gair rhydd: Investigations

Giving you extra?

NUS Extra cards aren’t value for money in Cardiff according to an investigation by gair rhydd. gair rhydd visited several retailers in the Cardiff area that are only supposed to offer student discount to National Union of Students [NUS] Extra card holders and found that our Cardiff university cards, that bear the NUS logo, were accepted by many of the retailers.

Protect Yourself!

Students across Cardiff have been having trouble getting their deposit money back since, well, forever.

Tenancy Deposit Protection is a law that finally helps. From April 6 2007, all deposits taken by either your agencies or landlords must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. It’s not very exciting but could save you losing your deposit.

"You’re all children, it doesn’t matter how we speak to you!"

Discuss this article [20]

Being a student might mean you get discounts, free dental care, and tax free wages, but when it comes to accommodation, Cardiff’s housing might not offer any perks. Because when you live in a student house, you might have to face a nightmare with your landlord or letting agency.

Semi-election

Cardiff Students’ Union will be running in full swing soon after the election of six non-sabbatical officers to CUSU’s Executive Committee.

Part time help needed. £5.50 p/h, excellent benefits, use of a company car and free tickets. Needs to be a good communicator. So why doesn’t anyone want to be a non-sabbatical?

The chance to play a part in leading Cardiff University Students’ Union is up for grabs in October’s by-election.

Seven non-sabbatical positions will be contested in the elections and nominations open from Monday October 1 for five days.

The exception to the rule...

Non-sabbaticals will be more varied than ever before because of changes to the Cardiff Students’ Union constitution.

Certain non-sabbs used to have to be ‘self-defining’ when representing their minority groups. It means that to be elected Women’s Officer, Cardiff students would have needed to be female.

Representin’

Non-sabbs are a vital part of our Students’ Union, doing many jobs that keep the things you want going.

There’s a weekly magazine, online radio station or charity auction for some that lets people know they’re doing their jobs.

Stranger than fiction?

It sounds like something out of the Cold War, but a piece of government legislation means that thousands of students nationally are being unwittingly spied on by their universities, academic rights are being infringed upon, and lecturers are being asked to compromise their relationships with their students.

Simply not good enough

Disabled students are sometimes excluded from lectures and have no choice but to learn entire modules by themselves due to the poor access facilities at Cardiff University, gair rhydd can reveal, after a Union-directed review of the provisions.

Housing Horrors

Damp; Broken locks; Filth. Just some of the shocking things found by two undercover gair rhydd reporters in Cathays.

After visiting a number of properties with a number of different agencies posing as first year students looking for a house, we found that the standard of housing is as low as ever.

Your life in their hands

Thousands of Cardiff students are putting themselves at risk of becoming victims of identity theft, gair rhydd can reveal.

By not destroying personal information, failing to redirect mail to new addresses and having their mail accessed by others in halls of residences, students risk having their personal details accessed and used in what latest figures reveal to be one of the UK’s fastest-growing crimes.

Gair Rhydd

News - Investigations