Valentine’s Issue 2007 YES OR NOIn This Issue.....? YOYOU DECIDE... The Bludgeoner Tales From The Queer Side Blind Date From Bangor To Bangor News The Great Orme Travel The Adventures of Stuart Dent Music One Minute Welsh Film Adventures From Across The Pond n 30 January, Students’ Union past few years? By losing the tuition fees more than NUS affi liation. in response to avoid what was billed as a Council voted in favour of holding battle and, during the AUT “action short of a So what does Bangor specifi cally get for fi nancial crisis within NUS. But there has Puzzles Oa referendum to decide whether or strike” in 2006 (which could have prevented this money? NUS does provide extremely been no visible effort to reduce costs in not UWB Students’ Union should remain many students from graduating), supporting useful training for offi cers and students alike other areas, most notably staffi ng. NUS affi liated to the National Union of Students the AUT rather than us students. (costing an extra £3,000 per year) and we currently employ 106 staff members around Storm Forecast (NUS). Perhaps if NUS stopped wasting their stock our bars and shop through the NUSSL the country, in addition to the 29 elected I’ve always been a staunch believer time issuing press releases about Israel and buying consortium. But even then, buying offi cials who receive living allowances. in unions myself, convinced of the truth Palestine (and let’s face it, they’re hardly through the consortium only saves us £8000 No doubt you’ll be hearing much more Sport of the maxim “united we stand, divided going to drop their arms and invite each a year and we could hire a full-time trainer from both sides of this campaign in the we fall”. Why, then, has the SU Executive other over for a tea party just because NUS for half the cost of affi liation. NUS also coming weeks. Whatever you decide, I urge Committee decided to support the No to told them to) and focused their resources sends us publicity materials for nationwide you to listen to both sides of the argument, Video Games NUS campaign? on actual students we’d see more bang for campaigns, most of which is monolingual, to attend the special EGM to discuss the NUS was founded in 1922 in the our buck. rendering it essentially useless in our fully issue on Friday 9 March, and to vote in aftermath of World War I and, in its heyday, And money is the key issue here. In a bilingual Students’ Union. the referendum, timed to coincide with Books brought about massive changes within year when cash is tight throughout the NUS may well have shot themselves in the cross-campus election of the ’07-’08 SU the education system. Student grants were Students’ Union, the SU Executive has been the foot with the introduction of the NUS Executive Committee on the 13th, 14th and introduced in 1962 in response to NUS examining whether NUS really provides Extra card. Up until this year, whatever 15th of March. After staffi ng, NUS affi liation Vox Pops pressure, followed by the abolition of tuition value for money. NUS did wrong, they could be defended is our single biggest annual cost. It’s up to fees in 1972, and in 1977 NUS persuaded The Students’ Union pays a hefty because of the one thing they provided that you to decide: is NUS worth the money? banks to offer cheque cards and free banking affi liation fee to NUS each year based on our directly affected our individual students: Features to students. Bangor has been involved in student numbers and the block grant we get the discount card. But your standard free NUS since its inception, even having our from the University. But in recent years it has NUS card no longer entitles you to these Carolan Goggin very own NUS President in 1927. become increasingly diffi cult to justify the discounts; to receive NUS discounts you A Day In The Life of But has NUS lost its way? What has NUS £47,434 NUS charge annually. To put that in must pay £10 for the NUS Extra card, done for students lately? A key part of NUS’s perspective, doubling the amount allocated although you are still legally entitled to Vox Pops on NUS The S.U raison d’être is representation on student to societies (£7,500), UMCB (£4,000), the student discounts with a valid student ID disaffi liation page 17 issues at a national level. And how has NUS Advice Centre (£9,500), SVB (£7,350) and (like your library card). dealt with the big national issues over the AU clubs (£21,000) would only cost £2000 The NUS Extra card was introduced Doc Spot 2 Seren - Valentine’s Issue 2007 Contributors Editor: Emma Dodd Dear Reader, Siobhan Holt Ross Butler Hello and welcome back to SEREN in 2007. I Lexi Hindley hope everyone has had a good Christmas and Jen Stanley now exams are over, has settled back into lectures Rachel Eales again. It’s February, which can only mean one Loran Perkins thing in the High Street and SEREN alike: Dion Jones Valentine’s Day. So here’s your special Valentine’s Jess Hughes Issue. Don’t forget to check out your Valentine’s Spencer George messages on page 11 Mark Hawkins Steven Male Well, what has been happening in the world of Becky Fountain the editor since last issue? Christmas and all Will Varley that jazz are over, but I always start looking Jamie Clarke forward to warmer weather and thinking of Kerrie Gardner summer as soon as the New Year comes around. Amy Garrett Unfortunately we’re not there yet, but I did have Lucy Digney the consolatory prize of a wonderful view of snow Luke Wilsher capped Snowdonia from my bedroom window Claire Mann this January. We have also had all that wind, Phil England which saw the end of our garden shed, which Ian Davies blew over…twice! Returning from a conference in Oliver Lake London, Bangor’s mist covered train station was John Jackson reminiscent of a scene from Brief Encounter. Emma Dixon Alex Farley Speaking of weather, I have been making an effort Caroline Alvarez to go to some of the fi lms Theatr Gwynedd have Chris Thomson been showing recently. An especially worthy one Sean Clement I think was, Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. Natalie Pierce-Jones Since newspapers and media alike have recently Sophie de l’Orme been dominated by both global warming and Dr Rashesh American politics, this fi lm threw up some very Megan Tapper interesting questions: what is the future for the planet; what can we do to help; and what would have happened had the Raj Ladva outcome of the Bush/Gore battle been different? If you get the opportunity, watch it. Robert Mann Pete Banks So it’s Wednesday night and I’m just putting the fi ishing touches to the paper. It’s great working in the Union on a Cat Prince Wednesday, because Wednesday night is Nada’s curry night. If you fi nd yourself wondering what to have for dinner on Carolan Goggin a Wednesday, make your way to Freddy’s for a generous portion of Nada’s curry. Rebecca Hussey Thomas Hecht Enjoy the issue. Richard Laurence Chris Samuels Emma Shola Abraham [email protected] Emily Phipps Jack Peat Rose Gallo Production Consultant: Dan Turner HaveHave youryour saysay on bands for the SUMMER BALL at Harp Inn 6-7pm Thursdays www.seren.bangor.ac.uk www.philsocbangor.co.uk Printed through www.quotemeprint.com 0845 1300 667 Seren - Valentine’s Issue 2007 3 THE BLUDGEONER THE TREBORTH theme), but surely quality halls for Bangor students are a good thing? STATE Mrs G disputes the fact that students bring economic prosperity to the area, stating in her understatedly angry missive OF LIVE GARDEN that “the only thing seen expanding amongst the student population is drunkenness and anti-social behaviour”. MUSIC IN The Bludgeoner tried anti-social behaviour once, but only because all of his BANGOR SAVED Students are not responsible here aren’t many things that make for all of the ‘chip papers, beer he subject of live music in Bangor the Bludgeoner angry: injustice, is one often spoken about, and in starvation in third world countries, cans, wine bottles and gum Tparticular why there isn’t any. Yes T there are local bands playing here and there, Janet Street-Porter’s face, but these things spats’ in Bangor. pale into insignifi cance compared to the but the lack of well-known acts is something ire and rage that comes over him when he friends were doing it. that has to be addressed. Why are other opens his friendly local paper at breakfast- Mr B from Renoegdulb road would like universities able to put on big-name acts time to read letters from the likes of Mrs to set a few things straight: while we have to travel to Liverpool or G Barnes on Ffriddoedd Road. The blood 1. Students are not responsible for all Manchester in order to see some live music? rushes to his face as it starts to boil, his of the ‘chip papers, beer cans, wine bottles And it’s not just the top universities that hands shake and the wailing and gnashing and gum spats’ in Bangor. To suggest so is attract these bands; in the near future of teeth reverberates throughout the deluded silliness.