LS questions the Exec on what they have and haven’t achieved this year.

Alice Smart

Education Officer

Do you think lecture podcasts affects attendance? 

There was the odd lecturer making these claims. They’re there because everyone learns in different ways, and not everyone learns best reading through lecture notes, it is really useful often to listen back to what the person is saying.

How has running against Bradley for his job affected your working relationship?

Before nominations closed, we all had a discussion amongst the Exec, laying down rules like that we won’t be working on campaign stuff while we’re in the office, and setting some basic ground rules. But I think we’re all being quite friendly and professional about it.

Have you been involved with the Save Healthcare campaign?

It’s actually been me and Charlotte working quite well together. Charlotte’s input has been really helpful, and we’ve been leading on that campaign together.

Charlotte Warner

Welfare Officer

How have you improved awareness for STIs?

I’ve been campaigning all year. I’ve been in Halls and also did the Pee For Victory campaign to target Freshers, who are the worst for getting tested. It’s about making sure people know where to go to get tested: they can go to their GP, a GUM clinic or places in town.

What have you done to make students feel safer?

We’ve got The Knowledge cam- paign, which is a website offering information about how to stay safe in Leeds. However, there are flaws with that. It’s reactive, with people going onto the site after being the victim of a crime. There needs to be more work before. I’ve been burgled and it’s a horrible situation to be in.

Do you feel that you lead the Save Healthcare campaign?

I would say that I’ve lead it with students from the School. They’ve been great and really enthusiastic.

Greg Sturge

Activities Officer

Why have you decided not to run again?

I’d rather leave on a high. I’m on course either to make all the changes I want to make or to lay the groundwork for whoever follows to finish off projects. I’d rather get to the end of the year and draw the line and say ‘that was a great year and I got every- thing I could out of it’.

Why do some students still have Uni on Wednesdays?

When I ran, I didn’t realise how tough it would be. All the Uni’s faculties are guilty of putting lectures and seminars on Wednesday afternoons. For some students, such as older medics and Engineers, there’s not realistically enough space for them to have time off. If we can get the leaders on side, who control the University’s lectures and timetables, hopefully we’ll be able to start making a real change. We need to keep chipping away at it.

Bradley Escorcio

Union Affairs Officer

Why haven’t we seen the LUU app introduced this year?

It is very expensive. Around £50,000. What we did focus on in- stead was making the actual website have a responsive design. We also spoke to the University to get more of our content on their app. Hopefully, in the next year we will be moving more towards the idea.

Do you think it will be difficult to run against your colleague?

I think it is always a difficult thing if you are running against some- one you are working with. But I think we have got a professional approach to everything.

Do you feel you’ve done anything that has a significant impact on the student experience at Leeds?

This year particularly has been one for making a lot of long term changes. Towards the end of last term I was working on a building case with the University. They could invest multi-million pounds into the [Union] building.