gair rhydd 25 11 02
11 • Letters
Letter of the fortnight The author of this fortnight wins the commissioning of a waxwork model of themselves. And a wick. Dear gair rhydd, There are endless protests against tuition fees. As someone has pointed out in your letters column ages ago the roads around Cathays are eerily quiet in the summer vacation and the road outside my house is now full of cars. Cars owned or run by the same students who claim to be drastically in debt. I agree that the amount of debt we need to get into during university is appalling but there is (rightly so) a threshold below which your LEA will pay. Being a student and a realist I am willing to admit that a lot of my debt is self inflicted. I have a PS2, loads of games, a hefty DVD collection and (in case anyone is thinking of robbing me I’m a martial artist) over £400 worth of swords. Despite living up shit creek financially I refuse to ask my parents for help because I know my spending isn’t necessary. I challenge every student to look at their own spending and try not to take any of Daddy`s money when you know you are making frivolous purchases. Am I the only one that sees we live in poverty and luxury at the same time? So if you can protest against fees with a clear conscience and don’t throw money away then say you can’t afford to pay, you have my full support. If we are honest with ourselves I don’t think many people can say that. Now if I have any friends left anyone wanna watch a DVD? 3rd year engineer Lettersdesk says: An extreeeemely good point. Maybe we should glance at the means testing process, which as it currently stands ensures that someone with three houses (one abroad) and enough money to do the breast-stroke in tucked away in the piggy-bank gets their tuition fees paid for them by the government because their parents are retired so don’t officially have an income, while others who have to scrape by for a living while at university get minimum support because both their parents work. Just maybe.
Granny Gripes Dear gair rhydd It seems the Codger-capacitated Alzhiemers Express has pulled onto Albany Road- the place is full of old timers at the moment, most of them performing a manoeuvre known as the 'Tat Tangential' whereby they espy some tatty taffy trinket such as a 'Red Dragon' wristwatch or leek shaped dildo and suddenly veer off their scheduled trajectory into the path of any oncoming pedestrianusually cackling "Ooh thats unusual" as they send children, prams and little puppy dogs crashin' to the floor. But I'm not bitter.... and funny how the Great British grave dodger suddenly loses all sense of where their body ends and somebody else's begins. I was recently in the queue for an 'Any Five Items' Breakfast Special when an octogenarian prolapser behind me began sliding her tray into my fingers. Not only did she end up with her five items before I did, she nudged my arm as she trembled towards the till - sending steaming tea splooshing onto my hash browns. I then had the misfortune to cop a pike at her boat as she mashed sausages between her gums. She had a wispy moustache and one of those 'anus mouths' which put me off my morning sustenance. Got to love 'em though eh? Ponyupthedough Lettersdesk says: Seldom has ageism been better articulated. Well done.
MP Hammers Dear gair rhydd, In response to the anonymous attack on my record. I would hazard a guess that the complainant might just have a link with another political party. I am accused of ‘pretending to champion student causes’. This reminds me of the Life of Brian – "What have the Romans ever done for us?" When a Cardiff student was forced to suspend her studies following an accident, she found that she did not qualify for benefit because her student loan counted as income. I took up the case with the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The ruling was reversed and all students are now protected against this unfair discrimination. Following a scandal of a Cardiff letting agency withholding Bond money from students I proposed the setting up of a Cardiff Bond Bank. With the help of your union I persuaded the local council and the Welsh Assembly to back the scheme. I have always fiercely opposed Top Up fees and put down the first parliamentary motion opposing the Russell Group proposals in June 2000. I have had several meetings with Estelle Morris during the last few months in which Top Up fees were regularly raised. I have already scheduled a meeting with the new Secretary of State Charles Clarke. I represent more students than any other British MP, I take that responsibility seriously and I deeply resent the accusation that I do not. Jon Owen Jones, MP for Cardiff Central
Contact With Many Members Dear gair rhydd, I was very surprised to read the comments of Floss Teacake with regard to the department of Language and Communication which appeared on last issue's letters page. As a 3rd year member of the department and VicePresident of the Communication Society I have had frequent and prolonged contact with many of the department's members of staff, yet have never found them to be anything but friendly, helpful and well organised! I'm sure that, like any other department, it must have it's off days but Carol and Julia have always found time to help even when other members of staff have been unavailable. They all have their own work to do, but open office hours are still maintained. If these are still a problem e.g. due to lecture clashes, changes have always been made once staff have been spoken to. It is the Department of Language and Communication after all! Ms. Teacake was perfectly right in her supposition that enrolment day is one of the busiest days in the university calendar but she also seemed to miss the fact that it also a day reserved for dealing with course-changing and, as you would expect, enrolling. It is just as stressful for those rejoining departments to have to wait until mid-afternoon to discover if all the paper-work has been processed, if the modules you are expecting to do are still available and even if the department still knows of your existence. The suspense is there for all of us. The specific reason for Ms. Teacake having to wait was simply so that the head of department could talk to her on a one-to-one basis to ensure that she was not leaving for the wrong reasons. Judging by her comment on problems when asking for help with her coursework, it seems that this personal contact was very much needed. If it was urgent and she didn't want to see a member of staff, however, I am surprised that she didn't take advantage of the student reps system in place or speak to someone with the Communication Society. Both student reps and the Communication Society are there to listen and help Language and Communication department students as best they can, so no-one should ever be too afraid to approach them with problems. By working with the department, rather than simply within it, they are more often than not uniquely positioned to have both the experience of student problems and the knowledge of how best to deal with them. I wish Ms. Teacake all the best at her new home department and hope that she has a very successful and happy academic career from now on. I would be very pleased to hear from her should she wish to contact me via the Communication Society. Yours, keeping an ear out for her, Eileen Furze
To k e n G a y Dear gair rhydd, After dozing off in an unremarkable lecture I sleepily departed to find the new issue (11/11) of your paper stacked outside with the headline "Homophobic campaign targets halls students". I picked up a copy - shocked and saddened again. I'm very open about my sexuality and have never personally had any homophobic remarks or abuse directed at me. Maybe I was feeling a little sensitive after reading the lead article, and then about the departure of an LGB officer, and then the unions refusal to let us use Seren Las for our society night but I never believed I could become so furious with your mildly amusing student paper. After publicising the persecution some LGB students are receiving and then condemning it, I was stunned to read on page 4 of the GrIp supplement gair rhydd's top 100 Britons list with the inclusion of, and I quote, "Number 6 - Tony Hart (token gay)". Not funny. Very offensive in fact. Would you use 'Token black' as a descriptive reference? WOULD YOU FUCK. To be fair, you did include Brian Molko in your top Britons list without insult - how noble of you, and the 'Exodus from Jamaica' article was staunchly in opposition to homophobic insults and assaults, but in an especially sensitive week for LGB students please could you explain why you thought the above would be amusing and inoffensive. Constructive, I think not. Charlotte Heath-Kelly, pissed off 1st year. Lettersdesk says: Nice to see that there are still some people out there who take EVERYTHING seriously. Editor says: The extra letters page and editorial this issue to address the response to the lead article of a fortnight ago hopefully reflects how seriously we take the issue and will actively attempt to help solve it. Sorry if you found the ‘token gay’ remark offensive; it, and the whole of the list, was meant to be merely a light-hearted, ironic gibe, at others who feel it necessary to bracket people in such a way.
Ta l l y - H o (kay?)
Snippets Dear gair rhydd, Having read the Sigur Ros review I felt compelled to write in and vent a bit. I’ve heard that Sigur Ros album and it’s not the epic masterpiece that it’s made out to be. If you want to hear challenging, deep music that also thrills then buy one of the first two Velvet Underground albums. It should also be noted that the Velvets were the greatest group ever to feature a Welshman in inimitable Viola player John Cale. Jon Griffiths Dear gair rhydd, I am writing to scream abuse at Pablo - 'the enthusiastic Roast Beef Monster Munch eater'. May I state as a member of the fairer sex, that if you find Roast Beef Monster Munch to be a substitute for sex you young man are not doing right. Get it sorted 'Pablo' if that is your real name and get a girlfriend. Helen Prothero 1st Year Eng Lit Dear gair rhydd, Eight Foot Tall Remedial, may I take this opportunity to thank you for suggesting that my dancing on the Solus Dance floor (1st Nov) was not to your satisfaction. I was overjoyed for the chance to visit casualty, especially after having waited for 2 and a half-hours, I had not seen a doctor. However in future I’d appreciate it if you’d simply tell me that you weren’t happy with my dancing rather than hospitalising me. 3rd year with a headache
Dear gair rhydd, Concerning the new Taf, as a long standing member of staff I feel quite well qualified to comment: The decor, well someone did ask for an Ikea catalogue over the bar the other day though this request was swiftly changed after a second look around to one from Argos! But joking aside, as with anything you'll either love it, hate it or moan that it’s too bland to form an opinion on. You still cannot get a cheaper pint or shot of anything in any of the pubs in Cathays. On another issue, referring to the LGB nights being cancelled, I’m sure the LGB society enjoys the benefits of union funding, transport, meeting facilities, counselling and even their own fully paid for officer, not may societies get that!
Dear gair rhydd, You know, after noticing a strange verbal tick in one of my lecturers I decided to amass a tally of his random utterances. And so it was, in a fifty minute lecture on Monday 11th November, between 2:10pm and 3:00pm, in the Shandon Lecture theatre, alongside writing notes, I totalled up the score of all of them I heard and can now announce that students in attendance that fateful afternoon may have noticed that the presiding lecturer said the word "OK" 152 times! Just a random fact that shouldn't take anything away from the fact that the lecturer in question is otherwise awesome and makes Anon each lecture enjoyable, in fact he sounds like Talksport presenter Ian Collins... but interesting enough Lettersdesk says: Thanks to all that I thought the gair rhydd should who have e-mailed letters in and know! Anon apologies to those not printed.
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