oxford bus company is now charging 80pence per pass. the bet laid paragraphs of mice and men...a little drunk me is. see you monday
edit edit : make that another day. As you may have noticed by now Stagecoach have also raised their prices to 80p. And did anyone else notice how the bus pass is valid from 15 Sept, which may not have been the date it were bought ? Retroactive anomaly.
Friday, 21 September 2007
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Decomposing State of Student Media and The Death of Obscene
Straight out of the gate, I do this blog because I love blogging, and I see the need for a focussed blog about Brookes campus. There is a discerrnible lack round here of causual, non-formal independent flavour. Oh sure, theres the irregular sparse livejournal community for Oxford Brookes. I guess its the negative imprinting experience of having to wait for enrolement before being issued with a library card number that allows proper access to Brookes Virtual, and the mad rush on in the following week to research and register for modules. Even joining the Oxford Brookes network on Facebook is a closed door system. Not locked totally, select 'No Network' but you're closed to groups. The social networking site delivers with a bimbo virtue, though take the time to get to know it. i estimate about 70% of Brookes staff and students are on there, essential for the community participant. My Facebook profile is here - Won't you be add friend ?
Theres also the terribly mothballed www.thesu.com and the just launched Groupspaces. Founders David and Andy have set up a site which links to BBC news feeds, contains browser tabs for Google, YouTube and Wikipedia, and allows you to log into your Facebook account from there. Furthermore, its a local creation. It contains an events calendar and has an almost complete society listing with contact details and an option to store society archived emails (public holding space). Their pitch is that it would make a good home page, and to be honest its not a bad choice.
Brookes TV isn't as bad as I'd been led to believe either, some lovely riverflowing content, just some dodgy vomit backgrounds to get rid of, and learn to use autocue, luv.
Back to me. My aim at Brookeswatch is to provide a sociable but honest entry point for freshers and online readers. Tricks and tips to help navigate round Brookes, things that aren't out in the open. I'll also be casting a critical eye over the University, as an independent voice, I'd be a fool not to use that. What I won't be doing is going looking for trouble.. I know enough about the uni and how the media works to have its scandal emblazoned over the tabloids if I wanted to. Wheres the fun in that though ? Heck, can you picture SWAT teams and Sun reporters tramping over the flowerbeds and lighting up the dark Wheatley skies with a barrage of their flashbulbs ?
Obscene is Dead
Obscene, the monthly newspaper free to Oxofrd Brookes students passed away sometime between late July and Early August of this year. At the grand old age of 70 issues, 8 a year, putting Obscene at around 9 yrs old. It was loved by a few, many were indifferent to it. At least one former editor developed negative physical associative memories with the paper. Others tried to change it, and failed. When I last performed a medical on the paper, its circulatory system was found to suffer from poor structure in design. With two, sometimes one person controlling the layout, an imbalance in the edit occurred. The design editor was also divorced from the processes of the section editors. Even with the best intentioned editors, writers frequently felt short-changed.
"they totally butchered it. I specified that I wanted to be told of major changes, or not have it published at all. looks more like a spacefiller for the paper than any sort of analysis, with a total lack of understanding what the article has said. I understood the provivisection guy would be submitting something but I was under the impression this would be a separate article or that I'd be told about the need to space save. As I said, I won't be writing for it again."
Over the last year talk among Obscene staffers and the Students Union had spread to considering running the paper as a society. Each member would pay a fee and thus contribute to the printing bill. Membership would entitle them to a say in agenda and structure of the paper and to contribute within the pages, a process mirroring that of the old Amateur Press Associations. In this way Obscene may still yet return.
In June of 2007, then News Editor Andrew Luke drafted a twelve-page document whoch he sent to VP Jason Manning. Many of the changes are structural from the top down., radical and commonsense enough to facilitate the conveyance of information between journalist and audience. Any ressurection of Obscene might benefit from taking a look at this document. Its available to download from here.
What removed Obscene from circulation as I understood it from my source was the printing bill and the drain on finance that it represented to the Students Union. However, it was already crippled by an over-excess of in-house ads, poorly thought-out design and the relegation of newsworthy leads to lie under sensationalist bullshit. (A one page lead in the last issue was titled "Virginia Shooting...Will We Follow Suit ?") It was commonplace for Obscene to build stories around nothing, and to regularly piss off contributors, it had been poorly for a long, long time. The paper occassionally confirmed the charges some students level at the SU Officers of cliqueishness. Though claiming to not be the voice of the SU, a fair percentage of content did come from the HK-10 hallway. As such, policy was sometimes the result of paranoia, doublethink and just plain stupidness*.
To the best of my knowledge Jason Manning or the Students Union have yet made no official announcement about the end of Obscene.
If you're a Brookes student and you run a blog or a website why not get in touch with your details and I'll see about getting you a plug ? It'll be nice to build a links list of Brookes folk with online presences.
Blogwise, I'll be back on Monday or thereabouts with the first of a previously promised two-part article.
*Obscene_extra was a community group started on Livejournal by Luke, to contain articles cut for length, or bumped from the paper. Luke posted a link on the Obscene Facebook group clearly stating its non-affiliation with the University. Several days later he found worried Facebook messages between editors Murray and Manning, and the Obscene Facebook wall suddenly non-existent. The decision had been taken to remove all students comments on account of Luke's posting a link, until the upcoming editorial meeting when the matter would be discussed. For two weeks there was no Obscene Facebook community. The story goes that Luke meanwhile, had been blogging about Operation Bite, a US Army plan to surprise bomb Iran. Several American teenage psycho-fanatics had begun to follow Luke around Facebook, and he began to worry they had followed him to Brookes and spammed the Facebook wall. Over those two weeks Murray and Manning's act to not return his frequent calls increased the anxiety. A week later a wrist slap at an editorial meeting persuaded Luke to private the community for the sake of peace-of-mind, which has been friends-only until fairly recently. I'm half tempted to post a link to this story on the Obscene Facebook wall to find out if gagging the free press is still policy or if nobody really cares that much. For a rough unedited but entertaining blog from last year Luke's posts on Obscene_Extra can be found at http://community.livejournal.com/obscene_extra/
Theres also the terribly mothballed www.thesu.com and the just launched Groupspaces. Founders David and Andy have set up a site which links to BBC news feeds, contains browser tabs for Google, YouTube and Wikipedia, and allows you to log into your Facebook account from there. Furthermore, its a local creation. It contains an events calendar and has an almost complete society listing with contact details and an option to store society archived emails (public holding space). Their pitch is that it would make a good home page, and to be honest its not a bad choice.
Brookes TV isn't as bad as I'd been led to believe either, some lovely riverflowing content, just some dodgy vomit backgrounds to get rid of, and learn to use autocue, luv.
Back to me. My aim at Brookeswatch is to provide a sociable but honest entry point for freshers and online readers. Tricks and tips to help navigate round Brookes, things that aren't out in the open. I'll also be casting a critical eye over the University, as an independent voice, I'd be a fool not to use that. What I won't be doing is going looking for trouble.. I know enough about the uni and how the media works to have its scandal emblazoned over the tabloids if I wanted to. Wheres the fun in that though ? Heck, can you picture SWAT teams and Sun reporters tramping over the flowerbeds and lighting up the dark Wheatley skies with a barrage of their flashbulbs ?
Obscene is Dead
Obscene, the monthly newspaper free to Oxofrd Brookes students passed away sometime between late July and Early August of this year. At the grand old age of 70 issues, 8 a year, putting Obscene at around 9 yrs old. It was loved by a few, many were indifferent to it. At least one former editor developed negative physical associative memories with the paper. Others tried to change it, and failed. When I last performed a medical on the paper, its circulatory system was found to suffer from poor structure in design. With two, sometimes one person controlling the layout, an imbalance in the edit occurred. The design editor was also divorced from the processes of the section editors. Even with the best intentioned editors, writers frequently felt short-changed.
"they totally butchered it. I specified that I wanted to be told of major changes, or not have it published at all. looks more like a spacefiller for the paper than any sort of analysis, with a total lack of understanding what the article has said. I understood the provivisection guy would be submitting something but I was under the impression this would be a separate article or that I'd be told about the need to space save. As I said, I won't be writing for it again."
- David Johnson, 1 May 2007
Over the last year talk among Obscene staffers and the Students Union had spread to considering running the paper as a society. Each member would pay a fee and thus contribute to the printing bill. Membership would entitle them to a say in agenda and structure of the paper and to contribute within the pages, a process mirroring that of the old Amateur Press Associations. In this way Obscene may still yet return.
In June of 2007, then News Editor Andrew Luke drafted a twelve-page document whoch he sent to VP Jason Manning. Many of the changes are structural from the top down., radical and commonsense enough to facilitate the conveyance of information between journalist and audience. Any ressurection of Obscene might benefit from taking a look at this document. Its available to download from here.
What removed Obscene from circulation as I understood it from my source was the printing bill and the drain on finance that it represented to the Students Union. However, it was already crippled by an over-excess of in-house ads, poorly thought-out design and the relegation of newsworthy leads to lie under sensationalist bullshit. (A one page lead in the last issue was titled "Virginia Shooting...Will We Follow Suit ?") It was commonplace for Obscene to build stories around nothing, and to regularly piss off contributors, it had been poorly for a long, long time. The paper occassionally confirmed the charges some students level at the SU Officers of cliqueishness. Though claiming to not be the voice of the SU, a fair percentage of content did come from the HK-10 hallway. As such, policy was sometimes the result of paranoia, doublethink and just plain stupidness*.
To the best of my knowledge Jason Manning or the Students Union have yet made no official announcement about the end of Obscene.
If you're a Brookes student and you run a blog or a website why not get in touch with your details and I'll see about getting you a plug ? It'll be nice to build a links list of Brookes folk with online presences.
Blogwise, I'll be back on Monday or thereabouts with the first of a previously promised two-part article.
*Obscene_extra was a community group started on Livejournal by Luke, to contain articles cut for length, or bumped from the paper. Luke posted a link on the Obscene Facebook group clearly stating its non-affiliation with the University. Several days later he found worried Facebook messages between editors Murray and Manning, and the Obscene Facebook wall suddenly non-existent. The decision had been taken to remove all students comments on account of Luke's posting a link, until the upcoming editorial meeting when the matter would be discussed. For two weeks there was no Obscene Facebook community. The story goes that Luke meanwhile, had been blogging about Operation Bite, a US Army plan to surprise bomb Iran. Several American teenage psycho-fanatics had begun to follow Luke around Facebook, and he began to worry they had followed him to Brookes and spammed the Facebook wall. Over those two weeks Murray and Manning's act to not return his frequent calls increased the anxiety. A week later a wrist slap at an editorial meeting persuaded Luke to private the community for the sake of peace-of-mind, which has been friends-only until fairly recently. I'm half tempted to post a link to this story on the Obscene Facebook wall to find out if gagging the free press is still policy or if nobody really cares that much. For a rough unedited but entertaining blog from last year Luke's posts on Obscene_Extra can be found at http://community.livejournal.com/obscene_extra/
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Brookes Bus Journey Planner
I mentioned at the end of the previous post that you can use your Brookes Bus pass to get you discounted travel on other central Oxford bus services. Stagecoach, the managers of Brookes Bus charge 70p for a student single. The lesser known fact is Oxford Bus Company currently charge only 60p when a pass is shown. Two sets of doors, and an unmistakeable less claustrophobic feel are among their aesthetic features. I've no idea how widely known this be - Oxford Bus Company don't advertise it on their buses. Stagecoach aren't obviously talking about it, and perhaps because of that, the fact isn't widely talked about by Brookes. The only mention is given on one of the Brookes website pages (requires log-in) and referred to in a crazed gambling session by blogger AndyLuke over on the Brookes Livejournal community.
Bombardment by the sound cannons of Fox Fm is a regular punishment on Brookes Bus. Every location has a Fox FM, a local commercial radio station that generates its income from distribution and advertising with all the charm of a sex pest bringing Christmas gifts to the very old and very young. Just like any noisy neighbour though you can ask Brookes Bus drivers to turn the noise down. I've seen this happen, and tried it myself, with a 100% success rate...oh about six or seven times. That was over the summer, so why not talk to and tell the driver you've talked to other passengers. It might just be worth the glowing smiles on the faces, and the small patter of applause. I don't care how much you love Phil Collins, he will help fuck up your degree.
I'll write more about the bedding arrangements of Brookes, Stagecoach and Fox Fm in another post next week.
Harcourt is a lovely campus, its just a victim of particularly dull grounds design and serious windchill at the bus stop area. A state of the art bus shelter with doors and everything please, oh alright, stick a coffee machine in there. Just make sure its fair trade, OY and that means no Coke machine ! Its best to assume the Sunday-stance when journeying to Harcourt - make a note of the bus times, show up six minutes early (Thats Oxford Mean Time 9-5m), and Brookes Mean Time (-1m)
You're standing atop Harcourt freezing your pimples off waiting for the bus. Turn right around so that you face the perspex covering. Right accrossthe yard is a door. Walking towards it is another one. The first is a hallway to some offices and you should be able to blag a stand in an adequate shelter. The second door is a hallway to a lecture theatre and furthermore, its got male and female bathrooms, a nice warm radiator and a noticeboard so you can browse some reading matter. Its a much better visibility point. The bus will stop, but if you're concerned why not use a group of smokers outside as a time delay mechanism ? Both doors are unlocked until 8pm.
To the best of my knowledge Wheatley Campus has a similar service with large furnished Common Room right behind the bus stop. Not sure about ease of blagging, or visibility, may be ask a pal to cover a shift on lookout in case the bus drivers get too mercenary. Getting out of Wheatley is a strange experience, rumbling through the village puts you in the place of feeling like a 15ft "Its my city" behometh, trampling landmarks and startling pensioners with a fear they'll be clutched in your arms through the rampage and possibly abducted halfway up Wheatley Tower. There has been some talk on this Facebook group (amusingly titled, 'Petition to remove Wheatley Village from the U1 route') of re-routing the U1 around the village, much as the service was a few years ago. The proposals are easy to implement, commonsense and mean that only the Wheatley Villagers who want to catch the bus have to put up with a small walk through these narrow streets. Lots more details on that link. Lend them your support in a bit of student activism.
Tomorrow I'll be talking about the death of Obscene, and some of my reasons for doing this blog. If you have any stories, or information you'd like to share please get in touch with me at brookeswatch@googlemail.com, and do spread the word amongst your friends. Leave a comment too, even if its only 'i think yore sexie', cos its v welcome.
Bombardment by the sound cannons of Fox Fm is a regular punishment on Brookes Bus. Every location has a Fox FM, a local commercial radio station that generates its income from distribution and advertising with all the charm of a sex pest bringing Christmas gifts to the very old and very young. Just like any noisy neighbour though you can ask Brookes Bus drivers to turn the noise down. I've seen this happen, and tried it myself, with a 100% success rate...oh about six or seven times. That was over the summer, so why not talk to and tell the driver you've talked to other passengers. It might just be worth the glowing smiles on the faces, and the small patter of applause. I don't care how much you love Phil Collins, he will help fuck up your degree.
I'll write more about the bedding arrangements of Brookes, Stagecoach and Fox Fm in another post next week.
Harcourt is a lovely campus, its just a victim of particularly dull grounds design and serious windchill at the bus stop area. A state of the art bus shelter with doors and everything please, oh alright, stick a coffee machine in there. Just make sure its fair trade, OY and that means no Coke machine ! Its best to assume the Sunday-stance when journeying to Harcourt - make a note of the bus times, show up six minutes early (Thats Oxford Mean Time 9-5m), and Brookes Mean Time (-1m)
You're standing atop Harcourt freezing your pimples off waiting for the bus. Turn right around so that you face the perspex covering. Right accrossthe yard is a door. Walking towards it is another one. The first is a hallway to some offices and you should be able to blag a stand in an adequate shelter. The second door is a hallway to a lecture theatre and furthermore, its got male and female bathrooms, a nice warm radiator and a noticeboard so you can browse some reading matter. Its a much better visibility point. The bus will stop, but if you're concerned why not use a group of smokers outside as a time delay mechanism ? Both doors are unlocked until 8pm.
To the best of my knowledge Wheatley Campus has a similar service with large furnished Common Room right behind the bus stop. Not sure about ease of blagging, or visibility, may be ask a pal to cover a shift on lookout in case the bus drivers get too mercenary. Getting out of Wheatley is a strange experience, rumbling through the village puts you in the place of feeling like a 15ft "Its my city" behometh, trampling landmarks and startling pensioners with a fear they'll be clutched in your arms through the rampage and possibly abducted halfway up Wheatley Tower. There has been some talk on this Facebook group (amusingly titled, 'Petition to remove Wheatley Village from the U1 route') of re-routing the U1 around the village, much as the service was a few years ago. The proposals are easy to implement, commonsense and mean that only the Wheatley Villagers who want to catch the bus have to put up with a small walk through these narrow streets. Lots more details on that link. Lend them your support in a bit of student activism.
Tomorrow I'll be talking about the death of Obscene, and some of my reasons for doing this blog. If you have any stories, or information you'd like to share please get in touch with me at brookeswatch@googlemail.com, and do spread the word amongst your friends. Leave a comment too, even if its only 'i think yore sexie', cos its v welcome.
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Loathing and Surving in Warneford Halls Expected Later This Year
Each campus in Brookes is now covered with a rally of students the size of a animal choice march. Trading security over newcomer flat-hunt confusion first years pack into Cheney Student Village and cram like spam in Warneford Halls. Brookes owns a lot of property round town, locals frequently tell, don't expect Warneford to be given the same status as the 2008 Morrell development. Six to a hall, rooms half the size of what you might get for one in a shared house at the same price. The claustrophobia of Warneford induces a cameraderie for survival's sake, though favours the louder messier students. These boisterous dickheads will become as marganalised as the loner if they keep up with the misguided notion that when they come in drunk at 3am their neighbours all care enough to merit a 3am alarm call. A hall warden pal tells me that the fines for abusing hall policy has gone up to 300pound.
Stunned, I ask him, "What for ?"
"Only the more serious offences. The tendency is to apply them to the rahs"
"Rahs ?"
"Rahce", he intones, harnessing his rich-bred verbal experiences in priveleged audio. "Obviously they can afford it. By and large though, I'd much rather give them community service. A hundred hours community service ! You'd like that wouldnt you Steve ?". The barman laughs, "Put them to good use. Tidying the grounds." During my year at Warneford a few pals chose the central courtyard as the venue for a spontaneous fireworks display. The penalty was about 12 hrs of community service per showman - lifting bins, brushing paths. Theres talk of providing them with flourescent jackets and blue emblazoned Community Service across the back, font 64.
300 must be a nice little money earner for the University.
"Studying Japanese is shite at Brookes. Theres only six universities in the UK offering it."
"By doubling the availability (in the seriously restricted classes), they could pull in another 200 students, and get proper finances for a properly constructed department."
I file this away near the story I heard from an Indian student in Cheney, and consider how hard it must be to travel. He'd fallen afoul of the University's three-strikes- and-you're-out rule on Hallnet. Skype has recently made the list of banned applications at Brookes and his crime of talking to his friends lost him the privelege of a web connection. Hypocrisy being webcam applications take up more of the networks' power roams unharmed. "They'd much rather students pay the private phone companies", he says with resignation. Hallnet has a ban on all P2P networking, with the exception of sharing with others on campus via iTunes. Insider information has it that staff passwords are exempt from this ruling, though I'm much too busy to verify this.
Anyway, lest this turn into a doom-and-gloom apocalypse pre-interwebs news, maybe we should step outside and have a cigarette. Smokers are registered in Brookes halls now. I've been told they have to have a 'Smoker' sticker on their door. I might also advise them that even a small sock fits quite snugly around the smoke alarms. The hardest working folk at the University are the Student Support people who provide a wide range of counselling and advice services. Relocating and intensive work create a greater awareness of personal problems, and the emergence of fashionable comfortable therapies like co-counselling and CBT with all its time-travel will and choice possibilities make for a increasingly assured reception. As well Brookes providing notetakers, a dedicated speedy and professional team under Craig Prosser, who when faced with a budgetary cut fought with such conviction that they were awarded an increase. I've not gone far through Upgrade yet, but the word is that this service by the Library is invaluable. Joining societies at Brookes gets you out of the house, out of the clique and provides a pipeway for meeting new people and taking new actions.
I have to stop there. My Brookes Bus pass has run out meaning I have neither the option of 60p assistance on the Oxford Bus Company or 70p plus pass on Stagecoach. Ah well, term starts on Monday, and its the best time to look for financial assistance.
Stunned, I ask him, "What for ?"
"Only the more serious offences. The tendency is to apply them to the rahs"
"Rahs ?"
"Rahce", he intones, harnessing his rich-bred verbal experiences in priveleged audio. "Obviously they can afford it. By and large though, I'd much rather give them community service. A hundred hours community service ! You'd like that wouldnt you Steve ?". The barman laughs, "Put them to good use. Tidying the grounds." During my year at Warneford a few pals chose the central courtyard as the venue for a spontaneous fireworks display. The penalty was about 12 hrs of community service per showman - lifting bins, brushing paths. Theres talk of providing them with flourescent jackets and blue emblazoned Community Service across the back, font 64.
300 must be a nice little money earner for the University.
"Studying Japanese is shite at Brookes. Theres only six universities in the UK offering it."
"By doubling the availability (in the seriously restricted classes), they could pull in another 200 students, and get proper finances for a properly constructed department."
I file this away near the story I heard from an Indian student in Cheney, and consider how hard it must be to travel. He'd fallen afoul of the University's three-strikes- and-you're-out rule on Hallnet. Skype has recently made the list of banned applications at Brookes and his crime of talking to his friends lost him the privelege of a web connection. Hypocrisy being webcam applications take up more of the networks' power roams unharmed. "They'd much rather students pay the private phone companies", he says with resignation. Hallnet has a ban on all P2P networking, with the exception of sharing with others on campus via iTunes. Insider information has it that staff passwords are exempt from this ruling, though I'm much too busy to verify this.
Anyway, lest this turn into a doom-and-gloom apocalypse pre-interwebs news, maybe we should step outside and have a cigarette. Smokers are registered in Brookes halls now. I've been told they have to have a 'Smoker' sticker on their door. I might also advise them that even a small sock fits quite snugly around the smoke alarms. The hardest working folk at the University are the Student Support people who provide a wide range of counselling and advice services. Relocating and intensive work create a greater awareness of personal problems, and the emergence of fashionable comfortable therapies like co-counselling and CBT with all its time-travel will and choice possibilities make for a increasingly assured reception. As well Brookes providing notetakers, a dedicated speedy and professional team under Craig Prosser, who when faced with a budgetary cut fought with such conviction that they were awarded an increase. I've not gone far through Upgrade yet, but the word is that this service by the Library is invaluable. Joining societies at Brookes gets you out of the house, out of the clique and provides a pipeway for meeting new people and taking new actions.
I have to stop there. My Brookes Bus pass has run out meaning I have neither the option of 60p assistance on the Oxford Bus Company or 70p plus pass on Stagecoach. Ah well, term starts on Monday, and its the best time to look for financial assistance.
Face It Tiger, There is a Jackpot
I'm writing this in Morals Bar : no it hasnt got wireless. Thats confined for members of staff such as maybe those hard working boffins in Computer Services. If your hard drive has fallen out of your laptop, they'll fix it. If your flat-mate swallowed your usb stick they'll call an ambulance. Local service at reasonable prices, care for the community. The wireless is not finding a signal, despite its existence on all five campuses. "In a testing phase prior to final deployment" by Eduroam, a company managing wireless across Europe, Japan and Australia. There is a registration point but sending them my student academic email hasn't merited a response. Staff email accounts are differentiated in the primary stages by having letters before the number. Its not all Patrick McGoohan, but the lack of Wandernet access around Brookes is abysmal, particularly given the lack of power sockets and damage to connection points in JBs Cafe. Thats the Gipsy Lane Fairtrade one, newbies. They make a beautiful deviant ice cream of a coffee if you ask nicely.
Motorists off Marston Road, Foot Passengers more likely Via Pullens Lane, or through the Helena Kennedy Centre and at the bottom of a winding path with a slanted roof : Morals Bar is 1/5 Twin Peaks' Great Northern Hotel, with its wooden blinds, comfortable seating, and token warm African art. 4/5 replenished with a big sports screen, Subway sandwich bar, Outrun (an outstanding two-player in-cockpits arcade game), dance floor, and pool tables. Its the opening night and as most students take the insular road of leaving campus, we're enjoying the England-South African game in relative quiet. Clive Booth Halls are empty, Graduated Students who paid 35 pounds a night, all departed after their handshakes and rekindled into-the-night reunions. The recently hired Hall Warden I'm drinking with is a rational, balanced, spade-is-a-spade sort. However in twelve hours time, he and another fourteen are to become jammed Traffic Wardens, at war with their smooth heads, fighting back the lines of age as they prepare for an avalanche of 1200 students at the bottom of the hill.
Morrel Halls with its Centreparcs exteriors (forestry, woodland lodge, slanted roofs) are also looked after by the brave Clive Booth administration. On the whole the Clive Booth campus is for my karma among the best Brookes has in accommodating. The interiors are an alright size, and the kitchens appear well laid out. As good as you're going to get living on campus, unless you're a 'ra'(1) or can just plain afford Cheney Village. An ascended graduate pal, he pointed out the nearby functional computer rooms, which are right beside the laundry) If you've moved to Clive Booth Halls, you've hit the jackpot at the bottom of the slide.
By way of reference, newbie, don't even try to get online without a student number. Youre wasting your time ! as one oul drinker yelled to others. Enrolement Day will clear things up. Which by the way, is hella confusing and like being thrown in the deep end, until you realise you're swimming) Lecture notes may be kept on Brookes Virtual or on the U-Drive, depending upon your tutors preferences. Dave Nolan and Steve Burholt of Computer Services wrote me to tell of a handy link for getting into the U-Drive. This used to involve downloading an Acrobat document and copying a complicated address by sight. However you can go direct to the in-browser log-in for U-drive by taking this link >> ftp://pcdata.brookes.ac.uk/ and this one if you need the H-Drive, https://www2.brookes.ac.uk/services/cs/tips/u_h_drive.html
This works fine with Mozilla Firefox too.
If you've enjoyed this blog entry, found it useful, do email or comment and let me know. Its my main reason for doing this. If you're a member of staff or a student and you would like me to write about a particular subject, or if you yourself blog about Brookes, email me, Jaffa, at brookeswatch@googlemail.com
Todays tip for students wishing to establish links in the virtual community at Brookes : Join Facebook. Of Course.
(1) 'Ra', not a reference to the Sun God or IRA, 'ra'ther, the higher income students at Brookes with bouffants, and accents probably reminiscent of time at daddy's horse-riding expenditure, who will inevitably whine about not being allowed a car in a cyclist's town.
Motorists off Marston Road, Foot Passengers more likely Via Pullens Lane, or through the Helena Kennedy Centre and at the bottom of a winding path with a slanted roof : Morals Bar is 1/5 Twin Peaks' Great Northern Hotel, with its wooden blinds, comfortable seating, and token warm African art. 4/5 replenished with a big sports screen, Subway sandwich bar, Outrun (an outstanding two-player in-cockpits arcade game), dance floor, and pool tables. Its the opening night and as most students take the insular road of leaving campus, we're enjoying the England-South African game in relative quiet. Clive Booth Halls are empty, Graduated Students who paid 35 pounds a night, all departed after their handshakes and rekindled into-the-night reunions. The recently hired Hall Warden I'm drinking with is a rational, balanced, spade-is-a-spade sort. However in twelve hours time, he and another fourteen are to become jammed Traffic Wardens, at war with their smooth heads, fighting back the lines of age as they prepare for an avalanche of 1200 students at the bottom of the hill.
Morrel Halls with its Centreparcs exteriors (forestry, woodland lodge, slanted roofs) are also looked after by the brave Clive Booth administration. On the whole the Clive Booth campus is for my karma among the best Brookes has in accommodating. The interiors are an alright size, and the kitchens appear well laid out. As good as you're going to get living on campus, unless you're a 'ra'(1) or can just plain afford Cheney Village. An ascended graduate pal, he pointed out the nearby functional computer rooms, which are right beside the laundry) If you've moved to Clive Booth Halls, you've hit the jackpot at the bottom of the slide.
By way of reference, newbie, don't even try to get online without a student number. Youre wasting your time ! as one oul drinker yelled to others. Enrolement Day will clear things up. Which by the way, is hella confusing and like being thrown in the deep end, until you realise you're swimming) Lecture notes may be kept on Brookes Virtual or on the U-Drive, depending upon your tutors preferences. Dave Nolan and Steve Burholt of Computer Services wrote me to tell of a handy link for getting into the U-Drive. This used to involve downloading an Acrobat document and copying a complicated address by sight. However you can go direct to the in-browser log-in for U-drive by taking this link >> ftp://pcdata.brookes.ac.uk/ and this one if you need the H-Drive, https://www2.brookes.ac.uk/services/cs/tips/u_h_drive.html
This works fine with Mozilla Firefox too.
If you've enjoyed this blog entry, found it useful, do email or comment and let me know. Its my main reason for doing this. If you're a member of staff or a student and you would like me to write about a particular subject, or if you yourself blog about Brookes, email me, Jaffa, at brookeswatch@googlemail.com
Todays tip for students wishing to establish links in the virtual community at Brookes : Join Facebook. Of Course.
(1) 'Ra', not a reference to the Sun God or IRA, 'ra'ther, the higher income students at Brookes with bouffants, and accents probably reminiscent of time at daddy's horse-riding expenditure, who will inevitably whine about not being allowed a car in a cyclist's town.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)