Opinion

Before the final bell rings signalling the end of youth and the beginning of the perceived drudgery of adulthood, a certain state of limbo imposes itself on many a student emerging from the warm, embracing and protective cocoon of a university life. The sweet, liquor soaked, carelessness of the first stages of this ‘higher’ education are ebbing away while students are overcome with sobriety as they become overwhelmed by the reality that the dreams of becoming an astronaut or world renowned DJ are probably unobtainable.

In recent months, it’s been tough to escape the media hoo-hah surrounding the private lives of some of this countries prime footballing role models, as their ‘extra curricular’ activities off the pitch have started to get the better of them. This is probably linked to our nation's media obsession with a good scandal but it seems to have reached fever pitch and is starting to overshadow the events within the game itself.

A human is made of two parts: the personality (the bit comprising your music tastes, general outlook on life, and fear of test tubes) and the body, which isn’t nearly as interesting on its own and would probably never get invited to parties. Death is the moment at which the two separate, usually following a row over whose turn it is to buy toilet paper.

Have you ever been studiously sitting in lectures, only to have a mass of backcombed hair obstruct your view of the screen? Have you ever walked along Parade and heard the “yah, yah” sounds of rah girls talking on their Blackberrys? Have you ever been shocked at the sight of seeing a Rah walking around in Jack Wills pjs and flip flops when it’s snowing?

If so, don't worry, because you are not alone. The Rah population at Bath University is on the increase and is certainly starting to stir-up major friction within freshers halls this year.

Last week I came across an article arguing that you cannot give up giving up something for Lent, but I am here to argue exactly the opposite!

What makes you feel good? Is it expensive underwear? Expensive clothes? Is it the latest Xbox game? Tickets to see your favourite band? The things that make us feel good are specific to the individual, as the old saying goes “one person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure”, and as such should not be judged by others. Recently, however, I had a conversation with a fellow student about the luxury underwear brand Agent Provocateur that quickly descended into quite a heated debate about the ‘point’, as this particular student worded it, of the brand and the people that buy and enjoy it.

This article first took shape in my mind when I was regaled with a fairly baffling anecdote regarding a couple of University of Bath students. A female fresher, who shall remain nameless, was sitting outside Parade with an acquaintance of mine, when a male walked past. After waving to the random male, she turned and uttered the immortal line “That’s rapey...(name removed), he tried to rape me”, then calmly returned to her drink. This anecdote led to a discussion between my acquaintance and I as to how common an occurrence rape might be in campus life, and how people react to it.

Choosing what to give up for Lent this week has proven a challenge to say the least. For girls the answer is simple. You can go with one of the run-of-the-mill regulars like chocolate, dairy and the classic ‘I promise to give up shopping’. Smart alecs will always say they are ‘giving up giving up stuff’ and to those freshers aiming to give up late night drinking, who are you kidding?

So, how many students at this university enjoy writing? How many have considered a career in journalism? And, how many are members of Impact? Well, I only know the answer to the final question; Impact has 63 members. That is 63 out of a University population of about 12,000. During my time at university I have always been surprised at how little interest students seem to take in contributing to their newspaper.

When going about my day at University I always try to be polite to my fellow students, to staff in the shops and to lecturers. I mean, let’s face it, most people at the University have enough to be worrying about without having to deal with rudeness as well. Hence I was rather shocked to receive a very aggressive email from a lecturer last week. It was sent to all the students enrolled on one of his modules (as well as all Politics with Economics students) as something of a warning.