NoVEmBER 2008 - The Students` Union

GK news
STAFFORDSHIRE UNIVERSIT Y'S FREE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Shock election results mean
nominations could be re-opened
Katherine Stanton
For the first time in the history of the Student Union,
R.O.N (re-open nominations)
has received more votes than
the standing candidates.
Seats for Accommodation Officer, Activities Officer
for Societies, Campaigns Officer, Student Council Chair,
Disabled Students Officer, Law
School Rep and Male Gender
Rep will now be left empty until
the Union takes further action.
Each of the aforementioned
positions had only one candidate running for the seat.
The fact that R.O.N took a
majority of the votes will obviously be a devastating blow for
all of them.
To re-open nominations
(R.O.N) has always been an
option for students who aren’t
happy with the standing nominees in Student Officer Elections. However, never before
has this option ever received
more votes than running candidates.
One
candidate,
Kieran
Jones, said: “It seems ridiculous that all these position
were won by RON when there
were candidates willing to give
it their all to fulfill the roles.
"It does very little for people’s confidence and the union
had far more candidates than it
expected standing.”
Communications
Officer
Tim Robinson, said: “The un-
INSIDE
this month
NOVEMBER 2008
Change of policy
postponed due
to lack of student
input
Rob Rymond &
Katherine Stanton
A planned update of the
Union’s anti racism and anti
fascism policy has been abandoned due to a low turnout at
referenda.
Students got the opportunity to vote on whether to amend
the policy or not via the Union
website between November 5
and November 7.
However, the number of students that voted on the referenda was so low that Steerings
have advised the Student Union
to resubmit the referenda at a
later date.
Candidates for 2008/9 Elections.
usually high number of wins for
RON was deeply unfortunate,
but simply a sign that a more
active community is able to
swing votes.
"Due to the unprecedented
nature of this result, Steerings
are investigating it to make absolutely certain that it is valid.”
The Union Website states
that if R.O.N wins, then nobody will win the position and
nominations will be re-opened
to allow for other students to
stand for that position. At time
of going to press, the Union
are yet to announce plans for
the re-opening of nominations.
The results were announced
at a special event – Election
Night Live – which took place
on Friday (November 7) at
Legends, Stafford. There were
four contested positions which
were Media Officer, Nonportfolio Executive Officer,
Stafford Local Students Officer and Postgraduate Students Officer.
The Union will not officially
confirm the successful candidates until the next Union
Council Meeting, which at
the time of going to press, is
yet to take place.
News »02
Lifestyle »08
Reviews »20
New Part-time Officers
announced/ How the credit
crunch is affecting students/
Childcare services stretched
Cooking on a budget/ Single
life versus relationship/ How
to be fashionable in Winter
Feeder/Tilly and The Wall/
The Mystery Jets/Quantum Of
Solace/Burn After Reading/
Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!
A spokesperson for Steerings said: “In view of the low
turn out for both of these
events Steerings are taking the
results as being indicative of the
student voice. This means that
Steerings will be making the
recommendation to the Students' Union Council that they
accept the result of the referendum as being an indication that
the referenda be re-submitted
at a later stage where turnout is
expected to be higher.
“The result of the referendum
was in favor of adopting the
policy but as the turnout was
so low it is not being adopted at
this stage. As the current policy
does not lapse until the end
Continued on Page 2
Sport »29
Results from the season,
stephan say's Stefan Says looks
at victory for Lewis, Flying Ace's,
Five minutes with...
02
November Editorial:
GKnews
News: Katherine Stanton
gknewsroom@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
continued from page 1
Part-time officers 2008/09
Melvin Rao
Gknews is now available to
download online before it’s
published. It’s been a fantastic
month and I am looking forward
to December’s Gk magazine special. If you’re C.V looks like a skeleton feel free to get in touch.
Melvin
Hi all,
As promised, November’s edition
of GKNews is here in good time
and looking sharp. We hope
that when you read this shiny
new issue of GK you will find it
in your hearts to forgive our unpunctuality on the last issue. We,
too, hope to have overcome the
many difficulties that we faced in
October’s paper.
the centre page sees the return
of “Get Spotted” with an ABC
night and In The Mix special so
have a flip through and see if you
can find yourself.
GK is run by students, for students, so if there’s anything you
think the student population
needs to know about, please feel
free to write us an article.. So bye
for now, we hope very much that
you enjoy this edition of GKNews.
And, as always, big bear hugs to
all those who helped with this
month’s paper.
Ash
Ashlea Morris
Mature Students Officer
Gary McNally
Local Students Officer –
Stafford
Rizwan Ahmed
Non-Portfolio Executive
Officer
Shakir Quresh
Post Graduate students officer
Mohammad Asim
Student Welfare Officer
Vanessa Brumby
Female Gender Rep
Anant Tyagi
Media Officer
Tahir Islam
Environmental Officer
Nabeel Manan
Academic Affairs Officer
Editor: Melvin Rao
gknewseditor@staffs.ac.uk
Deputy Editor: Ashleigh Scott
gknewsdeputyeditor@staffs.ac.uk
Staffordshire University
Student's Union
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Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST4 2DE
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Disclaimer
The views expressed in this newspaper belong to their authors and
do not necessarily reflect those of
GKnews, GKmedia, Staffordshire
University or the Students’ Union.
All submissions are reviewed
against the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice, a copy
of this academic year
Steerings will bring this referendum at a later stage
which is yet to be confirmed.”
The Union felt it was
necessary to amend the
policy following the rising
presence of the BNP in the
Stoke-on-Trent area. Some
students have already reported receiving leaflets from
the far-right group which are
alleged to have being racist.
Campaigning by the BNP is
likely to increase in the run
up to the elections in May
2009.
A Union statement said:
“The Union notes that racism against students is a
potential problem in the area
and needs to be addressed,
“[The Union] condemns oppression in every form and
will not allow any discriminatory groups and campaign
actively against racism and
fascism”.
“The BNP came close
to winning the election in
2002 and the Union has a
moral responsibility to make
sure no students feel threatened”
In the May 2008 elections, the BNP managed
to gain nine seats across
Stoke-on-Trent and there
are worries this will rise
again further.
The Union believes
‘education is the solution’
to combating worries about
the BNP and that ‘freedom
of speech is a qualified right
and not an absolute right’
according to a definition by
the European Convention of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
of which is available on our website. Every effort has been made to
ensure the accuracy of all GKnews
content. If you notice any errors or
omissions please contact the editor at gknewseditor@staffs.ac.uk
so that we can publish corrections
in future editions.
03
GKnews
News: Katherine Stanton
gknewsroom@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
Credit crunch forcing students to get jobs
Michael Marsh
It is feared that the imminent
recession looming over Britain
is set to have an adverse effect on many students’ degree
marks.
A recent NUS survey funded
by HSBC has found that 46%
of students are working during
term time as their basic living
costs exceed their loans.
The survey - which is part
of a ground-breaking threeyear research project into student experiences - also found
that 45% of working students
admit that the situation is having a negative effect on their
studies.
A third of these students are
working more than 17hours a
week although universities recommend only a maximum of
10hours a week during term
time. Despite this, 3% of students are working more than
three times the recommended
hours exceeding 33hours a
week.
Matthew Morris, 18, is one
of the many to move away from
home and limit their immediate
student experience by taking
up a part-time job.
Matthew, who currently
works in the bar Revolution in
Hanley, said: “I work around
15 to 20 hours a week but I’m
always trying to find more. My
loan wasn’t that much and I’ve
ended up shopping at places
such as Netto and Lidl rather
than Sainsburys.
“I have already [exceeded
my loan] and that’s why I’ve
got my part-time job. It means
early morning finishes but it
has to be done if I want to afford things such as food”.
Aaron Porter, NUS VicePresident for Higher Education
supported this claim, he said:
“It is clear from this report that
financial support is inadequate
for many students. With a recession looming and basic
living costs set to rise, this
situation is going to get even
worse.
“It is particularly worrying
that nearly half of those students who work during term
time admit that their studies
are being adversely affected.
NUS would like universities to
recognise that many of their
students have to work to top
up their income and to make
suitable allowances in order to
enable them to manage their
work load more effectively”.
This coincides with action
from the Government to reduce the income threshold for
students’ maintenance grants
from £60,000 to £50,020. This
is most likely to effect middleincome families, as families
earning below £25,000 will still
get the full grant available to
them.
However, the Department
for Innovation, Universities and
Skills have been heavily criticised by Student unions. They
accuse the department of
negligence, incompetence for
‘playing with students’ futures
as the country enters a recession’.
The National Union of Students (NUS) state that the full
Student Experience Report will
be published on 25 November, and will be discussed at
the 1994 Group/NUS Student
Experience Conference on 26
November.
Safest route to Hanley now marked by footprints
Alison Hanlon
On-campus policeman, Keith
Emery, has painted white footprints on the pavement, which
guide students along the safest
route to Hanley town centre.
The footprints begin outside the Flaxman building on
theStoke campus and finish outside Hanley Police Station. Mr.
Emery plans to further the route
by painting more footprints into
Hanley town centre.
It is the busiest, most lit up
and CCTV monitored route into
Hanley, providing a more secure
route. Safety is not guarantied
but the route offers the safest
path into the town centre.
The aim of the route is to
increase student’s safety and
reduce the number of students
targeted by attackers.
Keith says: “The route is not
a ‘safe route’. It is the ‘safest
route’ into Hanley.
The area covered by the
footprints is much safer than
any other route that students
may choose to take into Hanley
and reduces the chance of unfortunate happenings. I’m hoping that students will make use
of the route and that it will benefit them a lot”.
More information about the
route will be going up around
campus very soon but if you
want to know more or wish to
talk to Keith about anything
at all, drop into the Cop Shop
which is located left of the LRV
or call : 01782 294 311.
Look out for white footprints. Danny South
04
GKnews
News: Katherine Stanton
gknewsroom@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
No room for students with cars
Calum Donaghue
The University are planning
to install a barrier system in the
Leek Road campus car park to
prevent overcrowding.
Leek road campus car park
is often over crowded with cars,
but not always with the cars of
the staff and students. The car
park is free and has no barrier
or supervision, therefore is often used by local businesses
and residents from around the
area. The University have received many complaints from
students on the issue.
The Student Union (SU) realises there is a problem and that
the car park is over crowded
because of the public using the
free spaces. They are trying to
get a barrier put up, similar to
the one that currently operates
in the Clarice Cliff car park. The
The Leek Road car park is often full. Lauren Hatchard
barrier there requires an electronic card which only Clarice
Cliff residents can obtain.
This could be the solution
for Leek Road, but there are
fears it may result in queues
on the main road. The SU says
that the way the cards would
be designed should make it
quicker to enter the car park as
apposed to using a code. Ultimately the SU would like more
space which will require building and - if it happens - could
take up to five years.
Education Welfare Officer
Hyder Kamran said “Ideally the
electronic cards will give data of
the car owner and therefore will
keep track of who has entered
the car park”.
Student
Rebecca
Dash
drives to the University and she
feels something needs to be
done; “One day it took me an
hour to get out of the car park
as cars couldn’t travel both
ways!”
This could also cause a problem for students who have to
get to lessons. Rebecca thinks
that students should be able to
park on both campuses which
would also save time. The parking issue “hasn’t affected my lessons so far as I make sure I get
there early enough to find space
and walk over!” But this problem has stopped some students
from getting to lesson which effects their studies. Therefore the
problem should be rectified.
05
GKnews
News: Katherine Stanton
gknewsroom@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
Long wait for students wanting childcare
Ashleigh Scott
Childcare
services
at
Staffordshire University are being stretched.
The two nurseries, which
cater for students and the local
community in Stoke-on-Trent
and Stafford, care for 92 children in total and are at full capacity. There are currently 28
children on the waiting list for
the nurseries.
Emma Mitchell, 19, is a
broadcast journalism student at
Staffordshire University: “I found
out I was pregnant just before I
started my course. My due date
was April 29th so I was able to
attend lectures but problems
occurred around Christmas and
I ended up having a premature
birth in March. I missed all of
my exams and I had to repeat
the year.
“I had a baby boy and he is
now seven months. He goes
to nursery during the day; I
tried to use the crèche here but
the waiting list was too big.”
Amanda Sherratt, Head of
Childcare Service said: “We
take children from birth up-
Childcare services, based opposite the train station. Lauren Hatchard
wards and we try to be as flexible as possible to fit in better
with the student’s timetable,
however we have legal ratio requirements to adhere to. In total, across both sites we have
21 part and full-time nursery
staff.
“We do operate a waiting list, we are cheaper than
most other nurseries and offer good quality care and education so we get quite a high
demand. On the waiting list
at the moment there are about
16 students at Stoke and 12 at
Stafford.
“Students get priority over
the local community and University staff, at least 55% of
the parents are studying at
Staffordshire University. They
also get discounted rates, students pay £24.50 for a full day
of childcare, members of the
local community pay £27.
“The university subsidises
the service so that we can
make it cheaper for students.
It would be great to expand
and meet additional student
demands.”
Student Union could become a charity
Kieran Jones
The Student Union is
currently holding a review
over whether or not it wishes
to become a charity.
The review is looking at
how effective the constitution is and how it could be
improved. The decision facing
the Student Union is whether
to be a charity or alternatively a limited company.
Clearly if the Union decided to be a limited company it would thus lose
its charitable status.
Currently the Union is a
charitable organization but it is
not a charity. It is not defined
as having a charitable purpose
however if it became a charity its purpose would be the
“advancement of education”.
Many other Students' Unions
have already undertaken a governance review or are well on
the way. De Monford University
has completed their review
and has decided to become a
company limited by guarantee.
The Staffordshire University
Student Union is still in the
very early stages of this review
and members of the Union are
looking at various models.
The advantages of each
model are still to be discussed
by the union in order for a
decision to be reached.
The governance review will look at the way in
which the union can best
represent the students.
Fiona Wood Student
Union president said “At the
end of the day it’s what’s
best for the students”.
The Union has until October 2009 to make the decision.
06
Officer Blogs
GKnews
News: Katherine Stanton
gknewsroom@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
"Come and join the students that have already
stood up to be counted"
Fiona Wood
President
president@staffs.ac.uk
Another month and another
blog for you, what’s been
happening, well to start with,
elections. Yes we have had our
by elections for Student Council
and what an interesting night
that turned out to be, you will
probably know what I mean
after reading this edition of GK.
What else is there? Helping to
train our student reps to know
what is expected of them. Our
student reps or STARS as
we like to call them are very
important to the union, they are
asked to talk to other people
on their course to raise issues
with the course leaders of the
university and at the same time
act as the ears of the union,
keeping us officers aware of
issues that are arising at the
level we don’t always see now
that we spend our time talking to the university or working on campaigns. So if you
are a STAR then don’t forget
to get your training in from
John, he is really good at it.
Shout week! Well that’s been
interesting as well, the start of
the photo petition showing that
our students are part of the
student debt. At the start of
the documentary we ask our
members what it is like to be
in so much debt, officers go
out to meet students, asking
six questions to see what you
feel at that time, but most of
all listening to you, listening to
find out what your issues are
and how we can help you.
Back to the Broke & Broken photo petition, I have
just finished taking pictures
for an hour and a half and
can’t believe that I have just
photographed debt to the
value of £600,000, this is
only from 38 students.To
keep this going we will be
around doing more pictures.
Come and join the group of
students that have already
stood up to be counted. If
you see me or the officer team
come and talk to us, tells us
your views and opinions.
Nus: Broke and Broken
"I am Striving for a vivid and involved campaign
that shows the harsh reality of student debt"
"Winter Ball - almost all set to go!"
Rebecca McLellan
Commercial Services
commercialservices@staffs.ac.uk
So we are into the last leg of
the first semester. Hope all
your coursework is going to
schedule and that your work
isn’t getting on top of you…I
know it can get stressful. For
me at the moment, I have
been continuing my work on
the Sound Impact awards.
We have been looking into
ways to make the Student’s
Union more environmentally
friendly – hopefully setting up
a printer cartridge recycling
point, and making recycling
in general on campus more
obvious and accessible - If
anyone has any suggestions
or ideas about environmental
friendly/carbon footprint reducing ideas, I would be more
than happy for your input. Or if
you want to get involved with
ideas we are already working
on, drop me an email commercialservices@staffs.ac.uk
line http://www.staffsunion.
com/events/6004/1295/
Ok, the Winter Ball – we have
a venue, a date, a price, free
coaches, Reggie from Radio
1, Comedian Norman Lovett,
an Ice-rink, and a Silent
Disco! So we are almost all
set to go! Tickets are on-
We recently had the by-elections. I myself ran for, and got
NUS Delegate. This basically
means that I now have a seat
at National NUS conferences
and debates. On Wednesday
12th November, The NUS
The Winter Ball poster
are holding an extraordinary
conference regarding NUS
reform: This is to decide if we
agree with the NUS’s proposal
to totally reform its constitution, and the aspects of it.
Other election News is that
the results of the by-election
are under investigation. There
was an astounding number of
victory’s for R.O.N (Re-Open
Nominations) The Steerings
Committee are going to look
into whether the election was
fair and legal. I would just like
to say congratulations to all
those who did get elected,
and to also congratulate all the
nominees on the hard work that
they put into their campaigns, I
understand how stressful it can
get. Also, commiserations to
those who didn’t get elected.
If anyone has any queries
they would like to send me, or
would just like a chat. You can
usually find me in the Union,
or just email me at: commercialservices@staffs.ac.uk
07
GKnews
News: Katherine Stanton
gknewsroom@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
"Eid and Diwali parties were the
most popular 'diversity' events"
Khan
Education & Welfare
education-welfare@staffs.ac.uk
The University of Staffordshire has always shown its
commitment to diversity and
has strived to attract more
international students each
year. Going by the numbers
of students from South Asia
enrolling every year, it is evident
that the University has been
successful in this endeavour.
Hundreds of miles away from
families; adjusting to new study
patterns, language, culture,
cuisine and environment, these
students make Staffordshire
their new home for those years
spent pursuing higher education. In a busy day to day
student life, it is perhaps on
their major festivals, Eid and
Diwali that these students most
poignantly miss home. In the
past, the Student Union and
the University recognized these
festivals as an opportunity to
not only make these students
feel ‘at home’, but also, as
a chance for people from
other regions and religions
to get a glimpse of a culture
so different from their own.
For the past two years, Eid
and Diwali parties were the
most popular ‘diversity’ events
organized by Staffordshire
University Students Union
with attendance of over 150
for each event. However, in
2008, Eid party was deemed
a ‘flop’ with just over 40
students gracing the event
while Diwali party was called
off! Did anyone pause for a
second and think ‘WHY’?
Eid was on 1st October this
year while the party was organized on 10th. If Christmas
dinner was organized on 5th
January, how many people
would turn up? But, it is not
only about the date, the party
was not advertised as well as
one would expect an event of
some magnitude to be. While
we can see posters and computer screensavers of Winter
Ball from long before the actual
event to take place, posters
for this party were made only
four days before the party. The
party was held in LRV and
the few students who turned
up from Stafford campus had
no way of getting back home
afterwards. There was no arrangement and no information
and these ‘stranded’ students,
who had assumed (and rightfully expected) that for an event
advertised on their campus
by the Union there will be a
transport facility on the way
back, who were then accommodated in to their own rooms
by fellow students in Stoke!
Not a single member from the
University or the Student Union
was formally invited to this
party unlike last year and before when Vice Chancellor and
Dean had graced these events.
Despite the delay in holding
the party and poor advertis-
ing, more than 40 people
turned up and yet this event
was deemed a ‘flop’ and as a
result, Diwali party was cancelled! First of all, these two
events are separate and both
have their own significance.
Eid is a festival of Muslims
while Diwali is a festival of Hindus. Cancelling one because
the other was not as successful as before is akin too; forgive
the same analogy, cancelling Christmas celebration
because Guy Fawkes Night
did not sparkle as much! By
doing so, the Student Union
hurt the feelings of hundreds
of students from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, who were
waiting for the celebration. To
equate these parties with just
another dance and dinner is
a big mistake as they mean
so much more to international
students for religious and cultural reasons. Events of such
importance should feature
on Union’s events calendar
and petty politics should
be kept away from them.
"As RON went on to win the next four in a row
a feeling of panic seemed to be rising"
I write this the Sunday after
the By-Election results. What a
night! We had a whole host of
candidates waiting nervously,
an audio-visual extravaganza
waiting to accompany the
results and GKradio's finest presenting the show.
And so, off we went with the
announcement of the result
of the NUS Delegate election. Nothing strange so far...
Then we moved on to the
Academic Affairs Officer, which
was won by Nabeel Manan.
Again, nothing unusual.
We then moved on to the post
of Accommodation Officer. This
was an uncontested position:
Tim Robinson
Communications
communications@staffs.ac.uk
only Vic Casambros running,
but the option to vote RON
also existed. The result came
up on the presenters' lecturn
and was duly announced: "...
and the winner is RON!!"
...I was running the visuals
from the back of the room
and it was my job to click on
the name of the winner to
bring them up on the screen. I
hesitated. I thought Scott was
joking. I was making a mental
note to have words with him
afterwards and remind him that
this was an extremely serious
business and not the time to
be joking about the results.
However, he and Charley
began consoling Vic and it became apparent that this wasn't
a joke. At that moment, Gerard
Boyers, the Chair of Steerings,
came running into the room
at top speed. "RON won!"
he said as I put the "Winner:
RON" slide up on the screen.
This result was a surprise as,
to the best of my knowledge
and that of the staff, RON
has never won an election at
Staffs. When RON went on
to win the next four in a row,
a feeling of panic seemed to
be rising in Legends. In the
heads of the members of
the Steerings Committee.
There's absolutely nothing
wrong with voting RON and indeed, we encourage people to
do so if they don't like the look
of any of the candidates. However because this was such an
extreme and unheard of result,
Steerings are investigating to
make sure it was legitimate.
"Were slowly
moving
up the BUCS
table"
Gareth Barron
Student Activities
studentactivities@staffs.ac.uk
Hi there it’s me again and
it’s been a couple of issues since you last heard
from me. Well now I’m
back and after a month
of running around like a
headless ckichen here’s
my article for you guys.
Since the last time we spoke
we have got into full flow
with all the BUCS fixtures,
some teams winning and
some teams losing but all in
all we’re slowly moving up
the BUCS table. This is the
right way for Staffs to move
so thank you, to all the clubs
and keep up the good work.
Well ABC night was another
one of my big events. So
thank you all who turned up
and made it the wonderful
night that it was. Well done
go to Women’s Hockey,
Dance and Women’s Rugby
League who came first second and third respectively.
All in all the evening was
held as a success and we
raised a good amount of
money to put back into the
Student Activities department and make future
events bigger and better.
Well that’s pretty much it
from me for this GK, if you
have any questions, comments or problems please
get in contact with me at
g.barron@staffs.ac.uk.
Speak to you all soon.
08
Lifestyle
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
What's Hot and What's
Not- This Month
Argument- Better to be single at Uni?
Gemma Davenhill
NO!
University for most people
is the best experience of
their life, and it’s even better when you have somebody to share it with.
Now, don’t get me wrong
I’m not saying you should
go out and find a long term
boyfriend/girlfriend in the first
Laurence Mozafari
YES!
University is an amazing experience, now why
on earth would you want to
spoil that with ‘a ball and
chain’? Admittedly that’s how
middle-aged men describe
their wives, but this must
signify something from that
wealth of wrinkly wisdom.
Being single is the best
way to lap up all the frivolous social goodness beyond
fresher’s week. Relationships
are hard at the best of times,
plus you have loads of work
to do, you want to hang
around with your friends, you
want to get so drunk that
you can’t see anymore.
week, lets face it, it’s always
good to be single in your first
fresher’s week. But after the
months go on its natural to
meet someone you like and
get a bit loved up. As crazy
as being single can be, more
often than not, its boring and
well, a little bit lonely. You
may feel that your missing
out by not be young, free and
single when you can, but just
because your in a relationship
doesn’t make you old and
trapped, your still entitled to
fun! You’re not missing out on
anything by being in a relationship, you’re just experiencing different things than you
would be if you were single.
There’s nothing better
than knowing that you have
someone that cares for you
and will be there for you,
whether you’ve had an argument with your housemates
or are just stressed about the
mountain of work you have. A
boyfriend/girlfriend will know
how to make you feel better
more than your friends can
and your friends will probably be wrapped up in their
own stress, where as your
boyfriend/girlfriend will drop
everything just to make you
happy. Being single is fun
and being in a relationship is
even better, but no matter how
you choose to spend your
days at Uni you’re guaranteed
that they will be the best.
You may ask why you can’t
do this whilst in a relationship? Well the answers are
threefold. Firstly, people hate
hanging around with couples.
Fact. As it just reminds them
of how desperate and lonely
they are themselves, also half
the time those ‘friends’ only
like one of you. Which means
that ‘babes’ has merely tagged
along for the ride, your friends
are just tolerating them. The
only exception to this rule
is other couples; of course
they want to go on double
dates like post-menopausal
civil servants…anything to
prevent, staring at their partner blankly over the dwindling
conversation in McDonald’s.
module, but in your girlfriend’s
eyes you might as well be
motor boating her cleavage with your arms raised in
triumph. Unless of course,
you are one of those super
couples devoid of jealously,
that can have separate nights
out in the LRV/Legends.
Secondly, have you ever
gone clubbing as a couple?
Then you will know, that it just
doesn’t work. “Did he just
pinch your arse?” “Is she looking at you?” “There is no ice in
my drink!”…And chaos ensues. You may be harmlessly
chatting to the girl from your
Gemma Davenhill
HOT
Ahh, bless
NOT
Finally, when the deadlines roll around and you’re
stressed. The last thing you
need is your boyfriend coming round to “watch a DVD”.
I don’t know about everyone
else, but my DVD collection
consists of about six films.
So then you’re just left with
casual sex, which whilst
very enjoyable, will undoubtedly distract you from the last
2,000 words of your essay.
The ultimate antidote
to women/man problems
is your mates, so if you do
take the plunge or opt for
bachelorhood you’ll always
have your back covered.
Tights – Opaque tights
of all colours are the way
forward this month. With
a denim skirt they are perfect for day or night.
The Diversity fashion show
– Always a big success and
lots of fun. Go to the student’s
union website to get involved.
Daniel Craig – With Quantum of Solace doing well at
the box office and Mr. Craig
looking his usual gorgeous self
this is definitely his month.
Scarves, gloves and hats
– It’s officially winter now so
your coat simply won’t do.
Reinforcements are needed
in order to survive the cold.
Diana Vickers – As well
as being lovely, she’s really
talented and gives the X Factor
a modern edge rather than just
old people singing ballads.
Photograph: www.pbase.com
X Factor sob stories –
Week after week talented
people leave because someone has a cry. It’s not a charity!
Nudist weekend at Alton Towers – This brings
up a whole world of issues.
All that I’m saying is I hope
they clean the rides after.
Work – The first term is
coming to an end, which
means only one thing…deadlines. Let the late nights and
red bull consumption begin.
Bills – It’s colder inside
than outside leaving you no
choice but to put the heating
on, resulting in bills that leave
you practically bankrupt.
Letting fireworks off – Surely
when you’re at uni you should
know better. Letting fireworks
off in your back garden is just
dangerous. Why not pay the
£2 and go to a proper display.
09
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
Save money-Eat Well-Drink More
Ceri Mchale
We are all feeling the ‘credit
crunch’ aren’t we?
It’s affecting everyone in every aspect of life, from regular
food shopping to petrol and
travelling.
You can still buy the things
you want and still save some
pennies. First of all, if you do
drive, fill up your car now whilst
it is so cheap because prices
will be going back up, Morison’s
is probably your best bet, there
is one at festival park.
There are many ways to save
money whilst food shopping.
First of all you must always look
for any offers on your usual
products, like Buy One Get One
Free, 3 For The Price Of 2, Half
Price etc.
There are loads about so
just keep your eyes peeled and
if there aren’t any on your usual
brand then look at the other
brands. The main way to save
money when food shopping is
to switch to supermarket’s own
brand products, there is a huge
price difference! As you can see
from the table.
These are just a few
of the huge savings you
could be making.
You should especially
swap to the cheaper brands in
cleaning products, toilet rolls
and kitchen rolls, expensive
brands are just not needed.
Another good way to save
money is if you cook for your
housemates! If each of you
take it in turns to cook for the
rest of your housemates then
you can save a lot of money
between you. This can be
something as simple as beans
on toast for everyone, so say
there are 6 people, 6 tins of
beans at £1.74 and 2 loaves
of bread (Sainsbury’s Basics
at 30p each) and so that is
6 meals for £2.34, can’t get
much cheaper than that.
You should never forget to
BUDGET! This should be done
when you get your instalment
of the loan and if you have
a part-time job it should be
done when you get paid. This
should be divided up into rent,
bills, food, other expenses
and then what is left is all
yours so spend as you wish!
LEADING
BRAND
PRICE
SUPERMARKET’S PRICE
OWN BRAND
SAVING
Pizza
£4.99
Express
Margherita
12”
Sainsbury’s Basics
12” Margherita
£0.99
£4
Kellogs
£1.69
Cornflakes
500g
Tesco Cornflakes
500g
£0.95
£0.74
Charmin
Toilet Roll
12 pack
£5.52
Sainsbury’s Basics
12 pack
£1.11
£4.41
Heinz
Backed
Beans
£0.52
Asda’s Smartprice
Beans
£0.29
£0.23
Coca Cola
2l
£1.49
Sainsbury’s Basics
Cola 2l
£0.18
£1.31
Napolina
Pasta
500g
£1.99
Sainsbury’s Basics
Pasta 500g
£0.39
£1.60
!
This table could save your life. . . maybe
Malibu Vibe comes to L.R.V
Laurence Mozafari
Malibu Vibe is coming to
Staffs on the 12th December.
The ‘Malibu Soundclash’ tour
featuring head to head DJ
battles, Cocktail Flaring and
Dance Offs at twenty universities all over the country.
A quite interesting prospect
is the Dj face-offs; the evening
will feature some of ‘the UK’s
finest DJ’s’ mixing and mashing for your pleasure. Also the
chance for undiscovered Dj’s
at Staffs to battle for the ‘King
of the Campus’ crown.
S club 7 tunes on your iPod.
Two sound systems and two
DJ’s will battle it out live in your
union, competing for the most
crowd support. (Expect indie,
reggae, electro, hip-hop, punk
and rap). To keep your favourite
playing, everyone must take
sides and cheer loudly!
Proceedings will be over
seen my MC Normski (no, I
had never heard of him either)
who will be running the dance
offs and dishing out Malibu
prizes.
The event sounds similar to
the ‘just press play’ battles many
clubs do, where the crowd takes
their MP3 players along, plays a
song taking it in turns with another Dj and whoever gets the
greatest crowd support stays
on, like sudden death…where
you’ll rule the day you left those
Apparently merely being
there won’t be enough you’ll
want to ‘get your island on’…
whatever that means. £14m
is being invested in the brand
over the next two years including TV, digital, press and radio.
So expect as many delicious
cocktails involving Malibu as
you can imagine.
Photographs: Malibu Vibe
10
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
Stafford Scriptwriter wins award
Ashleigh Scott
A Stafford student has won
the best short script award at
an International Film Festival.
Xaria Byron, a third year
film production student won
the Portobello Post International Short-Scriptwriting
Competition in London.
“My script: ‘A Tale of Two
Serial Killers’ is a dark comedy and is in pre-production
at the moment. The prize
included £500, a trophy
and a meeting with international agents Elizabeth Dench
and Michelle Arnold.”
The judges chose the
script from over a thousand
entries. In addition Byron’s
play “Redheads Delight” was
shortlisted in the Handful Short
Plays Festival Competition and
in 2007 she made a music
video for the Italian heavy metal
band “Nanowar.” It was used
on their single “Power Of The
Power Of The Power Of The
Power (Of The Great Sword.)”
Xaria Byron, 25, said: “I
got into scriptwriting because
I always had an interest in
stories and films and I turned
to media studies when I was
in my teens. I wrote and
directed some short films but
unfortunately I’ve never been
the best tech person and was
much better at scripting than
making films. I have spent
the last year off for medical
reasons and I have been doing
a lot of writing. After university
I’m hoping to go into scriptwriting professionally, I have
co-created a superhero series
with a fellow student, Luke
Openshaw and we’ve written
several episodes of it. We’re
constantly trying to get the
concept made as a TV show.”
“My stuff is generally offbeat, funny, dark with heavy
dialogue and often has a lot
of themes to it. It doesn’t
shy away from controversial ideas or situations.
Byron has also been
approached by 4 talent as
a result of her award.
Photography by: Matt Hazley
Student has work exhibited in the city
Victoria LaVergne
Alex Frost a Staffordshire
University Fine Art Graduate
who went on to study at Glasgow School of art (MFA ‘98). His
work is exhibited internationally and he has had several solo
exhibitions and residencies in
the UK and Europe. He has most
recently displayed at solo shows
at Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow and
Artsway, Hampshire. This year
his work has also been shown
as part of group exhibitions in
artistically celebrated cities such
as New York, Berlin, London
and Glasgow among others.
His work encompasses many
styles that are translated and
linked through his methodical
way of working and his interest in a type of minimalism.
His work is currently being displayed as part of the
Conjunc+ion 2008 Arts exhibition based in Stoke-on-Trent;
it is a clash of the arts ranging
from sculptures to photography
and the revamp of “obscure
and forgotten material such as
old documentaries... ”. The new
sculptural work for Conjunction 08 has been described
as an exploration of adult
sophistication, playing with
tasteful and mature aesthetics.
On the flipside another artist
from Conjunct+ion has a very
bizarre piece displayed outside
the Flaxman building on college
road, of a car that has been by
design crashed into a tree. A
recorded track of a person trying
to escape out off the boot has
kept many students baffled.
When asked what the creative
thought was behind the idea
they responded with a smirk.
The exhibition will be
running from the 8th November-13th of December.
Photography by: Lauren Hatchard
11
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
Five Ways to stay fashionable this Winter
at Asda has lots of funky floral dresses that are reasonable priced, whilst New Look
has plenty of party dresses for
around £20.
Gemma Davenhill
It’s always hard to keep up
with the latest trends in fashion
when you’re a poor student,
especially when you’ve got bills
to pay, course equipment and
books to buy and not to mention
at least one night out a week. All
this considered it’s hard to buy a
whole new wardrobe every time
the weather changes, lets face
it, no matter how cheap Primark
is, it’s not that cheap! However,
you don’t have to buy a whole
wardrobe to look good this autumn with this guide to autumn/
winter’s key items you’ll look
great and still be on the right
side of your overdraft.
1) The coat - These are
always going to be expensive,
especially if you want them to
last through those cold months.
Trends to wear are military and
sculptured and as you’re always
going to be wearing your coat
you want it to go with everything. Colours such as black,
grey and brown would be a wise
investment. The best shops for
a cheap coat are Primark and
New Look where you can get a
nice style for under £40.
2) The boots – If you want
a sensible, comfortable pair of
4) The chunky jumper – It’s
impossible to survive the winter
months without a junky jumper
or cardigan. You can either
dress them up with black tights
and heels or dress them down
with jeans and Ugg boots. Their
suitable for all occasions and
are incredibly comfortable. Primark has a huge jumper section
but they are more pricey than
your normal Primark clothes. If
you want bargain knit wear then
H&M is the place to go. They
have lots of variety and all for
about £15.
Dark coats are a good investment this Winter.
boots then you can’t go wrong
with Ugg boots. You can get
these from almost anywhere,
but Tesco do lots of colours
for only £10. If you want a nice
pair of ankle boots then there’s
plenty of choice, from classic
black to funky eighties and fake
animal skins. These are a winter
must have and are really good
to make a simple outfit look
more outstanding. New Look
has a wide range of boots,
mainly under £30. Bargain!
3) The dress – Floral
prints are perfect for a casual
look during the day and when
teamed with boots or pumps
create a simple understated
look. Formal, going out dresses
are all about bright colours with
simple shapes. Combined with
black opaque tights and heels
they create a classy covered up
look that won’t be too cold during the winter months. George
5) The jeans – You can’t
really go wrong with jeans this
season. Skinny jeans are perfect
for tucking into your boots or
wearing with pumps on warmer
days. Boyfriend style jeans look
great with Converse for a casual
look and wide legged jeans are
still fashionable from the summer and look great with heels
for a night out or special occasion. Topshop is generally the
best for jeans as they are made
to fit perfectly, however they
are more pricey at around £40.
If that’s above you price range
then New Look do a variety of
good jeans for £25.
Jokes pilfered from other publications
Laurence Mozafari
* Why do farts smell?
So deaf people
can enjoy them too.
*One.
How many Psychologists does it take to
change a light bulb?
*What’s green and
smells of pork?
Kermit’s finger!
*Did you hear about the
magic tractor?
It turned into a field.
*Man walks into
a funk bar…
Ooooooooooowwww!!
*A man takes his dog into
a vet, the vet picks the dog
up, inspects him and then
says: “I’m sorry sir I’m going
to have to put him down.”
Man: “But Why!”
Vet: “Cos’ he is
bloody heavy”.
*What’s the difference between Amir Khan
and a Rustlers burger?
About seven seconds.
*Did you hear about
the farmer that was growing a field of dildos?
Had problems
with squatters.
*A man arrives at a fancy
dress party, stark naked, with
a naked woman on his back.
When asked about what he’s
dressed as he replies: “A
Tortoise…this is Michelle”
appleinsider.com
*Apple Computer announced today that it has
developed a computer chip
that can store and play music
in women's breast implants.
The iBreast will cost £499
to £599. This is considered
to be a major breakthrough
because women are always complaining about
men staring at their breasts
and not listening to them.
12
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
Hubber bummer: absolutely disgusting
Maygen Curruthers
artuproar.com
Hubba Bummer
On the way to work one
day my friend started chewing
gum and was minty fresh by the
time she got in. She decided to
go to the loo before she started
her shift. Whilst sitting down,
she remembered that she needed to get rid of her chewing
gum and thought she'd kill two
birds with one stone by chucking it down the toilet.
She went to the shopfloor. After an hour she got put
arcadiax.vox.com
on changing room duty. She was
relieved because it meant she
could sit down for a while. As
she did, she noticed something
wasn't quite right in the bum department. She stood up and felt
her arse cheeks stick together.
She had no idea what was go-
ing on inside her pants, so she
made a quick dash to the toilets.
When she whipped her knickers
down to her knees she realised
she hadn't dropped her chewing gum down the toilet... It had
landed in her pants and manouvered itself right between her
bum cheeks. And it did not want
to come off. She had to take her
pants off and stuff them in her
bag, and every time she went to
the toilet for the rest of the day
she was peeling dry chewing
gum off of her cheeks.
fundraw.com
Money Doctors: Help is at hand
Students' Union
2009, this amount is £6035. You
will pay tax on anything you earn
above this amount. If you earn
below this amount in the tax year
and are paying tax, you should
be able to claim a refund. See
http://studenttaxadvice.direct.
gov.uk/ for further information
as well as a handy tax refund calculator where you can work out
if you’re entitled to any refund.
! You can also pick up a copy of
the leaflet “Whatever your job,
don’t be confused by tax” from
the Student Advice Centre. This
provides lots of useful information for students about tax, tax
codes, refunds and national inSince the last Money Doctors surance.
article in GK, we’ve been out
and about on campus and have
How do I apply for a Univeranswered over 100 questions sity Bursary, how much will I
you’ve asked us about money. receive and when will I receive
Below are the top 5 most asked this?
questions that you’ve asked
us along with the answers for
You apply on the PN1/PR1
those of you who didn’t manage form that you submit to your Loto speak with us on the Money cal Authority (LA) to be assessed
Doctors stall.
for your student loan and grant.
On this form, there are sections
Do students have to pay for both the student and their
tax?
parent/spouse (if applicable)
to sign. Below these sections it
Everyone (student and non- is stated that the LA will share
student) can earn a certain “personal, financial and course
amount of money within each details” with the University so
tax year tax free. For the tax year that they can determine if you
06th April 2008 to 05th April are entitled to a Bursary. There is
a box below this statement that
the student and their parent/
spouse (if applicable) can tick if
they do not want the LA to share
this information with the University. If you and/or your parents/
spouse (if applicable) have ticked
this box, you will not be assessed
for a University Bursary. If you
have NOT ticked this box, you
will automatically be assessed
for a Bursary. Whether you qualify for a Bursary depends upon
your parents/spouses household
income. Please contact Money
Doctors for further information.
Any Bursary you do receive does
not have to be repaid and is paid
in two instalments: half in February and half in May.
I’m in a lot of debt – can you
help me?
The Money Doctors Service is
part of the Student Advice Centre and we have a license from
the Office of Fair Trading to give
debt advice to those students
struggling with credit card, store
card, catalogue, personal loan
and other types of debts. Please
see
http://www.staffsunion.
com/advice/moneydoctors/
stayinginformed/
for more information regarding how we can help if you are
struggling with debt.
I’m not sure if I’m receiving
the correct amounts of student
support – can you check this for
me?
you to establish what resources
you have but it’s also important
to set it within the wider context
of your life and goals (where you
want to be in six months to a
year’s time) or there will not be
the motivation to keep to it. A
small amount of time also needs
to be set aside each week or
month to ensure you’re on track.
See
http://www.staffsunion.
com/advice/moneydoctors/planahead/
for further information.
Yes, and it’s always a good
idea to ask us to do this as mistakes can occur. So far this academic year the Student Advice
Centre (which the Money Doctors service is part of ) has made
£87,483 for students through
making them aware of additionIf you have further questions
al student loan and grants, benefits and tax credits that they are or need help with any of the
above, why not e-mail moneyentitled to.
doctors@staffs.ac.uk
Can you help me with budAlso why not pick up a free
geting and controlling my
copy of “ Get clued up, stay quids
spending?
in!” the new Money Manual deMany students who ap- signed to help students with
proached us on the Money Doc- their money. Packed with useful
tors stall said that they were information on tuition fees, stufinding it difficult to manage, dent loans, benefits, banking and
control and budget their money. money saving ideas, it’s been deWe can show you how to bud- scribed as “essential reading for
get, plan ahead and keep track all students”. The Money Doctors
of your finances as well as assist Service in the Student Advice
you with looking at if there’s any Centre has recently been given
underlying feelings and beliefs loads of copies to give away free
about money stopping you from to you lucky students. So why
doing these things. Budgeting, not call into the Activities area
planning ahead and keeping of the Students’ Union at Stoke
track can help you to avoid fi- or Stafford to pick up your free
nancial pitfalls. A budget helps copy today.
13
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
Delicious Recipes, and they're cheap
Ceri Mchale
3) Fry or grill the bacon and
then cut into small pieces
4)
Cook the frozen peas
(follow instructions on packet)
5)
Once the potato is
cooked, scoop out the middle
and mix with soft cheese
6) Mix the middle with the
cheese, milk, peas and bacon
7) Replace the ‘explosion’
into the skin.
BANGERS AND MASH
You Will Need:
2 baking potatoes (56p)
2/3 sausages (Supermarket
own brand 48p for 8)
A cap full of milk (50p for
small carton)
A small lump of butter (18p
for supermarket own brand)
Grated cheese (optional)
(£1.10 for a bag)
BURNT BURGERS WITH A
TWIST
(NOT REALLY BURNT,
THEY JUST HAVE THAT YUMMY
BBQ TASTE!)
TOTAL £2.82
1) Peel the potatoes and
chop into quarters
2) Put into a pan of boiling
water and cover for 20-30mins
(or until soft)
3) Grill sausages until cooked
through
4) Drain potatoes but keep
them in the pan
5) Pout in cap full of milk and
add butter
6) Mash together
Bangers and Mash: touchexplode.com
7) And serve, it’s great with
grated cheese on top!
POTATO EXPLOSION
You Will Need:
1 baking potato (28p)
Soft cheese (supermarket
own brand 58p)
Frozen garden peas (97p for
400g)
Bacon (supermarket own
brand £1.19
1 cap full of milk (50p for
small carton) TOTAL £3.52
1) Stab the potato all over
and place in the microwave for
12minutes
2)
Move to a pre-heated
oven and cook through (approx
1hr30mins on medium heat)
You Will Need:
Mince (98p for 400g)
1 Egg (£1.36 for 6 free range
eggs)
Bacon (supermarket own
brand £1.19)
1 Onion (12p)
Bread Bun (63p for 6 buns)
1 Oxo Cube (beef ) (71p for
12 cubes TOTAL - £4.99
1) Cook the bacon to your
liking and cut into tiny pieces
2) Chop up the onion into
tiny pieces
3) Put the mince into a bowl
with the bacon and onion
4) Add the egg
5) Get your hands in there
and mix it all up until it starts to
stick together
6)
Roll the mince up into
balls (divide up to how many
burgers you want and if you have
too much just freeze them for another day)
7)
Flatten them into a
circle(ish)
8)
They work best on a
George Forman grill (or such
like), place on the pre-heated
grill, sprinkle with oxo cubes for
that BBQ burnt taste (YUM)
9) Close and cook for 8mins
10) On a regular grill they
should take the same amount of
time but just check before you
dig in
11) Once cooked place on
your bread bun and top with
whatever you like!!! Cheese, salad, sauce! Anything !
Review of In the Mix night at L.R.V
Bieatrice Veigas
Awesome, Cool, Scintillating
are just some words that spring
to mind reporting on the 'In the
Mix' show hosted by the Afro
Carribean society on October
30th 2008. The sheer exuberance of the first act, a chinese
girl who had the whole audience
clapping throughout her performance set the tone for the rest
of the show.
The brilliant performances
made the long wait as some
of the performers had not arrived worthwhile. The show attempted to "draw people from
different cultures together" as
succintly declared by ACS president Jonathon. It included acts
from Hip hop singers Babybless,
Jeffrio and MC Deadly a journalism student who specialises in
baseline, urban hip hop and the
Gar, Bhangra dancers who set
the audience bhangra-ing, the
cabaret style show stopper by
Staffordshires university dance
society, Patricia Samuels and her
team of wicked belly dancers,
the awesome Staffs ACS dance
team who had the audience wolf
whistling, DJ's ,Biggie a.k.a Black
Zee, DJ Fab, and Giovanni, the
unique KEELE Uni ACS African
rumba dance team, and the not
to be forgotten performance of
the cheerleading society.
mise the plight of human conditions in the world. And then
it was time to party till the wee
hours of the morn!
Photography: Lauren Hatchard
The show ended on a rather
sombre note with a power point
presentation from the world renowned British sculptor Donald
Brown with excerpts from his collection Humanising Sculpture.
Donald uses sculpture to epito-
A commendable effort by
event organisers Taff Gidi and
Malcolm Kandulu for putting
together a show displaying the
diversity and talent present at
Staffsordshire University and
props to MCs Shane and Malcolm for getting the show off
to a flying start. As Fiona Wood,
President, student Union who
was present stated "Hats off to
the ACS for organising such great
acts. Just goes to show what can
be achieved. All the acts except
one were university students and
represent a multicultural and diverse university."
14
Get Spotted - In The Mix
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Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk
15
Photographs by Lauren Hatchard
16
Get Spotted - ABC Night
Get Spotted
**winner **
Photographs by Lauren Hatchard
GKnews
Lifestyle: Gemma & Laurence
gknewslifestyle@staffs.ac.uk
www.gknews.co.uk