Student Riots

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Originally Posted by J4MIE

I watched the news last night and as usual with this kind of thing, was and am still disgusted :mad:

Not with the student protesters as it was more people out looking for a fight, but the hired thugs - aka the old bill. Rather than targetting and going after the troublemakers, they go for the easy targets, batons at the ready for the guy on the ground, thumping those who won't move back even if the crowd is preventing them from doing so. Getting the mounted police in to CHARGE into a big group of people who luckily were able to get out of the way. Absolutely appalling crowd control :down: Yet they are commended for showing restraint :angryfire

As for the arguments about universities, as usual I can't be bothered arguing but I commend BDunnell's comments, I think we have a very similar outlook on life :up:

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You clearly did not read the Telegraph links re David Gilmour's STUDENT son defiling the cenotaph and his student mates slashing on Churchill's statue.

The students were told where to march yet they decided to go elsewhere, only a shame we don't have water cannons like they do in Europe. Esp in this cold weather.

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Originally Posted by Drew

I heard some woman representing NUS on the TV she kept on saying "f" instead of "th". If anything they need to increase spending on education, not cut it.

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Or perish the thought be a bit more selective re who goes. Elitism works when all said and done, giving degrees out willy nilly just degrades the whole thing.

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Originally Posted by Bolton Midnight

Or perish the thought be a bit more selective re who goes. Elitism works when all said and done, giving degrees out willy nilly just degrades the whole thing.

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You didn't just say that did you?

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Originally Posted by ioan

I did not go to the University to earn lots of money afterward, I did it to learn things that I was interested in and man am I glad I did. I would do it again if I were to restart my life.

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I understand what you mean.

I could be in my current job without my degree. But going to university has made me a much more open-minded and tolerant person.

Maybe one of the reasons I don't feel aggrieved about having to pay back my student loans is because I feel like I got value for money.

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Originally Posted by J4MIE

I watched the news last night and as usual with this kind of thing, was and am still disgusted :mad:

Not with the student protesters as it was more people out looking for a fight, but the hired thugs - aka the old bill. Rather than targetting and going after the troublemakers, they go for the easy targets, batons at the ready for the guy on the ground, thumping those who won't move back even if the crowd is preventing them from doing so. Getting the mounted police in to CHARGE into a big group of people who luckily were able to get out of the way. Absolutely appalling crowd control :down: Yet they are commended for showing restraint :angryfire

As for the arguments about universities, as usual I can't be bothered arguing but I commend BDunnell's comments, I think we have a very similar outlook on life :up:

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I think if you put yourself in that situation then surely you must know what may possibly happen. At the end of the day if the Police hadn't taken control of the situation it would have got far worse. I don't see any way this sort of situation could be resolved without people getting hurt.

I find the relaxed nature of some arts degrees quite perplexing - I know people who've handed essays in over a month late and still get distinctions. I don't find that to be setting people up for life at all, handing something in so preposterously late and getting more than zero for it. It's an amusing comparison to my degree.

Other than that, I don't have any significant issues with university. It's a worthy investment.

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Originally Posted by ioan

There are exactly as many kids at the Uni as they want to be there, nothing wrong with that.

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On everything else you say here, I agree, with this one exception. I actually think Bolton Midnight has a point when he mentions the notion of 50 per cent of the British population in effect being told that they will go to university. This, after all, was the Labour government's misguided target. That's fine if 50 per cent of the population were genuinely of, shall we say, university quality, but they aren't — in any sense other than getting the grades they need. I don't think 50 per cent of Britons are at that level, no matter what the rising A-level results might say. This used to just be accepted. Now my view is generally regarded as snobbish. If so, I'm fine with that.

In defending the tuition fees rise, the Government has gone on and on about the notion of 'social mobility', and how the university system has, in the past, 'failed' students from poorer backgrounds. What we now see are efforts to even out educational inequalities when students reach 18. This is simply wrong.

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Originally Posted by Brown, Jon Brow

I understand what you mean.

I could be in my current job without my degree. But going to university has made me a much more open-minded and tolerant person.

Maybe one of the reasons I don't feel aggrieved about having to pay back my student loans is because I feel like I got value for money.

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:up:

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Originally Posted by Caroline

I don't have any children so why am I working and paying taxes so parents can receive child benefit?
I also don't smoke so why is my money being used for government initiatives to help people quit smoking?
I also work hard to pay taxes which are spent on public transport when I happily drive when I need to get anywhere.
Don't get me started on the war in Iraq!

Being a taxpayer doesn't mean I can pick and choose where the money gets spent or indeed not spent. As a taxpayer I don't want Education funding to be marginalised, both for institutions and students. Education funding in the UK is shocking. Shockingly bad and looks to get worse. Perfectly able students will be put off studying for degree courses by the fear of overwhelming debt. I know if I was 17/18 and facing the prospect of being swamped in fees, I wouldn't study. How many professionals are we going to lose?

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We actually need children for the human race to carry on. Appreciate that may seem like a small consideration compared with you losing 5p a year. But having kids is why we are actually here on this wonderful planet.

If it wasn't for the smokers you'd actually be paying more taxes not less, approx £500 per year smokers save you, you should thank them.

The war was illegal, best bring that up with the Labour supporters within here.

Sorry to introduce facts but Wales / Scotland are not affected by the recent vote.

If they are put off then they clearly were not committed in the first place so probably for the best they stayed at home. Can't see this affecting the traditional professions in the slightest, in fact I think it'll have the opposite effect a bit more vocational degrees and a lot less social studies, humanities rubbish.

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Originally Posted by theugsquirrel

I find the relaxed nature of some arts degrees quite perplexing - I know people who've handed essays in over a month late and still get distinctions. I don't find that to be setting people up for life at all, handing something in so preposterously late and getting more than zero for it. It's an amusing comparison to my degree.

Other than that, I don't have any significant issues with university. It's a worthy investment.

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Art is art, it shouldn't have a due date. Now if it was medicine or engineering I wouldn't defend it, however creating work of art on a time line basis is not right IMO.