3 12/2011
free
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |1
UCSU is now on
@Cumbriasu
@Lorricumbriasu @RachelUCSU @Liamcumbriasu @Tomcumbriasu Follow Your Sabbs You can now follow your Sabbatical officers on twitter to know exactly where they are and when you can talk to them. You can also contact them through their twitter accounts to make suggestions on how they can help you!
Follow UCSU on Facebook at facebook.com/CumbriaSU
The ‘Success!’ Awards
4
Volunteering with the National Trust
6
Chlamydia Testing
8
SU Advice
Two Whales with One Shadow
12
A Poem by Alicia May Hughes
Unified
Submit your artwork for our front cover Each cover of The Scene has a theme, the next issue’s is the
14
The SU Relationship Agreement
number 4. If you feel you can illustrate the number 4 in an interesting and creative way,
Lancaster Street Reps
18
Yellow Door Lets
20
The Students Guide to Carlisle
24
Your County Needs Your Views
26
or if you have any existing work that loosely ties in with the theme then please email it to Student.Union@cumbria.ac.uk and you could be featured on the cover as well as inside the magazine. It is a great chance to have your work viewed by 13,000 of our members, as well as getting a hard copy of The Scene for your portfolio.
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |3
Has someone had a major positive impact on your student experience? Maybe a lecturer who you can’t wait to be taught by, a Student Rep who has changed things for the better, or a cleaner who makes you smile every day? Well this is your chance to celebrate them!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
National Student Survey (NSS) award Personal tutor award Lecturer of the year award Support Staff of the year award Out of sight award Community award Student Academic Rep of the Year Volunteer of the Year Student group leader of the Year Elected Student Union Officer of the Year
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |5
Volunteering with the National Trust Last week saw the first one day volunteering event of the Academic year, bringing together students from the Penrith, Lancaster and Carlisle campuses for a Conservation Day with the National Trust. We arrived at Arnside Knott, Cumbria Coast and had a short walk down to Heathwaite where we would be volunteering for the day. Heathwaite is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (designated by the government), so as landowners the National Trust has a responsibility to maintain the nature conservation interest of the site. Much of this interest relates to the mosaic of limestone grassland, scrub and woodland habitats which support many rare and threatened species (eg. Green-winged Orchids, High Brown Fritillary butterflies, Southern Wood ants, breeding Lesser Whitethroat and other varieties of song bird). Without management work, natural succession would lead to the entire site becoming covered in trees and the loss of many of these species. One of the main management tools is grazing using cattle (which eat tree seedlings and help to control the bramble), but this still has to be helped by direct cutting work.
This meant the first part of the day was to have the dreaded but needed Health and Safety talk which was actually a lot of fun as we were shown how to use hand saws and loppers and were given safety advice on the huge bonfire we were going to build. The day consisted of volunteers working in different areas, some would gather up the cut material, some would cut it up even smaller (although once the fire got going we could throw huge parts of the trees on there) some would manage the fire and it was a brilliant production line that got everyone working together as a team and spirits were very high
doing this is to take any logs away to be used/
despite the slightly muggy weather and the
sold for firewood, and to burn up the smaller
physical nature of the tasks. One volunteer
branches. To avoid cooking the soil and
said “It was good fun and everyone was
allowing ash to nutrify the ground, we burn this
really friendly”.
brash on metal sheets raised off the ground on a base of logs.
It was nice to be able to see the difference our help made as we cleared a lot of material
Overall, a brilliant day and a great way to start
throughout the day and we were informed
the year’s volunteering projects.
about the positive effects of our volunteering. Another student said “really fun day, the
The next volunteering event will take place on
National Trust man was good and it was a
Saturday 29th October with the Alzheimer’s
really nice place to spend the day doing
Society, doing activities with their service users
worthwhile work”.
such as baking, painting and games, and also just sitting talking with clients, perhaps looking
If the cut material was left on the grassland,
at a newspaper with them. It will take place
it would rot down and add nutrients and
11am – 3pm in Carlisle and transport is being
humus to the soil. Because the diversity of
provided from other campuses.
the limestone flora relies on thin, nutrient-poor soils this would result in the loss of many of the
For more information please contact
special plants and the insects which rely on
Kati Brown on 01228 616164
them: therefore we had to remove the cut
Please visit our blog at
material, and the most effective way of
http://ucsuvolunteering.wordpress.com/
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk/volunteering
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |7
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me... You may have seen the screening team around campus over the past year, we offer opportunistic Chlamydia testing. If you have tested with us you may have benefited from acquiring a fetching pair of new undies, but more importantly you will have found out whether or not you had Chlamydia. Chlamydia is the most common Sexually Transmitted Infection amongst 15 – 24 year olds. The thing about Chlamydia is that you
You can test at a variety of venues locally;
don’t always know that you have it. Over
contraceptive clinics, GP Surgeries, Sexual
three quarters of females and half of males
health clinics. You can also pick up a postal
will have no signs and symptoms. So it is really
testing kit at the Students Union.
important that if you have been sexually active you get tested, we also recommend
So – It’s easy to test, easy to treat,
that you test again after each change in
it really is BEST2KNOW.
partner. Last year around one in fourteen people tested positive for Chlamydia.
www.best2know.co.uk
If you do have Chlamydia and you don’t get treated, you may go on to develop Pelvic inflammatory disease, certain types of arthritis, ectopic pregnancy and Chlamydia can also make you infertile. The good news is that Chlamydia is easy to treat with antibiotics.
... An iPod? A Laptop?
An STD?
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |9
TO
ST O
UT
OF
RISTMAS CH
Y
DEC
VERY B E
IS
THE
1 ST
ET
ORD ER B
G
YOUR CAR
D
TH
THIS CHRISTMAS my extra card bought for me...
16 £20 £ 20 nta 50 £1 1 a £ S t e Secr 7 family r o f 70 £5 £ s t n e s s Pre friend r o f s £25 t Presen for me iddles £4 s t n e s e Pr for T e s £20 £18 u o m y y To r Jonni friends £70 o f t n e res r Un can you afford not to? For only £11 you canPcut the cost offo Christmas s t n e s Pre Visit nus.org.uk
www.coast-stores.com
All details correct at time of printing November 2011
Unisex Hoodies £24.00 or £21.60 with an nus extra card!
Ladies Hoodies £28.00 or £25.20 with an nus extra card!
Hoodies and much more available in The Shop on Lancaster campus.You can also purchase hoodies from your local Students’ Union office or online at www.thestudentsunion.org.uk/shop.
Toilets Smarties Lounge
The old SU Building Entrance
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |11
Student Submissions We love celebrating the successes of our fellow students here at the Students’ Union. One way we do that is by publishing work from across the Uni. To see your work featured in The Scene send examples to
Student.Union@cumbria.ac.uk
Two Whales with One Shadow A Poem by Alicia May Hughes
Together they are so beautiful, How gracefully they do dance, In this mysterious ocean, They are the art of romance. They create a magnificent spiral, Light bouncing off each other, She twirls magically through the water, Closely followed by her lover. And they speak in their own language, Sounds so precious and so clear, They are in this world of nothingness, And yet they are so near. They swim in and out of the spotlights, They are the only sound, In a world completely private, Never to be found. They create a silhouette of love, Of friendship and of life, Two whales with one shadow, Husband and Wife.
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |13
UNIFIED
SU Relationship Agreement The partnership between the University of Cumbria’s Board of Governors and Students’ Union (SU) is blossoming, creating a better deal for students.
Two representatives from the Board and the
include a thorough induction to governance
SU today launched the improved partnership
for students and a mentoring scheme for
by signing a relationship agreement, one of
student representatives, will be delivered over
ten recommended actions in support of
the next 12 months.
strong governance. The relationship agreement will work as a The Good Governance Guide, supported by
benchmark to guide those involved in the
the national group Committee of University
union’s governance in the future, ensuring
Chairs (CUC), recommends ten actions
sustainability for the positive partnership.
to support the development of a strong governance relationship between a university board and its Students’ Union. The aim of the agreement is to form the basis of a strong and sustainable governance relationship between the union and the university. The ten recommendations, which
For information: The Committee of University Chairs (CUC) provides a forum for discussion for university chairs. Its primary purpose is to enable chairs to contribute their distinctive experience, knowledge and perspective as laypersons and to consider matters which concern all universities.
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |15
VWXGHQW safety look after yourself
when on a night out, drink responsibly, take care of yourself & each other.
look after your stuff
keep your mobile, ipod, laptop & possessions safe.
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scan the code below into your smart phone or visit: www.cumbria.police.uk
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www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |17
The Union Community team hosted a community event with the aim to get more students and local residents to meet and get to know each other. The event took place on a Tuesday night at the Lancaster campus and was well attended with around 40 attendees. Residents in the streets surrounding the University’s Lancaster campus, particularly those in the John O’Gaunt ward, were invited to come along to the event. Activities during the evening included a number of ‘stereotype’ breaking games, a suggestion wall of how the Union and students can help in the local community, refreshments, a free raffle and a Recycling & Waste disposal stall prompted by feedback from our previous event. We also took the opportunity to showcase some of the brilliant work our students do in the community and also to promote new volunteering opportunities. The event went well, with students and residents talking to each other and putting themselves forward as volunteer Street Reps. ‘Street reps’ is an exciting new volunteering project being set up by the University of Cumbria Students’ Union. The main aim for the
project is to ‘To Provide a new opportunity for
ownership over their streets and work together
community members to interact in a positive
to achieve ideal solutions like lowering crime
way’. We strongly believe the majority of issues
rates, improving the street’s appearance and
which may occur on your street are likely to
the general cohesion and community feel.
be due to a lack of communication between
Where there is a negative stimulus the scheme
community members; students and local
can act in a similar way to restorative justice
residents. We want to break down potential
by allowing the opportunity to those involved,
barriers which stop people talking to one
to talk in a controlled environment to resolve
another by recruiting both local and student
the problems.
residents to the scheme. We are looking for as many people to put The concept of the project is that within
themselves forward as possible. So if you
each target street, ie. a street with a high
would like to help improve your street and
student and local resident population; there
get involved I would love to hear from you!
is a student street rep and a local resident street rep who both act as diplomats in trying
Get in touch via
to resolve current issues on their streets. The
tom.underwood@cumbria.ac.uk
project provides an opportunity for local
@tomcumbriasu
residents and student residents to really take
01524 590817
Local residents are delighted with the antics of Union Community Sabb Tom Underwood. www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |19
Yellow Door The Easy Choice Your first year in University can mean a lot of big decisions. Choose a university, choose a course, choose your classes, choose your mates, choose your landlord, choose where to live, choose your insurance, choose your furniture, choose your contents insurance, choose your TV, choose your broadband, choose a take away. By Choosing Yellow Door Lets for your student accommodation you can choose a much simpler life. And simple is good. Yellow Door Lets takes care of these hard choices for you with the majority of their properties including
And sometimes things do go wrong. Yellow
free broadband, free contents insurance,
Door Lets take their responsibilities to you very
free flat screen TV, they even include the
seriously. Their track record speaks for itself,
basic furniture you need. All you need to do
100% of survey respondents had never had a
is sign up and settle in. In a recent survey 93%
problem contacting Yellow Doors. Yellow Doors
of Yellow Doors tenants said that the state of
deals with problems as quickly as possible.
repairs were very good, good or ok. 88% of
They understand that being a student means
tenants said they would recommend Yellow
being busy, 98% responded positively when
doors to their mates.
asked if they had any problems with paying their rent, or over the tenancy agreement,
As the name implies you can identify any
how easy had it been to come to a
properties managed by Yellow Doors by
satisfactory arrangement.
looking for the yellow doors which can be found around Lancaster. Their properties are
Choosing Yellow Doors is choosing the easy
conveniently close to both the University of
choice. All that you need to decide is, what
Cumbria, the city centre and also
take-away to have tonight, which film to
Sugar House.
watch on telly, and when to finish that essay.
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |21
FURS’DAYS 2 FOR 1 ON ALL FAUX FURS’DAYS COCKTAILS ALL NIGHT YOUR OFFICIAL UCSU NIGHT!
FAUX NEW YEARS
CONCRETE, LOWTHER STREET, CARLISLE TEL:01228 52400 WWW.CLUBCONCRETE.COM
THURSDAY 15TH DECEMBER
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |23
The Students Guide to Carlisle
contact us by popping into any of our SU
Shopping
instance an American football team,
I know there are plenty of you who are
set up and currently trains on Sundays at
shopaholics, Carlisle is a nice and easy place
Sheep Mount Sports Complex just behind
to shop and with the NUS deals and discounts
Bitts Park. If you take a look around Carlisle
flying around everywhere why not make the
there is so much to do you just may not of
most of it. The Lanes shopping centre offers a
noticed them yet, it is definitely worth
wide range of shops ranging from accessories
a look around.
offices located at the Fusehill Street and Brampton Road campuses or email me on s0802572@uni.cumbria.ac.uk and I will be happy to help anyone set up a society where possible. Don’t forget there are a number of activities to do around Carlisle for
www.cumbriabafl.co.uk/REIVERS/ has been
through to sports clothing and equipment. As well as 50 other places to spend your pennies. And when you are all done you can even wash it all down with a milkshake. Advice to all is to not be afraid to ask if each store does NUS discount, if you don’t ask you won’t get!!! If you haven’t got yourself an NUS card
Bars and nights out and entz
yet get on it… just visit www.nus.org.uk As I am sure you all know by now the SU have
Clubs and societies
two bars associated with us for students nights, these are Walkabout and Concrete. So what
Here at the Students Union we put a lot of
do they offer? Both bars offer an awesome
effort into providing the best experience for all
night with I love tom’s mum on the Tuesday at
of our students. In Carlisle we have a number
walkabout and Faux Furs’day on at Concrete.
of societies and sports teams available for your enjoyment, these range from societies such as the music appreciation society which is currently being set up as well as the basketball, football and netball teams. However we are fully aware that we cannot accommodate everyone. If you are looking to get involved in societies please see our website (which has just been revamped). If there is something you fancy doing which we do not currently have available please
I love tom’s mum was launched as the students night this year and it offers great music and various themed nights throughout the year, including games nights and night such like Mexican night. Concrete offers a club atmosphere with two rooms available with two different styles of music to tickle everyone’s fancy.
What does Carlisle have to offer on Entertainment? Carlisle plays host to a number of great acts ranging from comedians to plays through to pantomimes every year various acts walk through the doors of the sand centre t6o see whats on throughout the year visit
www.thesandscentre.co.uk/what-s-on/.
www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |25
Your County Needs Your Views! A Cumbria research organisation is recruiting young people to join their online panel and share their views in return for Amazon vouchers.
about the things that mean a lot to the young people who live and work in Cumbria. The surveys will be short and will cover all kinds of subjects such as green issues, employment prospects, celebrity culture, music and politics
Wildwood Research and Marketing are
– just about anything!”
looking for people aged 18-24 to sign up to a new initiative, where they can have their
Once the Youth Panel has developed it is
opinions heard. Once established, the panel
intended to invite its members to future focus
members will receive surveys on a variety of
groups and other engagement events.
topics and will be rewarded for their time.
“The views of young people are sought out by
Wildwood hopes to collect a diverse number
both businesses and public bodies throughout
of thoughts and opinions, giving an accurate
the county – so joining this panel may well
representation of the views young people
influence the way these services
have in the county. Whether in fulltime
are provided”
employment, studying or currently out of work, everyone within the specified age bracket is
If you would like to join the
invited to apply.
panel you can sign up at
Andrew Woods, Director of Wildwood said
www.wildwood-research.co.uk/panel or for further information contact: Andrew Woods 01228 711325
“we’re looking for all young people’s views on a wide variety of topics, but most importantly
"
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www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |27
WEDNESDAY 7TH DECEMBER
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www.thestudentsunion.org.uk |31