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Day: 18 October 2015

Student rep election results announced

Written by Emily Hulme on . Posted in News.

Last week, student elections for part-time repstook place. Candidates have been seen drumming up support from around Owens Park and around campus, in an attempt to gain students votes for a number of positions on the executive.

Positions range from Women’s Officer, to Ethical and Environmental Officer and Student Community Officer to name a few. In short, the elected representatives do all in their power to improve life for University Of Manchester students.

 

The results this year are as follows:

Undergraduate Humanities Officers: Ally Routledge, Fred Craig

Postgraduate Taught Humanities Officer: Amber Guan

Postgraduate Research Humanities Officer: Ros Wolfe

Undergraduate Life Sciences Officer: Sarah Choke

Postgraduate Taught Life Sciences Officer: Laura Castro

Undergraduate Medical and Human Sciences(MHS) Officers: Mohammed Alli Safdar, Chloe Brookes

Postgraduate Research MHS Officer: Helen Parker

Postgraduate Taught MHS Officer: Natasha Motsi

Disabled Students Officers: Dorian Gordon, Nayab Begum

Women Students Officers: Muneera Lula, Jess Lowe

BME Student Officers: Felicia Odamtten, Deej Lashley-Johnson

LGBTQ Officers: Liss Anckorn, Yi Ye

Ethical and Environmental Officer: Alexandra Cuschieri

International Officer: Duan Sun-Sundy

Undergraduate EPS Officers: Miruna Pislar, Mushfique Hossain Pavel

Postgraduate Taught EPS Officer: Zhao Chenhoe

Postgraduate Research EPS Officer: Imhotep Baptise (Imo)

Community Officers for Fallowfield and Withington: Jacob Morris-Davis, James Riley

Community Officers for Rusholme and Whitworth: Fran Lester, Louis Appolinari

Community Officers for City Centre: Joseph Clough, Andrew Yau

 

The turnout this year amounted to 2459—the highest amount of votes cast in an election for part-time officers in the university’s history. This perhaps reflects the recent increase of young people becoming more engaged in politics.

Ally Routledge, the successfully-elected Undergraduate Humanities Officer said: “The high turnout from the election proves that students really do care about how their university is run—I will work hard to represent the views of all humanities students to make their time at university the best it can be.”

This year the elections had a bit of a shake up. If successful, candidates are now allowed to help set the direction of the Senate, allowing them to assist in shaping university policy. This gives the newly elected officers a chance to really put their mark on how things are done. Students are encouraged to approach the newly elected committee if they want to suggest how university life could be improved.

Sussex to pay student protester £20,000 in damages

Written by Charlie Spargo on . Posted in News.

An anti-privatisation protester at the University of Sussex has received a formal apology and £20,000 in damages after being accused of criminal behaviour for a protest in late 2013.

In 2013, hundreds of students joined protests on the Sussex campus against the outsourcing of more than 200 jobs to an external company. Five protesters, including Michael Segalov, then an undergraduate law student, were disciplined.

22-year-old Segalov was  suspended, banned from campus, and accused of “intimidating behaviour, theft, damage and violence” by the University after sit-ins and demonstrations in November and December 2013.

The university published two bulletins about the protests on its website, titled ‘University starts disciplinary process over persistent disruption of campus’ and ‘Disciplinary processes continue as University lifts student suspensions’, in which they made accusations that Segalov organised and led unlawful occupation of University property, and carried out criminal behaviour.

Over 200 academic staff wrote directly to Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing who has recently announced he will step down, criticising the University’s response as disproportionate and threatening to the right to protest.

The university have now released an official apology, acknowledging “that there is no truth in any of these claims, and is happy to confirm this is the case. In particular it confirms that Mr Segalov did not engage in any form of intimidation, theft, assault of a member of staff and/or damage to university property.”

“Throughout my time as a student, I maintained that the campaigns I was part of were peaceful in nature, leaderless in their organisation, and had the support of the majority of students and staff,” said Segalov.

“The University of Sussex administration showed a blatant disregard for basic principles of law when attempting to clamp down on protests—suspending students wrongfully, banning protests, and publishing defamatory statements about me online.

“I’m relieved that the apology and statement in open court will show once and for all, and encourage students and activists across the country to continue to campaign for a fairer and free education system, and acts as a warning to administrations considering to act in similar ways as Sussex.”

The university have agreed to pay Mr Segalov’s legal fees, as well as £20,000 in damages.

Texas students protest gun laws with dildos

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

Students from The University of Texas in Austin are protesting laws that allow people to carry concealed weapons on campus by hanging dildos from their bags.

The ‘Campus (Dildo) Carry’ protest was organised by Jessica Jin through a Facebook event. On their page, they highlight the irony that “the State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it does have strict rules about sexual expression, to protect your innocence.

They add, “you would receive a citation for taking a dildo to class before you would get in trouble for taking a gun to class.”

The protest is against the signing by Governor Greg Abbott of S.B. 11, also known as the “campus carry” law. The law allows license holders to carry a concealed handgun throughout university campuses. The law is set to come into effect in August 2016.

Contrastingly, the state prohibits the exhibition of any writing or visual image that is considered obscene on campus grounds.

Over 9,000 students have signed up so far to the protest planned for next year when the law is passed.

The students plan to strap “gigantic swinging dildos” to their backpacks on August the 24th 2016. They have welcomed anyone to join them, declaring on their event “Come one dildo, come all dildos”.

Many gun rights supporters have posted criticism on the Facebook event, with one arguing, “we don’t blame cars for drunk drivers; why blame guns for violent people?”

Another gun rights supporter wrote “a grand example of the decline of value in American University education.”

Supporters argue that gunmen target “gun-free zones,” such as university campuses and cinemas, because they know that they will not be met with resistance.

The BBC reported, however, that a while a student was armed during a recent college shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, he chose not to use his weapon.

He was reported to have said he feared police would mistake him for the gunman and didn’t want to put his life in danger.

Students have appealed to the University President Gregory Fenves to limit the new law. The law does give public universities some discretion to regulate campus gun carry.

Jessica Jin concludes her invitation to the event with: “You’re carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I’m carrying a HUGE DILDO. Just about as effective at protecting us from sociopathic shooters, but much safer for recreational play.”

Students in solidarity with staff at risk of redundancy

Written by Paul Scott on . Posted in News.

As the IT jobs dispute continues, with staff working at the University of Manchester under threat from compulsory redundancies if voluntary agreements cannot be reached, students and staff rallied in solidarity by staging a protest on Thursday the 15th of October displaying banners and distributing flyers to “keep up the pressure on the university and raise awareness” of the situation.

Speeches were made by staff, students and union members who all emphasised the need to resist the new measures and to negotiate fairer redundancy packages and better job security.

Speakers asserted these moves targeting IT workers are symptomatic of a changing attitude centred on generating profit, though the university denies this. One union member claimed the cuts were a result of the university’s efforts to ensure it adhered to a “sound business model.”

The unions say measures by the university which have given rise to this dispute, represent changes to the Redeployment Policy which states staff cannot be made compulsorily redundant, which focuses on finding alternative employment elsewhere within the university for staff.

Previously, staff were entitled to remain on the redeployment register indefinitely, but this has been reduced to just three months, offering little long-term job security.

The university plans to outsource much of IT services to private companies, a move which is strongly opposed by current staff who claim it will result in a “poorer service for students” and that it is primarily in the interest of profit.

The university maintains that offloading staff is necessary at a time of economic difficulty, when budgets are tight and cuts to expenditure are needed. But this is something staff, who feel like they are victims of “growing privatisation in higher education,” refuse to accept. With the leader of Unite stating that “we feel as though we have been backed into a corner over this”, strike action now looks increasingly likely.

A University of Manchester spokesman said: “The university has consulted with the campus trade unions concerning the position of staff who have been on the redeployment register for more than three months and has made an offer of voluntary severance to all those staff affected.

“The university has also made an offer of voluntary severance, in consultation with the unions, to those IT staff affected by the changes. The university remains willing to engage with the campus trade unions and is holding further discussions with them.”

Preventing Prevent

Written by Lucy Menage on . Posted in News.

Prevent is one part of the four-pronged government counter-terrorism strategy along with Prepare, Pursue and Protect, and was first introduced to the UK in 2006 by Tony Blair following the 7/7 attacks on London.

The Prevent strategy claims the “risk of a terrorist attack in our country is extremely high,” and therefore the counter-terrorism strategy needs to contain a “plan to prevent radicalisation and stop would-be terrorists from committing mass murder.”

The 2015 Counter Terrorism and Security Act has made the Prevent programme a legal duty for all public sector workers including teachers, doctors and university lecturers. It essentially encourages public sector workers to try to identify those they believe are being drawn into extremism.

The Home Office has stated that “changes in behaviour and outlook may be visible to university staff,” and those universities need “to have the necessary staff training, IT policies and student welfare programmes to recognise these signs and respond appropriately.”

Despite Prevent not mentioning any particular religious group, there have been a series of incidents that have raised questions about how the government regards the actions of Muslims.

On Wednesday, BME MCR and the University of Manchester Islamic Society (ISOC) held a Preventing Prevent event. Speakers at the event included lecturer Dr. Katy Sian; Hannah McCarthy, Campaigns and Citizenships Officer; Vice-President of Student Affairs for the Islamic Society Saffa Mir; and Ilyas Nagdee of BME MCR.

All four speakers highlighted how detrimental and offensive they thought the initiative was, with Nagdee stating that “the entire agenda is steeped in Islamophobia, it will criminalise dissent and create an environment of fear for Muslim and black students on campus.”

After a group discussion, a collective decision was made that students needed to work with the university to stop Prevent having a negative impact on its Muslim students. It was also suggested that working with Trade Unions across campus and setting up a public blog for students who have been unfairly policed by Prevent would be effective.

Preventing Prevent comes at an extremely relevant time, with recent headlines full of negative stories about Muslims and Islamophobic attacks on the rise, with a 68 per cent increase in London alone from 2013 to 2014.

Ex-Dragon’s Den star calls on young people to choose apprenticeships not university

Written by Paul Scott on . Posted in News.

Former Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis has claimed young people are better off not going to university. Instead of landing themselves in heavy debt, Papthitis says they should instead seek apprenticeships or learn a trade.

As a self-made businessman who boasts a net worth of over £200 million, Paphitis’ career exemplifies the view that there are alternative opportunities aside from university.

The retail tycoon claims “times have changed” and that going to university no longer guarantees a job afterwards, only debt. He challenged the notion that graduates are ahead in the job market, saying that graduates can actually fall behind their counterparts who already have three or four years of on-the-job experience.

He also hit out at university drinking culture, alleging that campuses around the country foster excessive alcohol consumption as much as they do education. His stance on universities is certainly an impassioned one but for some it was too far. “You don’t need to slate university to promote apprenticeships”, one Twitter user responded.

Undergraduate students currently pay triple the tuition fees paid just a few years ago, and many graduates struggle to find jobs. Paphitis suggested many young people still choose university as they feel a pressure to, and that there is an expectation they should do so if capable.

With the average student incurring at £27,000 worth of debt in tuition fees alone, many would-be students may opt for a different path. Despite this, many argue the merits of a university education warrant the financial impact due to the broad job opportunities it opens up.

People will undoubtedly challenge Paphitis’ claims by saying that many jobs require a degree as standard, usually alongside work experience. Nonetheless the businessman’s comments will have an impact in the wider conversation about higher education and employment in the current economic climate.

LSE report recommends mandatory quotas to reduce gender inequality

Written by Katie Buckingham on . Posted in News.

On Tuesday the 12th of October, the London School of Economics’ Gender Institute published a report titled ‘Confronting Gender Inequality’. The report, co-directed by Professors Diane Perrons and Nicola Lacey, argued that gender inequality could be reduced in the economy, law, politics, and media and culture with recommended changes.

The Gender Institute said, “the Commission was designed to draw on LSE research and external experts to provide theoretical and empirical knowledge to inform public and policy debates in the UK.”

Across all the four sectors, the study highly recommended and emphasised the importance of mandatory quotas in order to see real reductions of gender inequality. The study stated that this would ensure “greater gender balance,” as well as being one of the most significant ways of effecting change. The authors argued that “presence alone is not sufficient.”

The report called specifically for quotas for women in internal government positions. The report acknowledged that “quotas can, on occasion, be cumbersome or feel overly mechanical,” but still contended that “this is the only way to ensure that questions of equality and diversity are taken seriously within a party.”

The stark difference between male and female employment in politics was highlighted with statistics on female representation within elected bodies. Just 29 per cent of UK MPs, 35 per cent of MSPs (Members of Scottish Parliament), and 42 per cent of AMs (Members of the Welsh Assembly) are women.

Although the report credited the UK as being significantly ahead of the world average of female politicians, which is approximately one in five, it emphasised that “we cannot assume that change is set to continue in a steady upward curve.” The Guardian reported that Kate Green, the Shadow Equalities Minister, said: “The report is right—radical action is needed to push for greater gender equality and representation.”

Mandatory quotas and audits were also advised to be introduced into the practice of law. The study criticised the limited impact the new system of equal opportunities in legal work, introduced in 2005, had made; only 10 per cent of QCs were female in 2010.

The study also stated that “the UK has never sent a woman judge to key international tribunals such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) or the European Court of Justice (ECJ).”

The government’s economic policies were criticised as the study gave evidence showing that current austerity measures are causing more harm to women, especially those on lower income.

The report recommended socially fair and gender-sensitive macroeconomic policies; the authors argued that public expenditure is vital in order to protect the local services that provide crucial facilities for women. These included childcare centres and law advisers which provide accessible legal aid to lower income families.

NUS President joins national campaign to keep Britain in Europe

Written by Elena Losavio on . Posted in News.

Britain Stronger In Europe, the main national campaign to keep the UK in the European Union (EU), was launched on Monday the 12th of October. Megan Dunn, President of the NUS, and Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, joined the board of the campaign.

Politicians from several parties, including Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and Greens, together with eminent businesspeople and others working in arts and entertainment are involved in this campaign.

An in-out EU referendum will be held in the UK by the end of 2017, according to the Conservatives’ election manifesto. The electorate will be asked to vote if Britain should stay in or leave the EU. British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens over 18 years of age who live in the UK will be eligible to vote.

In addition, people who have a British nationality and have lived abroad for less than 15 years can also cast their vote. EU citizens, unless they are from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus, cannot vote.

In 1975, the UK had a nationwide referendum in order to decide if Britain should have continued to be a member of the European Economic Community (EEC). At the time, more than 67 per cent of voters cast their votes in support of the campaign to be in the EEC.

Since the creation of the EU, many projects and collaborations, particularly for young professionals and students, were instated between the 28 European countries, such as the Erasmus Exchange Programme, a key partnership.

Since 1987 over 200,000 UK students, and over 3,000,000 Europe-wide, have been abroad to study or work with the Erasmus scholarship without worrying about expensive Visas. According to NUS President Megan Dunn, about 15,000 UK students joined the programme in 2012 alone.

Reflecting on the EU’s influence on UK education, she wrote in The Independent: “The EU supports our education sector in Britain and ploughs close to a billion pounds a year into higher education funding and research alone. There are students up and down the country today benefitting directly from the courses and resources that come with this money. This income is increasingly important.

“EU funding now provides an additional 15 per cent on top of the UK government’s own science and research budget. If we sleepwalked out of the EU, this funding—or at the very least our influence over it—would be at risk.”

She highlighted that for UK students, whom she represents, staying in or leaving the EU is not only an issue concerning money, but also and above all an issue of multicultural and international identity. She added: “I, like most young people I speak to, simply do not recognise the picture of Britain painted by those campaigning for us to leave the EU.

“Students in Britain do not fear today’s modern, diverse world. We fear isolation, not internationalism. We do not want to turn the clock back and whilst we recognise the world is a complex place, the answer is to campaign for change together, not quit and walk away.”

Universities face fines if disadvantaged students don’t pass

Written by Elinor Bridges on . Posted in News.

The Sunday Times has revealed that universities which do not increase the participation and pass rates of disadvantaged students may be fined. The proposals, which are due to be announced later this week, are part of the government’s plan to increase the standard of teaching at UK universities.

The new plans state that several measures must be taken by universities if they wish to avoid financial penalties. These include preventing first year students from disadvantaged backgrounds from failing their first of study, and helping working-class graduates to find good jobs or further education.

Universities must also recruit more disadvantaged students onto their courses. If these targets are not met, universities will be prevented from raising their tuition fees in accordance with the rate of inflation, and may also face cuts to funding.

Jo Johnson, universities minister, has said that judgement of universities will now be influenced by the level of progress their disadvantaged students make. This will be done by, “measuring, for example, their retention rates and the universities’ success in moving students on to further study or graduate work.”

The Sunday Times has reported that this new approach could have a huge impact on funding of universities that have, in the past, relied on their high levels of research and long-standing reputations. Several elite universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Exeter, Durham, Edinburgh and Bristol are not currently meeting the government target for the proportion of students recruited from state schools, for example.

This drastic action appears to be a way of increasing the number of disadvantaged students entering higher education in line with government guidelines. Johnson has also stated that the new Teaching Excellence Framework will be “intimately” linked with “widening participation and access.”

It is known that the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is trying to increase the diversity of successful students at university, while the Prime Minister has set a target to double the number of disadvantaged students in higher education by the year 2020. It has been quoted that lower-income students are currently 2.5 times less likely to progress to university than their better-off peers.

Earlier this year, Professor Madeleine Atkins, Chief Executive of HEFCE, expressed the importance of increasing the numbers and success of disadvantaged students in higher education. She said: “We should now focus on establishing which interventions are working most effectively to educate the graduates the country needs. HEFCE will work with universities and colleges to implement methods to evaluate what kinds of activities work best across the whole student lifecycle and into employment.” She also stated that the work done in this area would be used in the Teaching Excellence Framework.

Although at an early stage, the planned proposal has received a mixed response. Some have praised the move, suggesting that it may force universities to place greater emphasis on attracting students from state schools.

Other members of the public, however, have expressed doubt toward how effective the move would be. There have been concerns that university staff will be tempted to pass lower-performing students due to the financial incentive, creating an imbalance in how much work is expected of the students.

Michael Spence, Education Officer at the Students’ Union, expressed concern that the government was continuing to increase the cost of higher education while making these attempts to help the less well-off.

“Supporting students from lower income backgrounds is of paramount importance,” he said. “However, I seriously doubt this government’s commitment to these students. They are doing this in the context of (once again) raising fees, abolishing maintenance grants and freezing the threshold for new graduates.”

More details of the plans are due to be announced in a green paper later this week.