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.
The video asks whether the students, who are paying £72 a week over their 33-week let, "get the 'fully furbished' facilities they are promised".
Students living in the blocks tell viewers that there are only 6 chairs in their kitchen, despite the fact there are 16 residents in the house, and that they have only two Baby Bellings (one of which rarely works) to cook on. Lester himself calls the situation "disgraceful" as well as "completely impractical".
Lester felt that a video would be more hard-hitting than simply continuing the campaign through letters to university officials. He told The Yorker: "It's one thing telling some suit from this university there is mould in a shower and another thing actually showing them it on a video."
As well as the health and safety implications which appear in the video, welfare issues have been raised. Lester said: "Students are unable to cook food and are thus resorting to other unhealthier options such as take-aways and eating out."
Lester said that the aim of the video is to "raise awareness and get something done". It can be seen here:
I don't know what's meant by the original ovens removed in 2006... when I lived in Derwith in 2005 the kitchens were just as bad. Two baby bellings between 16 people was disgraceful then and is disgraceful now.
Yeah that kitchen looks terrible! Last year in Halifax I had an oven that barely worked, but nothing as bad as that.
Nice one Oli and Derwent! Love the creativity, i bet they will be really worried that this video is out there for all to see. Am worried about your diets though, maybe its time for microwave cooking lessons (apparently it can be done quite well!) or something hosted by the uni at least until they can get it sorted. I know that the SU were discussing this at one point when there were kitchen problems before x x x
Well done Derwent JCRC, good PR/presentation and a good story.
Good job on the video, but good luck trying to get any money out of the uni... I don't expect you'll see anything aside from basic H&S requirements until Hes East is out of the way...
Good job - let's hope something good comes out of it - although Mitch is right - you're unlikely to see much change - for the time being at least!
It was bad enough in the Cell - and we had a proper oven. The thing is though, you'll miss it when you've gone.
"Today for dinner I had to have a tub of Ben & Jerrys".
Behave love.
Also, you don't just have a choice of pizza or kebabs - make a salad you lazy oaf.
+agree with anon 8, hehe.
This was exactly the problem where I lived last year in Langwith A block. We kicked up a fuss within the first few weeks - raising the issue with our chair (particularly highlighting safety issues as some people were so tiny, they could barely reach the top of the baby belling) and our motion was passed. Within weeks, people came to inspect the situation and drew up plans to renovate the kitchens. They refurbished over Christmas (including two ovens, 3 fridges and 2 freezes) and gave us compensation of about 42 quid.
I am really impressed by this video, there has obviously been a lot of effort put into this publication and it is good to see people taking a proactive stance and raising awareness of these issues. Especially innovative is the use of youtube, a powerful communications tool, which unlike other preferred methods of campaigning, like posters, is completely free, and will still be there in a week's time.
I really hope that there is some progress on this issue in the near future, have Derwent campaigns officers taken this up?
oh i love you oliver lester
"The thing is though, you'll miss it when you've gone."
I lived there and I don't miss it, that's for sure.
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