Students

[Daggers]

Pirates would be able to use power tools.

Ninjas wouldn't know what a battery is.

[Finnegan]

Ninjas dont NEED to.

[FoxyPV]

Put a ninja in the sea and see how he fares against a shark.

Me thinks he'd be fooked up in seconds

[Daggers]

Also, ninjas go to ninja school - which means they'd be joining all these unwashed bastards in Whitehall moaning because they didn't want to go to double geography yesterday afternoon anyway and were going around to Gary's house to play Black Ops but Gavin made them get on the bus and come down anyway and the BBC didn't even interview them or anything. Yaa.

Pirates never went to school. They never use the words "like", "whatever" and "y'know". They would rob the £9000 tuition fees and buy a bigger boat to shoot Ninja school to pieces.

Stupid striking ninjas.

Get a bloody haircut.

[Finnegan]

Sharks are no problem for this guy.

[Christoph]

I do Human Geography and am looking at going abroad next year to do voluntary work along the lines of community planning.

I've stayed at home and taken the maximum loan out and because I've been in part-time employment, my student loan hasn't been touched. You could argue that I've simply taken money off tax payers and a lot of that money will be leaving the country, but at least some of it will be going to a good cause rather than lining the pockets of landlords and the local pub!

People can argue until they're blue in the face about degree choices, but I never considered not going to Uni. I don't have a clue at what I'm going to do long-term and really, I only did the subject because I enjoy it. No courses are a waste of time. If the student is enjoying it, what's the problem? 90% of the people moaning at 'fake' subjects haven't been to University, yet they have had the exact opportunity as anybody else to do something 'worthwhile'.

I do Geography (BA rather than BSc), what uni do you go to and year?

Dont be hating on Art degrees people, specifically subjects that touch on sociology, pyschology, geography etc, these subjects help bring to light alot of shit people dont realise

[Tommy G]

Ironic thing is...

People riot, complain or whatever to bring Justice to higher tuition fees which they are paying to study, to hopefully achieve a degree, which will hopefully lead to a better paid profession.

Take the case of the fire extinguisher chap, he has got a student loan, and his sheep face all over the local and national rag. He will potentially never get a job from his criminal record now. So his protest has gone from trying to reduce the coinage out his pocket but has in fact made him into the least employable student in the UK.

Can't see him getting a job at a fire station. Quite funny really, goes to say the rest of the people who got arrested won't have glittering reports when emplyers run a CRB check.

Tax dodging w@nkers

[Fosse Boy]

Ironic thing is...

People riot, complain or whatever to bring Justice to higher tuition fees which they are paying to study, to hopefully achieve a degree, which will hopefully lead to a better paid profession.

Take the case of the fire extinguisher chap, he has got a student loan, and his sheep face all over the local and national rag. He will potentially never get a job from his criminal record now. So his protest has gone from trying to reduce the coinage out his pocket but has in fact made him into the least employable student in the UK.

Can't see him getting a job at a fire station. Quite funny really, goes to say the rest of the people who got arrested won't have glittering reports when emplyers run a CRB check.

Tax dodging w@nkers

Had to have that last dig...

[lcfc_jme]

Ironic thing is...

People riot, complain or whatever to bring Justice to higher tuition fees which they are paying to study, to hopefully achieve a degree, which will hopefully lead to a better paid profession.

Take the case of the fire extinguisher chap, he has got a student loan, and his sheep face all over the local and national rag. He will potentially never get a job from his criminal record now. So his protest has gone from trying to reduce the coinage out his pocket but has in fact made him into the least employable student in the UK.

Can't see him getting a job at a fire station. Quite funny really, goes to say the rest of the people who got arrested won't have glittering reports when emplyers run a CRB check.

Tax dodging w@nkers

Alright then Roid Rage, calm down.

Have to say, fair play to everyone who turns up and protests peacefully. I will admit though that I was actually embarrassed by the morons who were smashing the police van in live on Sky News yesterday and trying to tip the fvcking thing over. Yeah, way to show everybody that you deserve to be listened to for your rational and well-mannered behaviour.

[Christoph]

Maybe rioting is the only way to get the government to listen to you. Seemed to work against thatcher with the poll tax, however peaceful protests with a million plus to stop the iraq war didnt have any effect

[Matt]

Get over it.

You go to uni, get a decent degree, follow up using it in a decent career and pay for the skills and things you learn - which in turn will pay for itself, or go to uni for the lifestyle and experience, pay lots of money, get in debt and don't follow it up.

Or you go to college and learn something, or even just a get a job, get in no debt and earn from day 1.

Simple. Accept it.

If people go to uni to get a decent career and they want to do that fair enough.

Made me laugh the other day when someone I know who is at uni said to me 'Yeah but when I finish uni, I will be in a job that earns more than yours'...Excuse me will you? I am 23, on £17k a year roughly (Rising) and I have roughly 7 or 8 years on a university graduate so I have atleast an £70/80k headstart (Based on £10k a year since age 16) obviously I have 7 or 8 years wage rise headstart too, I have no debt and to top it off after her saying 'I will be in a job that earns more than yours' I replied with 'Oh so what do you want to do, what job will you be ending up in' response 'Well i'm not really sure yet' so 1) How does she even know she will guarentee a job after graduation, 2) She doesn't quite know what aspect she wants to do for work, so not sure how she can claim she'll be in a job that earns more and 3) I'm debt free and she has to pay back before she even makes a profit and is earning for herself.

But as I've said if it's what people want to do who am I to argue, Do what you want to do and if you don't enjoy it why do it.

[Finnegan]

You really need to do something about that chip on your shoulder, Matt.

This country (as most countries) runs on graduates. Your doctor is a graduate, your dentist is a graduate, your lawyer is a graduate. The people that designed your clothes are probably graduates, ditto most of your gadgets, the television you watch and the programmes on it.

Of course there'll always be need for practically-learned trades, chippies, sparkies, and the like - you need a balance in life and nobody should look down their noses at anyone for picking their chosen path, be it using their hands or their brain - snobbery will serve you no purpose.

But just as the government are looking to make it easier for school leavers and the young unemployed to get themselves on to apprenticeship schemes to learn a profession, so should they also be looking to encourage more of the more academically gifted to proceed into higher education.

There's really no point in saying "if you want to go to uni, go to uni and don't winge about the cost." Would you not be outraged if all of a sudden you needed tens of thousands of pounds to become a qualified plumber or plasterer?

[Daggers]

But just as the government are looking to make it easier for school leavers and the young unemployed to get themselves on to apprenticeship schemes to learn a profession, so should they also be looking to encourage more of the more academically gifted to proceed into higher education.

"More" academically gifted?

The academically gifted were always at university - we've just packed the places full of chip fryers who labour under the misapprehension they're Einstein.

[Matt]

You really need to do something about that chip on your shoulder, Matt.

This country (as most countries) runs on graduates. Your doctor is a graduate, your dentist is a graduate, your lawyer is a graduate. The people that designed your clothes are probably graduates, ditto most of your gadgets, the television you watch and the programmes on it.

Of course there'll always be need for practically-learned trades, chippies, sparkies, and the like - you need a balance in life and nobody should look down their noses at anyone for picking their chosen path, be it using their hands or their brain - snobbery will serve you no purpose.

But just as the government are looking to make it easier for school leavers and the young unemployed to get themselves on to apprenticeship schemes to learn a profession, so should they also be looking to encourage more of the more academically gifted to proceed into higher education.

There's really no point in saying "if you want to go to uni, go to uni and don't winge about the cost." Would you not be outraged if all of a sudden you needed tens of thousands of pounds to become a qualified plumber or plasterer?

Maybe saying don't winge about the cost to those actually doing a 'proper' degree for something useful is abit harsh but the main point is, It will keep many out who are doing if for the uni experience and lifestyle out, and maybe it will make people actually think about what they want to do in the future and their career rather than thinking 'Ah i'll go to uni for a few years then i'll make my mind up' which maybe i'm just generalising but many people I know who are at uni or have been to uni, again, and again, AND again, seem to be doing.

And also as regards to the government making it easier for school leavers and young unemployed to get themselves into apprenticeships, it's been a long time coming ah? Because all I heard at school was uni, uni, uni, and that you won't succeed in life if you did not go down such a path - Perhaps thats where the 'chip' comes from I dunno, Then you get the parents, such as a family friend - She knows what she wants to do, It involves going to college, learning something but not uni, but the parents almost looked down their noses at her for not going down the uni path by saying (Infront of her) 'Ah she is better than just college, doing childcare, She should be looking at Uni courses for the future'.

[Finnegan]

One of the things I've been doing over the last few weeks at work is trying to convince a bunch of lads to apply for jobs left, right and centre. They were long-term unemployed before they got the temporary position they're currently on through the Labour government's somewhat rushed Future Jobs Fund (a very, very noble idea that was somewhat hastily executed as a PR stunt for the election.) And what I've learned from them and others like them is that it's depressingly evident that whole swathes of people are leaving the school system with no idea how to find work. It sounds ridiculous but there are literally countless people that don't know what there options are once they hit sixteen - and that is a failing of our society, yes.

But taking that out on those that want to go to University is ridiculous.

Yes, we have a hell of a lot of people going off and doing ridiculous nothing degrees like Media, Film, Television Studies or Leisure who are destined to come out and drift into entry-level jobs that have nothing to do with their degree. But frankly, these people have paid for the experience and have always paid for the experience and why are we so bothered that that's what they're doing? They are in debt, they haven't just taken the tax payers money, they have to pay it back and there'll be a lot of them that will regret it. That's punishment enough for their immaturity - we don't need to triple that debt to further ram home any sort of deterrence.

Besides, it's not the graduates that are currently struggling for employment. They are more employable, they do have certifiable skills - however dismissive we are of the specifics of their qualification. In recession they're no less employable than they would be otherwise, they just end up taking jobs that the average A-Level leaver would usually be moving towards, the average A-Level leaver looking for jobs that normally a less qualified candidate would push for and so on and so forth. It's those without certifiable skills that struggle, in or out of recession. And at least while they're at university they aren't on JSA or Housing or whatever else.

The people we need to be addressing aren't the students, it's the mass unemployed in the same age bracket. But for both issues, tackling it starts in schools and 14 - 16 and 16+ we're consistently failing this generation.

[FoxyPV]

many people I know who are at uni or have been to uni, again, and again, AND again,

She knows what she wants to do, It involves going to college, learning something but not uni, but the parents almost looked down their noses at her for not going down the uni path by saying (Infront of her) 'Ah she is better than just college, doing childcare, She should be looking at Uni courses for the future'.

Have to agree with this - quite a few of the ones I was at uni with were doing exactly this, changing their courses year on year as they didn't know what to do.

At least she'll have a job when she finishes her course.

[Daggers]

Why does everyone doing a beauty course look like an orange, younger, Bella Emburg?

[FoxyPV]

Why does everyone doing a beauty course look like an orange, younger, Bella Emburg?

It's part of the entry requirements.

[Matt]

I wish these dickheads would have a word with themselves.

[Daggers]

I wish these dickheads would have a word with themselves.

They are students, Matt.

They can only copy-paste words to themselves.

[Fosse Boy]

Mounted cops have charged protestors in Parliament Square.

Looks like at least one Lib Dem is set to resign from the government over the issue. This goes through and Cleggy Boy can pretty much kiss his party's electoral future goodbye.

[Unit]

Just started watching it live on BBC, well impressive fire there, we never manage anything near that on bonfire night

[Fosse Boy]

Hope someone took marshmallows.

[The Padster]

The reason we're throwing stuff is because we're scared of the police.

What a complete moron.

I'm quite amazed this man is even a student because he sounds like he couldn't even tie his fvcking shoelaces.

[Jackirius]

Mounted cops have charged protestors in Parliament Square.

I've just seen that, appalling.