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 most divisive issue on the agenda was Burton’s idea to move the Summer Ball onto campus. Burton proposed holding the ball in a ‘triangle’ between and including Central Hall, The Courtyard and the campus car park, where a fairground would be set up.
Burton said his proposal was a “good benefit to campus” and highlighted a number of advantages to holding the ball on campus, including there not being a transport issue and that working with Commercial Services would mean all the profits could be put back into the university.
Burton had the support of President-elect Tim Ngwena and current Halifax President Roberto Powell, both of whom said that after initial reservations they had been sold by the idea. GSA treasurer Tom Flynn also praised the idea, saying that he thought it would get postgraduate students more involved.
However, there were also a number of people who remained opposed to the idea, including Dan Taylor, Ed Durkin and, perhaps most vocally, Derwent Chair Joe Rankin.
Taylor criticised the timing of the proposal, saying, “Students have not been consulted on this.” He also highlighted welfare concerns and said: “The whole of campus will be affected by the idea of the Summer Ball on campus.”
Durkin said that it was a good idea, but was concerned by the fact that Big D is set to take place the night after the Summer Ball. Durkin said: “There is no provision of the competition this will provide to Derwent.”
Rankin said he was more concerned about the effect Big D would have on a Summer Ball on campus, and added that every third-year he’s spoken to about their graduation ball being on campus is against the idea.
Among others, Academic and Welfare Officer Charlie Leyland, Langwith Chair Sam Asfahani, Societies and Communications Officer Rory Shanks and Democracy and Services officer-elect Lewis Bretts also contributed to the debate. At one point, Shanks and Bretts disagreed on a point and chair of Council Tom Langrish had to intervene to stop them talking over one another.
During voting, 13 council members voted for the proposal, with seven people voting against it and four people abstaining.
Burton’s proposal to replace Ents-Tech with outsourcing also caused a high level of debate. Burton started by announcing that he found in his review that “quite a bit of our equipment is out of date and quite a bit of it can no longer be used”.
Burton then said that he has held meetings with JSS Audio and Technical Stage Solutions (TSS), two companies YUSU has worked with before, and has been able to secure a deal which would see the union outsource at the same cost currently charged by Ents-Tech, and that price will be frozen for three years.
Ed Durkin, Alcuin Chair Oliver James Hutchings, and Chair of Union Council-elect David Levene expressed concern that this would leave the union vulnerable to a huge price hike in three years, to which Burton responded: “We don’t know how events are going to change over the next three years.”
Charlie Leyland and Policy and Campaigns Officer Michael Batula asked about a trial period, but Burton said: “We need to act now.” Leyland said she was “uncomfortable” with not having a trial period or break clause. Burton agreed to ensure there was a clause in the union’s contract that would allow them to opt out if their expectations were not met, and the proposal was passed with 21 for and three abstentions.
The GSA also put forward a proposal to ask the union to lobby for greater postgraduate representation at the NUS Annual Conference, and Shanks proposed having both the YUSU and NUS logos on the ‘duck’ card. Both of these proposals were passed.
The final item on the agenda was the review of Halifax’s lighting and security issues. Roberto Powell and Charlie Leyland put forward a list of ten recommendations to improve security in the college, and though it was not put to vote the rest of Council expressed their support for this ongoing campaign.
Please Jason open your ears and listen to people.
Adam (#15), as someone who also attended the grad dinner/summer ball last year, I have to say I was sorely disappointed with the event at the racecourse. It was a nice evening, but not £75 worth of nice! The multiple bars at the racecourse are not worth much when a) each bar still has a queue and b) once you get to the bar, you can't afford their prices anyway.
The food wasn't by any means great, either.
I am slightly skeptical about a Summer Ball on campus, but think it has the potential to be a lovely evening and a money saver too.
I am!
At Council, a number of people brought evidence for either side. There were actually more people presenting pro-campus evidence but there was a similar amount of evidence either way.
But saying that YUSU "didn't consult" etc. isn't true. They didn't have a referendum/UGM on it, true, but it's not a policy decision so it's understandable. There was consultation, however, including the graduates that have been there for their own graduation ceremony and have given comments to YUSU.
It's likely to end up that the majority of voters prefer an off-campus event for their summer ball, as I do, but I think that if we're going to go with the Racecourse, a LOT of work will need to go into trying to make them stop charging extortionate amounts. Big D will be half the price of Summer Ball and the service you're getting isn't significantly worse, to be honest! We'll see what happens though - and whether opinions change after the event.
I trust the YUSU officers that we elected- if they thought it was going to be really shitty then they wouldn't have made this decision.
why does it matter where it is? it's still going to be an amazing night and a good way to end our time at University. At least if its on campus the drinks will be a hell of a lot cheaper! i mean, a drink is like a fiver in the race course.
I hope this sorts itself out without too much argument, but lets face it, we do love a good debate like this in our Uni dont we..
Jason if you want to stop the racecourse charging an extortionate amount, simply threaten them with losing the contract for the Freshers' Ball. In the middle of a recession I doubt the racecourse is flooded with requests to run major events.
As for consultation, not consulting with the major stakeholders in the event makes consultation pointless. And whilst I accept they didn't have to take the decision to a UGM, making the decision in a Council meeting, timed for the end of term, so that a UGM couldn't be called to reverse the decision shows a blatant disregard for the views of the Union. The Council is there to represent the views of the Union, not block them.
Hi there, I'm pretty sure I'm the 'Goodricke guy' Mr Taylor refered to in his delightful first post.
Dan Taylor I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I'd like to assure you (and everyone else) that adjectives such as "amazing" and "magical" didn't sway my vote on this matter, and I doubt they had that much of an effect on Roberto either.
Well by looks of the numbers in the groups and the opposition against the idea, your 'survey of friends' was a gross misjudgement of student opinion.
Out of interest, did you bring this matter up; a matter of serious importance to all students, at your last JCRC meeting, or did you just go to the committee and vote on it?
Out of interest, how many 3rd years sit on JCRCs and is it the best place to raise the issue?
"Jason if you want to stop the racecourse charging an extortionate amount, simply threaten them with losing the contract for the Freshers' Ball."
My suggestion is to inform them that the main opposition is the price and the quality of food and persuade them to up the ante by making things reasonable.
There are still issues surrounding this that need addressing though - campus will always be cheaper, closer and will always be able to support more students... and we'll be able to see acts here. I don't think there's a negative as far as *Fresher's Ball* is concerned. The ongoing debate regarding summer ball is where we need a resolution and if the EGM comes out as being a negative - that people want to have it at the Racecourse - then we will *need* to lobby for better prices and better food.
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