Vision says…
It is simply atrocious that the university administration wants to hit next year’s first years with drastic and above inflation campus rent rises.
Some would think it would be advisable that with Heslington Hall wanting to charge top end fees of £9,000 they would possibly be slightly more diplomatic with accommodation prices. Instead Cantor and his buddies think it is perfectly alright to lumber this country’s next generation of students with ridiculous rent rises while York slides down the national league tables.
How on earth can the Student Services Committee recommend a price rise of 5.6% in some blocks and 8.6% on other parts of campus? At the minute the rate of housing inflation in the UK is 0.8%. No student is stupid enough to even contemplate the idea that parts of campus could possibly be ten times better than the average British home.
The university know this. They know that this is a ridiculous contemptuous act. But they also know they have a monopoly on campus housing. Unfortunately, if freshers want a proper first year they are simply going to have to swallow the sour pill of Heslington Hall. But we ask Cantor – how long do you think students will put up with this while our uni sinks lower academically?
Thumbs up to…
The Masonic Samaritan Fund’s great donation to Deafness Research UK for work pioneered and performed at the University of York. This week the fund awarded money for studies into spatial awareness problems for partially sighted people.
In the new post-recession era of penny pinching and budget cutting this is exactly the sort of academic research that the government and the university administration should be planning, encouraging and funding. Vision calls on Brian Cantor, the other bigwigs in Heslington Hall, our esteemed YUSU President Tim Ellis to lead the rousing call for more innovative and helpful work like this.
Too often we hear the cliched (and frankly offensive) comment of “What good is higher education?” It’s for great research and innovative outcomes like this, David Willetts (the universities minister) should be safe-guarding the brilliant work of Britain’s places of learning.
Thumbs down to…
The Gallery nightclub and its ridiculous, infantile, and downright stupid safety management. If a nightclub venue wants to make a pretty penny off both student and non-student customers it also has to take responsibility for those customers’ welfare.
How on earth does a nightclub see their crime rate rise over 1,000 per cent in only eight weeks? And what on earth were the bouncers doing on the doors? Checking everyone wasn’t wearing trainers and had a criminal record before they were allowed in? Giving people knives? Handing out pamphlets on how to pick pockets?
The story only gets worse when you learn that (among other incidents) a man left The Gallery with visible bite marks and another reveller was admitted entry while wielding a meat cleaver.
Everyone on campus should be asking if teeth marks and weaponry are worth a good night after you have paid extortionate entry fees. Vision predicts the answer will probably be no.