Daft Friday…getting ever closer
11:03 am on the 17th of December, 2002Almost the whole union is closed at the moment in preparation for this.
I have to go and collect my hired kilt tomorrow and then do some serious training for the real thing which is on Friday. 8pm till 8am. I propose a minimum of 2 drinks an hour. Or or at least I would have untill they stopped selling Belhaven Best. Still it is pound a pint for the beers they do still have (which amounts to Tennents Lager and Stella)
December 17th, 2002 at 12:25 pm on the 17th of December, 2002
I reckon you’ll make it til 10. Lightweight.
December 17th, 2002 at 2:00 pm on the 17th of December, 2002
It’s Saturday you come home isn’t it?
Just so I know to stay off the roads
December 17th, 2002 at 4:18 pm on the 17th of December, 2002
Dad did actually ask if I wanted to drive home.
December 18th, 2002 at 3:50 pm on the 18th of December, 2002
I told mum to make sure you didn’t
December 8th, 2004 at 3:11 pm on the 8th of December, 2004
Is it true that board members give away up to 60% of the tickets for Daft Friday. If so, how can they justify asking the average union member to spend ?28 on a ticket?
December 8th, 2004 at 4:32 pm on the 8th of December, 2004
I couldn’t tell you, but it sounds likely, the GU isone of the worst run services on campus losing money hand over fist and with declining member numbers. It gets a huge subsidy from the uni and loses money each year, while the QM gets next to nothing and makes a profit. The time will come and probably quite soon that the uni gets it’s act together and forces the GUU to hire staff to manage it rather than letting the students run it into the ground.
At least so I’m told, I may have just lied.
On another note, I heard a rumour recently (before it burnt down) that GUSA, the sports association, wanted to buy the shack as an alternative union. I’m not sure if I believe it because GUSA are strongly supported by the GUU but it is possible that GUSA could run it properly and generate income to replace what they get from the GUU, as well as having a venue of a similar nature.
December 8th, 2004 at 5:08 pm on the 8th of December, 2004
But surely the students who run it are amongst the brightest young things the country have to offer. They’re the future business leaders of the country. Surely they can run a mere student union. It can’t be that hard. A pub, with a tied clientele?
Or is it the political hack students who stand for office are running it? The future Donald Dewars, et al? Thatwould explain it…
December 8th, 2004 at 5:09 pm on the 8th of December, 2004
to further comment, the QM will be run by the future music promoters, who are motivated by the possibilty of meeting, & maybe helping break, the next Nirvana??
December 8th, 2004 at 9:46 pm on the 8th of December, 2004
The QMU employ people to make sure it makes money and isn’t mismanaged, the GUU has a couple of staff and an elected board of students, who tend to be of the political hack variety, although Gordon Brown or even David Blunkett would be closer to the mark than Donald Dewar (although he is a past president, as was Jim Wallace).
And it is a little more than running a pub, it’s a huge old building. The pub/club side of it I’m sure makes money, the libraries, the debating chamber, the reading room, the snooker hall though take in next to no moeny and have to be paid for by the rest. The shop and servery might make money but I wouldn’t be sure, the shop is quite good but the food is nothing compared to what you can get in the QM. Also money does seem to get spent on what the board fancy, for instance the uni rag’s recent story about their huge porn subscription
December 15th, 2004 at 5:59 pm on the 15th of December, 2004
Not sure where to begin.
I have been a member of the GUU for nine years. I didn’t go to private school, I’m not a political hack and I don’t play rugby.
I have also been involved in the Board, and it’s politics, for many years. Last year I held a senior position on the Board and was responsible for the organisation of DF.
Here’s a list:
1. The Union does not lose money hand-over-fist. Indeed we declared a surplus last year. 2. We receive only a couple of percentage points more of the block grant than the QMU and, with the introduction of Joint Student Membership we would receive exactly the same.
3. I am good friend with both this years QMU president and last years and we all agree that regardless of what we do each year both unions get around 6000 members each.
4. Giving away 60% of tickets is absolutely preposterous! A total of 2400 could potentially, and have in my time, attend. Board members and members of union committees receive tickets. Some are double tickets for others it’s single tickets. The dinner at the start of the night is from a separate budget and is not included in ticket prices. If the GUU sells all it’s tickets it will only break even. The profit is made from food and drink sales on the night. You’d be lucky if it’s 6% of the tickets let alone 60%
5. The Union has a manager and a whole management structure who work together with the Board. Remember also that both Unions are registered charities and they require a Board of Management with trustees who are members of the Union i.e. Students and graduates.
6. The porn thing is absolute crap and I won’t dignify it with any more than that. The GUU does not waste money on Board members. Indeed last year I cut some of the “freebies”. A couple of weeks a term each board member will be required to spend a week in the Union on duty. They will answer calls, do cloakroom runs, put up posters, run the building on Hive nights and a multitude of another annoying tasks. In return they get free food each day and for each Hive night they do ?5 towards drink from the GUU. They must be full-time students and many are unable to hold down part-time jobs because of Union commitments, so their freebies are little recompense. We have no sabbatical postions, unlike the SRC, GUSA and the QMU. Each of these with a salary of ?11-13,000 per annum.
7. My final comment is silly….but I’m not a political hack (I hope to be a doctor when I finally finish) and I think it was Charles Kennedy not Jim Wallace who has been a past president.
Cheers
December 16th, 2004 at 9:19 am on the 16th of December, 2004
that sounds like using the facts to dispel the rumours! Is that ethical on the internet?? (No – obviously you should set the facts straight.)
in defence of what i said, (no-one else), I didn’t attend Glasgow Uni – my alma mater is Dundee, and I’m proud of it. So I was hypothesising about what might cause the rumours, if they were true. Laughing at my brother if truth be told. All my friends who went to Glasgow joined the QM (and saw Nirvana).
And I got my politician correct!
December 16th, 2007 at 4:56 pm on the 16th of December, 2007
Three years late, but hey! I found that Daft Friday 2007 did not live up to my expectations. Even now, I still struggle to comprehend what my money actually paid for? I am led to believe that the decor, as good as it was, was actually done for free by GSA students. There was no buffet or meals put on, no free drinks and despite advertising that you could “buy” tokens for the casino, you couldn’t actually gamble.
So, GU board members: where exactly did my £30 go?
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