The last known sighting of her was on the afternoon of 18 March. Despite speculation from the press about her personal life, nothing has yet been heard. After Nouse met with Peter Lawrence this week however, it was shown that there is still promise of her survival.

Nouse encourages anyone with any potential information to come forward. Students can talk to Crimestoppers anonymously and whatever you have to say will be taken into consideration seriously. While you may not believe that what you have seen or heard is either important or significant, it could be combined with other information that the police already have and used to create a significant lead in the investigation.

Whilst Claudia’s disappearance remains obviously distressing, it is ­­nevertheless important for students to remember that instances such as this on campus are rare. Due care and common sense are always advisable in any environment, and as long as sensible precautions are taken to safegaurd student safety there should be no cause for uneasiness on campus.

Fortunately, our campus is a long way away from this tragedy, and the idea that those things could happen here is unfathomable but it would be ridiculous to suggest “equality has been mostly achieved”, as was claimed in an article on campus recently. Granted, equality has improved vastly since the 1970s, when the LGBT community began to push for civil rights, but we are not yet at a point where everyone can be considered equal enough to disband LGBT and simply place them under the umbrella of welfare.

For many people, university is the first time they can be true to themselves. Perhaps at school or college they never felt they could come out, perhaps they still haven’t come out to their parents; whatever the reasons may be, joining a society aimed purely at integration, community and togetherness is a massive boost to many freshers. If, as was suggested by Jack Knight in his article, LGBT were to be “disbanded and incorporated into welfare”, then the specific interests of a large group of people on campus would be left un-catered for, and crucially their needs not defended.

Discrimination on campus is not unheard of either. Take for example our LGBT society’s social trip to Leeds, and the subsequent abuse they apparently received on their return from members of this very university. Does that sound like acceptable equality? If people cannot be themselves without fear of reprimand, they are not equal. The LGBT community and societies on campuses across the country offer support to people who are regularly made to feel like they are inferior simply because of their sexual orientation. Just look at the the word “poof” and the frequent use of that great old phrase, “that’s so gay”. If you heard those things spoken on a day-to-day basis, would you view yourself as equal?

To borrow, or perhaps steal, an analogy from Ed Crooks who commented online on a Nouse piece regarding the role of the Women’s Society, if you had a herd of sheep that needed constant care and attention to maintain their health, you would not stop caring for them simply because they were currently in excellent health. The article in question hit the nail on the head, perhaps inadvertently, when it said: “Why should the fact that you sleep with Michael rather than Michelle make any difference.” Why indeed? But the fact of the matter is that being a minority is not as easy as you may think.

Look at the world of sports for a good example. Gareth Thomas, the former international Wales and Lions rugby star, has just come out as homosexual following a career dogged by whispers and rumours. Why did Thomas feel he should have to suffer in silence for so long? Contrast his long plight with the LGBT community we see on campus today and ask yourself which is preferable? The one where there is no support network available and people are forced to lead a fake life of secrecy, or the one where there is a group of people, with similar experiences, who are there to lend a helping hand if you need it, who are there to make you feel accepted, who are there to help you to be yourself and who are there to allow you to feel pride. That’s what LGBT is.

It has been revealed that second-year students were given exam information last term that directly coincided with a significant increase in the amount of first class marks in the module, causing student outrage.

Misha Gondhia, a second-year Accounting, Business, Finance and Management (ABFM) student, and Chair of AccFin Society, told Nouse that the lecturer has been “giving out information about what would be in exams” and that students this year have been given an “unfair advantage”.

Another second-year ABFM student, who preferred to remain anonymous, complained that the information revealed by the tutor in his lectures “pointed very much to what would be in the exams”.

The tutor has been accused of giving his students information which directed them to Part A of the compulsory second-year module, Financial Management and Financial Reporting (FMFR).

Such complaints follow information disclosed to Nouse about the 14.5 per cent rise in median grades in FMFR this term.

Statistics provided by Josephine Maltby, Director of Teaching and Professor of Accounting and Finance at York Management School, revealed that last academic year the average grade for Part A of the module was 50 per cent, whereas this year the average mark was 74.5 per cent. Last year, 34 students failed the module, whereas this year, only seven students have not achieved a pass grade.

One second-year ABFM student commented: “The results are unfair because they discredit our course if the marks are that high.”

She added: “People don’t take ABFM and Management seriously, but it is not a reflection of students or their ability.”

A third-year Management student said that it is “grossly unfair” that second-year students may have been given a greater advantage this year, and that FMFR is the “notorious” module which “everyone dreads”.

“It is completely unheard of for someone to get a first in FMFR… this is the notorious module which everyone dreads.”

A third-year
Management student

He added that “all the third-years” noticed the unprecedented rise in median grades this year, and that he thinks they “should not have been provided with the information because then there is no point in doing the exam.”

Maltby advises that students “attend all lectures, seminars and other teaching events offered for a module.”

However, students in the suspect tutor’s seminar and lecture groups remarked that the turnout to his lectures is consistently low.

The tutor in question joined the Management School at the start of this academic year, whereas last year FMFR was taught by Walter Mkumbuzi.

A third-year student said that last year it was “completely unheard of for someone to get a first in FMFR” and that this year most second-years he has spoken to “have said it was easy”.

This year’s pass rate was 96 per cent, whereas last year it was 80 per cent.

Maltby admitted: “As far as lecture content is concerned, the lecture in Week Ten of Autumn term included a PowerPoint presentation with advice for revision/preparation for the exam. This was also immediately made available on the VLE website for the module.”

David Garner, the University Press Officer, commented: “I understand that Josephine Maltby has provided Nouse with a comprehensive response to the inquiry about the York Management School, to which I have nothing to add.”

An email sent on 9 March to all students taking the Part B examination of FMFR next term from Maltby and Philip Linsley, Head of Undergraduate Programmes, told students that Part B will not be set “at a higher level of difficulty than the FMFR Part A examination as a means of levelling out results across the module… The examinations are of the same standard.”

Gondhia said: “How do they plan to address the issue of the ‘abnormally’ high grades last term?”­­

Charlie Leyland, YUSU Academic Officer, has commented: “The York Management School are actively addressing their poor performance in NSS Results and student feedback with YUSU and the course reps. I know that the course reps are engaging with the department to work together on issues such as teaching, assessment and feedback, and communication… Assessment and feedback is still an issue in the NSS results, though we are doing better now.”

The lecturer in question denied a personal response, and said that Maltby’s information provided sufficient clarification.

Rose was allowed to invest £4,400 of his own money into the event held last Saturday, named 13:3, which was endorsed by the Christian Union.

The money covered the costs of hiring the band, equipment, porters and duty managers, which are required by the University for health and safety reasons.

However, while the University communicated with Rose regarding health and safety issues, and the apt provision of sufficient funds to cover the University costs, he did not have to go through any procedures or checks to ensure the event would be financially viable and that he would be protected from losing such a considerable sum of his own money.

“It’s unacceptable that a student has been allowed to take on thousands of pounds worth of liability in a campus venue with no checks or balances put in place.”

Ben Humphrys,
YUSU Welfare Officer

Rose’s consequent loss has caused concern among some who have viewed this as the University prioritising profit over student welfare.

For the event, starring the renowned Christian band, ‘The Gentlemen’, Rose needed to sell 650 tickets or more to break even, but on the night only sold around 200 tickets.

Rose stated that the University had been “very helpful in organising the event and communicating with [him] about all sorts of issues”, and that they have gone “far beyond the call of duty in supporting the event”.
­­
However, there have been questions over whether the University’s role should be more personal and supportive of the individual student rather than the event as a whole.

Ben Humphrys, YUSU Welfare Officer commented: “This is a prime example of the University failing in its duty of care; it’s unacceptable that a student has been allowed to take on thousands of pounds worth of liability in a campus venue with no checks or balances put in place.”

He continued to state: “In recognising this failure of process, I expect the University to waive any sum owed to it for the event and immediately implement a review of the system to prevent this happening again. YUSU already protects individuals and societies who run events through us around campus; if the University can’t offer the same protection they should ensure that we’re involved, or at least that some safeguards are in place, before negligently signing off on an event.”

Jon Greenwood, Head of Financial Services, stated that such an event is “taken at the student’s own risk.”

He continued: “All that is required is an event request form, which is then coordinated through health and safety. Our role is just to act as space managers, we don’t really do anymore than that. We probably ought to be allowed to do more, and get more involved with the students or colleges who run these events. Especially since he isn’t using the bar, we haven‘t really been involved in Jason Rose’s event at all.”

Lewis Bretts, YUSU Democracy and Services Officer, also voiced his concern that the University has allowed Rose to get into such a financially awkward situation, stating: “If he had organised the event through YUSU, we would have offered support and advice based more around personal student welfare, making him go through procedures beforehand to ensure he didn’t make such a considerable personal loss. I would hope that the University has similar standards and procedures, though it doesn’t appear that any of these took place.”

Bretts continued: “It’s awful that the University has allowed him to get into such a situation. Even though it isn’t a YUSU event, I have personally offered Jason any assistance he wants. I would always hope that the University would take all necessary steps to protect students, though unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case.”

However, Rose claims that he “tried to talk to YUSU but they didn’t help”, and that he does not believe the University “could have done anything futher to support the ticket sales”.

Nonetheless, despite the loss incurred, Rose still remained positive about the event, commenting: “It really was a great event – the sound quality was amazing and everything ran very smoothly. It was a success in that we proved what a great venue Central Hall can be for the future.”

“The problem is that it’s always going to be difficult to sell tickets [for] these bigger events. I still believe it was worth all the work I put in.”

The event was the first gig held in Central Hall since the 1980s, when the University banned it from being used as a concert venue following structural concerns that crowds jumping up and down in Central Hall were causing its foundations to sink into the lake.

Claudia was reported missing by her father, Peter Lawrence, just after 2pm on 20 March 2009, although the last known sighting of her was on the afternoon of 18 March. The last person known to have spoken to her was her mother Joan at around 8.15pm on the evening of 18 March.

A spokeperson for North Yorkshire police stated that detectives are “continuing to pursue the many lines of enquiry generated by our appeals” and that the police have had “a tremendous response from members of the public, including support and assistance from the residents and students of York”.

The police continued to state that “the picture of Claudia’s life remains incomplete”, saying that they believe “Claudia has come to harm at the hands of someone she knew”.

Speaking to Nouse, Peter Lawrence, Claudia’s father, said that “someone, somewhere holds the key to helping us find out what happened to her.”

He asked that “if anyone who was around then still has any thoughts that they might know something about it, for our sake they should come forward and say so. Anybody who didn’t see Claudia as a matter of course at the Roger Kirk Centre, I’m sure by now knows what she looks like, and how she walks, and maybe something will jog their memory even a year on. If anybody thinks they know anything but don’t think it is important, let somebody else be the judge of that. It may be the tiny piece of the puzzle that the police need to put it all together and get a result.”

He continued to say that “Claudia was part of the University and I would like to think that anyone at the University would give information that might be helpful.”

If anyone has any information, please contact Crimestoppers, who are offering a £10,000 reward, on 0800 555 111. North Yorkshire Police can also receive information on 0845 60 60 247.
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They have created the first genetic map of the medicinal herb Artemesia annua which, according to Professor Graham, is “already proving to be an essential tool for us. With our new understanding of Artemisia genetics, we can produce improved, non-GM varieties of Artemisia much faster than would otherwise be possible.”

Due to their funding, the project will support final development of the new varieties and their transportation to Artemisia producers in Africa and Asia.

Professor Bowles said: “We intend to get high-yielding seed to farmers in the next two to three years in order to supply soaring demand for malaria treatments. This is a really tight deadline and we can only do it with the benefit of the new knowledge provided by the map.”

According to Elspeth Bartlet, External Communications Manager, in some years not enough of the herb is produced and prices shoot up, making anti-malaria treatment more difficult. She said: “This will be positive for growers in developing countries as the crop will be higher-yielding so it will be worth their while to grow it.” Bartlet added that they are all “very happy, both with getting the genetic map published and with receiving the final bit of funding”.

Amy McKessy, a first-year Social Work student, proposed a motion at last week’s UGM, arguing that the current policy should include students who do not have a disability, and that “YUSU’s policy effectively segregates rather than integrates the [disabled] student community”.

McKessy said: “Whether you have a disability or not, [elections] should be based on what you have to offer, not your self-defined label. Physical attributes, gender, sexuality, race or any other label shouldn’t hinder a person from applying [for a YUSU position].”

The position of Disabilities Officer is currently only open to students who self-define as ‘disabled’. At the recent YUSU elections, no candidate ran for the position of Disabilities Officer, leading many to question the logic of limiting a position, which is already difficult to fill. This is especially problematic as only eight to ten per cent of the student population have a disability.

Charlie Leyland, YUSU Academics Officer, described the argument of “someone is better than no-one” as being “weak”. She claims that “disabled students want to talk to someone who understands the issues faced from first hand experience.”

Leyland continued to say that she was opposing the motion because “the platform, the voice and the reigns should remain firmly with [disabled] groups and should not to be taken out of their hands at any cost.”

McKessy believes that Leyland opposed the motion because “she thinks it will be hard for someone who is not disabled to understand the issues relating to the disabled community.” A Langwith first-year student supported McKessy, arguing that: “Excluding certain people [from running for a position] doesn’t necessarily benefit the student body.”

He continued: “Instead of self-defining as disabled or as a racial minority, you need to self-define your interests. In the case of Amy McKessy, it’s obvious she’s not just running for the position to fill her CV, she’s genuinely passionate about helping people with disabilities.” McKessy has said that it makes no difference whether a Disabilities Officer self-defines as disabled or not because “no-one can truly relate to or represent people, as we are all individuals and all experience things differently”.

“ YUSU’s policy effectively segregates rather than integrates the [disabled] student community.”

Amy McKessy
First-year Social Work student hoping to run for Disabilities Officer

She believes that her extensive work experience with disabled people has allowed her to gain “an understanding of different issues”,  and will allow her to “empathise with them.” If the UGM motion is passed, McKessy intends to run for the position of Disabilities Officer.

Leyland commented: “The only way we can truly change the culture [towards minority groups] is by everyone engaging in liberation campaigns, contributing towards them, strengthening them, participating, listening [and] advocating, but essentially they must be led by themselves.”

Ollie Todd, Press and Publicity Committee Member, told Nouse that after deducting technical costs of running the show from the ticket sales profit, Fusion made over £3,000 for RAG from ticket sales alone. The show sold out on the second and final night of the production.

The after-party at Judge’s Lodgings was run entirely for the RAG beneficiaries, also selling out, and making about £2,000 from the ticket sales.

Todd also revealed that some of the costumes used in the show may be sold off to raise further funds for RAG.

Cesca Dessain, Fusion President, commented: “Obviously Saturday was a sell out, and turning people away was an absolutely incredible feeling of achievement.”

Dessain went on to express her desire to do “one last event next term” to fundraise and maintain the relationships that the cast and had: “I can’t believe it’s over, but I want it to continue next term.”

Though the seat he is running for is currently held by the Conservative Party, Costello has a positive outlook on his election chances, stating: “It’s looking really tight at the moment, but I reckon I have quite a good chance. The University have given me a couple of extra weeks at the end of Easter to work on my campaign, and I’m down in Birmingham regularly so it isn’t too difficult to organise.”

He continued: “It will undoubtedly be a bit difficult to balance with University, but there hasn’t been more of an interesting time to get involved in politics since Thatcher was elected. I really think we may be faced with a hung parliament.”

Costello, who has been a member of the local Labour Party since the age of 16, was approached by the local party secretary and offered the chance to run for the seat.

The process of being named the final candidate involved being selected by the local constituency, and then by the Labour Party as a whole, through a numerous series of interviews.

Costello has been heavily involved in local politics for several years, and was last year selected as a delegate to the party conference, where he spoke in front of both MPs and the Prime Minister.

In his gap year, he also secured an internship with the regional party, where he took on the role of assistant Press Officer.

Should he be elected, Costello’s responsibilities would range from road safety to budget cuts. This is an issue that is particularly relevant to the Birmingham City constituency. The constituency is one of the first places to be targeted with 2,000 job cuts, so there are many budget disagreements dominating local politics.

 A previous YUSU Charities Development Officer has claimed that the decision is causing Kids’ Camp to move “backwards” and that Kids’ Camp has a “responsibility to the community” that will leave a void if cancelled.

 This news follows concerns raised earlier in the academic year that the removal of the Student Development and Charities Officer from the Union would threaten the future of Kids’ Camp. It is no longer within the Student Activities Officer’s remit to manage and run the camp, and finding someone to take on the responsibility has proved problematic due to the experience and training required to take on the responsibility of the project. The Officer maintains, however, that “the only way there could be a potential liability is if they [Kids’ Camp] were seen to be negligent.”

The previous Officer cites how “impressed” the Chair of Safeguarding in York was by how “well covered” Kids’ Camp was when she was an Officer in the Union.

She added: “The Union has the responsibility within the city to fill the gap within the community.”

Jamie Tyler, Student Development Officer from 2008-2009, said: “There needs to be someone in the Sabb team to champion Kids’ Camp.”

One member of the Kids’ Camp Working Group, a sub-committee of the Trustee Board, told Nouse: “All the training that we have to go through makes it impossible for there to be any potential liability… Kids’ Camp has been running for 40 years and has never encountered any problems before.” 

Tim Ngwena, YUSU President and Chair of the Trustee Board, commented: “Unfortunately, the primary concern has to be the liability… People have to separate the emotional attachment they have to the experience with the management and organisation of the project.” He added that one of the reasons why there have not been more meetings regarding establishing a residential project this Easter is because it “costs so much money and staff time” to hire a person to organise and manage Camp.

 This follows information given to Nouse this week detailing how there have been no more than two Kids’ Camp meetings this term. One member of the Working Group also complained to Ngwena about the minuting of the meeting, in which it was officially decided that Easter Camp would run as a non-residential project.

Rhianna Kinchin, Chair of the Working Group, has been accused of failing to take “adequate minutes” during the meeting, in which the decision made was “huge… for a project that has run for over 40 years, and represents a massive failure on both a democratic and good governance dimension.” Kinchin stated in her manifesto last year that she wanted “to work for the future of Kids’ Camp” and that this meant “finding a way of running camp with minimum risk.”

Tyler added: “They [YUSU] can definitely do more to save Kids’ Camp.”

Kinchin commented: “I fed back the suggestions of the informal group to the Trustee Board where the Board asked for an extensive review and decided to formally recognise the group; the decision to make Kids Camp non-residential at Easter had to be taken to ensure the project’s future.”

York Varsity, the inter-university sports tournament between the University of York and local rivals York St. John, took place over the weekend of the 27th and 28th of February and included numerous fixtures and evening events.

In an email from Emily Scott, York Sport President, sent to Nouse before the event, it was stated: “We are hoping the Varsity events will be a big success, allowing the weekend to actually raise a bit of revenue for York Sport rather than becoming another drain on our limited financial resources.”

Due to a lack of attendance in YUSU organised evening events over the weekend, York Sport made a minor net loss. The expectation of its success, however, has led to a continuation of York Sport’s financial struggle.

The £1 overall financial loss has been attributed to poor publicity and student apathy regarding the evening events. Rory McGregor, York Sport Tournament Secretary, commented on the festivities, which included the York Varsity ‘Invasion’, similar to YUSU’s ‘Viking Raid’. He stated: “We did our best to publicise events all over campus but students don’t seem to get behind events run by York Sport. It’s an ethos that the University has, I don’t know how we’d get rid of it.”

Following budget cuts and loss of sponsorship from Deloitte LLP, York Sport has faced a tough financial year and the failure to make money from such an integral event in the calendar, especially in light of the upcoming Roses tournament being located in Lancaster next term, has left some dissapointed at the extent of publicity of the event.

A source close to York Sport claimed: “It’s common knowledge that York Sport’s margins are wafer thin; the failure to properly publicise York Varsity’s events has only exacerbated this problem, to the detriment of clubs. There were very few visible posters around campus for these events so it’s unsurprising that few attended.”

Cesca Dessain, President of Fusion and a member of the University 1st VII Netball team, commented on students’ feeling of a lack of affiliation to York Sport, and much more to their own individual teams, which may explain the lack of attendance at the York Varsity events this year: “Everyone is in their own teams and there just isn’t that much of a sense of a gathering of all teams.”

She continued: “We are all representing the University, we really should celebrate all together.”

Sam Asfahani, York Sport President-elect, said: “Varsity will always come second to Roses, we shouldn’t attempt to use it as a money-maker.”

When asked in February about the health of the York Sport finances, Scott replied: “I’m not sure healthy is the word I would use; like the clubs, York Sport is coping with its budget, but it’s certainly not a cash rich year.”

Concerning the results, Humphrys stated: “They gave me hope that people didn’t think I do a terrible job. I’m very happy it didn’t pass and there are no hard feelings.” Ngwena continued to say that “the fact I wasn’t censured is justification that students think me and Ben are actually doing what we were mandated to.”

Layram has claimed that “for a hundred students to support such a damning set of indictments regarding how the Union’s top two Officers have been handling campaigns is absolutely unprecedented.”

Whilst all other motions failed to reach quoracy, both motions concerning the development of portering campaigns were passed. One of the motions, already approved by Union Council and proposed by Jason Rose, was voted more popular by a margin of 23 votes.

Regarding the two motions, Ngwena said: “We have to take both options to the table, it’s the judgement call of the Sabbs. It’s why we’re elected – to make that decision about what is going to work best.”

Humphrys stated: “You always have to interpret Union policy because of the dynamic nature of student politics… I’m sure that with thorough consultation, we’ll be able to fulfil the spirit of the motion.”

At a Public Inquiry into the new development, held in 2006, the University’s own environmental experts were forced to admit that “the sustainability of the lake is clearly questionable, and requires further study and design development.”

Evidence presented at the inquiry by Dr Richard Firn, an environmental specialist, and then-Biology Professor at the University, aimed to invalidate the University’s own environmental assessment of the lake.

According to Firn, the University’s assessment did not take into account the significant effects of climate change, because its evidence was “estimated with rainfall and temperature patterns that we know will not apply in the future.”

This means “the inquiry was not presented with a proper estimation of the viability of the lake under conditions expected to apply during the lifetime of the [lake].”

Badly designed, shallow lakes become stagnant over time, causing algae blooms, which lead to serious long-term damage of the surrounding wildlife and environment.

Firn believes that the University’s failure to design an environmentally viable lake, means it is, “highly likely” that the lake will become stagnant – as is the current lake on the Heslington West Campus.

To prevent stagnation, a lake must be “continually flowing”. The University’s assessment of the sustainability of the new lake depends on wet winters to fill it up after dry summers.

“To base the campus design on a key feature that is unsustainable is remarkably arrogant.”

Dr. Richard Firn,
Environmental Specialist

If future rainfall were to be reduced throughout the winter months over the coming years, as climate change experts agree will be the case, the new lake will eventually stagnate.

The University will then be forced to ‘top up’ the lake each year, in order to keep the water flowing; an expensive and environmentally damaging practice.

A first-year student, Alex Mason, commented: “It seems ridiculous that the University is planning to spend millions of pounds building a lake that will have to be ‘topped up’ with water every year to ensure it doesn’t become stagnant.”

He continued: “I know options were discussed which were more environmentally sustainable. I’m not happy for the University to be spending my fees on an unsustainable project that is going to damage the environment.”

Although the University has not challenged the view that there are many environmentally superior options, it is yet to reconsider its current plans.

­­Firn stated: “To base the campus design on a key feature that is unsustainable is remarkably arrogant.”

YUSU Environment and Ethics Officer, Jade Flahive-Gilbert, stated: “Although I can see certain benefits of building a lake on the Heslington East campus I think it’s essential that its environmental impact should be one of the most important considerations of the University. The University claims to take environmental concerns seriously and they need to demonstrate this. I’m sure the next E&E Officers will want to research this issue further and possibly campaign on it.”

David Garner, of the University Press Office, commented: “The issue of the lake’s sustainability was examined in great detail at the Public Inquiry.

“The independent Inspector who conducted the Inquiry recommended to the Secretary of State that the University’s proposals for the lake were r­obust, and the Secretary of State granted outline planning approval on that basis.”

Over 11,000 people cast their vote in the inaugural Google Street View awards last month to ensure the Shambles beat off competition from The Royal Crescent in Bath and Newcastle’s Grey Street to scoop the accolade.

Following this, it has been revealed that the unique qualities of the street have attracted Disney producers, who will film scenes from the fourth instalment of the popular Hollywood franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, there in September.

The film will begin its filming in Hawaii this summer, though it will no longer include Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley.

The street, mentioned by William the Conqueror in the Domesday Book, was the centre of York’s butchers’ market until the late 19th century, with guts, offal and blood from the slaughtered animals streaming down the cobbled alley on a daily basis.

Today, the Shambles houses a blend of small craft and hobby shops, confectioners and tea rooms.

Ian Addyman, a partner in Past Images photography on the Shambles, who orchestrated the campaign to win the accolade, said: “This is great news, and I am delighted that the Shambles has received this award. The shopkeepers and locals have been fully behind this campaign from the start, putting signs in their shop windows and notices on the Shambles website.”

Although the street retains an appeal for visitors to the city, many businesses have struggled to make ends meet during the recent economic recession.

The Google award has provided its businesses with a publicity boost.

“We are fairly busy all year round, but the summer holidays pay for us to keep going,” said Daniel Barrett, of The Chapterhouse bookshop.

“It provides a cushion from the recession but a couple of shops have gone out of business and the high business rates don’t help.

“However, there were three or four empty shops last year and that has been reduced to just one now and as long as the Shambles continues to be a draw we can survive.”

Ed Parsons, the Geospatial Technologist for Google, stated: “The Google Street View Awards are aimed to celebrate the many fantastic streets that Britain has to offer, and the results reveal a diverse cultural landscape of food, fashion and beauty that puts the winning towns firmly on the map.”

Google will now work with Shambles shopkeepers and local residents to produce an online guide to the street, highlighting points of historical interest, including the shrine of Saint Margaret Clitherow, who was martyred in York in 1586 and canonised in 1970.

The city of York was popular in other categories too, as Stonegate came second in the Best Fashion Street category of the awards, while Fossgate finished third in the Best Foodie Street category.

Work on a new road being built across the front of the Church, located opposite Heslington Hall, ceased in December after UCS Civils Ltd, the contractor responsible for building the new roads around Heslington East, went into administration.

Mounds of earth currently piled up and cordoned off directly in front of the Church have sparked anger amongst the villagers.

Jeffrey Stern, a Parish Councillor, commented: “They may have had problems with the contractor, but the Church has been looking like a building site for too long.

“To leave the Church looking like a building site for so long shows that the University has a complete lack of regard for the villagers.” Stern continued: “The University does have the capacity to tidy the area up until the reconstruction recommences. This at least would give the Church some of its dignity back.”

Harry Telfer, former Chairman of the Church Council, has described how worshippers at the Church are becoming increasingly unhappy.

He commented: “It is not very pleasant for people attending burials to effectively be stood on a building site.”

The building of the new road in front of the Church has been a heavily contested issue since the University announced its Heslington East expansion plans in 2006.

The road is being built across Dean’s Acre, a piece of land given to the University in the early 1960s by the Dean of the Minster, with the pre-condition that it would never be built on.

However, when the University applied for planning permission for the Heslington East expansion, they also applied for permission to build a road across Dean’s Acre. Stern claims that, despite the villagers’ protests against the plans, the University has disregarded the pre-condition, and, “decided to build across the land anyway”.

The University has now employed a new contractor who is due to recommence the building of the new roads after the Easter break. Stern stated: “There was an option to build the road around Dean’s Acre. The University considered this before deciding it would be too expensive.”

David Garner, the University Press Officer, commented: “We are in the process of confirming the contract with a new contractor and work is scheduled to start in April and finish in July. We have focused our efforts on securing a new contractor to complete the work as swiftly as possible.”

The LGBT Committee have stated their concern over the “misinformed” opinions voiced in the article, which questioned the role of the LGBT community within the University of York as it was said that “equality has been achieved.”

In an LGBT Committee meeting held to discuss the issues raised by the article in question, Peter Warner-Medley, YUSU LGBT Officer, stated: “I understand that Jack Knight does not really know the role of the LGBT Officer, but I think it’s a terrible shame that he has singled out for criticism a community whose welcome has reassured those scared or unsure; whose friendship has made the University experience tolerable for some and whose work is vital for those for whom equality has not yet been achieved.”

He continued to comment: “This gives us a great chance to explain why we exist and correct the factual inaccuracies. We want to deal with this as a community, with an explanation rather than just reactionary personal criticism.”

The LGBT Committee are going to write a letter to Vision in order to address what they see as the negative impact of the comment piece, getting Sabbatical Officers and general students to sign it to show the widespread support. The letter intends to emphasise the importance of the LGBT community to those students who are involved and criticise the way Knight’s piece “trivialised sexuality in comparison to music and diet tastes.”

Talking to Nouse, many students expressed their own personal anger and offence taken at the piece. William Smith, the Trans representative for the LGBT Committee, stated: “As a heterosexual trans man, I found the inaccuracies he [Knight] was basing his opinions on very insulting. I have many personal stories that prove LGBT equality is far from being achieved. It is important, however, not to overreact and just ensure people are getting the right message. ”

Mike Davies, a first -year student, took a similar view: “I was initially very angry – it is an insane stretch to say we have won the battle. It is just ignorance.”

In response to the complaints made against the comment article, Jack Knight, who originally wrote the piece, defended his position to Nouse: “It wasn’t even personal. I believe it was a fair criticism and I had no personal agenda against anyone in particular. It was not my intention to offend.”

This comes after recent controversy involving Women’s Officers following the recent YUSU elections, which has sparked debate over the existance of the position.

Abdoulie Fatty, a second year Law student, reported how he left his laptop on a desk on the library first floor when he went to borrow some items, and when he returned “I discovered to my utter horror and disgust [that] my laptop was missing”.

He continued to state: “While I accept my contributory negligence in leaving my property unguarded, one would have thought that a university library is a pretty safe environment. I am distraught and appalled by what happened. The laptop is uninsured so I will have to buy a new one.”

This comes after a recent spate of burglaries in Derwent College, where several laptops were stolen through forced open windows.

Many students have expressed their anxiety over these increased thefts. Joe McAdams, a second-year student, commented: “I can’t believe that. I always leave my laptop and phone on the desk unattended – you never think things like that go on at York as it’s usually got quite a friendly, community feel.”

Poppy Ellis, a first-year, took a similar view, stating: “It makes you feel sort of uneasy, knowing that campus just isn’t as secure as you assume.”

“I am distraught and appalled by what happened. The laptop is uninsured so I will have to buy a new one.”

Abdoulie Fatty
Second-year Law student

David Garner, University Press Officer, said: “This was an isolated incident, though obviously distressing for the individual concerned. There have been occasional thefts in the past and we have put up notices warning readers to be vigilant with their possessions. We advise all library users never to leave valuable items unattended.”

However, this was followed by a series of incidents in Eric Milner-White Court Block A, Vanbrugh College, on Friday, with one student, Ollie Oates, having his bedroom window forced open and his laptop and wallet stolen.

Another resident of the block reported having seen a figure dressed in a “dark hoodie and black cap” lurking outside her window on the same night.

She stated: “I was sleeping with my head by the window, and I heard someone trying to push it open. By the time I sat up, they had run around the corner.

“I called my friend over to check, and we saw a boy wheeling a bicycle towards the bridge, which I now realise must have been when he broke into Ollie’s room.”

The University is currently looking into these disturbances and thefts; while police were supposed to come and inspect the scene and take fingerprints on Sunday, they failed to show up at the scene.

The new Police Chief Constable for the University of York, Jon-Mark Buchanan, has told Nouse of his plans to begin a regular informal drop-in service where he will be able to chat “one-to-one with students about any of their concerns.” Buchanan also intends to look “more closely at Colleges” in order to directly target the more vulnerable areas of campus.

“You’ve got to understand, I never meant to win,” says Tom Scott, who first found out that his friends had entered him in the elections as Mad Cap’n Tom when he was in a youth hostel in Latvia. “People didn’t believe me afterwards, but I was really just in it for the laughs.”

When the results were announced, Scott claims that he “nearly passed out” from the shock, and with half the crowd cheering and half the crowd booing he “got that tunnel vision that comes just before you lose consciousness”.

Scott says he changed his mind “at least four times” about whether or not to take the job of President, and eventually decided the next day when he found “two Facebook groups asking for [him] to resign and another, larger one, calling for [him] to stay on.”

Despite accepting the post, Scott states: “I didn’t enjoy it, it was bloody awful, don’t ever take a job when your first thought in the morning is ‘oh no, it’s today’.” He describes the job as always involving things “going wrong”. In fact, Scott claims he was “counting down the days” until he left office, saying that “it is only now, with hindsight, that I realise how bad things actually got.”

Would he do it all again? “Hell no, I know what it involves now… good luck to whichever poor sod’s got the job [this year].”

Scott currently works on “about a dozen projects” of his own, doing freelance website and video work “to pay the bills”, and speaks at techonology conferences. He lives in London in “the city’s smallest apartment”, and thinks that “being President hasn’t affected [his] job prospects at all” – and that neither has his degree.

His advice to any candidates, whether they have won or lost, is clear: “Get the hell out of York for a week or so. Spend some time with your family and remind yourself about life outside the campus bubble. Take a step back, forget about elections, and remember that in the end, it’s just student politics. It doesn’t really matter”.

Anne-Marie Canning: 2007-2008

Anne-Marie claims that she “pretty much knew [she] wanted to be President on the first day at University when we had our induction talks.” At the time she ran for the position, James Flinders, who was the President of Halifax, contested her. Canning calls him “an energetic and tireless campaigner”, saying, “I can remember seeing him postering on campus at 11pm and thinking I had my work cut out.” She added that he was “very gracious” on elections night.

Canning states that her year in office was “very tumultuous”, plagued by “petty squabbling from the JCRC Chairs”, which she states was “pretty tiring stuff”.

She received intense criticism over what she terms ‘FHM bag-gate’, when goodie bags given to freshers contained copies of FHM, a move which was branded “inappropriate and offensive” by the University’s Equal Opportunities Officer.

During her time in office, Canning was also forced to take on the role of Academic and Welfare Officer, when her colleague Grace Fletcher-Hackwood was no-confidenced after she assaulted a student in a nightclub. Canning states that “losing Grace was the biggest challenge” of her year at YUSU, but that “taking on her academic and welfare workload opened up a whole new area” that she really enjoyed.

In Canning’s final interview with Nouse before she left YUSU, she stated that she had applied for a job at Oxfam. Canning is currently Access Officer for University College Oxford, working with students, teachers and schools in the maintained sector and involves “outreach work, policy research, public speaking – all the things that [she] enjoyed as President.” In the future, Canning says that she wants to be “the next Sally Neocosmos with a dash of Trevor Sheldon thrown in for good measure.”

She states that her only regrets were that she didn’t “take some time out for people” who meant a lot to her, adding “it was hard to see outside of the campus bubble”.

Rich Croker: 2006-2007

Rich Croker was contested by six other candidates at the time he ran for Presidency, describing a “friendly but fierce rivalry” between them.

As President, Croker attended over 60 meetings in order to try and get the University to improve catering facilities in Goodricke, Vanbrugh, Langwith and Derwent. He also faced “the same cuts to portering lodges and 24 hour portering that come around regularly”, running a successful campaign and stating that “the key was making the right arguments to the right people in the right places.”

“The most productive approach is a diplomatic [one] to addressing issues with the University.” Croker added that “you can achieve more in an hour long meeting with the University than you can by camping outside their offices for a week.”

His main regret as YUSU President is that he might have “got the balance wrong between working for students and communicating what I was doing back to students.”

Croker feels strongly that being President enhanced his career prospects, stating that it is a position which gives you “something extra on a lot of your peers”, and that “the exposure is simply unbelievable, you can gain so much from it if you want.”

Following his time at YUSU, Croker did an MA in Politics at York, and then went straight on to work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the Diplomatic Service faststream interview process, despite having originally intended to persue a career in law.

He spent his first year at FCO working in the Iraq Policy Team on issues such as the UK withdrawal from Iraq and the Iraq Inquiry, dealing with the Iraqi Prime Minister and personally briefing the Foreign Secretary.

Croker has recently moved to the Africa and Middle East Consular Department of the FCO and hopes to be posted to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya or Zimbabwe by the end of the year.

Micky Armstrong: 2005-2006

Micky Armstrong wanted to stand for the “normal, degree seeking, Ziggy’s visiting, cash strapped student” and states that his year as YUSU President was “the best and worst year of my life – the highs were amazing, the lows were horrible.”

The “lows” during Armstrong’s time in office included a strike by the AUT (Association of University Teachers), in which “hundreds of students were worried that they might not graduate” as the AUT refused to mark student papers as part of a protest for fairer pay.

He also describes a “personal battle” to keep all the college bars open, and cites that the time when he was restructuring the entire Union, “which led to a number of officers resigning” was particularly difficult.

Armstrong says, “I even had people finding my room on campus and sliding notes under my door saying how much they hated me!”, but remains adamant that “making the right decision isn’t necessarily making the easiest decision”.

During his time as President, Armstrong was head-hunted by Tesco. He believes that “a degree in English doesn’t teach you much about the world of business” but that his time at YUSU taught him to “understand both sides of the argument”, which was invaluable.

Armstrong is currently Operations Manager for tesco.com, a job which he “really loves” and hopes to continue with for a long time.

He believes that “having no preconceptions and no personal involvement is key” for a successful President, and would challenge anyone to run.

Armstrong also enourages students to get involved with everything possible, stating that “you will not have the chances in life to do the things you do at uni” and calling Kids’ Camp the most “emotional and rewarding thing” that he did towards the end of his year in office.

What would he most like to say to current students? “Langwith ‘til I die.”