The Founder Volume 5 Issue 4

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2 The Founder | Thursday 4 November 2010 The Founder The Independent Student Newspaper of Royal Holloway, University of London Email: editor@thefounder.co.uk thefounder.co.uk For the latest news, reviews, and everything Holloway, get online Check out our website The Founder online has had a facelift, why not check it out? Just navigate to: thefounder.co.uk Please recycle this newspaper when you are finished Recycling bins are located at: Arts Building, The Hub, Gowar and Wedderburn Halls, T-Dubbs RAG Chooses its Charities Chooses its tf editorial team News Editor Tom Seal Comment & Debate Nick Coleridge-Watts Features Editor Kate Brook Film Editor Daniel Collard Editor-in-Chief Jack Lenox Editors Tom Shore & Edward Harper Arts Editor Alexandra Kinman Don’t Run With Scissors A Report From the Anti Cuts Meeting Heather Rimington Pictures Julian Farmer Amy Taheri Music Editor David Bowman Sport Editor Johanna Svensson Sub-Editors Heather Rimington Julia Armfield Designed by Jack Lenox, Edward Harper & Tom Shore On Thursday 21st October the SU coordinated with the ‘Royal Holloway Anti-Cuts Alliance’ (RHACA) to stage a meeting called ‘Don’t Run with Scissors: Cuts to Education Never Heal’ in order to deal with the news of the government’s recent spending reviews. This meeting aimed to introduce students to how these cuts will affect both our university and the wider local community. To these ends, a number of speakers were invited, representing different organisations, including The British Trade Union and the NUS, as well as representatives from Royal Holloway. The first speaker to address the packed Founder’s Main Lecture Theatre was Kit Leary from ‘Save Our Services in Surrey’, who spoke about the specific effects of the cuts on Surrey. Leary opened by countering the recent BBC survey that lists The Founder is the independent student newspaper of Royal Holloway, University of London. We distribute at least 4,000 free copies every fortnight during term time around campus and to popular student venues in and around Egham. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Editor-in-Chief or of The Founder Publications Ltd, especially of comment and opinion pieces. Every effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright for any material used in this issue, and to ensure the accuracy of this fortnight’s stories. For advertising and sponsorship enquiries, please contact the Business Director: advertising@thefounder.co.uk Web www.thefounder.co.uk Email editor@thefounder.co.uk The Founder is published by The Founder Publications Ltd and printed by Mortons Print Ltd Runnymede as the seventh most resilient county to the cuts by contrasting this to the fact that the nearby Spelthorne was listed as seventieth. He accepted that areas of Surrey are very affluent but emphasised the pockets of poverty which can also be found in this borough. On the matter of the cuts, Leary stated that the ‘axe was coming’ and that wherever it falls it will ‘hit from cradle to grave’. He also discussed the planned downsizing of the Connexions Careers Service which would relocate the current twenty centres into two offices in Epsom and Camberley. Combined with planned cuts to the bus service, Leary expressed his fears that Connexions would now be rendered virtually inaccessible. He concluded by calling the cuts a single unified program of attacks that require a single unified program of defence. The second speaker was Duska Rosenburg, as a representative of ‘University and College Union’ and Want to write for thefounder? No problem! Just get in touch! All copyright is the exclusive property of The Founder Publications Ltd No part of this publication is to be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system or submitted in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the publisher © The Founder Publications Ltd. 2010, 53 Glebe Road, Egham Surrey, TW20 8BU a professor of Computer and Information Communication at Royal Holloway. After stating that she fully backed the RHACA, Rosenburg declared that at a time where other countries are investing in education our government should not be undermining our future with these ‘misguided’ cuts. She described the danger of focusing on a monetary economy at the expense of the knowledge economy, which is a beneficial but unquantifiable force. The responsibility of the academic circle in supporting the wider community was also emphasised as Rosenburg closed with the statement ‘this is not just about academics but about the rest of us as well’. There was a change in focus to how these cuts would affect specific communities disproportionately with the presence of Dave Weaver speaking on behalf of ‘Black Activ continued on page 6 » Charities Beth Bridewell Communications Officer At the RAG meeting on Wednesday 20th October, the charities that RAG would support for the academic year 2010/2011 were chosen. This was done by reading through an application form sent in by over 15 charities, containing vital information about their cause and the money they raise. Three charities were to be selected and this occurred through a vote of people attending the meeting. The charities selected shall be the focus of RAGs fundraising endeavors throughout the year, these being: Anthony Nolan, Street Invest and International Alert. Anthony Nolan is a medical charity of upmost importance that has helped find thousands of people a bone marrow donor. Anthony Nolan is the best chance for thousands of people needing a bone marrow match, but for every person they help there are people that miss out. Bone marrow is very specific and therefore to have a transplant requires a perfect match – this takes time and money and to save lives money is key. They have a long history of innovation and have created the world’s first register of people willing to donate their stem cells and now have the UK’s first dedicated cord blood bank. Anthony Nolan are constantly seek ways to improve the success of stem cell transplants using cutting edge technology. For every pound raised by us 82p will go towards helping save lives, 9p goes towards vital research into making stem cell and bone marrow transplants more successful, 8p goes to raising more money and the last 1p goes towards administration. Anthony Nolan is an amazing medical charity and that’s why they are one of the 3 RAG charities this academic year. In addition to “Make a Wish”, for which the pantomime will be raising money for, RAG’s main children’s charity for the year is “Street- Invest”. The charity writes that their mission will be fulfilled “when street children are just children.” They help forgotten children through the professional training of street workers who work as the trustworthy adults that the street children need in their lives. Through these listeners on the ground level, the charity can fully understand where best to invest in order to truly improve the lives of these children. Based in the UK, this is a smaller charity for Royal Holloway to support and we hope that students will feel an affinity with these children who have to live alone, and support a charity that aims to invest in the children that do. Our third charity, International Alert are a non-governmental organisation and charity, based in London. They describe themselves as “an independent peace building organisation that works to lay the foundations for lasting peace and security in communities affected by violent conflict”. Active in over 20 countries all over the world, their regional work is located in places such as the West Africa, South Asia and the Andean region of South America; which are all areas affected by, threatened by or dealing with the after-math of conflict. With 99% of their annual income (£10.5 million) going to charitable causes, it is clear that this company are making a huge difference on an international scale. We believe these charities are all well worth raising money for and we can’t wait to get started. We need help for fundraising ideas, help putting events on and donations from everyone and anyone!
The Founder | Thursday 4 November 2010 News 3 POLLING STATION First Cross Campus Election Results Emily Lees An Icy Treat is Heading Towards Founders Christmas is coming early to Royal Holloway this year, with the South quad of Founder’s building being adorned with a glistening sheet of ice. The synthetic ice rink will measure 144 square meters and will be open to all students, staff and the public from December 6th until 23rd December. Sessions on the rink will last 45 minutes and will be offered daily from 2pm to 9.45pm. For Royal Holloway students and staff the sessions will only cost £7 at peak times or £6 off peak (Monday – Friday before 5pm) The ice rink is environmentally friendly so this Christmas pleasure is entirely guilt free; skaters will be provided with skates...however, the ability to stay on your feet is up to you! Skaters may be a little cold after their skate, and will be able to warm themselves up with some seasonal treats and mulled wine from Crosslands café. Royal Holloway is very much reaching out to the local community with this free ice rink as Melanie Loizou, Deputy Director of Client Services at Royal Holloway, has stated: “We are really proud to be able to bring something quite unique to the area for Christmas. Our beautiful Founder’s building will make a stunning backdrop to the ice rink and we will be encouraging local families to come along and enjoy this festive experience alongside our own students and staff.” This wonderful winter treat is one not to miss, so for any more information and to book time slots online go to: www.conferences.rhul.ac.uk/christmas. Vikki Vile The much anticipated results of the recent Royal Holloway Student’s Union elections (the first to utilise online voting) were announced last week, with this year’s appointees more determined than ever to make a change to our university experience. Cordelia Masters received more votes than any other candidate this election, gaining 213 to become this year’s RAG Vice-Chair. She told The Founder “I’m really excited about the position, and am looking forward to helping RAG reach out to every element of Holloway life.” An English student, Cordelia is predominantly concerned working together with all the societies to create future charity fundraising, adding “We really want to encourage all societies to put on their own charity events with the help of RAG. I’m also really excited about how the pantomime is coming along.” With 178 votes, Anoosheh Dastbaz was voted the 2010/11 ‘SU Publication’ Editor, facing no opposition. Elizabeth Bridewell won her election to become this year’s NUS Delegate receiving 137 votes. She said of her appointment “to have gained the position of NUS Delegate at a time like this seems perfect.” This ‘time’ refers to the current political climate concerning the removal of a cap on tuition fees and Elizabeth hopes to make a stand against the cuts, saying: “With the recent news of the Browne Report and the Spending Review, I feel it is a vital time to unite as a union of students and make it clear that we care about how the system pans out. I am excited to attend the ‘Fund Our Future: Stop the Cuts’ Demonstration on the 10th of November in London. I hope as many people as possible from Royal Holloway come to show their motivation to see things change.” Two candidates ran for the position of NUS Delegate and, gaining 119 votes, Waleed Wain was also elected. Liz Scott-Wilson was another student who faced no opposition in the elections but was still very pleased to receive 192 votes to become this year’s First Year Representative. She told The Founder, “I was quite surprised at the lack of candidacy for the post of First Year Rep. I only found this out after the deadline had shut.” Liz went on to say she really enjoyed the candidacy process at Royal Holloway, explaining, “Comparing it to the elections for Students’ Committee President that happened at school every year, this election was crazy: a lot of bits of paper, videos and stuff that I wasn’t sure were wholly necessary since there wasn’t any opposition...but it was fun.” However, Liz is aware there is a lot more to the position than making videos. Acting as a voice for tentative first years’ is an important job: “I stick to what I’ve said over and over again, we all need to have our say. I’d also like to say “Hi” and “Sorry, mate” to the re open nominee!” As Liz was the only candidate to stand, the electorate is given the option of voting to re-open the position, though fortunately this did not happen in any of the candidates’ cases this year. The position of International Student Officer for this year was voted for by 236 students, 209 of whom voted for Paras Jain to fulfil this role. However, the most fiercely-fought for position was that of Union Chairperson for the coming year. Four candidates stood and 280 votes were cast. Candidates were required to gain more than 140 votes to become elected. After a third round of voting revealed a very closely fought contest with Katie receiving 117 votes and Jude receiving 120 votes meaning Jude Davé will serve as Royal Holloway’s 2010/11 Union Chair. He was keen to send out a message to all students that their voices should be heard, “I am here to promise the best of myself to the position and to let the Student voice be heard. There is work to be done, not necessarily to change the Union, but to improve it. I want to tell the students that the Union is you! Without you, there would be no Union. It is for the students. If students do not take an active role in the Union, then there is no use having one, hence I urge RHUL Students to come to General Meeting and use it as a platform to showcase your voice.” Jude’s enthusiasm is easy to see and he is keen to be seen as an approachable and accessible figure in the student body, stating “I am not above or below any student, if anything I am their equal. They can find me, talk to me, and together, we can light the sparks to the firework. The Voice is Yours.”
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The Founder Volume 5 Issue 4

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