No Christmas stress
It’s that time of year again: Christmas gifting. So, that is the same for UM. This year, employees don’t need to fear the stress of choosing. There is actually nothing to choose: everyone will receive 75 euro extra after tax with their December salary. In a distant past, the tradition was that hampers were filled with wine, sausage, nuts and other non-perishable products, and vouchers from the Tourist Information Office were also a thing back then. Last year, UM opted for online platforms where employees could choose their own gifts. Those who were not interested, could choose a donation to a charity or just an extra amount with their salary in December.
Why did this year’s choice fall on the last option? An evaluation of last year’s platform was delayed until June. There was no time to put out a new public contract at that time, said Wilma Klinkhamer, chairperson of Lokaal Overleg (involved in the financing of the Christmas gifts). “It is actually quite a job.” By the way, this doesn’t keep her awake at night, because “most people always choose the money”. Will hamper lovers now always have to make do with a ‘boring’ sum of money? We will have to see with a new evaluation. Klinkhamer: “If employees miss receiving the gifts, they will make that known.”
Student Staircase Run
How many students are still feeling their calves? They had been set a tremendous challenge last Friday: the Dutch student championship Staircase Run in Nijmegen. Students from all over the country came together to brave the Erasmus building with its twenty floors. Some managed to do half, but the real diehards climbed right to the top. There was a relay for those who wanted to share the burden. Also, to make it a proper student event, student athletic association ’t Haasje, added an extra element: the beer chase. “Before you start, you have to down a beer. The winners will be rewarded with more beer,” Daniëlle Smit, chairperson of ’t Haasje, said to sister newspaper Vox.
The organisation is very pleased with the number of registrations: 171. It was twice as much as they expected. Smit: “The event is becoming more well-known. There are hardly any campus buildings in the Netherlands that are as high as this one. And the staircase doesn’t have any interruptions. An excellent location for this event.” The winner was Tilburg student Sam van de Werken. He reached the twentieth floor within 1 minute and 57 seconds.
Ice skating at uni
Ice skating at the university? That is possible at the boffins in Eindhoven this month. Students and employees can take to the ice in the Technical University’s Atlas building, where a proper Christmas market has been set up, until 20 December. In 2018 and 2019, the skating rink was already a part of the so-called ‘WinTU/er Village’, outdoors at the time. Now there is an ‘indoor skating rink’.
Besides the positive reactions, there are also a lot of queries. An ice-skating rink in a heated building, surely that costs a lot of energy? “We are literally not skating on thin ice,” ‘community manager’ Erik de Jong told sister newspaper Cursor. That must be Eindhoven humour. The answer is written on an information sign next to the skating rink: between 4,860 and 6,480 kWh for the two weeks that the Christmas market will be open. Exchange the skating rink for a stage with lighting and sound (during a two-day festival), and you end up with the same, the explanation continues on the sign. Pleasure is allowed to cost something, TU probably thought.