The February 1986 issues of Student are now live! This month is full of heated political debates over issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Scottish Independence, and Thatcher-era labour laws; not to mention some more light hearted excitement around a city-wide student drama festival and new accommodation houses! Read more below….

6 February 1986: Political Turmoil Big and Small

• Students voted overwhelming not to combine EUSA and KBU (Kings Buildings Union), back when Kings Buildings students had their own union representation, separate from that of the main campus.
• British Rail sets special student rate of £4 for a round trip from Edinburgh to London…imagine if we could pay that little these days!
• Debating Union holds “explosive” debate between Palestinian PLO representative Mr Faisal Aweida, and former IDF fighter, Mr David Kapitahchick.

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13 February 1986: An Early Call for Independence

• Students vote to protest and boycott the distribution of The Sun and The Times on campus, due to the controversy surrounding Rupert Murdoch’s firing of 5,000 of his employees.
• University witnesses the official renaming of the Student Centre House, now to be called The Mandela Centre, with the proceedings being officiated by Denis Goldberg, who was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela for 22 years.
• A Letter to the Editor describes why students should vote for the minority group SNP in the coming elections instead of Labour.

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20 February 1986: Drama Students Preform, and Politics Students Debate

• The second General Meeting of the Student’s Association saw five motions presented by members of the student body, all on social justice and political actions such as supporting students in Palestine, supporting the institution of a Scottish Assembly, banning The Times and The Sun on campus, and publically supporting the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP)’s campaign to label AIDS as a “hysteria designed to isolate and condemn the gay community.”
• The Scottish Student Drama Festival (SSDF) was launched in Edinburgh, with local theatres and tropes putting their best foot forward for attendees from around the world.
• Student interviews Mick McGahey, Vice President of the National Union of Miners (NUM) a year after the tumultuous strikes of 1985, about his and the union’s continued work against Margaret Thatcher’s administration.

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27 February 1986: Italian Arias and Anti-Thatcher Protests

• Students march across Edinburgh in a funeral-style procession, carrying a coffin full of crumpled DHSS forms, to protest the cutting of student grants and social security benefits.
• Construction begins on a new complex of student flats in Sciennes, now a popular accommodation option amongst today’s students.
• A laudable review is published, praising the University of Edinburgh Musical Society’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem in McEwan Hall for an outstanding performance.

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