Plummeted Crown Raises Concern Amongst Norwegian Students

The Norwegian currency, the crown, drastically dropped last year from 8.5 crowns to 11.98 crowns against a pound and therefore, this has inconvenienced Norwegian students studying abroad. Norwegian students at Falmouth University have been concerned ever since.

Susanne Ellingsen, a Norwegian student from Falmouth University said: “We cant find a place to live because we are not sure if we can afford to continue or not and paying a deposit before we may not be able to stay there, will be really bad.” Ellingsen said: “It affects our ability to pay for stuff really.”

The Norwegian students have been in contact with university staff members such as the financial team, The Compass and Falmouth & Exeter Student Union. Together, they are trying to resolve the problem and find short-term solutions for these affected students.

Ellingsen added: “They are moving heaven and earth to try and solve this problem.”

The university has come up with a plan to allow Norwegian students; including all other foreign students to apply for a hardship fund in the coming academic year 2015/16.

Ethnic Minorities and Possible British Bill of Rights

This is a story based on the recent decision of the Conservatives planning to scrap the Human Rights Act and the impact this decision will have on the people it protects. For example and the subject of this story, ethnic minorities in Cornwall.

Kindly listen to this audio interview for additional insight on what others say.

Life In A Private Boarding School In Ghana

I’ve lived… basically, my entire life in Ghana, West Africa (I moved there when I was four years old). Attended school in the country since kindergarten. It’s been an interesting fifteen years of my life because now I’m back (permanently) in the UK to continue my education and some transition it has been.

I was hoping that when I get to university people would question me or seem intrigued about where I’m from. No, that was not the case, not even close. It was a case of ‘every man for himself’… at least, that’s how I saw it. So I have decided to make an aspect of the Ghanaian life available to you without being asked to do so because I can.

This is an insight into my high school, Tema International School. However, there are some points that may apply to most boarding schools in Ghana, whether private or not.

1. Yes, literally a siren with a jingle, which could be, heard everyday, at the beginning, in between classes and deep into the night (latest @22:30). First time hearing it probably made me think of prison. (Boarding school was a lovely place to be… sarcastically and not sarcastically speaking).

2. In addition to a siren, there’s a bell, rung on every corridor whether to wake you up or to remind you that you’re late AGAIN for dinner, church service or some other important something.

3. There comes a time when the water current is too low for water to flow through taps. So students have to fetch from a water tank. No worries there’s enough for all… sometimes.

4. Since you’ve had a very tiny chance with water-fetching opportunities, you’ve hustled your way to hand wash your clothes (yes, we had no washing machines or tumble dryers) but there’s one problem holding you back from completing your laundry day; the drying lines are full and they are full of crispy dry clothing.

5. Asides doing laundry, there’s general cleaning or inspection in the morning (which included scrubbing of bathrooms, scrubbing of corridors, cleaning trap door nettings, basically making sure your assigned area of duty was polished from corner to corner), there’s fast food for sale, and lunchtime was NICE. But the real highlights of the day are, waking up at 6:30am (which is later than usual) and ENTERTAINMENT.

  

6. The Ultimate ULTIMATE though, are day trips to places you’ve most likely been to before. But who cares, you’re with your mates and you’re out of school.

7. Ha! Some of the good stuff you can possibly think of are available here, that’s if it is arranged to be open. When provisions are low, you can count on this little shack.

 

                   

8. You do everything together and it is very possible you’ll end up talking with someone you would’ve never imagined yourself with before.

9. When finals are around, working together in pairs or groups becomes a thing and it’s definitely not every man for himself. Your friends have got your back!

  

10. The bonds you share with your friends, especially in final years, will forever be with you for a lifetime.

 

Because this boarding school has been both a community and family to you for one year, two years, four years or even the entire six years.

P.S: The photographs are not mine.

P.P.S: Photo credits go out to a very good and close friend of mine Curtis Barnes-Dabban, Founder of Yoofi Dabban Photography (yoofidabbanimages.blogspot.com).

Film Review: The Imitation Game directed by Morten Tyldum

Even though The Imitation Game was released nearly 6 months ago, I hadn’t watched it until last month and thus this review.

The film is based on a true story of a young mathematician called Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), who broke the “unbreakable” Enigma Machine. The Enigma machine was a machine that the Germans used to send encrypted messages to their soldiers/army. The encrypted messages had the location of British ships, boats, and convoys and therefore this was a plus for the Germans because they could destroy all British involved vessels and have the upper hand in the war. Of course this was something the British detested and so, a top-secret program was started and launched at the famous Bletchley Park, in Milton Keynes, England. To solve and crack Enigma.

It spectacularly reveals elements of how the British and her allies won the Second World War with the help of Enigma. It shows things that you and I could definitely not have learned about any better, in a classroom, in any where in the world, except in, perhaps, Britain itself. That’s how top secret it was, to the extent that even after more than 50 years, some of us still didn’t know about it.

Breaking Enigma, according to historians, shortened the war by more than two years, which essentially saved 14 million lives. How outstanding is that?

If it weren’t for Alan Turing’s universal machine, I wouldn’t be sitting behind my computer blogging.

“It’s the very people who no one imagines anything of, that do the things that no one can imagine.”

Just imagine a young mathematician such as Turing, created as a work of art in terms of knowledge, knowing the solution before trying to crack the problem work with a team of students. That is exactly how remarkable the film is. However, it also shows that even if you claim you know it all, with a team, the results are even better which proves that two heads are indeed far better than one.

I rate this film at 10/10

Behold, Voters Still Remain Uncertain

As the day of voting is fast approaching, some people still remain unsure about whom they are voting for in this year’s General Election on the basis that political parties are simply not being clear enough for the people.

Local univeristy with high numbers of voters in this election, both staff and students.

Steve Hickling, a 33-year-old Student Advisor working at Falmouth University said: “I’ve tried to kind of read through a lot of information, policies, elements of parties’ manifestos to get to understand the candidates of the local constituency but I’m still hesitant to be honest.”

Student Advisor, Steve Hickling at his place of work.

Just ‘Talk’

 Charlotte Bailey, a 28-year-old working mother of a one year old said: “This election has proved that everybody is just talk talk talk and not much action. She added: “It’s important to tackle key issues.”

Luke Davis, a 20-year-old student at Falmouth University and a passer-by said: “Voting is always a priority for me, but I’m always confused on whom to give my vote to.”

Problems Everywhere

 Hickling added: “Certainly prevalent to me at the moment in my life is the ability to buy houses, particularly down in Cornwall where there seems to be relatively low income but high house prices. I’d like to be in a position to buy my own house realistically.”

 

Beautiful but pricy houses.

However, Hickling also added: “So much could be changed. It’s easier also to criticise things of the current government or coalition without proper foundation. There’s probably a lot of good that they’ve done as well as bad.”

As the turnout is believed to be higher than previous general elections, people remain sceptical about what even their vote might do.

To cast your vote, go to your nearest polling station on Thursday, 7^th May 2015. You must be registered to do so.

It Is A ‘WE’ Thing

I recently saw a video that Prince Ea shared on Facebook, and what I took from it was that, technology – what was created to help us better our lives and make our lives easier – is doing the opposite. No disrespect, to Prince Ea because there are some truths in it however, the blame is not on the creation because technology is fulfilling its part, it does make our lives better. But it is the human race which has decided to over use and allow technology to fill our lives, it is an obsession to us, and this really shouldn’t be.

One generation started to take a picture of themselves and today we call it selfies and no I’m not saying taking a selfie is a bad thing, it makes you and me feel good about ourselves but if you find identity in it…it becomes vain, and well, if my mind serves me right, that isn’t a good thing. Another generation started social networking, I’m on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and many others and they take ways of communicating with people to a whole different level which is good, I can admit that. However, it is when we make our lives revolve around all these positive things, that our lives begin to tumble or like Prince Ea said, ‘lose touch’.

Today’s obsessions are developments over generations. One generation started and we followed. Let’s not blame it on technology but ourselves because it is a ‘we’ thing and always will be. If we don’t change it, nothing else will.

Jaden Smith Breaks The Internet In Gender Defying Statement, Steals Our Hearts.

RaceBaitR

16 year old actor/rapper/son of more famous actor/rapper invoked a social media firestorm Thursday when he was spotted in Calabasas, California wearing what appears to be a dress.

He later confessed on Twitter to the stunt with the tweet:

“That Moment When Your Wearing A Dress With No Pants And You Swerve Way To Hard”

That Moment When Your Wearing A Dress With No Pants And You Swerve Way To Hard.

— Jaden Smith (@officialjaden) April 9, 2015

The blogs lost their minds:

Jaden Smith spotted wearing a skirt: http://t.co/S7qgaatZLepic.twitter.com/D1Vb6nEFjY

— Complex (@ComplexMag) April 10, 2015

Jaden Smith may or may not being wearing a dress. YOU DECIDE: http://t.co/ok9knXbWjFpic.twitter.com/AEWXSWpuG7

— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) April 10, 2015

Jaden Smith steps out in a skirt, admits he's experimenting with women's clothing http://t.co/CM9HwuSrrWpic.twitter.com/VCbtdApDDL

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) April 10, 2015

The heads of a few misguided souls collectively exploded:

Seen…

View original post 325 more words

The Difference Between Four Walls and No Wall, At All

I used to be in a place where devices, including mobile phones were illegal, not laptops though (well only every senior had one). To communicate with friends, you’d have to get up and walk a distance to ask them for whatever it was you wanted.

I used to be in a place where boys could not go to a girl’s room and girls could not go to a boy’s room. It was an abomination in their eyes, so they put it. But I guess, it was because we were ruled by them.

I used to be in a place where homosexuality is a crime. The minority accept it, maybe they are educated on the subject or maybe they are not, that I am uncertain about.  I saw the hatred and it wasn’t pleasant. People are still people. I still question their actions, Despite what you know or think, isn’t it love we are supposed to spread to EVERYBODY? Why can’t people be who they are, instead of who you would like to see them as?

I used to be in a place where every time could be considered study time. The pressure to study was unreal. I was not a machine and I am still not a machine. I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t allow me to learn and study they way I wanted. Yes, I’m the captain of my own ship, but who said I was going to crash it?

But now, it’s different.

I’ve found myself in a place where, freedom actually upholds to its definition. No restrictions, not that I’ve encountered any. No rules on what you can be and what you cannot be. To tell you the truth, I’d probably have to put down what’s not free so that you can figure out what is free. I like this place so much because it gives me so much control over my life.

True Friendship

Friendship is the bond that people like you and me are fond of. We all have friends that without end we blend with. We all have friends that we fight with but in the end we amend it to return to what we shared. But dared to ever wonder if he or she was a friend of a 100%? You’d hustle and bustle for her but in the end, she’s barely ever there…for you. You give him advice to stop him from making the mistake of giving girls heartbreak. He knows you’ve got his back because he’s your brother from another mother, he says. Yet, in return, in time of need, he becomes unreadable and unreachable to the extent that he even becomes seasonal.

So take a look around. To your right and then to your left. Can you see true friendship in the person you came with or spoke to first? Can you see lust or trust? Reliability or undependability? Someone with loyalty or falsity?

OPEN YOUR EYES AND THINK!

Friendship doesn’t include betraying someone from the start. It is not perfidious nor is it insidious. Friendship is not a ‘friends with benefits’ thing. That’s something the slags don’t get. They will cover themselves in camouflage to sabotage and wash away what you’ve lived for. They sneak their way into your lives; take a peek like a cunning fox deceiving you with the most believable thoughts. Then, when they are ready to pounce on their prey, they become the worse beats ever. They become the foul fiend. It is then you’ll know what friendship is.

Oh wait but that doesn’t end it. You’ll think that friendship will show you how close your “friend” can be. DON’T BE BLINDED by first impressions because the second, third and fourth count too. Sustainability may look like compatibility. Similar reason may become unfamiliar treason. That exchanger can transform into a sudden stranger. Heartfelt gaiety will turn into heart wrenched misery.

But that’s what you don’t want. What you do want is this…

Friendship being kind to mind, dear to soul. Friendship is what you wouldn’t leave behind because someone just put you in a “hellhole”. It’s discerning and truthful; responsible and available; attentive and sensitive. Friendship will be, that sheltering tree. So mate, if you are ever wondering what true friendship is, check around you because you might just end up really discovering it.

My Grief

The fury, the outrage

The red, the orange and the yellow

The outburst of bête noire

What am I to think of you?

Who are you to think of me?

My vessels satiated with nausea

My eyes ring the blues with agony

The wolf’s cry screeching

And my head pounds like pestle against mortar

Am I not at loggerheads with you?

Who are you to tell me what?

I am distraught in all this chaos

I am nearing death’s door

And will soon be at moribund.