[HDNG]INTRODUCTION:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL] Formerly South Bank Polytechnic[EBOLD][PARA][ITAL]Southwark in south London is not London's most beautiful borough[EITAL]. [ITAL] And the Elephant and Castle is not Southwark's most beautiful part. It is grey and drab until the shopping centre assaults your gaze. [EITAL] A bright pink - yup, pink - [ITAL]oasis [EITAL]in the middle of south London. [ITAL]The precinct is garish to say the least, dazzling and of elephantine proportions. Impossible to miss although you'll wish you had. The Borough Council must have come across a cheap job lot of pink paint. [EITAL] Apart from the shopping precinct, Elephant and Castle, 21/2 miles from Trafalgar Square, consists of 2 large roundabouts, surrounded by an indoor leisure pool, the enormous Metropolitan Tabernacle Church and various offices, shops and a halfway house for released criminals. [ITAL]The buildings of the main site of South Bank University are plain by comparison.[EITAL] The other site is on the Wandsworth Road, just under 3 miles away. It houses the faculty of the Built Environment, [ITAL]but doesn't set a very good example, looking rather like a big breeze-block.[EITAL][HDNG]ATMOSPHERE:[EHDNG][PARA][ITAL]Once you've shown your pass to get inside, South Bank is smart, upbeat and busy. Students, many of whom are returning to education, are down to earth and realistic - this is gritty south London stuff and they're proud of it. The University has a strong cosmopolitan flavour and is not a place to harbour pretensions, especially when the local environment can be so depressing. [EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][HDNG]LIFE IN LONDON:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA][ITAL]Samuel Johnson wrote 'When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.' Obviously, he wasn't living on a student grant at the time; for there is only a certain amount in London that a student can afford. SJ was right in that London is second to none in its diversity, but you can't do it all. It's easy to feel that you're not making the most of London if you're not spending every waking minute at the theatre, ballet, opera or cinema, in clubs or fashionable markets, and in museums and galleries, sports grounds and parks. However, if the truth be known, even taking advantage of the many freebies you can dig up if you try, you'd be broke within a week if you tried to keep up with the tearaway pace. When it comes to opportunity, choice and life in the fast lane, London is the turbo-boosted Porsche. London is supposed to be the city that never sleeps, leaving the bright lights burning all night long. In fact, as international metropolises go, this one tends to shut down when the pubs close. Getting more than a cheeseburger after midnight can be as difficult in London as it is in a Turkish jail. Not everyone likes the pace or the impersonal atmosphere that many find in London. Whilst it's hard to be alone, it's easy to be lonely, and most students in London find this at some time. London can be oppressive and if you're not streetwise, or at least street sensible, it can be a dangerous place. Bomb scares are usually just that, but violent crime is on the up. [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] There are a number of responses to the high cost of living in London: (1) burst into tears; (2) mug someone; (3) live on credit; (4) ask daddy for lashings of cash. Alternatively, if these don't appeal, you can always use the following methods: (1) Limit your spending by only going out when and where you can afford it (ULU fits the bill, offering cheap events for students). (2) Buy second hand - for books, there's ULU, Charing Cross Road and Waterloo and, for clothes, try Camden Market, Greenwich, Brick Lane and Portobello Road. (Many a London student falls prey to fashion, but not always at vast expense.) (3) Get a job - [EITAL]more London students have part time jobs than anywhere else.[ITAL] [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] London also has more overseas students than almost anywhere else, which, in Britain's most international city, is an appropriate addition to the already spicy variety of life. The extent of London's cosmopolitanism is unique. Nowhere else are there as many students of every different shape, colour, vintage, creed and flavour.[EITAL][PARA][ITAL] To be young in London and have flexible demands on your time is an ideal recipe. The daily downers such as the time spent travelling have a minimal effect, whereas the opportunities are all there. If you happen to live in London, it's good to be a student, but if you're a student, London isn't necessarily a good place to happen to live.[EITAL][PARA][PARA]The Old Kent Road costs just ú60 on a Monopoly Board and is the cheapest property available. It starts at the Elephant and Castle. [ITAL] This tells you something about the area. [EITAL]The roundabouts are among the [ITAL]busiest [EITAL]London has to offer. Within a stone's throw there are shops and more shops, a council estate, the Labour Party headquarters on the Walworth Rd and, in fact, some [ITAL]quite nice [EITAL]Georgian terraced streets. [ITAL]Local communications are good, for those who can find them.[EITAL] The BR train connection involves a walk through the upstairs of the pink shopping centre and the tube is hidden in a cave-like entrance. It is only a short way to the South Bank art complex offering all the highbrow culture students can take, with the Hayward Gallery, MOMI, Arts Cinema, Royal Festival Hall, National Film Theatre and National Theatre and so on.[HDNG]TRAVEL:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Trains: [EBOLD]London is the centre of the network: Bristol (1:40hrs, 1/hr); Birmingham (1:40hrs, 3/hr); Manchester (2:30hrs, 1/hr); Glasgow (5:20hrs, 12/day); Edinburgh ( 4:20hrs, 1/hr); Newcastle (2:45hrs, 2/hr); Leeds (2:30hrs, 1/hr); Norwich (1:49hrs, 1/hr). Trains come into the 8 mainline termini and if passing through London (for example from Canterbury (Kent) to Manchester), it is often necessary to travel by tube (at extra expense) between mainline stations .[PARA][BOLD]Coaches:[EBOLD] London is also the centre of the National Express system and a whole variety of other national bus services (Green Line, Blue Line and so on). Some example National Express journeys: Birmingham (ú9.50, 2:30hrs, 1/hr); Bristol (ú12.50, 2:15hrs, 1/hr); Edinburgh (ú25, 7:50hrs, 3/day); Glasgow (ú25, 7hrs, 7/day); Manchester (ú16, 3:30hrs, 7/day); Newcastle (ú17.50, 5:10hrs, 7/day).[PARA][BOLD]Local Trains: [EBOLD]Network SouthEast operates local overground trains [ITAL]which are a speedy and sometimes pleasant way to travel and are moderately efficient. The main problems are the ease of use (a fair level of understanding is necessary), the high fares and the early closing[EITAL] (last trains between 11pm and 1am).[PARA][BOLD]Underground:[EBOLD] The 'tube' is the largest underground train system in the world and generally,[ITAL] it is fast, easy to use, efficient (well, maybe not the Northern Line) and takes you just about anywhere you want to go, although South-East London is a bit hard done by. However, it is often crowded,[EITAL] shuts down at midnight,[ITAL] it's often disrupted by bomb scares[EITAL] and the minimum fare is 90p. [ITAL]Talking to other tube passengers is tantamount to threatening their mother - the only people who do it are tourists and people who want to talk to you about Jesus.[EITAL] Nearest tube to Senate House/ULU Building: Goodge St (Northern Line).[PARA][BOLD]Local Buses: [EBOLD][ITAL]In the tube you can't see the real sights, so why not take the buses which are just as efficient,[EITAL] offer even more destinations and are slightly cheaper (50p minimum). [ITAL]But buses are slow and, until you know your way around, it's difficult to know which ones take you where.[EITAL] After midnight, buses come into their own - Night Buses are London's only form of all-night public transport and[ITAL] if you don't mind how long it takes,[EITAL] you can go almost anywhere within 10 miles of the centre.[PARA][BOLD]Travelcards:[EBOLD] For a legal way of dodging the expense of tubes, buses and trains, Travelcards are available at ú2.60 for a daily pass for the central 2 zones of the network.[PARA][BOLD]Taxis: [EBOLD]There are 2 types:[ITAL] the classic black cabs which are well regulated and enormously expensive, and dodgy merchants in Ford Escorts which are almost as expensive. There are now also some run by and for women. Basically though, forget all taxis, except late at night when all else fails and/or you're in a party of 4 or more.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Car:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Parking in Central London is impossible, and, although there is only one rush hour every day it lasts from 6 in the morning to midnight. Driving in London is excellent training for being a volcano.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Air: [EBOLD]Served by 4 airports, including Heathrow, the world's busiest. Regular flights to anywhere and back.[PARA][BOLD]Hitching:[ITAL] [EBOLD]Not possible from Central London, but get out a little way on to the city's escape routes or beyond the M25 and a thumb's a first class ticket.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Bicycles: [EBOLD][ITAL] A popular form of student travel given the pros: it's cheap and you can get through traffic. But there are the cons: London is big, full of exhaust fumes, lacking in cycle lanes and a Houdini-proof lock is advisable. It's also an easy way to die.[EITAL][PARA][PARA][BOLD]Trains:[EBOLD] Elephant and Castle (ThamesLink) or for a mainline station, Waterloo.[PARA][BOLD]Buses:[EBOLD] Numbers 3, 44, 12, 45, 59 and 68 pass nearby the main site and many of the buses that serve most parts of south London pass through the Elephant and Castle.[PARA][BOLD]Car:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Parking is a problem and cars are not really necessary.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Underground:[EBOLD] Elephant and Castle (Bakerloo, Northern Lines).[PARA][BOLD]Bicycles:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Don't do it. Theft is high and traffic horrendous.[EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][HDNG]LIBRARIES and COMPUTERS:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA][ITAL][STAT][BULL] Books: 298,000 [BULL] Study places: 1,600 [BULL] Computer workstations: 2,000[ESTAT][EITAL][PARA]2 libraries (1 at each site). There is a [ITAL]large [EITAL]computer services department with [ITAL]many [EITAL]terminals and all [ULNE]London University[EULNE]'s systems are available to South Bank students. [ITAL]But it's not the equipment, it's what you do with it.[EITAL][HDNG]CAREER PROSPECTS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Careers Service [BULL] No of staff: 7full/3part [BULL] Unemployed after 6mths (1992): 22%[ESTAT][PARA]South Bank has many commercial and industrial contacts and vocational courses.[HDNG]SPECIAL FEATURES:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL]Two 15-week semesters (terms) each academic year.[PARA][BULL]When in 1992, South Bank Poly became South Bank University, advertising hoardings went up all over south-east London promoting 'The University with no ivory towers'. [ITAL]It's a fair description, but they still had enough pretensions to be snobbish about the title 'polytechnic'.[EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][HDNG]FAMOUS ALUMNI:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA]Norma Major (opera expert); Greg Searle (Olympic Gold oarsman).[HDNG]FURTHER INFO:[EHDNG][PARA]Undergraduate and postgrad/post-experience prospectuses.
