Yes, it’s true, and we are finally allowed to talk about it - the third and final Prime Ministerial debate will be held at OUR UNIVERSITY in the Aston Webb Great Hall tomorrow night!!

Join the Guild of Students in showing that students DO care about politics, students WILL be voting in this election, and politicians SHOULD be listening!

Pick up a Vote for Students t-shirt from the Guild tomorrow or simply wear pink whilst going about your daily tasks on campus! The BBC will have a big screen on the ruby pitches from 12pm, and we will be showing the debate live in Joe’s from 8.30pm! Sign up to the Vote for Students campaign at http://www.voteforstudents.co.uk to find out if your candidates have pledged to vote against a rise in tuition fees if voted into parliament. Expect lots of media attention about the student vote, and have a great day!

Students DO care, Students WILL be voting, Politicians SHOULD be listening!!

This Thursday the Guild of Students will be asking you to use your vote to vote for a candidate who pledges to vote against a rise in fees in the General Election on May 6th. To show support for the campaign students can wear a ‘Vote for Students’ t-shirt (available from the Guild), or simply wear pink.

The NUS Vote for Students campaign aims to mobilise the student vote for the coming general election, and asks parliamentary candidates to pledge to vote against a rise in tuition fees if they are elected to Parliament. To find out if your candidate supports the campaign, click here. Students make up 15% of the electorate and in many seats up and down the country the student vote can make a decisive difference.

The Prime Ministerial Debate taking place in the Birmingham area on Thursday is to be shown on a big screen on the University campus and in Joe’s from 8:30pm – 10pm. The BBC are providing the screen which will be in place on the rugby pitch from 12noon onwards – so come and show your support!

The Guild is also holding an election results night on May 6^th, tickets are £3 and on sale in Joe’s Bar now!

Join University of Birmingham VOTES in the General Election facebook group for all the latest news and more information!

See you on Thursday!

Response from the University Marketing Team

As the author of the article, thankyou for allowing me the opportunity to respond;

The article was intended to be a reflection on both the importance of the University to its community and how well we communicate this importance to the community. I personally grew up down the road from the University, I am passionate about its causes and aims and its importance to Birmingham.

The reference to students being "bleary-eyed" is not a member of staff's view of our student population. It was intended to demonstrate how a member of the community would view a student, yes indeed it plays up to the stereotype but it is not the University's received view of its students as seems to have been suggested. In this section I also mentioned the 6000 staff who "descend" onto campus every day.

Again, Valefest is a fantastic event which raises many thousands of pounds for many charities. The University sees great value in the event and understands the huge positive impact it has each year. However our local community are generally not privy to this information, the article is meant to reflect that all the local community will see/hear on the day is noise. I made the same point in the paragraph about Open Day; 10,000 people on campus has a huge impact for our local community in terms of noise, congestion, litter etc. This may be the only experience that many local community members have of the University, little to they realise the liaison we go through with the council, police, community groups, local schools to host this event or indeed that the event itself encourages thousands of students to attend university, many of whom may not have otherwise considered themselves as capable to or able to attend university.

Quite explicitly in the article I state that there are "dedicated staff and students around the University who are prepared to commit their time to our local community". I believe this wholeheartedly and I believe in the fine work that University of Birmingham students undertake on a day to day basis that has a huge positive impact on our community. The problem is that these messages are often lost or are seldom promoted to our community and the article was intended to be a rallying call to arms to do more and promote it better and to get involved in the community day.

The point of the article was to get people involved and dispel the stereotypes you have highlighted, not to bolster them, so apologies for any offence you may have taken from the article.

Thanks again for allowing me the right to reply.

Disappointing University Article

We have all heard the stereotypical view of students, and to be honest, it’s getting a tad boring. The last thing I expected, however, was to read an article in Buzz, ‘the University of Birmingham’s award winning magazine’, which does nothing to challenge this view.

In an article written by the University marketing team, exploring the impact the University has on the community and promoting the upcoming Community Day, Students are portrayed as lazy and ‘bleary-eyed’. Nothing is said of the students who volunteer with student groups, academic student representatives, external volunteering projects, or Guild Councilors, who all make a remarkable impact on the campus, local and wider community. Nothing of the student led volunteering projects, such as LINKS who volunteer first aid at local events, Carnival who raise thousands of pounds for local charities or Kids Adventure who need to fundraise £20,000 each year to fund exciting adventure holidays for local children from disadvantaged backgrounds. And nothing of all the other amazing students who volunteer or perform in local schools, on local conservation projects, organize children’s play schemes and activities, offer support and advice to other students, and much more. In fact, nothing that even suggests that students volunteer or play a positive role in the community at all.

‘Events such as...our huge outdoor parties, such as Valefest, with their accompanying noise, can stretch on well past midnight’. Nothing is mentioned about Vale Festival being a student-led music festival which aims to raise the awareness of, and raise around £25,000 each year for, various environmental issues.

The ‘Selly Oak Wardens’ are given a mention, but nothing of the students who instead of getting a part-time job just anywhere, apply for a job which contributes back to the community and works hard to make Selly Oak a great place to live for students and residents.

As an elected representative to champion the fantastic work our students do, I am really disappointed by this representation of our students, who yes, may go out until the early hours having fun, but who also work tirelessly and unselfishly for the community in which they live and even further afield. Dance Club Latino, BUDS, STAR, Kids Adventure, Infinity Stage Company, Article19, Carnival, Purple Mermaid Circus, Community Wardens, Saturday Morning Play Scheme and GMTG have all committed to putting on performances, workshops and activities at the Community Day in June, volunteering their time to engage with the local community and make the University's event a day to remember. This was a fantastic opportunity to highlight the University of Birmingham student's achievements and efforts to University staff, which, unfortunately, has been missed.

For the full article, please find it on p7 here: http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/buzz/4768_Buzz_122_AW.pdf

Please comment about how you feel students contribute to the community, or any general comments.