STUDENT LIST
Terrace. 332 9144: British Pregnancy Advisory Service 245 North Street G3, 204 1832; Gay Switchboard (personal answer 7—10pm); Lesbian Line 041 248 4596 (personal answer Mons 7—10pm).
EDINBURGH SAFETY
As city centres go. Edinburgh is reasonably safe. but don‘t let the heady daze of student life blind you . from reality. Ifyou must walk alone late at night. keep to well lit areas.
3 The Meadows are perhaps the most notorious blackspot for attacks —
Electrrcnty Consultative Counc11(see below) but only ifyou have I approached the board itself to no avail. I INSURANCE Insurance of personal belongings is vital. especially for students. whose I tight budgets make even small losses I
At the age of 18‘ people are eligible ground and very centrally situated _ very serious. Endsleigh is the one
m mam: drivc‘ smokc‘ (mm and not handy for colleges. Ifyou bank most commonly seen around student . vote — in other words they are adults. Whh the TSB 0’ Williams and GIYNS . campuscst hm “5 With the hunt“. if Yet‘ if thCV are students‘ they are I then you‘ll find that your Autocards you are already With an insurance
, Sm] forced to rely on their parents for will be compatible with the T88 and firm at home you may be as well .
' financial support. The issue of g the Royal Bank ofScotland sticking With them — better the devrl student finance is a perennial one ’ maCthS- I he same 13mm 0f - you kmw‘"
never cross them alone in the dark. However. Lothian Road. Princes Street and Clerk Street can all be dangerous places at night with lots of 2 pubs open late in these areas.
Always be on guard.
Women are not brought up to feel they have the right to violence — men 3 are. Women have the right to defend themselves and there are various self-defence classes you can join. Contact the Women‘s Group at your 5 college/university ifthere is one. or ; try Women‘s Aid at the address below. Ifattacked. ALWAYS tell . the police. Contact Rape Crisis PO Box 120. Tel 556 9457; Women’s Aid i 11 St Colme Street. Tel 668 2949.
: GLASGOW SAFETY
Glasgow. contrary to popular belief.
; is not particularly bad for violent
: crime — especially as far as the city
centre and West End are concerned.
No one can deny that assaults. rapes.
muggings etc do occur. but these are
f more likely to occur in areas outwith
the centre. Obviously there are
places to avoid ifyou can. Kelvin
' Walkway. near Glasgow University.
‘ is long. dark and lined with trees.
Similarly the Kelvin Walkway is a
; good place for prospective muggers
; and then help is far away. It is also a
popular place for gay ‘cruising'.
L which can lead to everything from
misunderstanding to violence. In
; town. the Broomielaw alongside the
j river should be avoided after dark.
and George Square. from where the
night buses leave. can get
‘ unpleasant.
For girls. Blytheswood
5 Square may not be the red light area
it once was. but there have been a
few cases of kerbcrawling. If
; travelling late at night. the lower
: deck of buses should be preferred to
the top and quiet Underground
carriages are also best given a miss. Glasgow University SRC are this
year pledged to make the Unions
supply rape alarms to students going
2 home alone at night and it is to be
1 hoped that this service will not be
I abused by people letting them off for
I fun. These alarms. an aerosol
' cannister which emits a loud piercing
noise designed to stun an assailant.
are relatively cheap and can be
purchased from department stores.
If you are assaulted in any way it is
worth noting that shouting ‘Fire!‘
can be of more use than shouting
that promises to become yet more
contentious if (or when) the
l government‘s review ofstudent support concludes in favour of
¥ student loans. Until then. here are a : few guidelines on how to manage
{ with what you've got.
GRANTS
Ofcourse. you may not get anything. With the abolition ofthc minimum
grant a year ago. a sizeable minority of students receive no state support whatsoever. Of those students who do receive grants. only around 25 % receive the full amount; the remainder are expected to receive parental contribution. However. around 8092 ofstudents do not receive their full parental contribution. either because their parents are unable or unwilling to paythe full sum.
In these circumstances, a deed of covenant is the best solution. where the parent agrees to pay the student a sum of money either monthly. termly or annually. The student can then claim 29% (assuming that is the
5 rate of income tax) of the
contribution from the Inland Revenue. All the relevant claim
forms can be obtained at any tax office;
LATE GRANTS
If you have not yet received your grant. then don‘t panic— it is, unfortunately. an all too common
3 occurence. Ifyour award body is the Scottish Education Department.
then you can either phone ofvisit
‘ them between 1.3(land 4.30pm. At
this time of year the office is so busy that a personal visit will probably be
more effective. If your award is from
a Local Education Authority then it
' might be quicker and easier for your
parents or a friend who lives locally to visit the office in person to find out what is wrong. If you still have no luck. then ask at your college/ university finance office for help.
BAN KS
You are unlikely to have avoided the welter of advertising material thrown out by the Scottish banks in an attempt to woo students to their friendly embrace. The best advice is not to believe a word of it. In fact. if you already have a bank account at home. then it might be better to keep your money there providing you are
on reasonably good terms with them. ;
Midland and Clydesdale. The Co-op bank also has branches.
SOCIAL SECURITY Following a massive national campaign ofstudent action. the proposals by Social Services minster Norman Fowler to remove student eligibility for all social security payments were substantially amended on 16 June this year. However. the following changes are still to be implemented.
1. Students are now unable to claim unemployment or supplementary benefit during the short vacations.
2. Studentslivingin universityor college-owned accommodation or flats that the university has leased for more than 21 years will be unable to claim housing benefit during term time.
3. From July 1987. students will be unable to claim housing benefit in the summer vacation unless they are resident in their flat. although whether this could be effectively imposed is questionable.
Students are still eligible to claim unemployment and supplementary benefit during the long vacations and housing benefit during term time and vacations. providing they satisfy the restrictions noted above and their rent is above £13.60 a week. Ifin doubt— CLAIM.
INCOME TAX
If you were working during the summer and had income tax deducted from your wages. providing your taxable income did not exceed your personal allowance. you are eligible for a tax refund. To claim a refund. collect Form P50 from any tax office and send it along with your P45 to your home tax office (ifyou are unemployed in Scotland then this will probably be Centre 1. East Kilbridc). Ofcourse. students should not have to pay income tax at all and your employer should give you Form P38 before you start work — this exempts you from tax
BILLS
Ifyou have trouble paying your gas and electricity bills. contact the respective board soon — they may suggest eithera slot meter. monthly bills, or advice on how to use fuel economically. Ifyou are about to be cut off. contact the board at once and
EDINBURGH MONEY ADDRESSES Barclays Bank 35 St Andrew Square. 557 2733; Lloyds Bank 113/115 George Street. 226 4021 1375 1; National Westminster bank 80 George Street. 225 525()«*7oo1;Co-op Bank 15/17 South St Andrew Street. 557 3399; Unemployment Beneiit 174 Lauriston Place. 229 7551 : DHSS 38 Castle Terrace. 229 431 1; Inland Revenue PAYE Enquiry Office 31) Semple Street. 228 6661 : Scottish Education Department 1 Iaymarket House. Clifton House. 337 2477; South ol Scotland Electricity Board 229 9121 ; Scottish Gas(Emergency). 556 (1707; Scottish Gas (Accounts. Meters and Sales). 556 2533; Gas Consumers‘ Council 86 George Street. 2266523; Electricity Consultative Council 294 West George Street. Glasgow. ()41 248 5588.
GLASGOW MONEY ADDRESSES
Bank ollreland 19 St Vincent Place. 2219353zBarclays Bank 90 St Vincent Street. 221 9585/0302; Lloyds Bank 12 Bothwell Street. 248
, 4661 and First Floor. Lewis‘s Dept
Store. 97 Argyle Street. 221 1029/204 1624; National Westminster Bank 14 Blythswood Square. 221 6981; Co-op Bank 147 Buchanan Street. 248 3388; Unemployment Benelit (iarrioch Road. 946 1(123zDHSS 45 Peel Street.
339 951 l ; Inland Revenue PAYE
Enquiry Office 21) Waterloo Street. 204 ()071 ; South of Scotland Electricity Board (North) 221 3892. (South) 634 I331 ; Scottish Gas (Emergency)
Freephone 843 or 887 110i).
(Accounts. Meters and Sales) 889
5494.
Hopefully you won‘t ever fall foul of the police. but should you do so here is a briefoutline of your rights and
‘ obligations.
‘Help!’ or ‘Rapel‘. Similarly. ifyou hear someone crying for help it is your duty to investigate. If anything is going wrong usually your presence is enough to scare off an assailant.
However. ifyou are not from Scotland then you may have no ' choice but to open a new account. I There are branches of English banks I
but they tend to be very thin on the
they may make SPCCIaI arrangcmcms Ifyou are arrested but not charged. for Phased Payments- “YOU MC 1 you are not obliged to answer any dissatisfied with the actions of the ; police questions — you have the right fuel b03rd5~ the” coma“ Your 3 to remain silent. You have the right "63’651635 consumers‘ COUDCII 01' I to inform a solicitor of your arrest.
'I‘Itc I.i\l 3* If) ( )ctobcr 43