Not too long ago, Aegee’s own radio station, AEGEE.fm, was established in Eindhoven. We spoke to Hemmo de Vries, the mastermind of the Friday weekly shows.

The AEGEEan: Hemmo, thanks for finding the time for us! AEGEE.fm has received a lot of attention as a brand new project in AEGEE. How did you get the idea of establishing it?
Hemmo: I have worked for different radio stations in my area for many years, and had also played with making my own online radio station together with friends. Later I kind of stopped with this when I started studying, joined AEGEE and later started working. For a long time I didn’t have enough time to make radio next to studying, having a job and being an AEGEE member, but later I did, and got the idea to combine my three passions (AEGEE, journalism and radio). AEGEE.fm is the result [he smiles]

You’ve mentioned this is not your first time doing a radio show. What exactly is your previous experience with the radio?
I have been working for different radio stations ever since 2005. I did the technical part of a radio programme from 2007 until 2013. This show was a magazine type of show with local news and interviews with people from the neighbourhood.

Say someone has not heard of AEGEE.fm yet. How would you describe it to them?
AEGEE.fm is all about bringing different parts of AEGEE together, and to their members. I would like our members to be aware of what project groups are doing so they could either participate or join them. The same counts for allowing members to be aware of what events are available to visit. When you hear the organisers explain why you should visit it, you would be motivated more easily then just by checking the agenda on aegee.org

Sounds great! When can we hear the show and what does it mainly focus on?
Right now it’s every Friday at 20.00 CEST (GMT+2 during summer), but this will change to a time slot more suitable for listening by most students. The show focuses on events and projects, and on the opinion of the members on things in the news. But, it also brings listeners up to date on what happened within AEGEE on the European level: new antennae, Comité Directeur (CD) changes, and of course all the news about Agorae and European Planning Meetings (EPMs).

Seems like a lot of work! Do you have anyone else who cooperates with you on the show?
For now Eric Luckner from AEGEE-Aachen is helping me with some ideas. Also I have a close friend who I worked together with for many years in radio.

How do you see the future of AEGEE.fm? Do you have some dream about what you would like it to become one day?
I would like AEGEE.fm to become more known amongst members. I also want to establish a team with enthusiastic AEGEE members to work together in making this an awesome radio station. I have a list with a lot of awesome ideas for things to do during the radio show. AEGEE is a very broad network with remarkably enthusiastic people. The next and very specific goal I want to achieve is to be able to broadcast live from the Agora in Kyïv. For the long future I would like to expand the wings of AEGEE.fm by working together with AEGEE-Europe and other journalistic platforms like the AEGEEan.

Another thing, AEGEE.fm is a 24/7 radio station, but currently focuses on the Friday Night show. In the future, we might choose to use the technology provided to allow other DJ’s to make a radio show on the station.

Your project is quite new. What have the reactions been so far? Any idea about how many people tune in on your show?
Every single response so far has been positive and amazing. I really did not expect this many people to like the project. Currently there are usually between five and 15 listeners to the live radio shows on Friday night, and between 40 and 60 listen to the show at a later time.

You are a member of AEGEE-Eindhoven. How does your antenna help you with this project? 
The project is 100% independent from AEGEE-Eindhoven. However, since we started my board and members have shared enthusiasm and suggested a lot of ideas, of which some have been implemented. For example: the idea of having fixed hours with specific kind of music during the week.

Let’s turn a bit to you as  a person. What are your other activities in the AEGEE world?
Well I’m an AEGEE member for one and a half years now, and already had a lot of regular activities like Summer Universities (SUs), ‘Winter SU’, some exchanges, and last year I joined the board of AEGEE-Eindhoven. First as President, later as PR responsible.

You became the President quite soon after joining AEGEE. How did that happen? What had your pre-AEGEE.fm, AEGEE-life been like?
After a week long visit from another antenna I noticed that I really liked AEGEE, and also to a level where I wanted to help organising the antenna. That’s why I decided to join the board. Later on I switched with the PR responsible because we felt the different roles suited each of us better.

What are your personal and/or your antenna’s other plans in the AEGEE world?
I really hope to be able to visit a lot more events across Europe, and just enjoy AEGEE for a few more years. As I am making AEGEE.fm pretty much all by myself, it takes a lot of time. Depending on the success of the project, this will have a lot of influence on the choice whether I want to be in AEGEE-Eindhoven’s board for another year. In the future, also depending on how AEGEE.fm develops, I might do things for AEGEE on a European level. Chances are pretty high that this will be in a communication/journalistic thing.

Lastly, if you could ask yourself a question, what would it be?
Only if you answer the same question as well, Jirka. What is my favourite song?
This would be Land of Confusion, by Genesis.

I suppose for me that would be Trains by the Porcupine Tree. Thanks a lot for the interview!

Written by Jirka Lhotka, AEGEE-Praha

After the government tried to impose harsh changes to the higher education systems and refused to discuss them with those concerned, the students have decided to take over.

Note: The core of the article was written on the 24^th of February 2015.

It is the 17th of November 2014, International Students’ Day, and somewhat around 5,000 students are gathering in Macedonia’s capital Skopje, to vent their frustration about the new exam system the government of Nikola Gruevski decided to establish.

This new exam is supposed to consist of two tests. The first one would be taken by the university students after two years, the latter after four. Not passing these tests three times would automatically mean failing your studies and thus, having to leave the school. However, it is not just this concept that enraged the masses. It is the government’s interference with the autonomy of universities.

Discussing the future

Sixteen years ago, the Bologna Process was born. It was a series of ministerial meetings held in several European cities. Their goal was to design standards and ensure the comparability of higher education around Europe, so that the mobility of students would be possible. They created the well-known credit-points system. The Bologna Declaration had been signed by ministers of almost every European country including FYROM. According to the Declaration, as well as several Communiqués that came after it “students should participate and influence the organization and content of education at universities…” and the institution is responsible for the quality of educations it offers.

That is exactly the problem young Macedonians are having with Gruevski’s government initiative. The autonomy of the world of higher education has been a mark of developed societies and with the state organized testing system, there would not be much left of it. This is yet supported by the fact that the students have been angry about the way the government treats them for quite a while – they have been complaining about the poor research funding or the fact that they do not have many of the student advantages which the rest of the Europe takes for granted. But, as they say on their official site, this new bill was the last straw.

Fighting the government

Nonetheless, the first protests were ignored by the government as well as by the Minister of Education and Science Abdilaquim Ademi. That led to a second march, this time with more than twice as many attendants. Desperate students turned to the Student Parliament for help, but even there they did not find a helping hand. Making a dramatic gesture, they put wreaths at the door of the Student Parliament Headquarters to bury it symbolically. Disappointed by those who were supposed to defend their interests, they have instead established a new organization – the Students’ Plenum, making sure that the students’ true voice will be heard from now on.

They have not, however, stopped there. On December 11^th, the day the second protest took place, the students went through the city, right to the port of the Ministry of Education and Science demanding minister Ademi to face them and discuss the bill with them. After the minister refused to stand up for his very own law, the students sent him an official letter suggesting his resignation. By that point, the issue became so serious that the Prime Minister Guevski began to claim there had been a political motive behind the protests, desperately trying to –according to the students at least – discredit the students’ initiatives.

Nevertheless, the problem is rooted deeper than it may seem. The reason for the introduction of the new law was clearly stated in a speech by the PM. He questioned the quality of higher education in the Republic, mainly due to an allegedly high level of corruption and acted by implementing the controversial law. The students criticize his hasty approach. According to them, there should first be a proper analysis, that would support these claims, then, if these whispers were to be confirmed, a discussion about how to reform the higher education system followed by a law based on the results of the debate. Taking a quick decision based on a couple of rumours is not the way the country should be run, the students say and more and more people join them in their efforts.

The climax of the tension was reached on February 12^th when, during another march, the students occupied the faculties of Philosophy, Philology, Law, and Economy of Skopje University, proclaiming them “autonomous students’ territory”. But as we have implied above, this time, it was not just the students – suddenly, professors and other academics joined as well. Together, they have since been sleeping in the university buildings, making an open student environment which could be compared to some of the West European squats – they organize concerts, give lectures, learn from each other and they are supported, not only by the professors- who also give their talks- but also by the public, which supports them in their efforts to regain their autonomy. More about what exactly is going on in Skopje can be found in an article by Andrea Ugrinoska from the local antenna.

The future in question

So far, Nikola Gruevski has agreed to suspend the law for a year. But that is not enough for the Student’s Plenum anymore. Even when the government tried to calm them with a “softer” version of the testing, they said no. Instead, they require the right to be involved in making decisions concerning higher education.

It will be truly interesting to see how things end up. So far we can only keep our fingers crossed for our Macedonian friends, but it is fair to say that even now, this protest has already been one of the greatest ones in the recent history of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The success of this movement could lead to a positive change in the society, prompting it to realize that change can be achieved and as such, many Macedonians predict there is more of protesting and marching to come. Let us hope it will be just as peaceful and fruitful as this one has been so far. Viva la revolución!

Written by Jirka Lhotka, AEGEE-Praha with the kind help of Bara Kubicova, Charles University

Kraków is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Poland and also the home of AEGEE-Kraków, an antenna which hosts so many events, that it was even nominated for the antenna of the month in December last year. Therefore, the AEGEEan had no choice but to question the Krakovians about their projects.

“We are proud of every activity which is made by our antenna. It doesn’t matter if it is a local event or an international one. All of them are important and create our organisation”, says Elżbieta Krótka, the President of the antenna. This approach can clearly be seen in the amount of activities the antenna prepares. In December alone, there was a Management Training Course (MTC), which hosted about 25 young people who came to learn about project management, public relations, fundraising, team building or public speaking. After the intensive three days of workshops, the event was concluded with a simulation of the Dragons’ Den. Only a week after this MTC, another event, the PR Camp, showed students from all over Poland how proper communication with the general public is done.

With such a tough workload on their back, the antenna members also learn a lot themselves. “The projects gave our members new knowledge, and it also showed them how to make good projects on a big scale.” confirms Elżbieta, who also believes the number one thing to mention about the antenna are not the events but rather its ‘expansion’. “This is something that AEGEE-Kraków is famous for. For example during NWM (Network Meeting) Zielona Góra there were about 40 members of our antenna there! And the same situation could be seen during the last two Agorae – in Patra we’ve had about 25 people from AEGEE-Kraków and in Cagliari, there were 16 of us.”

With such an overwhelming amount of active members, it is surely no surprise that the two aforementioned events are not the only ones that the antenna has prepared for the youth of Kraków in December. Others worth mentioning are the Free Language Conversations, which attracted around 400 students speaking 21 different languages to come expand their knowledge, as well as their communication skills, or a series of workshops on Gaining Goals and Self-presentation during job interviews which were organised in cooperation with several companies that ensured high quality of the talks. Seeing the antenna organise several other events, such as a WordPress workshop, an Erasmus + training, a Traditional Christmas Dinner or the antenna’s birthday celebration, one question comes to mind: How do the Krakovians keep going? What would they suggest to other antennae who want to be as active and organise so many events?

Once again, the proud President has the answer: “Development! People! The desire of feeling ‘this’ again! I believe, it is a vicious circle. We have coordinators chosen by the board. The coordinators are the people who want to do something and have the skills to organise big things. Their ideas are announced during our General Meetings when they try to show their passion and convince people to come to their project group. People come because they want to do something good for the organisation, they work hard for a few months but even through all the sleepless nights they see their goal all the time. Later, the event comes and they feel a big satisfaction and ‘this’ is what we call AEGEE spirit! They want to do more and more, with people they like and they want to interact with as well. Our local is a chain of activities – everybody knows what to do, they know whom they can ask if they have any problems. What is very important is that we try to have a good atmosphere inside – and if you sum this up, you have a recipe ”.

And what is the antenna planning for the future? Having read the article so far, you will not be surprised that they have big plans on their mind once again – AEGEE-Kraków organises at least four LTCs (Local Training Course) every year and 2015 should by no means be an exception. Apart from that, there is an Eastern Partnership Convention and model of United Nations conference coming up in May, but right now, the biggest deal is the March RTC (Regional training Course) On the way to financial freedom, which will, as the title suggests, focus on start-ups and investing. In particular, during the five days from the 4th to the 8th of March, the participants will take part in a series of professional training courses in the fields of introduction to entrepreneurship, investment in the capital market, financial intelligence and starting a business. There will be many investors and experienced business practitioners to answer every question the participants may have so as always with AEGEE-Kraków, there is a lot to look forward to. The link to the event can be found here.

Written by Jirka Lhotka, AEGEE-Praha