Jutut kategoriassa In English - Page 29 of 31

Dude, Where’s My Bike?

Bike theft is the most common crime in Europe, with the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Japan and Sweden having its highest rates. Over 17, 000 bikes were reported as stolen to insurance companies in Finland last year. This is approximately 6,000 more than in 2012. Still, the police do not believe bicycle thefts to be associated with organised crime.

In English

TEKSTI Margarita Khartanovich

KUVAT Minna Koivunen

“The biggest problem is the people who steal the bikes in order to sell them”, says Tiina, a student at the University of Applied Sciences in Oulu and continues: “Why don’t the police try to catch them? It is clearly an organized crime!”

Tiina’s bike was stolen from the yard of her own house (Puolivälinkangas) at night. It was locked.

“I was so sad because I just fixed it by myself and painted it yellow. Also, I had to go to the dentist that morning, so I had to leave in a hurry.”

“My bike was stolen from the yard of my building too”, explains Atte Koskela, an economics student at the University of Oulu.

“It was chained to a pole! I was very surprised as it had been at that same spot earlier.”

Koskela contacted the police and the thief was caught through other crimes.

“They found pictures of my bike in his cellphone but, unfortunately, the bike had been already sold. The thief has many crimes on him so I don’t believe I’m getting any compensation any time soon.”

Bicycle Black Market

According to Konsta Korhonen, Senior Detective Superintendent at Oulu Police Department, 1700 bikes have been reported stolen in the last 12 months (as for the period 1.9.2014 –31.8.2015). Investigators specializing in bike thefts are working at those cases but only 6–7% of bikes (111 items) have been returned to the original owners.

“It is so frustrating”, admits Tiina. “Police should really do something about it! I don’t want to buy an expensive bike because someone is going to steal it anyway.”

Kaleva reported some months ago that a fencer (person who buys stolen bikes and later sells them) was convicted. There are unfortunately several others like him but Oulu Police are targeting them. Apart from fencers, those involved in narcotics steal bikes to get enough cash to keep up with their habit. Nowadays it is just too easy to traffic stolen bikes by simply selling them online.

“My bike is somewhere now waiting to be sold. I looked for it in front of the bars, in the woods nearby and also on the Internet. Someone might have bought it already as no one cares whether it is a stolen bike. They just want a new bike at a cheap price”, says Tiina.

Atte Koskela confirms that those who steal locked bikes are usually those who do it regularly and sell them through websites like Tori.fi. They find buyers by contacting those who post bike purchase requests.

The riskiest place to leave your bike in Oulu is the city centre (around Rotuaari), according to Oulu Police.

Some bikes get stolen for temporary personal need, such as for returning home after a night out. The thieves abandon them later outdoors or by roadsides. In this case, Facebook groups like “Varastetut pyörat/Stolen Bikes Oulu” might be of some help. You can add a picture of your stolen bike there and see what happens.

“By using the connectivity of Facebook and the power of information we can cripple this cowardly act, this lucrative underground business”, claim the founders of the group.

Tiina says that quite many people find their bikes this way. The group’s active members take care of the bikes left in the woods, for example, and try to reach their owners.

It Can Happen to Anyone

The riskiest place to leave your bike in Oulu is the city centre (around Rotuaari), according to Oulu Police.

Atte Koskela lists Toppila and Kaukovainio as well. As for a type of a bike, generally the most popular brands, like Jopo, and bicycles worth less than one thousand euros get thieves’ attention. This is basically the majority of the bikes in Oulu. So, what can you do to protect your property?

“People should photograph their bikes and have serial numbers written down”, recommends Konsta Korhonen.

“Only then it is possible for the police to reliably return the bike even though components have been switched and/or the identity of the bike altered.”

In addition, always fasten it from the frame to a fixed object, such as a stand or pole.

“You need a strong U-lock and also don’t keep new and expensive bikes outside. Now I keep my new bike inside”, tells Atte Koskela.

And remember – a bicycle is a property; for many of us it is also a dear friend. Keep it in mind next time you buy someone’s stolen bike. If you refuse to purchase a bike without documents and serial number, you will help change the situation. Besides if found both the seller and the buyer will be fined, and depending on the circumstance both risk getting a criminal record and a possible jail sentence.

Julkaistu 11.11.20151.2.2023

Margarita Khartanovich

UUNI Editor, Master’s degree in Journalism (University of Tampere). Interested in politics, history, music, social issues and education. Twitter: @marthatcher

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Hi 5, Ways to Collect Some Karma Points

If you want to restrict yourself to helping recent refugees only, you have to know that there are too many volunteers already. Nonetheless, there are many other places where your kindness and generosity would be just as much needed and appreciated.

In English

TEKSTI Bianca Beyer

Join Some Major Good-Doers

With Christmas approaching, you suddenly feel the urge to do something good. Luckily, there are lots of opportunities to help people in Oulu, even for non-Finnish speakers. You could become a volunteer in Red Cross or Salvation Army (Pelastusarmeija), and help collect donations at frequently visited spots, just as Finland’s ex-President Tarja Halonen did recently in Helsinki. Or you could volunteer in one of the Kontti stores (plus donate them your stuff!), or in addicts programs, or in food distribution kitchens – the options are almost limitless.

Be a Friend Indeed

A friend in need is a friend indeed. If that is what you believe in and what you would like to experience, join buddy programs in and around Oulu. For example, “Best Buddies”, where you can pair up with a disabled person and give each other some joyful company (www.kvtl.fi). If you are a guy and speak Finnish, you could also become a “Male Friend” for a child that is raised without frequent male interaction, for instance, by a single mother (www.mieskaverit.fi).

Clueless? Offer Your Workforce

If you have no idea where exactly you should go to do something good, you can visit the homepage of VARES (www.varesverkosto.fi) and let them assign you to something they think you would be good at. You can get trained in basic volunteering work there. Just send them an email, or visit them and discuss what they’ve got and how you could contribute. Alternatively, you could contact the church (e.g. www.oief.fi, or www.oulunseurakunnat.fi) and ask whether they need some help.

Follow Student Organizations

Erasmus Students Network has their “Social Erasmus Week” coming up at the end of November. ESN Oulu has planned a gathering related to donating blood. Grab your friends, and while you’re all wiretapped and milked for the juice that means life, you can have a nice chat with each other. AIESEC will help you to connect with the Finnish community, for example, through nursing homes for the elderly, where you can spend time with their inhabitants. This could be a great way to polish your Finnish during some nice chitchat.

Care for the Young Ones

If you got interested in the “Male Friend” project, but you are not male, you could become a “foster-parent” for a single parent raised kid through Emma & Elias Foundation (www.emmaelias.fi). They also have a number of other ongoing projects revolving around children and families (information is available in English). And because kids are our future, here is another organization related to childcare: Mannerheimin Lastensuojeluliito, a “Child Protection Organization”, freely translated. Students volunteer to babysit in emergencies, or as a peer supporter in schools. More info at www.mll.fi.

Julkaistu 11.11.20151.2.2023

Bianca Beyer

When I don’t sit over plans to erase all evil and meet unicorns, or dream of eating cotton candy, I believe in hard facts and science, doing my PhD in Accounting at the University of Oulu. Using writing as an information transmitter, outlet for creativity or simply for mere entertainment, I believe I am totally living the dream with all my current jobs. Blog: beapproved.wordpress.com

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Foods of Power

Finland is known for its climate and love of sauna. Finland, however, is not particularly known for its cuisine. Finnish traditional food does not seem to appeal to the globalized audience. Some even dare to say it is not very tasty. But it does tend to be very healthy. Why? Well, because it is prepared with love, obviously. And because of Superfoods.

In English

TEKSTI Marcelo Goldmann

KUVAT Alisa Tciriulnikova

What? You haven’t heard of superfoods? Surely you’ve heard of Superfoods. Those fancy dancy foods, which are supposed to be extremely healthy and make you younger and stronger and faster, and give you the ability to fly.

All right, so I might be exaggerating just a tiny bit. Depending whom you ask and if the Internet is to be believed (as if the internet would lie), superfoods are foods with supposed superior health benefits and those, which have such a high concentration of nutrients that just a relatively small amount of it can provide nutrition comparable to larger amounts of other foods.

Some say “superfood” is just a glamorous word for exotic food to increase sales and price. You may have heard of (or seen in the supermarket) chia seeds, algae, almonds, cherries, coconut, raw cacao, berries; you know, the usual suspects. Perhaps, the most well-known Finnish superfoods are its berries, some of which are: blueberry (mustikka), sea buckthorne (tyrni), cloudberry (lakka), lingonberry (puolukka), cranberry (karpalo), crowberry (variksenmarja), and blackcurrant (mustaherukka).

The truth is a bit of column A, and a bit of column B; but isn’t it always? Suffice to say, there is some truth to both claims: superfoods tend to provide high density of nutrition, having a high amount of vitamins and minerals, and some of them tend to be rather pricey.

The Rural Women’s Advisory Organisation (Maa- ja kotitalousnaiset) has begun a project called Superruokkaa Pohjolasta (Superfood from the North) in which they are raising awareness of the availability of superfoods right here in the North that we perhaps had not paid enough attention to. These are foods which you might be ignoring every time you go to the shop!

By rebranding these foods as Superfoods, they hope to increase our awareness of these very nutritional and readily available foods.

For example, oats (kaura), rye (ruis), as well as fish like the whitefish (siika), vendance (muikku), and pike (hauki); not to mention the delicious mushrooms like the chantarelle (kantarelli) and trumpets (suppilovahvero). And what about root veggies and stem veggies, didn’t you know they are very high on nutrients? There is beetroot (punajuuri), rutabaga (lanttu), radish (retiisi), broccoli (parsakaali), and cauliflower (kukkakaali), brussel sprouts (ruusukaali), and ginger (inkivääri).

All of these are “Nordicly” available, at decent prices, and just so happen to be Superfoods.

Don’t be missing out – get some Nordic superfoods and give your body some well-deserved nutrition. You can find more information at maajakotitalousnaiset.fi, where you will also find recipes for preparation of meals with superfood (only in Finnish so far). Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have me some sieni-juusto-pippurikermamuhennos on top of some steamed parsakaali and kukkakaali. Nom nom nom!

Julkaistu 11.11.20151.2.2023

Marcelo Goldmann

A Doctor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Oulu. "Life is like a rubber duckie, you gotta keep it afloat to see its splendor." Instagram: @marcelogman

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New Solar System Research Opportunity At Our University

The International Space Station, the NASA New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Europa Multiple Flyby Mission - these are all international scientific collaborations that are considered humankind’s most ambitious experiments. And do you know that the University of Oulu is now taking an active part in NASA’s Mission to Moon Europa?

In English

TEKSTI Margarita Khartanovich

KUVAT Alisa Tciriulnikova

We asked Juergen Schmidt, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oulu, how the university happened to become part of a NASA mission.

“I have been working with Sascha Kempf (a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, LASP, at the University of Colorado) for a long time in the team of the Cosmic Dust Analyser instrument on board the ESA/NASA Cassini spacecraft at Saturn,” said Schmidt.

“After Kempf had accepted a position at LASP, I became a Co-investigator of his proposal to NASA for the development and building of SUDA for future space missions. This instrument was recently selected by NASA for the forthcoming Jupiter mission.”

This exciting collaboration between the Faculty of Science of the University of Oulu and LASP of the University of Colorado is an obvious advantage of internationalization, fully supported by the administration of both universities. Just to understand the scale of the project we will tell you that in 2016 NASA will spend 30 million dollars to formulate the mission to Europa. It has already selected nine science instruments (and SUDA is one of them) to investigate whether the mysterious icy moon could harbour conditions suitable for life.

“This is a giant step in our search for oases that could support life in our own celestial backyard,” said Curt Niebur, Europa program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“We’re confident that this versatile set of science instruments will produce exciting discoveries on a much-anticipated mission.”

Another interesting fact about this project is that students can make their contribution too.

“Students from the University of Oulu can participate in this project”, confirms Schmidt.

“I will begin to formulate tasks of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses related to the dust instrument on the mission. Besides, students may have an opportunity to do their doctoral studies in this context.”

According to Professor Schmidt, working on the international projects of this kind is an excellent reference for students, which can boost their chances in first-class research institutions. And for Finland it might be a good boost too, for its scientific recognition globally.

Julkaistu 21.10.20151.2.2023

Margarita Khartanovich

UUNI Editor, Master’s degree in Journalism (University of Tampere). Interested in politics, history, music, social issues and education. Twitter: @marthatcher

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I choose you!

With this autumn comes not only the falling of leaves and a renewed love for poofy jackets and cozy leggings, but also two major November elections. Our very own Student Union of the University of Oulu (OYY) will have a newly elected Student Council and a new Administration will also be elected

In English

TEKSTI Marcelo Goldmann

KUVAT Marcelo Goldmann

As a student of the University of Oulu and a member of the Student Union, you have the right to be represented and the privilege of being able to have a say on who will do it. You have the power. Your ballot counts. So, make your voice count. Go and catch them all! Okay, maybe just a few… the ones that you want to represent you.

“Why should I care?”

I’m glad you asked. Simply put, the Student Union advocates for your rights as a student and you should have a say on who will be representing you in it.
It is in every student’s best interest to be well informed about the candidates and vote for the ones they feel would do a better job in representing them.

Should you abstain from voting, the consequences would be dire indeed. Legend has it that one time a student forgot to vote. The very next morning the student woke up two minutes too late! And that was only the beginning. The student then noticed that the laces of her shoes were untied, which made her feel mildly inconvenienced. Her bread was a bit too toasted that morning, as her flatmate had placed the toaster number in 3 instead of 2. As the student rode her bike to school she realized her front tire was slightly deflated, which didn’t hinder her commute, but made her feel slightly uncomfortable at the thought of deflated bike tires. This student loved pizza, but during lunch time the person in the queue right in front of her took the last piece, and the student had to eat the non-pizza option.

When the poor student thought things could not get any worse, she received a phone call from her dentist, cancelling the cleaning appointment for the day and asking to please come the next day. The student would have to spend one more day with unclean teeth, truly a nightmare. Distraught at the news, she went back home and took a nap. That was when The Ghost Of The Voting Past visited her. The Ghost explained why everyone should vote and the student understood the importance of voting and having a voice. When she woke up, it was the Election Day again, and she still had one hour for paper voting. The student rushed to vote for the candidates, who best fit her criteria, and then treated herself to some cafeteria pizza.

But that’s just a legend. Truly no one can say with absolute certainty what would happen. What I can tell you is that giving up your vote is not something you should do if you want your voice and opinion to count.

A Council of Students, for Students

The Representative Student Council is formed by 37 elected student members of the Student Union; that is, any student who belongs to the Student Union of University of Oulu, which most likely includes you, dear reader. This council is the highest decision-making body in OYY and is tasked with the approbation of the budgets and the annual action plans of the Student Union.

The Student Council represents you, the Student, in the Student Union, and defines the policies of the Union, as well as deciding how the membership fees will be used. The council appoints the Board that wields the executive power of OYY, as well as the Secretary General who acts as the head of staff of the Union. Moreover, the Council also elects the Editor of the newspaper Oulun ylioppilaslehti, that you just so happen to be reading at the moment. The meetings of the Council are open for everyone so you are free to join in and learn what your membership fee is being used for.

The choice is yours

The voting will begin electronically on 28th of October 2015 at 9.00 and it will end on the Elections Day on Wednesday 4th of November 2015 at 15.00. Traditional ballot paper voting will be carried out during the Election Day in the main Lobby of the Linnanmaa Campus between 9.00 and 16.00.

It is up to you for whom you would like to vote; the vote is secret after all. But if you are willing to take the nonspecific advice of this humble writer, you might want to look for active candidates who have the best interests of the students in mind and who aren’t afraid of a challenge. Make sure they convey your opinions more or less adequately so you feel you are being well represented.

You will be able to find more information about the elections on the website of the Student Union at www.oyy.fi.

Julkaistu 21.10.20151.2.2023

Marcelo Goldmann

A Doctor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Oulu. "Life is like a rubber duckie, you gotta keep it afloat to see its splendor." Instagram: @marcelogman

Lue lisää:

Hi 5, Myths About Sweden Busted

Our reporter has moved to Sweden, and here are her views on what it is like.

In English

TEKSTI Bianca Beyer

1. Swedes Are Less Distant – Superficially!

They say an introverted Finn looks at his shoes when talking to you; an extroverted Finn looks at your shoes. And it’s true! Unless you ask for something specific, they prefer to keep at a distance. On the contrary, Swedes would rather approach you with a smile, shake hands, introduce themselves and start a friendly small talk. So you get an impression that they are way more open. In fact, they only want to look more sociable while being as introverted as the Finns. At least in Finland you know right away where you are at.

2. “Royal” Clubbing Culture

Stockholm is twice the size of Helsinki when it comes to inhabitants, but is that really a reason to act all posh when it comes to clubbing? Firstly, you need to have your name on a guest-list to avoid spending a fortune on an entrance ticket. And if before approaching the overpriced wardrobe you don’t put all your belongings in the purse, they just take them in the blink of an eye and charge you for each of them separately. Secondly, having “drunk eyes” is already a criterion for being kicked out of a club – not imaginable in Finland. The only plus is that people dance in Swedish clubs instead of pushing each other.

3. All Swedes Are Gay? No Way, José!

Finns referring to Swedes as gay is a big misunderstanding, probably driven by the out-dated misconception of recognizing someone’s sexuality by clothing. Now here’s the breaking news: You can take good care of your outer appearance. Manliness is not related to dirty fingernails and long greasy hair. If you mean hipster beards, trench coats or smart-casual looks, they are simply fashion trends that come and go. And some of them are probably set in Sweden.

4. Tolerance Levels

When it comes to official measures taken against discrimination, Sweden is a few steps ahead of Finland. Only last year Finland managed to get enough votes to pass the law for same-sex marriage, while Sweden did that back in 2009. When it comes to immigrants, Sweden hosts almost four times the amount of Finland. When following the media, Finland seems to be more concerned about preserving its own culture than the neighboring country, which does not even keep track of ethnic groups in their statistics. And with a non-interchangeable parental leave also women’s rights are more secured in Sweden than in Finland.

5. 9-to-5? Not With The Swedes!

Recently, Swedish media have been discussing the uprising trend to shifting to a 6-hour workday. Even in the public sector this has been pulled off already: nurses work 6 instead of 8 hours for the same pay. This results in happier, less exhausted and, therefore, more productive employees, who have more time for their families, sports and hobbies now.

Julkaistu 21.10.20151.2.2023