Fruit trees instead of chocolate letters
Normally, members from the Nanoscopy team from the M4I institute (Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences) can reckon on a gift at the feast of St Nicholas, but last December, their shoes remained empty. Not because of bad behaviour, but because people wondered if the Saint couldn’t find a better way to spend the money. For example, by creating a greener environment.
That wish was honoured: instead of chocolate letters, the team received near to a dozen fruit trees. With permission from Facility Services, these were planted on a patch of grass next to Oxfordlaan 55 in Randwyck last week, where the team likes to spend their lunch breaks. This was then an immediate reason for a team outing: the employees themselves were allowed to dig the ten deep holes needed, which because of the hard soil turned out to be quite the challenge. A job that will – literally - bear fruit in the coming years.
Dancing for Willem-Alexander
Have you always wanted to show off your dance moves to the king? For students from the UM and Zuyd Hogeschool, this will be possible next Wednesday, when the royal family will come to Maastricht for King’s Day. On the Graanmarkt – where the group will take a city walk to become acquainted with Maastricht student life – a real “student flash mob” will take place, sports council MUSST states. A large group will ‘suddenly’ start to dance.
By the way, to sign up you need not be a gifted dancer. The day before, there will be a rehearsal and the students will also follow the movements of ‘real’ dancers. Those present will receive two drinks as gratitude and they can party to music by DJ duo Lucas and Steve. But above all, eternal fame awaits: not only will the royal family be watching, but the rest of the country can also enjoy it all live through national television.
Get to the beer earlier
Students from the Hogeschool van Arnhem and Nijmegen (HAN) have started a petition to be allowed to drink beer earlier after the board from the university of applied sciences decided last month that pubs on the campus premises were only allowed to serve alcoholic beverages from 16:00 hrs. That is an hour later than “normal”, writes student association Lokaal’99 – which runs a pub on the campus in Arnhem. “This affects all HAN students very much,” the statement reads.
According to the initiators, it happens “quite often” that students finish their classes around 15:00 hrs and “are ready for a well-deserved moment of responsible relaxation”. Because of the decision, students feel that they have been stripped of taking responsibility themselves and the pubs fear a “drastic decline in turnover”. Sixteen study and student associations are backing the petition that was launched last week.
It doesn’t look like it will have much effect. A spokesperson for HAN informed Omroep Gelderland that the board had no intention to bring serving time forward one hour: “We feel that it is important that we offer our students a safe and healthy environment. We are of the opinion that drinking alcohol is not part of that, but we don’t want to ban it completely.” Just to be sure, Lokaal’99 has already introduced a non-alcoholic happy hour from 15:00 to 16:00 hrs. (HOP)