Thursday, March 28Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Author: Yasmeen Frasso

Boycotting The NSS
Features

Boycotting The NSS

Features Editor, Yasmeen, interviews Non - one of the organisers of the NSS Boycott on campus. So, obviously the main question we have for you is why are you boycotting the National Student Survey (NSS)? Well we’re boycotting the NSS because it’s instrumental to fee increases in coming years. This is because the results from the NSS will go towards ranking universities in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). So TEF is basically a ranking system where universities will get awarded a ranking of either bronze, silver, or gold, and will be able to increase their fees in line with their medal. If our university successfully boycotts the NSS, a successful boycott being the university gets a response rate of 50% or less, then there will be incomplete data for TEF and our university ...
Campaigning to end homelessness, an interview with Rebecca Wilson
Features

Campaigning to end homelessness, an interview with Rebecca Wilson

Yasmeen catches up with Rebecca Wilson, President of English PEN at RoHo, and the organiser of the amazingly successful Big Sleepout last month.   Rebecca, firstly congratulations for the result of the Big Sleepout, you began with the target of only £500 and now you’ve raised over £2,000. Did you expect the result to be as impressive? No, not at all! I will admit that I was totally cynical about the amount we were going to raise because I wasn’t entirely confident in how enthusiastic people were going to be about giving money to a comparatively small, independent homelessness organisation. Without Sarah Newell’s (SU Women’s Officer) constant encouragement and hard work, the event wouldn’t have been half as successful. But yes, the response to The Sleepout has been insane...
CoppaFeel! This Valentine’s Day
Features

CoppaFeel! This Valentine’s Day

Features Editor, Yasmeen, interviews the Asha and Francesca of the Royal Holloway Uni Boob Team about something everybody should be doing this Valentines Day and every other day of the year. Everybody likes boobs. Let's face it. Whether you're a proud owner of a pair or not, boobs are pretty cool. Have I caught your attention yet? Good. No, you were not duped into reading this, it is actually about boobs. But I'll let the interview speak for itself.   CoppaFeel! is a pretty cool name for a charity. How would you best describe it? CoppaFeel! is a charity set up by a lady called Kris Hallenga, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 23.  It took a long time for Kris to be diagnosed, and by the time she was, her breast cancer was at stage four. There is...
Swipe Right For Love
Features

Swipe Right For Love

This Valentines Day, Yasmeen Frasso discusses the use of dating apps. Dating has always been a curious thing; since the days where Victorian women would be sought after and courted by a suitor (think Jane Austen) not much has really changed. You seek out a potential partner, work up the courage to ask them out and do you best to impress them over a series of meetups. The desired result? Having lots of babies perhaps, but if not maybe just living happily ever after together. Yet, as with everything, the progression of technology has forever changed the dating landscape. Enter the dating app revolution. Back in the mid 2000’s, sites such as the ever famous Match.com began to spring up, allowing people to connect and meet new people over the internet. Since, the rise of ...
Talking about Domestic Abuse
Features

Talking about Domestic Abuse

Features Editor, Yasmeen Frasso, interviews Royal Holloway alumna, Nens Corran. During her time at Royal Holloway, Nens studied History (BA Hons). After graduating with a 1st, she went on to join the Met Police, now working as a Temporary Detective Inspector in a unit focused on Domestic Abuse.   You’ve had quite a diverse experience in the police force, could you briefly outline your journey to where you are now? Five years on response team (replying to 999 calls), with secondments out to Street Duties (teaching new recruits) and Jury Protection (protecting jurors in trials with particularly dangerous defendants, organised crimes connections). Four years on Tower Hamlets CID [Criminal Investigation Department], dealing with respectively, robbery and burglary, domesti...
In Conversation with Paul Layzell
Features

In Conversation with Paul Layzell

Features Editor, Yasmeen Frasso, interviewed Principal of Royal Holloway, Paul Layzell with the hopes of removing some of the mystery behind the man we all get weekly emails from.   Sitting outside of the Principal’s office you can’t help but feel you’ve done something wrong to be there. Expecting the worse, I sat waiting, nervous and unsure what I was getting myself in for. Yet the nerves dissipated as soon as I heard a loud laugh down the corridor and along came Paul Layzell.     How would you describe your role as Principal to the students of Royal Holloway and what does it entail on a daily basis? Well, my job is to oversee the whole of the organisation and effectively be chief executive. So it’s very difficult to say on a day by day basis I do a series...
What We Know; Arson attempt in Founder’s Building
News

What We Know; Arson attempt in Founder’s Building

UPDATE 15:11 PM 2nd December - Royal Holloway's student intranet has posted an official statement stating that the college are currently working with Surrey Police and the Surrey Fire Investigation Service to investigate last nights fire. They thanked the Security team, Surreys Fire and Rescue Services and Surrey Police and students and staff for co-operating. They state one bedroom, as well as toilets and bathrooms have been damaged, but that there is no damage to Founder's Building itself. The statement went on to speak about access to services within Founders; "Our Support & Advisory Services team, including the Disability & Dyslexia team, Counselling team, Chaplaincy and other services, are providing services from the Windsor Building. Founder's Post Room is current...
Walking for Survivors UK
Features

Walking for Survivors UK

Criminology & Psychology students, Rebecca Simmons and Non Frenguelli, recently set themselves a challenge in order to raise money for Survivors UK.  So firstly, congratulations on your amazing achievement, you guys should be so proud! Rebecca: Thank you! It’s definitely a great feeling to have completed the West Highland Way and to have done it for such a great cause. I’m already missing waking up to mountains and lochs covered in mist, but I have to admit that returning to showers and dry clothes has its benefits!   Could you explain exactly what you did and why you decided to do it? Non: We hiked the West Highland Way, which is Scotland's most popular long-distance route, that runs from Glasgow to Fort William. We wanted to do it because it's a really big phy...
Reflecting on The Stanford Rape Trial
Features

Reflecting on The Stanford Rape Trial

The Stanford Rape Trial (People vs. Turner) that came to a head earlier this summer sparked massive controversy when the convicted rapist, Brock Turner, was sentenced to a miniscule six month sentence. It raised many questions about rape culture in sport, as well as both racial and class biases in criminal prosecution. For those who aren’t familiar with the case, Turner, a 20 year old American student, was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind the bins at a Frat party back in January 2015. The victim was saved from any further assault by two men who pulled Turner away from her, and, when he attempted to run away, chased and detained him until the police arrived. Consequently, as one would expect, he has been under trial since, yet has pled ‘not guilty’ on his ...
The 2016 Student Media Summit
Features

The 2016 Student Media Summit

This week saw the ninth annual Student Media Summit return to London. Hosted by the NUS and Amnesty International UK, the two-day Summit aims to educate and develop the skills of students involved in media and those wanting to pursue it in the future. Features editor, Yasmeen Frasso, talks about her experience. Walking down New Inn Yard on the morning of Thursday 18th August was a strange experience; the morning travels were filled with the excitement of actually being able to go to a place that, for the day, was not only a central hub for activism, but journalism as well. Two areas which journalist and keynote speaker, Laurie Penny, later explained to us are often largely intertwined. But, of course, anxiety also latched onto me. “Was I wearing the right clothes?” “Was I prepa...