HARBEN LETS HL Fashion Show Preview - The Founder

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4 News Thanks, Mum : the free-digital way Royal Holloway, Egham, 22 February 2010 : Students of Royal Holloway are taking part in a Social Enterprise Challenge held by Thanks To. It is a not for profit organization that helps you send people a very special thank you. By writing a message on www.thanksto.co.uk you can show someone how much you care by sending them a message that lets the world know about their good deeds. Alternatively, you can keep your message private and just share it between you and the thanked person. Both ways, you show that extra bit of effort that will make your thank you extraordinary. Students participating in this challenge are postgraduates and they feel enthusiastic about the concept of showing their gratitude in a different way. Vera Hölscher, a member of Thanks, Mum campaign, expresses “We chose to champion Mums in our campaign because there are no other people in our lives that go to an equal extent at loving us and paving our way. Since Mother’s Day is around the corner this is the perfect (and free, last-minute) way of sending them a message of appreciation and love.” The link to the campaign is: http://thanksto.co.uk/campaign/thanks,mum In collaboration with: Last month saw a two day conference, Greenhouse gases in the Earth system: Setting the agenda to 2030 organised by one of Royal Holloway’s leading Earth Scientists, discussed the use of long-term monitoring to assess the effects of greenhouse gases on our planet The conference aimed to debate “the use of long-term monitoring to understand greenhouse gases in the Earth System.” Claiming that “new scientific advances promise regional audit of emissions, assessment of uptakes, and better understanding of controlling and feedback processes,” the event assessed the implementation of these new techniques in order to build the agenda for the next two decades. The two day conference took place at the Royal Society in London between the 22nd and 23rd of February, and was chaired and partly organised by Professor Euan Nisbet, of the Earth Sciences Department at Royal Holloway. Alongside Dr. Ed Dlugokencky of the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder Colorado, Professor Nisbet showed that atmospheric levels of Methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than Carbon Dioxide, have significantly risen over the past three years. A further aim of the meeting was also to discuss the need to improve the monitoring of greenhouse gases in order to set targets for the future. Although every country is now required to report their emissions, the discrepancy between the amount of pollution reported and the actual level of emissions in the atmosphere is an issue that needs to be addressed. During his presentation with Dr. Dlugokencky, Professor Nisbet explained how greenhouse gas emissions are monitored by ground-based systems and the improvements that need to be made in order to produce more reliable emission figures in the future. Green issues remain an extremely contentious contemporary issue however Royal Holloway has recently been involved in a number of The Founder | Thursday 11 March 2010 Royal Holloway academic leads the fight against climate change Alissa Bevan Government-commissioned research published recently has found that students could be “sold on the idea” to pay higher tuition fees for courses that traditionally lead to the highest-earning careers. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) who carried out the research, revealed that while students are averse to paying more for particular Universities, differential fees for different courses is seen in a decidedly positive light. However, the National Union of Students (NUS) reported that “it would consign the poorest students to ‘bargain basement’ degrees.” Essentially, those unable to fund more expensive degrees will have their studying options narrowed and consequently their career opportunities significantly diminished. While the increase in tuition may improve the situation with higher education funding, it could be very damaging in causing further rifts between the lower and upper classes. It is a choice between economy and culture. With degrees currently on one price level, going to University is not all about pursuing a career, but about finding out what is it we might like to do, what we are most passionate about and what does and does not look like a realistic prospect for us. By introducing differential rates, there would be significant pressure to choose the right course and to continue on, on the same track upon graduation. Traditionally, around 75% of Oxford Law graduates go on to work in Law. With a possible 25% of students pursuing other options, the hike would be unjustified and potentially bankrupting. Opinions from Royal Holloway students show a mixed response to the proposal. While some feel pejoratively against the move, “It’s just not fair, if you don’t get a strong 2:1 in Law, you won’t get into a good activities that aim to minimise the impact of our modern lifestyles on the environment. RHUL Islamic Society presented Ready? We’ll make you steady. GO GREEN on 25th February, was as a ‘unique event’ designed to “raise awareness of the state of the environment today.” Furthermore a short docudrama, The Age of Stupid, was shown to a large number of students in the Windsor Auditorium last term. Exploring the impact of our current attitude towards the environment on the future, the film is part of the ongoing 10:10 campaign. With a continuing poster campaign informing students how they can help save energy as well as this and next year’s SU sabbaticals dedicated to raising awareness of climate change issues, Royal Holloway is begging to take all important steps towards becoming a much greener university For more information on the Department of Earth Sciences visit: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Earth-Sciences/, while information on the Royal Society can be found at www. royalsociety.org. Different fees for different courses Francesca Wilski chambers and you won’t make a great deal of money to make up for the hike in tuition fees” argued one RHUL student while another pointed out such a change, “makes a degree a commodity that can be valued – it would put an actual price tag on diplomas and would risk destroying the validity of other courses.” While others seemed strongly favourable to it, “Those hoping to become layers or bankers generally come from wealthy backgrounds anyway, the private schooling and training often needed to have a chance at success in these sectors is expensive, so why not take as much money as we can from them, before we start paying their bonuses.” Any proposals to raise fees always result in a strong reaction from the student populace, as seen in last year’s “keep your cap on” campaign. This research marks a worrying development that potentially threatens to restrict university access.
The Founder | Thursday 11 March 2010 News Students suffer the stress factor Alissa Bevan A three-year study carried out into the way students experience their time in higher education has shown that the post-Christmas blues hit first year undergraduates the hardest when they return to university for the start of their second term. The study saw forty undergraduates at Leicester University were asked to talk to their video cameras about anything to do with their university life that was important to them.”We gave first years a video camera, but then no other instruction except that we wanted at least five minutes of footage a week,” explained the director of the university’s Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Genetics, Professor Annette Cashmore, whose team then analysed the two years worth of video diaries. The subjects of research were completely undirected, which the professor said was a critical point to the usefulness of the data collected. Despite expecting students to be anxious about the transition from home to university in their first term, Professor Cashmore and her team were surprised by the increase in anxiety levels caused by going home for Christmas and then returning for the first weeks of the spring term. “One student talked about leaving her boyfriend at home, and when it got to Christmas she was nervous because of going back to a life she’d moved on from.” This point was reiterated by many students around the campus at Royal Holloway, with many explaining that they had argued or even split up with their boyfriends or girlfriends since moving to university. Some students found returning to old friendship groups difficult, particularly when many their school friends have chosen to take gap years and continue to socialise together regularly. At Leicester, second-year student Ann Akeredolu said that she couldn’t really enjoy that first Christmas break with her family due to worrying about exams. “I tf Newsdesk knew there were six as soon as I got back in January, but I also wanted to go home and have fun,” she remembers. Many first years here also experienced similar problems, finding that enjoying time with family and old friends and doing university work at home was a difficult balance to strike. Miss Akeredolu also pointed out that first years have to deal with living without their familiar support structures at a time of stress, as new friendships can’t yet be relied upon in the same way. “For the first few weeks of that second term back, I don’t think I was really settled into uni. You’ve only just made your friends, and they’re not deep friendships yet,” she said. Other worries that affect Royal Holloway students included house hunting and finance problems. “With all the problems I had sorting finance out last September, I’m really reluctant to start the process all over again for next year,” said a firstyear politics student. “House hunting also caused some awkwardness when we had to split our friendship group at uni into two groups to find houses for next year. We all had different budgets, and some people liked houses we saw together while others didn’t. We felt a bit rushed into signing contracts when we heard that other people had already sorted out their houses before Christmas.” While unsympathetic view might be that students will face more difficult challenges in the ‘real world’ after university and should stop complaining, Professor Cashmore explained that a central point of the study is to ‘find out what prompts students to drop out of university and how best to support them so they don’t.’Dropping out is an expensive and demoralising experience for students, and also damages a university’s reputation. Bearing in mind that 35,000 students a year in England don’t complete their degree course, it’s understandable that Higher Education managers want to find ways of to help undergraduates bear the pressures that arise dur- newsdesk@thefounder.co.uk ing university life. “For many, university is a wonderful experience, but for some there can be times of loneliness, isolation and doubts about the choices they have made,” explains Dr Christina Lloyd, head of teaching and learner support at the Open University, which recently published a national survey of students who had dropped out or were considering leaving. A third of students who withdrew said they didn’t enjoy university life, while only 8% claimed debt was an issue. While it may be assumed that anyone who has managed their first year successfully will cope in their second and third, Professor Cashmore pointed out that as the video diary study has progressed, it has become apparent that students have to constantly adjust and readjust to changing social and academic demands throughout their university career. Repeated topics in the diaries included worries over settling into new accommodation, coping with new personal relationships and getting used to new styles of teaching and learning. At Royal Holloway, a number of options are available to students suffering under stress. Led by Elizabeth West, Meditation Day takes place on Saturday, 6 February, 10.30am - 3.30pm in IN244. Open to staff and students of all faiths and abilities, anyone interested should contact the Revd Sally Rogers on 01784 443070 or email sally.rogers@rhul. ac.uk (lunch is not provided a donation of £5 for students and £10 for the staff is requested to cover costs.) Religious and spiritual support is also offered through the university’s chaplain and faith council services (information is available on the university website, www.rhul.ac.uk.) This website also lists the wide range of support available to students under it’s ‘student support’ icon on the university’s homepage. Names and contact details for everyone from finance advisors to residential support officers are provided. Help is at hand for the students looking for relief from stress. Students’ use of ‘smart drugs’ on the rise Amy Norman The increasing trend for students using performance enhancing drugs in exams has lead to calls for universities to consider methods of stopping the problem, including random drug testing. Cognitive enhancement drugs, such as Ritalin and modafinil, are easily available to buy over the internet and are used to increase the brain’s alertness; however according to Barbara Sahakian, a professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge University’s psychiatry department, this has “enormous implications for universities”. These types of drugs are usually used in the treatment of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy by improving brain functions like alertness and attention. Their increased use by students has however prompted calls for an ethical debate on the matter, including how society views the use of such drugs, after concerns that they could give students an unfair advantage. When asked whether they would consider taking performance enhancing drugs, Royal Holloway stu- 5 dents give a mixed response. Some are in favour of the idea, saying “I don’t care about the long term effects. If it would get me better exam results then I definitely would” and “there’s nothing wrong with having a pick me up; it’s just a step up from caffeine really”. There are also concerns over the prospect of random drug testing, with students saying “surely this would raise a whole new set of both practical and ethical issues rather than simply solve the problem?” However, many are against the prospect, stating “I wouldn’t as it feels like cheating; you should only be tested on your natural ability. It would give some students an unfair advantage and pressure others into taking them in order to compete”, with another student adding “it’s just the same as an athlete taking steroids to win a race. I would say it counts as cheating”. There are also concerns over the health implications, with one student saying ‘I think it’s too risky. We don’t know the long term affects; no studies have been carried out. I wouldn’t want to mess around with something that could put my health at risk when it hasn’t even been proved to do any good”.
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