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  Welcome to UP! Sort of? Welcome First Years! (And weathered seniors like me). The academic year is officially starting, but in a way that is foreign to us all. The pandemic continues, and we begin the year in a strange mix of online learning, physical residences and ambiguous student life. There’s a lot we don’t know and questions we have unanswered, but we still need to prepare for our respective degrees. While we may not know how the pandemic will continue or whether the entire year will be online or not, there are some aspects of being a student that remain the same. AndRead More →

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  I don’t usually speak about issues not related to an edition, but this week I want to continue the discussion about gender based violence (or GBV) and the atrociously high numbers of rape in South Africa. Why is this not at the centre of our discussions? Women and children are being brutally raped and murdered daily, and aside from several days of protests this time last year, not much is done to make this stop. Sexual assault, violence and rape continue to go unreported and predators are allowed to continue hurting people, with only the occasional news report making the rounds. Every single caseRead More →

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So, we’re at it again. Unless you’re a first-year, in which case this is just the first begrudging start to classes for you. And if you’re a first-year, you may be noticing the glares from senior students. That is because you haven’t yet realised that you don’t have to spend your life on campus and you’re crowding up Hatfield Campus. But don’t worry, by May only the dedicated students are on campus and there’s finally space to walk again. But crowded walkways aside, welcome back to campus. A brand-new semester with all new opportunities and experiences await. Try something new this semester, there is aRead More →

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A new decade with some new faces-welcome first years! You’ve been told a hundred times by now, but this is going be a very exciting time of your life. University is freedom like you’ve never known. Freedom to explore yourself, to explore others (safely) and to explore your future. University is very different compared to high school. This can be great in that you have more freedom to express yourself, less rules and the space to make your own decisions. But it can also be scary: no one asks if you are in class, your lecturers won’t follow up with you if you miss anRead More →

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It seems like a huge understatement to describe the past month’s events simply as tough but where do you begin in addressing everything that happened? Because a lot has happened. From 2 September, peace on campus seemed to deteriorate rapidly and I can’t say it’s calmed down as we’ve entered October. There may not be any protests, but we certainly aren’t free of the chaos of gender based violence that surrounds us. The confirmation of Uyinene’s murder hurt many people, myself included. The realisation that rapists and sexual predators that target the vulnerable of our society aren’t scary bogeymen in a dark alley, but ratherRead More →

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In: Editorials & Letters, Trending, UPEditorialNews

It’s election season at the university – which I’m sure you’ve noticed by the inundation of emails from faculty houses – and new faces are joining all the ECs. This is a period of change and fresh ideas to go along with fresh executive committees. What you probably didn’t know is that there are changes happening here at PDBY too. After 81 years, things can get a bit stuck in set ways and we have decided to take some time to revamp the publication, so to speak. In addition to a new editor (me, the stranger on page 2) and a new editorial, this meansRead More →

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In the Douglas Adams “trilogy” The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the dolphins of the world, aware of the coming destruction of earth, pack up their things and move to another dimension. In a sense that’s pretty much what it feels like I am doing now. Coming to the end of my time at PDBY, and at university, leaves a massive hole to be filled. The thought of moving towards that hole terrifies me, excites me, and makes me all stressy-depressy. It’s a time that every student must face at some point as they move on from the training wheels of student life to aRead More →

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In: Editorials & Letters, UPEditorialNews

Some of you are facing your first university exam season and it shows… It’s that time of the year when we all rush to the crazy store to buy those clear little plastic bags to pack stationery into so that you can comply with exam rules. The new exam rules are something I never really had to face with the first time they were implemented falling during the final exams of my undergrad. To me they seem annoying, unnecessary, over the top and their implementation takes the stance that every student will try to cheat. I am also the type of person who has aRead More →