Concourse Issue Three 2007/08

Safety Week!

Issue Number 3 : October 22nd

Jack Corrigan Vice-President Education & Welfare

The event is finally upon us. Prepare yourself for an action packed week of safety related fun. The message behind safety week is one that is orientated around keeping you as students safe. The unfortunate truth is that students live in a bubble where they think they cannot be touched, which can lead them to neglect safety matters. Here at KUSU we are hoping that the Safety Week event will break you out of this bubble, and bring to your attention some issues that effect your every day life.

Monday 22nd October is focused around sexual health and safe sex, pop into the union and pick up some free condoms and leaflets about how to do it (safely).

Tuesday 23rd October is focused around road safety. In the afternoon KUSU, in partnership with the local fire-service and local council, are putting on an event called ‘beer goggles’. From 1pm onwards in the Ballroom students will be able to experience driving remote control cars around the Ballroom wearing beer goggles. These visual inhibitors are designed to recreate the impairments created by a few pints. This message

of this drink driving course is set up to be a fun way for you to gage just how much of an effect alcohol can have. In the evening before the champions league football starts, KUSU is putting on an event which continues the theme of road safety. In conjunction with the local council we are providing you with the opportunity to win £100 worth of AA driving lessons if you are a non-driver and skid pan police driver training if you are a driver. The event is a question and answer

at 6.15pm in Sam’s bar, it is a great opportunity to get a greater understanding of road safety and to win some brilliant prizes. If this isn’t enough to sway you this way, then perhaps a free burger and chips will get you through the door.

Thursday 25th October is focused around mental health, personal safety and beating stress. The main theme of the day is relaxation so this is an open invitation to come into the Ballroom from 10.30 onwards and

enjoy the events KUSU are putting on. Enjoy the chilled-out music on offer, on comfy seats, take up the opportunity to learn chess, korfball or juggling and tuck into the free organic buffet that is provided. Mental health is an issue that affects more people than you would think, 1 in 4 students suffer from mental health related issues during their tenure at university. The beat the stress aspect of the day is centred around the opportunity to take your mates on in a gladiator dual. Using gladiator dual sticks you can take out all that pent up anger on your best friends. In addition to all these events in the Ballroom at 3pm in K2 the dance society have kindly volunteered their time to provide a relaxation session to help you distress.

Friday 26th October is focused on fire safety and block safety. Come down to the students’ union and pick up uv pens, free bread and leaflets on safety in student accommodation. The evening is a 999 fancy dress special, in conjunction with the entertainments department, safety week presents you with the opportunity to dress as doctors, nurses, police and the fire service.

The safety week events are open to all the Keele community so come down, have fun and hopefully learn a little too.

We’ve Spent A Few Pennies on New Loos!

Oli Cotterill Vice-President Finance & Activities

Once upon a time in a toilet land far far away, a charming set of Sabbaticals concocted a plan to not only transform the K2 toilets but to relocate them and make them bigger and better than ever before! Going to the toilet would be a far more refreshing experience!

So, the journey began...months of hard planning by your previous Sabbaticals, endless meetings and finally the production of a fantastic set of plans. The month of July came, the plans were approved and the building company started to work non-stop over the summer. Several thousand meetings followed along with a few problems that were chucked into the mix but finally...after twelve weeks of the hardest work I have ever seen any building company do..they are here...they are fresh...they are clean...and they are HUGE!!!

Three months ago I refused to get any where near excited about a new set of toilets but I have to admit they do look pretty damn sweet...well, as sweet as a toilet can look I suppose. The heights of my excitement even stretched to opening the toilets by not just cutting through a red ribbon, no..no..no...it had to be opened by cutting through a piece of toilet roll! And yes, before you ask, I am in the ladies toilet!

The new toilets are absolutely jam packed with toilet-related stuffs, the ladies benefiting from an additional 5 cubicles, 5 wash basins and 2 hand dryers. The gents are also benefiting from tripled the amount of cubicles and wash basins. Not to mention the beautiful colour scheme, which you may well be pleased to hear that that part of the project was nothing to do with me, there are some things I am good at, but picking colours definitely is not one of them!

I’m sure there is one question that is now

In Concourse Issue 3 KUBE Radio Goes Live! > Page 2

begging to be answered...what is going to go in the place of the old toilets?? Well, as mentioned last year, we are going to be having a new chilled out area where you can go to get away from the loud music and have a chat to your friends. Due for completion in

Make A Difference This Chrsitmas > Page 4

November, the old toilets will be all knocked through to pave the way for our new chill out room. Get ready for an extremely chic and sexy room together with a grand unveiling coming soon...

As you can see from the photo, the toilets are looking absolutely fantastic and I feel that a huge amount of appreciation needs to go to the previous Sabbatical team, KUSU staff and University staff for the tremendous amount of hard work they have put in to make this project a success.

On behalf of your current Sabbatical team I hope that you find going to the toilet a more cleaner, fresher and more pleasurable experience!!

Athletics Union Results > Page 11

Concourse

22nd October 2007

Matt Alexander Vice-President Democracy & Communications vp.comms@kusu.keele.ac.uk

What an amazingly busy start to the year! I hope you have all been settling in alright to Keele and getting to grips with your course(s). I’ve been extremely busy all through the Freshers’ Fortnight dealing with your enquiries and hammering out three issues of Concourse!

I’d like to thank all of you that came out for the Concourse workshop the other week; it was great to see so many student journalists willing to get involved with the newspaper. I’d also like to thank Hannah Hiles from the University who came down and gave an excellent talk about journalism. I’m hoping that we can get another session booked sometime before Christmas but Iíd like to hear your thoughts and feelings on this to see what sort of topics you’d like to cover. It would be great to run some photography or poetry workshops, or any other type of workshop that you can think of! On the topic of photography and poetry I’d really like to see some more of that sent in by you (my supplies of these seem to have dried up considerably over the last few weeks!).

I’m still trying to get the Concourse Online section of kusu.net up and running, I apologise for the delay with it but we have had a few technical issues here at KUSU that have prevented us from uploading the paper onto the web. I’ll make sure this gets sorted as soon as possible Remember that if you have any issues that you feel are not being addressed then you can come and visit the sabbatical officers anytime during the day (or if you see us out at night).

There are also the part-time officers who are available for consultation in the sabbs corridor (top floor of KUSU) at the times specified on this page.

We’ve got a lot of things planned for the rest of the semester so make sure you keep checking kusu.net and Concourse for all the latest news. Be sure to come down to the union all of this week for the Safety Week!

Finally I’d like to wish you all a happy Halloween!

Entertainments Officer Lizzie Leeson sta49@keele.ac.uk Monday 3pm-4pm

Male Gender Officer Ben Powell sta52@keele.ac.uk Monday 2pm-3pm

Non-Portfolio Officer Jonny Craig sta57@keele.ac.uk Friday 11am-12pm

Racial Diversity Officer Shakur Ahmed sta77@keele.ac.uk Wednesday 1pm-2pm

Disabled Students Officer Nikki Cooper sta54@keele.ac.uk Monday 12pm-1pm

AU President Manni Purwal sta55@keele.ac.uk Visit the AU Office!

It has been long overdue, but KUBE RADIO is now ON AIR!!!

Sejal Kansara Head of News - KUBE Radio

On Monday 15th October at 10am, KUBE was officially put on the airwaves, to be heard by everyone; near and far. All you have to do is go online to www.kuberadio.com, listen live from 10am - 6pm.

Many of you will still be unaware of why we have taken so long to re-launch. Being a student radio, it is important you know.

The time between the summer break and now has been an incredibly busy period for KUBE. Those of you who have been involved with KUBE in the past, will remember the difficulties that were often faced with being on air, along with the difficulty of fitting in the studio. That is no longer a problem for this year. KUBE this year has launched with a new ideas, new opportunities and a brand new studio!

KUBE Award Winning Radio > KUBE radio reached a pivotal moment in its history on the 28th June 2007, by winning the ‘Gold Medal Award’ for the

‘Best Online Radio’, at the NYF (New York Festival). Winning this award has given the members of KUBE the recognition they deserve for their dedication and efforts for the year just gone.

New for 2007/8 > This year we do not only have a brand new studio, there will be more prizes and gig tickets to be won on shows, and more interviews with guests on the shows. As a launching promotion, we are also giving away 20 pairs of tickets for Alton Towers; this promotion is available now until Sunday 4th November, so start listening! > Also new to KUBE is the delivery of the news. For those of you who listened to KUBE last year will remember the monotone automatic news service we used. This year the news and information will be pre-recorded by the Head of News, and so will be personalised and softer for the listening audience. > A brand new website to accompany the new studio - so go check it out.

The Simple Schedule > From Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm, KUBE will be the University mainstream radio. On these shows you can listen to the latest tracks, out in the charts. But remember no one show will sound the same, even during the day, as each day there are different presenters, unlike commercial radio. > In the evenings, from 6pm, you can listen in on specialised shows. These will range from urban music, to rock and indie (just to mention a few). Whatever you want, weíve got it, if not, we’ll get it. > On Saturdays, a show will be dedicated to sports. Here you can catch the latest on Keele and other sporting events. > The news is on, on the hour, every hour.

You can find out more about what we’ve got planned for KUBE, including the weekly schedule. You can send in messages to the studio through the website and asks for any requests or just to give a shout out to your friends. You can also download KUBE podcasts on to your ipod, via the KUBE website.

Concourse

22nd October 2007

Sejal Kansara

Friday 12th October, for many people was an ordinary day.

However, for millions of Hindus across the world, it was the start of the devotional celebration, Navratri.

The name Navratri comes from the two words Nav (nine) and Ratri (nights). The festival is celebrated for nine nights, to mark the triumph of good over evil.

Many of you would be familiar with the story of Ram and Sita and the celebration of Divali (you can find out more in the next issue of Concourse), which is often referred to as the ‘festival of lights’. Although, many people are unaware of the significance Navratri has to Divali.

Ram’s wife Sita was kidnapped and taken to Lanka, (now known as Sri Lanka), by the demon Ravan. Ravan is also referred to as the ‘ten-headed-demon’, for his herculean strength and lightening whit, equal to that of ten men.

To destroy Ravan and save Sita, the most powerful Mataji (goddesses) united, with the help of Hanuman (the god of protection). The nine nights of Navratri represent the nine nights of victory by defeating Ravan’s army. On the tenth night, Ravan is destroyed. This tenth night is called Dasera, (Das meaning ten).

Today, Navratri is a time where communities gather to praise the goddesses for their victories, through music and traditional Indian folk dance. The dances that take place around the centralised Garbi, a rotating nonagon, decorated with lights and pictures of the goddesses.

There are two types of folk dances; Garba and Dandya Rass. Both dances follow a structure (like ballroom dancing), with a beat which begins with a steadily and gradually speeds up, ending in a crescendo; the pace of the dance will follow the pace of the beat. The two dances must be strictly

synchronised, to follow through the flow of the dance. If this is ruined, it may result in a ‘domino-effect’ of people messing up. As the music gets faster, smaller, more complex groups are formed within the larger groups.

The difference between the two is; Dandya requires using Dandya (sticks) and the need of a partner, to dance with.

Whereas Garba is an independent dance, nothing is required. There are also shorter dances that take place. They are not as intensified as Garba and Dandya, but are seen as playful fun.

Once during the night, dedicated prayer known as the Aarti is sang to praise and acknowledges the efforts and triumph of Navratri. Offering made during the time of prayer is then given out at the end of the evening, this is called prashad.

At the end of each night everyone leaves with the same enthusiasm they arrived with, feeling fulfilled, through a night of

joyful devotion and praise.

As more people from other cultures are learning about Navratri, it is becoming more and more popular. Even if these people are not comfortable taking part (usually afraid of not keeping up), they leave in awe of the night, ‘having never seen anything like it before’.

On the tenth day, Dasera, the defeat of Ravan is celebrated by burning effigies of Ravan to mark his failure. This tradition is more evident in India.

The buzzing atmosphere and excited gathering of communities is not only apparent through the music and dances.

The beauty of the night is reflected also by the effort and preparation put in by individuals, which contributes to the evenings’ success.

For women, especially in this country, Navratri is a time to buy new outfits (sareers, lengas, Indian suits) with matching accessories of bangles, bindi’s and colours - its an opportunity to really take advantage of dressing up, which otherwise would not happen. Men also get the chance to wear more traditional clothes called a kurta.

The auspicious occasion of Navratri is phenomenal not only in India, but all over the world. Africa, India, England and America (to mention a few) - all celebrate it with greatness.

Areas from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leicester, put together spectacular evenings to celebrate. De Montfort Hall in Leicester is one of the most popular places to go for Navratri. People from across the country travel there to be a part of the magnificent event.

‘Navratri is an extremely exciting time of year for me. There is a real buzz in the atmosphere, everyone comes together to become one. Taking part in Garba and Dandya and being one of the advance players makes me really proud. There was a time, when I was younger, when I could not keep up and yes, I did have to leave and watch. Perfection of the dance really comes with practice. Navratri is really a time when I truly get to appreciate and embrace the culture and traditions that I have grown up with.’

International Stammering Awareness Day : Monday 22nd October

Nikki Cooper Disabled Students Officer

Did you know that approximately one in every hundred people stammer? Or that more men stammer than women? Stammering is an impairment which most people have come into contact with at some point in their life but know very little about. For instance, did you know that stammering and stuttering are exactly the same thing? It should be noted that some very famous intellectuals had a stammer. For instance, Aristotle, Aesop, King Charles I, Charles Darwin, Napoleon - even Marilyn Monroe had a stammer!

About 9% of people in the UK have a stammer. It is about three times more common in men than women and interestingly enough, most of those people who have a stammer can whisper or sing perfectly - just like Pop Idol Gareth Gates. The largest impairment of a stammerer cannot be noted by the listener. These impairments include psychological symptoms such as anxiety, word fears, situational fears, tension, self pity, shame and also a ‘loss of control’ during speech. If you know anyone with a stammer it is easier on them to take the following steps during your interaction;

Do not give unhelpful advice, such as ‘slow down’ or ‘take a deep breath’. Just accept that the person stammers. * Do be patient and maintain eye contact with the stammerer when he or she speaks. * Do not interrupt or finish words or sentences for the stammerer. This is frustrating for the stammerer and you may guess wrongly. * Concentrate on what is being said, rather than how it is being said.

There is no single exlusive cause for stammering however many hypotheses have been created surrounding stress. Often, a subtle change in mood or attitude can greatly increase or decrease the fluency with many stammerers. So, be aware! Your attitude towards someone with a stammer (which bears no implication on their intelligence by the way) could have a large affect on them!

For more help and advice take a look at: The British Stammering Association - www.stammering.org How the Disability Discrimination Act applies to stammering - www.stammeringlaw.org.uk

Concourse Editor : Matt Alexander Concourse Issue 3 contained articles from;

Nightline Is Waiting to Listen Don’t want to talk about it to family?

Don’t want to talk about it to the university?

Don’t want to talk about it with friends?

Come and talk to us.

Nightline is a student-run listening service which operates every night from 9pm until 3am. Our service is fully confidential and anonymous. We won’t know who you are or where you’re calling from, and you won’t know who we are. People call us to talk about anything that is worrying them; knowing that we will not judge you or try to offer you advice. And you should call us too.

Call free on campus by dialling (18) 4999, or call us from any other landline on (01782) 583999 (charged at local rate).

Jack Corrigan, Oliver Cotterill, Sejal Kansara, Nikki Cooper, Jonny Craig, Adam-Betts-Symonds, Sarah Want to write for Concourse?

Hill, Michael Barnett, Lizzie Leeson, Katie Ryan, You can submit articles and adverts to Matt Becky Taylor, Fay Harris, James Appleby, Manpreet Manku, Simi Sehgal, Lydia Medler, Ruth Meredith, Alexander in the VP Comms office on the top floor of the Students’ Union, or at; James Lavender, Barry Riley, Mike Fryatt and Rich vp.comms@kusu.keele.ac.uk Hill.

Next Edition of Concourse: Monday 5th November

Please submit articles for this edition by 12pm on Sunday the 28th of October to VP Comms

Concourse

22nd October 2007

The Keele Community spirit

Jonny Craig Non-portfolio Officer

KUSU Shop Winner!

One thing I have always loved about Keele is its community spirit and the pride in the university that we students have. This is highly noticeable with the campaign to get Keele on the monopoly map and another group that now has appeared on facebook where many of you are defending Keele if anyone says something bad about us (yes I am guilty of this as well). The community spirit can also be seen when you just start talking to a random person that you have never met before and you can talk as if you are long lost friends or when you can’t walk across campus without bumping into someone you know. It’s this community spirit that I have been telling prospective stu-

Winner: Krista Jones from Crewe Course: Biology with Science Foundation Year Prize presented by Chris Plant, KUSU’s Retail Manager (prize - £25 selection of stationery presented in one of a range of cotton ‘Bag’s for Life’, which KUSU are promoting as part of their commitment to a Greener Keele). Krista was at one of the Freshers’ Induction events in the Students’ Union and entered the competition whilst sampling some of the Shop’s new lines in Oriental Food. She spotted five products sold in the Students’ Union Shop: Keele hoodies, stationery, photo booth, sandwiches and printer paper.

The Law Society has got involved with the Samaritans to do Operation Christmas Child this year, for all those charitable students who would like to help. For those who don’t know what this is, basically you fill a shoe box for either a little boy or a little girl with suitable things to make them a Christmas gift they will never forget.

What can you put in your shoebox. . .

Toys - i.e. bears, small musical instruments, jigsaws etc or something similar, suitable for either a boy or a girl, i.e. a car for a boy or make-up for little girls.

Educational supplies - pens, pencils, notepads, stickers etc (some children abroad cannot go to school until they can provide their own stationery, so giving these as gifts could really change a child’s life!!)

Hygiene items- toothbrush, toothpaste, bar of wrapped soap etc Other items - Sweets (NB. the sell by date must be at least March of the following year), gloves, scarves, necklaces etc.

There are some items that cannot be included in the box, such as liquids, food (except sweets), war related items, medicine and other items deemed not acceptable for children of a third world background, such as novels for example.

All of this information is outlined in the leaflets that you can pick up from outside the Law Office or any member of the Law Society Committee.

If you are interested in making a box and making a difference to a little boy or girls life this Christmas, then please get filling your box(es) now and do something worthwhile this Christmas. In addition to making up the box you will need to provide £3 in an envelope in the box to cover the cost of shipment abroad, which is £2 and the extra pound from each box will be donated to the Samaritans for another worthwhile purpose such as putting

of rubbish on the floor and its not just outdoors its indoors as well so many people drop bottles and the plastic glasses on the floor which then get broken or someone then slips on them and ends up in the first aid room. Now here is a question for you how long does it take you to put your rubbish in the bin, put your glass or bottle on the side or to take it back to the bar (especially if your going for another drink)? The answer is not very long there are plenty of bins around campus and in the union there are many tables and sides to put your glasses and on busy nights the bar staff even put bottle bins out for you to put your empty glass bottles in to be recycled.

So lets show pride for your university and union by not dropping your litter.

22 Reasons to join the Disabled Students Campaign

1. In further education, at least 6% of students declare a disability on enrolment 2. In higher education, at least 4% of students declare a disability on enrolment 3. In 1994, China introduced a law designed to eliminate ëinferior birthsí and heighten the standards of the whole population through enforced sterilization of disabled people and compulsory abortion of disabled fetuses 4. Only 1 in 20 disabled people are in FE or HE, compared to 1 in 10 for the rest of the population 5. 1 in 5 disabled people in FE and HE feel that they are directly discriminated against because of their disability 6. One third of disabled people do not feel they can enter education because of their disability 7. 27% of disabled people have no qualifications at all compared to 12% of the rest of the population 8. There are 7 million disabled people in Britain 9. Only about half of disabled people in Britain work, compared to 80% of the rest of the population 10. Only 1 in 5 people with mental health problems work in Britain 11. Disabled employees are paid an average of £1.50 less per hour than their non-disabled counterparts 12. Disabled students are 10 times more likely to be the victim of bullying than their non-disabled counterparts 13. Disabled people are ten times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse 14. 85% of disabled people surveyed in Britain feel they are treated as second class citizens 15. 1 in 3 families with Black disabled children have severe problems with their housing, compared to one in five families with white disabled children 16. Disabled women are 3 times less likely to work than disabled men 17. Dyslexic students make up 43% of the disabled students in Britain 18. HIV is defined as a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 19. In 2005 2.4 million adults and children in sub-Saharan Africa died of HIV. Over 2 million of these deaths was preventable through anti-retroviral drugs and the widespread condom availability 20. In 1997 less than half of polling booths in Britain were accessible meaning that many disabled people were simply unable to vote 21. Even though itís against the law, lots of colleges, universities, and studentsí unions are not fully accessible to disabled people on a tap for these children, or helping to build a 22. Disabled people are denied adequate sex education - disability and sex reschool. main a taboo and not talked about.

Remember, this may be the only Christmas presJoin ent they get... so please help! Get as many people involved as you wish, and please invite others Keele University Disability Organisation for Students to join this cause!

We will be arranging a place to drop off your KUDOS aims to unite Disabled Students and those with an interest in boxes soon, keep your eyes posted for email anDisability issues. nouncements, posters in and around the campus (You do not have to have a disability to join!) and Student’s Union, and for bulletins on Facebook or Myspace.

We are a social network providing opportunity to meet new friends and Please help make a difference this year, please opportunity to campaign on matters affecting disabled students. help us in our campaign!

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

The Law Society

dents and their parents about at the university open days the other weekend but when I was heading to the open day from my room in Barnes I was horrified at what I saw. Within about ten metres there was at least three sandwich packages, a couple of carrier bags and a beer cans and what makes it worst is there was a bin at either end of this path (so the bins were no more than ten meters apart from each other) so it was easy to put the rubbish in the bin who ever dropped it didnít need to hold it for long. What makes it worst is that it was the open days when we are meant to be showing off our beautiful university campus and having rubbish everywhere really doesn’t help. It’s not the first time I have seen this so often I have walked around campus and there is all sorts

For more information see the Facebook group, or go to http://www.samaritanspurse.uk.com/occ/

kudos.kusu@googlemail.com Or search ‘KUDOS’ in the Keele network on Facebook

Concourse

22nd October 2007

Gotta go to Gothenburg!!

Keele’s Got Talent!!!

Adam Betts-Symonds Study Abroad Student

OK...so maybe you’d like to study abroad? I will try to tell you why you should consider choosing to study in Europe. I have a vague memory of reading something like this when I was a fresher at Keele and have the distinct impression it bored me...so I’ll do my best to be brief.

I am a 2nd year student at Keele spending the first 5 months of my year in Goteborg, Sweden. I chose Europe because it is exciting, cheaper and easy to travel around other countries during my stay. I came to Sweden for the chance to learn another language and experience a different and unknown culture. These are the main things I felt I could not get from choosing somewhere like America to study.

I did an intensive language course in Sweden for the first month before my studies began, helping me learn basic Swedish. This has been the best experience for me here so far. I made international friends from all over the world, whilst also mastering the art of transport and shopping in a foreign country!

The course was paid for by the EU, I got more money for

Sarah Hill

Co-treasurer of the English & American Literature Society

the extra month I spent here (the EU also gives you a non-repayable grant to study in Europe) and I was taken around Sweden for free to see many museums, exhibitions, lakes, islands, festivals and much more.

Regardless, the language is definetly not a barrier here in Sweden since everyone’s English is so good! But as far as I am concerned, one of the benefits of choosing to study abroad in Europe are the different languages...its good to be challenged and says a lot more on a CV. Sweden is a beautiful country with beautiful people ...

With so much to offer, I hope you at least briefly entertain the idea of studying here. I can’t imagine anyone ever regretting a study abroad period.

If you would like to learn more about study abroad options, come and chat to a Peer Adviser in the Study Abroad Resource Room - Walter Moberly Building (WMO.03) or check out the Centre for International Exhange and Languages website: http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/solcca/ciel/index.htm

The majority of students at Keele are aware of the Poetry Live evenings, yet few attend these events. However, for the English and American Literature Society it seemed an obvious location for one of their first few socials. President of the society, Stacie McGowan, stated ‘we felt it was important to diversify our social events with a variety of tastes, and this kind of evening delivers the academic, fun and relaxed student image we want to establish as a society. Events like this create an opportunity for students to mix with both their peers and those of academic standing, which encourages both social and professional development.’ The social began with drinks at Union Square, which Treasurer Sarah Norris explained was a deliberate choice of venues; ‘after our first social at the Union Karaoke, we wanted somewhere a bit quieter to give the new members a better opportunity to get to know everyone, and still have a fair few drinks. Following

Oli Cotterill Vice-President Finance & Activities

Tuesday 27th November —- Mark it in your diaries!!

This is going to be a night to remember, this is the night where you are going to see the true extent of talent that Keele has to offer! I want to see Dancers, Singers, DJs, Bands, Comedians, Jugglers, Musicians...simply anybody that wants to get up and show us what they have got!!

I will be your lovely little host for the evening and I will be bringing a few judges with me to assess the talent!! But be aware, we will be having Keele’s version of Simon Cowell in our presence, offering his pearls of wisdom!

Top three contestants will be getting a fantabulous prize, so get in touch with me to collect an application form by coming up to my office or dropping me an email to vp.finance@kusu.keele.ac.uk . Even if you do not want to be a contestant then come along and watch, I promise it will be a fantastic night.

More information will be appearing on the website, SubTV and around the building very soon!

this the society headed to Le Cafe, which opens to offer refreshments for all Poetry Live events. The society alongside lecturers, other students and the paying public then took their seats in the Westminster theatre; set for Sean O’Brien’s reading of some of his latest collection The Drowned Book.

The reading itself consisted of brief descriptions of the inspiration of certain poems, readings of a select few poems, an interval (a chance for the society to buy more drinks), and lastly an opportunity for the audience to ask questions about O’Brien’s work.

O’Brien mixed a combination of dense, thought-provoking poetry, with lighter comic poems making the reading an enjoyable and refreshing experience for the audience. The comic poems, consisted of an obituary for the not yet departed Margaret Thatcher, and Welcome Major Poet, which is told from the audience’s point of view at a poetry reading, and includes the lines: Here it comes, Any century now, the dread declaration:

And next I shall read something longer. Please Rip out our nails and accept your applause!

These poems in particular were popular with students in the society; who responded in a somewhat surprised manner to the light hearted, humorous tone, as opposed to the more serious poetry they had been expecting. Sarah Norris spoke of the event as a complete success, stating ‘everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. I think people liked the fact that this was an entirely different and original social compared to the usual society night out’. Following the reading, the audience were given the chance to have copies of O’Brien’s book signed, before the society headed to the union for numerous more drinks, and alcohol fuelled debates on O’Brien’s work. The next Poetry Live event is on 6th November, and is a reading by Sophie Hannah. The Keele English and American society is planning to attend, and welcomes any of you who have an interest in poetry, literature or just fancy a different night out to come along. Asa member of the society tickets are only £2 instead of £6.

Don’t look back in Angers: Part Deux - Allez les bleus!

Michael Barnett

I have now been in Angers for over a month so I am beginning to get a clearer idea of what life in a French university is like. Some things are just the same as Keele, friendly people lectures which seem to make time stand still and freshers flu. Some things however are different. For example there are very few student societies partly because lectures go on so late their isn’t time for them. There is no students’ union building or for that matter a students’ union as British students understand the term. As student societies and the union building provided two of the pillars on which my social life for the last two years was based, I suddenly had to look for new ways to meet people. Fortunately there are lots of international students and together we form a close knit community, however there are two disadvantages to this. Firstly it means that we hardly ever interact socially with French students and secondly it means there is a great temptation to speak English all the time. Bearing this in mind I decided to immerse myself in two typically French social activities. Namely going to the bar and going to the football. Students

get half price entry into the ‘Stade Jean Bouin’ home of the mighty Angers SCO (unbeaten in 6 games at the time of going to press), the actual price you pay varies with the which stand you go into but I usually pay 3.50 euros, which is hardly anything. Anyway its all good fun but I don’ t think its improving my French that much, the only new word Iíve learnt is ‘Simulateur!’ which is what you shout at any member of the opposition who is rolling around on the grass as if an invisible Ken Dodd is tickling them with an invisible feather duster. Going to the bar is probably better for my French as you have to use all sorts of exotic foreign words and phrases such as ‘Je voudrais un Kronenbourg’ or ‘Un Sex on the Beach s’il vous plait’. However it is not so good for my health as I’m developing a smokers cough nor for my bank balance as beer here is pricey and not particularly nice.

It was in the bar however that it witnessed one of the greatest outpourings of Gallic fervour that I have ever seen in my life. I refer of course to the night of the France v New Zealand Rugby match, I wandered down to the bar really because I had nothing better to do and because I hoped that France might spring an upset and spark of a bit of a party,

but I didn’t really expect much. By half time I didn’t expect anything, France were dreadful, dead and buried, it was over, but the atmosphere was still good so I stayed, and France had the decency to come out and make a bit of a fight of it but everyone knew it was hopeless, and then, they scored and the place went mad, for 5 minutes the scores were level and everyone was thinking ‘maybe, just maybe’ and then New Zealand scored again and we were back to square one, the game was petering out until suddenly France broke free, the guy was going to score he was going to...no he’s been tackled but he’s passed the ball to his mate, his mate dived over he’s YARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH, and at that point the big screen was concealed by screaming jumping men and women, French, American, British, deliriously happy and perhaps just a bit tipsy too.

The next fifteen minutes were horrific, everytime New Zealand got the ball they looked like they were going to score the bloke next to me looked like he was going to faint, then the screen clock hit 80 minutes and half the bar cheered but New Zealand kept possession for what seemed an age then by some

miracle there was a turnover. What happened next I don’t know because once again the screen was hidden by hordes of ecstatic people bouncing up and down like Jack in the boxes, I hugged people I didn’t know, I screamed and hollered, I yelled with all my might ‘Allez les bleus!’ and then we piled out into the street and jumped and yelled some more, and then the crowd surfing began and joyful Frenchmen clambered onto passing cars which might of annoyed the people who were driving them. After about 40 minutes a police car arrived, the first sign of any police all night They just drove on and turned a blind eye to the 600 people in the middle of the main road.

The next morning you would not have known that their had been a giant party there. There were no smashed windows, little debris and no vandalism. In Britain we would’ve had a massive drink fuelled punch up, thrown a brick through the windscreen of a car and decorated the pavement with half digested Kebab, although I would like to point out that is NOT what I intend to do when England wallop France on Saturday (although by the time you read this France will already have been walloped) . I can’t wait.

Lizzie Leeson Entertainments Officer

Well done Keele...another awesome fortnight had I do believe!! We have had two amazing Saturday night gigs firstly with Pendulum raving us all up to the max, and then The Enemy rocked the union good and proper! Lets not forget weekly events; Manics, Rewind and Reloaded, as usually they have all been top quality night. But don’t stop partying yet Keele; oh no we still have an amazing line up for you.

We have our second fancy dress of the year, with VP Education and Welfare Jack (The Duke) Corrigan presenting the 999 night. So get your handcuffs and hoses out to have a SAFE night!

The Massive Monday crew are treating you this semester to a new night on Saturdays called ‘Something To Do’. The crew are opening up 3 rooms, with K2 offering you some funky house, electro and D&B, Room 2 will be the place for all you indie lovers and Room 3 offers you Soul, R&B and Hip Hop. So you will definitely have something to do now!

We also have a treat in store for your Halloween parting this year. With the ‘Rocky Horror meets Hogwarts’ theme, expect some dirty sexy beats in K2 for all you Horror fans, and in the Ballroom we will provide you with your cheesy chart, just as Harry would want it! So get those fishnets, stockings and capes on because Halloween is covered by what ever turns you on!

Scouting for Girls!!

KUSU is pleased to confirm another gig for you.

Yep the awesome Scouting for Girls are playing RADIO FREE EUROPE Katie Ryan

at Keele Saturday December 1st. Tickets are on sale now.

Your Union: Your Say This month I am preparing to send out a questionnaire to all you lovely students just to get some feed back on the union. KUSU should and I hope is providing you with the best student experience possible but if it’s not I want to do something about it. So please spare me some time by filling it in and get your chance to shape the unions future. For all questionnaires we receive back you will be entered into a second Golden Ticket draw to win free entry to the union and all the gigs for a whole year. So watch this space!!

Don’t forget I hold the Ents Forum every Monday at 1pm in K2.come along if you’re interested in helping out and becoming an Ents rep.

That’s all for now Keele. Have a good couple of weeks and remember to party hard!

Forget your cliche Indie bands who strut around in skinny jeans screaming a load of nothing and give me something new, something different, something like Radio free Europe! A band who actually have some balls... Since forming a year or so ago, James Degnan (guitar/vocals), Alan Campbell (guitar), Ben Powell (bass) and Alex Walker (Drums) of Radio Free Europe the Keele band scene back to life with a style that can be best described in the words of Alan as ‘New wave 70’s sound and 90’s post hardcore’.

Predominantly, the band are divided in music taste but they are united by one band and one goal; the first The Manic Street Preachers and the second that they ‘are not afraid to make noise on stage!’ Radio Free Europe can not only be seen playing in their local haunt The Fat Cat Cafe in Hanley but have successfully entertained larger crowds too. After winning Keele ‘Battle of the Bands’ they supported The Automatic at last yearís Summer Party and also performed at the ‘Love Music, Hate Racism’ gig with The Noisettes. However, off the stage the dynamics of the band are quite clear cut. Alan asserts himself as the organiser who rounds up the (disorganised) troops. Musically, Ben and Alex take an independent approach to coming up with their own rhythms, chords and beats and then apply them to the songs. In contrast, James produces the chords and rifts in a more technical, methodical way whereas, Alan finds chords and ideas in a more free flowing way just by playing the guitar casually. The lyrics are a joint effort and everyone pitches in with an opinion. It’s safe to say that Radio Free Europe are not a fan of this sudden craze of Indie/Emo, second rate, wannabe bands who spring out of Myspace and into the charts overnight. They find it frustrating how these kind of modern bands are over-glorified,

On Friday 5th October 2007, resident DJ, JUS:J presented K2 with a Def Jam UK Launch Party and it was certainly a night to remember.

JUS:J of Def Jam UK and BBC RADIO 1XTRA, provided the first instalment of the Def Jam UK parties to hit Keele. Held in K2, the bank of RnB, Hip Hop, Garage and bashment was sure to entice music lovers.

For those of you who don’t already know, Def Jam UK is the European division of the biggest record label in the world. Boasting JAY-Z as its president, it owns artists such as Kanye West, Rhianna, Ne-Yo, Jagged Edge, LL Cool J and Nas. JUS:J is one of three UK based DJ’s to be signed with Def Jam UK, alongside his mentor and Def Jam UK C.E.O, DJ SEMTEX (BBC 1Xtra) and the Big Dawg Tim Westwood (BBC Radio1 & 1Xtra).

On friday night, JUS:J set the standard by giving us a night of firsts; he gave Keele our first ever female hip hop and RnB DJ, he became the first BBC Radio 1xtra DJ to perform at Keele, and most importantly he played the newest urban tracks, first. The night kicked off with DJ Tijuana, our first female DJ, playing RnB, warming the crowd for the forthcoming blend of music styles. With a nice selection of current RnB hits, DJ Tijuana had the crowd anticipating, ready for the evenings events.

when from a musical perspective they are hopeless. The trouble is it is often fashionable to fall for the latest band and overlook quality music. Ben says ‘It makes me angry when a great band like Your code name is:Milo can’t get anywhere and The View are massive!!!’

Basically, Radio Free Europe want to bring some genuinely good music to Keele and itís down to the students to support it. They know

Then entered JUS:J, dropping Busta Ryhmes ‘Pass the courvoisier’ as his first track, it was no wonder that it took no time at all to get the crowd hyped and once they did, the party was in full effect until 2am. Mixing songs from Def Jam artists such as JAY-Z, Kanye West, and Redman, he also played exclusive 1xtra mixes of new artist Soulja Boy (amongst many others) JUS:J created a big vibe in K2. He even gave us the exclusive, I Get Money Remix and the latest track from Asher D, Inside Out! As if that wasn’t enough, K2 went crazy when JUS:J introduced Def Jam UK’s dance champion, Yaw Dankwa. Yaw, a current second year psychology student at Keele, showed the crowd how to ‘crank that’, the new dance that is hitting the clubs this autumn. Next came the giveaways.

These included one signed Kanye West album, two signed MIMS albums, signed tshirts, bottles of champagne and VIP tickets to a Westwood gig. For just a short period the numbers on the dance floor lessened a little but it took no time to bring the crowd back. As quoted by Regina Owasgne, “the garage set was heavy”. The crowd was re- hyped as they grooved to garage tracks from such artists as Heartless Crew and Lethal Bizzle as well as playing the current UK Garage number one, Heartbroken.

that Keele is a great venue and is not being taken full advantage of. This band is trying to bring something original to Keele Uni and rid us of this sub-standard music so ‘if people want to see good music, then get your arses to our gigs!’

Find them at: www.myspace.com/thisisradiofreeeurope Facebook Group - RADIO FREE EUROPE Gig dates: WED 31st OCT KEELE UNIVERSITY K2 - HALLOWEEN UDISCO FRI 23rd NOV PIG AND RAT - KEELE UNIVERISTY SAT 24th NOV KEELE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS UNION OXJAM MON 26th NOV THE FULL MOON - NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME

It was definitely a night with a difference. Even the set up of the venue was different, with the decks being brought closer to the crowd and projections of classic worldwide Def Jam artists being flashed behind the DJ. It’s safe to say that those who didn’t come missed out, without a doubt! There’s an abundance of pictures and even videos documenting the night and a list of events to come, can all be seen on the DEF JAM UK and BBC 1XTRA @ KEELE facebook group. When asked what would happen at the next Def Jam event JUS:J said “Kanye West Graduation Party. Anyone in sunglasses as fly as Kanye’s will get a signed Kanye goody.”

Catch the Graduation Party in K2 on Friday 19th October. Words by A.J

A note from JUS:J; Catch me live on BBC Radio 1xtra from Monday October 29th, 2pm till 4pm on the MAX Show. Iíll be reviewing all the latest hip hop and RnB and of course Iíll be bringing those fresh tunes back to Keele! We also have a new addition to the Friday night roster in the shape of DJ MARIO. He will be playing a guest set on the 26th of October. Iíll be showing my support by being there for his 1st Friday night at Keele. See you all there.

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Becky Taylor VE @ Keele Project Leader

Positive results from Volunteer/Jobs Fair!

Thanks to everyone who came along to our Volunteer/Jobs Fair on Wednesday 10th October in the Studentís Union Ballroom.

The Fair was designed to offer students the opportunity to meet potential employers and volunteer placement providers, and wow, what a success!

22 volunteer providers and 17 employers showcased their organisations to Keele. The feedback from organisations has been extremely positive, with well over 200 students registering for volunteer placements and many more finding out what volunteering can offer them.

Employers have been extremely pleased with the quality of Keele students wanting to work with them.

Andy from Toys R Us said ‘The quality of applications was satisfyingly high, so good in fact, that I have already booked interviews for this weekend.’

785 students have either signed up for

Fay Harris IAU

Thank you very much to those of you who came to the VE and Jobshop Fair, it was great to see the event so well attended.

Winners of the prize draw from the VE and Jobshop Fair are: DK Siti Ariana Pg Yugof Stephen Uagbale Ruth Audu They all win a £10 voucher from Waterstones (Collect them from the IAU / VE office)

Does your landlord need taking to court? Can you get an order for three times the deposit you paid?

On 6th April a scheme called the Tenancy Deposit Protection was introduced. From that date, when you pay a landlord a deposit they have to pay it into an authorised deposit scheme. This is to make sure that your money is protected and that any disputes at the end of the tenancy are easier to resolve (The IAU is particularly pleased about this legislation as we spend a lot of time negotiating with landlords!).

Most of you will have already paid a deposit, and within 14 days of you paying it your landlord should have told you how they are protecting your money. There are three different types of scheme; they need to tell you which one they have paid your money into. One is a custodial scheme; the other two are insurance based. In the custodial scheme, which is free to both parties, the landlord pays the deposit into the scheme. The deposit is held in an account administered by the scheme and will earn interest. Small landlords are likely to use the custodial scheme rather than an insurance-based scheme because of the cost of insurance-based schemes.

In an insurance-based scheme, the land-

22nd October 2007

work with employers in the local area or are making applications and interviews are taking place over the next couple of weeks.

One voluntary organisation reported that they had signed up 47 student volunteers! Jenny Paul from Save the Children said ‘it was great to see some really enthusiastic students interested in volunteering.’

Volunteering is a fantastic way to develop new skills, put something back into the community and have fun, and by volunteering their time through VE @ Keele, many students will go on to have their volunteering accredited and will receive an award as a way of evidencing their learning and development whilst volunteering. If you think you might be interested in becoming a volunteer, contact Becky at VE @ Keele to find out more!

VE @ Keele has a number of training events for volunteers coming up soon, including;

lord keeps the deposit, but has to pay registration and insurance fees to the scheme. The scheme guarantees payment to the tenant if landlord does not pay the tenant the amount s/he is entitled to at the end of the tenancy.

Your landlord should have told you: About the scheme; their contact details; How to apply for your deposit to be released; what your deposit is for and what to do in the event of a dispute.

To help yourself at the end of your tenancy you need to do the following: Keep a detailed list of the contents of the house; record the condition of the property and its contents (take pictures with a newspaper clearly visible in the picture so you can verify the date it was taken); check how your landlord or agent could claim your deposit.

What if my landlord hasn’t protected my deposit? You can apply to the county court who can order the landlord or agent to either repay the deposit to you or put it in a scheme. If your landlord has not protected your deposit they will be ordered to pay you THREE TIMES the amount of the deposit.

When you move out do the same as when you moved in, make a detailed list of the contents and condition of the property with photos. If you have any problems the schemes should be there to help you, but so are we!

Further info: Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd www.mydeposits.co.uk The Tenancy Deposit Scheme www.tds.gb.com The Deposit Protection Scheme www.deposit Protection Service www.depositprotection.com †The above info is taken from the Department for Communities and Local Government information ‘Tenants Keeping Your Deposit Safe’ and the Citizens Advice Bureau electronic information system.

Weds 22nd Oct 12-1pm Volunteering in Schools Weds 24th Oct 12-2pm First Responders - First Aid Weds 31st Oct 12-1pm VE Bronze Award

All training sessions are free to members of the Volunteer Project, but book early as places are limited!.

For more information and to book your places just email/phone the VE Office.

BBC Radio 4 journalist to speak at Keele University

Radio 4 journalist and Keele graduate Jonty Bloom is to give the first lecture in the Universityʼs fourth high profile Public Sector Series.

Jonty, business and economics correspondent for The World Tonight, will talk about “Business and Economics: What They Donʼt Say” on Tuesday, October 30, at 6.30pm.

He has been a TV and radio journalist with the BBC for 19 years working across the whole range of output from World Service Radio to the 10 OʼClock News. His broadcasting career began as a producer on Breakfast News moving quickly to reporting for TV and radio, and he has presented the business news on the Today programme, been both a business and an industry correspondent for TV and radio and was Europe correspondent based in Brussels during the introduction of the single currency.

For the last four years he has been the busi-

ness and economics correspondent on the World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 where he has a special remit to report on the EU, its politics, institutions and economy. In 2004 and 2006 his reporting won the Wincott Foundation Award for Radio Business Programme of the year.

Jonty, who graduated from Keele in 1986 in International Relations, said: “The theme of my lecture will be that there are issues, facts and trends that are not addressed properly by business and economic journalists. I will be looking at some of these issues - the difference between employment and unemployment rates, immigration, the economics of global warming, house prices and tax among others - and trying to explain why I believe they are ignored, misreported or under reported.”

The other speakers in the 2007/2008 lecture series are Professor Sir David Weatherall, Oxford University (January 21), Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty (date to be confirmed), Dame Mary Marsh, Director and Chief Executive of NSPCC (March 10) and Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation (April 30).

The lectures will take place in the Westminster Theatre in the Chancellorʼs Building on Keeleʼs campus. Admission is free, but please reserve a place by contacting whatson@kfm.keele.ac.uk or

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22nd October 2007

When You Need More Than Alcohol To Sustain You

James Appleby, Manpreet Manku and Simi Sehgal

Lectures have started and you’re suddenly thrown back into reality. The work’s coming in and problem sheets and essays are beginning to get you down. By the time you’ve finished wrestling with work, its time for dinner and you’re absolutely starving. You’re exhausted, you have a headache and you’re generally not in the mood to cook.

But it’s also cold outside and you can’t be bothered to go out.

So what do you do?

Well, this week, you might have noticed a menu put under your door from a place called ‘Zeera’. Since it’s a new place that’s just opened we figured we’d save everyone the hassle and review it FOR you.

So, disappointment or pleasure?

Firstly, the menu. James had Chicken Chilli Green Masala with a Garlic and Chilli Naan. Manny had Lamb Khara Masala with Garlic Naan and Simi had the decidedly less extravagant Butter Chicken with Naan.

Lydia Medler

James says: ‘Well, dealing with the negatives first, I would say that there was not enough meat in my dish for the price I paid. The dish was much too mild for my tastes but then again not everyone has only one remaining taste bud!

There was also perhaps too much oil in the chicken. However, despite this the delivery was prompt and the staff friendly and the food itself was definitely delicious (if a little mild). The naan was spectacular - filled with cut fresh chillies and not just some store bought green chilli paste as I expected.’

Manny says: ‘I agree with James on the point he makes about there being too much oil but the taste of the actual lamb and the masala was not masked by it. I also found that the oil (if you like) could actually be drained off since the masala was thick enough so you won’t end up losing half your meal! The lamb was also nice and tender - just how I like it! There was plenty of meat in my dish and I found the meal very filling overall. Price-wise I think it was a little on the expensive side - especially the naan - but then again I am still waiting for my student loan (separate

If this is anything to go by, the vegetarian dishes would be to the same standard. Disappointment? No. Pleasure?

Well, let’s put it this way, all three of us would place an order there again.

Incubus fail to disappoint at the NEC

The NEC was completely packed, and the crowd were jostling with anticipation from the moment that they entered the arena. There was such an amazing vibe amongst the people, that the atmosphere was positively electric. To hype up the crowd even more, ‘Quicksand’ was the first song, using its slow, rhythmic increase of intensity to prepare the crowd for ‘A Kiss to Send us Off’.

At this point the crowd went completely wild, and everyone tried to surge forwards to get as close as they physically could to the band on stage. From then on, Incubus

began to reel off their long line of hit records, including ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Nice to Know You’; at some points it was difficult to hear the band as the crowd were singing so loudly.

Radio 1’s new covers’ album

Ruth Meredith

issue I know but thought I’d relate to those out there who are still waiting for their’s too!) so I am a bit stingy at the moment!

Simi says: ‘The thing that I thought was a bit of a negative was that on the menu, there wasn’t any clarification of what the student offers actually were. I also found that trying to place the order was a little awkward. But to make up for this, the staff were extremely friendly when they arrived with the food. The food itself, well Butter Chicken is meant to be rich and creamy and on this, it delivered. It was mild without being bland and the Naan itself was soft and fluffy, just how a naan should be. Even better, when it arrived, it was warm, fresh and not at all soggy. What else could a girl want?’

October 1st saw the release of ‘Radio 1 - Established 1967’, a compilation to celebrate 40 years of broadcasting. 40 of today’s biggest names have covered classic tracks from the last 40 years. It’s a smart idea and one that has produced some great and some... interesting results.

Kaiser Chiefs kick off the album with the first track ever to be played on Radio 1, the Move’s ‘Flowers In The Rain’. As with most compilations, Disc 1 is definitely the better side, with excellent covers such as Lily Allen’s ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ and Foo Fighter’s ‘Band On The Run’. The Street’s angelic version of ‘Your Song’ is another one that has just got to be heard!

Disc 2 has a few duff tracks and some that make you wonder what the band were thinking such as Girls aloud’s ‘Teenage Dirtbag’! Mark Ronson, The Kooks and Mutya Buena make up for it though.

There are a few bizarre choices, such as Stereophonics ‘You Sexy Thing’ and Beth Ditto’s take on George Michael - and I’m still smiling at The Feeling’s ‘Your So Vain’.

The best covers tend to be the one’s where the artist has remained true to the original and just put their own slant on it. There are at least 20 decent tracks and the others are still worth listening to. It’s one of a few compilation albums that’s bearable without much skipping, (but you might want to avoid Mika vs Armand’s mauling of ‘Can’t Stand Losing You’).

If you are a fan of Radio 1, you will probably love this. Out of the 40 artists, chances are you will like at least a couple of them. These versions are all exclusive to Radio 1 so they wonít be available anywhere else. It’s definitely worth buying, even if it’s just through intrigue at Hard Fi’s take on Britney’s ‘Toxic’.

Although the songs played were predominantly from the most recent albums (Light Grenades and A Crow Left of the Murder), the variety of pace and of intensity was simply astonishing and continuously suc-

ceeded to motivate the fans.

After leaving the stage briefly the band returned to the rapturous applause of the crowd, eagerly waiting for more. They were not disappointed as the band began to play the opening chords of ‘Pardon Me’, which seemed to send the crowd into a new frenzy! After, to end the concert on a very chilled but satisfied note was ‘Here in My Room’ and the crowd became a swaying mass in time to the music.

Incubus are a band like no other, managing to incorporate guitar, bass, decks, and bongos (!) with the awesome vocal talent of Brandon Boyd. The result is a remarkably original sound, which strongly comes across in their music. The live performance was second to none and was 100% perfection.

The Kingdom

James Lavender

By the way this film was promoted, as a more action packed ‘Syriana’, the highly political George Clooney film released two years ago, I expected it to be a blockbuster with brains, which is sort of what you get. The story is full of tense and gripping drama, with plenty of action to go with it. Jaime Foxx plays an FBI agent, who leads a crack team of fellow agents, including Jason Bateman, Chris Cooper and Jennifer Gardner, to Saudi Arabia to see who’s behind the attack on an American foreign workers complex in Riyadh.

When the action kicks off, the level of exciting, adrenaline-filled action is maintained throughout the movie. Running parallel to this is a political theme of US/Arabic relations. At times, it feels like that the film gives the old message of ‘Let the US show how it’s done’, but it does gives positive and sympathetic portrayals of certain Saudi characters, such

as the Saudi colonel, Faris Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom) who is just trying to do his job in dangerous and controversial circumstances.

In its political message, The Kingdom can be a little predictable and nothing new.

Despite this, the film is supported greatly by the performances from the cast. Jaime Foxx excels as a strong and fiercely loyal leader.

Chris Cooper again presents a character of experience and fierceness that he has show before in The Bourne Identity. Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Ashraf Barhom also provide great support. The plot is compelling and surprising. The direction is also handled well, with the documentary style camerawork used to great effect.

I would encourage you to see the film in an action blockbuster frame of mind and you will love it. As a movie to make you think about the situation in the Middle East, it doesn’t quite work like that.

Oli Cotterill Vice-President Finance & Activites

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Society Training

How do I organise a society event? How do I use the society account?

How do I book rooms in KUSU for the society? How do I organise a meeting? How can I advertise the society?

These questions may seem trivial, obvious and all too easy for seasoned society executives but do not worry if you are new to all this and are completely confused and need a little bit of advice. The majority of societies start out the year with a brand new executive committee bringing in some fantastic ideas to raise the profile of the society and make it even bigger and better. With a record number of new societies forming this year, in addition to lots of brand new executive

Union Photographers Jonny Craig KUCC President

First hello to everyone, by the time your reading this it will be the start of week five or the end of week six and hopefully you have all settled in and the first years now know there way round. Well I should really get to the point you may have noticed if you have been out to the union that there is a photographer taking your pictures with some of the ending up in concourse. Well some of you might be asking, how do I do that? Or who are they? Well I will start with the latter question, they are all students at Keele, to be exact they are members of Keele university camera club (a.k.a. KUCC) the photography society at Keele. Now to answer the first question of how do you get involved its simple you can join the society and you to will have the option to take photos at many of the events happening in KUSU. Taking photos at the union might not be your cup of tea, this doesnít mean you canít join the society. If you have any interest in photography or using a video camera feel free to join (you don’t even need to have your own camera). You will meet people who also have an interest in photography and you will get the opportunity to take loads of photos. We will hopefully be organising day trips, competitions, workshops, guest speakers and loads more. Just watch this space (also watch sub tv and our website).

To find out more e-mail us at kucc.info@googlemail.com, join the message board at www.kucc.tk or find us on facebook.

Barry Riley Keele Law Society President

Keele Law Society has been undoubtedly one of the most active Societies in the first few weeks of the new academic year, with a number of massively successful events already under our belt, with many more still to come over the course of this semester.

We have really hit the ground running in terms of educational events thus far, with many people coming along and supporting us in the process. On October 3rd, Knight and Sons, a medium sized local firm came and delivered a presentation on ‘Life as a Solicitor’ which saw a packed room enjoy an informative and interesting talk from Claire Tierney, a partner of the firm. October 9th saw David Amos from Manchester Metropolitan University come to talk to our members about the highly confusing process of the LPC - the Legal Practice Course, and Sam Johnson on October 10th came from the College of Law to talk to another jam packed room about ‘Your Practice Options’, discussing the options to law graduates at the end of their degree.

It’s not just been all work though and no play for us! We had a very successful Meet and Greet Social for our members in the first week of term for people to get to know their fellow law students, and that was followed up by our massive Cops and Robbers social on October 5th, which saw a group of rowdy criminals and police officers (mostly girls) descend upon the Union for Reloaded. Top marks for the costumes that night, everyone made such a good effort, as you can see from the pictures which are now up on face-

22nd October 2007

committee members I feel it is important to get the year off to a great success and provide a set of training courses to help answer some of the niggling questions I know many of you may have.

Training sessions will be running throughout the week beginning October 22nd and will each last for two hours.

The sessions will be about as formal as I get, and for anybody that knows me will know that is not very formal at all!!! The sessions will be a fantastic way to meet other society executives and share ideas between you.

We have some fantastic societies out there that are amazing at certain things, whether it be organising a social, publicising your society, recruiting members or setting up debates; this is a fantastic way to share that knowledge and experience.

Society training times:

Please can all society executive committee members please attend one of the training sessions. I am putting on nine sessions during the week so hopefully you can find a slot that is convenient. Even though these sessions are aimed for executive committee members, they are also open to any society member that is interested in potentially becoming an executive committee member next year and wants to see what it is all about!

Can you please send me an email to vp.finance@kusu.keele.ac.uk to let me know who you are and what time you will be attending the training? As mentioned above, society training is primarily for executive committee members but it is also open to society members. All sessions will be held in K2. Hope everything is going well. Take it easy!

Monday 22nd October: Session 1 (11am-1pm) Session 2 (2pm-4pm) Tuesday 23rd October: Session 1 (11am-1pm) Session 2 (2pm-4pm) Wednesday 24th October: Session 1 (11am-1pm) Thursday 25th October: Session 1 (11am-1pm) Session 2 (2pm-4pm) Friday 26th October: Session 1 (11am-1pm) Session 2 (2pm-4pm)

Musicians’ Society

So Freshers’ fortnight is over, lectures have kick started and the first semester is well under way. You’ve probably joined the yearly buzz of signing up to many exciting societies, checked out your nearby halls bar and are enjoying the great line of entertainment that the Students’ Union has to offer. For the musicians’ and fans amongst us Keele University’s Musicians’ Society gives you the chance to enjoy a wide variety of musical entertainment. Whether you’re a performer, a composer or simply an avid listener then we could be the thing you’re looking for.

As a growing society known both on and off-campus we provide a forum for musicians’ of all levels and fans of all genres, whether it’s folk, rock, classical or country and Western.

If you simply enjoy listening to music then why not come along to one of our events or performance opportunities advertised around campus. After a busy day studying in the library or trying to count the mass amount of squirrels on campus, (yes you’ll have noticed there’s a few) why not pop along to one of our events and enjoy the musical delights on

book!

So what’s next for the Society I hear you ask? More of the same pretty much for the rest of the term. We have lots more guest speakers coming in throughout the next few weeks for presentations and talks on a varying range of legal issues, and more socials are planned for the next few weeks also. In terms of educational events, we have a number of events run in conjunction with the Careers department over the next few weeks, talks from Nottingham Law School, Staffordshire University, the College of Law and workshops on applying for the LPC and BVC. We also have Gemma Davison, the former President of the Keele Law Society coming to talk to members about Life as an

offer.

For a joining fee of just £ 3.00 for the whole year our society hosts regular open mic nights on a Sunday in the Lounge, hosts a weekly radio show on KUBE, and is active on facebook providing you with the chance to get some musical debates on the go or check out future events. Taking part in Bitjam’s at The Rigger in Newcastle-under-Lyme, the up-coming Oxjam gig, and organising some forthcoming musical workshops for you to get involved in our society gives you the chance to really get involved in Keeleís music scene. Not forgetting the socials, trips to gigs, jamming sessions organised by members and the events lined up by our social secretary youíll always feel part of an active, enjoyable group.

Furthermore, if you’re interested in putting a musical ensemble together, whether it’s a band, string quartet or Jazz trio, then the Musicians’ Society can help you to get a plan in action and find those vital members. So come along to one of our open mic nights, absolutely free of charge (you’ll find it listed on your Union events calendar) and check out some of the fantastic musical talent on show!

LPC Student.

As for Socials, we have our Pre Halloween Party on October 29th which will see a big pub crawl starting at the Pig and Rat at half seven, and will see us end up (hopefully) at Manic Mondays. Fancy Dress is a must.

After this we then have our Nottingham Sponsored Social, which sees £1000 thrown our way for a free bar and some top prizes for our Pub Quiz on November 8th in Sam’s Bar in the Union - we hope to see you all there getting your free beers in!

Finally, just a word on trips. We have had a great deal of interest from students for our trips to the College of Law Open Day, Knight and Sons tour and lunch, and finally for our trip to Nottingham Law School on October 17th. Unfortunately we have filled all our places for all these trips now, and we have been shocked to see such interest from the law student population for them, so thanks for everyone who has been in touch. Hopefully we will be running more of these throughout the course of the year so if you missed out this time, be sure to be quick off the mark when we arrange more!

As for Amsterdam, let’s just say I can’t wait, roll on November 15th-18th, itís going to be awesome!

Check out our website for more . . www.kusu.net/keelelawsociety www.myspace.com/keelelawsociety

Email - keelelawsociety@hotmail.co.uk To join the Society (even if you are not a law student) Email u5l94@ugl.keele.ac.uk

22nd October 2007

Concourse

Keele University Motorsport

Mike Fryatt

As you may not have known, which chances are you didn’t, Keele has a new team, Keele University Motorsport.

My name’s Mike Fryatt and I’m the founder, like a lot of people I am a huge motorsport fan and have even tried to build a career around it. I spent six months in training for a Formula one trial which eventually paid dividend when I secured a few tests with Red Bull Racing in January of this year. I haven’t got the most impressive racing background but I am a graduate of the Silverstone Motorsport Academy and I do have race wins under my belt so canít wait for the challenges ahead this season.

I’m sure you’re all enjoying your time here at Keele, many of you here for the first time as Freshers, or perhaps you’ve been here a while. But I know for a fact that this has never been offered, as an interest society or an athletic team.

My aim for this is to be both. An athletic team in the sense that we will be competing in the British University Karting Championship, but at the same time an interest society. I’m not looking for the best driver’s in the world, you don’t even need a driving licence, all I ask is that you have a passion for motorsport and are willing to give it a go. If you do want to be selected for the championship, brilliant I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for you at trials but if not, if you just want to do a bit of karting, watch some racing, learn more about it all, you’re perfectly welcome.

If you’re interested, just get in touch with me via the team’s email: keeleuniversitymotorsport@hotmail.co.uk or via the team’s facebook group.

The B.U.S.A season is finally here!

Rich Hill AU Deputy President

By the time you read this you should hopefully have produced your first wins of the season. In this edition I’ve also included a couple of match reports from the friendly matches that took place prior to the B.U.S.A season starting. Let’s continue this winning start throughout the season and rack up those points for Keele.

Speak soon people.

Latest Home Fixtures October 24th

Badminton Men 2nd Vs. MMU Cheshire 2nd New Sports Hall 3:30 PM

Fencing Men Vs. Bangor Gym 2:00 PM Football Men 2nd Vs. Manchester 4th Pitches 2:00 PM

Football Men 3rd Vs. Chester (C-) 4th Pitches 2:00 PM Football Men 4th Vs. Bangor 3rd Pitches 2:00 PM

Football Women UCLAN 1st Pitches 2:00 PM

Golf Vs. UCLAN 1st Newcastle GC 11:00 AM

Netball 1st Vs. Chester (C-) 1st Old Sports Hall 2:00 PM

Netball 2nd Vs. Chester(C-) 2nd Old Sports Hall 3:30 PM

Netball 3rd Vs. UCLAN 2nd Old Sports Hall

5:00 PM

Tennis Men 2nd Vs. Liverpool 3rd Warrington TC 2:00 PM

Tennis Women Vs. Liverpool 2nd Warrington TC

Ski and Snowboard Halloween Social - Wednesday 31st October Fancy a spooktacular social? Well ski and snowboard are planning a Halloween themed social. Any more information that you need email ksbc_22@yahoo.co.uk.

MATCH REPORT- Men’s Hockey Keele University 1st’s v Staffordshire University 1st’s : 5- 3

Keele Men’s 1st’s produced a great come back against Staffordshire University last Wednesday to win 5-3. Both sides were looking for a good result to take into their BUSA league campaign the following week which resulted in an entertaining, competitive, goal packed game.

Keele started the brightest and took the lead with an astonishing individual goal by Martin Gardner, who beat two players, swiveled and drilled the ball in the corner of the goal past the despairing keeper. Keele built on the success of the first goal and not long after, Gardner struck again deflecting a well struck shot inside the post to make it two nil. Things soon changed as Keele became complacent and the fluid passing soon stopped which gave Staffs the chance to come back into the game. Two quick goals tied the scores and just before half time some sloppy marking aided Staffs third.

After some harsh words at half time and tactical changes Keele began to show the supporters on the sideline why the team is expecting promotion this year. The team defended well with Simon Crouch excelling at the back, the midfield showing excellent passing and understanding with Alex Mason and Alex Platt in the centre of midfield. Up front the clinical fin-

ishing of Martin Gardner excelled.

Ten minutes into the second half Mark Taylor capped off a great passing move to slot in the equalizer and not long after, Alex Platt finished with class to give the Keele the lead. The proceeding ten minutes Keele had to withstand some intense pressure by Staffs and thanks to some brilliant keeping and solid defending managed to keep Staffs out. On the counter attack Gardner managed to complete his hat-trick and cap off an excellent performance. This was an outstanding result for Keele and will hopefully provide a foundation for the team to get a result in their first BUSA league game away against one of the main promotion hopefuls, Edge Hill University.

MATCH REPORT - Men’s Lacross University of Birmingham Lacross Bulls : 24 Keele University Lacross Tigers : 5

It was not the start the men’s team were looking for in their opening encounter of the season away to the University of Birmingham. Although the menís team have the unfortunate position of being in the same league as Birmingham and Loughborough and their menís lacrosse teams are in the top five in the UK! Even so Keele went with the attitude of coming away with a win and were in Birmingham’s faces right from the start. Many great stick checks (hitting the oppositions playerís stick with your own stick) and body checks (hitting the opposition player’s body with your body) were being put in by Keele showing that they were not afraid of the larger Birmingham players.

Even so Birmingham managed to find holes in the Keele defence and slotted some shots past Stephen Johns (Keele’s lacrosse Club Captain playing his first match in goals) to take a comfortable lead.

When Keele had the ball they made sure they used it well and some attacking shots went agonisingly wide, much to the relief of Birmingham’s defence and goal keeper.

Birmingham were relentless with their attack raining shots at goal.

Keeleís starting defence of Luke Morgan, Scott Little and James Goodchild were working in overtime mode to keep the predatory Birmingham attack at bay.

With Birmingham constantly on the attack they got a bit complacent and this allowed Keele to take full advantage of this. Starting in midfield the ball was quickly sent up field to the attack players of Doug Oakman, menís team Captain Max van Praag and Toby Pochron who worked the ball around the goal area. Suddenly the ball comes back to Doug Oakman who skilfully works his way past three Birmingham defenders to score! This gave the Tigers a well needed lift and showed there was fighting spirit in the team.

Next to score for Keele was the men’s team Captain Max van Praag who classed his goal as one of the best he has ever scored (and after eight year of playing attack) that is saying something!

Balls were still coming thick and fast at Stephen Johns in goal and he managed to make some solid saves but still Birmingham were scoring. At half time it was 11-2 to Birmingham.

Second half continued as the first but now Keele were managing to win some of the face offs (the restart after a goal is scored) so now were enjoying some much deserved possession. Attackers and midfielders were making plenty of sharp cuts and dodges and eventually this lead to Shaz, scoring a fine first goal for the team.

As the quarters continued Keele become more and more tired especially with only 5 subs (10 on a pitch and it is roll on roll off subs like hockey), compared with Birminghamís 10-15 subs. The midfield of Shaz, Liam Gannon and Thomas Kelly worked their hearts out continually running back an for between attack and defence.

Doug Oakman managed to put away another goal in between Birminghamís onslaught.

As the end of the fourth quarter drew to a close Keele were out for the count having put everything

into the game. Every part of everyoneís body was either aching, bruised or cut. It looked like time was up but for a last flourish by Keele where it started all the way from their goal line where Stephen Johns had just made a fine save.

He passed it about 20yds to Doug Oakman that for some reason had moved from attack to midfield.

Oakman sprinted 30yds before passing to Shaz on the half way line. Oakman continued to run past shaz who held the ball nicely and made a few yds. Shaz passed the ball forward to Oakman who was on a mission to score. Oakman received the ball about 35yds from goal and with some brilliant parts of dodging, skill and determination beat about five Birmingham players and fired the ball into the net to claim his hat trick. It was one of the best goals of the game and it came in the 78th minute!(out of 80) Max van Praag was disappointed with the teams loss but optimistic for the future especially as the team improved on lowering the score of last year that was 28-4!

They had played some excellent lacrosse at stages, with the freshers contributing allot and with continued practice, especially formation training he had no doubt that the Tigers would continue to improve.

The club would like to thank AU president Manni for driving the minibus to Birmingham and to Gareth Johns, Chris Yeates, Hannah Boyes and Dougís sister for coming and supporting the men.

Keele Scorers Doug Oakman 3 Max van Praag 1 Shaz 1 Squad Max van Praag (Captain), Stephen Johns, Luke Morgan, Scott Little, James Goodchild, Thomas Kelly, Liam Gannon, Shaz, Douglas Oakman, Toby Pochron, Max Hastings, Jack Richards, Rupert Day, Ed, Alex

That’s it for this edition, thanks to Stephen Jones and Alex Mason for their articles. Any future articles please e-mail to au_dep_president@hotmail.co.uk

Concourse

22nd October 2007

Return of Keele Myths & Legends!

In one of my trips through the Concourse archive I stumbled across the infamous myths and legends section. Here a small selection of some of the best bits of this section which featured in Concourse up until 2006. If you’d like to submit your own Keele facts then drop an e-mail to vp.comms@kusu.keele.ac.uk

>>>Jarvis Cocker used to go to Keele University

>>>Two Keele students became champion egg throwers at the Guinness Games 1984

>>>The Rolling Stones, U2, Lou Reed, Eurythmics and Culture Club are just some of the bands who have played Keele!

Across: 5. George Eliot novel (11) 7. Fifth colour of the rainbow (4) 8. German fruit brandy (8) 9. Coin-operated music machine (7) 11. Head of a monastery (5) 13. Group of eight (5) 14. Clothes in need of washing (7) 16. Maritime rescue craft (8) 17. William ____; the Earl of Chatham and his son, both British Prime Ministers (4) 18. TV personality, presenter: ‘Deal or No Deal’ (4,7) Down: 1. Lazy (4) 2. Largest city in Scotland, UK (7) 3. Largest city in Nebraska, US (5) 4. Kitchen receptable for loaves (5,3) 5. Mechanical breakdown (11) 6. Ancient Greek physician, the ‘father of medicine’ (11) 10. ______ Scrooge (Dickens) (8) 12. Musical genre of Scott Joplin; ‘migrate’ (anag.) (7) 15. Group of twelve (5) 17. Colour, traditionally of the British Empire on world maps (4)

Last weeks solution can be found on kusu.net/concourse

>>>All trees in Keele have their number attached to the bark

>>>A visiting sports team from Leeds once managed to steal the Flame sculpture from outside the library...they later returned it! >>>The rugby pitches at Keele are the highest above sea level in the country

>>>Keele were once banned from University Challenge for dropping items from their desk to indicate that the team were not above the other one. The show is actually filmed with the teams side by side.

The views and opinions contained in Concourse do not necessarily represent those of KUSU