Student participation in campus societies has threatened the heritage of many well-developed interests and concerns formed by student organizations. Student unions are particularly at stake in this trend.
At the Baptist University, there were not enough students to form cabinets twice in the past five years.Meanwhile, the Chinese University will experience the same problem this year, the first time since the union's establishment 23 years ago.
According to Mr. Tam Chun Yin, former president of the Student Union at the Chinese University, the problem lies with the change of academic year from four to three years.
"The resultant academic workload makes both old members and new intenders think twice before joining the organization."
Mr. Wilson Chan Wai Ho, chairman of the acting committee at Baptist University, said, "The academic workload of our university is very high already. Although we have got used to this, it still accounts for the students' declining interest in campus activities."
The two chairmen both said the workload of committee members is tremendous. Members have to deal with internal welfare services for fellow students as well as external participation in social issues.
"In fact, low participation is not only a student union problem. The same is true of other societies.
"Many students are very practical. They would rather use most of their time on part-time jobs or love affairs - they want to have more privacy," said Mr. Chan.
Mr. Tam said, "It is inappropriate to criticize our schoolmates for being unconcerned. Instead, the cabinet has not worked out efficient communications with fellow schoolmates, and this may have caused the problem."
"We have published newsletters, issued posters, held discussions for fellow schoolmates and so on. Yet, we have not yet fully utilised channels like electronic mail to make more direct contact with them. We have to take some responsibility for these communication defects," he said.
However, the problem to Miss Tsang Sze Wing, a student of accountancy from the same university, is more than inadequate communication.
Said she: "I do not feel that there is a student union on campus.
"It seems that there are too many external functions. But a student union should consolidate its support on campus first. In fact, I seldom hear of any activities held by the union.
"Frankly speaking, I do not know when it starts to recruit new committee members. Even if I did, I don't think I would join it, since the issues they deal with are too harsh.
"It is time the unions evaluated their communication with their fellow students. Besides, they should organize more internal activities for them."
But the communication problem should be a two-way one, according to Mr. Tam: "If fellow students want to reveal their discontent, they should try to reach us. It can be done by letters or verbal complaints, but not merely criticism without telling us what is going wrong.
"Moreover, we have virtually put many resources into holding internal functions, like promoting environmental protection on campus, orientation camps for freshmen, and the like.
"Since there are around 8,000 students, with only 13 of us (committee members in the student union), what we can do is very limited."
Things are similar at Baptist University.
"Non-committee members of the student union know almost nothing about it. The only things they know are the telephone and the photocopying services it provides. More attention should be put to promotion," said Miss Mandy Go Yin Ha, Year 1 student of accountancy. She is going to take up "the mission" this April.
There has been another problem in the Chinese University: Quite a lot committee members quit half-way.
One of those who left was Miss Tang Suk Wai.
"I feel that we cannot find a united direction," she said. "It would cause a lot of problems in co- operation in the future."
Although opinions to-wards the unions varies, some still regard them as a means to fight for their rights.
In fact, student representatives can sit for certain committees concerning school administrative policies, like the Senate.
"But student unions do not necessarily have the capacity to fight for students' rights," said Miss Or Yan Yan from the acting executive committee at the Chinese University.
"Although student representatives are present at school administrative meetings, they are treated only as rubber stamps, since the proportion of students is very small.
"Moreover, concerning the more important decisions, like claiming money for school societies, our decisions are under a wide range of constraints.
"We can make decisions on trivial, routine things only, like the daily photocopying services," she said. "In the case of special issues, we cannot make any declaration or take any action in the name of the Student Union, even if it concerns interests of our schoolmates."
That means, although student representatives can keep their schoolmates informed of what is going on at the top of the school bureaucracy, they are in no position to make up for the absence of a student union cabinet.
"The absence of student union is very unhealthy, since it is the channel through which students bargain with the authorities on unfair issues," said Miss Go at the Baptist University. "That is why I decided to take up the responsibility this year."
Even Miss Tsang Sze Wing at the Chinese University, who thought the Student Union has been too inactive, agreed:
"Now that there is no student unions, if there is any conflict of interest with the authority, our voice will be much smaller."