News in English

Minor subject studying increasing in Open University
The number of degree students studying at the University of Tampere Open University has increased by 69 percent in five years.
“Probably most of our degree students are taking minor subject and language courses," says the Open University’s assistant manager, Jorma Taskiainen.
“Minor subjects can be chosen freely with a few exceptions," begins the Study Guide section on minor subjects. There are a fair few exceptions: aptitude tests, quotas, skill level tests, and preliminary courses that need to be completed before basic studies.
Even though all subjects do not have a way of selecting minor subject students, access to classes taught in small groups usually depends on the amount of credits a student has in their major subject.

Tamy suffers sauna shortage
Student organisations want better discounts on JuvenesÂ’ sauna rents. The current student discount is five percent off normal prices. The student unions of TampereÂ’s universities own Juvenes. The companyÂ’s sauna rents range between 220 and 360 euros on weekday nights.
“The current discount percentage is ridiculously small and because of that student organisations don’t use those saunas," says Noora Anttila, chair of PoVi, a neo-green group in Tamy’s Council of Representatives.
Suggested solutions from people who answered AviisiÂ’s poll on the subject were to either raise the student discounts or get Tamy its own sauna.
Tamy itself only has Club Domus at Vanha Domus but the place has no sauna nor has it been very popular among students.

Tamy gets OLL trophy - delegation astonished
In a meeting of the Finnish Student Sport Federation (OLL) on 27th October, Tamy was awarded with the annual OLL trophy. This was the first time Tamy received the award. Reports from the meeting place told that our student union’s delegation “fell on their asses" out of surprise.
The meeting also confirmed OLLÂ’s board for next year. Jussi Ansala from Tamy continues as chair and TamyÂ’s Representative for Social Affairs and Sports, Anna-Mari Huhtinen, was elected as a new board member.

New search engine on education
A group of universities and polytechnics from Western Finland have set up a new web service to help students at the start of their higher education and employment after it.
The site www.kitkatta.net collects information on employment and higher education for students, teachers, and employers alike. The service helps users in finding out things like what kind of jobs graduates from a given course are doing or what a given degree includes.
The service is provided by the universities and polytechnics of Tampere; University of Vaasa; and HAMK, Satakunta, and Seinäjoki Universities of Applied Sciences.

YTHS Porridge Day is here again
The Finnish Student Health Service YTHS will have its traditional Porridge Day on 9th November.
On the day, the YTHS Kalevantie and Korkeakoulunkatu receptions will serve oatmeal and barley porridge. The porridge will be served between eight and ten in the morning. The aim of the Porridge Day is to remind students of the importance of breakfast.

Tamy opens facility database
Tamy is collecting information into a new facility database on the Internet. During autumn the database will collect information on saunas, meeting rooms, party locations, and other facilities around Tampere with pricing, location, and equipment suitable for student organisations.
Tamy wishes that organisations and individual students would help with collecting information into the database. More information on the database and a form for adding information can be found at http://www.tamy.fi/index.php?id=842.