Let’s face it: unless you are active on the European level, there is a big chance that you don’t really know what our different bodies are doing, what they are supposed to do and why they were created in the first place. The AEGEEan magazine is here to help and set the story straight. Up first – Mediation Commission.

If you check the current Member’s Manual, you will notice that there is no such body as the Mediation Commission. In its place, stands the Members Commission.  The reason for such a name change was the proposal made by the Members Commission Agora Skopje (2011) – Agora Enschede (2012). According to it, the name was tweaked together with its functions. Realizing that the MemCom was being activated already after the problem appeared, it was decided to make an emphasis on mediation, so that problems can be solved earlier and conflicts can be avoided. But let’s not get carried away and start from the beginning.

We work in a multicultural organization full of people with different values and ideas. Sometimes, conflicts appear. At times, they can be very proactive and lead to creation of a completely new and successful concept, however, at other times, conflicts end up being destructive. This is where the MedCom comes in.

According to the CIA, the MedCom is there for three things.

1. It is responsible for making sure that the Data Privacy Statement of the CIA is respected. Here they act as an ombudsman.

2. They can be officially activated by two bodies (NetCom, Audit Commission, JC, CD) or 10 antennas. This action results in a dispute, or “MedCom Case,” and is something very formal and serious. After a thorough investigation, they are allowed to take sanctions up to the point of deleting an antenna. However, their verdict can be reversed by the next Agora.

3. The last point comes from the new name – Mediation. This is a step taken in order to prevent a “MedCom case.” Since Agora Enschede 2012, the MedCom can now be addressed by any person or body of the network. This new function allows any member to turn to them for help/mediation in a conflict. Nevertheless, it is strongly urged that the member first turns to their NetCom as this is what they are there to do. But we will  cover the NetCom a bit later.

Agora Budapest elected a new Mediation Commission. Let’s give a warm welcome to our new mediators – Fabian Brüggemann (President, AEGEE-Düsseldorf), Hara Kogkou (AEGEE-Peiraias), Ermanno Napolitano (AEGEE-Catania), Maurits Korse (AEGEE-Enschede), Atanas Nachkov (JC) and Anna Gots (CD observer).

For more information about this AEGEE body, feel free to visit their page – www.commissions.aegee.org/medcom.

They can also be contacted directly at medcom@aegee.org.

Thanks for the photos to Gunnar Erth.

Written by Olga Volovyk, AEGEE-Kyiv

Travelling to my first Agora in Skopje I did not know how things work during such an event.  I went to the AEGEE Fair because that seemed real fun even for an „Agora beginner” like me. People standing around and answering your every question sound like a good deal.  On my way walking amidst the excited crowd of the Fair, I met a smiling couple selling some kind of  little blue notebooks. They caught my attention and I queued.

A couple of minutes and some euros later I already held my own original AEGEE passport in my hands. I was not the only one who believed it would be a nice activity to collect stickers from other antennae and, in return, give a sticker from my antenna to them. This is how I crossed 12 borders in one hour. This almost sounds like a Guinness record. Needless to say, this little document also is a perfect conversation starter with pretty AEGEE boys  and girls who you otherwise would not know how to get closer to.

“Hello darling, nice sticker, wanna exchange?”  

You can try this trick yourself during the nex Agora, but before read some new things you probably did not know about AEGEE passport yet. Dane Linssen (AEGEE-Delft), the designer famous for his never-ending smile, will tell you how it all started.

How old is the idea of the AEGEE passport?

The idea of the passport apparently is some years old. Michele (Mickey) Turati from AEGEE-Brescia came up with it, but his local unfortunately did not have the resources to invest in it and put the idea into practise.

How did you get involved in this?

The idea stayed an idea for some years, and then Mickey told Network Commissioner Koen Berghuis about it. That is when the idea relived. Koen was wondering if maybe AEGEE-Delft would have the financial freedom to make such a big investment. So when Koen visited Delft, we had a beer together and he told me about Mickey’s idea. I was very enthusiastic of course and I worked really hard to make everything work. It was hard as I was short on time, just a couple weeks before Agora Skopje -and it was a very expensive idea, too- but it worked out!

It has become a huge success in a very short time. How many passports did you produce and how many have you sold so far?

We produced 500, and we sold them all! That is why we are working on a second batch of passports right now. We want to distribute them during the Agora Enschede and we are aiming to make new version better than the first version.

 Nice job, Dane! Is there anything you would like to add to the creation and designing of the passport?

I would like to add that the AEGEE passport is ultimately destined to be a gadget created by the network and for the network. I want to emphasize that AEGEE-Delft does not make a profit from the sales of the passports. Anyone’s input is always welcome and will be incorporated as much as possible. As a matter of fact, I am already working together with Andra Nicu from AEGEE-Ploiesti to get even better results.

If you like AEGEE passport or the possibilities behind it, choose it as Best Merchandise of the AEGEEans Choice Awards 2012!

Written by Kata Szabó, AEGEE-Piliscsaba