Bonfire night

Saturday 5th November is bonfire night – or Guy Fawkes night. Bonfires and fireworks displays take place all over England to commemorate the foiling of the “gunpowder plot” plot to blow up the King and Parliament in 1605. 

Remember, remember the fifth of November: 

Gunpowder, treason, and plot. 

I see no reason why gunpowder treason 

Ever should be forgot.

Bonfire night parties often include activities like apple bobbing, and foods associated with bonfire night include parkin, toffee apples, jacket potatoes, and hot chocolate.

For more information about Guy Fawkes night: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night.
And the gunpowder plot: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot.

------------------------------------------------------------

There will be bonfires and fireworks displays around London this week. Some will be on 5th November; others will take place on Friday or Saturday. Here is a listing of displays:

• timeout.com/london/things-to-do/bonfire-night-fireworks-displays-in-london 

The closest display to Connaught Hall will be at Coram's Fields on Friday 6th November, and we expect this to be quite a traditional display:

• timeout.com/london/kids/corams-fields-fireworks-display

It's also free of charge!

Another free thing you can do is climb Primrose Hill (goo.gl/maps/WVa27KZK8PC2) on Friday or Saturday night. Although there is no display at Primrose Hill, from that vantage point you can often see the fireworks from displays all over London.

------------------------------------------------------------


* The Multicultural Students' Forum (McSF, connaught-hall.org.uk/pages/community/mcsf.html) recommended in October 2015 that we publish through our social media channels an explanation of all the cultural events we celebrate in Hall, as well as significant celebrations that are unique to the UK. The idea is that all our residents will understand what is going on and be equally able to participate in events, festivals, and celebrations.

October update

Dear resident

It's been a busy few weeks in Hall and there are a few more things coming up in the next week or so. I thought it might be useful for you to have an update on everything in one place.


1. Residents' Club elections - 08/10/13 

At dinner time on Tuesday 8th October, you will be able to elect five new representatives to the Residents' Club Committee. The people you choose will organise many of the social events in Hall this year, run the bar, and spend up to £6500 of your money - so listen to what they have to say and what they are going to do for you. At the time of writing, only two residents have put themselves forward for the election. If fewer than five people stand, there will be no election and those who have nominated themselves will be appointed automatically. More of you must have ideas for how we can make this year amazing for everyone: stand for election and share your ideas; if you get enough votes, you will be able to put them into practice! Visit election.connaught-hall.org.uk for more information about the Club and the election, and to nominate yourself. My "letter to candidates" tells you exactly what's involved, and what you can expect from us in return. Or speak to me, a Senior Member, or one of the outgoing members from last year's Committee. The deadline for nominations is midday on Saturday 5 October: it's an automatic system that will close at exactly midday. 


2. "Anything but clothes" party - 04/10/13 

Friday night is our freshers' ABC party in the bar, 8pm till 2am (bar serves alcohol until 1am). You are invited to be creative with your outfit and wear absolutely anything - except clothes. Maybe some photos of previous ABC parties at Connaught will provide you with inspiration: flickr.com/photos/connaughthall/tags/anythingbutclothes. 

As you can see, it's totally fine if you want to come to the party in actual clothes: we'd rather have you there in clothes than not there in not-clothes! 

As with all our late parties, you may sign in a maximum of two guests for the duration of the event (8 till 2). 

Please try and keep the party confined to the bar and Bell room so that residents who don't want to attend the party are not disturbed. I regret that we strictly cannot allow any "after-parties" in bedrooms or corridors after 2am, and we must keep noise outside the front of the Hall to a minimum so our hotel & residential neighbours don't complain and stop us from having more parties in future. 


3. Fire drill - 04/10/13 

Weather permitting, a fire drill will be held on Friday evening.

When you hear the fire alarm: 

Evacuate the building immediately.
Close all doors and windows behind you.
Leave by the shortest route.
Do not use the lift.
Assemble on the pavement outside Passfield Hall on Endsleigh Place.

Follow the green exit signs to find your nearest escape route. Hall staff will help you. Remember it is possible that there may be a real fire alarm on the day, so for your own safety never ignore the alarm because you assume it is a drill. Your Licence Agreement obliges you to participate in fire drills. If the total evacuation time is too long, more fire drills will be held over the next few weeks – so don’t let everyone else down! 


4. Have you taken some good photos of our freshers' events? 

We love our photos at Connaught. If you have any shots you're proud of from any of our welcome events (afternoon teas, grand bar opening, welcome dinner, speed meeting, or of course from tomorrow's party), I'd be really delighted if you sent me some that I can upload at photos.connaught-hall.org.uk or at instagram.com/connaughthall. Email me one or two pictures at warden@connaught-hall.org.uk, send me a link to your photos on your own Flickr, or ask me about lending you a memory stick if you have lots to share. 


5. Join the Facilities Committee and/or Multicultural Students' Forum (McSF) 

I posted a message about how to join these committees a few days ago: democracy-feedback-and-student. 

Both committees meet three or four times a year for about an hour. If you haven't been on a committee before, it will be good experience of how meetings work. And whatever your level of previous committee experience, your input to making Connaught Hall better for everybody will be greatly valued. Please follow the instructions in my previous post and join up as soon as possible if you're interested. 


6. Room swaps

I have been asked frequently about room swaps in the last few weeks. If you are thinking about asking for a room change, please take note of the following advice from our Residents' Handbook:

Requests for room swaps are dealt with exclusively by the Reservations Office based at ULU, and will only be considered after the middle of October when everyone has moved in: email info.halls@london.ac.uk. 

We regret that the staff at Connaught Hall cannot approve requests for room swaps.

The Reservations Team are the best people to answer all your questions on this subject, including things like "are there currently any empty rooms?" or "is there anyone who hasn't moved in when they should?". I regret that the Senior Members and I do not routinely have access to the information that would allow us to give you an accurate answer to these questions.


7. Access [H]all Areas 

This private, invitation-only online social network for the intercollegiate halls of residence was new this year. It already has almost 800 members so it's a good platform for sharing ideas for sports meet-ups, outings, and clubs, especially where there may be benefits in the numbers gained from getting more than one hall involved. 

If you're not already a member, sign up with this link: uol-halls.ning.com/?xgi=3KprrvqzHofzOa - and remember to join the Connaught Hall group on the site!

Do remember to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, as well: tweets.connaught-hall.org.uk and facebook.connaught-hall.org.uk.


8. Last reminder to check the Residents' Handbook! 

Our Residents' Handbook can be found at handbook.connaught-hall.org.uk.

It is long, so we don't expect you to read every page in detail. We do very much expect you to read the sections on noise and fire safety, and strongly advise you to have an idea of the contents pages, so you can dip into those bits that interest you now, and know what information is available for you to refer back to later in the year if you're not sure about anything.

So, one last time: please take a look at our Handbook!

Democracy, feedback, and student involvement: the Facilities Committee, Multicultural Students' Forum, and Residents' Club Committee

Join the Connaught Hall Facilities Committee and/or Multicultural Students' Forum (McSF)! 

Unlike the Residents' Club Committee, there are no elections to be a representative on the Facilities Committee or McSF.


Facilities Committee

We need six student reps on the committee. Members meet with hall staff and contractors to improve the facilities and services in hall, such as catering, cleaning, maintenance, and security.

Email facilities.committee@connaught-hall.org.uk ASAP with your name and room number to join.

Visit http://www.connaught-hall.org.uk/pages/facilities/facilitiescommittee.html for more information. If more than six residents apply, we will choose six names randomly.


Multicultural Students' Forum

We need student representatives from any and all cultures, religions, countries, and backgrounds to act as advisors to the Warden, Residents' Club, and Hall Management on matters of interest to international, overseas, and ethnic minority students. Everyone is welcome (including white British "home" students): all that's needed is that you share the ideals of the McSF.

Follow this link for more information: http://www.connaught-hall.org.uk/pages/community/mcsf.html

You can join the McSF mailing list at the link above. If you are on the mailing list, you will be invited to meetings of the McSF three times a year. Our first meeting will be in October, so make sure you sign up ASAP!


Residents' Club Committee

Remember there will be elections for five Officers of the Residents' Club Committee on Tuesday 8th October. For more information, and to stand for election, visit http://www.connaught-hall.org.uk/pages/community/clubelections.html.

Nominations close at midday on Saturday 5th October.

Cultural sensitivity

"I feel that some cultures/countries where students come from are not well understood. Inadvertently some actions/events, though conducted with the best intentions, can be slightly insulting. Its not a very big or serious issue, just hope that such misunderstandings would not happen too often (though mostly ignored, it can be slightly irritating at times)."

I should really like to have some more specific feedback on this. Cultural sensitivity is something that I take very seriously indeed, so I sincerely apologise if there have been examples of a failure to respect different cultures or beliefs in Hall. We have not had any direct feedback to tell us where we might have gone wrong here: we need to know more so I can ensure we don;t see a similar comment in next year's survey!

Please contact me at warden@connaught-hall.org.uk or come to one of my open office sessions to help me understand what has gone wrong. If your concerns relate to my actions and you don't feel comfortable approaching me about it (although I can assure you I am very happy to receive constructive criticism), then email the Hall Manager at hall.manager@connaught-hall.org.uk and ask her to discus the matter with me or forward your email with the name and email address removed.

Thanks for your feedback.

This is one of a series of posts responding to the results of the residents' survey. You can see all the posts here: http://connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Survey%202013. 

Multicultural Students' Forum

The Warden established a new Multicultural Students' Forum (McSF) at Connaught Hall in September. The reason for establishing the McSF is to increase and expand participation in the Hall community by students from different backgrounds.

The need for a body like the proposed forum was highlighted in the residents' survey this year, to build on good work that had alrady started with our themed cultural nights:

I love the international nights where the food is themed, there are speeches, decorations, and activities. I would love to see an Eid celebration and a Diwali celebration.

Consider cultural events from India, Brazil, Turkey, Russia.

More events from a wide variety of different cultures. Make sure you have all the nations flags in your welcoming party and not ones that fit with British foreign policy only.

St David's Day ought to be recognised - the Hall was incapable of acknowledging this national celebration, though did choose to host a special meal, speeches and bar event to commemorate the Super Bowl. Following from this, it should be said that it is in the interests of the Hall that they should view a day of a patron saint, and therein a nation, to be at least on the same standing as a football match. It is clear that there is no ethnic equality in the representation of events - we have hosted Chinese New Year and a German evening, and it ought to be the case that people of every heritage are viewed equally should such a precedent be put in place.

Also residents of black and ethnic minority background needs to be more enfranchised and protected, maybe you could have a diversity officer on the student council.

The McSF will operate as follows:

Membership will be one Senior Member; the Warden; the Secretary and the Entertainment Officer from the Residents’ Club Committee; and any resident students who are interested in the objectives of the forum. Student representatives of any and every colour, reliogion, natioanlity, and culture are welcome.

A Senior Member will provide administration for the forum.

The objectives will be -

1. To encourage participation in Hall community life by international, overseas, and ethnic minority students (IOEMS).

2. To promote and facilitate the experience of British life and customs by IOEMS – based on the idea that if you come to London to study, we should help you make the most of your time here and experience London/UK/British life to the full.

3. To broaden the range of social and cultural events in Hall so that IOEMS can share their home cultures with other residents.

4. To review and improve the way the Hall communicates with international, overseas, and ethnic minority students.

The McSF will work closely with the Residents' Club Committee. Any funding required for the organisation of events will be drawn from the Residents' Club, with agreement from the Residents' Club Committee.

I welcome any comments on this proposal, and ideas for how the McSF can best meet its objectives. Email: warden@connaught-hall.org.uk or multicultural@connaught-hall.org.uk.