Ethos free next year and no portacabins on Queen's Lawn
The Rector, Sir Richard Sykes, has revealed that gym and swimming facilities at Ethos will continue to be free next year.
At the end of the last academic year students were promised free access to the gym and swimming pool for the whole of this year, however a catalogue of errors delayed the opening until late January 2006. Since the belated opening, the state-of-the-art centre has proved very popular with some 8,000 students already signedup. Sir Richard, did not confirm or deny whether the facilities willl also be free for staff members.
Students are delighted that the Rector has now "committed himself to the students that it will be free". Cara Nelson, a first year Mathematics student, told Felix: "This is great news - now I'm not pressurised to get thin before the free membership runs out".
The Rector also dismissed plans that portacabins with be built on the Queen's Lawn, stating "there is not a one percent chance of putting portacabins on Queen's Lawn." This is a direct result of campaigning by Felix, The Union and concerned students and staff.
Sir Richard defended his green credentials in the wake of such revelations and said that having his hair photoshopped green for Green Week wasn't just a stunt. He told us that the plans for portacabins on Queen's Lawn were made by the College planning department without consultation with the highest levels of College Management, and were only submitted as the planners were exploring all possible avenues.
The Rector added; "We're not stupid. We wouldn't put anything on the Queen's Lawn unless we had to. Particularly as we're having the centenary. The Queen's Lawn is going to be a very important part."
College need extra space to house staff and facilities currently operating from the Sherfield building. As part of the College's masterplan, Sherfield is to undergo considerable redevelopment work which involves the closure of two floors, so that light wells can be filled with extra offices to improve space efficiency.
Sir Richard said that there is no longer so much need for decant space as the plans have changed; originally College planned to close levels three and four, and would have needed to relocated registry and a find a space for a feeding facility near the kitchens. However, the plans have changed to levels four and five which will cause much less disruption.
Simon Lewis, a second year Management student, said: "I think the complete situation has been a farce from beginning to end and the top tiers of College management should actually try communicating with each other over key decisions which serve to affect both students and staff at Imperial".
See Felix next week for the full interview
Rupert Neate, Editor
Felix's View
College's rethink regarding placement of portacabins on Queen's lawn is a welcome change of direction for an institution which rarely acknowledges mistakes. In this case both students and staff were united in outrage at these proposals, so College could not ignore our collective voice. This should encourage us to voice our opinions more, and perhaps we can reverse some of College's other, more dubious decisions.
That said, the students and Felix are grateful that the gym will maintain its free membership status for another year. Hopefully, finding willing volunteers for page 3 will become less of a chore as the student body continues to shape up.
