Morys Ireland's diary

Since 1997 there have been a number of improvements in the opportunities available to young people. More young people than ever before are staying in education after the age of 16 as access to further and higher education has widened. With regard to the political system itself the Labour government have introduced the right for young people to stand in local elections, encouraging young people to take part in the political process.

The New Year sees the launch of the Labour Students society at the University of Portsmouth Student Union. Labour Students is an organisation that campaigns for equality, democracy and social justice. We believe that young people’s voices matter and that young people should be at the heart of the political process – young people are the leaders of tomorrow. At present young people are grossly under-represented in politics at all levels and many young people simply claim they don’t care about the political process. The reality behind this viewpoint is that the political process has simply failed to engage with young people – and this is a key issue that Labour Students sets out to tackle.

Labour Students recognises that the government’s task is far from completed on higher and further education, and that we must go further to get more young people to carry on in education after school. Good education should be the right of the many, not the privileged few.

Education and political representation are not the only areas that the Labour Students society will be campaigning in, action in Darfur, human rights in Zimbabwe, action on climate change, social equality and many others will be at the heart of the society’s activities, not to mention countering David Cameron and his ‘new look’ Tory party. We will also be organising debates and talks involving guest speakers from the Labour Party and other organisations. ‘Question time’ style debates are also planned involving not just Labour but a broad spectrum of other political parties as well.

Look out for one of our stalls at the re-fresher’s fayre on the 13^th Feb, the society’s takeover event on the 23^rd Feb and around and about the union building during the week. To join the society or just for more info about who we are and what we stand for email me at: m.ireland@hotmail.com

I thought I could do with a break from reading text books written by people who, in all fairness, are experts in their field, but who are also experts at boring the hell out of students so I decided to buy 'Star Maker' as something to read over Christmas after I'd seen it on a documentary about the history of science fiction. Even if you're not into science fiction at all 'Star Maker' by Olaf Stapledon is a fantastic read full of wonderfully crafted language and imagination.

Given that this book was written in 1937 the technology and concepts that Stapledon comes up with are phenomenal and easily compare with the ideas of modern sci-fi. The book is a lot more philosophical than anything and deals with issues like the purpose of mankind and whether or not there is a 'creator' out there somewhere. 

The narrative follows a man who one evening takes a walk upon a hill over his town. While watching the stars in the open sky he is somehow dissociated from his body and begins on a remarkable journey through the cosmos, travelling to other worlds and both backwards and forwards in time. He witnesses the creation of the universe, the beginning of life, the end of the human race and the end of all time as we know it. Stapledon describes the social and political structures of the other worlds and the nature of their inhabitants in amazing detail and constantly compares then to Earth, making the book as much a discourse on human nature as a science fiction adventure.

I ended up reading the book in a day because I couldn't put it down! It's a thought provoking masterpiece and since it's only a few quid on amazon it's well worth it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Maker-Millennium-SF-Masterworks/dp/1857988078/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199483925&sr=8-1