Welcome newcomers and welcome back to all the rest!

We hope you all enjoyed your summer as much as we did and that you can’t wait to finally get started on your new UC-semester! For the first years among us: we are the All Student Interest Council and as the name already suggests we are here to represent your interest in academics (College Hall), in residential issues (Volksbelang and Dining Hall), and on top of that we provide you with some services just because we like you so much. Drop by sometime with your ideas, suggestions, questions, complaints, and gratitude Now, for the ASIC Informs part, some information for you to digest:

ASIC Movie Nights
Come chill out with us and enjoy a movie with your classmates and friends! We pick a movie, you just sit back and relax.. We hope to see you on Monday 25th at 20h00, Wednesday 27th at 19h00, and Saturday 30th at 20h00 in the Voltaire Lounge!

Dining Hall hours
From the first day of Introweek onwards, our beloved Dining Hall will open its doors again for another nutritious, delicious semester. However, due to Introweek activities Dining Hall opening hours will deviate slightly from the usual, so please take a look at the following in order to prevent standing for closed doors:

Monday August 25,  12:00 - 13:00, Welcome lunch buffet for new students, open to everyone (also 2nd, 3rd years)
Tuesday August 26, 18:30 - 21:00, Formal Dinner
Friday August 29, 18:30 - 21:00, Lustrum BBQ / Farewell Party Hans van Himbergen

On all the other days during Introweek, Dining Hall will provide brunch (10:30-11:30) and dinner (17:30-19:00) as usual. Don’t forget to check out the menu!

Books, Books, Books
As in previous years, you will be able to get your study books the fast and easy way through ASIC!

There are two ways in which you can purchase your books: online through our website (www.ucstudents.nl) after which they will be delivered in your postbox in Dining Hall, or at our office (Dining Hall, downstairs, to the right). The booksales will start in the second half of Introduction Week (so, for the eager ones: don’t try to order them from our website just yet); more information on how and when to order and pay will be sent to you next week. We’ll keep you posted

Meanwhile, you can already start using the second hand books section on our website http://booksales.ucstudents.nl/login.php. You first have to login, or, if you don’t have an account yet, register. After a successful login the screen will remain the same, to go to the website you have to click ‘this link’ in red. You can upload second hand books through My Books > New Book; and you can browse for second hand books through Browse.

If you have any problems with creating an account or with logging in, please let us know and we’ll try to find a solution.

ASIC Services
Again this year ASIC will be offering the free rental of bikes, ovens, and vacuum cleaners for students. The procedure has a few changes from last year but is overall quite similar. To rent any of the three services students need to leave a valid photo ID plus a five euro refundable deposit at the ASIC office. Bikes can be rented for up to two days at a time (from Monday evening until Wednesday evening for example), and the ovens and vacuums for 24 hours at a time. If the item is not returned on time ASIC will send email reminders to the student’s solismail, and there will be a fine of one euro per day. So please, help everyone by treating the bikes, ovens and vacuums with care and returning them on time for others to use.

The services can be checked in and out from Monday - Friday during ASIC office hours which are during both lunch and dinner. Also, you can always try calling an ASIC member to see if they are willing to help outside of ASIC office hours.

For the Dutchies and other Dutch Study Allowance (studiefinanciering) receiving students
Don’t miss out on your studiefinanciering and change your living address as soon as possible! College Hall will notify the municipality of Utrecht of your new living adress for you, but you are responsible of notifying the IB-Groep. Last year there have been some incidents with students who changed their living adresses too late, thereby receiving a ‘thuiswonende beurs’ (roughly €80,-) instead of an ‘uitwonende beurs’ (roughly €250,-). Don’t become one of them!

There are two ways to change your living adress at the IB-Groep. Firstly, online by using your DigiD: surf to http://www.ibgroep.nl and log on with your DigiD (on the right). Don’t have an account yet? Create one or try the second way: fill in a form which is available at again http://www.ibgroep.nl, then click on ‘Formulieren’, ‘Wijzigen’ and then ‘Wijzigingsformulier studenten downloaden’. Sorry guys, the form is only available in Dutch. In case you don’t have an envelope or stamps, come to the ASIC Office during office hours and we’ll give you a stamped envelope for free

If you have a question about the IB-Groep, their procedures or anything else, feel free to contact us. We’ve got you covered!

ASIC 2008-2009

Spencer, Phil, Anneke, Barend and Alex

If UC is your Olympic Games, ASIC is your gold medal