The student loans are in, the overdrafts are being dipped into and the summer funds are running out, but there are some money issues that a few students really weren’t planning for.
It was brought to the university’s attention earlier this week that the cash machine at Foster Building has been tampered with and some very unfortunate students have become its victims. One student has had £1200 taken out of their account; another student has lost £600. It could be months before they get there money back.
Surely the banks and the university are doing everything they can for those who were unlucky enough to have their money taken out, but this is going to have longer running affects for them, they may not have enough money to cover their rent, or money to live off in the mean while.
It seems that this major problem falls down to security. There is little security at the Foster building cash point, with just one camera, the view of which is blocked by a canopy. The people using the cash machine should be safe and protected, as should their money.
The cash machine is used by many students, there are always big queues for it and also people crowded under the shelter, not very safe at all! Something somewhere has really gone wrong to allow this to happen.
This issue leads on to another, the fact that there are not enough cash points on campus. Presumably from this incident people have been deterred from using the Foster Cash machine leaving just the cash point outside the student union which also has huge queues.
Although there are cash machines close by, they charge for service. It certainly wouldn’t be too much of a problem to have one or two more cash machines across campus in convenient locations, to cut down queuing and also ensure that they are safe to use. Perhaps a cash machine on the other side of the student union, or even inside so that somebody or something, like a camera, has a visible eye on the actions taking place.
Money is something students don’t always have enough of and we do need to handle properly. So unquestionably it needs to be the responsibility of somebody on campus to make sure these cash points are safe. On solution could be to enable a queuing system and make sure the cash points are being recorded on CCTV.
My advice is to be wary of the cash machines you use, not just on campus, always be aware of people around you, don’t let people crowd you at a cash machine and always make sure you have put your money and card away before leaving the cash machine.
Most of all, if a cash machine looks like it has been tampered with do not use it and report it immediately.
