A response to last week's leader
Star Letter
Dear Felix,
This year much effort was made to improve evening offerings and the Union has tried numerous successful initiatives. These include new food offers for Clubs & Societies, involving Clubs & Societies in events, a new Ents website (union. ic.ac.uk/ents), trying new acts, and changing our pricing/timing to reflect students demand. Many of these were as a result of the Ents survey that we carried out. (see Felix Union Page 1343.).
Sales figures prove that these changes have been successful - eg a 20% increase in bar takings and increased attendances. The staff and students who work in these areas are trying their best and are always open to suggestions.
Despite this, a major barrier to the Union running successful events is the poor state of the Beit Quad building and that's why redevelopment of facilities is so important in providing a top-class venue to rival other London Unions. We're looking into further improvements to Da'Vincis bar over the summer, including improved television/plasma screens and a general facelift. This type of activity can be a slow process due to complex financing arrangements and hidden logistical work.
I'm glad you encouraged people to stand in the by-election. People complain, but often don't want to act e.g. our Ents survey attracted less responses than anticipated, and it's only through good feedback and collaboration that things can improve.
As you rightly say, we do spend a lot of our time on academic, welfare and representation functions of the Union and on Clubs & Societies. These are key areas for us and what student's unions are originally intended for. With 6,000 members of Clubs & Socs, it's obviously an area deserving investment of time and resources. The Website and Building redevelopment are key projects that will improve our service to students in these areas and across the organisation
Regards,
Sameena,
ICU President
