Don't, for god's sake, let it happen.

We lost the Physics reading room and Library a few years back. The books were to be transfered to central library, but central library had no more space, the result being that a lot of books were thrown away/sold off.

Invariably, this means a decrease in the number of copies of course texts, and making it more difficult to include reference materials in lab as it means a trip to central library rather than a two minute trip to the departmental library.

What is quite strange, is the question of how many staff does Imperial College need/have? And wasn't this taken into account when the new Faculty 'Cube' was built on Dalby Court to accomodate as many members of faculty either from Central Administration or other Departments.

Considering the space and facilities, that the faculty seem to be using, including that for underground parking and so forth, I think it might be a good idea to start charging them 'top-up' fees.

College is being run more like a business - which is good in some ways but bad in others. However, we're showing more and more signs of top-heavy bureaucracy normally associated with bad management in the public sector.

Shouldn't having a more business minded approach mean we need less administrators who work more efficiently? Not more and more occupying excessive amounts of space.

Guard your library day and night! The Physics library was snatched away from under our noses so quickly that noone had a chance to say or do anything. Chain yourselves to the doors!!!

Yeah, I'm in Mech Eng day and quite a bit of the night and so far the library's still there. Wonder what will happen first, me running out of write-up status and hence library card usage or the Mech Eng library shutting down, in either case I'll be shafted, no more journals or proceedings. Learn your lesson all you write-up kids out there, get it done on time!

Mech eng library is just so much nicer to work in, the design of the study desks is much more private and spread out than Central library making it much easier to actually concentrate. There is nowhere else to work in department as if the drawing rooms aren't being used for tutorials then chances are that humanities are using them.

Of course they want to make it in to faculty offices or a management school room or something, maybe thats why they had the nice viewing balcony looking into Tanaka included...

For those of you who would like to know the progress I had a letter from Julia King, the faculty of engineering principle. She thanked me for a copy of all the signatures that went to Prof Smith and she said she would investigate into it further as she didn't know the full story. As yet nothing from HoD which is not surprising! But rest assured i will be back on the case in the new year...and possibly a felix headline on the lines of "HoD Mech Eng ingores student plea" or something!! :-)

Happy Christmas all

Is that true Mech Eng has a female Dep-Rep? Is is the ony female in all years combined?

Thats not fair, I know of at least 2 female Mech Engers.

it is very true mech eng has a female dep rep. as does aero and civil.

i've no idea who you are...or if we have met...so i won't say anything too embarrassing...especially as i've been drinking...

but you do know there are single women in imperial...<not advertising oneself obviously> :-)

happy new year!

This is typical of psyko's fanatical business style. He is very new labour, and like new labour, a failure whose management style is sooo poor that one is hardly surprised they kined him out of GSK. Did anyone go to commemoration day ceremony this year (graduation). His speech was so, pooor so money grabbing so cold so vomit inducing... Basically he talked about how much money he had got for Imperial and said that new graduates should now send college their money . BUT of course he forgot one MAJOR thing- if you treat the students like dirt-as this library closing is an example of- then a) they will not waste their money on this place in the future and b) none of his beloved foreigners will want to come here in the first place......

sacks sykes !!!

It is time to have a rector who cares about education, and is educated, rather than a barrow boy interested in profit profit profit and no substance.

If they want to cut cost- they can fire half the bureaucrats working in the LEGO building for starts!!!

Sadly I think universities don't have the money anymore. I suspect Sykes isn't trying to make a profit. I think he's trying to get enough money to improve things, theres a difference.

Also another fact is that universities don't run themselves someone has to balance the books etc. I can't commment about whether there are too many pen pushers but some are actualy required.

Let's put it this way, would you want you're university to be run by someone capable of running an multinational business, or your lecturer who, in all honestly would rather be in a darkened room playing with <insert suitable experiment here>.

Well thats it, its gone, whatever they do to replace the reading room it isn't going to be as good. No natural light or high roof which the present one has. If business school doesn't have enough space then they obviously didn't design the new building very well did they.

Didn't design the building very well? What cobblers! It's a superb example of Foster design, an icon to the nineties mentality of 'got it flaunt it' school of design. Now that's Southside's gone, let's list Tanaka instead.

For example, vast swathes of internal air space to heat. A design feat beyond reproach. Just imagine how many 'thought experiments' could be done in a million cubic metres of inaccessible hot air!

Take the window cleaning - just think how easy it is to clean the internal windows in the Tanaka building. You can easily drive a cherry picker straight in, complete with diesel fumes, and employ specialists to clean all those square metres of glass. Hours of EMPLOYMENT fun!

Or the transparent roof - great for daylighting a big concourse where no-one actually works (except lonely security guards, who need all the light they can get, poor sods) while lecture theatres rely entirely on artificial light, creating MARKETS for all the energy generation technology we research in ChemEng. Such joined up thinking knows no bounds at Imperial.

Students are justly proud of Tanaka. And their Rector knows it. Just like he demonstrated when HM the QUEEN visited. Literally tens of students were included in the special celebrations highlighting the proud heritage of teaching students at UK universities. In the Tanaka building.

Researchers alike are falling over themselves to leave IC after a long day through the perpetually broken doors. And soon, when the full economic cost (FEC) of doing research is factored into research grant funding, IC researchers will be counting their lucky stars when the most energy hungry UK university adds thousands of pounds (and VALUE , of course) to FEC grant applications.

Cont'd ad nauseam pg 94

Well I heard the doors leak, so they installed permanent heating underneath to keep them dry...

And the only other place in London with a roof the same as Tanaka is HM Treasury - and guess what - It is so rubbish they are taking it out.....

It has to be said- and i think this may be a historical first- that I agree with tom t 100% on his above post!

Inidentally has anyone tried to go downstairs in tanaka? do you know that they have security guards there all day long to check ID cards!!! what a waste of money! I understand that initial negligence led to some thefts in the builidng and so now- for the past year to overcompensate they have had these guards.... Why not put in a swipe card access system?

The Tanaka building didnt even have a computer room initially- they thought all students would buy laptops!!!!

And then there are the dark, humid lecture theatres.....

Tanaka is a white elephant.

"Tanaka is a white elephant."

No,its a big white pigeon perch.

Why don't Mech Eng people shout louder. Don't let the evil Tanaka people take your room. If you do they will be wanting the Guilds office next and then Elec Eng....

TANAKA IS EVIL - AND THEY DONT CARE ABOUT US ENGINEERS - STAND UP AGAINST THEM

Despite all the efforts from the students and student reps earlier on, it is sad to see that the Mech Eng library and the reading room have gone. The reading room is being used full whack at the moment and I can't imagine that the main library will be able to cope with all the extra Mech Eng students during future exam seasons.

I think you'll find Bob it was a nicely timed announcement..Slap bang in the middle of the 3rd (including our Dep Rep) and 4th year exams, when most the 3rd years were slightly more anxious about what was going to happen about their SEE paper than anything else..

I wouldn't mind the management school so much if they could actually teach the electives that they provide for undergrads but i suppose thats a whole different isssue.

Nothing is ever to late...

All you need to do is refuse to let them have it. Make a stand - get everyone together and put up posters etc...

Don't let the evil bastards win.

Atul,

The library can't cope with the amount of people using it at the moment!

It's so full of notes and exam papers (with the odd person actually sat with their work)

As Ant said, the timing was impeccable but no "official announement" was actually made. I heard down the grapevine what had happened and thought it best to tell the students.

Sadly i am not strong enough or loud enough, even with a 500 name petition behind me, to beat the econmics of this business venture otherwise known as Mechanical Engineering at Imperial.