NUS – The Orbital

NUS cuts threaten liberation and democracy campaigns

19Nov

By Becca BashfordNo Comments

News

NUS cuts threaten liberation and democracy campaigns

A source at NUS (National Union of Students) has revealed that due to a crippling £3million debt, cuts may be made to vital liberation and democracy campaign budgets. The National Union of Students is a ‘voluntary membership organisation of 600 students' unions, amounting to more than 95 per cent of all higher and further education unions in the UK’. Their aim is to support and defend students rights through a unified and collective voice which seeks to promote equality, democracy and fair opportunities to students across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. NUS Liberation campaigns ‘support and fights for the rights of POC, Disabled, LGBT+, Trans and Women students’. The campaigns range from ‘Stop and Scrap Universal Credit’, responding to the Gender Recognition Act, and cal...

8Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Referendum on NSS Boycott Announced

Royal Holloway’s Student’s Union has called for a referendum to vote on whether or not the RHSU should continue to boycott the National Student Survey (NSS). The boycott was passed in a referendum in March of this year, with 282 votes. The original boycott was called for, in conjunction with the National Union of Students (NUS), in response to the NSS being used with the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) to possibly allow universities to charge higher tuition fees. The NSS measures student satisfaction while the TEF measures quality of teaching and results of study. Universities can score Gold or Silver and be placed on the higher end of the spectrum or they could be scored with a Bronze, which is a lower rating. Thus, those that achieved Gold or Silver, under the Government’s initiat...

NUS Vice President attends SURHUL preparations for National Mass Demonstration

19Nov

By No Comments

News

NUS Vice President attends SURHUL preparations for National Mass Demonstration

Sorana Vieru, NUS Vice President for Higher Education, was present at a banner-painting event organised by the Royal Holloway Student Union on Wednesday 9th November. The meeting, attended by members of the Left Forum, saw students prepare for a mass demonstration due to take place on the 19th November. Organised by the National Union for Students, the London protest will involve students from across the country voicing their opposition towards increasing tuition fees and a new tiered system. It is being put in place by the current Conservative government. Ms Vieru, who was democratically elected to her post early in 2015, was intensely critical of the Higher Education and Research Bill, calling it “ideologically driven.” She criticised plans to introduce tiered systems, where unive...

22Aug

By Yasmeen FrassoNo Comments

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...

28Jan

By No Comments

Opinion

It’s Time to Consent

Watching Frozen for the millionth time, I’m still surprised that Kristoff asks Anna whether he may kiss her. Expecting the hero to seize a victory smooch, I realised we’ve long forgone consent because we’re not used to seeing or asking for it. Here was a Disney film portraying consent for a kiss, when 55 years ago the kiss in Sleeping Beauty was metaphor to obscure the character’s rape. Our popular culture, which so heavily socialises us, has brushed over the need for consent. We’re all given Sex Ed. at primary school, and talking about sex becomes as ordinary as a DFS sofa sale. So it’s disappointing that university students find drunken hook-ups less awkward than talking about consent. It’s defined as “agreeing by choice and having the freedom and capacity to make that choice.” ...

13Nov

By No Comments

News

NUS Withdraws support for tuition fees demonstration

The National Union of Students has withdrawn its support for a demonstration against university tuition fees scheduled for the 19th of November over safety concerns. The march is expected to be the largest student demonstration since the riotous march against fees in 2010. The protest which has been organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts in conjunction with the Student Assembly Against Austerity, will march on Westminster, reportedly with thousands of students from around the country expected to join. The campaign looks to Germany for inspiration, as last month the German government scrapped tuition fees. The campaign organisers suggest that this is a prime example of the possibility of free education, and that though we are told there is no alternative to huge hikes i...

3Nov

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

News

Clubs & Societies reminded to adhere to NUS Alcohol Awareness Policy

Royal Holloway’s recently revised Alcohol Awareness Policy has been causing controversy at the beginning of the new academic year amongst societies and clubs on campus. The Orbital has been informed that a certain society , not affliated with the Students’ Union, has been called in to speak to the College, to remind them that committees need to ensure society-led events encourage sensible consumption of alcohol. College have stated that they will take disciplinary action against students who misuse alcohol on College premises or encourage or pressurise others to do so. It is understood that the society in question was called in to speak to the College regarding a planned pub crawl during fresher’s week, over concerns that the misuse of alcohol may have been encouraged during the even...

28Oct

By No Comments

News

NUS create ‘New Deal’ ahead of 2015 General Election

The National Union of Students (NUS) have released their manifesto, ‘New Deal for the Next Generation’, ahead of the General Election next year. The content of the manifesto is split largely into three themes focusing upon education, work and community. Following the 2010 General Election which saw a transformation in the way UK tuition fees work, the 600 student unions which comprise the NUS are bent on ensuring their demands are met. The manifesto clearly underlines its aims to create equal opportunities for education. Welcomed by many is the first point under the education section which states ‘We want government to phase out tuition fees and restore public funding to universities’. Other featured policies in the manifesto include a commitment to producing fair funding for postgradua...