www.thecourieronline.co.uk Monday 17 February 2014 Issue 1285 Free
BACK, SACK & HEART ATTACK What is male beauty? Intrepid
Marc Smethurst investigates p.19
The Independent Voice of Newcastle Students
TOTAL NUT JOB p.32
Est 1948
BRITS BINGO p.31
Mens Bar changes up for discussion The uncertain future of Mens Bar was subject to discussion at last weeks Student Council meeting. The call comes after NUSU officers made the request for consultation earlier in the week. Opening the discussion, NUSU President Calum Mackenzie explained that “the use of the Mens Bar space is currently under review, this is prompted by both research on student demands and also patterns of trade.” This falls in line with trends in students’ drinking behaviour nationally which show that stu-
the day has decreased dramatically with the exception of the Christmas period. Another count early Thursday evening early evening showed there were less than a dozen students in Mens Bar at 8pm. Calum Mackenzie disclosed that NUSU had already had to cut other budgets to the tune of £20,000 in the face of a drastic fall in income from the bar’s revenue. Speaking at Students’ Union Council, Graham Hattam, NUSU’s Director of Commercial revealed that there had been a four-day face-to-face survey which consulted students about Mens Bar. “We asked roughly 350 students
dents’ spending on alcohol has dropped significantly since the introduction of £9,000 a year tuition fees according to a Save the Student survey. “Obviously students needs and demands change rapidly”, confirms Calum. Before the refurbishment in 2011, NUSU was praised by visiting students from all over the country for having a bar on every floor whereas now even one bar fails to entice students. A headcount during one weekday lunchtime revealed that less than a third of all those occupying Mens Bar’s seats are paying customers. It was confirmed that consumption in Mens Bar during
and about 78% of them said that they wanted changes to the way the Mens Bar space is used” he explains. This conforms with the results of a survey carried out by NUS nationally, which shows that students express a preference for more ‘coffee-bar’ style areas than the traditional licenced offering – a development that leads NUSU to want to “reduce the area for bar sales and replace it with a café”, according to Calum. He also emphasised such a change would make the social space more inclusive as less alcohol is consumed by students. Continued on Page 4
By Sabine Kucher Deputy News Editor
“the use of Mens Bar space is currently under review, this is prompted by both research on student demands and also patterns of trade”
IS THE FUTURE BRIGHT?: The future of Mens Bar’s was debated at Student Council. Image: Emily Keen
Union condemned for response to protest By James Simpson News Editor
The Birmingham Guild of Students have been condemned by over 50 student representatives for their response to a protest on their campus. Thirteen Students were arrested and were reportedly held for fourteen hours by police after refusing to give their personal details. They have since been suspended from the University and banned from entering any University owned buildings. Elected student representatives from around the country signed a statement
arguing that the guild should condone the protest action and that it should condemn allegedly illegal police tactics. Another statement written by five of the arrested, describing themselves as “examples”, they said that students and staff from around the University of Birmingham were to “report on us if we are seen on campus, treating us like wanted criminals” President of the Guild Poppy Wilkinson released a statement via her Facebook page two days after the protest describing the actions of some protesters as “extremely dangerous” and she described feeling “threatened, intimidated
and unsafe”. She describes how “a group of masked students surrounded a police officer and began singing and chanting” She goes on to say that “I was, and still am, unwilling to support the protest action that took place” which has drawn opposition among some sabbatical communities up and down the country. In response to her statement the protest organisers, ‘Defend Education Birmingham’ released a statement in the form of a petition signed by over 50 sabbatical officers from around the country, stating that “We believe it is deplorable that the Birmingham Uni-
versity Guild of Students statement in relation to the national demonstration held on the campus this week failed to condone protest action on the University campus” Newcastle University student Luke Neal was witness to the events which took place on 29th January and told The Courier during the protest they tried to gain access to buildings but were “beaten back by private security”. He went on to say that “students were subject to excessive force by security, who I witnessed with their hands around students’ throats and dragging female protesters down corridors by
their hair” He went on to say that when trying to leave they “were met by a police kettle”, which refers to the action used for crowd containment by forming a human barrier of police officers. Luke went on to say they were “made to exit one by one, and were searched by police officers” The protest was attended by over 300 students and followed the national meeting for campaigning over cuts to higher education. It follows strike action carried out by University staff up and down the country at numerous points this year.