GUSNA kicked off our Spring Term leafleting campaign targeting students at the QMU on Friday lunchtime and encouraging them to take part in the Government's consultation on student support. A group of GUSNA activists received a positive response from the student body with many wanting to take part in the consultation. GUSNA were assisted by the SNP National Secretary Dr Duncan Ross. There will be further leafleting this week.

The SNP Candidate for Glasgow North, Patrick Grady gave a strong performance at the Politics Society's Question Time Debate. Covering a broad range of issues and with some detailed question Grady spoke effectively on issues such as Iraq, taxation and Independence. The event was well chaired by a lecturer from the politics department.

The losers of the evening were the GU Labour Club who once again failed to co-operate with the event.

GUSNA members returned to Glenrothes yesterday (Sat 25 October) to help elect Peter Grant and to send a message to Gordon Brown. Despite the torrential rain and strong winds, we, alongside our fellow Glasgow activists managed to leaflet and canvass large parts of the constituency. GUSNA members will continue to travel up to the consituency until election day.

Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association were delighted with their success at the University's Freshers' Fayre. The number of new members was up from last year- despite the appalling location in the overspill tent away from all the other political societies. The stall had a number of leaflets on FSN policy and related issues as well as plenty of freebies.

The first meeting takes place on Tuesday 23rd at 6pm meeting outside the Queen Margaret Union. All nationalists welcome.

GUSNA were delighted to see David Turner duly elected as the new councillor for Glasgow Ballieston. Members manned polling stations and helped with knock-up, not how we usually spend the Thursday of Freshers' Week! However despite the rain it was worth it as the SNP consolidated their progress in the East End of Glasgow.

GUSNA send our congratulations and best wishes to the new MP for Glasgow East, John Mason. The people wanted a change and they now have a hard working MP who will not sit meekly on the backbenches. GUSNA members came from as far away as Inverness to campaign on polling and are all agreed it was well worth it.

What with the recent resignation of David Marshall, GUSNA members are coming back to Glasgow from across the country to campaign in Glasgow East. The British Labour Party is on the ropes; leaderless in Scotland, leaderless in London and the good people of Glasgow East will deliver the coup de grace.

GUSNA's AGM saw a new executive elected and new priorities for the year ahead. The new executive is a mixture of experience and fresh talent with two first-years taking on positions. The Association will go forward with the increased profile generated by the rectorial campaign and the skills developed by members campaigning for the new SNP government.

GUSNA's future looked bleak this week with a number of members nearly laughing themselves to death at the Calman Commission/ Review/ Committee.

Given the leader of this committee is none other than our dear university's chancellor and that a prominant GU scholar also occupies a position on it, gusna members were delighted to see the rug pulled out from under the feet of this parcel of rogues. Despite being the brain-child of Wendy Alexander, her maternal instincts seem to have dissappeared this week when she called for an independence referendum.

A GUSNA member said: As this dubious committee is so closely associated with Glasgow University it is great to see it increasingly isolated and weakened.

The committee always was a political stunt, as the make-up of it shows: five members of the house of lords and two knights of the realm are on it, hardly a cross-section of the country.

It is an intellectually bankrupt spun exercise. Why if its reviewing the powers we have in Scotland, does it insist on this Independence - 1 position. Why can't they conclude Scotland needs full powers for the parliament.

The people of Scotland voted for an SNP government. All the parties had different positions on what powers should go to the parliament in their manifestos. The most popular position was independence- this ailing commision is morally bankrupt as well. It should be shut down and stop wasting tax-payers' money.

Alex Neil MSP was the outstanding speaker at the cross-party political debate in the GUU. The event, which took place on the 3rd of March, was relatively well attended for an inaugural event.

Mr Neil managed to highlight the hypocrisy of the Liberal-Democrats calling for a referendum on Europe while denying self-determination to the Scottish people. When pressed, Liberal-Democrat Alistair Carmichael MP admitted that they would only hold a referendum on Europe as they thought they would get the result they wanted. Similar political numtyness was expressed by their leader Nichole "who?" Stephenson MSP prior to the last election when he called a referendum on independence, "independence by the back-door."

Anas Sarwar, the son of the hereditary MP for Glasgow Central, excelled in using his own youth and inexperience to his disadvantage. After clearly not recalling which way his party voted on numerous issues, arguing against that terrible right-wing policy, a progressive income tax and apparently forgetting he was in the GUU, Mr Neil put him out of his misery by "Confusing him with some facts." Credit must go to Mr Sarwar though. A last minute shoe-in for the debate itself he was told to come in by a typically rude, disorganised and unprofessional John Smith House and the researcher for the local MSP, who appears to think himself the villain from the Matrix. New Labour, Old Tories. Glasgow University Labour Club also appear to be well on their way to winning the Most Unpopular, Redundant Society of the Year Award which takes places at the University of Strathclyde in May.

But lets save a thought for the young last minute Tory Councillor who came instead of snow-trapped Jackson "Hudson Bay Company" Carlowe. That the audiance were actually listening to what this wee man was saying was clearly emphasised when half of them clapped enthusiastically his proposal to tax them thousands of pounds for their education. Whilst the reported instigator of this clapping frenzy is known to viciously, verbally abuse poor young nationalists in the not-so-early hours of the morning it is no excuse for such irrationality. However given the Councillor who made the statement has all of no political colleagues we can forgive him for insulting pretty much his entire audience.

Patrick Harvie also said a thing or two about something at some point.