A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
YUSU Welfare officer Bob Hughes has warned students to be vigilant after a student loans phishing scam has been revealed.
Her Majesty the Queen will be visiting York on Maundy Thursday, 5th April, as part of the 800th anniversary of York’s Charter for the traditional “Royal Maundy” ceremony.
A flood caused by a heating system “failure” forced the university IT services to shut down many essential systems on Sunday night, causing problems for many students on the eve of their exams and assignment due-dates.
So what do YUSU and elections really mean to first year students? Admittedly, I am aware of the goings-on of YUSU and its officers only because of my involvement in student media. Even so, other than the substantial added pressure on the news section of the Yorker when elections come around (to cover it more comprehensively than other campus media), "YUSU" is a bit of a hazy concept to me personally.
I took the last few days to ask around my group of first-year friends, and not surprisingly, many of them hadn’t even realised that elections had started.
When asked what YUSU meant to them and what they thought of YUSU, responses were varied.
Fresher #1: “I don’t really know what YUSU do, but I suppose they’re good for organising events at the Courtyard and stuff.”
Fresher #2: “The JCRC seem to be more effective than YUSU, who haven’t seemed to have done much since I got here. We need more centralisation and coordinated university-wide events.”
Fresher #3: “What does YUSU mean to me? Uhm, York University * pause * Student… Union?”
Fresher #4: “********.”
When asked if they would vote this year, most first-years said they would, but based on factors such as “who has a name that sounds most like a superhero” and how colourful their posters are. One even said he’d RON the candidates just for the fun of it.
Clearly, first year students have not been well informed on the role of YUSU. Student apathy seems to be off to a solid start among first-years. Students themselves definitely play a big part in this, with their carefree attitude when it comes to student politics. The collegiate system of the university also takes away from YUSU’s role as student representatives as well, as each college’s JCRC seems to be the more accessible student government.
YUSU themselves should also take responsibility for their image as a detached entity. Perhaps more efforts should be taken by YUSU officers to involve the general student body in what YUSU does, and to be more transparent in their activities.
The upcoming elections are a good opportunity for potential YUSU officers to get first years more involved in student politics by providing clear and relatable policies that affect the mass majority of students. Hopefully, by the time voting comes along, first years would have the chance to vote based on informed decisions and not just because the candidate’s name rhymes with “poo“.
"When asked if they would vote this year, most first-years said they would, but based on factors such as “who has a name that sounds most like a superhero”
Brilliant. This student is a genius.
My only concern with the article is that later on they say "rhymes with 'poo'" - and I'm not entirely sure that it's a superhero...
But yes, it's a good piece and makes strong points. YUSU should be telling students what it does - especially about how it funds and organises societies, sports clubs etc. and more importantly the welfare and academic support it offers. It does a lot and most students (I wouldn't say first-years expressly) aren't aware of it.
this is a refreshing look at YUSU....welldone!
Just writing about the yusu brings attention to it I suppose but I don't understand the point. It seems the writer is just as "apathetic" by not telling us what the yusu actually do...do?
#4, firstly, lol at the "do do" pun.
and im not sure a writer's job is to educate people on YUSU, that is probably what the YUSU should well.. do.
The writer's job is supposed to bring a situation and an issue to light, and reporting what is generally happening (and if you read more articles on the elections tab, i think the writers have been writing a lot about the YUSU elections if you want to find out more)
The writers arent actually afiliated with YUSU, if you wanted you could suggest to YUSU to have their own newsletter, the writers for that newsletter will then be responsible for telling what the yusu actually do.
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