Stagecoach Accused of Discrimination to Increase the Number of Unibus “The Wheelchair User Who Was Tom Lewis Services They Provide
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fb.com/warwickboar twitter.com/warwickboar theStudentboar Publication of the Year 2013 Wednesday 19th February, 2014 Est. 1973 | Volume 36 | Issue 9 Increasing Oscars Photo pull-out access to Uni predictions ‘Winter’ themed competition results p. 16 p. 15 p. 25 COMMENT page 12 LIFESTYLE page 19 BOOKS page 22 SPORT page 30 Opinion Matrix - new SU rules The crack on drugs at Warwick Literature and the Page 3 debate Sport Allies against homophobia Stagecoach accused of discrimination to increase the number of Unibus “The wheelchair user who was Tom Lewis services they provide. already on board the bus had no Welfare and campaigns officer legs and could not get out of his at Warwick Students’ Union (SU), wheelchair and fold it up. An employee working for a major Cathryn Turhan, was unhappy “The second wheelchair who bus company serving Warwick about the treatment of the disabled wished to board had a large motor- students has been accused of dis- student in question. ised wheelchair which could not be crimination against a disabled Speaking to the Boar, she com- folded. student. mented: “We are shocked by the “Had the second passenger had a A Stagecoach employee is alleged account of a disabled student dis- normal sized wheelchair and been to have denied a wheelchair user criminated against by Stagecoach able to fold it and board the vehicle access onto the 10.50pm service staff. unaided, then our inspector would from Warwick University to Leam- “The University have made a have made room for it. ington Spa on 6 February 2013. complaint to Stagecoach and we are “All the new vehicles which A wheelchair user was among a eager to see the outcome of this. Stagecoach Midlands orders are number of individuals attempting “Above all, we want to see a bet- fully Disability Discrimination Act to board the crowded Unibus at the ter deal for people with disabilities.” compliant.” Arts Centre stop, but was alleged- Sam Fry, disabled students’ of- Second-year Maths student Ste- ly prevented from boarding by the ficer for Warwick SU, agreed with phen Smith commented: “It’s hard- employee due to the presence of Ms Turhan. ly discrimination; the employee another wheelchair user already “I am very disappointed that was clearly just following the rules aboard the service. Stagecoach have such limited ac- of his job.” An argument took place between cess arrangements for wheelchair Joe Baker, a second-year Phi- the employee and student, with the users. losophy undergraduate, added: “I several options put forward, such as “In addition, buses come very in- think the wheelchair user is within temporarily storing the chair whilst frequently when it’s late, so if a bus his/her rights to claim there should its owner made use of one of the isn’t accessible it means a long wait be more space on Unibuses, but not chairs reserved for disabled passen- for the next one. that they should have been let on in gers, dismissed. “This situation isn’t acceptable this instance, particularly if it was After insisting only one wheel- and I hope Stagecoach change their unsafe for the inspector to do so.” chair user could board the service behaviour quickly.” President of Warwick Enable, at any time, the Stagecoach em- Steve Burd, managing director Andrew Thompson, responded. ployee then permitted able-bodied for Stagecoach Midlands, was quick “Myself and the SU disabled stu- people to board the bus, leading to to defend the decision of the Stage- dents’ officer are bringing a motion accusations of ableism. coach inspector. to the Student Council on Monday Further issues students have “Although our inspector was not which will mandate our sabbatical found include a lack of services able to allow a second unfolded officers to lobby bus companies between Warwick University and wheelchair to board, he was in a po- to make sure that they adequate- Leamington Spa, despite efforts sition to permit further able-bod- ly cater for disabled students, so made by Stagecoach at the begin- ied passengers to get on the bus as that they are not treated like sec- » Students who live off campus use Unibuses. Photo: Jessica Hayne ning of the current academic year it was not yet at its full capacity. ond-class citizens.” the single most important thing you will do Find out about opportunities with teachfirst.org.uk/graduates Sponsored by: TF2897 The Boar Warwick 265x44 Banner.indd 1 18/12/2013 16:37 2 News theboar.org/News | @BoarNews | NEWStheboar.org 2 theboar.org News 3 The Boar bakes cakes Boar bake sale raises money for Warwick Youth Phab cluding games, crafts and themed graduate recruitment stall dishing Selina Sykes events. out free cupcakes!” Daniel Mountain, former Com- Mr Mountain said: “The work ment editor at the Boar who has done by the Boar in fundraising for A bake sale organised by mem- been involved in the charity, said: us is going to make a huge differ- bers of the Boar raised £66.56 “Our hope is that the club will con- ence. for Warwick Youth Phab, a stu- tinue for a very long time and we’re “The money will be going to- dent-run youth club for disabled always looking for both student wards ensuring we can continue to and able-bodied young people in and local volunteers to come and rent out the centre we operate in, as Leamington. help out.” well as taking our young people out While handing out the latest is- He added that the bake sale, held on a day trip.” sue of the newspaper, organisers in the Students’ Union atrium on 6 Raghav Bali, film editor at the offered passers-by the opportunity February was a “huge success”, es- Boar, second-year Economics un- to donate to the charity in exchange pecially as it took place on a strike dergraduate and organiser of the for home-baked goods. day when campus was largely “de- bake sale, has confirmed that a Set up a year ago, Warwick Youth serted”. Boar pub quiz will be running on Phab runs five nights a term in- “We even had to compete with a Week 8 to continue fundraising. theboar Editorial Team Editor George Ryan NEWS Sian Elvin ARTS Rebekah Ellerby [email protected] [email protected] Georgina Lawton [email protected] Julia Dorrington Tom Lewis Josh Payne Deputy Editors Nicole Davis Euan Long [email protected] Maya Fowell Derin Odueyungbo BOOKS Poppy Rosenberg Helena Moretti Ann Yip [email protected] Jess Devine Lillian Hingley Sub-editors Ellen Buckerfield COMMENT Daniel Cope [email protected] Louise Machin [email protected] Hiran Adhia FILM Raghav Bali Clare Crossfield Nadeine Asbali [email protected] Hayley Westlake Josh Denoual Jack Simpson GAMES Tolga Kuyucuoglu Director of Business Aditya Pappu FEATURES Roxanne Douglas [email protected] Joe Baker [email protected] [email protected] Rami Abususura Richard Brown Desi Ekzarova Gabriella Watt Head of Sales Alessandro Pressa Bethan Riddell [email protected] MUSIC Sam Carter LIFESTYLE Joanna Harwood [email protected] Sam Evans Head of Marketing Oliver Siemek [email protected] Scott Harris [email protected] Ailsa MacLachlan SCIENCE & TECH Ellie May Bethan McGrath [email protected] Cayo Sobral Treasurer Alexander Bunzl [email protected] MONEY Benjamin Shaw TRAVEL Robert Demont [email protected] Alice Cobb [email protected] Melissa Paniccia Photography Editor Giulia Zecchini Oshin Menon Rebecca Webster [email protected] Harshini Singh TV Josh Murray Webmaster SPORT Isaac Leigh [email protected] Chiara Milford [email protected] Ben Hayman [email protected] Luke Brown Laura Primiceri Tom Ward Chloe Wynne Get in touch: WE WANT YOU! 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Deutsche Bank Financial support can only take you so far db.com/careers Agile minds know how to go further 5566_011_DB_Banner_265x36_B.indd 1 24/10/2012 17:23 Staff equality Fascists on campus Uni leads way in research campaign liberties and the comfort of a large Rose Carr section of the student body, I think Kristina Drake it is unacceptable and offensive.” Euan Long So far no-one has been caught Stickers from the fascist youth distributing National Action’s ma- Science minister David Wil- group National Action were terial and at this point there is lit- letts has announced £8.5 mil- A successful staff equali- found around campus last week. tle that the Students’ Union can lion funding for medical micro- ty campaign at the Univer- Students alerted the Warwick An- do, despite evident violation of bial bioinformatic research led sity of London , Tres Cosas, ti-Racism Society after finding the the Equal Opportunities by-law by the University of Warwick. was the subject of a guest talk stickers in the ground floor library and incitement of racial hatred. The Medical Research Council you at the University of Warwick. toilets and on lamp posts outside Rumours have been circulating (MRC) has made an investment The campaign is fighting Tocil and the Humanities building. that suggest members of the group of £32 million across five major three areas of disparity be- The group is a small, clandes- may in fact be connected to the Uni- awards in order to improve capabil- be tween the University of Lon- tine organisation of students, versity; in reality the nature of the ity, capacity and capital infrastruc- don staff and contract workers: committed to far-right activism group is still shrouded in mystery.