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JUNE.11.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM
At a glance June 11 2007
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EDITOR Perri Lewis DEPUTY EDITOR Sophie Robehmed ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR Elaine Morgan CREATIVE EDITOR Graeme Porteous NEWS Adam Millward, Helen Thompson, Jo Dingle, Katie Kennedy POLITICS Andy Rennison EDITORIAL AND OPINION Chris Croissant, Huw Davies SPORT Dave Menon, George Pawley LISTINGS Jenna Harris, Rosaria Sgueglia TELEVISION TV Fran, TV Jazz, TV Kyle, TV Ben LETTERS Rachel Clare GRAB Kayleigh Excell, Lisa Hocken TAF-OD Huw Pritchard SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT Ceri Morgan MEDIA Aline Ungewiss, Nadia Bonjour HEALTH Liz Stauber JOBS AND MONEY Gill Roberts PROBLEM PAGE Grace De Ville FIVE MINUTE FUN Lara Bell PICTURE EDITORS James Perou, Sarah Day ONLINE EDITOR Paul Springett PROOF READERS Jenna Weeks, Bryony Tallack, Aisling Tempany, Rachel Cormican, Sarah Murray, Andy Rennison, Beth Herdman, Kate Monaghan, Kieran Harwood CONTRIBUTORS James Stileman, Natalie Parkinson, Abigail Whittaker, Corrine Rhoades, Samantha Shillabeer, Emma Jones, Holly Bassett, Victoria Lane, Rachel Greenwood, Hannah Pawley, Katherine Webster-Duncan, Amy Simpson, Lucy Thackray, Dan Ridler, Aisling Tempany, Phillip Dore, Cemlyn Davies, Huw Thomas, Dan Smith, Brychan Govier, Annie Buckle, Emily Woodrow, Rhys Triggs, Eillian Hughes, Amy Gorochowski, Adam Gasson, James Ford, Becky Oatley, Rebecca Isles, Dave Jones, Rob Taylor, James Woodroof, Paul Hayes, Jack Zorab, Ben Walker, Alex Mcintosh, Pete Dean, Jamie Kins, Ed Salter, Steve Florey ADDRESS University Union, Park Place Cardiff, CF10 3QN ADVERTISING 02920 781 474 EMAIL gairrhydd@gairrhydd.com WEB www.gairrhydd.com LOCATION 4th Floor Students’ Union
The week
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James Perou meets the Queen in Cardiff Bay for the opening of the third Welsh Assembly
120
27
issues of gair rhydd published in this academic year
69
editors work across the year to produce gair rhydd and Quench
2000
people pose naked in Amsterdam for controversial artist Spencer Tunick
Facebook used to monitor students Continued from front page they encountered would be ‘dealt with for the next year’. Those who posted derogatory comments about Muller may face harsher treatment, and at the time of going to print were waiting to hear if the matter would be referred to the police. A similar incident has been reported at Keele University, where a Facebook group entitled ‘James Knowles is a Twat’ was directed against an English Literature academic. There is some concern that the removal of all criticism of lecturers from Facebook stifles freedom of speech and lends a positive bias to the coverage of universities on new media. There are many other
Facebook groups dedicated to Cardiff lecturers, most of them positive, such as ‘Martin Coyle is a God’ and ‘Neil Badminton Rocks My World’, two members of Cardiff’s English Literature staff. At Keele, this has provoked an angry reaction, resulting in Facebook groups entitled ‘Freedom of Thought at Keele’ and ‘Freedom of Speech in Keele Psychology’ being created. No retaliation of this sort is yet evident on the Cardiff University Facebook network. A University spokesperson commented: “It should be noted, offences against the student disciplinary code are offences irrespective of the medium involved.” The Biosciences Department declined to comment.
Students’ Union sets up Facebook group for students to voice anger over congested exam timetables and poor feedback In response to an overwhelming surge in complaints about exam timetables and conditions, Students’ Union Vice President Ed Jones has set up a Facebook group where students can air their grievances. Complaints have already been made regarding recurring issues such as inconsiderate timetabling, inaccuracies on examination papers and poor conditions in exam venues. The group is titled ‘My exam timetable was awful – I’m complaining!’ and already had 120 members at the time of going to print. The group will allow Union staff to collate students’ complaints before they are taken forward to the University. Ed Jones said: “Students on a variety of
people play some form of sport at Cardiff University during this academic year
students signed up to Facebook group to complain about exam timetables and conditions
Turning the time-tables on the University Rhys Schofield Reporter
6000+
...in pictures
courses have been aggravated by unhelpful examination timetables. “In May, the Students’ Union arranged the re-timetabling of a set of 4th year Medic exams which had been unfairly moved forwards by two weeks. “We thought that allowing people to share their experiences on Facebook would give us some excellent material to take to the University and demand improvements.” The group has already received many wallposts. Abdullah Kalhoon bemoans the sweltering conditions of Talybont Sports Hall as an exam venue, but the most common theme is exam congestion. Tom Hewitt described having seven exams in nine days as ‘a bit harsh’. However, some students at the other end of the spectrum have complained that their
exams are actually too spaced out. The Academic Registry has allegedly been unhelpful to students, if not entirely unresponsive to complaints. Getting a response from them has been described on the group as being harder than ‘getting blood from a stone’. Concern has also been expressed about the quality and level of feedback available to students after their results are published, with some reporting that they cannot get information on how to improve their exam work unless they fail. Union President Joe Al-Khayat has posted a comment in response to the students’ posts, saying that after a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor about these issues, the University has pledged to discuss these matters with the Registry.
We ask students whether they think posting negative comments on Facebook should be a disciplinary offence Hannah Murphy, second year, Maths “I don’t think Facebook groups set up about lecturers are intended as anything serious, it’s more of a joke. I also don’t see any problem with discussing answers; it’s just helping each other out. And if people are going to be punished then I would expect them to be copying to a significant extent.”
Rhodri Griffiths, third year, Business Administration “I would never think my lecturers would be on Facebook and I would discuss work without thinking I was doing anything wrong; it’s exactly like revising together or chatting about work. Facebook is just a social medium, another form of communication. Lecturers should just stay off Facebook and leave it for the students.”
Kit Carrau, second year, City and Regional Planning “If people are actively plagiarising, from Facebook or elsewhere, then obviously something should be done about it if it’s clear that you’ve been copying answers. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with groups that are derogatory towards lecturers so long as your comments are true and fair. What’s to stop you setting up your own webpage to talk about them, as long as it’s not libel.”
Alison Battisby, second year, English Language “We have a discussion board for our course on the University Blackboard system, so I don’t see how that’s any different to discussing work on Facebook. It’s all about freedom of speech. I think a lot of groups about lecturers are set up as a joke, but if you start shutting them down who exactly decides what to shut down and what not to?”