www.thecourieronline.co.uk Monday 11 February 2013 Issue 1264 Free
DRESS TO IMPRESS First date? Night out? Staying in? Plan your Valentine’s Day outfit, p.17
Funny Valentine: Mhairi McFarlane talks rom-com Foals’ best yet? clichés, p.14 The verdict, p.28
Pole dance societies rally to axe negative NUS briefing
OBJECTIFYING WOMEN?
The withdrawn NUS brief asserts societies like NUPD promote a body image unattainable for most women Image: Newcastle University Pole Dance Society
By George Sandeman News Editor A brief published by the National Union of Students (NUS) explaining how pole dance societies at universities could be shut down has been withdrawn after negative student feedback. The brief sought to give students the “information and tools” to prevent the creation of pole dance societies at their university and how they could close ones that already exist. Produced by the NUS’ Women’s Campaign team, the brief cited: “Growing concerns around these societies being used as a potential recruiting ground
by strip clubs and about their role in contributing to the increasing normalisation of the sexual objectification of
which women are no longer defined by a narrow and sexist version of sexuality.” Speaking to The Courier Melissa
women.” The brief went on to say that: “Students’ Unions (SUs) should be putting women’s safety at the heart of their policies, and helping to build a society in
Whipp, President of Newcastle University Pole Dance Soceity (NUPD), vehemently rejected the assertion that university pole dance societies contributed to the mainstreaming of the sexual
“We don’t encourage our girls to be scantily clad, we don’t encourage binge drinking, we don’t have ridiculous initiations and we treat our members with respect”
objectification of women. She said: “We don’t encourage girls to be scantily clad in class or on socials. They wear crop tops and shorts similar to those worn in other university sports and exercise classes. We don’t encourage binge drinking, we don’t have ridiculous initiations and we treat our members with respect and they love our society.” NUPD was awarded “most improved society” at last year’s NCL+ awards as well as “best society officer”. Whipp also sought to disassociate pole dancing from the use of poles in strip clubs, saying: “Grinding on a pole is not pole dancing.” The third year Business Management continued on page 5
Lecture class boycotts attendance monitoring By Jenni Cannon
A class of Geography students have taken the decision to boycott all attendance monitoring in their classes. The group of second years took the decision after holding a referendum amongst themselves. The students are studying a political geography module that included discussing the role of monitoring as part of the UK immigration policy. In a lecture about the modern state system and the increasingly tight controls over immigration and movement across borders, their lecturer Dr. Nick Megoran asked his students to discuss measures such as the attendance monitoring that The primary UK Border objection was the Agency requires that being universities to monitored im- implement in the of the Lonplied a lack of wake don Met scandal trust from the over the summer. university, and This discussion eventually led to a little willingvote amongst the ness to allow students regardstudents to be ing use of the lecture register. responsible The lecturer, for their own Dr. Megoran, states that he was learning “surprised at the strength of feeling, as not one student voted to keep the register.” As a result of this unanimous vote to boycott the monitoring of lecture attendance, the register has not been implemented since. It comes at a time when the University continues to finalise plans on how it will monitor international student attendance in order to comply with UKBA regulations. When undertaking the vote, students had a wide range of objections to the policy. The primary objection was that being registered implied a lack of trust from the University and little willingness to allow students to be responsible for continued on page 4