Trouble in Thailand
Newcastle student drugged by Thai local whilst travelling
Paul Belk from South Shields, a talented drummer and athlete was completing an undergraduate degree in music at Newcastle when he took time off to go backpacking in Asia with friends in 2005. After originally hesitating, Paul embarked on the trip at the last minute with two friends, travelling around Laos and the Thai mainland before ending the trip on Koh Tao, one of the many islands surrounding Thailand.
After a week in Koh Tao Paul’s friends decided to visit Kuala Lumpur while Paul stayed on the island with a group of 8 Irishmen he had met. However, during a night out in a bar on the island, Paul began chatting to two Thai men and soon after was spotted looking drowsy by friends. After assuming he had had too much to drink, Paul’s friends took him back to the apartment and put him to bed. However when he did not wake up the next morning they realised something was very wrong.
After receiving a call from the Mother of Paul’s girlfriend, his parents David and Carol became worried. The Irish friends he had been staying with had gone through Paul’s phone in an attempt to get in touch with his family to let them know that he was in hospital. On realising Paul was unconscious, his friends had taken him to a hospital on the island immediately where they were told it was likely Paul had been drugged and was in a coma. The hospital only agreed to treat Paul after his friends produced insurance documents from his backpack, insurance that he very nearly didn’t have.
Paul’s father David told The Sun newspaper, “About a week before Paul went to Thailand I asked him if he had insurance and he didn’t. I went on the internet and arranged cover for him. Looking back it probably saved his life.”
Paul was transferred to the main hospital on neighbouring island Koh Samui and as his condition worsened his father David flew out to be with him where he was told Paul’s chances of survival were only about 50/50. Three weeks later Paul flew back to Newcastle and remained in hospital for a further year recovering from his coma.
Diagnosed with anoxia, a condition resulting from the brain’s starvation of oxygen, Paul was unable to communicate until 3 months later, when he began to learn how to speak again through speech therapy. Paul is now recovering slowly with the help of physiotherapy but is still unable to live at home, and two years on remains in a wheelchair at the Chase Park Rehabilitation Centre in Gateshead. Paul told The Sun;
“My upper body is fine and I can move my legs but it’s hard. Very slowly, I’m learning to walk again. I get botox in my leg to relax the muscles and I go swimming three times a week.”
Paul is now hoping to be able to learn to drum again and play in bands as he did before the trip. He is also considering taking a degree in IT when he is fully recovered.
Paul’s experience highlights the need for backpackers to be aware of dangers like robbery while they are travelling. Although it isn’t clear what happened that night in the bar, Paul’s friends remain convinced that the two Thai men he was seen talking to were robbers who drugged him to steal his possessions after discovering his gold bracelet and watch were missing. Paul’s father David told The Sun, “When you go out there and speak to the taxi drivers and other locals, they tell you this sort of thing happens all the time but it’s hushed up because of the tourist trade. My advice to other backpackers would be to stay with people you know and watch who you are being friendly with when you’re drinking.”
Paul’s family had to fight to claim the £40, 000 medical charges from his stay in Thai hospitals during after the insurance company suspected Paul or overindulging in drugs himself. Paul’s family are hoping that his experiences will make other students aware of the importance of good travel insurance and the need to be aware while staying in other countries.
For anyone considering travelling in the summer, the foreign office website has information on the dangers which backpackers may face in countries throughout the world. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/
Kate McCann
Targeted attack
Student house victim of vandal youths
For students moving into to a private house or flat, the process of finding a trustworthy estate agency and landlord should be rather straight forward and painless. However, for Mia Valimaki and her 4 fellow 3rd year students living in the area of Fenham, what should have been a year of focusing on those all important final exams and making the most of university, has turned into a year of residential nightmares.
The two main causes of this have been a string of attacks on their house by a group of local youths, and the dismissive and neglectful behaviour taken by their landlord and the estate agency that let the property.
Between Sunday the 13th of April and Monday the 28th, the household experienced 3 attacks by local youths who threw rocks at their windows (progressing onto bricks in the later episodes) all occurring between 8pm and 9pm. Fortunately, none of the students were present at the time and therefore no injuries were sustained. Ms. Valimaki told the Courier that Northumbria police were contacted after each incident and officers were sent to Fenham to start an investigation. The latest news is that the local neighbourhood watch have acquired surveillance footage of the suspected offenders and the area is being placed under constant monitoring.
Police resources have been diverted to investigating the attacks, but the students were told that “it is very unusual for the police to pay such close attention to a case of this nature”. This maybe because they are not random attacks; they are attacks which are targeting one particular house. However, the students do not expect the culprits to be reprimanded.
On top of these recent events, Ms. Valimaki and her housemates have had to deal with the appalling behaviour of their landlord and there letting agency, Grant Management. After the first attack on their house, it took 5 days of making continuous phone calls before a repair man was sent around to simply take measurements of the window. Ms. Valimaki stated that the window was eventually repaired almost two weeks later, but “only because we have been calling them constantly since the second incident”. Another problem which has appeared in their house is a leaking ceiling. Grant Management was informed of the problem on Sunday the 27th of April, where the enquiry was picked up by the call centre. However, it seems that the call was not recorded (a typical procedure for phone enquiries) as Grant Management stated that they had no idea of the problem. The date for fixing the ceiling has been repeatedly postponed and as of yet, nothing more has been done by the estate agency to alleviate the problems of their student clients. Apart from the windows and the ceiling, there is evidence that Grant Management have been trying to double the rent for the property over the last 4 months. Ms. Valimaki uses direct debit for paying her rent. As well as taking money from her account, a bill has been sent out claiming that rent has not been paid. This has happened on numerous occasions and even though Grant Management claims the problem will be fixed, it continues to persist.
The extent of the issue is evident from the fact that Ms. Valimaki resorted to contacting the Student Advice Centre for advice on how to alleviate the issues. The counsellor informed her that “Grant Management is a familiar source of trouble as it is based in Edinburgh and therefore problems can only be dealt with over the phone, instead of face to face”. The estate agency’s unorthodox client-management attitudes appear to not only be restricted to Newcastle. A source at the Heriot-Watt University in Scotland informed the Courier that Grant Management has been banned from advertising in their campuses and university papers due to similar cases of neglectful behaviour.
On the other hand, this case cannot be taken to represent the overall views of Grant Management towards all student clients. William Hanrahan and Daniel Najafi, both 2nd year students living in Jesmond who are clients of Grant Management, appear to have nothing but praise for the estate agency. They stated, “our relationship with Grant Management has been positive throughout the year... they have been extremely helpful in dealing with any problems that have arisen with our house and solving them in a short space of time”. Grant Management were unavailable for comment concerning the matter.
It must also be remembered that there have been countless other reports of neglectful behaviour by other landlords and estate agencies letting student property. The Courier reported last year on an incident in which the students of a house fell victim to carbon monoxide poisoning. This was the result of a faulty boiler which had not been tested for safety by the landlord and a certificate of safety had not been issued.
Before making a final decision on your accommodation, ask either your friends or those in the years above for advice on estate agents. Ask if they have had any problems with their landlords and such. Also, if you are experiencing problems with housing but have not been able to resolve the issues, you can speak to the Student Advice Centre where they will offer free, impartial advice on ways that you can get rid of your housing skeletons. You can either visit the Centre, as it is situated in the Union Society building, or call 0191 239 3979.
Robert Costelloe
Students under scrutiny
Universities and companies use Facebook to investigate applicants
Universities are being urged not to use Facebook to dig up dirt on perspective students. Charities have asked ministers to ban Universities from trawling social networking sites for information about applicant’s social lives. 
Users of the site may have dabbled in ‘Facebook stalking’ a friend to some extent, but how would you like it if your University or potential employer used the same tactic to check up on you? According to eight children’s charities this is exactly what educational establishments and companies are doing, and they are requesting ministers to outlaw it.
It comes in response to the revelation that one in five employers used the internet to vet candidates, according to an article publishes in The Times.
In addition to this it has recently been reported that a senior tutor from Cambridge University confessed to a college magazine that he browsed the Facebook profiles of applicants. Two pupils at a college in Boston were expelled due to their Facebook profiles and Oxford University was able to fine graduating students more than £10,000 for damage done in their post-exam celebrations thanks to evidence found on Facebook.
Using social networking sites in this way raises questions of invasion of privacy, a profile on Facebook is aimed to be seen by friends, not possible employers. Not only is it intrusive, but it could be breaking existing law, which requires equal opportunities for recruitment.
John Carr, secretary of the Children’s Charities’ Collation on Internet Safety told The Times “Employers or admissions tutors who delve into these places are being highly and inappropriately intrusive. It’s a bit like looking at someone’s diary”.
The Collation of Charities is hoping for a discrimination legislation to stop social networking sites being used for recruitment purposes, although this could be difficult to enforce.
Lissy Gaskell, a second year ABM student, commented: “I don’t think Universities and companies should judge potential students or employees on their social life. I don’t think it’s relevant. Fair enough if people had incriminating photos of them taking drugs, but to be honest, most people - at worst - just have a few drunken snaps on their profiles…that doesn’t mean you’re going to be drunk all the time! Your Facebook profile is your private life and most of the time doesn’t effect what type of student or employee you would be.”
Although Facebook does offer privacy settings, not many people take advantage of making their profile available to friends only. Profiles only viewable to people in the same network won’t stop stalkers either, it is possible to create fake profiles in regional and educational networks to gain access.
Recent reports like this may cause users to think twice about having public profiles. Facebook stalking at a higher level….you have been warned.
Marina King
Changing cable lanes
Protests against virgin media have flooded the Internet in recent weeks in the wake of reports that the Multi National Corporation is planning on dismissing the concept of ‘net neutrality’.
The UK’s second biggest broadband internet service provider, with approximately 3.5 million customers, is considering fast-tracking the delivery of content from certain providers and services across the web in exchange for a fee. This is an infringement of net neutrality, a concept through which the Internet has operated since its earliest days. It means Internet users are in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the internet, essentially equal access to the Internet. Neil Berkett, the new CEO of Virgin Media openly stated in a recent interview that Internet net neutrality was, “a load of bollocks”. 
What this means for their customers, many of which are students, is that access to sites which do not pay a fee to Virgin Media will be a lot slower to load, as these websites and services will be placed in their slower ‘bus lanes’ whilst those websites and services who do pay a fee will load faster.
A movement like this is raising concerns over the future of the internet and measures being put in place which control what customer’s access on the web. By putting websites in the ‘slow lane’ it would result in websites uploading at a slower pace and therefore possibly forcing users to give up and feel forced to use those websites which Virgin Media had been paid to put in the ‘fast lane’. In theory, it also means that file-sharing services, legal or otherwise, will probably be pushed to the bottom of the traffic priority list, as could services such as video-sharing site You Tube, which involves uploading large files across the web.
This move would have severe impacts on the many students who are customers of Virgin Media, perhaps restricting their research. Rachel Graham, a 2nd year History and Politics student, who is a Virgin Media customer told The Courier, “I’m happy with the service I receive from Virgin Media at the moment, the sites I use load quickly and I don’t have any complaints. However, if I found that certain websites began to take longer to load then I would begin questioning staying with Virgin Media.”
In response to the numerous protests to the company’s proposals Virgin Media stated, “We’re not suggesting there will be any denial of access to those who don’t want to pay”. However, they did confirm, “VM could offer content providers deals to upgrade their provisioning if they want to ensure best access to broadband subscribers.”
If you wish to find out more regarding Virgin Media’s plans visit http://stopvirgin.movielol.org
Sarah Scott
International Acclaim
A recent survey by company i-Graduate of 67,000 students has rated Newcastle seventh in the world for student experience. Yet only last November the Times Higher ranked Newcastle 129th globally overall, a contradictory, yet nevertheless impressive figure. These results raise intriguing questions: where is Newcastle’s place as an international institution, and can it be discovered through quantitive data?
In i-Graduate’s survey of 67,000 students from 221 countries and 84 institutions the university scored highly for welcome events, careers support, and ‘learning’, and first for its Graduate Schools. Students also praised the financial advice they received on arrival – support crucial to new students understandably concerned about the costs of living and studying in the UK. Help settling into a new culture and environment, even with simpler, but vital tasks such as opening a bank account was highly praised. Patronising? Apparently not.
Eighty six percent of Newcastle’s overseas students said they would recommend the University, citing the institutions reputation along with the quality of teaching and research as the main reason foe their initial attraction.
The contributions of overseas students are widely recognised. Margaret Fay, Chairman of regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, said: ‘The survey results are an excellent recommendation for Newcastle University, the city and the wider region. The economic impact of overseas students is significant to our region and by gaining such credible results, Newcastle University has ensured that other international students will follow.”
It seems that in 2008 when it comes to planning and choosing higher education, heavier reliance on ever improving technology, such as the internet has led to a change in the way potential students research opportunities. “The internet has made it much easier for international students to compare different universities at the click of a mouse, which literally opens up a whole world of possibilities” explained Lesley Braiden, Director of Marketing and Communications. “Nearly half of our international students said our website helped them choose us, and it influenced them more than the opinions of friends or parents or the prospectus.” So with such a wide world to choose from, it seems quite a compliment that those who do choose Newcastle rate it so highly.
The Times Higher supplement uses academic opinion, worth forty per cent, and a staff citation score along with the opinion of staff, students and employers to rank world Universities generally. Newcastle was rated 129th, between the Israel’s Hebrew University of Jerusalem and The Technical Institute of Denmark. It must be asked then, with such a variety of institutions and cultures these figures represent, is there any value in ranking Universities in this manner? While it is possible that a new Newcastle student arriving in England for possibly the first time may have chosen either of these institutions instead, these figures seem to reflect more the Universities reputation overall, obviously important to the institution on one level, than the more tangible learning and student experience.
EmilyAnn Gunderson, a former student who studied English and Marketing and Media communications here for her year abroad, remarked “I had a great time as a student in Newcastle, and hope to return to follow a Masters course next year. The University provides great academic resources, but I also enjoyed the culture and spent many afternoons trying to drag more conscientious students away from the Robinson to enjoy a pub lunch with me. I really miss the Men’s Bar, and Primark!”
On settling into her halls, Emily enthuses “I felt welcomed by the institution, and the student community; I am half British and consider Newcastle a second home now, although obviously I remain true to my Norwegian heritage. I am a Viking, I feel it in my blood.” Keen to properly participate in student life as well academia, Gunderson enjoying the martial arts offered by the AU “I have a lot of violent rage, so this opportunity really helped me enjoy my student experience.”
Questioned about the recent surveys and their implications, Emily replied “experience of University and academic growth are only meaningful in terms of charts and data, they have no implications on like…the real world. I loved Newcastle, and my explorations of the region were about as arbitrary as you’d get. I came to Newcastle because it had a good reputation, but I’m not that concerned with rankings generally. Someone else might be able to say that they went to the world’s top university, but the haven’t seen what I’ve seen. They haven’t done Teki Shodan at the Angel of the North at Midnight.” Well who can argue with that?
The University also deny the importance of some rankings: “we’re not taking this particular league table too seriously. We believe that individuals who choose to apply for jobs with Newcastle University do so on the basis that they will be joining a dynamic university with a world class reputation and a thriving international community of staff and students.” They were also keen to emphasise Newcastle’s wider appeal: “the region itself has a lot to offer in terms of its cultural attractions, restaurants, shops and bars; and our proximity to the countryside, the Northumberland coast, and even the lake district.
“The Eastcoast mainline and Newcastle University Airport provide transport links for travelling to conferences throughout the UK and Europe and worldwide. Otherwise, there’s not a lot we can do about the weather, but the positives of living and working in Newcastle clearly seem to outweigh the negatives!”
If anything, both surveys stand to demonstrate Newcastle University’s international reputation, and popularity with the students who live here. In terms of student experience, academia, and culture we really do have it all.
Helen Barrett
Veggie Burner
Two Newcastle students are preparing for an 8000 mile round trip through eighteen countries in order to raise money for the charity Friends of the Earth who are also helping the boys in making their adventure as energy sustainable as possible. Joe Currin and Ben Andrews have been awarded a grant by the Ncl+ foundation in order to make their journey this July. Travelling in a Daihatsu Fourtrak EL turbo-diesel, the pair will start from South Shropshire and subsequently travel through Europe, Russia and the Middle East before turning back.
The added twist comes in their fuel of choice for the trip: used vegetable oil. This is not only cheaper than diesel but beneficial to the environment as it is both a renewable resource and carbon neutral.
In order to do this, they are visiting local takeaways and restaurants in the hope of picking up their leftover oil, they calculate that they will need over 1000 litres of waster vegetable oil in order to successfully complete their mission to circumnavigate the Black Sea. This will then need to be purified in order to make a workable fuel. Once the car is made roadworthy, their only worry is whether they will be allowed across the border of certain countries.
Joe, a second year Media Communication and Culture student told The Courier “we are both students and we were looking for something different to do during our summer break. We went through a few different ideas some of which were a little ambitious. I think this seemed like something that was achievable but still a challenge. The task of organising and doing something like this is really exciting, and I'm sure whatever happens it will be memorable! We are also doing it for a worthy cause, which makes it all the more worth while.”
To view Ben and Joe’s progress go to www.vegoildrive.com where they will be keeping a blog of their progress across the continent.
Ben Woodward
