If you believe everything you read at a
Fresher's Fayre, the
NUS is "a
gay Zionist conspiracy."
Back on planet sanity however : The NUS doesn't seem to have a great deal of relevance to modern student life. They negotiate discounts at high street stores and on public transport (in London at least), but they don't have enough power to stop students from bearing the brunt of the current and previous goverments' shortcomings. We have to pay tuition fees, and they're creeping up all the time. Oxford is particularly shameless in its "additional charges." Students have to pay for TV Licences and in many cases, they get hit with Council Tax as well.
All of these problems, while not directly the fault of the NUS by any means, are slowly raising the financial barrier to higher education. The NUS also serves the traditional role of a haven for many a political careerist, and is the perennial whipping boy of Conservatives and Islamic Fundamentalists. Oh yeah, they also arrange the MoSNuS nights at the Ministry of Sound.