When the going gets tough... - Wageningen UR

24 >> studentIN THE RACKS PLEASEARGO REVEALS KEYTO SUCCESSWe mean no harm, of course. Butsometimes we are in a hurry.Quite often in fact. And then welike to park our bikes close to theentrance of the uni. And not inthe racks. Then other peoplecome back to find their bikeshemmed in. Irritating. I am sureyou recognize the problem. Themanagement at theLeeuwenborch hopes to tackle itwith signs painted on thepavement.Leeuwenborch caretaker Jork deVries understands what makesstudents park so messily. ‘Studentsarrive at the last minute; I’m thesame myself. Then they just wantto leave their bikes in front of thesheds; they don’t want to look for aspace.’ Pity, he says, because in theracks towards the back there isnearly always plenty of space.Student Nadieh Tubbenacknowledges the bike problem,but in her view it’s because thereare not enough bike racks. ‘Thereare never enough spaces. It is a tugof war to get your bike out again,and you damage your bike in theprocess.’A LOSING BATTLEWhatever the reasons for it, it isForum MorganaPHOTO: ROB GOOSSENSStudents don’t seem to take much notice of the new signs.always hard to get students tochange their behavior. Thetraditions signboards threateningthat ‘bicycles parks outside theracks will be removed,’ arecertainly not effective. Staffmember Maya Slingerland knowswhy not. ‘Everyone knows by nowthat those signs are nonsense.Bicycles are never removed.’ Thenew texts on the pavements do notthreaten any sanctions. Theysimply say, ‘No bicycles here’. Whoknows whether that will help? Thisweek there was too much snow forthe signs to be visible. But Nadiehhas her doubts. If you ask her, itwould have been a better idea toremove the posts in front of thebike sheds to create more spaces.‘No one takes any notice at all ofthose signs. Me neither. If thereisn’t enough space, there isn’tenough space.’ The caretaker isnot so sure about that. ‘It is alosing battle, but let’s hope itworks.’ MvdHLunching students couldn’t believe theireyes. Suddenly, to the tune of Arabmusic, a beauty straight out of the ArabianNights began to perform a steamybelly dance. Judging by the expressionson the faces in the background, it was amuch pleasanter sight than your matesmunching their sarnies. It turned out tobe a stunt organized by AIESEC, whoseNour project aims to promote understandingbetween the western and theArab worlds. Relations between themhave been under pressure since theattacks on the World Trade Centre. Thissummer, 25 talented students will leavefor the Middle East and North Africa towork on a summer project. Interested?Registration is open until 4 February.RR, foto RGWho? Madeleen BrouwerWhat? Argo jubilee symposiumcommittee member for PRWhere? The rowing club isholding a symposium as part ofits celebrations of its 100thanniversaryIt’s not every day that you hear of asport club organizing a symposium!‘No. We had a look and it does seemthat Argo has never organized anythinglike this before. We have invitedfour different speakers whowill be telling us what they see asthe key to success at the top in rowingand other sports. The themeis mainly about sport but we thinkthat what they have to say will beapplicable in other areas too. Yourcareer, for instance. The speakerswill cover subjects like the role ofmental aspects, diet, coaching andthe individual athlete. Of courseit’s also nice to see where youmight end up as a former Argonaut:the symposium is beingchaired by Gerrit Hiemstra, who isa former Argonaut, for example.’How many people are you expecting?‘About 200. They will mainly bemembers and former membersbut hopefully we’ll get other studentsand Wageningen residentsas well. Former Argonauts are stillvery involved, which is nice to see.All the speakers at the symposiumsaid ‘yes’ without hesitation whenwe asked them. Afterwards AlexanderPechtold will be auctioning artworks:four works made especiallyfor the jubilee celebrations will begoing under the hammer.Unfortunately he never rowed withArgo.’ LvdNRESOURCE — 31 January 2013