It has recently been announced that unemployment in the UK has fallen by 35,000 bringing the latest tally to 2.65 million people who remain unemployed in Britain. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said that the decrease occurred between December 2011 and February 2012, and that the rate of unemployment is somewhat promising. Trade Union Officials have however expressed their concern with the latest announcement and TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “While any rise in the number of jobs is welcome, the fact is that full-time employment is still falling and a record 1.4 million are now stuck in…
Author: Steven Freeman
• Entirely new sabb team voted in at the SU elections • Online voting system sees the highest turnout ever A new sabbatical team was elected last month in an election which saw the highest amount of voters in Bangor Students’ Union history. The voting process this year had been changed significantly so that voting could be cast online, and as a result of this, voting numbers rose to an all time high, resulting in 2140 students casting votes. The sabbatical team which will replace the existing team are Antony Butcher as President, Shon Prebble as VP Education & Welfare,…
The results of the 2012 sabbatical elections have today been announced. After days of hard fraught campaigning, a new voting system and much jovial banter between candidates, the new sabbatical officers are Antony Butcher for President, Shon Prebble for VP Education & Welfare, Ash Kierans for VP Societies & Community and Emyr Bath for VP Sports & Healthy Living. The results breakdown for the Presidential election are in the first and only round: Anthony Butcher 1230 votes Joey McNally 207 votes Will Osborne 373 votes Re-open nomination 25 votes Concluding Antony Butcher won the Presidential election with a landslide victory. The results breakdown for the VP Education & Welfare election are in the first round: Shon Prebble…
Budding candidates battling it out for a sabbatical position in Bangor Students’ Union next academic year have kicked off their election campaigns today as the campaigning period has officially begun. Whilst some candidates have littered their Facebook profiles with campaign posters, others have been canvassing university buildings trying to persuade fellow students that to vote for them. The campaign was up and running straight away, with candidates for President and VP Education & Welfare participating in a question time session in the Wheldon Building this evening. For the first time the event was blogged live on the web as events unfolded in addition to…
Aberystwyth Guild of Students President Ben Meakin has faced recent criticism regarding an inappropriate act where he allegedly took part in a drinking game, which some have described as being degrading towards women. Mr Meakin was photographed at a pub following a union sporting event, where a woman was seen to be imitating a sexual act on Mr Meakin, as part of a drinking game. The photograph was released onto social networking site Facebook where it received heavy criticism, some of the comments claiming that the act was lewd and degrading towards women. Other comments are reported to have said that some criticizers were being over critical with…
Insurers have recently announced that upon renewal of their contract with the government next year that they may consider not insuring houses that are at a high flood risk. For some time now insurers have had an agreement with the government guaranteeing homeowners in such vulnerable areas protection against flooding, but a recent influx in flood related claims has seen insurers paying out more than they feel comfortable with. Such change in legislation could result in a plethora of complications from people not being able to obtain mortgages because they cannot get home insurance, to people moving out…
Queen Elizabeth II has celebrated her 60th anniversary as British monarchy this week and breaking tradition, she spent the anniversary of her ascension day making public appearances in Norfolk, as opposed to spending it privately. The queen visited Kings Lynn Town Hall and Dersingham Infant and Nursery School, where she met budding infant well-wishers who later gave a musical performance to mark the occasion, in which the queen was guest of honour. More public celebrations will commence later on in the year and the official jubilee bank holiday weekend will take place 2nd to 5th of June. …
Five Bangor students have made it through to University Challenge televised rounds after first applying to go onto the show in November of last year. The five lucky finalists including four panel members and a team reserve are Captain Nina Grant – BA French and Linguistics, Simon Tomlinson – PhD Psychology, Mark Stevens – BSc Environmental Science, Adam Pearce, PhD Translation and Catriona Coutts, BA English Literature. The top 15 scorers from the November tryouts were then invited for further tryouts and from these tests the five top scorers were invited to an interview in Manchester. Put before the production…
Bins in Bangor have been causing a lot of controversy in the city recently, the main problem being irregular collection leaving the streets sprawled with waste. After the Christmas holiday there seems to have been a lapse in bin collection resulting in bin bags being piled on the floor next to bins and food waste bins fermenting with mould. This along with the extreme winds we have been greeted by over the past few weeks has meant that rubbish has ended up sprawled throughout residential areas, creating a stench and an awful sight. On Glanarft Hill, a gathering of maggots…
Many London businesses and government departments have this month trialled a scheme to promote home working in order to try and reduce congestion come the months of the Olympic games. As well as the home working initiative, some workers, notably government department workers have been asked to cycle or walk to work as another way of trying to ease congestion during the games. The Government is encouraging the scheme after an already over capacitated public transport system will be put to the test during the summer months as city workers and Olympic tourists from around the world will…
On Wednesday 30th September the biggest strike in 30 years took place all over the UK over the issue of Public Sector pensions. The mass support for striking came after the news that Public Sector workers would contribute considerably more to their pensions but have to work for longer before they were entitled to them. After lengthy negotiations between Trade Unions and the Government that seemed fruitless, it was not surprising that such mass support was present as the strikes got underway. The strikes caused much disruption through the UK effecting universities, schools, airports, ports, council offices, hospitals and many…
Prince William aided in the rescue of stranded seamen after their ship sank 10 miles west of the Llyn Peninsula in the Irish Sea. The sunken Russian vessel MV Swanland, began to sink at around 2.30AM of Sunday 27th November after it became a victim of the rough seas. Air and sea rescue services were scrambled to try and locate and rescue the sailors, and in total 6 RAF rescue helicopters, 2 Irish Coastguard helicopter, 1 Irish Coastguard fixed wing aircraft and 4 lifeboat crews worked together in the rescue effort. The search was postponed at 4.45AM due to poor…
Anders Breivik, who was responsible for the Norway massacre in July this year, has been declared insane by Norwegian psychiatrists. Psychiatrists believe that Breivik was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia when he killed 77 people and injured 151 in a massacre that shook the world. Breivik admitted killing and injuring the many victims but declared that the attacks were necessary. An online manifesto expresses Breivik’s views, and he comments that he was protecting Europe from the Muslim Invasion, which was being allowed by the cultural Marxists of the Norwegian Labour Party. Psychiatrists, quoted “Breivik was in his own delusional universe where…
Over 10,000 people donned their best zombie gear and took to the streets in Mexico City in an attempt to break the world record for zombie walking. Men, women and children from all walks of life got into the spirit from dressing in dirty rags to costumes that would make Hollywood jealous to take part in this bizarre event. The current official world record stands at 4,093 people, who gathered at Asbury Park in 2010 to walk the streets as Zombies. A group in Brisbane recently laid claim to having a zombie walk with around 8,000 participants last month, but…
The annual Hospital Guide published by research company Dr. Foster has shown that you are more likely to die if you are admitted to hospital in need of life saving treatment on the weekend. The report said that it would appear some deaths could have been avoided if there was better access to diagnostic equipment, and if there was generally better staffing on weekends. It also suggests that hospital emergency departments are only staffing adequately for a five day week, leaving mostly junior doctors and nurses to deal with the majority of patients at the weekend. In essence, senior consultants…
On the 28th of November Egyptians voted for the first time since the removal of President Hosni Mubarak. The elections mark a milestone in Egyptian history, as for the first time in over 30 years Egyptians were able to vote without fear of intimidation from Mubarak’s men. The elections had a high turnout, and in many instances, it has been reported that there were long queues present outside polling stations throughout most of the day, the longest stretching an impressive 3km. The polls opened late due to administrative problems, but officials later extended the closing hours until midnight to compensate…