The Knowledge. Sept / Oct 2010 by UPSU

UNION NEWS UNIVERSITY NEWS LOCAL NEWS STUDENT OPINION SOCIETIES SPORT

www.

www.upsu.com Email: info@upsu.com Register for email updates @: www.upsu.com Channel: UniversityPlymouthSU Fanpage: University of Plymouth Students’ Union Freshers group: Plymouth Uni Freshers 2010

TT HE

www.

Fly from Plymouth to: London Gatwick Manchester Leeds Bradford Newcastle Glasgow Guernsey Jersey Bristol Dublin Cork

Follow: UPSU

www. www.

WIN TICKETS PAGE 18

www.

WIN TICKETS PAGE 14

WIN FLIGHTS PAGE 2

PUNK ROCK SEPT / OCT 2010

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

Our generous friends at Air South West have kindly given us a pair of return tickets to any destination that they offer that fly from Plymouth Airport. All you have to do to get your hands on the tickets is: 1. Fill out the speech bubble below with your destination from the list on the right. 2. Then photograph yourself and upload it to our Facebook fanpage (University of Plymouth Students’ Union).

Air south west ad

3. We will then choose a winner at random on October 20th

Fanpage: University of Plymouth Students’ Union

CLOSING DATE 20th OCTOBER. EDITORS DECISION IS FINAL

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

CONTENTS UNION NEWS UNIVERSITY NEWS LOCAL NEWS STUDENT OPINION SOCIETIES SPORT

PAGE 4-11

YOUR SABBATICAL OFFICERS // DEMOLITION CAMPAIGN // STUDENT PARLIAMENT // UPSU RADIO // CAM CRU // FOR FORKS’ SAKE // VOLUNTEERING // BUCS SAILING // PARTNER NIGHTCLUBS // OUR AWARD WINNING BARS // ENTERTAINMENT AT UPSU

PAGE 12

WATER SPORTS // UoP WATER SPORTS FESTIVAL

PAGE 13-15

THEATRE ROYAL // POLICE MYTHS & LEGENDS

PAGE 16-18

10 TIPS TO SURVIVE FRESHERS WEEK // READING FESTIVAL // BLOW! // V.I.P

PAGE 19-23

ASIAN SOC // LIT SOC // S.I.F.E // P.E.S // P.L.U.G.S // PSYCHO SOC // M.T.G // UPBEAT // STUDENT STOP AIDS // LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX // UP:LGBT

PAGE 23-31

GET INVOLVED IN SPORT // UoP DANCE CLUB // UoP CRICKET CLUB // UoP JUDO // UoP LADIES BASKETBALL // UoP TAE KWON DO CLUB // UPLRFC- WANT TO LET OFF SOME STEAM? // RIDE HARD, PLAY HARD // ALL TERRAIN BOARDERS // SAILING & POWERBOAT CLUB

Over the next month we will be recruiting a new Editor! We need someone with enthusiasm and time to continue to develop the newspaper further and will be able to coorodinate groups of writers.

If you have an interest in writing and journalism and think you could do the job email: knowledge@upsu.com or pop into The Hive and pick up an application form.

EDITOR SAYS

Abi Pettit VP Activities & Communications vpactivites@upsu.com

Hello and welcome back to another action packed year at UPSU! For those of you who are reading The Knowledge for the first time, welcome! The Knowledge is your twice termly newspaper, a hub of information on your students union, the university and your local area. As well as this you can find interesting articles in the ‘Students Opinion’ section from fun advice to real life experiences.

As tradition with the first issue of the year, inside you will find this issue is filled to bursting

point with information about events going on over the next couple of weeks, introductions from your full time (sabbatical) officers, along with information from a number of sports clubs and societies. Most importantly, over the next month I will be recruiting a new editor for The Knowledge! We’re looking for someone that is going to have the enthusiasm and time to continue to develop the newspaper further and will be able to co-ordinate groups of writers. If you have an interest in writing and journalism and

think you could do the job email knowledge@upsu.com or pop into The Hive and pick up an application form. The closing date for applications is the 11th October. Finally, Myself and the rest of the Sabbatical Officers wish you good luck over the coming year. Don’t forget we are hear to represent you guys and are hear to help with any issues or questions you have over the coming year. Just pop into The Hive and come say hi!

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

YOUR SABBATICAL OFFICERS Hello new and old students! If you haven’t already got involved with UPSU or you are new here is a little about what we do for you and how you can get involved in our many exciting opportunities. What is UPSU?

Seena Shah President president@upsu.com

The University of Plymouth Students’ Union (UPSU) is run by students for students. The Students elect five sabbatical officers to run UPSU: President, Deputy President, Vice President Educational & Welfare, Vice President Sports, Vice President Activities & Communications. UPSU is more than just a bar. We are here to represent University of Plymouth students both nationally and locally. The President I have just graduated with a degree in International Relations with Spanish. During my time at the University of Plymouth I got

involved with Student Parliament, PIASoc, and Amnesty International. My role as President is to be the public face of UPSU and the student body. I chair the Board of Trustees and lead the sabbatical officer team. The President like all other sabbatical officers reports to Student Parliament. What are my plans and what will I do this year? Two big upcoming organisational events this year I will be recruiting a new Chief Executive Officer for UPSU and registering UPSU as a charity. As for the activist in me, I will be leading on a few campaigns this year: Farmers’ Market on Campus (cooking demos, local food & ingredients, arts & crafts), Green & Ethics Week (including a fashion show, markets & demos, debates, film showings, and plenty of petitioning and awareness raising) and DiscriminHate (a fight against discrimination in all its kinds:

Nominations open 24th September until 7th October Voting opens 15th October until 21st October

Hello to all UPSU members! I am delighted to have the opportunity to write in the first edition of The Knowledge 2010/2011. My name is Matthew, the deputy president of UPSU. First of all, I would like to welcome you all with my biggest smile to be part of UPSU in this brand new academic year! No matter who you are, where you come from or what you study, UPSU is here to fulfil your needs to enhance your student experience. We are here to transforming life through experience! This year, we want more students from different backgrounds to get involved with our campaigns, events and everything that we do at UPSU and in our community. After all, UPSU is more than just a bar! If you are not sure what UPSU can offer you, but would like to

UNION NEWS

be involved, please check out our brand new web site at www.upsu. com to discover more, such as over 100 sports club and societies, student parliament, support for course reps, volunteering and social events! My roles involves working closely with Student Parliament chair Ben Milward, on organising monthly meetings with many student representatives to discuss issues raised that affect students on a daily basis. Topics range from welfare to education, the student relationship with the community and the university, as well as the future of UPSU. If you are one of our 10,000+ partner college students from any of our 19 partner colleges across the country, then you are indeed automatically a member of UPSU, and are more then welcome to join all of our sports clubs and societies,

homophobia, racism, sexism). What is SUEI? The Students Unions Evaluation Initiative (SUEI) is a 2 year audit that looks at how our students union is run and how well we represent and engage our members (that’s you the students). What this means for you is that we can see where we are going wrong and right, thus creating a better students union for you. We are currently going through our first SUEI audit and are in the final year of it, so watch this space! Remember! We are your union. We are led by students and accountable to students…and WE ARE MORE THAN JUST A BAR! If you need any more info or just want a chat pop in to my office in the Hive (the big glass bit with sofas) or drop me an email.

Being a Part Time Officer is a great way to make friends & understand more about your students’union and the university. Get yourself noticed by potential employers, enhance your CV and develop your transferable skills.

Get a nomination form from the Hive in your Students’ Union or download it from www.upsu.com

as well as being involve with any of our student elections! I am here to support and assist all of you if you who would like help with setting up your own club or society at your college. UPSU understand that often it is difficult to get involve with our clubs and societies who are mostly base in Plymouth and that’s why we will do our absolute best to support your needs, after all that is the student union we want to be for you. Although as Deputy President, my role involves spending much of my time looking after the needs of Partner College, overseas and post graduates students. I am here to support the rest of you as much, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you want help with anything! Please get involve with us, let UPSU be part of your exciting student experience! Why?! Because you are worth it!

Matthew Chan Deputy President deputypresident@upsu.com

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge Hello to all you guys who are reading this special edition of the Knowledge and welcome to what is definitely going to be a fantastic and exciting year at UPSU! My name is Emma Wilson and I am your VP Education and Welfare Officer based in the Hive in the SU.

Emma Wilson VP Education & Welfare vpedandwelfare@upsu.com

A bit about me: I am 24, have just graduated from a degree in Environmental Science. I am a passionate campaigner and really do believe that activism and campaigning on campus and in the community can bring about very positive change. I‘m a bit of hippy and love all things air-cooled and Volkswagen. So what is campaigning and why is it important? So you see campaigners all over the news and local papers but you might wonder exactly what all the fuss is about. You don’t have to be a crazy activist to get involved! Campaigning is a great way to meet new people and come together to take action and challenge decision makers and policies and practices which would otherwise harm society or a specific group e.g. you the students at UPSU. Campaigning comes under many forms, awareness raising, letter writing, signing petitions, lobbying, marches, boycotts, demonstrations, prayer

vigils, publicity stunts, media work etc. so there really is something that everyone can do! So how can I help you whilst you’re a student here at Plymouth? My job as VP Education and Welfare means that if you have any issues regarding your course, lecturers facilities or any issue that will affect your learning experience then I am here to support you and help you solve these problems. I am responsible for ensuring that the course representation system works to its full potential and any issues get escalated to levels within the university where decisions are made, plus feedback on these decisions is provided, so that your university experience remains a positive and enjoyable one. Likewise if you have any issues concerning your welfare; housing problems, landlord issues, not knowing who to go to if you find yourself in money problems or if you have childcare issues whilst studying etc. then you can approach me in the Hive and with UPSU’s fantastic advice centre we can help you to resolve these troubles. It really is true that problems shared are problems halved and it’s my job to ensure you all have an awesome time at university! If there are problems facing more than one student, for example a module your

Tom Davidson

course isn’t running or a lecture theatre doesn’t have enough left handed fold out desks then come and find me and I can help you get a campaign off the ground to voice your concern and hopefully get things changed. What campaigns are we hoping to run this year? This October I will be looking for students to lead on ‘Plymouth DEMO-LITION’ Campaign a local warm up of the Fund Our Future: Stop Education Cuts campaign organised jointly by NUS and The Universities and College Union. For more details see article later on in this issue. ALSO later on in the year I will be recruiting student to help with: ‘Don’t Put it off! Put it ON campaign’, UPSU’s sexual health campaign. ‘A Time to Change’ a national campaign to challenge prejudice and promote acceptance of mental health issues, ’Plymouth Pride’ plus many more campaigns! PLUS: Any campaigns that you guys feel strongly about! For help on how to put together a campaign either as an individual, a group of students, or a society please come into the Hive and find me or email me.

Matthew Chan

Emma Wilson

Abi Pettit Seena Shah

UNION NEWS

Thomas Davidson VP Sports vpsports@upsu.com

For those of you who don’t know, or don’t care for that matter (shame on you!), my role as a full time elected officer is to represent you views and needs as a student to the relevant bodies; Be that UPSU, the University, your Dean of Students or even the Vice Chancellor herself, I will do my very best to ensure that your voices are heard. But what has that got to do with sports I hear you ask? Well, let me explain The past year has been one of our most successful ever in terms of sporting success. With high levels of participation in UPSU’s 58 sports clubs, our sportsmen and women have been able to win leagues, championships, cups and trophies in all manner of different competitions from rugby tournaments to sailing championships and Golf competitions to Judo matches. On an even greater note than this though, UPSU’s sports clubs finished off the year with an almighty bang by thoroughly trouncing our local rivals Marjons in a week long Varsity event that saw thousands of students turning out to support our teams in a particularly well fought battle to see which institution came out with the prized silverware and even more important bragging rights!

Welcome back to another hectic year at the University of Plymouth, and welcome to those of you who are new! I’m Abi, your VP Activities and Communications. My role covers all non-sport activities most notably Societies, Volunteering and Media. I’d like to give you a little information about each of these things: Societies Societies are a brilliant way of getting involved with UPSU. With course related societies through to the weird and wonderful, there is something of interest to almost everyone! If you disagree, why not set one up yourself, pop in and see me to find out how. Societies are great way to meet new and like minded people as well as having some fun outside of those all important studies! Volunteering Volunteering at UPSU is constantly growing with around 9000 hours being volunteered by our students in the last academic year. From getting muddy to working with beat bullying we have a variety of volunteering opportunities. From my own experience, volunteering is a brilliant way of getting to know

UNION NEWS

However this level of success does not come easily or without a price, which is where your sabbatical team come in. Throughout last year your sabbatical officers fought your corner on topics such as student fees, keeping Wednesday afternoons free for sport and a whole host of other issues that directly affect you, the student. This year, as part of your new sabbatical team I will be working hard to provide better sporting opportunities to the student body; be that through launching a social sports scheme to get more people involved in recreation, or working hard to maintain the sports budget in the face of national budget cuts that directly affect us at UPSU, I will be doing my best to ensure that sports at our university are as strong as ever in 2010/11. This isn’t all we do though, and if you have any questions, gripes, problems or ideas that are even slightly relevant to sport at university then feel free to drop by the hive and see me in person or send me an email. Right, with the tough stuff out of the way, let me give you a brief overview of what to expect from me this year as VP Sports:

so many different people, gain some amazing experience and get to balance some karma along the way! Please do come in and talk to the Volunteering Department if you want to get involved in volunteering or come along to the Volunteers Fair at 6pm in RLB on the 6th October. Media There are lots of exciting things planned over the coming few months with regards to media. Firstly we are recruiting a new Knowledge Editor for this academic year. If you are interested in writing and journalism, can coordinate writers and photographers and feel you can help develop the newspaper to into a must read, then you are exactly the kind of person we are after!!! If you are interested in apply the position please email knowledge@upsu.com, or pop into The Hive and come and have a chat with me. We have many ideas for The Knowledge this year including, for the first time, the newspaper being accessible to our neighbours in the community! The launch of the new Radio Station is fast approaching. UPSU Radio will be streaming online from

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge * The official launch of Team Plymouth * From September, our BUCS Wednesday first teams will be playing in brand new Team Plymouth Kit, and gear will be available to order from the Hive * The launch of a casual 11- a side football league * A weeklong Healthy Living and Active Lifestyles campaign involving cooking demonstrations from the Tanner brothers, bouncy boxing and a campus triathlon that is open to all. I believe that sports and physical activity are important to all of us so if you have any interest, however small, in sports then join a club, try something new, go to a gym class or enter a team into our intra-mural sports leagues. Whatever your taste or level of ability I can guarantee that we have something for you, and if we don’t then why not submit an application to start a new club? If you, the students, want it then it is my responsibility to make sure that everything possible is done to accommodate you. So don’t hesitate, jump in and see what UPSU has to offer you!

the beginning of November. With a range of different shows, hosted by enthusiastic students, there will be some interesting listening for all sorts of students. You will see it first on upsu.com. If you’re interested in getting involved or want more information then please email radio@upsu.com. You may have also noticed our website has undergone a revamp over the summer thanks to our Communications Co-ordinator, Oli. The website will be kept up to date more over the coming 12 months, with more events and campaigns information going up as well as some lovely video of us lot in the Sabbs office! Do go and have a good nose around www.upsu.com if you haven’t already and see how much easier it is to navigate if you haven’t already! The coming year should be an exciting one for everyone! Don’t forget the sabbatical office has an open door policy, so if you have any questions or comments then please pop into The Hive and see us.

Abi Pettit VP Activities & Communications vpactivites@upsu.com

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

DEMOLITION CAMPAIGN time as universities prepare to be hit with the worst cuts to their budgets since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Plymouth DEMO-LITION! Saturday 16th October 2010. Joining the national movement to Fund our Future Dear Fellow Students Old and New, As a new term begins, it is a time for mixed feelings. The new educational year should be a time for excitement about the possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead, and yet looming over us is a shadow that threatens our future. You can barely have escaped discussion of government funding cuts to our education sector. There’s a real risk that a cuts agenda will send our economy and society backwards. These savage cuts will affect us all, and we now face an urgent need to build a counter-consensus in favour of investment. We can only do so by coming together. In October, the government will outline where the next round of funding cuts will hit and a review of fees and funding will be published. Sadly, we do not have to wait until then to know that the cuts will be both savage and deeply painful – with, for example, more students crammed into lecturer theatres, course closures, staff redundancies, buildings such as libraries and computer rooms falling into disrepair, and less money available for student support. Meanwhile, university vice chancellors are calling for a further hike in tuition fees. Students therefore face a major increase in the cost of studying for a degree at the same

These cuts, and calls for a hike in student fees, would be unacceptable at any time. But it is at exactly these times when investment in education is particularly crucial. Youth unemployment is expected to pass million next summer. It would be sensible to have as many people as possible in education and training, so that we are able to come out of the recession with a highly-skilled and innovative workforce, rather than one that has had all aspiration sapped out of it whilst sitting on the dole-queue.

petitions, engaging the public, promoting the national demonstration and finally an evening of debate and presentations. Aaron Porter President of NUS has confirmed that he will speak at the evening event. This local day of action will also serve as a warm up to a National Demonstration that NUS are planning, together with the lecturer’s trade union UCU, against cuts to the further and higher education sectors on Wednesday

We all know people who have been denied the opportunity to progress – it is a personal tragedy, but also a national waste. A mixture of government spending cuts and a rise in tuition fees would spell disaster - both for the students who end up paying more for less, and for the young people denied the opportunity of a university or college education. Many other countries, most notably the USA and France, are investing in education for exactly this reason. Sadly, this government seems to be ignoring these arguments and investment lags well behind the international average. It is time for us to stand up together and be counted. Therefore UPSU, Marjons Student Union, UCU (The University and Colleges Union) the TUC and Student unions from Plymouth City College, Plymouth College of Arts and Cornwall College are uniting to fight back in response to cuts which could see up to 40% funding cuts to the higher education sector and upto 25% to the further education sector. Our joint campaign will include lobbying of the local MP Mr Oliver Colville who did not sign the pledge against increasing student fees when he was voted into office earlier this year, lobbying of our own VC, petitions, stunts, and lastly a local day of action awareness raising which is to be held on the 16th October. This day will include a procession through the city centre, video

10 November 2010, in central London. Here in Plymouth staff and students are bringing their communities together to build an unprecedented coalition to fight against the cuts that have been imposed upon us. It is time to make our voices heard. We need as many of you as possible to be with us on these days. Together we will demonstrate our strength and give the politicians no alternative but to listen and act. Our Student Union together with trade union branches up and down the country will be organising transport to make the national protest – please come to the Hive to discuss booking your place. For regular updates on the local campaign PLYMOUTH DEMO-LITION on October 16th please find details on www.upsu.com and check out our facebook page. For details of the national demo on November 10th please visit: www.demo2010.org/ Yours in solidarity

Emma Wilson VP Education & Welfare vpedandwelfare@upsu.com

UNION NEWS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

STUDENT PARLIAMENT

What is Student Parliament? • Elected part time officers that represent you and your voice • Sabbatical officers report to parliament • A place where you can raise issues that are troubling you from library opening hours to a bad lecturer Who sits on Student Parliament? • The five Sabbatical Officers • One representative from each Faculty • A representative from the biggest Partner Colleges • A Parliament Chair and Campaigns Chairs with the following specific areas of interest; LGBT, Women’s issues, Racial and

UPSU RADIO IS COMING

Ethnic, Postgraduate Students, International Students, Ethics and Environment, Students with Disabilities, Mature Students, Education, Welfare, Part-time Students and Placement Students. • The following officers are elected from within their own committees; Volunteering in Plymouth President, RAG President, Societies Rep, Sports Rep, and Media Rep. • Eight independent reps • Any student is welcome to attend the meeting and to debate policy however they will not have voting rights. How does Student Parliament work? • The part time officers get elected in the October elections and the first parliament will be on 25th October. • The part time officers propose “motions” (a document that says what the officer wants to change and why we should change it). Ordinary students can propose motions too! • Parliament votes on the motions to pass them (agree on them).

• If a motion gets passed then we act on it and try to make it happen What can parliament do? • Last year parliament ran several successful campaigns: Burma VJ; Extend University Library opening hours; Plymouth Town Takeover. • Parliament makes sure that your sabbatical officers do what they were elected to do. • Most importantly, parliament is there to represent you! This year.. • Nominations open Friday 24th September and close Thursday 7th October • The elections will run from Friday 15th October to Thursday 21st October For more information contact Student Parliament at parliament@upsu.com or pop in to the Hive in the Students’ Union Building and see the sabbatical officers

CAM CRU CamCru was previously a society until 2008 where it died down, until now. CamCru is the new face of media at UPSU! CamCru provides media in the form of photography and videography to other societies and sports clubs as well as the UPSU website and this paper, The Knowledge! We have great weekly socials, future ideas include white t-shirt nights! We also aim to help educate and encourage members in photography and videography and hope to have workshops and outside speakers to help encourage members.

Student Radio at Plymouth is something you may have occasionally heard mutter over the past 12 months. After lots of planning and development by my predecessor and the odd glitch with the equipment the Station is nearly ready for its long awaited launch. The idea behind UPSU Radio is to provide both an entertainment and information service to all University of Plymouth students. Teams of students have been, and will be, creating a broad spectrum of shows which will be hosted online at www.upsu.com in the coming months. The radio show oozes with potential and is something that excites us greatly, so keep your eyes open for information about the launch coming very soon, and if you would like to learn how to get involved with UPSU Radio then please email: radio@upsu.com

UNION NEWS

CamCru will probably be one of the most exciting societies this year and give you the opportunity to be involved and creative taking photos and video of a range of events throughout the university! This is a great way to get involved with university and the student’s union. You will meet loads of great like minded people, have a chance to be creative and a chance to show off you skills! Does this sound like something you would like to get involved with? Then join CamCru today! Visit us at the Sports and Societies Fair, Sunday 26th September or get in touch with myself: alistair.strong@students.plymouth.ac.uk

Nominations open 24th September until 7th October Voting opens 15th October until 21st October Get a nomination form from the Hive in your Students’ Union or download it from www.upsu.com

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

VOLUNTEERING FOR FORKS’ SAKE STUDENTS, JOIN THE SLOW FOOD ON CAMPUS MOVEMENT

Want to find out more about volunteering? Come to the Volunteer Fair on the evening of Wednesday 6th October in the Roland Levinsky building to meet the team, local organisations and other student volunteers. Email: volunteer@su.plymouth.ac.uk or Twitter @UPSUvolunteers

With the launch of Slow Food on Campus at the University of Plymouth, student activism has never been so tantalising. There will be a FARMERS’ MARKET on campus on 7th OCTOBER. Slow Food on Campus is an inspiring and empowering student-led initiative from Slow Food UK. There will be free tasters and cooking demos. Good local food can be bought on a budget!

RELAYS volunteering opportunity:

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out with the ‘Devon Games to Inspire’ event in July. 1 day, 15 different sports, 110 teams, 1474 young participants, and 288

volunteers. Everyone who helped out were fundamental in making the day a success. Next RELAYS event: • North Devon Ability Games to Inspire • 1 day sports event for young people with disabilities • Wednesday 20th October. • Transport provided to and from the games. • Looking for students to assist with sessions and help the young people. Please email: volunteer@su.plymouth.ac.uk for more details.

Students are invited to make a difference to food locally. Slow Food on Campus Youth Coordinator Ria Jackson explains: “There’s a long-standing myth that students today are carefree. We disagree. Many are exploring better, healthier ways of living while on a budget. Some have had gap years abroad and understand the impact food has within a global context. Slow Food on Campus offers good food and good times.” Through speaking with staff, caterers and their peer group within educational institutions, students can reap the benefits of high quality, sustainable, fair and above all, enjoyable food through improved food systems. Seena Shah, UPSU President says: “This will be an exciting way to start your time in Plymouth. The South West has an abundance of good local food and students can afford it! There is a common assumption that buying good food means more money, this farmers’ market will show that it is certainly not the case!” Planned activities are raising awareness of the Slow Food “good, clean, fair” ethos through cooking demonstrations, free tasters, and an opportunity to buy the food and ingredients Students are encouraged to connect with their community, from participating in community gardens to meeting local producers, with support provided by the network of Slow Food local groups, of which there are over 50 across the UK.

BUCS Sailing Nationals Comes to Plymouth The UPSU: Sailing & Powerboat Club are proud to be hosting the British University Fleet Racing National Championships for the first time in 10 years. It promises to be a spectacular event with over 300 students from around the country competing here! Racing will take place over the weekend of the 6th and 7th November in Plymouth Sound, with an awesome social promised for the Saturday night! The BUCS Sailing Competition is highly regarded in the sailing world, and any student sailors who are at national level will be competing. Chris Atherton, Senior High Performance Manager at the Royal Yachting Association, said: “It is great that the national championships are coming back to Plymouth, where they started, after 10 years of being away. The Mount Batten facilities are first class, and it is fitting that they should be on the national stage once again.”

University of Plymouth student sailor James Hopson said; “There are strong links between the University of Plymouth Sailing and Powerboat Club and Mount Batten, which allows us to use the facilities to our advantage.” “I am looking forward to competing in home waters. I have done lots of sailing here and really enjoy it. I think it provides the perfect place for the BUCS sailing championships, with varying conditions to test the sailors’ abilities both mentally and physically.” The Sailing and Powerboat Club will be looking for lots of volunteers to help us, so if you keen to get involved with running this national championship event, please send an email to: sailpowerupsu@gmail.com For more info on the BUCS sailing nationals visit: www.sailpower.org.uk

UNION NEWS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

PARTNER NIGHTCLUBS MONDAY

TUESDAY

The Students’ Union is completely independent from the University and separately funded. To help achieve our charitable aims – the support and representation of students at University – we need to raise additional income. This is why we run a bar, nightclub and shop on campus. All the money raised from these is re-invested back into the services we provide to all students. By supporting UPSU you are helping to improve these services, whether it is student representation, free advice, volunteering opportunities, sports clubs & societies, training and support or even to improve the students’ union building. During the year we support some ‘official’ student nights at club venues around Plymouth. These club nights donate some of their profits back to UPSU and as such help our charitable aims of supporting you. Last year there was some confusion

WEDNESDAY

which nights made this charitable donation. It is important because other venues and promoters run ‘student’ nights but the money made from these nights goes in their pockets. You will get bombarded with student nights when you arrive but please remember ours are the only official student nights and the money comes back to UPSU. Wherever possible please support our club nights and help us to make a difference to your time at Plymouth. These nights are:

THURSDAY Any other time we’d love to see you supporting your Students’ Union. Last year we believe that a student from Exeter University was promoting a club night in Plymouth to Plymouth students, this night out in Plymouth was helping to fund their education at Exeter University! Can you be sure where your money is going? We guarantee the money from the clubs night above goes back to helping University of Plymouth students only. Ignore the hype from others and if in doubt come in and ask us.

Mondays Oceana, Barbican Leisure Park Tuesdays Crash Manor,Union Street Wednesday C103, Union Street Thursday Revolution, Derry’s Cross

OUR AWARD WINNING BARS

The Snug is our warm and welcoming new look bar located at the north end of the students’ union directly opposite the north entrance used every evening of the week. With 3D TV, juke box, cash machine and games machines, it is a nice relaxing area with comfy seats and a great atmosphere to spend your spare time any day of the week.

UNION NEWS

Illusion Bar is the smaller bar opposite the entrance to Illusion and is open on nightclub nights. Offering a huge range of drinks with a quick service.

Sub:lime is our super-sexy, long and shiny bar. With gorgeous, super-efficient & welcoming bar staff and nightly drinks promotions in a safe and friendly environment you’ll be mad to miss out! Sub:lime is the place to buy all your tickets for all the major events at UPSU.

The Lounge is a chillout area located to the left as you enter UPSU from the north entrance. The Lounge has a range of TVs including a 3D one and loads a pool tables to test your talent on. It also has the Snack Shack our food outlet, serving a mouth watering selection of hot food and soft drinks. Pizzas, burgers and wraps, plus fresh fruit smoothies. You can also get proper coffee in a cup (no paper cups here!).

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

ENTERTAINMENT AT UPSU The award winning Students’ Union aims to provide all students with the very best in entertainment and atmosphere to ensure all students have the means to a awesome social life, and to ensure that everyone takes away some amazing memories!

We work hard to bring you all the latest music, comedy and events to campus. Working hard to provide the best service and the lowest prices to ensure that you can have a social life without breaking the bank.

Monday

Retro in Sub:lime every Monday night brings youtunes you just dont hear anymore. World Beat in Illusion showcases the Songs from the 80s/90s diverse range of cultures that attend monday brought to you by one of our UoP. come and enjoy music, dancing, resident DJs. film and food from around the world. Then follow on to Oceana. Get your advance ticket from the bar + bus from North Hill.

BEAT

............................................................................................................................................................ Tuesday

Every Tuesday night we bring you The Tuesday Club. There will be something different in your SU be it either Comedy // Film // Bingo // Karaoke. See upsu.com to find out what is happening each week.

Then follow on to CRASH MANOR. ............................................................................................................................................................

Wednesday

Wednesday night is Supporters Wednesday. Meet in the Students’ Union and find out how our sports clubs performed. Help them celebrate a victory or commiserate a defeat. With great drinks deals throughout the night. Then follow on to the legendary C103

............................................................................................................................................................ Thursday

Open Mic Night, Every Thursday at 8pm in Sub:Lime. Starting Thursday 7th October Full Backline Provided Email: hannah.langford-thomas@su.plymouth.ac.uk for availability of performance slots and more info 5 days notice needed for abnormal acts, large bands etc Book a slot or turn up on the night, bring own instruments

Every Thursday is Brassic. The best value for money student night in town. See upsu.com for all details

Then follow on to SINSATION AT REVOLUTION

............................................................................................................................................................ Friday

The Big Cheese in Sub:Lime is the place to be on a Friday night. Bringing you the biggest and baddest cheesy tunes Plymouth has to offer.

Bit Jam in Illusion, presented by the DJ Society, is where we bring you all the freshest drum ‘n’ bass, dance and electro. These night are huge.

............................................................................................................................................................ Saturday

Every Saturday we bring you Ultimate Saturday. Showcasing the biggest and freshest commercial, dance and R’n’B.

LIVE MUSIC night

We have Live Music nights every fortnight, bringing you huge live acts from around the world. An amazing night with an amazing atmosphere.

Rock Night will be every fortnight in Illusion. Come and get lost in array of the biggest rock tunes we can throw at you.

............................................................................................................................................................ Sunday

Come down on a Sunday night and chill our with a nice drink and a quiz. Test your knowledge and win prizes. £1 per person to enter and maximum of 6 members per team. Go on show us your smarty pants.

UNION NEWS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

WATER SPORTS

Welcome to the University of Plymouth Water Sports programme, all the activities are based at the Mount Batten Water Sports and Activity Centre, which is the South West’s premier waterside venue specialising in sailing, power boating, kayaking and Windsurfing. A complete range of RYA and BCU training courses are offered through Recreation at a subsidised price. To ensure that you add value to your student experience while studying in Plymouth please sign up to our water sport taster sessions being held on both Friday 17th and 24th September 1330-1630, and enjoy either dinghy sailing or power boating. The sessions will then run weekly on Friday

afternoons and Saturday’s through out term time. These short sessions are a perfect way to introduce you to water sports. They are tailored to weather conditions on the day and everybody gets a chance to get afloat. If you a have recently completed a course or are looking to refresh previously learnt techniques then these sessions would be an ideal way to safely sustain your skill base and increase your aspirations for further development to the sport. Volunteering If you are a qualified water sports instructor

and are looking to enhance your coaching CV then you are very welcome to assist with the running and the delivery of any of the recreation water sport sessions. To make the most of this opportunity and discuss the benefits it can bring to your future instructional development please contact tim.cross@plymouth.ac.uk Information To book please visit the Nancy Astor Sports centre, for further information please contact the Water Sports Coordinator and Development Officer, Tim Cross tim.cross@ plymouth.ac.uk or follow the regular updates on the facebook fan page ‘ UoP Recreation.

University of Plymouth Water Sports Festival The annual University of Plymouth water sports festival will be held on Saturday 30th April 2011. Last years event was a great success. Over 170 participants experienced and enjoyed the water based activities available to staff and students at the University, included dinghy sailing, wake boarding, Yachting on the Universities owned J80’s, windsurfing Kayaking, and Rowing. The event is not possible without volunteers from the Student Union and Staff water sport clubs alongside Recreational Service volunteers, who were kept busy by the continual arrival of participants.

The event’s aims were to create awareness of the water sport opportunities at the university and highlight the health benefits involved with participating in activities which take place in a marine environment. If you are interested in become involved with next years event please contact Tim Cross (UOP Water Sports Officer) tim.cross@plymouth.ac.uk for further information.

Dyslexia or other disability…? Induction week Do you have a disability e.g. dyslexia, other Specific Learning Difficulty, a mental health issue, a sensory impairment, or medical condition?

Induction drop-in sessions are being run by Disability ASSIST Services staff during induction week. Ask us any questions or just come and say ‘hello’ Where: 007 Babbage Building (bottom floor) When: Induction week Monday 20th - Friday 24th September Time: 9.30am – 4.00pm (no appointments necessary)

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

THE THEATRE ROYAL The Theatre Royal presents an extensive range of work, from drama, musicals and contemporary dance to ballet, opera and pantomime. For those of you who may not have visited before, the theatre has two auditoriums, the Theatre Royal, which is the main stage and the Drum which showcases new work and writing. We have looked at the autumn season and selected a few shows not to miss.

We would highly recommend you try to see the world premiere of Love Love Love in the Drum Theatre. It is a brand new play by Mike Bartlett, who is currently enjoying great success with his play Earthquakes at the National Theatre. Set in 1967, the show explores the baby boomer generation. Smoking, drinking, affectionate and paranoid, one couple’s forty-year journey from initial burst to full bloom. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch this show from Thursday 7 October until Saturday 23 October 2010.

Following sell-out runs in London and Manchester, Punk Rock arrives at Theatre Royal Plymouth from Tuesday 26 October until Saturday 30 October 2010. William Carlisle. The world at his feet. Its weight on his shoulders. Intelligent. Articulate. F***ed. As the end of term approaches, a group of sixth-formers prepare themselves for the end of their school lives. But as the world begins to open up before them, they are faced with the very real danger it could swallow them whole - resulting in a shocking and explosive finale.

In the Drum Theatre from Tuesday 26 October until Saturday 30 October there will be a documentary-play about British democracy. Counted takes us to the heart of what democracy really means by sharing the voices and stories of real people from all walks of life. Revealing, humorous and entertaining, the play dramatises interviews and academic research, to look at the concept of choice and the factors that influence us.

The Drum is showcasing its second premiere in November, Chekhov in Hell. Anton Chekhov, masterful playwright and mirror to Russian society, awakening from one hundred years of sleep, is thrust rudely into twenty first century Britain. Reality shows, fashionistas, Z-list celebrities, illegal immigrants, chuggers and wags. Pole dancing, You Tube, Twitter and 5-a-day. The show will take you on a whirlwind tour of modern day Britain from Thursday 4 November until Saturday 20 November 2010.

Matthew Bourne, one of the most inventive and brilliant choreographers today, is bringing Cinderella back to life for a tour that opens at the Theatre Royal. Set in London during the Second World War, Matthew Bourne’s interpretation of Prokofiev’s haunting score has, at its heart, a true wartime romance. The show has been created commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Blitz and will be at the theatre royal from Saturday 13 November until Saturday 20 November 2010.

Bring your student card along with you when you book tickets to receive discounts on shows. For more information or to book tickets please contact the Theatre Royal Box Office on (01752) 230447 or online at www.theatreroyal.com

PUNK ROCK WIN TICKETS We have got 3 pairs of tickets for the Punk Rock play at the theatre Royal on the Tuesday 26th of October. Simply answer this question:

WHO WAS THE LEAD SINGER OF THE SEX PISTOLS? ANSWER: NAME:

EMAIL:

CUT OUT AND RETURN THIS COMPETITION FORM TO THE HIVE BY THE 20TH OCTOBER. A WINNER WILL BE SELECTED AT RANDOM. THE EDITORS DECISION IS THE FINAL.

LOCAL NEWS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

POLICE MYTHS & LEGENDS The majority of students come to University to study and socialise but do this is an acceptable manner. Unfortunately, there is a minority who will at some point have some Police involvement during their stay in Plymouth. We want to prevent this from happening and advise you that certain drunken silly behaviour which, at the time seems like a prank to you and your mates can potentially have significant effects on the rest of your lives, especially if you are hoping to have a career. Some silly pranks are in fact criminal offences and can therefore result in a CAUTION. Drinking too much alcohol and either becoming incapable of looking after yourself or causing trouble is also an offence classed as Drunk and Incapable or Drunk and Disorderly behaviour. As a result of this you may be given a PENALTY NOTICE for DISORDER (PND). If you are caught in possession of Cannabis depending of the amount that is found on you, you may be given a CANNABIS WARNING. These police disposals will be kept on Police Record and therefore in the future

could result in affecting jobs that you apply for. For example if you apply for jobs in the ARMY, POLICE or any type of job WORKING WITH CHILDREN, you may need to tell your perspective employer about this disposal. This could stop you getting the job! The not being able to work with children can really reduce your future job choices as this will include jobs such as TEACHER, DOCTOR, DENTIST, CHILD SOCIAL WORKER, NURSEY ASSISTANT, SCHOOL BUS DRIVER, FOOTBALL COACH, this will also include any VOLUNTRY opportunities you may wish to become involved in. Other silly prank like behaviour which has previously occurred during Sports Social Events, such as exposing your genital parts to others whilst in a Public Place is again in fact a Criminal Offence. If you are seen by Police or Police have received a report that you match the description of somebody committing this offence, you will be arrested using Section 66 of the Sexual Offences Act (2003). Now this is another silly prank which can again have a massive impact on your future careers especially if this does result in the Court’s placing you on the SEX OFFENDERS REGESITER.

free, confidential & independent advice * Academic advice * Benefits * Debt * Housing * Pregnancy tests * Consumer advice * Legal advice * Personal advice * Student funding

TAKE

ME I’M FREE

UÊ ii«ÊÞ ÕÀÊ` ÀÃÊ> `Ê Ü ` ÜÃÊ V i`Ê> `Ê ÃiVÕÀi UÊ ii«ÊÛ> Õ>L iÃÊ ÃÕV Ê>ÃÊ >«Ì «ÃÊ> `Ê L iÃÊ ÕÌÊ vÊÛ iÜ UÊ ii«Ê iÞÃÊ ÕÌÊ vÊÃ } ÌÊ > `Ê Ê>ÊÃ>viÊ« >Vi

... in fact just about anything Call: 01752 588373 Email: advice@su.plymouth.ac.uk Web: upsu.com/advice Visit: Advice centre, first floor of the Students’ Union

LOCAL NEWS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

10 Tips to survive Fresher’s WEEK Steph Driscoll

September has finally arrived!!! A summer filled with long days at work, long days of partying on holiday or for some long days of boredom are over. Bags are being packed; goodbyes are said to parents and friends meaning only one thing……. University is beginning and alongside that an exciting prospect: Fresher’s week!!! Old students know the drill, there are activities arranged throughout the day to explore and visit and events organized on various nights that promise to be some of the biggest and best parties of the year!! But, for new students, Fresher’s week can be a daunting time with everything new being thrown at you all at once. So here a few tips to help get through fresher’s week…. Just make the most of it before all the work begins! 1. Get to know new people. Try to meet as many people as you possibly can. Don’t just stick with one friend. Course mates, house mates, friends from sports and societies; surround yourself with as many new people as you can, some may end up friends for life! 2. Sign up to clubs and societies. Sign up to the clubs and societies you are most interested in. You don’t have to stay a member of them all year but by trying them all you can decide what fits you best.

3. Avoid getting too drunk. Don’t get too drunk and make a fool of yourself. By all means enjoy yourself but remember first impressions count and you don’t want to be stuck with a reputation for the rest of your university life! 4. Attend welcome week sessions Try to attend all welcome week sessions that your course arranges. They may seem boring and pointless when you are waking up to a hangover but when it comes to essays and exams later in the year, you’ll be thankful you attended. 5. Find a part time job Look into getting a part time job. A student loan seems like the best thing in the world when you get it but it never lasts long. A part time job can give you some extra cash which will always come in handy throughout the year. 6. Grab free stuff Get all the free stuff you can. During fresher’s week your students union puts on events giving away all sorts of free stuff from pens to t shirts to tins of beans so pick as much up as you can, why not it’s free! 7. Explore the campus When you’ve got free time wonder round the campus getting to know it. It’ll make it a lot easier when you’re rushing around in between lectures if you know where your going.

READING FESTIVAL

Brightly coloured welly boots, tents, rucksacks and hundreds of very excited people is what I saw once I reached Reading train station. The rain was coming down heavy but this did not upset the mood of the crowd heading for the festival, the grounds weren’t hard to find all I had to do was follow the mass of ponchos and umbrellas. Once my friend Jenna turned up we walked around the camp sites trying to find where we should set up our tent. All you could see for miles was a sea of multi coloured tents, large ones, small ones and even tepees. We ended up

STUDENT Opinion

setting up our tent behind a food lorry, which we later realised started its engines every half hour until early hours of the morning. As we started to stick our tents up I realised I had no idea what I was doing, as not only had I never been to a festival before but I had never been camping before so I had no idea how to set up a tent which Jenna found very amusing. Once set up, we attempted to walk to the food court which had now turned into thick slippery mud, which was very hard to walk in. We headed to the toilets, which I am sure every person who has been to a festival will know what I mean when I say it’s the worse thing you will ever smell or sit on, not a pleasant experience, but strangely one you get used to. Later that evening we sat by a camp fire, had some drinks and met other excited festival goers. The next day we were all eager to get to the arena to see some bands play, I barely knew anyone who was lined up to play but was still excited to hear some live music. The first band I saw was in the late afternoon, they were called NOFX and by that point I was a little worse for wear after a few drinks so didn’t stay long but the band seemed good. That same evening we went to see Biffy Clyro, who were excellent,

8. Budget Enjoy yourself as much as you can during the first couple of weeks but alongside that, attempt to organize the cash your spending. Fresher’s week will break the bank if you don’t spend wisely so try to set a weekly budget so you don’t over indulge. 9. Be yourself The best way to meet new people is to be you. Be confident and try to portray who you really are. However, don’t forget university can be one of the best places to reinvent yourself so if you were once the socially awkward one, try and change into the social butterfly! 10. Enjoy Enjoy fresher’s week! For most students, you are only a fresher once so make the most of it!!! Don’t forget if you need any help or advice UPSU advice gives free confidential and impartial advice to all students of the University of Plymouth. The advice center is based on the first floor of the SU building at the Plymouth campus and is open for dropins from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday or you can email: advice@su.plymouth.ac.uk

and Queens Of The Stone Age, which turned into a terrifying experience, I got dragged into a mosh pit and had a man thrown onto my head, so I left there pretty quickly and headed to see Mumford and Sons, which I think was the best band there. After that we waited around to see Guns and Roses but they made everyone wait for an hour so we decided to leave and go see another band called Alkaline Trio! The next couple of days were again very muddy but very chilled out. We managed to see Dizzee Rascal who put on an amazing performance, along with The Libertines. On the final day, there were many amazing bands to see, we started with You Me At Six who Jenna enjoyed watching, then on to Limp Bizkit andCypress hill who were really good and then finally we watched Paramore, who were terrible to watch live, which is a shame as I like that band. We then waited around to see the incredible Blink 182, who were as good as you see them on TV, the only problem was that we were right at the back and had to leave early as we had to drive all the way back to Plymouth. My first time at Reading festival was a very good experience and I am now looking at going to other festivals next year.

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

BLOW! ‘BLOW, pod C, 125 degrees, 3 rets, 2+ animals’...this was probably the most common phrase of my summer. I used to frown upon volunteer work, since they usually ask you to shell out thousands of pounds and provide your own accommodation. The prospect of finding a position that was affordable and appealing seemed remote, since I did not fancy the usual rock formations in the Mediterranean that the marine world had to offer. But then, a volunteer role that provided food, lodging and an interesting project half way across the globe in Australia blew my preconception out the water. I spent five weeks as a research assistant on an eight week land based project monitoring the ‘abundance and trend estimates of the east Australian population of humpback whales’. Every year humpback whales migrate north, up the east coast of Australia to their breeding grounds inside the Great Barrier Reef from May to August to mate or calve. They return south from August to November to the Southern Ocean to their feeding grounds. On their journey they pass North Stradbroke Island (Straddie), part of a chain of Islands: Frasier, Moreton and Straddie. We were based at Point Lookout on the north east coast of Straddie which sticks out into the migratory path of the whales, filtering them into our view. Essentially we counted whales all day, every day in rain, shine and storm, except when winds exceeded 25 knots/28 mph. The full survey allowed us to capture the four week peak migration giving us a two weeks error margin either side. My fellow volunteers were from Columbia, Italy, France, America, Fiji oh and a few Australians. We counted for 10 hours a day which was a strain on the eyes and concentration, on peak days we saw 100 to 140 whales, and for others we would see nothing for 3 hours. The potential to miss a few whales past the horizon is a given and accounted for in the data. The slow periods are when you realise the people you work with are so important. Even in a dream job most things become mundane, but the people you meet and the experiences you have make it what it is! After seeing so many whales leaping out of the water each day, you feel a bit jaded, so sights that would make Joe Public ‘Oooh’ and ‘Aaah’ became routine to us. Whale hunting dates back to when the British visited Australian ports in the 1790s. Whale oil would be used for lamp fuel, lubricants, candles and as a base for perfumes and soaps. Baleen (the structure instead of teeth) was used in the 19th century in corsets, whips and umbrellas. The larger of the two main humpback stations took 600 to 700 whales a year. By 1960 the numbers of whales had seriously dropped and whaling stopped in 1962. It was originally believed that this

whaling had pushed the population into decline; however it was later found to be the high levels of Soviet fleets’ illegal and unreported whaling. By the mid 1960s the population had dropped alarmingly from 30,000 to literally hundreds. This survey is import to monitor the resultant population increase, and this year was critical as anything could have happened. Discovering whether the population increased, declined or levelled would determine further research and quotas for future whaling. The survey started when Dr Robert Paterson, a resident of North Stradbroke Island, sat on his balcony and logged the number of whales he saw passing by. He did this every year and now this is one of the longest, most rigorous and comprehensive whale surveys in the world. I was working with the research team from Queensland University who survey every 3 years and were funded be the Australian government. The work load was heavy. We had no definite days off and no flexibility to organize trips to the lakes or other attractions of the island. In the evenings we had 20-25 people to cook and wash up for, data to input, a blog to write and we presented mini seminars to each other on our own projects. In our limited and sporadic spare time we also tried to fit in as many activities as possible. Sometimes we would swim, surf, or play rugby on the local beaches. Many of the volunteers were SCUBA divers but only two of us managed to get out there and delve into Shark Alley, I was one of these lucky people. It was the first time I had seen a shark without a hefty chunk of glass between us, awesome! As the only undergraduate it was useful to gain an insight out how others had found jobs after a degree. I was exposed to a large amount of information and people with different specialisms. Networking obviously helps when looking for a job after University and voluntary work is a great way to meet contacts. We do not have a full report of this year’s data yet, but our general feeling from Straddie was that there was a decline in the population. However, the peak was late and lasted longer than usual, so we may find we counted just as many over a longer period of time. For those of you who are interested there is a graph showing the increase over the last 30 years; only pay attention to the blue lines as this is the average over the peak 4 weeks. If you want more information feel free to contact me on rebecca.wood@students.plymouth. ac.uk or to follow some of the things that we did when we were there such as seeing Orcas chase down a mother and calf humpback and being interviewed by channel 10 for a documentary go to the facebook blog: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/ Straddiehumpbacks?ref=ts

STUDENT Opinion

V.I.P Joining ViP last year (as a first year) has given me some of the most memorable times at university and I’ve come to see that it is more than just the perfect opportunity to make friends and have some fun. There isn’t any other society at the university that allows you to contribute to the world around you, learn and develop skills that are functional and priceless while taking nothing from you other than the time you’d like to put in. The society has a wide variety of projects right from planting trees and supporting refugees to working with monkeys! It gives the exact kind of experience that potential employers look for in young graduates and even lets you earn extra credit for everything you’ve put in. I can’t say that I have felt anything less than

STUDENT Opinion

optimism and cheerfulness when I look at what we’ve achieved, at the end of a project. And as added bonus, it provides and certifies you with training for all sorts of minicourses. You can spend the day at the beach and have laughter-filled conversations by joining ViP and going out on a Beach Clean Project, meeting many people from different backgrounds. I’d also like to make a mention of the glamorous annual volunteer awards ceremony where volunteers are recognised for hard work and commitment. The volunteer department, with its cheery staff, wonderful friends and exciting opportunities has made the next year something that I’m enthusiastically and impatiently looking forward to!

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

ASIAN SOC

S.I.F.E

We are one of Plymouth’s most exciting and up and coming new societies. We have simple values: maximum fun and maximum value for money. With so many member benefits, including tons of handy discounts all over the city, signing up to Asian Soc will reap its rewards all year long.

“Without doubt the most rewarding, exciting and valuable experience available to a university student. It’s truly amazing!”

Everyone is welcome in our friendly society, in which we aim to celebrate Asian culture through great themed events spread out right across the year. We also pride ourselves in being one of the most diverse societies around. Whether you enjoy club nights and drinks with your mates, or you don’t drink at all and want a genuine alternative whilst having a great time: we’re for you. If you want to make the most of our buzzing and beautiful city, but also see some great sites further afield: we’re for you.

How do you fancy joining a society that is internationally recognised and active in more than 1,500 universities across the globe? What about a society that offers you the opportunity to become a leader and manage some of the biggest initiatives across the City? Add to that the opportunity to travel, earn, develop and make an enormous social and economic impact and you’ve got SIFE University of Plymouth.

So, what are you waiting for? Just look out for us at the Sports and Societies Fair. You won’t find another society that offers so much for so little. To a great year ahead... Asian Style!

SIFE stands for Students in Free Enterprise and is a huge international nonprofit organisation, active in over 40 countries worldwide. SIFE University of Plymouth enables students from all years of study and disciplines to join a team and develop community and business projects to create economic and social opportunities for others.

LIT SOC

Whatever project you engage in, you’ll receive support and guidance from our SIFE network of university and business advisors as you will be making a positive economical, social and environmental impact. SIFE University of Plymouth Chair Lee Fordham said; ‘We’ll only set up projects that will truly give you the ultimate experience and make a huge impact in the community, so you’re time with us will never be wasted. We’re already involved with projects receiving national recognition and we’ve set up projects that will offer exceptional experience for students on almost all courses!’

So, what is LitSoc I hear you cry? Well, it’s quite possibly the best society you could ever join. At least, the best society you could ever join if you were involved with a course in English! In a nutshell, LitSoc is a brand new society for anyone doing a course in English, English with Creative Writing, or doing English as a major or a minor subject. A few of us moving into third year have set this up because we felt there was a lack of anything official for the social side of the English courses, so here it is! LitSoc is a platform from which we can organise events for English students (but of course anyone else is welcome to come along too!). We’re still in the early stages and getting the ball rolling, so if anyone has any brilliant ideas we’d love to hear them and see if we could get them on board. However, we do have plenty of ideas to be getting on with. We plan to organise social events and nights out for English students, so that we can get to know one another outside of lectures and seminars. We plan to try and organise trips to the theatre, and will be talking to the Drum and Theatre Royal to see if we can sort out discounts. Another idea is to organise trips to literary festivals, and also to the fantastic series of Peninsula Arts events in our very own university.

Lee went on to say; ‘With all this negative news of graduate’s not getting job after uni; SIFE Plymouth offers a breath of fresh air, giving you the opportunity to get the experience and develop the skills that all employers are looking for.’ Find out more on www.SIFEPlymouth.org, but for now, enjoy our top 10 reasons to join: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Make your CV stand out from the crowd. Take your degree to the next level - apply your knowledge to one of our many team projects. Make an enormous social impact - Implement change Gain real work and life experience. Get noticed - you’ll have the opportunity to pitch your project solutions to some of the world’s top recruiters. Skills development - communication, teamwork, problem solving, leadership to name a few. Get exclusive access to Careers and Employability events. Competitions - you’ll have the opportunity to enter University, Regional, National and Global competitions! Meet new people - create a network of likeminded people. Fun and exciting socialising and networking events.

Obviously it’s still early days, so please let us know if there are any events in particular you’re interested in, or any other suggestions you might have. If this sounds like you’re thing, we’ll have a stall at the Sports and Societies Fair where you can sign up, or email me at: toby.cadenhead@students.plymouth.ac.uk.

SOCIETIES

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

PSYCHO SOC Hi Freshers! I am Caroline, the new Social Secretary for PsychoSoc and here is some information to introduce you the society. PsychoSoc is a society run by co-presidents, Amanda Hicks and Louise Sheppard, and a team of hard-working committee members. It is mainly for students studying Psychology at the University of Plymouth but if you are on a different course you are also welcome to join! The society aims to provide support for those that need it, and to organise events which will make their university experience better. It is the one of cheapest society to join, with membership being only £1 for the whole year!

education society

PLUGS PLUGS is a SSAGO club based in Plymouth, supporting the local Guiding and Scouting community and giving its members the chance to be involved with a range of different activities. Opportunities for members include qualifications in a variety of areas and outdoor activities, the Duke of Edinburgh award, and the Queen’s Scout and Guide awards, as well as anything you can think of. Three times a year all the SSAGO clubs across the country meet somewhere for a weekend of camping, chaos and socialising no matter the weather, location or circumstances! We offer students the opportunity to work with local groups as often as they feel possible as well as supporting local events with both organisations. In our first year we estimate that the society put in 1500 hours of time with local groups which earned us the award for Volunteer Team of the Year 2010. If you are interested in joining or what to know more email: ssago.plymouth@hotmail.co.uk or find us at the sports and societies fair.

SOCIETIES

CHOIR SOC Hi everybody, I’m Natalie, Chair of the University of Plymouth Student Choir. Choir’s a fairly new society, only set up last year but its great fun! It’s a chance for those who enjoy singing to come and have a sing song with lots of other students, make new friends and have a good time singing together as one voice. We have rehearsals once a week, do concerts and always provide a good social! Last year was a great start to choir and we hope it gets even better-so if your interested come along!

This year, we have a lot of cool things planned for the 1st years and those in their 2nd and 3rd years also. We will organise socials, such as cinema days and nights out in Plymouth, as these are a great way to meet new people. We are very excited about planning a trip to Cornwall for Ghost Hunting which should be a great evening of spooky fun! We will have fundraising days and volunteering opportunities with charities such as the Samaritans, who PsychoSoc have worked with in the past. We will also arrange for guest speakers to do lectures at the University. I personally will try to organise group trips to go to lectures and conferences held by the British Psychological Society as I am the BPS’s Student Representative for the University of Plymouth. Finally, we aim to support all Psychology students from the beginning of their degree, so if you have any problems relating to the course or have any personal issues you need to discuss or even have some ideas for PsychoSoc, feel free to contact us at psychosoc@hotmail.co.uk and we will try our best to help! I hope to see you all at the Sports and Soceities Fair! Caroline Easter, Social Secretary, PsychoSoc

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

FOR ALL UP TO DATE NEWS SEE UPSU.COM

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

MTG First things first. If you have any interest in music, theatre or dance, or even helping out behind the scenes, LOOK HERE! If you want to make friends that’ll last and have a fantastic time doing so, LOOK HERE! Whatever your age, course or ability, The University of Plymouth’s Musical Theatre Group should be your first stop. We are, frankly, fantastic. We wouldn’t have won both society and event of the year if we weren’t. Following a successful year of fundraisers, workshops, volunteering, socials and general good times that ended with the big bang that was a performance of Grease, MTG are far from resting on our laurels. We’re hoping for more of the same this year, and we’re well on our way to achieving it. With friends to make, fun to have and an enthusiastic and fearless band of all kinds of people working towards the same goal, this is not an opportunity you want to pass up. So, when you’re wandering around the Sports and Societies Fair wondering how you’re going to meet new people, what’s worth your loan money and your valuable time, then LOOK HERE!

UP BEAT

Jack

UpBeat (noun). 1. An unaccented beat or beats that occur before the first beat of a measure. 2. The best society in all of Plymouth University. UpBeat is a society and group for people with one thing in common. Music. Be it DJing, producing or simply just getting raving to it, anyone who has enthusiasm and a passion for beats, bass and everything else in the sonic-sphere is welcome to join and be a part of something big. UpBeat hosts every Friday night in Illusion, SU, where the members showcase their DJing skills representing a wide range of genres from electro to dubstep, jungle to hip hop. UpBeat members also hold residencies across Plymouth on various student nights, where you can come and appreciate their work. UpBeat will be offering workshops on DJing and producing for those looking to get started, so don’t be put off if you don’t know what BPM means, you will soon enough! More details to follow on workshops and tutorials; be sure to drop by the Freshers Fair on Sunday 26th September in Roland Levinsky to sign up! Everyone from Deadmau5 (a very good DJ) to Chris Evans (a terrible DJ) is welcome to learn, improve and most importantly have a ridiculously good time with UpBeat. Jack, Social Sec

STUDENT STOP AIDS Our Society is Student Stop Aids and we have just started our branch in Plymouth. The Student Stop AIDS Campaign is a National Campaign which aims to stop the HIV/ AIDS pandemic through promoting universal access to evidence-based prevention, ensuring long term and sustainable treatment and care whilst providing education to reduce stigma and discrimination. Our main campaign currently focuses on promoting universal access to treatment through fair drug pricing by lobbying one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies, Glaxo-SmithKlein. In order to raise our profile in and around the university campus we will have a stall at the The Sports and Socieites fair on Sunday 26th September 12-8pm. Here people can be told more about what SSA does and how they can

SOCIETIES

become more involved with the society by signing up as a member and helping us plan and execute future events. The patent pool has now been created and has a dedicated full time group of people working on it in a London office. By the time the next academic term starts they have the target of persuading three drug companies into the pool with one drug each in the next 10 months. They then have two more months to get two more drugs - which can be from any of those companies or new ones. This target has been negotiated formally as the pool is being funded by various organisations and the money is understandably limited. This news means it is going to be an incredibly important and exciting year for this campaign nationally and locally. If we get

enough support this year from people signing up as members and helping us enhance the profile of SSA, lobbying the drug companies, and helping SSA nationally by other events with other Universities we have planned such as the speak tour, the target can be reached! This will be the most important step in enabling universal access to HIV drugs to those who desperately need them. In the UK we will be spending most of our efforts working on Glaxo-Smith Klein. We hope for your support to make all of this possible. Thank you. Student Stop Aids Plymouth www.stopaidssocieties.org.uk/who-we-are

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX Rachel Remnant

We’re Sexpression, the winners of the 2009 UPSU Community Involvement Award and shortlist nominees for the 2010 Vice- Chancellor’s Local Community Engagement Award. If you have a passion for teaching, an interest in health or just want to get involved in something that will give you great experience for your CV, then Sexpression is for you. We’re a volunteering society that goes into schools, rehabilitation centres and other places to teach people about sexual health, relationships, self-esteem issues and much more. *Tutors are always fully supported and may volunteer as much or little as they like. *Our lessons are always based around games and discussion so both

tutors and students will always be engaged. *We have great socials starting with our Sexy Pub Quiz at Roundabout in the evening on the 7th of October (EVERYONE WELCOME!) *There’s also the opportunity to become a trained Chlamydia tester. So come and visit our stall in the societies section at the UPSU Sports and Societies Fair for a chat and some free condoms or join us for a bit of cheeky fun at our Sexy Pub Quiz. You can also email us with any questions on: plymouth@peninsulasexpression.co.uk Loads of Sexpression Love Rachel Remnant

UP:LGBT WELCOMES YOU TO 2010/11 Natalie Shilton So, first things first, what is the LGBT Society? It is a society to cater to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender students. Of course, straight students are welcome too! Our aim this year is to create a diverse and safe society where everybody is free to express their individuality. We are a society that loves to have fun, whilst balancing that with campaigning for the rights of our community. The LGBT’s Committee is made up of seven students. There is the President, Rob Young. His main role is to co-ordinate the rest of the committee members and to ensure that whatever activities the society is linked to are for the benefit of our community. We

then have Mike Wiggins, the Secretary. He makes sure that everything runs smoothly within the society, this unfortunately involves a lot of paperwork! Next up are the Social Secs, Greta Reintjes and Richie Skipper. They have a lot of exciting ideas for events this year, including great nights out as well as more day trips. Rich Jones is our Health & Safety Officer, so he shall be looking after us all at events and making sure that we have plenty of fun without breaking our necks! Our Treasurer is Ben Lipscombe, he has to look after the society funds, making sure we have enough money to keep everything running. And finally there is me, Natalie Shilton. I am the Communications Officer, so I get to promote the LGBT, with

the aim to expand and improve the society. Membership for the LGBT will cost you £5 and with this you will get a membership card (called the G-card) which gives you discounts to many LGBT friendly companies around Plymouth. A t-shirt is also available to order. We will be at the Sports and Societies Fair during Fresher’s week so you can sign up then. However, if you want more information about UP: LGBT or would like to chat to one of the committee members check out our Facebook page search: UP:LGBT http://www.facebook.com/ group.php?gid=122432721113402

SOCIETIES

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

GET INVOLVED IN SPORT 1. I’ve always played a particular sport and want to carry on at uni. An easy sell here! If you’ve played sport (at any level) prior to coming to uni, why not sign up to the relevant club and see what they can offer you.

Thomas Davidson VP Sports vpsports@upsu.com

Why you should get involved in sport at University Well, where should I begin? The amount of reasons for getting involved in sport at university are pretty much endless and you can make sport whatever you want it to be during your time at Plymouth. That being said, let me give you a few of the more common reasons for jumping into sport at Plymouth.

2. I want to pick up a new sport that I’ve never tried before. Well what are you waiting for? Fancy a spot of go-karting? Or perhaps clay pigeon shooting is something you’ve always had a hankering for. Or maybe you just never got round to picking up rugby? Either way, take a look at the sports section of upsu.com, pick a sport you would like to try and get involved! 3. I want to get fit but the gym isn’t for me. Not a problem, if you don’t like the idea of the gym then our sports centre offers a range of other activities from spinning and aerobics classes to recreational 5 a-side football and squash. Just head up to the sports centre and ask at reception for more info.

UoP DANCE CLUB Luke Perkins

Do you love to dance? Or maybe just interested in trying something different? The University of Plymouth Dance Club is open to any UoP student with any range of dance ability, whether you have been dancing all your life or if you have never danced before, to allow you to meet new people, have some fun and express yourself through a large variety of dance styles!

4. I want to play a sport but the team seems cliquey and intimidating, what can I do? Its true, some of our sports teams can seem intimidating at first, especially if you are new to university; but the last thing they want is to turn away new players so take a deep breath and go speak to them. I promise you this: their barks are worse than their bites! However, if you still feel uncomfortable with a team or the way a club operates then don’t hesitate to come in and see me at the SU. I’ll do my best to help you with your problem. So there you have it, a very brief selection of reasons for why you should get involved with UPSU’s sports clubs. Personally, I think everyone should take part in some sort of physical activity, be that to keep fit, play as part of a team or just for the glory of bringing home a big win on a Wednesday afternoon. So what are you waiting for? Get involved!

UoP CRICKET CLUB Lawrence Hughes UPCC Chairman 2010/11

University of Plymouth Cricket Club This year, men’s and ladies cricket will be merging into one club so therefore twice as big socials, twice as more people and twice as much fun along the way.

Participating in club activities will open you up to a range of not only great fitness opportunities, but also a number of social opportunities as well. We offer weekly dance classes every Monday (Hip-hop/street) and Thursday (Latin/ballroom) from 7:00pm until 9:00pm delivered by experienced dancers for you to enjoy but there will also be extra classes at other times for workshops and other dance activities. You will have the chance to perform in an end of year charity dance show where you can take part in a wider variety of dance styles and even share some of your own choreography. There is also the possibility of participating in more serious dance competitions as part of the university dance squad, ‘The Plymouth Panthers’. Last year, the team were extremely successful, gaining two 1st places and one 2nd place in various competitions.

This year, UPCC is looking to build on the successes of the mens team from last year of winning the league by a storm. It promises to be a fantastic year for the whole club with more going on than ever before. This includes cricket all year round with weekly nets, men’s and ladies teams participating in both indoor and outdoor competitions, the inclusion of friendly matches against local teams, two tours with one in England and one abroad and the committee members have high hopes for the club on both social and competitive fronts.

Finally, we also offer various charity events, volunteering and social events, including regular socials, end of term functions and trips to the theatre, to allow you to gain the most you can from your time with the club. If you’re interested and want to find out more come find our stall at the fresher’s fayre or you can contact me via email at: luke.perkins@students.plymouth.ac.uk

The club welcomes all abilities from complete novices to the more experienced and as I have mentioned before this is for both girls and guys to join. Hope you have an awesome “Welcome week” and we will see you at the Fresher’s Fare.

SPORTS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

UoP JUDO Jamie MacDonald What do you think when you hear the word Judo? Maybe you remember seeing 30 seconds of it on the TV once, or maybe you think ‘It’s a martial art like kung fu or karate, isn’t it?’ Well, I can tell you it’s all that and a whole lot more! For example; did you know Judo is practiced by top rugby teams like the All Blacks, Australia and The Ospreys? Did you know that one of Britain’s most successful Commonwealth Games sports is judo? And did you know that one of the best possible ways to improve fitness and gain lean muscle is judo? The University Of Plymouth Judo Club is relatively new on the scene, having been founded by Katherine Rix and officially recognised as a club for the first time in September 2009. Since then however the club has gone from strength to strength. Later that year we arrived at the British Universities & Colleges Sports Championships (BUCS 2010) as a

relatively unknown entity who many teams disregarded... What a mistake they made! The men’s team smashed through to the final where they came up against Bath University who have held onto the trophy every year since it began. This did not faze Plymouth however as we battled hard and brought it down to the last fight where we were beaten right at the end to finish in second place, only a few points away from a historic victory. The women’s team were also in action and were unlucky to draw Bath University in the semifinal, which meant that they had to settle for a bronze medal. Although we all know they deserved more! The club has been honoured by being nominated for Team of the Year, and Most Improved Club in the Universities annual sports awards and having four players awarded Half-Colours for such an impressive performance throughout the year. For the academic year 2010/11 the club will be run by me, Jamie MacDonald, and Natalja Sokorevica. I started judo aged 11 in my home town of Maesteg, South Wales and have gone on to represent Wales and GBR at

many International competitions including the 2008 Commonwealth Championships where I took a Bronze medal. I am currently a 2nd Dan Black Belt and was also only the second martial artist to ever be awarded a Sports Scholarship by the University. I have been coaching for a number of years and have a wealth of experience in all aspects of the sport. We welcome both men and women of all ages, sizes and abilities to come and train with us. Whether you are a new starter who wants to learn a new sport, practice one of the best forms of self defence, improve fitness or an international athlete with a black belt who needs to keep training at university there is a place for you at UoP Judo. To find out more visit us at the Sports & Societies Fair or contact us at: Jamie MacDonald | 07809560676 | jamie.macdonald@students.plymouth. ac.uk ”University of Plymouth Judo Club” on Facebook.

UoP LADIES BASKETBALL Whether it’s to keep fit, make friends, learn a new sport or further your basketball ability, the Ladies Basketball Club has it all. At the beginning of each academic year we welcome both complete beginners and advanced basketball players to our weekly training sessions. Training sessions are structured but fun, making keeping fit easy and enjoyable. We have numerous friendly games throughout the year but for those who want to play competitively we have two league teams. One team is in the British University and College Sports (BUCS) league, our BUCS team will get to travel across the country for away games. The other team is in the Exeter and District Basketball League and play games on a regular basis travelling within the county to attend away games. Both teams did extremely well last year and we are excited to introduce new players into both teams this year. As a club we are delighted to welcome back Dave Briggs, Chief Executive of Plymouth Raiders Basketball club and our valued coach. Dave has been a wonderful coach, creating a fun atmosphere during training whilst imparting his professional knowledge and continuous encouragement onto all of the ladies within the club. The ladies in the club not only play

SPORTS

basketball together but regularly meet on a social level. Whether it’s to watch the Plymouth Raiders games at Pavilions, eat dinner together or go clubbing, our socials cater for all. No scary initiations, just a group of ladies who like to have fun, dress up (be it in nice dresses or as bananas), have a dance and above all, laugh! Above all, the ladies basketball club is about having fun, we give everyone the chance to play in games and pride ourselves on being relaxed and friendly. We always look forwards to meeting new people and can’t wait to welcome you into our club, whether you just want to come on our socials, to our training sessions or if you fancy playing competitively.

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

UoP TAE KWON DO CLUB Adam Beebeejaun Chairperson The University of Plymouth Tae Kwon Do club is a young and thriving club that provides training to people of all abilities in the art of Tae Kwon Do. We are associated with South Coast Martial Arts (SCMA), an organisation that has been passing on their skills for over 20 years, allowing hundreds of students attain their black belt. It is the largest organisation of its kind in the Plymouth area and classes are held everyday throughout the city (all free to members of the University Tae Kwon Do Club) The chief instructor Mr Chris Wood (5th Dan) and Mr Gary Burdock (4th Dan) together have nearly 50 years of teaching experience and teach sessions at the University club every Wednesday. Mr Adam Beebeejaun (3rd Dan) currently teaches the other two sessions on Friday and Saturday. We primarily teach ITF Tae Kwon Do, however we welcome WTF practioners and arrange instruction by request. However we try to incorporate training techniques from other martial arts including kick boxing, judo and ju jit su. We also appreciate the dangerous world in which we all live, so we aim to teach practical self defence twice a month including defence from knife attacks. Last year saw our club members increase significantly and 20 members grading successfully, many of them gaining multiple ranks throughout the year including a

promotion to 3rd dan black belt. In addition to this we competed in the South West Tae Kwon Do championships and with a small number of competitors we managed to achieve quite a medal haul including:

We are a young, dynamic club that hopes to give you an opportunity to learn a new martial art, increase your confidence and get healthy! We look forward to seeing you in September.

Colour belt Patterns Gold: Josie Hough Silver: Shemma Hunt Bronze: Matt Robey Black Belt Sparring – Gold: Stuart Coppard Black Belt Power – Gold: Adam Beebeejaun

Adam.beebeejaun@students.pms.ac.uk For more information please visit us on facebook: UoP Taekwondo Club or www. south-coast-martial-arts.co.uk

Our club also hosts socials for members to get to know each other including white t-shirt, pub golf and legends of martial arts night. Our major social is our residential trip to Newquay in the summer! Last year we had some incredible socials, barbeques, training and games on the beach! We had many alumni of the club coming from all over the country to join us and this year we plan to make it even bigger and better! This year we plan to expand the club to incorporate more special events including intensive self defence courses and fitness classes into our training schedule. We are sponsored by Ki Martial Arts who have offered us significant discounts on all equipment that our members require so we can pass those savings onto you!

UPLRFC – Want to let of some steam? The University of Plymouth Ladies Rugby team is a friendly, enthusiastic, sociable team who each have something in common. One of the main advantages of joining UPLRFC is that you will meet a lot of new friends and have amazing experiences. We are a strong team within Plymouth and work well with the university to gain the best opportunities for each member of UPLRFC. This involves events such as varsity, charity events and volunteering work. As a team we train on a Monday and Sunday with our matches being on a Wednesday. However, when we do not have scheduled games we will train or play a friendly. Then you should know that Wednesday nights are social nights and

believe me you won’t regret playing a good, hard, awesome game of rugby beforehand! Rugby is new to 80% of the people that join it so do not be worried about asking questions or for demonstrations as I bet a lot of others are thinking the same. There are a big number of old girls around to ask if you feel embarrassed or to generally help you out on and off the pitch!!! However if you have played rugby before then this is a bonus. We enjoy massive banter and hope to see you all during freshers’ week!!!

SPORTS

982

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

EXTR A 612

Emily Rober ts Unive rsity of Plymou th Stud ents’ U nion

123

4 7 65

4 9 185 dob: 21 /06/90 exp: 0 8/1 1

THE OFFICIAL STUDENT LIFESTYLE CARD FIND THE FULL RANGE OF OFFERS @ www.nus.org.uk

NUS EXTRA CARD £11

ADD ISIC UPGRADE +£1.99

UPSU SPORTS CARD £10

NUS CARD +SPORTS CARD £19

ON SALE Online : www.nus.org.uk On campus: from 17/9/10, in UPSU

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

RIDE HARD, PLAY HARD Caroline Copley Ride Hard, Play Dirty! A motto widely known and especially lived up to by the University of Plymouth Riding and Polo Club where riding and socializing are equally important. Being the fifth biggest club in the University last year, we look forward to welcoming back old and new faces alike this September. Whether you are a total beginner, ride for fun, compete at all levels or just want to make a fantastic network of friends then the University Riding Club has something to offer for you; girls and boys alike! We are dedicated to providing all students with the opportunity to go horse riding, and whether you are a highly skilled ride, focused on improving you current skills or simply wish to try out something new and exhilarating, then this is the place to come. Even better, you don’t even have to worry about owning a horse! Our club ensures that you get the most out of the experience of riding. At the start of term you will be sorted into riding groups and will have lessons at one of our four yards. Casual lesson riders and beginners will be riding at Penewin Stables in Saltash, which accommodates all standards of riders with experienced instructors and a range of different activities from riding in the school to hacking in the beautiful Devon countryside. All of our yards offer discount prices, as they understand that taking up a new sport is expensive for students; you will expect to pay between £15-£20 for a group lesson for an hour at all of our yards.

Apart from the riding side of our club we also love our socials! These range from nights out in Plymouth in our sponsors bars/clubs ; Oceana, Walkabout and Firefly, to visits to the races or volunteering at Badminton Horse Trials. Our 2 social secretaries work hard to ensure that everyone feels welcome and has amazing nights out. Our first big social is on Monday 4th October where we will be hosting our annual charity booze cruise , with all proceeds going to the CRY charity. There will be a champagne reception on board and lots of games organised, with the night ending up in Oceana! We are due to set sail at 7pm, and we are meeting in the SU at the Sub:Lime bar for pre drinks and a chance to meet your fellow cruisers! Everyone from UPRPC looks forward to seeing you! Tickets are limited and will be sold around campus during Freshers week ...look out for people wearing jodpurs and riding boots walking around. It will be the perfect way to start the year with the University of Plymouth Riding and Polo Club! If you have any further questions about us or would like to join ,please visit www.uprpc.co.uk , find us on facebook or email the club at upsuridingclub@ hotmail.com

As well as lessons we also have competitive teams, having three BUCS (British University and College Sports) and friendly teams. We are extremely proud of our BUCS teams who are of the highest standard and have reached regional and national level competitions for the past six years. Teams are chosen at the start of term. Why don’t you come along and try out? Most of the riders on these teams have competed in either affiliated show jumping/ dressage or British Eventing.

SPORTS

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

ALL TERRAIN BOARDERS Plymouth Uni All Terrain Boarders are a laid back and chilled society, who are all about getting out riding as much as possible, be it on tarmac with a long board or out in the country on a mountain board. Mountain boarding is basically a cross between skating and snowboarding down big hills, technical forest paths and of course freestyle. Our club offers training to all levels, with free use of boards and protective wear, all for only £5 for the year! Throughout the year we will be visiting wild spots as well as purpose built centres with something for everyone, also a few camping trips. Also if you feel confident enough we will also be entering a team into the ATBA UK comps. We also organize group skates throughout the uni year, with some planned to coincide with other groups of skaters, both

locals and people coming down to visit. Longboarding revolves around making friends in the club, getting their numbers and just calling them up and going for a skate whenever you feel like it, the way it should be! Along with the excitement of riding it’s also a great chance to get out and see areas you wouldn’t normally see, with some epic views and variety of riding To see videos and articles etc check out our web site: www.puatb.pixeldistort. co.uk or Facebook under Plymouth Uni All Terrain Boarders. Or email the club at upsuridingclub@hotmail.com Peace Out, PUATB.

SAILING & POWERBOAT CLUB We run sessions most Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays during term time for groups of all abilities of sailors and powerboaters. The club also competes at a number of university team racing and fleet racing events, as well as organising other weekend trips away. Sailing sessions run from the Mount-BattenCentre, where we have access to a large range of boats, including: Fireflies, Lasers, Laser 2000s, Laser Bahias, Topazes and Picos. Powerboating sessions use a range of RIBs of up to 225HP, thanks to the kind sponsorship of Plymouth Powerboat School. We also have great socials every week, starting with the legendary Fresher’s Pub Crawl on Thursday 16th September.

SPORTS

How do I join & how much will it cost? It costs £30 to join. However, if you join the Yacht Club too, we’ll give you £5 off! Most people join the club during the sports & societies fair at the start of the academic year, but if you miss out on that, all you need to do is send us an email so a committee member can get you signed up! If you have any questions, please drop us an email at: sailpowerupsu@gmail.com or visit our website at: www.sailpower.org.uk

Sept / Oct 2010 | The Knowledge

Do you want to find out more about one of our many sports clubs or societies? Or would you like to join a club or society? Come down to the sports and societies fair on the 26th September and get involved.

SPORTS CLUBS Adventure & Expo Aikido All Terrain Boarders American Football Archery Athletics Badminton Basketball (W) Basketball (M) Breakdance Canoe Capoeira

Cheerleaders Clay Pigeon Shooting Cricket (W) Cricket (M) Dance Fencing Football (W) Football (M) Futsal Golf Hockey (W) Hockey (M)

Ice Skating JKD Judo Ju Jitsu Karate Kickboxing Lacrosse Lifesaving Motorsport Mountainbike Netball Ninjitsu

Octopush Paintball Pole Dancing Riding Rowing Rugby (W) Rugby (M) Sailing & Powerboat Skydive Snowriders Squash Surf

Swimming & Waterpolo Table Tennis Tae Kwon Do Tennis Ten Pin Bowling Trampoline Ultimate Frisbee Wakeboard Windriders Yacht

SOCIETIES Amnesty International Architecture & Design Art Society Asian Big Band Brew Soc Butonics Cam Cru Chem-UP Chinese Choir Christian Union Civil Engineering Climate Change Conservative

Design Dentistry UPBeat Engineers without Border ESN Games Geology Geography Hindu Islamic Jelly Frog Events Latinos and Spanish Society Law & Criminal Justice LGBT Literature Society

Marine Biology Society Marine Science Marketing MedSoc MTG Philosophy Plymouth Links Plymouth Education PLUGS Poker Politics & International Affairs Pool Psycho RAG Real Ale & Cider

Robotics Rock & Live Music SIFE Sexpression Street Law Students Stop Aids SWSS Termisoc VIP Welsh Society Zoological

YOU NEED A SPORTS CARD TO JOIN A CLUB, GET YOURS EARLY TO AVOID THE QUEUES ON THE DAY. GET YOURS FROM THE 20th SEPTEMBER FROM THE STUDENTSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; UNION.