R
THIS ISSUE: FLIP TO THE BACK FOR ELECTIONS 2012
VARSITY GETS VIOLENT KCL Alumnus Handcuffed Pictures by Marina Mansour and Charlie Ding
• Reggie in trouble
Vol 19, Issue 8 March 6March 25, 2012
www.roarnews.co.uk
• Pitch invasion
Got a Story?
• Presentation held after crowd dispersed
editor@roarnews.co.uk @roar_news roar! newspaper 020 7379 9833
• KCL Radio and Roar! coverage best ever!
Macadam Building, Surrey Street, London WC2R 2NS
The Queen at King’s
King’s student Chibundu Onuzo 12
The youngest ever sign at Faber gives us an exclusive interview
SPORTS
> see pages 22-23 for the full report
ARTS
NEWS
Roar! is an independent Student Media society at KCLSU. Views expressed in Roar! do not necessarily reflect those of Roar!’s Editorial Board, KCLSU, its trustees, or its employees, or of King’s College London.
Opening of Somerset House... finally!
• A double loss for King’s • Match suspended because of flares
King’s News King’s Entertainment
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FREE
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Full Varsity 2012 coverage S’all about Vasity
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Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
Editor’s Note
2. If a candidate offers sweets. 3. Vote on Wednesday, and then you can fob off the candidates with ‘I’ve voted already’ and not feel bad lying.
4. We don’t want all that power falling into the wrong hands. We’re looking at you, ULU.
5. There are more candidates than ever,
so every vote does count (it’s not unheard of for people to win by 1 vote)!
6. Any excuse to give our two pence worth is welcomed!
7. Because when Student Officers are good, they’re really good. And when they’re bad they’re horrid.
8. Because it’s another way we can have one over on UCL. They have 11 candidates for full time positions, and we have 37.
9. Maybe this time, we’ll get the one who promises cheaper curly fries.
10. At the end of the day, it will give us a legitimate reason to complain about them next year if we actually bothered to vote in the first place!
Well, Varsity was interesting wasn’t it? Have to say I was a bit shocked, I have been to Varsity every year since I started at King’s and I don’t ever remember it being quite so... angry. Normally the casual tearing-to-shreds of the opposition supporters is quite good natured, and other than burning mascots heads and the odd half hearted punch-up, things have never resulted in a match being suspended half way through because the fans are causing security a problem. From where I was sitting UCL looked to be the main perpetrators but who knows. Judging by the way that people scarpered after the match and talk of fights on the train station platform I’m guessing other people felt similarly confused at the OTT situation. I was at the Scotland-France 6 Nations game the weekend before where apart from some really amazing rugby the highlight was a French streaker, who managed to get the length of the Murrayfield pitch before being captured by security and prompty frogmarched back to where he had come from, clutching a French flag over his modesty! Shame we didn’t manage it at the Stoop... Would almost have been more entertaining that our brilliant Cheerleaders - well done King’s Lions doing us proud. On a non rugby front, KCLSU election campaigning has begun. What does that mean? Well, prepare for a week of being collared by people desperate for your vote. The positions of President, Vice President (VP) for Student Media & Engagement, VP Academic Affairs, VP Student Activities & Facilities and three Trustee positions are up for grabs. Check our Roar!s election coverage and keep your beady eye on www.roarnews.co.uk, and our Facebook and Twitter feeds which will have all our election commentary.
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FASHION
make a real change to King’s.
FEATURES
On the ball...
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Burlesque: the art of tease Betsey Blaze
Oscars 2012 Red Carpet Favourites
Do vote, these are the people that KCLSU - and in a round about way you and your tuition fees - pay because they represent YOU! Do you really want to see that money wasted on someone you didn’t want? Best of luck to all the candidates! Lots of Love,
editor@roarnews.co.uk
Zoe xxx
MUSIC
Reasons why Roar! will be voting in the KCLSU elections vote.kcl.ac.uk March 7 - 9 1. Because KCLSU, if led effectively, can
The most viewed on w w w. r o a r n e w s . c o . u k 1. King’s Student Issued with Caution at Varsity Zoe Tipler
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King’s band eye Crown in Camden Harriet Moss
3. KCL Women’s Rugby Reaction to Defeat - Charlotte Richardson 4. Pre Olympics London - Johny Lott Definite Varsity highlight was the cheer leaders- nice pins girlies!
5. Reggie Sings - Video Exclusive We’re pretty chuffed that 3rd March saw over 1000 visits to the www.roarnews.co.uk - if you haven’t visited yet, why not?
This issue of roar was proofed by www.proofreading.co.uk. ‘Special March offers for KCL students’ visit www.proofreading.co.uk/KCL.
ELECTION SPECIAL
2. Varsity Fight - Olivia Selley
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Full Election Coverage
Editor Zoe Tipler editor@roarnews.co.uk
Comment Editor Olivia Selley comment@roarnews.co.uk
Student Groups Editor Laura Arowolo students@raornews.co.uk
Arts Editor Theodora Wakeley arts@roarnews.co.uk
Music Editor Shivan Davis music@roarnews.co.uk
Head of Design Steph Fairbairn design@roarnew.co.uk
Comment Sub-editor Ben Jackson
Careers Editor Georgia Rajah
Features Editor Matt Lever features@roarnews.co.uk
Fashion and Lifestyle Editor Coryn Brisbane fashion@roarnews.co.uk
Film Editor Beth Cohon film@roarnews.co.uk
Sports Editor Charlotte Richardson sports@roarnews.co.uk
Film Sub-editor Maurice Loach
Proofing Editor Sofie Kouropatov proof@roarnews.co.uk
News Editor Luke Chattaway news@roarnews.co.uk
Proofing Sub-editor Max Edwards Legal and Advertising Fran Allfrey vpsme@kclsu.org Next content deadline: 12th of March
Wanted: next year’s editorial team. Roar! are on the hunt for next year’s team. So, if you are interested in being part of it then apply by the 31st of March at 5pm to editor@roarnews.co.uk. Editor: 2 published articles 250 words or less each, CV of one A4 page, 400 words on what you like about the paper, and what you would change. Demonstrate your interest in student media and your team leadership abilities. Benefits of being editor include libel and indesign training. Section editors: 2 published works of 250 words or less each, CV of one A4 page and 200 words about what you would do with your section. No editorial experience necessary.
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News
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Edited by Luke Chattaway news@roarnews.co.uk
vote.kcl.ac.uk vote from 9am 7th March till 5pm on 9th March
NEWS IN BRIEF Fewer than 2000 KCL students ‘active ULU members’ Roar! can exclusively reveal that less than 2000 King’s students are in possession of a University of London Union members card. A ULU card is required to join any club, society or the Energybase Fitness centre/swimming pool.
One World brings Africa to Tutu’s
The figures show that the £117,949 that King’s pays every year to ULU in affiliation fees is entirely disproportionate to the number of KCL students utilising ULU facilities. The college is subsidising ULU teams and societies to the tune of £58.00 per student.
ing’. Nominees included Honourable Thokozani Khupe (The Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe), Lemar, and Junior Tennis Champion, Michael Mhangami. Previous award winner, KCL alumnus, Archbishop Desmond Tutu won the award for his fight for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.
On Wednesday the 22nd February Tutu’s was proud to host the 80th annual African Achievers Awards as part of One World Week. The African Achievers Awards (AAA) recognises all those who have made a positive contribution to the African Continent. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Africa Ris-
Alongside a number of KCL societies entertainment was provided by internationally acclaimed MOBO winner 2 Face and Ghanaian-British rapper Sway.
Un-Crowning Glory
nation may seem well-founded in that it only makes sense to reward those who are particularly deserving, rather than only those who have made a minimal commitment, this cannot be quantified by time. Dedication and effort are not time dependent and particularly in media societies it is often the efforts of a contributor over just one term or even one project that brings the greatest benefit to KCLSU and the student community as a whole.
So, in case you didn’t know, you can be awarded Crowns or Colours for participation in a Student Activity Group or Sports Team, respectively, if you have been a member for 2 or more years. According to the KCLSU website “Colours and Crowns mark the dedication and efforts of King’s students involved in societies, groups and sports clubs”. So far so good. However, the emphasis on the dedication and effort is somewhat undermined in the experience of myself, as Station Manager of KCL Radio, and of Zoe Tipler, the current Editor of Roar, by the stipulation that any nominee must have been involved for at least two years at committee level. Though any criticism of our conster-
The ULU building on Malet Street : but do enough of us go there to make it worth the dollar we spill?
In Roar’s current editorial team there is just one Editor who is eligible to receive a Crown for their service, despite many a sleepless night and hours spent in the hole that is the Roar office. Similarly on KCL Radio, as our Politics Editor has been involved with the station just a few months he is not deemed worthy by the current system of any recognition, despite bringing better guests and opportunities to the radio than anyone in his area has done before, even when they’ve been
The trusts that run three KCL affiliated hospitals - as well as another South London group - have made steps towards a future merger. The proposed action will unite the Guy’s and St Thomas’s, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley trusts into one single organised group. ‘What we are considering isn’t just another NHS merger – not only are we approaching this from a position of strength financially, but we will be creating a totally new type of organisation that brings closely together mental and physical healthcare with research, education and training at its highest level,’ says Professor Robert Lechler, executive director of King’s Health Partners, a centre that already
While the Chief Executive Officer Julie Adams was keen to point out, ‘a ULU card is not required to come into the building during the day.’ After 6:30pm ‘a college card as well as a ULU card will allow students access’, the figures do raise the question...could the money be better spent increasing funding to KCL clubs and societies?
The event was hosted by Nollywood actress Joke Silva and Comedian Julius Agwu alongside keynote speakers H.E. Babatunde Fashola S.A.N (Executive Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria) and Dr Funmi Olonisakin.
Freya Pascall
Hospital trust merger
It’s all going well, we trust? KCL partner hospitals are considering a merger.
Who’s IDea was this?
King’s caused drama on Wednesday 29th when, unbeknown to students, security was posted at the KCLSU and Strand entrances to the college demanding that each student or staff member present their college ID card or they “can’t let you in”. This was all because of the Queen’s visit to open the new East Wing of Somerset House.
We Got Sway: Ghanian-British rapper attended the Africa Acheivers Awards at Tutu’s involved for their full 3 years. If these examples seem like exceptional cases, in abstract it still seems unjust that someone could do a reasonable job on a committee for 3 years and be rewarded, whilst a final year working themselves in to the ground receives not even a nod of the head from KCLSU. There are of course Half-Laurels and other such awards later in the year - but why exclude such hard working people from a celebration of all that is great and good at KCLSU? Our current Vice President Student Activities and Facilities, Holly Walsh, said recently in an email about Crowns and Colours: “It is now your turn as committee members to nominate your deserving group and fellow committee members for Crown and Colour awards.” We just wish we could!
THE LONDON MAYOR ELECTIONS! ROAR! SAY: REGISTER TO VOTE
It’s all about democracy at the moment it seems. Well, whatever you think of union elections, make sure you’ve registered to vote in the GLA (that’s Greater London Authority) elections, set for May 5th. This is your chance to keep Boris in, or make a big change for London. The Mayor decides things such as fare rises, and where London’s money is spent. They could make big changes for students if they put their mind to it: we’d like to see the new mayor put some rules on Landlords or agencies who rent to students, or crack down on unpaid internships for starters.
King’s Don’t Pay?
King’s recently received attention from twitter and workers’ rights blogs as a result of advertising unpaid ‘internships’ on their website. These placements were within the HR Department, to last for 12 weeks, 5 days a week, 9am to 5pm. Only travel costs would be covered. In accordance with law, a ‘worker’ – someone who ‘has to perform work or services personally and cannot send a substitute or sub-contract the work’ – should receive National Minimum Wage amongst other basic worker rights. Looking at the job de-
Also this week...
The trusts - along with the College have unanimously endorsed the preparation of a strategic case to outline the benefits and costs of a potential move. Lechler adds, ‘This is a hugely significant moment for our AHSC [Academic Health Service Centre]. However, it is only the first step along the road to integration. As we develop the strategic outline case, we will be engaging with staff and patients as well as healthcare providers and commissioners in south London to ensure that our new organisation is able to deliver the very best patient care possible and speed up the time it takes for research discoveries to become routine clinical practice.’
King’s communications department failed to inform any students or KCLSU that they would be required to present their ID to gain entrance, leaving many students missing lectures or late and staff at the Strand having to look people up on the college intranet to confirm they were students and staff. Despite the college’s claim that it is policy for students to carry their ID cards, nowhere on the college website does it state that. One disgruntled student left campus exclaiming, “this is a joke”. scription, it was noteworthy that listed amongst ‘desirable’ characteristics of a potential intern was ‘a certificate in Personnel Practise’, and essential characteristics included ‘experience in working in an office’, and ‘in a customer facing environment’. As internships are most often seen as the first rung on a career ladder, it seems that taking up this internship would actually be a step back for anyone with a professional accreditation and the relevant desired experience under their belt. As http://thethirdestate.net noted, ‘KCL ran a budget with a surplus of £27.5m [last year]. One would have thought that this could be used to pay for staff.’. Roar! totally agree, and we’re glad to see the ad taken down.
In the spirit of the old Leap year tradition, here’s a rather special announcement from one of our readers.
We’ve known each other for almost three years now and every moment of that time has been like the breeze from an angel’s wingbeat. Please do me the honour and take me that little bit closer to heaven: Naseen Bakhtar, will you marry me? Love from your girl.
So, make sure you register (Halls students, we’ve heard that you’re automatically registered, but make sure you check, you know how it is...). Unhelpfully, registration is organised by each Borough, so google GLA Elections 2012 plus your Borough name (eg Hackney, Lambeth, Islington, Westminster... you get the idea). Furthermore, ULU have arranged for each Mayoral candidate to come and take your questions, search Mayoral Elections Debate Week on Facebook. Whilst your at it, check out www.kclsu.org/gla for info and videos too.
promotes cooperation between the separate bodies.
Roar! sincerely hopes this loved up lady gets the answer she wants. Who said romance was dead?
News
December 22nd 2012 Roar!, March 6th 13th- MarchJanuary 25th, 2012
New Russia Institute to Open Soon Tim Wyatt King’s will open a new Russia Institute in 2013 to complete the set of centres studying the BRIC nations. The Brazil and China Institutes were set up in 2008, and the India Institute was established just last month. The centre will offer both Master’s and PhD courses looking at contemporary Russia across the humanities, social sciences, law and even medi-
cine. The Institute also hopes to forge links with Russian universities and researchers, as well as the Russian community here in London.
former superpower interacts with her post-Soviet neighbours and try to understand Russia’s place in a globalised world.
Marat Shterin, Lecturer in Religion, Society and Politics, said: ‘London is now home to tens of thousands of Russians and, more generally, Russian-speaking people, many of whom are highly successful professionals in business, arts, academia and other walks of life. The institute will be a natural intellectual home for these people and will provide a forum for exchanging views and developing new ideas and projects.’
The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations are predicted to be the economic and political powerhouses of the 21st century, and by 2013 King’s will have academics and students studying each of them. As well as the recent opening of the India Institute, the global centres project received a boost when they were given £6m from Hong Kong alumnus Dr Lau Ming-Wai. The Indian multinational Avantha Group also donated £3.5m last year to endow a chair for the India Institute.
The College is currently looking to hire a Director to lead the Institute, ahead of a formal opening next year. As well as studying Russia, students at the Institute will examine how the
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To mark the official opening of the East Wing of Somerset House, the Queen - and her lovely dress - came and had a look around. Press Association picture
Globe Study reveals New Theatrical Treasures
interesting dynamics of how actors respond to an outdoor theatre space and how theatregoers deal with the unique challenges of attending a venue with only wooden benches or standing tickets. Sarah Dustagheer focused on how the different kinds of spaces
Tuition Fiend Returns: KCL applications Drop Shivan Davis King’s College London has announced that applications for entry to the university in 2012/13 have dropped by 10.7%. Experts have been predicting a fall in applications this year due to the government’s decision to raise tuition fees to £9,000 and last month the government announced an overall drop in university applications in the UK
A new collaboration between
Shakespeare had at his disposal
the Globe Theatre, KCL, Queen
may have affected the way he
Mary’s and the University of Lon-
wrote his plays. In the winter,
don has yielded its first two PhDs.
Shakespeare’s company would
The recipients of these awards
perform indoors in smaller can-
by 8.7%. In England, where fees for
ance is compared with other London
- Penelope Woods and Sarah
dlelit rooms and she believes
most top universities are now £9,000,
universities. The statistics show that
Dustagheer - have been studying
that these intimate atmospheres
there was a 9.9% fall. Although the
King’s is losing ground to its rivals.
how the space of Shakespeare’s
may have had a role in shaping
figures were slightly less than pre-
LSE saw a drop of 8.2% which, con-
famous theatre influenced the way
the ways plays like The Tempest
dicted, they still show the sharpest
sidering that they are the only Russell
his plays were written.
differ from more crowd oriented
decline for 30 years.
Group University to charge less than
performances like Julius Caesar.
the maximum tuition fees (£8,500),
Penelope Woods’s studies concen-
The reactions to the announcements
is still unexpected. UCL saw a slim
trated on comparing the audiences
It is hoped that more of this kind
have been polarized. Responding to
decrease of just 1.5% and Imperial a
that flocked to the original Globe
of research can help illuminate
the figures, Universities UK stated
mere 0.2%.
(which burned down in 1613)
new approaches to Shakepeare’s
and those that visit its modern
work that locate it within the performance context of its time.
that the ‘dip is far less dramatic than many were initially predicting’. Sally
However, other prestigious London
reconstruction today. She looked
Hunt, the general secretary of the
universities such as Goldsmiths and
into how these audiences affect
UCU lecturers’ union, however, ar-
City University fared even worse,
the performances, including the
gued that ‘the figures are very wor-
with a drop by 23% and 20.5% re-
rying and highlight the government’s
spectively.
folly in raising tuition fees to as much as £9,000 a year.’
Questions will need to be answered by the management at King’s on how
Although the drop in applications
exactly they plan to draw more ap-
was only slightly higher than the na-
plicants in for next year, and perhaps
tional average, there is cause for con-
judgement should be saved until then.
cern for King’s when their perform-
Dont Forget to fill in the National Students Survey! 400,000 students from across the country have the opportunity to Rate Their University. It’s really important for your department and KCL overall! This is your chance to influnce the national rating of KCL as a university. www.thestudentsurvey.com
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Comment
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Edited by Olivia Selley comment@roarnews.co.uk
vote.kcl.ac.uk vote from 9am 7th March till 5pm on 9th March
Screenless
A ‘bad week’ for Atheism? Try a bad week for journalism
Matt Robinson
Olivia Selley
So, here’s a quick summary of all the Lucian Freud data that’s going to be spooled out and rehashed over the next couple of months, a time when – if you haven’t noticed – all those who care (in whatever capacity) will be swimming in the eddies of a new posthumous exhibition at the NPG and in the wide slow wake of Freud’s death that occurred late last year: Freud was the grandson of Sigmund; Freud accidently burnt down an art school; Freud got up to all kinds of high-jinks with Francis Bacon in Soho, when Soho was Real; Freud associated with criminals; Freud slept with many of the women he painted (or rather, painted many of the women he was sleeping with) and had many illegitimate children; Freud had the hand-writing of a six year old; Freud was both High-Society and GildedGutter; Freud liked to gossip; Freud demonstrated a tenderness to animals and a wariness to humans, at least in his paintings; Freud knew Kate Moss; Freud painted the Queen as looking disarmingly muscular, especially around the jaw-line; Freud lived to be very old; Freud never stopped painting. I am something of a Freud nerd, the disadvantage of which being that I don’t know that much more about the man Himself than does the casual Freud amateur. There are only a few scraps of information, a few rumourthreads, and these are all in the process of being woven into a rich mythical tapestry. A biography was once threatened, but the biographer in question was (reportedly) persuaded against writing it by means of coercive emphasis of article #4 of the above list. The Life has been sternly guarded, and even if it was impossible to stop parts of it spilling over into the public eye, the initial plea remains: let
.
the paintings speak for themselves. Much has been made of Freud’s ever-changing style, but for brevity’s sake I have categorised it into the following epochs: Scary Germans (1930s-40s); Detailed & Spiky (1940s-50s); Scratchy (1950s-60s); Swirly & Gloopy (1960s); Plasticine-y (1970s-80s [my personal favourite]); and Splodgy & Crumbly (1990s-2010s). The styles are disparate, but each is noticeably the result of a sensibility that remains consistent between them all. Every painting is the work of someone who walked the tight-rope of obsession with a long balancing-pole of talent. Nothing is sketchy, nothing is coloured in, and no corners have been cut. Each portrait has been relentlessly hammered out with a precision that is no less violent for being careful. Tellingly, the key word being bandied about by critics and puff-pieces and paying visitors is presence. Everyone is most impressed by how physically and mentally ‘there’ Freud’s sitters seem to be, how they seem to be (or at least be derived from) actual people who sat and thought and looked at the floor, as opposed to being just coloured shapes on canvas. There is no trickery, though, no trompe-l’oeil. Freud’s people are not holographic hyper-realistic simulacra, and the distortions that his subjects suffer are more the distortions of a sculptor stretching and tweaking at clay than the optical warping of a lens-obsessed post-photography painter. David Hockney can be counted as something of the latter. A 10 minutes’ walk from the Freud exhibition, Hockney has set up camp at the RA, commandeering all of the main rooms and covering an impressive percentage of wall. This prestigious space has been turned into a Hockney cathedral, partly geared to promoting his special
pet theory that observational painting can be successfully enhanced by the pioneering technology of the day. Here we have at least one of the famous photo-montages; we have several enormous mega-screens (made by a cluster of regular flat-screens, mounted together) showing videos of the countryside; we have ginormous and slightly pixelated print-outs of his iPhone drawings (which were done directly onto the screen with a special stylus); and, in a small dark room near the end of the exhibition, we have several iPads, each fading a new iPhone drawing onto the screen every couple of seconds. The result is that even the work made with brushes and pigment and canvas starts to seem, retrospectively, like a selection of screensavers, especially as Hockney’s trademark usage of Pop colours makes everything look slightly backlit. I walked around the whole thing in about half an hour, which I suspect is how long it took Hockney to complete some of his paintings. The difference in method between this and the exhaustive process employed by Freud makes all the difference, and, happily, this is most ably demonstrated by Freud’s portrait of Hockney. The accretion of personality works in direct conjunction with the abrasion of artifice, and Hockney’s emerald showmanship clearly disappeared during one of the earlier sittings. The resulting portrait exposes more northern steel than we are apt to see in the ex-blonde ex-Californian; by sheer accumulation of detail and observation, Freud (who understood secrecy) reveals a hidden dimension of a personality far more media-worn than his own. This might be why Hockney looks so pissed off.
Nuisance not necessity Hugh Thomson
They lurk on street corners in Central London, accosting vulnerable passers-by and attempting to persuade them into parting with their cash. But this is not Old Compton Street at 3 o’clock in the morning, this is Tottenham Court Road during the morning rush hour. And rather than being scantily clad and having a visage that reveals years of hard-drug taking experience, these guys are fresh-faced, energetic and sporting stylish fluorescent jackets. I am, of course, describing the street charity fundraiser, but the comparison with their nocturnal counterparts is not accidental, for I believe the profession of the street fundraiser is equally, if not more so, as morally dubious as that of the prostitute.
Why do I feel so strongly about this issue? As I’m striding down Tottenham Court Road smoking my pipe the last thing I want is to be harassed by a charity worker, a sentiment that I’m sure is shared by many. Yet on this road, encountering these charitywhores is an unfortunate inevitability. And they are becoming more predatory. Whilst in the past they would have waited for you to show an active interest in their charity, or at least make eye contact, before approaching you, they will now pursue you endlessly, regardless of how hard you try to avert your gaze. A polite smile, “sorry” and a shake of the head is no longer enough to placate the charitywhore, whose desire to sign you up to his or her scheme is insatiable.
Many people will see my attack on these innocent charity workers as symptomatic of a massive overreaction. Others might misinterpret my paroxysms of rage as being directed at the charities themselves; this is not the case. But when recently I saw a visibly distressed young woman pursued by a fundraiser despite her repeated attempts to escape, I realised something had to be done. Rather than phoning in to Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, I decided to let off some steam in Roar!
Pursuing someone in this way is unpleasant. It’s made worse by the fact that several workers from the same charity position themselves in succession along a street. The typical response to their shouting and waving runs thus: “As you noticed, I didn’t stop for your colleague, so what makes you think I’m going to stop for you?” If it was anything other than charity - if they were selling something, for instance - these fundraisers would have been outlawed a long time ago on account of their foul tactics. What makes these tactics,
which include guilt tripping, even more sickening is the hypocritical and generally deplorable character of the people employed in this field. They are not volunteers, far from it - they are paid a ludicrously disproportionate amount of money. From their behaviour and general attitude I can assert with some confidence that these are not the sort of people who donate to charities themselves. Recently I saw a group from a homeless charity setting up, laughing and joking while a man slept in a doorway yards away from them. The counter-argument would be that the disruption they cause becomes irrelevant, at worst an unfortunate necessity, if they are helping to raise money for struggling charities. However, I would posit the idea that they actually have a detrimental effect on charities’ fundraising, though admittedly this effect is unquantifiable. Charities, unlike most organisations in society, are faceless, having few recognisable or identifiable leaders – thus their public image is provided by the people who work for them on the streets. When these people act the way they do, people’s general opinions of the charity is worsened, and I would argue that they are less likely to donate money. Round them up and shoot them.
Last week (beginning 13th February) the Telegraph produced a number of articles that irritated me and, judging by the newspaper’s online message boards, a number of their readers. The main catalyst for a spate of articles was the ruling by the High Court on 10th February to deny councillors the right to open meetings with prayers. A secular member of Bideford Town Council was the originator of the complaint to the High Court, which has since been reversed. Justice Minister Eric Pickles called the initial ruling “illiberal”, which maybe it was; perhaps it was a needlessly crude bone to pick with religious faith in this country. However, the case was revealing in another way: apparently thrilled by the ‘humiliating’ defeat suffered by the malicious forces of Atheism, the Telegraph’s finest took out their pens and delivered what were surely the most discombobulating blows suffered by unbelievers yet. Their prose was so wickedly brilliant, measured and devastating that it left the reader wondering whether there really wasn’t life left in the defenders of the Christian faith just yet. For make no mistake, despite their magnanimous use of the illusive word ‘faith’, and their effusive praise of the Muslim Baroness Warsi for her defence of the Church last week, these were all Christian writers standing primarily behind the Church of England. What was revealing about these articles was not just how terribly ineffective their arguments were, it was how self-satisfied the authors were after making them. This says something about the virility of religious defence as a whole. I’m not saying these people are bad at what they do; on other topics they probably know their stuff and are probably more knowledgeable and coherent in their arguments. Yet this was, quite simply, piss poor journalism. Coinciding with the controversy over Bideford Council were a couple of fairly low-key activities by Richard Dawkins; a poll to determine religious faith in this country and an interview on a Radio 4 Today programme in which he stuttered in attempting to recall the full title of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Despite having made few waves in the last few weeks, Dawkins still proves to be the most popular unbeliever. Pearson childishly referred to him as ‘the Dork’ in an opinion piece, which was self-contradictory and insulting. She hailed the fact that around half of those questioned called themselves Christian and suggested that this was evidence of religion’s ability to still fascinate the minds of British people. However, she then
went on to bemoan a recent incident that saw dozens of commuters walk past an injured boy at a station, claiming this was a vision of what it would be like to live in an irreligious society. This story was all nicely set up to allow what Pearson probably thought would be a resounding and poetic sign off, ‘by the way, there’s a story telling you not to walk by on the other side when a vulnerable stranger is in trouble. It’s in this rather good book.’ Coupled with her penultimate sentence, an assertion that individuals lacking in ‘basic humanity and compassion’ sounds ‘remarkably like the Dork, high priest of atheists’, this confirmed my suspicions that this was a rushed, desperate piece of writing. However, the appearance of other articles extolling Britain’s religious character led me to doubt whether anybody looked over Pearson’s work before it was published. In fact, strong anti-atheist sentiment seems to be the Telegraph party line. Charles Moore and Janet Daley over the following weekend found it necessary to mention Dawkins in their defences of religion. Moore’s was the only article that remained vaguely balanced or calm. Daley, however, did not see the hypocrisy in glorying over the ‘anger’ against the ‘smug anti-religion brigade’ just 29 words before giving us a score-line, ‘God 1, Richard Dawkins 0’. Once again one is struck by the childishness of an article written by a sixty-something year-old Telegraph columnist. The theme continued in the Sunday paper on 19th February with the revelation that one of Dawkins’ ancestors made a fortune from employing African slaves on Jamaican sugar plantations, as if this somehow bore relevance to his current campaigns for atheism. To cap it all off, another Telegraph commentator, Christina Odone, endorsed this misguided position directly to Dawkins’ face on the same day’s BBC edition of ethics programme, The Big Questions. Odone crassly referred to his ancestral link as “amusing”, with no one actively questioning what a morbid thing to say this really was. Odone, who professed on the same show to believe in miracles and the Virgin Birth, and all her fellow evangelizing Telegraph writers would have dealt a far greater blow to their own faith than to atheism if only I thought that more people actually heard or read what they said. That these are the best defences Christianity can call upon in Britain lends yet more backing to a fact that has been clear for some time, which is that arguments for the veracity and utility of religion are in a state of constant decline.
Comment
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
7
Comment Sub-Editor Ben Jackson
Should we give the Falkland Islands back?
Anonymous
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They have a natural claim over the Islands
In my opinion, yes, they should. The Falkland Islands belong to Argentina and to South America. They have a very obvious natural claim over the islands as they are part of South America and are clearly part of Argentina; just look at the geography. But no, the islands remain a bastion of crumbling British imperialism. It just seems Britain is holding onto these islands to be able to increase its own confidence and arrogance. We must first look at Argentina’s perspective. The islands were claimed by the French in 1744 and then sold to the Spanish in 1756. The British, however, also claimed them in 1755. The islands were then abandoned in 1773. In 1829, a Spanish Argentine settlement was established in West Falkland and four years later this was followed by a British settlement in East Falkland. In my eyes this makes it clear that Argentina does have a very real claim on the islands. They were claimed by Britain, were subsequently abandoned and then independent Argentina built a settlement on the islands. That claim must be respected! The problem is that when Argentina invaded the islands it was at the orders of a totalitarian and despotical military dictatorship that hijacked the legitimate claims of the Argentine people to try and hold onto power. Nowadays, Argentina is a democratic nation and so this must be taken into account. The topic
YES is still very close to the hearts of many Argentines and it is seen as a unifying topic for the nation, which is struggling to establish itself in the region. I don’t understand why more blood has to be shed for these isolated and very remote islands. It just seems stupid for people to lose their lives over what is essentially an ego trip. I would propose a solution that would benefit both sides, reconcile the British and the Argentines. Most people see it as either British or as Argentine and nothing in between, but wasn’t Hong Kong exactly in the same position? Hong Kong was a British territory but it was obviously part of China. So, a deal was struck whereby Hong Kong would become Chinese sovereign territory but would keep its own democratic and economic freedom. Surely this is the best solution to ease tensions and to begin the road to friendship and co-operation? The Argentines get what they want - the Falklands - and the British get what they want - the protection of the Falkland Islanders’ culture and British way of life. If we can make a deal with Communist China it seems stupid that we can’t negotiate with Argentina. Everyone wins. It’s funny what happens when you stop sabre rattling.
NO You might think it’s a pointless pursuit to argue about keeping the Falkland Islands British if you just think about how far away the islands are from the UK. But consider one thing: the people living on the island want to remain British! As Cameron said in Stockholm in early February, “The people of the Islands want to stay British and the UK will defend the territory properly to make sure they do so”. Quite right. Imagine the following scenario. You’re living on an island where your parents were brought up and a nation wants to invade your island as it thinks it has a claim to it. What an outrageous thing for a country to do in this century. It doesn’t matter how the people got there originally. The fact is, they’re there now and they want to live peaceful lives under British rule. Surely Argentina should respect that desire. It seems to me like a purely political ploy, all this Falklands nonsense. A way of distracting the Argentines from affairs back home. A way of drumming up national pride. Well, I’ll tell you this, it’s dangerous, and the UK has already shown what it’s capable of. We do not want a repeat of the Falklands War. What is the Argentine government expecting, seriously? The British Army, under Thatcher, defeated them and thus the conflict was over. Pursuing this conflict as if it’s a legitimate aspect of one’s manifesto seems
Stephen Birch like a terribly churlish thing to do. I’ll spell it out for you. Bringing the Falkland Islands issue up again is a dangerous and risky idea. No one wants to lose any more lives over these islands. We shouldn’t give the Falklands back because of the sacrifices made by the 253 airmen, soldiers and sailors who lost their lives fighting for British sovereignty there. To simply give the islands back would be a huge disrespect to the men who gave their lives in the service of the Crown. There was a war and the consequences of that war were that the Falkland Islands were to remain British. It’s not like we attacked civilians or are subsequently running a dictatorship on the islands. The islands are rightfully ours and anyone who argues otherwise is showing their ignorance of international politics and the way war works. And now some actor has taken it upon himself to grace the rest of us with his righteous opinions on the matter, calling Britain colonial and archaic. To Sean Penn, I say it’s up to the islanders, not the actors, to decide their future. The United Nations is all about supporting people’s right to selfdetermination. Rather than having another war, or giving the islands freely back to Argentina, I say let the islanders determine their own future. The islanders want to remain British. What more is there to say?
If you have any issue that you are burning to debate e-mail Ben at comment@roarnews.co.uk
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The people want to remain British
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To whom do the Falkland Islands rightfully belong? This is quite a heavy subject, so I suggest you put down your tea and croissant and give this monthÕs Burning Issue your full attention. A while back, Argentine PM Cristina Fern‡ndez decided sheÕd mouth off about how the British have no right to own these islands. She seemed to forget that the matter was settled some time ago. Since her scathing comments, the UK has stepped up the military presence there. And now some unknown Hollywood actor has decided he should have his say. In an attack on Britain, Sean Penn has called us colonial. However, there are people living on these islands (albeit strategically placed there by the government) - ItÕs like Occupy the London Stock Exchange all over again! In the midst of all these politicians and celebrities having their say, has anyone asked the inhabitants of the islands what they want? I expect the reply would be a glorious, reverberating ÒRule Britannia!Ó This monthÕs Burning Issue asks, should we give the Falklands back to the Argies or carry on in the spirit of Thatcher and tell them to back off?
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8
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Student Groups Edited by Laura Arowolo students@roarnews.co.uk
The Beginning of The End of AIDS: KCL Stop Aids Society - Platform Campaign 2012 Anna Wrigley - Stop Aids Society President Thanks to new findings the end of AIDS is now within our grasp. The Stop AIDS Society will be campaigning on two important issues this term: the Patent Pool and the Global Fund. Last term, to mark 30 years since AIDS was first diagnosed, we teamed up with International Medical Corp., Sexpression, LGBT Society and Medsin to host AIDS Awareness Week; a week of fundraising
and
awareness-raising
activities!
Throughout the week just over £900 was raised and 450 AIDS ribbons were worn. In addition, a photo petition involving 70 King's students was presented to a gathering of MPs at the Houses of Parliament on World AIDS Day asking David Cameron to join the US in pledging the UK's commitment to bringing an end to AIDS within a generation.
The money raised from the week is being divided between four brilliant charities including Naz Project London (NPL), which provides sexual health and HIV prevention and support service to selected Black and Ethnic Minority communities in London; the Terence Higgins Trust, the Oasis South Africa HIV Project in Cosmo City, which combines a clinic service with home-based follow-up and has achieved a 0% rate of HIV
among babies whose mothers attended their antenatal clinic and International Medical Corp., which runs HIV/AIDS prevention education and treatment projects in Burundi, Kenya, Congo and southern Sudan. A big THANK YOU to all of you who got involved, wore ribbons, had photos taken, bought clothes from the bazaar and donated money!
Current Campaigns: How YOU can get involved
With big global issues such as AIDS it can be hard to think about what you personally can do to make a difference. The Stop Aids Society however are running two campaigns, with easy ways for anyone to get involved! The Patent Pool Campaign:
The patent pool was established in 2009 to act as a one-stop shop for drug patents for manufacturers interested in producing generic and childfriendly HIV drugs for low and middle income countries. So far there is a full patent from Gilead in the pool and half a patent from the US National Institute of Health, but Johnson
& Johnson own the other half of this patent and are currently saying ‘No’ to the pool. We want Johnson & Johnson to join the pool party and share the rest of the patent - and ultimately help save more lives! What you can do: We need as many short video clips as possible from mothers/fathers outlining why they no longer trust Johnson & Johnson.
Send your video clips by March 12th 2012 to kclstopaidssociety@gmail. com. The Global Fund for HIV, Malaria and TB Campaign: New evidence has confirmed that Antiretrovirals (ARVs) reduce the risks of transmission of HIV by 96%! There are now calls for governments to inject increased funds now so as to allow for
Hidden Prejudice
Rebecca Kwasniewski will be giving a talk on Friday 9th March at 11am in Activity Room 2, Boland House about her experiences of living and supporting her partner through his illness, the trauma of his loss, the impact on her family and the ‘hidden prejudice’ she experienced. ‘It’s was just one of those things that you presume will never happen to you. But it did. And it rocked my life, my ideals, my understandings, my security, my comfort zones and my white ‘Surrey’ middle class belief system. There are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved with the Stop AIDS society this year!
That’s the thing about AIDS, despite all our preconceptions, it DOES NOT discriminate. I think people still forget this. He wasn’t African,
a decline in infection rates after ten years. What you can do: Write to your MP today and ask to meet with them on March Day of Action to discuss the UK’s role in this important campaign. We will give you full briefing and training prior to your meeting.
homosexual, black, promiscuous, a prostitute or a drug user, but he had AIDS. How? How could he have AIDS? And did I? Worse than that, was our daughter infected? It was the summer of ’94, I was 23 years old. After suffering body rashes, a bad cough and extreme tiredness, my partner (the father of my child), was diagnosed with AIDS. The journey of the next eighteen months was fraught with confusion, emotion and feelings of isolation, whilst my family and I tried to come to terms with the devastating news and, ultimately, my partners’ untimely death’. Please join us in listening to her story. Free food and refreshments will be provided. All donations received will be given to the Terrance Higgins Trust and Oasis.
FACT: An estimated 22,200 people in the UK have HIV but are unaware of it..... FACT: 1 in 4 people with HIV in the UK don't know they have it..... SO: Get tested!
Stop AIDS Society: Up coming Events Friday 9th March ‘Hidden Prejudice’
Talk about the reality of living with and supporting someone with AIDS. Free food, Q&A session and workshop on lobbying. 11am in Activity Room 2, Boland House
Tuesday 13th March ‘The March Day of Action’
This is the day we go crazy, lobbying hard for the Patent Pool and Global Fund, we’ll be doing stunts around London as well as meeting MPs at the Houses of Parliament. Join ‘Kcl Stopaids’ on facebook or email kclstopaidssoceity@gmail. com to be put on the mailing list to find out about all the events going on. Be on the committee! Elections are coming up soon for committee positions. Send us an email at the above address if you want to get involved.
KCL Students Stand Up 4 Syria London Citizens: CitySafe Campaign Areeb Ullah Since March last year, thousands of civilians have fallen victim to the escalating violence in Syria. With an estimated 100 Syrians dying every week and many being displaced from their homes. It has led to many seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. Frustrated by the dire situation, the KCL Islamic Society (ISOC) has teamed up with the charity Human Aid to set up a new campaign called Students4Syria. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the situation in Syria, and raise £70,000 that will go towards a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border. Students from KCL will also travel to Turkey and brave it into Syria to
directly deliver aid directly to those affected. Jihad Kader, project manager for Students4Syria and 4th year dentistry student says, ‘There is a real humanitarian crisis…these people are cut off from the world, running low on vital sources of aid, and this is where we come in.’ If you would like to find out more about what’s happening in Syria, check out the Students4Syria exhibition taking place between the 5th-9th March at the Spit. Alternatively, head tohttp://humanaid.co.uk/syria-emergency-relief/ to donate and find out more about the campaign.
KCLSU Platform Campaigns: Are you in a student group or volunteering society, or even a group of individuals looking to get extra support to run a campaign from September 2012? Well, at the next KCLSU Members’ Meeting (to be held on 15th May this year), you can present your campaign for all King’s students to vote on. The top 3 campaigns will get additional support - including help from the Marketing and Campaigns teams, and extra exposure in Roar - to make sure your campaign makes a real difference! Email representation@kclsu.org for more information.
Grace Pailing At 11.30 am on Saturday 10th May, 2008, an altercation began inside a South London bakery. Three minutes later, 16 year old Jimmy Mizen had been fatally injured. He died in the back of the bakery in his brother’s arms. In the wake of Jimmy’s death, his parents decided to take action, to start making the local streets safer. From this desire to use ‘an organized community to defeat violence’, CitySafe was born. CitySafe focuses on improving the relationship between police, businesses and young people in order to create a community-focused effort to tackle crime and fear of crime. The King’s branch of London Citizens is attempting to set up a CitySafe zone around our campus and halls of residence, to make the streets we use everyday safer. We are also hoping to work on the Stand Up and Take Charge campaign, promoting a Citizens Agenda for the upcoming Mayoral elections. The fundamental idea behind London Citizens is that it is people, not just presidents and parliaments, who have the power to change things. If you are interested in joining the King’s branch of London Citizens and becoming an active member of society in London, please contact grace.pailing@kcl.ac.uk.
Careers Section Georgia Rajah, Careers Editor Who knew that Kings had an author secretly hidden amongst its staff? Andrew O’Hagan: renowned author, professional “dreamer” and lecturer at our very own Kings College London. He and Jonathan Riley (a publisher at Querons Books) came to the Strand campus to talk to students about the possibilities of getting into publishing and writing and shared with Roar! their own experiences within the industry.
The article that first got Andrew noticed by the press was his coverage on the James Bulger affair in 1993. The article caused a commotion in the press because it suggested that violence between children was more common than the media had led the public to believe. The article got him noticed by agents and publishers. Riley: “Andy probably would have emerged sooner or later but that piece was such an incendiary piece… it did make an extraordinary impression and made people pause at the time… it made people in my
What To Do With A Language Degree? Isabelle Yates
Publishers and professional “dreamers”: An insight into writing.
world sit up.”
O’Hagan continued to write about controversial issues, and wrote a somewhat “Orwellianinspired piece” (A.O) after having lived on the streets for a few weeks, pretending to be a beggar. Riley: “It’s hard for a non-fiction writer to catch someone’s eye, but if a writer is prepared
Riley: “I always feel with young writers, the best advice that can be given is almost banal, just keep writing, and about what you want to write about. There’s nothing anyone can teach you that you can’t learn yourselves, you get contacts through the work that you do, and through the gathering of material. It doesn’t sound encouraging but it happens to be true.” When asked to define the attributes of a professional writer, O’Hagan stated: “Publishing is actually much more of a profession, I’ve always felt that being a writer is much more of a vocation. We dream all day and we occasionally associate ourselves with institution such as this one (Kings), but most of my day is spent being a dreamer, trying to work with unknowable material and take blank pages and transform them into marks.”
a bookstore is the best background experience for anyone looking to go into publishing. Riley began his own career by working for two years in a bookstore after university. The alternative route to publishing is through gaining a position as an assistant, but competition is fierce. Riley claimed that for every editorial assistant position made available at Faber, 2000 applicants would apply, many of them with doctorate backgrounds.
For writers trying to get into the business, Riley stressed that having an agent is key (other than actually writing of course). Almost all publishers now insist books be sent to them by an agent. There are two reference books that list them: The Writers and Artists Yearbook (available from the Careers Service) and The Writer’s Handbook.
to go out and brave experiences like that it would make the publisher think this person is different.” O’Hagan first met Riley at a publishing lunch (“in those days it meant eight bottles of wine and stumbling through London”), and that began a relationship that was to last until now. O’Hagan wrote his first book Missing with the help of Riley, who was the editorial director for Penguin at the time, and they have continued to work together on subsequent pieces of work.
In terms of publishing, Riley emphasized that working in
Not only do they supply addresses, numbers etc. but they
Introducting: KCL SLL Saving Londoners’ Lives
Don't miss a unique Careers Speed Meet event tailored specifically to King's students from Languages and European & International Studies departments. On Tuesday 6th March 18.00-20.00, you will have the chance to meet professionals from a range of sectors, including business, teaching and publishing to find out their top tips about how to get a job in their field of work. So come along with your course mates to S8.08, ready with all those burning questions you have about getting a job. During the first half of the evening you will spend a few minutes with each professional and then put your networking skills in action over a free glass of wine during the second half. This is the first event of its kind for those studying French, German, SPLAS and European Studies programmes, and promises to provide an inspiring and useful insight into some of the industries in which you can make the most of the unique set of skills that you will gain from your degree. So don't miss out, sign up NOW with a quick email to fran.morton@kcl. ac.uk. If you can't make it, you can register with our sponsors PathMotion.com, a graduate careers website that can help you discover a wider range of opportunities by showing you what likeminded professionals have done.
also indicate the sorts of material that agents themselves represent.
An interesting point that O’Hagan raised near the end of the presentation was that personality is hugely influential in interviews. “The reason most people don’t get the job is because they’re not very nice. Nobody’s allowed to say that… try to engage with someone to make them think ‘I can work with that person’.” With the rising popularity of ebooks, the future of publishing is seeming unclear. On top of this uncertainty publishing is a hugely competitive industry, which is hard for anyone to get into. A career in writing, like publishing, is not an easy venture to embark on, as O’Hagan states: “the fact is those books didn’t write themselves or publish themselves… it’s a process that involves work and professional application”. No job is easy. The bonus however, if you make it as a successful writer, is that you get to wissle away your life doing something you actually enjoy, assuming the identity of a professional dreamer.
OMG.... It’s Nearly Summer KCLBC Present “It’s Now Or Never” KCLBC Goes For The Win - A month packed with diverse events to push you further: think about it, if you want to start filling your CV before you graduate, it’s now or never!
KCL students receiving their certificates for volunteering from Pamela Chesters (The Mayor’s Health Advisor)
Saving Londoners’ Lives (SLL) is a partnership project with St. John Ambulance, supported by the Mayor of London, with an aim to increase the number of students in the capital with emergency life support skills. KCL SLL is a society exclusively for medical and nursing students who are actively involved with teaching basic life support (BLS) skills to school children across London. To celebrate the achievements of our volunteers, SLL hosts an annual award ceremony at BMA House, presenting certificates to volunteers who have completed four teaching sessions in the past academic year.
Consulting Series - 1st, 6th and 9th March
The last ceremony was held on Wednesday 23rd November 2011 and was a huge success! Photos of the event can be view at http://gallery. me.com/dfphotography/100705
London Student Apprentice 2012, 19th March
We hold BLS training sessions twice a year for medical and nursing students, which are taught personally by a St. John Ambulance paramedic. The next session will be held on Wednesday 14th March 2012 at 2-5 pm in Activity Room 4, Bowland House, Guy’s Campus. To find out more or to attend the training session, email kcl.savinglondonerslives@ gmail.com.
Beyond the white coat : "Commercialising medical and biotechnology discoveries"
In a student group? Got an event coming up? Or maybe you want a write-up of a successful recent event? Make sure you get your high-res artwork and article to editor@ roarnews.co.uk before the 14th March. The next edition of Roar will be out on the 26th, so bear this in mind when you want to advertise an event! www.roarnews.co.uk gets over 2000 views a week, so if we can’t print your story, we’ll get it online.
Profession Podium, 7th March Virgin Trains CEO Speaks, 8th March
Thursday March 8th, 6-8pm Gowland Hopkins Lecture Theatre, Guy's Campus Confirmed speakers: - Alan Edwards: has extensive experience in medical technology companies and currently involved in Dialog Devices Ltd (chairman), Scuba Craft ltd (management mentor and advisor), Ferlin Medical Ltd (management mentor and advisor), Asep Healthcare ltd (executive chairman), Genetic micro-devices ltd (non-executive director), ESP Technology ltd (non-executive director), Topcat ltd (Non-executive director). - Joshua Kapp: commercialisation of new technology at Horizon Discovery IdeaBox Finale, 16th March, Edmund J Safra Lebara Founder (Speaker Series), 20th March KCLBC International Insight Series Goes to Hong Kong, April 2-6 For more information, visit: http://www.kclbc.com
10
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Features Edited by Matt Lever features@roarnews.co.uk
vote.kcl.ac.uk vote from 9am 7th March till 5pm on 9th March
Daphne Leef: Living in Tel Aviv
Esther Judah
When Daphne Leef was told by her landlord that he was putting up the rent on her apartment in Tel Aviv, she realised she has been priced out of the market and could no longer afford to live in the city, despite being a graduate and holding down two jobs. Enough was enough. When she moved out of her flat she decided that she would set up a tent on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard, which is one of the most expensive streets in Israel, in protest to the rising cost of living in Israel. ‘I set up the event on Facebook and I called a friend to ask him to press attending so that I wasn’t the only one,’ she recalls. He called her crazy but by the end of the summer there was an estimated half a million people on the streets rallying in support of Daphne Leef and the Social Movement that she started. The tent cities soon sprung up all over Israel, and the moment that had begun with just a few tents in Tel Aviv seemed to awaken something that was much deeper, and that would end up being huge by the end of September. According to Leef, the movement was born out the ‘despair’ and ‘the aliena-
tion that seemed almost impossible to overcome’, something that sounds very familiar to us too.
abruptly, ‘Why must we have to have a specific aim!’ What the future holds install for the movement is unclear.
‘For seven months now I have been proud to be Israeli’, explained Leef at a Friday night dinner hosted by the Union of Jewish Student’s and a group of young University of London Students, from King’s and UCL. The tent movement spread fast across Tel Aviv, and soon spread across the whole country. ‘Everyone has their own preoccupation or reason to be unhappy’, she explained, for some it was the rising price in cottage cheese and for others it was the housing crisis, but what was certain was that it hit a nerve across the population and importantly it remained a mainstream movement.
I sat with Daphne outside the dinner on a calm and usually warm Friday night evening for London at this time of the year. It was a world away from the excitement and the sense of urgency that was felt on the streets of Israel during the hot summer of 2011. But what she explained about movement in Israel is an important lesson that can be must be learnt by all. We all need to find the ‘Ghandi within ourselves’, ‘the change has to come from the people’, and that ‘the system is bigger than one’.
The movement wants to change the ‘internal situation’ in Israel and has in turn remained silent on the issue of the occupation. Neither has it addressed the issue of a minority of the extreme religious who don’t work and gain vast amounts of unfair subsidies, with little check on corruption in their communities. After a talk Daphe Leef had given across the road from King’s at LSE, when asked what the movement’s aim was now, she answered
Far from perfect the social movement has accomplished a significant and symbolic status. It has got more people on the street than ever before and has once more evoked a sense of hope which people that ‘died with Rabbin’s assassination’. And in the words of Daphne, ‘you can cheat some of the people some of the time but you can’t cheat everyone all of the time’, and our generation maybe ‘the loneliest and most withdrawn generation ever but we too can stand up and do something.’
The Intercollegiate Life Matt Lever
Suffice it to say, the university experience in London is unique and intercollegiate accommodation has got to be one of its most authentic aspects. I chose intercollegiate over King’s halls mainly for the guarantee of a hot meal each evening and the exposure to numerous new people - not to mention their amazing location! My expectations were both surpassed and barely met. In a word, the experience at Hughes Parry Hall has been unpredictable. Week one - completely dire. I hadn’t quite cottoned on to the fact that King’s has an extra freshers’ week throughout which I endured a lonely existence on my floor. Granted, I met plenty of fresh faces over dinner and the classic ‘industrial pudding’ and custard. These were, alas, painfully cursory meetings and the onus was on me to follow them up through awkward bouts of floor hopping - only 12 other floors to choose from! While I had found King’s students to attend the welcome party with, I was left with the despair of waking up to an empty floor for a week. I owe my social survival to a grim determination and perseverance through which, in the end, I triumphed.
There are, of course, the usual grumbles about the gastronomic experience - probably to the same standard as that of King’s College Hall. A more unique aspect of intercollegiate life has been the frequent encounters with staff members, including the abrupt daily (and early) arrival of the cleaning staff to empty the bin. It is impossible, however, to negate the community-like atmosphere where it is easy to feel safe as a new person in a big city. I can’t help but relish daily chit-chat with reception or catering staff. A piece of heart-shaped fried bread served with enthusiastic gusto at Valentine’s day breakfast has been a definite highlight. I shall conclude where I began - life at intercollegiate halls has been unpredictable. It has to its advantage a wider community feel with, to its detriment, the experience of being hungover and slumped in the corridor while the cleaning lady hoovers my bedroom. Yet, what part of the London University experience isn’t exciting and unpredictable? The answer to intercollegiate halls is the same as to the bewildering aspects of university life nationwide - they are what you make of them. And, with the city of London on my doorstep, I don’t regret a minute of it.
Are Boris Bikes all that? Tim Wyatt The distinctive blue Barclays-branded ‘Boris bikes’ have become a common feature on London’s roads. At peak times there can be up to twentytwo thousand journeys a day, with everyone from tourists to commuters taking advantage of the two-wheeled transport. However, despite the heady start, the cycle scheme has run into several problems.
GAY.... It’s Not Just A Word! Michael Forsyth
The rainbow flag, itself the symbol of gay pride, is symbolic, with a meaning attached to each colour. Red for light; orange for healing; yellow for sun; green for calmness; blue for art: and finally lilac for the spirit. However, for me the rainbow reminds me of nursery. For this reason it reminds me that being gay is natural and it really isn’t ‘gay’. This is a time before being ‘gay’ became something other than my sexuality. Whilst not necessarily sexualized, I was aware of my interests, so to speak.
text. Sure, at school (before I came out) I used it all the time. It seems harmless, it’s just another word. “I don’t mean it like that!”, we exclaim. Well, what do we mean? Often not in an intentionally homophobic sense, often casually and nearly always flippantly the word is employed. Is it harmless? Many, may answer yes; others - NO. How hard would it be for you to exchange that word with the right adjective?
Where am I heading with this you ask? Gay. A word so commonly misused, supposedly appropriate to describe something effeminate, annoying or irritating.
The effect? It might only be one kid, like me, it might be more, who can grow up consciously or even subconsciously knowing that being gay is not annoying, irritating or just somehow wrong. A small change, a big impact.
I’m sure most of us at this university have used it in the wrong con
KCL’s LGBT society is an opportunity to learn about the dynamics of other sexualities.
TfL intended the project to be selffunding but this now seems optimistic. Only 5% of the first 1.4 million journeys were over 30 minutes, meaning TfL is only making an average of £3,370 a day. 44% of all revenue in this period came from just 939 people charged the £150 late return fee. Those in charge of Cycle Hire privately admit that the scheme will have to expand dramatically to meet their revenue predictions. Serco, the private company contracted to run the scheme, has even been publicly criticised by TfL for its poor customer service. A £5m payment was withheld until Serco had improved its administration of the cycle hire system. With the complaints of over-charging mounting up, TfL issued Serco with a ‘critical improvement plan’ in June last year to force the company to up its standards. Online forums of Boris bike users
are full of people criticising faults with the system such as being unable to unlock bikes because of mechanical failures or failing to find a free docking station at the end of a journey. A TfL spokesman claimed that most of the problems with the bikes could be fixed on the street, but the average time to fix a broken bike is almost two and half days, according to data released through Freedom of Information. Last year, 64 phone calls a day were made to TfL’s customer service line to deal with suspected bike faults. Another one of the major problems is redistributing the cycles, with popular docking stations such as Waterloo Station being constantly empty because of the high demand. Perhaps the popularity of the scheme is its main problem - there are simply too many people using the bikes for short journeys. This has become such an issue that a number of smartphone apps have been developed to point users in the direction of the nearest free docking station. Until TfL can find the money to increase dramatically the number of cycles, Boris bike users will probably have to put up with this. Despite the scheme’s undoubted popularity, it seems the numerous teething problems don’t show any sign of going away.
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Features
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Eat out at: tibits Matt Lever
tibits, 14-18 Heddon Street (off Regent Street) Research shows that children with a high IQ are more likely to become vegetarians as young adults. So it’s with humility that I freely admit not to understand the vegetarian mind. I usually feel short-changed by any meal that withholds an offering of at least a morcel of meat, and I like my steak rare enough that it could be resuccitated by a good vet. Thus, I felt more than a degree of trepidation when I went for dinner last week at tibits, a vegetarian restaurant just off Regent Street. Riding the à la mode wave of healthy, ethically sourced alternatives to bland Italian chains (there’s a Strada next door) or meatfeasts like Nando’s or GBK, tibits is a family run ‘boutique’ restaurant serving food from a range of different cuisines. Think South East Asian, Indian, Mediterranean and, of course, British. As well as cocktails, beer and wine, the restaurant is also well known for its inventive fresh juices.
Ed’s note: sorry about incorrect spelling, Holborn lovers! We can’t correct it!
© Matt Robinson
Burlesque: the art of tease Betsey Blaze The term burlesque first started appearing in Europe in the 16th century to describe grotesque imitation, later developed into a performance art that used satire to mock specific subjects and ideals. When most people think of burlesque nowadays, they think of the American bump and grind stars of the 1930s-50s such as Gypsy Lee Rose, but burlesque is not just about scantily clad women wiggling their hips. Over the past four years burlesque has shimmied into the mainstream and is no longer seen as a fringe form of entertainment. This can be partly attributed to the vintage revival and of course the PR machine behind Dita Von Teese. Nobody in burlesque can
deny what Dita has done to increase the popularity of the art form; however, burlesque is not simply Dita Von Teese. Burlesque is about female empowerment and sexuality, and challenges the idea that skinny is beautiful with many prominent burlesque stars being ‘curvy’ women. The art of strip tease is used as a method of satire or light entertainment and can also be utilised to make controversial statements, such as Dirty Martini’s ‘Patriot ’ routine, in which the dancer criticises American capitalism by stuffing her face with dollars to ‘Proud To Be An American’, tassels twirling. Burlesque at present is more diverse
and creative than it’s ever been, with a spin-off taking the industry by storm: boylesque features men as burlesque artists and is definitely one of the funniest forms of live entertainment out there. Burlesque has evolved to be something much greater than a strip tease; it’s witty, clever and, above all, excellent fun. If you’re thinking about popping your burlesque cherry, I would recommend The Wham Bam Club hosted by Lady Alex at Café de Paris - one of the best shows out there. The show features only the top performers in the industry (such as Ruby Deshabille and Betsy Rose). It doesn’t come cheap with standing tickets at £35, but it’s completely worth it.
I’d heard of tibits before visiting. Despite the affordable pricing, it’s a veritable hotspot for celebrity spotting. I didn’t see any there myself, but I’m reliably informed that the likes of Leona Lewis, Alan Davies, Frank Skinner and Gordon Ramsay are all fans. Joey Barton, captain of Queen’s Park Rangers, even found time in December to tweet: “Just eating at tibits, vegetarian restaurant. If all veggie food was this good, I could definitely be one…” For carnivores like Joey and myself, that’s a big statement to make. Could it be true? I went to find out. The modus operandi for visitors to tibits, as our waiter explains when we sit down, is a self-service set-up centering around the ‘food boat’, an island in the middle of the restaurant
from which you grab a plate and start filling it. The range of brightly coloured dishes on offer is extensive, arranged in a large circle according to whether they are hot or cold. Once the mountain of food on my plate is sufficiently heaped, I grab my free piece of bread and head over to the counter, where my plate is weighed. Lunch is priced at £2 per 100g, dinner at £2.20. The advantage for someone like me, conscious of his dwindling student loan, is that you can pile on as much or as little food as your bank balance allows. I pay and order a Tutti Frutti Dacquiri. Don’t judge. The diversity of cuisine is reflected in the taste. The food is an electic mix of flavours and colours, and I never once felt a craving for beef or lamb. Particular favourites included the cheese quiche – deliciously filling – and the cannelloni pasta with broccoli and spinach, which defied the belief that you can’t ever get excited about broccoli. Because of the DIY nature of the restaurant, you can find that you get a bit of everything onto your plate and then forget what you’re eating. Piece of advice: keep the hot and cold dishes separate. A taste of my friend’s (shall we call him ‘the Blonde’?) mango and lychee juice convinced me that tibits’ reputation was deserved, and my own cocktail was sweet and refreshing. I finished the meal off with a pint of organic (of course) lager. tibits knows what it’s good at and does it well. The restaurant itself is smart, the waiters are dressed down but reassuringly attentive, and the pricing makes it perfect for students in central London who are ethically and financially aware. Unlike Joey Barton, I don’t think tibits could make me give up meat anytime soon, but I’ll certainly be returning.
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Campus Spy
Yep, we’ve been stalking you again!This time is was at Varsity! If your face is circled on these pages present Roar! at The Waterfront or Guy’s Bar to claim your free soft drink, single spirit and mixer, or pint! More pics on Roar!’s Facebook page!! Photos by Charlie Ding
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Campus Spy
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14 Fashion & Life Style
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Edited by Coryn Brisbane fashion@roarnews.co.uk
vote.kcl.ac.uk vote from 9am 7th March till 5pm on 9th March
Fusion@London
Coryn Brisbane, Fashion and Lifestyle editor, and Lucia Ariano went to Fusion@London’s main event on Sunday 26th February and have got the highlights from London’s fashion extravaganza as performed and organised by our very own students. This year’s Fusion@London, at the Troxy, was a fashion, music and dance show, created and produced by students from UCL, Imperial and our very own KCL in order to raise money for Cancer Research UK and promote the wealth of talent we students have. Hosted by Made in Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews and Hugo Taylor, the expectations were high and for the majority didn’t disappoint. For us, the peak of the show was the first headline act Clement Marfo and the Frontline. If you didn’t go and listen to them after Roar’s coverage of them two issues ago then we urge you to now...NOW. And if Spencer and Hugo were writing this we’re sure they would too, as their tweets praised their performance; Spencer was ‘honoured to have introduced them’ whilst Hugo, along with MTV, HMV and 4music, projected big things for them in 2012. The atmostphere was incredible for a band few in the audience had heard of, which is a feat in itself at a seated fashion event. We could sing their praises for the entire article but let’s turn to the rest of the show... We’d first like to say how proud we are of the students involved in putting on a show of such a large scale. There were so many dynamic productions and talented performances that months of hard work ultimately paid off. Parts of the show excelled; stand-out numbers were the fashion aspects which exposed the growing talent of British fashion, particularly apt at the end of London Fashion Week. However, the pockets of fashion were somewhat overshadowed by the extensive amount of dance. Let’s not be misread, the dance was impressive and sometimes truly original; for example the geisha act, with traditional kimonos, was a breath of fresh air and the martial art ending displayed the extreme variety of hidden talents students have. Another two extraordinary performers were the circus aerialists but, like the fashion, the unique art was largely overshadowed by popular dance numbers. It’s a shame that the incredible venue didn’t meet its full capacity and therefore didn’t reflect the effort of all parties involved. Spencer and Hugo, although entertaining at times, weren’t inspiring or particularly charming as hosts; however we will forgive them as they offered male eye candy in a show which was predominantly a male treat. Yet, the fashion was truly a treat for us when it featured and the girls held their own often wearing extravagant and luxurious pieces. Nova Chiu, Eileen Pang and Ara Jo were the fashion highlights and we could see why Ara Jo has been spotted by Lady Gaga. Fusion@London was an amazing event and we hope that all the students involved prosper in their respective talents and that the designers and musicians presented by the event get the reognition they deserve. After an evening like this we can really say that we are proud to be London students.
Marilyn is a Girl’s Best Friend Sophie Hutchings
Oscars 2012 Red Carpet Favourites
The retro fifties are back this season with accents of Marilyn Monroe’s style being seen everywhere: the sweeping midi skirts as seen on Scarlett Johansson and Isla Fisher; the tailored suit replicated by Burberry just days ago in London Fashion Week; the jumper-skirt combo and blonde crop as seen on Christina Aguilera; as well as the flattering halter neck seen on Katy Perry, and current in Topshop’s swimwear line. Marilyn’s influence is still very much seen in today’s fashion, with accents of the classic 50s being available in high street as well as vintage stores. Marilyn Monroe is, if not the most idolised woman ever, certainly one of them; as the sexy blonde bombshell, she represents and promotes the lusciously curvaceous woman. Measuring 36-23-37, making her a size 12 in a 36D bra, Marilyn was not afraid to show off her curves but embraced them, countering the size zero conventionality seen today. Commemorated in the recent film, My Week with Marilyn, Michelle Williams carries off her character beautifully. Though Marilyn was not a great actress, she was a diva in her acting career and her high profile marriages made her more of a star. Well known for tardiness, stage fright and inability to remember her lines, Marilyn established a reputation as difficult to work with, aggravating directors and co-stars such as Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, who often had to wait for her in their full drag costumes during the filming of Some Like it Hot. Nevertheless, what is less known about Marilyn is that she was first noticed whilst serving in the Merchant Marine, a brunette working in the Radioplane Munitions factory. Coming from a simple background, like many of us, Marilyn was transformed into the international ideal of a woman. The woman who stated, “I don’t want to make money, I just want to be wonderful”, would still be idolised with great fervour, despite her early death, Marilyn’s style is far more complex than just ‘the white dress’; her bubbly charisma, her courage to show off her body in the sexiest of outfits and the femininity in her look make Marilyn the ultimate 50s icon.
Above: Miss Piggy looking trés fabulous in a tailor made Zac Posen gown. Below: (left) Jessica Chastain in a bespoke and incredible Alexander Mcqueen and (left) Rooney Mara looking beautiful in couture Givenchy
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Fashion & Life Style
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As Roar! was going to print, LFW was coming to a close, which means that the new season is officially beginning in this wonderful city of ours. So, to get the season going, Fashion and Lifestyle are looking at the four trends you will be wearing this summer. TRENDING Christobel Hastings-Knowles
The Oscars. We love the gossip, the fashion, the glamour. Give us more. The impending Spring. Finally we can get our RayBan’s out and enjoy a pear cider outside, where it belongs. Nicki Minaj’s new collection at Mac. We do love a celebritymake-up collaboration and this is set to be a colourful one.
GUCCI & VALENTINO (BOTH S/S 2012)
This year’s festival line-ups - especially those abroad. Benicassim is calling us!
3.1 PHILLIP LIM & MULBERRY (BOTH S/S 2012)
Cutting Adele off at the Brits. All they needed to do was fade out Blur a minute early. Bad, bad shout ITV! Holiday shopping. Where to go? When do we have the time to do research? Let alone how are we going to afford it?! Rihanna and Chris Brown’s rumoured reunion. Not exactly setting a good example with your influence are we Ri-Ri. Lent: Tesco’s Easter Egg offers are NOT helping us!
TRAILING
FROCKANDFRILL.COM £70, SISTER JANE £60
Lauren Clark
Adele’s middle finger salute as retaliation to the trailing act that sent her off stage . One word: PatCat
The end of reality TV shows. Now that Playing It Straight and Geordie Shore are reaching their end it’s time we really should start work again. BOO.
From Valentino’s masterful silken drapery and billowing feminine dresses for S/S to Holly Fulton’s graphic prints and sharp silhouettes for A/W, 2012 looks set to pay homage to the revolutionary style of the Roaring Twenties. Whether you’ve a penchant for the high-octane Gatsby glamour or the nonchalant androgyny and Art Deco architectural shaping, the versatility of this era means there is something to cater to everyone’s style. Dropped waistlines, softened profiling and understated pastel hues typify the downsized feminine grace of flapper daywear, whilst come evening, you can embrace the characteristic sequins, intricate beading and layers of fringing for added razzamatazz. This is the fashion that nostalgically evokes parties where “men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and champagne and the stars”.
Pastels are officially the colour palette of this season! These delicate, summery hues have been seen all over catwalk from 3.1 Philip Lim and Louis Vuitton to Mulberry and Calvin Klein. The simplest way to reference the trend is either to introduce one pastel item to an otherwise toned down outfit, or to go all out with a single all-over shade. While Lim has managed to effortlessly coordinate several pastels in one outfit, the rest of us rookies must be careful to avoid the patchwork quilt look. Pastel skinnies with a muted upper half and pastel dresses with gladiators or biker boots are big news.
URBAN OUTFITTERS £42, TOPSHOP £40
Eva Chaideftos
Who would not want to be on a sun-drenched beach right now, the sound of the waves in the background, the Deep Blue inviting you for a swim… This season, the design elite has taken the daydream and converted it into a magical, aquatic trend – think scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef and mystical encounters with mermaids. For the more discreet fashionista, look to Chanel’s conch-shell clutches, Versace’s starfish jewellery and the hundreds of shades of blue on the runways. If you want to be on top of the trend, draw your inspiration from Alexander McQueen’s pearl adorned faces and dresses, Haider Ackermann’s waterfall veils and Mary Katrantzou’s beautiful, playful prints NASTYGAL.COM £30, ASOS.COM WAS £75 NOW £60 HAIDER ACKERMANN & VERSACE (BOTH S/S 2012) from the bottom of the sea.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once more, resident baker, Kristina Freeman is back to show us some scrumptios goodies. This time it’s everyone’s favourite; chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are simple enough for any rookie (please excuse our shameless rhyming) but are delicious with a good old glass of milk. Enjoy!
4oz soft light brown muscovado sugar 4oz caster sugar 8oz margrine 12oz self-raising flour 1tbs golden syrup 1tsp vanilla extract 150g chocolate, chopped (white, milk or dark!) 1. Preheat oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3. Grease and line a baking tray. 2. In a mixing bowl, cream the margarine, both types of sugar with the vanilla extract and golden syrup, until light and fluffy. 3. Sieve half the flour into the bowl and mix. Add the chocolate and stir to combine. Finally sieve the remaining flour into the bowl and give everything a good mix together. 4. Take a teaspoon of dough and mould into a ball with your hands. Place on the baking tray and flatten a little with the back of a spoon. Repeat with the rest of the dough until the tray is full. Ensure to leave a decent gap between each ball of dough as the mixture will spread. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are just turning golden brown but the middles of the cookies are still pale. Eat warm, from the oven, our preference, or allow to cool.
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Arts
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Edited by Theodora Wakeley arts@roarnews.co.uk
Chibundu: Student, Author, Superwoman Theodora Wakeley
vote.kcl.ac.uk vote from 9am 7th March till 5pm on 9th March Final year students have it hard. Dissertations and exams, as well as the constant (often parental) pressure of finding a graduate job or at least planning how you will look for one means that free time is mostly spent in bed or moaning about the lack of said free time. One final year King’s student, Chibundu Onuzo, however, has a book to promote. The Spider King’s Daughter, published by Faber, is her not-yet-released debut novel and is already generating a lot of interest, especially since she was named by the Guardian back in December as a writer to watch in 2012. But before you all descend into rants of ‘how on earth could she possibly find the time to write it’ and ‘students already face enough pressure as it is without the added one of trying to be bestselling writers’ don’t panic. Or at least don’t panic as much. Chibundu wrote the bulk of it before she started university but…deep breath…that was coinciding with her A Levels and she still has had to edit it and now constantly give interviews and talks like this while doing two, yes two, dissertations for her History degree. So she is superhuman, or at least an above average student.
The very fact that Chibundu Onuzo’s The Spider King’s Daughter has been snapped up by no less a publishing house than Faber means, however, that this isn’t your average debut. More importantly I didn’t have to read it – Chibundu already has more than average promotion – but after the first chapter, which I had only read out of curiosity, I knew that this was something special and ending up finishing the rest in two days, happily using up time that could, or should, have been spent on shall I just say non-leisure reading. For anyone who has ever been to Africa, The Spider King’s Daughter will act as a photo album. For me Nigeria was instantly recognisable despite the fact that I have only every visited East Africa. From the hierarchy and frustrations of hawking (for those who don’t know a hawker
is someone who sells, or tries to sell you goods from the window of your car – a constant annoying presence in Africa but Chibundu goes a long way towards sympathising with and alleviating that stereotype) to toilets that must be manually flushed to the colours and crowds of markets, Chibundu’s evocation of Africa is stunningly realistic and rich. Through her other protagonist, the rich man’s daughter Abike, she also reveals a side that tourists don’t often see but is much more Western. In fact Abike could well be the Western tourist, ignorant of the fact that you can’t wear a mini skirt on the street and getting pleasure out of treating the hawkers and maids like lower life. The secret to the novel’s success seems to be its comparatively simple style and plot line. Although one could easily point out the youth of the author as being responsible for this, this dialogue heavy style is actually entirely suited to the two teenage narrators and the plot is deceptively complex - its mimicking of a conventional teenage romance allows the novel to easily hook the reader before delving into much darker, adult territory. The ‘Romeo and Juliet’ comparison which has glued itself to previews is actually not that
Another misperception would be to label the novel postcolonial. While Chibundu is aware that she is a postcolonial writer in the sense that Nigeria is a former British colony, at the same time she argues that her generation ‘are much more concerned with present difficulties such as the high rate of unemployment than the colonial past’. Her characters and subject matter are thoroughly twenty-first century. Indeed her trips to Nigeria whilst the book remained in the editing process meant she was able to reference the current music scene in Nigeria.
But she’s not complaining. In fact her the lack of contact hours (which seems to characterise a humanities degree at King’s) is a small bonus, ensuring she has had time to commit to the ‘long-drawn out editing process…although my editor has been wonderful’. Well done King’s.
It seems writing is in her blood. Both her parents, still living in her native Nigeria (she moved to London when she was 14), are selfpublished writers, with her father a popular writer of Christian books. Chibundu herself started writing when she was ten, her first inspirations English classics like Jane Eyre and David Copperfield before she discovered the rich literary tradition of Nigeria itself. She lists her favourite authors as the Noble Prize winning Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe ‘of course’ and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose bestselling novel Half of a Yellow Sun, published when she also was in her 20s, won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007.
Chibundu’s debut has been described as a modern day, Lagos-set Romeo and Juliet by the critics, but she says this is not entirely accurate. Although the central narrative of The Spider King’s Daughter does deal with the blossoming romance between two
Mention the upcoming reviews and Chibundu is relatively unfazed. She will read them and if she gets bad ones she will treat it as constructive. As she says one of the most challenging aspects of writing is ‘getting people to read what you written
Now read our review... Student newspapers are prime targets for those who have an unpublished novel and want free and potentially lucrative advertisement - student journalists are so desperate to build up a portfolio for when they graduate and seek that elusive media career that they pretty much will do anything, even if that involves reading a book that nobody else wants to.
people, from opposite backgrounds, a hawker and a rich man’s privately educated daughter, what drives the novel is the fact that they are ‘from different classes…Romeo and Juliet were both from wealthy families’.
misleading if one uses it less as a signifier of idyllic love across boundaries and more as a plot predictor. Without giving too much away, it is to Chibundu’s strength that she resists a convenient happy ending. Instead she immerses the novel in the unpredictability of twenty-first century Nigerian politics whilst at the same not allowing things too get too political so as not to alienate a potential audience. The Spider King’s Daughter is being predicted to do well because of this intermingling of audiences and genres. Bestsellers are almost always novels that can be read by both the young and old at a pace which lends itself entirely to that most dreaded of but financially rewarding of labels, ‘holiday fiction’. So while Chibundu’s debut may not be seen on an academic reading-list any time soon, I can confidently predict a much more open and accessible platform as a marker of its success: the tube. The Spider King’s Daughter by Chibundu Onuzo is out 15 March, Faber and Faber, £12.99.
and give you feedback…only five people, including my sister, read the novel before it was published’. These five people are the critics she most wants to please, adding that ‘hopefully they’ll think it [the finished version] is better than the drafts!’. If Chibundu is feeling under pressure from all the hype and comparisons then she doesn’t show it. When I ask if she has any ultimate aim in terms of her writing - to be a bestseller or to win the Booker Prize for example – she remains realistic. While admitting that ‘of course I want the book to sell’ and taking a year out next year to concentrate on her emerging writing career, Chibundu also has a back-up plan if success does not come as expected: doing a Masters in International Development, which she would put to good effect back home. That said she is currently busy writing the second novel, also set in Nigeria but ‘completely different’, in her two-book Faber deal so that Masters will almost certainly have to wait. Who wants to bet that in five years time King’s will be putting a new face on the wall of fame outside the Strand Campus? For Chibundu is a real testament to the worth of a student. Even if she is superwoman.
See Chibundu in conersation at the Black Book Swap, Cottons Caribbean Restaurant on 3 March (free) and at the Southbank Centre on 22 March (£8).
Arts
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Is Bigger Better?
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Review: Happy New Nathan Olliverre After the success of his first play Rabbit, Brendan Cowell faces the difficult follow-up syndrome. His new play Happy New, directed by Robert Shaw, opens on New Year’s Eve and centres on two brothers who have experienced a terrible trauma during their childhood. What is portrayed throughout the opening scenes is the strong relationship between the two and that their childhood experience has made both brothers reticent to leave their small confined flat, repeatedly referred to as a ‘pen’.
Sam Spencer Call it the lead-up to the Olympics, but it seems everything now comes with the prefix ‘Great British’; from Victoria Beckham’s ‘Great British Fashion’ campaign announced this week to the ‘Great British Bake-Off’, the guiltiest of pleasures from last year’s TV, and now David Hockney’s new exhibition, a show that may as well be named ‘The Great British Art Show’. There’s a reason that Hockney’s ‘A Bigger Picture’ is sponsored by Visit Yorkshire; the paintings of Yorkshire that make up the majority of this show, painted over the last ten years or so, advertise the county far better than anything else I have ever seen. Seeing these paintings, there is no doubt that Hockney really is a master at work – no living painter captures light and colour more beau-
tifully. However, this stunning grasp of the power of colour doesn’t just extend to the paintings, with his films being among the stand-out pieces. These films, of Hockney driving very slowly down a country lane and filming his surroundings in stunning HD, are often breathtaking in their clarity and colours, with the section filmed in the snow eliciting an actual gasp from the audience. Although his experiments with HD are hugely successful, his other foray into new technology, his muchpublicised iPad drawings, is far less so. Quite simply, they can’t even attempt to compete with the majestic canvases. In my view, taking them off the iPad and onto canvas is almost totally unsuccessful, with the sort-of-paintings having an almost scratchy quality that only gets worse the bigger they are blown up. On the whole, though, the works are extremely attractive. Then again, is this enough? I’m not sure that it
is for me. No amount of style can compensate for a lack of substance. This show seems to be Hockney accepting his status as a Great British Painter, a National Treasure, at the cost of some of the tenderness and longing that makes his best work so effective. Also, the inclusion of some of his American paintings, such as his huge study of the Grand Canyon, has the unfortunate consequence of highlighting the comparatively unimpressive nature of the Yorkshire landscape, which is only partly allayed by his mastery. All in all then, this exhibition is a stunning display of skill and beauty, but avoid it if you prefer a more subversive or meaningful style of art.
Danny (Alfred Enoch – better known as Dean Thomas to the millions of Harry Potter fans) is fixated on being ‘new’, ‘clean’ and ‘revitalised’ and has a need to remove and rid himself of everything about him before starting a new year (like shedding one’s old feathers), actions which brother Lyle (Joel Samuels) imitates like a puppy to its master. They also both make reverential references to Danny’s girlfriend, hence the description of her god-like features, but once Pru (Josie Taylor) enters the pen she acts more like a hurricane, bursting in and letting out a tirade with regards to her finding a cheap earring in the back of her car. Taylor is a tour de force as Pru, whose role becomes more forceful and matriarchal with every line. It is with the second act that the true theme of the play is revealed, providing an attack on the parasitic nature of celeb-dom and the slightly Oedipal nature of the media with its subjects. However, the metaphor of human society having a similar hierarchy to other animals (in this case the chicken) is not entirely correct, although the analogy of bullying leading to dependencies (peck or be pecked) has more substance. Happy New is cativating in its prose and refreshing with its use of dialect, using an almost semi-monologue style, yet the message is not quite as resounding as its imagery. Perhaps the message should be that society should learn to stop coddling celebrities before they’ve even hatched.
David Hockney: A Bigger Picture is showing at the Royal Academy until 9 April, £9 Students.
Flaccid Penises Theodora Wakeley
This year I decided to spend part of my Valentine’s Day looking at paintings of the naked form uninhibited and unairbrushed (but certainly painbrushed). Yes my date was Lucian Freud and I had high expectations for the National Portrait Gallery’s posthumous celebration of his skill and dedication to his craft. And what dedication – the exhibition rooms are ordered chronologically meaning that the last painting you come to, Portrait of the Hound from 2011, is unfinished, the white space to the left signifying the awful abruptness of death but at the same time remaining a testament to the pleasure Freud, refusing to be distracted by such banalities as failing health, got out of painting. A potential, though entirely subjective, problem that the exhibition has to contend with is the fact that a lot of Freud’s work is tainted by the ‘not in my house’ attitude i.e. it’s certainly impressive but not exactly aesthetically pleasing. ‘Clinical’ is the word critics overuse to describe his studies of the flesh and there is nothing stereotypically sexy on show here: women have underarm hair, penises remain flaccid, fat people are blotchy and grotesque, while thin people appear grey and emanciated. Personally I find it difficult to believe how anyone could pay £17.2 million for the most famous of the ‘Big Sue’ paintings, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, on pride of show here and appropriately huge in size – I would be surprised if Abromavich actually had it on display in his house (or should I say palace) although, if placed in the din-
Happy New is showing at the Old Red Lion Theatre until 23 March, £12 Students.
ing room, it could act as the world’s most expensive appetite suppressant. There is a lot more to Freud though than the grotesque supersize (sorry Sue if you read this but that’s how he painted you) and seeing his work close up makes you appreciate his attention to detail even in such mundane objects (particularly the towelling robe).
this exhibition will be. A case in point is Large Interior W9 (left) - after watching the documentary an amusingly odd painting is transformed into a study of juxtaposed humiliation as I now know the naked woman on the bed is one of Freud’s lovers and that he actually disliked his mother. I still don’t see why there’s a pestle and mortar featured though (anyone?).
What I found lacking however was a sense of context. Freud’s paintings are delightfully specific in their titles (Girl With A Kitten, Girl With Fair Hair) but do not give away the identity of their sitter. Due to the stressful overcrowding that now seems to plague blockbuster shows in London and what I presume was a lack of prominent display I also failed to pick up a guide – I spotted one person with one and immediately felt my interest would have significantly increased if I knew the story behind each piece.
Freud the painter does not seek to hide himself - his shadow or reflection often finds its way into his work therefore exhibitions should not try and keep his life hidden away (I’m sure the audio guide was informative but don’t get me started on having to pay for audio guides). His relationship with his subjects is arguably just as fascinating as the material endproduct so listen up National Portrait Gallery – hand those guides out!
Usually art speaks for itself but in Freud’s case I would argue that context is vital and the more you read up on him (or watch the brilliant BBC documentary Lucian Freud: Painted Life) the better your experience of
Lucian Freud: Portraits is showing at the National Portrait Gallery until 27 May 2012, £12 Students.
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Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Music Edited by Shivan Davis music@roarnews.co.uk
Elementary, my dear Watson (& Wigmore) @ Proud, Camden 16/02/2012
The hunt is on for the best student band in the UK. In a nation wide Battle of the bands competition arranged by studentbeans.com The winning band will perform at Beach Break Live along side artists like Chase and Status, Dizzee Rascal and Friendly Fires. To enter check out http://www.studentbeans.com The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, and there’s other clear influence from artists of the same era – such as some live Hendrix-ish riffs in heavier tracks from lead guitarist Stephen Wigmore. Their slower work has got the slight beginnings of a L. Cohen-style stir; the lead vocals of Ewan Watson giving it a similar energy. The multi-talented band members have produced an original bluesy rock with a great range of sounds and tempo, bringing the richness of 60’s and 70’s rock up to date with a folk twist that has re-taken the main stage of the Noughties by storm, so predict big things for this productive and avant-garde little band from Rutland. Look them up.
Thomas Flannagan The up-and-coming Watson & Wigmore took their big city debut by the horns of a 12-string acoustic - their first London gig was met with obvious enthusiasm and the usual decent-sized ‘Bad Sex’ crowd of Thursdays at Proud Camden were all on their feet; the better to control the contagious cadence. Certainly one to watch for the future, W&W bring a rippling energy to the stage, letting you know they’re all too happy to be there.
King’s band eye Crown in Camden Harriet Moss Following their success at last week’s auditions in Camden, The Fourfits are through to the next round of ‘Live and Unsigned’, a national competition to find the country’s best live musical talent. The Fourfits are four sisters playing a mixture of Pop/Rock/Dance and are no stranger to London’s music scene. With regular slots at ‘Proud Camden’, ‘The Enterprise’, ‘The Water Rats’ and Shoreditch’s ‘Underbelly’ already under their belts, the band are proud to have previously represented King’s in a London Universities’ music competition. Third year English student Harriet (lead singer and bassist) is excited by the prospect of the next round: “we have received great support at all our gigs and in our tenth year together we hope for an awesome run in the competition”. The competition is voted for by the audience and music industry judges, whilst Sky TV is also following successful acts, and televising the Finals at The O2. If The Fourfits are successful they could follow in the footsteps of previous King’s-fronted bands, from Bloc Party to The Vaccines.
Their fabulous live performance accentuates a trademark strong rhythm, akin to some of Queens of the Stone Age’s earlier albums; such as W&W’s ‘Four Winds’ track which echoes the precise, driving rhythm of Songs for the Deaf. A carnival-esque keyboard and tone of sadness in some of their songs is reminiscent of
Roar Playlist: 1.The Magnetic Fields: “Andrew In Drag” 2. Usher: “Climax” 3. Emile Sand: “Next To Me” 4. The Magnetic Fields: “I’ll Go Anywhere With Hugh” 5. The Magnetic Fields: “Machine In Your Hand” 6.Nicki Minaj: “Starships” 7. Lana Del Rey: “Born to Die” 8. Torch: “Kicking” 9. Lambchop: “Mr.M” 10. Spiritualized: “Hey Jane”
Unknown Mortal Orchestra **** Joe Brookes
‘Don’t be surprised if we/Shine as Big White’ wails Ruben Nielson, as he welcomes you into the immersive psychedelic world of UMO’s self-titled debut album. Unlike many modern psych-rock bands’ efforts (see MGMT or Tame Impala), the album has a scratchy lo-fi production quality that still draws you into a trippy mess of colour and acid-inspired riffs reminiscent of this style’s originators in the 60s and 70s. There is no need for mindless, heady effects that so many other bands rely on, but instead the songwriting rings true, and the band is gifted with a sophisticated rhythm section, that has a gravity-defying swagger on tracks like ‘Funny Friends’ and ‘Bicycle’ that forces your limbs to move in ways you never thought they could. Third track ‘Thought Ballune’, opens with the fantastically hallucinatory lines “Building islands in the sky/While I’m a prisoner in my mind”, a nod towards the heavy influence that drugs have had on this album. The Portland-based Kiwi admits to influences ranging from Syd Barrett to Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA, and ‘Little Blu House’ follows a similar route, Nielson chirping “Oh, to be high on the mountainside’ Overall the lyrics and instrumentation fuse together to provide the escapist quality that this record prescribes. Nielson himself lived for a few years in a Yurt in the backcountry of his native New Zealand, in which the majority of this album was born with the use of an old analogue Dictaphone. On first listen, this album is fresh, with a distinctly simple production quality and lyrics that stands out from the currently clinical sonic realm, however, it is very easy to get tired of what the band do – only a few things impeccably well – and most of the techniques are used over and over in every one of the nine tracks. But who cares? This is an album to get lost in anyway, and rather than being a one-trick pony it is more like a racehorse – bred for only one purpose, but doing it with the utmost elegance and ability.
Music
Roar!,March 6th - March 25th, 2012
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Kings Alumni in the UK’s biggest original music competition!
original acts and it’s open to all genres of music from Heavy Rock to Rap.
George Karpasitis
Acts will be competing for the main prizes which include; £10,000 to be spent on development, a £10,000 publicity investment, gigs at festivals in Canada, Italy and Latvia, a UK tour of up to 100 shows and a UK festival tour including guaranteed slots at Norfolk Spectacular, Boardmasters, Strawberry Fields Festival, Brownstock, London Summer Jam, Lancaster Music Festival and Butserfest. Live and Unsigned has partnered with musicians’ website Music Radar to offer a comprehensive winners prize pool. Acts will have the opportunity to win some fantastic prizes along the way to the final including BlackStar and TC Electronic amps, Natal drum kits, Fret King Guitars, £15,000 in recording studio time plus music development classes.One contestant who has caught the eye of Judges this year is local talent POCA, who is now competing in the Regional Final, after making it through the auditions beating hundreds of other hopefuls. POCA is now preparing for the Regional Final Showcase on Sunday, 11th March Beck Theatre, Grange Road, Hayes, Middlesex, London UB3 2UE for the opportunity to progress towards the Grand Final at Live Fest at The O2 in London.
Chris Grayston, Events Director of Live & Unsigned said: ‘Live and Unsigned is all about originality, live ability and credibility. We don’t accept demos or submissions and everyone auditions live. We’ve got some fantastic prizes up for grabs this year in a £100,000 prize pool, including a new main cash prize of £10,000. The festival slots and other prizes available make this year’s competition our biggest ever!’ All the acts in the competition are battling it out for the chance to play at Live Fest at The O2 in London. The Grand Final is incorporated into London’s biggest indoor festival in July. The winners will be crowned the UK’s best unsigned act. Celebrity judges involved in previous years include former Slade front man Noddy Holder, R’n’B star Shola Ama, Radio 1’s Annie Nightingale, Ras Kwame, Tom Deacon and Daniel P Carter, as well as members of top bands such as The Libertines, The Bloodhound Gang, Funeral for a Friend and Kids in Glass Houses.
POCA, formed from Kings alumni as well as students from The London Centre of Contemporary Music, has wowed the judging panel of the UK’s biggest original music competition and sailed through the audition stage of Live and Unsigned. POCA will be competing against the most talented bands and artists in the country at the Regional Final Showcase of Live and Unsigned 2012 – all in a bid to make the Grand Final at The O2! POCA battled against hundreds of auditionees to secure a spot in the live shows. Acts that made it through auditions will now take part in a live Regional Final Showcase in front of hundreds of spectators. The best acts will also get the opportunity to play at some of the biggest festivals in the UK from over 100 Festival slots including Beach Break Live, Boardmasters, Bearded Theory, Strawberry Fields and Ozfest. This year’s competition also offers acts an extra chance for exposure as it’s being filmed for Sky TV in an exclusive fly-onthe-wall documentary. Live and Unsigned is the biggest original music competition in the UK for unsigned bands and artists. Attracting over 50,000 entries in the past five years, it has set itself apart from its predecessors by offering and promoting originality. It’s now established as the definitive music competition for
Review: James Vincent McMorrow Amanpreet Kaur Paul
For more information go to the website www.LiveandUnsigned.UK.com. Or better still come down and support your local talent; you can purchase tickets from the website http://www.liveandunsigned.uk.com/tickets/purchase
Review: Lana Del Rey, “Born To Die” Thomas Flannagan
They say ‘honesty is the best policy.’ Today is the day that I understand exactly what they mean. James Vincent McMorrow’s UK tour reaches Oxford, and, call me crazy, but I venture from London to see him. It’s not a wasted journey, not even remotely. In an attempt to express the simple beauty of his performance one word springs to mind: honest. When an artist stands before you, musically stripped down to simple instruments and magnificent vocals, bearing their soul, what more can you ask for? His humanity shines through in his enigmatic, yet poetic, lyrics, impassioned performance and paradoxically raw-but-smooth vocals. McMorrow takes perfection to new lengths. Despite his steadily increasing fame you get the sense that McMorrow will never change. Or at least you hope. Beginning with ‘Sparrow and the Wolf’ from his album Early in the Morning was the right choice, immediately enlivening by the crowd and creating anticipation for what was next. For me, the climax was during ‘If I Had a Boat’ and ‘We Don’t Eat’, two hauntingly beautiful ballads creating equally beautiful moments. McMorrow also does stunning covers of Steve Winwood’s ‘Higher Love’ and Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Games’. It is a rare occasion that a cover transcends or matches the initial beauty of a song, but, McMorrow manages to achieve exactly that and by the mesmerized, almost trance-like state, of the audience it seems they would agree. In my fickle youth I have fallen even harder for McMorrow after what was a performance to capture, remember and reminisce over. I wanted to stay, to hit rewind and replay. Unfortunately, his UK tour is no more, but, if a lover of indie-folk and in pursuit of a solid album whereby every song is faultless and a folk tour de force then the newly released special edition album ‘Early in the Morning’ is for you. In McMorrow’s case, through his album, he has shared with you not only his musical journey, but, a window in to his soul. It’s an opportunity to be savoured.
‘It’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’ cries Daisy in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Ignorance can be bliss, in dreaming we often venture into the impossible. A few decades later and Lana Del Rey might just well be Daisy’s ‘beautiful little fool’ , her soaring debut ‘Born To Die’ an episodic narrative of a world where dreaming of the impossible is as good as the real thing. ‘Blurring the lines between real and the fake’ singtalks Del Rey darkly on ‘National Anthem’ and there’s no escaping, throughout the album, the Del Rey persona that Lizzy Grant (her real name) has created. In turn a dilemma forms in asking: with the groundwork of your artistry entrenched in the superficial, how real can you or your music be? Labelled, by many, as ‘fake’, ‘puppet’, ‘beautiful’, ‘haunting’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘liar’, ‘gangster’, ‘heartbreaker’, ‘bitch’, is Del Rey the reckless artificial Daisy of this year’s music scene, or the victimized anti-hero, Jay Gatsby? Of course, when considering Del Rey’s music, is it of any importance at all what kind of person she is? Debut single ‘Video Games’, a beautiful modern-day torch song, one inspired by what Del Rey claims was the losing sight of her own ambitions and settling for love, has enough weight to it to lay claim to the fact that Del Rey is here to stay. Its sparse instrumentation and sultry vocals are a tactk well employed elsewhere on the album title track and lead single ‘Born To Die’ is crushingly depressing; the desperate thud of the drums, the cry of the orchestra readily compliment the apocalyptic nature of the lyrics: ‘Don’t make me sad, don’t make me cry, sometimes love is not enough’. Del Rey’s songwriting is incredibly theatrical, and at points repetitive, but there’s a romanticism within it that seem genuine. ‘Kiss me hard before you go... I just wanted you to know, you’re the best’, croons Del Rey darkly on the moody, military drum paced ‘Summertime Sadness’. There’s a preoccupation with the dichotomy of love and loss, saying goodbye and wanting something that inevitably will be lost - one that makes for a rather depressing affair. Depressing, however, need not necessarily be a bad thing - in fact, Del Rey makes it work. ‘This Is What Makes Us Girls’ slams on the hip-hop beats as Del Rey bemoans how ‘we don’t stick together, we put love first’, whilst ‘Million Dollar Man’s’ vocals stumble over a seductive orchestral arrangement, Ms. Del Rey in the meantime crying out ‘I don’t know how you get over somebody as tainted and flawed as you’. Perhaps, we might ask, is it the man in question that is flawed, or Del Rey? After all, she seems endlessly sad for the most part, but on tracks ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Radio’ (arguably the two stand-out non-single tracks) she morphs into somebody who, if you’ll excuse the cliche, is living the dream. ‘Now my life is sweet like cinnamon, / Like a fuckin’ dream I’m livin’ in, / Baby love me cause I’m playing on the radio’ whispers Del Rey sweetly on ‘Radio’, a triumphantly produced ‘Look at me now’ moment, equipped with the familiar sparse drum and violin arrangement - possibly just less gloom. ‘National Anthem’ can hardly be described as anything other than anthemic - the boom of ‘Tell me I’m your national anthem’ is the album’s most indulgent, not least confident moment, and as Del Rey huskily declares ‘money is the anthem of success’, there’s a creeping reversion to the more vapid, and shallow persona she displays. That said, as superficial as it may seem, again, it’s a quality through the honesty she displays in admitting it that is rather endearing. It’s easy to forget that amidst the mesh of materialism and the Del Rey persona, lies a real person. It’s an act, possibly, that is intentional, a medium through which Grant can express that which she couldn’t before - her feelings, her dreams. ‘I even think I found God in the lightbulbs of your pretty cameras’ sings Del Rey on ‘Without You’, and it’s the writings of somebody, whose found themselves. ‘Born To Die’ and Del Rey herself do well to epitomise the darker side of dreaming - it’s not every day you get to be called ‘beautiful’ ‘bitch’ and ‘Frankenstein’ in one go. Dreams are those tantalizing moments where we taste life and know ourselves; even though they don’t last forever, and if they last at all. In a recent interview Del Rey admitted that ‘I don’t think I’ll write another record. What would I say? I feel like everything I wanted to say, I’ve said already’. Rather than the artifice that is Daisy, Del Rey is a Gatsby, a victim of dreaming, of success, of reinvention, but one that has achieved something in creating a truly remarkable album. As for all her critics, Lana Del Rey might walk away safely knowing, that if in being superficial, dreaming of something more, means you make music this good, everybody else might want to consider being a little less genuine. Five Stars.
What’s On at KCLSU? Roar’s picks... American group ‘The Band Perry’ come to Tutu’s on the 20th of March. Their influences range from Tom Petty to The Eagles, so a great night is ensured. Tickets are just £15.70 On the 31st March, Hertfordshire pop/rock group Room94 will be playing at Tutu’s. Ticketed events are available at www.kclsutickets.com, or from any KCLSU student centre desk!
Come aWTF Election S results, nd celebrate pecial! the cong comiserratulate the ewlections Friday 9 ate the lose inners, r th Marc h - Tutsu. ’s
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Film
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Edited by Beth Cohon film@roarnews.co.uk
Beth Cohon
Review: Laura
From murder-mystery turned romance, detective turned lover, to the dead turned living, if there’s one thing Otto Preminger’s 1944 Laura proves, it’s that no-one and nothing, not even the film itself, is as it seems. Often considered Preminger’s directorial breakthrough, Laura has become a cinematic classic, revolutionizing its genre with complex, truly human characters—not to mention a strong and independent female lead. Laura is not your typical femme fatale, and the film is not your typical mystery. In this dark and gorgeously shot film noir, Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) is young, beautiful, and successful— working her way up in a New York advertising agency with the help of mentor, the powerful newspaper columnist and radio star, Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb). While Lydecker has successfully asserted his disapproval of Laura’s previous suitors, he is unable to convince her not to fall in with the social climber and playboy, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), who he claims is having an affair with Laura’s jealous and menacing aunt (Judith Anderson). The week before Laura and Carpenter are to be married, she is murdered by a mysterious midnight caller: shot in the face, short range, by a double barreled shotgun. And yet while she is dead, the brooding and handsome investigating detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) becomes the third victim to her beauty as he is haunted by her stunning portrait hanging in her apartment, and slowly falls in love with her image.
And yet what seems like a simple murder mystery during the first half of the film suddenly and shockingly reveals a completely new and more sinister murder—one where everyone is a suspect, even Laura herself. What is revolutionary about Laura is that unlike other film noirs of the time, she is not the stereotypical femme fatale—no mere pretty face leading men to their paths of destruction left and right. Laura was the stunning young Gene Tierny’s breakthrough role, and though she was only 24 at the time, her screen presence predicts her far more mature star-to-be. What makes Laura a classic worth revisiting during its extended run this month at the BFI is not only its stellar cast, seductive story and revolution of the standard film noir conventions, but that fact that it was the film that almost never got made. Producers believed the novel by Vera Caspary from which the script was adapted didn’t have enough suspense, then nearly refused to cast Webb as Lydecker, or even allow Preminger to direct the film. Preminger even had to film several different ending scenes to satisfy head of studio Darryl Zanuck, though the ending seen in the film ended up being Preminger’s intended one. It’s hard to imagine Laura any differently—its charismatic cast, Oscar-winning cinematography by Joseph LaShelle, and worldfamous score by David Raksin are all elements which contributed to its success. But it’s ultimately the mystery itself that will make you want to watch it once, and then again.
Film for a Fiver: L’auberge Espagnole (Pot Luck) Bemjamin Jones In a film that incorporates a palette of European languages, themes ranging from love, our future as students and student life itself, Cédric Klapisch’s L’Auberge Espagnole is often seen as the ultimate tool for convincing undergraduates to get involved with the ERASMUS scheme. In the film, we see Xavier (Romain Duris), a young French man, embark on a life-altering journey to the cultural hotspot that is Barcelona with only a smattering of Spanish at his disposal, leaving his girlfriend (Audrey Tatou; the sole reason behind my discovering of this film) and his life in Paris behind. There, he encounters the same difficulties that any student would expect in a foreign city and more. Klapsich’s use of actors from all over Europe, including the English stars Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes, Pride & Prejudice) and Kevin Bishop (Muppet Treasure Island, Star Stories) is a breath of fresh air for fans of foreign language films, and you can really see the rapport between the characters, as well as their trials and tribulations of living together. Following the film’s initial success, a sequel, Les Poupées Rousses (Russian Dolls) was released in 2005 and a third instalment documenting the characters’ lives is in pre-production at this moment.
KCL Cinemateque Want to see films for free, right here at King’s? Relax after a day of classes? The KCL Cinemateque offers free screenings for King’s students and staff every Monday and Tuesday! Screenings are in the Arthur and Paula Lucas Lecture Theatre at the Strand campus (room S-2.18) at 5:15pm (doors open at 5:05pm).
Mondays at World Cinema
Tuesdays at Repertory Night
5 March Café Lumiere (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2003, 103 min.)
6 March: A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974. 155 min.)
12 March: Still Walking (Koreda Hirokatsu, 2008. 100 min.)
13 March: Bend It Like Beckham (Gurinder Chadha, 2002. 112 min.)
19th March 35 Shots Of Rum (Claire Denis, 2008, 100 min.)
20 March: Inside Man (Spike Lee, U.S. 2006. 129 min.)
Film
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Sub Editor Maurice Loach
Love film? Up for watching just about anything? Roar Film gets press invites from everything from new blockbusters to the Hong Kong film festival. Get on the writers mailing list by emailing Beth at film @ roarnews.co.uk
Maurice Loach It would be easy to blame Avatar, or easier still to blame James Cameron, but like it or not for the foreseeable future 3D re-releases of beloved films from yesteryear (read: the past 20 years) are being ‘retrofitted’ with 3D and plonked into multiplexes with varying degrees of fanfare. The combination of inflation and raised 3D ticket prices allowed Avatar to overtake Titanic’s box office without surpassing the actual number of ticket sales, and it would be foolish of an industry under threat to ignore this stream of revenue. However, the slew of 3D films since this realisation occurred has irked some, and was exacerbated by the beginning of the re-release of what studios believe are films we wish to see in cinemas again... in 3D. The Lion King 3D reaped a considerable profit, but why? Was it nostalgia for a classic film from a now 20-something audience’s childhood? Was it a new generation of sprogs discovering the story? Or was it genuinely a curiosity to see the animation in 3D? —a spectacle? 3D has its roots in the 70s trend of disaster movies like Earthquake in ‘sensurround’ and earlier in the 50s of epics such as The Robe in CinemaScope. Each trend in the resurgence of 3D coincides with the growing popularity of different mediums: the introduction of television in the 50s, colour television in late 60s and now pirated DVDs and streaming. The use of 3D emphasises the nature of the cinema experience, how in-
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3D’s Titanic Evolution
volved and immersive it is. The association of 3D with family fare is a more recent development. In 1970 the softcore porn flick The Stewardesses was the most profitable
3D film ever released, and purportedly remains in the top tier. For years 3D was reserved for the cheesier end of the horror genre and produced such classics as House of Wax, Friday the 13th Part III, Jaws 3D, and Amityville 3D. It is a dramatic indictment of the industry that Avatar and the few 3D films that came before it in the past decade have monopolised 3D for films for a young audience. In the upcoming months we will witness rereleases of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo and (it is rumoured) Lord of The Rings, E.T. and Jurassic Park. Perhaps this schedule simply implies it is only a young audience that can be duped into handing over the extra dough to see a film in 3D in a cinema. However, in a cinephile’s mind the opportunity to a broader range of films in 3D appeals more; would the sweeping romance of Casablanca or the giddy beauty of Apocalypse Now not be intriguing watches in 3D? Would the story be more intense as 3D’s proponents claim? Can more emotion be found in Rick and Ilsa’s dramatic farewell in three dimensions? Many critics would undoubtedly cry sacrilege; esteemed critic Roger Ebert and the more populist Mark Kermode
are amongst the masses of 3D’s naysayers, citing the fact that the technology darkens the picture. However, if 3D is merely a method of increasing the lifelikeness of a film, like colour and sound technology before it, then why should it be held back? It seems logical to allow technology to step forward and make transporting the audience to other places or times
more dramatic. Admittedly retroactively enforcing 3D onto a film whose director has passed raises some serious questions about authorship and ownership, and is perhaps not a realistic artistic possibility. But, as my eagerness to see Titanic in 3D shows, 3D doesn’t have to be about the spectacle, but about
characters. As much as the sinking of the Titanic will be spectacular in 3D, I am more eager to see Jack and Rose’s tragedy played out on a bigger screen in more realistic detail than I ever could before. Then, hopefully, as the cultural currency of the 3D film rises, directors and writers will begin to cater to a more grown-up audience, and create more grown-up films.
Review: Rampart Adam Brodie Rampart is a true journeyman’s film. It doesn’t have much truck with innovation or flair. It’s not out to surprise, and it definitely doesn’t wow. The best way to describe it is ‘solid,’ like a brick. It’s not flashy, but it’s well-crafted; a good story, told well. And that’s something I like. This is a film that has its head in the right place, a film that entertains while it’s here and promises much for the future of Director Oren Moverman. Rampart is a film about the slow collapse of the life of ‘DateRape’ Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson), a cop who truly deserves being called a fascist pig. Against the background of the 1990 Rampart scandal (wherein 70 police officers of the LAPD CRASH unit were accused of severe misconduct, including the planting of false evidence, theft, etc.), Brown is caught on camera severely beating a man. Facing a firestorm of opposition, Brown stands firm, but as misdeeds past and present continue to haunt him, his life begins to unravel. Rampart is a film with three great strengths. The first and greatest of these is character creation. Dave Brown should be the
template for how to write flawed characters. From the off, he is clearly a fairly unpleasant human being; casually racist, violent and bullying, with a misogynistic streak that has him regard women as sexfodder. He even listens to right-wing talkshows. But he also has a kind of overwhelmingly confident charm, which despite everything almost makes him likeable. In addition, when the layer of arrogant brutality peels back, a genuinely loving father is revealed hiding underneath. This, then, is no simple role. Thankfully, the film’s second great strength, Woody Harrelson, proves more than able to handle it. Harrelson has exactly the right kind of charm required to bring Dave Brown to life, a sort of overwhelming yet subtle likeability. Add to this the fact that he is as convincing in his awkward fatherliness as he is portraying violent rage, and Harrelson owns this show. The film’s third strength lies in the direction. Now, this is by no means flawless , but on the whole, I really liked the look of this film. It has a sort of grimy quality that matches the content nicely, and is shot in an almost documentary-esque fashion. It’s a nice touch that makes the on-
screen action feel more immediate, like watching events unfold in real-time rather than through the barrier of the lens. That said, there are a fair few technical missteps. Rampart, being a pretty quiet film, contains several long conversations. The director and editor try to spice these up, either with twirly camerawork, which made me feel disorientated and dizzy, or lots of quick cuts, which ruined the flow of the whole scene. Also, the plot carries a fair amount of dead weight. This is a film that could have stood to finish a good 10 minutes or so before it did. All that aside though, Rampart remains a well-made film; a great achievement for a second effort and a sign that Director Oren Moverman could well be someone to watch in future. As for the film on its own terms, well, I don’t know that I’d call it a masterpiece. But it is a solidly enjoyable piece of filmmaking. If you have the free time, I can certainly think of worse ways to spend it. Looking at you Ghost Rider 2.
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Sports Edited by Charlotte Richardson sports@roarnews.co.uk
Roar!’s View... Perhaps there was a bit of naïveté among supporters thinking that they could go to a professional rugby ground and behave as they have done in Richmond. Stewarding was also questionable and the mixing of supporters was probably a really bad idea!
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012 Reggie was also taken away by police after the match but Roar! recieved his defiant message at 12:48pm on the night in question. From: Reggie <Reggie@kclsu.org> Subject: ROOOOOAAAAAARRR Message Body: UCL SUCK LION PENIS
The London V
There seemed to have been inconsistencies in stewarding. The fact they appeared to be very young instantly made it difficult for them to monitor students. Initially they seemed happy for people to stand by the pitch and then when trouble started they clamped down massively, arbitrarily ejecting supporters from the grounds. Behavior was impeccable during the women’s match with everyone just loving the game and the atmosphere. However, all that changed when more supporters arrived and the alcohol got flowing! Despite the minority of fans not behaving themsevles what we shouldn’t forget is that these are two fantastic teams that were and are a credit to our university. A lot of work goes into ensuring the day is one you enjoy. Publicity and coverage of the event was at its best, securing The Stoop as a venue was a massive coup and we sold more tickets than ever before.
King’s ‘till I die!
In So tell us, what happened? Obviously, with all the insults being thrown around in the run-up to the game (references to King’s poor form in their league, other snide comments about how UCL were going to win by a landslide, etc), tensions were high to begin with. When UCL scored an early try, the UCL supporter I would eventually tackle ran in front of the King’s stands, showing everyone the middle finger. This incensed many of us, and when, in the follow-up to UCL’s second try, he repeated the gesture, I lost control and, sprinting forward from the strands, tackled him to the ground. As I rose from the tackle the UCL supporter’s friend, who had come running up, shoved me off him and back to the floor. I got back to my feet and there was a brief tussle during which we both shoved each other. Shortly thereafter a steward grabbed me by the neck and pulled me away. I was escorted to the gate and held there until the police arrived and took me into custody.
What caused the fight? In all honesty I blame myself. The UCL supporter’s actions were perhaps inappropriate and somewhat unsporting but this is the kind
of fairly good-natured taunting that we often see at Varsity, and I had absolutely no right to respond to a non-aggressive gesture with violence. Unfortunately I was so emotionally invested in the game that, in my frustration at the conceded points, I just saw the UCL supporter’s gesture as further salt in the wound and it incensed me to the point of losing control
With hindsight, do you think you behaved appropriately? Absolutely not. Like I mentioned earlier, my behaviour was inexcusable and I will not deny that. While I was in some small measure provoked, that gave me asolutely no right to physically strike the UCL supporter. I have already made my apologies for my behaviour to the team, the club, and everyone that worked so hard to make Varsity 2012 such a special event and I have also made an effort, through mutual acquaintances, both to convey my most heartfelt apologies to the UCL supporter I struck and to thank him for his understanding in deciding not to press charges. Once again, I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful and ashamed on my actions on the day as they do not reflect the values upheld by KCL Rugby and KCL
Sports
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012 Photographs by Charlie Ding
Breaking news- UCL mascot has gone missing! Keep an eye on our website
Varsity 2012
and in the next issue for more updates… ;)
Varsity in 10... 1. 2. 3. 4. women’s match
First two UCL tries in 10 minutes deflated the pre-match buzz. The first time in their undefeated season, the girls had to defend against a strong attacking team, which threw them off their tracks.
KCL kept their heads up and got their just desserts with a strong team try, with lots of phases played by the forwards and put over the line by their inspirational captain Anna Macdonald.
Scrums-generally-governed the points difference. Despite having a much bigger forward pack, the girls managed to turn over a few defensive scrums, capitalizing these however proved fatal.
The width UCL managed to create in the first half was damaging. Once King’s defence locked onto this they conceded very few tries and enforced two UCL players into yellow cards and penalties. The team can take heart from the fact they had no cards and a lower penalty count, which characterized their fair playing style
EXCLUSIVE: Roar! Speaks with Cautioned Student
Tommaso Lagana - A former UCL student and KCL masters student in nternational Peace and Security was arrested for knocking out a UCL supporter. as a whole. Is anyone pressing charges? Were you cautioned? Following being taken into custody by the police, I was taken to Richmond Police Station where, being deemed to be intoxicated, I was held in a cell for the night. This allowed me ample time to reflect on my mistakes and really brought home to me that my actions could have very real - and severe - consequences as, having never been arrested before, this was all unknown territory to me. In the morning, following my interview, I was released from custody with a warning. This was due to my lack of a previous criminal record, the UCL supporter’s decision not to press charges, and the opinion of the officers in charge of the investigation that I was sincerely regretful and genuinely ashamed of my actions. Therefore, no formal caution was deemed necessary, for which I am profoundly grateful. I have definitely learned from this experience and will make sure I never again do anything of this nature as things could have gone a whole lot worse.
The UCL supporter I struck has showed himself to be very understanding and decided not to press charges. There was some talk as I was taken into custody of other members of the public wanting to do so on his behalf but it is my understanding that did not, in the end, happen.
What did you make of the stewarding at the event? Obviously, given my actions on the day, it really isn’t my place to point fingers at all, but there were some decisions that puzzled me. Firstly, I think the number of security staff present was insufficient to guarantee proper crowd control as there seemed to be a number of quickly defused scuffles breaking out in the”noman’s-land” in front of the stands. Secondly, I was surprised at the lack of searches on the door as I understand that some individuals managed to smuggle flares into the stadium.
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5.
The amount of possession the girls had but failed to convert meant the score line was not the fairest reflection of the game. Despite being 28-5 scorline the girl’s played their hearts out and won the affection of fans at The Stoop.
men’s match
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
The boys came out the changing room on fire, pressing UCL’s forwards and were narrowly close to getting the opening try from their positive play. With the score still 0-0 referee Dave Garvey brandished a yellow card. This was significant; dropping to 14 men so early was a major blow.
UCL exploited this, to their credit. An audacious drop kick, bounced off a King’s foot perfectly into UCL possession as it was walked over the line. In a game that was poised to be tight this moment was defining to the outcome
Another try and then another yellow card. Ed Lawless was frankly ludicrously binned. No warning. No particuarly bad behaviour. Even a neutral would admit the game was killed by this.
Interuptions to play because of off the pitch behaviour was as unsettling as it was unwanted. Flares were released at the worst possible time as the team had just scored a try and were looking to capitalise and build momentum to get back into the game.
Amongst the circus at The Stoop, the game ended up sizzling out in the last 10 minutes. Our boys knew they needed three tries in 10 minutes and despite throwing everything at UCL, it was felt the battle was already lost.
On Twitter... @Lara Ellis @ LondonVarsity_ Getting exciting now! Great vid by @roar_news youtube.com/ watch?v=Q7p9VQ… Matt Brookland @ Jerseybrooky We can’t wait for the @LondonVarsity_ tomorrow at the Stoop bit.ly/ A7Zat7 - Join us for LIVE coverage from 17:15 #unisport Marina Mansour @ Marinations Watching all the rugby lads walk around strand/waterloo looking very serious indeed. #londonvarsity Serena Brennan @ SBrennan91 Soooooooo Hungry. Soooooo excited for tonight before I give up alcohol for exams #londonvarsityu @kclsu people queuing to get into @LondonVarsity_ @corynbrisbane Following Varsity via @roar_news, wish I was there cheering the girls on. @bryonys26 @roar_news COME ON KCLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! #londonvarsity @LydiaMagic Oh and everyone take advantage of the brilliant @ KCLRadio broadcast and updates from @roar_news #makingrugbybearable ! @mattabbott- remember last year... 12-0 down at half time. Immense fightback to win 17-15.. It ain’t over til it’s over! @GabrielleCohen1“@roar_news: WOW 2000 people are watching #LondonVarsity at home! AMAZING!!” Watching? Been following via @kclradio where can I watch it? @JMist91“@roar_news: it’s starting to kick off in the crowd. yellow smoke bomb released. #londonvarsity” << Lool uni rivalry at its best @ WhatChouWillis @roar_news Nothing wrong with us standing by the sidelines last year. Security were over zealous and ridiculous #nannystate #growapair @paigerushbrook Well done to @ KCLRadio , @roar_news and @ RareFM for the live coverage at the Varsity yesterday! :) @KCLSU_Fran @roar_news got over 1100 views on roarnews.co.uk on the 4 March 2012 :) WELL DONE TEAM ROAR! All Access RugbyNews @ a2rugbynewsThe 2012 London Varsity: The 180 year old Rivalry Carries On! #StudentRugby #londonvarsity Abbie @ BrimfulOfAbster LONDON VARSITY RUGBY MATCH. KING’S TIL I DIE. Or something like that. (@ The Twickenham Stoop Stadium w/ 3 others) Rich Maskey @ RichMaskey watching the #londonvarsity live on unisportonline.co.uk. See all the action from this great match Yi-Bin Woh @ yibinwoh STILL King’s till I die! #londonvarsity Anything to add? Join the conversation #londonvarsity @roar_news
R
FREE
THE ELECTIONS PULL OUT!
VOT E
7 - 9
Voting Open: 7 March at 9 am 9 March 5pm 2012 vote.kcl.ac.uk
MARCH
Elections - What’s All the Fuss About?
PRESIDENT
VPAA
But wait, don’t switch off just yet. And we know that lots of you do switch off at this point, as whilst last year’s Spring elections saw over 4500
On the bright side however, last year’s voter and candidate numbers smashed records from previous years, and this year once more candidate numbers are record breaking. 37 candidates will be swarming around campus this year to get your votes (whilst UCL’s elections see a measly 11 people competing for their full time officer positions!). I hope that this jump in candidates will see a jump in voter turnout.
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VICE PRESIDENT ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
So why vote?
If you’ve ever moaned about King’s or KCLSU (anything from the condition of teaching rooms, library provision, amount of spam you get in your inbox, how hard the website is to navigate, how you have to keep forking out for printing, whatever), now is your chance to do something about it. Have a look at the manifestos. If someone’s promising to sort out a particular gripe of yours, they may be the candidate for you! Maybe you actually don’t have any issues with King’s and KCLSU, in which case, take a look at which can-
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VICE PRESIDENT STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND FACILITIES
didates are going to just improve the great things that already exist. You wouldn’t want some under representative Officer who only got a few thousand votes, running amok blowing what little budget there is available on projects you don’t want, would you?
The role of the Student Officer is an odd one – the last 8 months have been the most interesting, frustrating and fun time of my life. They only have a year to make as many changes as they can, and in a place as complex and – and I hope I can get away with saying this – sometimes disorganised, as King’s, this is a hard thing to do. Similarly, KCLSU doesn’t have
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VICE PRESIDENT STUDENT MEDIA AND ENGAGEMENT
all the money we’d like to make all the changes we want RIGHT NOW (Media rooms with all mod cons anyone?). However, changes do happen, and when they do, they make a real difference. Make sure that the next Student Officers are proposing the changes that YOU’D like to see. Still not convinced? At least take the opportunity to exercise your democratic right. Vote RON if you have to. Just VOTE.
TRUSTEES
Welcome to the Spring Student Officer and Trustee Elections 2012!
people voting, still 80% of King’s students chose not to vote. Or didn’t know they could vote. Or really didn’t want to vote. Both reasons are pretty disheartening to think about.
VPSME
There’s not an inch of space left on KCLSU walls. You’ve been invited – or unknowingly added - to at least three different ‘vote’ groups on Facebook (thanks Facebook for making that possible). You notice individuals haring around campus, looking a little on edge, eager to speak to ‘YOU! Are you a King’s student?!’.
VPSAF
Fran Allfrey - Current VPSME
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TRUSTEES 1 x 15 Month term 2 x 2 Year term
Elections
Roar!, March 6th- March 25th 2012
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HOW TO VOTE?
RIGHT NOW! (Yes, NOW) go to vote.kcl.ac.uk
You can read the job descriptions via the ‘post list’ button
Put in your student number (that’s your K number) and your usual King’s password into Shibboleth to get into the system.
View the candidates and their manifestos by clicking ‘candidates’
If the system has a bit of a fail and won’t let you in at this point, email vote@kclsu.org with your student number, full name and course, and nature of the error. But, if all goes to plan you’ll now be in the voting system.
Or, from Wednesday 7th at 9am until Friday 9th at 5pm, simply go straight into the voting!
(in the case of President) if you really want! You could also choose your top choice, and if you really don’t like any of the other candidates, choose RON (that’s Re Open Nominations). You could, if you don’t like any of the candidates, just rank RON as 1 and leave it at that.
Rank each position in order of your favourite candidates. Put a 1 next to your top choice.
Submit your vote!
You don’t have to rank any further candidates, or you rank as many as you like. You can rank all 11 of them
Wednesday 7th at 9am – Friday 9th at 5pm
vote.kcl.ac.uk
What Have Your Student Officers Done?
Find out more at kclsu.org/yourrepresentatives
Glossary KCLSU – King’s College London Students’ Union. That’s YOUR - yes, you, reading this - YOUR union. Anyone who is a King’s student, even on a semester abroad, PG, PT, whatever, KCLSU works for you. KCLSU has it’s own space: Waterfront, Tutu’s, The Bridge and The Lobby at the Strand; Kinetic and the FWB help desk and booth at Waterloo, and Boland House (with The Spit, Guy’s Bar, and Activity Rooms) at Guy’s. KCLSU is not a department of the College, it is an entirely separate Charity and Company. But King’s is KCLSU’s main benefactor. KCLSU Officers and Staff work with the College all year round to try and make King’s the best place possible, for you and future students.
Fran Allfrey - Current VPSME
hundreds of students every day.
life over 2012.
Organised the best-attended Freshers’ events of 2011, giving more students than ever a great Welcome.
Developed how KCLSU talk to students – including introducing a Union Guide and better communications online.
Secured the fate of King’s College Hall, making sure that communal spaces and shared areas are not lost (as King’s had originally planned!)
Worked to ensure that more students get to directly input into KCLSU: with Activities, Sport and Media forums introduced, and guaranteed places for Medical School students and postgraduates on Student Council (and guaranteed representation for each school to come from September 2012).
The thing is, you might be thinking, ‘I haven’t noticed these changes’. Well, it’s true, in some of these cases, the ‘policy’ has been agreed by King’s, and now we’re just waiting for it to trickle through the system. Unfortunately, if there’s anything I’ve learned from being a Student Officer at King’s, it’s that things move incredibly slowly. However, the Personal Tutor Charter, Rep review, better KCLSU communications and the Summer Ball are all things (amongst many) which are happening now – as well as countless ‘smaller’ or ‘niche’ projects which benefit smaller groups of students, or individuals, making their time at King’s just that bit better.
Made Roar! every 3 weeks, as opposed to 7 over the year. Introduced the Summer Ball – coming June 2012. Run a representation review, talking to over 150 students about how to improve representation at KCLSU, with a view to present a new system for autumn 2012. Worked with College to secure a new Personal Tutor Charter. Worked with students to organise the first ever LGBT and Disabled History Months, Interfaith and One World Weeks at KCLSU. Lobbied the College for The Lobby common room space, now used by
The Notable Stats... 34 candidates (+4 from 2011) 7/9 King’s Schools represented, only IoP and Nursing and Midwifery are missing 41% black students. Comparatively, 11.1% of Student Officers nationally are black and 15.5 per cent of HE students overall*
Brought students into decision making surrounding our venues. Our Tutu’s consultants will work over this semester to reinvigorate our club. Lobbied and subsequently worked with the College to completely re design online learning (Blackboard) and internal web pages (Onespace), with these new versions to come to
14 women or 41%, exactly the same % of female representation amongst Student Officers nationally. But, the HE student gender profile breaks down as 43.4% men and 56.6% women. King’s make up is actually 61% female. 6 known post graduate students, that’s 17% of candidates - King’s is 38% post graduate
4 known international students – that’s 11% of candidates, whereas NUS notes that only 8% of student officers are non-UK Our elections profile as compared with the NUS diversity report 2010-11. *Definition of Black taken from NUS. All national figures from the NUS Diversity Survey 2010-11, available from NUS Connect. King’s data taken from King’s ‘Profile’ 2011.
Student Officer – The President, and VPs make up the Student Officer team. They take a year out of their studies (or a gap year after graduation) to work full time, for £22,500, representing you across pretty much every KCLSU and College meeting there is. They are the ideas people of the Union, and are supported by 40 staff at KCLSU. Trustee – a volunteer position, which students carry out whilst remaining students. This involves attending 6 or so meetings over an academic year, approving KCLSU’s commercial direction, and general activities for the year as a part of the Trustee Board. Trustee Board – KCLSU is a charity, and so it has Trustees. KCLSU has 12 trustees, the four elected Student Officers, four elected student trustees (who usually serve 2 years) and four appointed Lay trustees, who are usually professionals in areas of Higher Education, Law and Commercial practise. STV – That’s standard transferable vote. That’s the system which KCLSU uses for all elections. It basically means that your rank candidates (as many or as few as you’d like) in order, and as the lowest voted candidate gets knocked out, their second, third, etc (or transferable) votes are distributed between the other candidates. A winner is someone who gets 51% of the vote – either through first choice, or by accumulating For all other FAQs, see the KCLSU election pages, kclsu.org/ elections
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Roar!, March 6th- March 25th 2012
Elections Reggie the Lion
KCLSU PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES We asked the candidates to send in 200 words outlining their plans. You can read full manifestos online at vote.kcl.ac.uk right now. Read carefully, and make sure you vote for those you agree with!
LAURA AROWOLO
‘More Access, More Support, Increased Engagement, Increased Change!’
More Access, More Support, Increased Engagement, Increased Change!!
forms of dialogue of this nature, and most importantly drive for the implementation of suggestions and needs voiced by you.
As President, I would seek to increase KCLSU’s engagement with students, Rant Week and our recent sports referendum are examples of how the union currently communicates with the student body and I would seek to facilitate more direct
Aside from Student Union facilities, my love for KCL means that my impetus to affect real change within the College and be the voice of students at King’s is both real and tangible. From government
policies which affect thequality and access to Higher education of KCL students, to issues of equality and diversity; from uniting the campuses and widening participation as well as strengthening KCLSU’s employability strategies to ensuring that every student feels equipped going into the world of work upon graduation - I aim to make a practical difference.
‘Inspire, Deliver and Conquer.’ My name is Shurovi. I pledge to make the KCLSU more accessible. I believe that initiation is the way forward and if one degree of Celsius change can transform water to ice, then one degree of initiation can allow the whole student body to come together and connect further. I pledge to make schemes for “wid-
THOMAS CLAYTON The average King’s student simply doesn’t feel engaged with KCLSU. I pledge to change this so that we can build a King’s community with everyone involved. I pledge to: Improve participation. Currently fewer than half of King’s students are members of a society or club. I intend to encourage societies to reduce their membership
Simplifying KCLSU processes for student activity groups, encouraging enterprise, strengthening student media, and pushing a strong, reflective, educative and advancing liberation agenda are all issues about which I am very passionate.
SHUROVI BADRUN
ening participation”, by utilising our available resources such as the marketing team and, being a student ambassador myself, I could personally look into the training of students who can get involved to go to schools and colleges to promote King’s and its great opportunities.
for disable students through different events.
I pledge to increase awareness of the existing Student Support team
I also pledge to increase the awareness of KCLSU and its importance
I pledge to bring about an increase in the number of instalments in payment scheme for international students, in order to minimise the pressure of fee payment.
for the student body. I will end my pledge by saying I will work for the student body and with the student body. To conclude- It will be my voice but YOU will be heard. I believe to- Inspire, Deliver and Conquer. VOTE FOR ME!
‘We can build a King’s community with everyone involved.’ fees in the second semester and run a Re-Freshers’ fair which could even be part of a Re-Fresher’s weekend. I pledge to: Sort out Tutu’s - It’s currently losing KCLSU £40,000 every year. I’ve got some ideas like spreading our big-name bookings throughout the year and encouraging more groups and societies
to come with special offers. However, what we really need is a frank consultation with the entire King’s community to find out what they want. I pledge to: Involve students in a King’s outreach programme. With the fee rise coming we need an outreach programme that we can be proud of. I will set up a scheme
to be run and staffed by students which will go into London schools and teach six-form students all about loans, bursaries and feewaiver schemes so that they’re not put off applying to university.
FREDDIE DEAN
‘Employability, Opportunity and Community.’ I plan to address three areas as President of KCLSU. These are employability, opportunity and community. I believe it is imperative that Kings does more to increase the employability of its students, especially with such a competitive job market. I propose to create an online Alumni database, where participating
ILK GHAVAMI I want to make Kings the progressive university in London. I hope to inspire the student body, KCLSU, and the wider community to come together in a way that’s never been done before. I want to capitalize on the energy from the anti-cuts campaign and promote the creation of youth action committees which would reach out to community centers and schools in London
Alumnus can offer work experience, advice and even employment to Kings Students. With the tuition fee rise coming into effect next year, it is essential that more opportunities are extended to students. This privilege should not be afforded to just new students but current ones too. Academic services need to be im-
proved. Study abroad programs must also be made more accessible. It is also vital the campaign to remove ALL hidden course costs becomes a reality. Finally, we must preserve and strengthen the KCLSU sense of community. ‘Rant week’ highlighted areas of concern, especially with the pricing at Waterfront and Guys
bar, thus, if feasible I will reduce these. There is a very social aspect to Kings, our societies and sports clubs are a key part of university life and we must concentrate on bettering them. I propose as President to address these areas for the benefit of all students.
‘I want to make King’s the progressive university in London.’ to promote KCL and ensure that education and civic duty is upheld throughout the University and the city. I propose revitalizing outreach and transparency by way of KCLRadio and Roar with open letters and podcasts fortnightly. As a community organizer and social advocate I want to engage everyone at Kings using my creativity,
passion, and energy. Working for the Challenge UK in Birmingham and London, I connected youth workers and teens to promote cohesion and personal growth for youth in the UK. As Director of Development at KCL Radio I participated in student media and promoted community engagement in partnership
with youth organizations. I have balanced work and play effectively as a 25 year old PhD and I promise to offer exciting and engaging events at Kings no matter the colour, creed, or character.
Elections
Roar!, March 6th- March 25th 2012
LIAM JACKSON I, Liam Jackson, have always endeavoured to immerse myself in the opportunities kings has to offer. There would be no more better privilege than to be at the forefront of this union and to spend the next year learning and pushing the issues I believe in. Some of the concerns are: •From practical issues like putting cash machines into larger halls, to
‘A President to represent the voice of the student body on all scales.’ more important matters currently restricting students to work to their potential, i.e. an increase in computer rooms and workspaces around campus and extended library opening times. •King’s deserves a more organised fresher’s week, with better opportunities for culturally experiencing London, as well as improved student
nightlife. •Prices in the student bars. I propose reducing the prices on both sports nights (the £6 pitcher) and other themed nights, with a push on reestablishing Tutus as an exciting and good value venue for the weekend. •I will work with Medsoc to ensure that students based at Guy’s campus
have more equal representation, independence and recognition within KCLSU. These are just a few concerns, and if they resonate with you please VOTE LIAM JACKSON. A president to represent the voice of the student body on all scales.
‘I shall focus on a few key, realistically changeable initiatives.’ I’m a final year Maths student, who along with having been captain, president and coach of the basketball team, am a member of YELP. I have also participated in society events such as the Diwali and Culture Shock shows and regularly frequent the student bars. As it is impossible to change the whole of King’s in a year, I shall
DOM MOFFITT Vote Dom Moffitt for KCLSU President! I decided to stand as KCLSU President because it seems too often that those who run the Student Union do so with their own agenda. The wishes of us, the students, fall by the wayside, as pet projects are favoured and a small number of students make the decisions.
instead focus on a few key, realistically changeable initiatives that will have a lasting impact on the university both as an educational institution and as a vibrant body of students – for example, I will continue to work on developing tutors’ skills and guidance. I will also create a system where King’s students are actively encouraged to tutor and volunteer in the local commu-
nity on a large scale, working side by side with similarly focussed student groups. Lastly, I will put a huge focus on sport in a twofold strategy to improve the student atmosphere by having large, Varsity-style events each month showcasing our impressive spectrum of sports and secondly creating a much better en-
I will make listening to students my number one priority. This will mean making the small changes which make the big differences, as well as those important grand decisions. Elect me to have KCLSU as the Student’s Union. I led the campaign which won the
‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter’ The words of Martin Luther King are certainly applicable to the life of KCLSU. Since the opening of the Lobby at Strand Student Centre and proposals underway for the redevelopment of Boland House and Guy’s Bar, I recognise the impor-
JOHN ROBERTS
Action 1 – 24/7 library opening 24/7 library opening will allow students unlimited access to key resources putting them in the best position to succeed in the future.
MIKE MARTIN vironment for our athletes by having strength, conditioning and athletic sessions every week for every team, paving the way to becoming the best in London and the country.
‘Thing Big. Think Dom.’ referendum to keep our KCL and GKT sports teams separate. I will... keep KCLSU at the forefront of student campaigning to protect your rights. re-establish the GKT name as that is what students want! ensure King’s is a place free of racism, sexism and homophobia.
campaign for reduced travel fees for students. ensure KCL improves communication between medical schools and The Compass. I’ll be all around during the election talking to people about making their vote count. Come and chat to me and I’m sure you’ll be voting Dom Moffitt!
‘I will provide a real representation for YOU!’
I believe in ACTION WHERE IT MATTERS. Elect me as the President of KCLSU and I will fight for you. I will make things happen. My first six action points are:
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tance of addressing the ideas and concerns of fellow King’s students in order to better their university experience. As a current employee of KCLSU, whereby I work at the Strand Student Centre Reception, I have come across a wide array of student problems. In addition, having previously worked as a senior stu-
dent at Great Dover Street Apartments and being a 3rd year medical student, I have both dealt with and faced a variety of problems and concerns many students can relate to. Having had a well-rounded experience of the College, Accommodation Services and KCLSU, I have met a vast number of students from different backgrounds and disci-
DASH NADA plines. I believe I have a true understanding of the problems faced by King’s students. With my experiences, hard work and determination, I will speak out for the things that matter. If elected, I will provide a real representation for YOU!
‘JOHN ROBERTS for ACTION!’ Action 2 – Equal say for all campuses All campuses will have equal representation ensuring unity throughout the KCL student community. Action 3 – Graduation back on campus Graduation back on campus and subject orientated will ensure
that people graduate their course friends.
rooms and have priority over external companies.
Action 4 – New hoodie for King’s A rebranded hoodie will strengthen King’s community and the King’s brand.
Action 6 – Parenting system for all A voluntary parenting system will be set up with second years mentoring first years within their subjects - enhancing the student experience.
Action 5 – Easy room booking I will create an open system where student groups can easily book
‘PLEASE VOTE EXPERIENCE! VOTE CONTINUITY! VOTE SIMI SMITH! #1 FOR PRESIDENT!’ Hello everyone!!!!!! I am Simi Smith, Vice President Academic Affairs at KCLSU and now aspiring to become KCLSU’s president. As VP Academic Affairs I have..... 1.Increased representation for MATURE, POST-GRADUATE and INTERNATIONAL students on student council. 2.Lobbied for 24HR ACCESS TO
THE ‘TURN IT IN’ SYSTEM to control plagiarism. 3.Brought to you KCLSU’s PERSONAL TUTOR CHARTER including lobbying the graduate school that all PhD students be provided with PERSONAL TUTOR SUPPORT. 4.Started the HIDDEN COURSE COSTS CAMPAIGN. 5.Brought to you our first ever
‘ONE WORLD WEEK’ to celebrate culture AND MORE.... I owe these to hardwork and dedication! Plans if elected as President... •THE ABILITY IN DISABILITYOrganise networking sessions to empower disabled students for a future and career outside of King’s. •Work in the interest of King’s stu-
SIMI SMITH dents alongside the careers office on more local and global employment opportunities, focusing on SKILLS ENHANCEMENT FOR EMPLOYABILITY and expanding the King’s Leadership Award Scheme. •Ensure that the college’s WIDENING PARTICIPATION AGENDA is not lost with the fee increase.
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Roar!, March 6th- March 25th 2012
Elections Reggie the Lion
KCLSU
VICE PRESIDENT ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
MOSES AKINTOMIDE
‘My aim is to get students’ cultural and religious diversity to be given more consideration when making decisions within the university.’
I am a hard-working individual who manages time effectively and works well in a number of learning environments. I consider myself to have excellent communication skills as well as been sensitive to the feelings of others. I take work seriously and handle every challenge with courage and a determination to succeed. I am a versatile individual who has taken an active role in various organisa-
tion and bodies within the university, some of which include the KCL Finance society and KCL-ACS among others. My aim is to get students’ cultural and religious diversity to be given more consideration when making decisions within the university. Among this is includes designing Friday timetables to allow for Muslim stu-
dents to prayer; and championing the celebration of the eclectic mix of cultures that we have at King’s. If elected, I aim to: Introduce more modern interactive technology in study spaces across all campus Better tutor support structure between academic staff and students Ensure that every student who can
apply for a bursary knows to and does so To get postgraduate students more involved in the representation system so that your voices are heard just as much as undergraduates More internship and placement schemes within the university - to improve students’ job prospects
‘I’m not a KCLSU insider or typical student politician.’ With the introduction of the new funding structure for universities, the ‘student experience’ will become ever more important to KCL’s administration. This represents an opportunity for the students to reposition ourselves and gain a stronger voice in decisions. Vote for me and I will campaign to make KCLSU more accountable and influential.
ALIYA DIN
VOTE ALIYA DIN! – as VPAA I will: •LOUDEN THE STUDENT VOICE: enhancement of student rep system, making individual voices heard •MAKE UNIVERSITY STUDIES CLEARER: better introduction to freshers BE-
The most important part of university experience is the quality of the teaching provided. I will insist that all courses ensure that students get a fair deal in terms of face-toface hours with members of staff. Having been a student and tutor at King’s, I understand the realities of teaching and how best to resolve student complaints. I am passionate about strengthening the sense of academic community between
staff and students. As a Philosophy student since 2006, I was active in the 2010 campaign to resist cuts at King’s, and the protests last year against 9k fees. Having been a graduate and undergraduate student rep, I’ve sat on my fair share of departmental meetings. But, I am not a KCLSU insider or typical student politician.
FORE or just as they formally start their modules better dissertation workshops for students the year BEFORE they are meant to start on them I have been a student representative for years and am currently Vice President of my academic department – I have a lot of experience in raising the voice of the student body. This also includes
I‘ve been a student for nearly 5 years now, and I’ve seen the problems that students face in academic affairs as Postgraduate Taught Campaigns Officer. Cramped lectures, unreasonable demands and disorganised departments. Our uni has a diverse and proud set of academic disciplines with different needs, and I feel I have the experience to support us all.
LUCY HAYES
•Facilitate better and clearer plagiarism guidelines and encourage the use of Turnitin throughout all departments. •Ensure that students voices are heard on issues regarding quality of teaching, facilities and feedback
If elected I will campaign to reduce wasteful spending on marketing and management salaries. There is no justification for managers raking in large salaries whilst they cut teaching provision and axing departments. I will push for changes to King’s’ charter to re-enfranchise students and staff in College’s decision making processes, and will encourage the use of referenda in
‘I WANT TO PUT THE STUDENT FIRST!’ meetings that I especially organised; I believe that when issues arise they should be dealt with as soon and as accurately as possible. I have also been in committees or helped out with events of societies, like Interfaith, Action Palestine and Amnesty. I have represented King’s at the House of Lords in a project to promote better understanding amongst students.
My slogan is: “YOUR EDUCATION: YOUR VOICE!” Our say is extremely important not only for our success, but also because we should enjoy studying at King’s. So, vote for ME: I WANT TO BE VPAA, BECAUSE I WANT TO PUT THE STUDENT FIRST!
‘I have the experience to support us all.’ #Hares4affairs
As your Vice President of Academic Affairs I would strive to….
MICHAEL CAMPBELL
MAKE DEPARTMENTS WORK FOR US We need better information, such as essay deadlines and timetabling, from Day One. I will work to improve the quality of essay support, including submission protocol and delivery of feedback. END OUR INSUFFICIENT LIBRARY PROVISION
Our libraries just do not cut it compared to our rivals. I will lobby for increased opening hours to meet student needs and provide more core texts in each of our libraries. GIVE STUDENTS MORE SAY I want to create an Academic Forum that is open for everyone to attend, bringing together all course and academic representatives to
CHRIS HARES
discuss the important issues facing our daily education. MAKE POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION OPEN TO ALL I will campaign for a much-improved system of postgraduate bursaries and grants from inside King’s, and pressure the university to avoid further fee hikes for postgraduates.
‘Vote Lucy Hayes for VP of Academic Affairs!’ •Create more access to teaching resources, lecture notes and reading material via the internet on Blackboard and Virtual Campus As my final year draws to a close, I will look back on my time at King’s and have some great memories, but having been through the whole process it is easy to see where our
University could be made even better. My job would be to make sure your voice is heard, and I believe that student satisfaction is now more important than ever. Whether you’re an undergraduate, postgraduate, international or mature student, going to university is one of the biggest stepping stones in most people’s lives and it is there-
fore incredibly important that your time at King’s lives up to your expectations. So this is where you guys come in… THINK IT. DO IT. CHANGE IT. Vote Lucy Hayes for VP of Academic Affairs!
‘It’s my goal for student satisfaction to rise and future students to experience what the prospectus promises.’ I am reading for a Physics MSc after a Physics & Philosophy BSc at King’s. I sit on a staff student liaison committee, and am an elected representative on the College Academic Board. These roles, combined with working in the Compass between my undergraduate and post-graduate courses has led me to this election with the knowledge to support and develop the academic experience of KCL students.
Many chose King’s for the courses offered and its academic reputation, and rising fees means that students want more return for their investment. It’s my goal for student satisfaction to rise and future students to experience what the prospectus promises. My Manifesto: Courses – The core curriculum
must not suffer and contact hours should remain the same if not improve. The wider availability of services such as Turnitin is essential. Libraries – 24/7 access is the ultimate goal though primarily longer Sunday opening hours, and 24/7 access in the January exam period are targets. E-learning – To improve the ease of access and broaden the use of it to
EDMUND MILLS
make it more than a holding page for course documents. Feedback – Student feedback should visibly improve the course. Marking should be consisted with meaningful feedback. King’s Experience – Help develop supplementary courses within and outside the curriculum to broaden you learning.
Elections
Roar!, March 6th- March 25th 2012
26
FAZLEY WALI
NO SHORT VERSION SUBMITTED, CHECK VOTE.KCL.AC.UK FOR FULL MANIFESTO
KCLSU
VICE PRESIDENT STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND FACILITIES
‘In everything I do I believe in challenging the status quo, in thinking differently and doing things differently.’ In everything I do I believe in challenging the status quo, in thinking differently and doing things differently.
dent and students take an active role in facility development.
How do I intend to do this......simply put, I have a vision for Kings’ College London where our facilities accommodate the needs of our students, our sports clubs and activities are available to every stu-
-Create and more direct and efficient way in which students can actively take part in facility development ( accommodation hostels, gyms, pitches, activity rooms etc.)
I pledge to;
CHUKWUMBUDIKE AGHAJI
-Exposure of all KCL clubs and societies on all campuses to all students.
VOTE CHUKWUMBUDIKE FOR VPSAF
-An increased environmental responsibility by College. In believing in this fundamental idea -WE CAN BE BETTER, WE can challenge the norm and change the status quo.
ARJUN GONDOTRA NO SHORT VERSION SUBMITTED, CHECK VOTE.KCL.AC.UK FOR FULL MANIFESTO
‘I intend to share students’ ideas, interests and concerns as well as organise social events and community projects.’ As a KCLSU VPSAF, I intend to share students’ ideas, interests and concerns as well as organise social events and community projects. Having completed my undergraduate from University of Melbourne and after living in 5 different countries, I bring an international voice to the mix and understand the challenges being faced by students. I am fully aware of their concerns
SAMIR HAFIZ
Friendships, pride and pro-activity; three things I believe to be central to KCLSU. Being a member of the union is just as important as the intense studying we do here at King’s. A familiar place for us to have our voices heard, to have a drink or to microwave our pasta after a sports match. KCLSU is a friend walking in the right direction and I don’t intend on stopping
and their needs to be involved and feel a part of the college spirit. As a fun loving and a well-travelled overseas student, I know how important campus life is. Being involved in various voluntary and leadership activities at University of Melbourne has enhanced my ability to listen, communicate and work in a team with people from
different social and cultural backgrounds. Students from different academic, social and cultural backgrounds have diverse needs, and by working as a VPSAF I hope to contribute to the university spirit by coming up with novel and innovative ideas to encourage students to engage in extra-curricular activities.
ANJALI GAUR
From my personal experience I believe that it is essential to reach out to students to make the opportunities on campus apparent.
‘A vote for me would be a vote for you!’ it, but would rather hold its hand and guide it. I hope to tackle the common facilities problems such as faulty printers and out of order lifts. I’d add to the work done in the Waterloo campus to create a social environment run by students.
KCLSU Clubs and Societies would agree that it adds a priceless experience to being a student. More needs to be done to encourage all students to participate and for all student groups to have grand and eventful tasters. I’d help all groups to use the KCLSU platform to gain external funding.
All those actively involved in
I aim to encourage all students to
‘You won’t regret it!’ The facilities available to us at King’s are a big part of why we chose to be here. The activities available to us are a big part of why we love being here. I want to help as many people as possible to have the best possible University experience. My aims include getting more societies sponsored, Wednesday after-
noons off from all modules, making a bigger deal of RAG outside of Guy’s, more Varsities, more support for the UH Cup and maintaining KCL and KCLMS teams! I would also lobby for more KCLSU involvement at Waterloo, the changes the students really want at Boland House, better technology and better administration
volunteer, fundraise and campaign and will build on the opportunities available. A vote for me would be a vote for you!
KIRSTEN “KIKI” JOHNSON
across the board! Having worked on the YES to maintaining KCL and KCLMS teams campaign in the Sports Referendum I know there’s nothing worse than those with the decision making power forgetting about the desires of the electorate. My door would always be open to ensure KCLSU’s efforts were always channelled in the right direction!
Make it count this election period; vote Kirsten “Kiki” Johnson for Vice President Student Activities and Facilities. I’ve been known to rise to a challenge; make this my toughest one yet. You won’t regret it!
25
Roar!, March 6th- March 25th 2012
Elections Reggie the Lion
AIMS •Ensure Wednesday afternoons are kept free for all. •Lobby for an indoor sports centre & seek more practice space for all types of sports
KCLSU
•Utilise time allocations for sports teams in the university gym •Lobby for floodlights for football and rugby pitches & provide “allweather” crumb pitches for football, rugby and lacrosse to increase sport space for hockey •Help societies & sports teams find corporate sponsorship. •The Guy’s bar queue is ridiculous. I will heavily lobby to ensure this
gets sorted. •Better ISS facilities and opening hours. •Accommodation for all freshers. I will listen, be approachable and strive to enhance all aspects of the student experience to make sure your time at King’s is what YOU want it to be.
VICE PRESIDENT STUDENT MEDIA AND ENGAGEMENT LARA BELO JONES
‘Vote Lara - VPSME’ In Brief my main aims
crease student awareness and participation in all societies
Improve the timetabling turnaround, especially the release of the summer exam timetable
“Your degree is hard. The rest should be simple.” Kings has some great services – but if you can’t find them, you can’t use them. My first priority is to make finding information easier – with a user friendly website and simple, clear departmental handbooks. I pledge to spearhead a campaign
Work with the Activities VP to in-
Vote Lara – VPSME
‘Your Degree is hard. The rest should be simple.’ for online essay hand-in. It’s not right that your marks rely on notoriously dodgy printers. I’m a Senior Student at Hampstead Campus, so I know how to engage with students’ needs and represent them to management. I also have experience in the Women’s Campaign and LGBT organisations. I pledge to work with Liberation Officers to examine additional barriers faced
by under-represented students – for example, to provide trigger warnings before films and articles used on Kings courses. I love student media – but Roar is not at the heart of student life. It must be defended as an independent, well-funded resource, while also made more visible on campus. I’m excited to get behind the launch
of KCL TV, and continue work on the Kings mobile app. I have experience working with King’s and independent media, and have also made short movies. Emily Monaghan for a simpler, streamlined Kings.
CHARLOTTE RICHARDSON
‘Vote for me and I will not let you down.’ My priority will be that King’s students are well informed, supported and notified about events, movements and activities occurring at our College.
body, highly inclusive, relevant and outward looking -introduce a Deputy Editor for publicity, encouraging new writers and greater engagement from all campuses - expand the website and utilize Twitter more to promote King’s news and affairs on a daily if not hourly basis. -produce a KCL YouTube chan-
I will -use experience as an editor of Roar!, KCL Radio and TV to unify university media into a more collective and collaborative working
You tell them you’re not interested, they give up
‘Just vote for me okay!?’
Anything to do with libraries
[unrealistic goal]
You shrug them off, but somehow they manage to get a flyer into both your hands and pockets
I want to represent you’
•Improve the support system for student representatives, helping them to get the most out of their role.
They have a catchphrase which rhymes with their name/ position
Roar! have put together your very own cut out and keep election bingo cards, to make the next week just that little bit more bearable. Win with a full house. We dare you to shout BINGO as a candidate lets you ticks that final box.
Kings is my passion. You are what matters. Vote for me and I will not let you down.
•Keep Student media student led, Improve independence.
‘Unifying the campuses’
ELECTION BINGO
Promises of reduced Waterfront/ Guy’s bar prices
•iPhone and Android apps for the Union, allowing students to book
•Widen Roar’s demographic with an electronic version released alongside printed editions, which offers exciting opportunities for advertising - and extra funding.
‘I pledge to…’ ‘ Make a difference’
Aims:
established professionals from a variety of careers to talk to and advise students -promote our student support services (having been diagnosed as dyslexic while at King’s) and remain alert to student’s other needs.
‘I will rock your world.’ tickets for events, keep up-to-date with news, see what their friends are doing and manage their university lives.
ELECTION BINGO
THOMAS WEBB
I’m Tom Webb, I’m running for the position of Vice President of Student Media and Engagement. I will rock your world, and I promise to be your voice and your champion during my time at the union.
nel where any student can upload videos they have created or come across relating to student activities and engagements at King’s -create exciting events for students to promote and attend -ensure fresher’s induction means their experience is enjoyable from the off -for all under and post graduate students, extend contacts to bring
You tell them you’re not interested, they chase you down the corridor
EMILY MONAGHAN
Increase awareness of all student media groups in kings and creative media opportunities for students
My personal promise – to be transparent and answerable to you the benevolent public for all actions as VPSME. This is a job I recognise that responsibility and will make sure I earn my pay.
‘Put me as 2nd choice at least!’
Being part of the cross country and hockey team has helped me develop my independence but also become an all-rounded team player. We are all privileged to be King’s students and this gives us a great head start for when we graduate. I am approachable, easy to talk to
and look forward to meeting you all. I am also firm, determined and committed to getting the best from our union.
They don’t say anything, just drop a flyer
BE INSPIRED, BECOME INVOLVED AND GET ACTIVE
‘BE INSPIRED, BECOME INVOLVED AND GET ACTIVE.’
‘I have passion’
SARAH KHALIL
Elections
Roar!, March 6th- March 25th 2012
24
KCLSU STUDENT TRUSTEE 15 MONTH TERM
HONG NGUYEN
‘I promise to try my best to be an effective and responsible representative for your voices.’
Hi everyone! My name is Hong Nguyen, 1st year undergraduate Business Management. I will just cut my speech short: currently, what concerns me the most is the issue of students not showing up in lectures. I’ve thought of two possible reasons: either the lectures lack of interaction and inspiration, or 1st year students are just not used to University teaching style. There-
fore if I success in the election, I will: 1.Collect more information from students to figure out the major cause 2.Carry out a survey both on KCL students and other universities 3.From the results, find out a more
effective teaching technique
especially individual study space improvements, to provide you the best place for study. That are roughly my ideas and plan if I success in this election. Though I still have some shortcomings, I promise to try my best to be an effective and responsible representative for your voices. Many thanks :)
4.Tips for 1st year, especially international students to catch up quickly with new environment. Your comments and ideas on this issue will be valued and assured to reach the officers ASAP. Also, if I become the student trustee, I’ll continue working on library,
‘YOUR best interests at heart.’ As the job of a Student Trustee is to “play a vital role in the organisational development, provide strategic oversight and ensure KCLSU remains relevant to an ever diversifying membership” by “paying homage to a clear vision, mission and values”, I believe that my numerous experiences in various arms of KCLSU makes me incredibly suited to the role.
KCLSU
LUKE GREENFIELD
If the board of trustees have the final say on the decisions KCLSU makes, it is imperative to have representatives of the student population on that board who are vocal, determined, and who know and understand both the wants and needs of the students, and the workings of KCLSU. As a graduate student, I have been
It is my pledge to ensure that KCLSU continues to put the Students’ interests at the heart of every decision taken, as well as making sure that all the student representatives deliver on their pledges and are held accountable. I have fortunately been able to represent students in various capacities including as Chair of the Guy’s Campus Fora Committee
on the students’ council, Chair of the inaugural Sports Forum and as a Course Rep. Furthermore, I have been humbled to have served as President of the KCLMS/GKT Football Club and the KCL African and Caribbean Society and was recognised by KCLSU as “President of the Year 2010/11”. These privileged opportunities, combined with my active participation in Sports clubs and students’ activi-
MIKE NOSA-EHIMA
ties for the 7 years that I have been a student at King’s, means that while my feet are firmly placed in the student body and in Sports and Activity Groups, I am very knowledgeable about KCLSU. As such I can act as an excellent trustee for YOU, the student body, ensuring that every decision made is with YOUR best interests at heart.
STUDENT TRUSTEE 2 YEAR TERM ‘I am excited at the prospect of making a positive change for all King’s students.’ a KCL student at Guys for 4 years, and have been involved in sports clubs, student representation and volunteering within the union. I therefore understand the long running issues affecting our students, what is done well and what is done badly within KCLSU. As student trustee I will ensure I am out there on campus meeting
and speaking to students from all different schools and campuses so that I can echo the voice of the student body to the powers that be. I will not be afraid to make my voice heard and fight for what is right. I will ensure accountability for decisions made and push the SU to streamline their internal processes.
ous trustees I understand the role, know what can be achieved, and am excited at the prospect of making a positive change for all King’s students.
Finally, having spoken to previ-
‘I have not once sat back and decided to just go along with student life! Now being half way through my fourth year at KCL I have not once sat back and decided to just go along with student life! Since my second year I have been an active member of several different clubs and societies. I have been a committee member on the KCLMS hockey team for 3 years where I am now treasurer.
After starting off on the RAG committee in second year I have risen through the ranks of MedSoc for the past two years where I now sit as Treasurer. The years of dealing with the runnnings of both the hockey club and MedSoc I feel have given me adequate knowledge of the workings of KCLSU to now become
more involved in its more central workings.
GREG NUSSBAUM
understanding of their students!
I also believe that my different experiences throughout university have give me insight into what students want and need from there student union. A vote for Greg is a vote towards a KCLSU trustee board with a better
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‘Vote THEO WILLISON-PARRY for STUDENT TRUSTEE to hold KCLSU to account.’ £6 Pitchers. The Boland House Vision. Pretty much every other decision KCLSU makes. Vote THEO WILLISON-PARRY for STUDENT TRUSTEE to hold KCLSU to account. From our unrepresentative Student Council to our unelected bureaucracy, I will work to open up
our decision-making processes to wider scrutiny and greater participation by the very people it affects: YOU.
THEO WILLISON-PARRY