InQuire 8.3

InQuire visit our website at - www.inquirelive.co.uk

Issue 8.3

does nasa deserve funding? veteran freshers’ reviews adventures with greenday

14th September 2012

want to join a society?

#hellokent

comment - page 6

iq entertainment - page 16

iq culture - page 19

iq features - pages 11/12

WELCOME to the University of Kent! If you’re a Fresher, then congratulations on your A-Level results and successfully getting into university. If you’re a returning student, welcome back and we hope you had a brilliant summer off! These will be the best few years of your life so we hope you’ll make the most of it, learn some things along the way and have fun. We at InQuire have worked tirelessly to produce this one-stop guide to all you’ll

need to know about Welcome Week. From veteran reviews of years gone by to local news stories that may affect you, we’re here to help. If you’re interested in joining a society or sports club, check out the Features and Sport sections to see some of the choices available to you. The Welcome Fayre is on Thursday the 20th September and the Sports Fayre is on the 21st, so if anything catches your eye then

this is where you need to go to find out more. If you fancy exploring the town this week, then grab your new housemates and our handy map and take a stroll around the historic city. To get your course books or the newest bestseller, visit Blackwell’s .If you’ve forgotten to buy tea bags or want to grab a sausage roll before your next lecture, Essentials is there for you. Or if you plan on chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool, and shootin’ some b-ball, then you’ve got the Sports Centre!

This week is the time for you to settle in, meet new people and embrace all Canterbury has to offer. We hope you have a good one and make sure to pick up a copy of this newspaper, available fortnightly, or check out our website at www.inQuireLive.co.uk for all your news, reviews and things to amuse you!

competition!

@InQuireLive www.facebook.com/InQuireMedia

big fan of coolio? think ice is... cool? haven’t got a pass to the welcome ball yet? never fear! we’ve hidden a little welcome helper t-shirt in the paper somewhere. if you spot it, drop us an email at newspaper.editor@ inquiremedia.co.uk and you could win you and a mate some free tickets! deadline is 20th september and good luck!

2

News Editor’s Note

Welcome to the University of Kent! As you’re reading this, you’ve probably just settled into your dorm and had your first wander around campus. Everything seems new and a bit scary, but don’t worry, we’re here to lend a helping hand. In this issue of InQuire, you’ll find everything you need to navigate your way around freshers week, from maps to unmissable bars in town, to information on some of the many societies you’ll want to join (InQuire is a cool choice, just sayin’... ), this paper you’re holding is all you could possibly need. We hope you enjoy it, enjoy your week, and chillax - you’re at university now!

kent union win the ‘right to rent’ Pamela Head Newspaper Editor

CANTERBURY City Council has rejected a notion to implement an Article 4 Direction in Canterbury. This policy would have allowed the council to stop a house being converted into a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) and place a cap on the number in one area. A HMO is a residential property where common areas, like bathrooms and kitchens, are shared by more than one

Pamela. www.facebook.com/InQuireMedia

2012/2013 Editorial contacts: Rex Ejimonyeabala Chairman chairman@inquiremedia.co.uk Pamela Head - Editor newspaper.editor@inquiremedia. co.uk Chandni Makhecha - IQ Editor iq.editor@inquiremedia.co.uk Nina Collins - Website Editor website.editor@inquiremedia.co.uk Matt Gilley - News newspaper.news@inquiremedia. co.uk Jamie Ovens - Comment newspaper.comment@inquiremedia.co.uk Natalie Tipping - IQ Features newspaper.features@inquiremedia. co.uk Harriet Cash - IQ Culture newspaper.culture@inquiremedia. co.uk Chad Greggor IQ Entertainment newspaper.entertainment@inquiremedia.co.uk Alex Cassidy - Sports newspaper.sport@inquiremedia. co.uk Perpetual Brade - Website News website.news@inquiremedia.co.uk Amelia Guttridge - Website Comment website.comment@inquiremedia. co.uk Laura Ricchetti - Website IQ Features website.features@inquiremedia. co.uk Alice Bryant - Website IQ Entertainment website.entertainment@inquiremedia.co.uk George Hopkin- Website Sport website.sport@inquiremedia.co.uk

household. In the 2004 Housing Act, it is described as “a house with three or more people not from the same family living together”. A substantial amount of student housing falls into this category. Kent Union has been campaigning against the notion, believing that the policy could have a negative impact on students residing in Canterbury. They may be forced to live further away from the university due to lack of available housing. Rent for houses close to the university could increase, coupled with a fall in housing standards due to lack of competition in the market. The Houses in Multiple Occupation Best Value Review was conducted from December 2011 to June 2012 in order to assess the extent of perceived problems arising from the high number of HMOs in the city, as well as testing the case for regulation. Kent Union has worked to reduce the perceived negative impact of students

in the community by taking over the Canterbury Housing Accreditation Scheme and this shows in the results. They demonstrate that there are a ‘disproportionately high’ number of noise complaints and rubbish incidents from student households in areas of HMO density. But problems like antisocial behaviour were considered as low. Colum McGuire, Welfare VP, said of the result: “I’m thrilled that the council took our views on board. What’s really clear is that the work we’ve been doing and arguments we’ve been making have had significant impact.” Two weeks after the decision was made, an appeal was logged and the case reheard. Though the council voted not to pass an Article 4 Direction, they will look at it again as part of the Local Plan consulation; the first draft of which is available towards the end of this year. If you want to get involved with this issue, visit: www.kentunion.co.uk/ studentvoice/campaigns/righttorent/

students facing lmu given marching orders unemployment Layla Haidrani ACCORDING to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more than one million 16 - 24 year olds are currently unemployed in the UK; the highest number since 1992. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has expressed concern about the effect this will have on young people, saying that teenagers will be “sucked into a vortex” of life without work. This is a fear shared by those about to commence university in the next few weeks who face dwindling job prospects post-graduation. Similarly, postgraduate students are facing bleak prospects in the current economic downturn. Many graduates report that they are being exploited by employers to work for free through internships, aware that it is a way to gain a place in the current job market. Critics of the government have argued that their policies are pushing youth unemployment to record highs. with Labour MP Liam Byrne, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, criticising the way the government has handled youth unemployment. However, a survey from the Association of Graduate Recruiters conference in Wales shows that 44% of participants believed that unemployment was at its highest during 2011. In fact youth unemployment was at its highest in 1984 when 1.2 million young people were unemployed. Figures from the ONS show 160,000 more young people unemployed in the UK than in 2011.

Picture taken from London Metropolitan University

Sam Johnson THE UK Border Agency (UKBA) has removed London Metropolitan University’s (LMU) ability to sponsor international students, forcing it to dismiss over 2,500 students as the new academic year begins. This decision has come about after the UKBA’s discovery of problems with the visas handed out to international students. Immigration minister Damian Green told parliament that the agency had “found systematic failures […] to ensure the appropriate admission and tracking of students from abroad.” Once affected students are notified, they will be given sixty days to find another university to support their education visa or be met with deportation. LMU’s vice-chancellor, Professor Malcolm Gillies, has claimed that the decision was “based on a highly flawed report”. The

university has stated it will be forming a legal opposition to the move. While being met with condemnation from various sources, both the University of Kent and Kent Union have also come out in defence for the students. President of the union, Tom Ritchie, said in an open letter that the decision “has been nothing short of appalling” and asked the university to try to absorb affected students. In its own statement, the university stated that it is “committed to assisting” those affected, suggesting they apply for admission, as well as iterating its “most rigorous of administrative standards” for international visas. The UKBA’s report also temporarily suspended two other universities from admitting international students. Visa application for international students includes both fresh applications and those for renewals.

News 3

ukc access agreement receives approval

Picture taken from www.teemeurope.eu

Matt Gilley Newspaper News Editor ON 26th July, the University of Kent received approval for its 2013/14 Access Agreement, the package of financial support and policy proposals to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to continue into Higher Education, from the Office For Fair Access (OFFA). The agreement outlines that eligible students will receive a £7,000 fee waiver, a £1,000 cash bursary and £1,000 credit on their university account in their first year of study, funded by Kent and the National Scholarship Program (NSP). The Access Agreement is something that all universities have to submit each year to OFFA in order to justify charging over £6,000 in tuition fees but has drawn criticism from Kent Union. Lauren Crowley, former Vice President for Education described the choice of the package put together as “unfortunate”.

The focus on fee waivers over bursaries was criticised in particular. The paper Kent Union submitted to the university on the Access Agreement says: “[fee waivers] do not actually give the student anything at all unless that student goes on to be successful in a well-paid job”. A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies also predicts that 56% of students under the new fees system will never repay their full loans. This dramatically decreases the value of fee waivers, as most students will never benefit; most will never pay enough back in order to save money. The Union President, Tom Ritchie, has highlighted the importance of bursaries in supporting students. He said: “while most students probably are put off by the £9,000 fees, the thing that affects most students is the lack of money they have when they get here for living costs”. The Union advocated giving students higher bursaries and/ or discounted accommodation, which

would go some way to addressing the shortfall students experience in funding their living costs, rather than fee waivers whose value is “entirely notional”. This echoes statements by NUS that fee waivers only benefit “higher earning graduates as they pay off the last of their student loans”. Liam Burns, NUS President, accused the government of “daylight robbery” by channelling money out of students’ pockets. The 2012/13 Access Agreement has also been criticised by Ritchie due to the weighting of the support package towards later years of study – cash bursaries increase to £2,000 after first year. “While having a cash bursary represents real value, students are in higher need in their first year when they are still learning to budget and live independently. Last year over 45% of our Advice Centre cases were students who needed financial assistance. In a recent publication the university suggests that the gap between average

a-level results fall for first time in 20 years Kelyn Luther A-LEVEL results have dropped for the first time in twenty years. GCSE results have also suffered a decline since they replaced O-levels in 1987. This has sparked controversy amongst schools, particularly as Michael Gove stated in June this year that he had intentions to scrap GCSEs and return to exams based on O-Levels. Concerns have centred around the marking of English exam papers. Some teachers believe that students have been deliberately marked down by exam boards, particularly students around the C/D border. They have argued that the grade boundaries have drastically changed so that a pupil who has achieved the standard of a C grade will now receive a D. 600 headteachers across the country

asked the exam boards to remark all English GCSE papers and some have threatened legal action on the grounds that grade boundaries for the June exams were higher than those for January, disadvantaging those who took their exams in June. But Ofqual have refused to re-grade papers, saying that June grade boundaries were fair despite admitting that January papers were marked “generously”. There have been allegations that the shifting of the grade boundaries was a political move by Gove in order to halt grade inflation, which both Ofqual and Gove have denied. Ofqual has attributed the dropping grades to pupils in private schools sitting international GCSEs instead of standard GCSEs, thus making grade boundaries harder to set as the two types of exam are not directly comparable. They have agreed

that having exams taken in January and June has made it hard to set fair grades. Glenys Stacey, Ofqual's chief regulator, has said that "there is always the risk of these difficulties with a modular system" and has stated that next year they will start to move away from modular exams and will have all exam papers taken in June. As many of the most competitive universities take GCSE results into consideration as well as A-Levels, students hoping to apply to these universities may find themselves disadvantaged. The amount of GCSE students able to take A-Levels at the colleges they want to will also be affected, as with the changing of grade boundaries some will not achieve the 5 A*-C grades needed in order to progress to A-Levels whereas in previous years they would have.

living costs and the highest student loan be made up “by personal savings, familial donations or a part time job”. For students from low income backgrounds, the first two of those are “out straight away”, said Ritchie. A part time job is something that is “difficult to get in your first year” and is something which can disadvantage students by forcing them to divide their time between work and study. The university has defended its Access Agreements for 2012/13 and 2013/14, praising its heavy investment “in a range of initiatives from the development of nationally recognised outreach schemes to its multimillion pound commitment in the regeneration of the Medway towns”. As well as matching NSP funding, the university will make an additional £5.2m available in 2013, rising to £7.1m by 2015. “We [the university] are committed to ensuring that all our students, regardless of background, are given appropriate support to succeed”.

Jobshop Student Brand Ambassador For ‘i’ newspaper. Must be enthusiastic, social, organised and a 2nd year undergraduate. Ideal for those interested in media, marketing or newspapers. Trixsta Promotions Handing out Gym leaflets in Ashford. £10 an hour, between 3 - 6 hours a day. Must be reliable, confident and good at time-keeping. Web Developer For School of Computing. £12.76 an hour, 35.5 hours per week for three months from late September 2012. Must have designing experience, coding, testing and analytical skills. To apply, visit: www.kentunion.co.uk/jobs

4

News

murray: 76 YEARS, OVER AND OUT mendham texts to be split

Picture taken from University of Kent website Picture taken from www.tbo.com

Rex Ejimonyeabala Chairman ANDY Murray claimed much of the nation’s support in his run to the Wimbledon final; a precursor to the eager encouragement given to our Olympic athletes. The excruciating nature of his defeat to then five time champion, Roger Federer, uncovered an emotional aspect to his character which prior to the final was hidden from the public eye. Assisted by this and the general Olympic optimism, the rematch, a final with the same opponent at the Olympic Men’s Gold medal match, saw Murray rise from the eclipsing shadow that is the might of Federer to overcome him in three straight sets. As a result of this the U.S. open seemed almost irrelevant in comparison to a summer of emotional Olympic and Paralympic triumphs, but Murray had another chapter to add to a remarkable year in British sporting history. He came through a scintillating night of tennis to become the current US Open champion at Flushing Meadows. Playing in front of the likes of Sean Connery and Sir Alex Ferguson, Murray fought a psychological battle against past grand slam finals defeats and the physical strain of an encounter that saw

the Scotsman overcome world number two, Novak Djokovic, to win his maiden grand slam title. In a match that lasted just under five hours, Murray dominated the play leading Djokovic by two sets to love after two closely fought opening sets that Murray was able to take 7-6 (12-10) and 7-5. There would be no easy win for Murray though as the defending champion, Djokovic ,was unwilling to give up the title without a fight. The Serbian exhibited grand slam final experience and was able to execute far more controlled winners in the third and fourth sets winning 6-2 then 6-3. Past experience would have suggested that Djokovic would utilise the momentum gained to ease past Murray in the final deciding set but history was to change for the five time grand slam finalist who was about to re-write British tennis history and become our first grand slam champion in 76 years since Fred Perry won the same tournament in 1936. After capitalising on a tired Djokovic in the fifth, Murray was able to power through to win 6-2 in the final set to claim his first grand slam title. In a postmatch interview he described being “relieved” and said “when I realised I had won, I was shocked”.

a note from the chairman TO help our incoming students ease into life at Kent, InQuire will be your port of call for information on societies and sports clubs, as well as your regular update on entertaining and informative news around campus and the wider community. Another way we are working towards helping our readers is by including a brand new Jobshop column to increase awareness of job vacancies for students, because we understand the financial constraints of university. We will also be hosting the first ever Student Media Showcase on

Wednesday 19th September in The Attic which will be a big night of live music from CSR and live filming and twitter stream from KTV. It is the perfect way to meet like minded students interested in media before the Freshers Fayre on the 20th where all students are welcome to sign up and join us on our biggest year ever. If you’re interested in signing up to InQuire and getting your voice heard, our first meeting of the term is on the 24th in KLT1 at 6:30pm. Welcome to the University of Kent and welcome to your premier student newspaper.

Chad Greggor Newspaper Entertainment Editor A collection of historic texts donated to the Law Society by Joseph Mendham and under the joint custodianship of the University of Kent and Canterbury Cathedral is to be broken up for sale by the collection’s owners, the Law Society of England and Wales. This sudden move has been made in an effort to settle some of the Law Society’s finances. The Mendham Collection, according to University of Kent’s Dr. Alixe Bovey, the Chairperson of the Mendham Collection Taskforce, contains “a valuable witness to the development of Protestantism and Catholicism… from the time of the Reformation up to Mendham's lifetime”. Members of the scholarly community, such as Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, have condemned the actions of the Law Society, calling the break-up “an act of vandalism”. The Law Society maintains that “despite the value to academics, it is not of practical value to our members”, adding that it has become “increasingly difficult to justify the on-going cost

of maintaining these items which our members are very unlikely ever to study.” Although a number of books from the collection have already been removed by Sotheby’s in July, the auction is only to be held in November. The Law Society has raised the possibility of the University of Kent and the Cathedral purchasing the books, while a campaign and petition has been running on Change.org for the preservation of the collection as a whole. Dr. Bovey, who stresses the importance of the collection remaining intact regardless of its location or owner, told InQuire that she has been “overwhelmed by the support that the campaign… has received.” Dr. Bovey also noted that while the future of the collection is “still up in the air, there are reasons for optimism.” As the Mendham collection is available to view and be studied by students at UKC, her and the committee are “hopeful that returning students might add their name to [the petition]… it has been a powerful way of demonstrating the extent of concern for this historic collection within Canterbury and around the world.”

kent pimp banned from teaching Leon Hewitt A teacher who was jailed for nine months in 2009 for running a brothel where he pimped out six women, including his ex-wife, has been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Teaching Agency. Tim Blake-Bowell, 51 taught at King Ethelbert School, managing his brothel from a rented flat in Canterbury after hours. Canterbury Crown Court heard that Blake-Bowell was responsible for the financial arrangements of the business, while his then-wife, Emma, organised work for the other girls and also prostituted herself. Both Blake-Bowell and his ex-wife admitted charges of profiting from the control of prostitutes. In August the

Teaching Agency found that he had not maintained “reasonable standards in his own behaviour” or “public trust in the profession”, which contravenes the teacher’s code of conduct. Deputy director Alan Meyrick said: “I support the recommendation that Mr Blake-Bowell be prohibited from teaching. This seems to me to be a proportionate response to a serious conviction that led to the courts imposing both a custodial sentence and a confiscation order.” However, he can apply to the Secretary of State for Education to be restored to the register of teachers in 2015. Blake-Bowell is currently advertising himself as a professional masseur running a service called ‘Relaxing Hands’.

Comment 5

join allllll the kent societies! Jamie Ovens Newspaper Comment Editor YOU’VE been looking forward to this, haven’t you. Your fresh, bountiful academic year is ripe and ready to be squeezed for its juices, and now that it’s upon you there is only one thing to do… absolutely, feckin’, everything! The best way to do this - to have at least a taste of everything on offer - is to join with likeminded pursuers of fulfillment, and to enter into their societies. Meeting other students who get their kicks out of the same things that you do is inevitable, so sniff them out and keep them close, but even more importantly, you should indulge your palate with new things too. There are so many possibilities to become an integral part of something important, challenging, or fun, that it would be a waste not to gorge yourself at every opportunity. You may never be able to do it all but you should certainly have a bloody good go. If you find that the Nudists Society isn’t for you after all then try the Japanese Drumming Society - maybe think twice about joining the football team though; at initiations time they are the most frequently naked assembly we have. Nonetheless, whether you stick at a particular pursuit or decide to swap it for something else, you will be meeting compelling people the entire time. Or at

least semi-cool people that you later find have an incredibly hot flatmate, or an enviable talent for creating bizarre new drinking games. In my case, last year was probably a little lacking on the society front. I spent too much time bathing in the more basic sweats of fresher’s fever; waking up to phone-less pockets and mysteriously swollen ankles, and sleuthing around for the next couple of days to solve the riddle. Retracing my limp steps was usually made up of scouring YEAH!’s photo albums, and working out which bar/

club/tattooist had graffitied the back of my hand. Although I don’t regret any of the things I can’t remember doing, because they are all things we should relish doing anyway, I realise that more time should have been allocated to the unique activities that societies can provide for my individual tastes. Going on trips to the Alps with KentSnow; interviewing comedians with InQuire; broadcasting with CSR and KTV; or attending a workshop to learn how to do writing good with the Creative Writing Society. All the while I

would have been accompanied by other students, equally keen in our fields, and equally up for smashing it at socials. This year, aided by the power of retrospect, I know how to do it right. But it isn’t only about creating incredible memories and being a part of something for the duration of your time at university; your ties with societies can set you up for life. All sorts of CV-boosters can be achieved by simply getting involved. You have the opportunity to put together portfolios, gain qualifications and experience in your fields of interest, and make valuable contacts with need-to-know names. More importantly, the edifying opportunities available to members of all societies, to assimilate the views and ideas of a student body as diverse and engaged as ours, can help you to better understand the wider world. So my advice to you is this: Before you consider settling for a year that consists purely of YouTube surfing, Facebook stalking, and Venue shuffling, make sure you realise what you will be missing. Where else can you start your week with salsa and lacrosse practice, follow it up by finding your article on zombies has been printed for thousands to see, and end your week by protesting for human rights and debating optimum tea-brewing techniques? You are only here for so long, make the most of it.

every day i’m reshufflin’ Harriet Cash Newspaper Culture Editor

THE cabinet reshuffle is a curious thing. There is a glorious hullaballoo in the press every time one is in the offing, and yet nobody really seems to know what the point is. The handing of government departments from one vaguely incompetent career politician to another seems designed to convince us that everything is going to be just fine – in this case, on close inspection, it should really do the opposite. The latest game of Downing Street musical chairs has given us more than some different people in high offices, the remit of which they are only loosely qualified to discuss. We now have several cabinet ministers whose beliefs would seem to make them almost uniquely unsuitable for their new positions. You may remember Chris Grayling, the new Justice Minister, from the 2010 debacle in which he suggested a pair of Christian B&B owners “[had] the right” to turn a gay couple away from their establishment. Turns out they didn’t, and although he did later apologise, it

doesn’t exactly bode well. Maria Miller’s credits include voting against gay adoption rights and fertility treatment for same-sex couples, in favour of a reduced time limit for abortion, and defining homophobia and racial hatred as freedom of speech. In David Cameron’s world, this makes you the ideal candidate for Minister for Women and Equalities. Owen Paterson is a climate change sceptic in favour of ending energy subsidies, fast-tracking the exploitation of shale gas and expanding airport capacity. So, the Environment brief for him then. And last but certainly not least, former Culture Secretary and oneman gaffe machine Jeremy Hunt has been promoted to Health Secretary. Worryingly, Hunt is on record in support of NHS-funded homeopathic hospitals, and as saying that homeopathy “ought to be available where a doctor and patient believe that a homeopathic treatment may be of benefit to the patient”. Yikes. Don’t get me wrong, I am no longer naïve enough to expect that any MP who has climbed the greasy pole to the level of Tory minister will have a satisfactory

voting record when it comes to human rights, the environment and other softie issues dear to my bleeding heart. We should care, though, because these moves demonstrate the government’s arrogant indifference towards our best interests. Be under no illusions – this reshuffle is a significant move to the right, designed to satisfy Tory traditionalists and reduce the Lib Dems’ influence. There is a difference (if slight) between appointing a demonstrably anti-equality MP as Women and Equalities Minister and giving them some other unrelated department. Having a climate change sceptic at the Home Office is unfortunate, but having one in charge of environment policy is downright irresponsible. These moves are political; they are about the maintenance of power and not about who is best qualified, or even appropriate, for the job. Cameron may want us to think he’s a new kind of cuddly Conservative who can run the “greenest government ever”, but let’s not kid ourselves about how quickly all that can be forgotten if his survival is threatened. The evidence is right in front of us.

One-man gaffe machine Jeremy Hunt (above) appears as surprised as we are about his new cabinet position.

6

Comment

how much would you pay for the universe? Ella Fitzpatrick

“THAT’S one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”: words made famous by Neil Armstrong on 20th July 1969. Forty-three years later, Armstrong has passed away and we are still yet to return to the moon, but we can use the lunar landings as a template for tomorrow. The Apollo 11 astronauts were three individuals who collectively inspired the world to aim high. The result? An excess of 400,000 highly paid jobs, a generation of inspired and determined

children and a galvanised world community - epitomised by the plaque left on the moon: “We came in peace for all mankind”. Today we spend more on movies that pretend to visit other planets than on actually landing on them. So far we have spent $280 million more watching Avatar than NASA spent developing its latest $2.5 billion rover, the Curiosity. In a YouTube video, astrologist Neil deGrasse Tyson claims that NASA’s funding has decreased to four tenths of 1% of each American tax dollar, also pointing out that “the 2008 bank bailout of $750 billion was greater than all the money NASA had received in its halfcentury history”. However, even with this relatively small amount of funding, NASA is able to pay its employees, run the entirety of its machinery, and to land the Curiosity on Mars, determining whether there was ever water on the planet. The benefits of an increase in funding to NASA would be invaluable. In that same YouTube video, Tyson argued that raising the figure to just one penny per tax dollar would soon enable us to set up sustainable lunar bases and even to

inhabit Mars. The effect of a world united when the economy has collapsed and we are at one another’s throats is priceless. The lunar missions created multiple professional jobs and inspired the youth to become something worthwhile, whether it was an astronaut, an engineer or even a pilot. And, let’s face it, in an age of monumental dole queues that’s no bad thing. The interest surrounding the current funding of NASA was illustrated on the website ‘Reddit’, commonly referred to as the ‘front page of the internet’, where Barack Obama hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything), the most highly rated question being: Are you considering increasing funds to the space programme? His answer: ‘The passing of Neil Armstrong this week is a reminder of the inspiration and wonder our space programme has provided in the past.’ Even President Obama cannot deny the achievements of NASA and the effects it has had on the world. More funds mean more knowledge, more creativity, more inspiration, more jobs and a foundation for a positive future. How much would you pay for the universe?

(Above and below) Still to be explored: Pictures captured by NASA’s Hubble telescope. (Left) NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity.

exams: playing the game? the paradox of feminism Matt Gilley Newspaper News Editor

THE controversy surrounding GCSE results this year has shown a disturbing lack of regard amongst the government and education authorities for the children affected. The latest caveat, that students will be able to re-sit exams in November, only confirms this. By November, well into the new academic year, students relying on grades to get into college, sixth-form or apprenticeships will already have had to make the unenviable choice between settling for their second option and taking another year to push up their grades. But this was hardly the first blunder. For a start, who could possibly have thought it was fair to change the grading of exams so drastically within a year? I find it hard to believe that members of the educational profession could have failed to see the injustice of giving students of the same year an easier or tougher pass based on when their teachers decided they should sit the exam. Perhaps grade inflation needs to be brought under control. A system where all students achieve the top grades (which grade inflation would logically lead us towards) is surely flawed. Perhaps it is indicative of exams becoming easier or, more likely, of students and teachers learning to ‘play the game’ better. But even so, to try and tackle the

problem in the middle of an academic year, causing as many as 67,000 students to lose out on a potentially vital C grade, almost beggars belief. If this change in marking had to happen then it should have happened between years with announcements of the examination criteria that would allow teachers and students to prepare for the change. The picture it paints is one of an authority that sees students as little more than numbers. They seem to have disregarded the concerns of up to 1,000 schools submitting evidence to Ofqual’s inquiry into the results, and brushed aside threats of legal action from head teachers. These are the actions of people for whom stats are the most important way of grading their performance: GCSE grades down, job done! Unfortunately, when the numbers on your spreadsheet are actually people, there is a lot more to consider, and whatever happens now, the problem cannot just be calculated away. Perhaps that’s why education secretary Michael Gove appears so dismissive of sport and the arts, selling playing fields and cutting funding: their benefits to pupils are a lot harder to quantify, and certainly don’t depend on success. For those pupils holding “Gove stole my grade” placards, it is already too late. Even if exams are remarked, the damage has been done, to students’ immediate futures and to people’s trust in education authorities.

Grace Beard

THE word ‘feminism’ was once synonymous with the movement that strove for freedom, liberty and equality between the sexes. For our foremothers, to be a feminist was to be a warrior in the battle against gender inequality. So, years after the first few commanding waves of the feminist crusade have crashed to shore, would young women of the UK still call themselves feminists? I often see modern feminism as something of a paradox. Whereas feminism has offered women the freedom to explore their individuality and the choice to pursue their own careers and paths in life, to call yourself a ‘feminist’ today is frequently used to curb women and becomes a stick to beat them with. I will use myself as an example. First, here are some things you should know about me: I am a feminist. I am also a monthly subscriber of Glamour Magazine, I love clothes and make-up, and I watch Britain’s Next Top Model every week. Nattering to my friend recently about how excited I was to watch the new episode, I was dumbstruck when she retorted: ‘I thought you were a feminist?’ Oh, I’ve really dug myself a hole here. Does my love of trashy TV automatically denounce me from being a feminist? Do I follow fashion because I have been conditioned by patriarchy to believe that women must be aesthetically pleasing for men? I’m starting to question my

own simple pleasures. When I asked my friend why she watches the show herself, she simply replied that she could because she was not a feminist. It seems that by proudly calling myself a feminist, I am expected to behave no differently than an angry, bra-burning misandrist. In cases like this, feminism – at one time tantamount to freedom and individuality – becomes a double-edged sword, thwarting the choice of modern women to have individual tastes. It has moved swiftly from fighting for equality, to maintaining equality, to somehow being used as a discriminative tool against both women and men. So how do we overcome the backlash that comes with calling ourselves feminists in this day and age? It’s about releasing this stigma and becoming less judgemental of other women. Across every branch of media, from political to social, we see both men and women attacking other women – a worrying example is the influx of young girls joining in with ‘lad’ banter and ‘get back in the kitchen’ jokes on social media websites. It’s distressing to see young women turning against each other. Whatever happened to the sisterhood? In order for feminism to work today, we must remember the days where it was a liberating, powerful action to call oneself a feminist. To me, being a feminist is simply being an individual. If that means my new floral print trousers are only there to please men, so be it.

Comment 7

time to embr ace the apocalypse Joe Wooldridge

WHAT’S your plan? You might hide; hold up in your local supermarket praying it’ll blow over. You could run; keep moving in the hope it won’t catch up to you. You can fight; your nearest and dearest at your flanks ready to stand your ground. But whether you like it or not, this obsession with the undead will infect you too. It’s an epidemic. With books, films, games and TV series’ boasting big wallets thanks to the undeniable popularity of these fiends, it is almost impossible not to have a survival plan. Although they are about as sexy as road kill, zombies are booking out cinemas with films like Zombieland, from 2009, and Resident Evil: Afterlife, released in 2010, both grossing over $100 million apiece. In addition to this, AMC’s TV adaptation of the graphic novel The Walking Dead reached 9 million viewers by the second series, proving that we still have a place in our homes for the undead. We find ourselves in discussions with friends and strangers, debating about what we would do should we wake up to an apocalyptic wasteland, listing essential supplies and thoughtlessly striking off loved ones because they possess no useful skills and would merely slow us down. Our enthusiasm for shuffling, groaning, glassy-eyed corpses is so great that the Center for Disease Control cheekily

Picture created by Capcom

called their 2011 disaster readiness document Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse. To put it bluntly, they fulfill our craving for violent spectacle, which has been present since long before the Roman Colloseum, and they are simply scary; the appeal of which is demonstrated by the morbid thrill of a roller coaster. Personally, I adopt the ‘better safe than sorry’ outlook and have therefore started preparing for this inevitable end of the world. Being new to apocalyptic

preparation, I thought I’d start at the beginning with Max Brooks’ The Zombie Survival Guide. This undead bible explains the ideal weapons and combat techniques for any given situation, such as stabbing a crowbar into the swine’s face when rounding a corner, as well as suggesting places where an individual can find solace when the hordes approach. My friends and I started to jokingly run through evacuation plans, but before we knew it we were writing lists of essential

items (don’t underestimate the running shoe!) and brainstorming possible locations to hold up. Admittedly we got carried away with our planning, and since the undead didn’t come knocking on our door (to our disappointment), the preparations were paused. But what would you do? Have you got a plan? Do you fear being mocked by your peers more than being eaten by them? The last thing you want to see as you gaze out of the top floor of Rutherford, with the moans of the undead chasing you, is that odd kid riding away on his motorbike screaming “I TOLD YOU SO!” Our captivation by these fictional monsters has been highlighted in real horrors recently, brought to life in various news stories. A Canadian porn actor posts a video of himself online in which he kills his lover with an icepick and then eats the dead flesh. A man in Miami, crazed on bath salts, devours the face of a homeless person before police shoot him dead. Another man, this time in Maryland, murders his roommate and consumes his brains. These events, unspeakably horrific, threaten our cherished hopes for a morally intact society. Since childhood, monsters have taught us vicariously what not to be, thereby telling us who we are and what we can do, but now that their habits are to be found in living people, you had better get ready; the apocalypse may be closer than you think!

the riotous price for freedom of speech

Joel Tennant

THREE members of Pussy Riot, the controversial Russian punk band, have been jailed for two years amidst a brand new wave of tense relations between the Russian people and their President, Vladimir Putin. Found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for performing an anti-Putin song in a Cathedral, the three women, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich, have now become a symbol of martyrdom both across the globe, and more importantly, in a society still scarred by its Soviet past. Silencing protestors, brushing mysterious disappearances under the rug and spurting anti-Western rhetoric has all the hallmarks of darker times for the Russian people, nonetheless, it is a sad reality under the President’s controversial rule. It may be naïve to suppose that Putin had a direct say in this case, but when it comes to silencing political protestors, the dark shadow of government deals looms over heavily and only a judge willing to risk everything would ignore a Kremlin nod.

The case has had its fair share of drama, enough to fill Western newspaper pages for weeks, and it doesn’t seem to be dissolving just yet. The brief period in which the bloody message “Free Pussy Riot!” above a murder scene, believed to be about the band, was confirmed as a ploy by the murderer, and the spate of crucifix vandalism in support of Pussy Riot was later condemned by the jailed musicians themselves. Some, like the

liberal journalist, Oleg Kashin, even suggested it was a Kremlin financed smear-campaign rather than real support. Along with celebrity support from Stephen Fry, Sir Paul McCartney, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, plus many more, the sentencing has struck a chord with liberal heartstrings across the world and calls for justice and right to free speech are being heard in great numbers.

However, in a survey carried out by the Kremlin-linked group, Public Opinion Foundation, the majority of the Russian population allegedly agrees with the sentencing of Pussy Riot - but with the excessively secretive, guarded nature of the Russian government’s policies and activities, it seems only fair to take figures like this as mere propaganda. The results come from 1,500 people, which sounds like a good range until you place that next to Russia’s population of almost 142 million. So where does this leave Pussy Riot? After refusing a TV apology in efforts to shorten their sentence, and with President Putin speaking out publically against them on 6th September referring to their performance as an “orgy”, it seems as though they are in prison for the full term. The President has claimed that he is protecting the faithful by condemning Pussy Riot, but with a government that actively discriminates against religions such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons and the Pentecostal congregations, it seems as though the Kremlin has picked the side of big religion for their own gains with freedom of speech taking the fall.

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Interview

student republic: all you need to know Chris Hawksey, ex-University of Kent student and voice of Student Republic, talks to InQuire Newspaper Editor Pamela Head about Canterbury’s nightlife, embarrassing experiences and why you should join them this year. applications for our events staff, which is a record for us this year, but we take on people all the time. I’d say someone has to be enthusiastic and social. What kinds of things do students do for Student Republic? They manage nights, programme our events, work on the door sorting out the guest lists, look after any acts we have, promote on the street - handing out flyers, chatting to people, selling tickets… event staff will participate in the theme (so things like face painting, handing out sweets, organising any competitions we have). Some students will run their own guest lists for nights like the Cuban. And then we have photographers and DJs too. FOR people new to Canterbury, what does Student Republic do? We run all of the student events in the city with the exception of Venue; seven nights in the city centre. Monday at the Cuban, Wednesday’s Juice at Chemistry, two Thursday nights, Indiecate and Statik, at Chemistry, Friday night at Chemistry and Friday night at the Picturehouse. We are also taking over Monday at Chemistry, but that’s a secret! What made you decide to start up Student Republic and how did you begin? I didn’t start it personally; it was my now-business partner about eight or nine years ago. They worked in Oxford, Reading and Central London and then started a Wednesday night at Chemistry, which then became Student Republic. It was around the country but they decided they wanted to focus on one city and dominate, chose Canterbury and that’s what we do now! Can students get involved? Yes! I was a student when I started, I started doing coach trips on the Big Night Out and then Student Republic bought my company from me and then offered me a partnership, which is where I am now. Our business is so unlike every other business in the UK, there’s no academic requirement to do it. It’s more about… you’ve got to know everything about everything, you can’t specialise. Our business is all social, and about relationships with people. Because we’re still small, everyone needs to be adaptable to every facet of the company. What kind of people are you looking for? Anyone, really. We’ve had nearly 300

Do you offer internships for graduates or third year students? We do. We take on graduates almost every year, I was a graduate myself technically last year. We offer internships throughout the year, usually four week placements for people who want to get involved in events, live music, big shows, student nights or corporate events. Any Kent student can apply. What is the one night freshers shouldn’t miss? I would say according to last year, the hottest night is the Cuban. It was the night people were willing to wait hours and hours to get into; I think the record was 3 hours 45 minutes. We filled up at 9pm and it’ll probably be the same this year. Insider gossip: Cuban are redeveloping the barn area next to the club, which will add another brand new room with a bar and dance floor. The place is going to be called The Barn and will be open the Monday of freshers week. We’re also expecting the Monday at Chemistry to be a dominant force…. Have you got anything new in the pipeline? We are all but signed to take over Monday at Chemistry and putting on a brand new student night there. We’re thinking of calling it OMG and it’ll be labeled Britain’s Most Notorious Student Night. It’s going to be a night that you can get away with things; maybe have an extra drink or be a little bit more naughty or… I’m sure the very fine readers of InQuire can imagine what I’m talking about! Have you had any bad experiences working in events over the years and how do you feel about it now? Three years ago I set up my very first company running coach trips from

UKC to London. The first one was an absolute nightmare. The coach turned up without a toilet and because I was stressing about getting there on time, I didn’t schedule a toilet break… and then this poor girl actually wet herself on the coach. That was the low point of my life. But after that, I mean, I was working in a bar in Canterbury, hating it, and now three years later I’m a director in a company that turns over a lot of money. So it’s good; it’s been a lot of hard work. To anyone out there, if you want to have a go and set up your own company, take the risk, it worked for me and if you dedicate time and put a lot of hard work in, it can be worth it. Too many people go through life with good ideas but are too scared to put them into practice. Is being a student rep all about having fun and partying or is there more to it? I’m not going to lie and say there isn’t a lot of parties and a lot of fun. To be honest, all of us enjoy the social side of it and that’s a key part. But it’s not just, as my friends say, ‘making Facebook events and getting drunk’, there’s a lot of work that goes into it. People don’t appreciate how hard it is to get 2,000 people to turn up to a night. During freshers week, I’ll be working maybe 60 – 70 hours on very little sleep. At the same time, although you’re working in a social environment, your work becomes your social life and your social life becomes your work and it’s very difficult to split it up. There were also times when I encountered competition with other businesses in Canterbury, people who were less than pleasant towards me. What makes Student Republic such a good company? As a general rule, as opposed to other student nights, we’re pretty good on student welfare. We always make sure people are looked after and we don’t pour drinks down people’s throats like some other nights. We want to have a good party but we don’t want them to be ill or be sick or have any sort of liver issues! Drink responsibly, have fun, don’t go mental! Every night that we do, I won’t let anyone in that is too drunk or the wrong’uns that you just don’t want at your night. No one wants lairy old men touching them up on a night out! How do you think Canterbury fares as a student town? When I first came here, it was awful. That’s why I started doing my coach trips. To give students another option. There are still limitations to it and I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t,

but it’s a lot better than it was. I’ve seen some other student towns and they’re awful compared to Canterbury! I went to Northampton a few weeks ago and they’ve got loads of stuff going on but all their student nights are so 10 years ago, they’re all called things like Spank the Monkey. Here, you’ve got a range of things you can go to. What’s the biggest night out fail you’ve ever witnessed? It was last year and… it was on a mainstream sports night… it was a big night and all the sports teams were out and there was some chanting in the corner of the club so I went over to see what was going on, and there were a group of lads in the middle and one of them was kind of like, crouching down and I thought ‘Oh, he’s not doing what I think he’s doing, is he’, and, you know, it would have been better if I’d found out he was doing that… but he was trying to stick a Fosters bottle up his arse. The lads were cheering him on and I was like, WHOA. So that’s definitely the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen! What do you think makes a great student night out? If you’re going out with your friends, the fact that your friends are there is what makes it. From a professional point of view, it’s the crowd you get on a night out. You could have the best DJ in the world, in the best club with the best lights/sound, but if there are only 10 people there then it’ll be the worst night of your life. But if you’re in a shabby old shithole, all your mates are there, everyone’s having a good time and there’s no trouble then it’s the best night of your life. If you’re interested in getting involved with Student Republic, email Chris Hawksey at: chris@studentrepublic. net or contact him through Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/chris. hawksey Message Student Republic on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ StudRep

Editorial

9

the phone stacking game: let’s make this a thing Pamela Head Newspaper Editor

OVER the Summer break, I went home to catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Once the overzealous greetings of “Oh, hi! Your hair looks amazing” and “I haven’t seen you in months, just, months” had faded and we’d managed to navigate the food menu with some difficulty, a silence fell over the table. Distracted by the drink menu, as I usually am, I was confused. My friends are typically sociable to the point of being disruptively loud, so what had happened to hush the whole lot of them? When I looked up, I realised… phones. Now, don’t get me wrong. My phone is pretty much invaluable. It’s my connection to life: my family and friends, university people who live around the country and, thanks to various nifty email capabilities, my Kentmail and by extension my professors. I never leave the house without it and I never turn it off for fear that I won’t be able to turn it back on again (this has actually happened once, and it will not happen to me again, ever).

However, just because it’s on, it doesn’t mean that I check it religiously. When I’m with my friends, I’m with the people I’d otherwise be texting. I’ve set aside time to see them and texting other people feels redundant. Unless I’m expecting to hear back from a tutor about an essay or am awaiting a response from an interview, my phone is usually in my pocket or in my bag. It quickly became apparent that my view was firmly in the minority, though. Competing against Facebook is difficult. Our reliance on being available and constantly in touch with all of our friends

at the same time is a by-product of the new developments in technology. With Facebook, Twitter, texting, emailing, Skype, etc., there is really no excuse for long delays in replying to people. Due to this new way of communicating, face-to-face interactions appear to have fallen by the wayside. We spend time with people on a day-to-day basis, but are we ever really 100% invested in the conversations we have? Or is a part of our brain always listening out for that familiar beep? When you’ve arranged to have dinner with someone, conversation is

important. You’re eating out of necessity but you’re eating together to be social. Basically, taking out your phone and ignoring the person sitting opposite is rude. I’m not the only person who feels this way. A trick called the phone stack aims to tackle our technology addiction. The way it works is that when arriving for dinner, every person places their phone face down in the middle of the table (physically stacking them is optional). The first person to give in and answer their phone pays the entire bill. Simple yet very effective. Try it the next time you’re out. Technology is becoming more and more important in our everyday lives. Still, we function in a world where we interact in real life; in the workplace, in seminars, and at home to name a few. Putting aside a little time to pay attention to those age-old vital signs, like body language and tone of voice, could help you to communicate better. It’s also a way to stop your friend throwing ice cubes at you in the pub to try and get you off your phone. Just sayin’. Technology is prominent, but it’s worth remembering that it’s a tool to enhance communication, not replace it entirely. So the next time you’re out, stack your phones and enjoy a proper conversation using words that haven’t been abbreviated. Oh yes, and smile… it exists outside emoticons too.

‘preaching to the choir’: a defence of criticism Chad Greggor Newspaper Entertainment Editor

THIS editorial was in some part prompted by a silly comment posted on a review I read online. The commenter argued wildly that they chose not to listen to critics anyway (despite having just read a review) and simply chose their own style, genre, and artists to listen to, heedless of any journalists’ input. This being a student newspaper, I might be simply preaching to the choir in the defence of criticism, as most of us love the critics. Many of our essays are constructed from the garbled remarks of various obscure reviewers throughout the ages. Everyone knows that if a fresher with a hangover said it, it most probably means nothing, whereas if some person said it in some book somewhere, it counts as research. However, there is a certain animosity present in the outside world for our beloved critics. What the commenter failed to acknowledge was that music

does not simply materialise out of thin air and appear in one’s iPod. No, usually someone has to recommend, mention, or even slander a band for you to even acknowledge their existence. Even suggested videos on YouTube are recommended by an algorithm that calculates what you might want to watch based on what you have already watched. My point is that everyone, even computers, are critics. You don’t have to wear a beret or Buddy Holly glasses and smoke and drink Earl Grey to be a

critic. Even wearing a t-shirt with the name of a band on the front is criticism. You are presumably judging the band as acceptable listening material (or as an ironic statement of awful listening material, if you’re cool). By this logic, an employed critic is simply a professional fan. What people constantly seem to forget is that a review is a critics’ personal opinion. It is not an indoctrinating cultural control statement sent straight from Big Brother himself. Peter

Bradshaw’s tearing apart of Pixar’s Brave as “eerily bland” made me want to watch the film even more, not less. And, to quote Daniel Mendelsohn from his Critics Manifesto, “In all the years I read [these critics] it never occurred to me that they were trying to persuade me to actually see this or that performance, buy this or that movie; nor did I imagine that I was being bullied or condescended to, or that I wasn’t allowed to disagree with them.” The idea that we don’t have to agree with a critic is particularly true in this era, where most people have eclectic tastes and unlimited accessibility through the internet. While critics are usually considered snooty, pompous, unnecessary, and rude (though I would dare you to say that while searching for a legitimate quote three hours before your next essay deadline) the real worth in a critics’ writing lies in their professional insight into the subject under discussion. It is not in the opinionative final verdict, because, as ever, the final choice of what media to enjoy will be yours alone. So yes, random commenter, listen to whatever the hell you want to, but leave the critics to recommend to you media you would never have heard of otherwise, and enlighten your unstudied, subjective music taste even further.

FIVE FRESHERS TIPS FOR THE WEEK: (1)

GOING OUT OUT:

It doesn’t matter if you’re dressed as a superhero or a school girl - try to remember the important three things that should always stay close to you. Your cash, keys and phone.

new girl in canterbury So after the three generous months of the 2012 London Olympic fevered summer holidays, it’s time to return to the quiet little cathedral village that is Canterbury. The transition between home home and Kent home is always a little odd to start with but then you get used to it and life goes on moving back and forth from one city to the other. Though when I first came to Kent, I remember thinking to myself- this place is rather pretty to look at and all but what the hell am I going to do now! And I am sure that I wasn’t the only one. Coming from the hustle and bustle of an urban city like London, I have to admit that living on campus at UKC was like being in a completely different world. Not having the convenience of jumping on the tube, instead timing when to get the local hourly bus. Going into the Canterbury streets at 10pm and it appearing to be an ultimate abandoned ghost town. Finding out there is only one Odeon cinema in the whole of Canterbury and that being with only two bloody screens! Okay I am slightly making it out to be more of a granny town than it actually is but it’s definitely not what any girl from the city is used to. Through time however, the realisation hit me that other people share with me, this common scepticism towards Canterbury ‘hanging out with the farm animals’ life but it’s not as bad as we thought it would be! I’m currently going into my final year and can safely say that Kent is now my second home. I am so happy that I moved out into this endearing little town to study English at Uni. The fact that it doesn’t have so much in it makes you closer to the people that you meet here and then you try to figure out what you can do in this deprived town together! Nevertheless the memories and experiences I’ve had here whether it be falling asleep in a 9am lecture after going to chemistry on a Monday night or hiding in cupboard from campus watch for making too much noise in halls, the view let alone from the top of the hill at Templeman Library (even if you’re drunk off your head walking back from the venue) reminds me that... I wouldn’t like to be anywhere else. So for first years that have just joined the family, don’t be scared off too easily. Looking back on my fresher’s week experience, it was definitely one to remember but it wasn’t as straight forward as people make it out to be. Clubbing with people you’ve never met before, making a decent meal without giving yourself food poisoning, finding your way around the prison designed Rutherford College. If you’re thinking about what and what not to do- there’s few tips on the right to help make the first few weeks go a little more smoothly.

(2) BUDGET: Many people overspend on alcohol in freshers week and run out of cash for the next few weeks. Keep an eye on how much you’re spending so you have enough money to cover the week and after. (3)

FINDING YOUR WAY

The best thing to do here is use the campus map given to you in the freshers pack to guide you around. But to find lexture rooms and classrooms, an easy way is to log onto the University of Kent website. Type the name of the room (e.g. CW15) into the search tab on the right and it will show you exactly which building it is in.

Chandni. x

(4)

the inquire executive team during their freshers...

GO INTO TOWN

Take a break from the campus scene- it can get a bit repetitive. Explore the town; get to know what shops and restaurants you’ll want to use through uni. Try the bars and pubs in Canterbury- Use the map on page 16 for help!

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OMG! Brand new Monday nights at Chemistry / FREE ENTRY VOUCHER b4 11:00 / Only valid during September

welcome FAYRE

It’s important to join societies during Welcome Fayre to make the most of your time here. Don’t hesitate to try out new things but do talk to the people at the stalls to find out exactly what the society is about. Put your name down but don’t join and pay straight away. And make sure that you don’t miss out on the free dominos!

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IQ Features

WANT A WAY TO GET INVOLVED? JOIN A

One of the best and easiest ways to make new friends at university is to join one of the many societies based here. With over 150 societies on c DEBATING SOCIETY

With Kent Debating Society you can learn how to analyse a statement, understand the core issues surrounding it, and receive detailed feedback on how you can improve your presentation and analysis skills. We use British Parliamentary Style debating format, meaning speeches last for five minutes, with the audience offering challenging questions as points of information. We meet once a week to deliver debates on topics ranging from pornography to humanitarian intervention. Guest speakers from university departments regularly attend to introduce topics of debate. You also get many opportunities to travel to universities across the UK to compete in competitions.

NUDIST/NATURIST SOCIETY

Naturism is a positive and

healthy non-sexual naked lifestyle. It encourages body confidence and self confidence in general as well as relieving stress and providing a sense of general well being. It is extremely liberating, and psychological studies suggest that it is effective at lowering class boundaries as well as removing social prejudices which we can form when meeting people. Activities will include BBQ’s, visits to nude beaches and campsites in Kent and beyond, as well as clothing-optional visits to theme parks and other places that are involved.

HISTORY SOCIETY

MUSICAL THEATRE SOCIETY

Want to hang out with the most

extrovert people on campus? If you love singing, dancing, or acting, or simply want to give it a try, join UKC’s Musical Theatre Society! With four showcases a year, this year’s musical ‘RENT’, workshops, master classes from professionals, performance opportunities around the community and amazing socials, there’s never a dull moment! We also have many opportunities for the non-performer, so if the stage is not your thing, but you still love musical theatre, don’t worry! Find us at the Welcome Fayre, or on Facebook at: facebook.com/ukc.mts

The History Society is recruiting and wants you to join the cause. Since 2006 the society has attracted a whole range of aspirational and passionate students, from a variety of different disciplines. Over the years the members have worked closely with the School of History to improve the student experience; hosting events ranging from socials and lectures, to excursions and academic vacations. FOOTBALL FANS SOCIETY

Are you a football fanatic? Do you get wound up in lengthy debates when you know that you’re right? Do you play, watch, talk, read and live the football fan life? Then this is the society for you! By joining Football Fans, you will unite with other supporters for chance to take part in playing matches, watching matches, pub football quizzes, society outings, fantasy leagues, FIFA tournaments, trips to stadiums, and regular football chat/debates/banter.

TURKISH SOCIETY

Are you Turkish? Been to Turkey? Want to meet some people that will make your Kent experience? Join the Turkish Society! We aim to bring together all who are interested in anything and everything Turkish! Come sample authentic cuisine, (for those of you wondering what a REAL Doner kebab is!) experience the Eurasian side of world cinema, extend a helping hand to those new to Kent and most importantly party Mediterranean style! Don’t forget to look out for us at the Welcome Fayre! We’ll be giving out free Turkish delight!

THE CAMPUS GARDEN SOCIETY

The Campus Garden is an organic garden run by volunteer staff and students on campus. We try to focus on growing things that’ll be available before the summer holidays so you can enjoy the fruits of your labour before you leave. We offer the opportunity for students and staff to get together to learn and share knowledge about gardening, we also have plenty of growing space meaning that you can both come and grow on your own patch or communally with others. Anything goes as long as it’s organic! We meet regularly at the garden on a Wednesday afternoon at 2pm so come down, have a chat and grow things! There is usually an informal gardening session on Saturdays.

BRUKENT SOCIETY

Brunei Darussalam is a small Sultanate on the island of Borneo in South East Asia. With over 100 alumni and close to a total of 50 current students at the University of Kent in Canterbury, Medway and Tonbridge, Bruneians are slowly becoming one of the more prominent ethnic communities on the campus. Recognizing this growth in population, BruKent Society was established in February 2010 with the main objective of promoting Bruneian culture and traditions to the masses within the university. Among their efforts in achieving this objective is the society’s continuous involvement in the Annual Worldfest International Showcase, where the society’s cultural performances have won different awards each year including the Most Interesting Cultural Performance Award and second place overall at the recent showcase earlier this year. BruKent society opens its doors to all students of the university, Bruneians and NonBruneians alike.

t:24 SOCIETY

Founded in 1966, T:24 is the University of Kent’s oldest and largest Drama Society. Members are involved with a multitude of activities, learning how produce, create and even teach all aspects of a production. When joining, a member can elect to audition, join the backstage or publicity crew, or just pop along for a laugh and drink every Friday at our Tea@6 event.

IQ Features 13

A SOCIETY DURING YOUR TIME AT KENT!

campus, there’s something for everyone! Here’s a brief look at some of them! For a full list of all societies, visit: www.kentunion.co.uk/societies/ kent environment campaign

A student-led volunteer group, the environment campaign is a diligent team of volunteers dedicated to creating a better environment for wildlife, students and local resident’s across the Canterbury area. We will achieve this goal by organising regular days of action (including canvassing and environmental activities), providing invaluable skills to members in the form of campaign training, workshops and hands-on experience in the environment field, and arranging regular socials that include a range of outdoor/ indoor activities, nights out and much much more.

AFRICAN CARIBBEAN SOCIETY

The University of Kent African

Caribbean Society aims to enhance awareness of both African and Caribbean cultures by organising events which showcase different elements of our heritage. We organise a variety of events such as talent shows, barbeques, comedy shows, debates, raves, fashion shows, movie nights, dinners and so much more. We aim to embrace all tastes and are open to all suggestions for events. We also reach out to various charity organisations and students as well. Everyone is welcome to join the ACS.

JAPANESE DRUMMING SOCIETY

Hear that rumbling on campus,

in the distance? You’re experiencing Kensei Taiko, players of huge traditional and contemporary rhythms on big, big drums… we practice on campus and in Thanet, either on the glorious beaches or in a hired venue, perfecting technique through physical movement, timing and sheer unadulterated exuberance! You can join in purely for the fun of it, or aim towards auditioning for our performance band which has played in all of the major regional venues, such as Margate Winter Gardens, The Gulbenkian, and the Leas Cliff Hall.

KENT LABOUR STUDENTS

Kent Labour Students is the most active political society on campus! The award-winning society hosts regular events from socials to speakers to debates and campaigning. Join Kent Labour Students for a chance to expand your political horizons and engage in real debate about the devastating route this government is taking in a truly progressive environment. Look out for us on campus in our bright red hoodies!

CSR FM

KTV

KENT LAW SOCIETY

The Kent Student Law Society is THE

society for University of Kent students who want to pursue a career as a solicitor or who want more information about careers in the legal sector. From arranging talks with solicitors and an annual Law Fayre, to trips to London and drinks with your very own KLS lecturers, the society seeks to help you with your academic and professional aspirations. In addition, we run regular socials including casual drinks in town, themed or fancy dress nights and an annual black tie dinner at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge with legal professionals. All this and much more!

TREKENT SOCIETY

Feel the fresh air as you walk through the garden of England. TreKent meet every other Sunday for a trek around Kent to give you a healthy break from your studies whilst meeting lots of other people. Kent offers some great walks for everyone, so join us to see the famous apple orhards, local lakes, forests, coast and more! Treks vary in length from just a few hours to a full day and include a stop in a pub and complimentary cakes! Find us at the Societies Freshers Fair or come along to our first trek on the 30th September when we’ll catch the train to Wye and stroll back to Canterbury.

Kent Television is a brand new branch of the Kent Union Student Media Group. KTV is ready to record, create, and broadcast events all around campus. We have loads of exciting plans for Welcome Week including broadcasts of our top Freshers advice, the student media night on the 19th September, and day by day coverage of events. We are looking for volunteers who are up for good time and want a great experience at university. Over the next year we have lots of thing planned and we want you to get involved and be a part of KTV. Whether you’re interested in filmmaking, acting, writing, editing, presenting, marketing, designing or just fancy being on TV this is the society for you. With KTV you can let your creativity flow and be a part of the fastest growing Kent Union society. If you’re interested in joining KTV visit our website www.ktvlive.co.uk.

CSR FM is YOUR student radio station and we are always looking for new people to get involved. For real life experience in presenting, producing or working off air and managing the day to day runnings of a 24 hour radio station, then CSR is a perfect opportunity and has led to exciting placements and work at BBC Radio 1 and Capital FM for our members. We broadcast worldwide on www. csrfm.com and on FM throughout Canterbury, representing over 38,000 students and the local community. We will be broadcasting throughout the year and at the Welcome Fayre to celebrate the new cohort of students arriving in Canterbury for the first term, so tune in online at www.csrfm.com and we’ll see you soon!

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IQ Features

CCOMING SOON: SPOTTED! Been on a night out on campus? Wore

what to expect during your first year So, you’re finally at university. But you’re feeling a little like a fish out of water? Don’t panic! We’ve got you some tips and advice from some of our old hands on how to survive your very first Freshers Week and beyond....

something interesting? Look out for InQuire’s new SPOTTED page in the next issue. You might spot you and your friends and win some Venue free entry passes and queue jump! To show you the kind of thing we’re thinking...

Bethany Young

Pamela Head

Welcome Week comes with lots of

Newspaper Editor

potential pitfalls. As a UKC 4th year student using a wheelchair, my first Freshers was no exception. Nights at the Venue on wheels taught me things that we can all learn from. Before you ask, a powered wheelchair user cannot be arrested for drunk driving. (Although, drunk and disorderly is always a possibility!) My housemates clocked that girl with a wheelchair, equipped with headlights and indicators, was the best person to follow home – provided you could keep up with her in high heels. However, my housemates also realised that my crowd control skills were appalling. This was obvious when everyone’s spacial awareness had disappeared after a wonderful combination of vodka and beer. This cocktail resulted in multiple incidents of accidental bottom groping on my part, and the odd unintentional lap dance on theirs. I often had to throw off many unsuspecting strangers, who had managed to land ‘comfortably’ in my chair. There is a solution for this problem – the human wall. My housemates formed a tight circle shape around me. This strategy not only protected me from random falling bodies, but I could catch them if they were pushed over. It’s a win/win plan which avoided many a bruise in the last four years. My first Welcome Week definitely reinforced my extreme clumsiness, with or without alcohol. Every fresher becomes an accident magnet during welcome week – always blame the hangover, even if you are sober. My tip – always watch for ditches and holes. Powered wheelchairs, rain and mud will never be best friends. My front wheel decided to slide down into the mud, my body began to follow. Luckily for me, two students came to my rescue. Your first Welcome Week is all about throwing yourself into things… just try not to do it literally!

Being a fresher is an interesting experience where you’ll collect funny and stupid stories like Kinder Surprise toys. Some incidents are things you can learn from for future reference and this one taught me three valuable tips. Now, you’ll discover this soon if you haven’t already. Kent students tend to like alcohol. Alcohol can be bought in glass bottles and stored in cardboard boxes. These boxes are not very strong. Tip 1: When moving boxes, make sure you’ve got a firm grip on the bottom. Unfortunately, my housemate didn’t follow this advice and subsequently smashed 22 bottles of Carlsberg all over the kitchen floor; impressively hitting a cupboard as he did it and knocking it clean off its hinges. Tip 2: Always have some kind of tool, like a screwdriver, for menial repairs. This will save you having to fashion one out of a bent fork, causing you to nearly damage your housemate’s eyesight as you accidentally (I cannot emphasise Jamie Ovens Newspaper Comment Editor

Let’s cut the crap: when it comes to Freshers year, this is what you need to know… Don’t just be the hero of your own story, play a featuring role in as many lives as you can. There will probably never again in your lifetime be an opportunity with such abundant potential for meeting interesting and exciting people, so grab this opportunity by the balls and get your face out there. Joining a handful of societies and sports teams is one way of developing a healthy network of friends, and can be one of the most fruitful methods of doing so, but don’t rely on this alone. You will find, especially during your first few months, that 99% of the people you come across will be just as eager as you are to become engaged in social interaction, so just try talking to everyone (and if you do happen to come across a sociopathic troll then sod ‘em,

the ‘accident’ bit enough) flick it out of the screw and across the room at torpedo speed. Cleaning up after your mess is something you’ll undoubtedly be doing a lot. Not as often as you probably should, but still. This next bit will seem unrelated, but stick with me here: Kent has electric ovens as well as gas ones. This means you won’t be able to see whether it’s turned on at a glance… Tip 3: Check if the hob is on before you put anything on it. In particular, anything synthetic, like a dustpan, that will melt, seal the bits of glass you’ve just swept up into a bubbling pile of plastic, resulting in you spending the next couple of hours armed with a butter knife, trying to pry it off before Kent Hospitality find out. If you follow these tips, you can avoid a messy situation and put your time to better use. Like, oh, I don’t know, covering someone’s room in newspaper or post-it notes and then hiding in the sofa while they go on a mad rampage. Whoops. move on to the next person!). It does help to be interesting yourself, but even if you don’t have this down yet, I found that costumes help! You aren’t in Kansas any more so strutting around in a pair of sparkly hotpants is completely acceptable and, in many cases, highly advisable. Nothing attracts the eye like a glistening package, so your icebreaker is already catered for, but if red lycra isn’t for you then just splash on some neon paint and go with it. University may not seem like ‘real life’ at first, what with its liberal sense of camaraderie, but surely this is how we as humans were always supposed to behave. Free from the whips and chains we have all been trained to accept, out there in wider society, we can genuinely enrich each other’s lives. So forget about Croydon or wherever you used to live, you’re at the University of Kent now. Don’t waste it!

IQ Features 15

top tips on tackling venue

One of the major bonuses of first year is that you’re likely living on campus, which means you’re close to the university’s very own on-campus club: the Venue! As with any nightclub however, there are certain things you need to remember... Natalie Tipping Newspaper Features Editor

1. Although pre-drinking may seem like a good idea, don’t drink too much! Not only is there the possibility that you’ll make a fool out of yourself, there are photographers walking round Venue who will catch your embarrassment on camera and often, put it on Facebook. There’s also the chance that you’ll walk into your first seminar and have everyone already know you as ‘that girl/guy’ who acted like an idiot during Freshers. Not a good look. 2. Don’t take your bank card out with you if you can help it. Although there’s only a very slim chance of it getting stolen from your bag, there’s still a chance. Besides, there’s a cash machine right outside the door to the club which you don’t want to be hitting every 10 minutes, only to discover the next day that your loan has taken a serious hit. 3. If you don’t want to take a coat

with you, go early. There’s never usually a queue until after 10, and although you might be some of the first people in there, it’ll save you standing outside in the cold and the rain! Also, it’s free entry before 10pm, so if you want to grab a seat and spend some time with friends before taking to the dance floor, that’s something worth thinking about!

4. Make sure you queue in the right place. There are two clubs in the same

building, Venue is downstairs and the Attic is, surprisingly, in the attic. If you want to get into Venue, queue down the side of the road near Keynes. For the Attic, queue next to the Mandela building and the Eliot College carpark.

5. If you’re bringing a friend from

home, they’ll need to be signed in. As long as they’re accompanied by someone with a valid student card, you shouldn’t have a problem getting friends from other universities in. You’re then responsible for them though, so keep an eye on them. They’ll also need to pay £1 more than you for entry.

6. DON’T annoy the bouncers. They can and will throw you out. 7. If you want to be served at some point during the night, make sure you make eye contact with the people serving. Venue is like any other club, the bar gets packed out and the staff Laurie MacDonald

As you read this I fully expect you’re sitting in Origins or Woody’s or somewhere nursing a fried breakfast and your first university hangover. Well done my friend, you’ve flown the nest in style. For myself, I spent three years at Kent and had the time of my life. Unfortunately I’ve now graduated and left the loving embrace of UKC for pastures new, studying for my MA at Nottingham Trent University. Having been through Freshers as a first, second and third year at Kent it’s strange to be going off to a new university to do what feels like the same thing all over again. So here’s my advice to you Freshers, as someone who’s going back into halls, in a university where I know no one, but with a little hindsight. First off, budget. Don’t blow your entire student loan in the first week; you’ve got a whole year ahead of you, and you WILL need to eat, no matter how good an idea buying champagne for everyone seems on the night. Next, have fun! Don’t worry about what people think of you, or what was acceptable or not at home. This

lose track of who was next, they’re only human. So if you want a drink, make sure you weave your way to the front, lock eyes and smile.

8. If you’re a smoker, finish your

drink before you go outside. No drinks are allowed in the smoking area, and if you put your drink down, it’s not going to be there when you come back.

9. Keep a couple of the kebab/pizza menus from your corridor. When you get home, you’ll inevitably need something to give you a little energy back after all that partying. You’ll find that every other day someone will come round to post takeaway menus under your door. Although it may seem annoying at first, when you’ve had a couple of drinks and spent all night in a hot club, you’ll be glad that those people have given you some salvation. is your time, your week and you CAN do whatever the hell you want, that’s what Welcome Week is for. Don’t shank anyone though. Seriously. Finally, make friends. You’ll meet a lot of people during the week, and the vast majority of them you’ll never speak to again. That said, however, I can still think back to the moment when I met most of my closest friends during Welcome Week, three years later. The people you’ll meet will make your university experience, so take the time to get to know people, and don’t be a pretentious idiot. That’s an important one actually, be yourself, and don’t try and be too cool for school. Any act you put on now you’ll either have to keep up for three years or will fall apart messily after five pints of snakebite when you admit you’re a hardcore WoW player, and not a guitar playing, trilby wearing poetry genius born on the banks of Camden’s canals. People will accept you and love you for who you are, no matter how much you think they won’t. Most of all, enjoy yourself and throw yourself into life at Kent, you’ve got a hell of a three years coming.

& events Welcome Week Saturday 15th September - Soap Neon hall wars (Venue and Attic) Sunday - Not your average quiz and Random Rave (Attic) Monday - Freshbook (Venue) - Rockaoke (Attic) Tuesday - International night (Venue) - Oktoberfest (Attic) Wednesday - Flirt School disco (Venue) - Student Media takeover (Attic) Thursday - #YOURMUSIC -presents Man Like Me + Support (Attic) Friday - Addicted 2 Bass feat Jakwob (Venue and Attic) Saturday - Freshers Ice Ball Feat live performance from Coolio (Venue and Attic)

Week 1 Tuesday 25th - Pluck My Acoustic (Attic) Wednesday 26th - Capora Takeover (Attic) - Flirt (Venue) Thursday 27th - Blue Rinse Launch (Attic) Friday 28th - A2B (Venue) Saturday 29th -Soap (Venue and Attic)

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IQ Entertainment

canterbury town bar map 19 15

16 17 18

1 2 3

5

4

6

7

8

9

12 14

10 11

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key: 1. The West Gate Inn (Wetherspoons) 2. The Black Griffin 3. The Lady Luck 4. The Carpenter’s Arms 5. The Canterbury Tales

6. Bramleys 7. The Old Brewery Tavern 8. The Cherry Tree 9. The Cuban 10. Beer Cart Arms

11. Alberrys 12. The Old Buttermarket 13. Chill Nightclub 14. Thomas Ingoldsby (Wetherspoons)

15. The Miller’s Arms 16. The Dolphin Inn 17. The Parrot 18. The Jolly Sailor 19. The Penny Theatre

IQ Entertainment 17

live & music veterans’ welcome week review Things take a turn down nostalgia street as the old-folk recount their freshers experiences...

what’s hot with CSR Music Team At CSR FM we update our playlist every month introducing exciting unsigned or undiscovered acts and mixing them up with some of the best music from across the globe and a variety of genres. We are Your Only Alternative, and don’t sound like many other radio stations. We’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing. Below are a few of the picks from this month’s Freshers special: The XX – Angels: They are back! It’s tough to follow a Mercury Prize winning debut album, but this new track from Bestival headliners The XX indicates that they really haven’t changed one bit, and that’s definitely a good thing. Perfect and stunningly subtle.

Chad Greggor Newspaper Entertainment Editor

Ah, Welcome Week. On choosing my daily dinner I found myself selecting the food that would be the least painful to throw up after an imminent night out… mash potato, yoghurt and ice cream were top of the list (these are not diet recommendations; InQuire claims no responsibility for malnutrition during Welcome Week. Also, the chances are, throwing up apple puree would be just as horrible as anything else). I had none of that food in my house anyway. Not being a huge party-animal (as one of those would never actually use the phrase ‘party-animal’), I inexpertly attempted to make the most of this reputed week of alcohol fuelled debauchery. What resulted were hordes Harriet Cash Newspaper Culture Editor

By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard a

multitude of tall tales and horror stories about the bonkers things people got up to during their Welcome Week. You are probably looking forward to going out and emulating them as precisely as possible. Or, you might be one of a strange minority who will have a pretty relaxed Freshers – the category I fell into. This is not by any means to say it was boring, uneventful or wasted (no pun intended) time. I had a great Freshers. It just so happens that I’m more the ‘quiet pint of Pedi down the pub’ than the ‘chundering her WKD outside the

of random but hilarious encounters and a handful of excellent friends. I went to Woody’s’ ‘Speed Mating,’ as it was then called, and met a number of awkward people (like myself) asking familiar questions: ‘what course are you on?’ ‘Where are you from?’ Meeting people during Welcome Week is accurately captured in the first episode of Fresh Meat, where everyone is sitting around in the living room and find nothing to talk about except tea. For the first few days it might feel like you’re living in a novel written by Jane Austen (albeit a Jane Austen who’s had too much dessert wine after dinner), but people will soon start to loosen up socially once lack of sleep and alcohol take their toll on the social etiquette.

Something of particular interest happened while sitting in our kitchen on the first night of Freshers. Some second years opened our back kitchen door, walked in with a load of stolen alcohol, sat down at our kitchen table, and began making conversation while asking for glasses. Failing to acquire glasses, they tipped half a bottle of Pimm’s into a bottle of coke and in the end left the coke/ evidence at my house If that was your alcohol, I’m very sorry. The lesson here is always lock your back kitchen door if you live in Parkwood, they don’t lock on their own. You can say thank you for this amazing advice with a pint on Wednesday night at the Kent Student Media Social in The Attic!

Venue’ type of lass. Also, I’m old. I’m 21, which seems ancient compared to all you bright-eyed 18 year olds fresh from Sixth Form. I just felt, to use the vernacular, too old for that shit. I did go out in Welcome Week. My housemates and I went to Origins on the first night for a quiz which inexplicably involved the blowing up of condoms and teammates swapping clothes. We didn’t win. I also somehow ended up at a school disco night, under the naïve assumption that there would be at least some S Club 7 playing. Tragically, there wasn’t, and I called it a night. The point I’m trying to make, albeit

inelegantly, is that I didn’t go crazy in Welcome Week. I didn’t blow my entire loan for the term, I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to, and I still made friends and had a great time. You may well think this mellow attitude to the inebriated haze of Freshers makes me a loser, and that’s ok. But if you happen to be me, sat there thinking maybe Jägerbombs aren’t for you after all, that’s fine too. Passing on the yard of ale or the naked run across campus won’t leave you alone and friendless for the rest of the year. At risk of sounding like an awful cliché, Freshers can be what you want it to. And besides, it’s over so quickly that at the end of the year you won’t know the difference.

Bastille – Bad Blood: Bastille appear to have come out of nowhere and, since performing live at Lounge on the Farm and Guilfest, they have gone on to packed tents at Reading and Leeds and BBC Three performances. Bad Blood is a perfect example of their melodic, heartfelt style, and we can’t wait for the release of their debut album. Sam and the Womp – Bom Bom: Number 1 in August and ridiculously catchy, this is a great summer track. It’s September but we’re praying the sun is going to come out and shine sometime right? Madeon – The City: Is it possible to think this guy is a 17-year-old Frenchman? Electro music is hot on the mainland at the moment, and Madeon is taking the lead. Great new track. Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen: We all grabbed the free download earlier this year of Hanging On, but this is the official new single from Ellie. Album coming out soon and after such a long time away, fingers crossed it’s as catchy as the debut. Man Like Me – Squeeze: Playing at The Attic during Welcome Week, this band is funky and returning to Canterbury after playing Lounge on the Farm earlier this year. You know the Ikea advert in the house? They wrote that track. This is another one of theirs Jessie Ware – Wildest Moments: Jessie Ware is a top class artist, and the new album will definitely mirror the success of this first single – stunning. Perfect addition to this month’s playlist. For this and more like it – listen live 24/7 at www.csrfm.com or on 97.4FM in Canterbury.

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IQ Entertainment

sunshine or showers: the summer festivals 2000 trees, new and underground

On Friday, the rest of the five thousand festival-goers arrive, along with mud. By the end of the day I can’t see my boots anymore.

dance music at global gathering

Escaping into the tent that houses the second stage, we are treated to a blistering last gig from the short-lived Run Walk. Their marriage of face melting noise and a keen sense for melody will likely be much missed . We finally venture outside for Maybeshewill, who put on a surprisingly energetic show and use their borrowed string section to squeeze every drop of catharsis from their songs.

Matt Gilley Newspaper News Editor “New and underground British music” is 2000 Trees’ slogan, and the only link between its eclectic array of bands. At few other festivals could I find myself heading from the sun-soaked synthpop of Fixers to the instrumental post-metal monoliths of Brontide. Me and my Trees buddy, Josh, arrive on Thursday having learnt from our mistake last year and bought early entry tickets, securing us the first pick of camping spots, smaller queues and an extra day of music from festival favourites of previous years. We are well rewarded with knock-out sets from Tall Ships and Three Trapped Tigers, their unique electronica/mathrock whipping up the crowd with drums, guitar and keyboards darting around each other.

The soothing, ambient folk of Lanterns on the Lake and some fantastic festival food – much of it sourced locally – ease us through to the evening. Dry The River are a slight disappointment, failing to bring their album to life except for “No Rest” and “Weights and Measures”. As the Heavens open, cold and discomfort are little compared to 65daysofstatic’s bombastic instrumental rock; soaring guitars, pounding drums and the buzz of electronics. Nearly ten years as a band has honed their live show to total immersion, a commanding presence on stage. In the final days, with mud churning ever deeper and bands dwindling, we give up and head for the car after only four acts. Not a moment too soon, as the rain pours down again. Sorry Future of the Left, I’m sure you were good, but so was the feeling of being warm and dry.

Layla Haidrani

Every year at the end of July, thousands of ravers and lovers of all types of dance music descend upon the sleepy town of Stratford Upon Avon, en route to a two day festival famed for being the mecca of all dance, Global Gathering. Set up twelve years ago, it has established a huge following, attracting hard-core music lovers from teenagers to older people alike in its two-day rave affair. Famed for attracting the biggest names in electronic music, the twelve enormous stages across the huge campsite packed with ravers did not disappoint. In every arena, whether it was the Hospitality tent or the A State of Trance tents, there was an atmospheric lively buzz all around. The layout of the festival is fantastic as you are never far from the toilets, bar, food stalls and the music tents as well as a patch of grass to lounge on. The availability of food is very varied to suit all tastes from Chinese to Indian and

although slightly pricey, is great for a quick stop. Highlights of the Friday night were Andy C, at UKF Bass Culture tent, who played an incredible drum and bass set, and Skrillex who kept the crowd going for hours. A drunken wander attempting to find a bar, I stumbled on the house where I raved to a set by house DJ Rehab, one of the best sets of the weekend. Saturday night played host to the best of trance music with exhilarating sets by Above and Beyond, Armin Van Buren as well as dubstep legend Borgore. Chase and Status at the main stage did not disappoint the thousands of ravers came together to close the festival. The only negative side of the weekend is that you can’t bring any alcohol you bought from the campsite into the arena and it takes hours to leave the campsite with the car park congested for hours. Despite this, Global is a really friendly, wild party; bringing the dance community together in an epic weekend rave, I for one can’t wait to be back next year.

no tv licence? try our recommended boxsets Roy Lavender

Whether it be an escape from the pressures of final year work, or to fill up the carefree hours of a Fresher, there are few things more enjoyable than curling up on the sofa with a whole TV series to watch. I’ve foregone current sensations like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Wire, because if you haven’t already watched them, somebody has probably told you that you should. Forbrydelsen/The Killing The American remake of The Killing is acceptable, but the Danish original is the one you really want. Unfolding over 20 dark, brooding epsiodes, the plot twists and turns through family tensions and political corruption, towards the catching of Nanna Birk Larsen’s killer. Sofie Grabøl is sensational as unpredictable police detective Sarah Lund.

Portlandia If you can get a US import copy, this sketch comedy show from SNL’s Fred Armisen and ex-Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein is well worth a watch. You don’t have to be familiar with the hipster quirkiness of Portland to enjoy it, and the pair have both fantastically bizarre imaginations and excellent comic timing. Mad Men If you haven’t got around to watching

Mad Men yet, what have you been doing? Start now, and I guarantee you will be enthralled by the antics of Sterling, Cooper, Draper and company. Matthew Wiener’s pitch-perfect evocation of 1960s New York is a visual feast as well as being sharply intelligent and wryly knowing about American society. Twin Peaks I have only recently been introduced to Nineties classic Twin Peaks, but having sat through the whole 30-something

episodes in a matter of days, I can only say that the dive into David Lynch’s surreal imagination is well worth the subsequent nightmares. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Another retro choice – you’ve seen the new adaptation with Gary Oldman, now revisit the classic BBC series, which featured Alec Guinness’ tour de force as retired spy George Smiley. Complex, slow and intense, it eventually rewards. Black Books Sitcoms and comedy shows that genuinely never get old are a rare thing, but Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan’s series is one of them. If you haven’t seen it, prepare for laughterinduced tears and bellyache. I know I made at least one friend in first year by (perhaps drunkenly) proclaiming in an Irish accent, “Yes, but...the older the wine is, the gooder it is also”.

IQ Culture

canterbury city’s counterculture Amy McElwaine

Bopping to chart hits not your idea of a great night out? Looking for something a bit different to do in your free time? There’s no doubt that Canterbury caters for whatever you consider to be a good night out. It’s rumoured that there are 365 pubs in the city and surrounding areas, so as you’d expect, there’s a great variety to sample (although I wouldn’t recommend trying all 365 in just one year!). The Lady Luck on the high street not only boasts an eclectic range of ales, but its rock ‘n’ roll theme and acoustic nights make it the perfect spot for those looking for an alternative to the traditional pub. Local music, arts and film collective No-Wave have also been contributing to the growing alternative scene in Canterbury with their band tribute nights. Originally held in Alberry’s Wine Bar on Fridays, NoWave have hosted weekly nights which celebrate great bands past and present, featuring the music that influenced them, and the music they’ve inspired since. Tributes to legends such as The Clash, The Beatles and Run DMC are planned for the upcoming term. If you’re keen to experience the atmosphere of the larger nightclubs, but aren’t a fan of pop and chart music, Club Chemistry has dedicated Thursday nights to Indiecate, playing a great set

of alternative anthems, and Statik, a new electronic and garage music night.

The Gulbenkian Theatre and Cinema is another great nightspot, as all year round a variety of comedy and theatrical shows take place almost every night. Within the last year it’s attracted comedians such as Jimmy Carr and Chris Addison, with more big names lined up for this year. The great value cinema also shows a mix of indie and blockbuster films, and being right in the centre of campus, it couldn’t be more convenient. While Canterbury boasts an array of

fashion chains, the many independent shops cater for vintage and alternative fashion. Vintage Warehouse, on Northgate, hosts a stock of individually sourced clothing, shoes and accessories, largely at student-friendly prices. Funky Monks houses a fabulous variety of retro and fashion, catering for trends from the 80’s, punk, rock ‘n’ roll eras and more. In the centre of Canterbury’s buzzing high street lives Revivals, which again stocks a reasonably priced vintage fashion range. It only takes a stroll through the city centre to see that café culture is alive and well in Canterbury, with a mix of popular chains and equally loved boutique cafés and small restaurants. Canteen, just metres away from the iconic cathedral is a café restaurant, serving vibrant and nutritious fresh food and snacks. It’s a relaxed spot to catch up with friends, or a perfect place to pick up lunch and take advantage of their handy student discount. Canterbury is also just a short train or bus ride away from Margate, which is not only a neglected but charming seaside resort, but also home to the Turner Contemporary art gallery. Found in the chic old town area at the end of the beachfront, the gallery boasts some of Turners best work as well as exhibitions of modern art, including one by Turner Prize winning local artist Tracey Emin.

the olympics’ artistic legacy

Hanna Hepburn

The last day of the Paralympics also marked the close of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, a festival of the arts which has accompanied the Olympic period. Whilst even the most firmly professed un-sporty types, such as myself, have been transfixed by the feats of human strength and dedication on display, there has been a multitude of cultural and artistic events occurring around the country, live and on big screens. Perhaps amidst all the hype this has largely gone unnoticed, and you could be forgiven for having been mesmerised by the sports. With all the talk of the legacy these Olympics will leave behind, however, the Cultural Olympiad has an important role to play. Much has been made of the fact that until 1954, etching was still an Olympic event, and I doubt anyone would quibble with the games now being purely about sports. But when you think about the spectacles of the opening and closing ceremonies, the fabulous mish-mash of British life they presented, the Olympics are really the perfect opportunity to celebrate our cultural as well as sporting heritage. The Cultural Olympiad has seen over

1000 events taking place around the regions, from the Big Dance Trail across the South East, to the Unlimited season, celebrating new work by deaf and disabled artists. Tracy Emin’s landmark show at Margate’s Turner Contemporary, She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea, was part of the Olympiad, as was Mike Leigh’s specially commissioned short film, A Running Jump. The programme is simply too vast to enumerate here, but over the summer, flung from Kent back to your home town, you are bound to have seen something that was part of this festival of British creativity.

From the most renowned artists to local dance, theatre and music groups, professionals and amateurs alike have been working on shows, productions,

installations and experiences which have created and prolonged the atmosphere of the Olympic summer. The Olympic Organising Committee, LOCOG, estimates that over 14 million people have participated in events such as the Big Dance and National Portrait Gallery exhibitions, with over 155,000 taking party in Cultural Olympiad workshops. We shouldn’t allow the success of these games to blind us to the realities of the G4S fiasco, missing Congolese and Cameroonian athletes, and taxdodging corporate sponsors. These haven’t been a perfect Games, but they certainly have provided an unbelievable range of inspiration, and the Cultural Olympiad has been part of that. Given the Olympics’ focus on engaging people with sport, not to mention the funding increases for many sporting areas, it is to be hoped that the cultural events have had some of the same effect for the arts sector. At a time when so many arts institutions are facing massive cuts people need to be aware that if they don’t use, support and protect these facilities they may well lose them. Fingers crossed the excitement of an Olympic summer of art, as well as sport, keeps people’s imaginations fired.

19

pause for thought Each issue a corner of Culture

will be devoted to a piece of poetry chosen by one of our writers, to give you something to reflect on and mull over during the coming fortnight. This time, to tie in with our article about dissident art, I’ve chosen the text of Pussy Riot’s so-called ‘punk prayer’. Three members of the band were arrested for performing this song in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

“Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away” Virgin Mary, Mother of God, put Putin away Рut Putin away, put Putin away Black robe, golden epaulettes All parishioners crawl to bow The phantom of liberty is in heaven Gay-pride sent to Siberia in chains The head of the KGB, their chief saint, Leads protesters to prison under escort In order not to offend His Holiness Women must give birth and love Shit, shit, the Lord’s shit! Shit, shit, the Lord’s shit! Virgin Mary, Mother of God, become a feminist Become a feminist, become a feminist The Church’s praise of rotten dictators The cross-bearer procession of black limousines A teacher-preacher will meet you at school Go to class - bring him money! Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin Bitch, better believe in God instead The belt of the Virgin can’t replace mass-meetings Mary, Mother of God, is with us in protest! Virgin Mary, Mother of God, put Putin away Рut Putin away, put Putin away

20

IQ Culture

my first gig: muse (2007)

Jonathan Easton “Come ride with me through the veins of history.”

These were the words that bellowed throughout Wembley Stadium, beginning my first experience of a live gig. The concert I speak of is, of course, Muse’s famous gig as the first band to play the new Wembley Stadium. I am in a unique position because the day I saw the band (June 16th 2007; I’m wearing the t-shirt right now) the gig was recorded and later released as the DVD portion of ‘HAARP’. This means that I can go back and watch it whenever I like. I can re-live the magic, so to speak, and I must say it was

this week in... 1975: 24 Sept Haston and Scott become first Brits to scale Everest The team reached the 29,028ft summit 33 days after they had set up base camp. 1984: 20 Sept Bomb attack at US Embassy in Beirut 20 people are killed in a suicide bomb attack at the American Embassy, which had only been open six weeks after the previous building was destroyed in a 1983 attack which killed 61. 1998: 21 Sept Release of Clinton’s Grand Jury testimony US President Bill Clinton’s testimony about the nature of his affair with Monica Lewinsky is broadcast to the public. The President was forced to defend himself against allegations that he had previously lied under oath.

certainly magical. Forgetting about the mind-boggling sound that the three men on stage (and one hidden away in the back with a tambourine) were able to create, the spectacle came from the sense of event. Maybe this was the naïvety of a 14 year old Jon at his first gig, but I truly felt like I was at the centre of the earth; that there was no place in the entire world that was better than this. I have since seen Muse a further three times and the feeling still remains, with another gig scheduled this November. There is a unique endorphin that is released into my brain whenever I see Muse and it’s a feeling that ultimately stems back to that first gig.

Seeing other bands live has given me a similar rush. From the performances of industry legend in Elton John to the warbling blues of John Mayer, I have seen a lot of live music, all of which has been exciting and unique in its own way. With each gig I go to, however, it seems that I try to judge it by the very high standards set by that Muse gig in 2007 and each time I seem to come up short changed. Perhaps what made it so special was the fantastic set-list; a string of anthems that sent the crowd into raptures: Plug In Baby, Hysteria and the aforementioned Knights of Cydonia had the stadium echoing as the crowd sang along. Even the sound of the band just jamming on stage was enough to send goosebumps down the collective spine of the audience. For all their musical complexities and intricacies, Matt Bellamy knows how to write a song to bring down the house. I can’t figure out why that first gig was so special, but it has had an effect me that I think I will carry with me for the rest of my days. From emulating the guitar of ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ by turning my amp up really, really loud to purchasing red trousers and a red jacket in a form of hero worship, I will always try to recapture the unique feeling that the gig evoked in me. Part of me hopes I never will. Maybe it’s just like that old saying: there’s nothing like the first time.

welcome week cultural events calendar 15/16 Sept: Kent Cultural Baton arrives at Whitstable Biennale Sun 16: Exhibition tour, Turner Contemporary (Margate) 17/18: Cirque de Ciel, Marlowe Theatre 18/19: Offbeat indie film Electrick Children, Gulbenkian Cinema Thurs 20: Woman in a Dressing Gown, Gulbenkian Cinema Fri 21: Sandi Toksvig Live, Marlowe Theatre Sun 23: Tracy Emin exhibition closes at Turner Contemporary 6-30: Untouched (photography show), Margate Gallery

beaney reopens in canterbury Heath Robinson

The newly restored Beaney Museum – or, to give it its full title, the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge – has opened its doors in the centre of Canterbury. The museum occupies a historic building originally opened in 1899, which was purpose built to house the Beaney Institute’s collections. The new museum contains not only seven exhibition galleries but a library housing 50,000 books and various educational facilities. The £14 million restoration project has been under way since the building closed in February 2009, and has aimed to restore the museum to its former glory. Among many other tasks, interior partitions have been removed to reveal the beauty of the main staircase, Italian terrazzo flooring has been repaired and new wooden doors created in the style of the originals. The new visitor entrance in Best Lane is much more accessible, opening onto a bright atrium. Before you even arrive at the exhibitions, the building itself is a sight to behold.

The opening weekend, on September 8th and 9th, featured tours of the gallery’s ‘best bits’, workshops and activities for children, and living history displays, as well as the chance to be among the first to discover what the various exhibitions have to offer. If you missed out on the opening activities, not to worry - the museum will be holding regular events, including building tours and free lunchtime talks, and between September and October there will be an Arts Council exhibition of drawings and sculptures by Canterbury artist Henry Moore.

The new Beaney follows hot on the heels of the Marlowe Theatre, which opened last October. The two will hopefully contribute to, as well as vastly expand, Canterbury’s lively cultural scene. As the museum acknowledged in a press release, the city’s reputation “was historically built on heritage rather than contemporary culture”, but recent years have seen arts come to the forefront of regeneration and development. These new arts facilities go to show that size has nothing to do with how culturally creative and vibrant a city can be.

IQ Culture

hearing the voices of dissent Gus Greene

Ai Weiwei is one of the most powerful people on the planet. It may not seem so, given that he is forbidden by the Chinese government to leave Beijing, is followed wherever he goes, has previously been detained in secret for 81 days, and even had his studio torn down by the authorities. In a modern age of the internet, social networks, and mass communication however, it is much harder to imprison or repress an idea than a man. The Chinese government is afraid of Ai. Although he collaborated on the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is in some ways a symbol of modern China, he also represents one of the most starkly critical dissident voices in the country. His artworks throw into sharp relief aspects of society and the political system which the authorities would rather be brushed under the carpet. To note but one example, his exhibition ‘So Sorry’ at Haus der Kunst in Munich featured the piece ‘Remembering’ – 9,000 children’s backpacks attached to the building’s facade, representing the thousands of young students who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake thanks to shoddily constructed school buildings. The idea of people being ‘disappeared’ in China recurs in Ai’s work. A profound believer in the power of Twitter and the Internet, Ai’s influence

extends far beyond China’s political and geographic boundaries, and it is this global reach that gives him his power. The statements made in his art are visible across the world, they resound everywhere from politicians’ offices to teenagers’ bedrooms. People care what happens to Ai Weiwei, and that kind of power can’t disappear. In a parallel way, people care what happens to Russian artist-activists Pussy Riot. Like Ai, they are sounding dissident voices in a repressive society, using their art to critique the machinery of a state that restricts their freedom of expression. Theirs is a peaceful mode of protest, and one with great power. Their anarchic, punk-influenced approach is vastly offensive to the Russian state and Orthodox Church, but not as much as their belief in the importance of human rights. The Russian government is afraid of Pussy Riot. In a state that

recognises and upholds its citizens’ basic rights and freedoms, the band would have nothing to fear from the government, the government no need to crack down on critical expression. Sadly, that is not currently the case. Ai Weiwei and Pussy Riot are interesting examples because of their global renown and political currency, but there are artist-activists in all countries giving voice to criticisms of repressive and unjust regimes. Art is a powerful, incendiary means of spreading an idea. That much is evident by the lengths to which governments will go to suppress it. It is easy to think of art as something quiet and peaceful you experience on a Sunday afternoon – and sometimes it is – but is also vital to the expression of our human freedom. What happens to Ai Weiwei or Pussy Riot could happen to you. Care what happens to them.

fifty years of jamaican jammin’ Figaro Montgomery

Jamaica has been in the news this summer for a number of reasons. Notably their three consecutive medals in the Men’s 200m sprint at the Olympics and, to a lesser degree, Snoop Dogg’s conversion to Snoop Lion. The most important news, however, is that Jamaica has reached the 50th anniversary of its independence. So, what better way to commemorate this occasion than to look at the powerful influence of Jamaican music? First and foremost, there is the ska movement – a style so popular that it is actually categorized in three waves like feminism, although I’m sure there is no connection there. The first wave came from Jamaica in the 1950s, with artists such as Jimmy Cliff, The Wailers, and The Clarendonians. These musicians became extremely popular abroad, so much so that ska was later revived in the 1970s by the likes of The Specials and Madness, forerunners of the third and final wave: ska-punk. Ska, having influenced reggae, rocksteady and punk, can be said to be

the staple genre of Jamaican music. Perhaps its most famous derivative, however, is reggae. Reggae emerged in the late 60s, pioneered by the likes of Bob Marley, the international success and legend, known not only for his music but also as a peace-loving, Rastafarian figurehead. His popularity however, could not overshadow the excellent Peter Tosh, whose performance of ‘Walk and Don’t Look Back’ with Mick Jagger is avaialable on YouTube. Reggae is a term often unfairly used to

classify all of Jamaican music, although it has also fostered a number of subgenres, such as dub - a strange style, achieved by accentuating the drum and bass parts of a song while adding excessive echo sounds. An excellent and current example of dub is Taken By Trees ‘Dreams’ (Dub Remix). Dub’s influence stretches far and wide, notably as the parent of dubstep. Traces of this style are more evident in tracks such as La Roux’s ‘In For The Kill’ (Skream Remix) than in Lady Gaga’s ‘Died This Way’ (Skrillex Remix), the latter track having moved into the sub-genre of ‘brostep.’ Reggae and dub have also influenced pioneering artists in lo-fi such as Peaking Lights and experimental music artists Gang Gang Dance. As we celebrate Jamaica’s fifty years of independence, let’s take a while to acknowledge the country’s music, which has continued to grow since ‘62, all the way up to the pioneering sounds of the present day. Since we share the same monarch, from a fellow subjugate I say: happy 50th anniversary Jamaica!

21

The Art Roundup by Julia Smith

Whether you’re a bright-eyed

Fresher or a student returning slightly more bleary-eyed, each issue I’ll be giving you a take on the latest arts news and a heads up of the best new exhibitions around. After all, one of the brightest art capitals of the world is just a hop, skip and a HS1 train away from campus! But that said, September brings with it a host of new, exciting events for you to enjoy right here in the city of Canterbury. After an extensive restoration and redevelopment project, the beautiful Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in the heart of Canterbury has finally opened its doors to the public. With a Henry Moore exhibition (often heralded as one of the greatest artists of the Twentieth Century. Not ringing any bells? He does those sort of swirly sculptures of people lying down… There we go. Now you’ve got it!) briefly on loan to the gallery supplementing it’s already impressive collections of Ancient Egyptian and Anglo-Saxon artifacts, the Beaney is a fantastically inviting place to spend a rainy afternoon. Reckon it’s too far to trek in to town for a cultural pick-me-up? Well, how about experiencing some artistic appreciation on campus instead? Save yourself the bus fare and take a trip to Studio 3 Gallery, the dedicated exhibition space within the University’s School of Arts Jarman building. Throughout September, Studio 3 will be home to ‘And God Cryed’ the latest intriguing exhibition by artist John Blackburn. Blending found objects into his impressive abstract paintings, Blackburn has produced a striking series of work that truly encourages contemplation. On display until December, it’s well worth taking a detour between lectures to explore this unique show.

22

Sport

and now for the sports clubs and societies... MOUNTAINEERING

EQUESTRIAN CLUB

The UKC Mountaineering Club incorporates rock climbing and walking. It is a great place to learn to climb or to further your climbing ability. The club organises weekend trips around England and Wales. Members are given the opportunity to climb outside on natural rock or to go for a hike through national parks and up some of the highest peaks in the country. The club has a great social side and is a brilliant place to meet lifelong friends.

WOMEN’S RUGBY

If you’ve ever played before/never played before, or just like the idea of joining a team sport, then Women’s Rugby wants you! We train hard with twice weekly training and regular fixtures, which caters to novices and those with a little more experience. Last year we came 2nd in our league, and this year we are pushing for the win in the hope to get promoted, so don’t miss out as this is going to be the biggest year yet for Women’s Rugby! As for socials, we come out in force and are committed to having the best socials on campus; Wednesday nights are not the same without Women’s Rugby being present!

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

UKC MMA is a rapidly expanding club and we’re always accepting new members. We welcome everyone, male or female, experienced cage fighter or complete beginner. We have a team of professional coaching staff behind us, who have competed at an international level. UKC MMA is not only for those wanting to compete but also brilliant for those seeking full body conditioning, or people who simply want to learn about the sport in a friendly atmosphere. On top of that there are some amazing socials! So if you want to try a new and exciting sport like no other, join UKC MMA!

UKC KNIGHTS INLINE

If you’re looking for a fast-paced team sport to have a great time playing and to keep you fit, then Inline Hockey is the sport for you. Inline Hockey is similar to Ice Hockey, but played on inline skates. The main difference is that Inline Hockey is a less physical sport, making it much more about speed and skill than strength. Founded in 2006, the team has grown in strength every year and as part of the NSHL League, the upcoming season is set to be our most successful yet. All levels of skill are welcome.

NETBALL

Love playing netball? Love having fun? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions then you’re a prime candidate to join UKC Netball. We cater for all levels from complete beginners to super-league standard, so whether you’re a confident skilled player or just fancy having a go, there’s a place for you here. UKC Netball consists of four BUCS teams and a development squad along with Inter-college teams of mixed abilities. All the teams socialise together in some of the most outrageous but hilarious socials the University has ever seen. We also do our bit for charity, with our infamous Man of Kent event and setting up Charity Netball. We were Kent Union’s Club of the Year 2010-11 and we snapped up Team of the Year at last year’s awards for our first team who made it into the Premiership. So if you want to get fit, improve your game and most importantly, have fun, sign up now!

GLIDING

Ever wondered what the world looked from above? The UKC Gliding Club offers its members to accomplish one of the oldest desires of mankind, being able to fly. Participants will learn how to fly with an instructor at first and with enough training they will be able to fly solo and even get their professional gliding license. The club also presents the possibility to learn how to do aerobatics and competition or the pleasure of just gliding across the country. So if you like to try something new and exciting, join the UKC Gliding Club. For more information follow us on Facebook at: UKC Gliding Club.

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

At the UKC women’s football club, we love to socialise, we love to have fun, and we love football. Last year we came third in our league and we reached the semi-finals of the cup. This year, with increased determination and hard work we are aiming to come out on top, so whether you have been playing football since before you could walk or if you have yet to test your foot eye co-ordination, we want you! We train on Mondays 6-7.30pm on the 3G and have matches and socials once a week too. Hopefully see you there! Much Football love!

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The UKC Women’s Hockey Club, is undoubtedly one of the most popular sporting clubs on the Canterbury campus. The club is known for their fantastic socialising abilities, organising yearly events such as ‘No Balls Allowed’ and the Spring Ball in aid of Kent Cancer Trust, as well as having three successful BUSA teams and a Saturday league team that has seen phenomenal success in their last season. With trials commencing on the 30th September 2012, the club welcomes players of all abilities. Search ‘Kent Hockey 2012/2013’ on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest events and on goings within the club.

KENT CHEER

The world of UK Competitive Cheer is growing fast and Kent Cheer is moving just a rapidly with it. Awarded Kent Union’s Most Developed Sports Club of the Year, we have seen our numbers double in the past year alone. Coming 4th at Nationals, just one place away from a bid to Worlds in Florida was a huge achievement and this year we intend to step it up yet again. KC are aiming high and with squads competing in advanced cheer, hip hop and pom dance there really isn’t a better time to try0ut.

Whether you’re an experienced horse rider or have never ridden in your life; if you like horses, join UKC Equestrian Club! We ride at Trenley Park Liveries, 20 minutes from the university and welcome all abilities – from complete beginners through to experienced riders. We organise frequent socials such as polo days, club meals and all important nights out! We have three teams competing in BUCS championships; who have reached national level in the past few years. With growing membership and exciting new plans in place, this year is looking set to be a good one! For more information: www.ukcequestrianclub.co.uk

HANDBALL

What is handball? It’s not basketball, it’s not football and it’s definitely not netball! The only way to experience real, fast and exciting handball is to come and join the newly established handball team at the University of Kent! Handball is an up-and-coming sport that has become more prominent following the Olympic Games. The sport is already popular throughout Europe, in countries such as Germany, France and Sweden. It involves passing a ball between players and shooting at big goals. The practice hours are: Monday and Friday at 10.00 – 12.00 in the small hall at the Sports Centre.

SWIMMING CLUB

With affordable membership fees that can either be paid termly or yearly, swimmers have access to one of our pools in Canterbury twice a week. We pride ourselves on having social and competitive lanes during sessions, meaning anyone and everyone of varying skills and goals can enjoy themselves. Competitive swimmers have the chance to compete in contests such as BUCS and our annual Varsity event. Socials are also part of our club, which our committee are dedicated to increasing in the upcoming year. Come check us out! All of these societies and clubs plus more will be at the Sports Fayre, Friday the 21st September. Don’t be afraid to sign up and get involved with Team Kent! For a full list of Sports Societies on campus visit www.kentunion.co.uk/sports. InQuire provide constant sporting coverage for the university. Any paid member of a Sports club or society is able to write match reports for free. To get involved, come to our weekly meetings or email newspaper.sport@inquiremedia.co.uk. To keep up to date with Kent Sport, follow @TheTeamKent on Twitter!

Sport 23 WOMEN’S LACROSSE

UKC Women’s Lacrosse is a sport suited for all; we have lots of fun but are also committed to our sport and hope to continue to be successful in the next year. We welcome people of all abilities to join us and learn something new, as well as those who have played before. We encourage anyone wanting to get involved in something at Kent to come along and have a throw around with us at the start of this new year!

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

Playing American Football at university is a once in a lifetime opportunity to try a new and fun sport that’s growing in popularity all over the country. All players and abilities are welcome to come along and try out the newest BUCS sport. It’s also a great way to meet new friends at our many socials. Email: ukcfalcons@ gmail.com for the chance to be part of a team ranked 8th in the country last year.

SNOOKER & POOL

At the UKC Snooker and Pool Club: You will have exclusive access to two snooker tables and two 8 ball pool tables across two club rooms including storage for cues in both rooms. You will be able to enter in our Internal 8 ball, 9 ball, and snooker tournaments. You will have the opportunity to represent the university across the nation from Milton Keynes to Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham and Coventry. You will be able to go on great nights out and social events with one of the largest sports clubs in the union.

KARATE

AT the UKC Karate Club, anyone can learn how to effectively defend themselves whilst developing confidence, self-discipline and having fun! Accessible to all ages and abilities, karate is known to boost stamina, strength and more. The club enters students into competitions at all levels and has a history of bringing home medals at both local and national championships. The club hosts a variety of social events throughout the year that are a great opportunity to make merry and meet people. Come see us at our stall at the Freshers Fayre for more information or join us for a free session.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

CAVING

CAVING is more than getting covered in mud, deep underground with a group of close friends you trust with your life. The club will teach you a wide range of skills, from climbing and abseiling, to crawling and scrambling. Caving is a life changing experience, and the caving club is there to facilitate that by running weekly training sessions, numerous cheap trips all over the country and you can even do a first aid course! The nature of the sport means you create lifelong friends while improving in fitness and technical ability. It’s awesome, so why not give it a try?

KORFBALL

Korfball, a blend of basketball and netball, is a mixed-gender sport, comprised of two teams of guys and girls that alternate between attack and defence. Our teams compete in weekly Kent leagues, various university tournaments and a multinational social-tournament in Holland. We are a sports and social club, a close family of friends who socialise weekly; we even holidayed in Cyprus this summer. New members are always welcome. All abilities are guaranteed a place. Play for fun or competitively and socialise regularly! On and off the court we’ll give you the best (and most) out of your university experience! Find out more: http://www.facebook.com/UKCKorf

CRICKET

CANOEING

Did you see the Olympic Canoe Slalom? Well, that’s what we do! White water kayaking! None of this racing and gates rubbish though, we concentrate on the most fun part - the white water! Don’t worry though, we won’t just throw you down huge rapids, you will build up your skills in our weekly pool sessions and regular trips to some of the UK’s best white water rivers! Pool sessions are Thursday nights at 8pm - meet by the Mandela building (next to Venue). Bring swimming kit, a t-shirt/shorts, £3, and pub money for afterwards! Everyone is welcome!

BADMINTON

As one of the fastest ball sports in the world and one of the cheapest sports societies on campus - a one off payment of only £20 - the Badminton club can provide fun, excitement and challenge to your University life. Rackets and shuttlecocks are provided free so there are no hidden costs. We are currently recruiting many students for our women’s and men’s teams so make sure to try out! We accommodate all skill levels and have courts for those who want to have a knock around without it being serious. Also, don’t forget to watch out for our Badminton socials every week! Sign up at the Welcome Fayre for more information about free taster sessions and try-outs!

“BALL together, Party together” Whether it’s shooting threes, shouting support, or simply rockin’ it out in Venue; you can rely on the knowledge that the girls on the Women’s Basketball Team will have your back. Our taster session is on Sunday 23rd September 14:00-15:30, tryouts are Monday 24th September 20:00 - 22:00 and both are completely FREE; so come along! Trainings are Monday and Thursday nights from 20:00-22:00. Complete beginner? No problem, UKC women’s basketball team have a development squad, established solely for the purpose of teaching people the basic skills of basketball, whist still maintaining the social aspect of the club. See you there!

A new school year always presents us with new challenges, and the UKC Cricket Club is on the recruitment drive once again. With indoor cricket through the winter and the outdoor season beginning in April, there is plenty to prepare for. We are a very social club but we take our cricket seriously. Whether you are an experienced campaigner or new to the game, we want to have you on board. The clubs ethos is to promote a competitive spirit in an inclusive environment. Find us on Facebook or at Freshers Fayre if you have any questions or queries.

KENT DANCE

Male or Female? Fresher or Third year? Whoever you are and whatever your experience Kent Dance has something to offer you. With a wide range of classes from ballet to Bollywood there’s room for everyone to get involved. What do we offer? 1. Weekly dance and fitness classes 2. We have Inter-university competitions 3.‘ Dance Fusion’ A annual dance battle evening against local university CCCU 4. The Annual Show, presented in March and something that everyone has the opportunity to be a part of. 5. SOCIALS! Regular nights out, film screenings and quiz nights. A great way of meeting new people and making new friends. Check us out on Facebook or come along to one of our events during freshers week!

KENT SNOW

The path to enlightenment should be facing downhill with an alcoholic drink in hand. Let’s do it the KentSnow way. Find us at the Welcome Fayre, pick up our PISTEMAP to find out everything KentSnow, and we may even throw in a FREE HUG and some candy floss! Feel free to visit our website at www. kentsnow.com or check us out on Facebook Facebook.com/KentSnow. Be our friend? KENTSNOW LET’S PLAY.

GYMNASTICS

Our club offers a friendly atmosphere to train, meet friends and develop new skills. Everyone is welcome: male, female, beginners, intermediate, advanced. Gymnastics is a great way to get fit with a team of friends. Co Whatever level you’re at, you will improve and most importantly have fun! In our gymnastics sessions, we begin with a warm up, then floor to practice gymnastics elements, and for those who want to, we do some tumbling during the second hour. Our sessions are held every Thursday and Saturday from 3 to 5 pm at the Sports Centre Main Hall. Our taster session will be on the 22nd of September. For more information contact us on Facebook: gym.ukc@facebook.com, on the Kent Union website: http://www. kentunion.co.uk/sports/Gymnastics/

visit our website at - www.inquirelive.co.uk/sport

InQuire sport INTRODUCING YOUR VP SPORTS SABB MATT HARRIS

Photography courtesy of Matt Rayner.

Alex Cassidy Newspaper Sports Editor FIRST of all Matt, for the newly arrived Freshers, who are you and what is a Sports VP? My name is Matt Harris, 23, a graduate of Law and soon to be a graduate on International Commercial Law as I have studied at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. I have played College football and for the University football 1st team, taking over as chairman last year. The role of VP sports is diverse in nature and does not just entail sports issues but issues that the union faces. However, I am also tasked with organising varsity and the colours ball, and working on my manifesto points for the benefit of all the students at Kent University at both Medway and Canterbury. What plans do you have to promote and improve University Sport at Kent? This year I am looking to advertise the fixtures, results and successes in a variety of different ways. The first being to publicise in college foyers as well as making full use of the campus TVs, the sports radio show, InQuire and InQuire Live, in the Venue on Wednesdays and

even more importantly through Team Kent’s Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. We have entered into a contract with a sponsor for the next three years, Kent Conferencing, who can offer a revenue that will directly assist the clubs and help increase the development fund to help clubs develop and grow. What benefits will the new Kukri Sponsorship for Kent Sport bring? The kit tender will bring about a means of ordering kit that is of great quality but reflects student prices. All kit is designed by the students and can be effectively tailored to each club, from sizing and printing to design and material. The centralised process will see the kit delivered punctually and in time for the beginning of the season and it is a safer way overall to order kit that clubs spend thousands of pounds on. Finally, the kit tender promotes the idea of unity which relates to our idea and direction of Team Kent as we will all play under the same colours and in similar kit. What are the major developments for Kent Sport this year? The largest is the launch of Team Kent. This is one brand, one name that encompasses all the sports clubs, irrespective of their size, successes or membership, under one name. This will

encourage the idea of unity that I feel has been lost over the years and work in conjunction with the new kit tender that has been but in place for the first time this summer; all the clubs will now compete in the same three university colours, navy, claret and white. It is something I have been working on with the Team Kent Executive and something I look to really push this year. I want to revolutionise the image of sport at Kent and show how strong we are as a collective body, sharing our successes and having a bigger impact on the students, staff and community. In addition, Varsity is something that will be unbelievable this year. The Sports VP from Canterbury Christchurch University and myself have been working on it all Summer and it will be bigger and better than ever before! What changes have been put in place over Summer? The most noticeable change is the developments of the sports facilities. This summer sees the start of the £4.8million redevelopment and extension of the Sports Centre and the tennis courts. The gym is being extended and separated to be an individual cardio room and a larger weights room not to mention a third multi-purpose sports hall, three covered tennis courts that can be used as netball

courts as well as three new outdoor courts. In addition, the development will see a new, more accessible gym entrance, a rehabilitation and injury recovery room, a strength and conditioning room and a large dance studio. Finally what advice would you give to someone looking to join a Sports Club at Kent? I would say that joining a club will change your University experience; you’ll meet some amazing people, have an incredible time and play the sports you love. I’d recommend that EVERYONE heads down to the Sports Fayre on Friday the 21st of September as well as the Societies Fayre on Thursday 20th of September to meet the committees of our student run clubs, see what we have on offer and sign up to taster sessions or if you’re certain, sign up for your membership. Being involved in a sports club or society helps to not only make friends but also break up your time from your studies, and offers a refreshing alternative to studying. Try a sport you like, or a sport you’ve never heard of before!

For Matt Harris’ full interview and more sporting news from around campus, visit www.inquirelive.co.uk.