My Freshers Week Poem

So as I come to the end of my final freshers week, I got all cultural and wrote a poem for the momentous occasion, giving some advice to new students:


Fifth freshers week has been and gone,

Ran around all week singing my song,

Everyone seems to have had a great time,

Still had too many vodka, lemon and limes,

Have met so many people all through the week,

Ever have a problem, the SU you should seek,

Remember your parents and give them a call,

Sort through the stuff from the freshers fair stalls,


Work starts next week, enjoy all your classes,

Everyone now owns fancy dress, including 3D glasses!

Everyones getting used to their homes they let,

Keep up to date with the SU on UBSU.net


Hope everyone had a great week, but it's not just about the first week let's make this year amazing!!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Eastbourne,United Kingdom

Overcoming the Freshers Thursday Blues

Ok so it's been a very very very busy week so far, Including 2 pub crawls, a pier party, 2 freshers fairs, a pj party and not to mention last night shenanigans and today's events. So I think I can be excused for feeling a little bit pooped. But I also remember being a student on the Thursday of freshers week and experiencing quite a low time, realising that you have done all your enrolment and had a great time at all the events, and now ahead of you lies the options of sitting around at home watching the latest series of Biggest Loser Australia, or doing something to get out of this first small rut.

Now this is completely normal to feel a little deflated as this time of year and indeed this time of the week, and the first thing I would say is try not to worry. There will be many people who are feeling exactly like you feel right now.

The beast that is freshers week is such that it it front loaded with both activities that students want and need to take part in, but also massively front loaded with information that is chuck at new students, 90% of which I know bounced off me, when I was in that position 5 years ago.

So I think it is now that I should explain some of the ways to overcome these blues and get you back on track enjoying Uni life.

1. GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE INFORMATION

As I mentioned we chuck loads of information at throughout the welcome weeks, freshers fairs and every other opportunity we get, and it is all given to you for a reason, so go back and read it. Head to the Student Union Website, University website and all the information on Facebook.

2. FIND SOMETHING TO GET INVOLVED IN

When your looking through the information, keep in the back of your mind for areas that you feel interest you and may require you to find out some more information. Gather details, whether that's for interesting people, and leaders of sports and societies, event dates and times. All this info is a great way to look at the opportunities that are on offer and whether it is possible to do all the ones you want to.

3. EXPLORE THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Another great idea is to get out of the house, go and explore the environment around. Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings all have many things to offer from facilities, cultures and experiences. Go and experience them all!

4. TALK TO PEOPLE

If you have moved into a new home or into halls, take some time out of your day and spend some time finding out about your new housemates. Think about where they have come from, what are their interests, and what's their journey to get to uni?

5. CALL HOME!

Finally don't forget where you have come from, call home speak to family members, friends, and also other people you know who have gone to other universities and making sure they are also having a good time.

Hopefully these different ideas have helped to pull you out of the freshers Thursday blues, however if your still feeling down and a little bit lost, remember there area lot of people what can help, the SU, Student Services, Accommodation Department, Personal Tutors, School Offices, and remember that not question is a stupid question, so please ask if you don't know.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Dewe Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

How to make the most of freshers fair!!

LETS GO TO FREHSERS FAIR!!!!!!!





Today is the day of the largest freshers fair in the country, held between 10 and 3 at Brighton racecourse, there is transport from all the Brighton campuses so do make sure you jump in a bus and head up to the fair!

So here is your 5 point guide to getting the most from the freshers fair

1. TURN UP EARLY FOR THE BEST STASH!

Please remember to turn up to the fair early, as many of the exhibitors have a limited about of giveaways and we would hate for you to miss out. The buses start running from 10.45, and will drop you straight to the fair, and they will even take you back to the campus later on!

2. COME AND SEE THE SU




He have 4 tables at this years freshers fair, we giving away year planners, guides to the SU, information about all the opportunities we offer, and of course some sweets! Also the tables will be staffed by our staff all day who are very knowledgeable about all we offer so do stop and have a chat

3. TALK TO EVERYONE

Everyone who has a stall here has paid to be here and so they are all offering great deals and opportunities for our students. Therefore it's well worth talking to as many people as possible to find out what opportunities they are offering and how you can best take advantage, either strait away or when you have found your feet and know what your timetable and other aspects are looking like. Here are some examples of the deals on offer for students:










4. DONT FORGET THE SPORTS ROOM

Our sports teams are all located in the same room, but many students struggle to find them! They are upstairs just after the first room in the racecourse. All the trams are there from both Brighton and Eastbourne. They will be able to give you the information about their trials, training and match days. Do pop up and have a chat, and even if your not sure about whether you want to play sport go and have a look as there is such a range you might find you want to try something new:









5. BLEED THE COMPANIES DRY!!!

As I keep saying many of the companies here today will be giving out free things so do take them for as much as you can, some great examples from this year are free shots in bars, sweets from everywhere and I believe dominos will also be giving out pizza, so do make sure you take advantage!













Also if you see any of the officers about today don't forget to say hi, and enjoy the whole event

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:May Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

What is the Wellbeing Zone?

Yesterday I explained what Brighton SU has to offer the 7000 or so new students who have started with us this week. I didn't really however go into the details about my area of work, the Wellbeing Zone.

The Zone was only set up a year and a half ago to fill a void that has been missing from Brighton SU for quite a while, what was traditionally known as Welfare. However as the Union was deciding upon a new structure, it became clear that the traditional SU welfare role would not be relevant to Brighton SU.

The 1980's model of welfare was always around providing services for students, specifically around sexual health, child care facilities and a student advice centre. Now don't get me wrong, this services are as needed for students now as they ever have been, more so in some cases. However we have always had a very good working relationship with the University of Brighton, so when they offered to take our Welfare services allowing us to concentrate our resources in other areas, the Union at the time agreed, as long as they were able to have a continued role directing the services work.

Therefore the old model of the welfare sabb controlling the welfare services didn't seem to fit as there are no welfare services! And so Wellbeing was born.

The Wellbeing Zone is all about the holistic view of the student experience, realising that ensuring services should be provided for students, but that the SU in many cases is not the best mechanism for delivering these services. Te Zine works very closely with the University and local businesses and arms of local government to ensure that the best services are offered to Brighton students.

The Zones tag line read something like this:

To promote and develop the physical, mental, spiritual and environmental Wellbeing of all students at the University of Brighton.

All these terms are used in the broadest possible meaning, so environmental Wellbeing is not just about the green standards but also about the students environment in which we live and work, is it productive, does it feel safe and all manner of other aspects of the environment. Spiritual Wellbeing is not just about ensuring students of faith are provided for but goes beyond to look at students without faith, and the sense of self of an individual and how this can effect everything in their lives.

There are also loads of ways students can be involved with the Wellbeing Zone, whether as an Elected rep, a Peer2pier Volunteer, Cash Volunteer, by Running a campaign or at least telling us Your views.

Tomorrow I'll introduce you to the Wellbeing team :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Upperton Rd,Eastbourne,United Kingdom

So what is a Student Union?

So it's finally here! Freshers week, and if it is how I remember it, that means a mad rush and wall of information that is chucked at you and none of it really sticks! I guessed it would be helpful therefore to write a series of blogs this week that gives you more information you can look back over and ensure you have a point of reference.

What is an SU?

I guess the first point is that we are independent from the university, this means that information given to us doesn't make it back to the university without your prior consent. This is important as one of the main functions of a student union is to offer academic advocacy to the students for the institution. Therefore if at any time in you uni career you feel you are being unfairly treated by the uni or have problems with mitigating circumstances or want to make an appeal, do come and get in contact with our academic services who can help!!!

Here's the link to the service: http://www.ubsu.net/sars

The other point to make is that academic is not the only services we offer. Here at Brighton our Union is split into 5 zones that cover al the areas we work in:

Democracy: covers all the areas of democracy from elections to the AGM

Academic: covers academic support and improving the academic experience

Campus and Community: offers civic engagement and ensures facilities are the correct for student needs

Activities and Events: covers sports, societies, volunteering and our events program

Wellbeing: looks to support the physical, mental, spiritual and environmental wellbeing of all students

Check our our website at www.ubsu.net for all the information

Also remember to follow us on Facebook @ subrighton
And on Twitter @subrighton

Watch out for tomorrows blog about the Wellbeing Zone

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Joys of Physical Activity

Today was the day for the annual training for our new committee members of sports teams here at Brighton. As VP Wellbeing I have a massive range of activities that I'm involved in, and sport is a very small part of this, however I think it is such an important opportunity for students should they want it.

When I was young I took part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and was lucky enough to go through bronze, silver and gold levels and in the process got to do many different forms of physical activity, whether that be competitive sports, individual activities or the hikes involves with DoE.

Therefore having grown up doing this and then being heavily involved in the hockey team at uni, I am very keen to ensure physical activity is available to others while they are studying at Brighton.

I was really please to hear about the continued work being done by sportBrighton to give students these opportunities. The BUCS program is back as always offering high level competitive sport. However it is the continued work being done by the parklife and classes programs and the introduction of the active8 program.

These programs are designed to offer new activities to students that they may not have had in the past. For example fencing will be being rolled out over different campuses in the lead up to the Olympics and is is a sport very few will have had the opportunity to take part in before.

Many benefits of taking part in physical activity are well known, the health benefits and for some the enjoyment factor. However I think one of the biggest pull factor to get involved is the social elements that come with the opportunities. I think in the student world sports teams get a bad reputation due to the drinking culture, and in some respects I agree with this, however I also think this is an area where sports teams are overlooked, and that is the social benefit they offer, or can offer (as I'm aware it's not always done correctly), and think this is an area where more research is required to quantify the benefits.

For more information about the opportunities offered at the University of Brighton check out sportBrightons website at: http://www.brighton.ac.uk/sportbrighton/

Or their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/SportBrighton

Also would be really good to hear of any ideas of how else we can extend opportunities to students here at UoB...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Village Way,Brighton,United Kingdom

Different Campus, Same Old Problems: Free Water @ Falmer

Ok so I'm continuing my campaign for free water for students on campuses, and so I've headed up lewes road to Falmer to see what the facilities are like here:

To be honest I'm a little disgusted by this, I'm not surprised that it's difficult to get free water, but the fact that a multi-million pound building has been built and no free water facilities have been added in at all!

Falmer was the place where we heard the most about students wanting free water. What's it like on your campus?

For more info about student experience forums and to ensure your voice is heard about issues like water on campus check out our website at www.ubsu.net

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sportcentre Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

The difficulty of international students, banks and accommodation

So here's the problem,

As an international student you turn up to university, you know nobody, and it's all very different. You do have some money on you but it may not be chafed into pounds and it certainly isn't that safe in you wallet or luggage. You also realise that your not one of the lucky few who have been given accommodation. So the first thing you want to do is find somewhere to live and then set up a bank account and store your money safely.

So off you toddle to an estate agent and you find a house that at least has walls and a ceiling, even though the renting price is astronomical (although you may not be aware of this, as it is your first couple of days in the country). So you settle down to sort out the paperwork, and the estate agent are chucking additional costs for what they say is 'administration' and again your none the wiser if this is true. Then we get to a sticking point where they ask you for you bank details, so you explain that you have not set up a bank account yet and it's the next thing on your list of things to do. They say they can't set it up without one but will hold the house for you until you have set the account up, if you go and do it straight away.

You head to a bank and are told that firstly you will be charged for the privilege of using the facilities, but you realise it's still worth it for the peace of mind and of course you don't have much option you need somewhere to stay. So again you start the process but you get to a sticking point when your asked for your address! Once again your told it is not possible to continue the process without this point of information.

So to recap your in a country you don't know, with people you don't know, you can't get accommodation because you don't have a bank account and can't get a bank account as you don't have accommodation.

Can this really be fair to all the international students flocking to the UK for education and should things really not be better for them?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brighton, UK

Safe space: a concept or a physical entity?

So I'm struggling with the concept of safe space in a student environment. This I know can be applied to many demographics in a student environment, such as LGBT students, Students from Different Ethnic Minorities or female students. Therefore it is an area which liberation groups and students from those groups could be heavily effected by the ideas of a 'safe space'.

Now on many campuses this could mean a specific space on campus where students from a particular demographic can go and call their own. An example of this is the LGBT Safe Space at the University of Sussex. This is an area which is only available for students who self define as LGBT.

Other theories of 'safe space' is that it is a concept, and that an area should feel safe and secure for all students, while at university. Therefore this should mean that all students should feel safe wherever they are on campus and should at no times feel discriminated or even have an unwelcome feeling. Therefore this is every bodies responsibility to ensure that the environment is free from discrimination.

So what I'm struggling with, and forget the financial and space constraints, is whether at Brighton we should be looking to provide physical space to ensure all our students have somewhere where they will always know is safe and free from any unwanted bad feelings towards them.

However I also wonder that if a certain student group is given a specific space on campus does this elevate them to a point of contention from other groups who may also want a specific space on campus? Or does a physical safe space Mean that we shouldn't be campaigning for the entire campus to be free from all forms of discrimination and sense of Wellbeing for all on campus?

There is also a difficult question for an institution like Brighton in regards to the physical space side of 'safe space' in that if this is the way that should be pursued then where would it be placed across the 5 main campuses along 75 miles of the south coast, would we need to duplicate SU ices or a central hub?

Really interested in all views on this as it will help me to get my mind around it all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brighton,United Kingdom

To WiFi or Not to WiFi that is the question

So talking wifi today.

All of last year we held student experience forums that asked students what they think would make life better on campus. One of the most commonly asked for commodities was for the WiFi across the university to be massively increased so students can access the Internet wherever they are. This seemed to me like an appropriate use of Uni resources, and so was happy to hear that this was indeed the plan moving forward.

In the last couple of days however I have been approached by a lecturer and in fact followed an interesting stream over email about the health implications of WiFi. In fact I have been asked to lead a campaign against the installation of WiFi, on the basis of the health implications.

I have looked into some of the resources that have been offered by both sides of the argument, but still it seems to be to be another global warming situation, where experts are on both sides and there is not clear consensus coming out, and this inevitably leads to a lack clear direction that organisations should be taking.

Would be very interested in hearing others views, as my job is very much to represent students views, that they want and need Internet connectivity, but at the same time prevent harm from coming to students wherever possible.

Catch 22 anyone?

Here are some of the resources that have been thrown around in the general debate for peeps to look through at their leisure

Not to Wifi:

http://www.wifiinschools.org.uk/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjZZ29TtkJI

http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/occupationalcancer.pdf

http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf

http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta11/ERES1815.htm


To WiFi

http://www.badscience.net/2007/05/so-simple-a-child-could-spot-it/

http://www.badscience.net/2007/11/bbc-editorial-complaints-unit-debags-the-panorama-wifi-scare/

http://thenextweb.com/ca/2010/10/20/wifi-in-schools-isnt-bad-for-students-bad-science-is/

All views welcome :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brighton SU

Free water on campus?

So I though I would look at free water on campus and see what other people thought about the provision and if people thought there was a need for it?

I thought I would see what it was like from a students point of view and make a film of where a student has to walk in order to get a free drink of water and here it is:

As you can see it took over a minute and a half just to get to where free water was on campus, and I knew where I was going! Not only that, it was only a drinks fountain, and would be difficult to fill up a reusable bottle from there.

It was however possible to buy bottled water twice on the way to the water fountain. This is ok I guess however I wonder about the environmental message this send to our students. I heard today from a colleague that it takes 500 time more water to produce the bottle the water comes in than the amount of water that is inside the bottle?

I wonder what it's like on other sites and from other areas in the university, having heard what students have to say at the latest round of student experience forums, I think this may even be the best place at the university to get free water.....

I think I'm going to have to film some more trips on my hunt for free water

If you want more info on student experience forums and how to make your voice heard head to our website at www.ubsu.net/wellbeing/content/748043/have_your_say/


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brighton SU Corridor Cockcroft, Moulescoomb, Brighton

My first blog..... Let's talk about freshers week and alcohol

Well for my first blog I seem to have chosen a tough topic to start off with.

Freshers week has always been associated with the heavy drinking culture that in turn is then associated with the entire student population in the UK. I know that when I was a first year 5 years ago I was keen and ready to get out meet new people and in my own words "get slaughtered", and I'm sure there are many more people getting ready to come down to Brighton in a few weeks time and are thinking exactly the same...

However my current job, VP Wellbeing, comes with a suggestion that straight away I should be against this culture and be trying to work to shelter students from excessive alcohol. This is an interesting view to be held by welfare officers up and down the country, but which very much seems to be at odds with the evening events I've taken part in during the summer training program. Also as a life long hockey boy, who thrououghly enjoyed being part of the hockey boy traditions at Brighton and attended every social except for 2 in my last year I feel at odds about trying to shelter other students from alcohol, and not allowing themselves to realise the potential negative effects for themselves.

Here at Brighton we have planned another week of drinking (and the odd non-drinking) events and I just have to keep wondering what the purpose of the events are?

I'm glad to see that the first event during freshers in Brighton is the annual party on the pier which could be considered a non-drinking event and a family friendly event. This event is always a laugh but I do think the first night in Brighton will miss something this year and that is the social lubrication that is alcohol! As I say this may be at odds with what I'm meant to think but I really think that alcohol can have a very possitive impact on social events, especially those, such as this where new people are thrown together for the first time in what could be quite a daunting environment.

I also believe that freshers week is a great opportunity for those students moving away from for the first time to learn valuable life skills, including how to deal with alcohol and where each persons limit may be. I'm also aware however that support must also be available to those who feel they need it, and so will have my team of volunteers dressed as captain hydration giving out water and information about how to remain safe during freshers week and ensure that students have a great night rather than ending up curled up round a toilet at 3 in the morning.

As a Union we do also think about other types of students and are therefore hosting other event throughout the week that are aimed at those that dont drink, such as tea parties.

The question that keeps hitting me is about whether this is enough? and the views I hold about the positives alcohol can create, in line with the negatives that are also clearly present.

I also think there is some future work to be done here about trying to quantify the positive impacts of alcohol in a social context.

All in all I think this year will be an interesting Freshers week and I look forward to meeting all the new freshers starting with Brighton University this year. For more information about Brighton Freshers week check out our website on www.ubsu.net