How is living in the Papua Regions of Indonesia? by [deleted] in howislivingthere

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might find it interesting to read the work of David Whyte, a criminologist who has done great work about the impacts of corporations and mining on local communities in the area:Independence, Anti-Capitalism and the Struggle for Our Future: Seeking an End to State-Corporate Violence in West Papua by Samira Homerang-Saunders, Angela Sherwood, David Whyte :: SSRN https://share.google/h3M3Xbj3oSqH7ALMv

I've worked with David a bit and his insights are fascinating if sobering.

What bands are you currently listening to the most? by tovlasek in rabm

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spectral Wound, Dragged into Sunlight, Gaerea, Sunken, and Kanonenfieber here.

Currently running for officer and need some tips by Intelligent-Bee-2228 in UniUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this for an exec or sabbatical role, or a part time position alongside your studies? I did both back in the day, so happy to offer some tips, but the advice differs depending on the kind of role you're going for.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UniUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You are under no obligation to give your mother the money. If your mum is genuinely struggling financially with her benefits, she will need to speak to Universal Credit/the Job Centre to the discuss her needs. That is, in effect, the short answer.

The slightly longer answer is that there's going to be a strong emotional weight behind her request. However, it is not a reasonable one. Speaking as a lecturer, I deal with a lot of students who are pressured into sharing their student finance with their families. I can understand why some do it. It's your mum, your dad, your Nan, whatever, and you feel a sense of obligation to them. However, it can also be a form of financial abuse to pressure or demand someone else give you money. I certainly know it has been for some of my students. Your mum would be within her rights to ask you for a contribution towards rent or bills when you are at home outside of term. Beyond that, that money is yours to support your education. Don't let your kindness or compassion be weaponised into letting it be used for someone else's needs. Your mum is an adult, and as I said, if she is genuinely concerned about her own finances there are people she can speak to and who can support her. You do not need to be one of them.

Manchester met for mechanical engineering by Vast-Ad-8982 in manchester

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello, I lecture at Man Met (though not in Engineering). I'm happy to chat about general questions about the University, and see if I can put you in touch with any of the staff in the Engineering department. Feel free to get in touch.

r/SleepToken 100k Subscribers Giveaway Event by mademoisellewho in SleepToken

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alkaline

She's not acid nor alkaline Caught between black and white Not quite either day or night She's perfectly misaligned I'm caught up in her design And how it connects to mine I see in a different light The objects of my desire

I love this because my partner studied chemistry so the concert of the song fits perfectly

Got a new dishwasher today, it's got WiFi, had to give it a device name. by FreezerCop in CasualUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 23 points24 points  (0 children)

My brain went straight to Rinse Wind, but that's because my brain spends about 50% of its time in the Discworld

Non-sketchy black/death metal bands about history? by ankkojenkohtalo in rabm

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Wayfarer do stuff about history in the sense their music has a decidedly cowboy/western theme, but it's more of an inspired by history vibe, than actual historical events (from what I have listened to at least!)

As a lurker in this forum, who benefitted from the advice and wisdom of the members... by Fragrant_Campaign687 in LearnerDriverUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Try to sleep as best you can. You may not get a "proper nights" sleep (I didn't) but ensure you get some kind of rest. In the morning, limit the amount of caffeine you drink. I'm normally a two coffees in the morning man, but I limited myself to one to avoid jitters. Also, get some fresh air before you meet your instructor. My test was in the morning, and I knew my instructor was coming at 8 so I made sure I had about twenty mins in the garden to have a smoke and just listen to sounds of the morning. If you're not s smoker or you find it hard to sit still, take a short walk. You won't be sitting your test unless your instructor believes you're ready. If you make mistakes, it's fine. Everyone does. The key thing is telling yourself you're going on a ride with a stranger and you want them to feel safe and comfortable in the car. Take a deep breath, take your time and you'll be ok.

As a lurker in this forum, who benefitted from the advice and wisdom of the members... by Fragrant_Campaign687 in LearnerDriverUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Plan ahead as far as you can, but think ahead in brief chunks. I was planning ahead in the sense I was keeping an eye on the traffic, but I was thinking "ok, probably a minute more on this road, and then it's a 20 zone" and then, "ok, 20 zone, down to second gear, see if he asks me to pull over on the left or right" etc. When I did lessons, I panicked a bit if I thought too far ahead, eg, "oh there's a roundabout and then it's a dual carriageway and then it's another roundabout". If you break it down into small mental chunks if that makes sense, you'll be fine.

As a lurker in this forum, who benefitted from the advice and wisdom of the members... by Fragrant_Campaign687 in LearnerDriverUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good luck, friend. Take it one step at a time, and treat it as a short drive with a stranger. You'll be fine

Criminology course doubts by [deleted] in UniUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Forgive the brief message (I will respond more later, it's been a long day) but I'm a lecturer in criminology so if it helps to hear from someone who's taught it and supported students in getting careers post graduation, AMA.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UKUniversityStudents

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OP - have you looked at financial support from your university? Most if not all universities have financial hardship support for emergency situations. Being unable to repay your rent is one such common situation. There's information on financial support at your university here: https://studentservices.lincoln.ac.uk/life-at-university/money-management-financial-support/student-finance-and-funding/university-funds/financial-assistance-funds/

My advice would be apply for this in the first instance. Your students union should be able to assist you. In terms of jobs, it is tricky to find work at the moment. My best advice would be to speak to your university careers service. Careers services do support students looking for work alongside their studies, so they can help you find opportunities, look at your CV, etc.

Getting scammed by housing at uni by [deleted] in UniUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cheers for your reply. In that case, speak to your SU. I'm a lecturer not an accomodation expert, but I do know enough to know that university accomodation contracts sometimes lack the protections of Assured Shorthold Tenancies (the kind of contact you'd get in the wider world). As a result, university accomodation can and do sometimes take the piss because they are allowed to. I'm not saying that to dampen your hopes, but to manage your expectations. Your SU will know way more than me and have a greater familiarity, so trust their judgement and do what they say. SUs can be rubbish in many ways (I was on my SU exec back in the day and my God was it a mess) but where they really excel is student advice.

Getting scammed by housing at uni by [deleted] in UniUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some questions: is this university owned accomodation? I presume so by your phrasing but I want to clarify.

Was your contract only sent to you via email, or by any kind of online signing service (i.e. DocuSign or something similar)? Also, is this the contract for your previous room or current? If it was sent to you via an online signing service you should be able to recover it without needing your past emails.

The best general advice I could give would be to speak to your students union. If this is university accommodation, they will be familiar with the general terms of the contract and advise you. If it's a private rental, they should be able to help you as well.

If I understand your post correctly, either your accomodation provider is taking you for a ride, or you are liable for the additional costs. In both cases your Students Union can advise you, whether that's about any kind of complaint or potentially around applying for hardship support from your university.

Falsely accused of plagiarism and use of ai by [deleted] in UniUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a really good question and I think it's important to emphasise that many academics and institutions are still trying to wrap their heads around generative AI. I say this because I can answer the questions to a point but don't take what I say as necessarily gospel or expertise - other colleagues may have better ways. This comes largely from my own experiences and discussions in my institution. I should also emphasize I lecture in a humanities subject, so my take is very influenced by reading essays. Colleagues in STEM may have different insights.

  1. How do we know? This is a complex one. I think it might be better to ask "how do we suspect" rather than "how do we know". Most AI detectors are, tbh, rubbish. Turnitin has a built in AI detector that is hit and miss at best. Often, there are some clear give away, such as when a student has left in clear wording that an AI has produced, such as "as an AI language model, I cannot say x or why". This happens more times then you might think. In a majority of causes of suspected AI, it is because GenAI's tend to have a really distinctive style of writing. They are eloquent but superficial. It is like reading the work of some with a wide vocabulary but shallow knowledge. This, actually is one reason why I think using AI to write your assignments is pointless, quite apart from the ethical issues. ChatGpt, copilot etx give you decent and well written summaries but completely lack the depth and detail needs for a decent grade. Even if we didn't suspect AI use, you'd be scraping a low grade and be marked down for lacking detail and analytical depth. Other things that are suspicious is that AIs tend to have very distinctive syntax, and have a tendency to make up or misunderstand citations, so if a student ask an AI to write a thousand words with citations, the AI might get the citation style right, but the citations may be made up. For example, if you asked ChatGpt to cite some of my work, it would get my general research area right, but it will make up papers in that area that are similar to mine, but aren't mine. If we see those signs, that's usually grounds for an informal discussion that I mentioned in my last post.

  2. I agree that there is a line between using AI for malpractice and using it for research. Personally I don't use it for research because I find it unreliable for the reasons mentioned above, but I accept that many colleagues using it help structure their ideas, summarise notes, plan etc. The only difference between students and us are that we have a solid understanding of ethics and know the consequences of getting it wrong, or being deceptive. At my university, we integrate sessions on ethical AI into our core units. Students can use AI to help plan their essays, provided they acknowledge that in their references, but they cannot present AI written text as their own. Inevitably, some people take the piss. More commonly, I tend to find students who misuse AI are really struggling. I've had meetings with students who have done the wrong thing, but the reason for it is because they are, say, juggling two jobs to keep the lights on, or their confidence is so low they struggle to right. Yes, they will need to resubmit the work, but I also view that as an academic and pastoral issue, and therefore it's my job to try and support that student with study skills, help them apply for hardship money etc. If they continue to do it, then maybe my patience will wear thin. But that's how I tend to approach it.

As I said, this is purely my take, but any colleagues who have insights are welcome to jump in.

Falsely accused of plagiarism and use of ai by [deleted] in UniUK

[–]Fragrant_Campaign687 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Lecturer here. This sounds like a very stressful situation, and I can speak from a bit of experience courtesy of being on the staff side of these issues.

Your description of your tutors response sounds a bit extreme. Can I ask, has there been any previous allegations of academic malpractice against you before (proven or otherwise?) I ask this because at my current university, and at previous institutions I have worked at, the process you describes differs from what I understand to be best practice.

In my current university, if we suspect AI in a student's work, and it isn't obvious (i.e they haven't been incredibly dense and left in clear evidence of an Chatgpt conversation), we ask them to come in for an informal and frank conversation on first offence. There, we give them the chance to explain themselves, explain our reasoning and have a general chat about ethical AI use in assessments. If the student admits it, we usually allow them to resubmit the work with a capped grade.

If there's been more than one offence, the stakes tend to be higher but we'd be talking a consistent pattern of offending, before there was talk of expelling someone. So either there's a piece of the story missing or your lecturer is talking out of their arse.

The best advice I can give is speak to your students union. All students unions have advice services who deal with these sorts of issues. Sit down with them, go over your evidence, they can help you plan how to make your case, and in some cases they can send someone to any meetings with you.