More commercial sports on campus
In the wake of a very exciting football week, on campus students are silently demanding the university provides a sport centre for them to enjoy weekly matches.
In an interview with students from House Karee on Sunday, students complained about the lack of social cohesion efforts from the university.
“I understand that we are here to study and work on our academics but we cannot rely on regular updates or highlights the next morning, every time. It is only fair that the university builds a place for everyone to go watch their sports games.” Stian van Wyk said.
Another resident, Takudzwa Ngara, argued that social cohesion should be a key priority for the university as it ‘keeps some sort of order’ on campus.
“For a society to function, there must be genuine interaction and cohesion. If management wants to keep a healthy relationship the student management and beyond, they should ensure student demands are met,” he said.
The university does, however, provide students with a social space for them to engage each other in a very informal space. Restaurant Traumarei is situated in and around the food area of the varsity, commonly known as the bridge.
“Yes, we have Traumarei but they can’t even accommodate half of the on campus students, it’s a lovely idea but the space is just way too small. Also, Traumarei is just there to get us drunk and take our money. That type of interaction is not genuine, rather stimulated,” Ngara added.
The general feel from the residents is that Traumarei is more of a “commercial” space than a social space.
In response to the availability of Rag Farm, Ngara responded that Rag Farm is a seasonal social space and also quite far for majority of students.
Residence Committee (RC) member in the Secretary portfolio for House Karee, Shivaan Johnson claimed that the students are making outrageous demands as such costs cannot be covered for.
“I find it quite ridiculous. Universities across the country already have issues generating income from students so why would they build a whole area for them to be entertained? The university won’t even fix the cupboards in my room so the people advocating for this will probably only see their dream materialise after they graduate.”
Johnson also added that some residences accommodate this idea by providing social spaces with television rights in residence.
“I know of many residences that have a bond (social space) where residents come together and watch movies or a game. I see no need for the university to set up a huge social space when the university, via the Housing and Residence Affairs (HRA), already facilitates this process when working with RCs in the social portfolio.” Johnson said.
He further informed me on how their bond system works.
“Previously, we used to pay crazy amounts to make use of the social space, which fair considering that (a) bond committee has to maintain the place. Now we pay a smaller amount to enjoy the space and provide the students with DSTv with the help of donors in the house. We really all work together to make it work.”, he said.
The RC Social of House Karee provides residents with a laptop and DSTv Now credentials when a resident wants to watch television. In Karee’s social space, one can play pool, darts and enjoy consoles on a second television set provided.
Ngara, however, is not happy with the situation at Karee saying that they are forced to watch the DSTv Now on the university’s wifi which is extremely slow.
“We need a bigger space to accommodate all on campus students. The wifi is too slow to stream matches and just brings more anger than sports rush to be honest,” Ngara went on.
