News in English

Queue to dentist longer than ever

A student in Tampere may have to wait up to six months for a check-up appointment at a dentist. More than 1,760 students are presently queuing to have an oral health care check-up at YTHS, the Finnish Student Health Service.
Annukka Vuorinen, the senior dentist of YTHS in Tampere, says that the record-breaking queue was expected. It started building up a year ago, when YTHS had to give up prioritising certain student groups. Before then, first- or second-year students were given appointments quicker than others. When the Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland stated that prioritising students was illegal, YTHS had to change the old procedure.
The queue is only enormous when it comes to check-up appointments. If something is found in the check-up, another appointment can be arranged within a month or two, depending on the dentist or the urgency of the case. Cancelled appointments are also easier to get.
Annukka Vuorinen points out that the queue would shorten remarkably, if patients remembered to cancel the appointments they cannot use. Last year 750 appointments were left unused in Tampere because patients failed to cancel them.

Students prefer a raise in study grant to lifting income limits

According to a new student survey released by the Ministry of Education, Opiskelijatutkimus 2006, nearly half of the students believe that a raise in study grant is the primary way to develop student benefits. 20% of the students who completed the survey find that lifting the income limits up is the most important thing. Two percent of the respondents are happy with the current system.
The survey confirms the assumptions about studentsÂ’ bad financial situations.
The median of university studentsÂ’ total net income was 733 euros, what means that half of the respondents earn even less than that.

Election engine for students and youth

Student organisations have established a new election engine for students and youth. The engine is supposed to help students choose a candidate for the parliamentary election and thus encourage more young people to vote.
In the election engine, the candidates have been enquired about their views on raising the study grant, tuition fees, equality, environmental issues and getting young people involved in politics. The search can be defined by factors such as gender, age or education. Over one thousand candidates have already answered the engineÂ’s questions.

Comments divide the Student Union

The representatives of Tamy, the Student Union of the University of Tampere, have different views on what issues Tamy is entitled to address.
The eternal dispute came up once again last autumn, when TamyÂ’s Executive Board made a comment on preserving the internal architecture of the cinema Kino-Palatsi. Especially the right-wing groups Syvänsiniset and Boomarit have been against comments that do not directly concern university or the position of students.
Aviisi sent groups of representatives an email query, in which the groupsÂ’ views on Tamy as a social influence could be defined. The representatives were asked seven example questions, which did not express, whether Tamy was supposed to argue for or against the matter in question.
According to the query, the groups of representatives can be divided into two sides: One thinks that one should not deny Tamy any chance to have an influence on outside issues. The other believes that Tamy should not get involved in things that are not its business.

Recruitment event tunes CVs into perfection

Employers introduce themselves and present their possible career opportunities in a contact and recruitment event Yrityspäivät at the University on the 7th and 8th February. At the fairÂ’s CV-desk students can get good advice on improving their CVs.
"Some visitors are surprised to discover that fair stands do not simply deliver summer jobs to people who happen to get there first. When visiting company stands, it is worthwhile to bring a copy of your CV - and even filling in the companyÂ’s application form and handing it in would certainly do no harm", Yrityspäivät advises visitors in a bulletin.

An Inconvenient Truth free showing at the University

Tamy and Ecocampus project are arranging a free film showing for the University staff and students. A documentary film by Davis Guggenheim, An Inconvenient Truth, is a portrait of Al Gore, the former presidential candidate of U.S.A., lecturing about climate change.
The showings take place on Tuesday the 6th February at 16:00 in the Festival Hall of the Main Building, and on Thursday the 8th February at 15:00 in Finn-Medi 1 auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine.

Translations: Varpu Jutila