Readers’ Responses – Democracy, wages, trigger warnings and crude images

Who would have thought a sports back page could be so controversial?

It appears that for many the vague notion of a consensual sexual engagement between two members of the Warwick Mens American Football team is too much to bear, setting imaginations alight.

A gander at everyone’s favourite anonymous social media platform demonstrated such, with a variety of interesting doodles, generous in both size and detail, annotating the page.

Who would have thought a sports back page could be so controversial?

Whether triggered by the testosterone-fest that was Varsity, or an indication of the general thirst of Warwick campus as a whole, it seems evident that the sexual tension within the university sphere, both online and off, is bursting at the seams, and students are taking any opportunity to vent their frustration in a bizarre peacock-esque display of low rent artistic majesty.

Perhaps I’ve read too much into this, but regardless, one thing is clear; everyone loves a bit of bum.

Cameron Clark
in response to ‘Showtime’s Image’

No, Stuart Croft doesn’t deserve his wage. Employment in higher education for the vast majority of staff is becoming more precarious, due to growing marketisation of universities; in Warwick itself, academics are being made redundant due to lack of research income and working postgraduate students are paid a pittance for their time.

Such a problem is clearly indicative of the lack of value the university sees in the majority of its staff. That Stuart Croft ‘deserves’ his wage, by nature of his privilege and ‘ability’ to become vice chancellor, is ridiculous.

In this kind of climate, where so many of those employed aren’t paid enough, despite mounting tuition fees implying more money is going to the university, we have to question where this money is going.

Such a problem is clearly indicative of the lack of value the university sees in the majority of its staff

Why, when it is not possible for 4,872 members of staff to have a living wage, is it acceptable to pay Stuart Croft more than necessary, simply for being Warwick’s figurehead?

Capitalism or not, it should be our priority to ensure that all staff at Warwick are able to survive, rather than cushion our vice chancellor with extra money better spent elsewhere.

Halimah Manan
in response to ‘Croft deserves his wage’

I was dissapointed by what Theodora Hoar had to say about safe spaces, particularly in regard to the ‘I was raped’ article in the Boar. In the interviews, TH said ‘I think it’s misguided to identify a homogenous group of people that you suppose will be offended by the word ‘rape’”. To be frank, TH has entirely missed the point of trigger warnings.

A trigger warning is not about not offending people. They are about acknowledging that people experience trauma and identifying sensitive material they may want to avoid. It is about giving a victim a choice of whether to engage with content that they may be psychologically distressing, as a result of their own experiences. It comes down to ignorance.

It is about giving a victim a choice of whether to engage with content that they may be psychologically distressing

People get warped ideas about concepts and make uninformed judgements. You see this all the time with people who think ‘feminist’ means ‘man-hater’. But I have no sympathy for your ignorance. If you are in a position to educate yourself and do not, that’s your fault.

Whilst it’s important trigger warnings and safe spaces don’t get used to close down discussions, they are an important part of recognising the trauma and experience of victims.

Zoe Morrall
in response to ‘Interview with The Hoar’

I found myself agreeing with all the points in Matt Allen’s excellent article – for too long, it has been apparent that the Warwick SU is a massively undemocratic organisation run by minority protest groups, and although I’ve been here for three years now, it still never fails to shock me.

This is why the SU fails to get anyone involved – because its motions are tedious and written by the same people, often dealing with things that don’t matter and that will get passed anyway because the quorum is so low it’s insulting. Sure, ‘highest ever turnout’ was quoted, but it means nothing when it is still such a low number of students.

It has been apparent that the Warwick SU is a massively undemocratic organisation run by minority protest groups

It’s the same thing every year – identical people with identical beliefs, operating outside the boundaries of common sense and things that concern us, often powered by an ideology so bizarre it is beyond explanation.

As it stands, the SU fails to really represent anyone but the 300 vocal students who want to force the world to conform to everything they say is right, and it is an organisation of such bias and insanity that I fear we may have Sepp Blatter running as a sabb soon.

Reece Goodall
in response to ‘Spear the SU leviathan’