Ld . Ceremony* Cou.Ntry
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I 1.10.84 20p --Edinb~rgh University Student News.paper-r- --s i n . · Opening · I Big I Heroin:- 8 ld . Ceremony* Cou.ntry · * The ~ e: Repor t p.2 I Review p.l21 .Facts p.20 The Stud; nt Thursday 11th October 1984 page 2 NEWS Less pomp, more Tory letter leak to NUS - circumstance? The tap drips on The fres hers' official welcome. held in th e McEwan Hall. proved to be a consi dera bly less for Thatcher p o mp ous and more interest ing eve nt th an th e A document from Mrs fo r precisely this grOup, wtth htlle Thatcher's House of response from the government. less-than-ea ger hordes of The tetter goes on to express first years had antici Commons office, dated explicit worries about " the severe pated. 16th August 1g7a, has constraint on local authomy Once the w ell · conccated been leaked to Aberdeen s c e n di n ~f' and its elfec t upon discretionary grants. a concern entrance had ltn ally been spotted. University Students ' most ol us were stu nned by the which (it would appear) Mrs decor - a btg diff erence between Association . providing Thatcher has been forced ro thts exam hall and tho old school evidence of a dramatic suppress in her drive to rower gym where tho last th ree years o f turnaround in Con public spending. my exams have been held· But perhaps the most d r ama ~ c Tho organ mustc dtd nolhtng to servative Party attitudes claim In Mr Ryder's letter ts that lessen !oars ol a ncar·relig•ous to the student grant since "the next Conservative govern and htgh· fal ulln' ceremony, but coming to office in 1979. ment will. as we have repeatedly t he on lta nco o r " Ac adomtc promised, c onduct a thorough Pr ocoss•on·· and l olto w tn g The document In question is a rveiw letter fror;n Richard Ryder, of Mrs speeches Qurc ldy dtspclled my review o f ~e student grants In rn• sgtvtngs In tact most o f the Thatcher's priva te o ffice. to Eddie that review . ighest priority w1llgo speake r s gave rema rk a b ly Longworth, the then chairperson to a redu ion in the parental opttmtsttc speeches. laytng a ll the o f the Federation of Conserva tive contri b u tj'a n a nd aft er that doom and gloom "Why arc you Students. It not only expresses changes in the discrct•onary here - even a untver st ty grave concern about cert ain award s system ." Such cla tms 1ai Cdllcalton won't ensure a JOb" as pects o f the student g ra nt. but considerably with, in partlculat, nspccts The Prmctpal, Dr Burnell. suggests major contradictions this hear's halving o f the mmtmum scorned latrly benevolent and gave with subseq uent Tory policy. grant. what lett ltke an absolutely In particular. the te tter draws NUS President Phil Wootas gcnlJinc welcome attention to the fate o f students suggested that " It is ironic that th•s The Rector. Oa vt d Stool. echoed outside the tertiary education letter should come to light in a yea1 tho Pt~nctpal's we/como nnd sector, stating that " It has become when parents are b e i ~g , l aced w•th encoura ged llS to " ma ke tho most increasingly difficult to justify the record levels o f contnbut•ons Stt ol your ttme at Edtn burgh" and , payment of a full mandatory award years later we are still pressmglor once ag nin troa tod us to th o to students in higher education that review o f the grants sys tem. Fres hcrs· Week cllch4) - " Got th o white leav ing most of those in the and of financial support lor the r& Balance Rtght". non·advanced education sector to 19 year aids, to take place. But I One wollld. ho wever. dearly love th e discretion of the local ta ke heart from Mrs Thatcher's to know what John Mannix wa s authority." Since 1979, ho wever, Implicit support tor our campatgn tal ktng about. For th o duration o f the NUS and other student lor a minimum award and a Ne• ht s speec h the entire hall sa t pressure groups have persistently Deal for all students.;. mesme ri sed .as h e mad e a called tor greater financial support lain Camerae monumental cock· up ol one o f the got out what you put in" ceremony was. for me at any rate, very lew occasionG anybody will Ca roline l amont couldn't ha ve see him. Pe rhaps his talk did moan when one of th e Academic boon more different. She gave Procession caught his gown on . a lot to most pe ople. but It might good. practical advice and drew a have been preferable to have the back o f a seat and was las t dclinllo dlstincllon between the seen heard, fr om his own lips, tho muttering Incomprehensible A debatable fu nc t ions o f Stud ent a nd somethlngs under his breath. mysteriou s wo rki ngs o f th o ·Midweek. about which many Jo Bo1g-Thomaon Students' Association. rather than l ros hers might well have remained a reiteration of Direc tors o f unaware. Studios· lfttlo chats on "You only Bu t the highlig ht o.t th e debate In tho PKkod ~boling holl In promlaod to bring out lho btsl T evlot Row Union, the ma11 from the almost fegendarr audience were touR and whlrted tfMakera. It seemed to many, In preposterous happiness as the however, that the luue w11 utlre, metaphor. pathos and somewhat clouded aa each of tht biting wll !lowed like new wine. apeaktrl apparently had their own The motion, 'Thla Houae would penonal version of the motion eloclrlly Hllory O'Neil' olways Mr lan McCormick 'Thla HouM will refuse to addreaa Itself to tht •~:.....-...;;,.. ____"'--------------, motion' waa In line form. Apa rt from a brief foray Into the areas of naJionallsm and lntellectuJI No compromise on NUS 'New Deal' debate, he remal'ned true to h\1 personal version . We 1 11 l no latest organisation to follow . opplaudod heartily. Mr Jaci Franklin lntetnstlng that the students at this sa ld.that. if Sj r Keith really believes D. Roosevelt's load. and e xploi tat ion o t t he s tude n t McClean, 'Thla commune would launch a " Now Deal " Is none other University still managed to reject in lowering the burden o f taxation, population. electrocute the Aristocracy· w.. than the National Union of the NUS when the real value of then why does he persist In This "New Deal " is a recognition better atill. In tho tradition ol Mart Students, a body which we at student grants has fallen by 17% m a k i n g us e o f p a r en t a l by the NUS itself of its own Anlhony on the stopa ol thelorurn. Edinburgh so heartily declined to slnco they were Introduced In contri butions to studenr grants, shortcomings - its tactics were Mr McClean fed ua smoothly from join In the referendum held last t 962. Almost hall of all students which amount to little more than a bemg seen to be out o f date, February. The campaign has throe who are supposed to roceive a backdoor tax? the high eaolorlca ol debata boring, and ineff ectual. The " New mai n prongs: that students should parental contribution to their grant In a wider sense , the " New Deal" evasion down Into a partlcularty Dear· is an opportunity lor the be Independent from their parents do not rec eive i t all. and involves a Clai m It campaign to poignant episode of 'Boys From and their background; that their substantially ove r hAlf of the encourage ' students previously NUS, and students as (Whole, to The Blackatull'. Absolutely state their case. and explain why it circumstances should give them a student population are dependen t ignorant to apply for benefits lor amazing. We surfaced again to is for the benefit of all concfJ.r,ed. choice of where to study. where to on a bank overdraft at some point which they may qualify. There is to shake the walls with riotous live, or whether to go on to Higher In their academic caree r. be a lett er-writing campaign to It will su rely carry widesPitad support. because eve n amongst aide.. of tht Education at Jill; and that student Accommodation, no w takes up MPs concern ing student travel ,ac~~~·:~o~~:·~~:~r life should be one at reasonable a 25'4 greater proportion of any expenses. 11 seeks tcr involve the s t ud e n t population o f toblo and the vlbroncy ol I living standards. not a device to grant than It did ton yea rs ago. In students more in the running at Edinburgh - a ' non-a ffiliated 'Thla Houae would give me delay unemploymenl. the pas t, students wore told that if their own academic institutions. Unvierslty - many of Its aims must TV urles' O'Neil. Ra'P""JII. Tho " New Deal" was launched In they could bear l o w livi ng and their own courses . The House seem justifiable. It involves more sunning the audience for I res ponse to the NUS's Eas ter standards during t ~l r student ot Commons Is to be lobbied In st udents than any o f its previous acouta or BBC camera a, the Union Conference, which concluded that caree r, then there would be rich view of their forthcoming (and no single·lssue ca m paigns i n President bemusR everyone wl tll the NUS merely reacted to given rewards aller graduation.