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What issues look set to dominate 2019 at Warwick?

In 2018, Warwick has fared well in a variety of avenues, be it in the rankings, development projects, etcetera. However, as the new year commences, there’s more than enough room for approval, especially for recurring issues that have yet to be addressed.

Nothing unites Warwick students more than their mutual frustration towards Stagecoach’s buses. Parties have been ruined, friendships broken, tutors downtrodden by lack of turnout, all at the hands of Stagecoach’s abhorring 40 minute delays, in addition to hour-long bus rides in condensation-smeared windows from collective body heat. Meanwhile, National Express parades around Leamington in their shiny new dark grey upgrade, in silent, empty buses with crisp, clean air. Could Warwick SU do more to push for stagnant Stagecoach’s improvement?

For a university brimming with sexually active students who have to work around the clock to do their readings and meet deadlines, surely testing, walk-ins, diagnoses, and prescriptions can be more readily available on campus

A perplexing time during first year regarding my physical wellbeing has called to my attention the potential amelioration of Warwick’s Health Centre. For a university brimming with sexually active students who have to work around the clock to do their readings and meet deadlines, surely testing, walk-ins, diagnoses, and prescriptions can be more readily available on campus. Moreover, with the onslaught of freshers’ flu and first years who don’t know their way around Coventry yet, they should not have to be burdened with scrambling for Strepsils from Rootes and raiding the shelf for Lemsip pills. The Health Centre could also benefit from a reminders system on MyWarwick to make more students aware of drop-in opportunities.

On a more light-hearted note, this could be the year for the SU’s boldest proposals yet! The grand, long-anticipated return of the Warwick Summer Party is a brilliant start – but what about more foam parties, outdoor silent disco raves, an all-student ball in the fancy new establishment The Slate, regular UV paint nights, and possible music festivals on campus, for those unimpressed by or tired of Pop (which is essentially the same thing as Skool Dayz, just themed)? To bring this even further, has the SU considered opening another club besides the stuffy, humid, barely retroesque Copper Rooms?

Perhaps a week-long programme before for international students especially could help them integrate better into the new environment

On the topic of socials, having attended 2017’s Welcome Week programme for international students, I can assert that it was a more than enjoyable time. While this year’s Week 0 was a refreshing change, perhaps a week-long programme before for international students especially could help them integrate better into the new environment, and navigate the connecting towns as well.

Ending on a rather serious yet necessary note, the most pushing issue which has resonated with many of my second year friends is Warwick’s overwhelming increase in Clearing offers. While reasonably dissected by vice-chancellor Stuart Croft, the sudden jump in student numbers are felt by all this year. There are little to no seats in all of Warwick’s minimal social spaces – be it the library, designated study spaces or campus cafes – all the time, and I doubt the renovations and new buildings will come in time to assist the three to five most recent cohorts.

Moreover, the already over-subscribed, highly-pressurised student housing market, which has been of intense bereavement to me (I had two mental breakdowns from trying to sort out accommodation in Leamington for third year), will only worsen as more students “scramble for land”. With only limited flats and houses in Coventry and Leamington, I can only imagine the intense stress that will be superimposed on first and second years especially, who already have enough to deal with on their plate. The disappointment from not getting the “dream flat” – a pricy dream, at that – ruins the university experience, and the burden of soaring rent prices certainly does not help.

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