A clear division was seen between medics and politics students who attended the debate last Friday James Balloqui and Robin Elfsberg Clash… Photograph: James Balloqui and Robin Elfsberg/The Cheese Grater Some 50 students attending a debate on healthcare policy last Friday voted narrowly in favour of a motion supporting the privatisation of the NHS. A […]
Medics vote in favour of NHS privatisation motion in debate Read More »
Danaci admitted that her “first and likely last” COP experience was more about observation and networking Nick Miao Editor-in-Chief Protests at COP29 (Credit: UN Climate Change/Habib Samadov via Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) UCL Union President Goksu Danaci last week admitted she “didn’t feel too comfortable” during her time at the UN climate conference. She said she
Union President ‘didn’t feel comfortable’ at COP29 Read More »
UCL society group chats have been inundated with ticket scams for artists like Sabrina Carpenter, writes Lola Davies.
Revealed: New concert scam targeting UCL students on WhatsApp Read More »
A video showing a live worm on a plate of food and a picture of a rotting tangerine has gone viral in Ramsay Hall. Nick Miao Editor-in-Chief https://cheesegratermagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ramsaymaggot.mp4 Bon appétit! Ramsay residents were shocked when they found a living worm in their food (Credit: Hamza Hashim) The viral video that was circulating in the former
UCL apologises for viral clip showing live worm in Ramsay food Read More »
Engineers have warned the Union against banning clubs and societies from accepting sponsorships from fossil fuel companies as it would strip opportunities for graduates. Andrea Bidnic and Angelina Bones Investigations Editor and News Reporter Unemployed gang: The first Activities Zone of the year was packed with Cheese Grater journalists (Credit: Nick Miao) The President of
No jobs for graduates if Union bans oil and gas sponsorships, engineers warn Read More »
Apathy ensues as this year’s Rep Elections draws to a close with the lowest turnout in three years, writes Seth Harris.
Rep Elections: Voter turnout lowest in three years – analysis Read More »
Another candidate in the Rep Elections was spotted offering supporters a chance to win a ‘gift’ worth £20 at the Institute of Education yesterday. Rhi Skelhorn and Nick Miao The candidate for Accommodation and Housing Officer Karrar Hashim told voters that they would be entered into a £20 prize draw if he wins the election.
Rep Elections: Free cash draw for supporters if I win, says candidate Read More »
A candidate running for NUS conference delegate at the Rep Elections has been seen offering free snacks and scratchcards in the South Cloisters today. Nick Miao Co-Editor-in-Chief Orlando Teng was seen on the campaign trail around 4pm today in the Wilkins Building where he and his team had set up a table with Walkers and
Rep Elections: Candidate offers ‘free lottery’ ticket for votes Read More »
At least five candidates running for NUS delegate were part of a secret conspiracy to control the agenda at this year’s National Conference, writes Nick Miao.
Rep Elections: Vegan campaigners field undercover candidates for NUS rep Read More »
A candidate running for seven positions in the Rep Elections is suspected to have used AI in his manifestos and switched pronouns to qualify for positive action quotas, writes Lola Davies.
Rep Elections: Candidate suspected of using AI and switching pronouns Read More »
On Wednesday, The Cheese Grater sent out a blanket invite to all four candidates competing to be Media Rep – Altay Shaw, Robert Delaney, Maria Kliuchnikova, and Yixiao Huang – to contribute to our Voices column on why they should be the next Societies Rep for Student Media. At press time, we have received one
Student apathy has reached its highest point as 47 out of 75 roles up for grabs at this year’s Rep Elections are either vacant or uncontested, writes Harini Sivakumar and Nick Miao.
Rep Elections: Over 60% of roles left vacant or uncontested Read More »
The Students’ Union appears confident that students will return to its bars despite raising the price of pints to cover increased spending on staff wages. Nick Miao Co-Editor-in-Chief A spokesperson for Students’ Union UCL confirmed that, over the summer, prices on 68 products sold behind bars have increased by an average of 15 pence, whereas
‘Drink elsewhere at your peril’, says Union as bar prices jacked Read More »
Student politics at UCL has a major crisis of engagement. In last year’s Leadership Race, the Union celebrated a ‘record-breaking’ turnout of… 23.7%. While mildly impressive for a student election, the reality is far worse: on average, only 2,679 students – a mere 5.2% of the student body – voted in each of the six
By way of introducing readers to the new sabbatical leadership at the Students’ Union, The Cheese Grater has taken the great risk of pissing off the entire sabb team with a personalised introduction for each officer. We hope that the officers named will not be too terribly offended, for there is much more to come
Three newly elected sabbatical officers have been barred from taking office for their comments and actions in support of Palestine.
KCL and SOAS sack new sabbs over support for Palestine Read More »
Nick Miao Activities and Engagement Officer Aria Shi, right, pictured tearing up during Questions to Officers at the final Activities Zone meeting on 28th May 2024. Something is wrong with democracy at the Students’ Union. We may have held onto the impressive record of holding the largest student election in the UK, with 11,177 voters,
Cheese Grater Journalist Makes Sabb Cry In Meeting Read More »
Nick Miao One question I found asking myself and my fellow delegates on our three-day trip to this year’s National Union of Students (NUS) National Conference in Blackpool was, ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ The NUS, the national body representing the collective interests of students in higher and further education, is supposedly the
Robert Delaney The first rule of water polo is to keep your head above the water. Yet, the UCL Water Polo Club is struggling to stay afloat due to the lack of fiscal assistance they receive from the Students’ Union (SU). The club’s inability to pay for regular pool sessions and basic equipment has seen
‘Union Funding Barely Keeps Us Afloat’: UCL Water Polo and the SU Read More »
Nick Miao Students’ Union Correspondent Graphic by Nick Miao Sabbatical Officers at Students’ Union UCL (SU) are elected in cross-campus elections once a year to represent the student voice at the highest level, both within the University and the Union. They sit on the UCL Council, the University’s governing body, and collectively determine the strategic
Robert Delaney The question posed above is one I often face when confronted about my role as co-Editor-in-Chief at The Cheese Grater. Curious friends, mostly those from outside the university sphere, ask me what the point of student journalism is. What is the raison d’etre behind it all? And I don’t blame them. Student journalism
Untitled rant: Why care about student journalism at UCL? (Subject to change) Read More »
Nick Miao The Students’ Union prides itself on being a student-led, student-owned organisation. But how much do you, the students, know about your Union? Perhaps a better question might be, do you care? To find out, Andrea and I stood outside the Print Room Cafe on a freezing Friday afternoon and gathered some data of
‘Too Lazy to be Energetic’: An Honest Guide to the SU Read More »
Seth Robinson It’s Wednesday night – I sway slightly in the queue, Spearmint extra – Sauvignon just passed from mouth to loo, “ID?” One grunts, “Just here” I say politely, Soft fingertips brush me with a stamp – I think he likes me. Ding! Crammed tight in lift with rugby soc, “Oi Edwin! Reckon I can fill
Vivianne Zhang Wei Lack of awareness about the Students’ Union elections is a persistent problem at UCL, but one candidate in the latest Leadership Race was difficult not to be aware of. If you were on campus at all during the 2022 election season, chances are you either were or saw others get canvassed by
Umair Mehmood, The Underdog Story: How QR Codes Led to Welfare Wednesdays Read More »
This article was awarded Best News Story at the 2023 Student Publication Association Awards and Best Media Piece at the 2023 Students’ Union UCL Arts Awards. Neil Majithia and Elettra Plati Four years ago, the UCL Students’ Union acted on its ban of initiations and disaffiliated Men’s Rugby after the society was found guilty of
Chun Buckets Everywhere: How Initiation Ceremonies Ruin the Freshers Experience Read More »
Anna Maria Papaoikonomou, Zine Editor I can’t ever go back to my first two months of university. Not because I had a particularly difficult time, but simply because I genuinely cannot remember large chunks of my first few weeks as I was constantly blackout drunk. No matter one’s background and upbringing, it seems as though
Marketisation, racism, transphobia, sexual misconduct and poor working conditions were the defining topics of our coverage, and indeed of the Sabbatical hustings. These seem unlikely to disappear any time soon, but as I leave for a year abroad, I hope to return to a slightly better campus.
Sabbatical Officers Hustings: Thoughts from the Chair Read More »
It is worth remembering that the Sabbatical Officers work full time for a salary just over £25,000 a year. With such an important role and a very fair wage, it is important they take both their jobs and their constituents, that is the student body, seriously.
For my first meeting, I can’t say I wasn’t bored by the show, but I was disappointed by the actors’ performance.
If you want a functional Students’ Union, you won’t get one here. Read More »
Student participation in SU politics is at a dismal level. This is perhaps most apparent in the fact that many positions in the recent elections were vacant or featured a single candidate.
Student solidarity, or lack thereof? A guide to SU politics Read More »
On January 20th, UCL Disabled Students’ Network published a report detailing the issues surrounding disabilities at UCL, containing students’ testimonies and recommendations for improvements to the treatment of disabled students at UCL. As of the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for a university to discriminate against a student based on disability or long-term mental
UCL Cares? Disabled Students’ Network report reveals bleak treatment of students Read More »
The Not Cool Club at UCL has gained a lot of traction. All around campus the walls are covered in black and yellow posters promoting the club and inviting students to ‘Be Better’ and ‘Give a Shit for Once’. Having only started in September, the club already had a membership of almost 80 people, and
What exactly is the Not Cool Club? In conversation with the club’s president Read More »
Adverts on social media, a ball pit in South Cloisters, and a promise of £500 to the society with the highest percentage of voting members were not enough to boost flagging turnout at this year’s Union elections. The first for several years with no clear ‘slates’ of candidates, this year’s election turnout fell: only 5,909
Voting opened today in elections for Union sabbatical and part-time officers. This year will be the first in which campaigners are forbidden from approaching students with electronic devices and encouraging them to vote on the spot. A motion to ban use of iPads and similar devices was passed by Union Council in February after it
Union Council bans iPads for sabbatical elections Read More »
Glittoris, the Student Union’s flagship LGBT+ club night, has come under fire this term after a series of homophobic and transphobic incidents left LGBT+ students questioning if it is really being run for them. Despite marketing for the event that depicts LGBT+ icons and advertises the presence of drag queens, some students seem unaware that
The Cheese Grater can exclusively reveal that UCL Socialist Worker Student Society (SWSS), affiliated to the Socialist Workers Party, is not run by UCL students, but by the old-school Trots at the central party apparatus. The SWP has gained infamy for its efforts in 2011 to cover up allegations that a leading party member, known
Socialist Workers Party secretly run student society Read More »
On 11 October, at the most recent general assembly of SU UCL (not, under any circumstances, to be called ‘suckle’ -ed.), Democracy, Operations and Community officer Mahmud Rahman unveiled a package of proposed reforms to the way the Union operates. One of these in particular, the lowering of quoracy requirements for general assemblies, has caught
Democracy Officer wants lower turnout threshold for union meetings Read More »
The controversial plan to move AGMs online appears to have been much ado about nothing, with the majority of UCL’s 268 societies opting out of online elections. Last month, a motion passed by UCL Council ensured that societies would be allowed the choice to opt-out of the forced switch to online democracy. Though Carl Salton-Cox, the
Here’s How Many Societies Opted-Out of The Union’s Shambolic Online Elections Read More »
Tonight at an Emergency Council Meeting, the debate over whether President and Treasurer elections for societies should go online finally came to a boil. The two protagonists of the night were former Sustainability, Engagement and Operations Officer, Zakariya Mohran and this year’s Activities officer Ilyas Morrison. The whole saga began in December when Morrison sent
In a historic night for the Union, Tuesday’s General Assembly was the first since 2014 to which enough people showed up for the meeting to actually go ahead, so that advisory motions could be passed. The biggest talking point of the night was the spirited, sometimes emotional, debate over a motion to prohibit the use
iPad debate heats up first successful General Assembly in four years Read More »
“They make you run around in circles until you give up.” Imagine having a drink with a friend in Phineas. All around are posters and T-shirts advertising the Union’s ‘Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment’ pledge. Little do you realise just how much this pledge has failed her. Although she’s been at UCL for over two
This summer, the dull purple of UCLU was replaced with the ghastly orange of Students Union UCL, also “not known as” SUUCL. The use of the silly acronym is actively being discouraged by the mastermind of the rebrand, the Union’s Head of Communications, Alex McKee, who sabbatical officers have told The Cheese Grater has a
This evening, the results for UCL’s NUS referendum were announced, though you’d be hard-pressed to find a student who actually knew that such a vote happened in the first place. So much so, the results have been deemed invalid as only 903 people voted. To put that into context, UCL is the second largest university
Students’ Union UCL (previously known as UCLU) will hold a referendum this October on whether it wants to remain a part of the NUS (National Union of Students). As usual, we are late to the trend following on Cambridge and Oxford who both held referenda on the topic last year. The decision to hold the
UCL know that there is one person who guarantees electoral success: the President of the Islamic Society (ISoc). In this year’s spring elections, five of the seven elected Sabbs had his endorsement. It wasn’t always this way. ISoc began to mobilise in the late 2000s in response to what they viewed as a lack of
Conflict erupted at the March Union Council meeting, as plans were revealed to cut the hours of UCLU’s contracted cleaners by 30% in a bid to cut the Union’s £300,000 deficit by a third. Divisions at Council At March’s Union Council meeting Sustainment, Engagement and Operations Sabb Zakariya Mohran argued that UCLU should prioritise spending
At last, there is more news of the much-missed Bloomsbury Theatre, as students were finally briefed on the Bloomsbury renovation consultation process. Simon Cane, UCL’s Director of Public and Cultural Engagement at UCL, Frank Penter, the Bloomsbury’s Theatre Coordinator, and Nick Edmonds, Activities and Events Officer briefed arts society representatives. Also present was Matt Aldridge,
Senior managers and academics within the University of London are proposing the closure of the University of London Union (ULU). In documents seen by The Cheese Grater, UoL managers and academics in the ‘ULU Review Group’ advise that the union have its democratic functions stripped and its assets handed over to the University. Under the
[Note: this post contains descriptions of violence against women.] UCLU’s newly created full-time Women’s Officer position has a man running for it. Kirk Sneade is, judging from his actions over the past few days, clearly not a self-identifying woman but a deeply offensive and misogynist man. He writes in his manifesto: “Kirk wants to make
In an email sent this morning to all members Pi’s president outlined proposals to scrap Pi Newspaper, merging some of its content with the magazine. According to the president, the newspaper has “lost its relevence”. CG are pleased to see an investigative section worked into the planned new publication. The proposal will be voted on
UCL Union rejects ‘No Confidence in Malcolm Grant’, becomes pro-choice and will decide international policy through member’s meetings or referenda. The pro-Grant campaign has won motion one of the UCLU Referendum, overturning the decision made during December’s EMM (CG 32) to place no confidence in the Provost. There were also wins for the pro-choice camp
James Skuse and Amy Evans are at it again. Student Activities Officer Amy Evans has attempted to censor Cheese Grater reporting of the misconduct of Democracy and Communications Officer James Skuse. Evans, who listed “transparency” as one of her manifesto priorities when running for office, cited the UCL Policy on Bullying and Harassment in order
