Guild condemn HEFCE bursary cuts

Image credit: Exeter Guild

The National Scholarship Programme’s funding for the 2014/15 academic year has been cut from £150 million to £50 million. This reduction will see the University of Exeter’s allocation reduced from £1.17million to £390,000. The minimum overall value of bursaries that students can be awarded will change from £3,000 to £2,000. Exeter’s Students’ Guild has “strongly condemned” the actions announced by the Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE) last week, stating that the cut “will directly impact on the students with the greatest financial needs”.

The National Scholarship Programme (NSP) is a government scheme which gives financial help to students studying undergraduate courses in England. First year students who have a household income of £16,000 or less are eligible for the programme at Exeter, which provides financial assistance in the form of fee waivers and bursaries.

The University has been asked to confirm their financial support arrangements by 16 December and is currently in discussions about what these arrangements will be.

All English universities were informed of the NSP changes through an open letter from HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council England) on 28 November.

In a response to the letter, the Students’ Guild said: “Alongside the cut, there was an announcement that the minimum overall value of bursaries for students has been downgraded from £3,000 to £2,000 which, in real terms, will most likely represent a cut to the bursaries many of our poorest students receive. The Students’ Guild strongly condemns these actions, which will directly impact on the students with the greatest financial needs”.

The Guild have also expressed their frustration at HEFCE’s justification for cutting two thirds of the NSP. The statement says: “We are also frustrated by the rhetoric used to justify these cuts, and the suggestion that the removal of £100 million funding will provide ‘more valuable ways of widening access’. The lack of consultation with students nationally and locally on this decision is truly shocking, especially when considering that applications have already begun and many students have already applied to the University of Exeter”.

HEFCE’s open letter claims that the programme is now more flexible for students than before. The letter justifies reducing the minimum level award available to students to £2,000 by stating that the lower figure will ensure that their original ‘estimate’ of 100,000 students benefiting from the award is still a possibility.

The letter says: “To make the programme more flexible for students in this transition year, we have removed the £1,000 limit on the amount of the award that can be given in the form of cash. We have also reduced the minimum level of award for full time students to £2,000, which means that 100,000 students could still receive an award, in line with our original estimate”.

Questions have been raised over whether it would be more suitable to allocate less bursaries of a higher value rather than cutting the minimum level of the award and allocating to the same amount of students.

Megan Furborough, a third year English student, said: “Reducing the amount of monetary aid available to the poorest students at a time of ever-increasing living costs and £9,000 fees is appalling, and so it is reassuring that the Guild are condemning this action. There is no easy route to take regarding the allocation of bursaries following these cuts, but what is important is that students do not become further victims of educational disadvantage due to their financial situations”.

Exeposé have been assured that discussions between the Guild and the University regarding the cut to the programme “began immediately”.

Alex Louch, VP Academic Affairs, said: “I am deeply concerned and frustrated by the immediacy of these cuts to the National Scholarship Programme, which will impact on the financial support package available to Exeter students from households with an income below £16,000. I am pleased that the University approached the Students’ Guild immediately to begun discussions about this issue and we are working to ensure that bursary allocation for students of the lowest income backgrounds will not reduce”.

Professor Janice Kay, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education said: “We are considering what we will do and are in discussions with the Guild to ensure that the impact on students wishing to study at Exeter is minimised and that we continue to provide excellent financial support to our students, particularly those from the lowest income backgrounds. However, we are not yet in a position to confirm what the future arrangements will be; we want to assure our students and applicants to Exeter that, in spite of the announcement last week, we are deeply committed to reducing as far as possible financial barriers to studying at Exeter”.

Currently over 750 first year students at Exeter are receiving support through the NSP. However, the numbers eligible for the programme vary so figures could change next year when the cuts take effect.

Tom Elliott, Online News Editor

Follow @ExeposeNews on Twitter and like us here on Facebook.

The Lemmy: 10:29 is still on time!

It seems that, once again, Exeter students and the Lemon Grove bouncers are at loggerheads. Amy Snelling gives an account of more altercations with the Lemmy’s security services.

On Saturday the 19^th October, a group of second years turned up to the Lemmy in the nick of time, with their Ents Cards in hand, ready for their free entry and queue jump, only to be kept waiting unnecessarily by one bouncer and refused the privileges that should come with the card.

“Despite their attempts to talk to the bouncer, this unfortunate group of students seemed to have come head-to-head with one of those, sadly, increasingly more common, bouncers on a power-trip.”
Photo Credit: tommy forbes via Compfight cc

The Ents Card is sold to students by the guild at £30, under the premise that, as long they arrive at the Lemmy before 10.30pm, they will receive free entry and queue jump. Yet, on Saturday night a group of three students arrived, each of them checking the time on their phones to make sure they were, indeed, on time. According to the bouncer’s phone it was 10.29pm, but they were told to wait while he checked to see if the “clicker had gone”. Naturally, by the time this had happened, it hit 10.30pm and the clicker had, of course, “gone”.

Despite their attempts to talk to the bouncer, this unfortunate group of students seemed to have come head-to-head with one of those, sadly, increasingly more common, bouncers on a power-trip. One member of the group, Matt Hearne, a second year Economics student, told Exepose that, after being refused entry, he held up his phone to the bouncer, which showed the time as 10.29pm, but “by this point… he was having none of it”. To add insult to injury, when asking the bouncer why they were being refused their card privileges after they had arrived before 10.30pm,  Hearne added that he became “pretty rude” and “told us to pay or go home and wouldn’t discuss it”.  He informed the students that if they had an issue, they should “take it up with the guild”. Natasha Leigh-Wootton, a second year Economics and Finance student, also informed Exeposé that she had arrived to the Lemmy at similar times before and had “not had an issue”, so it does seem unjust that on this particular week, these three students came across this particular bouncer.

Such issues, by which I mean certain bouncers with their self-ordained omnipotence, leads me to the one real bone of contention that I have with their profession: bouncers are supposed to keep people safe on a night out, and keep control of security around the club, ie. to regulate goings on. But what I want to know is: who regulates these bouncers? I am not trying to say that all bouncers at the Lemmy have the intention of unnecessarily making it more difficult for students to enjoy their nights out, but some of them don’t seem to like making it easy either, and what we need to know is that there is someone on our side. Someone who is checking that the bouncers aren’t being allowed to dictate freely according to their whims.

As I’m sure many of you are aware, this is not the first issue that has cropped up between the students and bouncers this term; two bouncers were recently dismissed after “multiple complaints” due to their “aggressive” behaviour towards students. While this demonstrates some form of regulation, I want to know how far it has to go before something will be done about certain bouncers’ behaviour. Of course, it is not only the Lemmy where such problems crop up between bouncers and students. Charlotte Sefton, a Masters student of Middle East and Islamic Studies, who also spent four years in Exeter carrying out her undergraduate degree in French and Arabic has told Exeposé that, “Over the course of my five years in Exeter, the local bouncers seem to be getting ever more aggressive, particularly with the student population. Of course order must be kept, but there is a clear line between crowd control and legitimated thuggery.”

But, what is more worrying, is that such incidences are happening at The Lemmy, a supposedly student friendly venue and nightclub, run by the student union, for the students. So why are bouncers being allowed to make life harder for students when they are not causing trouble? They did not arrive drunk or disorderly, they did not behave aggressively or disrespectfully, they posed no danger to anyone; they simply arrived just before the time they were required to according to the Guild rules for this, particularly expensive, Ents Card.

The Student’s Guild VP Participation and Campuses representative, Jak Curtis-Rendall stated, “I am sorry to hear that any student has not fully enjoyed their Lemmy experience. Lemon Grove and security staff work together closely to try to ensure that anyone arriving at the Lemmy with an Ents Card or advance purchase ticket is able to enter the club… but.. I would always advise arriving in good time to avoid disappointment.” But 10.29 is still on time.

Amy Snelling

How flexible on admission times do we want the bouncers at the Lemmy to be? Do they need to be abrupt, borderline rude, to effectively do their job? Leave a comment below or write to the Comment team at the Exeposé Comment Facebook Group or on Twitter@CommentExepose.

Previous Sabbs claimed SSB and Arena tickets on Guild bank account

Image credit: Students’ Guild

An Exeposé investigation into the Sabbs expense claims over the course of the 2012-13 academic year has revealed that last year’s Sabbs claimed back SSB and Arena tickets on their Guild bank account.

Whilst the majority of the claims upon the Sabbatical Officers’ Guild account were legitimate expenses, covering the cost of running Guild campaigns and travel to national conferences or award ceremonies, a number of questionable claims also appear.

The nominal ledger for the Sabbatical Officers’ account discloses that three former Sabbs claimed back their Safer Sex Ball tickets in December 2012, whilst the fourth claimed back a ticket to the Diversity Ball in March 2013, totalling claims of £146.83.

When asked by Exeposé, the former Sabbs confirmed that they did claim back tickets but declined to comment any further.

In addition to this, a claim for Arena tickets was made in November 2012, costing £41.67. Although the Students’ Guild believe these tickets were likely to have been purchased to reward Children in Need organising committee volunteers, this had not been confirmed at the time of going to print.

Other claims made to the account include £85.12’s worth of Christmas cards, £41.19’s worth of push pins and £23.51’s worth of fairtrade bananas. £125.76 was also claimed back for spending in the Ram, allegedly for a meal for the designers of the A&V hub. A 50” plasma screen television for the SSB was also claimed on the account, costing £410.04, though it is believed that this expense was misfiled.

However, the 2013-14 Sabbatical Officers have changed their position regarding the claiming of tickets for Guild events for this academic year. Guild President Hannah Barton told Exeposé: “The Sabbatical Officers carefully consider all potential expenditure and we are taking a fresh approach to managing the Sabb budget for 2013/14. While attendance at Students’ Guild and University events is an important element of the role of the Sabbs, these costs will not be taken from the budget this year”.

James Roberts, a third year History and Politics student, said “It’s unbelievable that the Sabbs claimed for their SSB tickets when all of the money actually goes to charity. If they were there in a personal capacity, they should have paid for their own tickets like everybody else. It’s absolutely right that they will not be claiming back such expenses this year”.

Meg Drewett, Editor

Follow @ExeposeNews on Twitter and like us here on Facebook.

 

 

Welcome Team Diary: Natalie Garces Bovett

With the madness of Freshers’ Week still fresh in students’ minds, it’s a good time to reflect on the ups and downs of the week. Natalie Garces-Bovett was a Welcome Team volunteer and has shared two extracts about her experience of being one of the heroes dressed in pink…

Natalie and fellow volunteer, Sophie while on night duty
Image credit: Nik Rahmel

Day 1 – Monday. Outside Timepiece. 3:00am

First proper day of freshers’ week and…tonight was full of sick.

You get given a pair of see-through plastic gloves during welcome team training, but you kind of hope you’ll never need them but I think you could describe tonight as “messy”.

It started quietly enough, but the night advanced rapidly as one of the many sports clubs descended upon us for one of the first socials of term, and before we knew it there were plenty of happy folk keeping us company. Somewhat predictably, some of those happy people definitely overstepped their limits.

Having palmed off a vomit-tinged student to a waiting taxi, I was asked, for the gazillionth time “why are you doing this?”

It’s not all that obvious, but the people in pink are actually volunteers, and not paid employees – but despite the bin bags, tissues and projectile vomit, it was a fun night. You get to hang out with new people, enjoy the buzz and give back to a system which supported us so well through our own freshers’ weeks. So yeah, whilst it was a “sick night” it was also a sick night!

 

Day 2 – Tuesday, Human signposting outside the Forum, 11:00 am

As crowds congregate in the forum and piazza, the pink-shirts are out in force!

Despite the rain, working for Welcome Team during the day is a lot easier than working during the night, partly due to the milder temperature but also because it can be weirdly rewarding to deal with sober requests.

There is a palpable satisfaction to be had from being helpful, which in its basest form is fairly selfish, but it’s nice to be able to answer the odd query about the location of Santander, the freshers’ fair or the location of the mysterious room in Amory. But on the flip side…there is also the inevitable guilt when you accidently send someone in the wrong direction to get to Washington Singer. (The pink-shirt in question would like to apologise profusely)

I also discovered one of the more unexpected side effects of wearing a pink t-shirt today – a severe lack of shame. I found myself perfectly happy to boogie along to Xpression’s outside broadcast, displaying my cheesiest dance moves to all, and making a right fool of myself. But this lack of shame also means that its so much easier to go and chat to people you’ve never met  simply because you’re on ‘team’ which is a really nice feeling.

 

Day 3 – Wednesday, Arena queue 2:30 am

A distant rumble… a halloo in the wind…

And what seemed like the entirety of Exeter University AFC rounded the corner, chanting and leading a charge on the entrance to Arena. It looked terrifying until they all halted and formed an orderly queue, holding out their wristbands out for inspection.

Another day, another night shift. The late nights, at this point, are starting to get to me a little since no matter how much you lie in, your body is convinced you’re missing a lot of sleep. Still, tonight was a good one – it wasn’t nearly as cold as the weekend, and there is something remarkably refreshing about being hopped up on energy drinks whilst walking home drunk students. It’s very interesting to see people’s reactions to being walked home. The second and third years can get very snappish and defensive but the overriding response from everyone is apologetic – to which I say – it’s what we’re here for. We’re not just for first years, but to help make sure everyone has a good night and gets home safe.

That being said, it’s difficult not to have a bit of fun with a ‘walk-home.’ After having the same conversation for the third time in a row, we started rocking a mysterious variety of accents… If you’re from Lafrowda and you were walked home by an Australian… I’m really sorry.

 

Day 4 –  Outside Mosaic, 12 midnight

The Lemmy was wild tonight apparently, but since we had much less of a crush in town, I got sent home early – which was fantastic since I was flagging pretty badly. But whilst the night was still young, I got to know the bouncers a little bit and amused the locals when a few of us burst into spontaneous Chicago renditions, with increasingly cracked voices. Late night madness…

 

Day 5 –  Dinner, 7:00 pm

At this point, Freshers’ week is pretty much over for me. For some of us there is the final night shift to get through but I’m pretty glad I’ve got the night off – I’m getting crotchety!!

I had a peek round the door of the “tired team zone” earlier and saw exactly how crowded it was, so I don’t imagine I’m the only one. There were two tired team zones during the week – one in Belmont Church for the nights out (run by church volunteers and offering noodles, soup and tasty tasty cupcakes!) and the other on the top floor of Devonshire House and packed out with donated pink squishy things to lie on – most notably a humongous giant pig called Wilfred. But for all the comfort, I’m definitely looking forward to sleeping more – but that can wait ‘til Sunday…

One of the biggest perks to Welcome Team is the free entry to the Lemmy on Saturday night for the ‘pink party’ and competition between the Halls’ Teams for the best costumes is fierce. The Holland Hall and Mardon Welcome Teams have spent most of the week in serious contemplation of fancy dress themes; I think we’ll be going in nothing at this rate, but at least none of our ideas are as bad as the Sabbs’ ones! Last year the Sabbatical Officers came along to the party as S-Abba, so the heat was on to try and replicate their beautiful pun success. However, since the best we could all think of was “S-CRabbs” (amid gales of laughter) I doubt they will be quite so magnificent this year.

After dinner there is just time for some brief contemplation on the week just passed, and a great deal of quietly sentimental guff, which made us all miss each other already. But it was just nice to finish on a high – fish and chips at Holland Hall dining room, looking out over the sunset, with some excellent company. The end of a highly satisfying week.

 

 Did you have a good Freshers’ Week? Let us know on Facebook and on twitter...

Welcome Team Profile: Jess Berry

Image credit: Jess Berry

If you so much as stepped out of your house this past Freshers’ Week, you can’t have missed seeing Welcome Team members bounding about campus.

These pink-clad heroes are responsible for looking after Exeter students during Freshers’ Week, doing everything from guiding students around campus to helping them get home on a night out.

In the latest of Exeposé’s Welcome Team profiles, get to know Jess Berry…

Name: Jess Berry

From: North Devon

Role on Welcome Team: First Time Team Member

Subject and year: Business and Management, Second Year

First year accommodation: Duryard

Explain why you joined Welcome Team: It looked so much fun… with the added bonus of meeting so many great people and building up lots of voluntary hours too!

Describe yourself in three words: Bubbly, motivated and organised.

Favourite Freshers’ Week moment: Taking home two third years – had to stop one from trying to come on to me whilst our team car went round to find the second passed out on the side of a road!

Society recommendations: Sports clubs – the best way to meet SO many people.

Favourite Ram basket meal: Curly Fries!

Give you three top pieces of advice to freshers:

1. Pace yourself! Fresher’s week is a long one so don’t crash and burn after the first night!

2. Don’t wear heels out. Rain and hills = ultimate fail in heels. Go for comfort.

3. Get involved… don’t just turn up and do your lectures, join clubs and societies to build up a bigger network of friends and potential contacts!

And lastly, favourite fun fact: During my first year we got Dominoes five days in a row! Got to support local trade!

 

 

Are The Teaching Awards Necessary?

Zoe Bulaitis argues that having been to the Teaching Awards for the last two years, and voted in them for the previous four, they are an exercise that is both valuable and worthwhile.

I have observed the Awards Ceremony held anually in the Great Hall as a student only. I am not presently on any SSLC, I am not yet an employed academic at the university (hint hint) and I have no other stake in the ceremony other than being one of the two and a half thousand students who are moved enough by their experience of teaching at the University to nominate their lecturer, seminar leader or personal tutor for an award. Yes, this probably counts me in the top ten per cent of the geekiness scale in Exeter and gets me on some sort of register but I don’t really mind.

“If there is one thing that is undervalued in the current successful top ten universities it is the value of a good teacher.”
Photo Credit: University of Exeter

If there is one thing that is undervalued in the current successful top ten universities it is the value of a good teacher. Universities need to have a good quota of students with AAA grades at A Level to attract funding and successful researchers to their institutions. It’s a competitive process. Alongside this pressure to attract useful students, the threat of the Research Assessment Exercises (RAE’s for short) around every five years looms large on the minds of those who have the power to hire and fire at the university. RAE’s are one of the most influential measurements of success in Higher Education. It so happens that researchers whom attract large amounts of funding (and often succeed in the RAE) are often not those who have schedules full of teaching or spend hours in office hours with stressed-out undergraduates. This is a generalisation of course, and in my experience the best teachers can also be the best researchers – full of wonder and desire to share it with whoever shares their enthusiasm. However, to return to the RAE’s it is important to note that teaching doesn’t count for a thing in this quantitative measurement of success.

So isn’t it nice to have a scale of valuation within our institution to appreciate the work of teachers? Yes. Most certainly to be awarded on the merit of collective personal appraisal is a stark contrast to the colder calculations often employed in demarcating success. But is it enough? If the teachers are only be recognised with internal awards then can this be an agent for changing the valuation of education? To tabulate, collate and quantify the praise that winning a Teaching Award encapsulates is a difficult task. How can numbers capture gratitude and how can enthusiasm be charted on a 1* – 4* scale?

Zoe Bulaitis

Is the Teaching Award process a valuable one or does it add additional  unnecessary pressures to the academic staff at the University? Leave a comment below or write to the Comment team at the Exeposé Comment Facebook Group or on Twitter @CommentExepose.

County Cricket Club pavilion may be demolished for student flats

Hot on the heels of Exeposé‘s exclusive about possible demolition and construction plans at St. Luke’s campus, the Exeter Express and Echo is reporting that the traditional cricket pavilion, at the Devon County ground opposite campus, could be demolished to make way for “high quality student flats”.

Photo Credit: Niklas Rahmel

According to the Express and Echo‘s website, long-serving Exeter Cricket Club chairman Bob Price thinks that the building plans should cause no “real controversy”, because the alternative to the “limited development” is that the ground’s pitch and open space would be lost for future generations of Exeter residents.

A family trust has allowed both Devon Cricket Club and Exeter Cricket Club to play at the ground, rent free, since 1902. However, next year this long term lease will finally run out, forcing Exeter Cricket Club in particular (the only amateur team in their division) to seek new forms of income.

Mr Price told the Express and Echo: “We sub-let the adjoining squash club and we will lose that income when the lease is up. How are we to replace that income?”

“We don’t pay any of our players. We want to play simply for the beauty of the game. We will retain the ground and we will have a sizeable amount of money to build a new club house next to the squash club”, he added.

It is not yet clear whether the student accommodation Mr Price is proposing would be approved by the university, or a private venture.

However, the plans came as a surprise to the Students’ Guild. Grace Hopper, VP for Welfare and Community, told Exeposé that “the new article from the Express and Echo was the first I’d heard of anything”. She added though that she would now be “investigating the alleged plans”.

There are already strong indications that the plans to knock down the pavilion might encounter considerable opposition. Councillor Percy Prose explained to the Express and Echo that “temporary listed protection status” had been used to save buildings in the past and he thought there was scope for a “Save Our Pavilion” campaign.

A council spokesman has also stated that there are “no current planning applications” and that any such applications would be subject to both “legal tests” and the new St. James Neighbourhood Plan. The Western Morning News website suggests that the Neighbourhood Plan may give residents a say in the future landscape of the cricket ground.

Many students would welcome a say in the future of the pavilion, as it is used to host Athletics Union events. Men’s hockey captain Sam Plater told Exeposé that the building was used to host his society’s match teas. He went on to condemn the possible plans: “it would be a travesty to demolish such a beautiful, traditional pavilion that makes the Cricket Ground what it is: a quintessential Cricket Pitch”.

Confusion reigns over the exact purpose of the potential planned flats and their benefits to students. Mr Price told the Express and Echo that the flats would accommodate students close to campus, so that they are not “taking up houses in the city”. Does this mean that they are not intended for first year students, who would usually live in university accommodation, either on campus or nearby?

Second-year History student Oscar Maddox questioned whether there would be a demand for flats on the edge of campus among second and third years. He said: “While it would be nice to live near campus, I would worry about how much it would cost. Also I think there are lots of benefits to living nearer town, so I’m not sure how many people would want to live there”.

Whether the development will even go ahead or not remains to be seen, and the future of cricket in Exeter is also uncertain.

Liam Trim, Online Editor

Follow @ExeposeNews on Twitter and like us here on Facebook.

Islamic Society heralded as 'most outstanding' in the South

Image credit: Students’ Guild

Exeter’s Islamic Society has been named the most outstanding Islamic society in the South, by the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS).

The group have achieved incredible success this year and are nominated for three Students’ Guild awards, in broadening student engagement, cultural & community contribution and student group of the year.

Mo Mohamed, Isoc’s President, attributes their success to interesting events which entice people to join – including the society’s signature event ‘Poetry Night’, Discover Islam Month and various guest speakers. One such figure, Abdel Rahman Murphy – an international speaker – attracted Muslims from as far away as Plymouth earlier this year, later tweeting “don’t sleep on @UniExeterISoc. They are legit Masha Allah!”

The society, which has six non-Muslim members, was also keen to explain it always attempts to be as welcoming and tolerant as possible, encouraging all students to come along even if they are not religious and stresses one of its main goals is to simply educate people about Islam.

The group are looking to build on this year’s success next term by improving the consistency of events and attracting more people to the society.

There has also been speculation of a FOSIS national ranking (thus far it has only be regional), which Mohamed jokingly suggests that the group would easily top  – since many other Islamic societies have far more resources.

The society also wants to build on this year’s socials, which included laser quest for female members, and offer even more community building activities.

The group appear to be a relaxed and inclusive society and will be looking to replicate this year’s success by becoming more prominent in University life in years to come.

James Beaney

Is The University Prioritising Profit Over Student Welfare?

 In line with May Day’s protest over the rising cost of living for students and a perceived privatisation of the University of Exeter, keen activist Carlus Hudson delves deeper into the motivations behind the protest and points the finger of blame squarely between the private landlords of Exeter and the profit-driven mindset of the university. 

On Wednesday 1^st May, also International Workers’ Day, students in Exeter will be holding a demonstration in Queens LT2 at 6pm to challenge the on-going economic attacks on students. The tripled tuition fees introduced by the government have been implemented, meaning that students who started their courses this year and from now on will be landed with an extra £18,000 debt for a three year degree. International students have an even larger debt to pay because of going to university than that. While students are being weighed down in the long term by the increased debt burden (for the crime of wanting an education and being upwardly mobile), in the short term their standard of living is being targeted by an increase in student rents. The Students’ Guild have already taken action to freeze rents, but this should be extended to keep living costs low for students over the next few years.

“The provision of housing to students, both on and off campus, is for profit and largely in the hands of private landlords.”
Photo Credit: 401(K) 2013 via Compfight cc

The provision of housing to students, both on and off campus, is for profit and largely in the hands of private landlords. Maintenance loans are sometimes barely sufficient to cover the cheaper end of accommodation available, meaning there is simply not enough affordable student housing to go around. The demolition of old housing and the construction of new housing on campus itself largely caters to the higher end demographics. This means that not enough investment is being made into cheaper housing. This process is slowly making Exeter unaffordable to thousands of prospective and current students at Exeter. Student housing should not be to there to maximise the profits of the companies the contacts are outsources to, it should be run at cost by the university to make sure that high quality accommodation is available at a reasonable price.

A number of other services on campus have been shut down, including several of the cafes that operated on campus until the start of this academic year. This means that a number of staff have lost their jobs and those services have been centralised to the Forum, which damages the diversity of services available on campus as well as being detrimental to those who have been made redundant as a result.

Students are mobilising at Exeter University to fight these attacks, and pressure the university management to implement measures to reverse the changes that have taken place. The demonstration on 1^st May will be the start of a long-term campaign to achieve this, and this campaign will seek to organise the anger felt by many students on these issues.

Carlus Hudson

Editorial Note: This article claims that jobs were lost when cafes on campus were closed. To clarify this point, all staff affected by these closures were in fact offered alternative employment or a voluntary severance package.

Could the university be doing more to help ease the pressure of living on a student budget? Or is the cost of private housing really none of their concern? Leave a comment below or write to the Comment team at the Exeposé Comment Facebook Group or on Twitter @CommentExepose.

EXCLUSIVE: Guild rejects Bastille summer gig

Image credit: Derek Harper

The Students’ Guild has declined the opportunity to have Bastille headline a Summer Festival held at the University.

The band’s proposed fee would have made them the highest paid act to have performed at a Guild event in recent years.

A source wishing to remain unnamed told Exeposé that a Guild member asked students if they had any rich family members who could pay off the debt if the event went wrong.

Alongside the group’s fee and rider, Guild staff members estimated infrastructure and logistical costs would mean the total price exceeded £40,000.

President of Birks Grange Village, Caitlin Robbins, originally contacted the band in an attempt to secure an eye-catching act for her vision of a Birks Grange Summer Festival named ‘ExFest 2013.’

Upon receiving an unexpected reply, the possibility of instead using the band in an end of year ball began to be explored. But the Guild felt they could not underwrite such a cost and so turned the offer down on the grounds that further price hikes should not be passed on to students.

In a series of meetings and email correspondences, Robbins and the Birks Grange Committee attempted to persuade the Guild to allow the event to take place.

“Our budget did make it seem unfeasible, but the Guild could have been more supportive in providing a compromising solution,” she said.

“Hall committees have been encouraged to use their initiative and think outside of the box to provide events that students actually want, but when this opportunity came up they (the Guild) didn’t seem interested in being flexible enough to make it happen, even at future events.”

A Guild spokesperson said: “After discussing the necessary requirements and more importantly the associated costs; The Student Guild decided not to pursue it. The Guild proposed innovative methods such as Kickstarter to help get the ball running and underwrite the significant risks that were associated, but ultimately the student committee opted to go down a different route.”

Standard tickets to the Summer Ball at Powderham Castle already cost £43.50, though organisers are promising “international performers and artists.”

Nonetheless the ball appears to be a second choice option for many students, with the Enchanted Garden Ball attracting much attention on social networking sites.

History and maths student Philippa Lane said: “Of the two I would definitely pick the EGB, because it just looks more interesting, so I think the Summer Ball organisers would be making a mistake in not taking Bastille.”

The University has struggled to attract big name acts in recent years, with Tinchy Stryder and Rudimental being the most well known performers on campus since term began.

But hope of seeing Bastille on Streatham has not faded entirely and a Facebook campaign group attempting to reverse the decision has currently attracted around 200 likes.

Harrison Jones, Online News Editor

Follow @ExeposeNews on Twitter and like us here on Facebook.