Sometimes you find yourself at a turning point ready to kick yourself. And defending your decision over and over. We had no choice, people: however slick and speedy, that boat got us absolutely nowhere. We’re going to try another tack.

On the sixth floor of the soon-to-be-renovated Hoofdgebouw we find Jim Stolk, president of the Federation of Student Associations in Eindhoven (FSE). He’s the last resident of this floor. Higher floors have been emptied already. His door’s wide open, if only to be able to show the way to old fellows who got lost trying to find their old department of Mathematics & Computer Science.

Stolk and his fellow federation members will have to leave the building in the months to come, but when exactly and -more urgently- where to, nobody knows. After having perused their relocation request, DH offered the umbrella federation a space in the ‘commercial’ wing of Matrix. Apparently, they considered FSE to be a wealthy external party. Still, there has not been a better offer yet.

Without being disrespectful: a quick scan of the dated FSE office, with faded venetian blinds flapping in the wind, tells us there aren’t too many valuables here. Of course, there’s the odd constitutional gift - but we politely refused dozens of those at GEWIS already. Paperwork. And authorizations. Every study association appoints someone to attend the meetings of the FSE general board. Whenever they are unable to attend, a fellow association can go in their place, but that requires an authorization. And that can be pretty important when voting in a group of only ten people, because someone’s absence or presence might be decisive.

FSE has specific authorization forms, but it’s obviously more fun to use it on an array of objects. GEWIS, for example, tried to authorize a two-meter fridge and parked it right in front of the FSE entrance. The form featured horrible comma use and an incoherent sentence structure, so Stolk didn’t hesitate to send it right back to GEWIS. Twice.

They’re great, all those student traditions and stories, but they don’t help our trading trip. Unless… Maybe we’re being too materialistic to the taste of this close-knit university community. What if sentiment and symbolism does the trick? Stolk, who has been ogling the shiny red speed boat, is very excited about the idea. After all, it’s a great way to get rid of the junk on his desk.

Don’t let appearances fool you. This artistic pile of construction waste dates back to the early days of Flux, the new abode of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics. The FSE crew scored it during a tour of the construction site about a year ago, when Flux was still just a baby. Stolk arranges an extra glob of glue from Built Environment and hey presto: we’re going down the sentimental road.

Who has room for this Flux rubble artwork? E-mail us your trading suggestion, and we’ll come by to have a look.