Voice of Vision – Issue 228

Vision says…

The revelation that the University could not address accommodation deficiencies across campus is more than a little concerning for students. So much accommodation on campus, including parts of Derwent, James and the infamous Wentworth E block, are eyesores. No, worse than that. They look like Soviet prison cells crumbling to pieces. This may be a slight exaggeration, but the point stands that we have incomprehensibly poor university accommodation for the 21st century. People talk about why York has fallen out of the top ten universities in the UK;  take a look at our Roses rivals, Lancaster University. Almost all on-campus accommodation is excellent value and modern, not the crumbling 1960s mess we’re left with here. Talking to people living in these places, it is clear they are not best pleased with what they have been offered, and many are once again unhappy with the selection process. Perhaps the best example in recent years has been Fairfax House. What is now York St John accommodation, “the forgotten block” only served to solidify student determination to fight for a better deal in the face of adversity. We hope such feelings will be a thing of the past and the university can confront the issue soon.

Thumbs up to…

RAG! It seems the volunteering arm of YUSU is scaling greater heights with every passing year, as some superb projects have been lined up. Not only does this include the high-profile expedition to scale Mount Kilimanjaro and a walk along the Great Wall of China, but also a whole host of other exciting activities going on. This includes increased collaboration with other UK universities, for example as part of the ‘Mega Raid’ for Oxfam. This will strengthen RAG’s ties with other institutions, ensuring bigger and better events can be organised in future. This can only benefit increasingly ambitious students and should go a long way to fulfilling Chris West’s manifesto promise to increase the number of fundraising events with RAG. Also encouraging of late has been the proliferation of college RAG events, most recently seen during the attempted world spooning attempt earlier this month organised by James and Alcuin.

Thumbs down to…

Second and third year Halifax footballers. Once again, the college has been punished for their ridiculous behaviour on their “World Tour” social at the end of last year, which caused havoc across campus. Security services were alerted by their stupid, selfish actions, which involved damage to the Courtyard and the Library. Of course, not all second and third years committed such offences, and it is likely only a small minority went beyond the line. It is time for these offenders to step forward so the university can punish them properly; otherwise they are damaging their college’s reputation as exemplified by this term’s ban.