SUBUrbia Issue #7

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NEWS FR

RBIA

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Issue 7 11 FEB 14

LOCK IT OR LOSE IT

ELECTION NOMINATIONS OPEN! ENT SAVE STUDNITIES U OPPORT

NUS WOMEN’S OFFICER Q&A

STUDENT OPINION SURVEY FOR LOADS f /SUBUBOURNEMOUTH www.subu.org.uk MORE, SEE: @ SUBUBOURNEMOUTH ☎ 01202 965765

+ MORE INSIDE!

WHAT’S ON NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR ELECTIONS NOW UNTIL 28 FEB

Could you lead SUBU into the new era? As the £10.5million Student Centre nears its completion, we’re looking for our next team of graduates or placement year students to represent the 17,000 students here at BU. You’ll gain invaluable leadership and management experience and earn £19,500 while you do it. If you think you’ve got what it takes, find out more and nominate yourself at: subu.org.uk/elections. You never know, it could BU.

STUDENT OPINION SURVEY

PARTNERS

MON 10 FEB - FRI 14 FEB

MON 24 FEB - FRI 28 FEB

The purple army of Student Reps will be out in force recruiting soldiers to fill in the Student Opinions Survey and feedback to the University.

Fill it in at: subu.org.uk/studentopinionsurvey

SUBU Volunteering are hosting a week long extravaganza of charitable work. Stamp your passport at each event for a chance to win prizes! Visit subu.xvs.org.uk for more.

LGBT HISTORY MONTH

I <3 BH

FEBRUARY

FRI 14 FEB

To celebrate LGBT History Month, we’ll be hosting film screenings on Talbot Campus every Wednesday to showcase important movies in the LGBT movement. Contact us to find out more!

BH isn’t just a postcode, it’s the people and places you love. This Valentines Day, show BH some love by sharing what makes it special for you, using the #iheartBH hashtag on Twitter!

HEALTH & WELLBEING HOME SWEET HOME WEEK

DAY TRIP: ISLEHOME OF WIGHT HOME SWEET

MON 24 FEB - FRI 11 28FEB FEB 10 FEB-TUE

SUN MAR MON210 FEB-TUE 11 FEB

Raising awareness for key mental health conditions affecting young people today, encouraging students to spare a thought for how to best end mental health stigma.

Forget travelling the world, some of the best places to explore are here on our doorstep. Join us we tour the natural wonders of the Isle of Wight. Tickets cost £35 from the SUBU reception.

W

e can all get a little tired of the same old nights out: Rihanna, drink, dance repeat. That’s why we’re introducing Camden Takeover, a brand new weekly student night at The Old Fire Station, with a focus on live music downstairs, an eclectic mix of DJs upstairs and a high quality night all round.

The local area has an underrated live music

scene and our aim is to showcase it. Every Monday, we’ll have up to 3 awesome live bands playing downstairs before opening the floor to DJs playing House, Electro, DnB and everything in between.

Whether its clubbing upstairs with £1.50 drinks or chilling downstairs with live music and a can of red stripe, take a risk and try something new.

Buy tickets online at www.subu.org.uk/events

SHOULD SUBU SUPPORT STRIKE ACTION AT BU?

O

ver the past few months, BU staff have been striking regarding the Higher Education Pay Dispute, meaning students may have experienced lecture or seminar disruptions.

Trade Union bodies UCU and UNISON are striking against their annual wage increase of 1%, which they argue at less than inflation, means they are being asked to accept an effective pay cut.

To best represent whether we should support or oppose the strikes as your Union, we’ve launched an All Student Vote. We want you to tell us what SUBU’s position should be by the answering the following question:

"Should SUBU support UCU & UNISON strike action by BU staff relating to their current national pay negotiations?"

You can vote at: subu.org.uk/allstudentvote, or scan the QR code (left) where you’ll also find all the information needed to make an informed decision.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

BORN IN THE 90S, THUR 13 FEB COMEDY NATION, THUR 27 FEB

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

CAMDEN TAKEOVER, EVERY MON TEMPLES, FRI 7 MAR

UNSUNG HEROES Celebrating the hard work and success of the students that make SUBU the hub of activity it is

LOCK IT OR LOSE IT SHUTS THE DOOR ON BURGLARY

Clubs Q&A This Week Patricia Obawole Law SOCIETY PRESIDENT

How did you get involved with the Law Society?

I study law, so it was natural to join the law society, but I was lucky enough to be part of a sub-committee which meant I could help organise the Law Ball. This quickly spiralled into attending the meetings and events they had planned. I loved it so much that I wanted to be part of the main committee, so I plucked up the little courage I had and decided to run for President. Lo and behold – here I am now!

One piece of advice to other students?

For all those who study law or even have an inkling of an interest in law (you know, those little pieces of legislation that practically shape the country and tell you how to live your life and what not), come along to the meetings and see if you like what you hear.

What’s on your BU Bucket List?

I‘ve always wanted to watch the sun rise on the beach, but that’d require me getting up painstakingly early – so that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

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)!

D

edicated student volunteers and wardens headed out to the community for Lock It Or Lose It, a campaign to encourage local residents to keep their houses safe from burglary.

The partnered venture between SUBU, AUB SU and the Safer Neighbourhood Team aimed to combat a reported increase in burglaries between January and March in the local area.

People visited all student and local resident’s houses in Winton to attach our ‘Lock It Or Lose It’ padlocks (left) to front doors. The padlocks included tips and advice on keeping houses safe from intrusion, such as locking windows and doors wherever possible and reducing the risk of targeting by requesting to have student letting signs removed from outside houses.

SUBU President Murray Simpson explained how Lock It Or Lose It was a really important and relevant campaign going into the New Year.

"As many people return from Christmas with their new presents, this is a prime time for burglaries to happen. Many people don’t think about the consequences of robbery until it’s too late, and alongside the financial hardships, the impacts can be very psychologically damaging.

"That’s why it’s important for us to emphasise how simple measures like locking your doors and windows, even when you’re in the house, or leaving a light timer on can have on reducing the risks."

SAVE STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES As government threaten to scrap the £327m Student Opportunity Fund, join the campaign to fight back against further cuts to Higher Education

T

he Student Opportunity Fund is under threat. Proposals from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) suggest proposals to cut to the entire fund, which is paid to higher education providers in England in proportion to the number of students they have enrolled from low-income or less advantaged backgrounds.

Bournemouth University’s allocation for next year’s fund is just short of £3.5 million, which if cut, will significantly harm their ability to recruit these students into higher education, as well as retention, outreach and widening participation programmes.

With the recent announcement that UCAS applications to full time undergraduate degrees at university have reached an all time high, young people from the most advantaged areas are still two and a half times more likely to apply for higher education than those from less advantaged backgrounds. Despite a higher number of less-advantaged students attending University than a decade ago, using the rise in University applications to justify cutting access funding would undermine the priority to address this gap. £100million has already been cut from the National Scholarship Programme – another HE fund designed to

help social mobility – and further cuts would go against the governments commitment to support social mobility ahead of balancing the books on the shoulders of the poor. Instead, it suggests an active agenda to not prioritise social mobility in Higher Education at the this time.

SUBU are strongly opposed to any cut in public funding that could harm the prospects of our current or future students. BU has a good track record of widening participation through summer schools, ambassador programmes, mentoring schemes and school outreach work and we believe cuts would negatively impact the outreach and retention work they do.

As a result, we are joining a national campaign spearheaded by the NUS to lobby the govnermnent to reverse the cuts before they are implemented. We have met with our local MP Conor Burns, who we have a strong relationship with, to discuss representing our concerns to the Secretary of State for BIS Vince Cable and Universities Minister David Willetts. Together, if we make enough of a stand against this contentious issue, we can stop the funding cut from passing, and leave Higher Education where social mobility is embraced, not ignored.

Help us Save Student Opportunities To show your support, send a copy of our letter on the SUBU website to your local MP requesting them to lobby against proposals, and tweet your pictures of the ‘Don’t Cut Student Opportunities’ poster using the #SaveStudentOpportunities hashtag on Twitter.

‘You Said This Happened’ is our way to telling you how we’ve acted on your feedback

the amount of flyers received in Halls of Residence should be lowered

HOT water should be provided when students bring in their own flasks

discounts should be offered on Wilts & Dorset Buses before 9am

MORE buses agreed students will get discount at all time with a valid id card

Dylan’s Bar will provide hot water to any student with their own mug/flask

your first year student reps have taken on the added responsibility to become Hall Reps for their Halls to discuss improvements to this issue.

NUS Q&A

with Kelley Temple In a special interview, we talk to the NUS Women’s Officer on women in leadership, lad culture and how Unions can stamp it out What can be done in Student Unions to get more women into leadership roles?

Our research has shown three things which Student Unions can commit to as a whole. The first is to specifically targeting women with public speaking and confidence building workshops. The 2nd thing is structural, making sure there is guaranteed women’s representation on different committees or looking at how the governance of Student Unions may put women off and how we can improve that. The 3rd is looking at the organizational culture of the Students Union, and tackling cultures that privilege a very narrow form of masculinity at the expense of everything else.

What is your view on stopping the sale of ‘Lad Mags’ and similar publications on campus?

My position is that if Unions don’t want to sell ‘Lad Mags’, they should be supported in doing so.

Representation of women is very narrow and content often trivializes major issues for women. Rape jokes are very common, the UniLad theme runs through condoning violence against women, so it’s not just about

the sexual objectification, it’s the culture that underpins a lot of what’s presented as a joke, but has a major impact on a lot of women students’ lives.

How would you define lad culture and what are the negative that can emerge from it?

In practical terms, it’s focused around privileging a very certain type of masculinity as the ideal that everyone should aspire to, which manifests itself into a culture of anything that doesn’t match that is degraded.

Gay men are not ‘real men’ and elevating what masculinity is by degrading what is feminine.

Is there any evidence to suggest women involve themselves in lad culture too?

Lad culture is something people can dip in and out of. When something is the dominant culture and if you want be a part of it, you have to participate in it.

For example, NUS President Toni Pearce said when she played football at college; she used to joke about how women couldn’t play football because that’s what made her be accepted into the group, despite contradicting that by doing what she was doing really well.