EXCLUSIVE: RAG say Guild response to SSB ban is "naïve"

RAG say that the Students’ Guild’s promise to reinvent the Safer Sex Ball (SSB) is “naïve”, and “not in the best interests of the students”, Exeposé can reveal. 

In a statement seen exclusively by this paper, RAG, the organising committee behind the cancelled SSB, say they plan to fight the ban by gauging student opinion and launching a campaign to hold the ball next year.

The statement follows the news that the Students’ Guild will no longer support the SSB. The story, which was broken by Exeposé yesterday, has since made national headlines.

Exeposé has re-produced RAG’s statement, in full, below…

RAG’s OFFICIAL STATEMENT

“RAG has been told by the Student’s Guild that they will no longer support the Safer Sex Ball (SSB) in its current format given the recent media coverage following the SSB on 11/12/2012.

RAG strongly believes that a change in the format of the SSB would undoubtedly damage the success of the event. Indeed, the unique selling point has been vital to the event’s popularity. Having grown significantly in the last 21 years, it is unquestionably one of the most popular events student enjoy during their time in Exeter.

RAG finds the suggestion that they reinvent the SBB as a ‘new’ event, naive. The Guild have tried and failed before to provide an alternative ball to SSB. In 2011 they attempted to resurrect the Powderham Ball, but through lack of student interest it failed. Compared with SSB which sells out year upon year, this shows a distinct lack of student participation and enjoyment in Guild led events. Replacing the SSB would diminish the scale and success of the event, the level of student engagement, and the benefit to charity.

The decision by the Guild to withdraw their support of the SSB is neither in the best interests of the students, nor the beneficiaries of the event:

• A change in the format of the SSB would damage the success of the event and the beneficiaries:
  a) The Eddystone Trust will lose a £20,000 donation
  b) Community Action and other RAG nomination charities.
  c) The opportunity to run a sexual health awareness campaign, targeted specifically at students will no longer continue, as this campaign was funded by the SSB

 

• SSB is a student led event; the SSB and RAG committee benefit greatly from being involved in such a large scale event on such an involved level. RAG Core Committee believe that the level of student development would be diminished; as no ball on campus has been as successful as the SSB, so the level of planning, involvement and execution of a ‘new’ event would not match the student development achieved with the SSB.
• Given the popularity of the event, if RAG were not to run the SSB, there would be nothing to stop an external promoter taking control of the event. Not only would this take the focus away from RAG’s charitable mission, but the onus on Student Welfare would be lost. By refusing to participate in the running of the SSB, RAG believes that the University may come under scrutiny for the protection of their students.

Our actions:

• We now need to gauge the reaction of students to the cancellation of the SSB in its current format. We believe that the SSB is a unique event, and one that cannot be matched in its fundraising, campaigning or student enjoyment.
• On the premise that the student body supports this motion, we will look to run an SSB next academic year; we hope that the Students’ Guild will recognise the popularity of the SSB with the students and its inherent charitable mission. However, if this will not be the case then we will seek alternate means of funding and running the event.
• A future SSB will capitalise on the successful Campaigns Week that was integral to the success and gravity of this year’s SSB, ensuring that we develop awareness of our mission: to organise one of the largest Aids Awareness events in the UK.

We believe that we have set out clear and rational motives for the continuation of SSB, and we hope that the student body will respond positively to this regrettable situation. Ultimately, we are seeking the views and support of the student body, and will be launching a campaign in the hope to reinstate the Safer Sex Ball in the next academic year.

Yours Faithfully,

The RAG CORE COMMITTEE”

Stay with Exeposé for more developments.

By Tom Payne, Editor

 

EXCLUSIVE: Guild cancels SSB

The Students’ Guild has announced that the Safer Sex Ball “cannot continue” (SSB), Exeposé can exclusively reveal. 

Following a meeting with the RAG committee on January 30, the Guild has stated that, in light of recent damaging media coverage and due to concerns over student welfare, “an exact replica of the event in the future isn’t an option”.

Exeposé understands that the decision was made by the Students’ Guild Trustee Board. The Guild have told Exeposé in an exclusive statement that they will “continue to support RAG in the development of an equally exciting ball”, and that a consultation process with RAG is currently ongoing.

The RAG committee is said to be distressed at the announcement that the future of its most profitable fundraising event is uncertain. The committee pointed out that this news will come as an enormous blow, not only to RAG but to its beneficiaries.

The Eddystone Trust receives around £20,000 every year from the project. Campus-based charity Community Action also benefits from large donations from SSB profits.

In a statement following the news, the RAG committee said they would strive to overturn the decision with the help of the student body: “we hope that the Students’ Guild will recognise the popularity of the Safer Sex Ball with the students and its inherent charitable mission.”

“However, if this will not be the case then we will seek alternate means of funding and running the event.”

After 21 years of outstanding fundraising at this often controversial ball, the SSB has come under fire in recent weeks. The SSB and Exeter University were scrutinised in national newspapers following the leak of CCTV footage depicting two students engaged in a sex act in the Ram bar.

Resulting partly from the unwelcome media coverage, the Guild has found itself unable to continue supporting such an event at the risk of infringing its reputation, as well as the welfare of students who attend the event.

A spokesperson for the Guild defended its decision, saying: “In spite of significant efforts in recent years, the event’s association with promoting safer sex has been overshadowed with a less positive image, leading to unintended consequences for students who attend the event, as well as RAG, the Guild and the University.

“Therefore the Guild and RAG are working together to formulate a way to reinvent the SSB, maintaining its strong assets; raising charitable funds and awareness of key issues whilst providing great student development opportunities and a great night out for students.”

Exeposé will be conducting in-depth interviews with RAG and the Guild in our next edition, published on Tuesday 20 February.

By Ellie Steafel and Ben Murphie, Deputy Editors

Review: Utopia

Image credit: Channel Four

Utopia, Channel 4, Tuesdays @ 10pm

Written and created by Dennis Kelly

Starring: Alexandra Roach, Adeel Akhtar, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Oliver Woollford, Fiona O’Shaughnessy

 

Where is Jessica Hyde?

We’re into week 3 of Utopia and I WANT THAT MANUSCRIPT.

Penned by relatively unknown Dennis Kelly and made up of a cast of not so recognisables, this new dark thriller by Channel Four keeps the audience in just as much suspense as its protagonists and is looking to be a surprise success this year. However, the lack of star involvement seems entirely appropriate. The storyline is wrapped in intense mystery around five strangers brought together by mysterious graphic novel author whose original piece ‘Utopia’ has apparently predicted the major disasters of the last hundred years. Let’s just hope Dennis Kelly hasn’t got similar psychic abilities, or our future’s looking rather dark indeed!

In the opening scene, we saw the hazardous yellow, plastered across everything Utopia-related, splattered with blood by two oddly dressed men in a comic store. Three episodes along, we know about as much about what’s really going on as we did then. You get a very real sense that we are being taken on a journey that we might well regret getting involved in.

Set in the very near future where our every movement is monitored by CCTV, our online habits are tracked and our medical records are available to various organisations, we are in a world that is still very much our own. When the group of strangers meet to discuss finding the sought-after sequel to the mysterious graphic novel, all hell breaks loose and the terrifying organisation ‘the Network’ descends upon their extremely visible lives.

Breathing new life into the worn down “you mess with the system, the system messes with you” mold, the threats we face in the series are extremely tangible. While it’s all a little conspiracy laden, Utopia embodies the very contemporary risks of the power of knowledge.

As the characters discover how frightfully easily their actions can be tracked and predicted through simple employment of modern technology, the audience too can sleep less soundly. A quick online search of Utopia will quickly lead you to Channel 4’s intriguing accompanying site that will confirm these fears, highlighting a number of ways in which our information is stored. We may not be ignorant of loyalty card schemes to track our buying habits or targeted advertising or mass databases, but Utopia is one of the first mediums to fully explore their potentially sinister uses that doesn’t involve a group of shouty protestors going ignored in the high street.

However, this is not a series about the dangers of the internet. Scenes of (literally) eye watering violence, a bit of black comedy and blinding saturated colour drag us in from contemplation and leave us, minds spinning, in a world where all that’s normal, for those involved at least, has fallen apart. We can only run with the characters and speculate as to what could be happening.

One of the most frustrating things about a plot so steeped in mystery is our inability to form any relationship with the main characters. Encouraged to trust no one, we have very little clue as to who we are supposed to relate to. Everyone is suspicious, from the cold, distrusting Jessica (Fiona O’Shaughnessy), to, dare I say it, baby faced 11 year old, Grant (spectacularly cast Oliver Woollford).

At the end of each episode, we are left desperate for more: we want to know more about the characters, what’s in the manuscript and the purpose of the network, as well as where on Earth we’re being taken next! Whether the series does become a contemporary cult classic depends entirely on how we find out the answers – the potential for Utopia to become a Lost-style epic that loses half its audience by become too taxing is not out of sight.

Utopia is not a comfortable watch, but if you want something to get you thinking, to speculate with friends about and to get your heart pumping, this really is a must see. We can only hope that all the unease is paid off as the story unfolds.

Gemma Joyce

The national press is sex obsessed

National press coverage on the front of the new edition of Exeposé

The national press seem to have missed the point. Surely what’s shocking about this story is not what the couple in question did, but that somehow everybody knows about it. I’m not saying that publically engaging in sexual activity of any kind is acceptable, but sometimes people get drunk and do things that they aren’t proud of. In this case, on waking up and realising what they got up to, they probably took comfort in the fact that it was at a private party on university property and they were therefore somewhat protected. At worse there were probably a few students nearby who knew what they were up to and might set the rumour mill running. The fact that one of their fellow students would send actual footage of them viral probably never occurred to them. They may pretend to be shocked at student behaviour, but let’s be honest: the national press is completely sex-obsessed themselves. It appears they don’t see the irony in criticising the SSB for its ‘highly sexual tone’ whilst running articles full of falsely gleaned information and dubiously sourced photographs just so they can focus on sex and encourage the general public to be disparaging. Furthermore, in their decrial of this shocking ‘public act’ they seem to be conveniently uninterested in how it came to be so public, perhaps because discussing the terrifying breach of security and privacy would implement their journalists.

Yes, it was imprudent; but the fact that they managed to avoid getting caught first-hand suggests that this wasn’t a case of exhibitionism. The girl has been accused by commenters of using it as an excuse to be ‘dirty’ and ‘promiscuous’, but the real dirty behaviour was that of whoever decided to record the CCTV footage and let such impulsive misdemeanour mar both their names and that of our university. Perhaps most scary, is that this untrustworthy person must have had access to the CCTV and therefore must be a student working in our Guild. That’s what really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

By Jess Newton

 

SSB tape: is it really newsworthy?

THIS student newspaper is the best thing I’ve been involved with at university and I feel privileged to be an editor of it. That’s why when our story about a CCTV leak at a high profile event made it to the local press, the national press, the international press, I was hugely excited. There was a real buzz around the office Tuesday afternoon as the publications we’re aspiring to work for ran our story, one after the other. Then I started to read them. My excitement turned sour pretty quickly as I noticed the “journalistic” emphasis of most of the articles. Allow me to summarise:

“Scantily clad drunken teenagers may or may not have had sex.”

Does that strike you as particularly newsworthy? No? Me neither. Teenagers occasionally have sex. Taking away their clothes and giving them alcohol apparently makes this more like to happen. Who knew! The fact that our star-crossed lovers attempted it in the Ram may not technically be allowed, but is it really newsworthy? The news is that there has been a serious breach of security during one of the biggest nights in its calendar, with gross negligence and misconduct shown from a member of staff. That is newsworthy. That is what Exeposé has focused on from the very first article that we posted online, because that is what matters.

Of course, you can understand why the nationals have taken a particular stance on it. The University of Exeter is a university on the up; a university that has soared up all of the leaderboards in a blisteringly fast time, to the point where it is the latest member of the Russell group and the Sunday Times University of the Year. That’s a big deal, for a lot of reasons. With all this prestige has come the highest rise in applications in the country… and also, apparently, people looking for any excuse to drag our name through the mud. The SSB is a charitable juggernaut that has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for AIDS research and local charities. How many of the sneering commenters that have just learnt it exists can say they’ve done that? How many of the people shouting the ball down have raised awareness of sexual diseases and the importance of safe sex for their wider communities as well as an entire generation of university students? Not one of them.

But I’ll finish by referring to the man that the Daily Mail felt authoritative enough to comment on the issue, lets call him Mr Hyperbole. The SSB apparently reminds Mr Hyperbole of “the decadence that came just before the fall of the Roman Empire”. Well then, Exeter, the barbarians are at the gates, and our decadence is almost at an end. So who else is up for turning up to lectures in their underwear?

By Jon Jenner, Games Editor

 

If parents are worried about sex and alcohol, they shouldn't send their child to University at all

THE leaking of private CCTV footage is a separate issue from the students’ behaviour. It was completely unacceptable for the footage to be leaked across the internet, no matter what its content may have been, and the police are right to investigate this aspect of the event.

Photo: Joshua Irwandi

The public sexual act is condemnable, but I think it is unfair to place too strong an attachment to the event itself. The SSB is a charity event that finds its financial success in edging towards the outrageous and daring. To change this winning formula would be to waste a great fundraising opportunity. If the suggestion is that an event where students are encouraged to wear little clothing will inevitably produce media frenzy then it is a naïve approach to the SSB. Give any students enough alcohol and a party atmosphere and there will be inappropriate behaviour, of a similar nature, regardless of the event or its location. I have been to several nightclubs where the acceptable attire has been little more than a bra and a belt for a skirt. It is ridiculous that the media are trying to connect the drunken act of two individuals to the quality of the University itself. Mentioning Exeter’s status as one of the country’s leading universities shows a desperate attempt to sensationalise the whole event. It is impossible to expect academic excellence and a student party lifestyle to remain completely separate, when university life promotes a merging of the two. This incident should have no bearing on whether parents send their children here.

If parents are worried about sex and alcohol then it is probably best they don’t send their child to university at all.

By Sarah Perkins 

 

Guild staff filmed Ram CCTV tape

Staff members working for the Students’ Guild were responsible for filming and sharing CCTV footage of two students engaged in sexual activity during the Safer Sex Ball (SSB), Exeposé can exclusively reveal.

The section of the Ram where the amorous couple were caught on camera. Read full details in the next Exeposé

In a statement released to this paper, Guild senior management confirmed that members of their staff had been dismissed following a “rigorous investigation” into the culprit responsible for the leaked footage, which made international headlines last week.

The Students’ Guild told Exeposé: “We have identified the individuals involved, and in light of the seriousness of the breach have taken the strongest possible disciplinary action.

“We restate that given that the footage was taken without our permission, and that internal rules around security of CCTV were breached.”

Footage of the amorous couple having oral sex next to the Ram pool table was filmed by a member staff on a smart phone in the Ram’s CCTV monitoring room before the film leaked online. At the time of going to press, the Students’ Guild was unable to provide Exeposé with any further details as to how security measures were breached. They said: “With regret we are unable to provide details; the details are integral to the investigation and ongoing disciplinary action process.”

In the film, several individuals are clearly heard commenting on the footage. One male staff member asked: “Can I upload this to YouTube?”, before another colleague responded “no” twice.

Access to the Ram back office, where the CCTV monitoring screens are kept, was only accessible by staff working at the SSB. The Students’ Guild have told Exeposé that a small number of senior staff would have had access to the CCTV room, but weren’t able to tell us where the staff members were working at the time.

Students have reacted with surprise to the news. One female student told Exeposé: “There should have been greater control over access to the CCTV room, especially during the SSB. It’s such a shame that the charitable legacy of the SSB has been ruined, but I’m glad that staff member has been fired”.

Another claimed that: “The act itself was not shocking, but I feel really bad for the people caught on camera. It was very irresponsible of staff, of all people, to film that.”

A member of the Ram bar staff told Exeposé that normal security measures were not heightened on the night of the SSB: “Only senior members of staff are allowed access to the monitoring room. It is surprising that someone could have accessed it without running into staff and without prior knowledge of its location.

“Because it was such a big event the usual precautions were not in place so someone could have filmed the footage with ease”.

Devon and Cornwall Police said that the couple engaging in the sexual activity, could face prosecution. They said: “Putting CCTV footage on the internet without permission could contravene the law. That would namely be data protection laws and human rights legislation – the right to privacy.

Engaging in sexual activity in a public place could also constitute an offence, depending on the form of sexual activity.”

They added that if the footage was reported to them they would investigate the case as a crime.

The Students’ Guild has stated that “the police have have not been in contact with us regarding an investigation.” They added: “given the unlawful action of the individual who filmed the footage, the Guild shall support the police if there is one.”

Exeposé has learned that The Students’ Guild has yet to identify the couple in the footage, who they wish to speak to for welfare reasons.

The University also confirmed it would “inevitably” be speaking to the Guild about the security breach.

When asked if the news spelt the end for the SSB, the Students’ Guild said: “We are deeply saddened by the outcomes of the 2012 event but we do not want to lose sight of the positive work the event has done.”

The event has been running for over 20 years and generates a significant charitable contribution each year for Safer Sex Awareness charities in the South West. In addition to the event, and the charitable contributions, significant funding is put into educational campaign work for students as well – around World AIDs day each year.”

They added: “It would be a great shame if the actions of this individual undermined the campaign and charitable objectives of an event that in every other respect was well organised and incident free.”

News of the sex acts caught on camera was reported in the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun and in New York’s Daily News, provoking a strong reaction from commentators.

A “wider investigation” is ongoing.

Read more exclusive news, comment and editorials in the next Exeposé – out next Tuesday.

 

Is sharing caring?

Photo credits to popcrush.com

The leak of CCTV footage from the Ram bar on the night of Exeter’s Safer Sex Ball has raised a number of important questions. The footage, which went viral and was circulated around popular messaging service WhatsApp, shows students participating in heavy petting and oral sex. Despite the fact this took place at the SSB, students’ engagement in sexual activity and open promiscuous behaviour for once isn’t bearing the brunt of the criticism.

The fact that the confidential footage on the CCTV monitor was able to be irresponsibly filmed is worrying enough. However, what concerns me more, is the complete lack of responsibility and consideration which certain members of our student population have demonstrated in the aftermath of the person idiotic enough to film and share the footage in the first place.

This minority of students gave the impression that they were more than willing to post the controversial video online, thus significantly increasing the number of people who would have been able to watch it. An illusion was created that it would appear for all to see at a certain time. This naturally created intense interest in the website on which it would have been published. But it never turned up.

If you look at the ‘nitty gritty’ of the situation, it would have been illegal for the students to publish the video in the first place. Seeing as it didn’t even appear, despite their promises, I suggest the students already knew that.

It seems to me that deliberately instilling the belief that the video was going to be publicly published, whilst knowing outright that it wouldn’t, makes you think that the whole stunt was just that – a publicity stunt. An enticing advertisement was tolled across the Facebook and Twitter nation of Exeter students and the goods were not even remotely delivered.

I don’t know about you but I feel conned and disappointed. An illusion was created, the immense influential power of journalism flaunted it, and then that same power had the audacity to reprimand those who bought into its advert in the first place. Furthermore, absolutely no consideration was given to the students in the video or the reputation of the University. It’s unfortunate that the Guild are once again having to face the backlash of something related to the SSB.

Two very different sides of the same coin of observation and censorship have been freshly polished for us to inspect.

The need for CCTV is undoubtedly important – it protects us and is vital for safety. For the vast majority of the time, we give no thought to the fact that hundreds of cameras are watching us every day, because we have no need to. It generally doesn’t interfere in our lives. But here is an example where CCTV and the footage that it inevitably produces in its role as a safety aid, have been recklessly used to cause controversy and harm, rather than protect those caught in the camera’s gaze.

Free speech and the circulation of balanced and trustworthy reportage are equally important too, but it numbs my brain to think that there was even the slim possibility that the footage could have appeared online in the first place. How it was possible that a small minority of ill-advised individuals was able to create such a damaging illusion, which consequently threatened the students involved in the video and the University itself deeply distresses me.

A full investigation is underway.

By Kitty Howie

Everyone is watching you

Picture credits to duncan c

I’m in two minds about what has been stirring up our campus in the last couple of weeks. Social media sites such as “Spotted…” have taken off at an alarming rate, confirming the notion that we have never been more fascinated by the whereabouts of certain people at certain times doing certain activities.  This has been compounded by the circulation of the compromising and recently leaked CCTV footage of the Ram during SSB. Hasn’t the Guild only just recovered from the first lot of SSB controversies and pressure to remove the student Confessions page?

I am an avid fan of Gossip Girl and I would even go as far as saying that I always thought it would be quite cool to have something akin to that on campus. So why has the success of “Spotted: Exeter Uni Library” surprised me? I guess that the fact that we are all so intrinsically linked by social media means that it was inevitable to have our very own Gossip Girl style site watching our every move on Campus. However successful it has been, there is something unsettling about it.

The Facebook page that has taken our University by storm covers practically every nook and cranny of campus- from the shaded trees near the health centre to changing rooms in the Lemmy. Is there anywhere to hide? I don’t know about you, but I’m actually beginning to feel a little self-conscious on campus.

As if that’s not creepy enough, we can now rest assured that wherever CCTV looks out for your safety, there is someone standing by with a camera phone to make sure that any slip-ups or embarrassing moments are ready for large-scale distribution. It’s like You’ve Been Framed with a sinister twist. Or worse, Big Brother– there to publicly name and shame anyone and everyone.

I am not saying that “Spotted…”should undergo the same fate as the famed Confessions page, in fact, quite the opposite. It can be very entertaining (when it’s not too harsh)! It might even help people to curb their bad library etiquette-  the people who leave their books sprawled across three desks for 6 hours while they go home for a nap or have a few pints in the Ram to name a few.

The CCTV footage however, may be a step too far. This could be someone’s future we’re talking about. This doesn’t only affect the students involved, but the Guild too, and the events they put on. SSB should be about raising money for a good cause whilst having a good time. The Guild shouldn’t have to spend extra money on legal fees every time there is a bust up over choice of theme or that someone abuses their rights to watch the CCTV.

Want to have your say on this? Comment below and check out this week’s Big Question in Features and join the campus-wide debate!

Kate Townend

The Week's Big Question

What are your thoughts on the ‘Ram sex tape’ scandal?

 

Comment below and let’s get Exeter talking.