Welcome to the ‘teenies’!

Dear Readers

Welcome to the ‘teenies’! Although much of the print and televised news over the Christmas break was dominated by our national inability to deal with the snow, it is clear that 2010 is going to be a big year in politics. With the infamous ‘Christmas-day-bomber’ provoking a knee-jerk reaction that will see the introduction of near-naked bio-metric scanners at airports, it is clear that the ‘war on terror’ is intensifying. So if you have any opinions you want heard, from international issues to ones relating to our current educational, economic and political crises, feel free to get in touch so we can feature your piece in our freshly redesigned Badger. In this way we can continue to function as a forum of debate on the issues we face in our University, in the government and beyond.

We would also like to reaffirm our commitment to producing a platform for the diverse views and opinions of our student body. The articles published in the comment section do not necessarily represent that Badger’s opinions, or those of the editors. Remember we want to stimulate lively debates in this section, but at the same time are committed to impartiality and professionalism in our own approach.

Finally we would like to say an enormous thank you to all those who contributed to the comment section last term.  With such a huge range of contentious issues on offer, The Badger’s Comment and Opinion section is a more vital tool than ever before in the constant battle to get your voices heard.  You can now get involved via our Facebook group (Comment & Opinion Writers at The Badger 2009/10) or by emailing us directly at badger-opinion@ussu.sussex.ac.uk, as well as keeping up to date with all our articles and leaving your own comments at thebadgeronline.co.uk/section/comment.

Gemma, Mark & Nicky

Comment & Opinion Editors

Wasting away: the modern femme-fatal

As a university student I am presented with the visible changes that feminism has led to. The once exclusively male world of academia is now equally represented by female bodies. As a result, it is understandable why so many no longer believe feminism to be of relevance. However, if a moment is taken to watch these students more closely, something is amiss. While the men walk around, strong and able, full of energy and life, the women seem to be struggling. Read more

‘Resistence is buiding up. Anger is building up’

Some of the things that made the news in the last couple of weeks, and some others which didn’t, made me think that the student occupations of last term had something contagious about them.

First, there was the occupation of a small packaging factory in Dundee by its twelve workers who turned up for work one Monday morning in early March only to find out that the plant was shutting down and that they shouldn’t expect any redundancy payments. Read more

The Edupunk revolution in academia

Perversely, the Easter break is one of the busiest work periods in a student’s year, what with the rush to finish summer term’s essays. A flying visit to the library to pick up my body-weight in books and a metro got me thinking about what learning means, and sharing my thoughts with The Badger seems as good a form of procrastination as any.

Edupunk is one of the hundreds of great new words the internet spews out every week. It basically describes a set of ideas involving the use of ICT as an alternative to mainstream learning methods. The ‘punk’ part of the word comes from the idea that by challenging traditional learning you are taking on traditional authorities on learning.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about government plans for the latest round of changes in the school curriculum particularly in suggesting that pupils should be taught how to use blogs, Twitter and Wikipedia. Part of the reason that former teachers and education commentators might have a problem with these changes is that in the past they have had the monopoly on writing text books and deciding what should be learnt. Many of these online resources are written by unpaid non experts.

‘I believe that society should do the job of educating itself’

Studying blogs and Twitter may sound like education dumbed down, but if you can sort through the irrelevant chatter you can read history in action. The skill of any learning is to sort the relevant information from the mess, the good from the bad, and draw meaning from this. Of course, by pooling our knowledge we generate problems; but with so many people involved, these problems are corrected over time as the information becomes more and more accurate. Eventually, with more people having access to correct information, it becomes more and more detailed and these details become more and more accurate. Especially as many of the people who take the time to amend such information are experts in their interest or field – even if not formally recognised. To assume that a resource open to editing by all should somehow be inherently weaker is to assume quite a low opinion of the average human intelligence.

Considering the amount the core curriculum has been messed around with over recent years (for example now even gearing the education of children as young as eleven toward market forces) teaching children about the simple and wonderful act of learning seems quite sensible. Today we see schools in deprived areas unable to afford up to date text books when internet access is being rolled out to almost every classroom. Our principle method of transferring information can no longer be said to be through published books, nor face to face learning. The worthiness of alternative methods should be considered.

One of the most used arguments in support of free tuition fees is that society should pay to educate itself. I believe that society should actually do the job of educating itself and not stick to old, controlled systems. It seems we’re quite uncomfortable with this and it’s not just related to academia but a whole range of skills. We’re a society that increasingly can’t carry out simple household repairs, yet we spend more and more every year on DIY and self-help books, ignoring our ability to reach out to those around us to learn from them.

By being at university we accept being part of a system and accept the benefits of it; information is given to us by more experienced lectures and tutors, we are advised to learn through certain sources of information, written by other academics and endorsed by them. In order to pass the degree you need to demonstrate your learning through writing essays. Rules dictate that your arguments are backed up with evidence from academically respected sources. I just worry that we could be limiting ourselves from new innovative theories and ideas because they are from the “wrong” sources.

We should take more advantage of non-traditional / non-hierarchal learning. Open your mind to all the information that is out there, and what skills you can learn from the people around you. Talk to someone on a completely different course to you about something you’re studying, and you may be surprised at the insight they provide and what you might think of anything they share with you. Try reading a book that wasn’t written for your course, or by a traditional academic. If there’s someone out there who can do something you’ve always wanted to do, see if they’re willing to teach you and what you could offer in return.

This is a De‘mock’racy

Referenda are fun (I love them) but that’s about all we can agree on them. This article isn’t about specific referenda results (the debates have happened and will no doubt continue) but about the future of referenda at Sussex and our society. Read more

All eyes on them

After the G20 protests, anyone who didn’t already is seriously doubting the integrity of law enforcement in this country. Not least because to protest without being battered is a right, but also in view of the increasing power placed in the hands of the state by technology, and in those of the police via the law. I learned recently each of us has an ‘information self’.  This double of us is a collection of data – the sum total of which results in an artificial rendering of you for the government to interrogate, available to them whether you have committed a crime or not. Read more

A new brand of outrage

The resignation of Russell Brand and three-month suspension of Jonathan Ross for something that happened thirteen days earlier is verification of the moral panic that print and online media (initially, and most notably, the Daily Mail) can instil on the public. It is a story that has ballooned from two complaints (out of the two million people that actually listened to the show) to reportedly 27000 as I write this. However, the likelihood is that out of his 27000, 26998 have probably not heard what actually happened and have been influenced with what national newspapers have put on their front page.  Read more

Selling out to fit in

Let’s take New Labour as an introductory example, in this little thesis of mine. Mr Blair and chums had to sell out, beyond the edge of taste, just to get Sure start, the minimum wage and record investment in the NHS. The price to pay for this has been to watch as Labour behaved like a dirty uncle at a wedding, flirting with big business and putting its wandering hands right up the skirt of American foreign policy. What was all this for? Because some time in the 80s the party realised that however correct all of Michael Foot’s policies were, normal people were just too thick and selfish to vote for them. Read more

Smash EDO, not your credibility

A militant left-wing group that disbanded three decades ago re-entered the public consciousness this month when Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists.”

Obama had been linked to the former leader of the Weather Underground, a US anti-war group which in the seventies sought to “bring the war home” through a campaign of militant direct action against targets on home soil. Read more

Education Not for Sale – a response

In reply to your article, “E.N.S – Education Not for Sale – An Overview”, I would like to point out two oversights. The first concerns the importance of ENS and the second concerns one of its objectives. Contrary to what the article states, ENS is one of the least important campaigns running at Sussex Uni. Of far more importance are the groups such as Amnesty International or the environmental society; they are tackling huge issues that are causes for concern in the immediate future for people all over the world. ENS, on the other hand, caters to the desires of a relatively small number of people in the developed world. Read more

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