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The University of Bath Students’ Union Newspaper
Volume 11 Issue 13
Tuesday 11th May 2010
www.bathimpact.com
News in Brief Stay safe at night Police are advising women to avoid walking alone at night due to the suspicious activities of a man in a red car, who on two occasions stopped beside a solitary female student and invited them into his car. Anyone with information on the man, who is said to be white and in his mid 20s, with short dark hair, is advised to call Bath police on 0845 456 7000
Omar al-Bashir re-elected Sudan’s first multiparty election since 1986 has been held, and returned incumbent Omar al-Bashir to power. There is an international arrest warrant out for Mr al-Bashir, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. See page 6 for Chloe Wittet’s report Edinburgh Hitch participants pose in front of the castle which served as the finish line. See page 5 for the full report
Don Foster re-elected
»»Retains the seat he’s held since 1992 »»No clear winner nationally
Several questions were addressed from the floor, including one by Daniel O’Toole on tuition fees. This divided the panel: Richter felt it was “simply not affordable”. D.Kennaway
T
hough campaigning for the election had been going on unofficially long before the election date was set, April 21st marked the beginning of the campaign on campus, as 8W1.1 hosted a debate between representatives of the major parties standing in Bath. The proceedings began with a short speech by each candidate. Tory Fabian Richter’s was notable for not mentioning students once; he asserted that “Don has been fighting the Conservatives for years”, at which the incumbent finished his sentence: “and winning”. Hattie Adjerian’s speech appeared a little sinister in places: “If you want a future…Labour’s the vote to make”.
Foster countered that it had already been costed by the Lib Dems, who spelled out exactly how it would be paid for in their manifesto. He derided the NUS as “complete wimps” for fighting the rise in fees, rather than the fees themselves. Adjerian noted that the “very lowest income families don’t pay fees”, and spoke of her personal distaste for them, adding that her party was waiting for the conclusion of an independent review on the topic. There were heated moments: When Warrender claimed to be “the last businessman in Bath”, Richter objected: “you don’t live in Bath”. Warrender’s response was equally sharp: “neither did you until three years ago, when you were parachuted in from Westminster”. All parties were condemning of claims that it was a two-horse race, with Richter stating that “as one of the horses thus described, I’m certainly not using it in any [campaign] literature”. One audience member was incredulous at
this, shouting “that’s a lie!” While there were a few such moments of antagonism, with Green and UKIP representatives particularly belligerent, the debate ended on a note
“
I will keep the pound as our currency. That’s the change we need...
”
David Cameron in the third Leaders’ Debate
Model UN conference well-attended Bath MUN2010 went ahead on the weekend of April 16th. Despite the travel disruption, over 60 delegates took part. The conference was opened by Richard Guthrie, who gave a talk on the origins of the UN. The MUN society reports that “the debate was intense and the social events even more so”; they plan another conference in 2011. See pages 2-5 for more Union news
of consensus, with all participants emphasising the importance of voting, which was described as both a “democratic right” and a “responsibility”. On April 22nd, Fabian Richter and Don Foster were campaigning on the parade, and were asked to leave. Continued on page 3
Gig Cancelled A planned live music event on campus has been cancelled due to lack of interest. See page 3 for a full report, and page 30 for one contributor’s analysis of the situation