FREE Bringing you the bare essential read since 1968 Souvenir Issue Class of 2008 Puzzles Picture Galore Pullout P16 p19-22 News What on earth do i do Flash Plan Your Post now? Exam Social P2 Dr Russ Life ! P18 p12 [email protected]@bfacts.co.uk Issue Issue 112 1121 1 Wednesday Tuesday 12th 14th May May www.bfacts.co.uk www.bfacts.co.uk [email protected] 2 NEWS 14th May 2008 editorial team News In Brief 1121 EDITOR |CLAIRE WORGAN | [email protected] Major boost for Physics in the South East DEPUTY EDITOR (DESIGN) | POSITION VACANT| [email protected] DEPUTY EDITOR (MARKETING) | POSITION VACANT | [email protected] A consortium of six universities led by the University of Surrey has won a £12.5m NEWS EDITOR| BEN MILLER | [email protected] grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), to FOOD EDITOR | VERITY KIRKPATRICK | [email protected] promote the sustained excellence of physics in the South East. The South East Physics SCIENCE EDITOR | EMMA ROGULSKA | [email protected] Network (SEPNET) will have a collaborative Graduate School providing advanced FEATURES EDITOR | AMUL GURUNG | [email protected] research training for PhD students across the region, and will offer innovative MSc PG TIPS EDITOR | ALEX ILLSLEY | [email protected] ARTS EDITOR | JAKE SOUTH | [email protected] programmes. SOCIETIES EDITOR | SIMON MOORE | [email protected] SPORTS EDITOR |DAVID HALLS| [email protected] PUZZLELORD | COLIN EVERETT | [email protected] Drink-driver crashed into wall COPY EDITOR |YASMIN DANIEL| [email protected] COPY EDITOR |JESS BLOOMFIELD| [email protected] An ex-University of Surrey student, who crashed into a wall at the campus after a WEBMASTER | JOSH BATES | [email protected] nine-hour drinking binge, has been banned from MARKETING MANAGER |POSITION VACANT | [email protected] driving for 20 months. Martin Pulman, who was studying chemical engineering, left in February MARKETING CO-ORDINATOR | AARON SALINS | [email protected] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | ALEX COLLINS | [email protected] earlier this year. barefacts is an editorially independent newspaper and is published by the University of Surrey Students’ Union Communications Office. The views expressed within the paper are those of individual authors and do not necessarily Average weekly student rent ‘up 17% in four years’ represent the views of the Editor, the University of Surrey Students’ Union or the University of Surrey. This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in any form, copied It is generally more expensive to rent student accommodation in the south of the or distributed, without the express permission of the publisher beforehand. country. Surrey, Middlesex, Cambridge, Exeter, Oxford and Brighton are all 20% or Printed by Surrey and Berkshire Media Limited Stoke Mill House, Woking Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1QA more costly than the UK norm. Submission is no guarantee of publication. barefacts reserves the right to edit submissions. Please direct all equiries to the relevant section Editor. Skills training is gaining round WWW.USSU.CO.UK/BAREFACTS © USSU COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE 2008 The University of Surrey is praised in a report for a ‘well-planned, resourced and supported placement system which adds significantly to the student experience’. Land of the Shakespeare comes to Surrey Lake Guildford’s award-winning professional open-air theatre company, Guildford rising Surrey Shakespeare Company, is returning for their third season, performing at the By Ben Miller University of Surrey. The university lake will form a stunning backdrop of water, The University of Surrey willows and waddling ducks as the Forest of Arden for Shakespeare’s classic tale is ranked 30th overall in the of following your heart’s desire: As You Like It. Running from July 17 to 26, this 2009 Good University Guide. gloriously sunny comedy is the perfect accompaniment to a summer evening, where This is up from 35th last year. “All the world’s a stage…”. The University of Surrey was rated: first in the country for the study of food science, third for An egg a day does help you to work, rest and play nursing and sociology, fourth In a study to be published in the European Journal of Nutrition, Dr Bruce Griffin for drama, dance and cinematics, of the Centre for Nutrition and Food Safety at the University of Surrey found eggs fifth for other subjects allied to ‘have no clinically significant impact on heart disease or cholesterol levels. Dr Bruce medicine, sixth for biological Griffin said that eggs are incredibly nutritious and should not be excluded from any sciences, seventh for computer diet. science, eighth for mathematics, ninth for electrical and electronic engineering and tenth for Russian and East European Languages. The University of Surrey is ranked 23rd overall in the 2009 Guardian University Guide. This is up from 25th last year. In the Guardian guide Surrey was rated: second in the country for the study of tourism, transport and travel, fifth in sociology, sixth in biosciences and seventh in media and communication studies. [email protected] 14th May 2008 NEWS 3 Miss Editor speaks for the last time ... or does she? Well, the last barefacts is finally here, at least for this academic year! It’s been a time of change. barefacts, of course, saw a makeover back in October under the then Editor Gareth Giles. Then the lovely deputy (maybe I’m biased) took over as Editor in January! It’s been an eventful year all round here at Surrey, and I know I speak for the team when I say we’ve had a great time reporting it all to you. I myself have had one of the best, if not the best, times of my Uni life at Surrey being Editor this year. I myself have finished my Degree here! Well, one of them anyway, am i mad staying to do an MA??. So I am using this powerful tool that is the print media (sorry to go all Rupert Murdoch on you) to say that I have had a wonderful time here at Surrey. I would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to all the barefacts team past and present! Gareth, Ben, Emma, Colin, Simon, Verity, Alex, Amul, David, Matt, Tony and Megladon Jake. I have had a fabulous time working with you all, and without you I don’t think I’d still have all my hair. I’d more likely be wrapped in a straight-jacket (many people would argue that I should be anyway). However, I’d also like to wish everyone the best of luck in whatever they do. Surrey has proven to be an experience of a lifetime and I hope that everyone who graduates this year feels the same. I urge everyone who is not sadly leaving in a month to consider joining barefacts in September. It is an amazing opportunity, as well as looking great on your C.V. So if you want to be a journalist, or maybe just an agony aunt, then please, please, please join the wonderful insituition which is barefacts! From myself and all the team at barefacts, farewell loyal readers and have fun celebrating the end of another successful academic year! Claire x University date change controversy By Gareth Giles different shows addressing the issues students have raised. An interview by Jack The University’s controversial Colby, Warren Scotford Smith and Missy Edwards with Harry Holkham, also of plans to change the academic the Facebook group, is to be presented to the Vice-Chancellor to ask if he would year were being scrutinised like to publicise the changes and answer questions on the station. heavily this week. With debate Some University staff were also unhappy with the communication of the new raging on the internet, GU2 plans. One source, who did not wish to be named, told barefacts that hardly any and around campus about the of the staff he had talked to had known about the changes before the Facebook communication process, many group was set up. students were complaining about The Union released a statement on Thursday evening to explain its position on the the lack of consultation by both issue and the consultation process it had performed. The statement also contained the Union and University. a comment by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor stating the university’s “regret” about The plans themselves were the announcement being made to new applicants before students and staff, and printed in the new prospectus promising more details about the plans in a University statement next week. for applicants this year, and are now available on the University website. As of 2009, current Congratulations! students will begin on October We reached our target of 80% for the 12th, with new students starting at the beginning of the month. Christmas exams will be after the holiday. National Student Survey, Confirming However, current students complain that not only were they not informed that this change was in place, they were poorly informed that a consultation was in Scouting for Girls at the Grad Ball! process. The Facebook group “Save Our Academic Year!” has attracted over 1,500 Feedback is a vital part of student life students, and made headlines in the Guildford Times and on the Surrey Advertiser website, while a petition created by the group to ask the University to communicate and the completion of the NSS shows better had attracted 477 signatures when barefacts went to press. that everyone wants to make the While many students in the group seem to be resigned to the changes, others are hopeful that the University’s decision can be reversed.