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Nov 18
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Queen Mary students angered by price of campus theatre hire

By London Student, University of London News
Queen Mary's Great Hall Theatre

Queen Mary’s Great Hall Theatre

Student societies at Queen Mary are angry at being told that in order to use their campus’ theatre space, they will have to pay the corporate rate of £357 a day.

The Queen Mary Theatre Company (QMTC), a student society, was quoted £2,500 of “internal charges” for a seven-day hire of the recently refurbished great hall.

These prices prevent students from developing their own abilities, according to Wai Wan Choy, co-president of QMTC. He said it is “ridiculous considering it’s a college-owned venue but has been priced out of range for many student societies and groups”.

The rates compare unfavourably to those of other University of London colleges. University College London (UCL) offers twelve weeks of free student and staff use for their equivalent-sized venue.

Queen Mary’s theatre space, which seats up to 770 people, was officially re-opened in February following a £6.3 million refurbishment, but has since been mainly used for college lectures and commercial out-of-college hire.

The college was also only willing to offer corporate rates when the Queen Mary Student’s Union (QMSU) attempted to book the venue for their upcoming winter ball.

According to a member of the winter ball committee, the union attempted “to negotiate prices”, but the quote given by the college forced the union to resort to hiring a third-party venue off-campus which was less expensive and had a higher capacity.

Sarah Sarwar, president of QMSU, said it was important that the space “can be available to student groups”.

She added: “The union doesn’t have any official comment on [the pricing] yet, but the internal charges strike me as so bizarre”.

The college defended the internal hire charges by claiming that the venue requires considerable resources to maintain and that consequently “internal users need to contribute financially to its upkeep and the cost of hosting events”.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 4 (18/11/2013)

Oct 28
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News In Brief – 28th October Issue

By London Student, News In Brief

London Student Header

Firefighters March Against Cuts

Firefights demonstrated in London this month against fire service cuts and changed in pension arrangements.

A march on 16 October, arranged by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), started on Malet Street, near the University of London Union, and made its way through the city to Westminster Central Hall.

Some in the crowd, who braved wet weather conditions, brandished signs saying “hands off our pensions”. Other wore T-shirts with the caption “elderly firefighters at work”, in a parody of the elderly crossing the road sign.

The protesters oppose government plans to cut funding to fire services and change pension arrangements so that firefighter will have to work until they are 60, rather than the current age of 55.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, told demonstrators that the coalition was putting the country at risk by slashing funding and “forcing firefighters to work beyond the age at which they can physically do the job”.

Police tried to stop anti-facist club night, organisers say

The Metropolitan Police have been accused of attempting to cancel an anti-facist event held at the University of London Union on 12 October.

The organisers of the night told the Leopard newspaper that police tried to “pressure” acts not to attend and rang the venue to warn “unsavoury characters” would attend. They suggested that police faction might have been triggered by the offer of free entry to attendants with a bail-sheet from the anti-facist demonstration in Whitechapel last month.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 3 (28/10/2013)

Oct 28
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University's survey on future of ULU criticised

By London Student, University of London News
University of London Union Building on Malet Street

University of London Union Building on Malet Street

A University of London survey released this month asking for opinions on what should replace its students union, which is set to close next year, has been condemned by the students’ union itself.

The questionnaire is meant to find out from students which services they currently use at the University of London Union (ULU) building and which they could do without. The university has voiced an intention to turn the premises into a ‘student centre’ from 2014, apparently removing its elected officers but keeping some services.

There is no option on the survey students can select if they want to see the building continuing to be run by elected officers.

Moreover, anyone can fill in the online survey, launched on 12 October, since no university password is required. By using a different browser, a person can participate in it multiple times.

Michael Chessum, ULU president, said that the survey placed students “in the absurd position” of filling out a survey “in which they can say anything except what the vast majority of them must be thinking: that we want democratic control of the building”.

At last Thursday’s meeting of the ULU senate, the student unions of Birkbeck, Goldsmiths and the School of Oriental and African Studies said they would “definitely not” be sending the survey to their members.

Chessum said ULU will run a referendum to rival the university’s survey next month.

At time of going to print, the university was unavailable to comment.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 3 (28/10/2013)

Oct 07
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Pro-choice Goldsmiths students challenge anti-abortionism

By London Student, University of London News
Goldsmiths, University of London's Richard Hoggart Building

Goldsmiths, University of London’s Richard Hoggart Building

Goldsmiths students launched a counter-demonstration at the end of September against anti-abortion campaigners who demonstrated next to the college’s campus in New Cross.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) handed out antiabortion flyers with slogans such as “abortion is about a child not a choice” on 25th September on Dixon Road, between the Richard Hoggart building and the library.

Members of Goldsmiths Students’ Union (GSU) responded by creating makeshift pro-choice placards and following the antiabortion group down New Cross Road.

They also handed out Abortion Rights leaflets and made clear to passers-by that the SPUC campaigners were not affiliated to Goldsmiths.

Karis Handson, one of GSU’s women’s officers, said that the SPUC’s material was “offensive and potentially distressing to students due to its moralistic and sensationalist language and judgemental framing of women who have chosen to have abortions”.

Later in the day SPUC published a blog post condemning the union’s response.

It said: “What began as some simple leafleting ended with us being followed by a group of 15 aggressive pro-abortion students”.

The SPUC also claimed they were smeared by the student union’s newspaper, The Leopard. The group said that they had been situated on public footpaths off-campus and “harassed” by members of the union’s feminist society.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 2 (07/10/2013)

Oct 07
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Unions angered by NUS failure to consult

By London Student, University of London News

NUS Logo

The National Union of Students (NUS) has come under criticism for not consulting a sufficient number of London’s students’ unions on its plans for a new London-wide body.

Rachael Mattey, NUS vice-president, named only four students’ unions as consulted parties for the planned ‘NUS London’ area when questioned by the National Executive Council (NEC).

The only unions consulted over the new proposals were City University Union, Greenwich University Union, King’s College London Students’ Union, and the London School of Economics Union.

A London students’ union source said that NUS officers predominantly consulted sabbatical officers “they would get the right answers from”.

A statement being circulated among London union officers complains that there was no mention of an ‘NUS London’ area last month, when the interim executive of the London Union of Students (LUS) met with an NUS staff member.

Upon seeing the NUS preliminary plans, the interim executive of LUS submitted an amendment pushing for a more full-blooded union. However, the NEC rejected its hearing 17 votes to 13.

Mattey commented: “Ultimately the decision about whatever additional representation exist sits with London students’ unions. Following the NEC, NUS will continue to further consult with them on plans”.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 2 (07/10/2013)

Sep 16
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News in Brief – 16th September Issue

By London Student, National News, News In Brief

London Student Header

Student Loans Company makes fortune from calls

Over a million pounds in revenue was raised by the Student Loans Company (SLC) from 0845 numbers over the last five years. The numbers can charge up to 41p a minute from mobiles, leaving some students and graduates out of pocket. The SLC has attempted to justify the money made by claiming that the charges lessen the impact on public finances.

College drops burka ban after outrage

Birmingham Metropolitan College scrapped a ban on Muslim face veils last Thursday, less than twenty-four hours before a planned demonstration. The U-turn came after a petition opposing the ban received over eight thousand signatures in two days. The college said it needed to introduce the ban “to be able to confirm an individual’s identity in order to maintain safeguarding and security”.

Oxford Union cancels EDL founder’s invite

English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson has had his invitation to speak at the Oxford Union cancelled after the claimed that ‘security’ costs to host him could not be covered. The Union has a reputation for inviting controversial speakers, though current president Tom Rutland welcomed the decision stating: “There is no value in inviting or hosting hate speakers in the name of ‘free speech’ when they themselves do not believe in free speech nor a free society”.

Students form credit union

Undergraduates at the University of Northampton have set up a joint initiative with the town’s Credit Union to form the first credit union for students. The new organisation, which offers financial services such as savings account and loans to students, is intended as an alternative to short-term payday loan firms.

250 lose out on York accommodation

The University of York has forced 250 undergraduate freshers to look for off-campus accommodation, after previously guaranteeing them spaces at their halls of residence. The university has offered free bus passes to the students who have branded staff as “rude” and “sarcastic”. Incoming student Abi Creak said a staff member told her to “get a mug of vodka”. She commented “how’s a mug of vodka going to help when I have no house?”.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 1 (16/09/2013)

Sep 16
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London universities perform well in QS World Rankings

By London Student, University of London News

Senate House Entrance

Four London universities have been placed in the top one hundred of the 2013 QS World Rankings. The new list, released on 10th September, showed University College London and Imperial College placed in the top ten, both above the University of Oxford. UCL came in fourth place and Imperial in fifth, followed by Oxford in sixth place. The table saw King’s College, London edge into the top 20 for the first time. The London School of Economics was moved up one place to 68th in the rankings. Queen Mary moved up 32 places to 115th. Other UK universities which made the cut were the University of Cambridge, which came in 3rd place, the University of Edinburgh, in 17th place, Bristol in 30th and Manchester in 33rd.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 1 (16/09/2013)

Sep 16
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University attempts to ban protest on campus

By London Student, University of London News
3Cosas Arrest

Chalker Arrest outside ULU

The University of London declared restrictions on protests on its campus, following the prosecution of a student protesting in support of outsource University workers as part of the 3Cosas campaign.

A letter sent by the University’s Chief Operating Officer, Chris Cobb, to University of London Union (ULU) president Michael Chessum stated that management is “no longer willing to tolerate demonstrations” on parts of its campus, including Senate House, the administrative centre of the University.

The letter continued that if these restrictions were ignored, the university would consider protesters to be trespassing and take “necessary legal measures to prevent and prosecute such trespass”.

It also claimed that 3Cosas protests, which call for pensions, sick and holiday pay for outsourced staff on the same terms as directly employed staff, intimidated and frustrated students, staff and visitors using Senate House.

The warning was sent following police officers being called onto campus after a University of London student wrote “sick pay, holidays, pensions now” in chalk on the Senate House foundation stone.

Police arrested the student on one charge of criminal damage and two of assaulting a police officer on 16th July.

In a preliminary hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court last month, the 24-year-old denied causing criminal damage in excess of £600. She also denied assaulting an officer inside ULU and another on Malet Street.

The maximum penalty for assaulting an officer is six months’ imprisonment, whilst the maximum penalty for criminal damage in this case is three months’ imprisonment.

The student represented herself at the hearing, claiming that her legal aid had not come through in time. Outside the court demonstrators protested the charges.

Daniel Cooper, ULU’s vice- president, claimed that there were around forty demonstrators. Following the proceedings, he said: “I am disappointed the case wasn’t thrown out, but it was expected”. He also reiterated ULU’s earlier stance that “the university must issue an apology, and intervene with the authorities”.

ULU described her arrest as “a disgrace”. It added: “Chalk can be washed off – that is the whole point of chalk”.

Following the hearing, the student was granted bail and will face trial on 17th October at Tottenham Magistrates’ Court.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 1 (16/09/2013)

Sep 16
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Queen Mary Students' Union overrules members on sports team merger

By London Student, University of London News

Queen Mary Students’ Union’s Board of Trustees has overruled a vote at its Annual Members’ Meeting to keep the sports teams of the college and its medical school separate.

Members voted in favour of Queen Mary and Barts and The London continuing to compete separately in British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) competitions in February. However, the trustees decided in June that the two will compete as a “single entity” under the name “Queen Mary (Barts and The London Medics)” from 2013/14 onwards.

Their decision follows a BUCS review which decided to prevent medical students competing for both their medical school and parent university.

Keeping the teams at Queen Mary separate would make fielding women’s rugby and basketball teams impossible according to Kayah Abdulmajed, the incoming Mile End sports officer. In the context of the union’s Diversity and Equality Policy, the trustees ruled that this would be unacceptable.

But Andrew Smith, the outgoing vice-president of the Barts and The London Student Association (BLSA), called for a delay on overriding the members’ vote until a “more objective review” took place.

He said keeping the teams separate “preserves the identity and heritage of both institutions.”

Sarah Sawar, the incoming union president, disagreed and supported the trustees’ decision. She said: “We have individuality across the campuses and that is something special, but that does not mean that we are separate.”

Michael Woods, president of Queen Mary’s men’s rugby, told QMessenger: “We fail to understand why BUCS have felt the need to enforce change when we feel there was no problem with the previous system”.

Eleanor Matthews, president of Queen Mary’s women’s rugby, voiced support for the trustees’ decision. She told the newspaper that “the other option would have completely devastated mine and several other sports club.”

Ivy Lim, from Queen Mary’s women’s basketball team, shared this view. She said that had the teams remained separate, “in terms of club development, our good work from the past three years would’ve been in jeopardy”.

Adrian Polglase, London Student: Issue 1 (16/09/2013)

Sep 16
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Struggle for ULU legacy

By London Student, University of London News

Representatives from London’s students’ unions are at odds with the National Union of Students (NUS) over what should replace the University of London Union (ULU).

Following a University of London Council vote to shut ULU in May, sabbatical officers from unions in London met in July and founded the London Union of Students (LUS). It elected an eleven-member executive committee, with two of those members from unions outside the University of London.

The intention of the LUS’s founders is that, in the likely absence of ULU, it will be a union in the full-blooded sense, with democratically elected full-time officers.

ULU’s press release announcing the new union also said: “It is possible that LUS could lay claim as successor to ULU’s headquarters on Malet Street”.

The NUS held a rival meeting this month, proposing NUS London – an organisation that would be “democratic in nature” but lack full-time officers.

The proposal, made at a meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC), also made no mention of ULU’s headquarters.

A London union source described the NUS’s proposal as “watered down”, suggesting the NUS was reluctant to support a full union because it would be dominated by the left.

Michael Chessum, president of ULU and a member of the LUS’s executive committee, pointed out areas where he disagreed with the NUS plan.

He said: “The relationship between the new pan-London structure and ULU and its building is not yet formally established… There is also not yet a consensus on exactly what kind of presence full-time elected officers should have in the new structure”.

The proposed NUS London body claims to be “politically autonomous” and will act as “a legitimate voice” for London’s students. There will be an attempt to merge the two proposals when the NEC votes on an amendment tomorrow.

Adrian Polglase & James Burley, London Student: Issue 1 (16/09/2013)

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