[HDNG]STUDENTS' REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]P2[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] 5 sabbatical [BULL] Turnout at last ballot: 20% [BULL] Ave. turnout at General Meetings: 3% [BULL] NUS member [ESTAT][PARA]The Union is totally apolitical and provides no welfare services. [ITAL] Shocked? You shouldn't be, [EITAL]because the Union is quite separate from the SRC which provides representation and welfare. The Union's role is strictly commercial. The SRC has 2 sabbaticals and the Union and charity Rag have 1 each. The Athletics Association has the 5th. The SRC is the body affiliated to NUS and the one that organises campaigns.[ITAL] Students, though, despite being quite aware and sound, are rarely stirred into action, but when they do, ooh, when they do... It must be all the porridge Scots eat.[EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][HDNG]SU FACILITIES:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA]The [ITAL]swish and lively [EITAL]Union Building (the 2nd largest in Scotland) is in the city centre near Marischal, although it also has a mini-market at Hillhead Halls, a general shop and a Travel Agent in Old Aberdeen High Street. In the Union itself, there are 2 bars, a restaurant, 2 disco venues, a disco for hire, showers, photocopying, games room (with pool table, games machines and table football), large snooker hall, vending machine, cashpoint, launderette, music practice room, dark room and meeting rooms.[HDNG]CLUBS (NON SPORTING):[EHDNG][PARA]Amnesty International; Anglican; Anti-Nazi League; Bird; Buddhist; Centre Stage; Duke of Edinburgh; European; Exploration; Gilbert and Sullivan; Greenpeace; International Students; Irish; Law Mooting (legal debating); Methodists; Peace; Phoenix TV; Red Cross; Science Fiction; Scottish Country Dancing; Street Entertainment; Ten Pin Bowling; Treading the boards; UN.[HDNG]OTHER ORGANISATIONS:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Debater: [EBOLD]Along with the Union, the SRC and the AA (Athletics Association - nothing to do with automobiles or alcoholics), students become members, automatically and for free, of a 4th organisation when they join Aberdeen University. That is Debater, one of the country's oldest mooting societies that does nothing but host discussions on topics of every hue and cry and come to conclusions (or not) about them. It's popular fun and not as pompous as the Oxbridge debating unions.[PARA][BOLD]Others: [EBOLD]The weekly student newspaper is 'Gaudie' and there's 'The Review' student magazine. With Phoenix TV, students can make programmes and films. Aberdeen charity Rag also encompasses [ULNE]Robert Gordon University[EULNE] and some local further education colleges, but the ú80,000 raised is still impressive. As part of the Rag, the Torcher Parade takes place each year, the largest torchlight parade in Europe. Students have 16 hours to design and make their own float and then process through the streets with folks throwing money at them. Last year, the parade alone raised ú15,000. SCAG stands for Student Community Action group and is the energetic local help organisation run by student volunteers.[HDNG]RELIGIOUS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] 3 chaplains (RC, CofS, Episcopal)[ESTAT][PARA]Within the University there are 2 chapels and a small mosque. Locally, apart from St Mary's Cathedral (Catholic), St Andrew's Cathedral (Episcopal) and St Machar's Cathedral (Presbyterian), there are local places of worship for Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Quakers and, of course, members of the Church of Scotland.[HDNG]PAID WORK:[EHDNG][PARA]Apart from the normal openings in bars, shops and restaurants (which are plentiful in recession-resisting Aberdeen), students can sometimes find work in the oil industry, particularly those whose studies are in some relevant field. The University Medical School also pays sperm donors ú10 a squirt.[PARA][PARA]
