The University of Surrey Students’ Union Newspaper issue 1046 www.ussu.co.uk THURSDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2002 free WORLD Government leaders can’t seem to make up their minds as national demo looms AIDS DAY A focus by Toni Borneo and Positive Action on We stand divided the awareness BY RICHARD WATTS day, which is to take place this THE GOVERNMENT IS fac- Sunday | page 3 ing an internal crisis concerning the future of funding higer edu- LORD ROBERT WINSTON cation. Tony Blair, the Prime Daisy Clay Minister, and his Chancellor, meets Robert Gordon Brown, are understood Winston, the to favour opposing options - top-up fees and a graduate man behind tax respectively - reflecting many of the the split prominent throughout BBC’s popu- the Labour party. Meanwhile, lar science Charles Clarke, the new Educa- programs | tion Secretary, is still “weighing page 10 up the options,” but warned that “the issue of fees is in danger of attaining ‘iconic’ status.” His IN THIS WEEK’S PAPER results will be published in the government’s white paper due week with many VCs of the elite What are the funding options? in January; some anlaysts are Russell group in order to galva- Are you an extremist? The government and the papers have spouted so much about fees predicting the issue will be the nise support for the policy amid How do you decide what is an extrem- and grants and graduate taxes that barefacts thought it would main point of the next election. growing opposition. Chiefs from enlighten you with an all-in-one-place guide to paying for higher ists view and what is simply freedom of Last week, more than seventy Oxbridge, Warwick, Bristol and speech? Opinion | page 5 education writes Philip Howard. The government needs to pay for Labour MP’s signed a motion other institutes discussed vari- your university education somehow, so here are the choices: opposing top-up fees, sentiments ous options and the problems TOP-UP FEES A closer look at SeMS that were echoed by many Vice- facing HE. Professor Patrick Between £0 and £10,000 Toni Borneo and Alf Crossman extinguish Chancellors, particulalry in the Dowling, VC of UniS, has told Dependent on the institution some of the myths about the European north of England and through- barefacts that UniS opposes Typically likely to be around £4,000 – an increase of £3,000 School of Management Focus | page 8 out Wales. Tony Blair held a top-up fees but will continue to Means tested secret meeting earlier this monitor the situation. Preferred by Tony Blair and most Vice-Chancellors barearts sees an Irish vicar Hated by the NUS and most parents. Alex Read pops along to watch Sinead O’ GRADUATE TAX Connor and, shock of all shocks, actually Either limited term fee equivalent to that of top-up fees, or enjoys himself barearts | page 17 Permanent (higher rate of tax for the rest of your life) Possibly extra 1p in the pound on graduates’ income tax The current state of art missing Dependent (like income tax) on your salary Dave Abbott goes to the Bodyworlds & Further into the future Earth from the Air exhibitions to see if they Backed by Charles Clarke to an extent, and by parents. are really any good barearts | page 14 0-000 Hated by the NUS, Tony Blair and many students. -5 In its White Paper in January, the government is expected to pick Life after the womb one or the other, although it is likely to be top-up fees since the “Why don’t they just hide the weapons so mechanism is already in place, and it provides a more immediate that the inspectors can’t find them?” A sug- payment to the universities. There is potential for a life-long gestion for the Iraqis Lifestyle | page 21 graduate tax to act as a segregation between university people and non-university people, as the tax would be insensitive to whether Paying a tuition fee you used your degree to attain your high salary. On the other Interested in trampolining? of £10,500 a year will hand, low-paid science graduates and nurses would have to pay increase If you are interested in all things bouncy, the cost of your less over time under a taxation scheme than under a fees scheme. then turn to the back page to find out how degree to £50,000. you can get involved Sport | page 24 .protect.your.education. e! This will plunge You’re already brok . Don’t accept it. you deeper into hardship NUS national march The National Union of Students’ please sign up at the Students’ “funding the future” march is on Union reception or e-mail Wednesday, 4th December. [email protected]. There are The Students’ Union is providing only 50 places available and it Take action. React and shout out at the students with a coach to attend is on a strictly first-come-first- DEMONSTRATION. the event and it will leave served basis. December 4, 2002 from outside NatWest at 9am Tickets will cost £2 in order Malet Street, London Ensuring students have a future on the Wednesday morning. to contribute to the cost of the For information: If you would like to go, then coach. 2 NEWS 28 November 2002 Graduates lack key skills Student dies in catapult stunt A RECENT SURVEY has shown that BY SARAH BUTTERWORTH BY SARAH BUTTERWORTH Witnesses said that Mr Yankov was the sixth new graduates lack three of the skills they EDITOR EDITOR person to be thrown by the machine, but fell consider most important in the workplace short of the net. He struck the side and fell – time management, task juggling and at what skills employers say they need of A STUDENT FROM Oxford University 30ft to the ground. verbal communication. Two thirds of those graduates. This is the first to look at what died last Sunday after a stunt involving a David Aitkenhead, who built the trebuchet, questioned felt that their degree helped their skills graduates perceive they require.” human catapult went tragically wrong. Dino said that before the accident he had career prospects, but only half believed it At the University of Surrey, the Individual Yankov, a 19 year old Bulgarian student and informed those waiting their turn that it was to be a prerequisite. Just under a third said Development training programme aims to a member of a dangerous sports club, fell an “extreme activity” and not guaranteed their degree was irrelevant to their current furnish students with skills that will be of use short of a safety net after being fired 100ft to be totally safe. He was unable to offer area of work. in a working environment, supplementing through the air from a copy of a medieval any explanation as to what had gone wrong The top five skills that graduates said they those learnt during their degree. The siege engine known as a trebuchet. He with the equipment. A spokesman for the gained during their degree were: working Union’s arm of ID, the DAVE project suffered serious leg and spinal injuries and Oxford Stunt Factory said that the club was independently, written communication skills, (Development, Accreditation, Volunteering died five hours after the accident, after being “devastated” by the accident. “The net is the reading and understanding texts, working and Employability) offers courses ranging airlifted to hospital in Bristol. Police are size of a tennis court, so why it didn’t catch under pressure and learning abilities. from working with others to becoming a investigating the incident with the Health him I have no idea,” the spokesman said. However, the top five skills graduates web wizard. Each course is worth 5 ID and Safety Executive, and the operators of “Other people had been on it before, and it believed were of use in the workplace were: points, and when students have gained 20, the catapult may face prosecution. was fine. It had been tested; all the safety time management, working under pressure, 40 or 60, they receive their bronze, silver 20 members of the Oxford stunt Factory, checks and test weights had been done to accuracy, oral communication skills and or gold award. Employers are increasingly which is not an official university club judge distances, and then this happened.” managing different tasks at the same time. looking for graduates who possess qualities despite many of its members being The trebuchet, which has fired a total of 50 The head of institutional planning at beyond their degree, and the ID scheme undergraduates, were experiencing being people through the air this year, was closed University College Northampton, Sheryl is designed to give students the tools to thrown by the catapult in an arc into a safety immediately after the accident and may not Randall, said: “The results were a bit of succeed academically, professionally and net at Middlemoor Water Park in Somerset. be used again. an eye-opener to us. Most employability socially. surveys in the UK and US have looked Epilepsy awareness - what to do AFTER HAVING AN epileptic seizure in the BY SUZIE JOUGHIN middle of Chancellors, I thought it would be a good idea to write an article for barefacts is over, put them in the recovery position about epilepsy and what to do if someone be quietly assuring has a seizure in front of you. Toni Borneo [c] stay with the person until they are fully and Rich Watts agreed with me, especially conscious. You need to be careful at this after I told them that one in 133 people point because, when someone appears to �������������������������������������������������������������� suffer from epilepsy, making it the second come out of a convulsive seizure, they most common neurological condition after are not necessarily fully conscious.