The Bucks Student - Edition 43

edition 43 Sabbs in the USA

Santas coming!

Don’t let go

Land of the brave (& free)

Decisive victory

page 3

page 9

page 25

page 28

page 39

Has the Uni lost sight of its values?

Read the full story on page 3. #HearOurCries

For the response from the University, see page 8.

2 The Bucks Student December 2013

contributers

introducing

Editor - Naomi Franco naomi.franco@bucks.ac.uk Student Editor - Tom Badger student.editor@thebucksstudent.com Deputy Student Editor - Hameet Singh Anand student.editor@thebucksstudent.com Must Read Editor mustread@thebucksstudent.com Student Essentials Editor studentessentials@thebucksstudent.com After Hours Editor afterhours@thebucksstudent.com

get involved If you want to get involved in the paper it’s very easy! If you have a passion for writing, feel you want to get your voice heard, or want to cover something that we may be missing from our current paper, then get in touch: Email: student.editor@thebucksstudent.com search: Bucks Student Newsgroup

advertising For all advertising and media enquiries please contact the Students’ Union Communications and Marketing department.

Editor Naomi Franco

Hi guys!

So this is the last newspaper of the year! The time has gone far too quickly which means I only have a few months left with you guys!

So we have had our first ever activities week, and the array of activities and opportunities that were put on that week was fantastic. Its such a great initiative to have a whole week dedicated to more exciting course related sessions as well as a large range of FREE extra curricular activities, training sessions, famous external speakers, certificated course ect. You can build your whole CV in just one week! There will be another activities week in February so if you missed out this time you can try again next term. The numbers weren’t as high as we’d hoped but hopefully ALL the academics can get on board and deliver an exciting week.

So assuming you read last edition of the newspaper, our concern is that people aren’t picking up the newspaper and/ or reading it. It takes a lot of students time and effort to write and gather articles for the paper as well as taking up a lot of organisational money and energy. We want to know the people that are picking up the newspaper what sections are they reading? Or are you just looking to see if your face has been printed in the after hours section? Or just looking at it online?

Or just to read my fabulous editors note?

We look to launch a new student newspaper/magazine at the beginning. If the new year, with new designs and new articles that students would prefer to see and read. Using the information we will gather from our focus groups and union council. Also instead of coming out every fortnight to every three weeks. Please contact me if you would like to write articles for the future publications or have any ideas of what you’d like to see in the new edition then please let me know.

I urge you to read the section written by the sabbatical team about our trip to America and our feelings about the university, it’s a super read!

Also I leave you with one last question. Do you believe the University is Open? Clear? Respectful? And delivers on their commitments? Comment by using twitter #hearourcries

Simon McDowell simon.mcdowell@bucks.ac.uk Articles in this newspaper do not necessarily represent the views of Bucks Students’ Union but are that of the specific author. View this edition online at bucksstudentsunion.org/communications.

Naomi Franco

If required, this document can be made available in different formats.

Please contact the Students’ Union for more information. © 2013 Bucks Students’ Union

sabb chat

Everything we do as an organisation will work towards a vision for our members. A future where all members, regardless of background, can come together to create new communities based on shared interests and ideas. Where members are inspired to embrace educational opportunities, to discover and control their own destiny. Where members both create and exploit opportunities for each other in equal measure.

Where the collective strength of the membership is recognised, valued and respected. Where members are trained, equipped and supported to lead their communities in shaping the University experience. Where opportunity is never defeated by circumstance.

making life better for students at bucks

Thursday 28 November marks the launch of our new campaign #HearOurCries, where we are challenging the university on their CORD values; Clarity, Openess, Respect and Delivery on commitments. If you feel like your course has been mis-sold to you or you don’t get substantial feedback, do let us know. The Sabb team will be going around the campus and speaking to you to find out the issues on your course, or in fact if everything is as you expected it to be. Come and have a chat with us.

Naomi Franco, President naomi.franco@bucks.ac.uk Matt Gilbert, Vice President Student Involvement matt.gilbert@bucks.ac.uk Jack Badu, Vice President Education and Welfare jack.badu@bucks.ac.uk

Student Editor Tom Badger

I’m falling in love with Miley Cyrus. I feel dirty.

I cut my own hair the other day. Why pay for something you can get at home? God knows if I had a girlfriend then most of the ‘women of the night’ in Wycombe would be out of business.

I kid, of course. But I got thinking about how wasteful I have become. The answer is very, and I think it’s not just me, but a cultural shift towards doing what’s easiest rather than be proactive. I’ll give another example. Taxis. I’m a sucker for Taxis. Sure, I can walk, but why, when I can sit in the front of the car for five awkward minutes in silence?

It’s the final edition before Christmas, so Merry Christmas!

Have a good one, if you don’t get a card it’s because I hate you.

Deputy Student Editor Harmeet Singh Anand

Hello all!

I hope you are all well I want to formally welcome you to the final edition of the newspaper for 2013. We have a lot of new and exciting changes coming up in the new year with the newspaper, so stay tuned!

2013 was a tough year for me. As of writing this, I’ve spent more than 500 days away from home. So as you can imagine I am desperately homesick. Luckily I’m flying back to Japan for Christmas holidays (woohoo!).

On another note, I’m starting to think about what my new years resolution should be for 2014. I always like having two resolutions. In 2013, I decided I wanted to get into the habit of reading on a more regular basis. So I set myself a target of finishing 13 books from cover to cover. I also wanted to transition to a more ethical diet; so I decided to become a pescetarian (with the aim of eventually becoming a Vegetarian at a later date). I’m happy to report that I was able to complete my resolutions, so much so that I’m actually a complete vegetarian as opposed to merely a pescetarian.

All this is up in the air, but I should mention that if I go with the second resolution, it will be the most personal challenge I will have ever attempted. Let me know what you think- send your emails to student.editor@thebucksstudent.com.

December 2013 The Bucks Student 3

Campus Chat

All the latest goings-on around the High Wycombe and Uxbridge Campuses.

Union news

Has the Uni lost sight of its values?

Bucks has a lot to be proud of, but for all the positives this institution has to offer, there is definitely room for improvement. In this case, the improvement will have to come from all parts of the University system: be that from the academic staff or the senior management team. Instilling change in individual stems may make an impression, however attacking the root of how Bucks New University acts and reacts to every decision is going to have the biggest impact. By this I am referring to their core values.

For those not in the know, the University has four core values: Clarity, Openness, Respect, and Delivery on Commitments – otherwise known as the C.O.R.D. values.

These values are the cornerstone of the University; they are taken into account whenever a major decision is made; they are thought about whenever they conduct themselves with employees, public, and - most importantly - you the students.

Every member of staff is employed by these values and they are expected to live by them.

Year in year out, there has been concerns raised by a large section the student body as to how well Bucks New University is abiding by their four core values. For example, it is often reported that some University Lectures are not showing the appropriate level of respect to its students by regularly disregarding student feedback from the National Student Survey or from the student representation network.

Additionally, some members of academic staff are not delivering on commitments set by strict University policy; they are not complying with the three-week turnaround on quality assessment feedback. This has detrimental effects on students. It is either too late for students to make any significant change to their work or of too poor a quality to allow students to progress between assignments.

Furthermore, the University is often criticised by students at all levels for lacking clarity when additional course costs (expenses which are not attributed with tuition fees, and will have to be paid for by the students in order to continue their course) are hidden from the students until after they enroll onto the course. This sometimes has devastating effects on students; leaving them unable to eat properly, enter dangerous pay day loans, or - in extreme circumstances – drop out of university.

In light of these, and many more concerns, your Students’ Union along with the support of students has launched the #HearOurCries campaign. The aim of this campaign is to determine how effectively Bucks is living up to their values and hopefully bring about a firm commitment from University senior management to bring about change.

Feedback from the students is already being gathered and collected ready to be presented to Vice Chancellor Ruth Farwell and the rest of her Senior Management team.

We need you to actively voice your concerns on the matter via twitter, tagging @buckssu and using #HearOurCries.

Alternatively, you may express your concern by filling out one of the comment cards, which will be handed out on the around campus by members of our campaigns team. Look out for our town crier bellowing your suggestions for how Bucks New University’s values have been lost and forgotten.

Every protest march starts with a single step. The feedback will reflect the need for change, it is high time that we as students encourage the University to take that single step, and all subsequent steps, in the right direction. #HearOurCries.

Deputy Student Editor Harmeet Singh Anand

USA: Union Sabbs in America In previous years the Students’ Union has flown over the pond visiting various parts of America. There is a conference that is held every year in November with a number of international delegates, sharing similar interests as well as new ideas, projects and best practice. The last time Bucks came back from the conference they brought back a game changing initiative, which we now know it as the “Big Deal”. The “Big Deal” was a big risk for the University but it has been the best thing they have invested in. We are the only institution in the country that offers this and it is a sector leading initiative. Other Unions are wanting to replicate this concept back at their own institutions. At open days the “Big Deal” is the prime selling point to our prospective students and their parents. People still can’t believe that our activities and the huge range of opportunities are all absolutely FREE! Visiting the States was such a great decision and is now imperative to what we do. It has changed the way we work as a union, what and how we deliver our opportunities and had a massive impact on recruitment and retention for the University.

With this in mind, we thought it was the perfect time to revisit America. Considering we had just launched our new strategic plan as a union, and also the next cohort of students will be paying up to £9k fees. We want our students to be getting value for their money and offering more than we what we already do.

After all we want to be world class…right?

We were approached by ACUI (the group who organise the conference) who asked us to deliver a presentation of how ACUI changed the way we work and what impact that has had on the students at Bucks. It was the best presentation by far - definately not being biased - and had loads of positive feedback from those who attended.

So we are back from the States and what have we learned, and what have we brought back?

Something we all noticed out there was the attitude, of not only the staff, but also the students. Every decision made is fully student and people focused, it’s not about money and figures, its about the students experience and support. They have a lot of pride in their institutions and community within their universities.

One thing that goes without saying is the facilities. They are just out of this world! The space they have is incredible, not only the way it looks and the way it’s designed but the

amount they have. In terms of sports facilities, one institution we visited only had 300 people active in sport but still had; indoor and outdoor running tracks, multiple tennis, basketball and squash courts, ice rink, swimming pool, a gym, football pitches and American football pitches, all the teams even had their very own locker room. Baring in mind we have double this number of students actively taking part in sport, with not even a blade of grass to our name. Not only were the sports facilities unreal, all the societies had their own dedicated space. Even each set of halls had their own recreational space ie cinema, recording studio, arts, crafts and pottery space etc.

Reflecting on this it has made me realise the kind of experience I could have had. I am coming to the end of my time here, as are a lot of other students and I don’t want anyone feeling like they may have made the wrong decision in deciding to study here, and that they might of missed out having chosen Bucks. Unfortunately I think that some students hold that opinion and now is the time to change that around! The Senior Management Team has done a great job in securing the finances of the University and it’s time to invest in the right places and act now before it’s too late. Students make a huge decision to go to university, and devote three years of their lives (sometimes less/sometimes more) whilst undertaking a significant financial commitment. We should be giving them the experience of a lifetime and the education, guidance and skills they want and deserve.

Having visited other universities up and down the country and recently in America it makes it increasingly difficult to speak positively about the University I studied at.

We have come back with avengeance and tenacity, aiming to make some radical changes and improvements to the institution.

Having already written a bold report to the Vice Chancellor and the Senior Management Team as well as the University Council about mine and the student’s feelings towards Bucks whilst attaching a shopping list of what they NEED to invest in.

We hope to see some radical, positive change soon…

Naomi Franco President

4 The Bucks Student December 2013

Land of the plenty and plenty of land Some of you may know that the sabbatical officers embarked on a trip across the pond to America to a conference, whilst also touring around five other universities. To say it’s an eye opening experience is an understatement.

The universities we visited were Simmonds College, Salve Regina, Harvard, Yale and Wesleyn. It’s easy to notice that the likes of Harvard and Yale are quite obviously world class institutions, with an alumni exceeding any other. The likes of George H.W Bush, Bill Clinton, John F Kennedy, Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg , Natalie Portman, Bill Gates, the list is endless. Also financially, students are paying astronomical fees compared to what we pay in England; around $45,000 a year.

But for this you have unlimited access to top class facilities, you have state of the art dining facilities, the opportunity to sit down with your lecturer any time during the day and you are living in fantastic halls of residence with their own recreational activities at your disposal day or night. Is that value for money? I’ll leave that to you.

I appreciate that one thing that America has over us is a vast amount of land, but one thing I do know is that any space that they do have, they use effectively. Whether it is putting down some soft furnishings around a room, or having iPads available on tables for students to use.

To make the experience as beneficial as possible.

At Bucks, space is at a premium, with only one events hall, a large decked space, two dance studios, a concourse running through the campus and also the Students’ Union Venue. Are we using this space effectively? Probably not. With block booking currently in place between normal teaching hours it is impossible for a student to drop into a space and use it, even if it is free. We had the opportunity to really make a stand on the Rose Garden with a large space becoming available. After two years sitting redundant, an obscene amount of

decking was put in place, which can only be used in dry weather. The Students’ Union actively campaigned to have a multi-purpose facility installed, but this did not happen. We were then asked “what can we do with this space” - a very good question.

The university are looking to become a world Class institution in the next 10 years. Even with state of the art facilities we would only become as good as the likes of Brunel and Surrey. It is going to take a change of attitude and culture, currently if you are throwing a ball on the concourse, it will be confiscated. If want to use the red shed on a weekend you can only have heating if you find 9 other friends to come with you. Again even with these small changes this will just makes us the norm.

We understand we are not able to build masses and masses of facilities. But let people go into the events hall if it’s free and kick a ball about, if a dance studio is free let people dance. If 1 person wants to use the workshops, let them do it without wearing a coat and scarf. I believe that students at the moment need to know that the university cares about them and they are listening. The University needs to make a statement of intent and do something that will drastically change the face of the University and change the beliefs of the students - because let’s not forget, you are paying £9000 a year to be here.

As sabbatical officers we are here to campaign for issues that YOU have, and if we don’t this we are failing at our job and also failing you. We are actively working to try and make life better for students at Bucks and hopefully change will become obvious in the not so distant future.

Matt Gilbert Vice President Student Involvement

Better than high street prices.

Come visit us: ground floor, Gateway.

8.30am - 5pm

WINTER WONDERLAND SUNDAY 8 DECEMBER - FROM 2.30pm

Uxbridge Operating Department Practice (ODP)

Get in the Christmas spirit with a FREE trip to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London! Please note that the activities at Winter Wonderland are not free, therefore you will have to take spending money. To sign up please email kia.brown@bucks.ac.uk on Friday 29 November from 9am on a first come first serve basis. Any emails received before 9am will not be counted and only one person is allowed to sign up per email.

Here are the newly qualified, graduating students that have completed the DipHE Operating Department Practice (ODP) professional qualification. It was only two short years ago that Bucks New University gained validation from the Health and Care Professions Council and recruited for the first cohort. This was a small pilot group that consisted of seconded and self funding students that were both enthusiastic and motivated to undertake this new challenge.

The course is a nationally recognised qualification for those who want to work within the operating theatre, as registered professionals, as part of the multi disciplinary team. This involves caring for patients undergoing surgery through the three specialist areas of Anaesthetics, Surgery and Recovery. The course is delivered in both the academic and clinical setting with teaching and assessment being undertaken in both areas. It is a vigorous course that requires

dedication and commitment but ultimately leads to a qualification that can provide a rewarding career within the healthcare environment.

This small group worked extremely hard to achieve all that was asked of them and more.

Upon graduation, all of the group had been successfully recruited into the NHS workforce, in varied Trusts, and are professionally registered. They are now delivering high quality, individualised patient care as part of the operating theatre team.

Throughout the programme, feedback from the group was positive throughout and helped Bucks to win a five year contract that now provides the Thames Valley region with ODP training and as a result of this 35 students will be recruited every year to support and develop the workforce.

We are very proud of our graduating students and wish them well with their future careers.

We will be selling raffle tickets for £1 each or £2 for a strip of 5. The prize draw will take place on Wednesday 18 December.

ALL MONEY RAISED GOES TO OUR RAG CHARITIES.

My experience in Bucks New University Bucks was never part of my plan for university because I never knew it existed until I went to see my guidance councillor and he told me about the university and how good it was, also with a large number of international students. This was one of the factors that attracted me to this university. Coming into the university I didn’t have much expectations as a students, just to make friends and do well in my course with the help of the lecturers and these expectations have been met. The induction week at the start of the term really helped me to get to know my course group as we had tutorials which helped us get comfortable with each other. The induction week also really helped me to prepare for the course as they told us what to expect and gave us module guides. I chose to become a nurse because it’s what I have always wanted to do, I have always wanted to care for people that are sick and in need. One thing I love about the nursing campus in Uxbridge is the fact that it has skills labs which are the exact replica of hospital wards. I think this is vital because students need the chance to practice their skills in hospital settings and without facilities like this they wouldn’t be able to practise their skills till they go out to placement. The first term has been good so far as we are getting used to university life and what is expected of us in relation to each module and the lecturers are helping us in this aspect. Overall I have really enjoyed my first term and I have made some amazing friends so I am glad I chose Bucks New University.

by Dorcas Nyarko Afriyie

Christmas Market A joyous Christmas market in aid of our RAG Charities.

Stalls include: Christmas cards, decorations, scarves, jewellery, handbags, spices, toys, mulled wine and much more!

ridge In Uxb .05 1 rooms 7!

0 and 1.

10am - 4pm Tuesday 17 December

6 The Bucks Student December 2013

Health Promotion: Student perspective student buzz Disease and Illness is not a thing of the past-the longer our life expectancy, the more challenges a society faces in terms of Health & Well-Being across the life span.

As people live longer the burden of care increases due to both Acute and Chronic Illness. Health Care Professionals especially Nurses have to be equipped therefore to deal with these conditions. Bucks New University endeavours to produce “intelligent Nurses with compassion”.

The delivery of the course is based on evidenced based research where students are challenged to develop research innovations quite early in the programme.

The World Organisation (WHO 1946), defined health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just merely absence of disease or infirmity. This will imply that people’s well being is determined by all other factors not just biological. This definition was progressed (WHO, 1986) to look at health as a positive concept, emphasising social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities. For a long time diseases were looked at mainly from a biological and epidemiological based explanations not giving room for other factors which are clearly implicated in the WHO definition. A move has been made from the 70’s to appreciate the changing concepts of care. Larkin (2013), highlights how research has embraced this idea, and now there is an established body of knowledge on health and well-being across the life span. We are therefore aware of other factors that can impact on people’s health as they go from birth to death.

The psychosocial approach to disease and illness is adopted across a variety of life courses. Not forgetting the political as well as economical influence in managing ill-health. In appreciating the dynamics of the society today, a more holistic approach to health is emphasised at all stages of one’s life span. Appreciating that health is affected by wider influences than individual behaviour.

First year BSc(Hon)Nursing students in preparing them for dealing with the changing concepts of care in a very diverse society; have an opportunity to demonstrate their research skills in various ways in different modules. In one of the modules (Health & Illness Across The Life Span), the students prepare Health Promotion Strategies

Presentation on a public health issue of their choice. The presentations creates quite a “buzz” at the university, and also providing an opportunity for the colleagues, and service users to take part in looking at the various tools used for learning as well as feedback. The hard work and commitment the students put in to prepare for this event never go without notice! With our skills technicians on the go, taking shots of the picks of the day. Demonstrating how we value the efforts and enthusiasm shown by students. A couple of these posters are displayed on our notice boards. We wish for more space to display majority of the posters in future. A vision perhaps to reach out to the local people in future!

Nurses as lifelong learners will always be involved in health education/promotion of individuals, families and society at large. Care is provided on different levels; primary, secondary as well as tertiary.

The World Health Organisation defined Health Promotion as enabling people to gain control over their lives (WHO 1986). This approach helps people to identify their own concerns and gain the skills and confidence to act upon them. The activity creates awareness that nurses are not taking over people’s own initiatives to influence healthy behavioural changes. Empowering, providing knowledge and information so people can make their own decisions.

Team working is paramount to the well being of those in care. This activity equips the students in the dynamics of Inter-professional working, and communicating within teams effectively to achieve positive results. The activity also allows for a broad knowledge of different agencies involved with caring for people for appropriate referrals. They also demonstrate their own ability to deal with group work dynamics, and how cooperation in reaching desired outcome is essential.

Great work! Great commitment-keep going Bucks!

by Mary Mosoeunyane Senior Lecturer

school of thought

My experience with competition (and why it’s bad for you) I’m going to be the first to admit that I had a very competitive streak in me when I first started here at Bucks. I wasn’t just competitive with other students; I was also competitive with myself. So much so that it started hindering my learning experience.

I was obsessed with getting higher marks on my paper; I wanted to add more and more accolades to my name; I wanted to be recognized, adored, and loved; I wanted to be perfect.

Why was I so competitive? I’ve spent many-a-nights pondering this subject. It might be because I felt I had underachieved when I was in highschool, or it might have been pure arrogance. Either way I was not somebody who I would now want to be around.

In my second year of university this all changed. I had my first taste of failure in my second year, and suffice to say it was bitter.

Without going too much into detail, I tried my absolute hardest at something and at the end of the day it was just not good enough. At this point, with the help of a certain lecturer here at Bucks, I started reflecting.

I realised my competitive nature was making my time at university a lot less enjoyable.

Instead of learning I was aiming to get good grades and putting the bar way too high for myself. I understand that you can learn while getting good grades, but aiming to do the latter makes the degree a lot more stressful and a lot less enjoyable. I would constantly worry about my grades, and slowly but surely I started growing disdain for my degree.

I’m not saying I completely abandoned my competitive streak, I just tried channeling whatever was inside me that was making me competitive in a more positive way. Instead of aiming for a positive result, I was aiming for

a positive learning experience. Effectively, I started letting go.

Letting go is probably the most nervewrecking thing I have ever done. I was worried that I would go too far the other side and start becoming lazy and complaisant.

However, luckily the opposite became true.

The budding disdain I had for my degree started to disappear, and in its place grew a new level of fondness. With me actually enjoying my degree it became easier to immerse myself in my subjects.

As of writing this article I have not completely let go. Now and again I find myself feeling a bit competitive and stressed out, but luckily I’ve learnt various ways to deal with those situations.

Funny enough, I feel as though the University itself is at times encouraging a competitive environment instead of a positive learning environment. It’s true that in this day and age any degree will be inherently competitive to some extent, but there are other factors implemented university wide, which I feel unnecessarily and indirectly promotes a competitive environment. For example, in my opinion there is too much importance placed on doing things for the sake of it looking good on your CV. Furthermore, in graduation we place more importance on those who achieved a higher class of degree.

Do you agree? Do you have any experience with competition in university? Email student.editor@bucks.ac.uk

Deputy Student Editor Harmeet Singh Anand

Mos inspiring teacher Senior Lecturer in Law Lars Mosesson is on a six-person shortlist for Law Teacher of the Year 2014, sponsored by Oxford University Press, which will be announced on 28 February.

Judges will next visit Bucks to observe and film Lars teaching and interview colleagues. Lars said: “I am very touched to have been put forward for this award. I hope it will continue to raise our profile in a very competitive market.” Decorated Lars was also recognised as a Most Inspiring Tutor in the School of Applied Management & Law at graduations this year and received an Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award at Bucks Students’ Union’s Union Awards in 2012.

Turkey’s served early Gulen Addis and Michelle Carter, senior lecturers in Advanced and Continuing Practice, have delivered keynote speeches at the 14th National Nursing Conference in Bodrum, Turkey, hosted by Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. Gulen spoke about ‘mentorship in a contemporary practice’, with reference to how UK best practice could be used to develop a mentorship system in Turkish universities and hospitals. Michelle gave a presentation on ‘Transcultural Nursing’, the study of cultural diversities and similarities in health and illness. She reflected the current situation in Turkey as it takes in refugees from neighbouring countries including Syria. Michelle also spoke about how Turkey’s status as an established tourist destination was also a factor in triggering transcultural nursing. Gulen said: “Both presentations ignited a lot of interest as we feel they reflected a changing culture within universities as well as in nursing practice.”

Social work Music and Live Events Management graduates shared old tales and talking about new experiences at an alumni event at The Social bar and club in Little Portland Street, London, from 6pm9pm on Tuesday, organised by Bucks Alumni. The event is the third alumni get-together for graduates of the course organised by the University. Helen Walters, Alumni Relations & Mentoring Manager, said: “It is important for us to keep a link with our graduates and also for them to benefit from the networking opportunities this kind of event offers. Having organised two previous ones we are also getting used to seeing a few faces!”

Crafting our reputation Lynn Jones, Head of Academic Department - Furniture, has spoken to The Guardian about the opportunities to study the vocation at Bucks. The newspaper also interviewed MA Art and Design Practice: Furniture Design graduate Harry Owen, who is now a designer for London design studio Benjamin Hubert and also featured in the ADI Design Index 2013, the annual awards for the best of Italian designs. Harry visited furniture firm Lago near Venice on the course’s annual study trip and they were so impressed with Joynt, his project on chair design, they bought the idea and started producing the chair. Lynn said: “This article helps to reinforce our reputation as an innovative centre for making and designing furniture.” Read the article at theguardian.com/education/2013/nov/14/furniture-designgraduates-new-direction

Adam fine dissertation Adam Jones, who graduated with an MSc in Business Continuity Security and Emergency Management this September, has won the Security Institute’s Wilf Knight Award at the Security Excellence Awards at the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane. He won it for his dissertation called “Violence in the accident and emergency department: Does a pro-security culture reduce risk of violence in an A&E environment? An analysis of the Barnet and Enfield Hospitals Trust”. Adam, a senior consultant for risk management solutions firm 4C Strategies, was nominated by dissertation tutor Phil Wood. Adam was in competition with students from the Universities of Leicester, Portsmouth, Loughborough and Cranfield.

December 2013 The Bucks Student 7

university news

Big Library Quiz Winners Announced A pair of Bucks students have been presented with £150 of Amazon vouchers after they were among respondents answering the most questions correctly in a Big Library Quiz set by the Library Service.

Paulina Domarecka and Rhys Thomas received their vouchers from Roland Scales, Subject Librarian, after being among a dozen students gaining top marks. Their names were drawn out of a hat to decide the winner.

A total of 304 people, the majority students, took part in the quiz aimed at helping first-year students to familiarise themselves with the library, but open to any year to sharpen up library users’ research and information gathering skills.

Roland said: “Questions included opening an e-book and searching it for page numbers referring to Nicolas Sarkozy or looking for a particular item in our Box of Broadcasts software.”

“We pass on our congratulations to all of the contestants who completed the quiz and we are sorry they couldn’t all get a voucher, but we hope they found it interesting.”

Paulina is a first-year Business Law student and Rhys is a third-year Film and Television Production student.

Rhys added: “The things I’ve learnt on the quiz will stand me in good stead for my final year and I am very pleased with the prize.”

Bucks is a lean mean green machine Bucks New University has reached new heights of green success having been recertified with the Carbon Trust Standard, and at the same time gaining a Bronze Award from EcoCampus.

The University’s latest certification of the Carbon Trust Standard has been awarded in recognition of the institution’s sustained achievement of measuring, managing and reducing its carbon emissions.

The University recorded a five per cent reduction in its carbon footprint over the two year assessment period, and now joins an elite group of just 27 out of over 150 higher education institutions in the UK with this accreditation.

Carbon Trust Certification is widely considered as the world’s leading certifier of organisational carbon footprint reduction.

Achieving the Carbon Trust Standard publicly recognises an organisation’s efforts in reducing carbon emissions and provides tangible proof of a commitment to making future reductions.

The University is delighted to announce that it has also gained a Bronze Award from EcoCampus, the leading environmental management system and award scheme for the higher and further education sectors.

EcoCampus offers the complete package for sustainability and environmental management system (EMS) support for the higher and further education sectors, and since its launch in 2005, has attracted involvement from approximately 30 per cent of the UK higher education sector.

EcoCampus provides a structured framework for institutions to manage their sustainability performance in a series of logical steps in line with relevant international standards. The Bronze award is the first of four assessment

stages which comprise: Planning (Bronze); Implementing (Silver); Operating (Gold); and Checking and Correcting (Platinum).

Ian Hunter, Director of Estates at Bucks, said: “The University Estates team has pulled together to achieve this world-recognised accreditation from the Carbon Trust for the University and I congratulate them all on this achievement. We have now reduced our carbon emissions by 43 per cent since 2005 and are well on schedule to reach our reduction target of 50 per cent by 2020.

“Closer monitoring of our mechanical plant and fuel use through our improved Building Management System has been a key part of this success. The University is also further investing in alternative forms of energy and will install a second solar panel array on the High Wycombe Campus next year, which in total will save almost 50 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year for the expected 25-year life span of the panels.

“Our next and greatest challenge is to fully convert the hearts and minds of our students and employees to save energy and embrace sustainability. We believe that being reaccredited by the Carbon Trust and gaining an EcoCampus Bronze Award will pave the way for Bucks to meet this challenge.”

In order to achieve its latest green successes, Bucks has implemented the following energyreducing changes, amongst others: >> Operated two electric vans as an alternative to older, less energy-efficient diesel power vans;

>> Used air-sourced heat pumps as an alternative to gas for heating systems; >> Introduced LED lighting; >> Commenced building projects to increase thermal insulation to the windows, walls and roofs in older buildings; >> Centralised plant rooms.

Quiet Please...

Are you taking exams in January or at the end of the year?

Would you like to know what to expect? How are the University exams run? Where do they take place? What can you take into the room with you? Are there any restrictions you should be aware of? What should you do to prepare?

Do you need to talk to someone about any special arrangements you think you may need?

You will find everything you need to know on the new exams pages of the website, including

tips for preparing yourself and for managing stress. Even if you think you already know everything, please take a look as everyone needs to be aware of the regulations and you may be surprised by some of the information! bucks.ac.uk/exams Good luck with your exams whenever they are. If you want any more information please contact the Examinations Office on exams@ bucks.ac.uk

8 The Bucks Student December 2013

Living life to the max

Just one in a series of articles revealing the hidden workings of the University: Behind the Scenes of: The Academic Quality Directorate and Erasmus Student Exchange Team Max Le Count-Ward with England Head Coach, Stuart Lancaster.

Second-year BA (Hons) Sports Management and Rugby Studies student Max Le Count-Ward rubbed shoulders with some rugby greats during a training day at Twickenham Stadium.

Max has completed a Level 2 QBE coaching qualification through the Rugby Football Union (RFU), meaning he can coach amateur 15-a-side teams.

He and other newly-qualified coaches were invited to attend the RFU Coaching Club day at the world-famous stadium after completing the qualification.

It included a tour of the stadium and a question-andanswer session with former England stars Mike Catt, the RFU’s Attacking Skills Coach, and Graham Rowntree, the Forwards Coach.

The pair also ran two coaching clinics on the Twickenham pitch before the attendees carried out a coaching session of their own with employees of QBE Insurance Group Limited, which backs the RFU Coaching Club.

The trainee coaches were watched by Catt, Rowntree and England Head Coach, Stuart Lancaster.

Max said: “After an hour of coaching the players then

departed and we were de-briefed by the RFU coaches.

“I, along with a few others, was also picked to be interviewed by Sky Sports and QBE TV which in itself was a unique experience.

“Overall the day was fantastic and something I’m extremely fortunate to have attended.

“The tips and advice I received from Mike and Graham were extremely helpful and I’ll certainly be looking to implement them into my coaching at grass-roots level.

“The experience of playing and coaching on the famous Twickenham pitch is something I’ll never forget, and the whole experience should also benefit my studies at Bucks New University.”

Max is now coaching the under-16 team at High Wycombe Rugby Club, as well as working for London Wasps and Harlequins, coaching in local schools and clubs.

He added: “The coaching qualification has and will help with my coaching module on the degree, linking general sport coaching theories and concepts to rugby specific coaching examples.”

Max can be seen in action at the coaching day here: youtube.com/watch?v=mnQWd7NopKs#t=56.

Who are you?

The Academic Quality Directorate, known as AQD, and the Erasmus and Exchanges Office Where are you?

We have recently moved from South Block to our new home in the Red Shed building (R1.10a). We have a lovely open plan office located in the building opposite the barrier onto Lily’s Walk. As you walk toward Eden look out for us on the left.

What do you do?

AQD supports the University with overall responsibility for quality and standards from curriculum development through to monitoring assessment and organising graduation ceremonies. AQD coordinate the policies procedures and regulations that support students and safeguard standards. To access these see: bucks.ac.uk/formal The Erasmus and Exchange Office coordinate and administer all of the University`s European and overseas (mainly USA and China) exchanges undertaken by students and staff with our partner universities.

How are you involved with students?

We encourage students to participate in a number of quality processes to enhance their ongoing student experience. This includes programme committees, reviews of course content and student representation etc.

Students are encourages to get the most of their student experience at Bucks and part of this can be through academic exchanges in Europe under the Erasmus Programme or wider afield to such places as USA and China. Every semester we also welcome a new cohort of incoming Erasmus and Exchange students to study for a semester from various universities across the Europe, USA and China How do you contact us?

Come and see us (R1.10A) or send an e-mail! – For all Erasmus and Exchange related matters e-mail Erasmus@bucks.ac.uk.

Work set to go on display at MA art and design shows

Invite designed by third-year Graphic Arts student Katy Needham.

A range of outstanding work will be on display at Bucks New University’s annual MA art and design shows which run for a week from Friday.

The show features special items created by students studying MA Art and Design Practice; MA Advertising; and MA Conservation of Furniture and Decorative Arts.

The annual exhibition is also open to the public and celebrates the talent, creativity and success of the students who have been studying at Bucks for either one year full-time or two years part-time, and includes a selection of the students’ best work created during 2013.

It is open from 10am-4pm on Friday 6, Monday 9, Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 December; and from 10am-7pm on Tuesday 10 December.

An MA Art and Design Open Evening takes place from 5pm-7pm on Tuesday 10 December, where visitors can meet the course team and find out more about art and design postgraduate programmes starting in January 2014.

A family event also takes place from 5.30pm-7.30pm on Tuesday 10 December, where parents and children can have a personal ‘walk and talk’ tour from a key member of staff.

Private tours can also be booked for any time during the show.

Jake Kaner, Professor in Furniture, said: “Students are welcome to come and take a look at the excellent work produced by our master’s students.

“The show coincides with the third anniversary of the National School of Furniture (NSF), which is a partnership between ourselves and Oxford & Cherwell Valley College, and this is a further way to mark this occasion and also delight in and celebrate the creativity and flair of our talented students.

“We are extremely excited about the exhibition and we hope visitors enjoy taking the opportunity to take a look at the high standard of work on show.”

For more information contact Julie.catlow@bucks.ac.uk or go to bucks.ac.uk/events-conferences/student_shows/MA_2013_show/.

Has the Uni lost sight of its values? The responce First of all we would like to assure you that we really do hear your cries!

Staff across the University take every opportunity to listen and respond to positive and negative feedback from our students, whether it is to help an individual student with a specific problem, or to address a general issue raised by a course representative or committee, the Students’ Union or through the National Student Survey.

The Senior Management Team is passionate about taking continuous action to improve the experience for Bucks students in all aspects of student life. Because this is the most important priority for us, we discuss it at meetings every single week with colleagues throughout the University. Two recent examples are the shuttle bus between High Wycombe and Uxbridge campuses and the 24-hour Library opening at High Wycombe which have been so well received.

In direct response to previous feedback, we are already driving projects to clarify costs associated with courses and to improve assessment turnaround times. The University is committed to providing feedback on assessments within a three-week period wherever possible. The exception to this would be for a very large cohort of students when it would be approved by the Head of Academic Department and communicated to students in advance.

We take great care to describe courses accurately in person at open days and in printed materials including the prospectus, and to communicate openly and honestly any changes which need to be made to a course over the five-year period between a student’s first visit and their graduation.

We acknowledge that although there are areas of very good practice here at Bucks which make us all so proud, there is still work to do to bring other areas up to the required standard and look forward to receiving feedback through the #HearOurCries campaign which we pledge to give our full consideration.

Senior Management Team Bucks New University

WANT TO EARN SOME EXTRA CASH? Bucks National Student Survey Helpers 2014 Job description Job title: Location: Grade/Salary: Hours: Closing date:

National Student Survey Helper High Wycombe and Uxbridge Campuses and Halls of Residence £7.00 per hour As required from Monday 13 January – Wednesday 30 April Tuesday 17 December 2013 – 5pm

Main purpose of the role: To assist final year students in participating in the National Student Survey for Buckinghamshire New University. As part of a team, provide information about the National Student Survey, encourage students to complete the Survey and offer support if necessary. This will involve manning NSS stalls, approaching passing students, talking to groups of students by attending gatherings such as Lectures, Seminars and events, and where the opportunity arises, to promote and offer background information on the National Student Survey. Then accompanying them to computer rooms where they have the opportunity to share their experiences of Buckinghamshire New University. You will also be acting as ambassadors for Bucks Students’ Union and the University.

Responsible to: Gemma Heath - Research Coordinator To apply for this position, visit bucksstudentsunion.org/workforus fill out an application form, and return it to union@bucks.ac.uk

10 The Bucks Student December 2013

Must Read

The need to read section of the newspaper. Don’t miss out on the main features! Submit your articles to mustread@thebucksstudent.com

its Christmas!

It’s almost Christmas

People tend to spend half the year counting down to their birthday and the other half counting down until Christmas. Except with Christmas there is the tradition of opening 25 windows on an advent calendar to celebrate the date. The tradition Christian holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The nativity commemorates the story of baby Jesus’s birth on 25 December when the shepherds, three wise men and an angel came to visit the child whom was born in a stable. For many who celebrate the holiday it is a time of festive cheer, lots of food, decorations and a time for families to come together.

Each year we have the X Factor winner competing for the Number 1 top spot in the UK charts over Christmas, not to mention the yearly Queen’s speech where we look back on the year.

Did Christmas come too early?

Christmas comes earlier each year. There are many people that would say Christmas begins once the Coca Cola advert is shown on television.

As the first advert was aired on 9th November 2013, was that too soon?

With over a month before Christmas towns, adverts, shops and much more all joining in on the Christmas atmosphere. The competition to have the best Christmas advert began early this year with John Lewis making a strong fight for the top spot.

It’s not only television adverts that began the Christmas hype too soon but also our top loved coffee houses; Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero have all bought out their Christmas range of drinks. Not to mention the Christmas cups that become a key feature to our coffee drinking days.

Starbucks bought back their Christmas red cups on 1st November 2013, which is precisely 55 days before Christmas. We have just got over the Halloween spirit and are looking forward to Guy Fawkes Night but are already being lured into the Christmas spirit. But when is the right time for you to start putting up your Christmas tree?

Top 5 Best Selling Christmas Songs (According to PRS for Music) >> Fairytale of New York – The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl >> All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey >> Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid >> Last Christmas – Wham! >> Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Harry Reser Top tips to a cheaper Christmas Gift ideas: photo albums, painted jam jars full of sweets, make your own brownies box with all ingredients in, homemade chocolates, craft goodies such as knitted items, homemade crockery or anything that has the added personal touch. But additionally having a maximum budget for presents with friends and family is a great way of making Christmas that bit cheaper and it means that the presents you give and receive are going to be of equal price. Additionally in a big group S ecret Santa is always a productive yet simple idea.

Decorations: spray painted pinecones, candles in empty wine bottles,

hang up any Christmas card you are sent, add ribbon to your pillows to dress them up like a present, holly looks great in vases or on a mantel piece at this time of year, make your own holly reef to add festivity to your front door and there is so much more that can be done to add the festive feel to your house.

Festive extras: homemade cards are simple and add that personal touch to Christmas. Once Christmas is over keep all your cards chop the back off them and you have your own gift tags to use for next year. Buy less food, there is no need for the oversized turkey we all tuck into on that one day and end being sick of turkey for the next week.

Top 10 Christmas Films >> The Grinch Who Stole Christmas >> Elf >> Love Actually >> A Christmas Carol >> A Miracle on 34th Street >> The Holiday >> The Polar Express >> Home Alone >> Gremlins >> The Nightmare Before Christmas

r e p m u J s a Christm Party Thursday 19 December 9pm ‘til late

by Abbie Blunt

December 2013 The Bucks Student 11

2014 - a Fresh start to New Year As it is almost Christmas and the end of the year, it’s that time of year where most people are planning on what to do in the new year.

So after a year of wasting valuable time at home doing nothing but laying around in the living room watching boring television while eating a packet of Doritos, sleeping on the couch daydreaming something you wouldn’t expected to happen. This is the right time for most people and you to readers plan something new in 2014.

Below are some of the things that you could try out. >> Eat regular healthy meals every day >> Reading a book is a major key point about trying something new >> Go try different sports for those of you who haven’t done it before such as Football, Swimming, golf etc. >> Drink lots of water every day >> Try and meet as many different people as you can >> Do morning exercise i.e jogging in the park, working out at the gym etc >> Try and act differently towards your mates or members of staff such as speaking common sense >> In Bucks Students’ Union events calender, try to get involved in lots of different things like volunteering, sports or societies. >> Make sure you do as much coursework as possible and for those

of you are in your final year do at least 2-3 hours of work each day >> Finally, after a restless day either at a part-time job or university, try and get an early night’s sleep so you will wake up fresh in the morning but before that try and have a tea or coffee because it helps your mind become really fresh.

Remember it is a key thing to try and do as many different things as you can because if you do that, you will be feeling very confident. There is no point in doing nothing while you have just lectures or seminars. It is always good to try something to make the most of your time at university for example early this year I tried badminton and considering that I haven’t played it since sixth form, I can still play badminton whether I am competitive or not. I also did full time volunteering at Bucks since March as well. If I where to give you of advice is get involved and that is similar to what the president Naomi Franco has said to you lot.

In the mean time don’t wait too long until the New Year. Just start planning now and who knows you could make the best year of your life at Bucks if you stick to my advice.

by Abdul Esse

We will be selling raffle tickets for £1 each or £2 for a strip of 5.

The prize draw will take place on Wednesday 18 December.

ALL MONEY RAISED GOES TO OUR RAG CHARITIES.

So far, prizes include:

2 box tickets to a Tottenham Hotspur match £20 noodle nation voucher Wycombe hell fire caves tickets, Dominos voucher,

cinema tickets, a Transformer toy car, paint balling tickets and much more!

Keep an eye out for more prizes being released!

12 The Bucks Student December 2013

activities week

What we’re looking forward to - the winners For an opportunity to win one of three iPads, 15 Students decided to write about a session in Activities Week that they were looking forward to. Congratulations to our three winners Adam Bartlett, Laura Dennison and Catriona Siggers who have each received a new iPad. We all hope that you are putting them to good use.

The session that I am most looking forward to participating in during Activities Week is the casting and mould making ceramics workshop. As a BA Textiles and Surface Design student at Bucks, I am soon learning the importance of learning to work with a whole range of materials in order to express my work in a more visually exciting way. When I was back at home in Birmingham doing my Art Foundation year, I discovered Charlotte Mei, a recent Illustration graduate from Camberwell who uses ceramics to create lovely, illustrative pieces which manage to produce a unique quality of looking both an inky, watered down surface and a hard surface at the same time. After falling in love with her work, I spent a good month or so trying to find workshops in Birmingham catered to teaching students how to work with ceramics (whilst not costing a fortune) and could find nothing! The only workshops I came across were designed for little children who wanted to smash their small fists into a lump of clay which their Mother’s would later proudly display on a cabinet at home, or classes for middle aged women who had a lot of money to spend and a lot of time to kill…I obviously, fit into neither of those categories.

When I saw that Bucks had an activity week, I was quite excited anyway, especially seeing how successful and well ran Fresher’s week was. I skimmed through the booklet and when I saw the ceramics workshop I was so excited! I even called my Mother in order to gloat (which was probably wasted, since she is my own Mother haha). Immediately, I signed myself up, along with a friend of mine who also does Textiles and whom is currently joined to my hip. Another element to my excitement is that I have the potential in which to apply the skills I will learn to my own, current project at uni. I have been instructed by my tutors to explore different medias outside of textile fabrics, which might sound strange to an outsider, but it’s art… art is of course strange (granted, it’s nothing as strange as Clayton Pettet’s project which is basically him losing his “flower” on a stage…and quite obviously is ruffling a lot of feathers globally).

Initially, I had been working with metal, but once you have cut your finger a few times trying to cut open and bend an empty can of diet coke, it starts to become quite hard to find inspiration. I am excited to have the chance to work with something that I have been interested in, yet have not had the opportunity to work with and to see how it can influence future works of mine. Yay!

In my first year Activities week, or reading week as it was known, simply meant ‘half term’ and therefore doss for a week or go home! But over my three years at Bucks this is now changing to something to actually look forward to, essentially turing it into another freshers with so many chances to get involved with new societies, new sports, engaging guest speakers and CV building courses! As this year is my final year I cant wait to get stuck into all the free stuff going on, as I know full time work cant be this much fun! There are a couple of guest speakers sessions that have caught my eye firstly Neil Clough, after I saw his efforts on The Apprentice, I was really impressed with his ambition and motivation on his journey to the final, but I am particularly looking forward to Amber Atherton coming in. I have to admit when I first found out who Amber was and that she was one of the people involved in starting up the TV show Made in Chelsea I thought to myself “not really sure what she is going to have to offer me or my degree.” However after reading more into what Amber has achieved in her short time in business I was left corrected!

Amber has been quoted in the Daily Telegraph saying “I under cut my school selling uniform” and “I used to find stuff in my house and sell it back to my parents, like CDs that they didn’t think they’d bought”. Both these quotes say that Amber is not just about being a girl on Made in Chelsea, but shows she has some great entrepreneurial skills and because one of my final year modules is called ‘Business and Enterprise’ where we are tasked with coming up with a business plan and proposal. I think this session could be very useful to my assignments! Plus the fact that she has also set up several companies including the Royally appreciated My Flash Trash jewelry business! The questions I am most looking forward to finding the answers to from this session are things like did you ever think about trying a more ‘normal’ teenage employment like doing a paper round and has she ever had competitors/anyone maliciously try to prevent her business’s taking off and how she over come it?

I hope these sessions are well attended as these speakers are great examples of people in business who are achieving what most of us university students should be aiming for!

by Laura Dennison

by Adam Blaxter

The session in activity week that I am most looking forward to is Reach For Success – Womens’ Conference. The Athena Network is an online social network for women in business that connects and develops partnerships with respected and recommended individuals. The Athena Network holds monthly events over lunch in comfortable locations so their clients can build up their relationships with like-minded business women. A very interesting business in itself!

I am currently studying Music Management and am in my second year.

From my degree studying so far it is evident that there are only a handful of women in the Music Industry. I feel that I might be going into a male dominated environment. It is clear that women don’t have ‘power’ in this industry as seen in the Billboard ‘Power 100’ 2012. There is not a female listed on their own until number 63! I want to know why! Is it possible for a woman to fit into the highflying business world? Will I be listened to and employed? Are women really weaker than men when it comes to business? This Athena Network Event will be the perfect opportunity to see what real women think and the how they got to where they are.

I currently am setting up two businesses, a cake business and a handmade craft business. I have had orders for things from both of these small businesses but am limited with the amount of time I can spend on them as well as having no budget! I would like to see how other people started up their businesses and what they have achieved.

I have recently been very inspired by the apprentice and loved to see an all girl final. I will be going to Cake International this weekend and hope to meet inspirational business woman. I am passionate about taking every opportunity I am given and want to know what else I can do to make myself more successful. Whether it is in the music industry or something to do with cake or craft! I feel the event will give me guidance and inspiration for the future as well as encouragement from experienced business women. I want to hear first-hand what it’s like to be in business from a women’s point of view.

I am most looking forward to this session because I will get to speak to current business women and hear their stories in an informal ‘afternoon tea’ session. It will be important to my studies as I am told constantly that we will have to make jobs rather than take jobs when we leave Bucks New University. I am hoping these business women will motivate me, boost my confidence and impart their invaluable knowledge to provide me with a focus for the rest of this year and my final year at University.

Thank you Bucks New Uni for being forward thinking enough to arrange this and all the other events I have signed up to during activities week.

by Catriona Siggers

LGBT Fellowship West Herts & Borders Methodist Circuit For lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people and friends, families and allies.

Welcome whether you’re a Methodist, Christian of another denomination, or have little/no/undecided faith.

We meet monthly on the 2nd Sunday, 2pm for 2.30pm until 4pm, at Berry Lane Methodist Church WD3 7HJ For more info and details of next meeting contact Rachel & Sarah lgbchristianbook@tiscali.co.uk If you need help with transport, email: multifaithchaplaincy@bucks.ac.uk or call: 01494 603 024 / 07544 750 793

December 2013 The Bucks Student 13

The winners of the three iPads for the reflection piece after Activities Week will be announced online and in the next edition of the paper. Some of the entries are shown below.

The event I enjoyed the most

I tried and worked hard during the activities week so I attended more than 50 sessions. I spent at University approximately 12 hours every day. There were some of them which I really enjoyed such as African drumming workshop and some, of course, were not really enjoyable. However, the one I enjoyed the most must be the session called Securing your dream job. It was lead by amazing speaker and the author of The Graduate Career guidebook Steve Rook. He gave us some tips and advice which I find really useful but mainly, his attitude towards the life and his ability to share his thoughts were the best. I was amazingly inspired by what he said and I’m definitely going to read the book he wrote to find out more information about this topic.

So that I strongly believe that the session really helped me to realize how to secure the job I have always wanted. Having been provided with the notion of the way I need to go, I feel more confident and I became aware of the opportunities that the life and the university offers me. Now, I will not hesitate to exploit any

opportunity which will arise in front of me. And it will definitely include also the service of Student Centre which may help me to enhance my career and for example also a CV as I was informed in other sessions. On the other hand, I enjoyed also those recreational activities such as Zumba, Badminton or Hatha Yoga. At the beginning, I have to admit that it was really competitive to attend as many sessions as I could because some of my colleagues were trying to do so as well but happily we have became friends in the end and all the tension between the competitors suddenly disappeared. To sum up, although it was really rough from time to time, I had a great time, learn a lot of new things and made some new friend – what could I want more?!

by Jan Herodek

Busy, buzzing and incredibly useful.

These are just three of the words I would use to describe the Careers Fair that I took part in during Activities Week. It was a session I was aware about since Freshers, and as a second year aviation student with the word ‘placement’ ringing around my head on an almost daily basis, I was extremely keen to make sure I took part in it. The careers fair didn’t disappoint either, approximately 85 companies took part from easyJet to the Army and everything in between. The main companies I wanted to visit were travel and aviation based, and the careers fair provided plenty in that respect. The first company I couldn’t wait to talk to was Virgin Atlantic, their passion for customers and staff alike is unparalleled in their market and to work for them, even on placement, would be a dream come true. I was immensely impressed that Bucks had

them as an exhibitor but even more impressed by Virgins willingness to converse with students and offer as much help as they possibly could, it was inspiring to say the least. The next company I spoke to was a relatively local Helicopter services provider, who happily chatted with me and enquired about my interest in this area. They were obviously passionate about their work and their workforce, with a strong sense of teamwork that is all too uncommon in companies today. I really loved the idea of this company and marvelled at Bucks ability to not only look at opportunities with the big businesses but also those smaller, more successful, niche companies. A similar company to this was Freemans Travel, an independent travel agent based in Stokenchurch. Andrew, the Director, was wonderfully effusive about his work and told me in great

detail about his company and his goals for the future. He made me feel like a member of the team about five minutes in, asking for opinions on his website layout and how much impact I thought social media had on small companies based on my previous experience in this line of work.

It was a great way to spend some time for someone like me, who enjoys working and being involved with a dynamic company. I went away from the fair feeling valued, positive and like gaining a placement had gone from nigh on impossible, to one of the easiest things I’d do with my time at university. Thank you for the opportunity, Bucks!

by Adam Bartlett

Go Luck Yourself Workshops Galore The session I attended was to Go Luck Yourself. A talk by Matthew Smith about phycology of luck with in day to day living and how you perceive luck. He started the talk about opportunity that passes us by, while holding up the activity week booklet with the ad to win 6 iPad’s. He asked who had thought to enter the competition, surprisingly no on e put their hand up and he said reason for that is “we don’t think of the competitions being relevant to us”. Within his talk he went on to talk about positive phycology and within it a aspect called broadened action for example taking these opportunity’s and doing something about it taking the risk and seeing what becomes of ones actions.

Matthew also spoke about maintaining chance and opportunity, put your self out there and be sociable. He did a test, he shown 15 surnames he asked us to count how many people we known with that second surname. Then he said the more people you know the more opportunity you are creating for yourself. As I am a 1st year advertising student this was very clear to me that’s called networking and it something I need to be getting out there and doing. With this in mind I went to the career’s fair straight after the session with this positive attitude and aimed to meet people who could create opportunity for me doing work experience. Firstly I spoke with Dan on the stall of Interactive schools, talking to him I found out they was based down the road and had 6 bucks graduates working there so they happily take on students to do work experience. Showing him my positive attitude he said to me “come back at 1:30 Tim the head of the company will be here then and love to speak to someone like you” So I did I got his personal email and he told me to send my CV. Then I met Mark art director for the company Space I got speaking to him for a good half hour about where my interest lie what I hope to do, and how his company could help with experiencing that. He was really enthusiastic towards me and asked me to fill out a form as I passed it him he didn’t put it on the pile like the rest of the forms he put it in his pocket and said I have some work near where you live I will speak with my boss about it and be in touch.

By the luck of dropping into the session I know have a different outlook. Before this session I was one of those people thinking this ad is not relevant to me. Reason being I am dyslexic and struggle writing, how I am ever going to win. However this session taught me why not attempt it, what is the worst that can happen. It also gave me the attitude, which I took along to the career fair and created opportunity’s.

by Ellis Dagnall

During activities week there were many rewarding, interesting and inspirational activities, workshops and guest lectures. However the one I found the most inspiring was the Wednesday ‘Furniture Conservation Compo mould making workshop’ in Workshop 11.

These workshops were designed to develop student’s skills in creating the best moulds and help develop their furniture restoration skills. However, I am not a furniture or arty student. In fact I’m the complete opposite faculty and I still got the opportunity to have a go and get stuck in. During this session we had plaster of paris moulds of Scarab beetle. We started off by painting this yellow, we then moves on to protect the paint and for this we painted Shellac over the top.

Shellac is a polish used in many different types of restoration work and beauty products like Shellac nail polishes. The most interesting thing I learned about Shellac, is that it is actually Lac beetle poo (This has slightly put me off using my Shellac nail polishes again) but it is then mixed with alcohol to produce different colour polishes. I found this fascinating.

After the Shellac dried we covered our Scarab beetles in an Acrylic glue, a bit like PVA, and left them to slightly dry.

While we done this the tutor took us next door to show us some of the furniture students work and this was one of the most inspiring things I have seen within the university since I joined. We met a Masters student from American or Canada (Not sure,

she just had a really cool accent) and she showed us a piece of furniture she is current restoring as her Masters project. This table pieces was beautiful, it was donated to the university and was carved out of chestnut. The detailing on this table was just amazing and this student had the honour of restoring it to its former glory. This really highlighted the way in which the university work with students to ensure they have the best possible experiences whilst at Bucks as they probably would never have had that opportunity outside of university life. This made me proud to be a student here at Bucks New University and also highlighted to me the other side of the university, the faculty of Design, Media and Management, which I was didn’t know that much about.

We then left her in peace in the studio and returned to the workshop to finish our Scarab beetles and to do then we gentle covered them in gold leaf. This process is known as ‘Gilding’ something I would never have learnt nor had the chance to do in my life if it wasn’t for activities week. I never realised how difficult it was working with gold leaf and how light it is (Think I managed to even eat some). But it is definitely an experience I will never forget and an opportunity to open my eyes about the other side of the University!

Thanks Activities week!

by Hollie Sipple

Shuffler showcased on Monday I attended the workshop activity on Monday afternoon, to which was a huge interest to me, as the performers were the rhythm section of Jamiroqui and Daniel Pearce who performs with Dizzee Rascal live! To hear their experiences of sharing studios with some of the most amazing artists in the world combined with playing some of the most iconic shows too was an afternoon I’ll never forget. For the Jamiroqui guys to be playing in the likes of Dubai, India and the US is something special, along with Dan Pearce getting the opportunity to play at what I’d say is the best festival in the world, Glastonbury,

is equally, if not better!

Their own insights into the recording and live music industry are second to none, and for them to voice these opinions and play their songs mixed with their own covers mashups was invaluable to everyone there. It was amazing to hear their backgrounds, how they worked themselves up in their musical career, and to the point where they they’re now playing all around the world, together at corporate events, and separately with Jamiroqui and Dizzee Rascal. Their musical backgrounds however, were of interest too me too with them all coming

from different listening upbringings, from The Beatles, Soul and Funk combined with Alternative Rock too. Particular interest came from Dan’s admiration for Prince, his song writing abilities and how he can make anything into a hit. He see’s him as the best artist and songwriter that there has ever been. So it was amazing to hear their own insights into what has influenced them in their music writing.

I was also intrigued that this all came from one single jamming session, to which Dan didn’t even realise that the three of them, were the rhythm section of Jamiroqui.

It was good to see a strong turnout for the 2 hour session which mainly consisted of, the music management degrees. It was of benefit to everyone, especially to who wants a career in the music industry, as it showcases what people can do with their lives in the industry, and to have all that entertainment and questions and answers on your doorstep, for free, is a gift in itself. So thank you to the Students Union for providing an experience that I couldn’t get elsewhere.

by Danny Joe Whitehead

106 days to go

VARSITY 26 March 2014

After Hours

Next step for unsigned artists Big Sixes interview Catching Fire review

Turin Brakes 19 November 2013

16 The Bucks Student December 2013

After Hours

A round-up of Students’ Union nightlife plus entertainment news and reviews. Submit your articles to afterhours@thebucksstudent.com

interview

Canadian singer/songwriter Josh Taerk is no stranger to performing. His confidence and charisma come through both in the music he writes and in the way he speaks to the audience between them. Even when over thirty performing arts students on a social arrive dressed as various characters from TV and film waltz in during his set, it doesn’t faze him!

Music is clearly a very personal thing to Josh, who despite being only 22 has clearly had plenty of experiences to draw inspiration from for his songs. Heart-felt and up-beat, I met up with him after his session at Suck my Acoustic.

T: So Josh, You’ve just finished your set, how did you find it?

J: It was great; it was a really chilled vibe, which is great y’know, definitely the best show I’ve played today! It was a great crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy it, I got a lot of audience input which doesn’t always happen, so it’s nice. I enjoy playing to my peers, because I’m at Uni too; I like to get to play to people my own age.

T: It’s a nice intimate venue.

J: Yeah, I really like playing smaller venues; I like to make eye contact whenever I play so playing in venues like this is always great.

T: We were joined by some interesting characters

tonight, have you ever played to Loki, Penelope Pitstop and an Oompa Loompa before?

J: I can’t say I have, definitely not at the same time, at least!

T: Was this the best dressed crowd you’ve ever played to?

J: Definitely, Haha! But they never broke character, we saw them in the pub before the gig and they never broke! People would try and work out what was going on but they kept it up, I have huge admiration for actors who can do that.

T: Who knows, maybe in 50 years they’ll be dressing up as Josh Taerk!

J: Yeah, there’s still time you never know!

T: You’ve toured UK before with platinum selling artists The Soldiers, tell us about that.

J: Yeah, it was such a humbling experience, The Soldiers themselves were fantastic. I’d play and there would be an intermission between my set and theirs, so I was able to go down into the crowd and chat to them about my songs and get feedback.

T: It’s fun, right?

J: A lot of fun! I got to play up and down the UK in all these venues, I feel blessed to be able to tour places like the UK. You have to do what you love, life isn’t long enough to do something you don’t enjoy.

T: You played us your new single tonight, is

there a new record in the pipeline?

J: You know, I’m always writing songs all of the time, so it’s always on-going.

T: Do you find song writing easy, does it come naturally?

J: Sometimes, you know I’ll pick up my guitar and it’s like five minutes and you have a song, and other times it’s a lot longer process, and you get an idea and keep coming back to it. With ‘Smelling of Roses’ (Josh’s first UK single), I remember I was with my friend at the pub and then we went back to his and I was playing guitar while he watched TV, and after about an hour I had this song, but it was like 2 in the morning and my friend was like: “Josh- you gotta go!”

T: You’re on tour with the Coffeehouse Sessions, how’s that going?

J: Great, I started on Monday, and we’ve got 16 dates left. Plus I have a gig on the 28th at ‘The Good Ship’ in London with a full band which I’m really looking forward to.

T: Is that with session artists, or have you flown a whole band out from Toronto!?

J: They’re all artists I’ve met over here in the UK, we’ve been playing together for about 9 months now, and it’s going great. Sometimes you start a band and it goes well for a while but then everyone wants to be lead guitarist and it falls apart. It takes a while but eventually you’ll find a group and it will just happen!

T: Thanks a lot, have a great time for the remainder of the tour and well done on a great show.

J: Thanks a lot, I enjoyed it!

You can find Josh’s music online at most retailers, as well as stream it for free on Spotify- check him out!

Student Editor Tom Badger

December 2013 The Bucks Student 17

feature

The Next Step for Unsigned Artists You’re faced with endless decisions as an upcoming artist, looking to break through in a heavily saturated music market. None more so then when it comes to making the jump from your music being an expensive hobby, to a more full time basis.

But what is most important to an unsigned artist?

There are no right answers as to whether you should invest in a PR campaign, find a record label, seek a manager or fund another musical outlet, but this article will try and help give you some clarity as to where your hard earned money may be most useful.

Record Labels Starting with probably the most straightforward, the potential of a Record Label is to put out your single / album, correctly marketing / promoting it on a National or International level. Whether it’s a major like Universal or a bedroom DIY label, they both have a similar function, only with rather drastically opposing budgets.

But we’ve come a long way since the compact disc was King - being in the 21st century, with a

The things to keep in mind regarding whether to purchase PR are: the cost of a campaign (which can be quite expensive) versus the potential of press that you may receive.

There is a lot of press that you can receive just by searching the Internet for relevant blogs who may write about similar music to your own, contacting them with the details & a link to the album / single.

Blogs are always keen to get new material to write about so there’s no harm in doing so unless it states differently on their website.

I would suggest that PR is a healthy option if you’ve got the money to spend and your music is at a professional stage with the potential of earning radio plays or magazine coverage (be it physical or digital). If you think you’re at that stage, then it’s definitely worth contacting PR and seeing what they offer.

Management Many artists dream of having a manager to look after their daily needs, advising them on the next step or assisting them with the valuable contacts that they’ve made throughout the years.

“It’s not enough to just promote on Facebook and Twitter!” multitude of platforms to help put your music online to stream, download or aggregate onto one of the big boys (Spotify, iTunes, etc) - is a label necessary?

This depends on your current situation. Artists seek labels for recognition, the reputation of the label, and the help that goes along with it (man power and money) but remember that it comes with a cost - the label controls the copyright of your songs, they take a cut of many income streams (depending on the deal agreed) and you may be left with a hefty advance to pay back.

Potentially “on call” 24/7, the manager’s role can be extremely varied depending on what you agree to, but generally forms around the administration of royalties, developing relationships with booking agents, producers, labels and publishers for potential future work with the artist, advising on career moves, helping to get gigs, placement of the artist’s track to moving image (synchronisation) or played on radio.

The list goes on...

Working so closely, the bond between artist and manager must include trust. Preferably, you would

“don’t forget that the manager will take 20%” Personally, as an unsigned artist, I think most of you (especially in the digital-savvy era we’re in) could find an aggregator to get your music onto iTunes / Spotify (if you desperately wanted to), you could get in touch with radio stations up and down the country (see PR) and ask them to play your record and most can promote tracks / music videos online; just please remember: it’s not enough to just promote on Facebook and Twitter!

PR Public Relations companies can provide a great service to get your album, single or tour news out across blogs, magazines, radio and in some cases, TV. Generally, if you’re releasing an album, as an example, the campaign surrounding it’s release may last around 6 months to prepare the media for it’s impending release and to chase up once it’s out in the open.

know the manager before he / she takes on the role.

Being involved 24/7, a positive relationship between both parties is imperative, oh, and don’t forget that the manager will take 20% (standard rate) of the bands income.

As an unsigned artist, you should look for someone who either has a lot of experience, especially with an act similar to your own, or someone close enough to you who has a passion for the music you are creating and where trust is already cemented.

Both PR and Management hold a lot of weight for choosing to go down either route. It is up to you, as an artist, to try to gage where you are in your career, what it is that you need to help move you from upcoming artist to becoming established and the options available.

by Sunny Stuart Winter

Read the full article at sunnystuartwinter.com

18 The Bucks Student December 2013

The local music scene

music news

The local music scene isn’t one full of star studded success stories, tales of riches and musical heritage; however those tides could slowly be turning in the direction of Big Sixes. Originating from this fine shire, Big Sixes have been bubbling away over the past few months in an effort to bring emotional indie pop to a wider audience. Recently being taken under the wing of Red Light Management and Jamie Osman, a previous graduate of Bucks, the exposure has been gradually increasing. With a support tour with Deaf Havana recently undertaken, and a flurry of activity from both the BBC Introducing and BBC Radio 1 camps, it seems that this band are about to begin on an upward projection.

video of the fortnight Wrecking Ball: Chatroulette Edition video may turn out to be the most iconic video of 2013, with spoofs, remixes and mash-ups popping up all over YoutTube (- checkout the Blink 182/ Miley mash-up). Even Radio 1 favourite Greg James has had a go.

But nothing hits the nail on

Steve Kardynal is back.

“Who the hell is that?!”

Remember the Chatroullette edition of Carly Rae Jepson’s ‘Call me Maybe’? Well that’s Steve, and true to form, he is back with another Chatroulette diamond.

Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking ball

the head like Steve Kardynal’s sensational YouTube hit which has accrued more than 14 million hits in less than a day.

Please, get this man on TV. Check it out at youtube.com/ watch?v=W6DmHGYy_xk

track of the fortnight Second Star to the Right – Canary Swing Feel good pop. It’s not just popular with thirteen year old One Direction fans. In my household, it’s a regular occurrence. The kind of music that’s fun to listen to, and I can imagine a lot of fun to perform for Gloucestershire based four piece Canary Swing.

Second Star to the Right is a favourite for anyone

who likes catchy choruses and funky riffs.

“I’m gonna be forever young” – a lyric which isn’t going to win a mercury music prize, but will cheer you up when you’re feeling down – its available on itunes and Spotify – go have a listen!

McBusted It’s the time our generation has been waiting for.

The reunion of one of the biggest boy bands of the 2000’s, Busted. Alright, so it’s not the huge reunion of James, Matt and Charlie that everyone wanted but it’s possibly the best we’re ever going to get.

After James Bourne and Matt Willis joined McFly at their 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall shows to perform Busted songs, rumours had been rife about the possibility of Busted doing live shows in the future. This came in the announcement of a super group of sorts, with the name of McBusted.

It’s not what you call a dietician seen running out of McDonalds with 40 cheeseburgers, no. It is in fact what the merger of McFly and Busted have decided

to call themselves. The shows will see both bands performing together as a six piece, playing the hits of both bands across arenas next year.

Busted formed in 2002, selling over four million albums worldwide and collecting a flurry of Brit Awards along the way with hit singles such as Year 3000 and What I Go to School For. They broke up in 2005, with Charlie Simpson deciding to pursue a rock career with band Fightstar before embarking on a successful solo career of his own. The reunion will not see Charlie on stage; however you can’t always get what you want. Some would argue that for McFly this is a bit of fun, but are Busted in last chance saloon? Only time can tell.

E

U THE VEN ROOM 1

ROOM 2

N A Y R J D LD O N R A

Santa’s Grotto M

EAL R E H T T EE

A T N A S

FOR Y R T N E FREE NTS E D U T S BUCKS EC FRI 20 D M 8PM - 3A £5 GUESTS

December 2013 The Bucks Student 19

interview The boys from Bucks are back where they belong and they won’t let anything halt their performance... not even a power-cut.

It’s 8:20pm when I approach the Students’ Union for what I hope will be another memorable Thursday night of music at the heart of High Wycombe. On arrival, Charlie from Big Sixes reassures me that despite a major power cut during soundcheck, the gig goes ahead. Not only are these bands back in Bucks with a bang, but also with a few loose wires and short-circuits too.

Familiar territory, familiar faces. Almost everyone who enters the Students’ Union tonight is on the guest list and knows one of the bands somehow. So, we should be in for a good night.

What’s more, all three Bucks- bred bands on the bill have known each other for some time and there’s a genuine admiration for each other’s work. There is no headline act tonight; instead they fairly draw straws on who will play each slot.

Before that though, k4mo, takes to the stage, Apple Mac and drummer in tow. It’s not Students’ Unionch a spectacle to watch but is a gentle opener to the night and with his low grumbling vocals, you could almost be mistaken for thinking you were listening to ‘King Krule’.

As Elephants Are are next on the bill, after pulling the first straw out. Opening with slow and steady, ‘Lucifer’, crowds slowly gather to watch the foursome take stage. Lead singer, Ben Stratford’s, voice is quavering but more confident than ever and having had a taste of the big time playing at Reading and Leeds festival in August, they have matured with a consistent, moody sound, similar to that of ‘The Maccabees’. The band finish on newest single, ‘Crystal’, a more upbeat track bursting with energy, exemplified by the quietly exuberant drummer letting loose to the lively indie tune.

Make way for Big Sixes. Fresh from a tour with rock band of the moment, ‘Deaf Havana’, they may soon be ready to follow in their footsteps. Lead singer, Charlie Costello’s way with words and hand gestures are like a medieval court jester as he grasps out at the biggest crowd of the night - and they love it. Since their first EP, Big Sixes have acquired two new members and a more bluesy sound. At points, the close togetherness of harmonies in ‘Love Let Me Go’ is similar to Mumford & Sons whereas other songs are more reminiscent of The Cure. Throughout the set Charlie teases the crowd with the opening riff from old favourite, ‘The Devil Makes Work For Idle Tongues’ until eventually bursting into the lively number; it feels they have been saving it especially for Bucks. They finish on the preaching tune of ‘Swallowing Flies’ which leaves echoes around the room. No presure then, Coastal Cities.

They needn’t feel any. Having recently shot a video for a Burberry advertising campaign, Coastal Cities have what it takes to break through the Bucks music scene. Presenting the crowd with a range of new songs, the quintet stay true to their indie-pop nature; the synth is dreamy, the vocals are of an 80s drone, and they throw more bouncy riffs at the crowd than you could shake a stick at.

The ironic name of the band comes from the fact that High Wycombe is the furthest point from the coast in England but throughout the set, they make the crowd feel their Students’ Unionmmery vibes. Closing with new single, ‘Summer Reign’, the winter breeze outside is forgotten and the band bask us in their summer glory.

I was lucky enough to grab a few words with lead-singer of Big Sixes, Charlie Costello, after his bands performance: First things first, how was it playing back in Bucks?

It was awesome to be back. We played our last show of the year at Bucks Students’ Union last year, it’s cool to come back and see new faces each time.

What did you make of the other bands on the bill?

As Elephants Are have the sickest guitar tones in the world, I want to steal all of their equipment. I’ve been kicking about with the boys in Coastal Cities for years, its amazing how far they’ve come from just being five snotty nosed fourteen year olds in The Roundabout.

You played one of your oldest songs tonight but tend to focus on new material.

Which do you prefer to play live and in what way has your style changed?

Haha, yeah we did. The new stuff is definitely my favourite to play live. I can’t be doing with that 190bpm indie punk shit my lungs would probably collapse if I had to keep singing those songs. I prefer all the acoustic and more chilled out stuff.

You’ve recently acquired two new members. Can you tell us more about them and what they bring to the band?

They’re just two really good friends of ours that come help out when we play gigs. Jim is an incredible singer/songwriter we’ve been knocking about with for years, and Niall is a bit of a Big Sixes super fan. He knew all the songs before we even asked him to help out. It’s cool having them as part of the live band, the dynamic is more interesting and it means we don’t have to be one of those backing-track bands, we hate that stuff.

Having been on tour with Deaf Havana, have you learnt much from them?

Umm, to not leave Max in their dressing room on his own. They force fed him lots of spirits and we had to pull the van over a couple of times to let him be sick, and to just be as real and honest as you can possibly be, learn your craft, get your head down and just do it properly.

Which place on the tour was your favourite to play?

Camden Roundhouse was crazy, people were singing back at us and it was just Students’ Unionrreal. Cambridge was awesome too and we went to this sick burger restaurant in Nottingham.

What’s next for Big Sixes?

We’re gonna get our heads down in the studio for a while and start working on some stuff. We’ve got some really cool shows booked up for next year too.

by Josh Shreeve

WHAT S ON AT BU Monday 2

9pm til late, DJ set from Droideka, £1 Jelly Shots, cocktails, jungle fancy dress, jungle decor, jungle music.

All night: Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.70 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

Sunday 8

Tuesday 3

FROM 12.30PM THE LOUNGE

Wednesday 4

FROM 8PM THE VENUE

All night: 4 pint pitcher of Carlsberg / Amstel / Gaymers / Snakebite & Black - £8 | Bottle of Barefoot wine - £7 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

Mooting Takeover:

NERDS

Until midnight: Snakebite & Black - £1.80 | 175ml glass of house wine - £2.50 All night: Corky’s £1 a shot / double up on any spirit £1 | Pint of draft soft drink £1

Monday 9

Tuesday 10

WAREHOUSE PRESENTS DJ Cardinal Benton

FROM 12 MIDDAY BRING YOUR OWN FOOD (NOT DRINK) FULHAM v ASTON VILLA ARSENAL v EVERTON

plus special guests £150 First Prize 8PM ‘TIL LATE

All night: 4 pint pitcher of Carlsberg / Amstel / Gaymers / Snakebite & Black - £8 | Bottle of Barefoot wine - £7 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

Saturday 14

£2 shots & £1 test tube shots The Venue | 8pm - 2am All night: Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.70 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

16+ 8pm All night: 4 pint pitcher of Carlsberg / Amstel / Gaymers / Snakebite & Black - £8 | Bottle of Barefoot wine - £7 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

Sunday 15

Monday 16

Christian Union Takeover!

FROM 12 MIDDAY BRING YOUR OWN FOOD

All night: Gaymers Original and Pear draft / Tuborg draft / Vodka & Relentless / Range of ‘Bombs’ - all £2 | Doombar draft / Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit - £1

Friday 20

ASTON VILLA v MAN UTD TOTTENHAM v LIVERPOOL

£150 First Prize 8PM ‘TIL LATE

All night: 4 pint pitcher of Carlsberg / Amstel / Gaymers / Snakebite & Black - £8 | Bottle of Barefoot wine - £7 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

All night: Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.70 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

Saturday 21

Sunday 12 January 2014

2 0 1 4

Christmas Special!

NEW

Snow Machine, Christmas Grotta with MEET and GREET from Santa!

Until midnight: Carlsberg / Amstel draft / VK / Vodka & Relentless / Vodka & lemonade - all £2 | Kopperberg Pear bottle - £3 All night: Firebombs - £2 | Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1 | Turbo Shandy - £2.20 | Fireball Cocktails - £3.50

BIG CHRISTMAS PARTY

YEARS

EVE

AGAIN

Relive new year with all your Uni mates!

All night: Gaymers Original and Pear draft / Tuborg draft / Vodka & Relentless / Range of ‘Bombs’ - all £2 | Doombar draft / Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit - £1

FREE GLASS OF BUBBLY FOR THE FIRST 50 PEOPLE

8pm ‘til late All night: A range of £2 drinks | Lots of other offers!

UCKS - DECEMBER Thursday 5

+ Special Guests Doors 7.30pm, All night: Gaymers Original and Pear draft / Tuborg draft / Vodka & Relentless / Range of ‘Bombs’ - all £2 | Doombar draft / Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit - £1

Wednesday 11

Friday 6

Saturday 7

WITH DJ RYAN ARNOLD Is it your Birthday? Let us know and get VIP treatment, cheap drinks and a bottle of bubbly!

Until midnight: Carlsberg / Amstel draft / VK / Vodka & Relentless / Vodka & lemonade - all £2 | Kopperberg Pear bottle - £3 All night: Firebombs - £2 | Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1 | Turbo Shandy - £2.20 | Fireball Cocktails - £3.50

Thursday 12

9PM - 3AM Until midnight: Coors Light / Gaymers Draft - £2 | Doombar Draft - £2.50 | Red Stripe can - £2 | Crabbies / Jeremiah Weed Bottles - £3 | Rebellion Ale bottle - £3.50 All night: Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

Friday 13

Simon Poole Film showing 5pm

Presents

Red Shed Takeover:

NAUGHTY 90s

Until midnight: Snakebite & Black - £1.80 | 175ml glass of house wine - £2.50 All night: Corky’s £1 a shot / double up on any spirit £1 | Pint of draft soft drink £1

Tuesday 17

Special Guest Live music 8pm - 2am

All night: 4 pint pitcher of Carlsberg / Amstel / Gaymers / Snakebite & Black - £8 | Bottle of Barefoot wine - £7 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

Thursday 23 January 2014

OPEN ‘TIL 3AM

All night: Gaymers Original and Pear draft / Tuborg draft / Vodka & Relentless / Range of ‘Bombs’ - all £2 | Doombar draft / Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit - £1

Until midnight: Carlsberg / Amstel draft / VK / Vodka & Relentless / Vodka & lemonade - all £2 | Kopperberg Pear bottle - £3 All night: Firebombs - £2 | Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1 | Turbo Shandy - £2.20 | Fireball Cocktails - £3.50

Wednesday 18

Thursday 19

per Christmas Jum Party

FROM 8PM THE VENUE

FROM 12.30PM THE LOUNGE

WITH DJ LLOYD JONES

9pm ‘til late Until midnight: Snakebite & Black - £1.80 | 175ml glass of house wine - £2.50 All night: Corky’s £1 a shot / double up on any spirit £1 | Pint of draft soft drink £1

Saturday 25 January 2014

Until midnight: Long Island Iced Tea Pot - £5 | Gaymers Original Draft / Vodka & Mixer - £2 All night: Large Glass House Wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Range of ‘Bombs’ - £2 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any shot £1

Thursday 30 January 2014

with support from

(RUDIMENTAL LIVE VOCALIST)

Danny Byrd

+ SPARK

16+ 8pm

FROM 10PM - THE VENUE

FROM 8PM - THE VENUE

All night: Gaymers Original and Pear draft / Tuborg draft / Vodka & Relentless / Range of ‘Bombs’ - all £2 | Doombar draft / Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit - £1

Until midnight: Carlsberg / Amstel draft / WKD / Vodka & Relentless / Red Stripe can - all £2 All night: Range of ‘Bombs’ - £2 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit £1

All night: Gaymers Original and Pear draft / Tuborg draft / Vodka & Relentless / Range of ‘Bombs’ - all £2 | Doombar draft / Large glass of house wine (175ml) - £2.50 | Corky’s £1 a shot / Double up on any spirit - £1

All acts confirmed at the time of going to print. Line up subject to change. Please check bucksstudentsunion.org/events for the most up-to-date information.

NIGHTS AT THE VENUE | 11

TO SEE MORE, VISIT OUR OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE - SE

1 NOVEMBER - 1 DECEMBER

EARCH FOR BUCKS STUDENTS’ UNION AND GET TAGGING

24 The Bucks Student December 2013

book review

Morrissey: Autobiography

Birdsong Birdsong Sebastian Faulks Published by Vintage

Morrissey: Autobiography Morrissey Published by Penguin Books Morrissey, whether you like him or not, is an icon of British music, there isn’t an NME ‘top 50’ without him involved somewhere. Being a Smiths fan, I bought the book thinking I’d gain a better understanding of the workings of the band and the influence and creation of their work. Whilst there is some of this, Morrissey dedicates most of the 457 pages to character assassination or frankly, moaning about everything from the English legal system (he spends

about 20 pages resenting the judgement handed down against him when Joyce, the former Smiths bassist, sued him for royalties) to his long-standing feud with the media; anything printed or said against him must be remedied and corrected it seems.

I have never understood why personalities use their autobiographies, essentially a platform for a celebration of their life and works to complain about others or ‘set the record straight’, even Keith Richards, the ostensible King of rock n’ roll, did so in ‘Life’.

I found myself ploughing through just to get the end. The

book reveals nothing new about Morrissey and he remains just as confusing and strange as before; he’s not enigmatic, just a bit of a weird asexual Mancunian. That’s opinion Mr Morrissey, please don’t sue me for defamation, I don’t want to feature in the second volume.

Maybe not working someone out is working someone out and to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: you can’t get all of the people all of the time, only some of the people some of the time. Still, as they say in the bit of Manchester where my family is from ‘he’s written some f**kin’ tunes man’.

by Nicholas Ridgway

television

I’m a celebrity get me out of here!

It’s back and this year its bigger and better and more contagious shows than ever better before. The new series of reality game show set in the bushy jungle of Australia and hosted by Ant and Dec is returning for a thirteenth season YES 13 – you really didn’t see that coming did you? The show began on Sunday 18th November 2013 at 9.00pm straight after the X-Factor. The first episode focussed on the set of new celebrities coming into the jungle.

This years batch of celebrities are a Former double Olympic champion Rebecca Addlington, model Amy Willerton aka miss GB universe competitor that finished in 10th place, former West life singer Kian Egen, former EastEnder character Liala Morse who plays big Mo, TOWIE star Joey Essex, former Fresh Prince of Bel Air star Alfonso Ribeiro who plays Carlton Banks (the one that does a crazy dance moves). There are also more celebs including another soap character this time from the north Yorkshire side of Emmerdale Lucy Pargeter aka Chas Dingle, Matthew Wright aka the guy who presents the daytime show called the Wright stuff, snooker legend Steve Davis a former world and master champion and finally designer David Emanuel. These are all the celebrities that will reside

in the jungle for three weeks separated between two camp teams and taking part in a bush tucker trail for the any celebrities chosen by the public. The bush tucker challenge is opposite to the trail but is for any celebrities that want to have a go at the challenge but similarly bush tucker is where the celebrities of two different camps team face each other to win the meal for the camp. The other challenge involves dingle dollar challenge where two celebrities do a challenge together to try and win the dingle dollar challenge.

Finally, the jungle experience of what its like for all the celebrities to live in down under and what they have learned from it over the past few weeks. So make sure you tune in for series 13 of I am celebrity get me out of here because this year its going to be belter, I would be dying to watch it as there are so many good celebrities coming in the jungle and I am not sure who I place my bet on winning the king or queen of the jungle but for those of you TOWIE fans you might think that you would like Joey Essex to win but who knows in three weeks time , time will tell.

by Abdul Esse

On 11/11 every year we remember the men and women who gave their lives in conflict by wearing poppies, an emblem of the only flowers that would grow on the churned up earth of post war Northern France. With this in mind, I revisited an old favourite of mine: Sebastian Faulks’ ‘Birdsong’. Some may have studied this for English Literature A Level , but do not let that put you off this book! It is a beautiful novel.

It is set in three time periods (if you liked the Time Traveller’s Wife, you’ll love this); the idyllic landscape of Northern France pre WW1, the conflict itself, and the 1970s. It starts with a young Stephen Wraysford falling in love with a married woman; the all encompassing nature of their illicit affair is described subtly yet powerfully. This is contrasted with the atrocities of war on the Western Front of battle, and is a memory that the young Wraysford carries with him throughout the conflict whilst trying to retain some notion of humanity amidst the bloodshed.

The early 20th century is set against the more contemporary background of his granddaughter in the 1970s. She is seeking to trace her past and discover what happened to her grandfather, something which she does through reading the diaries that Stephen kept. This section is not as powerful as the rest of the book, but this seems irrelevant as the graphic and harrowing parts set in the war, and the erotic and beautiful element set in pre-war France, is enough to ensure that this is a page turner, tear jerker, and, ultimately, a best seller!

by Emma Groves

December 2013 The Bucks Student 25

movie review

GRAVITY Gravity (12A) Released 7/11/2013 Running time: 91min If you haven’t heard of Gravity yet then well done you, Gravity is one of the most hyped movies to have come out this year and it certainly understandable as to why.

Gravity (otherwise known as Everything that Could Possibly Go Wrong While in Space) stars Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone on her first space mission along with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) who survive through the destruction of their space shuttle to be left in the vast emptiness of space and follows theirs attempts at returning to Earth.

Straight from the moment the movie begins it is visually spectacular. From it’s opening sequence, using Alfonso Cuarón’s trademark continuous shot as the camera flows through space, towards the shuttle, intertwining with the astronauts it’s the best of any movie this year by far. The movie is truly beautiful to watch, the visuals that are on show are what make Gravity so great; special effects have never felt so special.

An easy comparison to make would be to Avatar but with Gravity being much more based in reality it’s effects only add to the movie rather than feel gimmicky. The way in which

a lot of the camera shots are in an almost 3rd person view following the astronauts, as well as the occasional 1st person shot inside Dr. Stone’s helmet, puts you right into the film adding another layer to this feeling of realism and danger. This heavy sense of reality is what creates such an intense atmosphere making space feel more real and so much scarier than it has ever been presented before leaving you holding your breathe along with Dr. Stone on more occasions than one.

But for all of Gravity’s achievements it accomplishes the rare and unexpected feat of being simultaneously exhilarating and disappointing. The run-of-the-mill characterisations, risible dialogue and corny sentimentality are just too much at times and it’s very distracting as to how under qualified Bullock’s character seems and why she would ever be allowed in space in the first place!

I do whole-heartedly recommend catching it while it’s on the big screen though. It really is something to watch, doing well to hide the traits that make it similar to that of a summer blockbuster under its beautiful exterior rather than the slow-moving thriller it’s been advertised as. Instead it’s a real roller-coaster of a ride that will likely be remembered for a while.

by Scott Matthewson

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (12A) Released 11/11/2013 Running time: 146min “OOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM MMMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!”

“THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

These are the type of comments you will likely hear coming out the cinema as you are surrounded by the hordes of teenagers, obviously they don’t have a f****** clue so I will do my best to attempt a more reasonable examination.

I’ll preface this with saying that the first movie, The Hunger Games, was bad. It was badly directed and poorly written. There wasn’t enough characterization or chemistry and too much stuff was left unexplained.

That wasn’t helped when you couldn’t tell what was happening most of the time as every shot looked like the cameraman had gone out drinking till sunrise then had no idea what he was really filming the following morning and was still trying to regain his balance. I get that the book might be great but the movie wasn’t.

Either way everything about Catching

Fire is considerably better than the previous instalment. This is probably due it having a bigger budget, different people writing the script and a director that knows what he’s doing. The CGI doesn’t end up looking as laughable as it had previously done, although it still chooses to retain some of it’s old CGI for the arena’s monsters that the series seems so desperate to include but doesn’t want to fully explain as to why they are needed when everyone’s supposed to be killing each other in the first place.

That being said, Catching Fire is at it’s best when it delves much deeper into the world which the movies inhabit. The reduced use of green screen and greater set designs added with the much bleaker dystopia that the movie presents is a nice touch, immersing you a sense of realism that had been severely lacking rather than seemingly have it breeze over the fact that kids had to straight up murder one another inside the games. This paired with the much heavier political and social commentary of totalitarianism, classism and celebrity obsession makes for an interesting film.

The characters are also considerably better this time round with Peeta Malark actually seeming vaguely interesting. The

new tributes are almost characters too with the most noticeable being Finnick who surprising isn’t the d***head you would have guessed him to be. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Gamesmaker Plutarch Heavensbee) is another great addition to the cast bringing a maturity and seriousness that the series was very much in need of in order to not fall victim of it being grouped in with the dreaded Twilight series.

Still Catching Fire has its problems. It certainly feels repetitive of the 1st film in its structure. The run time is long and while it doesn’t feel like an eternity, you are bombarded with so much content that it starts to feel like your face is melting.

The problem with this boundless amount of information is that it’s not fully fleshed out before you’re hit by its abrupt ending and once the credits start rolling you start to question if you blinked too long at some point and missed something.

Overall though Catching Fire has made me interested enough to want to watch Katniss Everdeen’s next outing, when going into it I wasn’t even sure I wanted to see this one.

by Scott Matthewson

UPCOMING LIVE MUSIC DECEMBER Thurs 5 ROUGE: EP LAUNCH + GUESTS

Tue 10 JAKE MORLEY + ILONA SUCK MY ACOUSTIC: XMAS SPECIAL

Sat 14 SKINDRED (£15 ADV. BOOKINGS FOR NON-BUCKS STUDENTS)

Sat 21 JETTBLACK XMAS PARTY!

JANUARY Thurs 23 NINA NESBITT + OLIVIA SEBASTIANEL

Thurs 30 ELLA EYRE + GUESTS

2 0 1 4

RELIVE NEW YEARS EVE

WITH YOUR UNI MATES

SUN 12 JAN 8 ‘TIL LATE

December 2013 The Bucks Student 27

Student Essentials

From food to fashion and everything in between!

Submit your articles to studentessentials@thebucksstudent.com

advice

Safer Sex We’ve all heard the term “safe sex”, but what exactly does it mean?

Being safe with sex means caring for both your own health, and the health of your partner. Being safe protects you from getting or passing on Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs) including HIV and an unplanned pregnancy. Whether you have vaginal, anal or oral sex, it definitely pays to play it safe!

And remember: There’s more to sex than sexual intercourse! There are lots of ways to enjoy physical intimacy with your partner without having oral, vaginal or anal sex.

Safer sex involves negotiating, consenting and protecting each other and yourselves. You will know when the time, person and place are right for you and it is important to respect your own feelings above all else. You have the right to say no.

It’s SHAG Week SHAG stands for Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance and we are running it this week as Sun 1 Dec is World Aids Day.

WORLD AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people across the globe to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the initial one was held in 1988.

Around 100,000 are currently living with HIV in the UK, and globally an estimated 34 million people have HIV. Between 1981 and 2007 more than 25 million people have died from the virus, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

Today, many scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment. There are also laws to protect people living with HIV and we now understand so much more about the condition. But despite this, people still do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others from HIV, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with this condition. World AIDS Day is important as it reminds the public and Government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.

HIV facts:

Here are a few more facts about HIV in the UK:

• HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus which attacks the body’s immune system — the body’s defence against diseases.

• Over 90% of people with HIV were infected through sexual contact

• HIV can be passed on through infected bodily fluids, most commonly via sex without a condom or by sharing infected needles, syringes or other injecting drug equipment.

• There are now more people than ever living with HIV in the UK — around 100,000 — with a quarter of those people are unaware they have the virus.

How you can stay safe?

Always use condoms if you have vaginal, oral or anal sex.

Use of condoms is the only method of contraception that protects against both STIs and pregnancy. Even if you’re using other methods of contraception (like the pill or a diaphragm), always use condoms as well.

If you are having unprotected sex, talk to your partner about the risks involved. Remember your decision about safe sex is important.

Before having sex, you need to discuss the use of condoms with your partner and come to an agreement about using condoms. Remember, you have the right to say NO if your partner does not agree to use condoms.

Never have sex (even with a condom) if your partner has a visible sore, ulcer or lump on their genitals or anal area. Suggest they see their doctor or sexual health clinic.

STIs can be passed from one person to another by oral sex. If you put your month in contact with your partner’s penis, you need to use a condom to avoid STIs. If you put your mouth in contact with your partner’s anus or vulva (outside of vagina) while having sex, you need to use a dental dam (whether you are a guy or girl). This is especially important if you’ve got a cut or sore around your mouth or lips or bleeding gums.

STIs can also be transmitted if you use sex toys, so you need to be safe. Use condoms and change the condom for each person. Wash the toys carefully after use and wash your hands after removing the condom.

• You can now get tested for HIV using a saliva sample • HIV is not passed on through spitting, biting or sharing utensils • Only 1% of babies born to HIV positive mothers also have HIV • You can get the results of an HIV test in just 15-20 minutes.

There is currently no vaccine and no cure for HIV

ADVICE CENTRE

e r ’ e W e

r e ho

p l he with

SHAG WEEK (Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance) Monday 2 - Friday 6 December.

Sunday 1 December - World Aids Day: The Big Quiz from 8pm in the Lounge will have a round of sexual health related questions.

Monday 2 - Friday 6 December: We are giving away 500 FREE SHAG Bags, containing a range of things for your sexual health. So look out for these at both High Wycombe and Uxbridge.

We will also have Condom Trees at both campuses so look out for those so you can pick up some free condoms.

Monday 2 December - THT Visit: The Terrance Higgins Trust will be at Uxbridge, in the Pulse Cafe from 11am to 1pm.

Wednesday 4 December - The SHAW Clinic (Sexual Health Clinic at HW Hospital): Staff from the clinic will be in Beats from 12 to 2pm, they will have information about STIs, risk reduction and contraception. Students can ask them anything about sexual health.

Thursday 5 December - The Terrance Higgins Trust: Nigel French, an HIV Health Promotion Practitioner, will be in Beats from 10am to 2pm. He will be providing information about HIV, how it is transmitted and how to keep yourself safe. He will also be conducting condom demonstrations.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ISSUES

MONEY

t

u o y es

u s s i any uding: incl

THE LAW

YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

High Wycombe Campus Ground floor, North Block 01494 603 016 Uxbridge Campus Room 1.03, first floor 01494 605 180

ACCOMMODATION

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suadvice@bucks.ac.uk bucksstudentsunion.org/advice

28 The Bucks Student December 2013

#rant

Money for Money’s sake Rebuilding Hadrian’s That piece of paper in your pocket with a picture of an old girl called Liz on it; what is it worth?

‘I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of…’ the sum of what? I can’t go to the Bank of England and exchange it for gold anymore; there isn’t enough left.

It’s only worth what other people are prepared to do to, or for me to get it out of my pocket and into theirs. Inherently it has no value. Its value comes in enough of the population believing it desirable (that it can be exchanged in the future by them for goods and services) and its scarcity. Scarcity is the idea of others wanting what you have; why else does everyone turn their heads when a Ferrari drives past? If you saw hundreds a day you wouldn’t care and more importantly; you would not want one.

Similarly, diamonds are not that scarce, I take the point they’re not lying around everywhere but there are enough for everyone in the world to possess one.

The concept of ‘money’ is a paper-chase on a massive scale and like most paper chases; you end up exhausted and back where you began.

I’m not advocating a return to a barter system but the current paradigm does lead to situations where people bought things they didn’t want (the power of marketing, If you don’t think you’re influenced by marketing, they’ve already got you) with money

they didn’t have (cheap credit) borrowed from banks who had no money (they’d lent it all to people who they knew couldn’t pay it back) so had to borrow it from a Government which didn’t have any so they just invented it through ‘quantitative easing’, which the Bank of England on its own website describes as ‘electronically creating money’- they couldn’t even be arsed to print it!

Now to recover from this the new Government is lending money to stimulate and grow business and with the interest they get paid back from the businesses they pretend they are reducing the ‘deficit’. The deficit in what Mr Osborne? Thinking or spending?

This construct under the heading ‘Capitalism’ lead to the banks running out of money, La Senza going bust and Woolworths, a discount shop, not being able to get any cheap money meaning the WHOLE WORLD FELL APART. Though the Earth never did actually stop spinning at any point during this.

Wall across Europe

by Nicholas Ridgway

A lecturer asked us the other day: “How does everyone feel about Scottish independence?”

SILENCE. In my southern English opinion, an independent Scotland is bad for Scotland and the rest of the current Union. Why the sudden burning desire to leave the United Kingdom? This nationalist sentiment normally manifests itself as ‘three men walked into a pub’ jokes not a referendum. It’s not a joke, so I’ve avoided all the ‘Trainspotting, Whisky and Shortbread to sustain an economy, how?’ material.. and there’s some oil, and nobody goes to war over oil these days.

Alex Salmond (Scottish First Minister) lowering the voting age to 16? Would you want the future of your nation determined by your 16 year old self?

The only thing I knew when I was 16 was how to roll a joint and conjugate a French verb; essential life skills, but able to make an informed decision about the future of a nation? No. This is not a political situation to be taken lightly.

Nationalism is thinly-veiled racism and the very personification of xenophobia. This reflects the growing, worrying trend across Europe towards nationalism and the ‘right’. In France, Marie le Pen and the ‘front national’ whilst always having had bedrock of support, recently won a by-election in Provence, perhaps showing a shift towards ‘right’ politics. Again in Italy, there is increased support for the so-called ‘neo-Nazis’ what is a ‘neo-Nazi’

The pursuit of the American Dollar Remember GTA V making over $1 billion in it’s first three days?

Well, Activision put out a press release on Ghosts release day that CoD: Ghosts shifted units to the tune of $1 billion on day one. To shops. Ah. Michael won’t be selling his house anytime soon then.

The steam behind the franchise appears to be in a slump, as Activision keeps re-iterating statements that dodge the fact that Ghosts is not the biggest title of the year, and that critics and fans are respectively tiring of and tearing apart the game.

With the “biggest entertainment launch of the year” title now out of the window, Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard stated instead ”Call of Duty is by far the largest console franchise of this generation” – a statement that may well be true, but seems to be a backup on the opening $1bn statement.

Whole cutscenes appear to have been recycled from previous entries, and the overall rating of the game stands in the 70′s at MetaCritic. On the other hand, we quite liked it, although it did often feel like more of the same.

Despite the mixed opinion, Ghosts will hardly make

a loss, and next-gen may well lead to an eventual overtake of GTA V, as highlighted by CEO of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg – “This is the must have launch title for the next generation of consoles, and we expect Call of Duty: Ghosts to be the most successful launch title for the Xbox One and PS4 by a wide margin.”

The news of Ghosts selling over $1bn on day one to consumers has been widely misreported across the world, which may well have been Activision’s intent with the bogus press release, but it did lead to some pretty great YouTube compilations, and scores of gamers crying in frustration at just how misleading mainstream media can be.

Ghosts came out with the PS4 launch, and its sales on both PS4 and Xbox One may just push it ahead of GTA V overall, but its chances are looking slim.

Have you played Ghosts? Is it worth going next-gen for? Tell us, student.editor@bucksstudent.com

by Matthew Jaques

exactly? The phrase ‘disillusioned with the main political parties’ gets thrown around and printed, a poor excuse to hate others. Do not let language baffle you to apathy; they are just letters arranged in a particular order.

Throughout history, at the time of there being an economic crisis, there can be a popular sympathy for extremist politics; the ‘right’ in Germany in the 1930’s for example. When people are in fear of either losing what they’ve got or not getting what they want, they can turn on the minority as the proverbial ‘scapegoat’ on which to project and pin these fears.

This is simply all hatred is. Remember: ideologies and religion don’t kill people; people kill people.

I don’t wish to put you off your tea and toast and you may think some of my conclusions may be slightly conspiracy-theorist but remember all movements or periods in human history we’d much rather forget about, started off ‘on the quiet’; Hitler was democratically elected and now we see UKIP what can only be described as ‘winding people up’.

Whether you want to take to the streets and protest with a placard or believe the only way to change the world is to put an ‘x’ in a particular box every four years, something is better than nothing.

by Nicholas Ridgway

December 2013 The Bucks Student 29

how to...

Survive your first year of university 6 ways to Welcome to the first article on the ‘how to…’ column. A big shout out to all you first year students for surviving your first few months at Bucks New University!

I am sure you must have realised it is a big step from school/college, in a good way of course! And I am sure you may have learnt how to cook, clean and iron for yourselves by now. For those of you that have not, it will get easier with time, trust me! I hope you have met some wonderful people in your course, halls and societies. Every edition will have a ‘how to’ column I hope you enjoy reading.

Now that the ‘fun’ weeks are over it is time to get serious, the earlier you prepare the easier it will get. This is a useful article because last year I was in your shoes, I wanted to do well but just did not know how to. I have been where you are right now so I know what I am saying. After reflecting back to my first year and observing others, I came up with these rules, I hope they help.

Firstly, slap the idiot who told you first year is easy so just ‘relax’. It is only easy if you work hard, stay on top of things and plan ahead.

Leave girlfriends, boyfriends, links and crushes behind. YOUR education is a PRIORITY they will always be there but time is slipping away. However if they are not there at the end of your exam

NUS news

period then you know they never were worth it!

Remember twitter, instragram, facebook, keeeek (if that is what it is called) is NOT your friend. These social networking sites are there to seduce you and help you fail. No matter how much they try to distract you just stay away, I repeat stay away when you’re preparing for coursework, exams and seminars. If you can’t then simply deactivate them.

If you have not already got one, get an academic diary and write down all the coursework due dates and any other important dates. Also print out coursework briefs and take them to each lecture, in case there is any important information which will help with your work.

Do not miss any lectures or seminars.

Every lecture is vital to help you prepare for exams and every seminar helps you understand anything you didn’t understand in the previous lecture.

Prepare, attend and be punctual.

Type up your work and any notes once you get home this will save a lot of time when your exams are coming up.

Ask sensible questions and make sensible friends.

nus.org.uk

Disability History Month Trailblazers Ever Lee Hairston

AS part of our (the NUS’s) Disability History Month celebration, we will be featuring a trailblazer from Disability history each week. This week we focus on Ever Lee Hairston, who lobbies for blind rights across the globe.

Ever Lee Hairston describes herself as Black, Blind and Successful as she travels throughout the U.S. and abroad lobbying for the blind.

As a child, Hairston worked picking cotton and attended segregated schools. During her time at university, she became involved in the civil rights movement. Ever Lee joined Martin Luther King, Jr. in a sit-in demonstration protesting Sears, Roebuck and Company’s refusal to hire blacks.

While in her late twenties, Ever Lee became blind.

After an initial struggle, she eventually attended the Louisiana Centre for the Blind, which helped her

find her confidence.

Ever Lee has become an activist in the blind community; she is the Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey and founder of the Garden State Chapter, Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Ever Lee serves as coordinator for the New Jersey Commission for the Blind Lead Program, a mentoring program for blind and visually impaired teens teaching leadership, education, advocacy, and determination.

She has become a source of inspiration for her tireless devotion to mentoring and advocating for the blind and visually impaired as well as educating the public about blindness.

From the NUS website

Read, read and READ. If your lecturer has asked you to read a chapter before a lecture it’s not because they want to make your life more difficult than it already is but they’ve asked for a reason so just ‘man up’ and do it.

If you need help ask for it. You pay £7500 a year so why not? Also, always book appointments with your lecturers and get feedback - this will help you do better.

Most importantly believe in yourself, stay positive, take pride in your work and enjoy your course.

I hope these golden rules help. After reading my ten golden rules you may either bin this article and say “state the obvious why don’t you” or you will be wise and you WILL stick it on your bedroom wall and chant these rules every morning and pass first year with flying colours. Anyway keep an eye out for the next ‘how to…?’ article in the next edition. Happy studying guys!

by Suman

keep warm WELL gosh darn it, it’s quite chilly outside I’d say. Well, fortunately for you lot, I have some life saving advice on how to keep warm.

1. Wrap up warm... In the furs of dead animals!

2. Hide inside a lecturers coat while they are teaching. If questioned, just stare at them until they stop.

3. Boys: Read a gentleman’s special interest magazine.

Girls: Watch the notebook.

4. Bathe in the warm tears of orphans.

5. Hug the homeless man that hangs out by the university who looks like Jesus. He might give you bread, just take it.

6. Cold face? I suggest a ski mask.

I’ve also found that people give me large sums of money when I wear it, so there’s that.

Well there you have it m’dears, stay warm now!

by Ollie Talks

30 The Bucks Student December 2013

feed me

We are always hungry for your feedback!

Keep reading this column to find out how to feedback to the Students’ Union with your thoughts and opinions. There is everything from filling out surveys to attending focus groups and you can contribute as much or as little as you like!

Visit bucksstudentsunion.org/surveys to give us feedback on our latest surveys

The Students’ Union challenges the University to live by its values.

Hear our cries!

The University has four values: Clarity, Openness, Respect, and Delivery of Commitments.

The Students’ Union is challenging the University to live by its values. Check out the infographic to the right and tell us how you think the University does, or does not, live by its values! You can either tell us by tweeting #HearOurCries or completing just three questions at bucksstudentsunion.org/surveys and you will automatically be entered into the prize draw.

old news, new life

CLARITY

Many additional course costs remain hidden to new students.

WIN £100 RESPECT

Is this clear?

Student feedback is often ignored by the University.

Is this respectful?

n of newspaper.

1. Start with a sectio ce to t several layers at on 2. Cut it in half. Cu et/single she e on ly on use t save time, bu layer per pot. n into in, making the sectio 3. Cut it in half aga quarters. spice nd container, like a 4. Take a small rou ving lea it, d un aro er jar, and roll the pap ang at one end where about an inch overh l the bottom. Don’t rol for in you will fold it jar the get to d har too too tight or it will be out later. apping in, as if you were wr 5. Fold the bottom a present. shut. If you can, use 6. Tape the bottom e masking tap up, Turning it right side 7. Take out the jar. en Th . top the d un aro fold in the edges all and a shorter ity bil sta for in aga fold it in pot. u like! pot with whatever yo 8. Fill the recycled s hap per – ds see l and We suggest some soi spaper new ed ycl rec ur yo cress and watch grow!

OPENNESS The selling of courses is often misleading.

Is this open?

DELIVERY ON COMMITMENTS

Quality assessment feedback is not always returned within the University’s three week policy.

Have they delivered?

BUCKS WARDROBE Visit our website for the full range of branded merchandise. bucksstudentsunion.org/shop

December 2013 The Bucks Student 31

Extra Curricular

An insight into everything the Students’ Union offers and how you can get involved. Best of all it’s free!

societies

National University Softball Championship On Saturday 19 October 2013, BNU’s very own Bucks Red Sox softball team competed in the first National University Softball Championship. We achieved third place, earning a new addition to BNU’s trophy cabinet.

The tournament was held at the recently developed showcase diamonds at Farnham Park. The tournament was delivered by Baseball Softball UK (BSUK) and it gave University teams the opportunity to play at a competitive level.

The day was an over-all success and the team enjoyed it immensely. There were six teams representing their respective universities. These teams were; BNU, University of Portsmouth (two teams), University of East Anglia, University of Brighton and University of Nottingham.

Our team was made up of 11 BNU students. Team Captain Lucy Barker got an outstanding team together to participate in this event and kept team spirits high helping to make the experience an enjoyable and memorable one.

In the first game BNU lost to the Nottingham Swingers, 10-8. Although a loss, morale was not lost and the team proceeded back to the dugout to regroup and prepare for the next game. BNU dominated the second game against University of East Anglia’s Rampant Rabbits, 14-9. The third game boosted team spirits even higher when BNU won against Brighton University, 14-5. In the game against the University of Portsmouth’s Shafters (Purple) team, of whom only

two teams throughout the day had scored runs against, BNU suffered a loss of 15-0. The Shafters (purple) team dominated the entire tournament with their long-standing developed team. BNU came out on top for a third time in the final game against University of Portsmouth’s Shafters (Black), 8-4. In this final game, our team were competing for third place and a trophy.

The final standings were as follows: 1 – UPSP Shafters (Purple) 2 – Nottingham Swingers 3 – Bucks New University 4 – UPSU Shafters (Black) 5 – Brighton University 6 – UEA Rampant Rabbits A big thank you goes out to our two coaches from Chalfont St Peters Softball Club, Neil and Liz who came out to support our BNU team. And thank you to BSUK for organising the tournament.

The day was a great success for the BNU softball team and we were excited to have achieved and returned with a trophy. We are always looking for new members to join the Softball society, it’s an enjoyable sport to participate in and the team have a great time competing.

We have more fixtures coming up this year and we have practice every Sunday afternoon. Come along, join in and get involved with Bucks Red Sox Softball.

by Chhya Sahota

Bucks Islam Society

Aviation Society!

Who are we?

We are a community of people who enjoy aviation and flying activities from powered flight to skydiving and hang-gliding! Anyone is welcome to join; we’re not just limited to the travel and tourism courses.

What do we do?

We gather together to participate in volunteering, fundraising and social events in order to “take off” as a group, literally! At the end of the year we wish to fundraise enough to do a competition and the winner will win a trial lesson in a glider!

Why should you join?

To help us! As a society there’s so much we can

Salaam, over the past 12 months the Bucks ISOC has continued to grow from strength to strength and after achieving gold award last academic year we are hoping to replicate this achievement by continuing to provide more services and planned events. This year we are looking forward to organising and participating in numerous events such as Exhibition Islam, guest speakers, sisters’ socials, a debate and lots of fundraising.

We had positive feedback from everyone involved in last year’s events and helped create happy memorable experiences for students, especially international students.

We offer services like the weekly Friday prayer which is currently held in the multi-faith room N1.10 from 1pm. The Friday prayer is an excellent

accomplish and have a great time.

Where to find us? The best place to find us is the Bucks Av Soc Facebook page! facebook.com/groups/bucksavsoc We hope to hear from new people very soon so we can take this society to new heights!

opportunity to meet friendly new people in a relaxed atmosphere, have a chat about university life or ask questions regarding Islam and is usually followed on with a lunch together.

Room N1.10 is also used for normal prayers and is open to all bucks students. The university has provided separate washing facilities for males and females which can be located on the North wing 1st floor next to the toilets by the lift.

We would like to invite all Bucks students from all backgrounds and religions to come and join us whether you are practicing or not to get involved or share ideas and help make this another memorable year. Salaam.

NEW LEGISLATION!

By Nasser Nasser and Sara Sheikh Head Brother and Head Sister

by Theresa Wright Law Society Treasurer

So it has been confirmed.

Revolutionary law is due to come into our system in the year of 2014 that will change the lives of many forever! This law is a highly controversial law that has been heavily scrutinised for over hundreds of years! So what is this law I hear you ask? This Law is the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2014.

On 13 July 2013, The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill finally completed its very historical journey through Parliament by receiving Royal Assent, officially making it a new (and very overdue) law. It has also been rumoured by Women and Equalities Minister Maria Miller that the first ever same sex wedding could take place

by as early as summer 2014.

This law will finally allow couples that could only have a Civil Partnership (a law which definitely does not hold the same rights that a married couple has) to have the same rights of a nonsame sex couple. Exciting stuff!

32 The Bucks Student December 2013

Mature Students Society My course at the Buckinghamshire New University commenced in September 2012. I had previously taken a large step away from the education system and I was therefore rather nervous about starting a new scholastic challenge. I had the usual concerns that anyone has when embarking on a new stage in their lives, but I had one added fear that the majority of other new students would not have- that my age would be a negative factor; that I would stand out like a sore thumb for being twenty years older than everyone else in my class. I was scared that it would make my University experience a rather insular one, due to people making the presumption that they would have nothing in common with me, or thinking that talking to me was like talking to one of their Mother’s friends.

I was therefore thrilled during the Induction week to find that I was not the only student on my course who is ‘over a certain age’.

Well, more than a year has passed and I am pleased to say that I had absolutely nothing to worry about. The only barrier between the mature students and the younger students is apparently the one that I had created in my head. Any feelings of apprehension I had felt were totally unfounded.

I spend twelve hours a week in a room full of people, the majority of whom are only two years older than my daughteryet I feel just as much a part of this year group as I did during my first time at University back in 1993. I may not socialise with my class peers but in the educational environment I am treated no differently from anyone else, by classmates and lecturers alike.

I am certainly friendly with most of the aforementioned mature students that I was so pleased to see during my first week, but that is due to the people they are rather than because of their ages- I am pleased that we have not fallen into a mature-student clique.

Anyone over the age of 21 is actually classified as a mature student. I was surprised to learn that this academic year the percentage of mature students at Buckinghamshire New University is between 62% and 66%.

Being way over 21- you will not see me in the Students’ Union bar in the evenings nor will I be attending the netball try-outs and to my family’s relief I have absolutely no intention of joining the Pole dancing Society! That said, I am enjoying being part of the Mooting Society and I have attended various events organised by the Law Society. I have signed up to several talks during activities week. I intend to continue throwing myself fully into the University experience (YOLOas they say!). After all, University is what you make of it- no matter what age you are.

If you haven’t heard them, you must have seen them.

The month of November has seen a very active Musicians Society. For RAG week (the dates?) the Musicians Society were busking to raise money for Macmillan, Great Ormond Street and PepperFoundation.

Thanks to everyone who contributed (including Rusty the Reindeer) they managed to raise an awesome total of £149.25. Shortly after the Musicians Society was crowned ‘The Society of the fort-night’ as mentioned on the Bucks Student Union website.

Reinforcing their activities the Musicians Society entertained the campus with two days of live music performances. Tuesday the 19th of November was all about the musicians playing their instruments and creating a warm vibe. Things then heated up on Wednesday the 20th of November when the Musicians Society supported the Culture Society with ten performances. Accompanied by food and a great audience, the dome was the host of great entertainment for the day.

Looking ahead, the Musicians Society will busk again as a Christmas fundraiser on Friday 13 of December in the Students Union foyer. You

are more than likely to catch these guys being very active across the campus this academic year so feel free to come and support at any time.

The Musician’s Society would like to thank everyone who has been a part and contributed to the Musician Society’s activities over the past weeks, you are all SUPER! If you would like to join the musicians society or at least follow their activity, you can either scan the QR code or follow all of the social media links below.

Oh, and seasons greetings from the Musicians Society, take care for now.

Facebook: Bucks Musicians Society Twitter: @BNUMusicSoc Instagram: BNUMusiciansSociety

by Jermaine Ngobeh Musicians Society Vice Chairman

Incidentally, the University used to have a Mature Students Society but sadly no such society exists at this time. If you have any interest in resurrecting the society then please contact Lauren Troiano - Lauren.Troiano@bucks.ac.uk who will be able to discuss this with you.

Bucks Event Society - Giving their time for the Round Table The Events Society took to the field for their first event of the year on the 2 November. For those who attended this year’s bonfire spectaculars put together by High Wycombe’s Round Table committee, you will have seen what a great event it was to be a part of, especially as all the profits go straight to charity! So we had a great turnout of 13 lovely enthusiastic volunteers (who despite the very early morning start) where happy to get down and dirty with the build-up to the show that was being held later that day. We had a great day working with the team to get all the preparations sorted for the evening (and had a yummy lunch & festive toffee apples thanks to the wives of the committee). Later we returned to the site to see it all in full swing and get involved in the work for the show.

Altogether is was a successful day minus the wind picking up, and at one point chasing a runaway marquee across a field, but hey.. it’s all good fun!

So don’t be shy, if you are an event enthusiast or have a passion for planning, or even just want to join up to a society which is going to be a laugh and offer exciting opportunities at the same time.. Look out for us around the Uni and feel free to get in contact!

Abigail Mullen VP & Treasure of Bucks Event Society

December 2013 The Bucks Student 33

Dance Society The Boxing Society Bucks New University Dance Team has been up to so much over the past few weeks and has much more to come…

The Monday Masterclasses (which run 5-7pm in Jackie Palmer Studios) have been extremely successful, enjoyable and varied in so many different dance styles so far! We have had professionals in to teach, such as Rob Anchor to come and run a Commercial Street Masterclass; who is a very prestigious male dancer in the performing industry. Adding on to this, we have also had our own Dance Choreographers and Members run master classes in dance styles such as Commercial and Irish Dance – which have all been very popular and exciting for our current and new members.

As well as our Masterclasses we have our five Competition Teams working extremely hard to create, learn and polish their individual routines

in: Street, Contemporary, Tap, Jazz and Latin. The routines will be finished by the 15th December, as we are performing them all for a Charity Event – hopefully the performance will go well and give our teams a real confidence boost!

We have a few upcoming performances in the future that our members are working on; such as our performance for Movember which is being held in our own Bucks Students Union on the 30 November! Our previous performances, such as at Fresher’s Fair, have made us receive such positive and inspiring feedback, that our Dance Team has been boosted in confidence as well as numbers!

Sophie Onslow

In the Boxing Society we welcome all types of people with all different skills. No matter if you have never even seen a boxing match before or have boxed yourself, everyone is

welcome. Come and learn how to box and to have fun at the High Wycombe Amateur Boxing Club; even if you just want to come along for fitness, it’s a great way to meet new people and have a

laugh.

The training happens on Tuesday from 5-6.30pm, the first session will be free but after that it will cost £3 a session.

Christmas Market A joyous Christmas market in aid of our RAG Charities.

Stalls include: Christmas cards, decorations, scarves, jewellery, handbags, spices, toys, mulled wine and much more!

In the ay w e t a G g Buildin

10am - 4pm Tuesday 10 December

34 The Bucks Student December 2013

volunteering

raise and give

Let’s talk about boobs Homeless hampers It’s everyone’s favourite time of year again! Christmas. As you get excited about the festive season, please spare a thought for those who may be less fortunate than you.

You can fill the hampers with: A diary, notebook and pen, Christmas sweets/chocolate, biscuits, socks, underwear, a scarf, gloves, a hat, a small packet of tissues, wet wipes, toiletries, or hand warmers.

Most of these items are sold in the ol’ classic 99+1p store, or the infamous primarni*, so no need to break the bank to help the homeless members of our community.

Please donate all hamper items to the Students’ Union reception, or, if you want to volunteer to help pack and wrap, please email jane.bower@bucks.ac.uk The deadline to hand the hampers in is the 17 December 2013. *other major stores are also available

Remember “Boobie Nights 2”? Remember boob cakes and sports teams wearing pink? That was CoppaFeel!

CoppaFeel! is a breast cancer awareness charity aimed towards 18-30 year old girls (and guys). The charity was founded by Kris Hallenga when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 23 (after having her lump dismissed by her GP twice and put down to “hormonal changes”).

Kris realised that young adults don’t see cancer as something that can happen to them, so Kris set out to jog for jugs, bake for boobies and knit for knockers.

CoppaFeel! take over festivals, marathons and universities with their giant boob costumes (which I’m guessing you’ve all seen by now). Every year CoppaFeel! recruits a new boob team leader for each of the 60 universities that take part across the UK... And I’m the uni boob team leader for Bucks! I’m in charge of all the boobie activities that go on across both the Wycombe and the Uxbridge campus. In our October boob week, we managed to raise £763.77 with your support. We reached that in 7 days! Our next boob week isn’t until February so you’ve got a while until you see giant boobs walking around uni again but you can still keep up to date with CoppaFeel!

Text BUCKS to 70500 for a free monthly reminder to check those boobs and get exclusive boohoo. com discounts!

Follow us on twitter @UBTBucks or like us on Facebook “CoppaFeel Bucks New University”

union Jack

Put your money where your mouth is!

As some of you may know I studied sports management and coaching studies whilst at Bucks and I am currently working part-time coaching the university football team. I have decided to challenge the senior management team to spend big money on the student experience at Bucks.

I will be setting the pace by spending all my coaching wages for this year on kit and equipment for the football team.

Three years is a very short amount of time and students would really appreciate seeing progression whilst studying here. With fees going up it makes sense for the student experience to improved. If this university wants to be a successful business then we need to have a high level of customer service for students. The university have made a lot of profit from student fees but I personal don’t feel like money is going back into the schools and faculties.

In terms of my personal coaching development I hope to provide myself with all the tools I need to get the best out of my participants. By spending the money on coaching equipment I’m indirectly spending it on my own development.

If the university fully support the student experience at Bucks they will reap the rewards of better results in the NSS and a rise in recruitment. Now is the time to invest!

The types of investment I feel need to be made are listed below.

1. Creative learning space.

Group work is very difficult to do in an open plan library.

The creative advertising course have a great example of a space for students to work in groups. It’s as simple as converting a floor of teaching rooms into one room with comfortable seating and pods for quiet study.

2. Invest in redevelopment of Handy Cross sports centre Our sports teams often have to travel long distances for training and games. We don’t own our own facilities and we are one of the only universities in the country that have this issue. If we were to have our own facility we would see an increase in recreational sports supported by the big deal and greater success in competitive games.

We have a lack of support and pride at Bucks, our men’s basketball team is arguably one of the best in the country but we can’t support them at home due to the size of the

events hall.

3. Showcase student work.

As an arts and industry university from the outside looking in we still look like a college. Where is the William Lee living wall? Where is the Liz Walker lenticular light model. Where are the examples of student work/ videos/ projects?

Please let me know what you would like to see at Bucks.

Email Jack.Badu@Bucks.ac.uk Tweet @jack_badu

by Jack Badu Vice President Education and Welfare

representation

A new Chair

Union Council met on 26 November and the first item on the agenda was to elect a new Chair. Last year student Joseph McCrudden chaired the Union Council meetings and this year three candidates stood to take on the role.

Amin Choudhury, Saope Soko, and Mark Sweeney along with Re-Open Nominations (RON) were on the ballot and after hearing a brief speech from the nominees who were in attendance a vote took place.

A total of 18 votes were recorded as follows.

Amin Choudhury – 0 Saope Soko – 7 Mark Sweeney – 10 RON – 1 Mark Sweeney was elected as Chair and I know we all wish him well in the role. He will receive some training on how to Chair meetings before the next Union Council meeting which is being held Monday

Union Council

16 December 5.30pm in Uxbridge.

All students are encouraged to attend, refreshments including mince pies will be available during the meeting and there will be drinks back at the Lounge in High Wycombe after the meeting. Any High Wycombe students wishing to attend should get on the FREE bus which departs at 4.30pm and will be returning to High Wycombe on the FREE bus leaving Uxbridge at 8pm which should be back to High Wycombe by 8.30pm. Any Uxbridge students wishing to return to High Wycombe after the meeting can do so and we will make sure you get back to Uxbridge at no cost to you.

New Student Trustee elected Friday 8 November saw two major things happening within the representation department, a Student Trustee was elected to the board and the adoption of the Students’ Union’s new constitution.

The results were as follows: Referendum Total valid votes: 779 Yes votes: 763 No votes: 16 The new Constitution was adopted with 97.9% of the vote Trustee Election The candidates were: Mark Sweeney Joe Collins Saope Soko Re-Open Nominations (RON) Total valid votes cast: 1067 The quota was: 534 First Round Mark Sweeney: 260

votes Saope Soko: 367 votes Joe Collins: 437 votes RON: 3 votes As no one candidate had passed the quota the candidate with the lowest votes (RON and Mark Sweeney) were eliminated and we moved into the second round.

When 2nd preferences were redistributed the votes were as follows: Second Round Total valid votes cast: 1035 The revised quota was: 518 Saope Soko 426 Joe Collins 609 Joe Collins was duly elected.

Congratulations to Joe and thanks to both Mark and Saope for a well fought campaign.

Know your rep - see overleaf For the full list of Student Reps, listed course by course then turn the page.

These are the people you need to contact if you have an issue with any aspect of your course.

If there is no name for your course then the Student Rep position is open.

If you wish to apply contact william.hoskin@bucks.ac.uk (DMM) or tom. foy@bucks.ac.uk (S&H). You can even earn up to £100 for being a rep.

Uxbridge Campus in room 3.07 Mon 16 Dec 5.30pm - 7pm

36 The Bucks Student December 2013

Events and Festival Management Events and Festival Management Events and Festival Management FD Crowd Safety Management Music & Live Events Management Music Management and Studio Production Music Management & Artist Development Music & Live Events Management Music & Live Events Management Music & Live Events Management

1 2 3 1 1 1 2 2 3 3

Sam Lucy Abigail Lauren Jessica Toby Megan Rebecca Danny Michael

Armstrong Judge Mullen Burton Plant Pilcher Riches Hailey Whitehead Lockheart

Graphic Arts Advertising Creative Advertising Creative Advertising Creative

3 1 2 3

Keelan Louie Tinashe Robert

Lowe Wood Mandimika Lloyd

Furniture Furniture Furniture: Design & Craft Furniture: Contemporary Design Furniture: Conservation & Restoration

1 2 3 3 3

Madara Shan Joshua Monica

Degtere Sou Plough Alzate

Sports Management and Football Studies Sports Management and Coaching Studies Sports Science and Coaching Studies Sports Science and Coaching Studies

1 2 2 3

Lincoln Lizzi Joseph Mark

Sifuya Fabisz Collins Sweeney

Public Relations and Marketing Communications PR & Marketing Advertising Management and Digital Media Communications PR & Marketing Human Resource Management Human Resource Management International Foundation Programme International Business Business Business & Human Resource Management Business & Marketing Management Accounting & Finance Accounting & Finance Accounting & Finance MA HRM

1 2 2

BSc (Hons) Social Work BSc (Hons) Social Work BSc (Hons) Social Work BSc (Hons) Social Work BSc (Hons) Social Work BSc (Hons) Social Work MSc (Hons) Social Work MSc (Hons) Social Work

3 2 3 F 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 PG

Amin Choudhury Emilie Daly Katherine Gali Rhian

Roe

Suneetra Lakshmy Leonie Ellrichmann Latesha Hylton Chloe Farmer Jean-luke Laister Christopher Reading Emily Rowntree

LLB Law LLB Law LLB Law

1 2 3

Oyindamola Oladejo Khadija Cheema Harmeet Anand

Corporate Events and Conference Management International Tourism Management with Air Travel Tourism in the 21st Century/Intl Travel & Tourism Management International Travel and Tourism Management Air Transport with Commercial Pilot Training Air Transport with Commercial Pilot Training Air Transport with Commercial Pilot Training Air Transport with Commercial Pilot Training Airline and Airport Management Airline and Airport Management Airline and Airport Management with Commercial Pilot Training

3 1 2 3 1 2 2 2 1 2 3

Kayleigh Eddie Joseph Gregory Bradley Samir Runis Matthew

BSc Computing BSc Computing BSc Computing FD Computing FD Computing BSc Games Development BSc Games Development BSc Games Development BSc Web Development BSc Web Development

1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 2 3

Delman James Alexander Josh

Audio and Music Production Audio and Music Production Audio and Music Production Film and TV production Film and TV production Film and TV production Animation and Visual Effects Animation, Games & Interactive Media Animation, Games & Interactive Media

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

Oscar Luke Adam Charlotte Andy

Performing Arts Performing Arts Performing Arts Dance & Performance Dance & Performance Dance & Performance Dance & Fitness Dance & Fitness Dance & Fitness

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

Spatial Design Spatial Design Spatial Design 3D Craft BSc Product Design BSc Product Design BSc Product Design HNC Mechanical Engineering Design HNC Mechanical Engineering Design Engineering Engineering Engineering

1 2 3 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3

Textiles Textiles Textiles Fashion Fine Art Fine Art Fine Art Foundation Art

1 2 3 1 1 2 3 F

Graphic Arts Graphic Arts

2

Pascalle Mickelsen Madeleine Edelsten Liga Kokorevica

Brad

Watts Rogers McCrudden Roberts Fletcher Pudasaini Khira Pugsley Dimond Staunton White Sanders Roberts-Smith

Jasveer Jagdev Dominic Smith Knights Maffre Whalley Atkinson Davies

Alexander Cullinane-Carrasco Luke

Winn

Jenny Wade Connor Baker Ruby Olivia Laura Mikey Harriet Justin Tabith Bridgette Claire Anita Roxanne Ali Peter Andrew

Painting Storey Allen Cook Dury O’Brien Griffiths Macilwane Hughes Osasona Humphreys Shubana Ferguson Fram

Sophia Riley Isabelle Pearson Ellie Lyver Chloe Manners Chelsea Wilson Jessica McIver Roisin McGinley Danielle Murtagh

Working with Children & Young People Working with Children & Young People Working with Children & Young People Primary Education Primary Education Primary Education Early Years Early Years Early Years Early Years

1 1 2 2 3 3 PG PG 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 1 2 3

PG Cert Learning & Teaching in HE (PT) MSc Community Practice Teacher PG Cert Education

PG PG PG

Psychology & Criminology Psychology Psychology & Criminology Psychology Psychology & Criminology Psychology MSc Applioed Positive Psychology MSc Community Psychology Police Studies with Criminal Psycology Police Studies with Criminal Investigation Police Studies with Criminal Investigation Police Studies with Criminology Criminology Criminology and Sociology Criminology Police Studies Police Studies Police Studies FD Policing FD Policing Child Protection & Adult Safeguarding

1 1 2 2 3 3 PG PG 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 PG

FdA Health And Social Care FdA Health And Social Care BA Practice Development

1 2 3

BSc Nursing and Healthcare BSc Nursing and Healthcare BSc (Hons) Nursing and Healthcare

1 1 2

BSc Nursing (Adult) A BSc Nursing (Adult) B

1 1

BSc Nursing (Adult) C BSc Nursing (Adult) C BSc Nursing (Adult) D BSc Nursing (Adult) E BSc Nursing (Adult) F BSc Nursing (Adult) F BSc Nursing (Adult) A BSc Nursing (Adult) A BSc Nursing (Adult) B BSc Nursing (Adult) C BSc Nursing (Adult) D BSc Nursing (Adult) E BSc Nursing (Adult) A BSc Nursing (Adult) B BSc Nursing (Adult) C BSc Nursing (Adult) C BSc Nursing (Adult) E BSc Nursing (Child) R BSc Nursing (Child) R BSc Nursing (Child) L BSc Nursing (Child) R BSc Nursing (Child) R BSc Nursing (Child) L BSc Nursing (Child) BSc Nursing (Mental Health) BSc Nursing (Mental Health) BSc Nursing (Mental Health) BSc Nursing (Mental Health) BSc Nursing (Mental Health) BSc Nursing (Mental Health) PG Dip Nursing (Adult) PG Dip Nursing (Adult) PG Dip Nursing (Mental Health) PG Dip Nursing (Mental Health) Dip HE ODP Dip HE ODP Dip HE ODP Assistant Practitioner

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 PG 3 PG 1 1 2 F

Rena Grewal Jo Morrell Carl Stensel Pekance Tani Carlene Butcher Maria Fawunmi

Jo Starkey Tanya Njeim Clare Piercy

Rachael Hunt Samuel

Trafford

Sarah Lansley Paul Myers Hollie Michele Sipple Stephen Shearing Claire Teesdale James

Stoops

Alistair Bennett

Otto Sandra Pamela Jacqueline Tuesent Arisha Jurisprudence Sammia Christopher

SchwalowskyMonks Lourenco Erett Essel Simon Kullar Maseko Butt Cooke

Bella Stretton Shanique Anisa Lyndsay Holly Lucy Harriet Nicole Kirsty Jessica

Miller Musa FreyBourger Marshall Keen Ralph Broadbent White Nolan

Samson Durodola Thomas Harper- Amos Sarah-Jane Christianah Jon Nii Rachel Sam Samantha Andrew Melany-Jane

Rexon Jenkeo Clark Boi- Dsane Kent Wakefield Fomes Booth Knight

December 2013 The Bucks Student 37

fixtures and results RESULTS 13 NOV BADMINTON - WOMENS Roehampton 1st 8-0 Bucks 1st BASKETBALL - WOMENS Bucks 1st 34-57 St George’s 1st BASKETBALL - MENS Hertfordshire 2nd 61-83 Bucks 1st FOOTBALL - WOMENS University College London 1st 10-0 Bucks 1st FOOTBALL - MENS Bucks 2nd 2-1 St Mary’s 3rd Brunel 3rd 2-0 Bucks 3rd Bucks 4th 6-1 Kingston 3rd Bucks 5th 4-3 University of Westminster 2nd Bucks 6th 4-1 Middlesex 4th

FOOTBALL - MENS Surrey 2nd 2-4 Bucks 2nd Bucks 3rd 3-2 Brunel 4th King’s College 3rd (Medics) 6-1 Bucks 4th Chichester 5th 13-1 Bucks 6th

London 3rd (RUMS) Bucks 2nd 10-27 University of West London 1st

GOLF - MIXED Newport 1st 4-2 Bucks 1st Bucks 2nd 5-1 Portsmouth 2nd

VOLLEYBALL - MENS Middlesex University 1st 1-3 Bucks 1st

NETBALL - WOMENS Bucks 1st 21-40 Portsmouth 3rd RUGBY UNION - MENS Roehampton 1st 3-53 Bucks 1st Reading 4th 26-12 Bucks 2nd TENNIS - MENS Kingston 1st 12-4 Bucks 1st

GOLF - MIXED Bucks 2nd 3.5-2.5 Reading 1st HOCKEY - WOMENS Bucks 1st 2-0 Royal Holloway 2nd NETBALL - WOMENS Brighton 3rd 39-21 Bucks 1st LSE 3rd 31-21 Bucks 2nd Bucks 3rd 49-7 University College London 7th RUGBY - MENS Bucks 2nd 50-18 University of West London 1st TENNIS - MENS Bucks 1st 8-4 Roehampton 2nd VOLLEYBALL - WOMENS Chichester 1st 3-0 Bucks 1st

RESULTS 17 NOV AMERICAN FOOTBALL - MENS UEA 1st 20-0 Bucks 1st

TENNIS - WOMENS Canterbury Christ Church University 1st 1-2 Bucks 1st

BADMINTON - MENS Bucks 1st vs Reading 2nd BASKETBALL - WOMENS Roehampton 1st vs Bucks 1st

BASKETBALL - WOMENS University of Chichester 1st 130-21 Bucks 1st

FOOTBALL - MENS Roehampton 1st vs Bucks 1st Portsmouth 3rd vs Bucks 2nd Bucks 3rd vs St Mary’s 4th Bucks 4th vs Imperial 3rd St Mary’s 5th vs Bucks 5th Bucks 6th vs UCA 1st Bucks 7th vs West London 2nd

RESULTS 20 NOV BASKETBALL - MENS Brighton 1st 67-91 Bucks 1st

RUGBY - MENS Bucks 1st 70-5 University College

TENNIS - MENS Brunel 2nd vs Bucks 1st VOLLEYBALL - MENS Bucks 1st vs Royal Holloway 1st

AMERICAN FOOTBALL - MENS Canterbury Christ Church 1st vs Bucks 1st

FOOTBALL - WOMENS Bucks 1st vs Middlesex 1st

HOCKEY - MENS Imperial College London 3rd 1-2 Bucks 1st

FIXTURES 22 JAN

FIXTURES 8 DEC

BADMINTON - WOMENS Brunel University 1st 8-0 Bucks 1st

GOLF - MIXED Bucks 1st 2.5-3.5 University of Plymouth 1st Portsmouth University Mixed 1st 2-4 Bucks 2nd

TENNIS - WOMENS Sussex 2nd vs Bucks 1st

BADMINTON - WOMENS Westminster 1st vs Bucks 1st

BASKETBALL - MENS Roehampton 1st vs Bucks 1st

FOOTBALL - MENS University of Sussex 2nd 3-5 Bucks 3rd Bucks 5th 1-1 King’s College London 4th University of the Arts London 3rd 1-2 Bucks 7th

VOLLEYBALL - MENS Bucks 1st vs Chichester 1st

FIXTURES 4 DEC

RESULTS 27 NOV

BASKETBALL - MENS University of Chichester 1st 104-109 Bucks 1st

SQUASH - MENS City 1st vs Bucks 1st

GOLF - MIXED Bucks 1st vs Bournemouth 1st Hertfordshire 1st vs Bucks 2nd HOCKEY - WOMENS Bucks 1st vs Portsmouth 2nd HOCKEY - MENS Brunel 2nd vs Bucks 1st NETBALL - WOMENS Surrey 2nd vs Bucks 1st Bucks 2nd vs St Mary’s 3rd Bucks 3rd vs Imperial 8th (Medics) RUGBY UNION - MENS Reading 2nd vs Bucks 1st LSE 3rd vs Bucks 2nd

FUTSAL - MENS Bucks 1st vs Brunel 2nd

FIXTURES 11 DEC NETBALL - WOMENS Brunel 4th vs Bucks 1st Westminster 1st vs Bucks 2nd BADMINTON - MENS Westminster 1st vs Bucks 1st BASKETBALL - WOMENS City 1st vs Bucks 1st BASKETBALL - MENS Bucks 1st vs Portsmouth 2nd FOOTBALL - MENS Chichester 3rd vs Bucks 2nd TBC vs Bucks 3rd Roehampton 3rd vs Bucks 6th GOLF - MIXED Merrist Wood 1st vs Bucks 1st HOCKEY - WOMENS Portsmouth 2nd vs Bucks 1st TENNIS - MENS Bucks 1st vs Sussex 2nd RUGBY UNION - MENS Bucks 1st vs Surrey 1st Bucks 2nd vs Portsmouth 4th VOLLEYBALL - WOMENS Brunel 1st vs Bucks 1st

man / woman of the match Wed 13 Nov Rugby 2nd Tom Allen Futsal Niall Cowman American Football Ben Lee Football 1st Joe Collins Football 2nd John Uwina Football 3rd Ryan Taylor Football 5th Tom Thompson

Netball 1st Katie Singleton Netball 2nd Vicky Brocklehurst Netball 3rd Georgie Collie Golf 1st Dylan Williams Golf 2nd Bradley Fullbrook Volleyball Natalia

BADMINTON - MENS King’s College 3rd (Medics) vs Bucks 1st BASKETBALL - WOMENS Reading 1st vs Bucks 1st BASKETBALL - MENS Brunel 2nd vs Bucks 1st FOOTBALL - WOMENS Canterbury Christ Church 1st vs Bucks 1st FOOTBALL - MENS Bucks 1st vs Portsmouth 2nd Bucks 2nd vs Sussex 2nd Kingston 1st vs Bucks 3rd Bucks 4th vs Roehampton 2nd Portsmouth 6th vs Bucks 5th Bucks 7th vs Westminster 3rd GOLF - MIXED Exeter 1st vs Bucks 1st Bucks 2nd vs Kent 1st HOCKEY - WOMENS Sussex 2nd vs Bucks 1st HOCKEY - MENS Bucks 1st vs Royal Holloway 1st NETBALL - WOMENS Bucks 1st vs Brunel 4th Kingston 2nd vs Bucks 2nd Westminster 2nd vs Bucks 3rd RUGBY - MENS Bucks 1st vs Chichester 1st Bucks 2nd vs UAL 1st SQUASH - MENS LSE 2nd vs Bucks 1st TENNIS - WOMENS Queen Mary 2nd vs Bucks 1st TENNIS - MENS VOLLEYBALL - MENS Portsmouth 1st vs Bucks 1st

what Matt-ers

Wed 20 Nov

Wed 27 Nov

Football 2nd Jacob McGill Football 3rd Andrew Stewart Football 6th Julian Zimmerling Football 7th George Black Golf 2nd Ste Dutton American Football Ash Phillips Netball 1st Olivia Dann Rugby 1st Nick Ogbonna Rugby 2nd James Thornton

Football 3rd Chris Watling Football 5th Stephen Hawes Football 7th Kel Crook Rugby 1st Luke Davis Rugby 2nd Sam Bottom Golf 1st Alex Leung Golf 2nd Dylan Williams Womens Tennis Lucy Green

The last two weeks for me have been quite inspiring. After visiting America to explore how American universities go about their work, and speaking to our counterparts at American institutions. Since coming back we have been In regular contact with senior management of the University to try and change various things to improve the student experience.

by Matt Gilbert Vice President Student Involvement

38 The Bucks Student December 2013

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Updates from the world of Boxing & UFC BOXING CARL FROCH CONTROVERSIALLY WINS TO DEFEND TITLES Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch controversially defended his WBA and IBF Super middleweight titles on Saturday night against fellow Englishmen George Groves in front of the sold out Phones 4U Arena in Manchester.

The two domestic rivals put their skills to the test in a highly anticipated battle in which Carl Froch won the fight via a controversial TKO in the ninth round.

Froch bounced back after being heavily knocked down in the first round by a vicious right hand counter.

With Groves dictating the early part of the fight landing shots at will, the fight was quickly slipping away from the 3 times World Champ. Groves was clearly showing that youth was on his side by being the much quicker fighter and beating Froch to the punch on almost every occasion.

You could have made the debate that after 6 rounds that Groves won all the rounds, but as the fight progressed and entered the 8th round the Champion came on strong and was landing heavy shots which visibly marked up the challenger Groves.

During the middle of the ninth round, Froch had Groves pinned up against the ropes and landed a series of combinations to the body and head that left Groves in trouble, clearly showing the effects of the crisp Froch punches. This led to the Referee Howard Foster calling a stop to the action seeing Groves in no condition to continue.

As it being a World Title clash, and all the trash talk leading up to the fight. Groves could have taken a

UFC few more punches, but the ref was unwilling to let the challenger go out on his shield. Unfortunately bringing an end to a truly great British affair.

It is already being muted for a rematch but that is up to the promoters and Sky Sports. Carl Froch has said that he wouldn’t ever turn down an opponent but with him being in the twilight of his career and Groves only going to get better I would expect Froch to try and move onto an easier task, he has nothing left to prove in the sport of Boxing, with that being his eleventh title fight in a row. The 36 year old may want to move on to better pastures and look for a bigger more profile fight and pay day to end his career on.

As for Groves he looked phenomenal for that being his first fight against a truly world class opposition.

If he doesn’t get a chance to redeem himself against Froch, another world title fight will only be around the corner for the 25 year old.

‘PAC MAN’ MAKES WINNING RETURN Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring for the first time in a year after being viscously knocked out last November by Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez.

It was a comfortable nights work for Pacquiao, beating American and former lightweight title holder Brandon Rios by unanimous decision.

There are lots of options now for ‘The Pac Man’, including a possible rematch against title holder Timothy Bradley and of course the super-fight everyone wants to see against pound for pound number one Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.

GSP DEFENDS TITLE WITH CLOSE SPLITDECISION WIN Georges St-Pierre retained his UFC Welterweight championship for a successive ninth time against number 1 contender Johny Hendricks.

The 170lbs clash took place at the sold out MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was a close affair with many people believing that Johny Hendricks doing enough to snatch the title away from GSP. With the first opinion in the eyes of the judges which ultimately decided the outcome of the bout, scores of (48-47, 48-47, 47-48) resulting in a split-decision victory in favour of the champion.

With it being such a close and thrilling fight the first time, UFC President Dana White is keen to make a re-match as soon as possible.

GSP however may have made other plans thought with him stating that he wants to take some time away from the sport, to deal with some troubling personal issues. Still only being 32 and spent over 10 years in the UFC, which has seen him fight 21 times and compete in 14 title fights. It’s not surprising the champ wants a vacation.

HAMPER FOR THE

HOMELESS Fill a shoe box of winter warmers for Wycombe Homeless Connection and help those in need this Christmas.

Leave your filled shoeboxes at the Students’ Union. Please wrap lids separately so the box can be opened without tearing the paper.

You could fill your box with: A diary, notebook and pen, Christmas sweets/chocolate, biscuits, socks, underwear, a scarf, gloves, a hat, a small packet of tissues, wet wipes, toiletries, or hand warmers.

Deadline to hand in your hamper is 17 December.

UPCOMING EVENTS UFC 168 Weidman v Silva 2: This event sees newly crowned middleweight champion take on the man he just defeated. Former UFC middleweight champion and pound for pound king Anderson Silva. Who was undefeated in the UFC since joining the organisation in 2006.

Weidman will be aiming to prove that his emphatic knockout over the former champion in July was no fluke and that he is new king of the division. While Silva will be looking to cement his place as the greatest ever to step foot inside the octagon.

Also on the card sees the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion and olympic bronze medallist in judo at the 2008 beijing olympic Ronda Rousey, defend her title against bitter rival Miesha Tate. The two clashed as coaches on this season of ‘the ultimate fighter”.

They previously met in March of 2012, with the champion coming out on top via her famed armbar in the first round. The event takes place on Dec 29 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Coverage starts at 1am here in the UK and you can watch it on BT Sport 1.

December 2013 The Bucks Student 39

Bucks 2XV 50 - 18 University of West London 1XV It was bright day at Kingsmead on Wednesday in more ways than one as Bucks 2XV dominated the University of West London’s 1XV for their biggest win yet.

KICK-OFF got underway at 2pm and from the off Bucks looked keen with some outstanding forward and backs link ups by Frazer Hunt and Sam Hewitt. Tom Bedford was the first to put points on the board for Bucks as he crashed over the try line after taking full advantage of the UWL penalty. 5-0 Bucks.

UWL were quick to gain some of their own points as a kicked penalty for being offside found the gap between the uprights. 5 – 3 Bucks. It wasn’t long before Bucks responded in kind when Frazer Hunt (again) stole the ball out the back of the scrum and made some great yardage with a pass to Toby Gillatt. After the recycle Andrew Watson stormed over the line for an easy try. 10 – 3 Bucks.

After all his great work, Hunt suffered a groin injury and was substituted for the club’s president, Sam Bottom. It wasn’t long before his presence had an effect as he picked up from the back of the scrum and set up the scrumhalf, Andy Doyle for a try under the post. To add to the score Doyle converted the try. 17 – 3 Bucks.

The game became a war of attrition until half time with neither team breaking the others line. UWL attempted to score in the corner right on the whistle but winger, Kye Lott managed to push him into touch before the ball was grounded. The score at halftime, 17-6 Bucks.

After an inspirational half-time chat from Captain Sweeney, Bucks went back out with more vigour than they started with, leading to a well worked try from Tom Allen who scored after fullback, Hewitt, recycled a poor penalty kick from UWL. Doyle converted the try to make it 24-6.

Some poor defence on Bucks part minutes later allowed UWL to score an easy try but fortunately the flyhalf missed the kick leaving the score at 24-11.

The next try from Bucks can only be described as a worldie as Bottom picked up from the back of a scrum in his own half and offloaded to Doyle who went on to beat 6 men as he ran from the halfway line and grounded the ball in the corner, the only downside to his try being that he missed the conversion. 29 – 11 Bucks.

At the next ruck Doyle again showed his newfound skills and gave a show and go worthy of Will Genia. He made a few yards before an accurate pass span its way to Gillatt who easily passed his tacklers and scored under the posts. 36 – 11 Bucks.

Some complacency from Bucks crept in as the UWL flyhalf made the most of some poor tackling by breaking through a number of men to score just to the side if the posts. His conversion saw the end of UWL’s points gain as he made it 36-18.

Bucks worked their way back up the field with the forwards rucking over in spectacular fashion to make it deep inside the UWL 22 metre line. Doyle passes out to Ashton Chesterman-Bailey (possibly royalty with that name, we’re not sure) who put his head down and drove through to the line with tacklers hanging off him and in turn kicked the conversion in which he scored to make the score 43-18.

From this point onwards scrums had to go uncontested as UWL lost a prop and couldn’t find a worthy replacement. Another pick up to the rear of the scrum by Bottom saw the ball offloaded to Doyle who spun it out to the wing where Walsh accepted but went down in the tackle. The ball

was recycled back to Chesterman-Bailey and after a fantastic inside line

by Tom Allen was grounded under the posts. For some reason Watson (A PROP…) took the conversion and actually scored to make it 50-18.

Captain Sweeney was very happy with his men and found it so hard to choose a Man of the Match that he gave it to three: Sam Williams, Tom Allen (the final MotM) and Andy Doyle.

For live game tweets and Ohio ‘O’ Orumens unique take on the game follow @BucksMensRugby on Twitter.

by Ohio ‘O’ Orumens

BNU Taekwondo Club Bucks New University Taekwondo club took part in its first taekwondo competition of the year recently (23/11), the Imperial College Student Open.

IN its second year of its existence, this tournament attracted over 160 competitors from universities across the country, an increase of more than 60 over last year. It was organised in association with the British Student Taekwondo Federation.

The club took a team of four competitors and several supporters, led by Team Captain Kyle Freer and coached by Instructor Trevor Page. All four competitors were eligible to compete after comfortably making their weight categories, and took part in 7 matches in total.

Captain Kyle Freer put in a great performance, and

after easily winning his first match, but injuring his foot, was just beaten in the semi-final, and took a Bronze in the -74kg category.

Aaron Grant-Booker competed in the -87kg category and after easily winning his first match, was so exhausted that he had to go hospital.

However he was pronounced fit enough to continue and by playing a tactical match managed to beat his opponents in both the semi-final and final matches, and win the Gold. This meant the Bucks were able to bring home 2 medals out of four competitors, and was a fantastic achievement by the team.

We now turn our attentions to our grading examination and the student nationals, which will take place in March, where we hope to take between 8-10 student competitors from Bucks. So hopefully more medals.

A massive thank you has to go to Imperial College Taekwondo Club for hosting an amazing event that I’m sure will continue for many years. Big thanks also have to go to current and former team mates who came down and supported us.

If you’re interested in this historic Korean Martial Art, feel free to come along to any of our

training sessions and develop your self- defence techniques, fitness, sparring skills and much more.

Our training times are Sunday 2pm-4pm in the Main Hall, Monday 8pm-10pm in Dance Studio 1 (next to beats) and Thursday 8pm -10pm in the Main Hall. Come down and join the Taekwondo Family, hopefully see you soon.

by Aaron Grant-Booker Chair of Taekwondo Club

40 The Bucks Student December 2013

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Bucks Netball Club Bucks Netball Club consists of three talented teams who play competitive games each week. there are plenty of opportunities to be part of Bucks Netball whether as a social member, someone who wants to play competitively, wants to learn the sport or just wants to come along for some fun.

Bucks Netball has something for everyone, although we are an all girls sport this doesn’t restrict us in anyway, it shows off the female sporting ability in such a strong light. The new netball dresses we have this year really made the teams look professional and ready to take on any team we meet. We have two amazing coaches who support every girl’s

development into the sport who work alongside our captains to ensure a training schedule is in place to strengthen the teams.

Although we train outside each week and as it is getting darker and colder it doesn’t stop us from braving the weather and coming together as a club to make it through every training session and match. Each match the teams are playing strong each week, putting up a strong fight for every match played. Matches have been going very well so far this year with minimal weather disruption into the season. May the progress of our teams

go on into the New Year.

We train all together every Tuesday so there is still plenty of time to join in, meet us at the Students’ Union at 6:30pm to travel down to the courts at Kingsmead.

Find us on twitter: @BucksNetball

by Abbie Blunt Netball Secretary

TENNIS CANOEING ROWING GYMNASTICS

SQUASH LESSONS

27 January - 31 March 2014

BEGINNER SWIMMING

LESSONS 30 January - 3 April 2014

GOLF

LESSONS

20 January - 17 February 2014

SOFTBALL RUGBY ATHLETICS HOCKEY FOOTBALL NETBALL SQUASH WAKEBOARDING BOXING CLIMBING VOLLEYBALL SPINNING

Squash is a fun, sociable sport and a great way to keep fit. Why not give something new a try and take up squash lessons?

Being able to swim is a valuable life skill as well as a great way to keep fit. If you’ve never learnt to swim before, this is the perfect opportunity!

Sport For Fun are running a ten week block of squash lessons, open to all abilities. Lessons run on a Monday evening, 6.30pm - 7.30pm

Sport For Fun are running a ten week block of swimming lessons in term two, targeted at beginners. Lessons run on a Thursday evening, 7pm - 8pm

If you attend at least 8 sessions, you will receive a free squash racket as well!

Sport for Fun are giving students and staff the opportunity to take up golf. Whether you see yourself as the next Tiger Woods or are a complete beginner, these lessons are for everyone!

Lessons run for five weeks on a Monday evening, 5pm - 6pm (for students) and 6pm 7pm (for staff).

Each sport has a £20 charge, however, if you attend at least 80% of the sessions, you get £10 back. Email sport@bucks.ac.uk to sign up or to find out more.

WATERSKIING BADMINTON BASKETBALL SWIMMING DODGEBALL BOXERCISE GOLF