Recently in Student Life Category

This morning yet more papers and news sites are covering the arrests on Friday. The Yorkshire Post seems to have the best article, and notes that the students arrested from halls of residence were released without charge last night, though it does not mention if this was under police bail. The students were apparently of Pakistani origin but born in the UK, and were devout muslims.

The article also clarifies some confusion regarding some other arrests on Thursday from a house on Grove Terrace - two students were also arrested there and are still being questioned. Grove Terrace is a bit further down the road from the university, opposite Bradford College.

I've just finished the last assignment for this term. Barring one more lecture this afternoon, that means that all that my work for this term is now complete.

Tomorrow I'm intent on doing very little - handing assignments in and then spending some time relaxing in the pub.

The big news around campus right now is the closure of the Department of Cybernetics, Internet and Virtual Systems with effect from January. The department is only a few years old, having been set up in the late nineties, but rapidly declining numbers of applications from students, increasing debt due to the failure of a new course and the loss of a number of academic staff with no money to replace them has meant that keeping the department running on its own is becoming more and more difficult. Therefore, the decision was made to close it and an official statement to this effect was made yesterday.

As you can imagine, there is significant opposition to this, and a Student Action Group for Cybernetics has been set up with the aim of having the closure decision reversed. This includes a petition with the support of a number of students.

My department, Computing, is also part of the School of Informatics, like Cybernetics is, and one of the modules I take next semester is run by the Cybernetics department, so this decision does affect me, or at least in theory. However, I'm unsure whether I agree or not.

On the one hand, all of the courses will be run through to their completion, so that current students will not be asked to change courses or go to other universities, and will still come out with the same degree that they were accepted for. Because much of the administration of the courses now works at the School level, even with the department no longer existing the support structures will remain in place too, and most of the resources will be folded into the Computing and Electronic Imaging and Media Communication (EIMC) departments. It's also possible that some courses will remain but will be taught by these departments instead. So students really should not be at a disadvantage by this, though it wouldn't surprise me if some chose to drop out.

But there's also the fact that if the department were to cease to exist, it will potentially devalue students' degrees slightly, especially if their respective courses are closed too - in a few years time, students' prospective employers may check to see if their courses are still running and find that they are not. It's also a shame to lose something that always seemed quite cutting-edge - the only other Cybernetics department in the country is at the University of Reading so arguably we were at the forefront of technology with these courses. But then to me cybernetics has always been a bit of a niche subject and so this is probably why they have not been so successful.

If I have time I will go to the emergency meeting today to see what is discussed, but the closure seems like a done deal. It will be shame to lose it, but it is not being done without good reason and ultimately I don't think students will lose out much.

The Times Higher Education Supplement has an article on clearing helplines today and we're mentioned. A reporter phoned up various university hotlines and as well as asking the usual questions asked a few that were a little out of the ordinary.

We did pretty well, giving full answers to questions like who the vice chancellor is and what the gender balance among students is. Word has it that the vice chancellor himself is pleased with our performance. And incidentally the colleague who was asked about the gender balance figure was me :) .

Note that the article is subscription-only, but well worth a read if you can get in.

Today we had an email from ome of the staff members at the general office about the publishing of our degree results. I knew already that there would be no way that they would be available before the meeting of the Board of Examiners on the 8th July (12 days before graduation) but now it turns out that the letters make take up to 10 working days. Including the two weekends, this means that the letters would not arrive until the 22nd July - 2 days after graduation. This could mean myself and other people on my course turning up to the graduation ceremony not knowing what degrees we'll be getting, if any.

Hopefully a more amicable compromise will be found - with a bit of luck, we'll be able to collect our results in person. But considering that just about everyone else I know at other universities now know their results it does take the mickey.

I'm nursing a bit of a hangover after the beach party yesterday. It went well - lots of people out who all seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the sun did come out eventually (I even have the sunburn to prove it).

As promised, the photos are here, along with general commentary. When I went past the ampitheatre at at about half one this afternoon some people will still lingering from the all-night barbecue.

Today is the union's annual beach party - an excuse to get drunk on a manmade beach in the middle of campus while wearing silly summer clothes (or at least, that's what I'll be doing). Yesterday I helped set things up and took a few photos, which are up on Flickr already. I'll be adding the photos I take today to that set over the weekend.

In the meantime, you can watch the BeachCam which updates every 10 seconds, or watch the live streaming camera. Currently everything's still being set up but it should kick off properly at about 12pm UK time.

I also have a selection of the photos I took last year. This year's promises to be much bigger than last year, though - we've got a stage and everything. And Bez from the Happy Mondays is doing a live DJ set and playing with his new band. And there might be an appearance by Shaun Ryder too.

Also unlike last year, we might actually get some decent sunshine. The weather forecast is quite good today (better than the cold wet drizzle we've had all week) and with a bit of luck it'll be very sunny this afternoon. Yay. :)

Since I'll be hopefully graduating in less than 2 months time (yikes...) I've been ordering my gowns for the ceremony. At the same time, you're also asked if you want to order photos for the ceremony. The 'basic pack' - one 10x8 portrait and two 5x4 portraits, is £26 (plus £4 P&P). Now either the photographers are using state-of-the-art equipment and super-premium quality processing, or they're charging far more than they need to. The most expensive package, which includes a 12x10 framed portrait plus two 10x8, four 8x6 and two 10x8 of the family, costs a whopping £135.

I'll go for the basic package since my relatives have all had studio photographs taken when they have graduated, and then use a scanner to create further copies (although the company still owns the copyright in the images... phftt...). But still, if that's what the photographers can get away with charging then I'm probably following the wrong career path.

The last lecture of my degree was, erm, cancelled. Bit a dull end to it all, really, particularly as I got out of bed especially for it.

Last night I also finished my last piece of coursework which I mentioned earlier in the week, so other than a couple of demonstrations and one exam, I'm pretty much done now :) . It's a huge weight off my shoulders, that's for sure.

My exam isn't for another two weeks, so I've got plenty of time to read up about advanced features of SQL and object databases. Fun.

This is the last piece of coursework that I need to do for this degree. It's relatively straightforward but does require lots of thinking. And lots of entering SQL commands :( .

I could really do with a copy of phpPgAdmin on that server right now.

incidentally the PostgreSQL manual is quite good - it's been quite easy to find some of the more advanced functions that I've needed, such as defining table inheritance and specifying foreign keys.

The university have got back to me about my application for their MSc course in Forensic Computing, and they've given me a conditional offer of passing getting a minimum of 2:2 for my degree to get on it. Which is great news :) .

It's a bit of an oddball course, since the modules are delivered by five different departments in 3 different schools, but looks really interesting and has some good career paths upon graduation. It's taught with input from West Yorkshire Police.

I'll know in July whether I've done enough to get onto the course, but unless I've made a right royal cock-up somewhere I should be fine :) .

I may even go out tonight to celebrate, but alas I have coursework to do first.

The 'Love Music Hate Racism' festival is coming to the University of Bradford campus this Sunday (1st May). Confirmed acts are:

• Kano
• Simon Webbe (from boyband Blue)
• RDB
• Foreign Beggars
• Shlomo
• L Double
• Nicky Blackmarket
• Big Brovaz
• Firin' Squad
• Da Ill Kidz
• Hardkaur
• Soundproof Ents

Plus many others. It kicks off at 3pm with music in The Courtyard (free entry) with the main event in The Basement starting at 9pm - only £5 entry on the door. It's open to all.

Looks pretty good - I'll be down there with a bit of luck.

My photos from the protest are now up. They haven't been sorted, so the order is a little random and there's no titles or descriptions, but then there are 37 of them and I don't have an infinite amount of free time...

Just letting you know that I'm back from Cardiff okay. It was a good day, despite traffic problems and a poor turnout (both from Bradford and nationally) and I had a good time. I'll post a full report and my photos either tomorrow or Saturday.

Meanwhile, here's a BBC News Online article on the demo (and a Scotsman.com one), for your perusal.

Next Thursday, I'm off to the NUS National Demonstration in Cardiff. We're protesting against possible plans to introduce top-up fees in Welsh universities, which would mean undergraduate students may have to pay fees of up to £3000 per year instead of the current capped fees of just over £1000. Despite heavy campaigning the British Government just managed to push a similar policy through for English universities which means that students in England will have to pay those fees from 2006. We want to make sure that the case in England is the exception, not the rule.

If you're a student at Bradford then there is subsidised transport to the protest on the day - all you need to pay is a £3 deposit to the union reception which you will get back if you turn up on the day. I'm sure other unions will have similar arrangements. Please join us; I went to the demo in London last year and it was good fun. If anything, you'll get to see NUS president Kat Fletcher who's quite attractive. ;)

Further details are at the NUS National Demo information page, including details of the route of the demonstration. Hopefully I'll see you there.

Do you remember almost a year ago when I posted about the possible demise of "Gardies", a kebab shop near to the campus of Cambridge University? Well, the good news is that the plans have been dropped thanks to an 8000-name petition including famous Cambridge alumni Michael Portillo and Steven Fry. After losing the battle against top-up fees, it's nice to know that student can win sometimes.

This saddens me. Some people seem to think that students are a load of middle-class kids using government money to get drunk and steal traffic cones while not learning anything useful and getting into university with worse and worse A-level grades.

It's been the best part of 3 months since I started living in a student house as opposed to halls of residences, so seeing as the Student Life category is looking rather bare here's something to fill it:

Things I like about being in a house

1. No fire alarms
2. Broadband internet (although almost all the halls in Bradford now have it, bah... )
3. Having a living room
4. Having a sofa
5. Having a big TV with a clear signal and lots of channels
6. Knowing who the culprit is if someone steals your food
7. Having your own washing machine
8. Being able to choose who you live with
9. Not needing to lock your room every time you go to the toilet

Things I like about being in halls

1. Not so far to walk to lectures/the pub
2. Kitchen and bathrooms are cleaned for you
3. Not having to worry about paying for heating or electricity
4. Being able to meet new people

So more positives than negatives, which is good. Term starts properly tomorrow so it's back to the grind.

There's been some washing up in the kitchen that hasn't been touched since Wednesday for one reason or another, namely because the person who created the mess never got around to wash it and I hadn't got around to begrudgingly doing it until today. When I got to the pan at the bottom of the pile, this was what I was greeted with:

Nice. I cleaned that up pretty quickly after taking that photo.

Sometimes I'm glad to be at Bradford, and it's when your vice-chancellor says something like this (may require registration) that you feel proud. Bradford is one of the few "old" universities, as in those that got their royal charter before 1992, that is actively opposed to variable rate top-up fees.

I'll admit that I'm subscribed to a Google News Alert for term "Bradford University" OR "University of Bradford". It's been turning up a fair few matches lately as one of the professors in the Department of Peace Studies seems to be somewhat of an expert when it comes to al-Qaeda and terrorism, which sadly has been in the news again over the past few days, as you are no doubt aware.

On Wednesday, my parents are off to Spain for a week's holiday, though they will be spending most of their time in Seville and the south of the country and as such will be steering clear of Madrid. I understand that on Saturday there may be large protests in Spanish cities but whether this will affect them I don't know.

Uh... it's half past one in the morning. Best be off to bed.

Okay crew, tomorrow morning I have two lab sessions timetabled, one at 9am and one at 10am. Now... it's likely that I'd only need to go to one, and, since we have had no lectures in that module, I almost certainly don't need to go anyway.

But... my morals are telling me to turn up anyway just in case the lab is on and there's something important. So, do I:

1. Set my alarm for 8am and turn up at 9am like a good little student?
2. Set my alarm for 9am and turn up at 10am like a good little student?
3. Not bother and go to the lecture at 11am on the assumption that these labs aren't on?

Awfekkit, I'll do (3). See you tomorrow.

If any Bradford students are reading this and wondering why issues of Scrapie are always late, hopefully the following diagram will explain:

So, as you can see, it's not really our problem.

By the way, that sign on the right, which is pointing to the entrance to the bar, says 'Counselling Service'.

Update: Actually on this occasion we have even more of a reason. The lock on the door has malfunctioned, so now none of us can get in to the office to finish the issue. Looks like it'll be out next week, then.

There's now a Student Life category for your viewing pleasure. I figured that since I do post about student news and issues from time to time, a category was warranted.

It'll be useful for linking to articles like this one, for instance - vote for the UK's worst student bathroom, from a shortlist of 10. The winner gets an 'extreme makeover' from Aquafresh.

Looking back at a past entry during my search for old articles to populate the category with, I remembered the existence of FNDPics.com. Alas, my camera dodging ability seems to have dwindled - I appear three times in the 'Bras on bars FND' category. Not that I'm looking at the camera at any time, mind. Look out for a guy in a checked shirt with spikey (yes, spikey) hair and beige trainers.

Talking of which, I'll be off to El Fu Nu Du tonight, as usual. Better start on the Red Bull soon.

Here's a story to warm the cockles of your hearts. If it's as cold where you are as it is in Bradford, then anything to warm you up will probably be welcome.

Students at the University of Cambridge are fighting the closure of a local kebab shop, regarding it as a travesty of the highest order. Apparently, The food at Gardies is way more than a cut above the rest, the fare it dishes up wouldn't look out of place in a restaurant and it does it all for a reasonable price., according to the editor of Cambridge's student magazine.

In Bradford, we have no such problem. We have plenty of kebab shops within easy reach of the university. Although, like Cambridge, a property developer does want to build some student flats nearby and is having problems doing so - except they've annoyed English Heritage rather than the students. Apparently this is a conservation area. News to me, that's for sure...

You can probably guess that I'm back from the march - turnout was somewhere between 10 000 (police estimate) and 31 000 (NUS estimate). Supposedly it was the biggest demonstration by students in this country ever, which, when you consider that the vast majority of people who turned out yesterday will never be affected by top-up fees (the reason for the demonstration) is pretty good going. Had they been introduced for all students in September 2004, and not just for new students in 2006, I'm sure the turnout would have been higher.

A scan of the news web sites this morning suggests that it was a peaceful march and no arrests were made. That said, the police in London are pretty used to this kind of thing and the vast majority of marches go ahead with little or no trouble at all. This was despite the fact I spent much of my time walking behind some anarchist group.

Overall, I had a really good day - it was the first march of its kind I'd been on and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite having to walk for over two hours before arriving at the rally in Trafalgar Square. Amusingly, one of the speakers was Labour MP and former government minister Frank Dobson, alongside Mandy Telford, the president of the NUS. Probably the only thing I didn't like was the feeling that the march had been hijacked by those pushing their own left-wing agendas - there were plenty of people selling Socialist Worker and related publications, along with people with petitions against George W. Bush's visit in November or for freedom in Palestine. I have no problem with them organising their own march but I'd have preferred if they didn't hijack ours.

And besides, I'd already signed all of their petitions anyway... ;-)

I didn't get interviewed by anyone while there although I did wave as I passed a camera recording an interview for Sky News - whether that bit got in I have no idea. Media coverage is a little slack due to various other issues that the newspapers deem more important, but the Nuardiag does have a good article.

Amusingly, on the way down it seems like at least 4 student coach parties all stopped off at Watford Gap services on the M1 at the same time. We could have almost staged our own mini-protest there, I suppose.

If you want, you can see a gallery of the photos I took. Obviously in some cases I had to juggle a placard and a banner while still marching when trying to take some of the photos, so if they're not brilliant that's probably why.

The NUS has a promotional Flash animation called Night of the Living Debt, which includes Charles Clarke, minister for education, as a bogeyman wanting to extract money from poor, innocent students.

The ironic thing is that in the past Charles Clarke was a president of the NUS, and now the very same organisation that he lead is rebelling against him.

If you're going to the protest on Sunday, I might see you there. In the meantime, I'm off to spend my student loan at the bowling alley...

Research by Amazon.co.uk shows that British students spend their book money on beer and kebabs. 43% of the money set aside for buying textbooks is used "to fund drinking sessions and other extra curricular activities", according to the article.

Of course, at least I can take some glee in the knowledge that London students come bottom, but then with a night out costing so much down there it's less surprising.

I can't remember hiw much money I set aside for books this year but today I spent £65.98 on three books. I may need to get more if need be but I'll stick to these three unless I absolutely have to.

Probably the most interesting bit of the article is this:

Of those who took part in the poll, just 9% disagreed with the suggestion that the cost of textbooks should be subsidised by the government.

When you consider how big the latest Harry Potter is and how cheap it is, you wonder why you have pay £40 for a 400-page textbook on TCP/IP. Either the government needs to get arsy at publishers over their ridiculously high charges, or offer students complementary book tokens, or something. Oh yeah, and they can ditch their ideas about top-up fees while they're at it...

Clothes... check
Paper... check
Scissors... check
Stone... nah :)
TV... check
TV aerial... check
TV satellite dish... who do you think I am?
VCR... check
Hi-fi...check
Academic books... check
Non-academic books... check
Posters for wall... check
Computer... check
Leads for computer... check
Mouse for computer... check
Software for computer... check
Wallet... check
Money... cheque
Gawd knows how many student discount cards... check
Music... check
Coathangers... check
More coathangers... check
Printer... check
Printer ink... check
Printer cables... check
Printer paper... check
Photos... check
Photo frames... check
Selection of unused condoms from last year... check
Student... check
Pillows... check
Duvet... check
Sheets... check
Pillow cases... check
Duvet cover... check
Mattress cover... check
Selection of cacti... check
Doorstop... check
Cuddly Toy... wahey!
Cooking utensils... check
Cutlery... check
Wash kit... check
Towels... check
Food. Damn, I knew I'd forgotten something...

See you in a few days.

Darn you Royal Mail, darn you to hell.

Back in April, I sent a form off to the Student Loans Company (SLC) which confirmed that I wanted to take out a £3000 loan for my forthcoming year at university (£3000 is the maximum amount I am entitled to based on my current financial status). This also gave details of my bank account and National Insurance number etc.

Anyway, yesterday evening it came to me that I've not heard anything from SLC since then, so today I rang them up (it's a freephone number). After giving over my automated response number, PIN code, student support number, name, address, telephone number, post code, eye of newt, essence of rabbit and the souls of my first three children, I was told that my form was never received - all they had got was a letter from York Council saying I was entitled to the £3000 if I wanted it.

Great. This now means that despite deliberately sending off my form way back in April to guarantee that my loan cheque will be available to collect in September, I still have to play the 'loan lottery' (due to the number of other people applying around about now) as to whether the cheque will be ready on time. All because of one sodding piece of paper getting lost in the post.

Yes, I'm annoyed. I suppose it could have been worse - I could be realising this in 30 days time when I set off back to university, to find that my cash won't be available until November or something, and then having to live off baked beans and porridge for the first few weeks until I get some money together. But still, all that forward planning, now gone to waste.

Thanks Royal Mail, thanks a bunch.

...because if I was, I'd be more likely to die young. Apparently, science and engineering students have the best chances of living a longer, healthier life.

You can tell that the silly season is upon us, can't you?

So, we're not going to merge. After spending £20 000 on deciding a new name and setting up numerous focus groups, the whole thing has fallen through.

Still, it'll please the students, who were largely against the idea (I personally was somewhat undecided). And at least we won't have to waste more money on new signs and stationery...

I never knew about the existence of this web site until a couple of days ago, but it looks like someone's created an FND Pics site with photos from most of the Friday Night Discos since January. It doesn't look as if I got in to any of them, or if any of my friends did, but if you're ever in need of a few photos of drunken students having a good time with flashing lights, you now know where to go.

The above two images are me before and after shaving. You see, when a student.... okay, a male student.... okay, a single male student moves away from home for the first time, one of the things he does is grow a beard. After all, you don't have mothers/aunties/grandmothers nagging at you, saying that you look like a doormat/hedgehog, and besides, it's less effort.

I managed 9 days, having last shaved on April 30th, which incidentally was the last time I went out on an evening. I'm hoping to go out tonight, but in the abscence of willing friends it is looking decreasingly likely, however I still decided that it was about time I relieved myself of facial hair. I was getting tired of getting mayonnaise and related foodstuffs stuck in it, and it didn't look particularly attractive. And besides, I have a new razor.

Had this one passed on to me, so I thought I'd share it:

A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow's final exam.

Now class, won't tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow. I might consider a nuclear attack or a serious personal injury or illness, or a death in your immediate family but that's it, no other excuses whatsoever!

A smart-ass guy in the back of the room raised his hand and asks, What would you say if tomorrow I said I was suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?

The entire class does its best to stifle their laughter and snickering.

When silence is restored, the teacher smiles sympathetically the student, shakes her head, and sweetly says, Well, I guess you'd have to write the exam with your other hand.

UtterlyBoring has a mention of Bradford Uni. It refers to a a BBC News article where Bradford Council criticise the university for spending £20 000 to find a new name, only to come up with "University of Bradford", "The University of Bradford" and "Bradford University".

While I can say that these were the most popular among staff and students, you wonder why the university didn't poll us first internally, asking if we wanted a new name, and then if we did comission some researchers. As it, no doubt some of my my parents' money has now gone to waste. Well done, Bradford.

If you're a self catering student, then you'll be able to relate to this quiz from the Guardian. It's from their new student section - the Guardian sponsors various student events and has a graduate jobs section on Saturdays, and registered students (like moi) can buy their paper at a vastly discounted rate.

Anyway, I got: A dodgy diet to say the least, but you know what you like, and its usually someone else's cooking. Okay, so I don't eat that well at university, but hey, I'm not seriously ill or overweight, so bite me.

Time to vent some spleen...

Today was the dreaded CASS lecture, which actually wasn't too bad; certainly not as abstract as last week. Though if it weren't for a certain person sat next to me it would have been far better.

You see, I made the mistake of sitting next to a certain male greek student who has to transport his ego around on the back of a lorry. Yep, he loves himself, and he assumes everyone loves him too. So when he talks, stamps his feet, prods people and throws stuff at everyone he thinks he is the man. Oh please.

Look, I go to lectures to learn. I could not go of course, but then I wouldn't learn anything, which would defeat the purpose. If you don't want to be there, get up and leave, and let those of us who do want to come out with a degree do so in peace. You wouldn't like it if I came into your room and prodded you while you were sleeping - how do you think I feel when I'm trying to concentrate on what I'm being taught?

Ugh. Men. They should be eradicated. Or castrated. Or something.