Music Clubs & Societies Muse at Wembley Polo panto page 24 hot n00dz hot page page 16 14 e student newspaper of Imperial College No. 1,366 • Friday • 1 December 2006 • ffelixelix felixonline.co.uk Sir Richard: Discussing police tactics post-7/7 I’ll give £10k EMERSON VIGOUREUX Rector offers £10,000 for student hardship funds if a student runs the London marathon for Imperial College Andy Sykes The Union approached the Rector IC’s funding drive to celebrate the Editor-in-chief to discuss this possibility, which 100th anniversary of the founding of was met with a flat refusal by Sir Ri- the College. These are the Central At the first Rector’s Forum meet- chard’s office. John Collins, Union Library redevelopment, student ing with the Union’s Executive, Sir President, told Felix that the Rec- hardship funds, and the Beit mas- Richard revealed that he would tor believed that this would “dilute terplan (for redeveloping the Un- give £10,000 to a Centenary project the College’s brand”. ion buildings). It seems likely that (likely to be student hardship funds At the Rector’s forum on Wednes- the money from the Rector will be or the Beit redevelopment) at the day, the issue was raised by the funneled into the student hardship College if a student would run the members of the Executive. Sir Ri- funds. London marathon with the official chard, appearing to be somewhat The Rector’s first forum with the blessing of the College. frustrated with the matter, made Executive also led Sir Richard to This surprise declaration comes the generous offer when it pointed make one of his trademark outspo- after Sir Richard snubbed Trevor out that a lone student running for ken statements; in this case, it con- Philips, the head of the Commission the College would never be able cerned the possibility of removing for Racial Equality (CRE) and a to make the same amount of mon- the cap on top-up fees. Sir Richard former IC student, who had offered ey from sponsorship that Trevor spoke strongly against it, saying: to run for the College and donate Philips could, simply saying: “I’ll “You can’t take the cap off, that’s an all money he made through spon- give them £10,000, then.” absolute nonsense. You can’t allow sorship to the Centenary funds, on There are three Centenary 145 institutions to charge what they the condition that he could run for projects currently under consid- like, that would be a disaster.” another charity at the same time. eration for receiving money during Sir Richard proposed a different funding model, arguing as he has VITALI LAZURENKO VITALI done many times in the past that the most able students should have a chance to attend well-funded ‘elite’ universities, saying that a student achieving good grades and gaining a place at a top university should trigger full funding for that student’s education – he called this “a damn good investment”. Sir Ri- chard focussed on the funding situ- ation for the top universities, imply- ing the development of a multi-tier system of higher education that al- ready exists in some countries. With the debate about top-up fees due to be reignited, and with The Union’s Chaplaincy arranged a meeting between members of the recent affiliation referendum the Metropolitan Police, the Police Authority and representatives meaning the Union will be joining from the Muslim community. The police were interested in being the NUS whose policy on top-up able to hear the views of students on the policing of London in fees has moved to being against the wake of the Tube bombings last July. Also present was Musa removal of the cap rather than the Admani, Imam of London Metropolitan University, who revealed abolition of fees, students may find on Newsnight last month that he had been threatened with death it reassuring that Sir Richard ap- by an ‘Islamic death squad’ from Imperial College. Imperial College’s Rector, Sir Richard Sykes, at an earlier meeting pears to be on their side. 2 felix Friday 1 December 2006 NEWS [email protected] Union governance changes NUS says lads’ mags approved by College Council should be covered up Nuts and Zoo should be placed behind the counter, says NUS The National Union of Students has attacked so-called “lads’ mags”, calling them “overtly sexual” and that the content is “demeaning and degrading to women”. It has called on outlets on NUS-affiliated univer- sity campuses to restrict the maga- zines to take titles like Nuts and Zoo off the shelves and place them behind the counter. The magazines have also faced calls from MPs for them to be con- signed to the top shelves of newsa- The Governance Review being read for the first time at Union Council gents, alongside more pornograph- ic publications such as Readers’ Wives, and a number of supermar- The recommendations made by also be the ultimate body ruling kets have placed the magazines the Union Governance Review is on complaints against the student within ‘modesty covers’ to obscure now part of the the Union’s con- media. them from casual browsers. Sains- stitution, having been approved The other key change is the split- bury’s is the most high-profile su- by the highest body in College, the ting of the Student Activities Com- permarket to have adopted these College Council. mittee, the body that deals with all covers, saying it acted after com- The proposals have been a pet clubs and activities, into two halves: plaints from costumers. project of John Collins, Union the Representation and Welfare The NUS National Women’s Of- President, who set up a number of Board, and the Clubs and Societies ficer, Kat Stark, said that the Na- working groups consisting of ex- Board. The aim of this seems to be tional Union of Students fully sup- hacks, current hacks and sabbs to to make welfare a more important ported the moves by supermarkets review the way the Union is run. issue than it had previously been to reduce the visibility of the maga- The most notable of the changes under the SAC. zines to consumers, adding: “Most enacted is the introduction of an- A number of other committees of their content is demeaning and other committee at the top level have been amalgamated, disband- degrading to women. NUS is there- of Union governance, called the ed or renamed, including the re- fore keen to see them relegated Court. The Court’s role is to rule placement of the unpopular Trad- from the top shelf to behind the on disciplinary matters, including ing and Retail Committee being shelf throughout university outlets election complaints. This should replaced with a number of ‘forums’ as well.” The policy is voluntary, she hopefully eliminate the partisan- that interested parties may attend insisted, though some unions had ship normally involved when Coun- to discuss the issues directly with taken it up: “NUS is pleased to re- cil discusses election complaints. the staff involved. port that a few unions have already The Court will be staffed by life Lastly, the Permanent Secretary, made the move to keep particular members of the Union, along with head of the Union staff, will be re- ‘lad mags’ behind the counter, and current members of the Union. named Union General Manager, we are supporting women’s officers No current officers will be eligible reversing the change made by ex- all over the country to lobby their One of the lads’ mags the NUS wants to move behind the counter to sit on the Court. The Court will President Mustafa Arif. unions into following suit.” The policy has faced criticism and ridicule from some. At Leices- Zoo target readers who are aged 18 than 200 signatures. ter University, where the union has to 26, a good proportion of who are With the recent referendum Do you know something that’s happening around introduced the ban, the editor of at university,” said Mr Goodwyn, meaning that ICU will affiliate to the the student newspaper, Tom Good- adding: “Having to buy them from NUS, it is up to the pro-NUS group the College or the Union? Tell us about it! wyn, has expressed dismay that the behind the counter is a bit dirty old to decide if this is a worthwhile use NUS has dictated what magazines man-ish.” An online petition against of the affiliation fee, and whether Contact [email protected] the outlets can stock. “Nuts and the ban has already gathered more the ban should be introduced here. felix 1,366 Friday 01.12.06 yawn... science birds in dresses innit “When researchers at the Universi- “The Christmas season is officially ty of Stirling are pre-occupied with upon us. Which means buying a identifying the key features of the pretty dress going out and getting ‘perfect comedy face’, as reported drunk in celebration of the birth of in the Times, it is clear that some Jesus Christ.” science is bonkers.” PAGE 18 PAGE 4 d1e n3rds ROFL n00ks and stuff, w00t “What’s worth taking a look at this “Why have nuclear weapons ? For a season, and what should be left un- developing country, they represent til the January sales of 2009? You a stab at rising to the global stage can find our genre-by-genre run political stage, a chance to prove down of the best games for Christ- brilliant scientists, and an effective mas 2006 right here.” internal propaganda tool.” PAGE I’M NOT TELLING J00 PAGE 5 bondage, hahaz Anton J 0wnz0rs This week’s Coffee Break stars the “Every time I read your horoscopes p0rky + b3ssy new, gadgetless, extremely metro- they make me crack up so.