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 debate began on what YUSU needed to do to encourage greater student participation. There seemed to be consensus that YUSU wasn’t doing it effectively enough, and most of the candidates seemed to believe that the answer lay in the internet. Matthew Freckleton suggested that there should be comments on the YUSU website, and students should be allowed to make Union General Meeting (UGM) motions online.
David Levene was forced to clarify his idea of giving YUSU a page in every edition of the student newspapers as a means of communicating better with the student body. In a room full of Nouse writers, he was pressed to admit that editorial control would remain with the editors of Vision and Nouse.
Just as the debate seemed to be getting into full swing, it was interrupted by David Hansen’s phone. The joke candidate then somewhat clumsily got up, disentangling himself from the mic and left the room. The reason for his phone call became quickly apparent when he returned with two pizzas under his arm. Roberto Powell won a slice for answering his question “when was Nelson Mandela released from prison?” Powell’s guess of 1992 was good enough for Hansen who didn’t know the answer either.
As the debate wore on, candidates fell back on what they knew best to make their points. Tim Ngwena used his experience as YUSU president heavily. When there came to discussion about whether rooms needed to be improved, Ngwena was able to point out all the design flaws and maintenance issues in V/045 (where the debate was being held) as Hutchings suggested there wasn’t any problem with it.
Matthew Freckelton was hit hard on his promise of a swimming pool for York students, as well as on promising to light areas like ‘rape alley’. He told those assembled that the university had told him 18 months for a pool, but this was quickly contradicted by Ngwena, who informed him that planning permission alone would take 3 years. Hutchings then chipped in that the Women’s Officers, who already are campaigning for better lighting in areas where people are vulnerable had told him that it would take at least 4 years to get it done. For much of the debate David Levene stressed the need for more student campaigning, and implied that he would be more willing to confront Heslington Hall on contentious issues. He pledged to organise demonstrations in freshers term if he could not get a promise out of Brian Cantor on tuition fees.
Meanwhile both Oli Hutchings and Roberto Powell relied upon their record as chairs of Alcuin and Halifax respectively. Hutchings was probably the more vocal of the two, but both were able to use their experience when it came to discussing how to better integrate international students. However Powell’s record was attacked by Ngwena as he revealed that Halifax’s welfare had been flagged as a problem.
As the night progressed, the questions became more light hearted, with the debate ending with David Levene, after being asked to show his party trick, pretending to walk on the moon after cheekily suggesting he could do ‘the moonwalk’.
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