Wellbeing Wednesdays

Hello again,

Well what a week, we have had the referendum and results, we have elected some new part time officers (congratulations to all who were elected), I spent my Monday in Hastings talking about the importance of SEF checking in terms of testicular cancer (watch out for us on other sites in the coming weeks!) and finally we find ourselves at another Wednesday.

Now at most universities, including Brighton, Wednesday afternoons are attempted to be kept free for students. The message tends to be that this time off is to engage in sporting activity. Now sports are great and love going out and playing sport on Wednesday and think that it is great for your Wellbeing, however competitive sport is not the answer for all. And so I have devised this list of thing I think students could do on a wednesday to best make use of this time.

I think the key point is that wednesdays should not just be about sport but are an opportunity for all sorts of personal development, extra curricular activities and also perhaps exploring more philosophical elements about yourself, such as what do I want to do with my life, or where is my degree taking me?

So here is the list of things to do on a Wellbeing Wednesday for the rest of the year:

1. Put down the books!

I know that for many students the lack of lectures on a Wednesday does present an opportunity to catch up on reading or coursework that has been waiting for a moment. Now I do realise that this is all very important, however it is also important to look to do other things whilst at university, both because employers are looking for a range of activities undertaken at university and not just studies, but also to give yourself a break from what could be a very demanding schedule.

2. Join a society.

Many student run societies exist at the University of Brighton and a full list can be found here. Many of these societies will run events on Wednesday's, and if they don't why not suggest it!

3. Volunteer.

Head over to your nearest student services office and talk to them about the @ctive student project. This is a database of hundreds of volunteering opportunities for students to be involved in. The projects stretch such a range of different things there is bound to be something that would anyone would want to be involved in! It also creates links between yourself and members of the local community which is great for everyone's Wellbeing!

4. Sharpen your entrepreneurship skills.

Why not look to be involved in the University of Brighton's beepurple scheme. This will allow you to develop many skills that are seen as priceless to employers, when you leave university. It's also a great way t meet likeminded people and increase your social circle :)

5. Have a kick about.

Now I know I said Wednesday's were not just about sport but for some this is a great opportunity. The program I really want to push however is not the competitive sport through BUCS but more the non-competitive, participation sports offered either through the Parklife or Active8 project. Both of these schemes offer sport for sports sake so you can just drop in and play and get both a bit of a physical workout but also meet new people and try something new.

6. Check out the Town.

Now I have lived in Brighton for over 4 years now and still the city surprises me with new and imaginative things happening all the time. Why not use some of the free time on a Wednesday to explore the lanes or try out the new Ferris wheel.

Now these are just some suggestions but there are hundreds of other things you could also get involved in, so get out there and make it count!

Happy Wellbeing Wednesday!!


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Location:The Hwy,Brighton,United Kingdom

And the results are in.....

As you may have seen for my latest blog all this week we have been asking Brighton students whether they think that Brighton SU should remain a member of the National Union of Students (NUS).

And the results are in:


Total votes: 1237

No. of Votes For: 1120

No. of Votes Against: 117

Spoilt ballots: 0

And so for the upcoming year Brighton SU will remain a member of NUS!!!


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Location:Highbrook Close,Brighton,United Kingdom

Why I think Brighton SU should remain a member of NUS

Ok so this week sees the first ever referendum at Brighton SU and the topic is a biggie! The question being put to all students is: Should Brighton SU remain a member of the National Union of Students (NUS)?

Now there are many different views on the subject of affiliation and the pros and cons of working with and within NUS. Some of you may have seen my blog a couple of weeks ago for example about Why I didn't restand for national welfare committee, and although I spoke out about some of the issues I have with NUS I still very strongly feel that being a member brings many more advantages to all students than going it alone as an independent would.

One of the things that I have heard students say at Brighton is based around the lack of a no campaign, and I think this is key as I really want the outcome of this referendum to produce an informed answer from the students as to whether we should remain a member or not and not just a continuation of an affiliation that we have always done. So in this vain here are some links to reasons why other unions think disaffiliating may be the right way forward:

Sunderland SU

Portsmouth

Durham

However as I said I am for Brighton SU fearful sting to NUS and here are some reasons as to why:

1. Firstly I want to dispel the financial argument that is so often rolled out by potential no campaigns. Brighton SU spends around £36,000 on affiliation fees to NUS. The simple argument is that by not affiliating this money could be put into other areas of the Unions work. However in reality although we spend this money, we raise close to £20,000 back through NUS Extra card sales, which would be lost from the budget, we also sign up to NUSSL which does make significant savings on bulk order products for our shops and cafe's. This is more difficult to quantify but with the removal from NUSSL it would be safe to say further investment from the Union would be required to establish our shops and cafe's wit student friendly prices, now this would not mean addition cost, but in the long term may see less revenue being generated which in turn sees less money in the Union.

2. The sale of NUS Extra cards. I think there are 2 advantages to NUS Extra sales, firstly as mentioned above the sale of the cards generates much needed funds for the Union. However I think there is a further more important reason and that is the benefits that students who choose to buy a card get. Yes it is important for students to be able to get a free cheeseburger from McDonalds, or 10% off at topshop, but what is even more important is the opportunity for our mature students, of which we sell over half our NUS cards to, who use this to get a young persons rail card, enabling them to even be able to get to uiversity.

3. It is important to remember that NUS is a political entity, and many of the disaffiliation arguments circle around either how NUS is to central in it's ways or to left. I think this is very much a personal agreement for each individual, however I think it is always best to improve from within. If your not a member then all you can do is complain from the outside. It also seems especially at Brighton that there was a lot of hatred coming towards a person, Aaron Porter, and whether you think this is fair or not based upon his time as National President, he no longer holds this political position and things have moved on let's move on with them!

4. On another political point I think we need to stay with NUS this year because think that the priority campaign, on money in student pockets, is a fantastic opportunity for the student movement to make massive wins on behalf of it students, and this includes on the ground in unions like Brighton. It is the first time in a long while that the priority campaign has been based on a primarily welfare issue, yet still maintaining the fact that it affects all students in the UK.

5. I think that there is also an argument to be made about the different sections within NUS, whether that be the womens, black students, disability and LGBT campaigns, or the international students, mature and part time student or postgraduate student sections. Now it is clear from some of the students we have sent to events and conferences put on by these areas that they can be useful to gather views and best practises from around the country and also can make the student attending really empowered and comfortable to go about the their duties on campus with a new spring in their step. The key is about the union itself interacting more with these areas to get the most out of them.

6. Training is another area which I think the union benefits from, now I'm not going to sit here and say that all the training I have ever been on has been great and made me into a fantastic officer. But all means this is not the case however I do think in general the training provided by NUS to the officers is a good start, both in terms of personal professional development for the officer and in terms of strengthening the union as a whole. I also am a big believer that the best training opportunities are not the expensive ones but the small issue based sessions, such as interfaith relations or hate speak in campus.

7. Another service that is not perfect but is still a very valuable tool is that of NUS connect. This is a badly laid out and at times infuriating online portal that allows officers to access guidance notes and share best practice across unions and from NUS itself. As I say not perfect but compared to not having it then certainly an advantage.

8. Legal and general advice. The union does receive a large amount of support from NUS in terms of legal advice when it is required. For example over the process of the becoming a charity, it was NUS who helped to write the Unions new Constitution that is legally compliant. In the private sector this could have cost us anywhere unto and including £50,000. We also receive general advice on the best ways to run campaigns or on governmental policy from those working at NUS HQ and it's always good to know if you need advice you can pick up the phone and it's there for you!

So there is my whistle stop tour through some of the main reasons why I think that Brighton SU should remain a member of the National Union of Students (NUS). I really want this referendum to be informed so do check out the yes and no arguments being made and decide for yourself.

Voting is on student central from 10 am Tuesday 8th November through to 4 pm Thursday 10th November and there will be lots of activity happening on campus so look out for it!


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Location:Lewes,United Kingdom

A Very Tricky Subject...

Now I know I'm taking a risk with this blog, but I still felt it was worth writing. I want to talk about rape and the use of language around the subject. I'm very aware this is a difficult subject and especially for a man to write about, but I don't mean any offence by the blog but just feel strongly that modern society is going in the wrong way about discussing this and that the over use of the term is in fact desensitising the world to the real horrors that exist.

I read an interesting article by Barbara Ellen in the Guardian online today entitled "Rape: let's take more care when we talk about it" and it really made me think. I agree with all of it, and then I started thinking about my personal life and then I was struck by a term that seems to be being used more and more in society, and especially the student community: Facebook Rape, or Frape.

Now this is a term that I hate! And having read the article above I was even more outraged by the use of the term Frape. I registered the scorn of people over the slip ups from celebrities misusing the term and comparing the press and photographers to being like rape. However surely the use of the term in relation to changing a profile picture or a status is even worse!

Ok so it's annoying when someone messes with your online self, but I think society needs to move away from the term as it could be the beginning of a very slippery road. The constant use of it and assigning it to something so trivial is dampening the meaning of the word, especially for future generations, who use Facebook even more than ever!


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Location:Lewes Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom