A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
YUSU Welfare officer Bob Hughes has warned students to be vigilant after a student loans phishing scam has been revealed.
Her Majesty the Queen will be visiting York on Maundy Thursday, 5th April, as part of the 800th anniversary of York’s Charter for the traditional “Royal Maundy” ceremony.
A flood caused by a heating system “failure” forced the university IT services to shut down many essential systems on Sunday night, causing problems for many students on the eve of their exams and assignment due-dates.
The YUSU Academic and Welfare Officer told The Yorker she “fully admits that this was a fuck-up on my part” and “something that happened when I had had far more to drink than I ever intend to again”.
The incident happened outside Derwent after History and Politics student Taylor left the Club D special event on Friday night.
He said: “I left the bar with two friends after one of them was asked to leave because he was quite drunk.
“Grace stormed out after us and was shouting at me about my friend – at the previous Club D I had been stewarding and had had to ask her to leave because of her own drunken behaviour. She thought it was funny that this time it was one of my friends.
“She was very drunk again, so I told her she was being embarrassing and making a fool of herself. We were both shouting by this point and I said some things she didn’t like. I told her she didn’t represent students with her views and she came up and punched me in the side of the face.”
History and Politics student Taylor is well known on campus for his outspoken views on student issues.
The two have a long running feud Fletcher-Hackwood describes as: “a relationship of mutual disagreement”.
She said: “I do think it’s relevant to make the circumstances of this incident clear. The student was absolutely not hurt, nor was that my intention: what we’re talking about is a strapping football player laughing while an inebriated, five-foot, seven-stone weakling landed him a feeble tap on the ear.”
Her position as an elected sabbatical officer means that Fletcher-Hackwood is responsible for the welfare of all students on campus.
Taylor said: “The problem is who she is, not the situation. It’s really not on. She completely loses all credibility as a YUSU officer by doing such a thing.
“We do tend to wind each other up but that night she was more than just angry, she was drunk – and the drink spurred her on. This could have happened to anyone who held a different view to her, and as far as I am concerned, hitting someone because they hold a different view to you is pretty wrong.”
Fletcher-Hackwood sent an email apology to the student the following day stating she was “so, so sorry” to let him wind her up that much.
She told the Yorker yesterday: “I agree that this is completely inappropriate behaviour for anyone, particularly the YUSU Welfare Officer.
She added: “I am glad of the opportunity to apologise again publicly – but ‘inappropriate’ is the most serious word you could use to describe it and as far as I’m concerned the matter is now over.”
Be honest: who hasn't wanted to punch Dan Taylor. If politicians were sacked after a relatively minor mistake, Gandhi, Martin Luthor King, and John Prescott's careers would all have been cut short.
Grace had the courage to apologise unreservedly. Dan Taylor just wants to make political capital out of it. I get the feeling Dan wants to go into politics one day. What he doesn't seem to realise is that his views are so repugnant that only the BNP will accept him.
Mitch: Perhaps a more appropriate simile would be if a politician punched one of her constituents.
Mitch you're right - likening this incident to the Archbishop of Canterbury 'fondling' a small boy is an EXTREME simile and so completely useless. Yes, this incident is serious because Grace is supposed to be concerned with all students' welfare, but it can hardly be put on a par with that
I wasn't putting on a par, I was making the point that it should not be expected that there be no ramifications for her actions, in contrast to what some people have said.
I did think of that Chris, but hey, everyone likes to poke fun at the Catholic Church :p
Does anyone realise the impossibility of replacing her as welfare officer at this late stage? It's not a part time job like being on a JCRC, it's a full-time committment. They would have to find someone who was a student at York (no ex-students allowed), who would be both willing and able to give up on this academic year to take over the job for the remaining few months. If and when they did find this person, they'd then have to get elected and trained up before they could start doing to the job ... all in all it doesn't look like a particularly good outcome for students at this university.
The links people are making between this and domestic violence are tenuous to say the least, and borderline offensive to the victims of domestic and sexual violence.
I think the worst thing about the whole incident has been her pathetic apology and comments since it happened
1) 'something that happened when I had had far more to drink than I ever intend to again' – did she also say this after consuming such an immense amount of alcohol at Christmas D that she had to be treated by paramedics? A welfare officer leading be example!
2) 'The student was absolutely not hurt, nor was that my intention' – this is such a ridiculous statement and is a bare faced lie. Anyone with a modicum of common sense would realise that punching someone would cause them pain. What an unbelievable thing to say.
3) 'what we’re talking about is a strapping football player laughing while an inebriated, five-foot, seven-stone weakling landed him a feeble tap on the ear' – if I were a male victim of domestic abuse how could I go to Grace and tell her about my problem when she clearly thinks it is acceptable for a smaller person to attack a bigger person. A physical assault is a physical assault.
To the person who said giving someone a clout is refreshing in a PC world – I don’t think you would be refreshed at all if I punched you in the head. You would probably be in pain.
@61 - Even if Taylor’s views are repugnant, does this mean he can be assaulted? Is it acceptable for left wing people to assault people on the other side of the political spectrum?
Whoever it was that put the careers of Gandhi, Martin Luther King and John Prescott in the same sentence has a well-developed sense of irony (I hope).
All Grace needs now is two Jaguars and she's well on the way to becoming a future Deputy PM!
This is not a complicated issue. For whatever reason, with whatever excuse, it is absolutely unacceptable for one student to hit another over a political difference or personality clash. The fact that the person delivering the blow is the campus welfare officer is absolutely ridiculous. I am certainly in favour of a vote of no confidence. I am not a supported of Dan Taylor's views, neither am I a tory, but I strongly believe we should be able to express our views on campus freely without the threat of abuse, least of all from the Student Welfare officer. What a joke.
comment deleted by the author They both sound like wankers. Grace more so, though.
Just as this comment was posted anonymously so are a lot more... what's the bet all the negative ones are by Dan Taylor?
Shut up Dan you deserved it!
Hopefully she'll have knocked some sense into him...
http://yorkuk.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9601620814&ref=mf
Who cares? She's only a student; hardly a figure of any importance. She should resign, but if she doesn't it's not the end of the world is it? Doubtless she wasn't acting as welfare officer when she did the punching - just as a student.
comment deleted by the author So she's human - Grace obviously puts alot of effort into her job. There is a lot of schadenfreude behind these remarks, which seem to me to be out of proportion to the incident. An incident which is after all, part of her personal life, and not an action undertaken in the name of SU Welfare. Is it necessary to be teetotal in the SU? I'm sure that there are other SU officers who have behaved much more dishonourably, and we just don't happen to know about it.
I think that the only sensible option is to install Dan Taylor as our new welfare officer.
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