The Friday Night Blog-Ject

I predict some quiet

2011-08-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

Riots – it’s not all doom and gloom.

Clear-up effort in Hackney. Photography: www.edufiend.com

After five days of riots, I will probably flick on the BBC News tonight to see more scenes of disturbances which have taken place this evening across England. Recent developments have seen the first deaths due to the disorder in a car accident, and another man has died in hospital after he was attacked by looters when defending his community (Mirror front page 10 August). Where’s the hope, respect or love in that?

From London to Bristol and Manchester to Milton Keynes, the fires have been spreading across the country, with arrests reaching over 1400.

Thousands of emergency calls, 16,000 police officers patrolling the streets, buildings burning, burglaries, looting and random attacks have filled the headlines and shocked the country.

But no more of that doom and gloom. Dave has announced that the ‘fightback’ is underway, and it is hoped that all the people who have been committing these atrocities will be put to justice.

Despite being glued to the TV the past few nights, I have, like most people, been incredibly angry, upset and disappointed by the behaviour I have seen.

But despite searching for the solution, debating the problems or questioning police tactics, I’ve tried to see the human spirit in this situation and shed some light in the dark, some flickering flame of hope for humanity.
Perhaps the first – and probably only – picture of the riots that has made me smile is that of Boris Johnson defiantly holding a broom above his head as yesterday he visited affected areas to help with the clean up effort. Such an example is a small inspiration, as barriers between politicians and people are somewhat broken for a small amount of time.

It wasn’t just Boris who was keen to help put the city of London back together. Yesterday morning, footage showed crowds of people waiting patiently outside the police tape with brooms and spades in the hope they would be allowed back onto the street to help clear up the wreckage of the previous few days of vandalism and arson. The expectancy of this group and the keen attitude they showed to help return the city to normality as quickly as possible shows that people do still care about their communities.

Even those who lived too far away to help raised the profile on Twitter with the hashtag #riotclearup.
An MP noted that it was amazing how much people care about their community, their city, their country.

During the riots themselves, we have seen extraordinary acts of bravery. The courage of many to stand up to defend their buildings and shops from rioters and looters without the help of the police is incredibly admirable. I’ve read of people linking arms and standing in front of buildings and pressuring away rioters. There have been reports of organised resistance in Turkish and Kurdish areas to defend their own properties and businesses with nothing but baseball bats. A Facebook group has launched in support of those. Such bravery can only be looked up to, when the police cannot always be there to defend every single person affected by these riots.

A fund for a local man whose barber shop was destroyed during the riots and has no money or insurance to repair it has been launched by three interns at BBN on Blogger entitled Keep Aaron Cutting, collecting over £11,000 so far.

The famous clips of a Malaysian man being helped up by a group of other men who then robbed him and walked away as stood bleeding and in shock. Another blog has been set up on Tumblr, with people voting on how to do something nice for him. Suggestions include paying for his dental costs, his student fees or for his family to come and see him. It has also been taking donations.

A campaign I’ve recently come across on Twitter and been invited to on Facebook is the Operation Cup of Tea, which campaigns for everyone to stay at home and drink tea instead of rioting. The popularity of this has been amazing, and has been trending on Twitter for days On their website they are selling a new brand of anti-riot tea, described as containing “a special blend of darjeeling, which will help you to relax and unwind, dispelling any urge you may have to go out and riot.”

This video of the founder, Sam Pepper, is pretty inspiring, and makes me feel proud of members of our generation, a lot of whom do give a shit about something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6zPqPg6dPQ

Some other entertaining Facebook groups include ‘Looting basmati rice when Argos is next door because you’re a fucking idiot’ and ‘The awkward moment where we should have believed the Kaiser Chiefs’ which have been posting funny quirks, photos and videos on the site for fans.

After all of this, something also may be able to be gathered from the fact that at least all the politicians are coming together to condemn this violence. Empty and simple words they may be, collaboration and agreement from the three main parties – even if the government is broken and divided – is something to look to in these troubled times.

I am not attempting to downgrade the situation, its importance or its significance. The disgusting scenes from the past few days have shown that there are real problems in Britain that need to be addressed, and the behaviour of many to be held to account. However, these few examples which are probably accompanied by more, show me at least that there is still some spirit, some community and some respect still left in Britain.

End of my Childhood

2011-07-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

Photography: bilicall

At 23.40 on July 16^th 2011, my childhood officially ended. I know, some may say you cannot put a limit on your childhood, others say that your childhood never truly ends. But bear with me a second, if you will. I just saw the final instalment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

(I did relive my childhood, as it goes, three days later when I saw it again.)

It’s been described as amazing, epic, the best of the lot, and I was definitely not disappointed, despite being originally being a fan of the books. I’ve learnt to sort of separate the two, and I’ve not felt let down in the slightest.

While there was no specific sob-fest moment for me where tears streamed uncontrollably down my face, turning me into a mascara-stained howling wreck in the corner of Cineworld screen 12, instead there were many moments which made my eyes well up. Neville’s heroic speech to Dumbledore, the final fall of Bellatrix at the hands of none other than dedicated mother Mrs Weasley, and Harry’s final walk through the Great Hall, past all the characters from the past seven year series, looking on as he goes.

Probably the highlight of the film was the flashbacks of Snape’s memories, revealing all the anomalies and unanswered questioned JK Rowling had left hanging for seven books. Finally we realised why Snape had seemed to be two-timing everyone all the time, why he never quite made sense, why Dumbledore trusted him. He was a good guy after all, and my heart really felt for him.

As a massive Lord of the Rings fan too, the epic Battle of Hogwarts scene echoed the Battle of Helms Deep in The Two Towers and the final Battle for Middle Earth in the Return of the King, and it was definitely due to the splitting of the final novel into two parts that made it possible to spend the valuable time needed on this amazing sequence.

The special effects, as usual, were incredible, which I imagine will only be enhanced with 3D and some unique ‘Harry Potter’ style glasses. I especially liked the broomstick chase against the magical flames in the room of requirement and the nice scenic view of the Hogwarts grounds we got as Harry and Voldemort zoomed around the castle.

Perhaps we have to remember that the cringey ‘19 years later’ episode which finished off the eight film series is an effective way of rounding off what actually not an adults book, but a children’s one, though in reality it is somewhere in between. I highly doubt Harry would be greying by his late thirties or that Ginny would flick her hair so similar to the style of Nicola (the ginger one from Girls Aloud) despite knowing relatively little about the muggle world.

To enhance the personal aspect to the fighting action, however, I wish they’d been a bit more specific on the individual battles the characters had with Voldemort’s Army as it seemed at times to be a little detached.
I also felt that a few details from the book were missed out, such as Lupin and Tonks’ son, (of whom Harry was the Godfather and meant to see off on Platform 9 ¾) was never acknowledged as being born at all. The first instalment mentioned “Wait until you hear the news… Lupin and I-” before being rudely interrupted by Mad-Eye Moody, whose death was also only glanced upon.

Fourteen years has passed since the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone was first published in the UK in 1997, which has led to the growth of Harry Potter into the most popular franchise ever. Hundreds of thousands of fans camped out to see the cast before the premier in Trafalgar square and queued for hours to see the film at the midnight showings across the country. I personally own a Harry Potter hat, wand, broomstick (albeit borrowed), t-shirt, four video games, various sticker albums, all the DVDs of the films, a Potter pokedex style device, JK Rowling’s extra books ‘Quiddich Through the Ages’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ and probably a bit more merchandise hiding amongst the rubbish in my wardrobe. I even dressed up as Ginny for World Book Day when I was about 11 (you’d be surprised at the lack of ginger characters there are in children’s books).

But what even is childhood? Can you really put a time limit on it anyway? The age of consent to have sex in Britain is 16, but does that make you an adult? The voting age is 18, but does having a say in the running of the country mean you are no longer a child? It is said that our bodies may not stop growing until our early twenties or our brain until our thirties. One could spend hours (and probably there are people that do) pondering the psychology of it all, the development of our brains and where childhood really ends.

For me, Harry Potter was my childhood, or at least the latter part. I remember when I was bought the first book for Christmas and put it on the shelf for later, thinking it looked a bit odd. As soon as I started reading it, however, I never looked back. All my copies are worn and battered from multiple re-reads, and there’s a ribena stain near the end of the fifth book too. The countless hours I spent reading until it was too dark to see or my torch batteries ran out remain priceless to me. The times I woke up during the night after a nightmare and would pick up the books, reading the chapters that comforted me again and again can’t be forgotten. The excitement of when the next instalment came out cannot be explained, and the hours which followed where I sat in my room reading it until it was done was only intensified by the joy of seeing scenes only ever imagined in my head played out on the big screen.

There are hundreds of thousands of people across the world who will never forget the magic that Harry Potter brought to their lives. Her ideas were inspirational to many, and the world she built up so easy to become wrapped up in. Despite the books and films coming to an end, as we all knew they would, no true fan will ever say goodbye to Harry, and those who were affected by him will never forget the laughter, the amazement and the tears that he brought them.

It’s ironic that as I wrote most of this entry, my boyfriend is sat beside me playing PS3 games. I think I might go and join him, only to play Harry Potter though. Never grow up completely.

Work experience at The Coventry Telegraph

2011-07-22T02:27:00.000-07:00

Work experience with The Coventry Telegraph started off with trying to get into the building itself. After a 7am start and a rather tense car journey spent driving around Coventry trying to find the offices themselves, I wasn’t expecting such an obstacle so early on in the day. Little did I know that the public front entrance didn’t open until 9am precisely, so I rattled at the two entrances I could see, ignored by the people inside; I must have seemed like an angry interviewee who had been misquoted or something, desperately crawling away at the door.

I circled the building, found a car park and another door, locked of course. I even found the distribution workhouse, who directed me back to where I had just come from. But this was my first day of work experience at a newspaper; journalists are meant to be determined you see. I couldn’t give up. I kept walking around until the doors opened at 9am and sheepishly went inside.

The News section of The Boar generally enjoy a healthy and one-sided rivalry with The Coventry Telegraph, (or Cov Tele as we like to call it) and while on the other side of this unstable and awkward fence, I took advantage to take note of their practises. Unknowingly, we steal their stories, they steal ours, we race to get our stories up online before their next edition… etc. Not than any of them are probably aware of it. Call it healthy competition. I think they’re winning, they at least make a profit…

When I arrived, I was introduced to the News Editor and shown the newsroom which consisted of about 5 sports reporters, 10 news reporters and a team of sub-editors. And Les Reid, the single, brilliant, political reporter.

His first sight of me was myself waving at him as I walked towards him grinning; I dread to think what I would have looked like. It didn’t help that I’d left any smart work experience type clothes at home and was stuck wearing my skirt from my restaurant job and a tank top, covered up by the smartest jacket I owned which hadn’t been packed already. Interesting way to start a placement. I didn’t know he’d written for the Guardian, Times and Independent before this by the way, otherwise I probably would have shook his hand instead. Scrap that, I wish I had anyway.

First on the agenda was the news meeting, where the news editor and reporters gathered with the stories they were planning to write that day, that they had brought in. There’s something I’d like to bring to my students’ newspaper, people finding their own stories (like journalists should do, naturally). Since then I have actually used the phrase “you’re the journalist, you find out,” which I can only take to be good training for my ‘team’.

Les pitched us in for an update on the strike action of the teachers’ unions, so we got right on that. I spent the morning researching the background of the strike and trying to find out who was involved. By lunchtime, my feedback was that the information needed more detail, and it was clear to me I needed to start using the phone a little more.

The phone. That dreaded phone. I don’t know why it seems such a terrifying concept to call someone up to ask them for information they don’t really know or what to divulge, ask personal and invasive questions about things that people really want to know about… but it’s damn daunting.

I cringe to think about those first couple of phone calls, but it did get easier and by the end of the three-day placement I felt a lot more comfortable. I think that’s the skill I developed the most during my experience; the harassing. I’m not quite there yet, but it’s a necessary skill for journalism.

During the afternoon Les disappeared off to the courts while I remained behind to add the final few details onto our article. I then walked with another reporter at the newspaper down to the Council House in Coventry town centre. A group of teachers were protesting at the conversion of two local schools into academies. We interviewed them and chatted with them for a bit and a BBC Coventry and Warwickshire reporter also interviewed them on air.

The most interesting thing about this encounter – to me at least – was the apprehension at some of the protesters at being interviewed and quoted. Obviously the profession isn’t seen as the most respectable and trustworthy, especially not in the UK, but the suspicion and apprehension was beyond what I had ever experienced as a student journalist. After the outbreak of the recent NOTW scandal, this will, sadly, only worsen.

My second day at the newspaper involved more on the same story. I was also invited back to stay for the rest of the week, which I promptly accepted and scrapped all plans I could. I did a little more research for another strike update including the school closures for the next day, and then headed off to the courts with another reporter.

Standard airport security regime – bleeping machines and scary security guards. Stop and search probably would have been necessary if I wasn’t with the well-known journalist who was seemingly good friends with said security guards. Luckily I wasn’t carrying any liquids over 100ml, or the whole ordeal could have gone very wrong for me.

The court room was a lot smaller than I had imagined it. Similar to the majority of the population, the most I’ve seen of the inside of a court room was the artists impressions printed in the papers, so this was a new experience for me. The wigs looked thoroughly unrealistic in real life, but I suppose if we are attempting to traditionally preserve anything in this day and age, it ought to be our system of law and order.

We witnessed a few pre-trial hearings which were not of much public interest until the trial itself started, but most of the day consisted of listening to a man appeal against his conviction of exposing himself to a woman on a bus. It was not overturned, and all the evidence supported this. It was a lot lengthier than I imagined too, with all the stopping and starting for the barristers to step outside to talk to the appellant , “all rise”ing… and for him to still have been found guilty – what a waste of time for all of those involved.

Thursday was the day of national strike action by the National Union of Teachers, University and College Union, Public and Commercial Services Union and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers on the proposed changes to pensions plans. The strikers claimed they would be paying more, for longer, and getting less money. To demonstrate their anger at this, around 250 people demonstrated outside the Council House on Thursday morning, which Les and I attended and reported from. Speeches were given, many cars tooted in support and I attempted to scribble down any relevant information (which desperately failed due to my lack of fluency in shorthand).

The short afternoon was spent gathering details on any Coventry services that had been affected by the strikes, updating the next day’s article and then sitting back for a bit of relaxation and browsing BBC News. I left the office early in order to jet off to the train station to go to a journalism conference-type event, missing the train and instead ended up going for a meal at Zizzis and falling asleep around 8.30pm. A normal job really does take it out of you…

Lessons learnt from my work experience at the Coventry Telegraph:

- I need to learn shorthand. My scrawl is even more illegible than shorthand itself, and insanely difficult to keep up with.
- Not all journalism jobs are 24/7 – after 5pm, Wimbledon on iPlayer was of prime concern.
- Many phone calls are made. If you want to get anywhere, you have to be a bit assy. If you don’t like phones, don’t become a journalist.

Hacking scandal is the reason everyone hates journalists: should Murdoch own the media?

2011-07-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Photography: World Economic Forum

The News of The World and its hacking scandal is the reason why everyone hates journalists. This is the only chance to stop Murdoch dominating the media.

The News of the World has to date, according to The Guardian, hacked the phones of over 3,000 individuals over an extended period of time. These include celebrities such as Hugh Grant, royals such as Prince William, the ex-Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott, and, as most recently revealed, ordinary individuals such as Milly Dowler and the parents of missing schoolgirl Jessica Chapman.

This is where, as Prime Minister David Cameron pointed out in the ‘emergency debate’ called in the House of Commons last week, the case extends its severity from celebrities and officials with details of their personal lives and private cases investigated, to the relatives of everyday murder victims. It is obvious that now is the time to step in, with Cameron calling a public inquiry into the matter and why the original internal investigation failed to grasp the true extent of the hacking into telephone communications.

Is it really any wonder why journalists have such a bad name? According to some statistics, journalists are less trusted than bankers, and about as much as politicians. During my work experience placement at a local newspaper we were interviewing teachers who were protesting outside the council house at their schools being turned into academies. One teacher was sceptical of being reported, partly due to what her head teacher would say if she saw her name in the paper, and partly – I suspect – due to how the paper was going to report on it. Who would trust a newspaper like The News of the World (NOTW) to quote them correctly when they have been intercepting voicemails and phone calls as part of an everyday practise of journalism when they barely trust the rest of them?

NOTW has brought down even further the standards of journalism across the country. Morally and ethically this behaviour is unacceptable practice for anyone, let alone a newspaper. A free press is a fundamental part of our democracy, despite how dominated it might seem by Murdoch and his sly empire. But if the people with the power to publish news are going to abide by these guidelines when chasing down information for stories, then it is impossible for the public to trust them.

The newspaper industry is in enough decline already, and NOTW’s departure will heavily damage the newspaper industry, putting 280 people out of jobs and closing a publication which has been running for 168 years. It was already damaged by the pulls in advertising by a number of important clients such as Vauxhall, Ford, Butlins, Halifax, The Cooperative and Virgin holidays. Perhaps Murdoch sensed its fall and decided to pull before they were shut down, especially to try and save his BSkyB deal. Since then he has decided to step back from the deal, however, this will probably only be for the meantime. It is also highly possible that News Corporation will be shunned by the public, many of which may choose not to buy newspapers with such a poor ethical stance (if it is that The Sun readers figure out that the two papers are under the same ownership – it took me a year of delivering the actual papers before I realised this).

Aside from this, there’s the growing problem of the incestuous relationships between Murdoch, Cameron, Brooks and Colson which may interrupt and perhaps determine the outcome of this public enquiry. Brooks, a personal friend of the Prime Minister and now CEO of News International, insists she knew nothing of the horrific acts being undertaken at her own newspaper when she was editor – which either makes her a liar, or not a brilliant editor. Every Prime Minister knows that you need to get friendly with Murdoch to help gather public opinion on your side, a tradition which began many years ago with the Thatcher government. In addition to this, Andy Colson, Rebecca Brooks’ deputy editor of NOTW at the time who also went on to be editor, then advanced to become David Cameron’s director of communications. Many alliances run straight through the heart of this issue, which could cause considerable obstacles in running a full investigation of the matter.

It may be interesting to speculate the impact the media will have in the next General Election. Ed Miliband seems completely unsupportive of Murdoch and has called for the resignation of Brooks along with many other politicians. Will he begin to cosy up to Murdoch and go back on his word, or could this be seen as the end of the influence Murdoch will have on the media? Previous Labour leaders who didn’t back him have seen the effects of this; Neil Kinnock and Gordon Brown were both portrayed by the range of newspapers in a highly negative view, which damaged their reputations considerably.

Since the 1980s, Murdoch’s power has grown exponentially and even with his bid to take over BSkyB off the table for the meantime, it is finally being questioned (properly) whether News Corporation is a ‘fit and proper’ company and should be entitled to his current 39%, which appears like it will take some time. He described the actions taken by the journalists as ‘deplorable and unacceptable’ yet gives his continuing support to his CEO Rebekah Brooks.

News Corporation is currently worth £20 billion, but the shares are falling by the day and as the paper was pulled its 7.5 million readers across Britain on Sunday, and the subsequent withdrawl of Murdoch's BSkyB bid, could this be the beginning of the decline of the Murdoch empire?

This needs to be the final wake-up call to the government that no man should dominate the media. This should especially not be a man who controls a newspaper which abdicated the corrupt practices of phone-hacking to a number of victims. It isn’t just the future of News Corporation that is hanging in the balance, but the future of British journalism.

A similar version of this article was published in The Student Journals.

A deluded education culture

2011-07-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Photography: Flickr, Xin Li 88

The education culture today is deluded, and how we see different subjects is damaging to the system itself.

Labours targets of 50 % of students advancing to university was always going to be unrealistic. The economy would seriously suffer if anything like those numbers aimed for the highest post-graduate jobs, with many of today’s students holding off until they get the jobs they want. This would leave lower-paid jobs including manual labour employment empty, as they are seen as lacking in aspirations, not important or even boring.

However, these workers are still vital for our economy. From dustbin collectors to plumbers and maintenance repair staff, we simply couldn’t function as a society without then. Whether they require training on the job or in college, these jobs are just as important as university graduates.

Is university the only way to a good job? Clearly not; there are many builders, carpenters, music producers and chefs out there who will earn thousands of pounds more per year than I when I come out of university with an arts degree in a few years time, hoping to go into a career in the wonderful rollercoaster world of journalism. They didn't go to university.

Of course university isn't for everyone. My sister, if she decides to go, will be enrolling at a university in 2013, after the rise to £9000 tuition fees. She's not a mad lover of school, but she's currently about to start her A Levels at the local grammar school sixth form. From the school environment we came from, it's very much encouraged that the only way to go is to university, yet she is very sensibly thinking of other options such as practical courses.

So why is it that we see practical based courses as not as worthy as academic ones? A college student studying an electrics course may not be able to go into as many careers as one with a Mathematics degree, but they could just as easily have the opportunities to start their own business and go on to bigger and better things.

The fact is that we can learn all we ever need to know for a job from books – we only go to university for the degree qualification to say we actually did the qualification we did. What, then, is the real point of paying thousands of pounds for something we can get from books?

As I said in my other post, university isn’t just about learning from books, sitting exams, falling asleep in lecturers and such like. It’s about the experience, and that is what employers value when looking for an employee – the transferable life skills that you learn outside of your university degree.

In fact, there are many jobs still around today where you don’t need anything but A levels and an attitude to go far. I did some work experience at a newspaper recently and one of the main news reporters got straight out of school, did a gap year and went straight into journalism by sending out letters and CVs to every publication in the area.

Aside from the fact that journalism degrees and others such as media or communication studies are not seen as worthwhile, they teach many students skills that they could learn quicker and easier on the job than for three years at university.

Even the humanities and arts degrees are being seen more and more as being less important, as demonstrated by the recent freeze of the STEM university budgets despite cuts to humanities subjects.

It’s time we started seeing subjects not just in comparison to others, but for what they are. Admittedly, there are some subjects which are harder and more worthwhile to study as a degree, but that doesn’t mean the rest aren’t worth studying. The importance of the arts and social sciences are not to be underestimated; they bring diversity to education that we would be at a loss without. If anyone wants to live in a world filled with facts, equations and numbers without the balance of beauty, art, culture and opinion, then be my guest and ignore the latter half of my sentance, but my History and Politics degree and I won't be joining you.

University – an education in life

2011-06-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

After AC Grayling’s announcement of the New College of the Humanities to open next year charging £18,000 fees annually and it’s subsequent praise and criticisms, the future of the university is very much still in the public eye.

Under the previous Labour government, the target was for 50 per cent of all students to go to university. There were considerable debates surrounding the rise of tuition fees to around £3000 and money was poured into the education sector.

Going to university is consistently seen as better than anything else you can do after completing A Levels. Going to college or having a gap year, even getting a job is not respected quite as highly as a three-year stint at a higher education institute.

The way that many of us disregard vocational qualifications in today’s society shows a disastrous shift in our education culture towards one focused solely on achieving through university. Builders, electricians, carpenters and music producers all have the possibility of earning thousands of pounds more a year than some university graduates, and going straight out into the big wide world – whether on a gap year or securing a full-time job – can give you the life experience skills you need as you go. Going to university doesn’t always mean lack of possibility and opportunity. Simply watch one episode of The Apprentice to see Lord Alan Sugar sneer down at his peers and remind them that he never went to university and has proved incredibly successful nevertheless.

University was - and still is - seen as the key to a good job and a good education. Graduates can apparently earn up to £200,000 extra with a degree, albeit one in Engineering will probably be more useful than Media Studies.

But university isn’t about the degree itself – that can easily be learnt from books and tutors – as it can prove irrelevant post-graduation. What is it that is important to employers then? A dedication to education perhaps, showing the perseverance to persist and succeed. More likely, it is the skills that we learn at university that really set us apart from others who didn’t go.

When you look back at your time at Warwick, of course you will – hopefully – remember the things you learnt in lectures and seminars about poetry, Hobbes, hydrogen chloride or whatever else you’ve supposedly stuffed into your already overflowing brain. But think about all the other things you’ve learnt that are beyond any university education.

There will be many first-years, who, at the beginning of the year tried to shove a takeaway Chinese into the microwave to re-heat it, only to see the microwave start sparking, smoking and making odd noises and as a result, to set off the fire alarm and see many disgruntled members of their block wandering around outside in their pyjamas at 3am. It is abilities such as these (cooking, not starting fires) amongst other attributes including team-work, presentation skills, working to deadlines, research knowledge and common sense which will help you to succeed in life, and is really what university is trying to tell you.

So when you look back over your first, second, third or final year at Warwick, the Boar hopes that you will think about all the things that you’ll have done this year which have added to your experience at University, and indeed in life. Whether it be a part-time job, being on the exec of a society or simply learning how to cook pasta, take it in your stride and treasure it. These are the skills you need to succeed not in a job, but in life overall; these are the things you will remember and probably not Kant’s theory of transcendental idealism.

This was published as an editorial in The Boar on Tuesday 21 June 2011.

Work experience troubles

2011-06-16T03:46:00.000-07:00

After sending off my BBC News application after over six weeks of writing it (I gave it a rest during exams) I was surprised at the rapid response of my rejection the next morning. Hours of writing about my ‘suitability’, ‘education’ and ‘experience’ about a placement for the BBC resulted in five seconds of skimming an email to tell me I’m unsuccessful and they can provide no feedback as to why.

I can understand the BBC News, the biggest media company in the country, but to date I have emailed and contacted 24 separate media relations, publishing and PR companies, magazines and newspapers, both local and national. I’ve received about 10 responses so far – pretty appalling. Admittedly I haven’t resorted to ringing them up every ten minutes, storming the office and demanding placements yet, but the rejection letters, being the incorrect age and the lack of places available are, amongst everything else, quite disheartening, especially after spending so long writing the content.

Most of the responses are; apply later. However, the difficulty of getting any sort of work experience for any amount of time is pretty ridiculous. Who doesn’t want people on work experience to run around the office for them doing all the rubbish jobs no one wants to do and making tea? I know as an employer I would welcome it, so what’s the problem? Why don’t they want us? Is this because we’re annoying, inexperienced and know nothing about the real world perhaps? Well, maybe it’s because we can’t get any work experience.

So many graduates are coming out of university and searching for jobs, and unable to get them. Partly this is due to the economic crisis and the high unemployment rates, lack in demand. However, if all the reports are true that graduates are not trained for the work place, it’s because they can’t get enough work experience. Work experience is key, not just so employers recognise you as a dedicated, reliable and responsible individual with the experience to succeed but so you can gain the vital skills you need to succeed in the work place, not just the classroom.

My first work experience placement was aged 15, compulsory as part of our school curriculum at the time. It was fairly simple to get the placement; I walked around my hometown and dropped into every shop, asking if it was possible to do two days work experience with them. I stopped by a café/bistro and they offered me a place. The last few days of my summer were spent making coffee, serving customers and helping prepare food in the kitchen (and I even got some of the money from the tips jar at the end of it). I’m very grateful for it as it secured me a job when I finished my GCSEs in Pret a Manger sandwich shop, which I love, and overall I really enjoyed the placement.

I’m not sure whether it was the local aspect of the placement that made it easier to get, or the fact it was the catering industry which could always use an extra hand. However, my next placement wasn’t as easy. The Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser took work experience placements months in advance and only for those over the age of 18. After a lengthy and argumentative discussion over email about my suitability and experience for the work experience with the owner of Johnston Press as I was just 16 at the time, I finally got a week’s placement at the newspaper. As my most relevant and engaging work experience yet, I spent the week researching, writing articles and reporting on local issues around the community, which was highly valuable for the journalism career I intend to embark on after university.

This brings me to today. After a year’s experience as Deputy and then News Editor of my local students’ newspaper The Boar, I’m looking for something else to set me apart from the others before I graduate and begin that long search for the job of my dreams. For the past three months of sending out covering letters, filling in applications and receiving rejections or no replies at all, I was about ready to give up. Email after email got my hopes up, and then deflated them again, which was utterly degrading.

But I soon realised that this is exactly why journalism work experience is so hard to come by; journalism is hard. There will be plenty of people ignoring me, rejecting me, shouting at me and slamming doors in my faces for hopefully many years to come. I have to learn to gain experience from it, to not get offended, to take the criticisms, move on and learn. This is just teaching me to be persistent, to keep going and not to give up, and is all simply a part of the experience. Only time will tell if this is the job I really want to have for the rest of my life, but rather than getting upset about my rejections and looking at other careers, I’m getting back on the horse and researching other options. Onto the next application.

Why AC Grayling’s New College of the Humanities could be a blessing in disguise

2011-06-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Photography: New College of the Humanities

Last week I was as shocked as most people to discover AC Grayling’s new plans to set up the New College of the Humanities (NCH) in London to open next year. One-on-one tuition, lectures by Sir David Cannadine, Niall Ferguson and Richard Dawkins and here’s the cracker: £18,000 per year in fees.

Eighteen thousand pounds a year? That’s six times the amount I am paying for my undergraduate studies here at the University of Warwick (though they will be charging £9,000 from 2012). An outrageous sum of money! It will mean that for tuition fees alone, the total cost of a three-year course will be £64,000,without accounting for food, supplies, and the already expensive London accommodation.

My first thought after reading this article was how ridiculously unfair this system is. A new university charging that amount of money will simply not be accessible for the majority of the population. I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford it, I know few that would. Is it even worth that much? Obviously this would widen the social inequalities within our society, causing rifts between the rich who can afford the very best, and the rest of us, who simply cannot. Regardless of academic abilities, it will only be the rich who will get into this university, excluding the majority of us from getting a look in. What with no loans available for private university degrees, it will only be those with money who can afford to study here.

NHC fight back to this, claiming they do not “want to be exclusive” and in order to ensure everyone has the chance to study there, will be offering one-fifth of its students full or part payment of their tuition fees through their scholarship and exhibition schemes. So, out of an intake of 1,000 pupils, just 200 will receive help with their fees. Perhaps more than other universities, but what about the other 800 who will receive nothing? It seems appalling unfair and restricting to almost everyone, and not at all convincing.

After an extended Facebook argument with an old friend where I ranted for quite some time about the absurdity of the university system, the unfairness of private schools, the lack of grad jobs and whether paying for university is really worth it, I let my thoughts simmer away quietly.

However, a recent article by Boris Johnson published in The Telegraph which condones the operation hands down, naturally sparked my interest. He argues that the number of well-off individuals’ offspring that cannot get a place at university for some reason or another would now have a place to go. Instead of clogging up spaces in Oxford, Durham, Warwick etc., the rich kids would get a great education from a top university, and leave those who couldn’t afford it to take up spaces at institutions such as Cambridge, where they allegedly pay some of the lowest fees in the country due to their wide range of scholarships and bursaries and also allegedly don’t judge you on your parental income.

According to the article, 10,000 students per year travel to America to get a degree, some of them paying up to $60,000 for it instead of what could be money being put back into the British system to ensure that our skilled graduates will go on to work in our industries. This is unsurprising when it was reported last month that there were over 700,000 applications to university in the last academic year, an all-time record. Johnson argues that this elite system will keep more students in the country; better for the university system and the economy in the long-run

.Another pro of the NCH was the fact that it was a humanities based university, offering degrees in just five subject areas;

* Law
* Economics
* History
* English Literature
* Philosophy

Despite this being a small choice, surely the fact that a university is being set up just to teach those subjects which are so desperately in need of funding next year after the drastic government cuts is a good thing? I study History and Politics, two budgets I know are being slashed in desperate attempts to reduce the deficit (amongst some suspicions the government is leaning towards the promotion of a private university system in the UK). The top academics lecturing you, more contact hours, fewer people in seminar groups – this is what students want from their university, and why shouldn’t they demand it? With a rise in fees should come a rise in experience, and this is exactly what the NCH is offering. Surely a university that is suggesting this much attention to be given to the subject areas above can only be beneficial for research and development, and proves to those who solely support STEM research that the humanities are very much still alive and worth studying today?
Johnson backs NCH as an idea that ensures private universities run alongside public ones and not replace them, which creates a new model of university that will be free from the red tape of government bureaucracy and free to do as it wishes. If that means spending all of its funds on securing the best quality humanities degree for its students then that is what NCH will do.

Despite this, even with the proposed scholarships and funding, the question still remains for the majority; what about those who cannot afford to pay for an alternative? They have, then, nowhere to turn to. They cannot use Mummy and Daddy to buy their way into a top university when Oxbridge reject them. AC Grayling’s plan may have some serious advantages to the public system; freedom from regulation, the ability to focus on the subjects it wishes, and leaving 1,000 more places at the top universities open to students who may not be able to afford NCH. The two-tiered school system of public and private is flawed too, however – this can be seen by entering any inner city comprehensive – could we be going the same way with our university system leaving only the rich with what some may describe as a fundamental human right? In addition, the assumption that undergraduates would not be taking up valuable Oxbridge place remains only relevant if students see the universities as equal, which they may not do.

However, the primary issues of funding and accessibility are still flawed. Those who fail to get a place at their chosen university and do not possess the funds are left with few options; they are forced into clearing places, to redo their A-Levels or in the case of many, the simple fact of having to abandon hope of their university dream altogether.

Why did Barack Obama win the 2008 election?

2011-03-29T03:21:00.000-07:00

A little something from the archives of my school newspaper... The RLS Express...

I remember standing bleary eyed in the bathroom at about eight am on the morning of November 5th when my Mum came in and asked 'Have you heard?' When I told her I hadn't she merely responded with 'he did it!' along with a big grin on her face. Half asleep due to staying up the previous night watching the election show (I only saw the first electoral college results come in) I still remember smiling to myself and feeling glad that this man had achieved his hopes and dreams, and would soon be the most important and influential man in the world.

Obama's victory speech ran headlines of every newspaper the next morning, reports flying everywhere of the momentous event that had occurred. His speech, which has since been named and declared as one of the best speeches made to date, in which he clearly addresses everyone in America. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible," declared the President-elect, "who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

But what is it about Obama that makes him so desirable as a president? I hadn't heard his speeches. I hadn't been greeted at the door by one of his supporters encouraging me to vote. I hadn't heard about what he was going to do. Yet I, like so many others liked the look of Obama. Search him on google images and you'll see that 80% of the pictures, he is smiling in. The other 20% he is making a speech in, and can be forgiven. He looks like a nice guy. He acts like one too, as throughout his campaign he has reminded us that he is a true family man. His wife, and the next first lady Michelle Obama has remained by his side for support throughout the twenty-one strenuous months of his campaign, as well as his two young daughters who he promised a puppy if he made it to the White House. Does the fact that we see him as an all-rounded man make us like him? I think so. It shouts out to the audience he is loving, caring and generally a kind man, which does support his case.

One main issue that surely picked up hundreds of thousands of voters was his policies and how he is going to run America next year. To kick start the economy, Obama plans to pump $50 billion dollars into it, alongside introducing major tax cuts to all working Americans and fighting for fair trade using new agreements. He also plans to come to an agreement to end the war in Iraq, make healthcare more affordable, and invest in more, better childhood education. Of course this all seems very rosy, especially when you regard it alongside http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ which highlights all that is wrong with the other candidate John McCain's policies. Even scanning through what he aims to do does give a positive impression that he has thought through what he wants for America carefully, giving him a professional air, that makes the public want to trust him.

Despite being one of his weaknesses too, one of Obama's strengths has been his youth. At just 47 years of age he would be one of the youngest ever presidents. As a middle aged 'family man' many more people find it easier to relate to him, and what he wants to do. The other candidate John McCain had been criticized for being too old to be president, and this is something that Obama definitely had on his side - youth. In addition, for all those who claimed he did not have enough experience (he only became senator in 2004) it can be argued that Joe Biden, his running partner will make up for this - he is 65 years of age and has decades of politics on his side. The youth that he put across in his campaigns not only encouraged more people to vote for him, but introduced a higher proportion of younger voters, ones that can closely relate to him, and look up to him as someone with a fresh face, and a fresh view for change in America.

The incredible journey to the White House has been an amazing victory for black people everywhere. It could be partly due to the colour of his skin that Obama was voted in, in an attempt to prove to the USA that equality has truly been achieved. Looking back in history, it is forty years since the defined 'end' to the Civil Rights Movement, marked by the death of Martin Luther King being shot on a hotel balcony. Little over fifty years ago, blacks couldn't vote, were segregated in schools, restaurants and other public facilities and faced fatal discrimination from vigilante groups such as the KKK. This continued well into the 50s and 60s, after the CR movement was sparked off, despite rulings declaring segregation unconstiutional, and giving blacks political freedoms including the right to vote. A few decades later and America has come so far in terms of racial equality. No one could ever have predicted that this would happen fifty years ago when white and blacks couldn't even sit in the same restaurant, but since then the USA has drastically changed. It could be argued that many people wanted to change history by ensuring that a black candidate was elected into the white house, and his colour played a big part in his victory.

Furthermore, the amount of money and publicity that Obama pumped into his election process can be seen as a major factor in his victory. Taking a look at barackobama.com it is clear to see there is no extent to the publicity that can be gained through merchandise. From t-shirts to mugs, badges to flags, Obama hasn't skimped on this area of his campaign. This is just one sector that he has spent money on in order to gain the maximum amount of publicity possible for his case. This is not counting various interviews, billboards, TV appearances and visits throughout his campaign to ensure he was the next president of the USA. It is unclear exactly how much money Obama and the democrats have spent on the campaign overall, but latest figures show it as around 470 billion dollars. Debates have highlighted that this is an obscene amount of money that could and should have been spent elsewhere, especially in the current economic downturn. The high cost of Obama's presidential campaign can be seen as a pivotal factor in his victory.

Overall, there are many factors that determined why Barack Obama won this election. After all, it was very close, indicating that John McCain did have a substantial amount of support also. But at the end of the day history has somehow been made as a result of time, effort, money and various other reasons. On the other hand, maybe America just wanted George Bush out of the white house, and were determined to vote for the complete opposite of everything he stood for. Enter Obama.

Warwick confirms fee rise to £9,000 for 2012

2011-03-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

http://theboar.org/news/2011/mar/23/warwick-confirms-fee-rise-9000-2012/

The University has announced today, March 23, that it intends to raise its fees for undergraduate home and EU students to £9,000 for students studying at Warwick from 2012, pending approval from the Office for Fair Access (OFA).

The proposal aims to help those from lower income backgrounds to study at Warwick with fee-waivers and bursaries, worth up to £4,500, for students with a family income of under £25,000.

According to a press release from the University, “around 1,500 (19%) of Warwick’s current undergraduate student population falls within those terms.”

Furthermore, courses aimed to widen access at Warwick such as 2+2 sandwich courses and part-time degrees are set to cost £6,000.

This proposal follows a number of meetings featuring representatives from the University, student representatives, faculty members and heads of department which discussed student experience and funding.

The Senate and Council have taken into consideration the feedback from these sessions and have approved the proposal for the above measures to be instigated from 2012. The University explains the need for the hike in fees as of next year in a press release on its website: “Warwick provides an extremely high quality teaching and learning environment that is valued, and highly sought after, by both students and staff…

“Warwick students are taught by world-leading academics on a campus with a global reputation. Warwick is also consistently ranked as one of the UK’s top ten universities. We need to not just preserve that level of excellence, but to build on it and enhance it despite the reduction in funding that English universities are facing through the cuts to their teaching grants.”

The Students’ Union released a statement earlier today which outlined their position as “opposed to £9,000 fees but determined to win increased investment in the student experience”.

The statement, which denounced the fee rise, argued that “future generations of graduates will be burdened by fees that will result in huge amounts of personal debt during a period of record levels of graduate unemployment.”

Students’ Union Education Officer Sean Ruston maintained a firm opposition to the proposals. “Throughout our negotiations with the University we have remained consistently opposed to the fee rise, but at the same time we’ve had serious discussions about how to invest extra income into improving the student experience.”

Almost all universities so far including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, Durham and Exeter have chosen to raise their fees to the maximum amount of £9,000. Only one university so far – London Metropolitan – has chosen not to charge the maximum threshold despite government criticisms that only the top universities should charge this, and must then prove that a significant amount of the extra funds will be put toward improving the student experience.

Warwick have announced that £9.6 million will be invested in improving the student experience with the introduction of new measures which are yet to be announced.

Ruston emphasised the efforts of the Students’ Unions’ to influence the University with regard to these proposals. “Some of our recommendations have directly influenced the allocation of extra funds to improve things like teaching facilities and the general quality of education of Warwick.

“At the same time, we have pushed hard for the University to be as ambitious as possible in providing support for students who need it in terms of bursaries and putting in place new measures to widen access from students from low income backgrounds,” he added.

President of the Students’ Union Daniel Stevens expressed his frustrations of the proposed plans. “It’s disappointing that Warwick is joining other institutions in charging £9,000 and that higher education is in more of a mess… this is definitely a step backward for social mobility in the U.K.”

One first-year English Literature student David Levesley said: “I find it completely irresponsible that a university that based itself off liberal, west coast universities… has decided to use finance to seem like its stuffy Oxbridge rivals.”

Andrew Wilkin, a second-year History undergraduate commented: “After Manchester, Oxbridge, Exeter… I’m not shocked by this whatsoever. All it needed was one top university to state their 9,000 fees and all would follow suit.”

One fourth-year student who wished to remain anonymous stated that the announcement was “unsurprising”.

Stevens concluded by stating that: “The students have to be [at] the centre under the new fees regime, given that students now have the burden and not the government.”

Further details on the proposals will be available once the terms have been agreed with OFA in July 2011.

With contributions from Conlan Day.

Can newspapers/the media ever be unbiased?

2011-03-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

On March 26 2011, over 250,000 people protested in London as part of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) March for the Alternative. Ed Miliband spoke to crowds in Hyde Park, thousands walked through the city passing the Houses of Parliament and through Trafalgar Square in opposition to the governments' fierce cuts. Impressive, honourable, a great achievement some would say.

But how much of that did you hear? A considerable amount of media coverage featured the destruction of Topshop on Oxford Street, a bonfire at Oxford Circus, the vandalisation of multiple banks and missiles that were thrown at the Ritz Hotel. This resulted in 214 arrests and 66 people injured, including 13 police. That's certainly more interesting isn't it?

The newspapers and media have been heavily criticised for focusing too much on the violent aspects of protests such as the tuition fee demonstrations in October of last year when the Conservative party headquarters at Millbank were attacked. However, the balance of reporting the interesting news and the news which is perhaps less interesting but nevertheless should be reported is difficult to achieve.

All newspapers and news sources are biased. They have their own political agendas, they support certain campaigns and they feature a spread of views and opinions of a range of the population.

Murdoch’s babies The Sun and The Times both supported the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election, as previously they have supported Labour. The media saw its own presence as so influential over the outcome of the 1992 General Election that The Sun even printed on its front page the next day, ‘it’s the Sun wot won it’.

The BBC of course is meant to be politically independent, as is the Independent, proudly claiming this on its front page. But can newspapers ever really be objective? Is there really a way of reporting on a story in a completely non-partisan and factual way?
In fact, this is impossible. There is no way of reporting in a non-partisan way. Everyone has a political agenda, whether they will admit it or not. Every reporter, every editor, every presenter, every member of the media is biased.

We are all political actors. You may not want to be involved in politics and wish to distance yourself as far as possible from such scheming corrupt men who use your taxes to buy moats and pay off their mortgages, but in holding this opinion, you yourself are dividing yourself into a category of the apolitical.

Therefore, I can gather that if you don’t vote, you probably care little about politics, probably don’t watch the news a lot and probably don’t care a great deal about what your local council are voting on at the present time. Of course this is not always necessarily true, but generally disengagement with politics will suggest this.

When picking up a newspaper, we must be aware of these views. An interview with David Willets will of course support the rise in tuition fees and we expect this when reading. A Liberal Democrat supporter might write favourably of a new policy while a Labour supporter might downplay its effectiveness or relevance. This doesn’t even have to be through how it is written; it could even be due to the placing or ordering of the text.

We are unable to stop ourselves from being a political actor purely for the sense of being a reporter. Our core values and ideologies and perceptions of the world cannot be removed from our consciousness when we write an article or present a TV show. Politics is inextricably linked to the media as it is intertwined within us all and it is impossible to completely disengage with it.

Even if we report on literally everything that is a clear and provable fact, we still discriminate when selecting our information. There is no possible way we could find out everything about an event all at once, and even less of a chance of fitting it all into one article. We must choose the information we feel is most important to go in, and leave out a large proportion of the material. There will never be a number of set pieces of information that must be included that everyone will agree with. Someone will argue that one point is more important than another. A section editor, a producer, a supervisor or a sub-editor may take out words or phrases they feel are irrelevant and replace it with what they feel should be included and this can happen at any stage.

A broadcast of ITV News at 10 may portray the events of a story in a very different way to the coverage on BBC. The order of the story, the content, the visual images that accompany it, the presenter, the demographics and the public opinion used could be completely different.

Even how the article or broadcasters is written or said can have an impact on the overall tone of the piece. Stress may be placed in different places in news broadcasts whereas seemingly harmless adjectives or connectives can twist the angle of a newspaper report without actually changing the main facts. Implications of what the story is trying to say can completely alter the meaning the original reporter was trying to convey, and we must be aware of this when consuming media products.

So, why do we try? Why do newspapers and the media even bother attempting to be unbiased when they can’t be?

Firstly, because they have to be. Those who are naïve to think that all news sources are valid and reliable must be reminded that there are differences between those and other media outlets who are openly enforcing of their own political opinions on the world. There have to be some outlets who are attempting to be independent and offer the public some form of news from which they can draw their own opinions.

Secondly, because they should be. Even if it is impossible to be completely independent politically, the media should aim to do so. People should have the opportunity to get the news as raw as it can be, the information presented as independently as possible. The media's sole purpose should not be to persuade the public to have a certain opinion.

The world should not always be portrayed through the lens of another's view. People need to be able to make up their own minds; to be individuals with independently formed thoughts on the world. Even if the media is unable to be completely unbiased, it should, at the very least, make an attempt to be so, in order to attempt to create a free and open press.

Read more: The Student Journals - Can the media ever be unbiased? http://www.thestudentjournals.co.uk/comment/politics/298-can-the-media-ever-be-unbiased#ixzz1Iv4iGZx6

Published Friday 8 April 2011 on The Student Journals Website.

Does choice define identity? (1)

2011-03-13T04:28:00.000-07:00

Photography: Tash Clark

[02:08:27] Conlan Day: 'Does choice define identity'?

If we never made any choices, then we would never have a personality. From the choice of when to wake up in the morning and the clothes we choose to wear, to the university we choose to go to and the job we choose to apply for. In turn, these choices we make define ourselves. If I wake up at 7am, part of what might be assumed is that I am a ‘morning person’. I enjoy mornings. If I wear a stylish dress and pretty shoes, it could be assumed that I am a girl who likes fashion. If I choose to go to Oxford, one might assume I am intelligent. If I apply to work for Centrica, one might assume I am interested in business.

On the other hand, I could choose to wake up at 7am because I have a job that starts at 9am, not because I like mornings. I may choose to wear a dress and pretty shoes not because I like fashion, but because I work somewhere of which the social norms require me to do so. I may have not chosen to go to Oxford because I am intelligent and want to be in the surroundings which enable me to push myself the furthest, but because I live with my grandmother in Oxford and she needs taking care of. I might apply to Centrica not because I am interested in business but because it is a respectable company and I need the money. We can’t therefore, assume that that a choice someone makes means something specific about their identity.

But is that just an assumption about the person I am? Should we not assume then, and take our choices to mean something entirely different – a path. The choices we make do not directly define our identity, but do so indirectly, by setting us down a pathway of which the person walking down it, is us. This path represents the environment. The person walking down the path represents us. When we walk along a path, we might encounter a rock, and almost fall over it, but carefully move around it. Moving around the rock was a choice we made in order to avoid getting hurt. Next time we see a rock, we might be more careful in order to avoid being hurt once more. (Whether this is an active choice or an example of a natural reaction is debatable here.) Therefore, the choice to step around the rock has made us more careful as a person. Part of our identity could be therefore a caring person.

Despite this, one occurrence of one choice does not define who we are. Other days we may not choose to ‘step around a rock’ (metaphorically) in order to stop getting hurt, and thus the level is neutral once more. If we continue to step around rocks, that is when a conscious choice is being made to do so, and this reinforcement defines our identity, for example, if we are bored and decide to draw one Monday afternoon because it was fun and relaxing, then again on Tuesday, and Wednesday and Thursday, we could conclude that we like to paint (a part of our identity). It has to be multiple occurrences before it can be defined as a part of who we are.

But then what is your definition of define? Surely define refers to a strong, never ending, fixed point, and surely identity is something that changes? We cannot be exactly the same people as we were five years ago; many things have happened to us since then which have altered the way we behave, speak, write, move. Identity is not a fixed point inside ourselves which can never change, it is something we always carry with us, and that is something that is ever changing. Just because we hate carrots as a kid, and that could be, a part of our identity… it doesn’t mean we will always hate carrots. Identities change.

Perhaps then, what makes our identities change IS choice, which would lead the above statement to be true. For example, if we chose to try some food at a friend’s house with carrots in it, and really enjoyed them, then our active choice of having some of that meal has changed our identity.

This is all only plausible and logical if we understand identity to be who we are. Obviously there are different definitions of this, but in this case I am referring to identity as the self, as the person we are, our personality, characteristics, mannerisms, heritage, genetics, habits, likes, dislikes, what we would describe ourselves as to others as etc.

However, if we return to the basics of psychology – there are two main explanations which combine to make a plausible ‘reason’ of why something occurred in a person – environmental factors and genetic factors. For example, someone acting aggressively on a regular basis – say they have an anger management problem. When looking at the psychological causes of this, it is possible to argue that genetic factors caused the person in question to act aggressively (the biological explanation), maybe because their parents were aggressive themselves. On the other hand, there are many environmental factors that it could be put down to such as violent video games, a carer they are not related to them being aggressive towards them, or watching violent films, witnessing a violent crime etc. If we take being aggressive to be a part of one’s identity, then we can argue that some attributes, such as aggression, are not a choice, and therefore identity is not solely defined by choice, if it is at all. There are other factors involved which determine our identity that are in our genetics and our surrounding environment.

If we return to the idea of identity as a path, then we say that indirectly, the choices we make define our identity. The choices we make shape the path (aka the environment in which we live) therefore this environment shapes us. There is a lot of psychological debate (nature vs nurture) about which is more important, which shapes us more, our biology or our environment? Either way, it is clear that the choices that WE personally make are those which affect the world around us, and if we take the world around us to be a factor in shaping our identity, then yes, choice does shape identity. However, I’m reluctant to use the word define… because, like I mentioned, define implies it to be fixed and unchangeable, which I don’t believe identity to be.

“But it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you.”
To sum up: Batman agrees. It’s what we do. It’s our choices. Our choices define us. Whether we choose to buy the big issue or walk on by defines who we are. Whether we buy free range or organic or genetically modified will shape who we are. It will also biologically affect us… but that’s not the point. We choose things, these things affect us, that’s obviously inevitable. But it’s not the only thing that defines us. Making a few bad choices doesn’t make us a bad person. You could argue that even the bad choices shape our identity. In fact, that’s very much true. But like I say, choices are not the only things that make us who we are; a lot of it is other people, the rest of the world, ideas, experiences and a whole other lot of undefined crap.

Choice does, in part shape identity, but it does not define it. Identity is made up of a combination of factors, not just the choices we make.

An old love of everything

2011-03-13T04:21:00.000-07:00

Ten year old Tash ... very wise. ;)

I love the numbness when you run your fingers over the netting in the tennis courts

I love the coolness of the shade on a summer’s day
I love the buzzing in the hallway on the first day back at school
I love the pounding of your feet on the ground when you go for a run
I love the smell of your duvet when it’s just been washed
I love the breath of air on your face when the wind blows
I love the bass vibrating through the floor
I love the shock when you think there's another step on the stairs
I love the buzz of the computer when you’ve just turned it off
I love the tweeting of the birds in the morning
I love the way piano keys bounce
I love the roar of the thunder in the dark
I love the comfort of hot flames on the back of your hand
I love the freshness when you step outside in winter and shiver
I love the look in their eyes when they see you and smile

A Fresh perspective

2011-03-06T01:31:00.001-08:00

Last week saw the launch of FreshBlood’s first FreshFest, a free, student-run theatre festival held at Warwick.

Run by a team of 18 student writers and directors, FreshFest featured an underground jazz bar party, comedy and writing workshops, dance and music performances and multiple student-written plays.

The festival was hosted by FreshBlood, a society which promotes student-written drama through frequent written productions, plays, cabarets and other performances.

Despite what its name suggests, FreshFest was not just aimed at Freshers; it was targeted at all theatre and performance lovers to give them an opportunity to observe and work with other literary and performing talents across the University.

The entire week was co-ordinated by Theatre students Judith Durkin and Ben Borowiecki, who judged the week to be a great success, with a good attendance.

Borowiecki expressed that the remit of FreshBlood is to support student writing in all forms, not simply traditional theatre performances, with which the society is generally associated. “It’s been restricted to theatre in the past few years. What FreshFest has tried to do is to open people up and encourage people of all kinds of writing to get involved.”

Furthermore, Borowiecki emphasised that FreshBlood was not just a society for theatre students, despite the heavy emphasis on theatre.

“We want FreshBlood to be not a theatre society but a creative society. I really want people to come and feel included, it’s not an elite thing. People aren’t high pressured, we want it to be a place for fun.”

When questioned on the purpose of the creation of the five-day festival, Borowiecki commented: “Fresh Blood has been floundering a bit in recent years. … Plays haven’t been unified [under] any one banner. … We want[ed] to get them under one big event.”

He expressed the problems that the society faced when multiple plays were being performed at the same time, which divided audiences. FreshFest was an “attempt to get more publicity shared between the plays”, rather than scrapping for the same audiences.

Previously, FreshBlood’s main presence has been based in Leamington. However, all of this week’s events took place on campus, and even the Dirty Duck Snug was the stage to one of the featured plays, ‘To Will’, which exhibits two colleagues toasting to the life, work and world of the recently deceased Shakespeare.

Third-year Philosophy student Megan Fortune spoke highly of ‘To Will’, one of eight student-written plays performed this week. “[It] was definitely the best play I’ve seen so far this year … The audience and I were laughing from start to finish.”

The organisers were extremely pleased at the success of FreshFest, and hope to make it an annual event.

Published March 1st:
http://theboar.org/news/2011/mar/2/festival-offers-fresh-perspective/

The boys are back in town: Sabbs re-elected

2011-02-17T11:28:00.001-08:00

Leo Bøe has been elected as next year’s President of Warwick Students’ Union, announced last Saturday evening. He beat eight other candidates in the race to total 1,569 votes after nine stages of elimination through the single transferable vote system (STV), leaving runner-up Jane Costello in second place with 1,296 votes.

Bøe, who currently holds the position of Welfare Officer at the Student’s Union after completing his degree in Politics and International Studies the previous year was shocked at the results: “I was not expecting this… I’m in a similar state of mind to… last year.”

Bøe maintains that his work as Welfare Officer this year means he can “cut straight to work” when he becomes President. “The experience I’ve gathered means that I think I’ll actually be able to start work immediately when I get into office”, he commented.

Current Sports Officer George Whitworth was elected to the new position of Union Development Officer next year by a margin of around 500 votes, the role of which will replace the position of Finance Officer. He told the Boar that it was “really good” to be re-elected. “Last year I was a lot more nervous and a lot more shell shocked, whereas this year I’m not,” he explained.

Next year, Whitworth will be replaced as Sports Officer by Chris Sury who commented: “I think he’s done a really good job… it will really benefit me working with [him] because he’s been in the position before… I hope we can work alongside each other and he can advise me.”

With a total of 1,422 votes in the final stage, Matt Rogers was elected as Societies Officer who will take over from Andy White. Rogers spent most of the week handing out free tea and coffee outside the Students’ Union, which proved to secure his position ahead of three other candidates. “We’ve got such a great choice [of societies] and I’m really looking forwards to seeing new [ones] grow and protect the existing ones,” he said.

Chris Luck, the current Democracy and Communications Officer was also elected to remain a part of the Students’ Union Officer team as the Democracy Officer with 77 percent of the vote. He commented: “[It’s] a slightly different role which will take some getting used to,” as the role of communications will be next year be split between all seven Sabbs. When questioned about his plans for next year, Luck explained: “It’s all about finding out about what students want before I do anything.”

The only female Sabb in next year’s team will be Izzy John who was elected to the position of Welfare Officer. This year there were only three females out of a total of 24 candidates who ran for full-time officer positions and just seven out of 26 of those candidates for part-time officers were female.

It took 24 years for Warwick SU to elect its first female President in 1989, and to date there have only ever been four females to take up the post. Izzy John told the Boar that in her duties of representation she will also have to “provide representation within the Sabb Team; this isn’t feminism or tokenism… but women need a voice.”

This year was the first in the history of Warwick Students’ Union that incumbent Sabbatical Officers ran again for Officer posts, with four of this year’s team attempting to remain at the Students’ Union. Of these four, three have thus far been elected to remain a part of the Sabb team, while Sean Ruston will compete against Daren Maynard for Education Officer at a later date.

Earlier this week, current Education Officer Sean Ruston was admitted to hospital and underwent an operation for appendicitis and is expected to remain at home for the next week. The issue of some Sabbs re-running was presented as an important democratic question by ‘warwickleaks,’ a Twitter and Facebook account that provided anonymous commentary on the elections throughout the week. He or she noted that they would be “very interested to know why 4 sabbs are running again.”

For the new Sabbs, however, this was not a cause for concern, with some candidates extolling the benefits of experience. Chris Sury, the new Sports Officer, expressed his support for the successful campaign of George Whitworth for the new position of Union Development Officer, claiming that having a previous Sports Officer in the Sabbatical team “will help me settle into my position quicker… I look forward to working together.”

Leo Bøe justified his re-election to the Sabbatical Board of the Students’ Union by explaining that all Officers technically remain students for their tenure and commented that “it is important to know what is and isn’t possible in a position.” Arguing that experience in Union roles is important for candidates to understand the limits and possibilities of their positions, Boe claimed that “some other candidates… hadn’t looked into the reality.”

With all of the current Sabbatical Officers so far achieving their desired positions, the student populace have voted in favour of experience, much to the bitterness of one second-year historian, who asked: “Why don’t they just get proper jobs?”

A total of nine candidates ran for the position of President this year, making it by far the most competitive election. The contests for the part-time Officer positions were significantly less competitive, with six positions fielding no candidates at all, and nine positions featuring a candidate competing solely against ‘Re-Open Nominations’.

According to Jinesh Maru, an Economics undergraduate, “the same can pretty much be said about Chris Luck [the successful candidate for Democracy Officer], who was basically just running against a joke campaign, which doesn’t exactly glorify that position as a figurehead for Democracy.”

Joe Brown, the alternative candidate for Democracy Officer, claimed he was “too drunk” to submit a campaign manifesto, ran on a campaign slogan of “I fuckin [sic] love votes,” and claimed upon his defeat that “the students of Warwick are basically fuckwits who don’t really know what they want.”

The concerted campaign by the Elections Group to increase the number of candidates standing had mixed results, with the number of overall nominations suffering a small decrease, although there were a greater number of candidates for the full-time positions.

The effort to increase voter turnout was significantly more successful, with the total of 51,710 individual votes from 4,823 voters representing an elections record. However, this still only represents the opinions of a minority of the total electorate and is, according to Chris Luck: “not as high as it could or should be.”

The new team of Sabbatical Officers features students from a variety of academic backgrounds and areas of experience, and according to one attendee of the elections party, MORSE student Phil Dent, “they seem to be some of the best qualified students in the University.”

A widespread criticism of last year’s Sabbatical elections, that the elected did not represent the social diversity of the University, does not however appear to have been resolved, with Welfare Officer-elect Izzy John the only female, and President-elect Leo Boe the only candidate of the six so far elected to have been an international student.

The elections saw a reprisal of the controversy concerning the role and title of the sabbatical position of President, with some students raising concerns that the title gives the wrong impression of the duties involved; the role of the president, which ranges from “general contact with external press,” to “point of liaison on University committee,” is distinct from the role of Chief Executive, a permanent position that is currently occupied by Jacqui Clements. In response to rumours that he, too, has viewed the title as misleading, President-elect Leo Bøe told the Boar that he would be consulting the electorate on the issue, in a series of meetings with students that he hopes will address his “biggest concern, that students are so disengaged from the Union.”

This controversy over positions may in part have contributed to the presidential campaign of Alexander Di Mascio, which focused on this apathy by presenting Di Mascio as a ‘totalitarian’ option, using such slogans as “when the revolution comes, your death will be swift and painless” and “your votes are not required, but a thin layer of legitimacy helps”. Such joke candidates can attract protest votes, with John LaPage, an undergraduate Science student, claiming that: “I voted for Di Mascio as a protest against the existence of the role of President, and against the idea of a political voice in the Students’ Union.”

While Di Mascio eventually came ninth in the Presidential election, his campaign to “give hate a chance” was seen by Chris Potts, a Philosophy and Psychology student, as a humorous attempt to exploit the attitude that “a collective members-based organisation such as a Students’ Union does not need an elected figurehead, especially as the role seems to be little more than a sinecure to the majority of students, and is far from as authoritative as the term ‘President’ implies.”

Regardless of such controversies, there was a general consensus amongst the prospective officers, successful and unsuccessful, that the campaigns from the vast majority of candidates were professional and sensible, with unsuccessful presidential candidate Laveen Ladharam agreeing that “everyone ran a great campaign, and I’m proud to have taken part.”

From http://theboar.org/news/2011/feb/16/boys-are-back-town-sabbs-re-elected/ on Feb 16th.

Education Officer hospitalised while candidates posters vandalised

2011-02-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

Current candidate for Education Officer Sean Ruston is currently at Walsgrave hospital in Coventry undergoing treatment for appendicitis.

Ruston was taken into hospital yesterday morning after suffering considerable discomfort throughout Monday, during which he was unable to attend the morning’s candidate briefing.

He was also due to attend the Hustings on Monday lunchtime to address students and to answer questions regarding his candidacy but, due to his illness, this was postponed to Tuesday.

A statement from the Elections Group was read out at the second Hustings yesterday in the Atrium, and has now been published to the Students’ Union website.

The statement announced that: “Elections Group [has] contacted all parties involved in the election for the post of Education Officer and they are in agreement that the election be re-run at a later date.”

The only other candidate running for the role of Education Officer is Masters student Daren Maynard. He commented: “Sean is my friend first and foremost, and also my sole competitor, but it would be unfair to run an election where he can’t be here through no fault of his [own].”

Maynard is also currently running for Second University Senate Representative.

The statement also added that the “details of how and when this will run” will be disclosed after “in-depth discussion.” More details about this issue are expected to be issued next week.

Other notable developments in the elections campaign this year have included instances of candidates’ posters and banners, which are displayed across campus, being taken down or vandalised since campaigning began on Monday.

Some signs and banners have been completely removed overnight, while others have been graffitied with ‘Ron = Aslan’ and ‘Vote RON’ (re-open nominations).

Students have begun voting on the Students’ Union website for the remaining 28 officer positions available. The polls will remain open until 9pm on Friday.

Published Feb 9th:
http://theboar.org/news/2011/feb/9/education-officer-hospitalised-while-candidates-po/

Officer candidates throw hats into the ring

2011-02-14T08:21:00.001-08:00

Election nominations closed last Friday, and the provisional lists are available for who is running for next year’s officer positions at the Students’ Union.

A total of seven full-time paid Sabbatical Officer positions and 22 part-time positions are available for next year.

The SU has published a democracy timeline detailing the election process from nominations to results, which can be found online.

Next year there will be some slight changes in the roles of Sabbatical Officers. The Democracy and Communications position will become simply Democracy, and the role of communication will extend to all seven of the Sabbatical Officers. In addition, the role of Finance Officer will be renamed Union Development Officer and this position will oversee entertainment, food and beverages, and student feedback.

Campaigning and publicity will begin on Monday 7 February (Week 5) at 9am and will be followed by hustings (a physical platform from which the candidates will present their manifestos) in the Atrium on Monday and Tuesday that week.

The week is expected to be action-packed, reflecting last year’s campaign. The current President of the SU Daniel Stevens went 72 hours without sleeping last year, holding open doors to the Arts Centre throughout the elections week.

“I basically didn’t stop. I talked to as many students as possible and generally tried to be available. I’m looking forward to helping [the new President] in any way I can. They have the potential to have a lot of influence. If they are committed, they can achieve change.”

The week will feature countless leaflet distributions, lecture shouts and kitchen visits for the candidates to persuade students at Warwick to vote for them to become a part of the Students’ Union team.

The polls will open on Wednesday 9 February at 9am and will remain open until Friday 11 February at 9pm. The count will take place at 5pm on Saturday 12 February, after which the results will be made public.

Nominations for full-time officers have increased from last year and it is speculated that this is as a result of the current economic climate. Tom Ridley, the Chair of the Elections Group, commented that while overall nominations were “slightly down on previous years, it depends on the actual position.

“We’ve got 24 Sabb [nominations] and 23 part time candidates, particularly this year the thing that’s been lacking is campaigns officers – no one standing for ethnic [minorities] or disabilities. There are four campaigns [positions] that don’t have candidates.

It is also hoped that the election turnout, which totalled 22.5 percent of students last year, will increase. Ridley commented: “I am very optimistic… The Elections Group hope to do better than last year in terms of turnout.

“We’re hoping to increase on it. Whether we will manage it, we will see. We have a higher number of Presidential candidates this year which may mean there will be a lot more advertising on the campaign, which will work to our advantage in turn of awareness that the election is going on.”

Stevens supports this view: “I hope the turnout increases. Next year the SU’s going to be so fundamental with the changes in the higher education sector on both a national and local scale.”

Students will vote on the Union website using the STV (single transferable vote) system in which students are asked to rank candidates in order of preference. The candidate with the lowest number of first preference votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to the second preferences. This process is repeated until one candidate has a majority.

This term, the SU welfare team is pushing minority groups such as LGBTUA+, religious groups and students with disabilities to get involved in Union democracy next year.

Ridley argues that it is not simply that these minorities are not engaged in the Union. “We did have potential candidates come in and discuss it, but there were logistical reasons about why it wasn’t going to work. There’s going to be have to be a different process regarding that.”

If nobody stands for these positions, they will be co-opted at the next Union Council meeting.

It has also been a concern that there has been a lack of female participation in Union democracy, as seen in the seven male Sabbatical Officers this year. Ridley agrees that this is major issue and “has been for the past couple of years.

“It has been noted that has been a tendency towards male candidates… it’s something we are trying to address. It’s very difficult to do… we can’t force people to stand, [but] we’re trying to encourage participation of both genders.”

George Whitworth, the Sports Officer commented: “It may be a self perpetuating problem as we have seven male Sabbatical Officers at the moment meaning females may not want to run.”

Published online Feb 7th.
http://theboar.org/news/2011/feb/7/officer-candidates-throw-hats-ring/

New outreach programme for schools

2011-02-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

Warwick students are this term to take part in an outreach programme to children in disadvantaged schools.

As part of the graduate teaching scheme Teach First, Warwick students will be visiting local schools to run workshops. These will include discussions about life as a student and what they think about university, encouraging the children to think about higher education.

SU Education Officer Sean Ruston is keen for more students to get involved in the scheme. “With the cuts to Aimhigher and the anticipated rise in tuition fees, there is a great demand for this kind of thing, and with Inspire’s expansion we hope to find a greater role for the SU in widening participation in higher education from children in the schools near to Warwick.”

Extra funds mean that visits can be made to schools in Leamington and Coventry for the first time.

The SU encouraged widening participation in their submission to the University’s Strategy Review: “We believe that our students would be proud to have Warwick as the leading institution in ensuring that access to higher education is fair, and dependent on a students academic ability rather than their background.”

Published on page 6 of the Boar in Volume 33, Issue 6.

Warwick team in recycling breakthrough

2011-02-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

Researchers at Warwick University are developing techniques that could mark a breakthrough in recycling technology.

The team on campus have been researching and experimenting with methods of recycling all types of plastic as, at the moment, only certain types of materials can be recycled. This reusable material amounts to just 12 percent of all plastics, but this latest breakthrough could see the technique used at rubbish tips around the country to reduce waste and money.

They have discovered a new method of reducing waste products into useful materials such as wax for lubricants, acids that can be used in plastic drinks bottles and carbon which is used in paint pigments and tyres.

The lead researcher on the project, University of Warwick Engineering Professor Jan Baeyens, estimates that if a large scale plant was built, it could save councils £500,000 in landfill taxes alongside generating over five million pounds worth of recycled materials.

“As the expected energy costs for each large plant would only be in the region of £50,000 a year, the system will be commercially very attractive and give a rapid payback on capital and running costs.”

The team is now working with technology transfer department Warwick Ventures in order to try and expand the research and spread the knowledge to local authorities and waste disposal companies.

Kevin Marks, business development manager at Warwick Ventures, said: “I see the social impacts as being huge.

“At the moment we collect plastics and sometimes the bottles are manually sorted because they’re valuable but other plastics – things like films and margarine tubs – are mixed, and then we burn them or we throw them away.”

Instead of wasting these plastics, the University research team has developed a method of recycling them by blowing hot air through sand in a ‘fluidised bed’ reactor.

The result of this technique means that many more useful materials can be gained from breaking down plastics.

John Lapage, the Undergraduate Science Faculty Representative at the Student’s Union described the developments as “another excellent piece of research that demonstrates the need to invest in universities in order to further technological advances.”

First year History and Politics student Oliver Davey also believed that the research was positive. “It’s brilliant to see that Warwick is making a significant contribution towards reducing our impact on the environment. Recycling is evidently important and the extent to which we can now reuse materials is incredible.”

Published Jan 19th (online):
http://theboar.org/news/2011/jan/19/warwick-team-finds-recycling-breakthrough/

University Chancellor recieves New Year's Honours

2011-02-14T08:16:00.001-08:00

The University of Warwick’s Chancellor, Richard Lambert, has been awarded a knighthood in this year’s New Year Honours for services to Business.

Lambert, who aside from his position at the University is also the General Director of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), is among 997 people being awarded honours for services to society this year.

Others who have received the honours including knighthoods, CBEs (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), OBEs (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire) include ex-Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox, actors Sheila Hancock and David Suchet, and football World Cup final referee Howard Webb.

The New Year Honours reward individuals’ personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom as advised to HM The Queen by numerous ministers.

The position of Chancellor is largely ceremonial, with its holder acting as a representative and figurehead for the University rather than undertaking any governance responsibilities.

Lambert, who was previously the editor for the Financial Times, is expected to step down from his position as General Director of the CBI early this year, several months before the end of his five-year contract.

Last year, Lambert came under fire from students for his support of higher tuition fees.

Published Jan 1st 2011:
http://theboar.org/news/2011/jan/1/vice-chancellor-receives-new-year-honours/

We sit on street corners and smoke life away

2011-02-14T08:14:00.001-08:00

We sit on street corners and smoke life away
"I hate it that you smoke. I hate loving the person that you are; the smiley, passionate, loving, talented, talkative person... that chooses the worst way possible to de-stress."

I'm not here to criticise you by all means, all you smokers out there.

On the one hand, I'm a perfect example of the 'it's your life, do as you please, free will' and all that jazz walk of life. The rights of the individual carry great significance in the twenty-first century, and thus overall, it is important to remember that everyone is their own person, no matter what decision they choose to make. We must respect that, we must learn to live with that, even if we do not agree with their choices.

But on the other, as of late I have experienced first hand how difficult it is to stand by and watch someone you care about smoke.

My Grandad has always been a heavy smoker. I remember vividly one trip out with him while visiting him in Manchester when he smoked a whole packet in the time we were out. He didn't stop smoking all day. My parents resented him smoking around my sister and I, and would always insinuate that he shouldn't, but this apparently didn't bother him too much. He used to visit my Grandma's house in Sheffield and smoke constantly around us then too. The little memories I have of this (I think I was around five) are of me holding my breath when he would exhale, or whenever I had to hug him goodbye.

He's never, as far as I know, had any health issues relating to it. Lucky bugger, that's all I can say, I'll explain why.

An ex boyfriend of mine's father was never a smoker, but used to be very friendly with a large group of them. At work he was surrounded by them, yet he never touched a cigarette. He was diagnosed with lung cancer, and has since suffered considerable damage to them, to the extent that they have, in some way, broken down to leave him with half a working lung. He is easily out of breath when walking around, coughs a lot, especially in the morning and suffers a lot of difficulty breathing.

The reasons why people smoke are varying and reach far beyond anything I can generically collaborate on here, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. For some, smoking is to relax, for some it's an addiction they can't live without, for others it's just a part of life that they enjoy doing occasionally to make them feel better about anything that might be happening in their lives. I won't generalise everyone together.

The point to make here, is that that just isn't fair; anyone can see that. Someone who makes an active choice to harm their healthy is completely entitled to do so, but it seems horrific that it should affect others around them. Parents smoking around children is another example of how our desire to allow freedom of action to dominate our lives can seriously damage those around us.

Admittedly, I know little of those situations and the details involved in such, so I won't go into criticising those people any further.

But of late, it's made me realise just how much being around a smoker you really care about can get to you. Not immediately, it's something that tugs at your heart-strings in a subtle way on a regular basis, not an all in one sob-fest with ice cream kind of thing.

This isn't some emotion-filled rant aimed to make smokers feel guilty and stop, just to hopefully open your eyes to everything going on outside your smoke filled cloud. People care about you killing yourself. We respect your decision to smoke, but please respect our decision to oppose it.

Ripping up the manifestos – who did you vote for?

2011-02-13T15:38:00.001-08:00

It’s almost midnight on the 11^th of February 2010; week five is done. Elections week is finally over. No more nagging on Facebook statuses, lecture shout outs, no more hustings, group invites, kitchen tours or ‘like’ this page or I won’t be your friend anymore threats.

I sincerely hope you all voted. I won’t have a massive rant at you about why it’s so necessary to vote in these elections as it’s been so over-emphasised that it’s probably the reason that most of you didn’t. A lot of my flat have said to me that even after just five days of campaigning, they’re bored of the whole process, though when you compare it to the UK General Election or US Presidential Elections, it’s really quite tame. At least we at the Boar haven’t been bombarding you with too much coverage, though that may be due to our restricted publication dates more than anything else.

Turn-out is up: 4,823 people have voted at least once in the elections, even if they chose to abstain and vote for RON (re-open nominations). This has increased from last year, yet unfortunately misses the target the SU were hoping for by a significant margin.

The first problem I’ve noted with this year’s Presidential candidates is the lack of realism in many of their policies. Parking fees, lower bus fees, cash-points next to the library and wireless internet in halls? How are these plausible for a STUDENT run Union to actually work? Some of these are issues separate from the University itself – the number 12 bus doesn’t operate solely for students, therefore any problems will be significantly difficult to influence. Just think too about the routers and signal boosters needed to provide on-campus wireless internet for a few thousand students in halls? Hotspot already provides students with internet on most places around central campus, but making this wireless would just create even slower speeds and streaming times. As for cash points next the library – can you imagine a bank proposing to build a cash point for students a grand total of… five minutes walk from the nearest cash point? How outrageous, right, having to drag our half hung-over bodies past a number of buildings almost able to be counted on one hand in order to have a machine spit out a wad of cash only to be frittered away in Costa on gluten-free brownies (Just me? Okay…).

In addition, many of the policies seem completely and utterly vague, lacking in detail and information. To name a few: ‘faster queuing’ in the Bread Oven – how exactly are we supposed to make the Bread Oven staff work faster other than poking them with baguettes from afar? Okay, admittedly pre-prepared sandwiches seem a viable option during busy rushes, but that would not justify the amount of waste that could be generated by over-estimating customers over a quiet lunchtime. ‘The relationship with the University’ and ‘effective communication’ are both important issues for Warwick, but this is simply not expanded on in enough detail. ‘Plans are in place.’ A shadow of enigma engulfs that statement. ‘Union Shake Ups’ are also explained to contain ‘music and public debate,’ yet the manifesto fails to mention how this would influence policy making across the Union, and what the role of the Councillors would actually be.

Then there’s the downright lies – ‘the Union is in the red’. Actually, if you see the Boar Volume 33 Issue 2, you’ll see that in fact, the Union is safely back in the black in terms of its financial situation. That is not to say that Union finances are all hunky-dory, fine and dandy, but at least take a look at the figures first? Recovering from a £750,000 debt is impressive, so at least give the Union SOME credit.

Some radical policies question just how far candidates are willing to go to instigate change in the Union, although whether the ideas are feasible remains a different matter. An informal ‘Shake Up’ meeting preceding Union Councils was a highly publicised policy of one presidential candidate. This leaves the open question – so what even IS the point of Union Council if they don’t need to even bother turning up as students can do this themselves, thus obliterating their role as a representative?

I decided to wait until after the elections results are published before uploading this to the Friday Night Blog-Ject for two main reasons. Firstly, I wasn’t quite done beforehand. It’s 3am, and I’d quite like to give this another read through before I put it up. Secondly, I think Elections Group might ask Alex Di Mascio to borrow his spike in order to spear my head into the ground if I in any way am found to be influencing, commenting on, endorsing a candidate in the result of tomorrow’s (or today’s, or yesterday’s) results.

Anyway, I think that’s enough nitpicking in the Presidential Candidate’s paper manifestos, which was surprisingly easy and fun to do. Maybe I was a bit negative. I'm not just here to criticise you know. Chris Luck’s got an awesome campaign name, don’t you think?

Nigel Farage - Straight talking?

2010-12-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

[May 2010]

Tonight I attended a 'public meeting' for the UKIP party, headed by Nigel Farage. He's the ex leader (as of 2005).

UKIP stand for the UK Independence Party. Don't know anything about them? Liberalist, nationalist (non-racist [in comparison to BNP maybe]) party... Here's some of their mini manifesto for you to chomp on.

1 The Economy: Tax, Budget & Regulation
· Save up to £120bn a year by leaving the EU. No British jobs or trade will be lost
· Take tax off the minimum wage by raising the tax threshold to £11,500
· Reduce everyone’s taxes with a 31% flat tax

2 The Economy: Jobs, Enterprise & Skills
· Create one million new skilled jobs with public and private investment in a five-point public works programme to provide defence equipment, nuclear power stations, flood and coastal protection, transport infrastructure including high-speed rail lines, and new prisons
· Abolish costly EU schemes such as carbon capping, emissions trading, and landfill taxes

3 Immigration & Asylum
· End uncontrolled mass immigration
· Introduce an immediate five-year freeze on immigration for permanent settlement
· Regain control of Britain’s borders to stop foreign criminals from entering our country
· End abuse of the UK asylum system and expel Islamic extremists
· Introduce a strict new points-based visa system and time-limited work permits
· Triple the number of UK Borders Agency staff engaged in controlling immigration (to 30,000)

5 Defence
· Boost the military budget by 40% so our armed forces are properly equipped
· Demand one clear achievable mission for Afghanistan or seek a negotiated exit
· Keep Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent strong
· Look after our service heroes with better pay and conditions
· Expand the Army by 25% and double the TA
· Provide more RAF helicopters and aircraft

6 Healthcare & the NHS
· Keep the NHS free at the point of delivery and make no cuts to frontline services
· Replace overlapping tiers of NHS bureaucracy (SHAs/PCTs) with locally-elected County Health
· Introduce ‘Health Credit Vouchers’ to allow people to opt out of the NHS if they wish
· Restore free NHS dental check-ups and eye tests

7 Education & Training
· Bring back the ‘three Rs’ and teach reading with phonics to provide a proper educational foundation
· Encourage the creation of new grammar schools, but make the 11-plus vocational as well as academic
· Give parents ‘School Vouchers’ so they can choose between schools - state or private

9 Welfare & Social Security
· Reform the ridiculously complicated welfare system (currently more than 70 different benefits)
· Help families by rolling childcare benefits and credits into one enhanced benefit
· Allow part-time workers to continue claiming ‘Basic Cash Benefit’ until their wages reach £11,500
· Ensure UK benefits are only available to those who have lived here for at least five years

10 Foreign Affairs & International Trade
· Leave the EU and continue in free trade with the other European countries. No jobs will be lost
· Establish a Commonwealth Free Trade Area with the other member countries
· Regain Britain’s currently dormant seat at the World Trade Organisation
· Promote democracy, genuine human rights and free determination around the world

14 The Constitution & How We Are Governed
· Give the British public a right to binding local and national referenda on major issues
· Introduce proportional representation into national and local elections. UKIP favours the Alternative Vote Plus system
· Give voters a right of recall over corrupt MPs, enabling them to force by-elections

15 Culture & Restoring Britishness
· End support for multiculturalism and promote one shared British culture for all
· Be fair to England by introducing an ‘English Parliament’, ending the discriminatory Barnett Formula and making St George’s Day a national holiday in England
· Ban the burka and veiled niqab in public buildings and certain private buildings
· Require UK schools to teach Britain’s contribution to the world and celebrate cultures, languages and traditions from around the British Isles
· Scrap political correctness in public affairs

Okay if you skipped that, I don't blame you. But some of their stuff is pretty interesting, engaging, arguably sound policy. Some, I don't like. Freezing immigration for 5 years? Hmm, not sure. Not sure about the EU, but in general, it's a good idea, too much control is in Brussels.

Anyway, side tracked. As I went in, we've got some nice UKIP posters all over the front 'stage', about 100 chairs laid out, and about 30 people in them. Probably about 50 people showed up overall, though all middle class looking, all white, all middle aged and above apart from me a few exceptions... So I took a seat in the middle-back-ish of the hall, sent a quick text, stared around the room and watched everyone dribble in.

Someone who didn't introduce themselves introduces John, and whose second name I didn't catch. I'll work on that as a journalist, don't worry... He's labour, he's represented constituencies from 1964, he's been defeated, and has defeated conservatives in local elections. He opens up by explaining why he's there, as a social patriotist... because he supports what Farage wants to do in terms of political limitations; knock them down and work together. He makes a good point, which I'm sure everyone in Buckingham constituency thinks right now... it's unfair that the people who get the privilege of having the Speaker as their MP, are thus unable to vote for who they like. I completely agree, a call on constitutional reform PLEASE!

Next, Sir Nicholas Bonsor. Ex conservative MP. Began in politics in 1972. was MP for Utminster in 1997. Minister of State 1995 - 1997. His views of supporting Nigel stem from his anti-Europe opinions. In his opinion, the EU creation in the 1960s and 70s has taken away our federal system. We are now not in control of our country. 75% of our laws come from Brussels, and once we receive them, as have no say in even amending them. We can't control immigration. David Cameron's cap on those outside of the EU won't affect much, as the problem is the people within the EU. He reckons that 80% want to get out of Europe, and we should have a referendum to make it happen. I agree, when we're spending £45 million a day on it... we should at least get the chance to vote.

Up next, Simon Heffer. I read an article of his on Bercow the other day, wow, he really doesn't like him.
Let's Turf Bercow Out Of Office.
See? Conservative, from the Daily Telegraph, rejoined in 2005. Also worked for The Daily Mail from 1995-2005. This is an old friend of Nigel's, who has known him for 15 years and has represented him every single time he has stood for election! 'Despite this' (!) he is 'a man of absolute principle.. a sovereign democrat.' 'he believes in our country's opinion to govern itself... that we SHOULD govern ourselves.' He argued in favour of our vote, and how important it is 'it is crucial to have a vote which is meaningful... crucial to save our democracy.' He mentions the two World Wars, the fight from the 17th century onwards to give our people the vote, which only ended in Britain in 1928. Then we had '45 years of where it mattered' before 1973 (did we join the EU then?) and it now, no longer matters. On issues such as mass immigration, we have a right to be consulted (this was when I noticed the last of any other ethnicities in the room). In places, the NHS can't cope. Our country is on the verge of bankruptcy, and we need to do something about it, we need to be more honest. He then goes on to describe his privilege of attending a grammar school, and saying how we need to fight to keep them open. The 'cosy consensus' about ripping off the taxpayer in terms of MPs Expenses was emphasised.

Back to Nigel... he has 'great charisma, conviction and determination' and that he has a 'real chance of winning'. Apparently he's against the smoking ban because it's making pubs close down. Hmm, i don't know if i want a turn around on that... However, he made a good point.

After a lengthy Q+A session and a chat with the owner of what was described as 'a liberal, intellectual blog... a place to voice political ideas and suggestions' I headed out, quite buzzing with all this policy talk. I don't think it was Farage that gave me that inspiration, in fact I'm pretty sure it was the counter arguments to every single policy he had that popped up on my head, and the need to rant at someone to voice them all down.

Overall, few policies I really agree with were brought up here. I'm a middle class, fairly well off grammar school student, and UKIP really have nothing to offer me. But hey, seeing as my minimal vote means nothing anyway, due to silly speaker practises, I thought I may as well see what they had to say.

Likelihood of John Bercow being toppled? Slim.

Students march for education

2010-12-13T10:40:00.001-08:00

Approximately 50 students took part in a protest and march across university this afternoon (Wednesday 8 December) in protest against Government plans to make drastic cuts to universities and increase tuition fees.

Protesters gathered on the piazza between at around 12pm before taking up banners and signs and marching through campus to University House as part of the Warwick SU campaign which opposes all fee increases and cuts.

University House was blocked off by barriers and around 12 Warwick security members and two police officers were present.

Sean Ruston, the Education Officer and Megan Fortune, the Campaigns Forum Co-ordinator made speeches condemning the cuts to higher education and proposed tuition fee rises and encouraging a continued campaign to oppose the proposals.

The majority of students returned to the piazza, while a group of five protesters remained in University House and took part in a meeting with the University Registrar, his deputy and the Head of Communications, Peter Dunn.

They discussed the Vice Chancellor’s position on the cuts and fee increases, the transparency of University finance and the problem of funding higher education.

More action is planned for tomorrow when Warwick SU joins thousands of other students in London to lobby MPs to vote against the proposed tuition fee rises.

Government passes tuition fee vote despite student anger

2010-12-13T10:39:00.001-08:00

The Government has passed a vote to raise the cap on tuition fees to £9000 per year today despite protests and lobbying by students from Warwick and other universities across the country.

The results for the vote were announced just before 6pm today which was passed by 21 votes: 323 voting for, 302 against and 21 abstentions.

Students from universities across the UK gathered in London and engaged in marches around Westminster, of which the main demonstration took part in Parliament square.

The National Union of Students (NUS) also organised a march and a vigil along Embankment, where Aaron Porter and others made speeches to the crowds encouraging and promoting their peaceful action.

Violence erupted throughout the afternoon in Parliament Square when bricks, flares and other missiles were aimed at police. Bonfires were also lit which heightened the violence, resulting in protesters pushing down metal barriers and engaging in scuffles with police.

Mid-afternoon, police adopted a containment policy where protesters were kettled inside an area of Parliament Square. Originally, there had been a planned route approved by Scotland Yard, but when many students broke away from this, protests became more extreme.

Despite the fact that around 1,000 members of the police force were present in the Westminster area to attempt to control the protests, there were three officers sent to hospital, and ten were injured with broken bones.

22 people have been arrested for violent disorder, attacks on police officers, arson, criminal damage, theft and drunk and disorderly behaviour.

John O’Connor, a Police Commissioner said: “I don’t think the police have anticipated the levels of violence that has been happening.”

“It makes us look a laughing stock around the world. … [It] can’t go on like this. … We’re going to get a lot more of this, it isn’t going to go away.”

Daniel Stevens, SU President, Sean Ruston, Education officer, Leo Bøe, Welfare Officer, and Campaigns Forum Co-ordinator Megan Fortune joined other students from Warwick in London to protest against the fee rises.

A number of the sabbatical officers and students gained access to the Houses of Parliament and managed to speak to local MPs Chris White (Warwick and Leamington) and Lorely Burt (Solihull) regarding the cuts, organised with the help of the NUS.

Despite abstaining from today’s vote, Liberal Democrat MP Lorely Burt said she would have loved to oppose it. She also congratulated student action: “At least students are politically active and demonstrating. … I think it’s healthy that people are.”

Protestors also attacked a car containing Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at around 7.30pm while they travelled down Regent Street to the Royal Variety Show. They smashed the window of the car and threw a can of white paint, despite police flagging the car as it passed through central London. The pair have not been hurt, and the performance was reported to have started on time.

Elsewhere in central London, protesters attacked the HM Treasury Building and Supreme Court building, causing severe damage to windows and doors, and daubed walls and statues with graffiti. Riot police defended buildings from the inside to attempt to minimise damage.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “Today’s vote is a disaster for young people and families up and down the country, who now face the prospect of significantly higher fees and higher debt when they go to university.

“It is also a disastrous day for Nick Clegg and his leadership of the Liberal Democrats. Clegg and his fellow Lib Dems who have supported this proposal have destroyed their party’s claim to stand for fairness and opportunity for many years to come.”

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London described the violence today as “an insult to our democracy,” for which “there is no excuse.”

Three members of the Government have resigned over today’s vote: Jenny Willot, MP for Cardiff Central, Mike Crockart, aide to Scotland Secretary Michael Moore and Conservative MP Lee Stott, ministerial aide to Philip Hammon.

The Co-President of the Liberal Democrats Society at Warwick, Joseph O’Leary, has also resigned his post and left the party following the passing of the tuition fee vote.

After Parliament Square was cleared after the decision to release people from the containment area at around 7pm, there were reports that protesters moved to other areas of central London including shopping areas on Oxford Street, where buildings such as Topshop have been attacked.

Warwick students hold protest in the Arts Centre

2010-11-30T13:32:00.001-08:00

Warwick students held a peaceful discussion on changes to higher education in the lobby of the Arts Centre this afternoon.

Approximately 40 students sat inside the Arts Centre, encouraging others to get involved and voice their own opinions on the recently announced cuts and fee rises. The situation was overlooked by Police officers and Warwick Security.

Warwick Against the Cuts protest group held a teach-in today which involved lectures, workshops and discussions on the topic of fee rises, education cuts and other changes to university funding.

After more passers by joined in the protest which had gathered in a circle, the director of the Arts Centre Alan Rivett asked them to clear the space.

Despite saying that he respected their right to protest when addressing the students, he added: “This is the one part of the University which is in a public facility… there are plenty of other places for them to go.”

The protesters then decided to move into a line alongside the Arts Centre cafe so as not to disrupt members of the public.

The protest ended at around 7pm as the students conducted a lap of the Arts Centre chanting and singing “Education is a right, not a privilege” before exiting the building.

This demonstation follows last week’s protest across campus which resulted in an occupation of the Arts Centre Conference Room. A group of students from Warwick Against the Cuts marched across campus and occupied the ACCR overnight.

They plan further action in the coming weeks in protest against the Government’s planned changes to higher education.

http://theboar.org/news/2010/nov/30/warwick-students-hold-protest-arts-centre/

Day Two - Warwick Students Occupation of the Arts Centre Conference Room

2010-11-25T00:08:00.000-08:00

8.05: After dragging myself out of bed, I've now found we have a small space amongst Bristol, Brighton and Leeds on the 'Students Protest Across the UK' page on the BBC -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11828882

"Warwick:

More than 70 students have taken over a lecture theatre at Warwick University.

The rally in Warwick has been largely peaceful so far, police said.

But minor scuffles between students and security guards have taken place outside and inside the Centre.

It is thought some students were planning to stay overnight."

As far as we know, they're still in there, but the live feed webcam @ THIS link has been turned off. Will be going down to the Arts Centre for when it opens at 8.30 to see what's happening.

Also, forgive me for all my spelling mistakes in the past few posts. I really was trying to concentrate on getting quotes written down rather than checking it!

08.35: Students leave the ACCR and head towards the SUHQ.
08.45: 6 protesters head towards University House with a pan of the students' urine from throughout the night.
09.00: They head to the second floor of University House and enter the central room of the open offices, next to the Vice Chancellor's office.
"Does anyone know where the VC is? We have a present for him..." They they quickly left, before being asked to leave.
09.20: The protesters head to the library for breakfast (Y)

“I love when you open your bag and find a megaphone

09.35: Details of overnight:
Chris Luck: 133 people watching the live stream during the evening.
Statement has been put up on the wordpress blog:

Statement to lecturers regarding tomorrow’s lectures
Posted: November 24, 2010 by warwickagainstthecuts in Uncategorized
0

Here is the content of the email that we have sent to individual lecturers who are scheduled to teach in the ACCR tomorrow.

“We understand that your lecture in the ACCR tomorrow has been rescheduled by the university due to our occupation of the lecture theatre. We would like to make very clear that we do not intend to cause any disruption and that this action was not sanctioned by us; we want this to remain a space for education. As such we strongly support lectures going ahead as usual and whilst we will maintain a non-intrusive symbolic presence we would not disrupt the lecture.

We hope you will consider holding your lecture in here as normal.

Yours sincerely,

Students of Warwick University (currently in occupation)”

We couldn’t contact the Business School lecturers because we couldn’t find their addresses, so if anyone has a lecture in here tomorrow with the Business school please draw their attention to the fact that we want lectures to go ahead.

09.36: A further statement on the occupation's end on the WAC blog.

"Statement following this occupation
Posted: November 25, 2010 by warwickagainstthecuts in Uncategorized

This morning, the remaining students occupying the ACCR made a collective decision to leave the lecture theatre.

We stayed overnight, despite being denied free and complete access to toilets since the beginning of the occupation, and with heavy security continuing to block access to the room. Despite our desire for lectures to go ahead as usual, the University had rescheduled all lectures.
We decided to end this occupation; not because students didn’t want to join us or because we didn’t want to stay, but because it had become physically impossible for us to create the space of free education that we had envisioned. We know that many students and lecturers tried to join us but were blocked from doing so by the University authorities and police. We want to create a space on campus for free and democratic education, for people not for profit. We have not been able to do that in this room.
We see this occupation as a great success: the amount of solidarity and support from students, staff, lecturers and others at Warwick and beyond has been incredible, and the considerable media coverage has successfully carried our message.

We therefore leave here on our own terms, with the knowledge that this is just the beginning. We see a real momentum building and our demands to the Vice Chancellor and University authorities are still outstanding.
We are having an open meeting tonight at 5pm in the Students Union to reflect on the actions of the past 24 hours and discuss the next step in our movement. Everyone is welcome to come and participate."

The protesters are currently writing up statements on the University house action this morning.
They are also waiting on word for which room they can use for tonight's meeting regarding the occupation and future plans.
According to the protesters who stayed the night, the air conditioning remained on all night, which made if difficult for them to sleep. The security remained outside throughout the night.
As the protesters walked up towards University House they discussed the occupation and why it didn't last as long as planned. They stressed that they would have stayed there if more people were allowed to come back, it wasn't that the protest wasn't strong enough, but numbers diminished as people eventually had to leave. Reference was made to the previous protest against occupations in Gaza in 2008 which lasted for days. They thought the problem was the room's location and inaccessibility and the fact that they were unable to have more protesters enter the room. There were around 8 students left by the end of the occupation, who decided to leave the arts centre as a group at around 09.30.

09.51: A statement from WAC. " This morning, just before 9am, after the protesters terminated the occupation in the Arts Centre Conference Room, a delegation of students took a saucepan of urine to University House, in order to present it to the Vice Chancellor. This was due to the fact that whilst in occupation protesters were denied access to toilets and so were forced to relieve themselves in a variety of receptacles. We feel that this presentation accurately represents our feelings regarding the university’s failure to respond appropriately to a) our access needs and b) our demands that emerged from the occupation.”

09.56: Megan Fortune, one of the organisers: "I love it when you open your bag and find a megaphone."

09.57: Apparently the group held two workshops last night regarding the cuts and occupations at around 8pm and around 11pm. This was partly held over Skype but mainly to the rest of the room in the ACCR.

10.01: The BBC has now caught up with the end of the protest after a statement was emailed to the press.

"Student end overnight sit-in at Warwick University

The students stayed in the theatre overnight

About 15 students have ended their overnight occupation of a lecture hall at the University of Warwick in protest at higher tuition fees.

Student Jehanzeb Khan said they had wanted the university to condemn plans to raise tuition fees up to £9,000 a year, and to reveal what cuts are planned.
About 70 students moved into the lecture theatre on Wednesday as protests took place across the UK.
Their protest ended about 0900 GMT.
Minor scuffles between students and security guards took place outside and inside the arts centre on Wednesday.
Students at Warwick said they were protesting against "the marketisation of our education system" and the transfer of the cost of a public service on to students, university staff and employees.
West Midlands Police said on Wednesday there was "a peaceful protest at Warwick University and there had been no issues between security, police and students".
In a list of demands to the university, the protesters said they had wanted it to condemn the government's plans for the restructuring of higher education, the raising of tuition fees and the removal of public financial support for arts and social sciences.
They had also called on the vice chancellor, Prof Nigel Thrift, to discuss these issues with the protesters.
The national protest was organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC)."

Its extremely annoying that they're still using the really rubbish iPhone pictures the guy was taking yesterday and not the awesome ones I emailed to them multiple times. Think I'll try that again. Sigh.

At least they reported the story a few minutes after it happened rather than a few hours...

10.08: Statement of why the protesters decided to leave the ACCR.

“We decided to end this occupation; not because students didn’t want to join us or because we didn’t want to stay, but because it had become physically impossible for us to create the space of free education that we had envisioned.”

We (The Boar) still have a live feed going if you want any more updates, but it's doubtful that a lot will happen until later this evening when the group are arranging another meeting - 5pm in SUHQ.

http://theboar.org/news/2010/nov/25/live-day-2-fees-occupation/

“This morning, just before 9am, after the protesters terminated the occupation in the Arts Centre Conference Room, a delegation of students took a saucepan of urine to University House, in order to present it to the Vice Chancellor. This was due to the fact that whilst in occupation protesters were denied access to toilets and so were forced to relieve themselves in a variety of receptacles. We feel that this presentation accurately represents our feelings regarding the university’s failure to respond appropriately to a) our access needs and b) our demands that emerged from the occupation.”

10.23: Whoops. Fail in communications with Derek - didn't see him upload this video. This was yesterday when the protesters were trying to hold their workshop, and the police were trying to move them out of the doorway. It's up here on YouTube if anyone wants a look...?

16.57: A statement from the Press Office at the University

"The students are perfectly entitled to protest and, in a way, it is a demonstration of how passionately they care about the higher education system. The University is facing a cut to its teaching funding by what could be up to 80%. This would have a major impact on us and raising tuition fees is one way where we would be able to reduce the impact of the budget cuts to preserve the excellent, internationally-recognised teaching and facilities which students expect from Warwick. No decision has been made by the university around tuition fees but at the moment that is the only option suggested by government. So we will continue to observe the national debate and wait to hear if other funding options are offered.”

A meeting is also due to take place in a few minutes time, meeting in the SUHQ and then moving on to another room nearby.

The Facebook link for the page is here. Sorry it's so late!

17.05: This is way out date, but I'm still searching for anywhere else that was covering the event! They did update this today though, the story on The Boar blog was from last night, so we'll update that later.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2010/11/25/warwick-university-students-sit-in-protest-over-tuition-fees-92746-27714424/

23.47: Another statement from the university (just updating from the Boar Blog now as I'm in no position to get any new information.)

“We would have been heavily criticised if we didn’t put in place measures to ensure our staff, students and the public who use our facilities here on campus, were not kept safe. We believe the appropriate steps were taken to manage the protest. A balance was struck between allowing the protestors to voice their concerns and frustration around tuition fees and keeping the disruption to University to a minimum.”

A conclusion on the meeting where the occupaiton was discussed and plans for the future of the protests were also explored.

#

Tuesday next week will be the next day of action. Students are planning a ‘teach-in’, for which space will apparently be provided by the SU. It will begin at 11am. The idea behind the teach-in is to create an open space where education is free, and people can discuss topics related (or not) to the cuts and fee rises.
#

There may also be ‘unspecified direct action’ following the teach-in. It’s not clear at this point what form this will take.
#

The attempts yesterday to both occupy and hold teach-ins in the same space were deemed to have failed (people couldn’t enter and leave freely), and future attempts will separate the two. This is why they’ve chosen the SU for the teach-in - it’s neutral space and there won’t be security and access issues.
#

No official word yet from the SU or the protest organisers.

Any more updates, see theboar.org :)
The newspaper will be published this coming Tuesday with reports and comments from the occupation.
If anyone has any more information or wants to get in touch, email news@theboar.org or me tashymeep@googlemail.com :)

Warwick students occupy conference room in Arts Centre

2010-11-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

A group around 30 students are currently occupying the Arts Centre Conference Room at the University of Warwick.

The Warwick Against the Cuts protest group began marching from the piazza on campus at around one pm today, Wednesday 24 November.

Around 100 to 150 people (students and staff) it is estimated marched across campus, attempting to occupy University House, stopping briefly outside the Students Union before marching into the Arts Centre Conference Room (ACCR).

Short speeches were made by Megan Fortune, the Campaigns Coordinator for the Students' Union and Sean Ruston, the Education Officer, along with other students.

The students were met by members of Warwick security outside University House, which had been prepared with barriers to prevent students from being allowed into the building, and there were a few brief clashes with them.

Shortly after this, at around 1pm, the students marched back towards the Students' Union where some members of the march spoke, before one announcing to enter the Arts Centre Conference Room.

The students ran towards the Arts Centre and entered the conference room, meeting other students who were leaving their lecture. Everyone was, on the whole, allowed in peacefully, and the protesters sat down in the Conference Room (CR) and began drawing up a list of plans.

They drew up a statement as a group, which was published at around 3pm on the Warwick Against the Cuts blog (http://warwickagainstthecuts.wordpress.com/).

Around 70 students first entered the Arts Centre Conference Room at 1pm, but by the time the Arts Centre was locked at 11pm, there were just around 35 students remaining.

Throughout the afternoon protesters attempted to bring people into the room, contact with other universities holding occupations via the newly created gmail account and tried to get in contact with the Vice Chancellor and Sabbatical Officers from the SU.

Food and water was brought in by Warwick Business School and others who were allowed to pass things back and forth through the doors.

However, during a considerable period of the occupation, the students were not permitted to exit to use the toilets, situated a few metres from the entrance to the CR, and still be let back into the room. The students were, at specific points, granted access to use the toilets and be allowed back in, accompanied by the Warwick security guards.

At the time this was published at 00.03 on 25/11/2010, the students were still being refused to use the toilets and be let back into the CR.

12.55: Warwick Against the Cuts protest group and other students entered the ACCR.

15.00: A statement was issued from inside the ACCR containing the groups demands for the University.

Statement from within the Occupation
Posted: November 24, 2010 by warwickagainstthecuts in Uncategorized

We are occupying the Arts Centre Conference Room in protest against the cuts to higher education and tuition fees rises proposed by the Government in response to the Browne Review. While we occupy this space we are creating a space of truly free and democratic education where we will run workshops, talks and other educational events — education that has nothing to do with profit and the market and everything to do with learning and sharing together. We are not intellectual capital! We reject the marketisation of our education system and the transfer of the cost of a public service onto students, University staff and employees.

Our demands to the University of Warwick are as follows:

- The University of Warwick is to condemn the government’s plans for the restructuring of higher education; this includes but is not limited to:

* the recommendations of the Browne Review and the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review
* the raising of tuition fees
* the removal of public financial support for Arts and Social Sciences.

- That the Vice Chancellor should use his position within the Russell Group to oppose the cuts.

- For the University to allow people to freely enter or leave the Arts Centre Conference Room for the duration of the occupation so that we may continue to peacefully protest and have access to sanitation, food and water.

- A clarification of the security team’s position regarding their presence and our access to and from the building.

- The University to provide transparency of university finances: this includes current and future budgets, with specific references to domestic and international tuition fees and departmental spending.

- Individual University departments to have the right to protest against the cuts.

- No victimisation or punishment of any kind for students and staff who have protested, are protesting and will protest.

- The Vice Chancellor (or most senior authority currently on campus) to meet with us and discuss our demands in person.

We consider these demands to be fair and reasonable, and would appreciate a quick response.

Signed,

Students of the University of Warwick

16.15: Reports that the University Vice Chancellor wants to meet with a representative from inside the ACCR to discuss the situation.

16.26: Skype begins from within and outside the ACCR.

16.28: The Coventry Telegraph are here.

16.32: News from other universities: Portsmouth had a sit in and the VC attended promising to give a list of details on university finance.
Over 100 are occupying at Sheffield.

16.33: Liverpool University being 'smashed up.'

16.36: Proposals of workshops.

16.38: Details of what it means to 'tresspass.' Police say anyone who tries to re-enter the ACCR will be trespassing.

16:46 One student who is outside the ACCR is trying to deliver food to the protesters. She, on behalf of the protesters, is also asking for as many people as possible to come to the Arts Centre and protest outside.

16:49 The Twitter hashtag is #dayxRuston have just left here to go up to University House and talk to the Vice Chancellor.

16.53: Discussions how to get more people into the ACCR.

16.55: Legal discussions regarding occupations.

16.49: A 'workshop' discussion is being planned for 18.30 on the topic of the cuts is being planned.

17.00: Banners are being created inside the ACCR.

17.03: According to reports from people in conversation with the VC, 'nothing is going to change' in terms of letting people back into the ACCR.

17.05: The protestors outside have left, it’s just three security guards and the campus police officer.

17.07: Warwick is mentioned on the BBC Coventry and Warwickshire website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-11833204

24 November 2010 Last updated at 16:30

Students occupy Warwick University lecture theatre
Protesters in Warwick Police said the protest has been peaceful
Continue reading the main story
University Funding

* Students protest up and down UK
* Tuition fees protests Live
* In Pictures: Students protest
* Q&A: University funding

More than 70 students have taken over a lecture theatre at Warwick University in protest at plans to raise tuition fees to £9,000 a year.

It is part of a series of demonstrations at colleges and universities across the UK involving thousands of students.

They are also protesting against plans to withdraw funding from university teaching budgets for many subjects.

The rally in Warwick has been largely peaceful so far, police said.

Minor scuffles between students and security guards have taken place outside and inside the Centre.
'Discuss demands'

It is thought some students were planning to stay overnight.

West Midlands Police said there was "a peaceful protest at Warwick University and there had been no issues between security, police and students"

In a statement, the students said their occupation of the Arts Centre was a stand against the "marketisation of our education system".

"While we occupy this space we are creating a space of truly free and democratic education where we will run workshops, talks and other educational events - education that has nothing to do with profit and the market and everything to do with learning and sharing together.

"We reject the marketisation of our education system and the transfer of the cost of a public service onto students, university staff and employees."

In a list of demands on the university, the protesters said they wanted it to condemn the government's plans for the restructuring of higher education, the raising of tuition fees and the removal of public financial support for arts and social sciences.

They also want people to be able to move freely in and out of the Arts Centre while the demonstration continues, no punishment to follow for anyone who takes part in the rally and finally, to discuss their demands with the vice chancellor.

17.13: A draft email/blog post is being written up inviting students to join the Warwick Against the Cuts (WAC) group workshop inside the ACCR.
17.14: The blog post has been published:

http://warwickagainstthecuts.wordpress.com/

We believe in free access to education. As such, we will be holding workshops on a variety of academic subjects, and inviting in guest speakers and facilitators.

We invite you to join us in the Arts Centre Conference Room.

In particular, we will be holding a workshop on the impact of education cuts tonight at 6:30pm. Please join us then!

The University has suggested that we are disrupting the education of our fellow students, but it is in fact the University who are doing so by hinting that lectures cannot go ahead within this space. We would like to clarify that we support the continuation of lectures in the conference room, and we will ensure that lectures are not disrupted by occupation participants for the duration of our protest.

Warwick security continue to block access to the Arts Centre Conference Room, but hopefully we can work together to create a collaborative learning space.

See you at 6:30!

17.20: Local Mercy radio station are asking for representatives to talk to them about the occupation.

17.22: Reports that there are students occupying and protesting in France and Italy.

17.24: Birmingham is on the ITV Central news live.

http://www.itv.com/central-west/

17.26: Biscuits from Mark Rodgers (SU councillor reach the inside of ACCR.)

17.28: BBC reports are played on the lecture screen in the ACCR.

17.46: Reports from outside are indicating little updates. There have been rumours that people are keen to join protesters outside the ACCR at 6.30 for the cuts workshop, and some may be planning on bringing sleeping things to stay for the night.
WAC still claims it will stay overnight unless demands are met.
Education Officer Sean Ruston and President of the SU Daniel Stevens are still meeting with the Vice Chancellor.

17.47: Someone lowers the lights. Things are getting serious.

17.48: People from the business school have brought in supplies including food, drink and celebrations chocolate.
"Keep it going as long as possible!" they say.

17.50: Sean and Dan are allowed to enter the ACCR to relay a message to everyone:

"We’re going to talk to the uni.
As of now... 5 at a time are allowed to go to the bathroom and come back in.
Same sex groups.
Will not allow new students in with you, but you WILL be allowed to re enter.

VC is willing to talk to around 3 of you. If you can get 3 people together…
The biggest issue with this room… public place. This gets incredibly busy, people entering all the time. They are willing to have another room where you can move in an out, any other lecture theatre.

'Are they going to hire out a room?'
Can choose another room to occupy.

'Can we do teaching and workshops?'
I’m not sure, not sure we can.

That is for you guys to discuss as a group.

My advice to you is try and get 2/3 people together. I know it’s noble… a collective experience… but try and get people together to try and talk to the VC.

There really is no other option.

We will relay if you discuss as a room. You can all now arrange to go to the toilet.

Thank you."

17.54: People begin to leave for the toilet.

18.00: BBC news being shown on the big ACCR Screen.
Students protests are the top story.
BBC News highlights: bonfires, lines of officers guarded government buildings at Whitehall. Fireworks thrown. Not official protests (NUS). Organised online. Schoolchildren involved. 'Our rights have been impeded on. This is wrong.' It started peacefully, planning on marching past Lib Dem headquarters. He 'massivley regretted' breaking his promises. 'There are compromises in politics.' In Sheffield - turn out around the city hall of 2,000. Glasgow students supported English (despite not having to pay fees). Cambridge students got into the senate building.
Warwick mentioned (!) A statement from Nick Robinson - politics correspondent.

18.06: cheers and celebrations when Warwick is seen on BBC news live.

18.08: Bob Marley put on. Every little thing is gonna be alright...

18.10: 15 students have been arrested in London, 2 for violent disorder.

18.20: Meeting: general feeling - to stay in the ACCR as long as possible.
3 representatives - unanimous no - we all have the right to go to the VC. No one likes the idea of a representation. Some are wary of the VC's plans... after last sit in. Discussion around the room. People unkeen on leaving the room. It is a public room, which is why it was chosen. People are planning on staying the night.
Students are "cautiously optimistic." Concerned that the uni wants to remove them from the space. Peaceful aims want to be kept to.

18.37: Update from outside:
'Security will not let people in to have a meeting while we are having one in here.
SU will set up a skype room in the SU so we can have a meeting IF we stop trying to get people to come in.'
This is proposed. No objections, so this plan is to be carried out.

18.44: Banners placed and given to people outside. People singing and chanting.

18.45: A form of 'lecture' is being held outside ACCR. They are discussing the cuts and changes to higher education.

18.51: Students who are waiting to participate in the talk but who aren’t allowed into the ACCR are sitting down outside the room. The head of Warwick Security is negotiating with them at the moment. They’re planning on staying there as far as I can tell, until they’re moved on.

18.55: Security want to close the doors to the 'lecture' taking place in the doorway.

18.57: The doors to ACCR have been shut.

19.00: Debates on whether the doors should be open still remain.

19.03: If anyone wants any pictures from Warwick on today's events, I have some on my facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_160607213979049&notif_t=group_activity#%21/album.php?aid=574388&id=740860281

Please ask me if you want to use any, it's cool as long as you attribute it - Tash Clark (TLC 2010).

19.07: Another meeting proposed.

19.08: Security have told students outside the ACCR they cannot stay there if they want to continue the protest. Amongst support from Sean Ruston, the students have moved over to the SU for a Skype talk with the students inside the ACCR.

19.10: 2 students have just entered the ACCR after a member of security left the door unattented.

19.12: a space in the union to protest?

19.14: Chris Luck (Democracy and Communications Officer for the Union): “The SU is doing everything it can to facilitate communication between those in the ACCR and their supporters outside. We’ve provided meeting rooms 2 and 3 in SUHQ and set up a Skype connection so that there is a free flow of communication externally.”

19.15: someone passes pasta into the ACCR, along with hand sanitiser.

19.27: Still waiting on the skype link to the Students in the Union.
Apparently students are passing by the banner outside and

19.28: update from the university. It's position is that they have to move or the toilet breaks will be removed. The request is that they reconsider the offer to move rooms. Within ten minutes. This is a public area, and if they can't maintain public safety, then they can call the police. We are the messengers in this, this is not what we think.

19.34: First connections made with people in the SU, yet there are still communication issues.

19.35: Doors to the ACCR shut. I have to leave the room now and probably won't be allowed back in. To keep up with the action, follow the Boar Live Blog @ http://theboar.org/news/2010/nov/24/live-updates-accr-occupation/

22.25: Very little has happened since I've been for dinner. The toilet situation is that the students will be allowed to use the toilet, but they will not be allowed to re-enter the ACCR afterwards.

22.36: The building will also be locked at 11pm, so yeah, I guess we'll have to be shifted out, I don't fancy camping out in the AC cafe...
Also, if you want to see the live stream of the guys in the ACCR, see the Boar Live Blog posted above. They look like they're having a whole load of fun.

22.45: Two more police officers have just showed up at the AC, not sure why yet. There's 15 mins to go until we get locked in, and no one's going back into the CR tonight. Apparently all lectures for tomorrow have been rescheduled/cancelled, but we're not entirely sure on it yet.

22.49: More supplies have just been given to the people in the ACCR. The police are apparently coming to take over from them because they've been here all day.

23.39: After a friendly chat with the Warwick security guards outside the fire exit to the ACCR (which has been guarded throughout the day by the way,) we retreated back to the comfort of AV3. There have been rumours about what is happening tomorrow morning. The protesters are staying over night while the ACCR is locked up, and this will be reopened at 8.30am. Whether the students inside the ACCR will move and relocate to another room or stay inside is yet to be decided. The protesters are equipped with food, water and... a pan. We'll see how they're feeling tomorrow morning, but in general everyone seems pretty cheery, including the security guys.

Will update more on this tomorrow morning :)

Middle Class March.

2010-11-10T17:23:00.001-08:00

The 7am start was NOT welcomed, especially after a 2pm bedtime - specifically due to distractions online, this really has got to stop before it gets started!!

I had a major panic about 8am because I couldn’t find my adaptor to put the pictures on my computer. Then i found it (and another memory card) and all was fine.

8.30 - Costies. Randomly large cardboard box for posters was purchased. Said posters were then made and hastily printed off in the Boar Office, cue editors.

Around 9 we headed over to the library for breakfast (glad I ate it to be fair!) and got on the coach.

Got dropped off about 12.45 I guess? Joined the march just before parliament, stood on a few barriers in order to take photos of the literally thousands of people marching - apparently there were around 50,000 altogether, but nothing confirmed. At least 24,000 according to the Evening Standard.

We marched on down past the Houses of Parliament, booing as we went, amongst chants of: ‘Nick Clegg, shame on you! Shame on you for turning blue!’ and some rather rude posters :)

As we were walking along we noticed a crowd assembling around a building on the left of the marchers, so we decided to go and check it out, assuming it would be nothing important. It looked alright, fairly peaceful… not. Police blocking the door, about 20 people inside… Millbank. Question mark? Oh, the Tory HQ. That explains it.

Some people burning signs in the courtyard, others trying to break through the small line of police there, but not really trying too hard. About a thousand maybe, tops? Could have easily toppled the police if they really wanted to, but everyone just watched. Climbed the stairs, found the photographers huddled up there and chatted to some freelance guy about the demonstration.

As not a lot was going on, we carried on marching up the road where we found the rest of the students gathered listening to the NUS President Aaron Porter speaking about the cuts on top of what seemed like a double decker bus… sort of random. But hey. An insane amount of pictures later, everything was ‘over’ and we were all instructed to leave via the front of the demonstration.

We followed everyone around, then cut across back to the Millbank building, figuring there would be more going on there now. We were right!

There were four police vans, and about 20 officers all lined up around the back of the building, obviously working very hard to contain the mass of students which had doubled at least by the time we got there. We snuck in around the back (found Pizza Express locking its doors, hah!) and climbed onto first a flower pot and then the railings by the side for a better view.

Enter about 20 riot police… when things get slightly more crowded. Lights (A few flares were set off). Camera (Only me and about a thousand other people…). Action? Lots of shouting, smashing of glass, more people got through the police barrier, got into the lift and shouted off the building at the top, waving banners, firing fire extinguishers, eventually throwing one off.

After getting a text from the organisers telling us to go to LSE immediatley, we braced the crowds and went in there, right up to the riot barrier. Cue - battery fail. Fucks sake. I got a lot of decent shots, but that would have been the icing on the cake really. (Nom… cake.)

We left shortly after that to try and get back to LSE and got told en route (quick Pret detour - yay!) to go to Kings College instead. Speaking of disorganisation… I met my friend on the way and we chatted rather loudly about personal problems; hell yeah, we roll that way.

Eventually found the coaches (at the original meeting point) and that was the end of the day (sort of!). Kept getting texts from everyone telling us rumours - fire arms, armed response, burning building, collapsed bits, arrests, fights… etc. A lot of it was just rumours but it still excited the hell out of me. :D Bus home. Interviews. Boar office to see the photos and read the Guardian (Y).

I seriously still can’t contain my excitement at today - I loved it. Being in the middle of everything, seeing people so passionate about what they want, it’s really quite amazing.

I do feel that the violence somewhat distracted from the overall peaceful protest of many other thousands of people there. The public will only see this violence and recieve completley the wrong end of the stick about why we were there is the first place. I don’t think there were that many students organising the actual riots and violence, but of course there were a few.

Was it going to change anything anyway? Who knows. Probably not. But still, 50,000 people is pretty impressive don’t you think? And they can’t fail to see what the protesters have done to the Tory HQ to be fair! I mean, if we can’t do anything, should we at least vent out our anger in order to gain some sort of satisfaction that what we’re doing here by marching won’t actually achieve anything? I don’t know, but I know it wasn’t a good idea.

Whether I agreed with everything or not, I wanted to be there. I wanted to report on it. I want to do this journalism thing!! It’s something that’s always been in the back of my mind, and I sort of thought ‘yeah, sure, why not?’ and now I realise how much I love it…

Combine current affairs + writing? Journalism. Throw in a camera too. And people. Opinions. Perfect job ever? It’s out there somewhere…

Review confirms drastic cuts to higher education

2010-11-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

Tash Clark and Griffin O'Rourke

Universities in the UK will be hit by drastic funding cuts of 40 percent and enormous hikes in tuition fees as part of the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) released last week.

The announcements, which were made last Wednesday by the Chancellor George Osbourne, include a budget cut for higher education (excluding research funding) from £7.1 billion to £4.2 billion by 2014-15, a forty percent cut.

The review also plans to reform higher education (HE) in line with the Browne Review, which includes recommendations for scrapping government funding for ‘non-priority’ subjects and encourages a free market in higher education, even going so far as to recommend that more universities become private.

The government is expected to bring forward legislation as soon as possible and publish a White Paper report on this during the winter.

Despite cuts throughout HE, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has frozen the teaching budget for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. The budget for scientific research will also be maintained in order to ensure the UK remains a world leader in this area, reaching £4.6 billion per year by 2014-15.

Aaron Porter, President of the NUS (National Union of Students), said: “This is a devastating blow to higher education that puts the future of universities at risk. Government ministers keep telling us that the deficit must be reduced to avoid passing a poisoned legacy to the next generation, but now they are proposing to eliminate almost all funding for university education whilst simultaneously transferring the debt onto students.”

Sean Ruston, Warwick SU’s Education Officer said: “The cuts to the teaching budget have not yet been announced, but we do know that funding for the social sciences, arts and humanities subjects will be cut, which will translate into 70-80 percent cuts overall. There is a massive risk with Warwick’s large population of arts and humanities students that we will get hit hard.”

Director General Dr Wendy Piatt of the Russell Group (of which Warwick is a member) said: “If the UK’s world-class universities are to perform their vital role in economic recovery, the government must allow universities to ask for higher graduate contributions as recommended by Lord Browne… there is no conceivable ‘Plan B’. Without a system of higher graduate contributions, we will almost certainly be relegated from the premiership of higher education.”

The University has been cautious in its response to the review. Vice Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift stated: “We now await more detail on how any cuts and organisational changes following from the CSR will be implemented. [We] will carefully consider the implications of these changes and challenges and what we need to do to meet those challenges.” The University refused to comment on their plans until further details are announced.

Politics and international studies lecturer Ben Rosamond feels that Warwick and select other universities will not suffer as a consequence of Browne and the CSR. “The Browne review was published knowing that the CSR would do what it has done. The proposals on tuition fees are intended to fill the gap which the CSR will leave.”

The reaction to the CSR on campus has been mainly negative. Some arts and humanities students were appalled by the government’s prioritisation of STEM subjects.

“It’s dangerous”, said Sacha, a final year History student. “By stating that these are the only important subjects, people will only want to go and study sciences and maths and it will lead to ignorance.”

She was also concerned about the rise in tuition fees. “They [the politicians] went to university for nothing; I’ve taken out a £21,000 loan for six hours contact time per week.”

The CSR also proposes to help those from disadvantaged backgrounds by establishing a new £150 million National Scholarship fund to help those on low incomes, but Emma, a second year history student, felt that it will not be enough.

“It will only create a hierarchy by marginalising the poor,” she said. “The huge debt along with the cut to unemployment benefits will deter the poorer kids from taking the risk”.

On the other hand, one first year engineering student thinks that the continued funding for STEM is necessary. “I think science has a more direct use in society. I can see why the government do need to make these cuts.”

Until the full extent of the nature of the cuts is known, the outcome for universities is uncertain. The early opinion voiced by the NUS, however, is that “this is a spending review that looks an entire generation in the eye and says ‘you’re on your own.’”

Link to article on The Boar's website.

The Good Side of the Down Side?

2010-10-28T03:42:00.004-07:00

Overall, it’s been a pretty bleak week or two in British Politics. First the long-awaited Browne review told us fees could rise thousands of pounds if the cap was to be lifted, and that graduates like us who benefit more out of university will have to pay more towards it. The Defence Review of last week also informed us of drastic cuts to the armed forces which could put Britain’s security at risk. As of last Wednesday’s comprehensive spending review, we have found out that the government will support these rising fees and slash university funding by 40 per-cent. It’s all pretty bleak - not really something I want to turn on the TV and listen to before a 9am lecture.

But in these hard times of economic recession, cuts, pay freezes and all this talk of doom and gloom, hard times to come and ‘tightening of the belt’, let’s look on the bright side. It’s tiring listening to constant talk of the ‘double dip recession,’ cuts and ‘economic hardship’… isn’t it? So we’re going to be in debt for longer, going to have to pay more, cut down on this, and that, and whatever else. But we’ve got many things to learn from this recession.

And there’s the first benefit – we’ve learnt. Most of us know more about the world’s economic situation than we did before. This will evivitably make us more financially sensible and aware of what is going on around us in the big wide world. The recession reminds us the importance of balancing the books and not spending more than we can afford. It teaches us lessons for the future, and emphasises the point of being careful with money in a way where we can clearly see the consequences of not doing such, without learning the hard way.

The recession could also help us to be more charitable, and communicative with our society. After all, we might be in a situation of hardship, but at least we’re ‘all in this together’ right? Celebrity speakers do increasing amounts of charity work in difficult economic times, and encourage those affected by the recession to try and help others. This gives people who are struggling or unemployed a purpose, and looks good on your CV too. It inspires people to try and help others who are worse off, in order to try and see the benefit of their own situation and gain some satisfaction and wisdom from offering aid and assistance to the ones who really need it.

In recent years, there has been a consistent high level of consumerism in the UK, and the recession might also impact on this. The demand for material goods and the emphasis on things to have and more often the things we don’t have, could be eradicated. Recognising other important aspects of our lives such as relationships, having a job or our quality of life which are commonly overlooked often emerge over money and ‘things’ as more desirable, as people are forced to re-evaluate what they want, and appreciate what they have.

Furthermore, times where people stop spending and start saving mean that businesses have to do more to get us to spend. Whether that be through lowering of prices, improving the service they offer or generally increasing the quality of a product, how can we complain at companies working harder to deliver better goods to us? It makes businesses become more competitive to selling their products to us; improving their own efficiency and productivity, and means we get a better deal.

But the fundamental benefit from times of economic recession is that it causes us to think outside the box. The unknown forced us into a world where we had to consider what was happening, what might happen and try and predict what would happen in the future in a different way. It has brought about new ideas, caused people to think in alternative ways, like this article intended to do. While the problems and consequences of the past are still fresh in our minds, it gives the opportunity for people to use this knowledge in order to generate change. It encourages creativity and pushes our intellectual boundaries that otherwise might never have been tested.

International fees to rise by £1,000

2010-10-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

My first ever pubished byline.

Tuesday 19 October, 2010

» Foreign students will pay thousands more than they did just five years ago
Natasha Clark

Prospective international students applying to study at The University of Warwick from next year will face an increase in tuition fees far beyond the rate of inflation.

This rise in fees will affect anyone applying to the university from outside of the EU, and will mean they will have to pay up to an extra £1,000 for their university education.

International students applying to study at Warwick in 2011 for ‘library-based courses’ such as Humanities will have to pay £825 more than students who started the same course this year. Similarly, students hoping to study Science, Economics, or Theatre and Performance courses will see a jump of £1,000 next year, an increase of over six per cent.

Five years ago, the same degree programmes would have cost between two and three thousand pounds less than they are today with band one subjects increasing from £9,150 to £11,500 between 2006 and 2011, and band two seeing fees soar from £11,900 to £15,000 per year.

The university claims that this rise which is ‘just ahead of inflation last year’ is in order to provide for the very high quality learning experience that is provided here at Warwick, according to the Head of Communications, Peter Dunn. Despite this, inflation in the UK stood at 3.2 per cent in June, and dropped slightly to 3.1 per cent in September as measured by the Consumer Prices Index.

Warwick Students’ Union Education Officer Sean Ruston disagrees with the fee changes. “Warwick SU has made our opposition to this clear, which is in line with our campaign regarding the Browne Review, ‘Warwick SU puts its foot down,’ which opposes any increase in fees.

“We feel that these increases, which are not in line with inflation, do not reflect increases in positive feedback from students and a better quality of teaching.”

The Boar spoke to a number of students who are frustrated about the further increase of international tuition fees. Isabelle Lee, a third year Law student, who does not feel the changes are justifiable said,“I would not mind it if I saw some more resources and support for international students, but for the amount we pay, we do not see more benefits of tuition fee increases.”

On the other hand, one first year Management student is not at all worried about the fee increase. “I think it is understandable to increase the tuition fees for international students, as we do not have to pay taxes to study in England. My education is my top priority right now, and this increase will not affect me significantly in the long run.”

This increase in fees will affect some students more than others. Another first year Computer Science student comments, “I am aware that there is a big inflation increase, but it’s obvious that the international fees are above this. This will mean I will have to budget more carefully, and I definitely think that it will put more international students off coming to Warwick.”

http://theboar.org/news/2010/oct/19/international-fees-rise-1000/

Warwick receives its first Marshall Scholarship student

2010-10-28T03:40:00.001-07:00

Monday 25 October, 2010
Tash Clark

Joshua Bennett has been awarded the first Warwick Marshall Scholarship at the University of Warwick.

The English and African Studies post-graduate student from the University of Pennsylvania has been awarded a one year scholarship to study for an MA in Theatre and Performance Studies at Warwick this year.

The Marshall Scholarship is awarded yearly by the UK government, and pays for a select few students in the United States to study in the UK. The scholarship includes flights to and from America, a £827 per month maintenance sum, tuition fees, plus additional claimable expenses. Students can study at any university in the UK, but most choose Oxford, Cambridge or LSE. Bennett is the first to study at Warwick.

Joshua, a professional performance poet from New York, has recited his work at Barack Obama’s evening of music and poetry at the White House and published his first poetry book Jesus Riding Shotgun in 2009.

Upon receiving the award, Joshua said: “This was an incredible blessing. It is an honour that I accept with a grateful heart, and a mind set on making the most out of this experience.”

“Everyone I’ve met so far has been rather welcoming, and I can truly say that I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction. I love my department, and can’t wait to get more involved in the everyday happenings of the University.”

University of Warwick Vice Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift said: “I am pleased to welcome the Warwick Marshall scholar for 2010-11 to the University. I hope Joshua thoroughly enjoys his time here and we are delighted to have him as part of the Warwick community.”

http://theboar.org/news/2010/oct/25/warwick-receives-its-first-marshall-scholarship-st/

Pills.

2010-06-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Something I wrote in year 11 for creative writing....

Pills.
The taxi screeched abruptly to a halt, piercing the dark night with the echo of tyres on tar. A black cat darted in front of the car, yet only the fluorescent yellow lights could be seen; a bad omen for the night, thought the man. He readjusted himself in his seat, fiddling with the settings on his camera and let out a soft sigh.

“Sorry, Sir,” mumbled the driver wearily, this was obviously his last shift.

He wasn’t much to look at, his ragged beard was matted and unkempt with his face in need of good scrub; black marks and smudges covered his face. Tatty, thin clothes hung upon his lanky structure, despite the chill in the air outside. Yet his eyes concealed something of a mystery, the dark pupils contained a glint of spirit in contrast to his crumpled face.

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied solemnly, peering outside into the deserted street, glimmers of light flashing ahead.

Pulling up against the curb opposite the club, he fumbled in his pocket and handed the driver a few crumpled notes. The driver grasped them in his hand and hadn’t time to look back before the passenger had seized his suitcase, exited the cab and crossed the road. He spun around just in time to see the taxi driver gawping, mouth open at the notes in his hands, before striding inside.

A loud drum beat boomed out of the door followed by an upbeat dance melody. As the man stepped inside, he was greeted with flashing coloured lights and bubbles floating around the swirl of moving people. Surreal and in slow motion, this haven for teenagers glimmered with sparkle from every corner.

Slipping over to the bar, a group of girls dressed lightly for the time of year, giggled as he sat down. Crowded and stuffy, it was hard to breathe, and to spot her. His eyes darted around the room. Couples embracing and stumbling drunks met his eyes; some slumped in armchairs. Out of the corner of his eye, she swam into vision.
She didn’t particularly stand out from the crowd bustling and laughing around her. Fairly tall and slender, her long auburn hair glimmered with hints of red as it caught the light. A small button nose, prominent green eyes and a dazzling smile – was this something special? She was Daddy’s only princess.

Surrounded by a group of people – she’d always been popular – she sipped at her cocktail. He knew what she was about to do. Since the day he’d laid eyes on her sparkly character, she’d never been far without him following – little did she know.
He slunk into the shadows of the darkest corner and unlocked the case with silver encrusted keys. Fumbling with the lock, it snapped open and he removed the camera. Poised and ready for action, he waited.

Minutes later, a dark haired man approached the group and was soon buried among a crowd of people. Almost immediately, she turned straight around to face the man stood waiting in the corner, holding a small pill. For the first time in five years, she locked eyes on her stalker. He was met with a piercing stare, just as the shutter clicked. The two stood there for a moment, transfixed in the glory of the moment.

“Shit,” he muttered grabbing his case and sprinting for the nearest exit. Hearing screams and heels clattering after him, he stumbled into the black metallic-looking car outside dragging his case in after him. As the vehicle pulled away, he turned to face the man sat beside him, his eyes eager.

“Did you get it?” he asked inquisitively, brown floppy hair masking half of his symmetrical face.

As he caught sight of her in the dusty rear-view mirror staring after the car, he relaxed, slumped back into the seat and smiled, exchanging a smug glance with the man next to him; his right hand man and good friend.

“Excellent. How can he say no to us this time? That evidence in the paper would destroy his career, and he knows it,” he grinned.

“Fancy a drink to celebrate?” replied the other, beaming.
But before he could answer, the taxi screeched to a halt for the second time that evening and the pair lurched forwards in their seats, seatbelts cutting into their throats like blunt knives.

“S’cuse us mate, just another bloody cat in the way.” The driver grunted as he turned the corner off the dimly lit street.
“On second thoughts, I think we’d better call it a night.’

*************************************

Kasey sat alone in her room, her head spinning. Bright colours and intense patterns buzzed through her head and into the room from the TV, blaring out distorted words. Everything was a surreal dream, as far from reality as the imagination could bring. Stars spun above her head, voices cried from every corner of the room; moaning in insanity, laughing in anguish.

She let her head crash down upon the bed as a drum beat began to pound. Her fingers suddenly seemed very cold as they began to shiver and shake uncontrollably, yet the cool rain upon her cheek trickled down her face leaving a trail of salt and smudged mascara behind. Snatching a pen from her beside table, she fumbled for her diary among the shelf.

How could I have been so stupid? Dad warned me that people might be following, and I betrayed his trust. What will he think when that picture is spread across the newspapers tomorrow? I can’t believe I did it. Something I’d been bragging about for months and I didn’t even make the most of it. I’m sitting here alone in my room after demanding a ride home, waiting for the effects to wear off. I should probably have some water; don’t you get dehydrated when you take it? The room won’t stop spinning; it makes it hard to write. If I weren’t so worried I’d be drawing all the pretty patterns around me, but I can’t help but fret.

Oh Dad, what will you think of me now? Your 16 year old only child letting you down like this, it’s going to destroy your career! The Prime Minister’s daughter, taking pills, I’m sorry. But what can I do? Where can I go? I want to stop this, but I don’t know how. How could I have been so, so stupid?

Setting down the pen and book, she tumbled into a heavy and deep sleep, confused between dreams and reality. The TV spoke of firemen putting out a fire with pink water at a night club she’d visited that night. Faces swum smudged around her mumbling words of different languages before morphing into other objects. Her father’s voice echoed in her mind, deep words pounding through her ears. The scene in the film where Kasey and Robert Lloyd first met replayed over and over again until she screamed and the movie ended.

****************************************************************888

A well-dressed man entered the room following a smart knock at my oak study door.
“Sir, this just arrived for you. Very urgent, apparently.” Clive, my butler passed me a letter with no stamp, postmark or address, his brown hair flopping once again in front of his eyes.

“Thank you Clive,” I replied, taking the letter and setting down my pen.

What could someone want at this hour that could be so important? Come to think of it, quite a lot. I tore open the letter and rummaged inside for the contents. My fingers clasped among a shiny smooth photograph which I pulled out and examined, along with a letter written on a typewriter with different letters in capitals.

Kasey…

Oh, that idiot girl. My fists clasped around the letter and it crumpled. My head filled with so many questions it seemed to overload, the words hitting the sides of my skull from every angle. I re-read the letter, glanced back at the photo. That was her alright; even in black and white there was no mistaking those unique eyes. Her mother’s eyes…

I relaxed for a second and thought back to her. What would she do now? Talk to her that’s what. But was there time? Midnight, they said. I couldn’t let her be humiliated like that; never mind see my career in tatters, again. But oh, I couldn’t think straight. After a few seconds pondering I shot up. Marching to the door I swung it open, the cold handle a slight relief to the burning heat flowing through my veins.

“Clive, Fetch me a taxi please. Quickly,” I called deeply down the corridor, the echoes bouncing off the thick walls.

Silence.

“Clive?” I tried again.

Nothing. I ran out into hall and sprinted down corridor after corridor thoughts racing through my mind. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, despite all the pressure the family and government were under at the moment. I stumbled into passers by, not stopping to apologise, until I got to the main entrance – just in time to see a car speeding out of the driveway. What was he doing?

Ramming open the door of one of the nearby vehicles I hopped inside and turned on the engine. It stuttered before dying and falling once more to silence. Seizing my mobile phone I dialled Kasey and waited squeezing my eyes shut; my breathing quick and shallow. No dial tone, no nothing. This wasn’t just a coincidence; this had been planned, and by someone clever at that. I knew what I had to do now; and it would save Kasey and the country. Not afraid, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
Stepping slowly out of the car I turned to face the building of number ten. It’s perfectly aligned bricks, the shiny black door and the perfectly polished golden numbers reflecting light from the full moon up in the sky among the scattered stars. I’d miss it.

“Well Kasey,” I spoke aloud. “You’re worth this, I’ll give you that.’ Slipping out my phone and holding it up to my ear I waited, knowing that this would be the only number the device would allow me to dial.

“Mr President sir, it’s Carrington. I must regretfully inform you I am abandoning my position as of this point in time. Everything you need is on my desk, with all the evidence for an explanation of the next hour’s events. Emergency protocol 343 is about to be operated. Goodbye sir, its been an honour to work with you.’ Before he had a chance to reply, I snapped the telephone shut and snuck it into my blazer. I wasn’t going to give whoever was behind this the satisfaction they wanted.

I briskly walked up the short flight of stairs to number ten and pulled at the door, smiling at the officer at the entrance who stared blankly at me. Greeting everyone and anyone who passed me in the hallway on the return to my office, I sighed. Locking the door tightly shut, I picked up a pen and scribbled a note to Kasey.

Oh you silly girl, you! Be more careful next time. They’ll never get us, don’t worry. I love you darling. Dad x

Pulling out a small bottle from the draw of my desk, I unscrewed the cap and felt the liquid slide - icy cold - down my throat. I poured out a glass of whiskey and slid an old Beatles record into the player in the corner before settling down in my best leather-bound armchair. If this was only way out, so be it. Drifting into darkness, my last comforting thoughts were that Robert Lloyd would never get his hands on my daughter again or anywhere in government, by all means.

The Budget

2010-06-22T09:53:00.001-07:00

I don't need an inventive title today, we've all been waiting for this. The first budget of the coaltion Con-Lib/Lib-Con/Con-Dem etc etc government was announced today by George Osbourne.

Described frequently as 'tough but fair' by Liberal Democrats and Conservatives alike, its main focus was to cut the defecit. They aim to have balanced the books by 2015 (the end of the parliament if the colation government holds together) which is ambicious, but gives a target. The people of Britain need something to believe in, and to aim for, and the aim to return to a debt-free Britain is something we can all wish for, in the aims of the Conservatives 'we're all in this together.'

We all know what it's main message is by now: VAT increase to 20% from 4th January 2011. Osbourne described this as 'unavoiable' during his speech today, as the result of excess Labour government spending. This has been the main focus, not only on the BBC news website, the first item listed today on the 6 o'clock news and the headline that will undoubtably run on many of tomorrow morning's newspapers' front pages. This is because VAT is what will affect EVERYONE in the country, despite only being charge on 'luxury goods'.

'BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson described the financial statement as a "massive gamble economically and politically." ' Overall I feel this is a fair statement from the BBC, as poltiically the Liberal Democrats have come out looking weak, and there are few inidcations of their policies in there, such as raising the income tax threshold etc, but yes, it does look just like a Tory Budget would do - tax rises, and cuts.

But to be honest, I agree and support whatever they decide to do here. They think they can balance the books by the end of the parliament and reduce our borrowing to 1%. That sounds pretty good to me. At the end of the day, what more can we do but support this? We did elect them in knowing full well they wanted to reduce the defecit, and to do it now means cuts in public spending, and more taxes.

Yes, it means that even people who have saved responsibly, are not in debt and haven't contributed to the state that the country is in will need to tighten their belts too. The Conservative message highlights that, and the budget even features measures for the Royal Family to emphasise it. We all have to do this to get out of the mess we're in.

Okay, so I don't pay taxes, I don't have a full time job, I'm not a true member of society as of yet, so a lot of these implications just won't affect me. But the best we can all do is to pool together, try our best to get the most out of the situation, and try and follow our government through the darkest of these times. At the end of the day, we don't have a choice in the matter. This has to be done. If not now, then when?

Results Day!

2010-05-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

(May 7th)

Darling, I'm on the train. Bercow held Buckingham (as he would do) with 48% (down from 58% last year though) and John Stevens in second place on 22%. Farage, to my surprise, got 21%, which is fairly high for UKIP in a conservative constituency. Overall, pretty unsurprising. Did you really have to do a recount on that? It wasn't really worth waiting til 2.30 for (PM!)

Poor Farage, that plane crash he was in this mornign looked really terrible; a miraculous escape. He's currently in hosptital, and probably won't be around when the count takes place. I feel a bit sorry for him, he did lead a moderate campaign in Buckingham.

what an exciting night! Labour ended on 258 seats, 29% of the popular vote, which was a lot more than the party, and the people expected. Gordon's popularity hasn't exactly been rocketing the past few years, months and days even, in particular the 'bigot' comments of last week. The Tories' gains in popularity I had anticipated - Britain has reverted back to Blue (even Milton Keynes - my local city).

However, my real shock is the lack of Lib-Dem seats; they even lost some overall, despite polling in 23% of the popular vote. This highlights such a clear flaw in our voting system, it just isn't fair. Admittedly, the 'Cleggmania' which took hold after the first leaders debate clearly didn't catch on. Maybe people aren't ready for the much change yet. Alternatively, and more realistically, people are living in a down to earth society, and need some tougher direction to get the country back on track, which perhaps the Conservatives can offer.

At the moment, we're looking at a hung parliament, which is almost spot on what the exit polls predicted at 10pm. However, what that will mean is still being speculated. A Labour-Lib coaltion perhaps? This may allow constitutional reform to finally take place, but Clegg would be very reluctant to hold un an unpopular Brown, who less people voted for. The Conservatives are very keen for talks with the Liberal Democrats, yet a niggle in me tells me it won't come to much, I can see Clegg being walked over, and little promise for electoral reform. Sad-face.

But hey! I'm on the train, I don't have a clue what's going on right now. For all I know the BNP could have won the entire south of the country and be marching towards the commons with their armies. (On a side note, how pleased are we all that Nick Griffin lost his seat? Yes, I am.) Anyway, back to the morning paper. Newspapers, TV and radio will be flooding my boyfriends flat this evening whether he likes it or not.

Abused by the political system?

2010-05-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday 6th May 2010. D day. D for decision that is.

Having made the effort to rummage around the kitchen and find my polling card this morning, I came across a pile of election leaflets my mother had kindly not thrown out for me (I already kept the first copies, they were duplicates...) So I read through them (again) and then failed (yet again) to be inspired by any of them.

And as I cast my vote which really wasn't a vote in the village hall at around 8pm, I failed somewhat in seeing the whole point at all.

British Politics has failed me. Not only in my home constituency of Buckingham, home of John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, but to us all. My eyes flickered down the stupidly long list of candidates and I was reminded of a picture I'd seen earlier of a spoilt ballot, which made me laugh. I sighed. For many of the first time (and indeed almost every one of the 65,000 people in Buckingham constituency) voters, we now are denies our right to vote for the candidate, or party that we wish.

It is traditional and a generally unwritten law that no one should oppose the Speaker, which is currently Mr Bercow. Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives all chose to uphold this tradition. However, this didn't stop Nigel Farage (UKIP) John Stevens and countless other Independent candidates from running for MP and attempting to topple the speaker. I suppose I should be glad we had a choice at all...

Hypocritically, I am still unswayed by any specific party, though I am rather drawn to the Liberal Democrats (none of this Cleggmania thanks, I liked him before the first debate.) If only their asylum policy wasn't ridiculous... I suppose I fail to see why most people can be bothered to vote really. All the parties are offering the same things, in slightly different ways. Admitedly some are different, others are more drastic etc, but it's still the same issue.

I stand as and 18 year old grammar school student completing her A Levels, about to embark to university to read History and Politics. Of course I'M interested! But why so many people find the inspiration to even walk along to the polling station to vote... I actually cannot comprehend, especially in this constituency. Our vote does absolultey nothing for the country.

I have absolutley nothing against John Bercow, he's a great MP and a good man, and some of his expenses were some of the lowest in terms of an overall amount of cash spent. Yet I feel my right to vote for the party of my choice has been taken from me, before it has ever been issues - this is my first ever vote. Techically, I just voted conservative...

And what shall i tell my fellow students next year as I embarck on a journey of political and historical discovery? 'well, I voted Conservative. Technically. But it didn't actually count for anything. I don't support the conservatives... it's complicated." Yes, I feel like a moron already too...

As I head off to mope around a little before watching the Election Coverage (flicking between BBC and Channel 4's 'Alternative Election') I urge those of you who do have a 'proper' vote, to please, please use it. Vote for what you want to happen to Britain. Vote for our future, because it starts now. Vote for change, or for fairness, or for change that works for you, building a fairer Britain.

If you don't vote, don't you dare complain to me about the country, you filth.

Churchill Museum and The War Cabinet Rooms

2009-11-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my Mum and I went down to London to visit the Churchill Museum and War Cabinet Rooms in Westminster (it's rather odd passing the Foreign Office I have to say...).

War Cabinet Rooms were opened a week before the Second World War was declared in 1939, and were used right up until the end of the war in 1945. This space was where Churchill made many crucially important decisions, discussed tactics, and held meetings with his cabinet, sometimes when bombs were going off overhead.

The rooms are situated underneath the Whitehall building just off the main Whitehall Road. It was designed to protect the Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his cabinet, yet it was only emerged in 1941 that it could not withstand a direct hit to the building with a large bomb.

Walking through the rooms holding what looked like a really long mobile phone with some numbers and an earpiece, it was interesting to think that people spent day after day, week after week in this underground area. It wasn't just a place for Churchill and his cabinet members, there was a bedroom built for his wife, and for many secretaries and war officials who spent time there. A broom cupboard was also made into a private room where Churchill could talk privately with President Roosevelt in America.

Alright, I know I'm a bit strange... I find History interesting. I enjoy being transported back in time to when people who made history lived, and these rooms really did it for me, 70 years ago on the very corridor I was in, people were walking down, discussing important decisions they had to make, to stand up against Hitler.

I admire Churchill's honesty during the war, which can be seen during the Churchill Museum part of the underground rooms. He told the people in his speeches how it really was; he didn't lie. But he also gave them home, optimism and the strength to keep fighting, to keep standing up against these moral atrocities that the Nazis were committing.

Part of the Churchill Museum were interaction touch screens, videos, photo albums and audio speeches, but I have to say my favourite part was definitely the timeline. In the style of a long dinner table (double your standard width and probably about ten times the length) the timeline was an interactive version of Churchill's life. It allowed you to touch the date you wanted to look at, and zoom in to the month, and date of when certain events happened, not just in Churchill's life, but across the world. This included examples of his speeches and when he enforced new laws, to worldwide events that changed the course of history. The most important of these came with pictures flashing up across the screen. For example, Armistice day features the whole table filling with poppies, and the first bomber plane date featured the shadow of the plane zooming down the room.

A memorable and throughout enjoyable experience overall, made even more wonderful by the bowl of 'Dig for Victory' Soup over lunch. I would recommend this to anyone, we all should be the ones to find out and explore our past, as it is a vital part of our present.

'He who controls the past, controls the present.' - 1984 by George Orwell.

Work experience - Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser

2009-10-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

My first impressions are definitely not what I expected it to be like! Today I began my week's placement at Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser, based in Buckingham, but also writes for the Bicester Review, and a Brackley and Towcester local paper.

A newsroom is so much quieter than I expected it to be, for a start, considering it produces three newspapers a week! Apart from the almost constant tapping, it's actually silent. Well, Gavin's on the phone, so almost. Occasionally someone will voice aloud a query, usually to do with a story or lead of course.

I began the day by reading the latest edition of the Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser, and due to some technology issues, read it again... and again... Still, it gave me a better feel for the style of writing, and the layout of the newspaper, because I hadn't read it in a while.

Finally the system decided to log me on, and I wrote a brief statement about myself for Kerry, which didn't take long. I found it surprisingly easy, probably as a result of all the personal statement writing I've been doing recently...

I was then given a short press release for a story on Buckingham Panto's launch of a writing competition, and during the afternoon I completed a number of short articles based on these.

The writing came fairly easy, I hope it's alright. It's strange that I feel reasonably comfortable in this new, unfamiliar, office environment. I support I only have Pret to compare it to, but it's completely different in almost every way. Except the people are equally nice!

I could quite easily do this for a living. I'm past the daunting stage now, although the interview i had to do earlier wasn't very fun, she didn't want to really... Oh well. I'm aiming national, big dreams ahead! ;)

Local woman found dead in country field

2009-08-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

A body believed to be that of Sally Hingston, local resident in Gawcott, Buckinghamshire has been found dead in a field around 3 miles outside of the village.

Her naked body was found on Friday lunchtime after she had been reported missing the previous day when she did not return from one of her early morning walks.

The 67 year old lived on Hilsden Road in an apartment with her husband Reg. She was widely known around the village as she embarked on many walks around the surrounding villages.

A 25 year man named Benjamin Radojevich, also from Gawcott, has been charged with murder after being arrested on Friday, and will remain in police custody before appearing in court in Aylesbury on Monday. A police van has also been permanently placed outside the apartment where the two pensioners lived.

The post mortem revealed that the woman died from the result of a number of head injuries, but the police have yet to confirm that this in fact the body of Sally Hingston, who has not been seen since Friday morning.

Beach Life comes to the city

2009-07-29T09:13:00.001-07:00

MusiK4U drew crowds this weekend as young and old gathered outside the train station to take part in the free mini-festival.

Central Milton Keynes’s Station Square was filled with people from Friday through to Sunday, with everything from a volleyball area, food, music and drink stalls to a live music stage.

Attracting many people by the free entry and large odd purple bus, people from all around gathered to listen to local acts with a variety of styles, including the ‘Beatdown’ DJ set, to the rocky edge of ‘Outburst’. The music was complimented by was a BMX area, street and dance crews alongside viewing films from students at MK college and the opportunity to win MK Dons tickets.

Josh Timmins, a local singer songwriter loves the festival feeling that MusiK4U has brought here. ‘It’s just all so random! You’ve got a massive purple bus, a volleyball court and a man dressed as a zombie alongside a main stage of acts!’

The weekend ended with a smashing set from Lionsex on Sunday evening, which lifted spirits in the crowd that not even the abrupt onset of a shower could dampen.

Local Headmaster leaves grammar school

2009-07-29T09:12:00.001-07:00

Mr Robert Cooper, headmaster of the Royal Latin Grammar school in Buckingham has announced his resignation this week.

Mr Cooper took up the post of head teacher to the local grammar school after the previous headmistress Cecilia Galloway left in 2006. He has since implemented a wide range of new initiatives for the school, which have contributed to the school receiving an ‘outstanding’ reputation after the recent Ofsted inspection earlier this year.

His reputation with the pupils at the school will be far from forgotten; however, as the final alterations to the school timetable will come into effect in September. These include changing the lesson and break lengths alongside altering the end to the school day, which have caused much controversy amongst staff and students alike.

The head teacher will be taking up another position at another school in January of next year, leaving the Royal Latin School management team time to find a suitable replacement.

MK takes measures to help locals with swine flu

2009-07-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

As the number of cases of swine flu continues to rise in the area, The Walk-in Health Centre at Eaglestone has been using its ‘MK Doc’ phone line to reach out to patients in their homes.

The centre opened in 2006 and has seen a steady increase of people using it for a range of minor injuries and illnesses. As swine flu hit the area, the centre has seen hundreds making use of ‘MK Doc’. This has been particularly successful with the recent pandemic, as GPs are advising people who suspect they may have swine flu to stay at home and ring up as to stop the spread of the disease.

Chloe Thompson who is currently doing work experience at the centre thinks the idea is brilliant. "We're flooded with calls at the moment, but the phone line means we can help everyone who needs it." This can include anything from the distribution of Tamiflu, to advice about swine flu itself.

Will Buckingham lose MP to the commons?

2009-07-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

Just over a month ago, on June 22nd 2009, MP for Buckingham John Bercow was voted to be the next speaker of the House of Commons after Michael Martin’s resignation the week previously. However, many residents of his constituency in Buckingham are worried they will now lose out valuable time and presence of the newly elected speaker to the broken Westminster scene.

Mr Bercow insists that his position in the commons will not affect his constituency in Buckingham and the surrounding areas, as he will 'continue to attend events and undertake visits of a non-political character throughout the constituency'. Despite this, it is clear that the job of the speaker is one that requires long and often antisocial hours. It is unsurprising, therefore, that residents may not see the presence their local MP around the area as much as before.

As the parliamentary recess now dawns on the House of Commons, the community of Buckingham hope that this will reunite them with Mr Bercow over the summer, until October sees the start of the next term.

Miss Writer, telling it like it really is.

2008-12-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Stereophonics are back on their much awaited tour of the UK which kicked off two weeks ago in Glasgow, and I was fortunate to be one of the thousands of fans who crammed themselves into the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham yesterday to experience the latest handbags and gladrags of their anniversary tour.

In celebration of ten years of the band, Stereophonics have embarked on a 'Decade in the Sun' tour around the country performing to crowds from Manchester to Brighton, finishing off on December 20th at the O2 Arena in London.The Welsh rock band originated in the village of Cwmaman near Aberdare where Kelly Jones, Richard Jones and original drummer Stuart Cable began writing, playing and performing in local bars. After being spotted by John Brand in March 1996 the band were the first to be signed to Richard Branson's new label V2. In 1997 the band won a BRIT for 'Best Newcomer' and have gone from strength to strength, releasing a total of 6 albums, five reaching #1 in the UK and 25 singles, of which have all entered the top 40. Dakota became their first #1 single in 2005 after the sacking of Cable in 2003 and hiring of Javier Wayler. Another addition to the band was guitarist Adam Zindani who remains performing with the rest of the band today.

The show kicked off with a brief but entertaining performance from support band The Courteeners who came across as a mix of the Pigeon Detectives with the melodic guitar and upbeat tempo with a hint of the Kooks in the vocals. Overall a good warm up act for the Phonics (or certainly the twenty-something’s at the front seemed to think so) ending with their January single 'What took you so long?'

Kicking off with a well known hit 'A thousand trees,' Kelly's husky voice growled out to the now jumping-up-and-down-manically crowd, warmly greeted with screams, cheers and the flinging of beer from the hardcore fans as the band wallowed through 'Mr Writer' before launching into 'Superman' and 'I wouldn't believe your radio'.

The venue was decoratively lit, with a background of panels which flashed psychotic abstract images during the upbeat tracks, and atmospheric strobe lights and smoke, wafting through the band as they stumbled around through the softer songs. The two main screens screened fast cuts of the action up onstage from the two sides, including crops of Zindani's solos, bumpy crowd shots alongside extreme close ups, tight enough to see the sweat slipping down Richard Jones's face from every corner of the room.

Thank God it's the Greatest Hits is what I have to say in regards to 'Have a Nice Day' and 'Handbags and Gladrags,' two of the Phonics's most loved, most played singles from the past decade. As discussed on the outward journey with my father in the car, Jones has publically declared on numerous occasions how he will never play those songs again. However, we fans paid for the best, and that's jolly well what we got alongside old classics such as the bands first single 'Local Boy in the Photograph' and 'Traffic'. Accompanying this was an extremely gruff solo version of 'Maybe Tomorrow' in which a single red spotlight fell upon Jones as he gravelled his way through with just a couple of echoey chords (another true example of the impact of technology on our culture - sat nav just would've have allowed the creati0n of such a song).

The line-up mixed between the slow melodic rasps of 'Since I told you it's over' to the upbeat tempo set by Zindani's snare in 'My own Worst Enemy'. Despite the fact that Jones changed guitars more often than girls change clothes, the contrast worked well, alternating between fast and slow, almost in a Nirvana-esque style from 'Step on my old size nine's' to 'Devil' both evoking a cheery sing-along response from the highly engaged, energetic crowd (a perhaps significant achievement due to the average age of forty-something - probably a result of a mix of beer and chips).

The encore consisted of an array of stars filling the previously lit up background as Kelly strummed along to 'You're my star,' finishing with an eruption of shiny confetti from a streamer jet somewhere onstage before embarking on a growly version of 'Bartender and the Thief.' However, the night just wouldn't have been complete without the final bellow of 'I don't know where we are going now' from the thousands of fans who joined Jones in 'Dakota' before the band repeated their thank-yous and bade the crowd goodnight.

More than just background music, this rock band is classic proof that a pinch of welsh talent and a few guitars can go a long way. Nothing fashionable, nothing popular, but the band certainly have a spark that really does erupt live. A Decade in the Sun is just the first of many milestones for the Stereophonics, a band that will surely continue for years to come. It only takes four Welshmen to create a rock band. One match to burn a thousand trees.

Why did Barack Obama win the US Election 2008?

2008-11-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

November 4th 2008 - a day surely to go down in history. Barack Obama has made it into the history books, becoming the first ever black candidate to win a Presidential Election. Over 120 million Americans cast their votes; some flying back from across the world, others using park benches as their home addresses, queuing for hours to vote for Barack Obama. Never before has any candidate received so many votes, rivalling the Democratic victory of Lyndon Johnson almost 50 years ago. But why is it that he has made it this far, and will become the first ever black President of the USA when he is inaugurated in January?

I remember standing bleary eyed in the bathroom at about eight am on the morning of November 5th when my Mum came in and asked 'Have you heard?' When I told her I hadn't she merely responded with 'he did it!' along with a big grin on her face. Half asleep due to staying up the previous night watching the election show (I only saw the first electoral college results come in) I still remember smiling to myself and feeling glad that this man had achieved his hopes and dreams, and would soon be the most important and influential man in the world.

Obama's victory speech ran headlines of every newspaper the next morning, reports flying everywhere of the momentous event that had occurred. His speech, which has since been named and declared as one of the best speeches made to date, in which he clearly addresses everyone in America. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible," declared the President-elect, "who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

But what is it about Obama that makes him so desirable as a president? I hadn't heard his speeches. I hadn't been greeted at the door by one of his supporters encouraging me to vote. I hadn't heard about what he was going to do. Yet I, like so many others liked the look of Obama. Search him on google images and you'll see that 80% of the pictures, he is smiling in. The other 20% he is making a speech in, and can be forgiven. He looks like a nice guy. He acts like one too, as throughout his campaign he has reminded us that he is a true family man. His wife, and the next first lady Michelle Obama has remained by his side for support throughout the twenty-one strenuous months of his campaign, as well as his two young daughters who he promised a puppy if he made it to the White House. Does the fact that we see him as an all-rounded man make us like him? I think so. It shouts out to the audience he is loving, caring and generally a kind man, which does support his case.

One main issue that surely picked up hundreds of thousands of voters was his policies and how he is going to run America next year. To kick start the economy, Obama plans to pump $50 billion dollars into it, alongside introducing major tax cuts to all working Americans and fighting for fair trade using new agreements. He also plans to come to an agreement to end the war in Iraq, make healthcare more affordable, and invest in more, better childhood education. Of course this all seems very rosy, especially when you regard it alongside http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ which highlights all that is wrong with the other candidate John McCain's policies. Even scanning through what he aims to do does give a positive impression that he has thought through what he wants for America carefully, giving him a professional air, that makes the public want to trust him.

Despite being one of his weaknesses too, one of Obama's strengths has been his youth. At just 47 years of age he would be one of the youngest ever presidents. As a middle aged 'family man' many more people find it easier to relate to him, and what he wants to do. The other candidate John McCain had been criticized for being too old to be president, and this is something that Obama definitely had on his side - youth. In addition, for all those who claimed he did not have enough experience (he only became senator in 2004) it can be argued that Joe Biden, his running partner will make up for this - he is 65 years of age and has decades of politics on his side. The youth that he put across in his campaigns not only encouraged more people to vote for him, but introduced a higher proportion of younger voters, ones that can closely relate to him, and look up to him as someone with a fresh face, and a fresh view for change in America.

The incredible journey to the White House has been an amazing victory for blacks everywhere. It could be partly due to the colour of his skin that Obama was voted in, in an attempt to prove to the USA that equality has truly been achieved. Looking back in history, it is forty years since the defined 'end' to the Civil Rights Movement, marked by the death of Martin Luther King being shot on a hotel balcony. Little over fifty years ago, blacks couldn't vote, were segregated in schools, restaurants and other public facilities and faced fatal discrimination from vigilante groups such as the KKK. This continued well into the 50s and 60s, after the CR movement was sparked off, despite rulings declaring segregation unconstiutional, and giving blacks political freedoms including the right to vote. A few decades later and America has come so far in terms of racial equality. No one could ever have predicted that this would happen fifty years ago when white and blacks couldn't even sit in the same restaurant, but since then the USA has drastically changed. It could be argued that many people wanted to change history by ensuring that a black candidate was elected into the white house, and his colour played a big part in his victory.

Furthermore, the amount of money and publicity that Obama pumped into his election process can be seen as a major factor in his victory. Taking a look at barackobama.com it is clear to see there is no extent to the publicity that can be gained through merchandise. From t-shirts to mugs, badges to flags, Obama hasn't skimped on this area of his campaign. This is just one sector that he has spent money on in order to gain the maximum amount of publicity possible for his case. This is not counting various interviews, billboards, TV appearances and visits throughout his campaign to ensure he was the next president of the USA. It is unclear exactly how much money Obama and the democrats have spent on the campaign overall, but latest figures show it as around 470 billion dollars. Debates have highlighted that this is an obscene amount of money that could and should have been spent elsewhere, especially in the current economic downturn. The high cost of Obama's presidential campaign can be seen as a pivotal factor in his victory.

Overall, there are many factors that determined why Barack Obama won this election. After all, it was very close, indicating that John McCain did have a substantial amount of support also. But at the end of the day history has somehow been made as a result of time, effort, money and various other reasons. On the other hand, maybe America just wanted George Bush out of the white house, and were determined to vote for the complete opposite of everything he stood for. Enter Obama.

Is sending news correspondants around the world a waste?

2008-11-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

Newswatch has recently brought to the attention of the general public alongside numerous broadcasts from the BBC, that newsreaders are being increasingly sent abroad to report on current affairs around the world today. However, the argument that has been generated among this hype has sparked off numerous debates.

According to Newswatch, in 2005, to date, an average of 35 million people watched some BBC Television News each week, making it the BBC's most popular broadcast. This would therefore make it hardly surprising that they received thousands of complaints every years about the content of their show. Recently, these complaints have been flooding in regarding the amount of correspondents the BBC seems to be collecting - Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Wales, plus multiple for Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the recent US election where presenters such as Bill Turnbull and Justin Webb were among many sent out.

First the question must be explored as to the purpose of their visit. Journalists do not simply appear in front of a blue screen for ten minutes with a projected image behind them for ten minutes at 6pm in time for the news, after a lie in and a late lunch, which is what many have been arguing. During the day journalists conduct much research into the current up to date situation regarding their news story, amongst filming snippets for the broadcasts, conducting interviews and writing blogs and newspaper articles.It is unfair to say, perhaps, that BBC corespondents are a waste of money in this sense, as they fail to engage in a satisfactory role, as it often clear to see with a little research, that they serve their purpose throughout their visit, giving a unique, personalised report from the epicentre of the breaking news.

On the other hand, the current environmental situation disagrees that this is a satisfactory was to help the world. Global warming debates that we should be cutting down on our air miles to not only reduce carbon emissions, but to also conserve a rapidly declining supply of fossil fuels such as oil. Surely the issuing of countless correspondents challenges the recommendations of the government and energy companies, and sets a poor example to the British Public and the rest of the world?

Despite this, the argument still stands that 35 million Brits watch The BBC news a week, which is almost half of the population. This brings into the argument the point that, although it may be a costly and time consuming sending presenters to other countries, not to mention paying a price to the environment, it is a show that is seen by many people, and could be seen as 'worth it'. The British public pay a licensing fee to watch the BBC channels which go towards shows like the news, but isn't it a small price to pay to make an interesting, unique broadcast to add interest and liveliness to a show that is so widely watched throughout the country?

Furthermore, the clips that are shown to the public simply presents reporting in front of pictures which could have been done at home, fuelling the evidence that the BBC reports gain nothing from sending correspondents out. A recent example of this is during the US presidential election last week. On Tuesday evening, a presenter from London pointed out to Bill Turnbull in Washington; 'if it's 2am in Washington, why is the sun out?' This points out the simplicity of the task of getting a background onto a broadcast, which could be done anywhere else. Why could this not be done in a studio in London and save some money?

However, the BBC does seem to value sending out these correspondents. Behind them, must be a valid reason, to add considerable input to the show. Clearly there is increased interest generated from listening to someone who is speaking from the country of which the story generated from, and provides a sufficient change of scenery for viewers, to keep them entertained, and regularly tuned in. This could also be used in later shows, interviews sold to other news channels and documentaries, which in the long run would save money for those, as they wouldn't need to send another person out to carry out more filming.

Overall, the reactions of increasing numbers of BBC correspondents have been mixed. On one hand, there is increased interest, variety and uniqueness added to the shows being presented to a large audience, but on the other, it is seen as a waste of time, effort and money. In my opinion, the job of a journalist is to travel, to investigate, to report and broadcast, and what comes as part of the job, is being a correspondent in foreign countries from time to time

Airbrushing.

2008-10-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I read a really interesting article in 'Marie Claire' (don't judge me, I'm trying to find a fashion magazine I LIKE) about whether we should ban airbrushing on models. It got me thinking about whether we should or not, and what the implications of it might be.

On the positive side, it would stop giving ordinary people the impression that the celebrities we see in magazines are perfect. Too many people these days, in particular the younger generation grow up with the media pressuring them from all angles - the Internet, newspapers, magazines and the television. They are pressured into what they wear, what they say, the things they buy and even who they choose to be friends with. Airbrushing means that it is these teenagers who are easily influenced by such, get the wrong impression of what normality really is. It shows them that they have to be like this in order to be liked, to be wealthy, to have friends; no wonder the number of cases of eating disorders among under 16s has dramatically increased in the last decade.

However, as this article explains, the negative effects of airbrushing also are apparent in the media. Simply stroll into your local newsagent and take a glance at the weekly gossip magazines. If they aren't using their front cover to show pictures of celebrities looking too thin, too fat or without makeup, or otherwise, these magazines just wouldn't sell. So, in theory aren't we being hypocritical when we cringe at a picture of a celebrity not looking their best - just popping out to get the milk? Aren't we arranging standards by which to measure beauty, then completely going against them?

In addition, it also puts pressure on relationships; both for the older and younger generations. Many men are used to seeing un-natural looking women who have been airbrushed to look 'beautiful' in magazines and on television, when in reality, women just aren't like that. It's not just men that are fooled by the media - women too are bombarded with images of tanned, muscly men with toned arms and six-packs, when back here in the real world, not many men have the time, effort or desire to look like that putting relationships under pressure to match up to what they've seen in the media.

On the other hand, it can be argued that airbrushing gives women something to look up to and aspire to become. If all the people we see in magazines had blemished skin and wrinkles, would we still bother with our beauty regimes at all? If celebrities had 'problem areas' to point at, it may well be the case that no-one would care about their appearance, because the media doesn't either.

Apart from the countless jobs that would be lost if airbrushing were to ever be banned, there is also the point of how it would change our society and the way we live today. Living in the digital age where we now can edit photos far beyond the dodging and burning tools used previously in the darkroom, people are used to seeing edited photos. The fact remains that people look up to what we see and read about in magazines despite the fact that they KNOW they are edited. Removing these techniques would disrupt the balance of fashion and celebrity life as we know it today - whatever it may be that the world is coming to.

It is of course impossible to accurately predict the effects that this ban could have on the industry and the public, yet the true moral of the issue of airbrushing runs psychologically deeper. Why do we feel compelled to become 'perfect'? How much of the editing techniques used in the media today really affect us, and to what extent? And why does the media feel a responsibility to airbrush in the first place? Alternatively, we could just blame the creators of photo shop.