The publication of the latest Strategic Plan for DSU has left several Council members disgruntled, after Section VII of the Plan contained proposals for the establishment of an international intelligence agency, led by a non-sabbatical officer and employing an as yet undisclosed number of agents.
The JCR representatives were initially confused as to where this idea had originated, and questioned the President at Council, who claimed "It is the only way we will be able to follow the guiding principles that Council has voted for."
Further questioning narrowed it down to part of a document passed recently through Council, including the paragraph:
Communication and Information
To ensure students are informed of all issues which have the capacity to affect them.
According to the sabbatical officers, the presence of the word 'all' makes it impossible to achieve this aim without the establishment of the intelligence agency mentioned in the Strategic Plan. The Intelligence Officer proposed in the motion to adopt the Plan would work closely with the Communications Officer to ensure that information was distributed to the correct students.
Many of the JCR representatives are angry about this decision,
claiming that it was sneaked through
and
International intelligence operations are the responsibiltiy
of the JCRs
, however enough seem happy with the proposal in
principle for it to go ahead.
The details of the operation remain classified at this time, however Council members are already demanding answers to many of the obvious questions. A joint sub-committee of Finance and Services Committee and Sponsorship and Fundraising Committee (to be known by the snappy acronym FnSnSnF) is investigating funding options for the scheme. Speaking under guarantee of anonymity, one member of the sub-committee said:
Since all events have the capacity to affect at least one of our members, even if indirectly in the majority of cases, the intelligence agency will come across a great deal of information that would be useful to outside bodies. We are therefore considering approaching local businesses and small 3rd world dictators with a view to exchanging information for funding.
Concerns about the ethics of such plans were reportedly assuaged when the Freedom of Information Officer pointed out that the final decision on release of information gathered to sponsors would be Steering's, and such a release would only occur if the committee was satisfied that the information would not be used against members of DSU.
A name for the agency has not yet been decided, and Union Reform Committee is reported to still be in heated discussions over whether it would be better to establish the agency as a Standing Committee or a Non-Collegiate Association.