QMessenger Issue 46

Issue 46

Monday November 14th 2011

GriffInn Boycott Israel?

Renovation BLSA’s GriffInn is to be renewed as part of investment at the medical school.

Page 3

Pro-Palestinian motions rejected at Student Council.

Page 4

Mayor 2012 London Student’s Union team up to write a London Student Manifesto for 2012 elections.

Page 4

The Newspaper of Queen Mary Students’ Union

Students march through City

QM strikes deal with Santander for £120k Sam Creighton

Image by Bethia Stone

Students from all over the UK met in London to protest against the proposed changes to the Education sector. Page 6

Whitechapel Market set to get an Olympic makeover before shoppers fill the streets Rosie Reynolds Whitechapel Market is set to be renovated under a city-wide project which aims to improve areas that connect Central London to the Olympic Park.

The council is pumping £2.5 million into the market streets as part of High Street 2012, in order to prepare for the huge influx of visitors during the Olympic Games in the summer. The move will improve roads and pavements to make it easier for more people to access the market and to make it more appealing to shoppers.

Stallholders will have access to running water and more reliable access to electricity. Work started last month to improve lighting across the market and to create designated areas for refuse bins.

As work is carried out, stallholders will have to move their pitches to the other side of Whitechapel Road.

If they aren’t willing to do this, the council has given stallholders the option to waive their pitch until the revamp is completed in April.

The council wants to encourage local businesses to see the potential of the market and utilise what it has to offer. Mayor of Tower Hamlets

Lutfur Rahman said: “Tower Hamlets is famed for its variety of markets, boasting more than any other London borough in the capital. I value our markets and that is why I’m using the Olympics to leverage investment to help improve Whitechapel Market and the surrounding area.”

The High Street 2012 project will see many historical and

cultural landmarks across London restored to their prime. In East London, renovation is also set to be carried out in Altab Ali Park.

“The High Street 2012 programme is just one of the ways in which I’m trying to maximise the benefits and opportunities that residents will gain from hosting one of the greatest sporting events on earth,” added Mayor Rahman.

A pot of £120,000 is available to Queen Mary over the next three years now that the institution has become the 51st UK member of Santander Universities.

The agreement was signed on November 1, only 27 days after the initial meeting between Santander and Queen Mary to discuss the collaboration.

Luis Juste, Director of Santander Universities UK, said it was the fastest agreement ever completed for the organization.

Simon Gaskell, Principal of Queen Mary, commented: “We come to this party perhaps a little bit late, but hugely enthusiastic.”

While the initial capital provided

by Santander is limited to £40,000 per year, Mr Juste explained that due to the number of proposals already coming from Queen Mary, the amount could be increased as soon as in a few months’ time.

The money will fund scholarships and ‘mobility awards’ allowing students and staff to study and carry out research around the world. There will also be funding for entrepreneurial initiatives.

There are discussions of a Santander branch opening on campus, although a site has yet to be confirmed.

Professor Gaskell, Principal of Queen Mary, said: “The spirit and philosophy of Santander Universities is in line with the philosophy of QM. We are hugely international if you look at our student body and our staff. We are ambitious and innovative in the way we think as an institution.”

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QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

News Editorial Team: • Executive Editor - Sam Creighton vpcommunications@qmsu.org • Managing Editor - Caz Parra editor@qmessenger.co.uk • Sub-Editors - Robert Pritchard, Maria Sowter and Lauren Mason proof@qmessenger.co.uk •News Editors - Rosie Reynolds and Kaamil Ahmed news@qmessenger.co.uk • Comment Editors - Ross Speer and Kashmira Gander comment@qmessenger.co.uk • Satire Editors - Ben Richardson and Aaron Barber satire@qmessenger.co.uk • Sports and Societies Editors - Shafi Musaddique, Hollie Carter and Ashley Sweetman sport@qmessenger.co.uk • Photography Editors - Keeren Flora and Bethia Stone photography@qmessenger.co.uk

You should be writing for us.

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The Cloud How you fit into the news.

A man from Merseyside has been convicted of gun running in the UK. Prosecutors believed he smuggled at least 63 guns into the country - only eight of them have been recovered.

Michael Jackson’s doctor has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

QMessenger is printed at Mortons of Horncastle Ltd, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, LN9 6JR. Tel: 01507 523 456. Each issue has a print

A drunk firearms officer crashed out for the night in a protester’s tent outside St. Pauls

Silvio Berlusconi and George Papandreou, the respective Italian and Greek Prime Ministers, have both been forced to step down as leaders of their countries after weeks of madness in the Eurozone.

Striking electricians joined up with protesters at Occupy London on a day when students and cab drivers also protested.

An Oxford graduate has started a six year project using twitter to liveblog the events from World War Two in real time.

The founder of a free legal advice service here at QM has been shortlisted for a Times HE lifetime achievement award

Established in 2008, QMessenger is the free weekly newspaper of Queen Mary Students’ Union. We are proud of our editorial independence and endeavour to always hold the College, Union and external bodies to account and to provide the best news and analysis to the students of Queen Mary, University of London.

Any views expressed in QMessenger section are those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the paper, the editorial board, Queen Mary Students’ Union or Queen Mary, University of London.

@QMessenger

In this digital age of ours it would be remiss for us not to keep an eagle eye on our online presence.So,here are the best messages tweeted @QMessenger this week.

I think I’m done trying to force you to look at my #Nov9 pictures.

Until @QMessenger comes out.

Team just found a 247 word sentence on one of the @QMessenger articles for next week #printday #editingrush Well done to the @ QMessenger team et all for out great results covering #nov9 with @elephantstudent on http:// ele.ph/ant

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A Somali legislator has been killed outside of his own house after being shot in the head with locals blaming clans.

At least four people have died in post-election violence in Nicaragua after the former revolutionary Daniel Ortega was reelected despite a disputed vote.

run of 1,000 and costs £445 to print and deliver.

QMessenger is created entirely by students and the publication retains all copyright of design, text, photographs and graphics, along with the individual contributor.

Nicolas Sarkozy was caught on a microphone he thought had been turned off calling the Israeli Prime Minister a liar.

By Kaamil Ahmed and Rosie Reynolds Images by: Michael Jackson by Allard Janssen (Flickr) Silvio Berlusconi by Andres Ubierna (Flickr) Nicaragua Protest by CONEXIONES.com.ni (Flickr)

First death on cyclists highway sparks fears Ariane Osman Fears about the safety of London’s new cycle super highways have been raised after the first cyclist was killed riding the Bow Flyover roundabout at the end of last month.

The cyclist, identified as Mr Dorling from Hounslow, collided with a tipper lorry at 8.45 am and was pronounced dead at the scene.

This comes after the London Assembly Member for City and East, John Biggs, raised concerns about the safety of the roundabout

for both cyclists and pedestrians on several occasions.

“I am very angry at this tragedy.

In my view, the fact that the junction has not suffered previous serious accidents is more down to luck than judgement,” said Biggs after the death, “there has tragically been a growing likelihood of an accident waiting to happen there for a long time.”

Local blogger diamond geezer has called the infamous roundabout “a bloody disgrace, both for pedestrians and cyclists, as was tragically proven.”

“As a very local pedestrian, I

remain amazed by how incredibly life-threatening the Bow Flyover roundabout is. Here two dual carriageways meet, which means four entry roads and four exits, of which only the former are trafficlight controlled,” he said, “nothing pelican or puffin, nothing push button, just a red light stopping the traffic that turns to red/amber and green with no prior warning whatsoever.”

The lorry driver arrested on suspicion of causing the death by careless driving has been released on bail until 18 November.

A spokesperson for Transport for

London told the BBC that they ‘had delivered several initiatives, such as new roadside safety mirrors and awareness campaigns about the dangers of undertaking lorries’.

Tower Hamlets council has also held ‘cycle training’, ‘Dr Bike cycle safety checks’ and ‘held awareness raising events’ to coincide with the opening of the cycle superhighway through the area.

The cycle route from Bow to Aldgate was launched last July and is part of the Mayor of London’s wider initiative to open 12 Barclayssponsored cycle superhighways by 2015.

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QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

News

The GriffInn's refurb: better late than never Caz Parra The GriffInn’s refurbishment is starting this week, five months behind schedule.

Based on the Whitechapel campus, The GriffInn houses the Barts and the London Student Association’s (BLSA) offices as well as various social areas frequently used by students. The nature of the refurbishment required the entire building to shut down for health and safety reasons.

Originally planned for the exam period after Easter of last academic year, the refurbishment was first pushed to September 2011, threatening the welcome of freshers and Freshers’ Fortnight events, and was finally set to begin on Monday November 14th, 2011. George Ryan, President of BLSA, said “When I took over from Laura [Brenner, former BLSA President] we were told we weren’t going to have it for Freshers’ Fortnight so we planned all our events externally, without the union but then we were told it was going to be delayed again. It would have been ideal if

Plans for the new-look Griffin Image courtesy of Queen Mary Students’ Union

it had closed after Easter half term because that’s exam time and no one is too keen on socialising at that time” The closure represents a challenge for BLSA which will be obliged to function without a headquarters. The offices usually locat-

ed at The Griffin building will be moving to the Innovation Centre on the Whitechapel campus, which will make it impossible for students to just drop in and speak to their President since access to that building has to be agreed in advance.

Students will be granted access to the Senior Common Room in Whitechapel, usually a space for University staff, and The Common Room in the Garrod Building; here students will be able to socialise and ‘hang out’ until the Griffin reopens in early March. Union nights

will relocate to external sites like the Aquarium Club, in Old Street and the other Union-own venues like Drapers and the Shield. ‘Tables’, the Wednesday night event for Sports and Societies, will be hosted at the New Globe.

“I don’t think it will affect the community” George Ryan tells QMessenger, “Barts is Barts and people follow where everyone else goes, but [not having The Griffin] will be a pain”.

When asked about the possibility of possiblity of postponing the reburbishment plans further Ryan replied “I think a delay like that wouldn’t benefit anyone. For the long term it needs to happen. We had some big problems at freshers fortnight the pumps not working and things like that because the whole system behind the bar is so ancient and it doesnt give a good impression to freshers so this needs to happen”.

Even though Friday the 11th of November was the last day the Griffin was open, students on the Whitechapel campus said their goodbyes to the old bar by celebrating with a party on the Saturday night.

Lecturer says changes could ruin EU system

European Parliament building, Strasbourg Image by Rama (via Wikimedia Commons)

Max Burman A Queen Mary lecturer has told QMessenger that allowing member Parliaments greater say over EU decisions “would risk making the whole legislative system unworkable”.

Speaking amid renewed calls from Eurosceptics for a renegotiation of the UK’s position in Europe, Christopher Brown, EU lawyer and lecturer on Queen Mary’s LLM course, claimed this was not immediately possible.

“Some people will undoubtedly

say that national parliaments need even more say in the EU lawmaking process, but that would risk making the whole legislative system unworkable, as well as negating the role of the European Parliament, which is elected as the voice of the people on the European stage”.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg drew fire for his statement that some of his coalition partners were planning a ‘smash and grab raid’ on Europe. Asked if such a move to repatriate powers was legally possible, Mr. Brown was unequivocal.

“In a word, no. If ‘smash and grab’ is what they want, then they are not familiar with EU law: any reduction in the competences of the EU institutions requires a Treaty change, and that would require all 27 Member States to agree”.

Much of the debate surrounding the UK’s position in Europe revolves around two issues; its practical and moral justification. On both, Mr. Brown was very clear in his view.

First, he refuted claims the EU was a burden on the UK economy, with business regulations and ‘red tape’ notably receiving criticism.

“My own view is that the UK’s membership has brought it a lot of economic benefit. Of course there is room for improvement in some laws, but I certainly don’t think that calls for a radical change in our relationship with other EU Member States.”

He also rejected the argument that the EU was morally wrong as it impinged on the sovereignty of Parliament, a long-held political tradition.

“The decision to enter the EU (or the EEC, as it then was), was a decision taken by Parliament. It knew what it was signing up to.

And Westminster could in principle undo that decision at any time. It has not lost any of its power in this respect”.

As the Eurozone crisis continues to rage, another Queen Mary lecturer was less positive.

Writing in the Independent, the paper’s chief political commentator, an QMUL associate lecturer, John Rentoul warned “if the eurozone holds together, it would mean putting the UK and another 9 EU members into a 2 tier Europe which would resemble the Free Trade Association of the early days. If that happens, Britain staying in the EU becomes much harder to defend”.

In A Nutshell...

The European Deabte • The EU has power to legislate over areas from fisheries, to agriculture, to health and safety.

• One of the most contested laws is ‘The Working Time Directive’, which sets limits on the standard working week.

• Opposition to such laws can usually be divided into 2 categories; moral and practical • Some claim EU laws hinder competition and add red tape, others object on ideological grounds that such powers diminish British sovereignty • Proponents of the union argue it’s essential economically and in order to maintain British influence in a changing world • The Conservative Party, has long been divided over the issue of European integration • After a public petition led to a vote on the possibility of an ‘in/ out’ referendum in parliament, David Cameron suffered his largest rebellion • Many Conservative MPs feel strongly about repatriating some powers from Europe but opponents claim now is not the time and that such a move may not even be impossible

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QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

News Student Council Special

QMSU puts weight behind campaign for student Alex Penn Ahead of the mayoral election in May, Queen Mary Students’ Union (QMSU) has joined universities across London to launch a campaign pushing for student issues to be noticed by the candidates.

Aiming to “improve the student experience”, campaign leaders hope to influence the candidates’ manifestos and motivate students to vote.

Teaming up with other students’ unions, Dom Bell, Vice President of

Student Activities, has helped pen a manifesto that’s set to be finalised by the campaign group this Friday.

With the proposals fixed, Bell plans to organise a launch event on campus next semester, calling for QM students to get involved.

“Semester 2 will be the launch pad. We want to get politicians to put student issues on their manifestos and get students to vote” he said.

The campaign, so far being led by LSE and University of the Arts, has shaped an “overarching” London plan and manifesto. The London

manifesto cites various issues students face in the capital, such as pricey transport fares, unpaid internships and discriminatory treatment from the police. The campaign will look to bring such issues to the “forefront” of the media.

“One in ten Londoners are students, it’s about getting loud, getting on peoples’ minds and getting politicians to respond” Bell added.

To achieve this goal, campaign leaders have stressed the importance of student

participation.

“The success of this campaign will lie with our students and we need to give them involvement and a say in the manifesto and direction of this campaign. It’ll be students who are the ones engaging in the bulk of a lot of the campaigning work and lobbying, and we need to ensure that on each campus there is a group of engaged and active students to properly deliver this” says a letter addressed to London’s Student Unions.

At this stage, the QMSU Student Council, just like the other student

unions in the capital, are faced with the responsibility of “building momentum on campuses; through meetings, councils, UGMs etc.,” stressed Bell.

To bring in motivated QM students, Dom Bell suggested the formation of a working group in Queen Mary in order to feedback to the main working group.

He also intends to invite local Greater London Authority (GLA) candidates to campus, raise manifesto topics to the QM student body and invite them to the ULU Question Time.

Student Council work through packed agenda with heated debate over some of the motions inherited from last month’s UGM.

Student Council rejects two pro-Palestine motions Alex Badrick Two motions originally presented at Union General Meeting last month, Justice for Palestine and Boycott Israeli Goods, motions failed to gain the Council’s approval at its recent meeting.

Following a lively debate, both motions were defeated by a significant majority. A high number of councillors abstained from the vote.

The first motion, proposed by William Sedden, a representative from the Mile End Palestine Solidarity Society, suggested Queen Mary

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Student’s Union (QMSU) opposes “the illegal occupation in Palestine” and supports the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” with a statement on their website.

The motion states: “David Cameron [has said] the “people in Gaza are living under constant attacks”, that the Foreign Office says that Israel’s ongoing settlement expansions are “not only illegal under international law” but also “a major barrier to out pursuit of a lasting peace agreement in the middle east”, that “international law should be fully applied” and “all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism and

Islamaphobia are unacceptable”.

Speaking against the motion, Business Management student Alex Schpecktor said that Student Unions are environments where all views and opinions should be tolerated and respected, the motion could “intimiate”, “disrespect” and “alienate” members of the University community, and that the motion provided a “skewed” account of the conflict.

Defending the motion, Mile End Womens Officer Wanda Canton spoke about the “impact” it could have on pressuring the NUS National Executive Council to “take action”.

“Student Unions - Canton told

QMessenger- should not shy away from difficult or controversial topics and should recognise the importance of key international conflicts, and their role in them” The first motion was defeated by 10 votes to four, with 16 abstaining.

Wanda Canton proposed the second motion, which called for QMSU to Israeli goods and companies which “profit from the violation of Palestinians’ human rights”, stating: “[the occupation] will only end when their cost for Israel outweighs the benefits”, that the University of London Union (ULU) “voted in May 2011 to support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel” and that “an

international boycott campaign was instrumental in bringing about an end to Apartheid in South Africa.”

Medical Student Gabriel Doctor disagreed, arguing that Student Unions should not boycott goods, instead they should allow students to make their own choices, and criticized the motion for being vague, and not mentioning any particular goods or services. Maths student Kacper Pancewicz agreed, speaking against the motion, he argued that the conflict was very complex, and something QMSU should avoid taking a stance on.

This motion was defeated by 13 votes to four, with 13 abstensions.

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QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

News

issues in Mayoral election Alongside empowering students and giving them a say on the manifesto topics, the campaign also looks to facilitate student voting and combat political apathy Bell conducted an informal test around campus, questioning the students on their voting habits, and whether they intend to vote in the mayoral election.

He said: “While the majority said they intend to vote, intention and action are not the same thing”. To push students to act on their vote, the VPSA is set to work with the university to make those living

in Queen Mary accommodation become automatically registered onto the electoral roll. He also aims to negotiate with the local council to have a polling station set up on campus on election day. For the last elections, polling stations were based in local community centres and primary schools. While this works for most local residents, students who are based on campus often don’t venture far enough to find their polling stations. A polling station on campus would increase the number of students voting as well as integrating the campus

more with the local community.

All of this will be publicised with an on-campus marketing campaign, hoping to motivate the student body to vote and take note of student issues raised in the manifesto.

While the campaign has only been planned, Bell insists action is imminent. “We’ve scoped out a plan, there’s been no action yet, but there will be,” he said.

Want to get involved with the campaign?

Email Dom on vpactivities@qmsu.org for further information.

Mayoral facts •In the last Mayoral election in 2008, Boris Johnson won by over 100,000 first and second preference votes, in a record turnout of 45% •Ken Livingstone won near all of the East London constituencies, bar Havering and Redbridge •The winner of the

2012 election will be waving the flag at the 2012 opening Olympic ceremony •Ken Livingston has recently launched his ‘Fare Ride’ campaign, to lower fares on public transport in London • Crime has fallen by almost 9% during Boris Johnson’s campaign according to the Back Boris 2012 website.

Images by Sam Creighton and Keeren Flora

Barts reject VPSA's survey on student representation Matthew TK Taylor The QMSU General Meeting has come under fire after a survey presented at Student Council appeared to show that many students did not agree with the changes proposed.

Dominic Bell, VP Student Activities, opened the meeting with a presentation entitled G.O.A.T. (go out and talk), which matched questions debated and passed at UGM with student responses gathered over the past weeks by Mile End officers. The survey was conducted under the proposition

that the UGM was unfairly balanced, with 69% of students attending coming from Barts; motions were allegedly rushed and students attending the UGM were supposedly ill-informed of the issues at hand.

“I don’t think the fact that the UGM is constitutionally bound gives it any more credence”, said Bell in an interview, “[GOAT had] a moral in the fact that you can practice different methods of consultation and achieve different results” The survey took the format of two yes-no questions, asked across Mile End and Whitechapel campus for over a week by student

representatives. Participants were given information surrounding both sides of the argument and were asked to make an informed decision. Students were asked if they believed Barts and the London should be permitted an equal number of representatives on student council, due to heavy participation in student issues and lengthy study time, despite having proportionally less students based there. They were also asked if they believed certain representational roles required multiple officers for each campus. Barts students were then required to give the roles they did not believe could be represented

adequately by a single officer.

The survey was criticised for being presented as statistics to support an argument that the methodology of ‘GOAT’ was more “proactive” for students, and that it contained a “better spread” of participants.

Some councillors queried Bell over the validity of the survey, given that it was carried out under circumstances that may influence the participant: a psychological phenomenon called response bias.

An anonymous BL student explained this to QMessenger: “The survey is neither statistically significant, nor carried out appropriately. [The sample] is an

even smaller number of students than attended GCM, and were the ones willing to talk to these three people, of which many are likely to know and potentially share views with.”

Ozzy Amir, campaigns officer, who carried out some of the survey, commented: “I went out I literally asked anyone and everyone who was willing to answer rather than targeting a specific demographic.”, he continued, “I quickly became aware of how flawed the survey was, the majority had never heard of a student council before, let alone knew enough to comment on a major restructuring of it.”

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QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

News

Protests pass peacefully

Arrests, occupations and bonfires from November 9th Images by: Bethia Stone, Kaamil Ahmed, Michael Brown, Caz Parra, Matthew Taylor.

Kaamil Ahmed Alex Badrick Aamna Mohdin Fears that last week’s anti-cuts protests would end in violence proved to be unfounded after the day ended peacefully with only a handful of arrests being made.

Students and construction workers from around the country, as well as cab drivers, protested on the same day in different parts of the capital ahead of a planned day of mass action by unions at the end of the month.

In the build up to the 9th November protests, the Metropolitan Police had made it clear that baton rounds (plastic bullets) would be available for them to use if the student protest became violent in the way that previous demonstrations had.

Despite the presence of a fringe group of protesters dressed in black and wearing masks and face coverings, who threatened “a sea of anger” earlier in the day, the march was generally peaceful. The so-called

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Black Bloc were involved in a hand- appointed QM activists. ists Worker Party and an active anti- The electricians held three proful of scuffles with police through- Ciara Squires, a QM student rep cuts campaigner at Queen Mary was tests during the day, the first startout the day, attacking them with flag said: “There were 130 students from positive about the march. ing at 7am, organised independentpoles, bottles and pieces of wood.

Edinburgh who turned up today “I think the government are los- ly by the rank and file workers rathMidway through the march, a group and QM, which is around the cor- ing a serious political argument er than the UNITE union. They then of protesters broke away and set ner, had less than 20. It’s a disgrace.” here and are very scared because moved on to the second part of the up around 30 tents in Trafalgar The students that were there were of it,” said Speer, who had attend- protest, organised by the union, Square in an attempt to occupy the vocal, marching - and many of them ed a protest by electricians earlier outside the construction site of the square, though the encampment dancing - alongside sound systems in the day. “When students have Shard near London Bridge. was cleared out within hours. that followed the protest the whole marched past construction sites, During the rally outside the Shard, Witnesses to the occupation were way. we’ve seen construction workers some of the speakers expressed solsurprised by the sudden outburst “It’s important everyone, especially cheering them on. The problem idarity with the students: from the protest and one man ex- the government, knows that we are there for the government is they’ve “They stood against the coppers pressed his anger: “It’s not gonna not going to lie down and let them always appealed to this white work- when the coppers tried to push us last five minutes here. Let’s hope it walk all over us,” said Chaza Bates, ing class sentiment of which con- off.” snows, freezing weather. Bring it on a student at the Central School of struction workers are of which con- The electricians were protesting mate, we’ll see how strong you are.” Speech & Drama, “We didn’t cause struction workers are the most vis- against proposed 35% wage cuts by “We want the government to see the the economic crisis, so why should ible element. They’ve always ap- the construction company Balfour problems that young people and we be paying for it?” pealed against middle-class, sup- Beatty and were upset by the lack of students have,” said one of the oc- Jess Monroe from the University of posedly privileged students and union action. cupiers, “we’re hoping that every- Cambridge said: “I do a lot of access tried to divide and rule them.”

One electrician, who did not want to one over there [on the march] will work for the university. I speak to At roughly 3pm there was a tense be named said: come back here afterwards.” a lot of kids that don’t come from standoff between police and pro- “The Union wouldn’t back us at first.

The generally good-spirited march standard university backgrounds. testers on Fleet Street, with many of So we had to start on our own. For from the University of London They were struggling before the the Black Bloc gathering at the front, three months we’ve been doing this Union to London Metropolitan Uni- changes were announced and by as the police - with mounted officers and then UNITE came on properly. versity in Moorgate was attended by raising tuition fees, things are only behind them - blocked off the route This is the second one today. This approximately five thousand stu- being made worse. I need to stand towards Blackfriars bridge, where is UNITE’s. At 7am, we had the one dents though only 20 from Queen up for these kids.” striking electricians had gathered with the rank and file who started Mary attended, a number that dis- Ross Speer, a member of the Social- for their own protests. this.”

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QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Comment

The Great Debate Should the UK leave the European Union?

Stay Angry and Fight On In the words of our fair president, “Wow guys! How much fun was #Nov9?” The answer most of you will be saying (if you’re being truthful) is “I’ve no idea, because I wasn’t there.” That’s a huge shame.

Only a year ago, Queen Mary saw a contingent of several hundred leave our campus to take part in 10.11.10. While this year’s demonstration was more palatable in the sense that all fire extinguishers reamined firmly attached to the wall, the number of people out on the streetsmust brand it as a relative failure.

Where has the anger gone? University funding is still devestated, fees are still tripling and yet those who turned out to make their anger heard last year decided to stay home this time around. It seems odd, defeat only sets in once it’s admitted. It would be a sad day if students stopped believing in their ability to live in the world as it should be, to show it what it can be. We urge you, stay angry. But, you know, in a peaceful way.

Who wants to be London Mayor?

London Students’ Unions are deadly serious. It’s about time students issues make it onto politicians’ manifestos in a real way.

Those aspiring to the position of London Mayor will be lobbied by our lovely Sabbatical Officers, who are currently putting together a London Student Manifesto.

The document will outline our needs and wants with regards to issues that affect us in four specific areas: transport, employment, housing, and crime.

But all efforts will go to waste unless we realise the power of our own vote. The reason students’ issues don’t make it onto politicians’ agendas our Sabbs tell us, is because students don’t seem to get on with polling stations. Voting rates are low even in student elections.

We need to, therefore, wake up and put our weight behind the campaign by registering to vote.

The more students names crowding the electoral register, the better bargaining position our Officers are in when pressuring BoJo, Red Ken et al to take heed of our voices.

Cartoon by Maria D’Amico

Yes

Katrine Knudsen As we are currently witnessing the devastating Eurozone crisis, many speculate over whether the Euro will crash completely. However, in the UK, people are now speculating more than ever whether we should leave the EU. The UK joined the EU in 1973, while the EU was continuously spreading and improving, but now, the EU is experiencing a major economic setback which is negatively affecting the UK and other member states.

Ever since the UK joined the EU, we have been paying a much higher proportion into the budget than we have been receiving.

Therefore, at every budget negotiations, we have to fight for the compensation we were promised having invested a lot of money in the EU. In 2010 alone, our contribution to the budget increased by 74 % totalling 9.2 billion. This is the fourth highest level of contribution to the EU and it is increasing every year.

Then we have to ask, if the UK did not have to pour money into the EU and receive much less, would the UK have to cut public spending to universities and the NHS? Our economy is becoming more fragile than ever and therefore it is more important to focus this funding at the national level to improve conditions for the people living in the UK, or at least ensure that the conditions for the citizens here do not deteriorate. If we continue to carry the weight of the financially poor member states of the EU, then our economy faces a greater chance of collapsing completely.

We are also a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) and

if we were to leave the EU, this would ensure that we still had free movement of goods, capital, services and people throughout the EU. We would therefore still be able to trade with the EU without being regulated by the EU. This is the case of Norway and Switzerland, two countries with some of the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Both of these countries export more to the EU than we do, and also it is important to highlight that we import more from the EU than we are exporting. Therefore, we may be losing out on international trade markets that could be cheaper for us.

As the EU negotiates all of the trade agreements for the whole of the EU, we are not capable of trading on the international level which would be more beneficial for our economy.

For example, if we left the EU, we would once again have control over our waters in the North Sea and be able to export to the entire world, instead of it being controlled by the EU under the Common Fisheries Policy.

A survey from Autumn 2010 showed that 65 % of the UK did not think that the EU had benefited them.

If we left the EU, we would be able to focus our energy on what is best for the UK and how to best rebuild our economy. In this time of financial crisis, it is important to act selfishly in order to ensure the safety and welfare of our citizens.

If we continue our increased involvement in the EU, we might eventually find ourselves on a ship that is sinking with worsened financial problems difficult to recover from.

Katrine Knudsen is a third year International Relations student and plays for the Women’s Football Club.

No Ruth Irwin In a word, no. I hate to break it to all those deluded Tories out there, but the British Empire is no more.

We are no longer a major industrial world power, and simply cannot afford to lose the economic and political benefits of EU membership. Yes it’s very annoying that we have to help bail out Greece and Italy, and yes the bureaucracy in Brussels can be stifling, but the Belgians haven’t got anything else to do, so let them have their fun. If they want to waste their grey-suited existences nuancing fishery laws, let them.

The Nigel Farages and Bill Cashes of this world, apart from being generally stary-eyed and crazy, are talking bollocks when they claim that we are ‘losing our sovereignty’ to the EU. We still have an army. We still have the pound. We still have separate domestic and foreign policy. If we do not want it to, none of that need change.

Even David Cameron accepts this, which is why he’s tried so hard for so long to stop his party debating Europe. It’s an issue which may still prove to be his downfall. He knows we can’t afford to leave, but he also knows a dangerous minority of Tories will grab any opportunity to wave a union jack and preach that ‘we’d be better on our own’. Over 40 % of British exports each year go to EU countries.

Over 40 %. If we left the EU, trade restrictions would significantly reduce this revenue. Our second most important trade deal is with the USA, supposedly our closest ally and partner in the ‘special relationship’. Despite this diplomatic closeness, they take

only 14% of our exports. Right now, when both our domestic and the world economies teeter again on the brink of recession, such a move would be disastrous; more unemployment, more riots, more misery. The EU is a financial necessity.

Membership gives us greater power internationally, too. In 2003, Dick Cheney (then George Bush’s VP) said he ‘wished Europe had one phone number’; the ambiguity of ‘European’ foreign policy allows us lots more room for manoeuvre than we would have alone.

We’re close to the Americans.

The Germans are close to the Russians. And the French irritate everyone. This means that the Russians can’t be too rude to us, the Americans can be too rude to the Germans and the French give us and the Germans an excuse not to do what our allies want us to do, because we can’t risk irritating Sarko too much, can we... you get the idea.

The fact that we’re independent but still have to clear things with the rest of Europe is actually a great advantage. It provides unprecedented diplomatic wriggle room. If Tony Blair hadn’t been such a power-hungry moron it may have allowed us to escape the Iraq war. It certainly means that after that catastrophe we can refuse to enter any future conflict on the grounds that the French and Germans won’t let us.

Without the EU, we have two choices. 1) To be a powerless and vulnerable irrelevancy.

2) To be the USA’s pet bumlicker forever.

From those three options, I’d pick ‘EU’ each and every time.

Ruth Irwin is a first year English and History student and a member of the Amnesty Internationl Society.

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8

QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Comment

The recession has sparked a new breed of inventive graduates

In 2005, Wiltshire student Alex Tew created the Million Dollar Homepage, which later achieved its target profit of $1million. Image by Richard Moross (via Flickr CC)

Vanessa Meade As graduate unemployment hits a 15 year high, young people are becoming known as the ‘The Bad Luck Generation’. Job competition is higher than ever - recent figures estimate that there are nearly 70 graduates vying for every available position. Unable to find employment in their preferred career, graduates are being forced to turn to low paid, unpromising jobs whilst they look for something more appealing. Trying to get a foot (or even a toe) in the door of your chosen career is becoming near to impossible for new graduates.

In this economic climate finding employment is no longer based on displaying a plethora of skills. Instead it has become a show of organisation. In such a competitive atmosphere graduates are forced to begin planning their first year after university before their dissertation proposal. For all those third years out there deadlines for some of the best graduate schemes have come and gone, and most of us haven’t even realised. Those unaware of these expectations already lack the vital head start so essential during an economic downturn.

Even if you can boast of superior

organisational skills, and completed your numerous applications for jobs and graduate schemes months ago, the likelihood of you standing out without having already involved yourself in some sort of work experience is extremely slim.

One recent graduate in the press, Ed Iles who graduated from Essex University with a 2:1 in plant science, admitted that what he lacked was experience. He found that employers were turning him down for being unable to display any evidence of previous dedication to the field. Preparation for future employment is now a process that can begin sooner than your degree.

are “ Graduates convinced they won’t achieve their goals.

”

Unfortunately graduates possessing relevant experience are still finding their chances of obtaining dream jobs pretty grim. In response many are deciding to stay in education. Orange revealed that in a survey of 1,000 students 35 % of the class of 2011 were bypassing employment altogether and choosing to study a Masters instead. But how

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useful is this further education?

Sonja Stockton, a graduate employer from Pricewaterhouse Coopers warns graduates that further study does not necessarily give you any extra credit with potential employers. She comments that “further post graduate education isn’t necessarily more valuable in the eyes of employers” adding, “graduates should reassess their long term career goals and take action to match their experience to employers’ requirements”.

Pursuing further education is not the only way students are avoiding spiralling employment issues. All over the world young people are opting out of the labour market, preferring instead to live with their family. Sara Elder from the International Labour Organisation has even gone so far to say that “a lot of young people are simply giving up and they are saying ‘enough is enough, what is the point of looking if there’s nothing out there?’”. This defeatist attitude has penetrated our generation; graduates have become convinced that they will never achieve their goals and many, cynical of their chances, have stopped trying altogether.

For those however who are not falling victim to this pessimistic pondering, times have never been

better. The competitive job market is forcing graduates to find innovative and interesting business ideas to put them ahead of the crowd.

These young people are the proof that the ‘Bad Luck Generation’ can shake off the media’s negativity and start creating their own luck. The recent success story of Cambridge graduates Ed Moyse and Ross Harper is testimony that

“Young entrepreneneurs prove competition shoudn’t inspire negativity.

”

to eventually settle in a career that they never really wanted.”

The pair are not the only young graduates to have beat the system.

In 2005 Alex Tew a student from Wiltshire started the phenomenon of the Million Dollar homepage. This website, created in Tew’s own home consisted of a 1000 by 1000 pixel grid which linked each one to an advertising slogan. With each pixel selling for $1, Tew was able to create a successful business fairly quickly. It was so popular that when the final batch of 1000 pixels were put on Ebay, they sold for over $38,000.

These young entrepreneurs are proof that competition should not immediately inspire negativity, but should push us harder to achieve what we want. Although the media may be portraying graduates’ chances as almost non-existent, this does not mean that finding your dream job is impossible. So, don’t be put off by the gloomy reports of graduate unemployment, we are not doomed to the dole. Young people are constantly evolving and adapting to the economic climate and we are more than capable of making our future bright.

young people can beat the economic downturn. By painting a different company logo on their faces every day for the next year, the pair are estimated to earn a fortune. The results are already impressive, after just 10 days of their business plan Moyse and Harper had earned almost £3,500. Commenting on their success Moyse said “It’s something a bit different at a time when students feel let down by the education system and the hostile job climate.

We’ve seen so many students un- Vanessa Meade is a third year Hissuccessfully applying for jobs, only tory student.

9

QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Comment The Tories and Labour are one and the same in this financial crisis Ryan Henson writes in Qmessenger Issue 44 that there are “much needed cuts to government spending” and complains that “trade unions will march on London” to reverse this. The way he arrives at this viewpoint is through a set of distortions, falsehoods and misunderstandings. The first thing to mention is that I am no supporter of the Labour Party and we must be careful not to see them as an alternative to the Tories, they too support cuts not all that different from those currently being put through.

Henson attacks the Labour Par-

ty for overspending “for thirteen years”. The idea of “overspending” is at least arbitrary, and put in to context rather silly. The La-

banker or“ No dered the Labour

Party to overspend for thirteen years

“

Ross Speer

bour Party spent on average 1 % higher than the Thatcher government as a proportion of GDP. This didn’t change significantly until 2007 when the deficit shot up as a result of the bank bailout (which

Where is your backbone, St. Pauls?

It is not because I am opposed to protests that I want to see the Occupy movement turfed off the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Although I vibrate to the ritual and aesthetic aspects of Christianity I am an atheist, so this isn’t about religion for me either. This is about the right to private property. Since ‘the other 99 %’ as they are ludicrously calling themselves set up camp outside the church it has lost 50 % of its usual takings.

It is about time that St. Paul’s realised that their Christian charity is being exploited.

It is quite clear that the protesters, in failing to occupy the stock exchange as they hoped, decided to go somewhere where they would be able to attract as much publicity as they could for as long as possible. Despite the cathedral having nothing to do with the financial crisis it must have seemed in every other sense the ideal location: high profile and run by the kind of saps whose mantra is forgiveness and tolerance.

While I understand the church’s dilemma, they have every legal right to preserve their own financial stability and have the protesters removed. The fact that it has taken this long for them to even get round to discussing it, was a terrific demonstration of how those who turn the other cheek are likely to get smacked twice when the building had to close, for the first time since the Blitz, due to health and safety concerns.

They have been startlingly generous in allowing things to con-

Party to keep its spending low, and furthermore led to a collapse of the financial system which has translated in to a generalised crisis of the real economy. The on-going crisis of capitalism that began in 2007, a crisis of a system unflinchingly supported by both Tories and Labour, has been much more influential on expanding the deficit than “overspending” during the boom period ever could be.

In reality governments cannot be considered in isolation from the economic system; the blame here falls on both bankers and politicians of all major parties. However, overall it is the drive of capitalism to increase profits at what-

ever cost that has left us with a “deficit problem”. Government policy is shaped by this systemic imperative, not the other way around. Crisis is an inevitability under capitalism, the solution of both Tories and Labour is to pass the cost of solving it on to ordinary people. The current crisis is ultimately global in its scope. To therefore reduce its causes to the ‘blame Labour’ rhetoric spouted

by Cameron and his attack dogs is overly simplistic to the point of stupidity.

Ross Speer is a third year History and Politics student and a member of the SWP.

City fat cats getting pay rises? That's none of my business!

tinue as they have, while the proWill Seddon testers have offered nothing in return apart from disruption and litter. And what for? A protest based News has emerged that will no around the tired old maxim of the doubt infuriate the protestors of tired old left: ‘Capitalism is crisis!’ St Pauls, incense the Trade Unions It is not just tedious it is factu- and exasperate the Conservative ally incorrect. Had the protesters party. Yes it’s that old chestnut – bothered to look at the facts, they executive pay. would have seen that it was not un- At a time when households across bridled capitalism that led to the the country are either feeling the banking crisis but stringent gov- pinch or facing the worst fall in ernment regulation, that encour- living standards in a generation, aged banks to give too much lever- depending on who you vote for, age and removed any risk of bank- some chief executives have had ruptcy. pay increases of 46 %, while the The financial crisis is a differ- average worker has seen a below ent issue all together: it was not inflation pay rise of just 2.6 %. Am caused by the bailout of the banks I angry? Not really, no. (though it was exacerbated a litOwners and controllers of tle by it). It was caused by the UK companies are entitled to pay government borrowing recklessly themselves as much as they wish. since 1997, mercilessly stripping This is because the business is the market of its freedoms and tax- their property and they enjoy the same rights over their property as us the rest of us do over ours. The important thing to remember is that it is ‘their’ company. It is not the company of the government or their employees or the public.

Robert Diamond, Chief Executive of Barclays Bank, is among those It’s their property. And thus any under fire for large salary and bonuses. Image by Sebastien Derungs (via Flickr CC) attempt to control how they treat ing labour punitively. their property is unethical and company but the workers. So I should point out that these So the protest is in a misguided unfair. shouldn’t workers decide what is executive pay increases are location, is driven by misguided You would say the same to me done with the profits as they, the frankly idiotic. It is in the long ideas, and has been permitted to if suddenly I started insisting that ones who produce those profits, term interest of the company carry on far too long by misguid- you could only have one of those essentially own them? The answer (not to mention the country) to ed clerics who have allowed their hypothetical brownies you baked is no and the reason is wages. re-invest, to use profits to expand generosity to be taken for granted. for yourself. You would ask ‘what Wages are given to an employee and take on more staff. However Well done, Occupy! Now go away; gives you the right to decide what in return for said employee giving to these bosses economic growth even Jesus would have socked you I do with this delicious chocolaty up any right over what happens to and higher employment will by now. snack when I’m the one who made their produce, to whom it is sold never be good enough reasons. it?’ and (importantly for this article) They will just be another bonus Now many I believe would be what is done with the profits. (pun intended).

Robert Hainault is a second year happy to point out the flaw in my However, though none of us English Literature student and a argument. It is not the executives have the right to be angry over Will Seddon is a first year History member of the QMUL Liberty who produce the output of the the increases in executive pay, and Politics student.

League.

who turn “ Those the other cheek are likely to get smacked twice

“

Robert Hainault

the Tories supported). “No banker ordered the Labour Party to overspend for thirteen years” as Henson says, but the banks did force the Labour Party to spend huge sums bailing them out. Henson says that Ed Miliband would have us “carry on spending”, and yet the Labour Party supports cuts to the extent of around 80 % those of the Tories.

Henson says the Labour party was engaged in “ideological overspending” and that trade unions are “regurgitating the same old reactionary rhetoric”. And yet the case for cuts, as with Henson’s article, is built on the same neoliberal ideology that led the Labour

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10

QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Comment There's lots of exciting things happening in QMSU over the coming weeks Sophie Richardson President

I hope you all had an enjoyable reading week/successful exam period last week and are feeling ready for these next few weeks on the run-up to the next holiday. It’s going to be a busy period for us all but there are some dates for your diaries below that I hope as many of you as possible will be able to come along to.

On the 23rd November we

have our next Student Council meeting. For all our Postgraduate students, the date for your diaries is 5th December.

We will be holding a follow-up event from the successful evening in Welcome Week.

Finally for this week I’d like to ask you all to give a warm welcome to the medics and dentists who will be joining you more often in Drap-

ers over the next few months while the GriffInn is closed for refurbishment.

For more information on all these events please check out the website www.qmsu.org or email me president@qmsu. org T’rah for now, Sophie

Take the time to think back George Ryan BLSA President

I would like everyone to use the minute they would normally have spent reading the rest of this column, thinking of all the wonderful times they will be missing out on now that the GriffInn has closed for refurbishment.

Dom Dares is going to run the iron man challenge, so you all better watch out!

Dom Bell VP Student Activities

I’m writing about something less work-oriented this week because it’s important to have a life and working in the Union can really take up your life. And so the moral of this short story is that working full-time means you do have to think about everything, even your time off, in relation to work.

I want to run an Iron Man. Preferably not in the UK because that wouldn’t be so much fun

(not to say that doing an Iron Man is fun - it’s a 3.86km swim, 180.25km cycle, and a 42.195km run. Ow!), but I’ve never run further than 10km at any one time before in my life. I’m meant to be sporty but that was over a year ago. I used to row – a lot – sometimes three or four hours a day. I worked as an instructor in Qmotion for a few months.

Before that I was a swimmer at

school. But whether or not you’re work. Getting a membership a qualified instructor or whether to Qmotion as a staff member you have the latest smart phone hasn’t actually made me maintain app that tracks your training I some level of fitness. But most can tell you trying to keep fit and importantly it’s the mind games being a sabb isn’t easy. It’s not and concentration power that called the ‘Sabb Flab’ for nothing. zaps you by 5pm and sends you In the last year I’ve put on up to trundling back home instead of 5kgs and lost a lot of tone not to the gym. Anyway, look out for the mention endurance. Sitting down ‘Dom Dares’ marathon and Iron at my desk I can feel my heart Man fundraisers over the coming racing from simply walking into months.

It's bad policy based on flawed principles, creating a host of new problems Oscar Williamson VP Education & Welfare

I’m off to an anti-cuts march tomorrow. I’m keen not to get kettled or shot with plastic bullets but I have a hunch that it won’t really be up to me.

The governments’ higher education policy did not appear in any party’s manifesto. The changes are opposed by hundreds of academics and, publically or privately, the majority of universi-

ties and colleges. The only support within the sector is from providers like BPP and Pearson – private firms with a strategic interest in weakening their public competitors.

The policy is riddled with inconsistencies, contradictions, and omissions. The bill impacts our society, our jobs market, our economy, in a host of unexpect-

ed an undesirable ways. Many of these negative effects are predictable – and the government’s apparent surprise when they manifest demonstrates a shocking failure to properly consider the impact of the policy. And there are other effects that we haven’t yet seen – like the impact on students from disadvantaged backgrounds,

This cause should be close to the heart of all students. It is not a question of party politics or of left wing vs right wing – it is an outrageous, undemocratic move that will change UK higher education for the worst. It is bad policy, based on flawed principles, which will create a host of new problems in higher education – some we know about, and many we don’t.

Cooperation is something sorely sort after, why would we throw ours away?

Sam Creighton VP Communications

I was going to write this column on the march against fees and cuts, it’s something I feel quite strongly about (and considering I’m on work experience again so not in the office it’s something work related that I know about) and being the Sabbatical lead on the campaign it seems appropriate.

However, safe in the assumption that probably all four col-

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umns about me are about #Nov9 I have something else in mind. It’s been suggested, so far only fleetingly, that the media we have at Queen Mary be split up into separate societies. Even I was taken aback but just how much this suggestion infuriated me.

It seems to go against everything that hundreds of us have worked so hard for over the past five years. We have built this net-

work from the ground up, to the point where I will happily and confidently claim that we are one of the best in the country. However, this success is, in no small part, attributable to the cooperation, coordination and communication engendered by the fact that we are all part of a cohesive grouping. To shoe horn us into separate silos is to effectively kill what I am most proud of being part of.

In the modern world of media you need to be able to understand and to work with multiple platforms. To take this away from us is to damage the employability that working in student media provides.

Most students media outlets strive to achieve cooperation with their brother and sister organisations. Why would we throw away the fact that we already have it?

Advertorial

An enterprising opportunity for all QMUL students

The Graduate Attributes Project and QMessenger have joined together to bring you a series of articles to ensure students make the most of the opportunities at Queen Mary (QM) to sharpen your skills. Here we take a look at Global Entrepreneurship Week and how you can get involved on campus.

Global Entrepreneurship Week, hosted by Youth Business International has been growing every year since its UK launch in 2004. This year 14-20 November involves over 100 countries, 40,000 events and 10 million participants worldwide.

New business, entrepreneurship and, in particular, youth enterprise are ever relevant in an increasingly competitive job market and a challenging economic environment.

Youth enterprise has been a hot topic for a while. Back in September 2010, Mark Fisk MP, Minister of State for Business & Enterprise said: “I want today’s generation of young people coming out of education with the confidence and capability to start and run their own business.’

This week aims to provide a platform for events, discussions and schemes based around the theme of enterprise.

Queen Mary joins in the conversation to bring students opportunities to get involved. Dr Graham Thomas, Head of Skills and Employability at Queen Mary says that it is a chance to give shape to ideas; ‘students are brimming with

enterprising and creative ideas.

The problem is that sometimes they don’t know how to harness that creativity, or don’t have the opportunity to put their creativity into practice.’

Global Entrepreneurship Week has brought an exciting range of activities both on and off campus.

Throughout the year The Learning Institute offers various services that aim to support student entrepreneurs, from advice, expert guidance and one-to-one business coaching to opportunities for financial awards and funding programmes.

During Global Entrepreneurship Week the Institute will be presenting a special programme of skills workshops to get students thinking and forming their ideas. The schedule of free workshops includes ‘The Journey of an Idea’, a ‘Dragons’ Den’-style activity that will see teams forming, writing and pitching a completely new business idea in a single day! Others include workshops about essential enterprise and employability skills and advice on writing a business plan. The Student Entrepreneurship Fund (SEF) is a prize of up to £1500 and offers recipients the financial backing they need to get an idea off the ground.

As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, The Learning Institute will be announcing their newest round of prize funds and launching applications for the latest budding entrepreneurs. For more, contact Kevin Byron (k.c.byron@qmul. ac.uk).

SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) are a global, non-profit organisation, working to provide students with opportunities to run and take part in projects that will benefit the local community. SIFE helps members through training in project management and other key skills to ensure the projects have a positive social, economic and environmental benefit to the community. QM SIFE currently has 45 volunteers spread across four projects. One of their projects, Ocean Women’s Association, provides Somali and Bangladeshi women with support and activities.

The SIFE volunteers worked with the women to provide weekly English lessons on campus. Roslyn Lim said of students’ involvement: ‘Learning how to work in diverse communities, negotiating and engaging in a professional world are just some of the skills and attributes that they will learn’.

QM Entrepreneurs has over 500 QM students involved in enterprise, venture and business. Their President, Sandeep Ahluwalia says: ‘With recent announcements from the government about StartUp Britain and the East London ‘Tech-City’ initiative earlier on in the year combined with the fast approaching London 2012 Olympic Games.’ They say it is Queen Mary’s location that provides such a setting for enterprise: ‘Situated between ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and London 2012 Games site, QM is uniquely poised to capitalise.’ Among some of their events this week, the society will be joining in the workshops, award launches and activities

on offer through The Learning Institute.

QM boasts an alumni bursting with impressive talent and creative enterprise. Amy graduated this year from the Department of English and Drama. As well as a degree in English Literature, Amy founded QMSU’s Art Society and worked as an editor for Qmedia, QMSU’s media outlet. ‘I learnt time management, team work and had experience holding roles of responsibility. It wasn’t just about doing a degree, more about growing as a person that set me up so well’.

Amy is now a trainee underwriter for insurance company, Lloyds of London.

Stephanie, an English and History graduate from 2011, has started her own company since the summer.

Her degree was invaluable, she says, in ‘forging skills in organisation, communication and building relationships which is crucial to the everyday running of my business, my degree allowed me to form an analytical approach, not to mention the experience I was able to gain outside of lectures’.

Jason also went on to co -found his own venture, www.comparetheuni. com, after completing a law degree.

His ‘QM experience’ he says ‘provided me with the soft skills required to start a business. By mixing with different groups of people I developed my interpersonal skills and communication skills, which are integral when starting a business.’

The Queen Mary Statement of Graduate Attributes focuses on the skills, values and behaviours that each Queen Mary student has the opportunity to develop during their degree. The message is clear: it is never too early to start thinking about your strengths and qualities as a graduate. What will make you stand out? What about your experiences at university will an employer value? What makes a well-equipped, prepared, engaged graduate?

Graduate attributes are not just about your graduation or future employability. We are talking about a process that starts right from your very first lecture.

While the focus is, by nature, about that far off, distant time that is graduation, a student is in preparation for that time as soon as they choose to come to university.

And it need not be a daunting thought – these are skills that you are applying everyday through your student experience. Whether you are involved in volunteering, a QMSU society or making a presentation in class, you are building a profile of strengths that is unique to you, a set of attributes that are transferable, valuable and important.

The ethos behind the Graduate Attributes scheme is, above all, a mindset; it is the development of a self-awareness that allows each student to not only be aware of the skills they are building upon daily but to be able to explicitly express them and thus, shape, strengthen and draw upon them.

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QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Satire All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Please don’t mistake anything on this page for fact.

London Night Bus Mya Medina From my humble yet inspiring experience I could happily write an in-depth novel about the night bus.

It would be a sort of psychological thriller meets romantic comedy meets queer musical. My most recent experience on the night bus took place on Saturday night, it was so poetic.

As I wearily stepped on the 25 from Tottenham Court Road to Chalk Farm, I felt as though I was united with my people. I skipped over the skimpy eastern European lying drunk on the floor, the cheap duty free vodka protruding from her vagina. Like a piece of art I took a moment to admire her, making note of the fine detail in the way that the puke ran down her cheek, I tapped her gently and mused “we’ve all been there love”. She laughed and spat some disease at my face - charming.

As I climbed the stairs I became vaguely aware of the slimy man captivated by my ass. Looking at this from a primitive perspective I took it as a compliment. However, when he propositioned me later it wasn’t as amusing. I took my place

stinct to call on: fight or flight? I decided it was too late to run, I was through the looking glass now.

The villains began running up the stairs, one spotted me, “what you looking at?”. This was it, my moment. Do I confront her poverty stricken ways? Do I pay for her ticket? Do I take pity on her and offer her the multiple McDonalds discount vouchers stored in my bag?

Alas, I did none of these things, for I am a white, middle class haughty Jew. That, and I doubted whether she would understand the basic English in which I speak.

I returned to my place at the front Hands up if you miss the bendy (free) 25 bus!

Image by Philip Bouchard (via Flickr) of the bus, a seat which I initially deemed fit for a queen, now felt like on the upper floor of this red dou- again, I looked around for a sense dressed head to toe in tacky, fake the naughty chair. The bus didn’t ble-deckered British novelty and of reassurance from the other pas- Juicy Couture, and worst of all, she move for a few minutes, wherein I sat right at the front. Peering over sengers, we were all in this togeth- bared no ticket. Needless to say, pretended to be captivated in a tatthe top I felt like a king riding a very er now. A woman was gently weep- the busman wasn’t pleased. The tered copy of the Evening Standard. slightly bumpy roller-coaster. I sur- ing into an empty Sam’s Chicken vile ‘woman’ proceeded to bang vi- The cycle hire scheme is expanding veyed my kingdom to the romantic box, whether this was because we olently on the thin slate of plastic into east London I hear... tune of ‘Frisky’ played by the chavs both knew what was about to oc- that lay between her and her prey.

She eventually threw herself of at the back of the vehicle. They sang cur, or simply a tableau of her pa- “Let me on you fucking Paki”, she the bus in a fit of rage, not neglectalong, as if they were some heaven- thetic life, I simply did not know. I squealed in a heartless, and rather ing to give the bus driver a piece of ly choir gently narrating my even- stood. I made my way over to the non PC way. her tiny mind, using the only soring. It was no ‘songs of praise’ that twisted staircase, wading through The busman replied in words that did adjectives in her limited vocabI might experience on a sunny Sun- the ravaged chicken bones and piss I couldn’t make out. Then the kick- ulary. day afternoon in my local church, stained floor. I peered over, only to ing began... one of her cohorts had The bus continued on its journey but it was peaceful none the less. inquire the full extent of the dam- began assisting her in committing and I ended my trip safely. But we Suddenly the bus ground to a vi- age. minor atrocities worthy of an ASBO. all know, the night bus will never be olent halt. Oh my, it was happening At the door way, there she was, I didn’t know which primitive in- really safe...

Y All the Fuss! Letter 'Y' Axed

Fact of the week The only two Greek word’s that don’t end with –o’s are Mick and Jagger, meaning lips and pout -Pawel Blanda Quote of the week

Y would _ou do such a sill_ thing?

Image by Kevin Harber (via Flickr CC)

Keumars Afifi-Sabet

job just as well without the elaborate squiggles and such!”

The measure is set to be announced by December and enforced from January 2012. The temporary abolition of the letter “Y” is thought to be a trial run; the potential success of which, may lead to the removal of a number of other letters, such as “C” or “X”. Until then, however, the government have recommended that the public appreciate and enjoy every single letter of the alphabet while it’s still a possibility.

QMessenger have recently received leaks from a government source indicating that audacious new saving plans have recently been set in motion. It’s thought that the letter “Y,” in its capital and lower case forms, are to be temporarily wiped from all forms of print nationwide for the foreseeable future. Used in its place will be the far more economically efficient letter ‘I’; known for its

satire@qmessenger.co.uk

use of fewer resources in the printing process.

The source claimed “We’re spending far too much money on print nowadays. We’ve identified a viable area for cuts and we’re acting on it swiftly. We feel of all letters that “Y” is the most expendable.”

Temperatures were flaring within a matter of seconds as the source continued to declare “’Y’ isn’t even a real vowel even though it thinks it is. We’ve considered possible replacements and feel that ‘I’ does the

“China will not be a super power until they get rid of all their squat toilets, even the Romans knew you had to sit down to do your business” Boris Johnson at a recent Chinese trade meeting Film review Instead of going to see the film “We Need to Talk about Kevin” save yourself seven

quid and two hours and just remember the ending. Kevin didn’t love his mother.

Joke of the week Due to Greece’s dwindling economy even exports of tzatziki and taramousalata have declined.

Experts are predicting a doubledip recession Michael Hammond Tip of the week When people with lisps say “Bithneth”, you know they mean business.

-Enyi Okoronkwo

13

QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Games

“You’ve just lost the game” If you’ve ever played that game you’ll now be very angry because you just lost. If you haven’t you’ll think I’ve gone mad but lots of people play it. I think.

Sudoku Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.54)

7 3

4

8

5

4

3 7

2

4

5 9

2

3 7

1

8

Sweaty Brow of the Week

1

6 7

5

2

9

3

9

6

4

7

5 3

Riddle Me This

Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Thu Nov 10 19:31:15 2011 GMT. Enjoy!

Image by iabuk Called out by our white-knight MP, this mafiso was in a bit of hot weather this week!

A black dog is sleeping in the middle of a black road that has no streetlights and there is no moon.

A car coming down the road with its lights off steers around the dog.

How did the driver know the dog was there?

Last week’s answers: The sweaty brow belonged to Alex Ferguson

games@qmessenger.co.uk

14

QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Societies

Provide Volunteering: Get involved, get employed Frances Larke The necessity of graduate attributes in today’s job market can no longer be ignored by graduates.

“Experience required” are the immortal words graduates fresh out of university are often hit with when applying for jobs.

With so many of us going to university, employers are often looking for more than a degree. They are looking for graduate skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, planning and organisation, and these can all be gained from work experience while at university. You need to prove to employers that you have gained the expected graduate attributes when applying for jobs.

Martin Birchall, High Fliers managing director, talks about “New graduates who’ve not had any work experience during their time at university have little or no chance of landing a well-paid job with a leading employer.” Harsh words, but unfortunately his view is representative of popular areas of the job market such as advertising, publishing, journalism, consultancy and even a supposedly lucrative area such as Law. Even if you can’t get specific work experience in the field you wish to work in, gaining gradu-

Provide at this years volunteers fair held at the Octagon Image by Darcie-Tyler Henley ate attributes will make you more competitive in the job market and more desirable to employers.

Yet we need not panic as graduate skills can easily be gained through unpaid voluntary work.

While many of you may baulk at the term “unpaid”, the skills that can be gained from voluntary work are often unmatched by most common paid student jobs.

Kirsti Burton (Careers Information Manager, QM Careers) says “Volunteering is a great way to

make yourself stand out from your competitors in the job market. It shows that you were actively involved, and made a positive contribution to university life. Employers don’t just want people that have turned up to lectures and then gone straight home. Having volunteer experience on your CV demonstrates your initiative and responsibility and differentiates you from other candidates without any additional experience.”

The wide range of opportuni-

The QMSU Aspire Project: more thanjust fun and games Ruth Faulkner Queen Mary students have this year launched their own Olympics inspired student-led volunteering project: QMSU Aspire. The Aspire Project, falling under the umbrella of the successful Provide Volunteering, was devised entirely by students who felt that the university needed an infusion of Olympic spirit, especially being situated within the Olympic borough of Tower Hamlets.

QMSU Aspire Project takes its ideals from the London 2012 Legacy Vision in aiming to “Inspire a new generation of young people to take part in volunteering, cultural and physical activity” by having QM student volunteers working with youth in Tower Hamlets. They hope Aspire will continue long af-

ter the Olympics with a new focus and aims each year and will continually be student-led.

The 2011-2012 project focuses on the Paralympics Games and Para Sport and its volunteers will be offering local schools the chance to receive unique lessons on this and an opportunity to try out some of the sports for themselves at an event day at Queen Mary in February 2012. With possible sports ranging from Boccia, a ball throwing game that is unique to the Paralympics, to Sitting Volleyball and Goalball, a ball game designed for blind athletes, the events day has the potential to present students of both school and university age with sports that were previously unknown to them.

The project will also be seeking to aid the local schools they are working with to join the

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Get Set Network, the official London 2012 education programme, giving them a chance to get an allocation of ticketshare tickets to the Olympics from the network in thanks for their commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic values.

Aspire Schools Team Leader Aysel Kucuksu said: “What Aspire does is reaching far beyond teaching kids about sports. It is introducing them to a new category of role models. Paralympic sportspeople are a source of immense inspiration.... I would have been glad to be a part of any project in which I would have even a slight chance to meet them.

Through ASPIRE I will be able to tell our youngsters about them, and even introduce them to each other.”

Email the Aspire team at aspire@qmsu.org

ties volunteering can provide often means that graduate attributes are accessible and provide unique experiences that the average would not have gained otherwise.

Fortunately here at Queen Mary we have Provide Volunteering which is the hub of all things volunteering for both Queen Mary and Barts students offering you the chance to become involved in both charities in Tower Hamlets and London as a whole. Vol-

unteering not only enhances your CV but also be enjoyed along the way due to the wide range opportunities available which can accommodate many interests. Furthermore, volunteering is incredibly flexible through one off CADs (Community Action Days) and can also offer placements at a range of 140 different charities.

Volunteering effortlessly provides you with skills in teamwork, organisation, communication, fund raising, event management, leadership and even publicity and marketing. Alongside all that, there are opportunities to meet new people you would never normally meet and experience London in ways that couldn’t be achieved in any other way. For example, Provide volunteering has recently taken part in the Royal Parks Half marathon in Hyde Park, the Alternative Hair Show at the Albert Hall, the 2011 London Marathon, the Barnado’s Trolley Dash, as well as cleaning up the local area with Bank of England employees!

To find out how get involved with Provide Volunteering come and meet the team on October 15th at our event; “When Opportunity Knocks”. So, whatever your interest or hobbies, get involved in volunteering, get enjoyment, get graduate attributes and get employed!

15

QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Sport

Nail biter for QMN Firsts!

A narrow loss for the football fourths TJ Johnson QM 4ths 1 – 2 Kings College 3rds, Sat 29 Oct, ULU Plate Cup

Queen Mary Netball team at training.

Ashleigh Jay It is the match that every QM netballer dreads.

The most anticipated fixture of the season.

The game that all the girls consider the most vital win and the most frustrating loss. But ask any of the girls why this rivalry exists and none of them could tell you. It has just become an well-known fact that the Royal Veterinary College are our biggest rivals; after stressing this to our freshers, it looked like that was the way it was going to stay.

Having already played Vets this season and lost, the girls knew that the game was going to be anything but easy; and with first choice goal defence Walker out with tonsillitis, it was apparent that this game wasn’t going to get any easier.

As if the girls weren’t rattled enough, goal keeper Waites took a tumble during the warm up, her ankle gave way, and for two terrifying minutes it looked like Vets would be able to defeat us for the second time. Considering that this is a fate worse than death, Waites jumped to her feet and, if anything, was more determined to steal the win than before. A few inspiring words from team captain Kendrick and the girls were raring to take to the court. The whistle blew and the match was underway.

Within 10 seconds, QM were 1-0 up, 10 more seconds and QM defence had intercepted Vets’ centre pass and after 30 seconds of the game, QM were 2-0 up. The first quarter was proving to be the perfect start. Shooters Kendrick and Matheson were focused, and QM soon found their stride. In defence, Francis, Jay and Waites

were making crucial turnovers to ensure that Vets would not be in with a chance.

With interceptions becoming goals and a growing lead, it was clear to see that QM were in their element. When the quarter time whistle blew, QM were leading by a healthy 14 goals to 8. QM forced their opponents to make errors and as the Vets got frustrated, Caven and Dickson continued to feed perfect balls to the shooters. With every shot becoming a goal, it was no surprise that at half time QM firsts were up by 11 goals. Victory was in sight, as was rain and the QM rugby team who‘d come to provide support.

The court was gradually becoming more slippery and, as our girls became more hesitant, the gap that QM had fought so hard to create was shrinking and it looked like Vets were back in with a chance. The rugby team could now see that the game had taken a completely new direction, and though they tried to redirect it with banter-filled cheers from the sideline, it was doing little to help the cause. QM came off the court after the third quarter with a lead of only four goals and it was clear on the girls’ faces that panic was beginning to set in.

With tension mounting, the team took to the court knowing it was all or nothing. Vets pounced on QM’s errors and turned their misses into goals. It wasn’t long until Vets were a goal up and the game intensified dramatically. Each team was desperate for the win.

The team powered on in these final moments; QM defence bent over backwards to get the ball out of Vets’ possession and their attack worked themselves into the ground

Image by Rosie Caven

to convert possession into shooting opportunities. And it didn’t help that Vets were doing the same.

It was almost a relief when the final whistle blew. But as the two teams crossed court to shake hands, it was clear that neither side knew how the game had ended. It was not until Walker emerged from the sidelines and, through inflamed tonsils, told the team that the final score was 38-36 to QM that the girls recognized what they’d achieved.

It was a tremendous win for QM and an even greater win for the girls. It was a fantastic game that won’t be forgotten soon. A big congratulations to them for putting Vets in their place.

With the QM 4ths having an indifferent start to the season in the league, the Cup offered a break and a chance of glory against the early pace setters in their league, KCL 3rds. There were notable call ups for 5th Team captains Ashley Sweetman, in at right-back emulating his all-time hero Gary Neville, and Sam Lowe, coming off the bench in the Scott Parker role. Club Captain Alfie Meekings also turned up. With Captain TJ Johnson’s speech about how they should emulate the great Pompey cup run of 2008 still ringing in their ears, QM dominated early proceedings, with impressive fresher Shayan Khomami hitting the post after 15 minutes of firstclass trickery in the box to beat his defender. Industrious striker Alfie Sowden also bossed around the KCL defence, making a nuisance of himself to force a couple of chances before the half hour mark, before the deadlock was broken against the run of play.

Gaining possession in the centre of the park, KCL worked a through ball in between the QM defence which their striker slotted home calmly to put them 1-0 up at half time. Not quite believing their luck, QM re-grouped at half

time and went out in the second half the same way they started the first, forcing chances and pegging KCL back.

However 10 minutes into the second half they found themselves 2 down, switching off to a long ball over the top, with another calm finish from the KCL striker. 2 changes were made soon after, with QMFC veterans Lowe and Meekings on for freshers Duro Rotimi and Joe Pender, who both put in notable shifts in CM and ST respectively. QM continued to search for the allusive goal that would get them back in the game, and they got it with 20 minutes to go. Johnson, venturing further and further forward from left back as the game progressed, found himself on the edge of the area, and after a nice touch from Sowden, absolutely smashed a left foot volley into the top corner. Game on. QM piled forwards in the closing 20 minutes, with numerous players coming close to finding the goal that could take the game to extra time. Meekings hit the post, Johnson had another volley tipped over the bar and Sowden and Lowe had efforts well saved amongst other chances. It just wasn’t QM’s day.

Nonetheless an excellent performance, demonstrated by 3 players getting joint man of the match (Johnson, Sowden and the battling midfielder Jamie Saggs) with much to build on for the rest of the season for the QM boys.

Want to write for sports and societies? Get in touch with us at: sport@ qmessenger.co.uk

sport@qmessenger.co.uk

16

QMESSENGER MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2011

Sport

A Winning Mind: Lord Coe tells QMUL students how to succeed Hollie Carter Before reading week, Sebastian Coe - MP, junior minister and gold medal winning Olympian - visited Queen Mary to give a talk to staff and students about achieving your potential. Coe has many links with East London; his grandparents and father both living in the east of the capital and, of course, it being the home to the 2012 Olympics, which Coe played a major role in establishing. He warmly told the audience that he had, “spiritual links in East London” and was honoured to be speaking at QM which he regards as an important part of the east London community.

Coe, who won Olympic gold at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, started his sporting career in what we would now regard as relatively late in life, being still at university in Loughborough studying economics. The academic phase of his life somehow coincided with competition on the world stage. Not only was he in the process of gaining a degree and breaking three world records, but Coe was also applying for trainee bank places, as he argued that no one really saw track and field as a career as they do today. Coe acts as an inspiring example to all us who struggle to juggle extra curricular activities with academic commitments, as he joked that he was the only one in his class to hand in assignments on British Airway headed paper!

Through the talk he recounted many personal anecdotes; including his infamous loss at the 1978 Prague Euro championships in which he ran the first lap of the 800m race faster than anyone had ever run it previously. Unfortunately, running the first lap that fast meant that he lost steam for the final push and ended up finishing 3 rdto the criticism of the sporting world, who questioned his foolish methods.

sport@qmessenger.co.uk

Coe is best known for the part he played in London’s successful 2012 Olympic bid. Image by Gerry Balding (via Flickr cc) However, Coe argued that it was this loss that spurred him on to improve and become the best runner he could. He described the way in which he and his coach (his father Peter Coe) developed a new way of thinking about sport, by creating a team of specialists surrounding them to ensure that they were well informed on every factor that contributes to a winning race. This was unheard of at the time and was often met with ridicule and mockery, yet Coe was convinced.

His hard work and new approach paid off when the following year he broke three world records in forty one days, which led him to claim the title of “Ath-

lete of the Year” for Athletes Weekly and Track and Field News.

To today’s younger generation Seb Coe is probably best known for the part he played in London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, a project which started in 2003-2004. When the campaign began there was a 20% approval rating with only one third of those thinking that we would actually be successful, as Coe described it the general view was that “we would put forward a worthy campaign but most probably lose to Germany on penalties in the quarter final”! But the London 2012 team, headed by Coe, weren’t deterred

and put forward a strong and unique campaign in which they showed how London’s Olympics would create a legacy for future generations. In 2007 London beat the odds and the likes of Madrid and Paris to host the 2012 Olympics, now less than a year away.

Coe has had a vibrant and successful career in sport, and his passion and commitment to sport - rack and field in particular - has shone through.

The question of what’s next, put to Coe by one of the audience members, was met with the honest response of “I don’t know”. As of the end of the Olympics 2012, Coe has no plans

for the future, but as he went on to explain, he’s never really been one for planning for the future, preferring rather to just embrace each opportunity as it comes.

This gives some hope to those of us who have yet to carve out a plan for life after University!

His motivational speech left the audience inspired and if there was one tag line which I think sums up his talk more than any other it would be the phrase which he repeated many times throughout his speech and which I think can apply to those in sporting situations and in the wider word – “Dare to challenge, Dare to do it differently” and hopefully success will follow!