University of Bradford Union
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Established | 1966 |
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| Institution | University of Bradford |
| Sabbatical Officers | Jen Wilkinson (Internal Affairs Officer)
Josh Wilson (Academic Affairs Officer) Rachel Earlington (Communications Officer) Kathryn Price (Sports & Societies Officer) Hannah Tweddell (Women's Officer) Subaiha Shaik (Treasurer) |
| Location | Communal Building, Richmond Road , Bradford, England BD7 1DP |
| Members | c. 12,000 |
| Affiliated to | National Union of Students, British Universities Sports Association |
| Homepage | www.ubuonline.co.uk |
The University of Bradford Union (UBU) is the students' union for the University of Bradford.
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[edit] Organisation
The Union is run by an executive of six full-time sabbatical officers, elected annually, and up to eleven part-time elected executive officers (however typically only a small number of the part time positions are filled) who are all nominal students of the university during their period in office. They are elected through a cross-campus ballot. Those standing for sabbatical positions tend to be final-year undergraduates, looking to take office after finishing their courses, however all students are entitled to stand.
The full time executive positions holders are to the right of the page.
The part time executive positions are:
- General Secretary
- Mature Student Officer
- LGBT Officer
- Race Relations Officer
- Disabled Students Officer
- Environment and Ethics Officer
- Unity Officer
- Welfare Officer
- Emm Lane Officer (School of Management)
- International Student Officer
- Website Coordinator
The executive committee is monitored by a council of up to 40 elected students who meet around 6 times each academic year; typically between 10 and 20 of these positions are filled at any one time, co=option remains open until the full 40 council seats are filled.
The post of Women's Officer was originally set up to ensure there was female representation on the Executive and could only be voted for by female students, but voting is now open to all students regardless of gender. The position is now more of an equal opportunities/welfare/campaign officer voted for by all students. Though currently there is some confusion as to the sex ratio in the union, in the academic year beginning 2006 the female executive outnumbered male by five to one. The query of if the position should be renamed to 'Welfare Officer' is regularly brought up at the 'questions to candidates' sessions of each election campaign, however several attempts to bring a change through the student union council have failed.
The Union logo has recently been modernized to a row of 4 circles, which was launched in 2005 and designed by Nathaniel Chang, a then final-year student in the EIMC department.
[edit] Location & Venues
The University of Bradford Union is located in the Communal Building on campus. It is politically active (nominally to the left) and runs regular campaigns such as the annual "Bras on Bars" (breast cancer awareness) event, as well as boycotting companies like Nestlé, Bacardi and Esso for their alleged unethical business practices. The Union has in the past held many politics related events such as Hug the World Week and Save the Human Week.
There are two venues for night time events, Escape and The Basement. Both venues are situated below the communal (union) building. The Basement is the much larger venue of the two, but it can also be cordoned off using shutters, to be used as a medium-sized venue under the name Colours. The Basement hosts the infamous Friday Night Disco (FND) each week, and the linking corridor to the Escape is opened, allowing two-way passage between the FND and a smaller event ran simultaneously.
Until recently the Union ran two bars. On the first floor of the Richmond Building was the Biko Bar, named after Steve Biko, though this was closed in September 2005 due to construction work. The main Student Union bar is The Courtyard in the communal building, formerly known as JB's and before that the Mainline and originally "The Quiet Bar", it was refurbished and expanded during 2003. The venue has not recently attracted many big-name bands but has been attempting to increase it's profile via the hiring of an entertainments manager in 2003.
[edit] Student Activities
The largest student involvement in their Union comes in the forms of the sports clubs through the Athletics Association (commonly known as the AA) and societies. There is a wide variety of both, and the founding or re-opening of a club or society is not difficult with sufficient interest. Even though the University does not run any performing art courses, there are several societies for music and theatre. The variety of sports available is largely due to the centralised funding and membership structure of the AA, which allows for smaller clubs which would not otherwise attract enough members to remain open. The current student Union Colours are Blue and Yellow, but many of the sports teams still use their traditional Black with Red and white accents.
The student union also has Ramair, one of the UK's longest running student radio stations, broadcasting on 1350AM and online. There have been a wide selection of student magazines over the years, including Javelin and the previous Scrapie, (another biological reference to the Union's old symbol of a sheep's head) replaced by Kinetic in 2005.
Near to the communal building is the Amphitheatre, a grassy hill with several ridges carved into it. Even though its official name is The Amphitheatre, it bears more of a resemblance to a traditional Roman Theatre. It is rumoured to have been created by Archeology students on a landfill. Original plans from the 1960s show a lake was to be constructed on the lower level, which would have been fed by Shearbridge Beck, a small stream which passes close by the Amphitheatre before disappearing underground for half a mile to reach Bradford Beck in the bottom of the valley. Concrete Barbecue pads were introduced in 2005, in a move to stop students placing their portable / disposable barbeques on the grass and singeing it.
Since 2004, it has been the main venue for the Unions annual Beach Party, held at the end of the academic year. This involves covering a large portion of the bottom of it with sand and inflatable paddling pools, as well as providing live entertainment throughout the day.
[edit] BSC
One of the oldest societies within the student union is the Bradford Student Cinema (BSC) which can trace it heritage back to early days of the university. Formerly the Film Society, the BSC used to screen 16mm film from lecture theatres on N floor of the Richmond Building (Now since refurbished in 2000 removing the projection boxes in favour of additional seating). It later moved into the University's Great Hall, where it gained a portable 35mm projection system. This venue is still used today, on what is believed to be the largest student cinema screen in the country.
The 9 metre wide solid steel-framed screen, complete with motorised adjustable masking flies down from the roof onto the stage and fills the proscenium arch of the Great Hall, making good use of the curtains to give a traditional cinema feel to the venue, in an auditorium designed as a multipurpose staged hall with good acoustics. As the projection box is situated three floors up from ground level, the projector has a steep rake, and the screen is angled back when dropped to remove any keystoning. For this reason audience for film showings are generally only invited to sit in the balcony circle rather than the stalls, seating up to 337. In the mid nineties the projector was replaced with a 1940s Westrex 2001 projector, a model still in common use around the country. In 2001 the student union funded an upgrade of the projection facilities, and the cinema was fitted with a Dolby CP55 processor, new amps and speakers including a subwoofer to bring surround to the cinema for the first time (Stereo is not commonly used in cinemas, as a central audio channel is required to centralise dialogue for any audience sitting off-centre). A red laser sound reader was also installed to future proof the projector for the arrival of cyan sound tracks, and improve the quality of intermediate high magenta sound tracks. The lamphouse and rectifier was also upgraded to handle 2.5kW lamps. Due to the cost, new surround speakers were not fitted, and have instead been formed using older speakers placed along the rear of the balcony.
In recent times the BSC has run the British Federation of Film Societies Student Group Conference and various exclusive preview screenings of the latest movies. Like many professional cinemas it screens cinema trailers and adverts from Pearl & Dean. Due to a drop in student numbers and the opening of a 16-screen multiplex in the centre of Bradford, the student cinema has suffered in the last four years. Ironically the size of the BSC has been part of its downfall - whilst smaller societies use video or DVD, the BSC's screen and throw distance (27 meters) means it cannot handle anything smaller than professional 35mm cinema films. The union has since stepped in and the BSC now shows a reduced number of showing throughout the academic year free of charge to staff and students.
In 2002 the BSC nominated Brian Blessed to receive an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from the university for his contribution to film, television and acting, which he received during the Electronic Imaging & Media Communication Department's graduation ceremony in July 2003.
Cinema-goers used to be able to buy drinks and snacks, including alcohol for cinema showings as the Biko Bar, in the Richmond building, but this was closed in 2005. The cinema's showings have been restrictued due to the building of the new £5.3 million atrium and front entrance designed to provide a vibrant multi-functional space and form the heart of the University (Recently opened to celebrate the university's 40th birthday). A return to regular screening has been delayed by plans to refurbish the Great Hall from January 2007, which still has most of its original features.
