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News Our Contributors
Salford
www.salfordstudents.com
Editor Laura Johnson Studentdirectussu@salford.ac.uk
News Editor Cassandra Ward c.ward4@edu.salford.ac.uk
Arts Editor Sally Leibovici sally.leibovici@yahoo.com
Features Editor Amanda Mace
Come Clean on Additional Course Costs Cassandra Ward News Editor This week, NUS have announced a national ‘week of action’, demanding that government ‘comes clean’ on student funding. As well as a national lobby of parliament for national funding issues which is taking place in April, your Students’ Union is using this opportunity to ask the University to ‘come clean on additional course costs.’ In addition to tuition fees, there are a host of other costs associated with programmes and modules throughout the University. The Union is delighted that in response to
campaigning as part of the Salford Bill of Student Rights this year, the University is now advertising all additional costs on its 'course finder' for prospective students. This is fantastic and means that these costs are now 'additional' rather than 'hidden'. BUT... there are still costs that we believe are unfair. If trips, materials, facility charges, CRB checks etc are integral to the programme of study, we believe they should be included in the tuition fee. To help raise awareness of these additional costs, your Union is asking students to complete a quick online receipt, stating how much they have had to pay in addition to tuition fees. I
will also be out and about this week asking students about their experiences, and hoping to collect enough evidence to persuade the University to start covering these extra costs. The online form can be found on
the Students’ Union website at www.salfordstudents.com. If you have any questions or would like to know more about the campaign feel free to email me at presidentussu@salford.ac.uk
Islamic Society hold guest speaker event Laura Johnson Editor
On Friday 2 March the Salford University Islamic Society welcomed Hamza Tzortzis to the Lady Hale building on the Peel Park Campus. The event, which was part of a programme of events organised by the Islamic Society for Discover Islam Week 2012, intended to deal with the misconceptions surrounding Islam in Western society. “Islam is not a religion,” said Tzortzis in the opening lines. “It’s a comprehensive way of life – a world view.” Tzortzis sought to prove that Islam dealt with modern problems by addressing the often controversial issues of Islam and Shariah law, women and economics. Through his discussion of Shariah law, Tzortzis claimed that “excessive individu-
alism” had “destroyed our Britain”. He believes that liberal societies have a focus on an “avid materialism” and denounced the kind of “what’s in it for me” egotism which he believes led to such incidents as the riots in August 2011. “This idea of the “self” is divorced from social attachments,” he argued. “[Individualism] doesn’t create a social understanding and it’s not cohesive.” Moving on to discuss women, Tzortzis argued that the idea that women are oppressed within Islam is a misconception. In Islam, he argued, men and women are equal with regards to “spirituality and intellectuality”. However, he denounced the “false prison of equality” which led to women judging men as their yardstick rather than God. “Equality does not mean sameness,” said Tzortzis. “Men and women are not the same, so they need to be treated differently.” Employing an argument that flies in the
face of many feminists who consider economic independence to be a basic women’s right, Tzortzis argued that while it is true that women only receive half an inheritance in Islam, that money is hers to spend or save; men are the ones who have to pay for their families and children. “Women don’t have to pay for their food, or clothes, or even their make-up”, he joked. “Women are protected.” Finally, Tzortzis discussed economics and Islam. According to him, wealth is evenly distributed in Islam. “Overpopulation is a fundamental lie,” he said, pointing to the dichotomy between obese people in America and starving people in developing countries as evidence for this. “Islam prohibits interest as it negates the distribution of wealth. “Liberal capitalism has caused more deaths by debt than a thousand 9/11s.” Fancy joining the Islamic Society? Visit www.salfordstudents.com/isoc or join their Facebook page.
Editor’s Note Laura Johnson Editor
Last week SalfordOnline reported that the University has taken the “lions share” of a million-pound agreement with Lloyds TSB to fund its Arts building project – only days after Salford Student Direct reported that the University had decided to axe at least 100 jobs in April as part of its transformation project. Clearly, the University continues to believe that shining buildings can compensate for its lack of staff, for its rock-bottom place in the league tables, and for its painfully high tuition fee rates (an average of £8500 per year starting in September). In other news, make sure you get voting in the student elections this week. We’re collaborating with Manchester Metropolitan and Manchester Universities, and the number of votes cast by each institution will be posted online. Even if the University of Salford get confused over where our campuses are located, it would be fantastic if we could beat the other universities and get more students voting at our Union. You can vote on BlackBoard. It’s never too late to start writing for Salford Student Direct – just email studentdirect-ussu@salford.ac.uk
amace90@live.com
Employability Laura Johnson Your Union Laura Johnson Sport Richard Tree r.p.tree@googlemail.com
Analysis Callum Wright c.m.wright1@edu.salford.ac.uk
Contact Do you have a news story? Email the News Editor@ c.ward4@edu.salf ord.ac.uk
Graduates increasingly taking low-skilled jobs, figures show Cassandra Ward News Editor After accruing thousands of pounds of debt and putting in three years of hard work to get your degree, it appears that rocketing numbers of graduates are taking up lower-skilled jobs than they were 10 years ago, new figures suggest. One in five graduates are still out of work and more than a third of recent graduates were in unskilled jobs at the end of 2011. Economic secretary, Chloe Smith contradicted the figures from Office for National Statistics, stating: “There are jobs out there. Take a very clear look at the opportunities available.” But the figures state that over 285,000 graduates over the last two years are still out of work and the National Union of Students say: “This makes grim reading for students and graduates who see their
opportunities limited”. The study also calculated the average wage of graduates at just over £15.18 an hour, easily overtaking the £9 an hour average for non-graduates. They also suggest that the bestpaid graduates are those with degrees in medicine and dentistry, earning an average of more than £21 an hour. The lowest-paid graduates are those with degrees in the arts and humanities, who earn on average around £12 an hour. Examples of jobs classed as low skilled by the ONS include postal workers, hotel porters, machine operators, retailers, and clerical and secretarial occupations. The silver lining if you’re looking for one is that the figures indicate that graduates are less likely to be unemployed than the rest of the available workforce. Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said: "A degree remains a good investment in the long term and is
one of the best pathways to a good job and a rewarding career. "Graduates, like everybody else, are facing tough times but the evidence shows they fare better than non-graduates and their prospects tend to pick up quicker during the recovery." Employment figures for 2011 state that employed graduates stood at 86% at the end of the year, compared with 72.3% for non-graduates. Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters recommended graduates to take up any opportunities of work experience as he believes this to be “invaluable”. “AGR members believe a degree remains a valuable and worthwhile investment, and this report demonstrates this. Graduates are more likely to be employed and have higher average earnings than nongraduates, with median hourly earnings for graduates 70 per cent more than non-graduates,” he added.
Salford Student edges closer to international ambassador prize Cassandra Ward News Editor This week sparks the start of the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) and the final hurdle of the Smaller Earth’s ‘Your Big Year’ competition. Salford Student, Sarah Davies is standing in the final and said: “I am so proud to represent not only England and the UK, but I am also the only finalist from Europe. I am extremely grateful to those who have helped and supported me, especially the University of Salford. The final is full of amazing people and I feel privileged to be amongst them.” Your Big Year is an annual competition of which applicants take part in a variety of tasks to win the prize of an around-the-world, all expenses paid trip and become the World Ambassador for Smaller Earth. The GEC is the largest gathering of start-up champions from over 100 countries and they are hosting the final leg of the ‘Your Big Year’ competition, with the overall winner being announced at the end of the week. All of the finalists will have the opportunity at the GEC to meet influ-
ential entrepreneurs and successful business minds, such as Richard Branson and Martha Lane Fox, cofounder of the internet phenomenon lastminute.com. The tasks in the competition have so far have included themes of global citizenship, entrepreneurship, human welfare and innovation. This week will spark the final stage of the competition and a new round of tasks, but so far the details have been kept top secret. Sarah said: “We’ve been asked to bring footwear suitable for running about in so I think that’s a clue. The prize will probably include building houses in developing countries and so I’m sure that some of the tasks will be to test how physically fit people are.” As the competition is being hosted in the UK this year, Sarah has been flown to London for the press launch. “They wanted the opportunity to photograph me getting off the plane. I didn’t have far to go and could probably have got the train, but as everyone was flying into Heathrow, they wanted me to as well. I think they felt sorry for me, particularly as next year’s competition final is in Rio!”