Issue 43 - University of Surrey's Student Union

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14 FEATURES The Stag | 6 th March 2012 features@thestagsurrey.co.uk Features We can’t work for free! With the prospect of graduation looming, it’s not surprising that final year undergraduates are concerned about the future. But in the current economic climate, many will find themselves unnecessarily drawn to unpaid internships. In the wake of an NUS campaign to eliminate unlawful employment, The Stag got in touch with the University of Surrey Careers Service to find out more… By Tom Goulding, Deputy Editor TS: What is the University of Surrey’s stance on unpaid internships? USCS: The Careers Service only advertises positions which comply with National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation – therefore unpaid internships are not advertised, unless they are with an organisation which has a specific exemption from the NMW, such as a registered charity. It is also worth noting that work placements which are formally part of your course of study, such as the Professional Training Year here at Surrey, are also exempt from the NMW. The majority of these are paid, however, this does vary from course to course. In addition to the above, the Careers Service adheres to the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services’ Position Statement on Internships. TS: Could you explain why the NUS, TUC and UCU have had to collaborate on a campaign to end unpaid internships? UCSC: The organisations collaborating on the campaign have stated they believe internships are contributing to growing inequality in education and the job market, with those with financial support able to undertake unpaid work, whilst unpaid internships remain inaccessible to those from poorer backgrounds or those who live outside London. TS: Given the current level of unemployment UK, do you agree that Arts & Humanities undergraduates are particularly susceptible to taking unpaid internships? Do you think there is a solution to this considering that most media positions are already oversubscribed? USCS: There is some evidence that unpaid positions are more prevalent in the media and creative industries, which can often be popular with Arts and Humanities graduates - although of course students from a wide variety of disciplines may seek to enter these industries. Gaining experience is certainly important to have the best chance of entering these industries, but this could take a number of forms - from short work experience placements to volunteering with hospital radio or student media outlets. TS: Will the University of Surrey Careers Service be taking measures to make students aware of unpaid internships in the foreseeable future? If so, what steps will be taken? USCS: It is important that students are aware of their rights in relation to the NMW, and makes information available to students to help them with this. As an impartial source of advice and guidance, the Careers Service cannot tell students which positions to accept. However, we are always pleased to talk to students about their options, and will continue to work to make students aware of their rights, and with employers to make them aware of their responsibilities. TS: Do you have any further advice for students currently seeking work placements? USCS: The recruitment process for work placements can be just as competitive as those for graduate jobs. Therefore, we would advise all students to prepare thoroughly and make the best application possible – tailoring their CV, covering letter or application form for each job, and offering specific evidence of the skills and abilities required by the employer. It is also worth being aware that for summer internships employers often recruit well in advance – with closing dates up to six months in advance of the start of the internship. Therefore it is worth planning ahead. Finally, make yourself aware of your rights in relation to the NMW and employment law more generally. Read more on unpaid jobs... To read more about unpaid internships and to comment, why not visit the new Careers Service blog: uniofsurreycareers.wordpress.com Or for further info please visit: www.surrey.ac.uk/careers ... or phone 01483 689001 to book an appointment. ©rob ‘n’ rae LFW Round-up Ellis Taylor Phew, what a fashion week! Between the 17 th and 21 st February London was teaming with fashion folk rushing between shows. Now although it is all in preparation for Autumn/Winter 2012, it’s always good to know in advance which winter items are worth keeping. In terms of colour and tone, berry, forest green, and dark blue will make their presence known in the shops. Whilst dark colours for winter isn’t particularly ground breaking, we need to think about how we will wear them. I’m not talking simple dark jeans with a dark coloured jumper, oh no, these shades have a sort of morbid and mysterious feel to them. In Christopher Kane, we saw florals being brought down in their mood. But if you want something brighter, look to Holly Fulton for inspiration. As for print, it’s all about the country being brought to the city. Houndstooth, tweed and tartan were all over the catwalks, particularly in Henry Holland, so keep an eye out for those. Also, Peter Pilotto brought us some erratic yet controlled prints, as did many other designers, and metallic shades shimmered down the runway of Alice Temperley. With the colours and prints nailed, it’s time to think textures. My, my, there sure was a lot of fur; Alice Temperley and Mulberry showed us how to do it, whilst PPQ threw in some velvet and Topshop Unique added some leather. For shape, Burberry Prorsum showed peplum at its best, and high necklines were sported on nearly every runway, particularly Erdem. If you don’t have the time, or patience, to trawl through every show and want some exciting ones to watch then I highly recommend Mary Katranzou for inspiring clothes, and Meadham Kirchhoff for entertainment (check out the shoes, they’re amazing). And finally, check out Anya Hindmarch for some awesome staging. And if you missed it completely, don’t worry - only six months till next London Fashion Week… Holly Fulton - LFW
Features Editor: Nicole Vassell | Copy Editor: Michaela Fulton The Stag | 6 th March 2012 FEATURES 15 The Heart of the Circus Admittedly, my knowledge and experience with male strippers is limited. So as I sat waiting for the interview to begin, I tried to imagine what British Heart was going to look like. Tattooed? Seven-foot tall? Completely naked? Promptly, my musings came to an end as the host of Circus of Men came into the room. He was slim, and wore a skin coloured leotard with mirrors all over the front of it. His eyes were lined with dark pencil and to top off the outfit, he wore a black fur shrug. I groaned – I never thought I’d see the day when a man was more glamorous than me. By Nicole Vassell, Features Editor TS: How long have you been in Boylesque, and what attracted you to it? Since 2008, after watching a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - I used to direct, but I originally trained as a performer and I thought: “Bang!” The show was confusing, it was anarchic, with performers throwing things at the audience and the audience were throwing things back...It was a little bit wild. A lot of nudity, a lot of sexiness – and I wanted in. TS: How did you get into Circus of Men (COM)? The bosses were looking for male strippers, but burlesque style ones, ones with a difference. They contacted me probably because they wanted me to bring a bit of an alternative cabaret personality to the show, and they also wanted to display a different kind of male erotic. They didn’t just want lots of buff, meaty guys but a variety of different, beautiful men on stage. TS: Stereotypically, this is a field strongly dominated by women. How do you feel as a man in this industry? I feel good. It’s about time men were given the chance to break out of the normal moulds of being a man. It’s time that men can find much more skilled and much more beautiful, sensual ways of being erotic. TS: What’s your favourite type of gig to play? The late, late, late shows where I can do anything. The filthy ones. TS: Is that what’s in store for tonight? It might happen tonight, it depends on the audience – if it gets to one or two o’ clock in the morning, we’ll see how the audience are. It may come to the point where we want to pour alcohol on our naked bodies and get the audience to drink off it - we’ll see what happens! TS: Do you ever suffer from stage fright? [instantly] No. No. Not now, anyway. It’s a different gig, a different feeling. If you do mainstream theatre, you stand backstage and prepare your character, and go through some sort of psychological process, or whatever you’ve been trained to do, but this is much more of you, and yourself – I say just f*** it and do it. TS: How much time outside of performing is spent on maintaining your physical fitness? A lot. In COM, we each have particular skills, and every day you have to keep up your own training. For me, I pole-dance, I just started pommel horse (a gymnastic activity)...every day you have to do your bit – handstands et cetera. The rest of the guys are the same, you have to train. There are people from the traditional circus, from Australia, from all over the world. There are fire-breathers who have to keep fairly tough and trained. TS: Have you ever had any on-stage injuries? Oh yes. The most recent one happened when I was pole-dancing, and the person who installed the pole had bent some of the metal out, so as I was dancing I came off with a big graze down the side of my ribs. But this definitely isn’t one of the worst injuries I’ve had – I’ve had quite private parts of my body grabbed by audience members on the stage. When I did a gig called ‘Bare-lesque’, I offered my naked body to the audience to clean with sponges. And I was knocked over, I was rolled around, all sorts – I came out of the gig with all sorts of dents and grazes. But it’s all worth it in the end. TS: What’s the best part of your job? Blowing the audience away. When the audience are seeing all the acts, revolving through the air, spinning on the pole, and you just see their eyes and you completely capture and claim their attention…it’s a good job. The worst is hitting a very dead crowd. Sometimes it’s quite hard in clubs, when the audience have been drinking a lot and they get a bit rowdy. Or just performing to three people. That has happened before. Finally, describe tonight’s show in one word. [after a pause] Meaty hotness. “Though “meaty hotness” happens to be two words, I overlooked that. The interview ended, we shook hands and he told me to enjoy the rest of the night. It wasn’t until I saw him walking away, that I discovered that his costume was backless, and his bare backside was the last I saw of him before Circus of Men came on stage. It seems I was the first to get a sneak preview of the show - being the Features Editor has its perks, after all.”
Page 1 and 2: Newspaper of the students of the Un
Page 3 and 4: News Editor: Jyoti Rambhai | Copy E
Page 5: News Editor: Jyoti Rambhai | Copy E
Page 8 and 9: 8 UNION The Stag | 6 th March 2012
Page 10 and 11: UNIVERSITY OF Enter details here SU
Page 12: 12 OPINION & ANALYSIS The Stag | 6
Page 17 and 18: Features Editor: Nicole Vassell | C
Page 19 and 20: Mushroom Rarebit (v) FOOD Monday Gr
Page 21 and 22: Sci/Tech Editor: Nathanael Roome |
Page 23 and 24: Dance/Theate Editor: Hannah Jellima
Page 25 and 26: Film Editor: Tiffany Tucker | Copy
Page 27 and 28: Lit Editor: Alexandra Wilks | Copy
Page 29 and 30: Music Editor: Sophia Field | Copy E
Page 31 and 32: Music Editor: Sophia Field | Copy E
Page 33 and 34: Societies Editor: Chris Dighton | C
Page 35 and 36: Sport Editor: Jordan Vine | Copy Ed

Issue 43 - University of Surrey's Student Union

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?