receive a full grant. Thousands receive discretionary awards from their local authority, but some may be lucky even to get that this year Leeds Council was only forced to pay after a massive student protest.
Inflation has always hit hardest against those sections of socicty living on fixed incomes pensioners, the unemployed, and students surviving on State benefits or grants. There is only one way to fight thisthrough the demand for a sliding scale.
This would mean an immediate: percentage increase in the grant for every percentage increase in a student cost of living index. This way the real value of the grant can be main tsined.
Does this stop further claims for a higher grant? No-quite the reverse! The sliding scale merely defends gains already made. While it may give immediate cover against inflation, it does not improve the basic levels, This a campaign of direct action must continue for:
*Abolition of all discretionary awards.
*An end to discrimination against married women.
*Full and higher grunts for all stud 6955- CUTBACKS However the crosion in students' living standards has another side. on 19 September. Then they followed this up with a mass picket of over 400 SUCERS SENTE LOOKS CATHA committee met on Monday 23 Septemher.
The Councilors were only able to talk with great difficulty above the noisy de mands of the students for the reversal of the Councif's decision, an end to the sys tem of discrelionary awards, and full grants for all students. Eventually they decided they would reverse the cuthack on grants because "me didn't realise bow: much hardship our ruling had caused.
At a meeting held afterwards, the students discussed what they had learned Irom this Best struggle, Two things were onvicuss nesty, at aucer acoon was the only way of forcing the Council to change its policies; secondly, that the attack on discretionary awards was merely many more cutbacks on the way time when conditions and facilities are already at on all-time low.
It was agreed that in order to fight For a decent education stadents in colleges in Loods will have to organise together with teachers, lecturers campus workers school students and all others affected by the Council's attempts to run down educ ation in Leeds. To this end the Leeds Are of NUS is going to mount a campaign meetings of the NUT, ATTI, and NUPE, etc. to organise these groups on the basis of an action programme against any cuthacks.
For what the State gives with its left hand, it snatches back with its right.
The root of the problem is that while the capitalist class wants and student rents, while at Sussex the authorities proposes to raise prices hy 124% and rents by 29%. These are not Holated examples, Students all over the country face similar demands.
RESPONSE
Elists? For the Communist Party and the Broad Left dominated NUS executive, the solation is simple-an allianoo with progressives to win friends and influence people in high places In their game of prossure politics, progressives equals Labour MPs and Vice-Chancellors.
principals and Vice-Chancellors certain ly do not like cutbacks-which make For militant direct action upsetting their quiet life. But they are realistic people. If the State cannot pay, then They intend to make sure that somebody cise does- studenis and campus wolkers.
'PROGRESSIVE ALLIES of the CP actually proposing and implementing the cutbacks! The choice is clearly between an alliance with those supporting education on the cheap or with those fighting against these policies ception.
What should be the response of soc- rent levels.
It is true, of course, that the colleg el for a year.
Thus we see the "progressive allies"
the start of tetin, Such a fighting unity can be built ful last ycar.
Police dealing with Oxford students last term. More of the same can be has worsened. 1974 will be no exStudents have lo take a stand They did not cause the problem they have no responsibility to solve it. Demands should be raised which cail for"All students to he housed, at last year's rationalised, but that can only be car*For the authorities to suhsidise rent *For the Council to take over empty property to provide hoosing for all.
These demands will only he won via direct action. Tacties like occu Swansea - tip of the iceberg The witch-hunt against six Swanses stud ents and two lecturers continues unabated On Monday it was confirmed that the atudents have definitely been suspend The victimisations have come after a ELELUTE. fight by snidents and stall in the philo soplly department for the past two and Swansen a half years to alter the examination stru cture. As for the lecturers, both played a prominent role in an ASTMS strike earlier this wear, and one was actually told mal his contract was being ended because of his record of trade union activity.
The authorities are desperately trying to root out the "troublemakers" betore The administration noods to make sure that the students and partons of college property or squatting empty buildings proved success They can again, LESSONS To light effectively, students must leach some lessons from last ycar's struggles. It is vital to realise that the authorities have upped the stakes.
Oxford, Essex and Keat saw a new gory. determination hy the college administrations not to make concessions. This process culminuted in the con frontation between mass pickets and Wing term. the police it Essex University with over a bundred arrests The reign of the liberal academic and administrator has come to an end Financial constraints have limited the authorities room for manoeuvte. I they are to survive cducation must be ried through with a defeated, docile student body, As Lord Annan said in vindicating the repression used at Es sex against student direct action: This Is a challenge no university should re fuse to meet' stall know what to expect if they light back against the proposed increases in prices and rents. Likewise if the students and staff cannot defend themselves now, then what chance have they in the near However the issue is wider than just The successful victimisarion of the eight will encourage vice-chancellors and principals elsewhere to take similar ZOOL SWINE STIL BEE CASADM academic year. and the term is only a week ok!? The trend has to he nipped in the bud. This is a fight that must be tak en up by all students and staft.
Send donations and mossages of support to the Defence Committee, cio A. Morgan, 14 Bryny more Crescent.
However, the wider use of the law is also a further example of moves within society as a whole to strengthen the State apparatus The Special Patrol Group's artacks on picker lines the joint army-police manoeuvres, and repression against weak sections of the population all come into this cate But along with this repression the authorities will he trying to build a moderate alliance of students, campus workers, academics and the administ ration to police their own members. During the struggles at Oxford, Essex and Kent such groupings began to emerge. Ilis upon this hase that the authorities want to baild it the comAlready the first shots have been fired with the attempt to victimise six students and two stati terbers al Swansen University. This case and any further ones must be taken up unmediately. A defeat in one college weakens the whole of the student body in its efforts to organise against the cut-backs Students and campus workers have no responsibility to bale out the sinking bulk of capiralist higher education Instead they must jointly orginise direct action to reject outright the State's policy of education on the cheap. It is only in this way that students will be able to detend their own living standards and make real guins next term