The Fabulous Fringe
Last Friday we hired a coach from a lovely local bus operator and took a group of PGs down to Edinburgh to experience the delight that is the Edinburgh Festivals. Although there are many festivals on in Edinburgh during August, we mainly stuck to the Fringe -for one very good reason, we went with the hope of seeing not one, but TWO fabulous theatrical shows staged by our friends over at Mermaids (the theatre society) and featuring the work of Postgrads from the University of St Andrews!
Firstly, we saw Love Song which was both absolutely hilarious and genuinely moving- personally, I have seen many small professional theatre companies aim for this mix of tenderness, twists and humour and fall far short of achieving any, but Love Story really was wonderful.
After Love Song, our group divided as people went in search of the famed golden nuggets of comedy floating around the 40000 performances at the Fringe (I myself sloped off to see the Dog-Eared Collectives's 'You're Better than This' - which was the funniest thing I saw at this years fringe)- and regrouped later for Scene of the Titans. Wow. We were informed afterwards by the producer that the St Andrews student who wrote Titans did so in a summer, one summer. Titans is based on the true story of the formation of gay friendly rugby team in Dublin, and is a musical of epic proportions. We were all completely blown away by it, and we weren't the only ones- it has achieved an amazing amount of award nominations!
Following these two wonderful shows, a few of us were tempted in to see Jeff Mirza's comedy show. They say you've not had a proper Fringe until you've walked out of a show early because you worried that you might never laugh again if you stayed later... Suffice to say, we had a proper Fringe!
Upcoming Events
With most of the PG Committee buried in dissertations it's been a steep learning curve for me, as you might have read previously, to learn how to throw (and attract people to) events. I think the first major rule of planning PG events is beginning to sink in however: Plan it as soon as you think of it! The absolute requirement of getting everything nailed down and out to you guys ASAP just becomes more and more apparent. So, in the spirit of grabbing the bull by the horns, we pretty much have our freshers week events ironed out and formalised!
As you might have seen on the uni orientation calendar, we're throwing a St Andrews Safari to acquaint all the new PGs with the town, the university and their (occasionally gruesome) histories! We're also throwing a formal wine reception in Parliament Hall the day before (Tuesday evening) along with the Provost, and with the PG wardens.
In the nearer future, I am in the process of finalising arrangements for the 'End of Semester Karaoke (with Wii and dancing for people who don't like karaoke)' Party in the Victoria Bar. This is going to be a great 'final fling', both for PhDs who are facing the return of a teaching workload, and for masters students who are facing the prospect of graduation and probably leaving St Andrews. All the details are on Facebook, and as an added incentive, we're offering free cocktails to the first 50 people through the door!
Accommodation Issues
Problems with accommodation seem to be somewhat perennial for PG students -this itself seeming like a normalised situation but actually being highly dissatisfactory- and once again I am receiving emails from students on this issue.
It would appear that many PG students are facing the prospect of arriving in a month without any accommodation.
In the short-term, we're talking with some very helpful advisors from across the university to try to find a solution for people who find themselves urgently unsure of where to look for accommodation.
In the long-term, I'm quite aware that this situation, whereby the demand far outstrips the supply of university postgraduate accommodation, is quite untenable (especially given the recent HMO suspension). We're not only talking about this issue, but we're pressing it- it is one my priorities for next year to get a better deal for PGs as regards accommodation, and I believe there are plenty of people within the university who are willing and even in some cases keen to work with us on this point.
Anyway, that's my update for now, and I'll be issuing a draft report on the results of consultations with PG students over the next few days, I hope you'll find time to skim it over and give your feedback.
Good luck with the final dissertation push, Masters students!
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Location:St Andrews
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