Bland designs

Hear that rumbling through the Students’ Union building? No, it’s not from the train line. It’s the sound of change, and soon it will be the sound of a bulldozer. Plans are afoot to renovate the Union, and – ironically, given their focus on aesthetics – they’re not pretty.

They’re big plans. So big I almost feel obligated to say, “I’m gonna blow this shit wide open”, but seeing as the plans went online last Monday, I won’t.

For those of you who haven’t seen them yet, here’s the lowdown.

No Taf.

No Games Room.

No CF10.

Solus will be made 40% smaller.

2.3 square kilometres of the Union – around a fifth of it – will become ‘Social Learning Space’.

Wow.

Firstly, I apologise for any errors, but it’s easy to be accused of misreading parts of the proposal when we’re now being ‘assured’ that a lot of the features haven’t been finally decided upon (which smacks of backpedalling to me) – for example, that areas of this Social Learning Space will feature bars and pool tables if that’s what students want. It’s a very real possibility that the original plan was not to ask for feedback from the student body – the decision to make the Great Hall a lecture theatre for two-and-a-half days per week was pushed through without consultation even at Student Council or the AGM – but in the interest of fairness, we should look at the plans and not rumours.

So, in the interest of fairness, we should question 2.3 squared kilometres of Students’ Union becoming Social Learning Space. It’s a clever term, this, designed to represent whatever you want it to, but its basis is sofas. And the odd bean bag. One or two rooms dedicated to ‘chilling out’ and/or working isn’t a bad idea, but a fifth of the Union, at the expense of a bar, a café, a Games Room and nearly half of a club? Excessive – especially when you consider that NO ONE WILL USE IT.

‘Social Learning’ is arguably an oxymoron. Whether or not you think combining sociability and effective learning is possible, not everyone can do it, and to that end, putting bars and pool tables in these areas – if these aren’t just empty promises to win approval and compensate for the removal of the Taf and Games Room – is incredibly stupid. We are constantly being reassured (see the Facebook group ‘Our Union, Our Vote’ for proof) that these rooms will be available for people to do whatever they want within reason, but you simply can’t give everyone what they want in one room and you certainly can’t persuade people to work in a drinking environment. There’s a reason people don’t do coursework in the Taf, and it’s not a lack of plug sockets.

So why can’t we keep our bars and have somewhere separate to work (in the Union if necessary) rather than amalgamate the two into a horrible mess? Because our bars are empty in the day, apparently. But if you think they’re dead now, just wait until they’re combined with ‘Social Learning’. Besides, with Junction’s tables, open space and Wi-Fi access, you can do ‘Social Learning’ in Solus now, during the day when the bar’s shut – it’s just that nobody does, because it’s a hole. Make it nicer – hell, throw some bean bags in – and people will use it. The same goes for it as a nightclub, actually. In fact, just CLEAN Solus and you can abandon the whole pointless project.

But why do that when you can sabotage it? A strong word, perhaps, but making Solus much smaller so it cannot compete with other nightclubs and consequently has to be scrapped altogether for being unprofitable is a big step towards the all-hallowed goal of eventually phasing out all drinking of alcohol in the Union (just a rumour, this). This is all impossible to prove, of course, so I’ll just say this: at such a smaller size Solus WILL falter, it WILL die and it WILL have to be removed.

It’s hard not to become paranoid about the whole affair, especially when you consider the implication of bribery in sabbatical officers being sweetened by more room for student media, societies and the AU. Greasing the wheels or just plain greasy? More suspicions arise over whether the re-jig is really for students: the plan claims “the [3rd floor] bar and games room areas could provide better use of the views over the city”, which is a fair point, so enjoying these views will now be inhabitants of staff offices. Uh…huh.

But to be fair, these plans aren’t selfish. Just stupid. The instigators of this plan don’t seem to realise – and this is probably the most important point in this column – that these changes will result in a massively reduced interest in Cardiff University. Applications will fall. When looking at universities, nobody looks for Social Learning (waste of) Space in their Students’ Union. They know they have libraries for that, and that the Union is for recreation. Find me one person keen to apply to Cardiff University for the Social Learning Space in its Union and I’ll find you 20 turned off by the lack of Taf, Games Room and sizeable nightclub.

Sure, there are some positive changes. Sabbatical officers will be feng shuied into areas less hidden from students who need them, and the ground floor area behind the steps, currently used only as a urinal by Solus-leavers, will be better utilised. Plus it’s all so darn pretty. Look, there’s glass and trees and everything. But none of this makes up for replacing CF10 with a generic coffee chain with a celestial money-grabbing name (which, being independent of the Union, will be able to flaunt policy and sell supposedly boycotted Nestlé products), the Taf with an AU and societies area, and the Games Room – and with it, not only a superb universal facility but a historic snooker club – with Social bloody Learning Space.

Why is it up to the Students’ Union to provide University facilities anyway? They are separate entities – and yet the University has already taken the Great Hall for lectures and more space before it for the thriving hub of activity that is the Graduate Centre.

Cardiff University owns 10 unused acres of land on Maindy Road. That is a fact. But rather than use this space to build whatever it wants, it is encroaching on Union soil. The University is funding this renovation so it can get something back, but for the Union to give up space for ‘Social Learning’ is like selling your soul for Ryvita. The money’s being waved under its nose and yes, it’s tempting to revamp everything so you can say it was you who did it, but since the renovation will only make the Union building considerably less appealing, considerably less popular and considerably less useful, can’t the Union just see sense and tell the University to sod off?