Letter from College Council representatives (13th February 2000)Dear all, We thought it necessary to write and inform you about the Council meeting on Friday. Two papers on undergraduate rents were proposed; one by the Bursar and one by the Access Alliance. The papers expressed similar sentiments on many issues, with the marked exception of rent levels for next year: the Bursar's paper suggested a 6.5% increase, while the Alliance's proposed no rent increases until costs can be defined. On Friday morning we negotiated a reasonable settlement with the Senior Tutor, whereby Access Alliance representatives agreed to compromise their position and accept a 5% rise in exchange for an explicit statement declaring that King's would suspend implementation of the Bursars' Report until the possibility that it might harm access had been thoroughly explored. Hopeful that this proposal would be welcomed by Council, we approached the meeting with optimism and look forward to the conclusion of the rent strike, with King's sending a powerful message to the University that it cared about access and would not blindly implement a Report which had failed to assess access implications. However our hopes were dashed. The Council rejected our paper and ignored the suggested compromise. We were told that Cambridge is incomparable and should be more expensive, that the Bursars' Report must be implemented, that the college's paper was already ridiculously indulgent towards students, and that we would 'just have to learn to live with it'. The upshot of Council's decision is even worse than we expected. Since term lengths have now been shortened, and college refused to address rent on a pro rata basis, per week rent will rise next year by around 13.5%. Although an Access and Welfare Committee has been established, the uncaring and intransigent attitudes expressed around the table suggest that this will have little effect. It became evident at the meeting that, regardless of apparently constructive and promising negotiations with College, students and Fellows on Council have fundamentally opposing perspectives on this issue. The majority of Fellows simply do not recognise that rent hikes will affect access. We are deeply upset and disillusioned about the attitude Council displayed toward students. We felt patronised and were told we had to 'live in the real world'. Council is out of touch and seemingly unaware of the strong beliefs held by King's students about access. The realisation finally dawned that most Fellows just do not care. Things may have to get worse before they get better. College will initiate sanctions against us next week. They don't realise how serious we are about what we believe, and we must stand resolutely for Access in King's. Alex Maclaren Copyright © 2000 Access Alliance |