Student Protest

[Kirkby]

Hey everyone, to catch up none UK residents and people not watching the news....

First of all in the UK the government is raising the annual fee of £3000 to £9000 for university students, this has caused a lot of anger and today a protest turned a little violent today.

Students stormed the Millbank tower and began protesting there. Windows were smashed and bonfires lit but no one was seriously hurt. The media is up in arms about it and everyone is calling it a disgrace. But is it?

I mean as far as i know no ones been hurt and the most violent thing i saw was window smashing and its gotten the nations attention, unlike every other "peaceful" protest so maybe something will now be done.

So topic for discussion.. If youv been following this on the news are you for or against this protest? If you dont live in the UK/dont know wtf is going on, do you think peaceful protests are effective? Or is it sometimes good to cause a stir to raise awareness for an important cause

p.s just to state its important to remember there have been no serious injuries, obviously very violent protests are always wrong

 

[Bobic]

You obviously missed the bit where someone threw a fire extinguisher onto the police from the roof, that coulda been quite deadly.

Also, I wouldn't say the media are that up in arms about it, both bbc and sky news have made a point about saying that only a few of the protesters are being twonks and that most of the students there were being nice, peaceful and productive.

Anyway, I am very much against the violent destructive side of the protest. It undermines any serious point people were trying to make, it also causes the protesters to appear like a bunch of uncivilised scumbags.

And to anyone that says they don't think peaceful protests can work I'll ask you to remember ghandi, the guy's a household name for a reason

 

[Sebenko]

Though I'm against the increase in fees, I'm also against the Student's Union, since they don't seem to have a FUCKING ALTERNATIVE.

 

[ciancon]

Wow, and i thought that British students would be a bit dignified about a protest!

40,000 irish students protested in Dublin last week and pretty much blocked up all the streets! There were riot police around and people did get injured but it still doesn't sound as serious as what you've just described!

P.S. One guy was holding up a protest sign that read "What would Chuck Norris do?"

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

It's not like the violent protesters will be going to a university. They're probably there because they hate "the man".

Ah well, it's not like I voted for the current government. Not like I could.

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

I was going to go there but I couldn't get down for love nor money

I am all for a peoples revolt, the powers that be work for us in the end - And when they forget this it is up to us to reminds them.

 

[Stormpigeon]

I haven't seen too much of how the student loan system is going to chance based on the increased tuition, but it will put poorer people off going to university.
And ten thousand people show up to protest? That's going to be noticed.
But you undermine your own point when you turn violent and people won't give you what you want from fear or being seen to be caving in to violent demands.

 

[Padwolf]

I live in the UK, I have been keeping up with the news, and being a university student myself, I am for the protest.

I am against it becoming violent however, violence is definately not the answer here, and would cause more problems rather than getting their point across. But it is only a minority who have been horridly destructive. A peaceful protest is effective. Though students do have the right to be angry about this, the MP's that chose to rise the tuition fee did not have to pay for their own university tuition and so they are mucking this up for the rest of us, while dooming themselves since if the fee's do go up, so many students out there will not go to university and will not get a degree and so everyone will suffer more in the future. Though I am not ignoring the fact you can get a job without having a degree, a degree is nice to have. So it is understandable why some are lashing out, but it is not going to help anything. Besides, the police are people too who are just there doing their job, they don't deserve to have things thrown at them.

I would have gone to it myself peacefully, but sadly I did not have the money on my oyster card to get into London to join.

 

[CakeDragon]

People will think it's just another protest march. Since the violence started it's been all over the media and the Internet. It's pushed the protest into major limelight, so definitely beneficial.
On the flip-side, a lot of the students are saying it's a minority who started turning up and being violent. As it started, mmm, roughly an hour ago which, ohh how coincidental, is the same time school days finish. I reckon it's some chavs or idiots who just want an excuse to smash windows and start fires.
I was watching the BBC Live news feed and they interviewed a girl who was on the roof of Millibank, she said she didn't see anyone throw stuff off, so maybe just an overreaction by the media?

Either way, if tuition fees rise it'll affect everyone, even us lot currently at University. Makes me feel now that I wasted my vote back during the Elections - I voted for stable tuition fees and look what's happened. Sigh.

 

[Valksy]

I was going to go there but I couldn't get down for love nor money

I am all for a peoples revolt, the powers that be work for us in the end - And when they forget this it is up to us to reminds them.

Agree with this.

As I said in the Religion and Politics board - When the British people massed and marched together against Iraq, we went to Iraq anyway. When the people had riots in the 80s to overthrow the Poll tax, the Poll tax was defeated.

We are due a little outrage.

Keep in mind that the people who made this ruling had tuition free and would also have received student grants for free as well. It was OK for them but not for the new generation of students and I find that a disgrace.

 

[Cargando]

£9000?! Damn, I thought tuition fees were only increasing to £6000 a year. I don't really blame the students for being angry about this, these increases are pretty alarming. On the other hand I hardly see what smashing a few windows will achieve, other than some arrests...

On a side note, does anyone know any decent universities abroad? I have no idea how to quickly see how a good a countries' universities are. What with fees going up and up, I'm becoming more tempted to leave Britain altogher.

 

[lacktheknack]

No, I am not for this protest. A ton of damage was done, and now I'm guessing the government has to shell out for it.

If they do, then the students deserve every extra penny they have to pay. A more effective, less expensive protest would be arranging for nearly nobody to sign up for Universities anywhere the following year until the government lowered the price. That would strike a blow of absolute terror to the government that they would be forced to remedy, and no money would be lost to damages.

 

[Danny Ocean]

Though I'm against the increase in fees, I'm also against the Student's Union, since they don't seem to have a FUCKING ALTERNATIVE.

Yes they do. They said a while ago, on paper, that they advocate the 1% extra tax for the rest of your life (or whatever the value was) in the place of extra fees. Seemed like a great idea to me, too. There's always the odd millionaire who can make up for all the other middle peeps.

 

[forsinain42]

50,000 peaceful protesters + a few dipshits = 50,000 dipshits according to the media.

Raising the cap from £3,000 to £9,000 means that a 4 year course now costs £36,000. Is it worth it? Probably not.

I dropped out as I came from a poor background and just couldn't afford it. That was when it was £3,000 a year. 9 is just too much. The torys have managed to make education for the rich. Go them. I wish this hadn't turned violent but the sheer scale of it has sent a message that really needed to be sent.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

Yeah, you're obviously not British. If anything, the media is more up in arms about the prices going up.
Also, Scottish students still paying less Sorry England!
Edit: Is it not only for Arts subjects, as they don't actually teach vocations that contribute to the economy?

 

[Calico93]

I think the universities can charge what they like, up to like £13,000 or something

Yeha protests in order because the amount of money to be paid back when theyve got jobs is massive, with interest. FUCK

I think bonfires and smashing windows isnt really going to help though

Im not going to Uni any more, ill carry on selling paintings and try and get an apprenticeship somewhere.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

Though I'm against the increase in fees, I'm also against the Student's Union, since they don't seem to have a FUCKING ALTERNATIVE.

Yes they do. They said a while ago, on paper, that they advocate the 1% extra tax for the rest of your life (or whatever the value was) in the place of extra fees. Seemed like a great idea to me, too. There's always the odd millionaire who can make up for all the other middle peeps.

Why would non students want to pay tax so that people can go to university?

 

[Hashime]

That is a lot of money, significantly more than I pay, and I am in very close to the most expensive university program in Canada.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Well I would have been there, living in London and all.
But they organise it on a god damn weekday.

Seriously, we are students you know.

We have You know.... Things to do on weekdays?

 

[The Rockerfly]

To be honest I think it's a good thing, only the truly bright should go to uni. Poorer kids can get grants for if they have the brain power
There is too much inflation in the amount of people who have degrees, employees need to see that a degree is not the only way to get a decent job in a company
I suppose it kinda supports the rich but in a really shit way, they lose out as well but it's just not as difficult as the middle class will find it

Having said that for people in uni already and the fees go up, I'm against that. Otherwise people several years in may have to drop out because they can't afford payments