Felix Issue 1223, 2002

26 April 2002 The Student Newspaper for Imperial College Issue 1233 IC / SAAL REFERENCE COLLECTION http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/felix/ The Worlds First Ten Mant how Loop Coaster Gets I tho d be The Felix Treatment. bigge (Page 5) College Security Guard Knifed Last monday, in the Blackett Laboratory, sure of Prince Consort Road and much of home to the Physics department, a secu- the surrounding area during the day. rity guard was attacked, seemingly with- The man was apparently asking for a out any real motive, by a man wielding a particular senior member of staff in the knife. Physics department, and while the It should be noted that this is the first attacker is not thought to be a member of serious attack on a member of college College itself, he is alleged to have security in over a decade, with the only described himself as 'a Physicist'. incidents being a few minor scuffles at Mr Gamble is recovering well from his various freshers fairs. attack, and was discharged from hospital The man attempted to enter the build- fairly quickly after being admitted for his ing, and was immediately challenged by injuries, although he is awaiting surgery Tom Gamble, a member of the Blackett on his hand. Meanwhile the assailant security team. On being challenged the awaits trial in custody. man produced a blade, and Mr Gamble In other security news, there have been was only able to prevent a potentially a number of thefts committed in Evelyn lethal blow to his throat by blocking the Gardens by an individual who is blade with his right hand, which was Physics Department: Scene of the Attack described as being very tall, having badly damaged in the incident. dreadlocks, and being of afro-caribbean When further members of college secu- was found to be surgical spirit. origin: anyone seeing him is advised by rity arrived the man was wrestled to the After the assailant had been subdued, security to call the police immediately. ground and swiftly disarmed, and it is he claimed to be in possession of an Alex alleged that he proceeded to spray those explosive device, and the Bomb Squad present with some sort of chemical. The rapidly joined the assembled representa- police and fire brigade were then called tives of the local emergency services. in, and after investigation the chemical This also necessitated the repeated clo- /Li SiSilBsllliliiil sSsiS My editorial, which will possibly f explain why this issue is so small, ^ ^ and why I'm in a strange enough mood to pretend that the cat is dead. Oh deary me, Will has finally lost it.. union talk The Union - A New Beginning The last few months have seen a great ward and over the coming months the must continue to develop facilities and deal of change for the Union and College. Union has to increase these types of part- services on other campuses such as the Under the stewardship of the Rector, the nerships in all its areas of operation. new bar at Charing Cross and the gyms at College has undergone many changes. We Wye and Silwood. will see the creation of four Faculties, a Volunteers sustained drive towards improving the Early on in the year we made it clear that The culture global brand of Imperial, fund raising to volunteer support is crucial to the future of In addition to these new strategies, the develop our estate and setting up an the Union. The Union has more student Union has to introduce a more dynamic endowment to provide scholarships to the volunteers than any other in the country and pro-active culture. The environment in best students. These changes have been and we are heavily reliant on the support which we operate is changing rapidly, we implemented to ensure that Imperial of these volunteers to conduct our activi- cannot simply wait for things to happen College continues to be one of the leading ties. However we have very little in place and react to them, we must learn to antic- higher education institutes in the world. to support volunteers in the Union. One of ipate situations and act appropriately. This The Union too has taken the opportunity the most important priorities for the next is of course not without its risks and to review its operations. After one of the few months is to establish a volunteer indeed pursuing such a policy will lead to widest consultation process in recent some mistakes being made. We will have years we have a new way forward. Gone to accept them and move on because in are the old Constituent College Unions and the end I believe that we will deliver a bet- in come Student Faculty Associations. ter Union to our members. Council has been changed to allow more Here at Imperial there has been constant ordinary students to participate in the gov- talk of apathy amongst the student popu- ernance of the Union and a new informa- lous. I do not believe that is necessarily tion policy will allow for more transparen- true. Recently the Union called for a refer- cy in the Union adrmnistration. endum on our affiliation to the NUS. After' This represents a new beginning for the a hard campaign fought by both sides, we Union and a new direction for our mem- had one of the largest turnouts for any col- bers. One of the biggest challenges we lege-wide ballot in recent years, showing face is to ensure that we work more effec- students care about the issues and will tively to deliver practical and tangible ben- participate in the governance of the Union. efits to students. We must continue to build on this and it management programme, one that will is important for students to realise that Funding actively look at how we recruit, train and decisions made vnthin the Union can have One of the key issues the Union faces is reward the volunteers in the Union. We an impact on life at Imperial. funding. It is clear that funding from the have taken the first steps in this process; government is not enough to support the the Union has appointed a new member of The future activities of the College and consequently staff to co-ordinate student activities and If we are going to pursue with the devel- the Union. We are still heavily reliant on another will be appointed shortly to co- opment of the Union then we must face up College for provision of funds. The Union ordinate volunteering in the community. In to our challenges. It is important that the gets some £885,000 from College, it uses addition a new rewards scheme will be Union clarifies its vision and develops long this to provide a wide range of facilities launched later this term, but this is just the term strategies to meet these goals. For and services for students and this figure is start, we have a long way to go to deliver the first time we have two year sabbati- generally tied with the rate of inflation. a comprehensive and integrated pro- cals which I believe will be crucial to However, more and more students are gramme. ensuring continuity and development of participating in the Union and using its these strategies. services. If we want to continue to sustain Sites The year ahead promises to be an inter- this growth, we have to seek funding from One of the other key challenges for the esting and challenging one. We have elsewhere. I believe the Union has to Union is the way we deal with the many achieved a lot this year, but there is much actively engage in partnerships with campus sites. Imperial has a large number more to do. The way forward will rely on external organisations and individuals. of sites dotted around London and the improving services to our students, form- Recent examples have been the South of England and ensuring good coming external partnerships, integrating Goldman Sachs support of the night bus munication between them is crucial. sites and building support for volunteers. service and the collaboration with the The Union needs to dedicate more It is important that students continue to College Wider Participation programme to resources towards integrating the sites play an active part in this process to successfully bid for over £350,000 for vol- into the centre. There is no doubt that ensure that the Union fulfils its aim in unteer support over the next three years. South Kensington will continue to remain meeting the needs of the students. These partnerships represent the way for- the headquarters for the Union, but we Sen Ganesh, Union President imperial college Thinking about a better future? w ww.shell.com/careers the Queen's Lawn ff^mcHive bands in Sherfield tion and three course dinner Games/Candvfloss Satyr 7:38 -1a t p Tickets ° Dinner & Entertainment £50/£65 Entertainment only £25/£35 Available by telephone on 020-7594-8060 and frc le'Union Reception, JCR, BMS and Waterstones felix talk Chaplaincy Personality is Everything Yet how much do we understand about well as an introduction to the Myers- our own personality? We might have a Briggs model of different personality Cilia's frequent question on Blind Date sense that this person is not our preferred types, there will be practical exercises to is "What type of fella do you fancy" or type as a potential friend or partner. But help us begin thinking about our own per- "When it comes to women, what's your could we explain why? sonality...How do we make decisions? type?" The answers are usually to do How often do we do we talk about just How do we relate in groups? Where do with appearance and most especially the 'clicking' with somebody or about a terri- we get our energy from? There will also size of specific body parts.

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