Acoomodation protest

[flarewearer]

just to test the water, who's up for getting involved with a covert, secre,t unnoficial protest about university accomodation here??? Not looking for anything apart from interest. No point starting something if no ones bothered. Any takers?

[anarchy2000]

Kinda pointless if its secret. None the less im unhappy about the 'acoomodtion' and would love to voice my opinions.

[Amaunet]

I think you made a great point, flarewearer. Maybe the only way for the to sit up and take notice of students would be for some sort of demonstration.

[hr]WESTLEY
Hear this now: I will come for you.
BUTTERCUP
But how can you be sure?
WESTLEY
This is true love. You think this happens every day?

[flarewearer]

sorry, not secret as in no one can see it but secret as in no accomodation services bod can blame someone for dissent. Secrative is a better word

[munchingfoo]

I really thought that the increase in "low cost halls" by 10% next year is appauling. I was trying to see if there was public support for a stike on living in halls and going to uni. The uni would have to give in if enough people did it. Thats democracy.

I would support this action, or almost anything else.

[Al]

No they wouldn't. Whoever said the university was a democracy? All that your idea would get you is being kicked out of either halls or university. Depending on what you do.

[hr]"Stupidity is the devil. Look in the eye of a chicken and you'll know. It's the most horrifying, cannibalistic, and nightmarish creature in this world."

[Prophet Tenebrae]

I doubt that it would achieve anything unless it had massive support.

[Cain]

It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything.

Presently, we have more to lose by protesting against the accomodation services than we do to gain, and the university knows this.

the students are pretty toothless as far as protests against the uni goes.

[hr]
I'm Johnny Knoxville, and this is Invading Russia in the Winter

[Cola Cube]

The problem I have with the halls is at they *seem* to be favouring the rich and privaliged. I know it sounds a bit extreme but they keep raising prices and the fact that there is only enough hall accomodation for around half the student population (I think) seems to me to be hugely unfair.

Especially as increasingly, the halls are filling up with people who clearly have a lot of money, and people with less have nowhere to go. Because as we all know, the accommodation people care only for first years.

They suck 'em in and spit 'em out.

[munchingfoo]

[s]Al wrote on 11:05, 29th Apr 2003:
No they wouldn't. Whoever said the university was a democracy? All that your idea would get you is being kicked out of either halls or university. Depending on what you do.


If everyone in low cost halls did that, do you think they'd kick all of us out, come on don't be so silly. We have more power than you obviously think. Similar protest have been applied at other uni's with astonishing effect. Don't forget, we are customers and they are suppliers, without customers they are nothing.




[hr]
Management: The art of writing like you know what you're talking about and making others believe it.

(munchingfoo comprehensive dictionary)

[Alex Rennie]

The university accomodation people work on the principle that they charge what they think is a market price for the residences, rather than being 'ethical' towards the students and charging them a fair rent. Although i feel that the accomodation within some areas of the university is sub standard, the simple fact remains that people will always want it. a petition might be a better idea, and more feasible.

Oh, and i used to be called Rennie on here, but I thought i'd reveal my full name to you all

[Al]

"If everyone in low cost halls did that, do you think they'd kick all of us out, come on don't be so silly. We have more power than you obviously think. Similar protest have been applied at other uni's with astonishing effect. Don't forget, we are customers and they are suppliers, without customers they are nothing."

Or a more realistic forecast would be - the university threatens people who do not pay their hall fees with a) being kicked out of hall b) not being able to matriculate in the next session or being able to graduate. This prompts mass cave-in and has the knock on effect of pissing the university senior management off so that they are even less likely to listen to reasoned arguments.

[hr]"Stupidity is the devil. Look in the eye of a chicken and you'll know. It's the most horrifying, cannibalistic, and nightmarish creature in this world."

[Cola Cube]

No one can fight the system.

[Cain]

[s]Cola Cube wrote on 17:41, 29th Apr 2003:
No one can fight the system.


except Neo

[hr]
Getting there before Mr Comedy

[Mr Tickle]

[s]Al wrote on 17:08, 29th Apr 2003:

Or a more realistic forecast would be - the university threatens people who do not pay their hall fees with a) being kicked out of hall b) not being able to matriculate in the next session or being able to graduate. This prompts mass cave-in and has the knock on effect of pissing the university senior management off so that they are even less likely to listen to reasoned arguments.
[/i]

Actualy legaly it is acceptable to withold rents to any landlord, if they are providing you with sub-standard accom, such as the uni is doing. so long as you don't spend the rent on something else, ie you have to put it in a seperate bank account, and be able to pay once they provide you with the services that you are paying for.

[gingerbeer]

As much as I agree with the idea of a protest, I don't think the rent strike would such a good idea because of one thing the university has that we don't: Lawyers. They wouldn't be doing this unless they knew they could get away with it and we probably don't have legal grounds for a strike because they do what their contracts say they will, the council won't make any attempt to shut down buildings or issue warnings (which is perfectly legal as local authorities have the right to use their discretion, particularly when it comes to state-funded institutions) and the only possible means that we could use to force them to accept their responsibility to provide a decent service would be through the Landlords' Charter, which they have repeatedly refused to sign, despite the fact that it was written in consultation with them. The only real legal recourse we have is to sue if the standard of accommodation gets so bad that it becomes a health risk, and even then it would be a difficult case to prove.

The threat of disciplinary action would be a much bigger problem than the actual use of it because disciplining large numbers of students for peaceful protest would be very bad publicity. I don't agree that annoying the university hierarchy is a bad thing though, it can't put us at any more of a disadvantage because they refuse to listen to us anyway. Protests like this, which would be visible to the public, are really the only thing left to try because public image comes a lot higher up their list of priorities than student welfare.

[hr]It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.
-Terry Pratchett

[fluKe]

"public image comes a lot higher up their list of priorities than student welfare"

Exactly. And we're not allowed to speak to the press because we'd get into sh*t for that too.

A very public protest is the only way to get a body like the university to listen. The main problem with accomodation here is the number of available places and then secondly the cost.

[Mr Tickle]

I have to disagree the main problem is the quality of accomadation compared to cost.

[hr]Are you tickly? if you are, be afraid, be very afraid.

[Cola Cube]

The quality varies greatly between different halls, whereas the cost is going up in all.

Quantity is the greatest problem.

[ButlerLass]

i would definitely support any form of protest. and since st. andrews is so keen on its image that we're not even allowed to publicly talk about it, what if we submitted an anonymous story to the press? on the subject of elitism and exclusion at the UK university of the year...if a few of us got together to put something on paper i'm sure we could come up with something. after all, the press want to hear ANYthing about st. andrews it seems.