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.
YUSU submitted two motions, one regarding ethical investment and the other regarding responsible drinking after the arrival of 'Carnage' onto campus earlier in the year. These causes will now be taken on by NUS.
The proposals were voted on by York students in the YUSU UGM last term.
Both the proposals made over 95% of the vote from the floor, which was made up of delegates from all over the country, guaranteeing NUS support on these issues.
The conference also saw a controversial rejection of the proposed changes to the NUS constitution, the so-called Governance review.
The vote was a simple majority, although it was 13 votes short of becoming ratified immediately, which now means that the executive will have to consult on the matter at a later date.
One side said the changes would make NUS more efficient, while the other argued it was "an attack on democracy".
The changes would have meant that the National Executive Committee (NEC) would be replaced by a political body called the 'Senate', whose mandate would cover the legal and financial side of the NUS, whilst a new ‘Board’ would look after the legal and financial dealings of the Union. The changes would make the NUS structure more like the current YUSU Exec and Senate.
Gemma Tumelty, NUS President, said after the failure: "You asked us for change - so we consulted and we came here for a decision. The result is disappointing, but we will not give up while such a clear majority has shown they are so desperate for change.”
The ethical investment issue came to light after it was revealed that NUS bank with Natwest, who are owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
In response to the decision to support ethical investment, National Treasurer Dave Lewis has contacted them demanding action on allegations of climate change malpractice.
"Although RBS invests heavily in renewable sources, this will be irrelevant if they do not cut their funding of heavy oil extraction."
"Delegates agreed that RBS should agree, with the banking sector, a formal carbon accounting process, used to calculate emissions from loans and financial support."
"NUS will now constructively engage with RBS over the issue of climate change, and will continue to recognise People and Planet as the experts on issues of climate change from a student perspective."
The other proposal York submitted was regarding the conduct of Carnage UK.
The support of NUS will benefit a number of unions who had faced legal actions after speaking out against the conduct of the company and its reps.
YUSU Societies and Communications Officer Sam Bayley said of the successes: "We're certainly pleased that they passed, it means that the NUS now have a specific mandate for representing York students and YUSU on those issues. They were fairly non-controversial motions really, so we should be able to enjoy the backing of unions across the country."
The NUS Annual Conference was held in Blackpool at the Winter Gardens from 1-3 April.
Want to know more? Read NUS Delegate Matthew Pallas' blog on the event.
I'm not saying it isn't admirable to try and get banks to be more ethical, but it's rather a sisyphean task much like trying to find an ethical bank in the first place. The only real leverage I can see the NUS having on this issue would be threats of badmouthing RBS & its subsidiaries to students in an attempt to reduce the bank's number of student accounts.
If the role of the NUS is primarily "providing support to student unions" then perhaps it should concern itself less with the practices of companies over which it has practically no degree of control, and more with seeking out the most attractive rates & benefits from a bank in order to provide as much financial support as possible.
Call me naive or maybe even just plain stupid, but for goodness sake, what is an 'ethical bank'? It seems to me it's just another matter for a very small minority of students to get up in arms over and have a good old demonstraton, who incidentally would no doubt have no qualms in using the RBS cashpoint in York by Gallery. It's the usuall hypocricy.
If you don't like the bank, then don't bank with them. The NUS need to stop thinking they can change the world from behind their beaurocratic desks.
I agree that NUS and other Students' Unions tend to become a forum for politics in general, rather than for issues that are unique to or affect students the most. However, an issue like 'ethical' (do a basic philosophy module and try using that word without inverted commas again) banking is on the agenda because one or more delegates have been mandated bring it up, and so, ultimately, it's up to us as members of our Students' Union to set the policy that we think should be discussed, and elect the candidates that we believe are most capable of presenting it.
"ultimately, it's up to us as members of our Students' Union to set the policy that we think should be discussed, and elect the candidates that we believe are most capable of presenting it."
I vote Dan Taylor for Ethics Rep. 
> If you don't like the bank, then don't bank with them.
I think that's what the plan was, to change the NUS bank to one that's more ethical.
Unfortunately Mitch there is a minority of students who skew the demographics represented at Conference unfairly towards those who want to use the NUS as a political platform to use it and its membership as a campaigning platform (and this is the main reason I was for disaffiliation earlier in the year), as opposed to those who want to use it primarily to support Student Unions (remember that it is a Union of Unions, not of individual students, which aren't actually NUS members). Look at the way the political spectrum is represented at Conference to see how skewed it is from reality: http://live.cgcu.net/files/news/1734/nusdelegateguide.pdf
Fortunately the majority voted the way that probably represents what most students want (i.e., for the reform), but there's still a sizeable proportion that opposed it (probably not helped by some of the dodgy tactics of some of the proponents of the reform)
"I vote Dan Taylor for Ethics Rep"
eh? What does that mean? Or are you just being abusive..?
Nothing abusive at all, not quite sure what I meant by it. My head was tired and full of pre-exam gubbins.
I'd second that nomination for Dan Taylor. Clearly if you want something doing he is a man that gets it done.
Why has this suddenly yet again become an issue involving me?! I have stated that I'm staying out of uni. politics this term, and I think you should leave me out of your discussions as well. You are all very fast to accuse me of 'shameless self-promotion' but have you ever stopped to consider you may be more guilty of this than you assume I am...
Dan Taylor
Incidentally, that last post was my first on this article. I always post under 'me' and not an anonymous banner, though what the person says is completely right...
NUS = Epic fail.
If you don't like carnage then don't go. No need to be political. Responsible drinking is a personal issue. Nanny YUSU can leave us alone thankyou!!
As for the banking decision, who do you suggest we replace RBS with????
Here's an ethical issue for y'all - why do NUS hold such an expensive conference with students' money?? It's fine for the 10 or so people from each uni who get to go on a jolly to blackpool, but surely a more modest affair would be a more economically sound option.
@#11, I think the problem was that Carnage was advertising on campus (against University, not YUSU, regulations) and then threatened to sue YUSU when YUSU complained about it.
On the banking issue, #11, the motion did not force NUS to stop banking with RBS. It told them to work with RBS, and if they don't improve over the next couple of years, to consider alternatives such as the Cooperative Bank. It doesn't force NUS to do anything and it won't cost students a penny.
And I can assure you that there is nothing much jolly about Blackpool or NUS Conference. "Gruelling" would probably be a better word.
How on earth are people and planet "experts" on anything??
This statement is absolutely barmy - no degree of expertise is needed at all to join P+P on campus. Infact it could be argued that enthusiasm is more important than knowledge to the group, as it's not a research body but a campaign group.
Expert opinion is surely best left to academics who've done the research and gained the qualifications.
To say that P+P are the experts on climate change from a student perspective is to say that Young UKIP are the experts on the european constitution, for example. Dodgy territory!
Well it wouldn't be to far from the truth to say the members of 'Young UKIP' are more likely to have read the treaty than those responsible for signing it, though this a clearly a tangent.
"How on earth are people and planet "experts" on anything??"
I believe the article says "experts from a student perspective". They probably know more about it than the hockey club.
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