Turnout in Guild Elections drops to 12 per cent

ONLY 12 per cent of the student body voted in the recent Students’ Guild elections, a turnout below half of the 26 per cent turnout experienced in 2019. This decrease in voter turnout continues a downward trend in election participation over the last five years.

3923 students voted in the 2023 elections, compared to 5609 in 2019. This is despite overall increases in student numbers at the University.

The Students’ Guild election results were recently announced on the 24th March. The results followed a 31-hour voting period in which University of Exeter students had the opportunity to vote for the candidates that they wanted to see as their Guild officers for the next academic year.

The vote was conducted using a single transferable voting system, meaning that voters used ranked-choice voting, with each voter casting a single ballot, ranking the candidates in order of preference.

The Guild officer positions up for election were Guild President, AU President, Education Officer, Communities and Equality Officer, Societies and Employability Officer and Student Living Officer. Six candidates ran for the position of Guild President: Emma de Saram, Jack Liversedge, Tejas Nagpal, Mathias La Pira, Manan Shah and Captain ‘Trey’ Hook Tallon. Gee Burnett and Brianna Cummins ran for the posi - tion of AU president while Alex Stanley was the sole candidate for Education Officer. Mia Robillard-Day and Khurram Usman competed for the position of Communities and Equality Officer. Rhys Wallis and Honey Bharat Somaya ran for the position of Societies and Employability Officer while Pip Shaw and Cavanagh Davis-Holmes contended for the position of Student Living Officer.

The Guild election results night kicked off with a speech from the Guild’s Emily de Ritter stating “elections are an important part of the university ex- perience. Your elected officers play a vital role in holding the University to account and campaigning on your behalf.” 3923 students cast their vote over the voting period, a turnout of 12.3 per cent of the student body. The Guild also announced they would be planting 4000 trees for each student who voted.

In the first win of the night, Pip Shaw was elected as Student Living Officer. The vote quota was 1205 votes. In stage one, Cavanagh Davis-Holmes received 385 votes and Pip Shaw received 1850 votes.

The next results that were announced were for the position of Education Officer, with Alex Stanley enjoying an easy win as the sole candidate. In the first stage of voting, the vote quota was 1338.5 votes and Alex Stanley received 2359. Rhys Wallis went on to win the race for Societies and Employability Officer. In the first stage of voting, the vote quota was 1260.5 votes. Rhys Wallis received 1592 votes, Honey Bharat Somaya received 750.

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AND in a flash, we’re in week eight already. We don’t know about you, but this term has flown by and we’re already on our penultimate edition of the term! For those that had one, we hope you had a good reading week and for those that didn’t — there’s only four more weeks (it’s a short term!). But as always, Exeposé are back (once again) to bring you another edition full of stories, reports, interviews and reviews.

In News this edition we conclude our coverage of the Guild Elections, reporting on the process, winning candidates and more (pages 1 and 4). We also look at the rising postgraduate accommodation prices and cover the Council’s decision to vote down student housing plans for a second time (page 3). To show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we also cover one year on in the war in Ukraine, looking at the recent vigil in Exeter and also speak to the Exeter Ukrainian Society (page 5).

In Features , we sit down with Aimee Courtney, Director of Foundation for Uyghur Freedom, about the current situation in Xinjiang and the persecution of Uyghur Muslims (page 9). In International , we look at travelling lifehacks and also discuss the role of dialects in society (page 10). Elsewhere, in Comment , writers debate whether Chat GPT spells the end for coursework (page 13) and also discuss the University’s recent intervention in the UCU strikes (page 12). Satire compares the cost of home ownership with a ski trip ticket and also looks at the potential nutrient deficiency crisis in the wake of Pret scrapping their range of smoothies (page 14).

In Lifestyle we look at Fashion week and its fight for diversity (page 16) and also discuss the pressing issue of combating hangovers (page 17). Arts + Lit writers reveal who they’d invite to a literary soirée and also look at the recent return of Banksy (page 18). In Music , we feature a live review of Wallows’ recent show in London (page 20) and also provide a report of the 2023 Grammys (page 21). In Screen , we look at the highs and lows of the recent BAFTAS (page 22) and also look at Irish landscapes in Sally Rooney’s novel adaptations (page 23). In Tech we consider how we should remember Apple founder Steve Jobs (page 24) and in Science , we look at fusion energy (page 28) and also discuss the link between IBS and gravity (page 29).

Finally, in Sport we cover the start to the 2023 Formula 1 season and also look at the recent passing of John Motson (page 30). We also cover the Six Nations so far (page 31) and Exeter City’s recent dip in form (page 32). We hope you enjoy reading this edition and as always from everyone at Exeposé , have a great few weeks!

Josh and Megan

Chinese students turned away from Australian universities

AUSTRALIA'S top universities risk a drop in research standards after visa delays caused Chinese universities to turn to the US and Europe.

Postgraduate STEM students from China, India, Pakistan and Iran are facing rigorous security and background checks as the Australian Department of Home Affairs deems them a "high security risk". Curremtly, one in ten visas are taking longer than twelve months to process, with students waiting up to three years for an outcome

Melody Zhao, a PhD candidate, feels the visa processing policy is "harsh and unjust", and students risk losing opportunities. China is now advising students to apply at home or to countries with more lenient visa policies, meaning Australia may now miss out on high-achieving students in lucrative STEM subjects.

A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs says it understands visa delays were causing concerns for students, and "will continue to advocate for a transparent and smooth system which [...] supports our national security"

Image, Benoît Prieur, Wikimedia

90,000 students to sue their universities over Covid disruption

ALEGAL claim involving over 90,000 students has arisen in response to the disruption of university education due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This large group of students includes not only those who enrolled between the years of 2020 to 2022 but those who were impacted by the previous strike action from 2018.

As home students continue to pay annual fees of £9,250 and international up to almost £40,000 in some cases, they are hoping that the claim suc cessfully acknowledges and pays retribution for the differing style of education received in relation to what was expected.

Though the restrictions of the pandemic prohibited in-person learning, students continued to pay the same fee, and many feel a mixture of anger and frustration as a result of this. Many students were left with an ‘online learning course effectively on zoom and the equipment of YouTube’ with standards between institutions also differing greatly.

Fashion week: The fight for diversity

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Banksy strikes again PAGE 18

Live review: Wallows

PAGE 20

LIFESTYLE SCIENCE

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Proofers: Proofers: Livvy Mason-Myhill, Oliver Lamb, Pollyanna Roberts, Lauren Walsh, Harry Craig, Henry Parker, Anabel CostaFerreira, Joshua Hughes and Megan Ballantyne