student rights
DIVISIONS THS funding NYMBLE
chapters vs. everyone funding WHO RUNS ths?
MEXIT?
MONEY
rights everyone RUNS ths? DIVISIONS loans ths?
why who WHO RUNS ths? decisions decisions
Editor in Chief Benjamin Javitz
Responsible Distributor
Benjamin Javitz
Layout Anna Pavliashvili, Benjamin Javitz, Ludvig Kalinovski, Méline Parent, Roisin Callaghan, Sandra Kåhre, Tingyu Su
Cover Page Roisin Callaghan
Print Norra Skåne Offset
Paper Pages: 100g Amber Graphic
Cover: 250g Multiart Silk
About Osqledaren
Osqledaren has since 1959 been the magazine of THS, the student union at KTH.
Published quarterly with around 10 000 copies per issue, the magazine is distributed to Student Union members. Our mission is to cover, investigate, and review the happenings within THS and KTH.
Osqledaren continues reporting during periods between magazine releases: Online at osqledaren.se.
Statements appearing in the magazine should be, unless otherwise indicated, regarded purely as the opinions of Osqledaren.
Subscription
You do not want to get a physical copy of Osqledaren sent to your mailbox? Log into My Page/Min Sida on ths.kth.se and unsubscribe under My Profil/Min Profil!
You expected a copy of Osqledaren but didn’t receive it? Check that your address in Ladok is up to date and that it is a valid Swedish address. If you still didn’t get Osqledaren at home, you can pick up your copy in Nymble or read Osqledaren digitally, at issuu.com/osqledaren.
Contributions
Do you want to contribute to our next magazine? Write an insändare and email us at osqledaren@ths.kth.se
The editorial staff has the right to refuse submitted material at any time.
OSQLEDAREN #3
Corrections
OL#2 - Page 11
We mistakenly implied that Thomas Edison was still alive in 1984 - in fact he created the first cat video in 1884 and died in 1931!
OL#3 - Page 28-29
We know it’s a bit chaotic - feel free to draw on the page and send us a photo of your version!
Editorial Deadline
The editorial deadline for OL#3 was 22 February 2023. Send to press This edition of Osqledaren was sent to print on 10 March 2023.
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Adress Osqledaren
Tekniska Högskolans Studentkår 114 28 Stockholm
Produced with love in Nymble at KTH Valhallavägen
One of the biggest realizations of my year in the Management Team (Kårledningen) at THS is that almost every issue here is connected to or caused by communication - too intransparent, too incestuous, too much going on behind closed doors, too much gossiping. When we are not being open and honest to each other, we slowly drift apart - but when we are, it definitely hurts sometimes.
This edition of Osqledaren will hopefully at least sting a little bit. We will talk about how it feels to be alone and ostracized in a group we always considered friends. How society often pits us against each other in videogame-like fashion. We will talk about the disbelief some students feel when KTH talks about being green - and ask the university president what he thinks he’s going to do with the next 6 years in his Teknikringen tower. We will show you what it feels like to be in a chapter that is physically distant from THS - and what it looks like to lead one that doesn’t get enough out of being right in the middle of campus. Final ly, we ask the Management Team: what is the biggest divide you see in student life, right now?
This is not the first time these things are talked about. At THS we often run around in circles - as students engaged in THS we are only really in the organi zation for 1 or 2, maybe 3 years. Until new people come in with new ideas, but also many of the same questions. Why is THS not transparent enough? Why does the communication with the THS staff & restaurant not work? Why do some chapters like THS and some don’t? Why do most students have no idea what THS is or does? Why do we always see the same faces in the
Board, the Management Team, the Election Committee or the Speaker’s Presidium? Why does no one else apply? Some of these questions are creeping towards a solution, while others are swept under the carpet, skeletons in our closets to be uncovered during the next spring cleaning.
This is what I am asking us to do: springclean a little bit. If not with fire, then with open and honest words. Osqledaren’s purpose has always been to uncover what people don't want to talk about - and after over almost 9 months in my position I am slowly starting to see the big lazy frog stretch its legs & the bubbles coming up to the surface. Who will be quicker? Will the water boil before the frog escapes? Will we decide to make the leap, make THS a more honest and open, transparent and accessible, progressive and sustainable organization? Or will we just stay where we are and
continue the bickering and complaining until our time here is over?
"Det vi vill att omslaget ska uppmana er till, är att tänka om och se potential i det som finns, samt hitta nya sätt att få sånt ni inte tycker om, att förändras och förbättras. [..] Allt går att förändra. Inget är för evigt, allt går att “bränna ner” och ur askan kan alltid något nytt att skapas."
"What we want the cover to encourage you to do is to rethink and see potential in what exists, and to find new ways to make the things you don't like change and improve. [..] Everything can be changed. Nothing is forever, everything can be "burned down" and from the ashes something new can always be created.", wrote Editor-in-chief Simon Sundin in 2018 when OL completely changed it's layout, design & logo and had a burning Nymble on the cover.
How do you as a THS member and student at KTH contribute to this? Do you want to help us make the necessary changes in student life at KTH? Then join your chapter boards and committees and associations. Go to both chapter & THS meetings and ask the tough questions. Apply for positions you are interested in, even if you think you won’t get them.
Don’t care about THS? Then we encourage you to take stock and maybe springclean in your own life! Think about the friend you haven’t checked up on, call your mom, try a new hobby, make some sourdough bread, go to the gym. Burn something down, then create something new.
Despite what you saw on the cover, THS is not burning. Of course not. Even if it was, it would probably be slowly simmering away without realizing like the famous frog in boiling water, instead of violently going up in flames. A lot of things at THS (and KTH) are going well! This magazine is not about those things.
Deus Ex: Man vs Machine 6
Ensam och omgiven av människor 10
Divide et Impera 12
Quarnevalen RELOADED 14
Schmeckversum 19
An Unintentional Exposé 20
Från skolbänken till sektionsmötet 24
Which Chapter are You? 26
Is Sustainability Sexy? 30
Surviving Inflation 31
Meet Anders Söderholm 32
KTH, or is it Valhallavägen? 38 22 sektioner – ett THS 40
Hej! Vad gör ni egentligen? /Osqledaren 42
THS Future - Boost Your Career 45
Hårt mot hårt! Konsten att härja smart 46
“Hasta la vista, baby” was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous catchphrase in Terminator 2. As a cyborg sent from the future to save humankind, his governing internal AI had managed to reach full sentience and an alarming level of fidelity. How close are we to synthesizing such sci-fi into reality? Let’s play a game. Parts of the following article have been written by an AI. Can you spot them?
TEXT DIANA CULINCU ILLUSTRATION TINGYU SU WITH THE HELP OF DALL·E 2
“Man vs Machine” is a timeless debate that has been a topic of discussion for centuries. In the digital age, this discussion has taken on a new form, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the increasing prevalence of machines in our daily lives. One of the most notable examples of this is the development of language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI, which utilizes cutting-edge AI technology to generate human-like responses to written prompts. With a size of over 175 billion parameters, ChatGPT is one of the largest and most advanced language models available today. The technology behind ChatGPT allows it to generate responses that are coherent, informative, and often indistinguishable from those produced by a human.
While the development of ChatGPT and other AI technologies has been a major boon for industries such as customer service and data analysis, it also raises questions about the role of machines in society and their relationship with humans. On one hand, AI has the potential to augment human capabilities and make our lives easier. For example, ChatGPT has been trained on vast amounts of data and can provide reliable answers to complex questions, freeing up time for human workers to focus on more creative and critical tasks.
On the other hand, the rise of machines like ChatGPT also raises concerns about the potential for automation to displace
human workers and the ethical implications of relying on machines to make decisions. For example, while it is designed to be neutral and impartial, the data it has been trained on may contain biases that can influence its responses. Furthermore, the sheer size and complexity of ChatGPT and other AI technologies can make it difficult for humans to understand how they reach their conclusions, potentially leading to decisions that are opaque and unpredictable.
To let the cat out of the bag, ALL the paragraphs above have been generated by an AI. Unbelievable, right? In just a few seconds, an AI could produce a coherent, informed, and researched chunk of text about a given topic, with a high enough level of fidelity to make a human-written text and a computer-generated one indistinguishable.
What does this AI hold for our future? I believe, it is still too early to tell. Several schools in the UK have already started re-designing their approach to assignments, switching from traditional homework formats to research and quizbased ones. Even at KTH, the faculty is divided to give due recognition to AI-based solutions to assignments or discourage its use altogether. Ac countability and originality can clear ly be questioned in an AI-dependent system. Not only academia but even other white-collar jobs like journal ism, graphic design, data entry, data processing, etc. will soon bear the brunt.
To conclude, the relationship between man and machine is complex and multi-faceted. While AI and language models have the potential to augment human capabilities and make our lives easier, they also raise important questions about the role of machines in society and the ethical implications of relying on them to make decisions. As AI continues to evolve, it's important that we approach these technologies with caution and consideration for their impact on society.
As a takeaway, the impact of language models and AI on the job market will depend on how they are adopted and integrated into different in dustries and the degree to which they can perform tasks previously accomplished by humans.
But for the moment, an ever-ready and always-available sci-fi tutor (ChatGPT or Google’s Bard) solving our assignments with a click of a mouse sounds viciously goooood!!!
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Hur kommer det sig att man i vissa grupper blir den osynliga vännen? Varför finns det ibland plats för en, ibland inte? Beroende på sammanhang kan man gå från superintressant till sistahandsval, men är det verkligen orimligt att förvänta sig att bli sedd?
Jag är osynlig. På något sätt hamnar jag alltid sist i kön, alltid längst ut i kanten på gruppfoton, förutsatt att jag faktiskt råkar närvara när de tas. Jag blir ofta avbruten och förväntas vara tyst så att den andra personen kan prata klart. När det inte finns plats för alla att gå bredvid varandra är det jag som går bakom gruppen, och om jag har en bra idé så kommer folk senare att minnas att den var någon annans. För varje ny person som tillkommer så blir jag lite mindre intressant, lite mer satt åt sidan. Jag hamnar ofta i situationer där folk pratar om ämnen jag inte vet något om, där jag har svårt att hänga med och bidra, och det känns som att de knappt märker att jag är där. När det så småningom blir för jobbigt och jag avlägsnar mig från situationen, tycks det ta en lång stund innan de märker att jag är borta.
Jag har ofta saker att säga, men kommer sällan in i konversationen förrän man har bytt samtalsämne. När jag väl försöker bidra tycks min åsikt sällan intressera folk, utan jag känner mig istället ännu mer oviktig och önskar att jag bara hållit tyst. När folk runtomkring mig får förhinder och inte kan vara med på saker så försöker jag höra av mig och se hur de mår, och när detsamma händer mig blir jag istället positivt överraskad om en enda person skriver något. Detta betyder inte att mina andra vänner inte bryr sig, men hur ska jag kunna veta att de gör det?
I ensamheten och eländet känns det definitivt inte självklart. Om någon ignorerar mig trots att de vet exakt hur det får mig att känna så ser jag ingen annan anledning än att de helt enkelt inte bryr sig.
Jag är en backup-vän. När det finns andra att prata med så är jag ett sistahandsval, men när jag är det enda alternativet så blir jag plötsligt oändligt mycket mer intressant. Om det dyker upp någon mer förvandlas jag dock återigen till plan B. När jag bjuder in någon ny till gruppen kommer alla direkt bättre överens än med mig,
och jag läggs åt sidan som att man nu har fått ut allt man ville av mig. Jag menar inte att mina vänner inte får ha egna vänner, jag vill att de ska vara så omtyckta som de förtjänar. Men hur kommer det sig att jag alltid tycks ha lägst prio? Varför är jag tredje hjulet bland de jag kallar mina vänner? Den naturliga slutsatsen att dra, när detta tycks hända inte bara i en, utan i de flesta situationer, är att det är mig det är fel på. Jag förstår inte hinten, jag är i vägen för de andra, jag stör dem bara eller så är jag rent utav tråkig och ingen vill ha mig där. Det är mitt fel.
SAMHÄLLE ENSAM OCH OMGIVEN AV MÄNNISKORMen jag har också varit i grupper där alla skrattar är mina skämt, där folk är genuint intresserade av vad jag har att säga, där det finns tillräckligt med utrymme för mig. Jag har träffat folk som verkligen tycks förstå mig, som ställer följdfrågor och faktiskt lyssnar på svaren. Folk som oroar sig för mig när något händer, som saknar mig när jag inte är där, folk som anstränger sig för att hålla kontakten och inte låter allt rinna ut i sanden när distraktioner dyker upp. Som får mig att känna att jag har en plats, att jag har samma värde som dem, där jag får tillbaka samma energi som jag ger, och vice versa. Om det då är mig det är fel på, hur kommer det sig att det ibland fungerar så bra? Om jag är stel, konstig, tråkig, borde inte dessa människor också avvisa mig då?
Jag är inte passiv, jag sitter inte och väntar på att saker ska hända utan att anstränga mig för att sedan tycka synd om mig själv när allt inte går som jag vill. Jag bär ett ansvar för det jag gör, och jag kan till stor del påverka vad som händer med mig. Om jag inte själv bidrar så kan jag heller inte vänta mig att andra ska göra det, men att konstant känna att man anstränger sig mer än andra, och lägger ner mer energi än man får tillbaka, är inte heller rimligt. Det är svårt att veta hur länge man bör kämpa, och när det är dags att ge upp och gå vidare. Jag vill inte vara någon som lägger ner och drar mig undan så fort det blir lite jobbigt, jag vill ha förståelse och tålamod med andra, men jag vill inte vara en dörrmatta. Jag försöker leva efter den gyllene regeln “behandla andra som du själv vill bli behandlad”, men det är svårt när inte alla tänker likadant. Var går gränsen?
Det är inte synd om mig. Jag är en relativt vanlig person i en relativt vanlig situation, och när jag har pratat med andra har jag insett att många delar exakt samma upplev-
else, och det får mig att känna mig oändligt mycket mindre ensam, konstig, som att det är något fel på mig. Det är inte konstigt att vi dras till varandra, för när man upplevt detta så försöker man ofta inkludera andra då man vet hur det känns att vara på utsidan. Den här texten handlar inte om mig och den betyder inte att jag själv är perfekt och aldrig har råkat få någon att känna sig utanför. Problemet är
Det är dock viktigt att komma ihåg att vi aldrig vet exakt vad andra tänker och vad de menar med sina handlingar. Många har mycket annat som försiggår i deras liv, men detsamma gäller många av oss andra med. Ibland kan exempelvis blyghet eller osäkerhet upplevas av andra som ointresse och kylighet när man egentligen bara är rädd för att bli dömd. Som någon som blivit kallad både stel och tråkig bakom min rygg tidigare är det svårt att avfärda tanken på att folk fortfarande tänker så, även nära vänner när jag känner mig som mest osäker. Men många gånger är det värt att försöka reda ut. Det finns forskning som länkar ihop ensamhet och fysisk smärta, och som tyder på att dess negativa hälsoeffekter är på samma nivå som rökning och fysisk inaktivitet. Vi har ett evolutionärt behov av att passa in, en medfödd rädsla att bli avvisade, så det är inte konstigt att detta har så stor påverkan på mångas mående.
när det blir ett mönster; om jag insåg att jag fick någon att känna så skulle jag må hemskt och anstränga mig för att bli bättre. Många är öppna för den typen av diskussion, men inte alla tar det till sig och många glömmer det tyvärr snabbt igen.
Ibland glider vänner ifrån varandra av naturliga orsaker, man växer ifrån varandra eller går olika vägar i livet. I vissa, mindre roligare fall, måste man göra valet att ta avstånd om man inser att man mår dåligt i sin situation, och att sådant här händer lite för ofta. Det är inte alltid ett misslyckande, och om personer konstant får dig att känna dig utanför så säger det många gånger mer om deras sociala förmåga än om din. Det ska inte vara orimligt att förvänta sig att bli sedd, hörd och inkluderad av sina egna vänner, det är inte att be om för mycket att inte vilja vara ett konstant sistahandsval. Jag vet inte om man kan få folk att bry sig, men man kan definitivt hitta folk som gör det. Så ge dig inte förrän du hittar människor som verkligen bryr sig. Jag lovar att de finns där ute.
Hey, hey, adventurer! Yes, you! Welcome to the magical land of Osqledaren. It’s time to pick your team! Red team or blue team? Which one do you want to be a part of? Red team or blue team? Are you with us, or against us? You need to pick a side! Now! press x to Start.
If you’ve ever played a video game, you probably already noticed a pattern: create a new character, pick a class, battle against the other classes and fantastic beasts, rinse & repeat. This behavior has a name: the eternal crusade, and it is a recurring and problematic theme in game plots, based on real-life narratives. Pick a side.
We complain about our society, but we keep on mimicking its same patterns. Our entire creations are stamped with these patterns. Everything needs to be an us vs them. We need winners and losers. Subjective good and objective bad. Why can't we all get along? What's stopping us from working together towards the same goal?
For a culture priding itself on inclusivity and tolerance, we are very vigilant in separating ourselves into carefully curated factions and classes, don’t you think?
There are many factors at play in this complex and multi-layered issue. From a historical point of view, it is widely believed that early human societies, such as those of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, were likely organized into simple division of labor groups. Different individuals would take on different tasks based on their strengths, abilities, and roles within the community. For example, some individuals may have been tasked with gathering
food, while others may have been responsible for making tools or caring for the young. This division of labor allowed early human societies to be more efficient and productive, and allowed individuals to specialize in tasks they were best suited for, leading to the development of more complex societies over time. This societal division of labor helped us lay the crucial cornerstones of civilization as we know it today.
However, subdivision has not always been beneficial. Take, for example, the most famous Roman military strategyattributed to general Julius Caesar. Known as "Divide et Impera" in Latin (or “Divide and conquer” in English), this cunning strategy relied on dividing enemies and opponents into smaller groups in order to conquer them more effectively. Caesar also employed this strategy in his political dealings, isolating his enemies and winning over allies to increase his power and influence. In conclusion, division can also lead to losing sight of the bigger picture and making one more susceptible to manipulation.
If not driven by survival instinct like our ancestors, or the will to win a war and gain power, why do people still enjoy enclosing themselves in labeled boxes? The reasons range from self-preservation to affirming identity and belonging:
“Choose your faction”. People form groups to define and strengthen their identity. Being part of a group gives individuals a sense of belonging and purpose, and it helps them to differentiate themselves from others. This is particularly important for people who feel that their individual identities are not strong enough on their own.
“This is your destiny!”. People also divide themselves into opposing groups as a way of confirming their own beliefs and attitudes, like a confirmation bias. By being part of a group that shares their beliefs, individuals can reinforce their own views and feel more confident in them.
“Your class has a 10% debuff bonus!” People tend to feel safer when they are part of a group. This is because being part of a group provides a sense of security and protection, and it makes individuals feel less vulnerable to threats from outside the group. Safety in numbers.
“Congratulations! You have a new skill point to spend.” People also form groups as a way of comparing themselves to others. By being part of a group, individuals can assess their status and compare their abilities, attitudes, and beliefs to those of others. This helps us to determine where we stand in comparison to others and to make judgments about our own worth.
"Join my team and let's conquer the competition." People often divide themselves into opposing groups as a way of creating a clear "us vs. them" distinction. This helps to solidify group boundaries and to emphasize differences between the group and those who are not part of it. But there is a critical issue arising from this: segregation.
When people are separated from one another based on differences such as race, ethnicity, religion, social and financial status, or nationality, it can lead to misunderstandings, mistrust, stereotypes, racism, sexism and hatred. Furthermore, segregation can lead to inequitable treatment and unequal distribution of resources, which creates a sense of injustice and frustration among members of marginalized groups. This can result in feelings of resentment and animosity towards those who are seen as benefiting from the system of segregation.
"All players unite.” What is the antidote for segregation? Cooperative gameplay and social hubs are excellent solutions to combat ignorance born out of division and help individuals find strength in diversity. In the coming month, I challenge you to leave all expectations at home whenever you are engaged in a new conversation. Approach all dialogues with open-mindedness and empathy, without expecting an outcome beforehand or judging books by their covers. Engage in diverse communities. Take action against a bias or stereotype you encounter in your daily life. Notice the difference in vision this brings into your life. Underneath all the patches we adorn ourselves with, we are
With the final boss defeated and peace restored to the kingdom, the heroes of the story bask in their hard-earned victory. As they look back on their journey, they reflect on the challenges they faced and the bonds they formed along the way. Despite their diverse backgrounds and personalities, they learned to work together as a team and emerged victorious.
Now, they set their sights on new adventures and continue to grow stronger, ready to face any obstacles that come their way. Together. "Quest complete.”
Snart är det dags: äntligen är det Quarnevalsår! Norra Europas största studentevenemang, som lockar en publik på flera hundra tusen människor, är tillbaka efter sex år. Osqledaren har pratat med två från Quarnevalsstaben, för att ta reda på allt du behöver veta om årets Quarneval.
För nästan exakt tre år sedan skrev jag en artikel om en stor sorg inom studentlivet: Quarnevalen var inställd. Jag förstod inte riktigt den fulla innebörden av det, då jag som förstaårsstudent aldrig hade deltagit i en Quarneval. Det påståendet stämmer tyvärr fortfarande. Inte bara för mig, utan för en övervägande majoritet av Stockholms studenter.
I år gör Quarnevalen äntligen comeback, efter sex år i ide.
Så vad innebär egentligen Quarnevalen?
Vad är hajpen? Eftersom jag inte hade någon personlig erfarenhet att utgå ifrån i min redogörelse av detta letade jag upp några som hade bättre koll. Quarnevalsgeneralen Sophie Dellmark och TemaQuordinatorn Simon Sundström berättar om sina favoritbidrag genom tiderna, varför Quarnevalen är en sådan höjdpunkt och deras bästa tips för ett lyckat bidrag.
De allra flesta som går på KTH nu har ju aldrig varit med om en Quarneval tidigare. Hur känns det för er, som organiserar?
Simon: Jag har ju varit med i Quarnevalen tidigare, jag byggde 2017. Jag vet ju ex-
och vad man borde sikta på att det blir, men man är också medveten om att man är en av få som faktiskt har upplevt det. Man har en tydlig bild själv om att “Ah, det är ju så där” men ingen annan kan riktigt ens greppa tanken om hur det är – det är i en helt annan skala än många andra saker som görs (i studentlivet reds anm).
Sophie: Det jag har upplevt, nu när vi har varit runt på campus en del, det är att det är väldigt många föräldrar, kompisar eller storasyskon som har koll på vad det är. Det är sjukt hur många vi har pratat med som själva har sagt att de visste att de skulle gå på KTH för att de såg Quarnevalståget när de var små. Bara den grejen – även om folk inte har varit med och byggt, så har man ändå hört om det och har en uppfattning om vad det är.
Även om man inte kan locka folk till att vara med på samma sätt som man har gjort tidigare, så håller vi på och bygger upp det här nya, tillsammans med studenterna. Det blir annorlunda, men inte svårare. Vi har bara lite mer ansvar.
Vad är skulle ni säga är “grejen” med Quarnevalen? Varför ska man vara med?
Simon: Det händer ju bara vart tredje år. Jag skulle fundera på ifall tentan man skriv-
Det finns många tentatillfällen men bara en Quarneval?
Simon: Ja, det är ju så! Det är verkligen en unik upplevelse. Vi vill ju ha med studenter som byggare, men sen har vi också undergruppare. Om man vill hjälpa till att anordna det här, så vill vi också ha folk!
Sophie: Det är verkligen en hyllning till Stockholms studentliv. Vi vill få med allt som alla studenter tycker är kul. Det handlar om gasque, göra tidningar, ta bilder, rita saker, göra småtävlingar, festa, bygga. Alla ska kunna känna att de får göra något som de tycker är kul.
Simon: Jag tror aldrig jag har känt mig lika mycket som student som när jag gick i tåget. Det är så mycket människor. Man känner verkligen: “Det här är vad man gör som student”. Det här är skillnaden på att plugga och inte plugga, egentligen – att vara i tåget, eller vara i publiken.
Hur är det att sitta i staben?
Simon: De flesta dagarna börjar med att man står ovanför tuben och delar ut kaffe. Om man inte gör det är man hemma på kontoret och kontaktar företag för spons –det är bästa tiden på dagen för att göra det.
går igenom vad man ska göra under dagen och vad man har för planer.
Simon: Sen är det väldigt individuellt. Alla har sina egna ansvarsområden. Jag sitter ju mycket och kollar på grafiska grejer, saker som behöver produceras, saker som vi vill ska synas och snackar med andra i staben om vad de vill ha för grejer.
Sophie: Jag har mycket en stöttfunktion, jag kollar ifall någon behöver hjälp och så att alla har det bra. Sen har jag mycket kontakt med skolan och med Stockholms stad, polisen och alla “officiella” parter så att säga. Jag sitter mycket och mejlar och ser till att alla tillstånd rullar in som de ska. Sen, runt lunch, brukar vi sticka ut och grilla korv, som PR-vända. Inte varje dag, men då och då. Sen går man tillbaka till kontoret och fortsätter med sitt.
Simon: Sen kanske det är ritpub på kvällen, till exempel.
Sophie: Ja, då hjälper man folk att skissa på bidrag.
Vissa kvällar har vi också bludderkvällar, när vi sitter och ritar strunt till tidningen. Då sitter vi och ritar skämten till tidningen och annonser till företag, skissar på dem och kommer på dumma idéer. Eller så har vi någon form av teambuilding-grej, till exempel att man sitter och käkar middag med sitt styre.
Om det är så att vi har ett av våra stora event, då är det ju prepp inför det som gäller. Att man börjar lägga schema och strukturera upp vem som ska göra vad. Vi sitter ju verkligen och planerar i ett halvår för en vecka. När de större eventen är klara då är det bara planeringen kvar.
Sophies tips:
- Gör ett bidrag med max 1-2 dagars byggtid
- Använd resten av tiden för skolarbete och för att gå runt på byggplatsen och njuta av allt det roliga som händer
- Ha med någon igenkänningsfaktor – det gör det roligt för de som tittar på tåget också!
Simons tips:
- Ha med något som engagerar, till exempel något som är lite spexigt eller att ni gör något mer än att bara stå
- Anpassa er till vilka kompetenser som finns i laget: är det någon som kan svetsa, dra nytta av det! Men känn ingen press kring det – alla kan lära sig att hamra och spika
- Man kan också satsa på att vinna pris för bästa tekniska lösning. Senast (2017) vann en bil med två framdelar, som båda kunde köra men som också kunde koppla loss sig helt och köra runt för sig själva, och sen koppla ihop sig igen.
Vilket är ert favoritbidrag?
Sophie: Mitt är från 1990 tror jag, det var ett gäng som har klätt ut sig till dominobrickor. Det tog typ en dag att göra. De tog liksom två madrasser, lite tyg, och satte prickar på. Sen hade de någon person längst fram som visslade olika kombinationer, så att de visste om de skulle snurra, gå framåt eller om de skulle ramla. Så de ramlade runt hela Stockholm i massa olika formationer.
Simon: Mitt favoritbidrag är nog ett bidrag från flyg som vann 2017. De byggde en AT-AT från Star Wars, som kunde röra på huvudet och skjuta kolsyra och grejer. Den var riktigt fet.
Sophie: Den lösningen var jättefin, men det var inte så att de hade massa coola styrsystem i den, utan det var pinnar och snören som man satt och drog fram och tillbaka i tre timmar, så man behöver inte heller känna att man behöver ha gått klart sin utbildning för att man ska ha det som krävs.
Hur skulle ni beskriva Quarnevalen för er mormor?
Simon: Jag skulle säga att det är som en stor studentfest under en vecka, där studenter bygger en massa spexiga saker, som man sen går runt i ett tåg med. Det är så man säljer in det till allmänheten – jag kanske inte nämner att vi dricker öl…
Sophie: …hela tiden?
Sophie: Jag skulle beskriva det på samma sätt – det är en hyllning till, och en uppvisning av, Stockholms studentliv. Det är så lätt att studentliven blir väldigt campuscentrerade, och här tvingar vi Stockholm att stanna upp och säger “Titta på oss”.
Inlämningspub: Ägde rum 3 mars. Deadline för inlämning av bidrag och dess specifikationer.
Presentationspub: Äger rum 24 mars. Alla bidrag som har kommit med i tåget presenteras.
SM i fest: En tävling om vem som kan hålla den bästa gasquen. Gasquerna hålls under Quarnevalsveckan.
BRUX-tidning: En tidning som innehåller skämt, annat skoj och information om tåget och bidragen. Syftet med dem är att alla byggare ska kunna sälja dem och tjäna in pengarna som man har lagt ut för att vara med i Quarnevalen.
Byggplats: Området där alla lag bygger upp sina bidrag under byggveckan.
Bygglåt: Låten som spelas på repeat, hela veckan, på byggplatsen.
Quarnevalsstaben: De där personerna som går runt i turkosa ovvar och kanske gör något. Minns inte riktigt vad.
Quarnevalståget: …det säger nog sig självt.
Odengatan
Simon: …ja, fem dagar i sträck, liksom. Vallhallavägen
Stadtsbibliotek
StockholmsStadtsbibliotek
Sveavägen
AdolfFredriks Kyrkogård
StockholmOlympicStadium
Humlegården
BiblioteketKungliga
OlympicStadium
Royal MusicCollegeof
Sturegatan
och säger “Titta på oss”
KTH is in the world’s top 50 for operations towards the UN’s SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). But what does this number matter? Does the school really do that good a job, sustainability wise, from the students’ perspective? After attending a Sustainability Workshop on campus here is a rundown of what is really going on.
We got free honey. A tiny little jar, almost like those toy ones for hamsters in the depths of YouTube videos. This tiny glass jar was filled with hard labor of even tinier bees. The bees that made that honey actually live on KTH grounds. Down the street from Nymble, four beehives are home to the kingdom of two queen bees. They also apparently have names - Queen
We were presented with a list of projects and research done at KTH that has got our school to the top 50 in the world for operations towards the UN’s SDGs. But what does this number matter? And what is this “impact through education, research, collaboration and campus”? It turns out that the school is doing some good work with the innovation of “smart buildings”on campus, having environment-focused PhD projects, serving vegetarian-dominant options at gatherings and many more. Statis-
efforts in the green realm seemed pretty impres sive. However, during the more interactive part of the workshop, the students attend ing spoke up and their observations were quite appalling, revealing the lack of communication be tween the students and the leaders of the school.
The common denominator of a lot of courses’ issues were about the exam system. Apparently written exams require you to write on one single side of an A4 paper for every single question no matter how short. This means that if your answers consist of three words, those three words will be the only piece of writing on a sheet of paper. Considering that an exam is 15 questions long, that is 15 pages per person. Assuming a course has 150 students, that’s 2250 pages of paper thrown out after results are in. To put that into perspective, that single course of 150 people and 15 questions equals about 11 kg of paper wasted. Most programmes at KTH have way more students than 150, so you can only imagine the completely reckless use of material and resources. The Sustainability office had NO CLUE that this was happening. In their defense, they did say they would “look into this issue”.
Another example was the enormous waste of material during the Architecture school’s post-review (final examination presentations each semester). Each semester after finals, architecture students are faced with two options - throw out their cardboard, plastic or wooden models, papers, printouts and scraps or keep them in their personal home. The school does not provide storage for all students. Due to big scale projects some Swedish students and all international students cannot physically keep their projects outside of the architecture building. This means that after they present their work, it all goes to the bin. Each semester you can see huge recycle bins placed around the studios of the Arch. Build. filled to the brim, and beyond, with material that could most certainly be reused. The faculty encourages to clear up the desk spaces swiftly before the semester ends but does not put equal effort into enforcing any “reducing waste” rules or systems beforehand.
Architecture students HAVE in fact created un-official re-use material exchange hubs around the building but they aren’t that well known even amongst the student body.
The students create their own initiatives in combat to their unheard issues, but is it enough?
Both student and schoolled projects deserve to be heard. Whether it is the whop ping 12 (!) garden boxes in the Red cross-park, or student created “Re-use” exchange hubs, we need to know about them in order to use them. Even searching up some other sustainability initiatives as an international student on official sources isn’t straightforward since there is only a Swedish version of most of the KTH Sustainability website.
bottom up” is crucial for the great reputation of KTH’s green standpoint to not remain JUST that - a reputation.
This is a reminder that ticking boxes for EU requirements and “sustainability” prizes does not entirely prove that a school or company is transparently investigating tangible changes with a “grassroot approach”. This is of course not to say that all the achievements of students and the school itself are ineffective. It is simply to say there is more work and communication to be done.
Both (students and employees) are on the same side - so let's act like it for the “greater green good”. We need to build the bridge and better our communication between students and employees. Narrowing the gap, one honey-mini-jar at a time.
The university seems touch with the students’ experi ence of the school’s environmental sustainability and waste-respon sibility. It is a great shame since equally positive work is being done yet unheard of. Accessibili ty to information and availability to make this change “from the
‘
Sustainability’ prizes do not entirely prove that a school or company is transparently investigating changes with a ‘grassroot approach’
Alla studenter på KTH vet att deras program, och att de som studenter, tillhör en sektion. Men hur går det till på en sektion, vad behövs ta hand om och vem har hand om vad? Ju mer man lär sig om en sektion, ju mer kan man undra: är sektionen verkligen till för alla?
När man väljer att komma och studera på KTH tänker man inte bara på sina studier utan även något som KTH kanske är ännu mer känt för: studentlivet! Varje utbildningsprogram på KTH tillhör en viss sektion. Sektionen är programmets pumpande hjärta, i praktiken är en välfungerande sektion en som ser till att alla dess studenter
är välinformerade om, bekanta med och inkluderade i sektionen – den organisation som påverkar deras studentliv på KTH.
Så hur är en sektion uppbyggd, hur styrs den och hur fungerar sektionsengagemang? Denna artikel vill tydliggöra vad en sektion består av, hur den styrs samt hur mycket påverkan sektionerna har på studentlivet.
På toppen av sektionspyramiden hittar vi styrelsen, och den består vanligtvis av högst ett dussin personer och agerar som det högsta verkande organet av sektionen. Där kan man antagligen hitta en ordförande, vice ordförande, sekreterare, kassör, samt andra poster beroende på sektionen. Styrelsens primära uppgift är att utveckla sektionen genom att utföra de beslut som tas under sektionsmöten samt leda sektionens verksamhet.
I mitten av pyramiden hittar vi alla nämnder och projekt som hålls igång av sek-
tionen. De vanligaste och kanske mest bekanta nämnderna för varje sektionen är klubbmästeriet, spexmästeriet, mottagningen och näringslivsgruppen. Varje nämnd och sektionsprojekt förvaltas av minst en funktionär som väljs ut på sektionsmöten. Sist men inte minst, i botten av pyramiden har vi de flesta av oss – studenter som tillhör sektionen men inte har någon specifik post. Likväl har varje sektionsmedlem makten att påverka sektionen genom att delta på sektionsmöten.
Nu när det har nämnts så flitigt är det dags att ta en noggrannare titt på hur ett sektionsmöte vanligen bedrivs. På campus är sektionsmöten något ökända för att vara jättelånga men en liten guldkant på dessa möten är gratismaten, en students mest prisvärda belöning. Under ett sektionsmöte tas motioner upp, och propositioner kan också ges och om de klubbas igenom kan stadgarna eller reglementet för sektionen ändras. Mest känt är nog valärenden, där styrelsen samt de högst uppsatta posterna för varje nämnd och projekt röstas igenom av alla röstberättigade deltagare på sektionsmötet. Allt som tas upp under sektionsmöten finns som regel tillgängligt på sektionens hemsida.
Utifrån svar på en enkät angående KTH:s sektioner har vi kunnat få en inblick i hur studenter ser på dem. De flesta verkar eniga i att en sektion som helhet är en organisation där mycket händer, oftast bakom
TEXT ALCINA MUNENE pERSSON & AGNES NG ILLUSTRATION MARIA ZELENIKAkulisserna, vars struktur är flummig men att den drivs på ett smidigt sätt. Informationsflödet på sektioner tycks vara ineffektivt; om någonting sker på sektionen får man oftast veta om det ganska sent och vanligtvis bara på svenska via anteckningar från sektionsmötet.
Dessutom tycker några att det är de som redan engagerar sig inom sektionen som får veta när och var saker och ting tar plats, och mycket av kommunikationen sker från mun till mun. Av den anledning tycker många att de som deltar i sektionen samt blir invalda på olika poster brukar vara personer som rör sig inom samma sociala cirklar. Några tycker att det kan kännas uteslutande, även om de tycker att
det är naturligt att man bildar starka relationer med människor man ofta vistas med. Oftast blir det så att de som är engagerade i sektionen är samma som deltar i sektionsmöten, vilket följaktligen leder till de får tycka till mest samt får mest poster.
Det verkar vara ett vanligt fenomen att de som är mest aktiva inom sektionslivet cirkulerar runt på de olika posterna, och medan de flesta har en positiv upplevelse av det hela kan det också kännas uttröttande att behöva bolla ett flertal roller. En annan konsekvens av det är att de som inte är lika sektionsaktiva tycker att det ser ut som alldeles för mycket möda för alldeles för lite lön, vilket blir en anledning till varför de väljer att inte engagera sig lika myck-
et, eller alls. Det de svarande önskar sig är att poster på sektionen ska vara mer lättillgängliga för studenter som inte har någon tidigare erfarenhet av engagemang inom sektionen.
KTH:s sektioner gör sitt bästa för att alla som påbörjar sin akademiska resa på KTH ska känna sig välkomna och komma in i kulturen – till stor del genom mottagningen. Dock kan man tycka att de har en bit att gå när det kommer till att avmystifiera sektionslivet och sektionstrukturen för de studenter som inte deltar i mottagningen, som kommer från andra länder eller som helt enkelt är inte vana vid den sociala sfären som varje enskild sektion har byggt upp med åren.
When you start studying at KTH and become a member of THS, you are automatically assigned to a chapter based on your programme. What if that never happened? What if we chose chapters not by what subject you are going to study, but based on personality quizzes, intelligence tests or what you would bring to a deserted island? Ask no more. Osqledaren has developed a foolproof method to assign you to the chapter you ACTUALLY belong to. Flip to the next page and find out.
TEXT LUDVIG KALINOVSKI & BENJAMIN JAVITZ ILLUSTRATION MY ANDERSSON & OSQLEDAREN
How many HP are you planning to take?
none of your business
Deep or small talk?
What’s important to you?
Favourite event on campus?
How do you prefer to work?
I love drawing shapes on my mac
with my hands
What was your favourite subject in school?
t h e mind is the computer of the body maths anything but science subjects
What’s your favourite drink?
Would you rather be surrounded by a lot of people or a few you really know? Frack or ovve?
What do you truly desire in life?
What’s the most annoying?
long walks to the metro
unequipped
Are you good with living beings?
Do you like to have a cinnamon roll with your beer?
no..
cav c i n mot..
Pick one
What would you bring to a desert island?
t
Anairplane, genius
materials for a hut Enginefor a sh i p
Are you an indoor or outdoor person?
yes not really outdoors i n doors a reallifeandroid lotsofcash
Do you identify as an artist?
fish
yesduh.. numeri cal methods/analysi s
Schrödningers katt
Favourite patch? masugn
hjärnblödning k y s s hos elektro
calculus on several variables
Favourite math course?
Where do you prefer to be?
t ly le s s fa r a w ay
main campus as fa r away aspossible linear a lg e bra
You might have asked this question yourself already. Or at least you do now. And I am sure you are literally dying to know the completely unbiased answer. Thank God that OL has investigated whether or not a sustainability-vibe makes you sexy.
With the one most obvious method of choice being to ask an extremely qualified, objective and knowledgeable expert panel. You can find the experts’ answers below.
Till - Nahh, or I’m a bit undecided…
It depends.
Jacob - Yes.
Franco - Yes.
Camilla - Yes.
Axel - *a very quick* Yes
At this point I realized that we needed some juicier content for this article (to not disappoint our editor-in-chief Benjamin) so I asked the expert panel to elaborate on their answers. If they were sober enough.
Thomas - Yes, but climate change deniers are unsexy. But if you are one of those cool nihilistic people who don’t care and are like “fuck it, everything is burning”, then that’s kinda sexy too.
Ash - Yes, but … (I forgot the motivation because we were busy taking photos)
Emma - No, you want a punk rocker who smokes, not some miserable recycling man from Södermalm. I want a real man who drives a car… or a bus.
Matilde - Yeees but it’s more that the opposite is a real turn-off: if you don’t care at all and litter and stuff
Okay, from this it is clear that if you want to be sexy you should kind of care about sustainability, but also not… and also smoke and drive a bus.
Leo - Naah, or well I kind of connect it to not showering enough. But it’s still kind of sexy. Dirty but sexy?
Ayan - Sustainability is sexy but not the mentioning of it. It's sexy when it's silent, understated. Humble even! It’s not sexy when it’s braggy at all. Kind of like men!
Roisin - What’s hotter than a man who cares enough about the world not burning to make sure that it still exists so that you make it to a second date?
Krzysztof - It's the only true kind of sexy. Natural, no plastic
Maybe one should just be very natural. In other words, not shower. But also not speak about it, to be silent and cool?
Joh - Definitely hot AF!
Shanly - Yeah it is hot. Like somebody thought about it, and came to the conclusion that we need to give up some comfort to secure our future. For the greater good of everybody *takes a sip*.
Shanly (again) - Yeah, radical solutions, go one step further! You’re like a modern Indiana Jones.
So just be like Indiana Jones.
Ester - Yes, hot.
Elias - No not automatically, some just put their efforts into the wrong things. That's not cool, that's just naive.
Josephine - Hmmm I don’t know why but it makes it sound like you don’t shower enough.
Klara - Yes.
Adrian - Yes you can touch my biceps.
Ok the biceps thing gives some new perspectives, and also that’s the second time we hear the shower thought. You as a reader should draw your own conclusions from all this, but I might try to shower some more but kind of stay silent about it. And sort of embrace the nihilistic Indiana Jones within me.
TEXT & PHOTO OSCAR STENSTRÖM ILLUSTRATION ROISIN CALLAGHAN
Rememberthe good times, when butter didn't cost an arm and a leg? I sure do! Everywhere you look, prices are high and it's a sore sight to see. CSN has been raised to combat the high costs of living - but even then, it’s barely enough! Just recently, it was reported by SSCO that students STILL lose about 2700 kr every month! Is there a method for surviving inflation, or are we all financially doomed?
This is the third annual student budget calculated by SSCO (Stockholms studentkårers centralorganisation), and not much has changed since last year regarding the situation students in Stockholm face when it comes to their financial situation. The only income included in the budget was the CSN bidrag and loan for full-time studying, which comes down to 12 052 kr. The expenses included in the report were sourced from a Novus investigation, Konsumentverkets “Koll på pengarna 2023”, SL, Centrala studiestödsnämnden (CSN), as well as from negotiations completed
so far on increases on rent in the Stockholm region. The expenses came up to be 14,671kr, with food costs making up the biggest cost increase of the bunch. How are students supposed to put any food on the table in their tiny studio apartment??
With that said, we are going to be losing money every single month if we don’t see any change! During the presentation of the budget report, SSCO had invited three student representatives from different parties that all had different solutions for easing the financial stress put on us. Cheaper
housing and increased CSN-bidrag was most mentioned, which all could help... Especially considering the fact that students as a group spend about 43% of their income on accommodation, compared to the rest of the population that spend about 23% of theirs.
It's all looking kind of dark for us, but it doesn’t have to end like this! There are several ways to properly control your finances and to end up even saving money! Here are some tips on how to save money today:
• Become a member at every single grocery store. Coop, ICA, LIDL, Hemköp, Willys, T-Snabben. If it exists in Stockholm, you are a member. They usually have nice member discounts!
• Buy food with discounts, like meat and chicken, and freeze it!
• Bike. Like, everywhere. You live 2 hours away? No excuses, bike.
• Make your own lunch boxes. Then fight for a microwave.
• Drink at home - pre-drink - don’t drink. Or something.
• Get your groceries in the suburbs/shop in bulk
• Share course literature with your friends, especially during exams
• Get a subscription on coffee or collect coffee stamps when you buy a cup
• Go to lunch seminars
• Shop second-hand clothing and furniture
• Can’t find what you want second-hand? Someone on facebook marketplace is probably giving that out for free!
And some even more unhinged ones (to be done at your own risk!):
• Dumpster dive
• Freeload your family and friends subscriptions
• Collect pant on campus during the evenings
• Rob your parents’ pantries, fridges and freezers on food when you visit
• Plank to and from school
• Hunt your own meat, fish your own fish, pick those berries on your way to school.
When KTH gets a new president, it is in fact a big deal. The President of KTH is chosen in a long process and finally appointed by the Swedish government - and with him come several changes in the university management that impact us all.
Osqledaren interviewed Sigbritt Karlsson when she started her term as President in 2016. Continuing the tradition, we wanted to sit down with Anders Söderholm
It is cold outside the entrance to Nymble at Drottning Kristinas väg 19, but not cold enough to contain my excitement as I wait for Anders Söderholm, the new President of KTH. He is a very busy man - I see him finishing up his previous meeting on the other side of the street before he waves and crosses the street to greet us. This afternoon in late January was the only free timeslot in his calendar. “Osqledaren, right? Nice to meet you!”, he says and is happy to take a few photos before we go inside. “Can I take one for my social media as well?”, he adds. A day later, I find his selfie on LinkedIn and Twitter: “Tricky questions and hopefully some good answers,” he wrote. Do you agree?
We take the stairs up to the third floor of Nymble and sit down in the Osqledaren office. On the table lie magazines from both the 60s and as recent as last year. Photos of parties, pubs and Anders’ predecessors. And a plate of carrot and cucumber sticks, bell pepper and Göteborgs saltiner - “I’ll have the carrots,” Anders said in our Q&A-session in May 2022 - of course we remembered. I start the recorder placed between us on the table, nervously stumble over my own words, then jump right in the deep end:
How do you think we as regular students are going to see your work? How are you going to influence us as students?
Well, that's a difficult question. I think that in the everyday life of students, you are sort of in the hands of our instructors and professors - and that's where you should be. You shouldn't be dependent on the President of KTH for your daily work, but maybe in a longer term we could work on how to design the portfolio of educations, what kind of prerequisites we provide for the students. That is something that we as a university management team could provide better conditions for hopefully.
How do you think that work will be cooperative with the students and with THS? How do you see that relationship?
The students are part of the university development, of course, and by law, you have to be included in all kinds of decision-making processes. I think we are in a situation where we don't just do that because we have to, but because we think that students can have important knowledge. I have a lot of cooperation with the President of THS and her colleagues, and then it sort of carries down on each level. Hopefully that is
how the influence from the students can contribute to the university on each level.
Do you think students should have a lot of influence on their education?
Yes, of course. In several ways, there is the responsibility for the professors to know what kind of education is needed in the labour market today, and more importantly beyond today. That is an expertise that we require the professors to have and demonstrate. They should be able to discuss that with the students, but they also have or should have that knowledge as part of their profession. So that is one thing. But the other thing is the here and now and what kind of teaching we provide, what kind of measurements we use to create learning situations. And that is a much more direct one-to-one discussion among students and professors.
And that involves a lot of feedback from the students.
Of course. I know that we are not doing 100% right in terms of collecting student opinions. I saw some reports on how well we feed that information back to the students. I think that is one of the areas where there is some work to do.
I also want to talk about student life on campus. How do you remember your student life and how did it look like compared to what you see at KTH?
I studied my undergraduate and graduate in Umeå which I would say looks like a small town American campus, with a lot of green areas between the university buildings. Here the university is together, but it's still part of the city. KTH Campus is much more lively and there are more people moving around, and it's also a closer connection to the city than what I experienced as a student. So I hope we can continue having the city at campus. Not destroying the campus, but sort of making use of having the city close.
What are some of the memories you have from your student life that you look back to?
Oh, those were different times. But, you know, understanding that this time at the university is like a transfer period for a future brighter life. And using that period to enhance yourself, not only through the studies but also through extracurricular activities. Really understand what you do now is something unique, that you will not be able to do later in life.
I think I was one of the students that maybe did not understand fully the potential that student life could actually have. So, if given the chance to go back, I would volunteer more for political or association work or whatever to enrich that period. I was much more focused on studies and getting in and out of this as fast as possible with the highest grades possible.
You kind of build yourself as a person. I was very focused on studying my main subject, but I think you have a possibility to use other parts of the campus than those included in your curriculum. Like adding other aspects, language, or if you're in mechanical engineering, maybe some chemistry? Sort of build that into your CV or other activities that add to what you have in your portfolio. That would be my advice.
Have you seen something at KTH or have you heard about something when it comes to student life and social activities and pubs and events that you're already fascinated and excited about? Can we expect to see you at Quarnevalen or a spex or a gasque?
I have a number of social events from THS in my calendar. But I haven't been to any of those yet. So, I'm still waiting to see what that is. But I have tickets for a spex! For Quarnevalen I have travelling plans that week but I will be able to attend some of the activities at least. And Kårsillis [yearly lunch between the leaderships of THS and KTH], that’s also in the calendar.
When your predecessor Sigbritt Karlsson started, we also had an interview with her. We talked especially about the reception, which is for many students one of the most intensive and most important periods of their first year. For many it's also something they go back to a lot. When we talked to Sigbritt, she had concerns about how the parties and the social activities could overshadow some of
the serious work that the student union should do. Do you have similar concerns?
Not really. I think if you go maybe 30 years back, there could be a lot of penalizing and a lot of drinking which could be harmful for the individual. But as I understand it, and that's my experience, not only from here, these things are not there anymore. Now it's a welcoming, inclusive period where the students are welcomed to campus. And I think the Student Union does tremendous work to make the newcomers feel included. I would say that these activities are an integral part of starting your study period here.
I also want to go back to Janne Carlsson, who was also one of your predecessors in the 90s. He wrote a debate article in 1994 that criticized parts of the reception and said that the phös with their “dark sunglasses and very violent behavior” should stop that and that they “create associations to bad groups within our society.” Today, they still walk around with their black sunglasses. What do you think?
Basically I trust you to do a good job and to have a solid judgement on where the balance is between being welcoming and excluding people. I trust you guys to to being able to make that judgement.
Do you think that KTH should have influence on how the reception is organized?
I think we have a joint interest in having a good reception and by acknowledging
THS as the student union at KTH, we have the possibility to discuss what kind of activities are expected to be performed by the Student Union. As far as I can see, that is enough in terms of influence. I guess there is a need for joint planning of the activities in the beginning of the semester, in order not to interfere with each other. If that is a concern, we can solve that through having a joint running.
One of the biggest receptions that we have is the international reception. This last fall they welcomed about 1700 new students with a lot of events and planning and organization. But there has been increasing frustration about how the cooperation with KTH works. There are planning-related meetings at KTH to which international students are invited, that are held entirely in Swedish. What do you think about that?
Generally I would say if you have a meeting of that kind you should speak English. That should be the bottom line.
What are your plans for internationalization and how to integrate Swedish and international students? International students make up 30% to 40% of students and about 70% of students are in a program where they are going to do a Master's in English, but international students still sometimes feel excluded or treated differently. How do you plan to tackle that? I’ll give an example. I had a class where it felt like the Swedish students got more information from the professor because they were able to speak Swedish with them. I sometimes heard them talking - I can understand Swedish to an extent - and then you'll hear them talking about the exam and what kind of things are important for the course. Then you do feel excluded.
Hmm, I have to take that home for consideration. But generally speaking, if you have an international environment - for many masters programs around 50% of the students are international - you have to work in an international environment with all the things that are included, such as the language. Of course, it's easy to switch back to Swedish if you're speaking Swede to Swede. I'm not sure there will be a 100% solution to that, but in terms of information that is of essential value for the students, it should of course be available for everybody. It's something we need to learn to consider and and be aware of, but also creating channels for international students to
voice their concerns in the classroom or in the program.
I think that there's not really a great solution for this whole problem. There's not going to be a way to speak a common language and everyone understands each other. If everything was in English, there would be Swedish students that feel excluded because not everyone is required to speak English fluently and on the same token, international students might feel excluded if everything was in Swedish. I think it's a very complicated issue. Do you think it's something that you're gonna work on?
It's something we need to consider when speaking about internationalization. We often talk about internationalization at home. That the campus here should be international in terms of both the things we do and the kind of knowledge we prepare for you, but also in the way we meet each other. This is the same in the departments where 50% of the PhD students are international. So the coffee table discussions need to be in English, the staff meetings need to be in English in order for people to be included, so maybe it's a process of getting to know the challenges of internationalization.
Yeah, it's a lot about creating ways for each other to get in contact and learn about each other's experience.
I want to talk a little bit about economic challenges. How are the challenges that we have, especially this year and last year, with increasing rent, inflation, energy cost, how is that going to influence KTH and our education?
It's a challenge that we share with all the other universities. We are a little bit more exposed to the rental cost because of being in the city, but also because we have a portfolio of activities that need a lot of laboratory environments. So the per capita square meters are higher in an engineering university like us than for a university like Uppsala or Stockholm University. We are exposed more in terms of the rent increase per student or per staff. We are currently trying to unfold the possibilities to reduce the cost by more effectively using the facilities that we have. For this year there will be a deficit, but we have some money saved to cover that. We need to have some substantial cuts in the cost for 2024 and 2025 in order to reach a balance.
How do you think that's going to influence us as students?
I'm sure we will move around a bit. We will try to empty some buildings to fill up the buildings that we will keep and give a few other facilities back to the real estate owner. But I know that the educational areas, e.g. the study places are in high demand, whereas a lot of the lecture rooms are used less than 30% of the time. If you look a little bit further down the road, maybe the use of the educational areas will be different. Maybe you will have more lectures from home. And you will come to campus not to sit in a lecture hall but to meet with other students and do teamwork activities.
I want to stay on the topic and ask about Akademiska Hus and what kind of ideas you have about this system, where there is a state-owned profit-making company that influences how KTH can operate. What do you think about the system, should it be changed?
Yes, I think the system should be changed. It should be a “societal mission” for these kind of companies to provide facilities at the lowest cost possible, whereas they now operate in the same conditions as any commercial real estate company and they have a request from the state to bring back money to the state. What actually happens
to taxpayers is that the government and the parliament gives us money that then pours back into the state. I think the system should be changed, but I don't think that will happen.
Akademiska Hus is only responsible for 50% of the university buildings in Sweden. The rest, the remaining 50% are owned by a number of other commercial providers, so whatever the state does with Akademiska Hus will only have an effect on 50% of the universities.
For us it's close to 100%, so it has a big impact. But since Akademiska Hus is only one of many different companies, I don't think the state will do anything. This model of having market-based rental cost is something that is inherent in what the government and the parliament want the state to be. They want the state to be market-exposed.
That money is supposed to go into education and research at KTH, but it is going back and can be used for other things.
Yeah, I agree that the system should be changed. What I'm saying is that I don't think it will be changed.
There has been a lot of discussion about anonymous exams in the past year. Is my next exam going to be anonymous or is it gonna be next year or am I never going to experience anonymous exams during my time here?
I hope so! I can't promise you, but I can promise that it is in the making, but I'm not sure how fast it will happen. There are a few things that we would like to avoid: Since there are a lot of non-anonymous examinations, oral exams or teamworks, that maybe cannot be made anonymous, this [anonymous exams] is something that primarily will be used for the written exams. We don't want teachers to push more of their exams to be written exams. We would like them to build the examinations on what they think is the best way of creating a learning situation where written exams have their place. But I know that some colleagues are afraid that if you make anonymous exams the standard model, they will move back to having more written exams and less oral or team work exams. We need to emphasize that this [anonymous exams] will be used primarily for written exams.
What do you have planned for your first year as KTH President?
That's a good question. There are at least two things on the agenda. The first one is to sort of design the structure that I would like to see to manage the university. Each team will have its own take on what kind of organization is needed. I will look to create a less complex organization with more clear rules and responsibilities, both in the traditional line organization as well as in the collegial dimension. The second thing is designing the portfolio of both educational offerings and research, where I will spend some more time to see what kind of paths we are going to take. But I hope we will be able to use the kind of dualism in our portfolio, with an entry level program at the first level and a little bit faster moving on the master level while providing more basic requirements in the first years.
We have a responsibility to do that because we have all this fantastic research. It is our responsibility to make that research - and the knowledge in which that research is based - available for students. Trying to find those connections is important.
When you think even more long term, what do you think is going be the biggest challenge of the next six years at KTH?
Releasing us from the economic tension that we have right now. You can live with some tension for a while, but in the long run this will be something that lowers morale and energy in the university. So we need to take that tension out of the organization to resolve these issues, and that
might take us to some decisions that are difficult to make, but necessary in order to release the deadlock that we have. That is something which is not within six years, but more within two or three years.
Looking at a longer period, I think we're still struggling with what the experiences of the pandemic are in terms of how to design our pedagogical ways of working. Sometimes it's difficult to get the students back on campus, but if we're going to have a campus life, we need to do other things on campus than we do now, more various things compared to today. And defining what is the new working environment of our students? That is something that we are still just opening the door to, to see what that could be.
What do you think will characterize your time as President of KTH? What do you think you'll be remembered for among the students?
When you ask that question, you claim that one single person has a lot of impact. I think we are also a product of the time we are living in. So what this period will be remembered for is maybe more dependent on what kind of things create pressure on the university, and how we are able to define our own future. But if we are talking about your and mine relationship or my relationship to the students, I hope I will be remembered as accessible and able to provide opportunities for dialogue and discussions.
Tech, university, good, bad, stressful, accomplished. Everything and anything. But KTH is Valhallavägen, Flemingsberg, Kista, and Södertälje. It’s masters, bachelors, medicine, tech, business and innovation, or so that’s what we’re told.
KTH is more than just the buildings on Valhallavägen, we have 3 other campuses students reside in, the ones known as the ort-campuses. But how does this work out when the center of all student activities is Valhallavägen? All the events, most chapters, and the heart of the school? When THS operates out of Valhallavägen and does its bidding there.
What is it like to study outside of the main campus and what’s their relationship with THS? Well, I decided to go around to the different ort-campuses and have a chat with the presidents and representatives of the respective chapters. This is what they had to say. ***
The bright light of my tablet screen illuminates my face as I’m scrolling down my notes app reading over the questions I’ve prepared for this moment. The smell of a newly cracked energy drink and coffee envelops the room that is OL’s office. Colorful art and the huge OL logo adorn the wall facing the windows screaming out their presence to the world. I hear the door creak open and I look up to see a guy with a small frame and a huge smile walk in, and realize this is Hugo Augustsson, the President of Ingenjörssektionen Flemingsberg, or IsF for short. I introduce myself and he takes a seat, extremely thankful and seemingly excited for this opportunity presented to him.
IsF is the chapter that entails all of the Flemingsberg campus. It's the combined chapter for the 6 programs available for students there with 8 different committees.
Traditions at IsF mirror those of other chapters and the difference between the two are not as grave as you’d imagine.
Despite operating out of Flemingsberg, Hugo spends a lot of time at Valhallavägen and something he loves in his own campus is how familiar it is in comparison to Valhallavägen. Flemingsberg campus is located in one building with multiple floors students use, everything is close and comforting and not as confusing as main campus, Hugo says.
I ask him about the relationship IsF have with THS and what that looks like, and here he emphasizes the fact that he’s been newly elected and doesn’t fully have the means to answer this question yet. He says that THS was very forthcoming and helpful during the reception, more so than he thought they would be. They were available to answer any questions and queries, as well as attending their meetings and their Nollegasque.
However, the communication between THS and IsF is lacking, Hugo says. Information regarding events and meetings is hard to come by if you’re not a part of the many email chains or have an ear to the ground. In Nymble there are posters and advertisements for the many chapters' events all over the place and that kind of exposure is lacking for and to IsF. He wishes there was more information available online that was accessible to both the students and chapters so everyone can be included.
He feels that being a part of an ort-campus is great, but it also means having to fight a little extra to get your voice heard
and get the same attention as the chapters on site.
Hugo mentions that they currently have a member that’s previously been a part of the THS Management Team and find it's gotten better, but that theirs is a unique case.
He wants to underline that the campus being in Flemingsberg isn’t the problem, but that of the people involved with THS and the effort and communication shown toward the orts-campuses.
My thoughts and questions quiet down as he leaves us with that last tidbit as the interview wraps up and he exits the room with a big smile on his face.
If you want to know more about IsF you can visit their website. They have their pubs every Friday at 17:00 with their mästeri. The chapter operates as its own family, something that makes them stick out, Hugo mentions. They’re always happy to collaborate and work with the other chapters and work toward creating fun opportunities for all. ***
It’s cold as hell, but it reads as 3 degrees with the sun out today. ”Hey that’s Sweden!” I typically say when someone mentions the weird fluctuating February weather. Today’s the day I’m talking to the most forgotten campus of them all, Södertälje. A cookie in hand, and my brain on alert, I scroll through my notes app once again waiting for my interviewees to walk in. The clock strikes 12:15 and I know it's time to
When I say KTH you say…?
work when I see two tall guys outside the door. They introduce themselves as Oskar Lundberg, president of Telge Teknologsektion, and Emil Wik, studienämndsordförande (SNO) representative.
In Södertälje there are 3 programs available in their newly renovated building, the familial atmosphere comforting in contrast to the cold big halls of Valhallavägen.
Telge Teknologsektion, or TT for short, is a small chapter with 5 committees. Being such a small chapter does come with drawbacks, Oskar explains, they don’t have enough older students, or faddrar in Swedish, for their reception. And the majority of students who involve themselves in TT have their time is split between two campuses which hasn’t allowed for many traditions to form either.
The lack of tradition allows them a lot of freedom in running their chapter though, says Emil. Oskar agrees: he became chapter president despite only being in his second year!
I mention THS and their role at TT, the forgotten chapter, Emil says. Nymble meetings revolve around Valhallavägen, nothing applicable to the ort-campuses. They’re invited, but not included. Their SNO relationship with THS goes a long way though, Emil says. The time Emil and Oskar spend at Valhallavägen allow them to absorb information about events that are going on and that’s how they keep up. I reflect back on Hugo's perception that it’s a disadvantage not having ears on the ground for the information to be reached out to all audiences, or in this case both IsF and TT.
The disappointment hangs thick in the air, and I wonder about solutions they have. Meetings about orts-campuses, THS presence at chapter meetings, dedicated information spread about and to TT, an office at Nymble and an Ortscampus day in the same vein as the THS union day are all points Oskar brings up.
Although, they do both praise the efforts of Valborgpubsrundan where they had a big engagement the previous year and something they’re looking forward to this year.
Södertälje is a familial campus where eryone has their place to be themselves. TT might be small, but it has a lot of life and
energy to give out to its members. They have their pubs every Friday, as well as an upcoming event called Olympiska Spelen that you can find out more about on their social media.
***
My glasses are coated in fog as soon as I enter Kistas campus, wet and cold from the snowstorm outside. I’m immediately impressed at the size of the campus, as someone who hasn’t stepped in here once I’m intrigued. I call the number of my interviewee and see a blond girl coming out
times are also inconvenient for an ort-campus with times like 17.30 when it takes at least 45 minutes to commute into the main campus from Kista, not to mention places like Södertälje. A great solution to this would be for the availability of a Zoom link for those not able nor have the time to commute that time.
Linnéa thinks it's sad that they’re not as heard nor seen, and she thinks people’s stereotypes of students at ort-campuses hurt the overall student life quota. Although she makes it a point to mention that the Valborgpubrunda has done wonders for their chapter marketing and the previous year was a huge success. She also agrees that having an ort-campus day would be a great idea for the further exposure of the chapters.
Linnéa makes it a point to bring up THS and its event communication where student life at Kista is well known around Kista but most things THS are a questionmark.
of a room to greet me.
president of the JML committee and board member of IN-Sektionen at Kista.
It’s
We sit down in a small, brightly lit project room and start the interview. Linnéa starts to talk about Kista and her bubbly personality is contagious, I can’t help but to get excited with her.
Linnéa explains that Kista campus holds 3 Swedish taught programs with an international bachelor, as well as many different masters. Their chapter, IN-Sektionen, has been around for a long time and is actually one of the biggest chapters THS has. IN-Sektionen have 6 committees and 2 Qlubbmästerier, which one might find surprising and unique at an ort-campus. It’s a very active chapter.
I prod into what their THS relationship is like and Linnéa speaks to me about her experiences from a JML president's perspective. It’s easy to miss information about THS events and meetings if you’re not a part of the correct email chains, which are many and confusing Linnéa says. Meeting
The reception is something incredibly vital for the chapter, as they’re planning it all year long, and Linnéa thanks the efforts of marketing their chapter to its success and its sheer size and membership. THS matches them in the engagement and has members present for the reception and their gasques, although their chapter meetings often miss a THS representative.
She paints the aura of Kista as being relaxing with less stressed energy to be in this building compared to when she commutes to Valhallavägen. She urges people to join the chapter with their various committees, 2 pubs a week, and fun events. She also mentions coming to see them on the 23rd of April for Valepubsrundan!
I can clearly see a theme between these 3 interviews, and I’m sure you can as well. THS has to become better with its communication. Did you know about all of these things on these campuses? I’m sure you didn’t, I surely didn’t know. And I think that’s the problem. Certain events, dates and problems are made more of a big deal than others on THS and its not a good look for a supposedly inclusive student body. We all deserve the same amount of effort being put in, regardless of the campus you choose to study at.
So what is it, KTH or Valhallavägen?
Linnéa Wahl,22 sektioner, och en kår. THS arbetar med allas studenters bästa i fokus, men är allt bra? Osqledaren har pratat med representanter för två sektioner som inte alltid har haft positiva upplevelser av THS och som ser utvecklingsmöjligheter för organisationen.
Tekniska Högskolans Studentkår (THS) har närmare 10300 medlemmar fördelade inom 22 sektioner. Så hur arbetar man för att alla sektioner ska känna att de får ut något av kåren och att just deras medlemmar prioriteras? Vi träffar representanter för Maskinsektionen (M-sektionen) och Sektionen för Industriell ekonomi (I-sektionen) och diskuterar hur deras relation med THS ser ut idag och hur den har sett ut tidigare.
Johan Widmark började på KTH och Maskinsektionen 2016, och 2020 satt han på en heltidspost i Kårledningen på THS. I juni 2022 tillträdde han som M-sektionens ordförande, och under sina år på KTH har Johan sett hur M-sektionens relation till THS har ändrats:
– När jag började 2016 var det vanliga anseendet om THS på sektionen sådär; man tyckte inte att man fick ut så mycket av det. Nu det senaste ett och ett halvt året upplever jag att det har blivit mycket bättre. Just nu skulle jag säga att vår relation är ganska neutral. Jag tror inte att det är så många på sektionen nu som har någonting emot kåren, men jag tror inte att det är så många som vet exakt vad kåren gör heller.
Han tror att flera orsaker ligger bakom den positiva utvecklingen:
– Jag tror att dels tiden har gjort att det blivit bättre de senaste åren, för att det har skett ett generationsskifte, men också att vi förra året i styrelsen jobbade ganska hårt för att prata om THS och vad de gjorde för
oss. Jag tror att bland annat det gjorde att folk insåg att vi kanske får ut någonting av THS.
Max Kenning började på KTH 2021 och i maj 2022 tillträdde han som ordförande för Sektionen för Industriell ekonomi. Carl Lavö började industriell ekonomi 2020 och är nu eventansvarig inom sektionens styrelse. Vi frågar dem om hur I-sektionens relation med THS ser ut:
– Vår sektions relation med THS är ganska svag. Det är egentligen inga dåliga känslor, men det är bara att det är väldigt få indekare som engagerar sig i THS, säger Carl.
– Generellt är det en väldigt svag relation sett till hur mycket utbyte vi får, lägger Max till. Det är mest de materiella sakerna som vi känner nyttjas bilateralt, men vi känner inte av THS-engagemang på vår sektion. Det känns nästan ibland lite mer som en börda.
Att få från I-sektionen engagerar sig inom THS tror Max och Carl handlar om flera olika saker:
– Dels tror jag att det är en väldigt stark brist på tradition, säger Carl. Man vet ingen som har varit engagerad. Intresset för kårfullmäktige på vår sektion är ytterst lågt. Men även att det kanske inte marknadsförs så mycket mot sektionerna där det inte redan finns den här traditionen. Så THS måste – om de vill ha fler indekare engagerade – verkligen marknadsföra det, för det kommer inte bara ske av sig självt.
– Det handlar mycket om storleken på sektionen och engagemang inom sektionen också, menar Max. Finns det en väletablerad sektion som engagerar sig mycket och har en väldigt bred verksamhet så är det färre som söker sig till THS.
– Om vi har mycket utbud på sektionen, varför ska jag gå till kåren och få ungefär samma, när jag känner folk på maskin och det redan är tryggt? menar Johan. I likhet med I-sektionen är M-sektionen stor, och Johan tror att det påverkade sektionens tidigare syn på THS:
– Jag tror inte THS hade gjort någonting “per say”, men kanske snarare att medlemmarna tyckte att vi höll på att växa ur kåren. “Om vi är så stora kanske vi inte behöver vara med i kåren? Varför kan vi inte starta en egen kår? Då kan vi vara någonting som är mer riktat mot oss.” De kände att de kanske inte fick så mycket stöd som de borde ha fått, vilket är svårt från kårens sida, för det är många studenter, så hur ska man synas för alla?
Ja, hur ska en organisation som ska samla studenter från 22 olika sektioner synas för alla? Det är en fråga vi återkommer till flera gånger.
– Att se ett första steg från THS; ett större engagemang i väletablerade sektioner som har bred verksamhet och som historiskt sett inte har haft en jättebra relation med THS, kan vara ett första steg. Men jag tror att det steget måste tas från THS sida, säger Max.
TEXT ALCINA MUNENE pERSSON & ALExANDRA ANDERSSON ILLUSTRATION ROISIN CALLAGHAN– Jag tror att THS skulle kunna vara tydligare med vad studenterna får ut av att vara med i kåren, säger Johan. Det finns ju massa fördelar, men vilka är de? Jag tror på lite mer riktad marknadsföring, även om det bara är rebrandat för alla sektioner, men det känns mer som att de pratar med oss.
Carl pekar på en svårighet i att marknadsföra THS för sektionen, och beskriver hur THS kan be sektionen att marknadsföra någonting, utan att berätta hur de själva skulle ha marknadsfört det och skicka med marknadsföringsmaterial.
– Då känner man mest “jaha, okej, varför ska vi göra det här? Kan ni inte göra det själva?”.
– De som sitter på sektionen har kanske inte riktigt tid att ta reda på det från THS, skräddarsy det och sedan pumpa ut det, menar Johan. Nu har ju THS en kommunikatör som skickar bra material, men jag tror att det hade behövts skräddarsytt material som är redo att skickas ut till sek-
göra mot alla 22 sektioner.
Har det diskuterats inom era sektioner att lämna THS?
– Det är en sak som har kommit upp på sektionsmöten. Senast förra våren kom det upp som motion, men den röstades nästan enhälligt ner. Så det finns inget stort intresse från oss som sektion, säger Max.
– Ja, när det var som mest negativ bild av THS, då snackades det om – och många menade det på skämt – Mexit. Det har diskuterats, men det har aldrig tagits upp seriöst, säger Johan.
Nedröstade motioner och skämtsamt omgjorda Brexit-loggor till trots är det uppenbart att alla sektioner inte alltid varit nöjda med THS arbete. Så vilka möjligheter finns det för sektioner att diskutera sådant?
– De råd som finns på THS har historiskt sett varit bra till viss mån. Jag går till exempel på ordföranderåden, och de har varit bra och givande för utbyte mellan sektioner. Men i termer av utveckling för THS är det
svårt när THS sitter i samma rum, runt samma bord, menar Max.
Som Johan ser det finns det gott om forum för diskussioner med kåren, och han lyfter även sektioners möjligheter till opinionsbildning:
– Inom till exempel Kårfullmäktige har Maskin ibland varit ganska hårda mot kåren. För 1-2 år sedan var Industriell ekonomi, Samhällsbyggnad och Maskin ganska nära samarbetande och jobbade för att driva lite större förändringar i Kårfullmäktige, berättar Johan.
Men hur stort ansvar kan man lägga på THS och vilket ansvar har sektionerna när deras samarbeten med THS inte fungerar klanderfritt? Johan menar att vissa på M-sektionen har bidragit till att förmedla en negativ bild av THS.
– Generationsskiftet har gjort att den här rösten inte finns med så ofta i diskussionen; att man tycker att kåren inte bidrar så mycket. Tidigare om man börjat diskutera kåren på sektionen har det ofta varit någon som kommer in i diskussionen och säger “ja, det där är inte bra, vi behöver inte dem” och det tror jag är en brist på insikt i hur mycket arbete kåren gör.
Han poängterar också vikten av att låta de nya studenterna skapa sin egen bild av THS, och där är Max enig.
– Personer kan ha olika åsikter om THS, och när man blir mer engagerad i sektionen får man bilda sin egen uppfattning. Jag tror inte att det är något som aktivt framförs för nya studenter, säger han.
För Max och Carl är det tydligt vad som skulle kunna förbättra I-sektionens relation till THS:
– Man måste försöka bygga engagemang hos Indekare mer än Indek-sektionen, säger Carl. För sektionsmedlemmarna är de som inte alls har kontakt med THS. – Jag tror att det är viktigt att försöka att inte köra över sektioner, säger Max. Att jobba med oss, även med sektioner som man kanske har dispyter med. Det kommer alltid vara en spänd relation så länge någon känner sig överlägsen den andra.
På M-sektionen har diskussionen kring THS blivit allt mer positiv de senaste åren, vilket Johan tycker är bra.
– THS är inte perfekta och vi är inte heller perfekta på vår sektion, säger han. Men jag tror att vi i alla fall har landat i en mer positiv relation de senaste ett och ett halvt åren, och det är jag väldigt glad för.
Do you know what the management team at THS is actually doing every day? 12 students work full-time in Nymble for a year, and their salary is partly paid by you! To make their work more transparent, we ask them tough questions in every edition of Osqledaren. This time:
1. What is your biggest challenge right now?
2. What's the biggest divide you see within THS and student life at KTH?
3. Individual spicy question!
4. What can students ask you about?
Kårordförande Cornelia Haag ordf@ths.kth.se
1. Realizing that more than half of my time has passed and trying to plan my last months. It's hard to prioritise and I realise that I won't have time to do some of the things I wished to do.
Karl Arthursson vordf@ths.kth.se1. I need to make the budget for next year! I am very excited but time seems to disappear. Soon my time as the Vice President of THS is over and there is still so much I want to do!
2. There are a lot of different opinions on
1. Two things. Firstly I'm dedicating a lot of resources to improving how fairs are conducted in Nymble, where the tricky part is balanc-
2. THS has about 10 000 members, everyone with a different vision of what student life at KTH should look like and to combine all of them is a challange.
3. Do the chapters need THS? Sometimes. Our chapters are very independent and run strong organizations. However sometimes, when bad things happen or it's a question bigger than just one or two chapters, it's a big advantage to have a bigger organization that can give support and take over the issues that
what THS should do and what our role should be. I think that if we were better at communicating what we actually do, this would be a smaller problem, but communication is very hard! Especially when your target audience is so large and diverse.
3. When it comes to economy: Do the chapters know what they are doing? I think all chapters make an effort to try and keep their economy in good shape, but they are in very different situations. Some have lot of
ing all of the competing interests. Secondly, I’m working hard to prepare for all of THS Future’s projects this spring.
2. I sometimes feel like there exists a lack of unity. We are all students at KTH, with a majority being THS members, but rarely do we identify as that. Having strong independent chapters is great in lots of ways, and I don’t at all want to take away from that. I do, how-
affect all students.
4. Basically everything. I probably won't have an answer to everything but I will know who you can ask if I'm not able to answer.
money and some have a lot of experience with very well developed structures. I think it is important to remember that we are all amateurs, doing this because we love student life, the most important thing is that we try and help each other out when we can!
4. THS economy, how KL works, the union board. You can also ask me who might have an answer to your question, and I can probably point you in the right direction.
ever, envisage a future in which we also feel a strong connecting to the union as a whole.
3. How many career fair banquets have you gone to for free? Nothing is free, everything has to be paid for. For every profit in one thing, payment in some other thing. For every life, a death.
4. THS Future, Advice about business relations, fairs and events in Nymble
1. Juggling the different parts of OL: balancing the printed magazine with our efforts to publish more and more web articles, working on the website in the background, building a team that will stay for the next year and work-
1. We are currently seeing a big turnover phase, where most of our experienced students are graduating. While this leaves me with a big challenge in terms of recruitement and onboarding, it also means that this is prime time to work on restructuring our operations to make them more sustainable!
2. If we zoom into international student life, I feel like the biggest divide is that KTH focuses on the recruitment of students more than their actual stay; while THS is more
1. Onboarding and Recruitment. I have a Committee that comes from 3 different universities in Stockholm, and they all need to work together and set up an event that is quite huge. So the challenge becomes making them feel comfortable and welcome at THS. For this year, they are all part of our student life and will experience it from our side,
1. The Dekis move and to finish up on the serving permits for the chapters. The time schedule is tight and I have a lot of mail to catch up on. I'm very sorry for having to prioritize other matters!
2. I think the biggest divide right now is how different parts of KTH and THS value the student life at KTH differently. Some parts of KTH
ing on investigations of THS and KTH - stay tuned to read about Nymble restaurant, Akademiska Hus, and more!
2. Everything we write about in this magazine comes down to this issue: open, direct and honest communication. THS lacks transparency and communication channels. The staff and the working students at THS lack respect for each other. A lot happens behind closed doors - do you know what THS actually does?
about the students' life during their studies. I've been witnessing some efforts from both sides to improve the conditions of housing, integration, and education; so I look forward to seeing tangible results that impact student life positively.
3. Is it acceptable for the Project Team to be burnt out after every International Reception? I will not deny that our operations have outgrown our structure: we currently cater for more students and events than our budget and structure can theoretically handle. However, the reality of the reception is more than what you see 'in theory'. I've been on both sides of the discussion, and the reality is, those who are involved on the ground often go above and beyond their task descriptions
so making sure they are welcome and feel like they belong is a challenge we will tackle this time around.
2. To me it's a lot about what being a student means. All of THS' projects and events are a way for people to relax and be social during their studies, which can sometimes be forgotten by KTH. It feels like a lot of the time, activities that are extracurricular, or for fun, get a bad reputation for just existing, but I see them as necessary to get people to hang around and relax, so they can actually perfom better at their studies and have motivation to put in study hours.
see it as a necessary part for Campus to feel alive and fun for the students, while some see it as an annoyance for their own work. THS locally (chapters and associations) and THS central value this highly and see the importance of student social activities for people to want to stay at KTH and finish their studies. This is something we need to work on when talking to KTH so we get the same common view on the matter.
3. Why are the spexes forced to move out of Dekis so fast all of a sudden? Weren't they supposed to get more time to move? KTH are in a hurry to follow the current envi-
3. Is Osqledaren actually still relevant for anyone? I hope so, I really do. At the end of my year I want OL to be on a path to spicier investigations, fun, direct and honest reporting and the news channel that all students at KTH recognize. That takes more time than I expected, but we'll get there.
4. Publishing, writing, journalism, THS and OL history, and how to join Osqledaren or get your own articles (insändare) published! Also: anything that's wrong with THS
not always because they are expected tobut because they want to. A lot of the time, the project team members that are in Nymble aren't always there because they have their events to run; but because they want to help with other events, or simply mingle with their colleagues. The weeks of the reception might sometimes get overwhelming, but they are also super fun to work!
4. Internationalization and diversity, the student life of international students, the International Reception, THS MAIN (the Masters & International association), THS Sports, Friskvårdsbidrag (the sports grants for chapters and associations), as well the social and educational aspects of studying abroad.
3. What's the theme for this year's Nobel Nightcap? Potatoes! We will narrate the journey of the potato through time and space, from planting to becoming fries. But we are also debating having Pants as a subtheme! So you will have a very immersive experience with potatoes and pants! Maybe even jeans to spice it up! You get to know the full theme on December 10, 2023 at 23:00.
4. Recruitment Events and chances, The Roles of Students' Nobel NightCap, Students’ Nobel NightCap, Ways to engage with people
ronmental regulations and can't wait for the summer of 2024. The only suitable time to move to not be an annoyance for the spexes is to move during the summer. The Dekis move is currently being planned and the spexes and chapter presidents have gotten an opportunity to look at the new Dekis. I'm working together with Dekis responsible Kansy to make this work as pain free as possible.
4. General chapter questions, Premises, Chapter halls, Security, How to arrange events on Campus, Student life, Student culture, Spexes, Dekis, Sustainability and Pubs
1. At time of writing, getting the group started. At time of reading? Nothing is a challenge anymore.
2. There seem to be different underlying assumptions and values about how centralized THS should be, about what is the core of THS: the chapters or THS central.
Chef för utbildningsinflytande | Head of Educational Affairs Filip Axelsson utbildning@ths.kth.se1. Finding time between the KTH-meetings to do the other tasks that I need to do. Influencing KTH to make the education better requires proactive work which is hard when you don't have enough time.
2. There are divides between how much dif-
Chef för utbildningsinflytande | Head of Educational Affairs Maja Rosén utbildning@ths.kth.se1. The employees at KTH have worked longer than me so not only do I look over current meeting documents to speak for the students' interests but need to read up on what hahappened within the subject in question so far.
David Schalin event@ths.kth.se
1. Finding time between my strategic work that is meant to unload a lot of menial work for me, such as finishing up and solving the quirks of my new cash register system and other operative parts of my work that have to be done.
ferent kinds of roles are valued, especially at the chapter level but also at THS central. I feel that the work of the study boards is undervalued in comparison to the important work that they do to improve the education for the students.
3. Who influences our education more in practice, Ordf or CFUs? Definitely the CFUs! The president of THS has a very important role at the leadership level at KTH and works with long-term strategic matters. But when it comes to the specific way that the education
3. Where is your Project Group flying for their next teambuilding? Flying... if only Red Bull actually gave us wings!
4. Fairs, Armada, Project Management
actually works, then the CFUs work more with KTH. Also the president has a lot of different responsibilities and is only one person. The CFUs work entirely with educational matters and are two people.
4. The different ways you as a student can affect KTH and make the education better for everyone. You can ask us what kinds of questions are current at KTH right now and how the education will work in the future. And there is plenty of juicy gossip as well!
2. Within my area, educational student influence, we have a big division between Swedish speaking and non-Swedish speaking students where it is very difficult to take part in the discussions at KTH if you are not fluent in Swedish. This is a big problem since all students have a right to take part of information and decisions regarding their own education.
3. How many of your meetings could have been an email? KTH actually has very productive meetings with great discussions on many
of the meetings I attend. With that being said my predecessors seem to have wisely deprioritized a few meetings we no longer attend.
4. Student influence, current hot topics within KTH, your rights as a student and of course the studienämnd are always welcome to ask for my advice or discuss their challenges with me!
2. I think the biggest divide comes from a lack of communication. We at THS Central work a lot with our specific roles and do our own thing. But sometimes we forget to communicate that out to the rest of the students.
3. Are the new cash registers going to make it more bearable to stand in line at the next Tentapub? YES! Speed is the name of the game and these new cash registers are fast! Faster in there being less buttons to press and less time spent waiting for receipts to print slooooooowly. Of course there will
1. To carefully think of the consequences of decisions, while time seems to move faster and faster with regards to reception planning.
2. I feel that there is a sense of lack of agency over THS within a lot of student groups at
KTH. THS is seen as distant and difficult to influence, a capricious force to deal with best you can. Increased transparency and more channels for affecting the operations of THS Central could mitigate this perception.
3. Why do some chapters have bigger & better receptions than others? Chiefly two reasons: 1) outside market forces and 2) existing structure and pre-conditions. Some programmes are more attractive to companies and thus get more sponsorships, i.e. more
be a learning curve slowing the workers in the first few minutes. But we're still looking at queues that will be moving faster, both inside the house and outside.
4. How to arrange events in Nymble that involve alcohol, renting event equipment (wardrobes, tents, etc.) & information about my subgroups NKM, RN and Platoon
money. A reception with better existing structures, methods for knowledge transfer and pre-conditions for the responsibles spends less time on learning the basics and re-inventing the wheel and more time on perfecting the details.
4. The reception: what it looks like currently, what it looks like at other universities and what I think it could look like!
THS Future is the primary group for corporate relations within THS, the student union at KTH. We provide a platform for top engineering talent at KTH to connect and interact with companies. Created in 2007, originally known as Näringslivsgruppen, we rebranded to THS Future in 2016 to reflect a more international focus. We have since hosted a wide range of networking events for students to interact with companies and facilitate networking, and this year is no exception! Through our events, students can receive guidance and
feedback from industry experts on how to improve their prospects to get a job, gain valuable insights into industry trends and gain new perspectives on how the corporate world operates. We aim to make networking simplified so you can get your dream job.
This spring, we have three signature events coming up with different themes: Innovation Week (March 27-31), Consulting Eve (April 20) and Green Week (May 15-17).
The first of these events is Innovation week, which will give students insight into how companies are boosting their research and development to stay competitive in the market. We will organize both lunch lectures and more non-traditional events where companies present their cutting edge innovation that makes them industry leaders and stand out from their competitors. Students will be inspired and are given insight about innovation and how research happens in the corporate world and how it differs from academic research.
The second event, called Consulting Eve, aims to eliminate the gap between engineer-
ing students and consulting companies from various industries. Finding the proper employer is crucial since a job in consulting is becoming increasingly more desirable and competitive on the market. Students will network with notable consulting firms at this event through case studies, speed interviews, and even a banquet in complement to the Consulting Eve Fair!
The last of our three major events is Green Week. Due to climate change and global warming, all sectors of society must adapt to become more sustainable. This is true for companies of all sizes, who all have the power to impact real change. During this three day event, students will get the chance to explore how different companies ensure sustainability and use their engineering expertise for what’s best for the planet. If you want to be a part of real change, this event is certainly for you.
Scan the QR Code to check out our website, social media, and get in touch with us to get more information about our work and the events. See you there!
Applying for an internship, thesis, or a first job that aligns with your interests can be daunting. At THS Future, we bring students and employers together, opening doors to a future filled with opportunities.TEXT & ILLUSTRATION THS FUTURE
Det kan vara svårt att tro men THS och KTH har faktiskt en ovanlig god relation om man jämför oss med våra motsvarigheter runt om i landet. Men att ha en god relation är bara värt något om det faktiskt leder till förbättringar för studenterna. Jag råkar tro att vi tjänar väldigt mycket på att vi och KTH kommer så bra överens – men stämmer det egentligen? Det är frågan jag ställer mig i den här krönikan!
Detta nummer av Osqledaren har temat "divisions" – olika typer av motsättningar som finns på KTH och i samhället. Om det finns ett bättre ämne för någon som spenderar sina dagar med att brygga gapet mellan studenterna och lärosätet så kommer jag inte på det!
Bland Chefer för Utbildningsinflytande finns ett begrepp som ni borde känna till: att härja. När det gäller studentinflytande är det alltför enkelt att sitta och vara passiv – bidra med "studentåsikten" när KTH ber om den. Vårt uppdrag
är att aktivt driva frågor som är viktiga för studenterna och ibland kräver det att man sätter hårt mot hårt. Att härja är alltså att tydligt uttrycka vad som är viktigt för studenterna utan att tänka på stämningen i rummet. För ibland krävs det.
Ni som gått på KTH under corona har definitivt upplevt zoomtentor. Visste ni att originalidén var att man skulle bli inspelad i sitt eget hem när man redan var övervakad. Det fick THS att reagera – ingen student ska behöva utstå den typen av integritetskränkning! På det mötet har vi ett praktexempel på härj och det slutade med att THS fick rätt. När förvaltningsjuristerna börjar viska om "grundlagen" då vet man att man är på rätt spår.
Detta är ett extremfall, och som tur är så är det mycket sällan som det blir riktigt så allvarligt. Och det är den egentliga poängen med den här texten – tack vare vår goda relation så får vi vanligtvis inflytande långt innan vi behöver ta till härjarmusklerna. Och min upplevelse är att KTH verkligen lyssnar på våra förslag. Här är ett axplock på de saker som THS fått igenom genom åren:
- Obligatorisk kurs innan lärare får vara examinator
- 5 års civilingenjörsstudier
- Obligatoriska kurs-PM för att göra det tydligt vad som gäller i varje kurs
- Krav på 15 hp högskolepedagogiska kurser för att vara lärare på KTH
- Övnings- och föreläsningssalar ska vara öppna som studieplatser
- 4 tentaperioder per läsår
…och förstås en myriad andra grejer som är svåra att sammanfatta här.
Men det är inte bara inom utbildningsfrågor som vi får ut mycket tack vare vår goda relation! Sektionslokaler är ett klockrent exempel – vi är i princip unika i Sverige med att ha lokaler för studieplatser och studiesocial verksamhet med så mycket frihet som vi ändå har. På andra ställen har studenter svartfester i lärosätets källare, vi har riktiga studentpubar och gasquer. Mottagningen är också ett enormt samarbete mellan THS och KTH som inte skulle vara möjligt utan samarbetet vi har med KTH.
Att ha en känsla för när man bör sätta hårt mot hårt och när man måste hålla tillbaka är inte alltid enkelt men det är den balansgången som vi måste ta. Om man ser KTH som ens motståndare istället för en medspelare så kan man lätt hamna i att relationen surnar och då skulle vi förlora något ytterst värdefullt. För att nästan citera Bamse: "är man snäll, så blir man stark"!
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