ACADEMIC FREEDOM OR INSTITUTIONALISED TRANSPHOBIA?

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives, Student and tagged academia, academics, featured, gender, glinner, HE, identity, John Collins, letter, nb, Never OK, non-binary, response, rupert read, sex, Stonewall, student unions, SU, terf, trans, transphobes, transphobia, UEA.

By Robyn Banks

Once again, an array of academics have signed a letter complaining about the increased efforts by universities to recognise and support Trans* and Non-Binary students on their campuses. Their reasons for doing so aren’t worth exploring, as they are based on the same logic, or lack thereof, as many transphobes about the realities of gender, sex and identity. The problem we should focus on is that the academics who have signed this letter, and the ones before it, hide behind the claim of ‘Academic Freedom’ in order to try and justify their views.Continue Reading

AT THE FRONT LINE: SOLAR POWER FOR SILVER ROAD

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged carbon footprint, climate change, co2, Community, community centre, crowdfunder, frontline, local community, M&S, M&S Energy Fund, marks and spencer, marks and spencer energy fund, norfolk, Norfolk County Council, owl sanctuary, renewables, resilience, Silver Road, Silver Road Communtiy Centre, Silver Rooms, solar energy, solar power, solar power system, student unions, yog.

by Colin Hynson and Matthew White

Four years ago, on the north side of Norwich, a new community centre came into life. Before that the Silver Rooms had been owned and run by Norfolk County Council as a drop-in centre for local older residents. In 2010 Norfolk County Council announced that it was selling off the building as a response to cuts imposed by the coalition government. A group of local people fought back determined that the building should carry on benefiting the local community. In 2012, the building became an Asset of Community Value (later used in the campaign to save the Owl Sanctuary). Norfolk County Council then abandoned the auction and said that the building could be run for the benefit of the community and the rooms were leased to the community for 25 years for a peppercorn rent of £1.00 a year.Continue Reading

SHAME ON SOAS – OCCUPIERS PROTEST TREATMENT OF CATERING STAFF

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #SHAMEonSOAS, BME, Bouygues, catering, closures, Community, Elior UK, fair pay, London Living Wage, Lucas Lecture Theatre, migrant workers, ob cuts, occupation, occupy, outsourcing, peaceful protest, redundancies, rights, SOAS, SOAS refectory, SOASJ4C, student activism, student unions, unions, universities, women workers, workers rights, zero hours contracts.

By SOAS Justice for Workers

Yesterday, on the 8th anniversary of the deportation of 9 SOAS cleaners, students of SOAS began an occupation of the Directorate on the Main Building first floor. We are taking direct action in resistance to the planned shut down of the refectory and outrageous threats made by management to the livelihoods of members of our community. We stand in solidarity with the catering staff, and all the exploited workers of SOAS, in their fight for dignity and respect.

THE UK POSTGRADUATE STUDY CRISIS MUST END

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academia, Belfast, conferences, crisis, FE, fees, finance, grad school, HE, higher education, institution, mature students, mental health, minimum wage, NEC, NUS, postgrad, postgraduate, research, sexual harassment, socioeconomic, student unions, students, teaching, The 1752 Group, Times Higher, UCU, uk, undergraduate, university fees, Warwick, Warwick Anti-Casualisation.

by Bradley Allsop

Postgraduate study and research is a vital part of the higher education sector and yet in the UK it is in crisis, riddled with multiple, endemic problems.

Firstly, there are systemic problems with postgraduate study in terms of who even gets through the door. Research has shown that, graduates who are women, from certain ethnic minority groups or from lower socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to go on to study at postgraduate level. This is a social injustice in itself, and raises serious questions about the cultures and systems that exist within both academia and society more generally, but it is also to the detriment of academia: academia thrives on diversity.Continue Reading

HIJACKING STUDENT POWER – WHY THE NUS GOVERNANCE REVIEW MATTERS

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged abortion, block of 15, democracy, governance, minority representation, Northern Ireland, NUS, NUS conference, NUS Democratic Procedures Committee, NUS NEC, NUS zones, policy, Richard Brooks, student politics, student unions, student welfare.

by Cherry Somersby

On the last day of NUS National Conference, an extensive governance review was passed amid confusion and accusations of political bias from NUS’ Democratic Procedures Committee. The review was comprised of four sections, each relating to four ‘principles for a good democracy’, and in total, sixteen amendments were submitted by delegates, many of which contained fundamental changes to the vision that the review had set out.

PRICE HIKES AND RENT STRIKES – SOLVING THE UEA ACCOMMODATION CRISIS

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged accommodation, bunk beds, david richardson, direct action, league tables, lobbying, lower income backgrounds, petitions, price hikes, private renting, profit, rent, rent strikes, student accommodation, student activism, student life, student loans, student satisfaction survey, student unions, students, teaching staff, UCL, UCL cut the rent, UEA, UEA Vision 2030, university, university courses, university management, university rankings, zero hour contracts.

By Robyn Banks

Whist chatting to a friend last week I found myself looking at the price of accommodation at UEA for the next academic year. I found that the prices are set to rise yet again, with the price of the most expensive undergraduate accommodation reaching over £5800 a year, or £153.30 per week if you want your shocks in smaller weekly doses rather than one big lump.

INSULT & INJURY – THE STUDENT LETTINGS RIPOFF

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged Citizens Advice Bureau, exploitation, landlords, letting agents, living conditions, NUS, postgraduates, private renting, reading, student accommodation, student life, student loans, student unions, students, tenants' rights, University of London.

By Alex Powell

In 2014, the NUS reported that three quarters of students had suffered issues with privately rented accommodation. Such a high proportion is indicative of an endemic problem within the private rental market, a problem that disproportionately impacts students. Since the publication of this report, the problem has only gotten worse, as inflationary pressures have pushed up the price of rents while student loans have remained stagnant. Students now face more issues with finding decent housing than ever before, and many are left living in less than ideal conditions, to say the least.

NOT YOUR FUCKING BARGAINING CHIP

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged Article 50, Brexit, Brexit bill, Donald Trump, EU, EU students, international students, jo johnson, migrants, migration, One Day Without Us, Parliament, private healthcare, right to remain, rights, sanctuary campus, student unions, students, universities.

by Robyn Banks

Last week, 322 MPs voted against an amendment that would have assured the rights of the three million European migrants that live in the UK to remain here after Brexit. Of these three million people, roughly 6 percent are EU students. And for a majority of those, these are times of uncertainty and anxiety. Those 322 MPs, including three from Labour, have sent a clear message to EU students who want to remain in this country: you are just bargaining chips in the Brexit negotiations over the next two years.

BLACK STUDENTS’ CONFERENCE 2016

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #NUSBlack16, aadam muse, Africans, Afro Caribbeans, black activism, black history month, black student, black student conference, blackness, BME, BSC, delegates, disabled, malia bouattia, mental health, NUS, NUS BSC, oppression, political blackness, racism, representation, safe spaces, student unions, twitter, UUEAS, working class.

by Julian Ignacio Canlas

On May 28-29^th, the Black Students Conference happened in Bradford, where black student delegates across the country congregated together in the conference hall of Bradford Hotel.

We listened to BME activists and journalists discuss about their own experience of oppression, institutional racism, and the hard, arduous path that led to Malia Bouattia’s victory as the first black female president-elect of the NUS. This included renowned journalist Gary Younge, who delved upon the progression of black activism and condemned the forms of racism existing in right and leftwing media. Younge later received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

We went through rounds of motions and amendments. We voted for our new committee members, including the Black Students Officer, now Aadam Muse. Most contentiously, we debated about political blackness and its relevancy or outdatedness within the movement’s campaign structure.Continue Reading

THANKS JEREMY, BUT I DON’T WANT YOUR SYMPATHY

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged austerity, conservatives, cuts, david cameron, domestic violence, Jeremy Hunt, Liberal Democrats, mental health, mental health awareness week, MHAW, MHAW16, NUS, politics, relationships, self care, sexual assault, stigma, student unions.

by Finn Northrop

Trigger warning: Rape, sexual assault and domestic violence

Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week, and each year this presents a fantastic opportunity for huge numbers of committed activists to not only raise awareness of a variety of mental health conditions but also to promote self-care and self-help methods, and to give people the bravery to seek help – whether that means reaching out to close friends or taking to the step of going to their GPs and seeing what services are available to them.Continue Reading

student unions

ACADEMIC FREEDOM OR INSTITUTIONALISED TRANSPHOBIA?

AT THE FRONT LINE: SOLAR POWER FOR SILVER ROAD

SHAME ON SOAS – OCCUPIERS PROTEST TREATMENT OF CATERING STAFF

THE UK POSTGRADUATE STUDY CRISIS MUST END

HIJACKING STUDENT POWER – WHY THE NUS GOVERNANCE REVIEW MATTERS

PRICE HIKES AND RENT STRIKES – SOLVING THE UEA ACCOMMODATION CRISIS

INSULT & INJURY – THE STUDENT LETTINGS RIPOFF

NOT YOUR FUCKING BARGAINING CHIP

BLACK STUDENTS’ CONFERENCE 2016

THANKS JEREMY, BUT I DON’T WANT YOUR SYMPATHY

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