Student influence on a national level?

This weekend the union president and two student representatives are attending the annual conference FUM by Sveriges Förenade Studentkårer (SFS). SFSFUM is held in the ‘student city of the year’ (sv: årets studentstad), 2017 Linköping is the place to be.

Student unions from universities all over Sweden gather to discuss and decide upon what matters should be brought up by the students of Sweden to the national government and parliament. What a great impact student influence is able to have!

If you are interested in reading more about the work of SFS you can do so on their webpage or contact the union and ask about how LUNA is involved in the organisation.

The remainder of the term includes a few holidays and other reasons to be off. Check out the information below to be sure when you can find the presidium or members of the board at the union office. You can always contact LUNA outside of office hours and book a meeting.

Office hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday, between 11.00 and 14.00.

~ Interviews with students of LUNA ~

Hello! It is the Information Committee here again, this time with a fresh interview with Miljövetarnas Ypperliga Studieråd (MYS), the student council for environmental scientists. They had two members interview two other members of MYS in a cheerful fashion. Let’s see what they had to say!

Why should everyone join MYS?

Maria “It’s great to get to affect your education and student life. We had very motivating mentors during our novisch period, who inspired us to join, and so should you!”

Elin “We have a positive spirit in our student council, which makes working for the best university time possible, a very fun thing.”

What amazing things are you up to?

Maria “In the ANLU committee, we try to create a bridge between students and their future career alternatives, both education and work related. We recently arranged a Linkedin workshop and are now planning an inspirational evening, where former students come and talk about their careers.”

Elin “The Party Masters plan funny things that happen after school. During the autumn, the committee has arranged a kid’s party themed sittning, a pub crawl and a christmas baking evening. Sort of everything is possible to do, you just need the ideas!”

“If you think MYS sounds as cosy as we do, why not join us? Just come to the weekly Wednesday fika where delicious cakes are served, or show up at one of our meetings!”

Interview carried by Julia Johansson and Elvira Källberg

You can contact the Information Committee at [email protected] and the MYS chairperson and vice chairperson 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 ~

You may now nominate for the pedagogical or honorary prize of LUNA. Nominate via this form. The prizes are annually awarded an employee of the Faculty of Science who has put extraordinary effort into making the university a better place for its students.

The pedagogical prize

The pedagogical prize is awarded an outstanding teacher. Such a teacher should understand individuality of different students, be an asset and resource for support, create enthusiasm for the subject being taught and take into account the student opinions. One can only be awarded the pedagogical prize once, see a full list of previous winners here.

The honorary prize

The honorary prize is awarded an employee or a group of employees that has eased the studies for students or has worked on strengthening the student voice.

The final decision on the two to receive each respective prize will be made by the board May 16th. You can nominate up until May 15th. The awards will be handed to the recipients on the graduation ceremony June 4th.

Three new positions are up for nomination. Candidate by e-mailing the Nomination Committee at [email protected] or candidate at the parliament meeting 2017-05-10 if the meeting decides to open up for free nomination. Below you also find the vacant posts remaining from the elective parliament meetings.

~ Interviews with students of LUNA ~

It is time to reveal one of the bigger interviews we made during 2016; with the mentor generals of LUNA. Full transcript of the 20 minute long interview is available in Swedish here.

The Mentor Committee (FU) is one of the committees of Science Student Union. They are responsible for the novisch period at the start of every new term. The Information Committee had the opportunity to get an interview with the generals of the FU, Johanna Jangefelt Frising och Eric ”Herrgårn” Andersson, after one of their committee meetings. The newly elected general, John Wimarsson, was also present to give his thoughts on the upcoming tasks. John and Eric are astrophysicists, and Johanna is studying general physics.

How was the novisch period of 2016?

Herrgårn “Really good. People were hyped, and a lot of fun novisches. The general mood was really nice.”

Did you feel like you had a lot to do during the period?

John “Moderately, I did not know what to expect. It was my first big novisch period. So it takes a while to get used to it, but it went well. I got good coaching.”

Johanna “Yeah, it is a lot to do, but mostly fun things, so it is okay.”

Do you feel pressured when you are a general?

Herrgårn “I would say a little.”

Johanna “You are a little stressed, but at the same time you know that you have an entire committee helping you. You put your trust to them to 100%.”

Johanna and Herrgårn have been generals during 2016, and Herrgårn has now left the seat for John, who has been elected. Normally you are elected general for a year, being Junior the first semester, and Senior the second semester.

Do you feel like you know what it is like to be a general now?

Johanna “I think so, yes. We had a new situation when we were elected because we were both new.”

Herrgårn “I got to be Junior for like one meeting. But I think it went well. Since you have the whole committee as a general, you are never alone.”

Johanna nods in agreement.

What does a general do that the others in the committee do not?

Johanna “The general is the face out to the novisches. So when the novisches are given information, it is through the generals. They are standing in front and talking during the activities, and that makes them a familiar face for the new student.”

Herrgårn “In some sense, they are also the source of energy. The ones who get the hype going.”

John “I can not really speak from experience after being a general, but after have seen generals ”in action” I have gotten my perspective on the generals. It is always the generals you remember from the novisch period. There are many new faces when you begin your student life, but the generals are at least familiar from the start.”

(To John) How does it feel like to be the next general?

John “It feels great, I am looking forward to it. You know you have a standard to live up to, but at the same time you have this great cooperation between everyone in the MC. I also know that I can ask the older generals for advice, if something would go wrong. That feels really good.”

Is there something else you would like to say to the members of LUNA?

All “Become a mentor!”

John “It is really fun, and you get to meet a lot of different people…”

Johanna “…and not just from your own study council, but from all different kinds of study councils that you otherwise might not have had the chance to meet.”

Herrgårn “It is when you start as a mentor you get into the union life. The first time you are in the novisch period, you only scratch the surface. When you are a mentor, you really get to do everything.”

Interview made 2016-12-12 by Sebastian Wolsing. A full transcript of the 20 minute long interview is available in Swedish here.

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 time for another interview. This time with the chairperson of the Environment, Health and Safety Committee moreover the Chief Safety Officer (HSSO) of LUNA, Leo Östman.

“The HMS (Environment, Health and Safety) committee exists to coordinate student representatives in matters regarding the work environment throughout the faculty. It consists of representatives from each study council, the student safety representatives or SSO, and a chair, the HSSO. There are also many more fun acronyms, though mostly in decently technical Swedish, for anyone interested in having a say in their own study environment. During our meetings we mostly sit around and talk about what has been going on at the department level, where most of the work done by us representatives happens. We all sit in HMS committees at our departments, where we bring up whatever issues concern the students, or just complain. Additionally, we conduct a yearly survey regarding the psychosocial health of the students. This is done to find out where things are good or could be improved. It’s really actually tons of fun.”

You can contact the Information Committee at [email protected] and the Chief Safety Officer 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 ~

It is time for the second part of the Absurd Student council Olympics. It is an old tradition of union being revived by the Party Committee and the student councils of LUNA for the first time in a long while.

On Saturday April 22nd the second ASO session takes place. From 13 o’clock the teams will gather in Stadsparken and then compete in three adventurous games. The event is free of charge. You can like and follow the Facebook page for continuous updates, attend the Facebook event for the second session, and sign up to this form to get free food on Saturday!

Later in the day the champions, and any member of LUNA who is interested, will gather at Lunds nation and for a union sittning in all its glory. Attend the Facebook event for more information or contact you local sexmästare. You can sign up here, deadline for sign up is April 14th.

This post has been updated continuously between April 18th and 20th.

~ Interviews with students of LUNA ~

It is time again for another student interview, this time with the chairperson of the Party Committee, Filip Nygren. He will guide you through the responsibilities of the committee, as well as giving some insight into who he is. Sounds great, right?

“Party Committee Chairperson Filip Nygren Party Committee! The name says it all, but only almost. Our job and passion is to organize various social events for all of you, the science students. No one makes better Novisch periods than the Mentor Committee, and the Sports Committee offer the sportiest of sport events, but our focus is general social events and parties aimed to bring science students from all subjects together in fun-ness and good times! Remember also to support your local student council party committee for your day-to- day event cravings.

Who am I? My name is Filip Nygren, currently on my third year of mathematics. I’ve been a mentor in the Novisch period two and a half times, been a member of the MUR party committee for one and a half year, and various other posts. Starting my third year, I figured it was time to take it to the next level, and thus I applied to the Party Committee of LUNA.

As of the academic year 16/17, the Party Committee received a large influx of members, growing from 3 to 9 members. With this followed also a large amount of that precious resource that drives Lunds student life: the tagg. Then our dear chairperson Johan (Book) went skiing, so I decided to pick up where he left. Together with my fellow party masters, we continue to hold the flag high as we let all them events coming, yo!

Besides our usual activities like our much appreciated sittnings, club nights, waffle brunches, billiards evening, sauna nights and more, we also help out organizing the larger union-wide events like balls, the Tandem Relay etc. And all this is very important, because it brings us science students together, and allow us to mingle and bond, no matter what subject we study.

Also keep your eyes open for the coming annual Absurd Student council Olympics ASO, which, according to old traditions, is a friendly but prestigious competition with a series of inexplicably absurd events. It’s gonna be big. Be on the look out for our posters and we hope to see you on our events!”

You can contact the Information Committee at [email protected] and the Party Committee chairperson 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 ~