8 COMMENT
YORK VISION
Tuesday October 13th, 2009
>Comment THE VOICE OF WALK BEFORE YOU RUN
Vision Says...
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elcome to all new students at York. We're sure you'll have a cracking time and make the most of this once in a life time experience. Equally, we hope you enjoy flicking through your copies of Vision during your time here. This edition is a special one, not only because it is our 200th, but because it also marks the launch of our website, www.yorkvision.co.uk! If you'd like to get involved, or if you have any questions or comments, the Website should have all the answers. If in doubt, send us an email: vision@yusu.org. Have fun!
Thumbs up to...
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ongratulations to Student Action for having their project 'Minds in Motion' shortlisted for two prestigious awards - the ‘York Community Pride Award’ and the ‘Guardian Public Services Award’. Vision wishes you luck! Their nomination is testament to the good work that York students do in the local community and inspiration for Freshers of what can be achieved during your time at York. Get involved!
Thumbs down to...
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he BNP. Although Vision was founded on the basis of political neutrality we find the fascist BNP's views so abhorrent that they are outside what is both politically and morally acceptable. We are backing James Alexander's campaign to show they do not represent our views and we can safely say "The BNP do not speak for us!" We would encourage all students who feel the same way to take the opportunity to sign up to the petition at the York Vision stand at this Saturday's Freshers' Fair.
YORK VISION'S EDITORS: 'IT'S PEOPLE NOT PROFITS THAT MAKES YORK GREAT'
dreds of students, but Commercial Services just can’t seem to do it. After their recent abandonment of Halifax, Alcuin, and Langwith college bars, it is apparent that students come below profits on the University’s list of priorities. Pro Vice Chancellor for Students Jane Grenville has argued that investment in bars is a chicken and egg situation. She wonders whether the bars should only be improved once students start using them. But the answer to her chicken and egg conundrum is simple: the university came first. No sane businessman would wait for customers before providing a decent service. Derwent has one
MARTIN JIM WILLIAMS NORTON
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he University loves investing - just look at the £500 million extension into Heslington East. So why can’t they invest for anyone’s benefit but their own? The University have stabbed us in the back over the summer by slashing student services when we weren’t looking. With complete disregard for our views, we’ve come back to find a barless Derwent and no 24-hour portering - two services that provided a crucial service for student welfare. Both decisions were made without proper consultation and at a time when students could not voice their resentment. It is time the University started to appreciate and improve what it already has before getting distracted by new multi-million pound projects. The Derwent bar debacle is the final curtain call for campus bars. Run at a loss and you’re out, no matter how important you are to the social structure – all very well if there was any investment. It is astonishing that a bar can fail to sell alcohol to students. Major bar chains would jump at the chance to locate on the doorsteps of hun-
Heslington East: The University's new toy
"The way the university has acted is deeply insulting to students" of the fiercest college spirits, the bar being the nucleus and social hub - it’s losses represent nothing more than Commercial Services’ incompetence. This neglect of student interests is becoming all too common: the cut backs to the portering service do not only leave students in a dangerous situation; the way
the University has gone about it is deeply insulting to both students and porters. By claiming that porters have not acted as part of the student welfare system, Uni bosses have shown themselves to be totally detatched from campus life. Infact they only seem to show an interest in us when we’re paying our fees. Bridges are left halfbuilt, and sports facilities unsafe and inadequate. The failure to improve even basic infrastructure on Hes West whilst gallivanting forward to Hes East is growing ever more worrying.
Like shareholders in a business, students should be granted a voice – we are the ones who are paying for a most of it after all. We should not have to fight for decent facilities in a supposedly top-ten University. YUSU are in constant battle to protect students from the University’s ravenous appetite for profits. It is students, service and spirit that hold this place together and Heslington Hall bosses should realise this.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
THE CHANCELLOR INTRODUCES YOU TO THE UNIVERSITY THAT MADE HIM
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GREG DYKE
elcome to York and congratulations. Congratulations, because the first decision you have made in higher education is a wise one. You have come to York – a great historic city with a fantastic University that fully warrants its top ten ranking in the UK. When I came here in the early 1970s, it was a life-changing experience for me. I was in the my mid-20s and with only modest ac-
ademic qualifications – but I was amazed at the opportunities that university life opened up for me. The great thing about York is its informality and complete lack of stuffiness. It is a University that, by and large, does not stand on ceremony. That said, in three, four or five years’ time there will be a ceremony for you to attend -- your graduation. At that point, you will become a member of a growing, but I like to think, still an exclusive club. You will become a graduate of the University of York. I have never yet met a single York graduate who did not enjoy his or her time here. So as
you start out on your University career, you can look forward to
"The great thing about York is it's informality and lack of stuffiness" a fulfilling experience, one that you will find both intellectually stimulating and socially rewarding. You will meet people here who will be your friends for life. You are about to embark on one of the greatest experiences of your lives. Enjoy every minute of it.
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Greg in his student days