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9 October 2015 Issue 11.4
Meetings Mondays at 6.15pm in KLT3
What is in fashion this Autumn?
Students should be complaining more. Read why
Culture Page 17
Issues and Analysis Page 5
Read Otto Ilveskero’s views on EU migration and the British economy Editorial Page 19
Cut the Costs
£20,538 gone with a bang
Ruby Lyle Newspaper Editor
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Photo by David Norman Caption: The Kent Wheel during the 50th Anniversary celebrations
Ruby Lyle Newspaper Editor
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www.InQuireLive.co.uk
InQuire The University of Kent’s student newspaper
he Kent Wheel has lost the University an estimated £20,538 following its surprise closure on 22 September, three weeks earlier than expected. On 14 November 2014, InQuire reported that the overall cost of
the Wheel, including additional expenses such as security, would be £260,300, based on figures previously received through a freedom of information request answered on 4 November. The funding for the Wheel came from the 50th
Anniversary Programme, which had a total budget of £350,000. From the weekly cost of £13,700 provided by the University of Kent, InQuire found that the three week premature departure of the Kent Wheel would cost the University an
estimated £41,000. The University has since said that an enormous discount was offered to the University for the Wheel’s return to campus. The Wheel cost a total of £54,800 between 24 September and 19 October 2014; this equated to £13,700 each week. Continued on page 3.
ollowing George Osborne’s declaration that maintenance grants are to be scrapped, Kent Union have taken part in the #CutTheCosts campaign. The Union previously declared their opposition to the abolition of the grants, stating: “We believe that these grants are often the difference between being able to access higher education or not. The government has seriously underestimated the impact of the maintenance grant, and this move is incredibly unfair to students from the most deprived backgrounds. Being able to attend, study and succeed at university should always be about a student’s ability, rather than the size of their bank account.” Maintenance grants are to be eliminated from September 2016, as was announced in George Osborne’s budget on Wednesday 8 July. This is expected to affect over half a million students in England alone. Under these new changes, if a student were to attend university for three years and receive the maximum maintenance loan, they would graduate with £51,600 of debt. The grants, which are nonrepayable sums of money, intended to aid students with a household income of up to £42,620, will instead be replaced with increased maintenance loans reaching £8,200 (this is a rise of £2,460 in potential loans for Kent students in the current system). Continued on page 2.