COMMENT
Features
SCIENCE
The Big Debate: Theresa May as PM >> p7
The greatest gift: organ donation
JMS: the man, the myth, the building >>p23
>>p9
the
Badger
FR
EE
The Official Weekly Term-time Newspaper of Sussex’s Student Union The Official Weekly Term-time Newspaper of Sussex’s Student Union
Funded by the Student Union • Edition 3 • 10th October 2016 • thebadgeronline.com • Twitter: @TheBadgerNews • Facebook: /thebadgersussex • Printed on recycled paper
1.1k signatures for Cut the Rent
Tom Robinson News Sub-Editor
During a demonstration organised by ‘Sussex, Cut the Rent’ and attended by approximately 35 students, a petition calling for a better accommodation deal for students was handed over to University management. The demonstration, which took place on Wednesday, began in Library Square and, after handing in the petition at Sussex House, the protesters marched on to Bramber House - where members of senior management were in a senate meeting - to shout campaign slogans.
Accommodation has become a contentious issue on campus, with students raising serious concerns over high rent and poor quality accommodation. It has been revealed that 180 home students have been placed in the White Hart Hotel in Lewes, sharing two to a room for £145 a week, and 150 home and exchange students are staying in hotels in Lewes and Hove. Whilst a Badger exclusive revealed that Sussex has made over £3m from accomodation between 2013-2015. The petition, which has attracted over 1,100 signatures, sets out three broad demands. Firstly, that accommo-
dation should never be more than 70% of the student loan; housingshould be never be more expensive than 70% of the maximum student loan (£148 per week in 2016/17) and the cheapest accommodation on campus should be no more expensive than 70% of the minimum student loan (£69 per week in 2016/17). The petition also calls on the University to address the issues highlighted by last year’s accommodation experience survey. The survey ‘found low student satisfaction with on campus accommodation, particularly among marginalised groups’ (women, BAME, LGBTQ+ and those with disabilities).
The final demand is that the ‘management of halls should be democratic and non-profit, with the university establishing a joint board consisting of students living in halls, Student Union officers, management and accommodation staff’. Speaking to the Badger, Megan, a first year Sociology student said: ‘I paid £5,500 for Stanmer Court and all the things in my room are broken, I was in my shower yesterday and I went to open the door and the handle came off in my hand. My flatmate had to come and let me out!’. Similarly, another first year student complained that ‘the first floor of my
ARTS “Art should always be divorced from the artist”
Art for Art’s sake >>p11
halls got flooded’, another that when they first moved in, there were ‘disgusting stains on my mattress, meaning I had to sleep on my floor during the first two days of freshers.’ Another first year student who is staying in Lewes Court said ‘my student loan doesn’t actually cover my rent so I have to pay about a grand out of my savings which I’ve worked up for. It’s just very expensive’. A second year student who had lived in Park House told The Badger how a ‘light fitting fell out of the ceiling whilst I was talking to someone, missing my head by inches’. >> p3