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Pugwash News Wednesday 10th December 2008
Comment & Opinion
The Editor reserves the right to edit and omit contributions. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not of UPSU Media. E-mail to comment@upsu.net I'll try to tell the world about your views!
Making a mess of student life A number of you have been in contact with Pugwash News about the recent vandalism at James Watson Halls. The vast majority of you have condemned the acts of vandalism, with a minority dismissing them as nothing more than the usual behaviour of students. The following open letter to all students in halls of residence expresses the collective sentiment of those of you who condemned the vandalism quite accurately. It is from a member of staff who works at James Watson, to whom anonymity has been granted:
Dear students living in halls, I am aware that the vast majority of you are polite, courteous and have good intentions towards others. At the same time, I acknowledge that there are those of you who are selfish, rude and downright stupid. It is to this second group that I write this letter. I have worked in James Watson long enough to have seen many hundreds, if not thousands, of students pass through its doors. I’ve noticed mthose of you who arrive excited and full of nervous energy, ready to take on the challenge of being a student in today’s world. Then I notice those of you who arrive with that air of apathy around you, who no doubt think that being a student is about nothing more than seeing how many pints of snakeSteph Hall, our magazine editor, was a resident of James Watson Halls back in 2005. We asked her to tell us a little about how it was there in her day, and offer her thoughts on the recent occurrences: As a former resident of James Watson Halls, it fills me with great sadness that it has been vandalised. Why? What makes people want to destroy it in such a way? People have to live in it for nine months of their lives and pay a lot of money to do so. What gives people the right to wreak such havoc which will affect the hundreds of students that live there? When I was there in 2005, it had not long been built. In the time that I was there, there was no trouble at all, aside from the odd bit of ketchup on the walls and the fire alarms being set
bite you can drink in one evening before you become violently ill. You, the impolite student, the disrespectful student, the rude student, the noisy student, the stupid student, the arrogant student, the immature student, the feckless student, the apathetic student, the dirty student, the destructive student... What on Earth do you think gives you the right to inflict your behaviour on those amongst your peers who are serious, studious, clean, polite and respectful? I’m not talking about the “usual” complaints due to loud noise, or fire alarms set off as a prank and such like. Oh, no. It’s much worse than that. Do you have any idea what it is like to be confronted with the sight and the smell of vomit? Or excrement? Or urine? Or as you may call it, sick, shit or piss. Maybe talking to you on that level is the only way of truly making you understand where I’m coming from. One can only assume that you do, since it has been found on several occasions in the stairwells, lifts and corridors; areas that are used by more than your disgusting minority. Communal areas. Shared areas. Bits of the building that other people as well as you use and live in. What is wrong with you? There must be something wrong in your head if you think that smearing your mess all over the place is either intelligent or fun. It’s the behaviour of a
two year-old child who does not know any better. Even then they would probably be smacked by their mum or dad. Maybe we should smack you. Or rub your noses in it, in the same manner as people do with their pets when they use the carpet instead of their litter tray or the garden. I know it is not just you. There are those who find their way into the halls to wreak havoc but were you all more prudent with regards to security, then I’m sure half of these disgusting occurrences would not have taken place. I blame you for their actions. What happened to your pride? What happened to your sense of community, of belonging? Where did it go? That is, if you had any to begin with. Do you think it is fair to allow this behaviour to continue? Do you think it is fair that the perpetrators go unpunished? What would happen if someone were to soil your property? Or leave their mess outside your flat? Would you still condone this behaviour? Would you still guard your silence? I know that some of you know who takes part in these acts of gross stupidity and I also know that you will not inform a member of University staff. What I do not know is the reason why. Is it because they are your friends? Is it because you have been threatened? Is it because you simply do not care enough? I would like you to be fully
aware that what they perform are not acts of reckless abandon but acts of criminal damage. Those responsible could face more than the results of the University’s own disciplinary procedures. They could face criminal charges and a criminal record. It wouldn’t be hard, simply costly, to perform DNA analyses on what is left for myself and my work colleagues - my friends - to clean up. What on Earth would you do were I to turn up at your door with a report matching you to vomit found somewhere? What about a report proving it was your excrement spread up a wall? Would you be repentant or simply slam the door in my face? Would you offer to clean up your own mess? To those of you who condone this behaviour, who have taken part in the destruction of your environment, who do not care enough to help put a stop to this stupidity, I say this: I hate you. You spoil my work and what little job satisfaction I have remaining. To those of you who are outraged by this, who are sickened, who despise those who cause this and who want to stop it from ever happening again, I beg you to help us. This cannot become a regular occurrence. I could not take it. I should not have to take it. The “good” students amongst you should not have to take it. Name and address details supplied
off several times in a night; something which isn’t unusual in halls. It was a place that I made most of my friends and brings back many good memories of my time there. When I think of James Watson Halls, I think of people playing football in the courtyard, playing silly games with our neighbours and flat parties. Now that seems to be in the distant past as people keep pushing the boundaries of what they think they can get away with it. How can the people who have caused this vandalism live with faeces in the corridors, amongst other things, in a place that they live, and just be happy with that? If I were still there and this was happening, I’d be asking to move to another hall of residence – we’re at university now, not school. It’s a place to actually do something useful and be recognised for it and not for the wrong reasons.
Tom Worman, our Media and Publications Officer, was also a resident of James Watson Halls back in 2005. We asked him to tell us a little about how it was there in his day, and offer his thoughts on the recent occurrences:
the wall and generally vanalised the whole place. I seem to remember D block getting a particularly bad spate of vandalism including the lift being so badly kicked in it didn’t work. I don’t know why people do it, but it was us (the residents) who got the letters from the University saying we would be charged for the damage, but realistically why would you abuse where you live? Maybe I am wrong, as I haven’t been back to halls since my first year but by the sounds of it the University haven’t upped the security levels or started to work out why this is happening. Or maybe it is a case of we as students should take some responsibility and stop letting in those who have ‘forgotten their keys’ at 3:30am. We are supposed to be adults now, is it really that difficult to control your anger and stop vandalising the place?
I don’t think it’s much different since the days when I was there, living in halls was one of the best experiences of my life, the friends I made, the experiences I’ve had and the smell of sick in the morning are all equally unforgettable. It was always the case you could shuffle in behind someone in halls who would happily hold the door open for you if you had ‘forgotten your keys’. I’m pretty sure (although I can’t prove it) that it was these tail-gaters who set off the fire alarms, smashed the ceiling tiles, smeered excrement up