Sunday 22 March 2009

Chair of Students' Council Candidate- Kirsty Styles

First published at http://www.pluto-online.com/?p=1665

Name: Kirsty Styles

Year: 2

Course: BA Journalism

Position Running For: Chair of Student Council

Why are you running for this position?

I’m quite surprised that I’m running uncontested. However, I want to represent the student body, give something back to my university, hold all of the people in power accountable and try and get some stuff done!

Experience and Skills?

I studied Politics at A-level and also for a year at Sheffield University and right now I’m studying journalism so right now I think I’ve got the two things that best help towards the position – politics and media.

Top 3 goals whilst in office?

I’m kind of running on the ticket of making university better for men because I realised that there isn’t actually a Men’s Representative on the Student Council. Obviously I want to represent everybody, but I feel that men are being under-represented in today’s society and their problems would be something that I would try and focus on.

What are your campaign plans?

I’m going on the ticket of: “Kirsty Styles: making university better for men”. It was a bit of a joke. I had noticed that there wasn’t a men’s representative so I thought that that would be the theme of my campaign. I want the students to have a voice; I want them to know there’s someone there who can vocalize what students are thinking.

What are your negatives?

I don’t have a Council as such to put anything into place. I am very political, whether that is a negative…I don’t know.

How can you improve on your predecessor?

To be honest I’m not sure who my predecessor was, I’m not sure if they ran a campaign or if they were drawn from one of the various student forums. I’d like to make myself more well-known than them – make a mark.

How can they cope with the responsibility and pressure?

I’ve got quite a lot of responsibilities this year – writing for Pluto and being part of a pan European blogging competition run by the EU in Brussels. It’s all about having a diary, knowing when you’ve got to get things done and meeting the deadlines.

Why should people elect you?

I think I’ve shown that I’m committed to university and students because I put myself forward for position

Anything to add?

Just a bit disappointed that no other students have come forward; not only is student politics a springboard for national politics, but it’s also something we should do because people should put across things that are important to them, so that things aren’t stagnant and we can move on into the future together.

Friday 6 March 2009

Recession- Extraordinary Times- We Need To Seize The Opportunity

First published at http://www.pluto-online.com/?m=200903&paged=4


These extraordinary times. Her voice echoes out from the TV screen. A news reporter is gravely explaining the next victim in an ever-lengthening line of businesses- banks- queuing for Government hand outs.


AIG has reported the biggest loss in American corporate history. So, the biggest financial loss in world history.


Capitalism, the world, as we know it, will never be the same again. We have been flung, bleary-eyed and naked into the future. We have been crawling, and now we need to run.


Will Gordon Brown come into his own? He met Barack Obama this week, “the world’s biggest celebrity” the BBC reports.


You can’t help but worry that the U.S will work unilaterally. But I have every faith in Obama. And the right tone of Britishness cannot be underestimated as a tool for negotiation; style and grace.


Of Brown then, I am not so sure. He was the champion, one of the main protagonists, in creating a system that has ultimately failed.


The Sun and the Daily Mirror lead with the Jade Goody story. Not that it isn’t happening. But minute by minute coverage is sick in many ways.


There is so much other news. Important, meaningful, even scary news.


Barack Obama’s stimulus package is the biggest thing that is going to be attempted to fix all of this. Who else is offering answers? This is what needs to be happening, but we need more, we need it here.


HSBC have actually made a profit and yet they have still ‘lost’ 70 per cent on last year. Just how much money were these people gambling with?


The fate of the car industry is gloomy. People are being priced out of their cars, although this could be the making of our public transport system.


The 16-25 rail-card is a steal. But low prices need to be seen on all public transport. People need to be able to get to the places that are important to them cheaply, safely and comfortably. People will walk, our workforce will become active.


And jobs need to be created, ones that we haven’t even thought of yet. If the culture of motoring is going to survive, arguably whether it even should, we need to make cars environmentally friendly, cheap, and these improved car companies need to be employing people.


We need innovation in industry, construction and education. We need to create jobs to make the things that we need, we need people doing what they need to be doing. A report stated that many children’s medicines are now ineffective. Why wait for someone else to change this when we have the bodies, the people willing and able to work?


Communities are shattered. People are empty.


But hark, all is not lost, there are little gems of brilliance glinting on the horizon.


The Vicar of Preston is one of those treasures.


Progressive and engaging, he stood confident and glowing. He explained the basics, or rather, the packed schedule that comes with his job.


He is on 43 committees, meets with the council and leaders of other faiths, and ultimately engages people in the community. He is fighting against the tide, and still getting things done.

He works a 101 hour week.


Vince Cable, of Liberal Democrat fame is talking economic sense. Well, he’s on the news sometimes. The Liberal Democrats certainly aren’t speaking loud enough. And the opposition lies silent.


The Treasury Select Committee is debating failure, whilst backbenchers speak out on everything from education to alcohol tax in Scotland.


These people are making things happen, and others should follow suit. Or crow what they are already doing.


We have the world on our shoulders, and we all need to share some of the weight.