News in English

Van, Domus and meeting room to be bookable from Tamy website

Tamy´s new, redesigned website opened on January 26th. The redesign was done to add new needed features to the site.
A feature for booking Tamy´s van, meeting room, and Domus Club will be added this spring. Bookings can be done with University of Tampere basic user accounts and existing bookings can be viewed without logging in. New features that have already been added include a comprehensive event calendar, in-site search, and news feed. The English part of Tamy´s website will probably be moved to the new design gradually later this year.

Yo-talo´s feared ramp demolished

The ramp that has tormented renters of Tamy´s van for ten years has been demolished. Until now, the van had to be driven up a ramp to another building´s backyard and from there down a separate curved ramp to the street. On that narrow twenty-meter stretch, the van has been dented dozens of times at least.
The ramp was demolished because the foundation responsible for the property wanted to improve the backyard. From now on, the van will be driven to the street through a narrow gateway.

Musician database launched on Tamy´s website

Tamy launches a musician database for bands, musicians, and event organizers on its new website. Using the database event organizers can hire performers for events connected to Tamy or the university. In the database, bands can define their fee ranges to help organizers pick performers who fit their budget.
In practice, musicians and bands who register with the database write down some basic information like what instruments they play, what style of music they play, and their fees. Event organizers can view the information and contact bands via the database.
If you are interested in the database, contact Sami Kainulainen by either going over to his office at Tamy or emailing him at sami.kainulainen(at)uta.fi.

Faculty Councils may shrink

The University of Tampere Faculty Councils might face downsizing. The number of student members in the Councils would fall by two or three per faculty. The downsizing would effect all three representative groups equally and keep the relative share of students in the Councils at a third. The number of substitute members threatens to go down, too.
“Before, either the actual member or their substitute was more experienced. Now this practice is in danger as the subject organisations have to compete for the seats. Some subject organisations are for and some against the downsizing. Mostly they have objected to the reasons given for it," says Pasi Rautanen, Tamy´s Secretary of Academic Affairs.
The possible changes in the sizes of Faculty Councils are based on changes in the university´s internal regulations.

SYL changes its English name

SYL has changed its English name. The union´s new name is National Union of University Students in Finland. According to SYL, the old name, National Union of Students in Finland, did not refer to university students and caused confusion in international use.
The renaming decision was done by SYL´s Board. The organisation´s Finnish name will remain Suomen ylioppilaskuntien liitto (SYL).

Kela sends payback notice to 38,000 students

Of the students who received financial aid from Kela in 2005, 38,000 had incomes that exceeded the income limit. Kela has sent them payback notices as stated in the law on student financial aid because they have not cancelled or paid back the extra aid in time. The average amount to be paid back is 1,116 euros. The total amount of the paybacks is 42.4 million euros.
Any extra aid paid in 2006 should be paid back by the end March.

Translations: Aatu Lehtovaara