Students: organise and fight back! by UCL Marxists https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0 Despite knowing we would end up trapped in cramped, substandard accommodation, university bosses and landlords still gave the go-ahead for us to move in, so they could rake in money from extortionate tuition fees and rent! Now many students are being forced to isolate in their tiny rooms with next to no support from the university when it comes to food deliveries or their mental health: the UCL Marxists want to help students organise and fight back. If you are suffering from this or know someone who is, leave us an account of your experience, including photos and videos if possible! To make a post, just double-click anywhere on the field. en-us 2020-10-28 15:47:46 UTC 2020-11-02 22:04:44 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/816098351/2ddb8b131b07978fd535bc6c577e7868/UCL_Marxist_Society_HD_copie.jpg I had to leave my first halls and move to postgrad halls because my mental health was deteriorating so much. They were serving food I couldn't eat, giving out warnings for doing laundry, and I barely had any fresh air or sunlight in my room. Apparently they've changed their procedures now. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882139487 2020-11-02 13:15:35 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882139487 I've just come out of isolation in private halls and their support was terrible. They would refuse to bring packages up to the flats, and didn't take our rubbish out for days. We received angry emails for leaving isolation. The only mental health support we had was the receptionists number. Because the halls are private, there were no food subsidies. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882145806 2020-11-02 13:17:55 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882145806 The handling of the situation at Schafer halls has been bizarre. Security is super strict on some things: for example, if you and another resident enter at the same time, they'll question whether you live there, ask for your room number, and check the register in the office. Meanwhile, larger gatherings sometimes don't get shut down for hours. Many people are experiencing problems with their flats, especially with the wifi, which is even worse, since everyone is using it for their online classes. None of it gets addressed. Security staff rarely wear masks. In the bigger building blocks, they sometimes barge in unannounced. My friend is hijabi and says she never feels comfortable taking it off (even though all her flatmates are women) because she's scared of security simply barging in. Packages rarely get delivered, and often they don't write you an email to tell you your things have arrived. There is no mental health support at all, and no effort made to comfort students. If you take a COVID test and get a negative result, you still have to isolate for 14 days, and I worry this will deter people from getting tested. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882155032 2020-11-02 13:21:19 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882155032 They have been inconsistent with food deliveries and vouchers. Someone who was self-isolating had their food delivered to them an hour after it had arrived and was reprimanded for complaining. People have been asked to isolate for weeks, even after NHS Test and Trace has said it was ok to go out. I haven't personally had issues with security, but I've heard stories of them barging into flats to break up kitchen hang-outs - apparently they are very inconsistent with this. Some people have been relocated to different kitches via email. The top floor in my halls didn't get their rubbish taken out for a week. As for mental health support, there are only the SRAs. There were five initially, but I think only two of them are left covering the entire week. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882177758 2020-11-02 13:28:55 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882177758 The priorities of security are very skewed. They're focused on preventing people bringing in guests, or reacting to noise complaints. Meanwhile, they neglect other security issues, such as making sure the residents are safe. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882199041 2020-11-02 13:35:30 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882199041 I live in Schafer, and for some reason, our front doors were being locked. Security will sometimes randomly walk into our kitchen. The testing procedures have been very strange as well: somehow, you can end up being in isolation longer if you test negative, than if you test positive. We have no mental health support and they didn't tell us how to access the £280 voucher - plus, it can take days to get it. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882203686 2020-11-02 13:36:57 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882203686 My (catered) halls couldn't meet all dietary requirements (no lactose, vegan, etc). Mental health support is lacking, although we received the receptionists phone number for emergencies. The emails we received sometimes sounded threatening, but were generally informative. Trash collection and toilet paper distribution has been very infrequent. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882241889 2020-11-02 13:48:00 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882241889 All we've had as "mental health support" are virtual events like yoga or quizzes. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882255104 2020-11-02 13:51:48 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882255104 At Arthur Tattersall, security comes into our flats unannounced and doesn't say a word when we try to speak to them. https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882266708 2020-11-02 13:55:01 UTC https://padlet.com/uclmarxists/yfr2s4crd54v7wk0/wish/882266708