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.
Their aims are just as central to all areas of university life and should not be underestimated in any way. Between all the different positions, there are around 30 candidacies from which to choose and each has distinct plans laid out over on the YUSU website: http://www.yusu.org/democracy/elections. In further hoping to sway votes, several of the candidates gave The Yorker more insight to their policies and how a vote for each would be in your favour. Each candidate spoke with vigour for the challenges and possibilities in hoping to fulfil their chosen roles.
For many, more communication and exploiting its various mediums came up as a key concern. Tom Rigby, running for senate rep, addressed the issue in saying that he would act as: “an extension of individual subject reps, opening up a dialogue between student department and YUSU itself.” He went on to give an in house example of the changing English course layout and how this had not been fully explained to students. On a more broad scale, Pav Dhande running for council chair would like “to explore how we can use Twitter and Facebook to keep people updated with what the council is up to.” He sees a regular source of information through modes that appeal to the student demographic key to feedback being heard.
Media outlets on campus appear to be the main area where the York student receives information at the moment. Their success is credited by Jake Farrell a YUM chair candidate who encourages any change to come from within: “Improvements for York media depend on each society and the specific aims that they have.” Whilst this allows free space for individual improvement, rival candidate Jamie Riley seeks to further strengthen ties between the various media presences as has been successful at other universities: “Other award winning University media groups have a more unified presence; often you can join the "University Media" as a whole rather than signing up to individual organisations.” She would encourage the introduction of a media mailing list at Freshers Fair, to ensure that all the different activities of the group are well circulated and highlighted. Both see the Dr Dre motion as a positive: the campaign is seen to highlight the need for an act of “commercial and critical acclaim” in accordance with Jamie; the need for “an act that will appeal to a lot of students” affirms Jake.
Campaigns and fundraising are key to student activities and showing our support for different causes. Rebecca Irwin running for RAG officer notes the need for further exploring ways in which to raise money: “At the moment, we have two big, amazing events in Spring/Summer but are lacking in a big Autumn term event to replace the void left by York Come Dancing. We're still undecided as to what we'd like to do but think along the lines of Big D or Access All Areas” she began. The Raggie pointed to the accomplishments of events such as Woodstock and Rag Week and notes that there would be a more positive if there were “collection boxes in all campus bars”. Working with ents and supporting charities are all fore-fronted; but students are further encouraged “to go out and raise money even if it isn't for our sponsored charities”. Every little helps!
Indeed money is a pressing issue for many campaigners amongst the cuts. Senate rep candidate Torris Rasmussen points out where savings can be made and capitalised on: “The University is likely to end up with more income per student, due to the Browne review cutting less than the increased fees will make up for.” He points to the need to spend the money wisely and not in an extravagant bid to appear superior. “If we do not pressure the university we might end up with iPads but little increase in the worth of our degrees. I will work towards the university putting more money into teaching and academic quality.”
Of course, all these concerns are just a flavour of the diverse range of issues covered by the election. The Yorker encourages you to research the candidacy more fully and exercise your right to vote in those who want to make changes on your behalf.
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