Hot Topic 2012: Come Together
In the new year AVETH faces new challenges. We acknowledge them with our hot topic "come together". Following 2011 with "crossing borders" we will concentrate on tying together the different entities that belong to AVETH. What do we mean by that?
In 2012 the students' union (VSETH) celebrates their 150th anniversary. Happy Birthday, VSETH. Those of you who had to deal with VSETH know how well-organised it is. It is Switzerland "en miniature". VSETH gathers 16 "Fachvereine" from every department at ETH as well as 15 committees for projects, e.g. "Kulturstelle". About 10 students sit on the board. They distribute their work into politics, events, international affairs, internal affairs, public relations. Each of the "Fachvereine" is structured similarly. They act back on the board by different means. They can assign duties to the board. On the other hand they obtain news of ETH by the different assemblies of VSETH. For instance, the delegates of UK/DK gather regularly to discuss common matters. How VSETH is organised shows how to give students of ETH a voice.
We intend to strengthen AVETH alike. Therefore we need "Fachvereine" in every department. They should involve their representatives in UK/DK. Some departments have been missing and we want to close this gap in 2012.
At ETH discussions take place and are important even at low levels. We founded the "politics working group" (PoWoG) in 2011 to prepare for meetings of "Hochschulversammlung". Now representatives of six departments are taking part on a regular basis. In 2011 PoWoG produced a statement on the revision of the examination regulations. In 2012 PoWoG will gather information on the current status of departmental representatives (Who? How many? Who elects them?). Based on that information it will build a network to exchange news and opinions. We hope to recognise problems early. Therefore PoWoG needs your input.
Events as "coffee and gipfeli" shall be organised together with Fachvereine as it was done in the autumn semester. Activities like those will provide you with an easy opportunity to express your ideas and opinions. Just talk to us and tell us what you would like to change at ETH or AVETH. To improve integration of foreign students we propose free German and English lessons for PhD students. Furthermore we suggest courses that are more suited to PhD students as crash courses.
Last but not least we are looking for new people for AVETH so we will not run out of ideas.
Above are just a few examples of what "come together" means to us. If you can think of a project for the hot topic of 2012 do not hesitate to contact us. Then we can talk how we can realise it.
Julián Cancino is a PhD student in physics. He is vice president of AMP (physics) and chair of PoWoG.
Martin Sack is a PhD student in mathematics. He is president of VMM (math) and treasurer of AVETH.