open and if I’m not here leave a message for me to get back to you.

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I’m feeling both a little sad and affectionately nostalgic. It’s just dawning on me that, after close to 80 years of publication, this week's issue of CHAFF is very likely to be – though we live in hope – the fifth-to-last CHAFF ever made, and that I am in effect the captain of the Titanic (which I hope means that I at least get to see Kate Winslet naked).

I’ve been involved with CHAFF, terrifyingly, for over a decade (though I hasten to add I haven’t been on the staff for the majority of it), drawing and writing through my Uni degree and then coming back to MUSA in an official capacity as Editor. Some of it’s been horrible, but most of it – 2011 included - has been immense fun. CHAFF’s great strength – and I hasten to add it’s nothing to do with me, but inbuilt into the design – is its freedom to enrage, explore, amuse and, mainly, muck about, and it’s sad to think that that liberty is likely drawing to an end.

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What a week!

It is probably best to start with a quick comment on last weeks article in CHAFF on the discussion document that someone pinched and submitted. Just to bring you up to speed, there is a federation of Massey student associations called MUSAF. MUSAF has an appointed coordinator who is Ralph Springett (President of EXMSS). The MUSAF coordinator is charged with speaking on behalf of the federation and coordinating meetings and interaction between the Massey associations. Therefore I cannot comment on behalf of MUSAF.

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CHALLENGING TIMES

Hope you had a good week last week! Now it has been brought to my attention by a few students that it appears some of the recent articles in Chaff may be seen to be pitched at undermining both the executive and management of MUSA, this is certainly not what your paper is intended for. Your student paper Chaff is a unique medium in which MUSA can disseminate information on what the association is up to, this information must be presented in a manner that is consistent and well balanced. It is also an awesome opportunity for you to gain experience in print media journalism!

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Week 4?!

The strategic plan is out now! Since released last Wednesday we have received a lot of positive feedback on the strategic plan. We have also received feedback through the Letters to the Editor mainly on concerns for the future of CHAFF newspaper in which I have responded to in that issue.

Now that the strategic plan is out perhaps it is best to outline the process that lies ahead. (Which may/may not be drawn out further if the VSM bill is passed in parliament).

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“The Minister of Technology today met the three Russian leaders to discuss a £4 million airliner deal ... None of them went in the cage, or swung on the little wooden trapeze, or ate any of the nice millet seed yum, yum. That's the end of the news.”

-        Monty Python’s Flying Circus

“Kiwi Confirmed Dead in Norway Shootings” screamed a Stuff headline last Thursday.

Sharidyn Svebakk-Bohn, known to her friends and family as Sissi, was only 14 when her life was brutally and needlessly ended by Anders Breivik.

Like all the young people senselessly killed in the Breivik shootings, she was an innocent victim of one man’s mania. She was tragically dispatched before her time. She had interests – politics, for one, according to the article – and friends. She had family and friends who grieve for her. Her involvement in the massacre was, fundamentally, the same of most of the others – she happened to be there when a madman decided to act out a twisted act of political lunacy.

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