WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO STUDENTS?

"You shall not pass"

I went to university on Sunday, September 29th, 1996. It was literally a lifetime ago: almost 18 years.

I've been thinking a lot about university recently. A discussion about student loans and tuition fees erupted around me, and I suddenly had a thought about how bizarre it is to live in a world of people who are in exactly the same stage of life as you. Everyone you know is no more than three or four years older or younger, all still figuring out their independence while slotting endless twenty pence pieces into enormous washing machines.

I'd struggle to find anyone anywhere with the same kind of lifestyle as me now. As you grow older, your paths diverge slowly, ballooning out from each other across the country, until you look around and it's just you.

Ballooning aside, there are still some little reminders of how things were in those odd-glorious few years, and how far I've come since 1996.

I sent an email to the person running the Reading University Creative Arts twitter account today. They are looking for local people, creatives who might like to contribute some of their work to an anthology. It's a nice idea - local engagement, expression from people outside of the uni-bubble and maybe a little bit of recognition...

Hi,

I have some silly nonsense poems that might be of interest. I'm a writer (of sorts) living in Theale. What happens about copyrights, etc?

Matt Stubbs


It's a very obvious question, I think. I was bemused by the answer from the 'anthology editor'. In fact I said, 'Ha!' quite loudly in the office, if you can imagine such a thing.

Matt,

Thanks for getting in touch. As a humble student, I'm not aware of things like copyright and the way the anthology affects that - next week I will have a chat with the powers above me about copyright and will get back to you promptly. By all means send in your stuff and I will be in touch soon with any questions you may have, answered.

Best wishes,

[name redacted]

I decided not to send my poems to humble students with no awareness of intellectual property. I find it tough to believe that I'm the only person who asked that question. Am I being a bit cynical? Perhaps a little paranoia has crept in?  It struck me as an incredible collision - my 36 year old world where you have to be a bit shrewd with your stuff - and his naive 20 year old one, where it doesn't seem to matter.

We have a number of placement students at work. These are computer science undergraduates, 20 year olds I suppose, who are gaining experience in a 'real' environment before returning to university for their final year. I'm consistently amazed by them.

"Any plans for the weekend?" I said to one, as we walked back from The Bull at lunch today.

"Not really. Might just chill out on my Playstation."

"Right. No nights on the razzle then?"

A thin smile.

"No zany pranks, no tomfoolery or classic student hijinks?" I continued, playfully, "No stealing a bus stop or wearing traffic cones and pretending you're wizards?" He laughed politely.

Alright, I never did that. But I knew people who did. There were countless shopping trolley races through Oldfield Park, statues with amusing items draped across them, fountains bursting with bubble-bath, late-night rolling down Widcombe Hill and tutu-wearing in the middle of Bath.

Do students not do that kind of crazy thing any more? Is that a thing of the past? And what about the protests? The sit-ins, the strikes, the political activism that brought about campaigns for nuclear disarmament, the civil rights movement, the stand against Thatcherism and animal rights? What has happened to students? How did they get so boring?

I think I must be from a different world.