2 Freshers’ Fresher Issue 2016 The Cheese Grater
UCL offers £2000 off rent for halls reps but tells no-one about it Peter Daniels & Jason Murugesu On the 19th October, voting will begin for hall representatives across UCL, with one big change. The scheme, organised by UCLU, will see those elected as reps receiving a £2000 reduction in their rent for the year. However, the rent cut was not advertised in the application forms, leaflets or posters for the role. Zakariya Mohran, Sustainability, Engagement and Operations Officer, justified the decision, telling The Cheese Grater, “It’s not advertised on the leaflets or posters for the position to make sure the people who are running want to genuinely do the job and not just get a rent reduction. [Just as] with all the publicity for the full time sabbatical roles.” However, whilst the £26k sabbatical officers receive has been common knowledge for years, very few first year students were told about their remuneration. As a result, the number of students who nominated themselves for the position was predictably low, with 4 of the 13 halls receiving only one nominee apiece. The vast majority of the candidates who spoke to The Cheese Grater stated that they had only been made aware of the rent reduction upon attending a meeting for nomi-
nees after having already applied. Confusion over the role doesn’t stop there. It seems unclear how much work the hall reps actually have to do. Two sabbatical officers and Head of Accommodations, Duncan Palmer told The Cheese Grater that the £2000 reduction was adequate compensation, since students would be expected to work 16 – 18 hours a week, more than demanded of previous reps. However, according to the official job description for the role, representatives are only expected to put in an average of an hour a week, with an occasional meeting thrown in. Added to this is the fact that UCL, and not UCLU, will be administering the £2000 rent reduction, blurring the lines of responsibility further. The nominees we have spoken to are still in the dark as to whether they would be reporting to the sabbs, or to university management. With tensions still high over rent and halls still in poor condition (see Freshers issue), it remains to be seen how this move will affect tightly wound student-accommodation relations.
Society Bitch Soc Bitch was happy to learn that the Men’s Rugby Club have been granted a reprieve from their Phineas ban. In return, they are being forced to give up their favourite past time of downing pints. The rule, introduced by the new Food and Beverage Manager, will attempt to stop the Rugby team from scoring a “messy try” by chucking up all over the bar area. The use of pitchers is also forbidden, with thirsty sportsfolk now forced to juggle four pint glasses, regardless of whether they are in Juggling Society or not. It remains unclear how this non-downing rule will be enforced. Soc Bitch is left wondering how many sips-per-second counts as “downing”. There may be a silver lining though: at least Rugby Club will be less likely to punch off bathroom doors if they haven’t done one or two “Johnny Wilkinsons” first.