Issue 1441 Monday 6th March 2023
Free
Est. 1948
every week
Celebrating 75 years as Newcastle’s official student newspaper thecourieronline.co.uk
Let’s celebrate female directors!
A strikes specter!
In honour of International Women’s Day, we take a moment to celebrate the dedication of women behind the camera
Campus Comment | page 9
Film | page 28
Has enough been done to mitigate the disruption of strikes?
A little self care, please Some simple, yet effective, ways to wind down Lifestyle | page 17
Manifestos face interrogation at annual Student Election Debates Samantha Seidu - Fashion & Beauty sub-editor
A
series of debates have taken place over the course of last week for NUSU’s Sabbatical Officer roles, taking place in the Students’ Union and broadcasted live on NUTV. These debates allow for candidates to break down and fully explain their manifestos ahead of the elections which are due to begin on the 6th March. Key points raised in all the debates last week concerned the cost of living crisis as well as student wellbeing, accessibility and inclusivity. The first set of debates, taking place on Monday 27th February, included four candidates for Education Officer and three for Postgraduate Officer. Education Officer candidates Asad Qaayum, Cerys Bodey and Chloe Henderson were notably questioned on how they planned to address teaching disruption caused by the ongoing industrial action, with all three pledging to work with staff and students to ensure that all students can get the most out of teaching despite the disruption. Candidates also expanded
Images: Autumn-Lily Keil
on their individual manifestos, with Cerys advocating for improvements to the current PEC system and 9-5 lectures for UGs to accommodate to the cost of living crisis; Chloe wanting to implement a two day gap between assessment deadlines, as well as reform for the PEC and Student Support Plan system; and Asad emphasising the importance of collaboration with other Sabbatical Officers, students and the university. Postgraduate Officer candidates Chirag Kumar, Rishabh Toliya and Stephen Affiru were asked to elaborate on their manifestos after an audience question noticed that there was little mention of postgraduate research students in their manifestos. All three candidates reiterated their desire to work with postgraduate students to make the most out of their education. In their individual manifestoes, Chirag pledges to make mental health a priority, as well as accessibility across campus, Rishabh aims to provide postgraduate students with skills and knowledge necessary to further their careers outside of university and Stephen plans to collaborate with other Sabbatical Officers as well as students to address challenges faced by
postgraduate students. Tuesday 28th February saw debates for the Welfare and Equality Officer and Athletic Union. Welfare and Equality Officer candidates include Lucy Leeds, Anirban Debnath, Azra Anver, Pooja Aravindakumar, Pratishtha Verma and Tanvi Sharma, however Pratishtha Verma was not present at the debate. Key focuses for this debate included mental health, the cost of living crisis and sexual assault awareness. Lucy, whilst referring to her experience as President of the Feminist Society, cites ‘the three- Cs’ in her manifesto: clarity, cost of living and community whilst advocating for further support for sexual assault victims. Anirban places heavy emphasis on creating safe spaces in order to destigmatize conversations surrounding mental health. Azra aims to help all students feel represented and comfortable enough to seek help when necessary. Pooja took a different approach to her manifesto, referring to her personal experiences of moving abroad to Newcastle and settling to complete her studies, in hopes that her message would resonate with her fellow students. Most notably, Tanvi pledged to start dental and eye-checks, something that has typically been overlooked by
the university. Only one candidate, Kimiko Cheng is currently running for Athletics Union Officer. Having had experience as a member of the Water Polo club and intramural netball, Kimiko focuses on supporting newer people with an interest in sports and intramural teams, and particularly aims to start a disability sports club, making sport more accessible to students. Thursday 2nd March oversaw the debates for Student Media Officer and Activities Officer. The debates for Student Media Officer was evidently sought after, with a full audience observing Gabbi de Boer, Castor Chan, Roby Mukherji and Rowan Driver breaking down their manifestos. All questions had a heavy focus on uniting all three branches of Student Media and creating more job opportunities for those wanting to enter the media industry. All candidates pledged to increase funding for NUTV and NSR in order for them to reach their full potential. In terms of the candidates key manifesto points, Rowan has expressed her desire to create a fourth branch of student for photography and artistic media, Gabbi aims to create levels to software training, Roby expressed
his desire to make the roles of Station Manager of NSR and NUTV paid roles and Castor aims to establish a middle ground between all branches of Student Media to ensure they all receive the same amount of support. Activities Officer candidates included Jade Wang, Alex Theodosiou, Ethan Graham, Yanan Zhang, Dan Paston and Yancy Zhang. Issues concerning accessibility and wellbeing amongst all students were raised in these series of debates. Candidates mentioned in their manifestos their desire to improve wellbeing services within societies to ensure a comfortable experience for students. Many of the candidates also expressed their desire to act as a liaison for societies that wish to collaborate. The final debate to take place on Friday 3rd March was the Presidential debates, with candidates including Anuraag Roy, Rajnish Lochab, Shah Yaseen Ali and Abjol Miah. All candidates were made to address topics such as the ongoing strike action and spiking, both of which have been serious issues students have faced over the last couple of years. Shah expanded on his manifesto point of free iPads for all students, explaining that it is not his top priority compared to issues such as the cost of living crisis but believes that it can enhance the student experience and accessibility. Abjol pledged to create more jobs by bringing in third year undergraduate and postgraduate students to help students affected by strike action get the most out of their education. Anuraag mentioned in the debate that he wanted to create a culture of transparency, in which victims of sexual harassment and assault can come forward without shame. Rajnish emphasised the importance of creating an atmosphere in which students can live their lives at university to their fullest potential. With debate week coming to an end, all Newcastle University students will be able to access all candidates manifestos on the NUSU website. Voting will commence on 6th March at 1PM and close at 2PM on 9th March. Be sure to read all the manifestos and cast your vote!