FRIDAY, 11 MARCH, 201110

Whatweird andwackyjobs wouldyou do formoney?

ionanalysisin your view

Siobhan Hill, 19, Film

in my view...

Students aren’t to blame for choosing unconventional jobs

“Lapdancing contra-

dicts education but if

the money gets you

through uni then yeah,

it!s ok.”

Blame the boyssays Rachel Lovett

I was truly angered by the news of

women’s car insurance being

raised by up to 25 per cent.

This is a huge amount when pre-

miums for the pleasure of driving,

coupled with extortionate petrol

prices, are already crippling the

purses of young female drivers.

And to add insult to injury, the

European Court of Justice has

allowed the price of premi-

ums for men to DROP by

10 per cent.

Now I’m all for equal-

ity, generally. But statis-

tics do show that women

can and do drive more

safely than men. There-

fore why should we be

penalised for not

causing accidents?

The department

of Transport has

said the 95 per

cent of acci-

dents in the

UK are

caused by young men. So why

should young, careful women foot

the bill?

The boy racers in their pimped-

out Corsa’s, however, are being re-

warded for their excessive speed

and bad lane discipline. The saying

‘innocent til proven guilty’ is

thrown out as a defence for men –

but my argument is why give them

the chance to be guilty? Women

could end up paying an extra

£9,300 each between the ages of 17

to 26 to cover the costs of acci-

dents caused by young men.

Judging premiums based

on gender-related risks

isn’t breaching equality

rules, it’s just common

sense.

Women may not have

the spatial awareness to

park beautifully every

time, but the accidents

caused by young male

drivers are a far worse

crime. And worse than

that is if we women

have to pay for their

mistakes.

Points of view: Car insurance costsGet over it, girlssays Matt Lanyon

Trying to get the money together

to buy your first car can often be

hard enough, but when you add

on the cost of insurance it almost

doesn’t seem worth it, especially

if you’re a guy.

While my female friends were

getting insurance on their first car

for a couple hundred pounds, I

was being quoted over £1,000.

Anyone who says that this isn’t

discrimination clearly doesn’t

know the meaning of the

word.

Is punishing male drivers

by lumping them with high

premiums, just because a few

boy racers can’t control their

cars, fair? No, not really.

Why should we all

be grouped together

because of a few

people?

I can safely say

that during my

time on the

roads I have

never been in an accident or

caused an accident, yet the last

time I renewed my insurance I

was paying over £900.

And are girls really the safer

drivers?

I know plenty of female drivers

whose driving has had me push-

ing that imaginary brake pedal on

the passenger side. Doing 50 in a

30 zone… yeah, because that’s re-

ally safe, isn’t it?

And who hasn’t spotted a girl

reading that essential text or

using the rear mirror to

apply make-up rather

than keep their eyes

on the road ahead.

If girls are so des-

perate to be regarded

as equals with guys,

they are just going to

have to learn to deal

with the price we pay

for car insurance.

It ain’t pretty but that’s

life. Maybe then some

of them will learn how

to read a speed sign.

“I!ve done tour guid-

ing and that paid well.

I wouldn!t do lapdanc-

ing but I think it!shot!”

Jason Presley, 21,

Business Management

Georgia Burt, 22,

Event Management

“Depends how much

they paid. I don!t think

I!d do lapdancing be-

cause I don!t want to

sell my body.”

The Guardian recently published

an article on students paying their

way through university by lap

dancing.

Exploring individual case stud-

ies, the article featured Solent stu-

dent who, due to a mounting loan,

had begun dancing at Aqua

Lounge.

It got IOnSolent questioning the

other less conventional career

choices students take in an at-

tempt to stay afloat financially.

Whilst lap dancing is hardly

the most desirable of profes-

sions, can we simply condemn

this student for her chosen

source of income?

As fellow students, we’re all

facing an ever-increasing

student loan, not to mention

the day to day necessities,

weekly food shops and occa-

sional nights out.

Taking that into consider-

ation, a few hours flaunting the

flesh to alleviate the financial

stresses that plague our university

years begins to sound like a worth-

while option.

It may be easy for outsiders to

wonder why all students can’t set-

tle for a simple bar or retail job.

splits. But we don’t live in a big,

bustling city, filled with endless

retail outlets and gastro pubs.

We live in Southampton; a small

city with two large universities.

This equals a mass of job hungry

students facing an area of low re-

cruitment possibilities.

The Guardian contacted Solent

regarding the article and a

spokesperson for the university

responded, saying any women

concerned financially should "con-

tact their university careers serv-

ice, who can identify student jobs

available both on campus and in

the region”.

Yet campus jobs at £6 an hour

doesn’t sound as tempting as

£200 per night, particularly when

thoughts of student loan repay-

ment cloud your mind. The fear

that a pair of stocky, big, beefey

bailiffs will turn up to reposes my

bedroom for the sum of £20,000

haunts me. The fact that my most

valuable possession is a Sex and

the City box set, minus disc 1,

haunts me more.

Whilst the university may offer

campus jobs, it’s not just extra

pocket money we’re after. T

The sad state of affairs is that

tuition fees and living costs those

without sufficient financial sup-

port in a difficult position.

Should we be taking a closer

look at why our educational sys-

tem is forcing students with finan-

cial difficulty into such careers?

by Katherine Romero

Unusual careers temptmoney-worried students