HHPC

[someone]

Hi there,

I will be attending the course too, I'm glad there's someone in the same boat...

I was planning to arrive on the 21st as well. Will you arrive by plane at Edinburgh?

do you already know taxi fares or if you need to book your taxi according to the time of arrival?

If you know something I would reaaly appreciate if you could share some info with me. I'm still confused on that subject...

Hope to hear from you soon...

Here's my e-mail:

sunlinder@hotmail.com







[s][b:2gop8gm5]Unregisted User trissi wrote on 22:22, 4th Aug 2004:[/b:2gop8gm5][i:2gop8gm5]
I haven't recieved my entrance pack yet and I'm going to St Andrews on 21th August (Study Skills Course for non-native speakers). Do the admission sends the entrance packs to home address or to the other one ("postal address" UCAS)?
[/i:2gop8gm5]

[Kibet]

A petition for the removal of Brian Lang should be put forward so he can be replaced by someone who isn't rude to students and does not treat us like idiots. Then maybe the HHPC will have a chance to be heard.

[someone]

[s]Kibet wrote on 16:42, 5th Aug 2004:
A petition for the removal of Brian Lang should be put forward so he can be replaced by someone who isn't rude to students and does not treat us like idiots. Then maybe the HHPC will have a chance to be heard.



Erm... perhaps later.

The HHPC is going to stick with the basics. While still keeping in mind that Dr. Lang has overseen some disastrous University capital-related decisions, we are here to save a hall, not to oust Dr. Lang. Plus, it is important that we build and maintain a good relationship with Dr. Lang over the course of the year so that we are not immediately dismissed. That would be a bad thing.

If you want the HHPC to be heard, register on the site, and write letters to the Quaestor expressing your disapproval of the move,

( quaestor@st-andrews.ac.uk )

et cetera.

There is little direct action we can take until October (as our recent press release indicates.) Before then, though, we are attempting to build a "critical mass" of public support for our cause.

(hint: tell your friends.)

[hr]

Disco Inferno.

[Prophet Tenebrae]

Not to be a nay-sayer but if the University wants to - it's done things which are against the interests of far more students (rent rises etc.) where mass student protest has done little/nothing to dissuade them from their course of action.

That said, my advice is to spend the time having fun instead of fighting for a lost cause.

[Midget]

Who says fighting for a lost cause isn't fun?

[someone]

[s]Midget wrote on 22:20, 5th Aug 2004:
Who says fighting for a lost cause isn't fun?


Or necessary?

Irrespective of the outcome of the situation, if past and present students are unhappy with this situation (which I believe they are, thanks to my flooded e-mail inbox) the long-term health of the student community at the University is at stake.

It's important that we show to ourselves, the Uni, those who came here before us and those who will come here after us that we did the right thing when the occasion called for it, no matter what the results are. We're going to do this civilly and ethically, and hopefully the Uni will listen to us, much like they did with the Ethical Investment issue. Naysay you may, but to you I say, go eat some hay, down by the bay.

It's worth a try, and we stand a chance.

[Mr Comedy]

[s]someone wrote on 23:01, 5th Aug 2004:

It's worth a try, and we stand a chance.


Roughly a similar chance as a snowball in hell, sporting a rather fetching overcoat and bobble hat, who decided to turn up the central heating because "It might be cold out".
But hell, lets have a crack anyhow.

[someone]

[s]Mr Comedy wrote on 23:59, 5th Aug 2004:

Roughly a similar chance as a snowball in hell, sporting a rather fetching overcoat and bobble hat, who decided to turn up the central heating because "It might be cold out".
But hell, lets have a crack anyhow.


That's the spirit, Comedy! We'll go far with that.

[Mr Comedy]

Thanks darling.

[Guest]

From a journalist's point of view that is a piss-poor press release; its too vague, too secretive (if you can't discuss contents of letters or what you're going to do, don't mention them at all) and too long.

[ASSMAN]

dude, preston, how the heck do i find your page on the livejournal website?

AW

[Irmentrude]

No, this try, this so called protest, this badly-disguised selfish arrogance isn't worth it.
I'd rather the £20million was spent on the students of the university.

Hamilton Hall isn't worth it.
Our education is.

[tordenskjold]

So much faith in this university! Touching it really is. Well, let people get on with campaigning about what they like. (Any thought that the university will spend this money wisely, in a way that will benefit us and our education are, in my opinion, sadly misplaced.)

[Midget]

£20 Million for our education Yay!

I doubt,

a)for starters, they may not be getting as much as £20m, as it is as yet an undisclosed amount.

b)With that money they need to first build a replacement for Hamilton, 150 students need rooms, plus they ought to make it bigger as Uni Accommodation is overstretched.

c)The Uni and well-managed to budget projects are things that tend not to be used in the same sentence, (this being the exception).

d)Now they've made a profit of some sort hopefully they can think about where to spend it.

e)By which time your'll have left the Uni, (actually leave 'e' out if you don't want to be selfish).

Presumably if they make a reasonable profit some of that will be spent on the students, not your education though that much, mostly just improving halls.

[Guest]

No, this try, this so called protest, this badly-disguised selfish arrogance isn't worth it.
I'd rather the £18million+ was spent on the students of the university

Hamilton Hall isn't worth it.
Our education is.

[someone]

[s]Unregisted User wrote on 18:12, 8th Aug 2004:
No, this try, this so called protest, this badly-disguised selfish arrogance isn't worth it.
I'd rather the £18million+ was spent on the students of the university

Hamilton Hall isn't worth it.
Our education is.


I wonder which defeatist hack wrote that little gem. Oh well... just another waster, gimpily lying down in the pasture waiting for the ice weasels to come, or to freeze to death in the night. Whichever comes first.

Here are some numbers for you:

HARVARD UNIVERSITY- the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences raised $15 Million in one year alone.

Loomis Chaffee School--- a small high school, in the past 400 days:

$75,727,355

In two years, a high school that graduates 200 kids per year , fewer than that in the past, has managed to out-fundraise the University of St Andrews with alumni/ae. We graduate equivalent numbers of Americans each year. Brian Lang, Derek Watson, get your act together... stop complaining about the non-existent culture of "alumni giving" and start sending newsletters to the parents of the kids you try to give an education to.

[General Porkov]

Personally, I think that when/ if the University sell Hamilton Hall and pocket the millions they'll get for it, it will go to another cause:

It will most likely go to 'Save St Andrews from Bankruptcy/ Administration/ Going to the Wall', also known as the University trying to pay off its HUGE DEBTS!!! (How many millions of pounds in debt is the University in? £20M? £50M? more???)
I wonder if this is the real reason why the University's been selling off buildings and doing massive fee/ rent hikes - DEBT! DEBT! DEBT!

As for the other line about raising money from alumni, I have personally banned myself from considering donating to the University for 2 years. This was due to them making a mistake - I paid the £43 graduation fee in March, then just before graduation, they said I hadn't paid [not a very nice thing for them to do, is it?]

Doom Lord General Porko Porkov
Grand Dumby of Doom!

[Prophet Tenebrae]

Trying to save Hamilton does seem a tad self-indulgent and petty really, doesn't it? I don't think one should expect the money made from the sale to benefit students though - I mean, what was the last thing the Uni did that benefited you (rhetorical)?

[someone]

[s]General Porkov wrote on 13:57, 9th Aug 2004:
It will most likely go to 'Save St Andrews from Bankruptcy/ Administration/ Going to the Wall', also known as the University trying to pay off its HUGE DEBTS!!! (How many millions of pounds in debt is the University in? £20M? £50M? more???)
I wonder if this is the real reason why the University's been selling off buildings and doing massive fee/ rent hikes - DEBT! DEBT! DEBT!



The problem is that the University's finances need to become more sustainable.

Selling off hard assets--- especially things like in-town accommodation, which is impossible to replace--- to pay debt is not a very good thing to do in terms of raising revenue. Particularly in light of the American universities, which all manage to get a substantial income from their alumni(ae), students and investments, the Uni needs to figure out how best to stay competitive without abandoning accommodation.

Also, given the current state of accommodation affairs, from a purely "student welfare" perspective it is important to remember that the Uni has pledged to use the £20m to build new student accommodation.

So, all in all, I've heard---

1) The Uni said, officially, that proceeds from the sale would go towards the construction of a new hall of residence (probably outside of town), replacing the 120 beds in Hamilton.

2) Derek Watson told me in personal correspondence that the Hamilton bling would go to "reinvestment in better facilities for students to live in and for investment in our teaching and research infrastructure,"

3) And now I'm hearing from you all that the University will use it to pay off debt?

What is the simple answer? A new hall of residence will gobble up most of the £20m. What's left over has been pledged to "teaching and research," but that--- £10m? Maybe less? Could be more easily raised from other sources.

It's foolhardy to sell... both we and the students of the future are going to lose if this goes forward.

[hr]
Disco Inferno.

[Midget]

No more self-indulgent than those previos posters (though admittedly not you PT) who said they wanted the money to benefit their education.

Lets sell all the inner halls and live on the outskirts of town and no doubt have the best education ever.

(Edit: the alternating green comes into its own here with my dark green post referring to Prophet's and Preston's light green refering to Porkov, great!)