Zhang Li joined the student union at Shanghai University in early September with expectations of serving students. Then, frustrated and disappointed, he abandoned it last week.

"Things didn't go like I expected," he says. "The union didn't work very well at solving the problems that students really cared about."

The student union is the largest student organization on campus. It usually has several departments covering areas like public relations and on-campus activities.

Their inadequacy, though, is fairly widespread. At Guangzhou University, sophomore Jiang Zhuo says that 34 students joined the union in their freshmen year. But more than 20 quit after only three months, out of disappointment.

Half of them, like Zhang, thought the union failed to do things of direct interest to students. "What we care about is not how many activities there are on campus, but whether the union has dealt with issues that affect our daily lives," said He Ping, one of the 20.

One reason he left was that he complained to the union about the poor food at the school cafeteria several times last semester, but got no response.

Another reason many students dislike their student union is its selection system. It's "unfair", say more than 30 out of 50 students in the law department at Guangzhou University.

One of them, Zhang Guoqing, says: "No matter how capable and active you are, your fate is in the hands of the head of the department you want to get in."

"If they don't like you, they have the final say in keeping you out," said Zhang.

The confident and extroverted Zhang had an interview for a public relations post at the union. He and the other 20 candidates said they were astonished when the guy who "had given a bad speech" got the position.

"The guy was a close friend of the interviewer. Applicants who know the union head always have a huge advantage over other candidates simply because the interviewers are familiar with them," says Zhang. His views are supported by other candidates.

Student unions at some universities not only let these "outsiders" down, but some insiders as well.

It seems that a lack of understanding is the major problem.

Of the more than 1,000 students who work for Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) union, 80 per cent are freshmen.

One junior thought that working in the union would be a learning experience.

But, he says, "most of us were at a loss at the beginning without any instruction from older students. We would often screw things up and lower the union's image." He says that since every member is there for his own reasons, some work hard for the organization and some do not.

"Not all the union members are active and productive. Many join it in the hopes that the experience may strengthen their resumes in their future job hunting," he says.

But, in spite of the complaints, student unions are not such a sore spot for everyone, especially those who stay on.

Li Wenkai, at the BFSU union insists that they are not adequate. A majority of union members are "active and willing participants," he says. "The problem may be that students are not completely aware of what the union has done."

"We are shifting our work to deal with issues students care about," he says. "A new department was set up last semester to deal with student complaints about meals and facilities."

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