Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry – June 2009

Missing Being A Student

Life as a student is now over for me. Last week saw me presenting my final show on our student radio station Utopia FM; leaving the media centre and many friends behind forever.
Because the last couple of weeks have been pretty tiring and stressful; with work deadlines, a two-hour show every day as well as packing to be done, I’m pleased to be home with some time to relax and reflect on these last three years.

Looking ahead to the next six to twelve months I have two main concerns. The first is that in a week or two, when the facts sink in that this is the end of Uni and not just another holiday, I will miss being a student really badly. The second is whether I’ll be able to get a job anytime soon! Luckily I have work sorted out at Radio Orkney for this summer, but I’m preparing for the worst-case scenario of unemployment come September. I’ll be applying for any jobs I can over the next few months so I’ll just have to see what happens.

Having said that, I have been getting increasingly despondent about the state of politics in the country at the moment. I think the media frenzy over the MP’s expenses is irresponsible. Like most people I’m disgusted at the level of dishonesty, rule bending and the lack of morals many of our elected representatives have displayed. If the public showed as little morality as some of the MP’s, this country would be completely on its knees. They should be leading by example, not showing us how to fiddle the books!

However, I think the way the media have covered the expenses debacle is actually a very cleverly crafted smoke screen to keep our minds off the bigger issues. I’m fully aware that the media have a duty to report facts and keep the public aware of what’s going on, but they also have a role in leading their audiences too.

We are all worrying about what’s going to happen now that we are suffering the worst economic collapse in 70 years. As a nation we have growing unemployment, which is especially scary for students who have thousands of pounds of debt; we are at war in the Middle East; our planet needs urgent attention to protect it, and us from climate change and yet every newspaper, radio and TV station feels the biggest story is which MP has cleaned their moat, or over ordered on light bulbs and scatter cushions.

At the moment Orkney seems to be doing alright with farmers getting good prices for livestock and the tourist industry benefiting form people choosing to holiday in the UK. But with 40% of the county’s workforce employed in public sector jobs we are in real danger when the inevitable cutbacks are made.

I’m not excusing the MP’s, who should certainly be brought to account. I think where serious wrongdoing can be proved by the Allowances Select Committee, the culprits should face the law in the same way you or I would. Ultimately though, the voters will decide who stays and who goes at the next election. I just hope people don’t vote for extremist parties as a knee jerk reaction.

On a much smaller scale, I have recently been trying to deal with some issues at University regarding the way the media department has been run during my time in Sunderland. Since before I first arrived, up until January this year there has been nobody filling the ‘Head of Radio’ role. This has led to a number of things being neglected and overlooked which I think is a disgrace, especially given the amount of money we pay each year to be educated.

I gathered a few mates together who have first hand experience of the problems I wanted to address. These included a general lack of support by university management for the Utopia student management team, and a lack of communication between the visual media and radio departments. This has ultimately resulted in radio being left out of the so called ‘media awards’ for two years running.

We arranged a meeting and hopefully the issues we raised will be dealt with and improvements will be made for future students. Although I’m not a complainer by nature, I don’t see why we should keep quiet when these things have had a direct effect on our experience at the University of Sunderland.

On balance I’d have to say that university has been a fantastic experience, and one that I will certainly remember fondly. I’ve met a lot of great people, and had the opportunity to learn and do things that I would not have been able to had I gone straight into full time employment after finishing school.

However, I am certain that my three years at Uni were enhanced greatly by the extra things I have got involved in alongside my degree course. Without Utopia radio, our Northern Hype DJ enterprise, my Student Ambassador job and the other things I did while I was there, I would simply be another average media graduate. I really hope that making that extra effort in my spare time will reap rewards if I get some job interviews, although I did them for fun at the time.

Last month I went to the Stadium of Light to watch my first premier league football match. Despite Sunderland conceding two goals to Everton early in the second half, Lizi, Phil and I really enjoyed being part of the atmosphere.

It was fascinating to see perfectly normal men and women walk up the steps and take their seats, only minutes later to change from calm, relaxed fathers and mothers, into raging, yelling maniacs! Every time something happened on the field that they weren’t happy about, they stood up, waving their arms and swearing as the blood vessels on their necks and arms looked as if they were about to burst.

Some of the chants and heckles were possibly even more entertaining than the game. Well worth the twenty-seven quid I’d say – although I wouldn’t go every week. I’m already looking forward to the parish cup final although I am sure that it will be much more civilized! Cheerio.