An uncaring university

Imperial College doesn’t care about its students and there’s nothing we can do to change it. The Sabbs are generally powerless and many of the Union’s decisions don’t seem to have our best interests at heart.

Much like a certain yeasty (and delicious) sandwich filling, those statements will either strike a chord with you or be they will dismissed out of hand as an exaggeration. They shouldn’t be. They sum up everything that is wrong about Imperial; why the NSS rating is so low, why we’re never going to ‘beat’ Oxbridge, why the attendance at the bars is falling and why those controversial halls in North Acton are going to be built, whether you like it or not.

College’s unrelenting apathy towards its students and academic staff, its disregard for their views and opinions is not a new development (Holland Club/Translation Unit/bioscience cuts anyone?) and only continues to drag Imperial down. Without an effective Union countering this, the slide into anonymity will be even quicker.

Recently the Medics protested the BUCS merger of Medic and College sports teams. This is a contentious issue, but only between the administrators and the people actually playing the sport. It is something even most rival rugby players can agree on and the reasons behind it are worth examining as they are endemic to College thinking. Is having two separate sports teams a historical relic or is it upholding 148 years of tradition, 148 years that once lost can never be recovered? Why go through the effort of restructuring the whole system, and if the sports teams are merged, why stop there? Why not absorb the whole Medic SU, make their President a DP(Medicine), make Reynolds Eastside II and have done with it? BUCS points. All universities are ranked by BUCS points, which are gained for doing well in sport with the BUCS leagues. Imperial College currently sits at 20th. If the Medics’ points were included we’d go up a place to 19th. I can’t even begin to imagine how many more athletic sporty people that extra spot is going to attract. However, I believe the negative impact of the merger includes less access to sports for everyone and less money spent on sports as a whole (for example, ICURFC and ICSMRFC both support 3 rugby teams. If they merged, maintaining a total of four teams would be more realistic) let alone having to find new Varsity rivals.

“But I don’t care about them messing with the sports, I want to know why they are still going to build those halls that everybody is so against!” They will carry on regardless because Imperial College is good at business. Really good, (for example the site of the new campus in West London was obtained cheaply through shrewd investment and property deals) and the money has already been spent. Do you think the developer is going to refund the money for a few stickers plastered around the Union building? The buildings are already being built so stopping it is as likely being served quickly in Metric on an ACC night. Paul Beaumont was part of the decisions and has been vehemently against it from the start; look how much they listened to him. Either his inclusion was a box ticking exercise, he was ineffective in putting his views across, or a combination of both. #Againstacton is trying to make a difference but now his hands are tied and it is too late, like trying to shut the gate after the horse is already on Tesco’s shelves. So now the halls are definitely going to be built, the Union should be pushing for a massive increase in infrastructure like lobbying the council to upgrade the roads and cycle network around there (the potholes are awful) or find some money in the inevitable profits to run buses between campuses. While the buildings are going to be built, meshing this satellite campus with the existing services is an area that the Union could really make a difference in.

So why do College disregard us so? Why are they still going to build those halls and merge the sports teams even when nobody really wants it? You’ll be gone in three years. In four years no one will remember a time without halls in North Acton or when Varsity was Medics vs College; it will be the norm to have an hour commute in as a fresher and to play Varsity against Roehampton. College will have made money from their decisions, money to help subsidise your labs, and the person who made the relevant decisions will still be in their job while you’ll have graduated and be slaving away, working 70+ hours a week in a dingy office doing consultancy and selling your soul so you won’t care either. In my opinion, this game is too short sighted for Imperial to play if they have any aspirations other than the financial ones. The NSS ratings will continue to slide, people’s experience here will become worse and worse and the continued slip into anonymity; academically, sportingly and socially will hasten. To quote Morpheus, IC “are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors, they are holding all the keys. Which means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them.” While I’m not advocating bending spoons, stopping bullets with your hands or anything else from the Matrix, something needs to be done and despite greasing their palms handsomely, the Sabbs don’t seem to have the stomach or the weapons for this fight.

So College doesn’t care and really it’s not College’s problem, that’s why they fund the Union; the Union is supposed to be the brake on the slide. Our voice, how we can tell the College what we want and need. Unfortunately our brake cable has been cut. The Sabbs have very little influence and nobody seems to make any real progress. While this may seem harsh, can anyone name any of the Deputy Presidents from two years ago? And what were their policies, what did they achieve? Are the Freshers even aware of Summerballgate that cost their Union £128k? If that can slip into dim and distant memory, what hope do less notorious Officers hope to achieve?

Obviously the Sabbs kept the Union working, they kept it ticking over and that’s great. However from a small team of people that we’re paying £186k a year I’d expect a lot more. Yes, in 2011/12 we paid £186,098 for Sabbatical Salaries and accommodation. What do we get back for this huge sum of money? Do we even know if they are doing their job properly? I hope they are and I would hope that doing your job properly consists of a lot more than keeping the Union ticking over. In my naivety I would assume that’s one of the jobs of the hardworking team of permanent Union staff (~420k combined salary in 2011/12). I want my elected officers to fight for change, to make my time here better and to protect my interests from the businessmen who run IC. So have they done this? They haven’t come close for me, but what about the wider populous?

However, what I didn’t want was these people that represent my views to go out of their way to stop me enjoying my time here. The list is long and oft repeated; entry charges, tankard prices and effectively banning yards are all factors that contribute to the decline of any semblance of a social scene and these are just within the Union Bar!

Despite all these negativities socialness does still thrive, if you look for it. I just wish that someone actually gave a ha’penny for what we thought about our time here when we’re not giving them money or passing exams. I wish the Union could fight the good fight and support its students. I love being at Imperial and have had a great three years here already, but just think how great this place could be; think of the potential.