SiB discriminating foreign students
The leases issued by SiB are not in accordance with legislation.
Foreign students do not have the opportunity to cancel their
lease with SiB during the first five months. So rent is due
even if one finds a new place during this time. On the contrary,
a Norwegian student has the right to terminate his lease with
one month’s notice. This practice has been initiated by the
fact that SiB reserves rooms for foreign students and want
them to reside there for a period of time. Ivar Henriksen,
the housing manager of SiB, says one is looking into the lease
terms at this point. - Our system is to be renovated and simplified.
Bar any unforeseen events, the five-month rule will be gone
by next year.
People shouldn’t live like this
Electrical installations in typical students’ homes are
often old and risky. This is the opinion of Helge Sjursen,
an engineer from the Bergen power company. Studvest joins
him for the tour of two typical student residences. -My god,
this is awful! It’s a shame people have to live like this,
he says as he sees a bad electrical installation. Still, he
is not shocked by the standards, as he has seen far worse.
Sjursen is part of an ongoing campaign promoting safety in
regard to electrical installations targeting homes in the
centre of town. Many of the problems originate in the lack
of interest shown by landlords as well as tenants.
Silly reform rules
The reform saga continues. Those who starts a «hovedfag»,
the Norwegian version of a master’s programme, may earn the
international and shorter «master» degree despite the recent
introduction of the reform. Leiv K. Sydnes is the head of
a group whose task is to introduce the «quality reform». He
feels the ministry has handled this issue in an awkward manner.
-A diploma shows which courses a student has completed. On
the contrary, a master’s degree indicates five years at university.
I feel a six-year programme should be accredited by one’s
actual degree, Sydnes says. The pending name changes will
not have practical consequences for students.
Alexander Kemp
23.10.02
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