Issue 1085 | 19 Nov 04 In this fortnight’s edition... * Laid Bare | As students stop writing, is this the end of line for Surrey’s student newspaper. * Rubix ready to host ‘Pudsy Pillow Fight Record Attempt’ * Revealed - The best ever novel according to UniS students * The rise and rise of Surrey Dance Squad | part 2 [email protected] | 19 Nov 04 [email protected] | 19 Nov 04 CONTENTS 1 A message from the editorial team..... Against all the odds, Barefacts managed to In this edition... make its way off the computers and down the ISDN line to the printers for another week. 2 Laid Bare | Do you just want the bare facts? In general students have more and more commitments that leave them with less and 4 Sewage leak closes Rubix less time to worry about anything but working and earning. But more worryingly, at Surrey, 5 Little Sister | A contestants perspective this is meaning that students are not spouting their mouth off about the stuff that really 6 Letters to Barefacts annoys them, not sharing their opinions on the world, the University or even the Union. Surrey 8 And the greatest novel according to UniS is... students are deathly silent about their lives and 10 how things should be around them and are not Surrey gears up for a record breaking night writing into Barefacts. in aid of Children in Need As time goes on and the winter draws in, the 13 Careers advice from Dr Russ..... holiday period will bring with it a time where everyone can reflect on Semester 1 2005 and 14 The Ents Planner plan for the future. At the moment the future for Barefacts is the most uncertain it has ever been 16 Music Reviews because without people writing what they think 20 - it is just another soul-less freebee blowing Film Reviews in the campus wind, rather than the medium through which students made stuff happen, 22 Literature and Theatre Reviews made people sit up and listen and brought 26 The adventures of Surrey Dance Squad 2 together students from across the University. 28 Alumni Update Over the course of the last 4 weeks, those students who have regularly reviewed or written 30 Sports news & reviews columns have continued to do so and in addition some students interested in communications within USSU have also stoked the fire with some good stuff. People have written letters and the University have continued to write the barefacts team advertisments and stories for inclusion. But in general there has been a decline leaving the paper unable to develop engaging content. Editor: Neil Christie Deputy Editor: Nicole Heel At 4pm on Tuesday, a student came in to the News Editor: Julie Wall communications office up in arms, wanting Sports Editor: Pete Nichols to reply to an article from the previous weeks Music Editors: Jon Allen and Dina Mystris edition, stating - ‘the problem is its not really a Film Editor: Neil Boulton student paper, is it’. Literature Editor: Arvind Virdee GU2 Press Officer: Jay Butcher Yes. Yes it is a student paper. And it honestly could be one of the best student publications in Interim Coordinator : Andy Blair the country - in the same way we recently held the accolaide of Best Student Radio. So pick Many thanks to all those people who contributed to the paper this week and up your quills, get out your typewriters, load also to those people who submitted pictures, articles and contributed to the lay-up in some other way! Although there are too many to mention - you all up your PC’s and write something. Barefacts know who you are. exists to publish your articles so whoever you are - get writing!! The Barefacts Editorial Team [email protected] | 19 Nov 04 2 news Laid Bare | Do you just want the bare facts? This could well be the last edition of barefacts as you was argued by some that VP Communications should be know it. For those not aware of its history, here’s a quick renamed to “VP barefacts”, because of the focus on one summation. If you want to know what the future holds… specific area. well essentially it’s entirely dependent on what students want. If people want to get involved and contribute This year the change to a to barefacts, then it’ll happen. If not, then a different fortnightly magazine format was publication will be created to meet the change in student supposed to alleviate the demands demand. of design – but unfortunately it’s not had that effect. barefacts is still very demanding in terms of design, and the amount of submissions has dropped. There is still an editorial team, hence why music, film, and sport are religiously put into barefacts, but the content for other areas is dropping. The Present The demands upon the VP Communications have finally been recognised after Catherine’s resignation a couple of weeks back, and in future there will be a member of staff to assist the VP Communications with their job. Therefore, the VP Communications will be able to assist and coordinate all Unoin Media in the future, regardless of the form that media History takes. However, the idea is that they won’t be responsible barefacts was originally a paper that consisted of campus for designing and writing content for a paper that (perhaps) news, mainly from clubs, societies, sabbaticals, and isn’t in demand. information from the University, as well as information on what’s on in Guildford. It came out weekly and was around Currently, GU2 has around 70-80 regular contributors and 16 pages long, in tabloid newspaper format. can function with or without a VP Communications. That’s the utopian situation to be in for all Union Media, but this barefacts then developed the bare-arts section. This was will only occur for barefacts if there is interest in writing information on theatre (usually from the Guildford and for it and a student team is developed, in the same way GU2 Woking theatres, whom we still have connections with), have a very strong committee structure. film (the Odeon), music, and literature. This bumped the paper up to around 24 pages a week, and it was still weekly. Put simply – if there isn’t interest from students to keep barefacts going, then it’ll have to change. However, with all this information going in someone needed to design the paper. Up until this year, the VP The Future Communications did the majority of it. When the paper If you want to make barefacts happen, then come along was weekly, it took up a huge amount of time, and it to the meeting. If you’re interested in researching news, promoting clubs and societies, or just have a tendency to put pen to paper and voice opinions then you have an opportunity to get involved. You don’t need to be a journalist. All you need is to want to produce a paper for the students. Depending on interest, barefacts would be weekly, fortnightly, monthly – whatever the demand stipulates. All that’s required is material and submissions. So if this doesn’t happen, what next? The Union will produce a publication that has the ‘bare [email protected] | 19 Nov 04 news 3 facts’ in it – an Ents planner, AGMs, and any other listings of things occurring in the Union. Essentially it’s the Grapevine (www.ussu.co.uk/grapevine) but in paper format, and probably DANGER - Frozen Pipes won’t carry the barefacts branding. Students living off campus in private sector The idea behind communications is that students get the houses should be aware of certain procedures that information they want. If you want news, music, theatre are necessary if the property is left empty during reviews, and film reviews then come and get involved – or if vacations. The Christmas period is particularly you want to see something else in barefacts and think others vulnerable as water pipes, tanks even heating would want to read it then make those submissions. radiators may freeze when the weather is very cold. Damage caused as a result of this is normally the It’s your Union – it’s up to you what it does. responsibility of the tenant – even though you may So come along if you’re interested – Thursday 25th November not be in the house at the time. at 6pm in the Union Activities Centre (come in through the side door, or into Rubix, then down the stairs by the Computer Houses/Flats with Gas Central Heating: Shop). The heating system should be left switched on If you can’t make the meeting, then email your thoughts to: during the Christmas period if you are away. Set the [email protected] thermostat at a minimum of 55 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees centigrade) to come on from 9pm to 6am. This is the very minimum setting and if the temperature stays at or below freezing during Mumps! Be Alert the day as well, this may not be sufficient. The fuel costs involved will be considerably less than Many may be aware of the recent ‘epidemic’ of the the potential cost of repair of damage caused by mumps disease that has broken out across the UK in some freezing pipes and subsequent flooding. Universities. The BBC have claimed, “If the current trend continues, Houses/Flats with Electric Storage Heaters: almost 3,000 students and young people could be infected by the end of the year.” Storage heaters should be left switched on at a low setting to prevent freezing.