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gair rhydd
Taf Od: Cofio drwy ddefnyddio cerdd Cymraeg P32 >> gair rhydd | freeword Cardiff ’s student weekly Issue 1087 Monday 21st November 2016 Two more years of overcrowding on Arriva Trains Wales
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Survey reveals need for greater advertisement of SU safety schemes EXCLUSIVE Gabriella Mansell
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year on from the sexual assaults that took place in September 2015, Gair Rhydd investigate students’ perceptions of safety in Cathays and the wider Cardiff area. We sought to determine if students’ opinions have changed since these attacks and whether the student body believe that the Students’ Union’s schemes have helped to improve safety concerns. Following the survey undertaken by Gair Rhydd, the results were found to be mainly positive and any negativity was fairly constructive, mainly concerning how the Union could help students and improve current initiatives. Students were asked to rank their general feeling of safety following the attacks last year. 47% of student re-
spondents said that after the attacks their perception of safety was altered in a negative way. A further 8.3% said that their perception towards safety was altered in a strong negative way. Although this means that the majority of respondents felt less safe after the attacks, it also suggests people will hopefully be more aware of their personal safety in Cardiff at night. We asked students to state which safety schemes run by the Students’ Union (in conjunction with Cardiff Council and South Wales Police) that they knew of. 84% of students were aware of the Safe Taxi Scheme. However, only 32.7% of students were aware of increased security and police patrols. And only a further 36% were aware of the Student Safety Bus, which is one of the main initiatives run by South Wales Police. When questioned further about the lack of knowledge regarding safety schemes available, many students
voiced their concerns for increasing awareness. One student said: “I feel that the university has not adequately advertised the student safety bus scheme, which in my opinion would be something that most students would take advantage of ”. Another student added: “The Union should advertise the schemes more, for example, posters around the student union and the university. I had not heard of the Safety Bus, Safe Walk Home scheme and I think the Safe Taxi Home scheme needs further clarification”. An additional student commented: “Advertise the schemes more, they all sound like good ideas but I’ve barely heard or seen any of them advertised around campus”. The schemes that are being implemented by the Students’ Union to increase student safety are clearly some really useful and well thought out ini-
tiatives. However, it is widely agreed that they need promoting further if they are to meet their potential. Students where also questioned about if the schemes did in fact, make them feel safer. 43% of respondents agreed that they did feel safer with the Union’s schemes in place. Finally, the last question students were asked were if they thought the Union should be doing more to help. The response was generally positive with over 50%of respondents saying that the Union did not need to do anything additionally. Despite a large percentage of students not being aware of the full range of safety schemes available, the Student Union have several different initiatives.
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ommuters in Wales hae been told to expect two more years of problems with key Arriva Trains services. Transport expert Professor Stuart Cole of the University of South Wales has said that “there isn’t an easy answer” to the lack of trains that has resulted in long delays and crowded journeys for commuters. Professor Cole has advised that the only solution to current problems is to assign more trains to transport routes. However, there are only three companies in the UK that provide the sort of trains needed by Arriva, which has led to the current shortage. Professor Cole has cited the fact that there was “no aditional stock”, as well as the trains already being 30 years old when Arriva Trains took over in 2003, plus the spike in demand in 2006, as being the main causes of current issues to services.
Jenny Rathbone AM urge Cardiff Univerity to rethink
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elsh Assembly Member Jenny Rathbone has called upon Cardiff University to rethink the impending closure of the The Sir Geraint Evans Wales Heart Research Institute (WHRI), during a debate in the Senedd last week. The WHRI, donated by the Welsh public in 1999 specifically for heart research, is set to be closed due to a restructuring of the Medical School at Cardiff University. Jenny Rathbone AM said: “Whilst I recognize that Cardiff University must be free to choose which areas of research they should concentrate on, why when cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death in Wales, can we allow Cardiff University to withdraw this critical support. They need to rethink this.” Hon President of the Welsh Cardiovascular Society, John Goodfellow, referred to a “culture of fear” among staff at the Medical School, and said: “it is very difficult to get senior academic staff to speak out publically because of what they perceive to be a threat to their jobs.”