Quality of Life

What will/is affecting your quality of life at Glamorgan University?

castle.eiu.edu, 2012

What will/is affecting your quality of life at Glamorgan University?
I came to the UK from India in the end of August 2012 to study at the University of Glamorgan. This was not my first time in the UK but before when I was in the UK, I was only on a holiday. I spent the first month at my sister's house in London. There, I always had help in doing things. Even in India, I hardly did any of my own work like washing clothes and utensils, cleaning my room and other daily chores. After I came to the University, firstly I had to look for accommodation and once that was done, I had to live by myself. I have never stayed alone before. It felt a bit different in the beginning but now I am getting used to it. It is difficult to do all your own work and at the same time also do your coursework. This is one of the changes I have faced in my life since I have come to Glamorgan University. Another change has been the food. I really miss my mother's hand made food. Since coming here I have not had much of the Indian food. The food on campus and in the neighbourhood is good but for me, nothing can replace the food my mother prepared for me. Furthermore, the climate has been a major change. In India, it is mostly hot and humid but here it gets really cold. I am not used to wearing so many layers of clothing. These are a few effects to the quality of my life after coming to Glamorgan University.


Reference:

EIU (2012) University of Glamorgan [Online]. Available at: http://castle.eiu.edu/~edabroad/programs/glamorgan.php (Accessed: 13 December 2012).

Class System & Welfare System

1. Class System

Try to find out where the word 'POSH' comes from.

The word 'POSH' is heard a lot. It is mainly used referring to the higher society people. According to Oxford Dictionaries (2012):

The story goes that the more well-to-do passengers on ships travelling between England and India used to have POSH written against their bookings, standing for 'Port Out, Starboard Home' (indicating the more desirable cabins, on the shady side of the ship). Unfortunately, this story did not make its appearance until the 1930s, by which time the term had already been in use for some twenty years. Added to this, the word does not appear to have been recorded in the form 'P.O.S.H.', which would be expected if it had started life as an abbreviation.

2. Welfare System

1. In India, the retirement age in the Government sector is 58 whereas in the Private sector it is 60 and it is the same for both men and women.
2. An old age pension service is available for people who are too old to work. This depends on the salary they received while they were working and the number of years they have worked.
3. There are no benefits available for the unemployed in India.
4. All the mentioned benefits do exist in India.
5. There are several social workers and social organisations in India. These are well known to the people as they always create awareness among the people.
6. There are several charities in India such as Help Age India, C.R.Y., HEAL and many more. These charities collect money from fund raisers, some go from door to door spreading awareness and accepting donations from anyone willing to donate.
7. There is no service similar to the Citizens Advice Bureau in India but, counselling services are provided to the needy.
8. There is no service similar to the NHS in India but, the Government hospitals provide cheaper services for the poor. The increasing poverty and corruption in India has made it difficult for these hospitals to keep giving cheap services.
9. Family doctors in India are also well paid. They charge per visit and the the charges are more for home visits.

Reference:

Oxford Dictionaries (2012) What is the origin of the word 'posh'? Available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/what-is-the-origin-of-the-word-posh (Accessed: 7 December 2012).

Law & Order

On 23 November 2012, all the students in the IFP cohort were doing presentations in pairs on the recent London riots. We had to mainly talk about the causes and effects of these riots. I am going to be giving brief notes of each of these presentations by my fellow students. They are as follows:


1. Ayo and Timi

Period: 6-9 August

Facts:
rampant looting
3100 arrested
3443 crimes across London
5 died & 16 injured
property worth 200 million damaged
police action blamed

Reference:

Guardian, 2011
BBC, 2011



2. Amal and Joy

Intro:

personal view – unaware
research

Causes:

death of Mark Duggan
economic & political conditions
claim of harassment by police

Period:

started 4/8/2011
some claim ended on 10/8/2011 some claim 15/8/2011

Consequences:

over 1500 arrested
destruction of shops/malls
cars burnt
innocent people
terror

Conclusion:

caused destruction & death of people
biggest destruction ever in London

Reference:

bbc.co.uk (2011)
londonriots.org.uk.com (2011)
Workers Solidarity Movement (2011)



3. Feji and Ishan

Definition

Introduction

Causes:

disagreement between 2 or more
law
oppression

Causes of riots in UK:

welfare dependence
social exclusion
lack of fathers
spending cuts
weak policing
racism
gangster rap and culture
consumerism
opportunism
technology & social networking

Facts:

rampant looking & arson attacks
3100 arrested

Reference: BBC, 2012



4. Happiness and James

Introduction: 6/8/2011 in Tottenham

Image: places of riots (map)

Causes:

Mark Duggan (29 yrs)
shot by police
economic situation

Occurred: Tottenham & spread – Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham…

Aftermath:

property destroyed worth 200 million
rioters arrested
rioters had criminal records

Conclusion: properties destroyed & arrests were made

Reference:

BBC, 2011
Cooper, C. and Nicholls, A. (2011)

British Newspapers

bbc.co.uk, 2012

There are two types of newspapers in the UK i.e. quality newspapers and tabloids. Both these newspapers attract a different type of audience. Quality newspapers have good quality news topics and articles whereas tabloids have less news and more gossip and images. This is one of the reasons why tabloids are sold more than quality newspapers. We are going to compare an article from The Independent (Quality) to a similar article from The Sun (Tabloid). The articles are related to the recent issues at London Metropolitan University.

	The Independent (Quality)	The Sun (Tabloid)
Language	Formal: irreparable, comply.	Informal: little English, went to lectures, uni.
Content/Details	Explained the issue very well. Authors mentioned.	Video of the news report from Sky News. The article says 2000 students whereas the video says 2500 students to be deported. Not enough details given. Author mentioned.
References	Gillies, M. (vice-chancellor of the university), Hunt, S. (general secretary of the University and College Union), Thomas, E. (chairman of Universities UK), Burns, L. (President of National Union of Students), Bryant, C. (Labour’s immigration spokesman), Wanambwa, E. (lawyer), students.	Green, D. (Immigration Minister), Cameron, D. (Prime Minister)
Visual Images	One image showing students protesting outside the University.	Image of the University. Video of the news report from Sky News.

References:

BBC (2012) British newspapers [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-20591689 (Accessed: 7 December 2012).

Garner, R. and Rawlinson, K. (2012) 'London Metropolitan University's future at stake as 2,500 students face deportation', The Independent, 31 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/london-metropolitan-universitys-future-at-stake-as-2500-students-face-deportation-8096884.html (Accessed: 17 November 2012).

Heighton, L. (2012) '2,000 foreign students face boot', The Sun, 31 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4513125/2000-foreign-students-face-boot-as-London-Metropolitan-University-is-stripped-of-its-power-to-recruit-outside-the-EU.html (Accessed: 17 November 2012).

Language

indianmaps.com, 2012

Gujarati

The language Gujarati is mainly spoken by the Gujarati community from India. It is the official language of the state Gujarat, which is in the western part of India. It was the mother tongue of the Indian freedom fighter, M.K. Gandhi. According to UCLA (2012), Gujarati is spoken by approximately 46 million people all over the world which makes it the thirty-third most spoken language in the world. Majority of the Gujarati speaking population is found in India. Other than India, there are many Gujarati speakers in countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Pakistan, Kenya, the United Kingdom, the USA, Singapore, South Africa, Fiji and many more (UCLA, 2012). We are mainly going to talk about Gujarati in the United Kingdom.

Gujaratis can be found in many parts of the UK. According to BBC (2012):

Gujaratis form the second largest of the British South Asian speech communities, with important settlements in Leicester and Coventry in the Midlands, in the northern textile towns and in Greater London. In a survey of London schoolchildren in 2000, Gujarati was the fourth most commonly spoken language in the capital. Gujarati families are found, in particular, in a western zone from Hounslow to Barnet, including both Harrow and Brent, and in a smaller eastern zone which consists of Lewisham and Newham. More recently there has been some movement of Gujarati speakers from larger cities to areas such as Gloucestershire.

During 1950-60, some Gujaratis came to the UK directly from India while some come from the east African countries where they were working as farmers and traders and the political discontent in Uganda also made many Indian people to move to the UK or Canada (BBC, 2012).


References:

BBC (2012) Voices - Gujarati. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/gujarati.shtml#A (Accessed: 13 November 2012).

Indianmaps (2012) Gujarat map [Online]. Available at: http://www.indiainmaps.com/gujarat/ (Accessed: 7 December 2012).

UCLA (2012) UCLA Language Materials Project. Available at: http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profile.aspx?langid=85&menu=004 (Accessed: 13 November 2012).

Feedback on Presentation

Today we had our first presentation in the class. We had to create a powerpoint presentation on the subject we will study after the IFP. I was slightly nervous, but after looking at my exam results I was all pumped up. According to me overall I did well in the presentation but if I had to compare my presentation with the few of the other's, I would say my slides had a lot of text in them. Thus, it was a bit boring for the audience. Also, I was reading all the text out so, I could not maintain much eye contact with the audience though, my tutor felt I was good at maintaining eye contact. The tutor was happy with my presentation except for the few points I mentioned earlier. One of the main things for me was that I was around the time limit which is good because an incomplete presentation is never good.

Time Management

The term time management can be referred to as follows (Management Study Guide, 2012):

• Time Management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is allocated to the right activity.
• Effective time management allows individuals to assign specific time slots to activities as per their importance.
• Time management refers to making the best use of time as time is always limited.

According to me, time management is basically how you utilise the time you have properly for doing a particular work. One should not waste time as once time goes it never comes back. Time management is very important in all stages of life, whether a student or a working person. I often have a habit of leaving things till the last moment. My father never liked this habit of mine but I always used to ignore him. I realised what he meant when I started my own business 3 years ago. As I had to manage everything myself, I had to make sure everything was done on time. Now, I am much more organised with things. In order to manage time, I maintained a diary in which i would write my daily to-do list. Sometimes I even set reminders on my phone. It really helps and you by doing this you do not miss out on anything.

In conclusion, do not misuse time as once gone time never comes back.

References:

Management Study Guide (2012) Time Management - Meaning and its Importance. Available at: http://www.managementstudyguide.com/time-management.htm (Accessed: 8 November 2012).