Palatinate
Durham’s student newspaper since 1948
Thursday 21st January 2021 | No. 835
Comment offers an insight into international students’ pandemic experiences
www.palatinate.org.uk | FREE
Features explore the life of a student house during lockdown
Report on SU claims its strongest critics are opposed to “protecting minority voices” Max Kendix and Martha McHardy Deputy Editor and News Editor A report commissioned by Durham Students’ Union has claimed that the students most dissatisfied with the SU are opposed to “protecting minority voices and creating spaces in which they thrive”.
85% of South and John Snow colleges privately owned
Concluding that “general trust levels [in the SU] are low” amongst students, the report found that only 26% of respondents agreed there is “room for debate and discourse at Durham SU”. Under half agreed that “students from all backgrounds are welcome” at the organisation. Finding a positive correlation in survey responses between students satisfied with the SU
and those supporting minority inclusion, the report concluded there was “minimal support” of minority voices “among students who are dissatisfied with the SU for ensuring minority voices are heard in debates”. The ‘Democracy Review’, which carried out and analysed a mass survey of Durham students as well as several focus groups, cost the SU £7,000 in a contract
campaign rules violations, and all these votes were subsequently deleted, including second and third preferences. During the election process, concerns were raised about the treatment of some candidates on social media. This prompted several representatives from a campaign supporting RON to sign a letter apologising “to Continued on page 6
10 students suspended for Covid-19 breaches Patrick Stephens News Editor
Tim Sigsworth and Luke Payne Editor-in Chief and Investigations Editor Private companies own 85% of the newly-built South and John Snow college accomodation at Mount Oswald, a Palatinate investigation has revealed. Documents available on Companies House show that Equitix, an infrastructure development firm with £6.5bn of worldwide assets, and Campus Living Villages, an Australian trust which is one of the world’s largest providers of student housing, are the ultimate owners of 63.75% and 21.25% of Mount Oswald Colleges LLP, respectively. The remaining 15% of this consortium, which exists “to finance, design, build and manage” the facilities at the site until 2071, is owned by Durham University via a holding company, Durham Mount Oswald Limited. Previously, a set of Q&As on the University’s website were available which outlined its Continued on page 4
with private consultancy firm MiraGold. It follows a £2,000 “democracy health check” last summer carried out by the same company. This democracy review comes after elections were held last February for several positions, in which 58% of total votes cast were for Re-Open Nominations (RON). The SU subsequently decided to disqualify RON for
▲ The Cathedral after snowfall in Durham last week (Imogen Usherwood)
Durham students have paid £4,288 in fines to colleges, and served a total of 531 hours of community service, after serious or repeat breaches of Covid-19 regulations last term. A further £6,300 of suspended fines were issued. 10 students were excluded “for set periods of time”, with another six facing “action restricting their access to the Wider Student Experience”. As of 20th December, the University’s Community Response Team (CRT), which patrols Durham every day in term time between 9.30 p.m. and 3.30 a.m., had visited properties 75 times. The University reported that the CRT had received “positive responses from students” around three quarters of the time while on patrol. Students saw 432 warnings issued to Colleges for low-level breaches. 186 “amber warnings” for more serious breaches were issued. Jeremy Cook, Pro-ViceChancellor (Colleges and Student Experience) at Durham University, said: “The vast Continued on page 5