Government cuts Founders' Building upkeep fund - The Founder

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4 The Founder | Wednesday 25 November 2009 News Nursing to become a degreeonly profession Black History Month celebrated at RHUL Alissa Bevan Royal Holloway University of London has for the last four weeks celebrated Black History Month which, from its establishment in 1986, has sought to raise awareness and celebrate the contribution of Africans to the economic, cultural and political life of the UK. A similar event, Afrikan History Month runs across the United States throughout February, while both these events develop on the original ideas of Negro History Week that started back in 1926. Black History Month in the UK is a yearly celebration of history and heritage looks to readdress the imbalance imposed upon this important aspect of world history throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with over 6,000 separate events taking place across the country this year alone. All students were welcome to take part in the events that help contribute to promoting knowledge of black history and culture. At Royal Holloway, Black History Month was celebrated with a series of events for students by a large number of academic departments including History, Geography, Sport and Drama. One such event welcomed students to examine the history of Black British footballers, led by historian and documentary filmmaker Phil Vasili. The session celebrated over one hundred years of black participation in British professional football, from Arthur Wharton, the very first professional black footballer, to the England striker John Barnes. The Department of Geography ran “Hidden Histories of Exploration” a workshop led by Professor Felix Driver who aimed to highlight the important contributions of intermediary persons, such as interpreters and guides, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The workshop applauded the efforts of local people in journeys of exploration across the globe, which are to often forgotten or reduced to the margins by mainstream histories. Celebrations also included a drama workshop with Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway and award-winning theatre director Kwame Kwei- Armah, who introduced students to the Black British Play Archive. This exciting project has led to the discovery of more than three hundred plays written by black playwrights in England over the last 60 years with Mr. Hodge-Dallway and Mr, Kwei-Armah giving themselves the extraordinary task of archiving them all. Students were given the chance through the workshops to become part of black history and contribute to the archive by being filmed as they recreated scenes from the plays to. The full archive will be opened next spring at the National Theatre Studio London. Mr. Kwei- Armah, the first Black Briton to have a play staged at the West End, commented that “It’s great to see new generations come here to Royal Holloway to attend these workshops to find out more about the work of many influential Black playwrights.” Additional sessions offered included a presentation intended to uncover who Gandhi really was, a workshop that explored the historical roots of Caribbean tourism based on research done in conjunction with the National Maritime Museum, and an interactive session that studied the civil rights movement with newsreel footage, photographs and first-hand testimony. Royal Holloway’s Senior Outreach and Widening Participation Officer, Tanya Popeau, also said: “We were delighted to host such an exciting range of sessions for schools and colleges. This event provided students with a great opportunity to explore the rich cultural fabric of our society and celebrate our heritage.” Anybody wishing to find out more about Black History Month should access the organisation’s website, www.Black-History-Month.co.uk, for more information. Amy Johnston The government last week approved a proposal that will make nursing in England an all-graduate profession and by 2013. Nurses currently receive a diploma after two or three years of training however they will now be required to take a full degree. The new courses, lasting up to four years, will meet standards developed by the NMC, the professional regulator. Rather than being based at hospital, they will be based at university and more emphasis will be placed on gaining experience outside of hospitals- shadowing school nurses and district nurses for example. Health Minister Ann Keen argued that “Degree-level education will provide new nurses with the decision making skills they need to make high-level judgments in the transformed NHS. This is the right direction of travel if we are to fulfil our ambition to provide higher quality care for all”. The move is designed to raise the status of nursing but questions have been raised about the advisability of such a dramatic change in medical education. Many critics claim that a degree in nursing could mean nurses will consider themselves “too clever” to perform basic but important tasks such as washing patients and assisting them to the lavatory. The emphasis could also potentially shift to more supervisory care, rather than direct care, causing a break-down of the vital rapport nurses should have with their patients. There is also some trepidation among doctors who are concerned about the new ‘high-level’ judgements that will be expected from nurses. Despite these concerns Dame Christine Beasley, chief nursing officer for England said the change was a “small but important step” that would help give nurses the “real ability to think and make decisions” as care became more complex. “It’s not about moving nurses away from direct care,” she added. UNISON head of nursing Gail Adams stressed the union’s concerns that the move to degree only entry would result in a less diverse profession and therefore a profession less reflective of the society it cared for. Universities throw out the traditional academic calendar Francesca Wilski New trends emerging amongst certain Universities have seen increasing numbers of students admitted in January instead of the traditional September start. The University of Derby, offering this January start, described the courses as being “back to front” as though the course stays the same the first (Winter) term is carried out last, after doing the second and third (Spring and Summer) terms first. There are several justifications for introducing the January start. Mature students, taking university primarily as an academic endeavour rather than as a life experience, described how they conveniently forgo the primary fresher’s mayhem. Additionally, with the growing attraction of overseas students and their larger fee’s, providing a January start is more efficient as many foreign academic timetables fit better into this time frame. Other students discussed how ‘Rather than mapping out your career path before even leaving school, you can take the post A-level summer to take time to view your options and then apply in the Autumn if necessary.’ Likewise in favour of the scheme, another student explained, ‘It avoids students taking a whole gap year off, which can often lead to expensive procrastination.’ Lastly, for those that did apply for a September start but were rejected, get the choice to reapply immediately rather than wait a year. Importantly for these students, the process is a lot quicker as students apply directly to the university, rather than through UCAS. However, it has been argued that this move suggests that the first year of a degree has less to do about academics than about the introduction to living away from home, making friends and gaining life experience.
The Founder | Wednesday 25 November 2009 News 5 News Comment The continuing failure of Student Finance England Ed Harper News Editor The fiasco resulting from Student Finance England’s complete ineptitude continues into is fourth month with the news that three quarters of English Universities have had to support students still waiting on financial support. Following a survey carried out by the BBC it has been found that on average universities have been forced to spend £44,000 supporting hundreds of students yet to receive their maintenance loans. Rubbing salt into the still open wound The Guardian revealed last week that the senior executives of the Student Loans Company were awarded £2million worth of bonuses last year while spending almost £111,000 on expenses. With the end of term now within sight and up to 50,000 still waiting, the failure of SFE has been complete and shameful. Stories of students being forced to defer their entry or simply drop out of their courses have been met by the same worn out excuses from SFE who continue to pin blame on anyone but themselves. With concerns about the increased numbers of students applying for courses being raised as far back as April, SFE had ample time to plan for increased demand and implement measures to avoid this crisis. Surely £2million could have helped resolve this problem? Adding further insult, the response of the SFE has been shockingly slow reiterating tired excuses and with the audacity to blame students for their own failings. Letting down students who have the grades, the places and the ambition to learn is disgraceful and embarrassing to the whole English university system; made worse by the fact that it is students from poorer backgrounds who are suffering the most. This problem should have been resolved within a fortnight of fresher’s week yet it drags on today with some students being told that they will be waiting till after Christmas for their first instalment, this simply is not good enough. The NUS is right to call for the resignation of Mr Seymour-Jackson who along with other executives at the SLC. Without exception those involved in this debacle should make an unreserved apology, not through another carefully worded press release and not through government ministers, but a direct personal admittance of failure to the students whose education they have hindered. This should be followed thorough public investigation into what exactly went wrong that, if finding evidence of negligence should soon be followed by resignations. Students three times more likely to be burgled Amy Norman Statistics released by the Home Office have revealed that students are the most likely group to experience to crime, with one in three students becoming a victim each year. Yet despite of this a survey carried out by the NUS has revealed that the majority of freshers are unconcerned about the risks of crime, including burglary. The survey shows that 84% of freshers are not concerned, while only 15.6% of the survey’s participants stating that crime is one of the things that most concerns them. However, the type of crime most freshers are worried about remains burglary, with 81.7% students choosing this over other options such as violent crime or sexual offences. According to the same survey, a third of students are not going to get insurance, the main reasons being that it is too expensive and too complicated to organise despite the NUS urging students to take out an insurance policy. Ben Whittaker, NUS Vice President for Welfare warned that “because most students live in communal households, they are particularly at risk from walkin theft, we would advise students tf Newsdesk newsdesk@thefounder.co.uk to take extra care when it comes to making sure their doors and windows are locked and to get insurance which covers walk-in theft”. A Home Office Minister commented on the survey, saying: “burglary has fallen nationally by 54 per cent since 1997 but I am determined to stay on the front foot in keeping crimes like this down. The Government has provided £175,000 to the NUS to help educate students about the simple things they can do to protect themselves”. The money will be used to raise awareness of home safety, give practical help to freshers leaving home for the first time and encourage partnerships with the local community. When speaking of student safety in the local area, the Royal Holloway website states “Surrey is one of the safest counties in England in which to live and work [yet] all members of the community have to make every effort to minimise the risk to themselves and others”. When speaking of recent crime figures, Surrey Police Assistant Chief Constable Mark Rowley, said: “Surrey continues to maintain a level of crime per head of population that is 40% below the national average. Surrey remains one of the safest forces in England and Wales for all of the major crime categories of burglary, vehicle crime and violent crime”. Despite of this, there have been problems of burglaries in the local area, especially targeting student houses in Englefield Green. According to the Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team, last year saw a rise in burglaries in the neighbourhood in daytime and at night, with thefts ranging from small items to high value vehicles. In particular there were a number of burglaries in the Christmas vacation last year, where burglars took advantage of empty houses where students had returned home. Six incidents were reported to Surrey police between December 18 and the New Year, where televisions, jewellery and other electrical equipment were stolen. The Home Office has said the main reason why students are so highly targeted is the fact they own more expensive consumer goods per head than the rest of the population, with the Complete University Guide stating students are “rich pickings” for petty criminals since they own laptops, mobile phones, digital cameras and other goods which are all easy to dispose of and sell on. This combined with the fact that most students live in shared accommodation, where there will be multiple items under one roof, means they remain an attractive target.
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Government cuts Founders' Building upkeep fund - The Founder

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