This year has seen tremendous growth and progress for us at Nexus. We’ve seen no more putea towards fair pay, nor have we seen any more, or less, support for professional growth. But we’ve had a dedicated team that’s been in the trenches making sure there’s a stream of consciousness coming out of the media for you as students. In the past 12 months, we’ve increased the amount of visibility of our magazine on campus. We’ve interviewed countless politicians, started a few protests, spoken to the Prime Minister, and even interviewed Teuila Blakely. Vasa from Shortland Street bro.
Though here’s what we’ve noticed that I’m sure a lot of you have as well. The Nexus team has shown up to almost every activation on campus–cameras and microphones at the ready to get the scoop. Sure we’re usually working the bbq and making our presence known because of a couple loud mouth Māori (Thank Hoata and Kae’sharn) but it wouldn’t be the same without us stirring the damn pot.
And while we’re there working with the team during O’week, we face criticism on the other hand as some question our motives. Here’s the thing, we’re out here volunteering our time to make sure tauira are getting home safely or eating kai, or even just paying their rent. It’s all about perspective as it’s hard not to notice the quick bites at funding that we receive. It’s all pretty stock standard though. There’s $80k dedicated to the printing of Nexus. Which we recover in advertising revenue as achieved by our Comms and Marketing guy/Editor (Chur Jak). Which means it’s a running system and not running at a loss. Is it hard to wrap your head around? Wait till you find out that our team is volunteering and we’re reliant on student contributions for making it all work. Artists? Yeah they’re our mates and working from the goodness of their hearts. We’re lucky that we’ve got hella dedicated artists that just love what they do.
Sure, it’s important to make sure that the Board feels supported and that they’re being adequately supported. We’re not going to ever take that need from them. But we, as staff of the student voice on campus, want to also make sure that we’re not all completely out of touch of what’s needed. There’s no denying that advocacy is important and support is well-needed but here’s the kicker. That doesn’t need to come at the expense of minimising engagement and chucking out the fucking snags on a weekly basis. We’re not the snag union? Why can’t we be a snag and tag (a mate that could use cheering up) union that feeds the bodies and souls of tauira. In a non-predatory way. Oh also pay us a living wage please.
Here’s what we would do if we were in charge: