~ Interviews with students of LUNA ~

Time again and this time we give the spotlight to Hanna Thosteman (again). If you have been paying attention, she was also the chairperson of the Gender and Equality Committee (JoL). Now she has another role to report on, namely being the chairperson of the Mentor Committee (FU). Let us see what she has to say about that responsibility.

“Black tailcoats, medals, sunglasses and ridiculously good-looking members; from the outside, the Mentor Committee might strike you as superheroes carrying out the Novisch Periods while dancing and losing mascots simultaneously. But appearances are deceptive.

Behind all the glamour and fame hides a group of hard working, dedicated students, who on their spare time plan and execute the Novisch Periods together with awesome mentors. Their meetings are long (one time they scored four hours) and their ideas are many, but they would not be able to manage all the work without the fantastic mentors that year after year greet and welcome the new students to Lund. Together they make an excellent team, and will time and time again pull off the greatest Novisch Periods in the history of Novisch Periods. TAGGARÅÅÅ.”

You can contact the Information Committee at info@luna.lu.se and the Mentor Committee chairperson at fu-ordf@luna.lu.se. 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 luna@luna.lu.se.

~ Interview brought to you by the Information Committee ~

~ Interviews with students of LUNA ~

Another week and that calls for another student interview. We asked an old member of the Information Committee, Julia Höglund, about how it is like to be a part of a spex in Lund. If you are interested in joining a spex, or just curious to what it is all about, have a look at what Julia has to say about it.

“If you are new in Lund, if you are old or if you have been here your whole life, you might or might not have heard about the student activity called spex. 

As one can read on Wikipedia: “Spex is a kind of amateur comedy theatre act performed by university students in Sweden and parts of Finland. University cities, such as Gothenburg, Lund, Uppsala, and Linköping have long-running traditions of spex. The word is likely derived from abbreviated student slang for spektakel (spectacle; scene; show).”

In other words, you start with nothing except for a manuscript and some 15-20 songs, meet every day for five weeks and suddenly a group of 50-120 students have (at least) four spectacular shows with hundreds in the audience clapping for you to sing one more time, or say a funny line again.

The theatre shows are normally political satires, about a historical event or person, and the story often have a comedic twist and the use of non-time accurate characters is also very common.

Currently there are more than ten spexes in Lund ranging from the big ones having their shown in the big hall in the AF building like Lundaspexarna and Boelspexarna, to the nation spexes like Hallands slottsspex and Krischanstaspääxet having their shows at the nation. Your part can be any part, as long as it helps making a show coming to life. A spex needs people to sow the costumes, build props, play in the band, act on stage, selling tickets, and even cook food every day. Anyone can join any spex, and you don’t have to know anything before (well except being able to play an instrument if you want to be in the band).

The spexes normally have a day every semester where you can apply an interest, fill in a form what you like, what you want to do and then hopefully you will spend five intense week doing whatever you decided to do with other as dedicated students as you.”

You can contact the Information Committee at info@luna.lu.se. 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 luna@luna.lu.se.

~ Interview brought to you by the Information Committee ~

Our dear giraffes made it back home! After an adventurous trip to Gothenburg and back again LUNA and its teammates of Samhällsvetarkåren are safely back in Lund. Find pictures from the trip on Facebook. Tandemstafetten 2017 is over and the next one takes place in 2019. Next year the Lundakarnevalen will take its place.

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 info@luna.lu.se and the MYS chairperson and vice chairperson at mys-ordf@luna.lu.se. 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 luna@luna.lu.se.

~ 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 valb-ordf@luna.lu.se 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 info@luna.lu.se and the Mentor Committee chairperson at fu-ordf@luna.lu.se. You can reach the current mentor generals at fg@luna.lu.se. 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 luna@luna.lu.se.

~ 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 info@luna.lu.se and the Chief Safety Officer at hsso@luna.lu.se. 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 luna@luna.lu.se.

~ Interview brought to you by the Information Committee ~