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Southside "cock up"

Mar 28 2002 15:35

Dan L

Students find themselves in huge Hall chaos over the Easter period

Southside is not as great as the photo portraits

This year has seen one of the largest cock-ups occurring with the hall allocation for students at IC over Easter. Many unsuspecting students have booked their rooms in Southside over the Easter period thinking that they would avoid having to move everything from their room, but found this not to be the case.

Southside residents were given less than 24 hours warning by the Domestic Manger of Residences at IC to clear their rooms, and move to another part of the building for maintenance work to be carried out. After 2 weeks they would then have to move back while the other half of the halls were closed for work. Live! Has found out that this “maintenance work” is in fact the process of fumigation being carried out by pest control contractors, due to the mice infestation in Southside.

Many students were upset to find that they had paid more than £250 to guarantee their room over Easter, but had not been informed that they might have to move. One student told Live! “I booked my room last week so I didn’t have to move all my belongings. If I had known this was happening I would have taken everything home instead.” Live! asked for a meeting with the Domestic Manager, Philip Notley who authorised the fumigation, but he declined.

We did however manage to speak to a member of the booking team at the conference office in Prince’s Gardens. Declining to be named he explained: “We were only made aware of this problem on Friday by IC residences, and it is disgusting that students have been given no prior warning”. Another student told Live! that he felt that they were being treated like “animals” and not humans by IC residence staff.

Rumours are spreading that complaints from students have already been passed to ICU, and senior members of IC staff in Sherfield. Live! will keep you updated as the situation unfolds.

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Discussion about “Southside "cock up"”

The comments below are unmoderated submissions by Live! readers. The Editor accepts no liability for their content, nor for any offence caused by them. Any complaints should be directed to the Editor.

1. Darth Vader

Mar 28 2002 16:08

And people actually wanted to remain in Southside over Easter? Are they mad?

2. Rob Park

Mar 28 2002 16:10

Looks like the College doesn't like the student-infestation either...

3. Neil Manson

Mar 28 2002 16:12

As a re-app in Linstead (next to Southside, and infintely more lovely as we have our own bar :-) ), we realised that there would be a problem with everyone in Princes Gardens being made to move out in the middle of the week. Term was ending on the Tuesday and everything had to be out by 12 noon Wednesday. We basically went to the accomodation people and said "this isn't on", and the best we could get was 50 rooms (for potentially nearly 200 students) til the end of the week. We found the accomodation people, and residences people to be thoroughly useless. It seemed to us that they had more interest in their own little task as decreed by college, and were more interested in the "guests" staying for a couple of weeks in the hall over easter, than they were interested in the needs of students - those people for whom the halls are intended.

This Southside cock up is just another example of residences treating the students like shit. This has to stop.

4. Oliver Pell

Mar 28 2002 16:15

I suspect it may come down, in the end, to the fact that although both students and conference guests are paying - the conference types have alternatives and the students basically don't.

5. Dan L

Mar 28 2002 16:24

The guys at the Conference office have been very helpfull. They are really pissed off that Philip Notley (Domestic Manager) gave them no warning. They have given people refunds, but to treat students like s*** is just not on.

6. Bob

Mar 28 2002 16:25

Knock Southside down. The diggers are already on site next to Mech Eng. Reduce the place to rubble, and build something decent!

7. Neil Manson

Mar 28 2002 16:28

Rob - that really is rather a good idea. Though the urban myth that I've heard is that if they do that then they can only build a replacement 4 storeys high. Ahhh sod it - knock it down anyway, it's not nearly as nice as Linstead. :-)

btw - forgot we must star out our expletives... oh f*ck. :-p

8. eddie

Mar 28 2002 16:58

This in coparison to last year where students staying over easter had to move all their stuff to evelyn gardens. Though (of course) despite being easter student accomodation there were a few days at each end of the holidays when the students ha no where to stay... I only know about the end of the holiday, where housekeeping very kindly juggled thigs to help them out.... Annother case of lack of foresight? hmmm, we could start a list ;-)

9. Dan L

Mar 28 2002 20:02

The main focus of the article is the fact students booked accommodation because they intended to stay in their current rooms. They were informed that they would not be able to less than 24 hours before they had to move. Also there are people who went on holiday on Monday - and now have the problem of all their stuff being fumigated! - NICE!

10. Rob Park

Mar 28 2002 20:47

You will have a contract with the College regarding each parties' liabilities and responsibilities - I suggest it is read and (hopefully there is scope) action taken :) Perhaps a job for one of those lovely fluffy welfare people in the Union?

11. Ashley Brown

Mar 28 2002 21:50

Do all IC's job ads carry the line "must be a blithering idiot"?

Or possibly:

"The ideal candidate must enjoy making students' lives as difficult as possible".

12. Adrian

Mar 28 2002 22:45

...and the college (and the union) being closed Thursday-Tuesday, only the next day after people had to move out means that there is practically no-one around to do anything about all these problems. Nice timing!

Sen and David are going to have their work cut out when they get back on Wednesday.

On the subject of timing, why the hell have we landed with these stupid term dates? The ICU end of term event wasn't even at the end of term! The fact that easter weekend is extreamly early this year is not college's fault, but the term didn't start that early. They could have easily made it start on Monday 7th instead of Wednesday 9th. One student told me their theory was that some muppet in Sherfield was looking at the wrong year when they set the dates for 2nd term. They then claimed that they meant to do it when it was pointed out to them, rather than admitting that they were a cretin, and so we were stuck with it.

13. bar prop

Mar 28 2002 23:41

on the other hand, having the extra few days meant everybody didnt go home before the end of term event. so there were some people there. which was nice.

Anyway, i will bet that many departments didnt do much useful on the monday and tuesday.....

14. Rob Park

Mar 29 2002 08:49

I was thinking that the Union Advisor should be consulted as he has far more experience with this type of thing compared to any sabbatical officer (and this is a fact not a dig!).

The theory about term dates seems quite apt and certainly possible knowing that bunch of muppets... they may as well start setting term dates based on the lunar calendar! Or everyone should adopt a medic-esque term :)

15. Rob Park

Mar 29 2002 08:52

The lunar calendar, of course, being far more accurate - after all, this is how Easter is set :P

What is this thing called a "term" anyway? You should be working 9am-7pm 7 days a week!

16. Oliver Pell

Mar 29 2002 10:29

Some of us are doing 9am-9pm, if that's any consolation...

17. Londonstatto

Mar 29 2002 13:37

Yeah, but Rob isn't as much of a hack as you are, any more. But as for next year, well, I pity the QM sabbs who'll have to cope with him :)

18. Adrian

Mar 29 2002 19:13