Jack Coles
The Internet’s a wonderful thing, right? It has made so many things that much more convenient. Unfortunately, the university seems to have gone a little overboard with the different sites for their content.
Consider submitting your work. We’ve all had to submit it through Turnitin as a physical copy. Unless you’re an MRes student, in which case you need to use NESS instead. S3P is used for administration stuff, except for when it isn’t. Blackboard is the worst. One module might put slides in “teaching materials” while another files it under “lectures”.
As for finding an assignment, it might as well be in fucking Narnia.
Louis Vanderlande
You know what you hater of Valentine’s Day, we all know it’s a corporate holiday built around the concept of consumerism and the teddy bear industry. We know this, we get how you’re above it all and wouldn’t dare be seen getting a rose or a box of chocolates for your loved one as it would go against your beliefs. Now listen....closer....closer...shut up.
Valentine’s may be the product of a bunch of company big wigs but the sentiment and feelings felt by so many are not fake. Get off your high horse, enjoy being with your loved one and celebrate them. We have far too few days a year to appreciate those that are closest to us. At the end of day, the most important part of our lives are those we choose to spend it with. So, smile, buy a little flower and make sure you have a happy Valentines.
P.s. To the singles out there, go spend it with your mates (they’re no less important).
Scott Houghton
I hate unpaid internships, not just them in general but also the idea behind them. The idea that you have to work for free, and that, because you're young or inexperienced your time is somehow less valuable. Whether you're a highly skilled doctor or a new graduate - that's still time off your life you won't be getting back. This doesn't mean that everyone should all have to be paid the same. But what it should mean is that everyone's time, work, and energy should compensated for respectfully.
What I find especially disgraceful are government or intergovernmental internships which expect you to cover the full costs by yourself. Many international organisations expect people, where most will be young people, to foot the cost of an internship in Hong Kong or Nairobi on their own. This is contradictory to the values they themselves purport to believe in, and flies in the face of the many organisations who supposedly believe in equality. If you’re lucky enough to have that kind of money or have rich parents you can pay. But are those the only kind of people we want to be calling the shots? Ordinary internships should be paid as a mark of respect for their work and time, but especially by governmental organisations who apparently hold political values.