OM
NEWS FR
RBIA
NEWS AT A GLANCE
Issue 6 20 Jan 14
YOU’RE BRILLIANT AWARDS
SELLING THE STUDENT LOAN BOOK
R LOCK IT O IT LOSE
VP COMMS ON PAYDAY LENDERS
BAKING SOCIETY
FOR LOADS f /SUBUBOURNEMOUTH www.subu.org.uk MORE, SEE: @ SUBUBOURNEMOUTH ☎ 01202 965765
+ MORE INSIDE!
2014 AND BEYOND
I
t’s a new term and time to shake off the Christmas hangover and start looking forward to what 2014 has in store. For most, January will be a time of exams, assignments and resolutions - all to be done and dusted by the 1st February. To celebrate the fresh start, we’ve created a welcome back pack to reintroduce you back to BU in style. Alongside SUBUrbia, the pack features issue #4 of our award winning Nerve Magazine, a term 2 planner with a full list of
events we’re running and SUBU’s 2013 impact report infographic with our performance over the past year. It also features loads of free giveaways and vouchers, from group parties at Lollipop to free coffee in The Loft. You’ll also find a Bournemouth Students’ Together’ wristband and fridge magnet frame to forever immortalise your favourite night out photo. This is our ongoing campaign to emphasise student safety in the community, so look out for it across the term!
WHAT’S ON MAYDAY PARADE
SUPERBOWL IN DYLAN’S
THUR 23 JAN
SUN 2 FEB
The Florida rock band bring their high energy pop punk back to The Old Fire Station to tour their 4th album. For tickets, visit: oldfirestation.co.uk
For the biggest one-off event in sport, everybody becomes an American football expert and crams into Dylan’s for a late night of beer, nachos and the infamous half-time show.
FULL TIME OFFICER NOMINATIONS
NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY
With the Student Centre set to open in 2015, you could be one of the 4 Full-time Officers that lead SUBU into our exciting new future. Find out how at: subu.org.uk
Opportunity for final year undergraduates to share opinions on their student experience and help inform future prospective students on life at BU.
MON 3 FEB - FRI 28 FEB
HOME SWEET HOME
MON 3 FEB - WED 30 APRIL
MONEY MATTERS HOME SWEET HOME
MON 10 FEB - TUE11 11FEB FEB FEB-TUE
THUR 13FEB-TUE FEB MON 10 11 FEB
SUBU Advice and BU Lettings are on hand in the Atrium to make sure you get the best deals and information before signing up for a private housing contract.
Managing your money at uni can often feel like a juggling act, which is why SUBU Advice are offering sensible budgeting tips and advice in the Atrium.
UNSUNG HEROES Celebrating the hard work and success of the students that make SUBU the hub of activity it is
YOU’RE BRILLIANT STAFF CELEBRATED AT VC AWARDS
Clubs Q&A This Week
LIZZY WALLIS BAKING SOCIETY PRESIDENT
What can students expect from the Baking Society for the rest of the year? We hold weekly sessions where groups come along to bake something tasty! To name a few, so far this year we’ve made cheese and bacon twists, duffins (doughnut-muffin hybrid) and lemon drizzle cupcakes. We are also trying to persuade more guys to join and encourage those with dietaries that they can still get involved. We dedicate a lot of our time to SUBU Volunteering activities too. How did you get involved? The society was created in my second year and as a baker I thought: ‘Why not?’. I made lots of new friends, ate far too much chocolate on the Cadbury World trip and even won ‘star baker’ after icing all the cupcakes for a Speak Week! What would you recommend to students? Get involved with RAG’s challenges, I can highly recommend Kilimanjaro. What’s an interesting fact about yourself? I was a bridesmaid at Mary Berry’s son’s wedding!
BECOME A HERO
If you’ve got something worth shouting about, we’d love to share it on this page. Simply email sumedia@bournemouth.ac.uk or come up and see us in the SUBU office (above Dylan’s bar)!
S
taff that excel in making BU the great University it is were celebrated with You’re Brilliant Awards at the Vice Chancellor Awards last term. The awards exist to recognise excellence across Bournemouth University and provide students the opportunity to address members of staff who have had a real impact on their time here. 8 staff members across all Schools received awards, after receiving nominations for going above and beyond their call of duty to enrich students’ academic careers. Throughout the last year, these have included Costa staff, admin team members, University bus drivers and all manner of staff members making life easier for students here. John Gusman, VP Education said he was thrilled with the progress of the You’re Brilliant awards. "I’m really pleased to see so many nominations coming forward. We’ve had more this semester than the entire of last year, which shows how much students value feeding back about the great staff here at BU." The full list of winners are: Silver Keith Pretty – DEC Matthew Frew – Tourism Nigel Phillips – Media School Jo Barrington – Bournemouth & Poole College Lucy Stainer – HSC Iain Hewitt – Applied Science Robbie Bartle – Bus Driver, Wilts and Dorset Gold Ken Brown – Business School Nominate staff or student reps for a You’re Brilliant award at: yourebrilliantawards.co.uk
DAWN OF THE PRIVATE LOAN? nies purchasing debt will be prevented raising interest rates. The conditions maintain the debt remains between the person and the Student Loans Company rather than the private creditor, and any changes to the T+Cs have to first be passed through Parliament. In fact, indicators suggest the sales won’t have a direct consequence to student borrowers, but due to debts being under-valued and sold below cost price, the primary losers could actually be the general taxpayer. Of course, protesters have questioned the strength of these assurances; given the overturned promises the coalition has already imposed on the student vote. Months before the Autumn Statement, a confidential report commissioned by the government reported proposals to redraw the terms of student loans taken out over the past 15 years, and increase the rates of interest paid. The ultimate goal for government may well be to sell off student debt, which has a face value of £40bn, in its entirety. By raising the amount graduates are made to pay back, loans would become undeniably more attractive to potential buyers. But promises from the coalition aside, if we are to shoulder the burden of student finance, surely it should go back towards funding a decent, accessible education system, rather than temporarily alleviating the governments own debt?
With government announcing plans to sell off £900m worth of student debt to private companies, we contemplate the possible risks for Higher Education
I
n a passing comment made towards the end of a long Autumn Statement in December, Chancellor George Osborne announced the most controversial development in Higher Education since the tuition fee rise. Plans to "sell the student loan book" come as a by-product of relaxing the cap on student admissions, allowing 60,000 extra people to attend University from 2015. The idea was, naturally, met with animosity from Student Unions and activists across the country. According to an e-petition, which had nearly 17,000 signatures at the time of writing; "by selling outstanding loans to the private sector, the Government would lose a long-term source of revenue to the Treasury, sacrificing it for meagre shortterm gain and potentially leaving private financial companies to profit without investing back into the UK economy." The second, more pertinent impact for students allows the risk of increasing an already huge graduate debt burden by the potential to remove the cap on loan interest rates. However, privatised student loans isn’t as new as we think following the ‘Sale of Student Loans Act 2008’ and both the Universities Minister, David Willetts, and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable have reiterated compa-
What’s your take?
Your opinions on this issue can help our elected representatives submit recommendations at the NUS National Conference in April.
‘You Said This Happened’ is our way to telling you how we’ve acted on your feedback
SUBU SHOULD coordinate an Accommodation Fair
Improvements WERE needed FOR THE U3 & U4 bus services
facilities NEEDED TO BE INCREASED in the library
Nearly 70 seats and 19 new PCs added across the library
routes and schedules altered to ensure more reliable arrival times
February’s Home Sweet Home campaign is IN COLLABORATION WITH BU LETTINGS, offering viewings of great properties at competitive rates
BEWARE
THE LOAN SHARK As student finances stretch thinner than ever, your VP Comms Annie warns against payday lenders and offers some alternatives
L
iving on a student loan isn’t easy. With Christmas having sent many of us into our overdrafts and a loan instalment expected to last till May, it’s unsurprising that many of you might be in need of extra cash. Now, TV adverts would have us believe that these day-to-day cash flow concerns can be solved by a quick-quid, pounds-to-pocket payday loan ‘granted via an instant quote and paid back at a time to suit you’. But don’t be fooled by these ‘quick solutions’. Payday lenders are legal loan sharks; companies that lend money to vulnerable people at huge interest rates. Some payday lenders have an outrageous representative annual interest rate of over 4000%, meaning if you borrowed £100, after one month you’d owe approximately £137. But after 8 months, your debt would have risen to over £1000.
According to research conducted by the NUS, between 3% and 6% of university and college students have taken out high-risk debts, and you’re more likely to take out a high-risk debt if you’re a student parent or carer. You will never see SUBU ever promote, endorse or recommend payday lenders or legal loan sharks. If you see such advertising or promotional material on campus or in your halls of residence please let me know at:suvpcomms@bournemouth.ac.uk. So if you’re feeling stressed or worried about your finances, don’t turn to lenders like Wonga or QuickQuid - talk to SUBU Advice. Advice can offer a wealth of information and a range of support. You can contact them via phone, email and Facebook, or you can pop in to see them at Talbot campus above Dylan’s Bar or on the ground floor of Bournemouth House.
B
efore Christmas, we emphasised the importance of locking up your houses and ensuring you give yourself the best chance to stay safe from burglary. As you return back with all your shiny new presents for the New Year, between January and March are the peak times for burglaries. That’s why ensuring students feel secure in their houses, and follow simple measures to keep themselves and their things safe is a priority for us going into 2014. Alongside our student wardens, we’ll be out in force across Bournemouth and Winton in February visiting student houses, armed with our ‘Lock It’ padlocks with key information and tips. In the meantime, remember the following procedures to keep your house safe!
Keep valuables hidden from outside Keep view windows and doors locked whenever possible
Try to leave a light on when out of the house as a deterrent
Request student letting signs be taken down outside your house
E
xam period is a stressful time for everyone. The revision books, late nights at the library and enough post-it notes to re-decorate your house is enough to ruffle anyone’s feathers. But it’s important to keep focused and determined during this pivotal time in your University career, and not let the pressure get to you. To give you a 5 minute breather and chance to chat, our team will be on hand in the library throughout January with a cup of tea or coffee to help keep you on the straight and narrow. We’ll also be offering exam and revision tips from our specialist advice team. From everyone at SUBU, good luck in your exams! Keep Calm will run from: Talbot: 21st, 23rd, 28th, 30th Jan BoHo Lounge: 20th, 27th Jan
UPCOMING EVENTS:
MAYDAY PARADE, THUR 23 JAN the blackout, tue 28 jan
From becoming a student rep to forming a club, from joining Nerve to even helping put together SUBUurbia every fortnight, we have loads of activities to help you become an active part of your Union and add experience to your CV. Contact subu@bournemouth.ac.uk SUBUurbia is printed on 100% recycled paper
ENTER, Sat 25 jan get satisfied, Sat 1 feb