Key stories from this week

King’s rejects proposal to fly trans flag amid concerns of provocation

King’s College Council provoked internal controversy on Tuesday when it rejected a motion to fly the trans flag at the end of LGBT+ History Month on 28th February. The motion, proposed by members of the King’s College Student Union, raised concerns among members of the Council as to the wider political implications of flying the flag. The decision comes after the College decided to fly the EU flag in solidarity with European students last month. The Student Union’s Vice-President stated that, “For us it was a symbol of solidarity, not a political statement. We were looking beyond politics to a make a statement that said everyone was accepted.”

Homerton and Girton MP defects to Independent Group

MP Heidi Allen, who represents the constituency of South Cambridgeshire of which Girton and Homerton are a part, has joined fellow Conservatives Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston in resigning from the party in favour of the Independent Group. The Group, established on Monday by Labour MPs including Chuka Umunna, was formed in protest at the mainstream parties’ handling of various issues, including Brexit. In resigning from the Party, Allen also stated that “I can no longer represent a government and a party who can’t open its eyes to the suffering endured by the most vulnerable in society.”

GU calls on University to alleviate postgraduate housing shortage

The Graduate Union (GU) has released a report urging the University to do more to provide affordable accommodation for postgraduate students. Rent currently comprises over half of postgraduate living costs according to data obtained by an NUS-Unipol survey. The report further raises concerns that college plans for expanding postgraduate accommodation will not meet future demand. The Vice-President of the GU, Mrittunjoy Guha Majumdar, stated that the Union is also “actively looking into ways of helping students with private accommodation”, and called for greater integration between college and private accommodation providers.

CUSU votes to devolve more power in effort to engage more students

CUSU Council voted on Monday to devolve power to two new discussion forums with the intention of promoting greater engagement with students on college and academic issues. The proposal suggested that the new ‘College Forum’ and ‘Academic Forum’ would act as ‘informal spaces for discussion’ which would be able to propose legislation while keeping Council as the sole legislative body. The proposal forms a key part of the ‘Democracy Review’ into student engagement initiated by President Evie Aspinall this term.

On a lighter note...

Part-time, online: Cambridge students take to online tutoring

Just how widespread is online tutoring among Cambridge students? Varsity found out that over 500 are currently active on the popular platform MyTutor alone, while many others regularly teach younger students on websites like Elite IB. While the income can be substantial, surpassing that of any college bar shift, it is not so clear how effective tutors believe their service to be - and while the University does not condone part-time work during term, the industry only looks set to expand as demand from aspirational students continues.