RGU:RAG President, Steph Dowling said “We are delighted to receive these awards, we have put a lot of work in this year to increase membership of RAG, and it is great to see the work paying off. We won’t stop with being best small RAG however, and we’ll be working hard to become even bigger and better over the course of the next year.”

RGU:RAG also received the award of Society of the Year 2009/10 at the RGU Student Achievement Awards.

The City Council made a welcome commitment to clamp down, through greater enforcement measures, on rogue landlords who were not licensed under the scheme, and therefore potentially putting their tenants at risk. The Council have also agreed to encourage legislation to be introduced which would require landlords to advertise their HMO compliance to potential tenants.

ASF had worked closely over the course of the last year with landlords, and in particular the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) to bring this campaign to a successful conclusion. NUS Scotland now plan to investigate if other Councils in Scotland are making similar profits from students.

Ryan Maclean, President of the RGU Students’ Association said, ‘It is welcome news that the council has finally realised that increasing the cost of HMO’s is only discouraging landlords from letting properties to students, which is only going to encourage rogue landlords in a city with such a high percentage of students comprising the city centre population. We commend Aberdeen City Council for taking this positive step, but still believe there is more work to be done.’

Robin Parker, President for Aberdeen University Students’ Association said, ‘This was £200,000 being taken, mainly and indirectly, from the pockets of students in Aberdeen and straight into the coffers of Aberdeen City Council, I think it is fair to say there is an argument that it was a stealth council tax on students. The City Council has now recognised that that making that kind of surplus was completely out of order, and against the government legislation, and should never of happened. This fee was also having a real negative effect on the availability of affordable housing in Aberdeen, when the City Council should be doing whatever it can to encourage landlords to rent to students. So, whilst we would have hoped that the fee would have gone lower, this is still a massive victory for the students of Aberdeen’.

Graeme Kirkpatrick, President of Aberdeen College Students’ Association said ‘It’s fantastic news that the City Council will also employ an enforcement officer to attempt to crack down on rogue landlords. The city council also needs to much more work to ensure that students are living in safe accommodation. The truth is we don’t know how many student in Aberdeen are living unlicensed and unsafe properties, much more work needs to be done to guarantee their safety.’

For the Press & Journal’s coverage, see here.

Aberdeen Students’ Forum is an umbrella grouping for the four National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland affiliated Student Associations in Aberdeen. Together Aberdeen University Students’ Association, RGU Students’ Association, Aberdeen College Students’ Association and the Scottish Agricultural College Student Representative Council represent 60,000 students living in and around Aberdeen.

Aberdeen Student Forum, comprising the Presidents of Students’ Associations of RGU, Aberdeen College, Aberdeen University and Scottish Agricultural College, met with officials to represent students’ views on the price rises scheduled to come into effect from the 1^st of August.

Standard single journeys from Schoolhill to Garthdee will now be £2.20, a 20p increase.

The Student Day Ticket has been increased to £3, from £2.60.

However, a new Student ‘2Trip’, which can be used for two single journeys any time during the day has been introduced at £2.80.

Long-term loyalty tickets have been frozen in price. A New ‘Unilink’ ticket, which can only be used Monday to Friday has also been introduced, which will give students unlimited travel Monday to Friday for £9.50.

A new ‘Bunch of Fives’ Ticket has been introduced which lets five people buy an all day travel ticket for £10.

Night bus tickets have been reduced to a £2 single fare.

New RGU President Ryan Maclean said, ‘Whilst we welcome the introduction of the new 2-Trip ticket, as we think many students will use the format, we think at £2.80 it is too expensive in comparison to the price of a cross-service day ticket last year, effectively leading to Students paying more for a lesser service, and call upon First Aberdeen to bring the cost down.’

Aberdeen University President, Robin Parker, slammed the rises, saying ‘with students pockets emptier than ever, and with part-time jobs harder to come by, it is unfortunate that First Aberdeen have chosen this moment to increase fares. The student discounts are being squeezed and students are one of the few publically financially-supported groups who have no access to other forms of discount. Aberdeen is a student city and First need to recognise that’

Aberdeen College President, Graeme Kirkpatrick said, “These prices rises are going to, once again, hit the poorest students the most. With most students already in debt First Bus’s actions are going to directly affect those already in hardship in an extremely negative way.”

First Aberdeen claim that their across the board increases are their first price rise in two years.

A year ago Aberdeen Student Forum campaigned successfully for the reintroduction of the student day ticket, following its withdrawal by First Aberdeen.

A full list of the new prices on First Aberdeen buses can be found here.

COST OF ACCOMMODATION

To give some quick background, HMO licenses were introduced as the result of the death of 2 students in a flat fire in Glasgow because there were bars on the windows, preventing them from escaping. There needed to be a standard of safety and so these HMO Licenses were introduced. The cost for the landlord was never meant to be more than the administration fee by the council, however Aberdeen City Council have decided to price an HMO license at a whopping £1000 with the intention of increasing it to £1500 within the year. This has 2 impacts, either landlords dont bother with it, or students burden the extra cost.

We all know accommodation in Aberdeen is a huge problem for students, and this adds to the issue – so this is one thing the ASF, in partnership with the National Union of Students, hopes to rectify!

Secondly – and this is EXTREMELY Important! THE STUDENT ELECTIONS START 24TH FEBRUARY! Reckon you can do my job??

RGU STUDENT ELECTIONS
Get involved and make RGU all it can be!

Boost your CV! Don’t be fooled – you don’t need to have experience to go for these positions, all you need is some initiative!

There are 2 types of Officers – Sabbatical Officers(This is a full time 12 month job where you are paid) and Part-time Officers(you do this alongside your studies as a volunteer). The experience you can get from Officer roles is invaluable – I got elected President with no prior experience with the Union and now I have experience in most job roles as I have been involved in so much since becoming President. Even if you are a part time Officer – the opportunities and personal development available to you are huge.

So take a risk, get involved in something you haven’t done before and I guarantee you wont look back. For more information go to www.rguunion.co.uk to find all the information you need in the candidates pack. As yet there are no candidates for the Vice-Presidents or President Roles, so start thinking about it now!

Election Timetable

Wednesday 24^th February
Nominations Open (you need 30 signatures of RGU students and then hand in your nomination form).

Wednesday 10th March
Nominations Close at 2pm

Wednesday 24^th March
Online Polling Opens. Vote at www.rgu.ac.uk/vote

Friday 31^st March
Online Polling Closes and winners are announced!

For more information email president@rguunion.co.uk

STUDENT AWARDS BALL

The newly entitled Student Achievement Awards Ball (changed from Scarlet & Gold Award Ball) – a chance for RGU students to celebrate all the hard work they have contributed, such as significant involvement in a society, volunteering or being a class rep!

This Ball is on the 26th February and all RGU students are welcome! You never know, YOU might be up for an award!

Purchase your tickets from the RGU:Union shop on Schoolhill which includes a 3 course meal, drinks, transport and of course a Ceilidh!

Tickets cost £26.50 or you can reserve a table for 10-12 people. For more information, Contact Rachel Watson on union@rguunion.co.uk

Do you love a good debate, or have big questions to ask?

BBC Scotland’s Political Editor, Brian Taylor is chairing a live news debate from Queen’s Cross Church, Aberdeen, with his weekly live radio show Brian Taylor’s Big Debate, focussing on this week’s biggest news stories. The programme broadcasts live in front of an audience and takes a similar format to the BBC’s Question Time.

All students (and staff) from RGU are invited to come along and participate in the debate as part of the audience for news, views and discussion. Please arrive for 12:45 (the broadcast is from 13:15-14:00)

So if you’d like to join in the debate with Brian’s lively panel, then please book your places in the audience by emailing brian@bbc.co.uk

Questions
We would like you to submit topical news questions, which may be included in the programme.These should relate to any news story which has appeared in the news this week.

Questions should be very brief and to the point – the more succinct the more chance of being picked.
Please email your question to brian@bbc.co.uk by the morning of Thursday 21 January.

Here are some recent programme questions:

• President Obama has announced a ‘financial crisis responsibility fee‘ which will be levied on American Banks for ten years. Do you think that the UK Government’s one year tax on bankers’ bonuses is a sufficient penalty on banks here?
• What is the panel’s reaction to developments in Copenhagen?
• Is it right that MPs should not be allowed to employ members of their families?

Summary
What: Brian Taylor’s Big Debate – BBC Radio Scotland
Where: Queen’s Cross Church, Albyn Place, Aberdeen
When: Friday 22 January, 12:45

Earn £14,000 plus phone&council tax paid(and many other hidden benefits!!) There are three full-time paid positions. These are called Sabbatical positions which you need to either take a year out of studies for, or be finishing your studies this year. However there is also a number of part-time Officer positions available to take on during your time at University.

All Officer positions require students for the role.

The Election dates are as follows:

24th February – Nominations Open (you need to nominate yourself as a candidate by getting 30 signatures… from RGU students supporting your nomination)

10th March – Nominations Close

The HIRED! challenge encourages entrepreneurship, and invites students to demonstrate their business acumen by putting on a single innovative fundraising event. Short-listed participants will then in April be invited to pitch to a panel of experts including the HR director of Nickelodeon who will choose a winning team or individual.

The winning student/s will receive one month’s work experience at Nickelodeon gaining an invaluable entry onto their CV’s. Beach Break Live tickets donated by Outgoing and a ‘learn to surf’ weekend are among other prizes up for grabs for finalists.

James Reed, Chairman of Reed Recruitment said: “HIRED! is an exciting opportunity for students to showcase their skills and creativity, while gaining valuable experience that will help them stand out when applying for jobs in this incredibly competitive recruitment market.”

Karl Burnett, VP, HR Director at Nickelodeon, echoes this: “Students enjoying university life may be thinking about the next steps and the ‘real’ world of work. This initiative offers students a fantastic opportunity to learn about many aspects of our business which will give them a competitive advantage moving forward. We look forward to welcoming the winner/s to Nickelodeon and wish all the contestants the best of luck!”

It is hoped that HIRED! will raise thousands and awareness for the NSPCC’s Child’s Voice Appeal, the NSPCC’s three-year appeal to raise £50 million to maintain and grow the NSPCC’s helplines, text and online counselling services.

Online registration is open now on www.nspcc.org.uk/student until 18 February 2010. Pitching to the panel will take place in April at a London venue. For further information e-mail: students@nspcc.org.uk, join the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/NSPCC-Hired-Student-Challenge-2010/136293981510?ref=nf or call 0800 101 996.

Please Note: Events must be within fundraising law, for more information please visit www.nspcc.org.uk/student.

These topics can range from catering to transport to IT facitlities to Library facilities to…..you get the point!

So we have set up a mailing list to inform students of any proposed changes which may be taking place in the future. This affects you all whether you like it or not! So all you have to do is email president@rguunion.co.uk and you will be put on the mailing list for this information. You will probably only receive approx 1 email per month, but it could could be a change that seriously affects your studies – so sign up now!

Here is a current example – We need students to give their input on what they think of the proposed changes to the IT Facilities in 2010. Click below to view, then leave your comments on this post (alternatively you can email president@rguunion.co.uk)

http://www.rguunion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/ITChanges.doc