Campus Bulley » Rally the Troops
In Halifax we resent other colleges their bars. As we sit in JJs drowning our sorrows in cans of Strongbow and bottles of Jacques we picked up at (the ironically named) Costcutter we pretend like we don’t mind. We pretend that JJs is fine as a common room. We’re Halifax, we proudly proclaim, we have the best college spirit, the best people and the most fun – who cares if we don’t have beer out of a tap and a fridge full of VKs?
Of course, this argument falls down come the weekend, when all 1000 of us can be found strutting our stuff on the dance floors of Doodles, V-Bar, the Courtyard, Edge or the Willow. Sure; we will scream Halifax till we die, if you question us we might hit you and at the end of the night we will stumble across the 22 acres singing “when the fax come marching in”, but there is not one person that can’t tell that we rely on the free flowing alcohol on campus to fuel our boozy student lifestyles (the willow doesn’t have a big enough capacity).
My point, unclear as it is, is that we are all about to lose out. Derwent is one of my favourite student bars. We loose that and we will all suffer. For one thing, 1st years will have very few places to take visiting friends that are underage, something my house have used Doodles for time and time again.
Last year a lot of the student body didn’t take the threat on B Henry’s that seriously. I mean, a lot of us didn’t care too much. Alcuin obviously did, but hardly anyone else really used the bar. Derwent, on the other hand, is a cause which all students must get behind. There isn’t a society that doesn’t get drunk, krunk and freaky in Derwent bar at least once a year, and there’s plenty of staff who do to.
YUSU came behind last year’s “Plan B” but it was pretty weak. This year we don’t have time for poster campaigns and cheeky – but washable – chalk graffiti. I’d like to see proper protests. I’d like to see sit-ins, die-ins, boycotts, whatever it takes. This is finally a cause that the student body can really come behind, and both the union and Derwent JCRC need to be at the front of the charge.
I for one do not want to have to find a new spot for my evening VK blue and double Vodka Red Bull.
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I agree entirely with this Jim, it’s ridiculous to suggest closing Derwent Bar, but I do think it is an inevitability eventually!
The only criticism of the article I have is the poor grammar “loose” and “to”…
I think that the nature of the problems facing Derwent are almost a direct parallel of those B.Henry’s has faced as a bar, it admittedly gets more societies and passing action, but not enough to counter the proportionally larger costs. Those societies afterall are often on crawls they’d probably be just as happy doubling the rounds in the courtyard as they would be drinking in Doodles. This is why I want to stress the similarities to the problems Alcuin has faced, it requires mobilisation of the college as ultimately the rest of the university often transpire to be devoid of sentimental feelings for another colleges bar, afterall not everyone is as conscientious as you Jim.
I have every sympathy with Derwent, especially since this years bar reps have clearly put their heart and soul into the bar and have made it as good a place to drink as you could realistically expect commercial services to provide.
The fact that bar issues are becoming a trend leads me to think that we need to adress the source of the problem this time, the suitability of commerical services as a provider. I’ll agree with Lewis and what I know Phil and Jon would claim, that they are a ‘victim of national trends’, but I don’t see any other university bars facing the degree of problems that we seem to have at York.
The point is that once again, they can sell food to a captive audience, but they somehow can’t manage to sell booze to students, they don’t want to let go of the whole buisness, they’ll keep the catering, but they definitely don’t want to invest in the place. Realistically, like B.Henry’s it will stay open for a while, but as a marked man, constant pressure on volunteer students to prop up a commercial entity, which Joe Rankin correctly points out is unacceptable.
I think the prospect of outsourcing will have to rear it’s ugly head again.
Not a bad comment piece all in all Jim, but I think the idea that Derwent is currently catering for a far larger audience than any other college bar and is therefore a far higher priority for students is slightly fallacious. It comes down to this; we all, as colleges want and deserve our own bars, but as with B.Henry’s people are reluctant to defend a poorly run bar to the hilt, the problems run far deeper than just ‘rallying the troops’ and we are not in a position as students to force through those changes.
I read somewhere that one of the problems with B Henrys was that it was paying for a bar manager that Derwent and other shared. Surely that would mean that Derwent was actually saving money compared to the Alcuin one and also Derwent has bigger capacity so nights such as bar quiz nights etc. must surely rake in a bigger revenue?
The problem lies with the students. For some reason Uni of York students have stopped using their bars. College spirit is running away faster that Usain Bolt and people just aren’t socialising within their college the way they used to.
This problem, I think, is partyly due to the under performance of JCRC’s. New students need to go to their college bars every evening, even if its just for a coffee, to ensure the college glue is sticking, and to keep their bars afloat. Alcuin and new Goodricke have no chance, but everyone else can still be saved. Its in our hands.
Another idea, could be, students and JCRC’s working in the bars.. in return for drinks tokens? Durham do this and it has proved very successful.
>> The problem lies with the students. For some reason Uni of York students have stopped using their bars.College spirit is running away faster that Usain Bolt and people just aren’t socialising within their college the way they used to.
If that was true, The Courtyard would have been a massive flop.
The simple fact is that college bars are unattractive. Drink deals in town or pre-drinking in flats are cheaper, and the décor resembles a cafeteria. The only way to resolve this is to invest in the bars – actually take a risk, and not close them.
>> This problem, I think, is partyly due to the under performance of JCRC’s
Why is it the JCRC’s responsibility to get customers into commercial services’ bars?
>> Alcuin and new Goodricke have no chance
Why?
Jim, a good piece and as a Halifaxer unto death I agree completely.
This issue is of upmost importance and
‘I’d like to see proper protests. I’d like to see sit-ins, die-ins, boycotts, whatever it takes. This is finally a cause that the student body can really come behind, and both the union and Derwent JCRC need to be at the front of the charge.’
Hits the nail on the head.
s/loose/lose
Good piece Jim.
The loss of Derwent Bar would be a real blow. Regardless of whether it’s a money maker, surely having a huge space such as that makes the University more appealing.
At the moment the decor etc is poor, as is the layout, but it’s a huge space and has massive potential – potential that is realised at the majority of Club D’s (not that I remember any of the ones I’ve been too).
The problem is the lack of people visiting though. After every Kids Club this year we go for a drink in either the Courtyard or Derwent on Saturday night without fail. Saturday night – prime time for on campus drinking and socialising as there’s nowhehere decent in town to go – it’s almost ALWAYS empty aside from the six or seven of us.
The TV is always off aswell. A bar the size of Derwent should have Sky Sports and should utilise it massively. The Vis-Ents Reps made sure the Six Nations and the Champions League final were put on and it was rammed for both! I said about JJs last year that Comercial Services should’ve been sensible and had it open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as rather than trapse over to the Derry, people would watch the Champions League in there – it just makes sense!
It definitely needs people to get behind it. This year the University is faced with Goodricke freshers effectively living on a building site which is some walk from the nearest bars/shops etc (I’m not sure whether Costcutters/campus bars are closer than The Black Bull/Somerfield). We also have the fact college spirit in the old Goodricke is going to be a bit frayed, and the loss of our biggest bar (and the one who people are generally most passionate about) will lose another notch in the Student Satisfaction stakes…