Issue 02 - University of Surrey's Student Union

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By Students’ Union In the last edition of ‘The Stag’ it was stated that the price of a pint in Chancellors has risen by 20p. The article implied that the rise was recent and was the effect of the credit crunch. This is a misleading statement and this is why... Bar prices saw an increase in April 2007 and then April of this year. The increase in April 2008 was 10p on a pint of Carlsberg, and this was the increase resulting in the rise in duty (rounded to the nearest 5p). So in the last eighteen months, the price of a pint in Chancellors has only actually risen by 10p and that rise was dictated by the budget increase. Looking further back to 2004 the price of a pint (Carling in those days) was £1.80, today that is £2.10 an annual inflation rate of 4% increase; but this is not the whole story. Duty has risen above inflation, and where the increase to students has been 16% over 4 years, the cost to the Union from duty increases has been 18% over the same period of time. In the same period the minimum wage has increased by 18%, and the University pay scales increased this year by 5%. These figures also assume that duty and staff are the only costs which alter; our suppliers are also entitled to pass on inflationary costs and have done so. As the volume of beer which Student Unions sell across the UK reduces each year, so does the ability of the National Union of Students to negotiate better prices. With each renegotiated beer supply deal, prices inevitability rise. Ticket prices have often been an area of debate and a regular topic of discussion amongst students. The facts however speak for themselves. The advance price of ‘The Friday Night Out’ in 1998 was £2. Today in 2008 it is £2. In real terms this is a decrease of £1 over the decade. As detailed in a previous edition of Bare Facts, music licensing in 2001 cost the Students’ Union £3874, last year this cost £14,865 a rise of 263%. General insurance premiums rose from £24,763 in 2001 to £39,813 in 2008, a 60% increase. There has also been over inflation increases in other costs, e.g. Energy Despite the challenge cost increases may present to the Union in its aim to offer the best value for students, we are committed to ensuring that all areas of cost and prices are kept in check. They are set to generate an appropriate surplus which is then re-invested straight back into the Students’ Union. There are no shareholders, so every single penny which is spent within your Students’ Union, stays within your Students’ Union. 4 A reply from the Union..... Holdiay wishes from your President Dear Surrey Students This message probably finds you in the midst of revision and exams so I would like to wish you the best of luck and I genuinely hope you succeed in everything you are aiming for. If you are for any reason finding this time of the year difficult, remember that your Union as well as Student Care are here for you, and that you can contact us at any time. Just remember that with the holidays just over the horizon you can soon look forward to leaving behind deadlines and enjoying festive fun! With 2008 drawing to a close, it’s time to look back to the first part of the academic year and review whether we have in fact achieved anything in what has felt like an incredibly busy semester for the Union. When I took office in July I refused to listen to those saying that Surrey students are ‘apathetic’, part of my thinking being that the Union can only be as strong as the students we represent. I am so pleased to report that my experience as Union President has proven that Surrey Students do in fact care. Demonstrated simply by looking at the immense successes of clubs and societies in bringing students together; course representatives actively pursuing the rights of fellow students; groups or individuals fundraising in the thousands for people in need. The student movement at Surrey is gaining strength and I would like to thank all the students that have contributed to the different elements that give the movement momentum. It is with this in mind that we have undertaken all our work so far with students’ rights, needs and interests at the forefront of our agenda and with your feedback moulding our policy. I would like to extend my thanks to the students that have communicated with us with ideas and suggestions throughout this semester. You have driven our work and without your support successes such as keeping the library open 24 hours during exams would On the 4 th December, Geogina Hancock, Community Officer, presented a motion to Guildford Borough Council asking them to commission them to produce an accreditation list of student landlords. This list would promote the landlords who provide decent, satisfactory service and show responsibility to the community in doing so. The motion is now being considered by the executive board of the Borough Council. The motion was backed by councillors Chris Ward and Fiona White, as well as the University of Surrey Accommodation office.The position of Community Officer is new to this year’s executive team designed by the Students’ Union to extend student representation in the local community. not have been possible.This can be further illustrated with some examples of what we have done so far: We have given power back to the student body by making Student Parliament policy making; We have fought for the rights of individual students on academic and welfare issues; We have raised the profile of our Union on a national level with our involvement in the National Union of Students through my election onto National Council and the leading role we have held in the Higher Education funding debate; We are leading on a national campaign on TV licensing issues; We have extended our work in the community to ensure that students living off campus are represented through the Guildford community initiative; We set up events committee; We have set up the Night Bus to ensure students are safe going to and from campus; We brought you ‘Steve the Stag’; We fought to keep the library open 24hours; We supported campaigns for ‘Students in the Red’ and ‘HIV awareness’;and the list goes on...There is of course still so much to be done, we do however still remain enthusiastic, dedicated and passionate about seeing the Union reach its potential. On behalf of everyone at your Students’ Union I would like to wish you Happy Holidays! If you will be here over the Christmas period, the Union with others will be hosting the International Christmas Dinner, which you are all most welcome to. With best wishes for an enjoyable and relaxing break, Elizabeth Simos Union President Union fights for better student accommodation in Guildford Presidents’ comment: ‘The underlying issue is that students deserve to live in decent accommodation. All too often their rights as tenants are not upheld. Can we be doing more as students to upkeep our homes in Guildford If we’re honest, yes we could. What would help though is receiving properties in good condition and landlords carrying out their duties. Work has to be done on both sides - Co-operation and mutual respect is the key.’ If you like to know more about this motion, scheme and local community issues please email Natalie Forrester, Vice President Welfare on ussu.welfare@surrey.ac.uk
Student Bursaries By Nick Entwistle - VP Education University-led discretionary student bursaries have existed for many years on a small scale. The Higher Education Act 2004 industrialised the practice as part of a last minute package designed to quieten Labour rebels dissatisfied with the Higher Education paper that had been proposed. Ironically, this move that made bursaries an integral part of the funding model also made the system inherently unfair and unfit for purpose. It has introduced a market into the funding system and has enabled universities to direct money for recruitment purposes rather than to help students who need it. The purpose of bursaries and scholarships as stated by the University of Surrey’s Access Agreement 2008/2009 is: “To counter as far as possible the effect of higher rates of fees on students from disadvantaged backgrounds.” The Surrey System The University states it is committing approximately one third of its additional tuition fee income to bursaries, scholarships and extended programme awards. This works out at about £630 from each full feepaying home or EU student. The remainder of the money, around £1,260 per student, is used to “[enhance] the ‘student experience’ in its broadest sense.” There are several problems with this. Firstly, money should be made available to students who need it. The scholarships are not means tested and are based purely on performance. If all UK schools provided equal opportunities and quality of education this would not be an issue, but this is not the case. Pupils at fee paying schools and young people from more privileged backgrounds perform better at A-level and are thus more likely to achieve the grades needed to get the scholarships. Students with genuine promise and potential to achieve good degrees do not necessarily have good A-level grades and these students are the ones most likely to run into financial difficulty. The scholarships appear to exist purely as a recruitment tool, not to widen participation. By Surrey’s own admission only 40% of scholarships will be award to students from lower-income households. Secondly, even the bursaries are problematic. The household income ranges are very low; to get the full Surrey bursary of £2,000 the combined income of your household needs to be less than £10,000. This system also assumes that parents/guardians are able or willing to commit money to their children. There are many reasons, not just financial, why this might not be the case. The cost of going to University is higher than ever with tuition fees, rent and living costs all leading to huge student debt. There a few students who would turn down scholarships and bursaries, but shouldn’t they be targeted at those among us who really need it the most A brighter future By Steven Hayton After writing last issue’s view of the car parking situation I received support from various car park users. As a result of the amount of people who shared my opinion I decided to find out what the story was from the view of the transport office. I spoke to Mr James Newby (Business support manger for the University) about the issues the car park users have faced recently. We spoke about the possibility of expanding the car park to account for the reduced number of spaces now that work has begun on the School of Acting building. Mr Newby explained that due to the Sustainability Agenda set out by the government it was very difficult for the university to expand the car park. Even after the loss of some spaces, the local authorities were refusing to lose any green land to allow for more parking. This stems from the government’s attempt to become more ecofriendly. Mr Newby went onto to say “We can’t build any more parking spaces on this campus, even if we wanted to. And believe me we do want to, because we know it would be the answer to an awful lot of problems.” The university is restricted on how many cars can be parked on campus and how much traffic it generates. As a result of this the University is not even allowed to make a car park off campus for students and staff to use. So what is the solution to this If expansion is out of the question, what can be done We discussed the aspect of public transport; a lot of money is spent on making it easier for people to travel to the university, this has the bonus of complying with the government’s goal to reduce the amount of cars on the roads. But what about those of us who want to drive Mr Newby went on to speak about the car park and possibilities for the near future; “What we’re hoping to do in the next 1-2 years is introduce a system of daily car park charging, instead of an annual permit”. Mr Newby stated that this system was still in the development stages and may not be introduced, however if it was then it would bring an end to the permit, scratch cards and the pay and display car park. Instead all users would apply for a free annual permit and then pay for parking as they require it. How this will be achieved is still unclear, the idea is that users will pay an up front fee to be used as a sort of credit. When it comes to the end of the year the credit that you haven’t spent would be refunded. This was said to be a much fairer means of charging people to park as most people will not spend all week at the University. Of course this new idea doesn’t address capacity, there will still be a limited amount of spaces and thus restrictions will continue to apply. However on the plus side, with the completion of the new building there will be around 40-50 more spaces available in the car park by the sports centre. The situation with the car park will get better; it’s just a matter of time and getting the right balance between allowing as many people to park as possible with the limited space available. It looks like a brighter future then for car park users, granted there won’t be much improvement in terms of the size of the car park but at least it will be managed in a fairer way. So at least if we have to park somewhere else we won’t have that bitter feeling of having paid for a space that doesn’t exist. What is your view on this Please feel free to contact me about this with your views and questions. Additionally, if you have any ideas for the car park you can email transportenq uiries@surrey.ac.uk. The transport office welcomes all feasible ideas, bearing in mind supply and demand and the fact that they cannot expand the car park. 5
Page 1 and 2: Issue 2 Editor : Claire Worgan Edit
Page 3: Manor Park Roasting on an Open Fire
Page 8 and 9: CAMPUS BOY Who is Bob Mitchell, and
Page 10 and 11: By Pete Natress 10 ******** WARNING
Page 12 and 13: Naughty or Nice Tasty treats and na
Page 14 and 15: Poker After Dark By Vikram Nanda Ev
Page 16 and 17: Guild Standing Report By Justin Wai
Page 18 and 19: 18 Pakistan Students’ Association
Page 20: Horoscopes by Madame Zsa-Zsa: “Th
Page 23 and 24: Surrey’s Own Music Exclusive with
Page 25 and 26: Surrey’s Own Music Exclusive with
Page 27 and 28: The best and worst of film 2008 Ano
Page 29 and 30: University of Surrey Gliding Club
Page 32: We hope you have a wonderful Christ

Issue 02 - University of Surrey's Student Union

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