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.
Thursday's Union General Meeting (UGM) saw a group of College Chairs, YUSU Sabbatical Officers and other students propose an Emergency Motion to attempt to save the scheduled Freshers Week opening of the bar.
It was initially thought that the bar could be ready for Langwith's freshers, but the process has now been delayed by the University.
The University's inability to really commit and let YUSU move in and get this done over the Summer is unbelievable.
The 'Campaign for a 1st October 2008 Opening of the Langwith Café Bar Development' motion was proposed by Langwith JCRC Chair Zach Pepper.
It detailed how on Tuesday 11th June, the University delayed work on Langwith Bar, due to start over the summer, to October. This will result in a delay in opening until January 2009.
Pepper said: "It [the delay] is going to be detrimental to the whole project. First of all, not least because Langwith won’t have a bar during Freshers Week, nothing in fact for the freshers that are arriving."
He added: "Building it during the autumn term is going to be incredibly disruptive. It’s absolutely ridiculous to close off access to one of the biggest lecture halls on campus [L/N/028] just because they can’t pull their finger out and get it done over summer."
He told The Yorker: "The breakdown for the timing of the project is a 4 week strip out and a 5 week build - fitting perfectly into the Summer holiday. However, the University has chosen not to put the YUSU bar as a high priority project, so are now saying that due to the other work going on over the Summer, there isn't time to fit it in."
He praised the idea of the project and said: "YUSU has offered to invest a great deal of cash in the campus, to potentially score the University more points on the student experience tally, and bring healthy competition and an exciting new venue to campus nightlife.
"This is a realistic project - the time is there, the resources are ready. The University's inability to really commit and let YUSU move in and get this done over the Summer is unbelievable."
YUSU President Anne-Marie Canning said: "This is disgraceful, to pledge your support for a project then pull it from underneath people’s feet." She added: "Facilities are being taken away and not being replaced. Halifax is screwed, Langwith is screwed."
The idea of a YUSU bar was proposed by Matt Burton and was one of his key re-election policies.
The motion, submitted by YUSU Senate and seconded by selected Sabbatical members, proposed restructure in the YUSU hierarchy.
In 2009 it will be required to be compliant as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
Several proposals were made, which have already been ratified by Exec and Senate, including the merging of Student Development & Charities Officer and the Societies & Communications Officer to create a Student Activities Officer. It would also suggest splitting the Academic and Welfare Officer into two roles – an Academic Affairs Officer, and a Welfare Officer.
There would be a new Trustees Board, including both internal and external trustees.
Services and Finance Officer Matt Burton said: “This year we’re looking to really develop our commercial areas to generate more self-funding.”
The motion, proposed by Policy and Campaigns Officer Tom Langrish, stated: "In a seven day working week, there are 168 hours. For 35% of those, our library is shut. Of the 48 hour weekend, for 26 of those our library is shut.”
He said: "I’m not going to stand here and say that we will win, but please, let’s try."
Umm... I'm pretty sure that the first motion is not an Ordinary Motion - it's a Constitutional Ammendment, and a very big one at that.
Is this motion, when nothing had been agreed fully with the University, just trying to mask the major changes that Matthew has mentioned?
Regarding the third proposed motion, isn't it a bit ridiculous to ask the library to be staffed into the wee hours of the morning? I think the library is bloody generous staying opening until midnight most nights of the week and opening at 8 or 8.30 most days.
University students should be able to create their own study environments without needing to be physically in the library. They should also know what times the library is open and be able to manage their time to make best use of the library's resources. If you've left it until the last night to use vital books, that's your fault. And finally, the extra cost of staffing the library for an extra few hours every night and morning would surely be disproportionate to the tiny number of students that would actually use the extended facilities. Where would the library find the extra money from? Increased fines? Cutting subscriptions or acquisitions?
Vote "NO" on 'Make YUSU campaign for longer Library opening hours'.
#3 some university libraries stay open 24 hours and provide beds and showers. I don't think a few more hours is unreasonable.
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