Just wanted to let you know about a fantastic competition aimed at students for a incredible 6 month paid internship at Talk Sport with the opportunity to report at Euro 2012.

Coca-Cola, Official Sponsor of UEFA EURO 2012™, have teamed up with talkSPORT to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for aspiring journalists, shining a light on the best of British youth. The successful candidate will receive a six-month paid internship working at talkSPORT, kicking off with an incredible assignment as the Coke Fan Reporter at UEFA EURO 2012™ in Poland and Ukraine.

They’re looking for someone who has a passion for football / sport & journalism. Each entrant must be over 18 years of age, and a resident in the UK.

To apply for this unique experience, there are 3 simple steps to follow:

1.    Select your favourite goal of all time.

2.    Video yourself commentating on that goal. We don’t want imitations of existing commentary; we want your own insightful take on the goal. Your passion for football and sports journalism must really shine through.

3.    Send your video by via the link on the entry page http://www.talksport.co.uk/coke by Wednesday May 16 2012. Make sure your video is under 5Mb.

Five successful candidates will be selected by an  talkSPORT panel of Adrian Durham, Darren Gough and Des Kelly and a Coca-Cola ambassador. The candidates will be invited to talkSPORT HQ to face challenges set by the panel and a final interview. From the five, the panel will select the one outstanding candidate who embodies both the Coca-Cola and talkSPORT selection criteria. They will start their six-month paid internship on the first day of UEFA EURO 2012™ (June 8th) before travelling to the championships for their first assignment. Runners up prizes for the 4 finalists will be available.

All entries must be received by 11:59pm Wednesday 16th May 2012.

24^th April 2012

Dear Professor Gillies,

We are responding to your recent comments regarding the proposed alcohol ban within the university on religious grounds.

London Met is a diverse and multicultural university with approximately 30,000 students representing over 150 different countries. We, as Muslim students, value democracy and respect diversity and multiculturalism and we also acknowledge that we are able to practice our faith more freely here in the UK than in many Muslim countries around the world. We find your recent comments regarding banning alcohol on university premises being based on religious grounds, as an attack not only on the values we hold, but also on the values of the wider non-Muslim community. Your comments clearly showed that the alcohol ban you proposed is based on gross generalisation about the views of Muslim students.

We hold the view  that such a proposal should have been put forward to all students regardless of whether they are Muslim or not. Your failure to consult the Students’ Union (a democratically elected body representing students’ views) and the two Islamic societies at the university raise the question of how you came to the conclusion that the Muslim population at London Metropolitan are calling for an alcohol-free campus. More importantly there has never been a demand for an alcohol ban on campus from Muslim or non-Muslim students. The Muslim population at London Met stands at approximately 20%, so assuming all Muslims at the campus were in favour of the ban, this could not be imposed as it would go against the fundamental principal of democracy i.e. imposing the will of minority on 80% of non-Muslim majority.

We are aware that the current leases for the student bar located at City Campus is due to expire in the near future. All indications show that the university does not have any plan to renew the lease or replace it with a permanent licensed bar. Muslim students are being used as a scapegoat because it is deemed an easier way out than to explain to those students who use the bar that to renew the lease would be costly, and having to face backlash from the students who are paying for their ultimate ‘university experience’. To use Muslim students to justify cuts is not acceptable and certainly immoral.  If the university finds that running the bars is not economically viable then you should put forward a ‘business case’ and not a ‘religious case’  to justify the closure of bars and the creation of an alcohol-free campus.

We find your argument to ban alcohol on religious grounds baseless, divisive and irresponsible and we are concerned about the welfare of the students.  Your stance has already had negative impacts both within the university and in the wider society.  Internally it has initiated the process of polarisation of the student body and creating resentments towards Muslim students.  For example, there has already been anti-Muslim remarks appearing on various social media websites and there have also been actual incidences of student confrontations which have been reported to the Student Union, and it is only a matter of time before a Muslim student is physically assaulted.

If you are sincerely concerned about the Muslim students’ experiences at the university then we like to know why you have removed the Muslim Imam from the chaplaincy, and have not even attempted to replace him.

The media has always portrayed Islam and Muslims negatively and they would use any excuse to escalate this further. Such an unreasonable proposal which clearly many non-Muslims view as an attack by Muslims against their way of life, is absolutely of no benefit to the Muslim students and the wider Muslim community at all. In fact it demonises them even more and it will be used as baseless evidence to show how Britain is becoming a ‘sharia state’, particularly by far right groups such as the EDL who have already capitalised upon this and added it to their campaign against minority groups.

Your remark to ban alcohol on religious ground does not only undermine community cohesion, which the Home Office, CLG and numerous non-governmental organisations work hard to build post 9/11, but it also adds to the growing hostility towards Muslims. This only gives rise to Islamophobia, and incites religious hatred towards vulnerable Muslim communities across the country.

Students look up to you as a role model and a learned scholar who regularly contributes to debates in the higher education sector. We did not expect such an intellectually dishonest stance from a person of such calibre. Your undemocratic, ill devised and misleading remarks have caused tension within the university campus and in the wider society; therefore we demand a retraction of your comments and an unreserved apology.

Yours Sincerely,

LMU Islamic Society & Shia Muslim Society.

Intellectualdishonesty@yahoo.com

(any suggestions & comments are more then welcome)

Evidence suggests that the number of students who work while they study is on the increase across Europe.

An international team of researchers, led by LondonMet’s own Working Lives Research Institute is investigating this, in a project funded by the European Commission.

If you are working as well as studying, and have already completed your first year at university, we need your help.

The team has set up an online questionnaire (in seven languages – Czech, English, French, Italian, Latvian, Polish and Spanish) asking about you, your work and your background. The data will be held anonymously and used to help understand what work-related problems students have, and how protections at work could be improved to make their work less precarious.

Simply go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PRECSTUDE and answer the questions – it should take less than 20 minutes.

The report of the research will be finished at the end of 2012 and will be published on the Working Lives web site (www.workinglives.org).

If you have any questions about the research, please contact n.clark@londonmet.ac.uk

Dear Malcolm,

The recent media frenzy that surrounds London Met has been extremely unhelpful and offensive to many of our students. To make assumptions about what students think based on the teachings of religion is not acceptable. Furthermore, to single out Muslim students, attach stereotypes and make claims on behalf of Muslim students is very damaging to our student community.

The ‘Alcohol Ban’ story has been published by many different media channels. The alarming concerns I have, as someone with a mandate to represent students, is not only the generalisations that you have made about Muslim students, but the islamophobic comments which your actions have directly led to.

“Why don’t we just go the whole hog (no offence intended, please don’t cut my head off) and give muslims the sharia law they crave?
Then, when we catch a married pakistani raping a drugged up english 12 year old, he could be buried up to his waist and have rocks thrown at him til he is dead? Or when a take-away owner is found to be under-reporting takings to avoid taxes, off with his hand! Strictly ‘muslims only’ mind.”

As I am sure an educated person such as yourself will agree, a far right group like the English Defence League could use this story and to fuel their hate propaganda against the Muslim community.

The Vice President of City Campus and student governor states:

“To my knowledge the Vice Chancellor did not consult the Student Union or Islamic society at London met. It begs the question how he came to the conclusion that Muslim students do not want alcohol at the university? In London Met University, we have 20% of Muslim student. The overwhelming majority of our students are non-Muslim. For the sake of argument, even if all the Muslim students at London Met want to see a ban on alcohol it would be undemocratic to impose the will of 20% of students on 80% of the student body.

“Muslim students as an entity did not express the desire to ban alcohol at London Met. If the VC was to consult the Students’ Union or even visit the bar he would have learnt that many of our Muslim students drink at the bar openly. In fact last year 3 of our fulltime sabbatical officers used to consume alcohol openly in university premises and they were Muslim officers.

“I am a Muslim student but I do not want alcohol to be banned at London Met even though I do not drink alcohol. I do not see any justification for banning alcohol in the name of Muslim students and using them as a scapegoat.”

Ellie May, President of London Met Unite Against Fascism Society states:

“London Met UAF was shocked and appalled by the VC’s comments on alcohol on campus. We find the fact that he felt he was promoting “cultural sensitivity” by claiming to speak for muslim students highly offensive, inflammatory and inaccurate.

“We demand that the VC publicly offers a full and frank apology to all students at London Met for the damage he has done to our universities reputation and to the safety and wellbeing of its students. We also demand an adequate replacement of the Hub, the city campus bar. “

Your actions so far have shown no consideration for the students at London Met. Many have questioned your knowledge of the Muslim community and wondered if you would have made such comments if you had been able to take advice from our university Imam? Sadly the Imam was made redundant last year on your orders along with a third of his Student Services colleagues. Clearly London Met still requires this job role.

I am calling on you to retract your comments and apologise to the London Met community for the damage and offence you have caused.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Claire

Dear Supporter,
SUPPORT THE  UAF CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE BNP / BFP  GETTING ELECTED IN THE MAYORAL AND GLA ELECTIONS
We have been asked by National Unite Against Fascism to start our campaign
in Islington to stop the BNP / BFP  getting elected in the Mayoral and GLA
elections on Tuesday 3rd April 2012.  We will be leafleting Highbury & Islington tube and Finsbury park tube from 5.30pm to 7pm.

We are asking all anti racists, anti fascists, trade unionists, community groups, faith groups, political campaigners and everyone who opposes the BNP and EDL to join us, if possible, in campaigning on Tuesday 3rd April 2012 at these tube stations. This will be part of an on going leafleting campaign in Islington and across London over the next 5 weeks, and we will be sending out an Islington diary of events shortly. We will be taking photographs and inviting the press to the tube flyering launch on Tuesday 3rd April 2012 and we would ask trade unionists, campaigns etc. to bring their banners for publicity. We will be giving out the leaflet, which I have attached below for your information. Please email me to let us know if you are able to join us leafleting, so I can inform the co-ordinator for each tube.

Thank you for all your support.

In Solidarity

Gabriella

Islington Unite Against Fascism

gabriella@blueyonder.co.uk

Do you think the July 7/7 bombings is a conspiracy?

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