The Little Red School Book

Published in 1971 in Britain, The Little Red School Book caused waves of controversy across the world. 26 pages of it were declared obscene by a London magistrate in July 1971. Magistrate John Purcell declared that the section on sex was likely to “deprave and corrupt” young people. As a result, some sections have been rewritten.

With this in mind, let’s start with that section on sex. As the book explains, “there are still lots of schools where pupils don’t get this information, where they get it too late, or where they only get inadequate of misleading information”. Authors Soren Hansen and Jesper Jensen were quite right. I was at school in the eighties and nineties and sex education was little more than a joke. Whilst I recognise the embarrassment it must have caused the poor old RE teacher dragged in to do it, it’s really quite a simple subject to teach. Kids need the facts. In the book, the sex section goes onto to detail masturbation, orgasms, intercourse and petting (one of the re-written sections), contraceptives, wet dreams, menstruation, “dirty old men”, pornography (rewritten), impotence, homosexuality and so on. Whilst the book does get quite graphic: “when a boy puts his stiff prick into a girl’s vagina and moves it around this is called having intercourse or making love or sleeping together. The usual word for intercourse is fucking”….Graphic? Yes. Honest? Yes. Informative? Yes. The book reassures the reader that having feelings for the same sex are quite normal, that there’s nothing weird about boys having wet dreams, and that “if anybody tells you it’s harmful to masturbate, they’re lying”. In fact, the book was jolly progressive for it’s time, and claimed “the time will come when homosexual marriages are recognised”. Don’t all kids need this information? Britain has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the whole world, and yet we’re pretty prudish about talking about this stuff aren’t we? Countries which are far more liberal about sex and relationships have significantly lower teenage pregnancy rates…coincidence?

The book also covers drugs. The section is very honest and informs the reader that “drugs can harm you in two ways. They can affect your body directly. And they can be habit-forming or addictive, which means that you can become mentally or physically dependent on them”. Discussing a range of legal and illegal substances, the book neatly details how some drugs can make you feel, and what to do afterwards. “If you only drink a little, you’ll only get mildly drunk (or merry, tipsy, tight or stoned). This usually feels rather pleasant. You feel happy and lose some of your most common inhibitions, ie shyness”. The book warns that if you drink more “you wobble around, you lose all control over your speech and movements, and you will probably be violently sick”. The drugs section also details different types of cannabis, how most people take it, and outlines its dangers. It makes a good point about using drugs to solve problems, and says “if pot was legalised, it would eliminate most of the artificial glamour and mystery that are sometimes associated with it. Remember that, legal or illegal, pot is only another artificial means of getting a pleasant sensation. It can’t actually solve any problems you may have, in fact it may just make them worse”. Sounds like a good point to me.

I can understand how the conservative crowd in the late 60s and early 70s were up in arms about this – after all – no one had dared put this stuff on paper before had they? Certainly not aimed at school children. But even if you think it’s too graphic or whatever, the mere fact that children had read this book would have created debate – whether in school, amongst friends, or in the family – that must be a good thing? Surely.

The book also takes away the need to write into an agony aunt doesn’t it?

Dear Aunty Gloria, last night my boyfriend and I went to a party. We both drank beer and smoked pot. Afterwards, he touched my breats in an upstairs bedroom. It felt nice. But I told my friends about it, and they said it was dirty. I now feel sick, dizzy and dirty and don’t know what to do. Am I normal? Martha.

Dear Martha, please read The Little Red School Book.

Job done.

Recently a programme on BBC Radio 4 discussed this little book which during the 1970s sold for 30p! The book now changes hands for around £70.00!

13 people in a Volvo

Gah, my friends and I thought we'd set the record by getting 10 people in a Rover hatchback. It was relatively simple: one in the drivers seat, two in the front passenger seat, five in the back, and two in the boot! I feel a challenge coming on...

Full story here.

The Great Office War

Postgrad degrees awarded to students lacking basic language skills

Here's an extract from a BBC article yesterday:

Degrees are being awarded to overseas students who speak almost no English, claims a whistleblowing academic. The academic, at a world-famous UK university, says postgraduate degrees are awarded to students lacking in the most basic language skills. There are concerns that financial pressures to recruit overseas students for cash rather than quality could threaten the credibility of degrees. But Universities UK says there are "rigorous" checks on standards. The number of overseas students taking higher degree courses, such as masters and doctorates, has soared - rising more than eightfold since the mid-1990s. More than 60% of higher degree students are now from outside the UK. Overseas students have been seen as a lucrative source of revenue - with the Higher Education Policy Institute calculating payments to universities of almost £1.5bn per year in fees plus £2.2bn in living costs. But the whistleblowing academic, who wants to remain anonymous, describes a postgraduate system in which lecturers are expected to teach courses to overseas students who have only the most limited English. These students, who pay an average of about £19,000 per year, will in theory have passed English language proficiency tests, but there are questions about the reliability of such evidence. "For example, last week I tried to speak to a student who could not understand a simple request; in the end, we had to resort to pen and paper," writes the academic, who works at a leading Russell Group university. "Someone who needs to communicate using pictures is, to say the least, unlikely to have passed the language proficiency test by themselves." Describing the frustration of fellow lecturers, this academic says that once students have arrived at the university, often to study for a one-year masters course, it becomes difficult for them to be failed or sent home. While there is intense competition for undergraduate places at the university, the academic says that it is much easier for overseas students to find places on taught postgraduate courses. It is also unusual for students to fail postgraduate courses - so much so that there are no national figures. The Higher Education Statistics Agency says that its record-keeping on degree levels "does not explicitly contain the concept of 'failing' a course".

Furthmore, a student walked out of an MSc course at Southampton for exactly this reason. Full story here. Following the BBC publishing the story, students, academics and admin staff commented on the story...here's just one example:

This is absolutely true - the idea that "rigorous checks" are preventing this kind of thing is complete rubbish. I did my PhD at a well-known red brick university and spent some time sharing an office with an overseas student. His English was so bad it was impossible for us to exchange any meanigful communication. Staff acknowledged this to be a significant problem, but the general feeling was that they were unable to turn down the income provided by overseas students. At the end of the day his supervisor will end up effectively ghost-writing his thesis as he cannot afford for students to fail and adversely affect his chances of receiving further funding.

Whilst I am sadly no longer a student, I spent 4 years studying, and now work in HE. During my undergrad, whilst there were high numbers of international students, I didn't encounter any problems - apart from one seminar leader - a PhD student at the University - who not only couldn't communicate orally or in writing in English, he had almost no understanding of British University culture - meaning that there were often very uncomfortable moments in discussion groups where we were forced to explain aspects of, for example, the British media to him, as he had almost no understanding of it!

I recently did a masters at a Russell Group university where, at a guess, 40% of students on the course were overseas students. The majority of the time, it didn't cause a huge problem, but there were often occasions where lecturers would have to stop and explain various things to them because they didn't understand particular terminology and so on. This kind of thing can be frustrating at times, but meeting and studying with students from different cultures and backgrounds is part of the academic experience, and of course they were able to contribute tales and experience from their home countries - very useful when comparing the British context to others. International students make for enriching the academic experience for all.

Having said that, it's imperative that universities test students English language capabilities before accepting them onto the course. International students do pay vast sums of fees, and HEIs should NEVER be tempted to accept these students purely on financial grounds.

Capitalism

• Traditional Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
• American Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.
• French Capitalism: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.
• Japanese Capitalism: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them World-Wide.
• German Capitalism: You have two cows. You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
• Italian Capitalism: You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.
• British Capitalism: You have two cows. Both are mad.
• Russian Capitalism: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
• Canadian Capitalism: You have two cows. Let’s make a hockey team, eh?
• Irish Capitalism: You have two cows. You feed them potatoes and wonder why they emigrate.
• Enron Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.
• Cuban Capitalism: You have two cows. They try to swim to Florida.
• Politically Correct Capitalism: You are associated with (the concept of "ownership" is a symbol of the phallo centric, war mongering, intolerant past) two differently - aged (but no less valuable to society) bovines of non-specified gender.
• Disney Capitalism: You have two cows. They dance & sing.
• Microsoft Capitalism: You have two cows. You patent them and sue anyone else who has them.
• Hollywood Capitalism: You have two cows. You give them udder implants and also teach them to bullet-dodge, wall climb and shoot milk out of their udders on command.
• Clinton Capitalism: You have two cows. You deny any knowledge of them.
• Bureaucratic Capitalism: You have two cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need.
• Australian Capitalism: You have two cows. You try to wrestle them.
• Texan Capitalism: You have two cows. You teach them to fire guns.
• Totalitarian Capitalism: You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.
• Jehovah’s Witness Capitalism: You have two cows. You go door to door telling people that you do.
• Bureaucrat Capitalism: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk

Top Secret docs on a train - what would you do?

I've been thinking about the whole security breach issue - with 2 sets of top secret documents being left on public transport and then handed in to the media - the first set to the BBC, and the second to a national newspaper. If you ask me, there's no way these were accidents. Think about it...

*imagine yourself on a train...you find yourself a seat, put your bag down, take your coat off, and start sipping your over priced take out coffee. You glance to the seat next to you and see an envelope. You look around to see if it might belong to someone. You see no-one. You cautiously pick up the envelope and have a peek inside. You see two documents stamped Top Secret. On closer inspection you realise that these are pretty serious docs. Now, what to do next. Hand them in to the local authority? Hand them into the train guard? Hand them in to the local police station? Of course you would*

Isn't it interesting that both these docs got handed to the media? I think so. Me thinks someone somewhere is out to discredit the government. Can you blame them?

Now, of course, if I'd found them, I'd have phoned 118118...

118118: Which number do you require?

Rachel: Rupert Murdoch please.

118118: The number will follow.

Rachel: Thanks.

*ring ring.....

Rupert: Hello?

Rachel: Ah, Mr Murdoch, I have something in my hand which I think will interest you...

Rupert: I am a very busy man Rachel...

Rachel: Oh I know, but trust me, this is goooood....2 documents - one detailing the security situation in Iraq, and the other detailing Al-Qaeda's vulnerabilities.

Rupert: Ok, you have my full attention.

Rachel: Good...

(conversation continues, huge financial deal struck)....*

Well, can you blame me? There's a credit crunch on you know...

Government wins 42 day vote by 9 votes

Yesterday the government won the 42 day vote by 9 votes. NINE! 315 - 306. After the Commons vote Baronness Kennedy said that it was "all about deals behind the scenes" and that "democracy had been twisted to get the result". Not that I tend to ever agree with the Tories, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said that there had been a "whole series of shenanigans going on" and that the result had "no authority" and "no legitimacy". Amnesty International's Mike Blakemore said that it was a "dangerous and disappointing decision".

BBC's James Landale was outside Parliament reporting on the vote and said that the government had only won with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party, and that Gordon's "won himself a breather". Amusingly, during James' reports, a chap was stood behind him with a sign which read STOP WORLD WAR 3 OVER IRAQ - NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST on one side, and 7 MILLION IRAQIS KILLED, INJURED, HOMELESS SINCE 2001 on the other. I wonder if he'd had permission to protest. I doubt it. Good for him.

Brains' stance on The Vulcan

Here's what Brains had to say when I suggested moving The Vulcan to St. Fagans.

Dear Ms Thomas,Thank you for your email and kinds words regarding the Vulcan public house Cardiff. I am the area manager who is responsible for the pub, and it truly is a gem, unfortunately the pub was subject of a compulsory purchase order and there was absolutely nothing the company could do to save it. It will be a great loss in 2009 when the pub pulls its last pint of beer, but i'm afraid it is out of our hands.Should you wish to discuss this further then please do not hesitate to contact me on my mobile number.Phill MardonBusiness Development Manager

I am VERY sad about this. Cardiff's history is being ripped out of its heart and soul :(

Yet another security blunder for Gordy

It's one security breach after another isn't it?! On yesterday's 6pm BBC news Frank Garder (possibly the BBC's most hilarious correspondent) announced that a senior official had left 2 top secret documents on a Waterloo to Surrey train, and that Scotland Yard were on their way to the BBC to seize the documents.

*imagines meat wagons full of coppers storming the BBC newsroom*

The two documents addressed the security situation in Iraq - reportedly a damning assessment of Iraq's security forces, and details of al-Qaeda's vulnerabilities. The BBC described this as an "embarrassing and sensitive security breach". I'd say.

Frank Gardner (really, I can't stress how hilarious this guy is) said that Scotland Yard would be considering the documents as part of a potential criminal investigation, but that he "wanted to hang on to them to wave them around on the set". To be honest, he should have, and when the old bill turned up he should've run off with them. It would've made the news far more entertaining.

Sainsburys Colchester Ave - no Alphabites for me :(

Following my letter to Sainsburys highlighting my disappointment over the lack of Alphabites, a nice chap called Carl wrote back to me. The letter read:

Dear Rachel

Thank you for contacting us. I am sorry that you are unable to buy Be Alphabites at your local Colchester Avenue store. I can understand how disappointed you must be.

I am sorry to say that this product is no longer ranged at our stores. I appreciate how annoying it is when one or more of your favourite products is withdrawn. We never take such decisions lightly, because we know some customers will be disappointed.

Sometimes we have no choice other than to discontinue items if they are not selling very well over a period of time. We use this opportunity to introduce new lines and extend ranges that are more popular with our customers. I would like to reassure you that our buyers do liaise with our store managers. This helps them to understand what our customers are buying and ensure our stock reflects local needs.

I have passed your comments onto our buyers here at our store support centre. They will take them into consideration at the next range review meeting should enough customers request this product. They will be aware of any requests made by your local store.

Thank you once again for taking the time to contact us. I hope this product will be available in the future

Kind regards

Carl Stokes
Customer Manager

Dangerous labels on Big Brother?

I promised myself not to watch, read or do anything that would get me involved with Big Brother this summer, however, Channel 4 have managed to grab my attention once again by putting 2 visually impaired housemates into the house. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that that caught my attention, but a comment on the BBC Ouch! message board which read:

"I hope he or she is aware that they are representing the visually impaired community and give us a good name. I hope that they don't have awful blind habits, such as rocking or not looking at people when talking to them. I would like to hope that they will be normal."

What utter crap. Does that mean that if I went into the BB house I would be representing the alumni community of Goldsmiths College, or everyone in Cardiff, or everyone in Wales? No, of course it doesn't. Jeesh.

My letter to Sainsburys

Sorry to bang on about this, but I felt so strongly about the whole Alphabites fiasco that I wrote to their customer services department. The letter read:

Dear Sirs,

Yesterday I visited your store on Colchester Avenue in Cardiff, on a somewhat nostalgic mission to buy Alphabites and Spaghetti Hoops. I was devastated to find that there were no Alphabites in your store!

I am writing to you to firstly illustrate my disappointment and sadness at my finding, and secondly to urge you to stock the product in the future.

I believe that the product is made by Birds Eye.

In the end I was forced to buy McCain Smileys instead. To be honest, as tasty as they were, they weren't half as satisfying as the lettery lunch. And you know, big wigs in our country are continuously banging on that the 'yoof' of today can't spell and all the rest of it, well to be honest, yesterday you played a part in that problem. How can we expect our children to learn to spell without Alphabites? They were a cornerstone to my learning as a child.

Will you be stocking the product in your Cardiff stores in the future?

I look forward to hearing from you very soon on this matter,

Kindest regards,

Rachel Thomas MA BA (Hons)

Where oh where are the Alphabites?

Recently I seemed to have regressed to being 5 years old again and have had insane cravings for Alphabites and Heinz Spaghetti Hoops. So off I trundle to Sainsbury's yesterday to find that there were NO ALPHABITES to be found! *gasp*

Can someone tell me where I can buy some in the Cardiff area?

Demonstration against George W in the UK

I received the following email this morning:

GEORGE W BUSH - NOT WELCOME HERE!
As the 100th soldier dies in Afghanistan, George W Bush is coming to our shores. Join the protests in Cardiff and London to bring together all those who say, 'Another World is Possible'
DEMONSTRATE 1 pm, SATURDAY 14 JUNE
NYE BEVAN STATUE, QUEEN STREET, CARDIFF.
Protest against the 'war on terror' and George W Bush (The 'W' stands for War). Featuring a NAMING OF THE DEAD CEREMONY to remember the 100 British soldiers and unknown thousands of Afghan civilians and soldiers who have perished in the war. Like Iraq, Afghanistan is a distaster for occupier and occupied alike: NATO forces are bogged down, deeply unpopular, facing more and more resistance and bringing mayhem rather than democracy. When our media says 'Taliban killed', the reality is often ordinary men, women and children killed, and this is uniting the Afghan people against the foreign invader. This protest will unite those who want to oppose war and militarism, defend civil liberties, and fight racism & islamophobia.
DEMONSTRATE, 5 pm, SUNDAY 15 JUNE PARLIAMENT SQUARE, LONDON Please note change of time! The protest will be defying a banning order to march on Downing Street where Gordon Brown and George W Bush will be meeting. We hope the anti-war movement can provide suitable background music to Bush and Brown's love-in.
For transport from Cardiff: theyoungdudes@yahoo.com or 07506 715619
Called by Stop the War Coalition, CND & British Muslim Initiative

I've been on a fair number of demonstrations in my time - Stop the War, against Bush's last visit, stop the BNP, against Top Up Fees, and so and so forth. In fact when I lived in London it became a bit of a hobby. I suspect that people who demonstrate regularly enjoy being part of that community who always turn out for such events, and feel that they're doing something good for the country. And whilst I never think protests are a bad thing, the last time a few thousand people marched through central London to tell Bush to piss off back to the States, we had almost no media coverage. I think there was a piece in the local free rag, but that was about it. The only TV coverage was on BBC London news, not the national news. So what do these mass demonstrations really achieve? Well 2 million people marching through central London on 15th February 2003 didn't stop the war on Iraq, however, it sent one hell of a message to the government. Shortly after that 15th Feb demonstration, Tony Benn came to speak at Goldsmiths College, where I was studying at the time, and he said: "February 15th didn't stop the war, but by god, Blair couldn't go to war with Iran". It was a good point.

At the time I was writing for a different blog, and my blogpost at the time was:

Tony Benn one of the most outspoken critics of the Iraq war came and spoke at Goldsmiths College Student Union on the 19th, and wow! what a great speaker. Usually, at the Peace campaign meetings between 5 and 20 people show up, but around 300 people came to hear Tony Benn speak. One point that stuck in my mind from the speech was:

if you meet a powerful person and you want to know if you live in a democracy, ask them this

(1) what power have you got?

(2) where did you get it?

(3) in whose interests do you exercise it?

(4) to whom are you accountable,

and perhaps most importantly (5) how can we get rid of you?

A very well thought out speech from a man of experience and passion. The peace movement is rebuilding momentum once again, and students across London will be meeting in parliament square for a mass 'die-in' on Feb 15th, and then on March 19th a huge rally is expected to take place. Tony Benn is an inspiration and I'm so pleased at the massive turn out. Cheers Tony!

I suspect ole Tony Benn will turn up on the weekend, he usually does for these events - and frankly good for him!

Killer Coke at Cardiff University

More on Killer Coke here.

Cardiff Bay: Slum of the future

Urban Design Prof John Punter has warned that Cardiff Bay will be the slum of the future because of over developer. Anyone who lives in Cardiff will know that the Bay has exploded into a warren of flats and high rise appartments over the past few years. There are almost NO amenities for local people and Lorraine Barrett AM added thet there was a lack of community in the area which could lead to a "ghost town feel".

Prof Punter from Cardiff University told the BBC's Politics Show: "There are an enormous number of apartments in the Bay at the moment which are unlet and unoccupied.
"We know we've been building something like 1,250 apartments a year. I would suggest that probably one third to one half of those are unoccupied.
"I think some of them could be the slums of the future, especially the ones which are more remote, more poorly designed." Full story here.

I have to agree with Prof Punter. There are numerous problems with the Bay development. As a young professional, those apartments are meant to be aimed at people like me, but even in a job with an average salary, I can't afford to rent one! I last moved house in December, and then one bedroom flats in Cardiff Bay were going for about £550 a month, excluding Council Tax, bills etc. I only considered a move to the Bay for about 30 seconds - why would I want to live somewhere with NO SENSE OF COMMUNITY? Punter and Barrett are absolutely right.

German tabloid takes the piss out of British tourists

The 'most read' story on the BBC news site at 8.55am this morning was that some German tabloid has printed a story taking the piss out of British tourists. The story lists a number of destinations for German's to avoid, because they're saturated with Brits, including the Bay of Palma in Majorca, San Antonio in Ibiza, Playa de las Americas in Tenerife, Ayia Napa in Cyprus, Faliraki on the Greek island of Rhodes and Malia in Crete. The BBC reports:

Just in case the Germans have a problem identifying British tourists abroad, Bild has a guide on its online version, illustrated with an unappealing photo of two sunburnt women on sun chairs. It also ridicules British cuisine, binge-drinking, fashion and sport, says that "athletically they are not up to much, they can't even take penalties" and points out that Austria and Switzerland - the hosts of this summer's Euro 2008 football championships - will be largely British-free zones this year as no British teams have qualified.

I must say, I couldn't care less, and to be honest, I'm with the Germans. Why would I want to travel abroad to hang out with Brits? Surely one of the points of holidaying is to go abroad, experience life in other countries, learn the language, learn the culture, and so on. I don't go on holiday to eat pie and chips, drink as much as my liver will sustain, or watch football. Anyway, let's not forget that the Brits have been taking the piss out of the German's hogging sunbeds with towels for years. This is nothing new. Have the BBC got nothing better to report? And have us Brits got nothing better to read? Or indeed write about? Ummm...no.

Does the sunshine out of your arse?

Only Greenpeace could come up with this drivel. Highly amusing though.

Students call for a public inquiry into racism on the NUS NEC

NUS Vice President for Welfare Ama Uzowuru's latest blog post has caused a storm. She describes a series of events including, in her own words:

• "I have witnessed a Nubian Professor of Science working behind a Travelodge reception be told that he was a "Fucking Paki" and if he did not serve the drunk buffoon the alcohol that he wanted, he was going to hit him and he demanded that the drink be served to him immediately as this was "his country", so what he says goes!"
• "whilst I getting some money out of a cash point, three homeless people commented on this saying "Why does this Nigger have money and I don't, who does she think she is?""

The part that's caused the real storm is here...

• "But I have to say one of the most upsetting moments of my time on this NEC to date was when a fellow NEC member said to me during this week, without intent, that my name was too foreign to be mainstream. This highlighted a lot of things for me; not least that my thoughts that racism is part of the fabric of society were true and those that have never been attacked or felt threatened do not have that understanding on what it feels like to be marginalized in society. I questioned this person, asking them what they meant; their response was that they thought the name on this particular document should be a name that is easily recognisable. The fundamental understanding that they had just said the same thing twice was not there at all. They went on to try and justify what they meant in many ways but the first response was more than enough. It was enough for the racist message to be delivered and heard by me. On top of this, this NEC member took another cheap blow by saying that I was hysterical – So a bit of old fashioned sexism in there for good measure, why not! All of this while three other members of the NEC sat back and watched and did not feel that it was their place to say something in a situation which was not only deeply offensive but racist".

In retaliation to this event, students have created a Facebook group entitled "Racism on the NUS NEC? Students Deserve a Full Public Enquiry!", which currently has 466 members - many of whom I suspect are officers from Unions around the country.

The NUS top dogs have released three public statements on the matter, and the third makes an apology to comments made to Ama. According to NUS President Gemma Tumelty, the matter is now closed. Here's the third statement:

• "Regional Conferences 02/06/2008 Regional Conferences were, as always, intense. Hurtling around the country, going from city to city, discussing NUS’ future, relatively poor attendance, and living in the pockets of other NEC for four days is a tiring and surprisingly demotivating experience.Since Regionals week some people within the student movement have focused on an incident between Ama and myself where I used the wrong language, caused offence without intent, and which has proved to be a significant learning experience.I fully and unreservedly apologised to Ama at the time, and my future actions and future language should be judged to show I have learnt from the mistake.Most of all, I was horrified I offended Ama. An officer I have known for three years, and who has become a good friend. We disagree politically from time to time, but we have great rapport, and although it was recognised that what I said was without intent to cause offence, the fact it did shows there continues to be much more for me to learn and understand about the issues of discrimination. And I agree with Ruqs, there should be training on all issues of equality and discrimination for NEC and staff within the organisation. Much has been said about my own personal character by people who don’t know me, don’t know what motivates me, and were not there. It has been depressing to read statements calling me a ‘bigot,’ and a ‘racist,’ it is this sort of personal hostility that will not address the issues that were raised in the original blog. I made a mistake, I admitted it, and I’ve learnt from it; sometimes people don’t say the right things, and it is those that have sat me down and discussed the issue through rather than the anonymous posters, that have helped me to learn and impact upon my future language and conversations."So we now have a few of our demands met, namely:1) We now know publicly who said what, and who was there at the time. 2) Wes has agreed to implement the Black Students' Officer's demands in full. We can discuss on the group what we now want to do, and whether these responses are satisfactory. Go to http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs to see the blogs that have been copied here.

But is an apology enough? Surely what is needed is a culture change? Not just at the NUS, but in all levels of all organisations - political or not - across the country. South Wales Police Minorities Support Unit describe racism as:

• "A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person (this means if anyone thinks it's racist then it is)"

Evolved racism

Ama raises further points of interest in her blog and specifically that racism today is something very different to what it has been historically. She says:

• "I have no qualms in claiming that this person's words were in what I would like to call "evolved racism"; racists will not use language like "you fucking Nigger". They are more intelligent in what they say and how they say it, they will try and justify their words in a guise which is "easier on the ears", in a way that it harder to pick up by the bystander and one which if you pushed hard enough your end result of harming this person will be achieved".

Aren't these the exact tactics deployed by the BNP and vindictive right wing papers like the Mail and the Express?

I suspect nothing will come of the Facebook group - if the President says the matter is closed - it's closed I guess. Isn't that how student politics works?

Patient confidentiality?

Gazza's now been sectioned under the Mental Heath Act, but what ever happened to patient confidentiality?

Full story here.

God have mercy...SAVE THE VULCAN

My letter to Brains...

"To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you in regard to The Vulcan. As I understand it, the Vulcan will call time one last time in June 2009 to give way to a new development on that plot of land opposite the University of Glamorgan’s ATRiuM building.

When I heard the news of The Vulcan’s fate, I was devastated. Developers across Cardiff – and indeed other parts of Britain – are ripping the heart, soul and history out of the city. It is a travesty that Cardiff is going to lose another gem.

Steeped in history, The Vulcan is one of Cardiff’s last real spit and sawdust pubs, which houses an atmosphere difficult to find or replicate elsewhere in the capital.

Rumours have been abounding for some time that The Vulcan will be moved brick by brick to St. Fagan’s when it is closed. However, I phoned St. Fagan’s on Friday to find that there are no plans currently in the pipeline for this to occur. The lovely chap I spoke to explained that historic buildings have to be offered to the museum for plans to develop for them to move.

It is on this note that I am writing to you to strongly urge you to offer The Vulcan to St. Fagan’s.

There is much support to save The Vulcan – including two groups on the popular social networking site Facebook.
* GOD HAVE MERCY….SAVE THE VULCAN - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8831485923 with 191 members
* Save the Vulcan - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6086497638 – 135 members

I sincerely hope that you will consider this proposal.

I look forward to hearing from you soon on this matter".

Let's hope I hear back from Brains.

Wot do stoodentz look 4 wen applyin 2 univercity?

What attracts students to a particular University? Lots of different things, however....a press release on the University of Glamorgan's website is hardly a good advert...Simple spelling and grammar mistakes are hardly a good ad are they?

"Art Show Opens on Campus. May 29, 2008. The work of some of Wales’ top new artists will be on show this week as the end of year art degree show opens at the University of Glamorgan. Final year students in art come together in an exhibition being held on the main University campus in Treforest. The show is well recognised for the high standard of the work on show and many of its former student artists have gone on to forge top careers in their field. Estelle Collins Jones, 22, from Cefn Coed in Merthyr is one of the Art Practise students exhibiting at the show. Her impressive work is a life size ‘Crystal Cavern’ made from an old shed and filled with shapes and formations made from plaster, foam, shells and jewels turning the structure into a grotto".

Oh dear.

My scarf obviously makes me a terrorist...

This from the BBC today...

"Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an advert following complaints that the scarf worn by a celebrity chef offered symbolic support for Islamic extremism. The online advert for iced coffee featured the well-known US television chef Rachael Ray. She was wearing a black-and-white checked scarf around her neck that resembled a traditional Arab keffiyeh. This fashion choice incensed at least one prominent conservative blogger, who said it evoked extremist videos. The blogger, Michelle Malkin, called the garment "a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos". "

I have one of these scarfs....this obviously means I support terrorism.