gair rhydd Monday February 20 2012 | freeword – Est. 1972 | Issue 970
The Ball’s in your court Union asks for students’ ideas for new £27,000 end of year event
Matt Jones News Editor
made from drink sales on the night, giving an estimated £27,000 total budget. Although the event has been labelled as ‘less extravagant’, students were appreciative of the Union’s practical approach. George Jackson tweeted: “sensible budgeting from the SU team. Realistic approach to end of year ball.” The end of year event will be held at Cardiff Students’ Union and will see a three tier ticketing system which will give students access to a range of services dependent on the priority of their ticket.
Cardiff University is currently planning the purchase of a reported £675,000 house for new vice-chancellor Colin Riordan. The property, whose exact location has not yet been revealed by the University, is said to be within walking distance of the Cathays campus, and will be owned by Cardiff University. It is planned that the residence will be used for hosting meetings with important visitors. However, the purchase of a house of this expense is likely to cause some opposition, especially in the context of widespread cuts in higher education. When gair rhydd asked how the university justified spending such a large sum of money, a university spokesperson said: “At a time of intense competition among UK universities to develop their education and research, Cardiff needs strong relationships with national and international partners in the academic, business, professional and policy-making sectors. “In building these relationships, the University requires a variety of venues for formal and informal events with existing and potential partners.
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 7
Sheri Hall News Editor Plans to hold the end of year event at Cardiff Students’ Union were finally revealed at last week’s AGM, with a mostly positive reception although some students have their doubts. The Union have decided to cut their losses and invest a ring-fenced budget of £27,000 into this year’s event, encouraging students to have maximum input. Last year the Summer Ball made a loss of £30,000, an improvement upon the previous year’s £60,000 loss, but the Union have decided they can no longer afford to waste money which could be spent else-
Uni buying £675k house for new VC
where. Finance and Commercial officer, Nick Matthews said: “Discussions were had amongst the Board of Trustees and we decided that times are tough and the organisation cannot afford to lose that kind of money again. The amounts lost in previous years, at times, have been equivalent to the whole of the society’s budget - which is too much money to lose.” Nick Matthews took to the stage at the AGM and disclosed the controversial changes, which were at first met with negativity, but eventually saw an optimistic response
from students once questions were answered. Before Christmas, the Union sold a total of 1,100 deposits at a one-day ticket sale for the end of year event to gauge a minimum level of interest, which would give a budget of £21,000. Elected Officers decided it was not feasible to try and double their sales to break even at last year’s budget of £45.000, so have opted to change the event entirely. Plans are in place to increase the budget further by holding more ticket sales, ring-fencing profit from an end of exam Lash and money