Emma Phillips on house hunting
Tiffany Wright on bouncers
I know, we’ve only done a term, but the end is nigh (end of the academic year that is), and that means for all you lot staying on it’s time to start thinking about where you’re going to live next year. Scary, I know, but believe me, it’ll be far easier to think about it now than as you frantically search for anything legible amongst your lecture notes from which you can revise for those looming exams!
I’m not even going to mention working out who you want to live with! But watch out for all the cleaning dishes and delicious smells of cooking as everyone tries to prove that they are they are the perfect housemate! Needless to say however, this will either be the easiest part of the whole process or the cause of those first grey hairs!
The best place to start then is Student Accommodation Services. If you go onto their website,
www.uwe.ac.uk/accommodation
you can find a range of info and a list of private landlords and details of university managed houses. Before checking this out though, you do need to get a password. This is printed in the student handbook, or can be picked up from the Students Union office, or by getting in touch with the SAS themselves (for some reason though, I am unable to print it here- as if it isn't widely enough available for anyone who wants it!) A copy of the list of private landlords is also available from the SAS office at Frenchay. I am assured that it is signposted, but even signposts can be hard to find at Frenchay, so, just to help you out, its at the back...beneath the library somewhere.
To start you off though, this year there is a new set of en-suite flats called ‘Market Gate’ which are located in the city centre and open to returning students. Apply for one of these top new flats (best get there before the Blairs get their grubby hands on ‘em! - Ed) with the people you want to live with by visiting the SAS office (don't worry, I’m sure it can’t be that hard to find!)
Alternatively, you can search for properties through a letting agency (a list is available from the SAS). SAS however, ten not to recommend this due to the number of problems that have faced them in the past , but the option is still there for you.
I know it still seems a long way off, but it is important to start looking early if you want to get a good place. Especially with the current shortage of good properties about.
Remember also to think about where you want to live. You don't want to be stuck out in the sticks where you have a cross country trek just to get to your local! And you probably don't want to have hours of travelling to do to get to uni - as if we need another excuse not to go to lectures!
Happy house-hunting then! And look out for mice...
Emma Phillips
Do you feel safe clubbing it in Bristol?
Tiffany Wright provides a damning insight into the world of the nightclub bouncer...
"I finished my last exam at midday and later that afternoon I met up with two friends at the fine line. I had a fair bit to drink but was by no means going over the top." After a few more celebratory beers and something to eat Dave and co. went to a new bar; The Park. "We had a pint and then moved onto the lounge. That is my last memory of the night. The next thing I remember is waking up in the BRI and being told that a punch I had received in the club had smashed my retina and severely damaged the optic nerve. I have suffered complete loss of sight in my left eye and have been told that it will never improve."
In the UK there are around 100,000 doormen working so as to make people feel safe and secure inside their club walls. These are the officials we rely on to protect us when we are at our most venerable and relaxed. So where were the guardian angels when Dave was attacked? Chatting up some naïve fresher? Intimidating the innocent? Flexing their muscles? If a bouncer's job is to ensure the safety of clubbers then these bouncers obviously were not doing their job correctly. In the Lizard Lounge’s defence, doorman Chris Blackmore did see "Lowe on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and called an ambulance." The question that needs answering however is why was this attack allowed to happen in the first place? Where were the bouncers when they were needed?
Up until a couple of years ago anybody could work as a doorman including rapists, murderers and stalkers.
Clubbers were being attacked left, right and centre by the people who were supposed to be protecting them. In 1996, Paul Steele visited a club in Cheltenham and was punched by doorman Glen Soames. The reason? He was trying to stop an argument. Paul was rushed to Frenchay hospital and diagnosed with brain damage so bad that he could no longer walk or speak. Thankfully, due to incidents such as this, the law has changed ad the home office has set up a national registration scheme where applicants are vetted for criminal convictions and have to attend a three day training course. Robert Lawrence, a security adviser from Leisure security in Hertfordshire explained how the course itself could cost anything up to £350 and the training involves talks on social skills and the use of body language to defuse potentially violent situations. It seems then plausible to suggest that despite this sort of training doormen still do not seem to fulfil the role of "protectors" very well. Even after £350 worth of cash is ejected from their bank accounts they still seem to be ignoring those lectures on customer safety. Take the following as an example:
On a night out last year at a well-known UWE sports night venue the doormen proved that it is not only men who are at risk. A couple of friends decided to finish off their night at a club. As the group of girls were admitted inside one by one the last girl in the group was refused entry. The doormen held her back claiming that she was "too inebriated" to be allowed entry therefore stranding her alone and venerable on Whiteladies Road with out money to get home and anyone to ensure her safety. She was a target for assault all due to a doorman's power trip. Fortunately not all clubs will allow this to happen. The Ministry of Sound in London claims "our security staff will accompany our female customers to the bank and bus stop. WE also have a vetted taxi service, so we know all the drivers and keep a record of taxi numbers as they pick people up." What is stopping this from being a policy of all clubs nationwide? Why is it only Londoners who deserve this kind of protection?
On other occasions witnesses have seen individual women being escorted down back staircases in a club near the waterfront by security. No one felt safe enough to confront the bouncer and ask him where they he was taking this girl and instead watched in horror as she disappeared at the bottom of the stairs. Maybe the bouncer was just doing his job and escorting the girl out of the club but why not do it via the front door instead of a seedy back stairwell? The girl was alone and venerable with no one to look after her once the bouncer had left. Is this really the correct way to deal with someone who has had a little too much to drink? Surely a warning and a taxi would suffice?
So where do we go from here? Is it no longer possible to have a safe night out? How can students begin to be able to trust the people who are supposed to be looking out for us? There is currently only one way that you can ensure a safe night out and this is to look out for your friends as they do you. At least you are then not putting your safety into stranger's hands, because as soon as a stranger is in control of your evening you don't know how it might end. You could leave a club blind, bruised or alone. And that's not a way to end a good night out.
We feel that so as to stop occurrences such as those mentioned above happening again Student reps should be employed to work in conjunction with student clubs and the people on the doors. If you feel that this might be a positive course of action then please contact the President of the Student Union with your views. Together we can make a good night out a safe one.