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 article, posted on Friday 13th February, reported that harassment advisor for students Andrew Collingwood posted photographs taken of a protest in York criticising the war in Gaza.
The photograph in question was a placard of Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, wearing a witch’s hat and holding a wand with the Star of David on top. Livni is saying "Anti-Semitic! Anti-Semitic! Anti-Semitic!" but thinking "Oh ****! They no longer fear the magic word!"
Chair of the Jewish Society Simon Winkler commented that the picture was "Fundamentally racist and definitely perpetrating race hate". Winkler had the support of several members of his society and the rabbi for Yorkshire’s universities, Rabbi Alan Garber.
However in a letter to Nouse, which was posted on their website, Collingwood criticised the newspaper. He said he "was deeply offended and upset by the accusation that I was a racist".
He also said he "would not have posted the picture if it had occurred to me that it would cause offence" and stressed that he removed the picture as soon as it was clear it had done so.
Nouse editor Henry James Foy, who wrote the article, told The Yorker: "I am disappointed if Andrew Collingwood feels that he has been accused or made the victim of a campaign by Nouse. All statements of opinion in the article were provided by quotes from individuals or groups."
Foy added: "Mr Collingwood chose not to respond to the claims of racism, even though he was given ample opportunity to do so before the article was published. When Mr Collingwood provided Nouse with a response to these accusations, it was published immediately."
Winkler further dismissed claims that the article wasn’t fair, saying: "I feel that Nouse accurately represented the scenario. They commented on official statements and expressed no opinion for or against these claims. They simply commented on the facts."
Winkler also criticised Collingwood’s letter, adding: "Throughout his response, there is no direct apology. He does not appear genuinely apologetic for his actions."
Winkler did agree, to an extent, with one commenter on the site, who argued: "This is somebody’s career, and it should have been dealt with a little more considerately." Winkler said: "I do not feel that it has been blown out of proportion, the amount of interest from individuals shows just how emotive these pictures are. I do feel though that this case could have been dealt with in an easier way."
Several comments on the article defended Collingwood. One commenter said: "I don’t think I have ever read such a biased article."
The same commenter added that, "perhaps Winkler and Co do not get it – people are against the deplorable actions of Israel in Gaza, but this has got nothing to do with being Jewish, but Israel is very fond of pushing this line as a way of stifling debate."
Another commenter went as far as to question the legality of the article, saying: "If Mr. Collingwood is reading this, I would strongly advise him to take legal action against Nouse for this shameless libel. There’s simply no way he’d lose."
Other commenters disagreed, with one reader saying: "There might have been a valid point, but, if so, it’s counteracted by the total excess of the witch image; the specifics of the political context become less relevant."
A commenter in agreement added: "For anyone to claim that anti-semitism is a myth, or promote this view, is appalling regardless of political stance. It totally undermines the suffering of innocent Jews worldwide who have absolutely nothing to do with the situation in the Middle East."
Nouse later took the decision to close comments on the article. However in the five days comments were allowed, more than 60 readers responded. A blogger for the Daily Telegraph, Damian Thompson, also picked up on the story, posting a blog about it on the Telegraph website.
Lol, Gareth. My point is that it was just a photo anyway and of course if only one person can approach him then it's not good... but if one person can approach him that can't approach anyone else, it's definitely worth it. It could help save a life from harassment and that's his entire job.
The point is that official complaints are noted and that very few people have actually complained to the university. You can't sack someone because 2-3 students are vocal on a website... And obviously the majority of students aren't that fussed about this.
Indeed, if I was continually called anti-Semitic then I would feel harassed and need the same services; having someone who knew the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism would be nice for me.
Considering the Nouse poll results were very much in favour of no action taken against Collingwood and most of the comments, this article and Vision's coverage were critical of JSoc's accusations and Nouse's coverage of it anyway I would say that the majority of people still have confidence in him to do his job.
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