‘A degree isn’t worth the paper it’s written on’

Increasingly, I’ll agree with the title of this post.  I maintain that GCSEs were the toughest exams I went through, getting easier at A-Level and then just plain ridiculous at third level education

Example 1. In my first year, needing just 40% to pass the module (which counts for nothing towards the final degree) I get a potential 10% for attendance and participation in seminars

Example 2. In my second year, a proposed three hour exam was reformatted into a one hour class test.  With a seen question.  And you were allowed to bring an A4 page of notes in with you.

Example 3. In my final year, during my final exam, I look up wondering what the mumbling noise is.  It’s the invigilator.  With his back turned to a room full of students.  On his phone

University of Ulster drops 16 places in University Guide

The Guardian’s University guide lists UU in 75th place, out of the 117 Universities listed.  Queen’s drops three places to 49th.  Queen’s have particularly underperformed.  With an average entry tariff of 353 points there is no university with a higher tariff below them, while several universities with lower entry requirements are above them, such as Heriot Watt (22nd, with an average entry tarriff of 346)

% satisfied with teaching – % satisfied with feedback – Student/Staff Ratio – Career prospect – Avg. Entry Tariff

Queens – 85 – 58 – 16.0 – 76 – 353

UU – 76 – 60 – 17.9 – 63 – 269

Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (2005). “Decency, Morals, God”

Last night I watched Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, and would encourage you to watch at least part of the film, this fascinating clip below.

Sophie Scholl and her brother have been arrested for their involvement in the White Rose movement, distributing leaflets criticising the Nazi regime and Hitler.

After thorough interrogation their guilt is proven, and here (2mins 3os in) we see a conversation between Scholl and Investigator Mohr, who treats her in this as intellectual equal, dealing with issues of morality, conscience and God.

The White Rose movement holds high significance, showing clearly that there was opposition to the Nazis from within Germany, thought painfully highlighting its infrequency and lack of strength.

I was in Cologne a few years ago where the actions of the White Rose movement are now celebrated annually.

Article on Sophie Scholl from the Catholic Herald can be found here

Student Fees – Where’s the value?

Where does £3,125 of tuition fees per year go, if you study at the University of Ulster?

Extra lecturers, or even pay rises to attract the top ones?
No, staff face pay reductions of up to £5000 per year, as the Vice Chancellor received a 25% pay increase to take him up to £212,000 per year (that’s slightly more than the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and nearly 20 grand more than Gordon Brown gets) (source)

Free printing?
No, students pay 5p per sheet which is the same as, for example, Bennett’s 1 hour photo charge. A service, or profiteering?

No, apparently the money that students pay to the University, is not reinvested back into them. Rather it pays for extortionate and rarely used equipment such as the ‘Bod Pod’.
And surveys which reveal the jaw dropping results released today, that sisters make people happy”

Wow. If that’s not value, I don’t know what is

UniStats.com – Exposing the University of Ulster?

As a dissatisfied student at the University of Ulster, I’m out to bash it, so the statistics I’ve selected below are completely to back up my point of view. However, for those of you who want to investigate for yourself, a full range can be found at Unistats.com. I have compared results with Queens and Stirling (it lets you compare any three universities in one sitting)

- 7% of UU graduates, 6 months after graduation, are sales assistants or retail cashiers. 5% are assumed to be unemployed. 3 years well spent, won’t you agree? For History graduates at UU, one in five will work in sales/retail.

- 70% of UU students get employment with a job related to their degree. At Queens this is 81%

- Only 25% of History students go into a graduate job, that is a job related to the degree they studied. For history graduates at Queens, this is 30%, Aberdeen 40%, Birmingham 51%

-14% of UU students leave with no award. Significantly higher than at Queens where this is 4%, Stirling 5%

- As many as 76% find their course at UU intellectually stimulating. Queens 86%, Stirling 84%

Student Activism on the Rise?

I posted a few months ago about a Student protest on the issue of top up fees. In Monday’s Times, Hugo Rifkind writes an article on Student Activism which is worth a read.

Read here

Protesting, Lobbying – Is it worth it?

Yesterday I wrote of the student protest that took place on our campus against higher education fees, and the buzz that that generated.

Today, I still owe this University more money than I have, to have the pleasure of studying here. I’m in the Library at the minute and I’m surrounded by stressed first years with essay deadlines, international students embracing Skype and Youtube-induced cackles of laughter.

So nothing’s changed? Right? Minimal local press coverage. No statement of defiance from the University of Authorities. No word from Reg Empey, backing down from his proposal to increase fees by £80. Hardly the follow up to the radicalisation of discontent I talked of yesterday.

So what was the point? I mean, is it worth it at all to stage a protest? To write a letter to a local authority, an MP, a newspaper? Is anyone listening?

Let me tell you about some of my stories. Hardly shake-the-earth’s-foundations successes but worth telling you about nonetheless

As talk of a new Anthem for the Northern Ireland team whipped the media and the fans into a frenzy a few months ago, I wrote to one of the officials at the Irish Football Association. I got a meeting, and a chance to air my views. I also got an email response from the Chair of the Alliance Party

An email to the same Party’s Culture spokesperson on the ongoing issue of a National Stadium received a response attempting to justify his comments

A petition we ran to make our campus ‘Fairtrade’ received over 500 signatories, led to it becoming one of the main issues for Student Elections, and the New Site VP has been following this up with meetings with the Vice Chancellor to attempt to implement this policy

And there are loads of bigger stories, where a letter writing campaign, or a take to the streets has caused those in charge to change their ways. Politicians know they get elected by the people, so it is in their best interests to pander to their fancies.

If you are passionate about change, seek it. If you can’t do it, lobby someone who can

The Dispassionate Student

Students have a history of making a stand, and making a difference. In 1941 the White Rose movement was formed by students in Munich, making a defiant stand against the Nazi Regime. The chain of events leading to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 were started by peaceful student demonstrations. In 1967 the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA)was formed, spurred by Catholic Students who were benefiting from the free education that had come into Northern Ireland in 1947 under the new ‘Welfare State’ and who were now disenchanted with discrimination from local authorities. The Tiananmen protests in China, culminating in the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 came off the back of students dissatisfied with the Chinese method of governance. Around the same time in Europe, students were holding pro-democracy protests in Soviet states, which can be argued to be a catalyst for the rapid downfall of communism.

Yet where is the passionate student today? Last year, a protest organised against fees was held at Stormont. Some 30 students bothered to turn up. Not so long again at the University of Ulster, Coleraine (UUC), the Union General meeting attracted only 40 people, though this was twice as many as the considerably larger Jordanstown (UUJ) campus. Talk about issues of Fairtrade and the student is interested in change, but only if someone else will do it for them. Speak about poor parking facilities, and the threat of doing away with Sunday train services for which many students on this campus rely on, and there are complaints, but no action.

It disheartens me to see a vast number of young people here, affected by various issues but so dispassionate and apathetic that they don’t want to see anything changed. Maybe it all comes back to selfishness? Why bother campaigning if by the time we have change I won’t be here any longer? Why lobby on Fairtrade if all it does is ease my conscience a little?
 
Today seemed different though. The Students’ Union organised a protest against Fees. At the minute in Northern Ireland, tuition fees stand at £3,145 per annum, the maximum which Universities can charge. There is a short term proposed move to increase this by £80, to help ‘deal with inflation’. On top of this, Sir Reg Empey, leader of the Ulster Unionists is calling for a removal of the cap, meaning that Universities could charge as much as they like. This would lead to an increase to £5,000, £10,000, £20,000…who knows. Ultimately it would weed out the last remaining students from low-income families, and ensure that our institution-educated people are those people who come from middle class backgrounds.

The Bible talks about campaigning for the poor, lobbying for justice.
Isaiah says;
“Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
(1v16-17)

He goes on to say;
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
(58 v 6)

Ultimately the majority of students are not coming to protest because of any God-given command, but I was shocked to see the numbers who started arriving from 12.30 in the Students Union, ready to make their voice heard

Why? The increase is unlikely to effect us, especially for those of us who are in our last year, it’s more for those teenagers who will be coming to Uni in the years to come. And yet students wanted to speak for those who couldn’t speak. Students wanted to stand up for their brothers and sisters who would be coming to University after them, and didn’t want them to be labelled with an even bigger financial burden.

There were probably around 150 people gathered in the Students Union building. Councillors Billy Leonard (Sinn Fein) and Barney Fitzpatrick (Alliance) spoke well and passionately. Their calls for students to continue to be active, and to hold politicians accountable (all 5 major parties in Northern Ireland committed to a removal of students fees in 2004) were greeted with loud cheers.

Followed thereafter a march from the Students Union building to the Central building. Shouts and chants were heard. Upon entering the front entrance of the University, these grew louder. Classes were disrupted. Students and staff stopped to watch. Security men stood on the steps of the stairs.
“What do we want?”
- “No Fees”
“When do we want them?”
- “Now!”

We all sat down on the floor, the local photographer clicking like crazy, the media students grabbing their soundbytes for their voxpops as the chants continued, growing louder. The Site VP tried to make a speech but could barely be heard above the racket.

I was in awe. Here were students, doing what students do best. Having their voice heard. Making a stand, against perceived injustice.

The Assembly should be listening. The University should be scared. And I think they were. The poor security chaps didn’t seem to know what to do. As I made my way up the stairs for the class I was late for, I was grabbed on the arm and told I could not do so, that I wasn’t allowed up there with a sign (which was a mock of a Father Ted protest). When I went round and used the lift, there the little bald man on an ego trip was again, having cleverly scented my devious plan. In the end, my class was cancelled, presumably due to the Lecturer being unable to have herself heard as the deafening roars continued.

If we students ever realise the potential to change the society we live in, the world will be an exciting (for some) and scary (for others) place.

I am a happy man. The Revolutionary Student isn’t dead. He’s just having a break