JoL-Afton - What can we do?

What LUNA can learn from others - an interesting discussion night. It is December the 6th and the Gender and Equality committee hosts a JoL-afton in Lundmarkssalen. It does not, if you might think so, have anything with christmas to do. Instead, it is a discussion night open for everyone, were values within the union are discussed.

To get the discussion started, the committee has invited the head of the gender and equality committee at the F-section at TLTH, Robin Berneståhle. He introduces the attendees to a project that was done at the F-section during the spring, through which values at the section were charted. The tools used to do that were discussions with lots of members of the F-section, both active and non active ones, as well as collecting written thoughts from members. Since it was possible to be anonymous when giving information to the project, lots of information was collected. Robin shows a huge bundle of papers to the attendees of the evening and it is easy to understand the wide range of the project, which has made the section better on criticizing itself and being able to see how more people can be included.

After the presentation, which is nicely performed, especially through showing papers which have been part of the investigation, the attendees of the night are split into three different groups and interesting discussions appears. The questions brought up were among other values within LUNA, what we can learn from the investigation on the F-section and were you can turn if you of some reason not feel mentally well. It is really important that these things are discussed and that the union is aware of which values people see in their work. The discussions during the evening and Robins presentation were therefore a great start at a discussion that should be incorporated in all union work!

You can contact the Information Committeeat [email protected]. If you want to find out more about the union, you are always welcome to stop by the union officeor simply browse our webpage. You can contact the union via this form (you can be anonymous) or by e-mail at [email protected].

Musikhjälpen is an annual event arranged to gather funds for a charity project. This year the theme is ‘Children are not for sale’ and the money donated will go towards fighting child trafficking. LUNA has started a so-called ‘bössa‘ which you can donate through. Let us do our best to help this cause!

A visit to a Health, Environment, and Safety Committee meeting

“It is quarter past, so I think we should start!” The health, environment and safety committee has gathered in the sofas inside the union office and the chairperson Leo is eager to start the meeting. After he has taken the role as secretary upon himself, the committee members are allowed to report everything that has happened at their institutions since the last meeting. But there is not that much to say. The committee is pretty small, just one member from each student council and the chairperson, and many of the institutions have not had any HMS-meetings. So, after reports regarding new microwaves at the centrum of geology and new chairs in the Ecology building, the members do not have much left to say, and Leo takes the word back. He quickly mentions that the list of student rights will be updated, and that there have been discussions about the possibility to have English speaking members in the health, environment and safety committees at the different faculties at the university. After that, he begins to present the results from the” Are you okay?” survey that the committee conducted this spring.

At this point, everyone present seems to become way more interested in the meeting. It is totally quiet when Leo shows the level of stress students feel at the different institutions. The aim with the “Are you okay?” survey was to see how students at the faculty of natural sciences felt, and there were questions about stress, if you feel like you will manage your courses and if you like your study environment, etc. The investigation was successful. 463 answers were received, which corresponds to one third of the students at the faculty. And from those answers, Leo has put together the colourful graphs that he shows the meeting attendants.

The discussions about the graphs are both engaged and touching. Some of the attendees wanted to know why students at their institution had a stress level at the verge of collapse. Other tried to explain different phenomena from their own experiences. What is clearly shown is though that the situation is not the same at the different institutions. Some are good at answering emails, others have students who generally sleep bad. But the fact that a significant amount of the students who answered the survey have sought help for mental illness is a sign that something needs to be done. The work done in the environment, health and safety committee are important, because no student should have a stress level on the verge of collapse.

You can contact the Information Committeeat [email protected]. If you want to find out more about the union, you are always welcome to stop by the union officeor simply browse our webpage. You can contact the union via this form (you can be anonymous) or by e-mail at [email protected].

LUNA Halloween - A Unique Sitting

Lophtet is filled with people. They are everywhere, even though they do not look exactly like people. Among other things there are angels, pumpkins, a piece of sushi and a lot of vampires. The reason to why people in this quite odd mixture of costumes have gathered is that LUNA’s party committee is hosting a Halloween sitting. And they do not just host it, they do it in a really good way.

You cannot imagine that it is the first sitting they host. Food is served quite fast, they keep track of everything and they have hired a wonderful photographer and two fantastic toastmasters, who manage to keep the hype up with songs and laughter. Because meanwhile everyone sing well-known songs with high voices, songbooks are passed around to get new notes and people are cheering. You cannot see anyone feeling bored, not even when you pass the whole room and press yourself against the wall to reach the toilet. It is necessary since the hall is filled to its maximum.

The LUNA members where as hyped to get their tickets as they are during the sitting. Everyone want to join, and the hype reaches its peak when the sitting is over and LUNAs own band Fission Ships enter the stage. They make the whole bunch of people dance together until they cannot think of anything other than the dance. Apart from that, the band really makes the sitting to something other than a usual sitting at a nation.

This is LUNA, and this is how fantastic we can organise things if we try our best. Because even though the vegetarian food is way too spicy to eat, the night is marvellous. There are people laughing everywhere you turn and the night does not end until the party master tells everyone to leave at 02.20. That fact alone is a good grade for an awesome night!

You can contact the Information Committee at [email protected]. If you want to find out more about the union, you are always welcome to stop by the union office or simply browse our webpage. You can contact the union via this form (you can be anonymous) or by e-mail at [email protected]. See more pictures at the Facebook page.

Friday at the office

The top of the Astronomy tower shines in the autumn sun, a lovely Friday that bodes well for the upcoming weekend. At the base of the tower lies what one might call the heart of the natural science studies in Lund; the Science Student Union, LUNA. Well, that and the actual Faculty of Science.

To the left of the entrance, facing out towards Sölvegatan the union office is located. When entering the room seems a bit deserted, now that the office hours have past, but just an hour ago the room was filled with laughter. Students filled the room and sofas, discussing upcoming adventures, contemplating their studies, and simply enjoying the chance for some company.

In the back corner, behind his desk, we find the union vice president, Theo. The soft clicking from a computer keyboard gives away that work is being done. What are you up to? “Working a bit on the webpage. My Friday entertainment.”, he answers.

We pour up some coffee and gaze out over the room. The sun shines through the curtain and showcases the usual mess. Cozy.

Now the coffee is all finished and the sun is surprisingly still shining. The fiery autumn leaves move in the proper Scanian (sv. skånska) wind. Time to head out again.

LUNA will be back on Monday, as always.

The Novisch Period is going strong!

On the union Facebook page you can check out pictures from the introduction week. More will be added over time. Make sure to follow the official Novisch Period Facebook page to keep up with all events, quests, and information.

If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to contact the Mentor Committee (FU) or LUNA. You reach the Mentor Generals at [email protected] and the union at [email protected]. Call the union office at 046-222 03 18.

Welcome new students of LUNA!

Make sure to start your time at university in the best way possible - join the LUNA Novisch Period 2017.

From today and for the upcoming weeks, you as a new student, or ‘novisch’, are welcome to participate in some introductory fun. Learn more about the university, the faculty and your student union, find new friends, and have loads of fun of course!

The Novisch Period this year is a thrilling adventure of courage and wits to save ourselves from the apocalypse brought on by the Mentor Committee (FU). Join your team according to your subject of study and convince the world that your solution is the way to go.

Events included are games, university and city tours, dinners, game nights, parties, and so much more. For some activities you need to be a member of Studentlund and over 18 years old. You can find a list of all events in the Novisch booklet or on Facebook.

You can contact the Mentor Generals in charge of the Novisch Period for more information. Information on whatever you may need is also found in the booklet. And as always, feel free to contact the union via e-mail, call us at 046-222 03 18, or simply stop by the office.

Make sure to keep updated with the union by liking us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and be sure to read the newspaper Zenit next time you visit a bathroom in the faculty buildings.

Tonight the union parliament elected a president for LUNA 2017/18.

Welcome Einar Elén. Einar has previously been chairperson of the physics student council GLuFS and spokesperson for the Gender and Equality Committee. With such a sound experience within LUNA, there is no doubt he will do a great job in the year ahead.

The fulltimers for the upcoming year are hence Einar Elén as president (left), Theodor Blom as vice president (middle), and Peter Bijnens (50%) as head of cooperate relations (right).

~ Interviews with students of LUNA ~

It is time for a very special text from the Information Committee’s research project Nadir. We infiltrated one of the Mentor Committee (FU) meetings and made some observations. This transcript is highly classified material, which is now leaked to all members of LUNA.

We give you

‘Observations from a Mentor Committee meeting’

by Sebastian Wolsing.

“Cellphones are being passed around, with more or less funny pictures. It is noticeable that this is both fun and serious. The chairperson of the Mentor Committee, Hanna, tries to take a firm grip of the attention by introducing the first topic of the meeting. She reads the Crisis Management Plan and the members listen carefully.

Vassily laughs a bit as he looks over at Eric. It looks like they have something to say. Hanna keeps reading. Ebba is looking at her phone and John is munching on the cookies that were bought just for this occasion. This is no ordinary meeting, this is an FU meeting where fun and serious are entwined into a mess of cookies and laughter.”

“Vassily shouts “Coffee break!” and goes out to get the coffee (that apparently could be way more black). When he comes back Eric has made a sandwich consisting of gingerbread and cookies, the others nod approvingly. Hanna remembers a story that she finds funny, and retells it to everyone’s pleasure.

After a while she continues to read the Crisis Management Plan, while constantly being interrupted by other committee members making jokes. It would be interesting to see how the productivity varies with coffee intake. Me as a statistician should make such an analysis and show it to them so that they can optimise their meetings.” Next follows a brief summary of how a general Mentor Committee meeting could turn out:

17.12 First person arrives (usually the president), packs up the fika from the backpack and waits for the others.

17.15 Meeting starts, still only one person there.

17.18-17.25 The rest of the committee arrives, everyone blaming late schoolwork/labs/buses.

17.25 Meeting starts for real.

17.27 Someone shows a funny video of a cat, and everyone starts talking about something else for a while.

17.31 Meeting is resumed, for a moment. Discussing mentor related matters, going through the agenda until someone gets a funny thought or has some other story to share.

“The Mentor Committee seems to have a lot of fun during their meetings and it feels like they really emphasize having fun over being productive but it does seem like most of the members are fine with it.

Being a member of the Mentor Committee means a lot of work during the year with meetings, evaluations, and the actual Novisch Period. This includes working hard under stress and doing that together with a group of people going through the same amount of stress. Maybe this way of having meetings is their way to cope with the stress get closer to one another. After all, they need to be able to work together under a lot of pressure which makes it easier if they can have fun together as well.”

You can contact the Information Committee at [email protected] and the Mentor Committee chairperson at [email protected]. You can reach the current mentor generals at [email protected]. If you want to find out more about life as an active member of the union, you are always welcome to stop by the union office or simply browse our webpage. You can contact the union via this form (you can be anonymous) or by e-mail at [email protected].

~ Interview brought to you by the Information Committee ~

~ Interviews with students of LUNA ~

It is soon time for a long summer break, and for some of you maybe summer jobs are waiting. We managed to get an interview with Elin Backström, a member of the Corporate Relations Committee (CRC) of LUNA. Here follows a brief text about what they do and how they are working to improve the employability of science students.

“In the meetings of CRC, we discuss areas that influence the relations between students and working life, for example how natural scientists can be more visible and more attractive for employers and what opportunities there are for improvement. We highlight these areas by hosting events such as lectures and workshops. During the fall semester, we have also been planning for LUNAs own career fair ATLAS. I applied as a representative for the CRC since the working life is an extremely important area, in which there are plenty to work with. Being a member of the CRC is educative and I feel like I learn plenty of different things. It is also really fun!”

You can contact the Information Committee at [email protected] and the Head of Corporate Relations moreover the chairperson of the CRC at [email protected]. If you want to find out more about life as an active member of the union, you are always welcome to stop by the union office or simply browse our webpage. You can contact the union via this form (you can be anonymous) or by e-mail at [email protected].

~ Interview brought to you by the Information Committee ~