PALATINATE | Thursday 19th June 2014
News in brief UNIVERSITY NEWS
FIFA “MUST DELIVER” ON WORLD CUP, SAYS DURHAM FOOTBALL HISTORIAN FIFA needs a successful World Cup or it could face “the deepest crisis in its history”, a leading Durham historian has said. Dr Kay Schiller, author of The FIFA World Cup World Cup: 1930-2010: Politics, Commerce, Spectacle and Identities, said the Brazil tournament could be “the most interesting in a long time.” VAN MILDERT COLLEGE HOLDS JAM BY THE LAKE On the 15th June Van Mildert College held Jam By The Lake. The gig was in association with Deloitte and was in support of Mind charity, which provides advice and support to anyone experiencing mental health problems. The event, which was free, started at 2pm and ended just before England kicked off against Italy in the World Cup at 11pm. DURHAM REGATTA SEES THOUSANDS VISIT UNIVERSITY The 181th Durham Regatta took place on June 14-15. Known as the Henley of the North, the event is one of the biggest sporting occasions in the North East. More than 700 crews contested races along the River Wear from 8am onwards. It is the largest Durham Regatta to date. The Regatta, which is sponsored by Core People, is the second oldest in England and first took place in 1834. Tickets were £3.00 for adults and £1.50 for children.
DURHAM UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FINDS RISK OF ‘STRANGER DANGER’ TO PEOPLE WITH WILLIAMS SYNDROME NEEDS TO BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD
The risk of ‘stranger danger’ to people suffering from Williams Syndrome needs to be better understood to improve their personal safety, according to Durham University research. The researchers have called for increased awareness and better intervention techniques to educate teachers, young people and health professionals with the disorder about the risks posed by strangers. Williams Syndrome is a rare neuro-developmental genetic disorder which affects about one in 18,000 people. Approximately 3,500 people suffer from the disorder in the UK. Those with Williams Syndrome can suffer from physical health issues, such as heart problems, as well as mild to moderate learning difficulties and anxiety.
Continued from front page “Trying to talk to the University is like trying to talk to a brick wall. The University, as an institution in the city of Durham, and a major employer, has responded to concerns about the demise of a balanced and harmonious community with remarkable detachment. It is as if the life of the city is really just a backcloth to the University, and if residents want to raise issues in a perfectly civilised way, they are just ignored or treated as rather a nuisance. “The lack of interest in the place, an ancient historic city with a World Heritage Site, is quite depressing, as is the assumption that local people do not have anything worthwhile to contribute to senior management about living in a civilised community.” However, Mike Costello, a resident in the Viaduct area, was keen to point out that their concerns do not simply represent an anti-student campaign: “Our efforts are purely pro-city, not anti-student. We feel totally ignored by the University which washed its hands of this issue a long time ago. This month will be disastrous. I often have to call the police in the early hours of the morning due to student disturbances and I have to put up with wheelie bins overflowing with rubbish onto the road. These are regular occurrences on my street which has 70 students but only twelve permanent residents.” Residents voiced further outrage at the studentification of Durham City at an Area Planning Committee meeting held last Tuesday that saw two out of three applications to develop family homes into student houses rejected by councillors.
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Durham County Council disclosed that for one of the applications it had received 36 letters of objection as well as a petition with over 50 signatures. One resident spoke in objection to the extension of a two-bedroom family home on Whinney Hill into a six-bedroom student house, saying: “Some of our neighbours have lived in the area for many years. One family had lived here for 40 years but they moved out this year because they’d had enough. Resi-
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dents are moving out, students are moving in. This city is at risk of losing its permanent population.” The number of students living on Whinney Hill currently stands at 330, significantly outweighing the 57 permanent residents. In stark contrast to many residents, however, Paul Ford, owner of Cloth fancy dress shop, told Palatinate: “The trade and vitality that students bring to Durham City is wonderful. I can’t imagine why people would complain. Over the summer months when students leave the city will be dead. Students give benefit to the city in a wide variety of ways, not just economically. In Palatinate’s exclusive interview with Professor Chris Higgins (see pages six and seven), the Vice-Chancellor of the University responded to accusations that the
University has ignored the concerns of residents, saying: “Frankly without the University there wouldn’t be a city any more. That’s not to say that one or two students don’t occasionally go over the top and make rather more noise than is expected at a certain time of year but that has to be managed. We work very closely with the local police. They reckon student behaviour in this city is second to none. “But students will always choose to live in the Viaduct, for example, and actually that’s not something the University can stop because students are adults and they have the right to choose wherever they would like to live. There are some people that don’t realise that the students are not in loco parentis any more. He added: “What we have to try and do is make sure there is a good choice [of accommodation] which is why we want to build more college accommodation but also make sure that it is accommodation that students would choose to live in. However, many will still choose to live in a house out in town – why wouldn’t they? So it’s not something we can really control.” In a separate statement, Professor Graham Towl, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Warden of the University, said only: “We take very seriously the concerns of residents within Durham. This is evidenced by our attendance at the Durham City Liaison Group chaired by the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg. “We are keen to work with the community to ensure there is a positive environment for all who live and work in Durham City and we welcome open dialogue.”
furbishment of our accommodation and plan to complete works that will include improvements to shower rooms at Stephenson College, the major upgrade of the kitchen and servery at Trevelyan College and new a new servery at St. Mary’s College.” Further adjustments include improving wifi networks throughout the campus. “In order to continue to deliver an excellent student experience, we are always looking at ways in which student accommodation can be improved; we are currently working with CIS to provide wireless network connectivity in our colleges with 70% of the University’s estate now completed and the remainder on target for completion later this year.” Armour mentioned that half of the Three Tuns site, formerly a hotel, and now a postgraduate residence hall has been renovated. The next phase will be external decoration and repairs on the road-facing side of the building.
“Since this is a listed building, we are currently in communication with the Conservation Officer at Durham County Council in connection with these works,” Armour told Palatinate. When asked about plans to renovate or refurbish Elvet Riverside and the Durham Students’ Union building, Dunelm House, Armour said that approval had been given for the initial phase of development for Elvet Riverside. The work is set to begin in July and includes the creation of postgraduate rooms and an open access IT facility on the first floor. The new plan for Elvet Riverside 1 includes toilet refurbishments, including the addition of an accessible facility. These follow several student complaints about disabled access into the building. “The Riverside Bar and café at the Students’ Union has recently been refurbished and further plans for renovating the site are currently being considered” Armour told Palatinate.
“Trying to talk to the University is like trying to talk to a brick wall” Kirsty Thomas
New renovations announced for University sites Justin Villamil
Trevor Armour, Director of Estates recently stated that new work will commence soon on accommodation in several of Durham’s colleges and in other university buildings around the city. Acting on information given by Vice Chancellor Chris Higgins, Palatinate got in touch with Mr Armour to ascertain the details. “We are currently in the process of reviewing our Residential Accommodation Strategy with a view to meeting our targets for the provision of University owned and operated accommodation” Armour told Palatinate. However, the Director confirmed that there were many projects already in the works, specifically at Stephenson College and St Mary’s College. “This summer we will again be investing in a programme of re-
SU President’s Column Dan Slavin As it is the final issue of Palatinate for this year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank and say goodbye to the departing officers. Chris, David, Grace and Krystina have been working incredibly hard over the last 12 months and it would not have been the same without them. We have seen a wide range of successful campaigns and activities taking place driven by this team. Some of the highlights include; rewriting the ‘Principles of Student Engagement’ which will soon be University policy; the recent Work Smart campaign; Give it a Go; and training and development sessions for college execs to help prepare them for their new roles. For those graduating this summer I hope you are savouring you last few days in Durham. We wish you the best of luck for your final results and we hope you enjoy your graduation ceremony. With news earlier this year that the Vice Chancellor, Chris Higgins is to retire in October, I think it is right and proper to take this opportunity to wish him all the best for the future. As well as goodbyes, there are also some words of welcome for our new Officer team. The team includes; Leigh Spanner, as Academic Affairs Officer; Laura Carter, as Community Officer; Joely Charlton, as Activities Officer and Harry Inman as the Development Officer. The new team started this week and I am really excited to work with all of them to build on the work done this year. But all the soppiness aside the work doesn’t stop. The Union’s campaign that calls the University to fix international students’ tuition fees is still running. Already we have ensured that the issue is up for discussion with the VC mentioning it in his recent Palatinate interview. We are asking all students to support this campaign by signing our letter to Professor Ray Hudson. This can be found on our website. We currently have over 1,500 but the campaign group who are leading on it are aiming to match the number of signatures to the number of international students. Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of days for the group around the campus. So those of you that get one enjoy the summer break and for those of you returning next year, we look forward to seeing you then.