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Issue 1 of The Linc from September 2008
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The very popular stu-
dent bar The Shed is up
for sale and a 1,400-
member Facebook group
say they are not against
the University buying it
if they wanted to , but the
group say it should be re-
tained as a student-
friendly bar.
More on page 4
NO CROSSING THIS LINE
Localboozersbarred forfreshers’well-fayre
“
”
I believe we need apublic movement thatmonitors, deconstructsand counters propa-ganda that comes inthe form of news.
John Pilger
Exclusive(Page 7)
David Chiddick
Confesses(Page 6)
“
”
I had failed a year – infact my first year. Itwas my first time inLondon, fresh from thedepths of the Norfolkcountryside.
“
”
Being an SU offi-cer is more like partpolitician, part holi-day rep, part busi-nessperson andpart student.
Pubs and clubs such as Quayside and
The Cell promoted themselves just
off university land closely watched
by security.
PR staff for the banned businesses in
the city donned animal costumes as
they protested the ban, but could do
no more than hand out their flyers
and promotions to students.
Freshers’ Fayre: see page 3
group’s
fears for
future of
The Shed
The University’s Psychol-
ogy programme came top
in its subject area com-
pared to 98 other UK
Higher Education Institu-
tions (HEIs) in this year’s
National Student Survey.
More on page 4
University ofLincolnscores high instudent satisfaction
Study andwork: Is itviable?Find out how andwhy you shouldget a job while youare at uni.
Page 5
Michael Beddoes
Page 6
“
”
Like all rambles,you never knowwhere it will leadyou. But it alsomeans that younever know whatwill happen.
Daniel Hutchinson
Page 6
Your life beyondgraduationAfter three yearsat uni, you neverknow what youwill miss the most.
Page 5
The hiddenLincoln
Old or new to thecity, find out thebest spots aroundthe city.
Page 8
FREEIssue 1Year 2
September 2008
ON THE LINE: These are the representatives of bars and clubs thatwere banned from the Freshers’ Fayre at the University.
Daniel [email protected]
Harry LincolnDeputy [email protected]
Hayley Cook Sports [email protected]
Stephen RuddDeputy Sports [email protected]
Samantha Pidoux Reader’s [email protected]
Samuel CoxPictures [email protected]
Cal PurdonNews [email protected]
Faye IsaacFeatures [email protected]
Shane CroucherSub [email protected]
Sara ShahStyle [email protected]
Designers:Lucy Tant [email protected] Sadie [email protected]
CONTRIBUTORS:Daniel HutchinsonDana StancuDavid ChiddickGillian SennetGina DaviesMichael Beddoes
SPORT CONTRIBUTORS:Aaron ScottAdam ReynoldsChris RobertsDaniel Coles
2 SEPTEMBER 2008
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BLOGSNews and opinionfrom The Linc Staff
When you checkour ‘About’ pageyou can clickthrough to read theblogs of our staff,with their thoughtson current matters.
FORUMDiscuss the hottesttopics of the day
If you are lookingto sell or buy some-thing or want todiscuss issues thatyou feel stronglyabout, The LincForum is the place
Welcome to the new Linc
ENTERTAINMENT: Local businesses’ promo staff welcoming the new students just outside the EngineShed where Freshers’ Fair took place.
WAITING: Parents helped freshers and seniors alikemove back in the university’s residence halls.
All is cosy and settled hereat The Linc headquarters(University of Lincoln’sMedia Building newsrooms,in case you were wondering)and I’m delighted to intro-duce you to a fresh issue ofthe premier student news-paper in Lincoln.
After a long and not so warmsummer, The Linc is back withfresh content from our brandnew team, to which I thank forall their effort put into thisissue. Also, this wouldn’t havebeen possible without the helpof our Journalism School tutorsand university staff, which Ithank as well.
Whether you are sat in a not-so-captivating lecture or sippinga latte around town while read-ing The Linc, I hope you willenjoy our makeover. Meanwhile,please take your time to have alook at our brand new website,where you can find up-to-datenews and photo stories and alsocomment on the pieces you feelstrongly about.
In this issue we talked to JohnPilger, world-renowned journal-ist, about the latest develop-ments around the world. Also,we have three captivating in-sights in our columns page from
the University’s Vice-ChancellorDavid Chiddick, SU PresidentDaniel Hutchinson and ex SUPresident Michael Beddoes.
In the news, we bring you thelatest developments fromaround the campus, togetherwith the backstage dispute be-tween the small local businessand the SU, regarding represen-tation at the Freshers’ Fayre.
And to guide you further, weexplain how and why you shouldget a job while you study andalso give you an insight on lifebeyond graduation.
With all said and done, happyreading and feel free to emailme your opinions on the newface of The Linc.
Daniel IonescuEditor
FEATURED PHOTOSTORY: See the whole story on www.thelinc.co.uk/freshers
They’re back in town
EXCITEMENT: Long queues at the Engine Shed’sticket office for the “Icebreaker” party.
3www.thelinc.co.uk
FRESHERS’ FAYRE EVERYONE?
The Freshers’ Fayre’ givesstudents the opportunity tolearn about their local com-munity, sign up for varioussocieties and get some free-bies whilst they are there.
However, it would appear thatsome local businesses were beingexcluded from the mass frenzythat takes place inside the EngineShed each year.
All establishments that sell alco-hol, who are rivals to the EngineShed’s nightclub and Tower Bars,are barred from the event.
This is to the extent that secu-rity guards were employed towatch the perimeter of the Engineshed, so that ‘outsiders’ did not‘cross the line’.
Students are going to stray any-way from theconfines ofthe StudentsUnion barsand events,so the offcampus es-tablishmentsshould un-derstandthat they willbe part ofthe students lifestyle.
Yet by creating the divide, theuniversity and the Engine Shedhave simply caused more hasslefor themselves. It wasn’t only pubsand clubs that were turned awayfrom the Fayre, with local busi-nesses struggling to pay the en-
trance fee for theevent.
In the past,small local busi-nesses have beenpushed asidewhen it comes toorganising theFreshers’ Fayre,with the possibil-ity of what’s im-portant being
forgotten; the students. Smalllocal businesses can provide agreat deal to new students, fulfill-ing individual needs and person-alised orders that largeestablishments would ignore.
The Engine Shed and Studentsunion have defended their actions,
with a statement from Dan Windross, the CommunicationsOfficer for the University of Lin-coln’s Students’ Union. In thestatement made through the Uni-versity’s press office, he revealedthat they “chose not to allow bars,clubs and pubs into this year’sFreshers’Fayre becausewe felt theirpresencewould havecontradictedsome of theimportantwelfare mes-sages we weretrying to pro-mote.” Headded that theSU is “keen to encourage safe andresponsible drinking as a sup-porter of the Best Bar Noneawards scheme”. Whether the re-sponse will appease the bayingcrowds not associated with theuniversity, it remains to be seen.
However, it must be recognisedthat this years Freshers’ Fayre, ac-cording to Dan Windross, was oneof the most successful; “Feedbackwe have received so far from stu-dents suggests this year’s event isone of the best Freshers’ Fayreswe have ever staged.
About 4,500 students visitedduring the course of the day andall 57 stalls were full. We stronglybelieve that had we allowed bars,clubs and pubs to attend theevent, the whole focus of theFreshers’ Fayre would have beenaltered.”
Nevertheless, not all of thosewho couldn’t attend the officialFresher’s Fayre reacted withprotests and costumes. Whilstsome where planning practical
jokes and publicity stunts, others,such as Martin Czimmerl of‘Kodak Express’, were planningsomething quite different; The Al-ternative Freshers’ Fayre.
The Alternative Freshers’ Fayretook place on Wednesday 17 Sep-tember, took one week to organise
and cost approxi-mately £75 in-cluding flyers.Whilst it only hadlimited success,the organisers areconfident thatwith more plan-ning and more in-vestment, nextyear’s event willbe much im-proved. Open for
small businesses who can not af-ford the £500-£700 fee to be in-volved in the official Freshers’Fayre, the new alternative givesstudents the chance to meet thesmaller businesses of Lincoln,rather than the large chains which
dominate the original fayre. ‘Talking Heads’, a leading Lin-
colnshire based Hair salon, wereinvolved with the AlternativeFayre, after negotiations brokedown over the official fayres en-trance fee, despite the Salon pro-viding the University with‘pro-bono’ services in the past.However, Manager Keith Reebewas not despondent about theUniversity, even going on to sayhe would gladly work with theUniversity again.
Mr Czimmerl, of Kodak Expressand central organiser of the event,was pleased with the student’s re-action to the Alternative Freshers’Fayre and plans to improve theevent next year, with more in-volvement, investment and inter-est. He was also keen not tocriticise the university or the En-gine Shed, however, saying theevent had been well organised andthat he felt there was room forboth fresher’s fayres; the officialand the alternative.
The Freshers’ Fayre once again came tothe Engine Shed, with free toilet paper,pizza vouchers and key rings for all ofLincoln University’s newest students.The Linc News Editor, Cal Purdon reports.
“
”
We felt their pres-ence would havecontradicted someof the importantwelfare messageswe were trying topromote.
“
”
Small local busi-nesses have beenpushed aside fromorganising theFresher’s Fayre, for-getting the students.
FUN: Promo staff for the barredbusinesses donned animal cos-tumes as they protested the ban
DIVERSE: The Alternative Fresher’s Fayre in the MezzBar took oneweek to organise and cost approximately £75 including flyers.
4 SEPTEMBER 2008
Enrolment has beenspeeded up significantly asthe second and third yearstudents came back to Lin-coln.
As seniors will know, enrol-ment has always been a bit of atrial. Last year queues werestretching all along the sportshall and taking an average timeof two and a half hours patiencewore thin amongst students.
Also, the introduction of uni-versity membership-card read-ers have proved to be timesaving when joining queues for
the monotone chat with theuniversity staff; ‘name, form,ID….’ and so on.
Something else that has beencleaned up considerably is howtimetables are dealt with, nowbeing sorted out and madeavailable on the University’shome page.
Some freshers last year weresubjected to being grabbed bytheir future tutors and havingthe general outline of atimetable pencilled on a make-shift bit of scrap paper.
By Harry Lincoln
Seniors move rapidly throughenrolment process
FAST: The queues in the Sports hall this year have been significantlyshorter, with seniors able to enroll within 5 to 10 minutes.
FOR SALE: The Shed did not benefit from much business over thesummer as much of the student body returned to their homes.
Facebook group’sfears for the futureof The Shed When students at the Uni-versity of Lincoln foundout that the popular stu-dent bar The Shed wasbeing put out for sale, theyinitiated a Facebook groupin an attempt to stop thebusiness being trans-formed if bought by thethe University.
The group that has now al-most 1,400 members claimsthat it is “not against it beingbought by the University, butif theyturn itinto of-fices thenthe beststudentfriendlybar in this city will be nomore.”
Rebecca Linney, Manager ofThe Shed, slashed the group’sworries, as she confirmed thatthe student bar is “currentlyon sale but has no offers yet”and meanwhile it will be“business as usual”.
The University says thattheir policy is “not to com-
ment on commercial transac-tions” so it is uncertain ifplans to buy The Shed areunder way.
The group also accuses TheEngine Shed of “stupidly highprices”. In response, VictoriaSimpson, Events and Market-ing Manager at The EngineShed, said that a “simple com-parison will illustrate that thegroup is incorrect when it in-sinuates the prices are higherthan the Shed or that our
prices are toohigh. They arein fact inlinewith all com-mercial tradeacross the cityand in some
case cheaper. However, peoplegenerally associated one offerof £1 a pint or 10 shots ofvodka in a jug for £5 as repre-senting the prices of all thedrinks at that establishmentwhich is rarely true.”
Meanwhile, students returnto their favorite student bar asthe new academic year begins.
By Daniel Ionescu
“”
Currently for sale, nooffers, business asusual.
Students at the University ofLincoln have rated theircourses among the best ofany university in the coun-try, according to a national
student satisfaction survey.
The University’s Psychologyprogramme came top in its sub-ject area compared to 98 otherUK Higher Education Institu-tions (HEIs) in this year’s Na-tional Student Survey.
The University’s Marketing andAccounting programmes wereboth ranked second compared toother HEIs in the country.
The University's overall satis-faction score increased to 4.1 ona five-point scale. It means Lin-coln ranked 43 out of 148 HEIsin the country, placing it in thetop third nationally*.
Following a Students' Union-led awareness raising campaign,almost 1,800 of third-year Uni-versity of Lincoln students tookpart in the survey, resulting in aresponse rate of 73 per cent, oneof the highest in the country.
The University of Lincoln'sStudents' Union President,Daniel Hutchinson, said: "Theimportance of the National Stu-
dent Survey is that it is truly in-dependent. Students have no ob-ligation to lavish praise on theiruniversity if it is not deserved.”
University Registrar, ChrisSpendlove, welcomed the NSS re-sults and said "The National Stu-dent Survey provides theUniversity with an objective andindependent analysis of the stu-dent experience, which is essen-tial in helping to identify areaswhere the University can im-prove.
“Following a detailed analysisof our NSS performance lastyear, action plans were imple-mented across the University. Weare delighted that these initia-tives have had such a positive im-pact.” Mr. Spendlove added.
The Statistics were based onthe average response of ques-tions 1-22 (based on a five-pointscale) of the National StudentSurvey as provided byunistats.com.
University ofLincolnscores high instudent satisfaction The University of Lincoln is
launching a new programmeof evening classes to givepeople tempted by highereducation the chance to tryuniversity.
Learning at Lincoln will enablepart-time learners to attendteaching sessions at times con-venient to them – and gain cred-its which could go on to form thefoundation for a full degree.
The classes are geared towardspeople with busy working orfamily lives who are keen tostudy at university but may nothave the time during the day forconventional part-time courses.
Throughout their studies, stu-dents will benefit from equiva-lent support and facilitiesavailable to full-time students atthe University’s Brayford PoolCampus.
Upon successful completion ofthe programme students cancontinue working towards adiploma or a degree.
Dr Howard Stevenson, theLearning at Lincoln Coordinator,said: “There are many peoplewho would like to get into highereducation but whose circum-stances make the prospect of afull-time degree daunting. Theymight work full-time or haveyoung children who depend onthem during the day. “Learning at Lincoln is designedto give just these kinds of peoplethe opportunities they might oth-erwise miss. It has been tailoredto be flexible so students canmake the course fit aroundthem.”
Eveningclasses togive part-timers moreflexibility
Student winsNSS award
Ipsos MORIS, who run theNational Student Survey(NSS), randomly selected oneof the University’s studentsto receive recognition forcompleting their NSS surveyas the University of Lincolnachieved one of the top 15NSS response rates nation-wide.
Samuel Dey, who achieved aFirst Class Honours in BSc (Hons)Applied Biomedical Science, waspresented with a special prize byChris Spendlove, University Reg-istrar, as part of the Dean’s PrizeGiving event held at the WhiteHart Hotel on September 8th.
The Enemyto invade the
Engine ShedOne of Britain’s best up-
and-coming rock bands
will perform at the Univer-
sity of Lincoln’s Engine
Shed as part of their 2009
UK tour.
The Enemy, whose debut
album We’ll Live and Die in
These Towns reached Number
One in the album charts last
year, will play at the venue on
the University’s Brayford cam-
pus on Sunday 29 March 2009.
The Enemy won the NME
Award for Best New Band ear-
lier this year, having claimed
the title Best New Act at the Q
Awards in 2007.
Tickets for The Enemy cost
£18 in advance.
5www.thelinc.co.uk
There is a lot of pressure on
students to go out and have a
good time. In fact, the univer-
sity encourages it, in modera-
tion. You will rack up many
bar tabs in the first week so
you should be financially pre-
pared, or at least have an
overdraft to fall back on.
Unlike Lincoln University,
Oxbridge students are not allowed
to have a part time job. Why? Be-
cause deans acclaim that it leaves
less time for study. Don't they
want students to have money to
spend in their bars? Some say that
you can walk from Trinity Hall
College to Oxford on land owned
solely by the college; I guess
they're doing all right for money
then. But surely shouldn't they let
their students experience paid
work? They could network and get
to know how to handle a heated
moment in a bar, a problematic
client on the phone in a call centre
or how to approach someone in
the street for their input for char-
ity work, for instance.
Having a job can get you out of
a tight spot if you've overspent
during the first few months. A job
that offers overtime, like bar work
or at a convenience shop, can be
handy if you have a few hours to
kill in between knuckling down to
those all important essays.
Most people that I know, who
took out a student loan to cover
living costs, overspent and needed
a small packet to see themselves
through a couple of weeks to the
next loan pay-in.
Don't think that employers will
be put off just because you're a
student. Many will believe that
since you live close in the halls of
residence, or otherwise, you will
be up for extra shifts and you
could find yourself fighting oppor-
tunities off. That is if you are a
reputable kind of person who
doesn't slack.
Now, in the aftermath of
fresher’s, you should apply as
quickly as possible. Bearing in
mind, a lot of people will be think-
ing the same thing and will have
applied to work places them-
selves. As well as circulating CVs
around places, why not let some-
one else do it for you? Office An-
gels in Lincoln are a recruitment
agency who not only specialise in
finding full time jobs for people
but also help part-timers find
work.
However, because it is such a
successful way of seeking employ-
ment work places may turn down
a CV and ask you to go to Office
Angels or another recruitment
agency and apply. By all means
don’t let this put you off, in fact it
will strengthen your chances if
you doorstep potential employees
while applying through agencies.
Ideally, the best job to have
would be where you are forward-
ing your career at an internship
and getting paid for it.
You only have to look as far as
the Pavilions Student Accommo-
dation reception; last time I
looked it was mainly composed of
third years.
Circulate that CV and apply to
as many work agencies as you can.
Like anything it’s hit and miss but
the more institutes you apply to,
logically, the more chance you’ll
have to find a job.
Whether you've saved up over the sum-mer to start back at university or flatbroke, a student's top priority is money.Will you be looking for a job then? TheLinc Deputy Editor, Harry Lincoln, ex-plains why you should try and get a job.
Study and work: Is it viable?
The late nights, the moneyworries, the outfit worries, the“who should I pop round to seetonight” worries and all thoseother small things that manageto wiggle themselves some-where in the middle.
Of course by that I mean the con-stant blinding fear that you mightnot get the desired grade at the endof it all.
And yet, all I wanted and strivedtowards was independence. A 9 to 5job in London, the big city whereyou could do just about anythingand everything.
Within the first month of leavinguniversity, I was lucky enough tofind such a job in London.
I also managed to get my ownplace and live the life (my dream),right? Well I think it would havebeen foolish of me to believe thatthere would not be tough times. Butat the same time I honestly thoughtthat the good stuff would balanceout the bad ones.
Now my life consists of thosemandatory 9 to 5 hours. And just
like having a “Eureka” momentthere is a sudden understanding ofthe “Friday blues” and that song bysome artist who did what no oneelse managed to do. Put down onpaper how “manic Monday” s cantruly be.
I guess I was never able to under-stand these small and yet so signifi-cant things. That is purely becauseof my experience of work life, or bet-
ter said the lack of. With all my other part-time
jobs, I always found it easy todistance myself from all thestress and the people that youcannot seem to be able to con-nect with so you just have alaugh about it.
With this new found experi-ence, that yellow line between
work and life does not exist any-more. You find yourself more in-volved with it all to the point of noreturn.
At the end of the day I am reallyhappy that I found a job and a placeof my own and all those other thingsthat sound so glamorous and ma-ture, like bills and going out fordrinks after a hard day’s work at theoffice. And as I consider all thosewonderful and not so wonderfulthings, there is one thing that Iwould probably change if given theopportunity: my attitude. I wish Iwould have really taken advantageof how good it all was and grasp itsworth. By Dana Stancu
Life beyond graduationShe just finished her three years at Universityof Lincoln and cannot find herself able to thinkof anything more pleasurable and satisfyingthan those three years in absolute bliss, friend-ship and hard work in Lincoln.
“
”
All I wanted and strivedtowards was independ-ence. A 9 to 5 job in Lon-don, the big city whereyou could do just aboutanything and everything.
MONEY: Flyering can top yourwallet with £20 for an evening’swork, plus you get to know morepeople.
Dr. Ola Ogunyemi, principal lec-turer in Journalism, is the con-vener of the MDRG. He startedthe group because of his con-cern that “immigrants are toooften relegated to the peripheryof the communication circuit,that is, are left to communicateto ‘in-group’ rather than engagein ‘intra-group’ communicationwhich could foster social cohe-sion”.
The MDGR a network of academicsand professionals providing publicservices to the immigrant communi-ties. This enables the researchers tostudy how migrant communities inLincolnshire represent themselves inthe media, such as on Siren FM. Thegroup is seeking, “academics as wellas non-academics to join in takingthis research idea forward throughdiscussions, research… workshopsand conferences”, he said.
Subsequently, the aim of the groupis to build bridges between differentnationalities to stop misunderstand-ings from occurring which can lead toracial tensions. The recent MDRGmeeting found that many public sec-tors working with immigrant commu-nities rarely share information andexpertise. Therefore, the MDRG in-tends to bridge this gap by setting upa one-stop resource portal for collat-ing materials generated by the public
sectors which are not in general circu-lation at the moment.
Some of the participating partnersin the MDRG include HM Prison,Siren FM, Anglican Church etc. Ac-cording to Julie Gale, Governor ofHM Prison, Morton Hall, “the prisonhas a large mix of women from 50 na-tionalities and meeting their culturalneeds is a challenge. There have beeninstances of tensions and misunder-standings, so it is important that re-search work is done to foster peacefulco-existence and understanding”.
Another member of the group, PetaHill, a Community DevelopmentWorker in Lincolnshire for the Angli-can Church, points out that there isno central point for making the out-come of the independent work donewithin the migrant communities inthe county available to the public.“The reason for some people comingto England to live and work is solelyabout survival”, she said.
Other individuals and organisa-tions are already working throughout
the county to provide social cohesionamongst indigenous and migrantcommunities. According to David deVerney, the ‘new migrant’s chaplain’in Lincolnshire for the past few years,who has seen first-hand the difficul-ties faced by migrant workers movinginto the area, “from a purely eco-nomic point of view, I find it ex-tremely stupid to treat migrantworkers badly and want them to go.They do all the jobs nobody else herewants to do frankly and they do itwith good grace and how do we thankthem?”
Voice PL, the Lincs Polish Associa-tion (LPA), is another organisationthat is working towards a better rela-tionship between migrant workersand Lincolnshire residents. It aims towork with a number of communitiesand organisations in Lincoln to opena community centre which will even-tually provide an advice centre, plus acoffee shop and a crèche for city shop-pers to drop their children off at for afew hours. By Gillian Sennet
Bridgeculturalgaps byresearch
MDRG: Dr. Ogunyemi (center) and other group’s prominent members
Scholars in the Lincoln School of Journalismhave set up a new research group – Media of Di-aspora Research Group (MDRG) – to study theinterrelationship between the immigrant popu-lations and the media in Lincolnshire.
SOCIETYSPOTLIGHTA new society has beencreated for all those stu-dents interested in worldpolitics, with ThomasBeach as the president ofthe newly founded Inter-national Politics Society.
The society offers membersthe chance to get actively in-volved with plans for a debat-ing session in the style ofBBC’s Question Time. Chancesto meet those who work in pol-itics will also be arranged withinformal meetings. Charityfund-raisers are also on theagenda throughout the year.
One of the best ways tomake friends at university is tojoin a society. The ULC is a so-ciety for students looking tosocialise and meet new people.Various trips through the yearto places like Alton Towersand nights out in nearby citiesare in the pipeline. You alsoget a t-shirt with the ULC logoon the front and personalisedwith your nickname on theback.
For more information, youcan join the ULC Facebookgroup or [email protected].
One of Britain’s best up-
and-coming rock bands
will perform at the Univer-
sity of Lincoln’s Engine
Shed as part of their 2009
UK tour.
The Enemy, whose debut
album We’ll Live and Die in
These Towns reached Number
One in the album charts last
year, will play at the venue on
the University’s Brayford cam-
pus on Sunday 29 March 2009.
The Enemy won the NME
Award for Best New Band ear-
lier this year, having claimed
the title Best New Act at the Q
Awards in 2007.
Tickets for The Enemy cost
£18 in advance.
What a summer it has been:the economy and businessworld has gone from onemisfortune to another, Gor-don Brown has hadno respite on peoplequestioning his lead-ership, a completemuck-up on SATs re-sults being pub-lished, and virtuallyno sunny days toenjoy.
On the other hand,look at what else hashappened: the Americanpresidential race hasproduced some real passion intopolitics with its surprising andhistorical choices of candidates,Great Britain has emerged tri-umphant after the Olympic teambrought home the greatest num-ber of medals in a century, we’vehad the opportunity to celebratethe music of Ralph VaughanWilliams in the 50th year sincehis death, and Zimbabwe has theopportunity to start again with theground-breaking coalition gov-ernment between Robert Mugabeand Morgan Tsvangirai.
This summer, then, may well
make us think about what weshall have to face at the start ofanother year at university. Wemay have to contend with the dif-ficulties of study, of ensuring thatwe can keep our heads above thefinancial-waters of doom, andthat we may not get what we hadhoped for in our courses.
The year ahead also provides uswith opportunities. For the Fresh-ers, this may well be the first timeyou taste freedom and independ-ence of living. For those in yourfinal year of study, the prospect ofleaving university with a good de-gree is in your grasp. For all, it isensuring that another great yearat university is created.
What does all this mean?Where do these ramblingthoughts lead to? Like all ram-bles, you never know where itwill lead you. But it also meansthat you never know what willhappen. A year ago, Mr. Brownwas leading in the opinion polls,6 months ago Barack Obama
lookedcertainto be-comethe nextPresi-dent oftheUnitedStates,and 4monthsago
Britain was being typically pes-simistic about its Olympicprospects.
Let us not, then, dither overdecisions that are key to our fu-ture. Let us not take for grantedour prospects. Instead, let us bepositive as we set off on anotheryear. Let us go forth to makingthe best of our year. And, let uswork towards reaping those re-wards that we shall work hardfor. For, at the end of the day,“Action may not bring happi-ness, but there can be no happi-ness without action”.
A Students’ Union is anelected body of ex-studentswho provide services andsupport for the students ofan institution. Traditional-ists would say that the jobfits under the heading ofstudent politics, but that isa very boring and drab wayof phrasing exactly wherethe job sits in terms ofrole.
Being an SU officer is morelike part politician, part holi-day rep, part businesspersonand part student. Not one dayat work is ever the same. Oneday you can find yourself mak-ing new friends and partying inthe Engine Shed, the next youare wearing a suit and attend-ing the Board of Governors.With a new team in place and 2years experience under my belt,here’s my honest opinion on thenew Students’ Union officers.
DanielHutchinson -Eye catchingdress sense,great politicalbackground andhas the abilityto make surethat the struc-tures of the Stu-dents’ Unionrun well. Hopefully he can usethe interest generated in him-self during the elections tospringboard student involve-ment in the SU in Lincoln.
Kayleigh Turner - Made agreat impression on me duringtraining, due to her endless en-thusiasm and asking all theright questions. If she carrieson this way, students’ academicissues will be in very goodhands.
Vicky Wieczerzynska -Compassionate and caring. Nomatter what problem arises, Iknow she will do her best tohelp the students involved.
Dan Windross - He hasbeen in so many roles withinthe Students’ Union now. I firstremember him as a fresh-facedRAG officer, then last year hewas a part time officer and nowhe has become a full time sab-batical officer. If he can chan-nel his experience into this
year in office,he has the po-tential to bethe best Com-municationsOfficer ever.
ChrisRoberts -Takes over thesports teams ofthe Athletic
Union after a bumper couple ofyears. But if he puts in half the
effort and enthusiasm he hasused with the Rugby Unionteam, then the AU is in safehands.
In these six people, youhave ex-students of theUniversity of Lincoln whowill work ridiculously hardfor you, the students. Anyadvice or support you mightneed, can be found with the of-ficers of the Students’ Union in
6 SEPTEMBER 2008
C O L U M N SOpinions f rom peop le who mat te r
Forty years ago this month Iwas starting the second yearof my course but the thirdyear of my studies at collegein London.
The numerate reader will calcu-late from this that I had failed ayear – in fact my first year. It wasmy first time in London, freshfrom the depths of the Norfolkcountryside. I was the only studentthat had ever taken ‘A’ Levels frommy village or gone to universitybut in the final year at school andin the first year at London my tu-toring had been very poor and thenew degree course had not beenproperly resourced.
In 1968 students were normallynot represented on school or uni-versity committees. Aggrieved bytwo years of inadequate support, Ijoined the national student move-ment which was then campaigning
for an end to the Vietnam war andlater became active in demandinga student voice and representationon university committees. Thethen leader of the NUS was noneother than Jack Straw, now Minis-ter for Justice, and two years later,in the heat of the campaign, Mar-garet Thatcher became Ministerfor Education.
Student representation was hardwon but it is a right which we exer-
cise fully at the University of Lin-coln. At every level of the univer-sity’s work, from course, throughStudent Council and AcademicBoard to the Board of Governors,students are represented and theirviews respected and valued. I haveno doubt that this level of engage-ment has resulted in high levels ofstudent satisfaction in the NationalStudent Survey and a commenda-tion to the Students’ Union fortheir submission to the review bythe Quality Assurance Agency (theuniversities’ equivalent to OF-STED), earlier in the year
At Lincoln we regard students aspartners in learning – producersrather than consumers. It is a phi-losophy which goes beyond a no-tion of simple representation but ismore about a culture of mutual re-spect and shared ambition for theindividual and for the university.
And it is also about freedom ofexpression. Hence ‘The Linc’ stu-dent newspaper, which throughthe course of this year will nodoubt publish articles which willchallenge the university – allstrength to it.
A personal view from the Vice Chancellor
“
”
I was the onlystudent that hadever taken ‘A’Levels from myvillage or gone touniversity.
Professor David Chiddickis the Vice Chancellor ofthe University of Lincoln.
By Daniel Hutchinson
Daniel is the President ofthe University of LincolnStudents’ Union.
“
”
Like all rambles,you never knowwhere it will leadyou. But it alsomeans that younever know whatwill happen.
September around the world
Michael BeddoesThe ex SU President speaks
“
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Being an SU officeris more like partpolitician, part holi-day rep, part busi-nessperson andpart student. the SOAP (Student Opportuni-
ties, Activities and Participa-tion) Centre.
Always remember that they
are there for you, and that youare their bosses! You hire themthrough election. And you di-rect their jobs and also poten-tially fire them throughStudent Council.
Students shouldn’t doubtthat the Students’ Union isn’tfor them until they head overand see what services it pro-vides, whether they want toplay sports, join a society orget advice on everything fromproblems with a tutor throughto housing issues.
By Michael Beddoes
Maria Yesufu
The one survivor from last year’s team. Maria is
the best thing that ever happened to me as an
SU Officer (not in the way it probably sounds),
as her drive and passion made me up my game
and work harder than I had ever done previ-
ously. She stands on a record of great events
(Pep Rally and AU Talent Show) and exemplary
student involvement (just look at how many so-
cieties she helped start or grow).
Vicky Wieczerzynska
DanWindross
KayleighTurner
7www.thelinc.co.uk
Daniel Ionescu: How does it feelcoming back to the University ofLincoln and how do you think theuniversity changed since youopened the Journalism school in2004?John Pilger: Lincoln's approachto journalism is among the bestand most imaginative I know. Youhave only to listen to the enthusi-asm of journalism students at theuniversity. Their attitude seemsquite different from that of themore 'corporate' colleges. It was areal pleasure to attend their gradu-ation. The work of Richard Keebleand John Tulloch is outstanding;they have been pioneers.
DI: You are regarded as one of thegreatest investigative and cam-paigning journalists of your gener-ation. How will the HonoraryDoctorate of Arts from the Univer-sity of Lincoln will be appreciatedin your vast awards and honorsportfolio?JP: Well, it's already in pride ofplace on the wall of my office!DI: What’s your opinion on the sit-uation in Georgia? Is Russia tryingto provoke the western world?JP: Like much of the news, the re-ality and the 'why' are hidden. Rus-sia is responding to the provocativeactions of its former superpowerrival, the United States, which isusing NATO to ring the Russianheartland and hinterland with mis-siles. Within days of the Georgia
crisis, Condoleezza Rice was sign-ing a treaty with the governmentin Warsaw to base American mis-siles in Poland, on Russia's west-ern border - a border that has seeninvasions with horrific conse-quences. The missiles are said to
be aimed at Iran, but they are alsoaimed at Moscow and China. Goback to 1962 when the Americansobjected to the basing of Sovietmissiles in Cuba - a nuclear war al-most erupted then. American mis-siles in Russia's 'sphere ofinfluence' are demonstrably aprovocation, and what happened inGeorgia, effectively an Americancolony, was predictable.DI: You once said that “Americahas been constantly waging waragainst much of humanity”. WillObama or McCain in the WhiteHouse really make a difference?JP: There will be differences inemphasis, but they are both repre-
sentatives of a system, andthe system rules. What isstriking about Obama andMcCain is how much theyopenly agree. Both are of-fering 'renewed militaryleadership', as Obamasaid. They are products ofa militarised system thatspends 42 cents in everytax dollar on war and theplanning for war. George
W Bush may be on the way out, buthis neo-conservatives have be-queathed an elite consensus fromwhich no new administration willdepart, in essence.DI: In 2006 you said that “For me,(...) the most virulent and powerfulform of censorship, fueling an in-doctrination that runs deep inwestern soci-eties, deeperthan manyjournaliststhemselvesunderstandor will admitto.” How doyou thinkpeople canavoid beingmanipulated
by themedia?JP: I think a great many peoplealready understand the insidi-ous power of the modernmedia. That's why the media it-self has become an issue. Jour-nalists can be defensive aboutthis - the notion that the public
may be ahead of them is difficult toassimilate with a self-serving prop-aganda that the public is stupid orapathetic.DI: Out of all the films and docu-mentaries you made during yourcareer, which one do you feel most
strongly about and why?JP: I can't single out one. I havefelt strongly about them all!DI: Do you feel that you achievedmost of your goals in your career?What are your plans for the future?JP: No, I haven't achieved mygoals, because my goals are simplyto keep on writing and makingfilms. I have a new film under dis-cussion, about war and media, andI may try my hand at fiction.DI: Do you have any tips for stu-
dents on how toachieve the mostin their careers?JP: Well, as Isaid in my ac-ceptance speech:maintain youridealism, main-tain your audac-ity and, aboveall, maintainyour independ-ence of mind.
John PilgerExclusiveJohn Pilger, world-renowned journalist, visitedthe University of Lincoln earlier this month toreceive an Honorary Doctorate of Arts. TheLinc Editor, Daniel Ionescu, exclusively inter-viewed Mr. Pilger to find out his views on theRuso-Georgian conflict, the future of Americanpolitics, censorship, propaganda and the evo-lution of the University of Lincoln.
“
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American missiles inRussia's 'sphere of influ-ence' are demonstrablya provocation, and whathappened in Georgia, ef-fectively an Americancolony, was predictable.
“
”
What is strikingabout Obama and Mc-Cain is how muchthey openly agree.Both are offering 're-newed military lead-ership', as Obamasaid.
“
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Journalists can bedefensive about tthenotion that the publicmay be ahead ofthem.
We are living through danger-ous times. Britain is part ofwhat is called “the war on ter-ror”, which means that ourgovernment, in reality, is wag-ing a war of terror in at leasttwo countries, Iraq andAfghanistan.
The ancient land that is now Iraqis the cradle of much of what wecall civilisa-tion: of writ-ing and booksand learning.
How manyof us areaware thatsince the firstGulf War in1991, moreinnocent peo-ple have died in that country as aconsequence of the actions of ourgovernment and its principal allythan died during the nightmare ofslavery.
I believe that only by under-standing the crimes committed inour name can we progress as acivilisation. How do we that? Withinformation - truthful informationfound and delivered without fear orfavour. For that is the essence ofthe power of people and of truedemocracy.
There is every indication that inthese dangerous times, liberaldemocracy is moving toward a form
of corporate autocracy, in which wethe people are becoming account-able to the government, not theother way round, as it should be.
This is a historic shift, and themedia ought not to be its façade.Had journalists and broadcastersdone their job in the years since1991, had we questioned and ex-posed the lies of our governments
instead of am-plifying andechoing them,perhaps a mil-lion or more in-nocent peoplewould be alivetoday.
I believe weneed a publicmovement that
monitors, deconstructs and coun-ters propaganda that comes in theform of news. In every university,in every media college, in everynews room, teachers of journalism- and journalists themselves - needto question the part they play inthe distortion and omission of in-formation that allows great powerto have its bloody way.
Such a movement could herald aperestroika, a liberation of a kindwe have not known – as the Inter-net has already demonstrated. Inother words, it is time to reclaimwhat Tom Paine called “the free-dom of words and ideas of truth”.
John Pilger’s acceptance speech at thegraduation ceremony on September 10th
“
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I believe we need apublic movement thatmonitors, deconstructsand counters propa-ganda that comes inthe form of news.
APPLAUSE: John Pilger accepting his Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Lincoln at the gradu-ation ceremony on 10 September at Lincoln Cathedral
Pilger is a world-renowned au-thor and documentary film-maker, who began his careerin 1958 in Australia, beforemoving to London in the 1960s
He was as a war correspondentduring conflicts in Vietnam,Cambodia, Egypt, India,Bangladesh and Biafra.
More info on www.johnpilger.com
8 SEPTEMBER 2008
A Chris Roberts welcome from the AU
Let the 4.4 million homes in“fuel poverty” turn to seniorexecutive Mark Owen-Lloyd atE.ON UK for some reassuringwords about the monthsahead; “It will make moremoney for us”
I’m sure Owen-Lloyd’s fire willburn hot as he tosses bundles offifty-pound notes on top, keepingthe embers glowing and his familytoasty as he guffaws his waythrough a bottle of the finestbrandy your money can buy.
His contemptuous commentsreflect the blasé ethos towards thegeneral public and their real strug-gle to pay the bills. Recently,British Gas announced a 35% risein profits and a 9% rise in electric-ity prices. This is unjustifiable. Inthe past decade, over 260,000 pen-sioners have died from cold-relatedillness. Many of these deaths aredirectly related to the increase inenergy bills.
The Govern-ment have madesteps in the rightdirection.They’ve just an-nounced severalmeasures aimedat tackling en-ergy problemsfor households,such as free cav-ity wall and loftinsulation for
pensioners and the poor. But is thisenough? Prices aren’t lower and weare staring at a recession. Howmany millions of people sufferingat the hands of energy fat-cats willit take? Should individuals be al-lowed to make such obscene profitsfrom a household necessity?
Nobody denies that energyprices are rising and therefore en-ergy companies pay more for rawmaterials. But STILL they manageto increase profits further. There isnow a very serious argument fornationalising the energy industry.The money spent by the consumercould be pumped back into com-munities. So many groups thatbenefited many people are beingforced to close due to a lack of gov-ernment funding, for example,‘Phoenix Survivors’, an organisa-tion that helped abused children.The only trouble is finding peoplewith enough competence and in-tegrity to head it up.
By Shane Croucher
Shane’s Shout
Worried about feelingcold this winter? Energy bills headingtowards unaffordable?
”
“The onlytrouble isfindingpeoplewithenough integrityto head itup.
The hidden Lincoln
We have a magnificentCathedral, one that has beenused in many films – includ-ing the Da Vinci Code. Lin-coln Castle, although nowmuch of a ruin has anothertalking point, it houses oneof a rare copy of the MagnaCarta.
With a City as old as Lincoln(you can find it in the Doomsdaybook) there’s bound to be talks ofghosts and ghouls, indeed, wehave three ghost walks everyweek around the historical quar-ter.
The county, blessed with itsgreen fields and flat land has be-come notable for two things; veg-etables and RAF bases. In fact, ifyou’re out in Lincoln you’d behard pressed not to find either astrange herb or a military man ona night out – but who’s complain-ing?
Although a lot of the city hasbeen modernised, don’t let theabundance of glass and stainlesssteel disillusion you – this city ismedieval through and through.According to our good friendWiki – Wikipedia to you and me -the Romans conquered this partof Britain in AD 48 and shortlyafterwards built a legionaryfortress high on a hill overlookingthe natural lake (the modern dayBrayford Pool). The Celtic nameLindon was subsequently Latin-ized to Lindum and given the titleColonia when it was convertedinto a settlement for army veter-ans. Lindum Colonia was thenshortened amongst Englishspeakers to become 'Lincoln'.Handy for your next pub quiz.
The University itself is veryyoung, it was built in 1996 afterlocals decided to raise some ofthe sponsorship; with industrypulling out of the city and spo-radic tourism, they felt that Lin-coln needed a focus and a directsource of income. Voila, the Uni-versity of Lincolnshire and Hum-berside was born, adjusting to theUniversity of Lincoln in 1998.Rumour has it that when the fa-mous Oxford University was con-ceived, the monks in chargecouldn’t decide where to put theirnew place of study – Lincoln orOxford? Of course it was Oxfordthat got the notoriety but youcould say that Lincoln had beenwithout a University for thou-sands of years.
With cities such as Notting-ham, Leicester and Sheffieldvying for attention in close prox-imity, Lincoln could be seen asthe baby both in the fashion andmusic stakes. It’s usually Not-tingham that cashes in on the tale
of Robin Hood, but today’s cool-kats have nothing on our tailors.Back in the 12th century one ofthe county’s biggest exports wascloth, and it seems that ourRobin loved nothing more thanto run around chasing Sherrif’s infabulous ‘Lincoln Green’ pan-taloons.
Speaking of clothes, I could ofcourse boast of our two Pri-mark’s, an abundance of highstreet rivals and our plethora ofvintage and boutique’s…but thenI’d just be boasting so I’ll tell youabout the nightlife instead.
Lincoln is populated with manybars. It would take you a goodweekend to get round them, so ifyou’re new to the city or justfancy a change – here’s our rec-
ommendation of working yourway around. For the all-nighters:Lincoln nightlife isn’t just aboutthe town centre. Head up to thetop of hill and work your waydown from places such as TheLion and the Snake, The Magna
Carta, Kind and the rest to get atrue flavour of what’s on offer.
For those up for a quickie:There’s two options here, if youhaven’t got a lot of time butwould still like a bit of variety youcan either keep to the town cen-tre and many a high street namewith Walkabout/Slug and Lettuceetc, or head on down to the Bray-ford front to enjoy Quayside,Lloyds and a few more.
For those who enjoy the finerthings: We can highly recom-mend cocktail bars such asDogma in town and a few of thespeciality bars such as Revolu-tion.
For the clubbers: The Lincolnclub scene is dominated by indienights at Scream, chart hits atThe Engine Shed, disco or houseat Sakura and a bit of everythingat Ritzys. With smaller clubs suchas Annexe and The Cell doingspeciality nights, not forgetting
the rockers out there who shouldhead to the alleyways to find barslike Jailhouse Rock and the epic,Sugarcubes.
But don’t worry if your pocketsfeel a little light, Lincoln wasvoted the second cheapest city tolive in England. But with plentyof historical attractions and allthat retail therapy, we’re sureyou’ll soon find a way to spend it!
By Gina Davies
Traditionally, Lincoln is seen as a historical city; quiet butfull of the quaint English charms tourists seem to love. Butwhat more does Lincoln have to offer?
The most famous personalive to come from Lincolnis Jonathan Kerrigan, cur-rently appearing in Heart-beat.
The most famous deadperson is Alfred Tennyson– Poet Laureate who wasborn in Somersby.
Lincoln is twinned withcities in China, Poland,Australia and Germany.
Lincoln City Football Clubare known as ‘The Imps’, ifyou want to know the rea-son why head to theCathedral. Is it a Devil’saccomplice or mason’sjoke? Decide for yourself.
The MP for Lincoln isGillian Merron, a JuniorMinister in the Depart-ment of International De-velopment. She holdsregular open surgeries andis contactable on most is-sues at [email protected]
Lincoln castle boasts oneof three original copies ofthe Magna Carta.
The Da Vinci Code withTom Hanks was filmed inthe Cathedral, as theycould not get permissionto film inside WestminsterAbbey.
Edward I held the first Par-liament in the Cathedral.
Lincoln born actor ColinMcFarlane starred along-side Christian Bale in Bat-man Begins and The DarkKnight.
The library in the Cathe-dral was designed by SirChristopher Wren.
”
“In Lincolnyou’d behard pressednot to find astrange herbor a militaryman on anight out.
”
“Robin Hoodloved nothingmore than torun around in‘Lincoln Green’pantaloons.
Facts you mightnot know aboutthe city
”“Lincoln was
voted the secondcheapest city tolive in England.
”“Lincoln
nightlife isn’tjust about thetown centre.
9www.thelinc.co.uk
REYNOLDS VIEW
Penniless athletesare the trueBritish heroesWhat a magnifi-cent spectacle the Beijing Olympicsprovided this
summer. Gone were the ‘primadonnas’, the WAG’s andthe unbelievable sense ofdisappointment that usBrits normally have toface at the end of anymajor sporting event.
There was no Sven andNancy, no Wayne andColeen and certainly noSteve Mclaren to dampenour spirits.
Just everyday people,living on everydaysalaries, going to fantasticlengths to achieve theirdreams.
It is this purity that Britishsport has lost over the last 10years.
A sportsmen’s staturewithin society, it seems, is nolonger determined by thedepth of their achievements,but by the weightof their paypackets.
And it is thistype of mentalitythat has made usstand up andtake notice of theBritish heroesthat competed sovalianty through-out the games.
Britain man-aged to scoop anincredible 19gold medals at this yearsOlympics, more than doublethe tally achieved in Athensjust four years earlier.
If anyone had the pleasureof watching Rebecca Adling-ton swim to double gold inthe pool this summer they
would have seen what a trueBritish athlete is made of.
This was also the case withcyclist Chris Hoy, who domi-nated the field in the velo-drome once again to scoop afurther 3 Golds for GreatBritain.
The humble Scotsmen takeshome an annual salary of 24ka year, less than most pre-miership footballers takehome in a week.
And thisis exactlythe reasonthat ourathletes de-serve everyparticle ofpraise theyreceive.
After all, can you imagineAshley Cole or Wayne Rooneygetting out of bed for any lessthat £10k?
The Olympics was not onlygripping and entertaining,but it represented good oldfashioned sporting value’sthat are so worryingly absent
from mainstreamsports.
These athleteswere true ambassa-dors for Britain; nostrops, tantrums orcheating, just com-petitors at the top oftheir fields compet-ing to be the best.
And it is for thisreason that theBritish public musthope that this sum-mer, while sitting on
their luxurious sofas, socalled premiership ‘bad boys’(watching their 42 inchplasma screens), flicked overto the Olympics, and observewhat true sporting heroeslook like.
By Adam Reynolds
”
“Just everyday people,living onevery daysalaries.
”
“Can youimagineAshley Coleor WayneRooney get-ting out ofbed for lessthan £10K?
A note from the Sports Editor
PANEL
It gives me great pleasure towrite my first Editor’s note asSports Editor of The Linc, andI would like to take this op-portunity to thank Daniel andthe team for a great firstissue.
The sports team has been work-ing hard to bring you the latestnews from around the campus and
the local football team Lincoln City,which I hope you will find interest-ing.
This issue we have spoken toGuinness World Record holderDave Cain, who spent over threedays continuously playing poker inthe Library Bar on Brayford Pool,new AU Sports and Teams officerChris Roberts, and have the latestnews on university cricket and VivaFutbol.
We are also offering students thechance to win two tickets to anyLincoln City home game this sea-son so to get involved, see the Lin-coln City page on page ten. Oursports writer, Aaron Scott, alsocaught up with Imps defender PaulGreen who features in this issue ofour ‘Expert Eye’.
We also have our regular feature
column from Adam Reynolds, whospeaks out on the 2008 BeijingOlympics, and debate who will winthe Ryder Cup at Valhalla thisweekend.
Our team has worked extremelyhard this issue, but we are alwayslooking for news from clubs andsocieties at the university as well aslocal sports teams. To send us anyinformation, contact the sportsdesk at [email protected],as we want to promote your suc-cesses to the rest of the studentbody.
We are also looking for sportswriters to join our team who haveany ideas, so contact us if you wishto get involved.
Hayley CookSports Editor
With the Ryder Cup fastly approaching, the group of The Lincsports writers discuss who will take the shield this year.
Hayley CookEditor“I have to back Europe despite the fact that Nick Faldo seems to have chosen a few wild-cards in Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, over golfing veteran Colin Montgomerie. But PadraigHarrington is playing well, and Ian Poulter played outstanding in The British Open earlierin the year.”
Steven RuddDeputy Editor“I think that Team Europe will continue to dominate this trophy. Their recent wins havebeen comprehensive and Harrington’s form has been exceptional. Any team missing TigerWoods is sure to crumble, even if his record in the Ryder Cup is not as glamourous as hisabilities suggest, he will still be missed.”
Adam Reynolds“Europe are firm favourites to maintain their winning streak. With Nick Faldo at thehelm and so many promising young golfers in their ranks I can't see Europe giving up theirstranglehold on the cup. However USA have a lot of experienced players who have been onthe circuit for many years. I think Phil Mickleson and Jim Furyk will be important for theStates.”
Daniel Coles“‘Sandwichgate’ has threatened to undermine the efforts of the European side and I thinkNick Faldo handled the situation badly. He has heaped the pressure on himself and histeam. With the Americans being at home, they’ll have their tails up and will be desperateto prove that they can win without Tiger Woods. It will be intriguing, but I think the qual-ity of Team Europe, and the form their players, will ensure the defending champions willretain the trophy again.”
For those of you who don’tknow me, my name’s ChrisRoberts and I’m the Sportsand Teams Officer for the up-coming year.
I am very excited that you guysare here (or back if you’re a 2nd/3rd year) as myself and Maria (So-cieties and Activities Officer) havebeen chomping at the bit to haveyou back! For those first years thatI have not had the chance to sayhello to, let me say ‘Welcome’.
What a week Fresher’s Week hasbeen. We had a fantastic day withthe Clubs and Societies Fayre withlots of effort from all involved.
And it looks like it is going to beanother successful year for the AU.I was thoroughly pleased for theemerging clubs and societies whodid extremely well and will hope-
fully gain full status asap. The increase in clubs and soci-
eties is a credit to the students thatwe have here at the university, in-creasing the activities students canget involved with. New clubs in-clude Ultimate Frisbee and Base-ball with an interest raised in thearea of origami.
What was also pleasing was theamount of individual athletes andswimmers we had approach theAU, and with our Elite AthleteFund there to help them it lookslike another year of sporting suc-cess is on the cards.
Again let me extend a welcometo everyone and I hope to be com-menting in the next issue aboutour early success!
Cheers,Chris Roberts
A Chris Roberts welcome from the AU
The hidden Lincoln
10 SEPTEMBER 2008
Lincoln City Student Night
As part of the student nightat Sincil Bank, studentswith a valid NUS card canwatch Lincoln take onRochdale on Friday 10th Oc-tober for £5.00 including afree pint.
Marketing manager JamesLazenby has organised the eventand hopes it will be as popularas it has been in previous years.
He said: “Thanks to permis-sion from The Football League,student radio station Siren FMwill be reporting live from thematch and we are workingclosely with the university andBishop Grosseteste to promotethe event over the comingweeks.
"This will be the third yearrunning, and following feedbackwe've now made it easier for stu-
dents to take up this offer bymaking the tickets available topurchase on the night of match."
Students must produce theirNUS card at the Lincoln Cityticket office and will be given aspecial drinks voucher which en-titles them to a pint of Foster’slager, Marston’s Smooth, lemon-ade or Pepsi in the Trust Suitefrom 6pm until 7.30pm prior tothe evening kick-off at 7.45pm.
Whilst tickets are only avail-able for the Stacey West Stand,James agrees that it’s an oppor-tunity not to be missed.
“We’re expecting a big crowdso it should be a good atmos-phere, so hopefully it’ll be an en-tertaining match.”
For more details, call the Lin-coln City ticket hotline on 0870899 1976 or www.redimps.com.
Lincoln City Football Club is offeringstudents the chance to watch the Impsfor just £5 in October, writes Sports Editor Hayley Cook.
GAME: The Imps in action. Credit: Lincoln City Football Club.
Imp’s Expert EyeLincoln City’s versatile full-back Paul Green talks to Aaron Scottabout the Imps start to the season, Abu Dhabi’s multi-millionpound takeover of Manchester City, his admiration for Andy Mur-ray and Lewis Hamilton’s chances of clinching the F1 title.
AS: After a summer of opti-mism at Sincil Bank it hasbeen widely accepted that theteam has not really played totheir full potential yet. Canyou see matters improvingover the course of the seasonand is promotion still a realis-tic target?
PG: We are under no illusionsabout the start to our season andrealise it has not been goodenough. Results so far have beenpretty poor and with the squad ofplayers that the manager has as-sembled we are underachieving if Iam honest. But the lads have beenworking hard in training and Idon’t think we are far from turningthe corner and putting in somegood performances to start climb-ing the table.
The players that were brought inover the summer have added evenmore quality to the squad. Wecan’t really put our finger on thewhere the problem lies at the mo-ment, but maybe it’s the fact thatwith all the new faces the teamhasn’t quite gelled together yet.Still, I’m optimistic for the rest of
the season as the league title isn’tcontested over six games and if wekeep winning anything is possible.
AS: After Abu Dhabi’s recenttakeover of Manchester City,Mark Hughes has a seeminglyunlimited budget to makethem the best club in Eng-land. Do you think thetakeover is a good thing forthe Premiership and do youthink it will make a differenceto this year’s title race?
PG: Unlike many I actually thinkthis is good for English footballand I would like to see Man Citybreak into the top four and makethe Premiership even more com-petitive. But I don’t think they willbreak that barrier this season andanything like a top eight finish willbe a good season for them. I heardplayers like Fernando Torres ofLiverpool and Cesc Fabregas of Ar-senal have been linked with amove there and if large amounts ofmoney are being offered then I cansee some quality players beingtempted to Eastlands.
As a Manchester United fan Iwould of course like to see my
team win the league again this sea-son. However, from what I haveseen from Chelsea this season Ithink they will be quite a force tobe reckoned with.
AS: Andy Murray has hit theheadlines over recent weeksafter reaching the final at theUS open. What do you makeof his performances over thesummer and do you think heis capable of winning a majortournament any time soon?
PG: My girlfriend is a big tennisfan so I have watched a fair bit ofAndy Murray over the summer.The lad has improved a lot and
with every match he plays he looksa stronger player. I really like Mur-ray and his passion for the gameand if he can repeat the sort ofform he showed in beating Nadalat the US open semi final then Idon’t think he will be far off win-ning a major tournament in thenext few years. I think he thriveson the pressure that is placed onhis shoulders and if he can keepimproving further then he is goingto be a big star in the game.
AS: Lewis Hamilton has beencriticised of late for some badtactical decisions which couldcost him the F1 driver’s cham-pionship. Do you think he haswhat it takes to win this timeround?
PG: Hamilton was really unluckylast year and coming that close towinning it seems to have spurredhim on even more. I think he de-serves to win it this year and I willbe delighted for him if he does.With only four races left he can’treally afford any more slip-ups.But, again like Murray he has ma-tured and is better equipped forthe battle this season.
Imps inBriefThe arrival of seven new sign-ings at Sincil Bank this sum-mer is, once again, providingtalk of promotion for LincolnCity since 1996.
The Imps boss Peter Jacksonhas added a wealth of class and ex-perience to his squad, which in-cludes the likes of Frank Sinclair –the ex-Chelsea and F.A. Cup win-ning star.
After an impressive pre-season -which saw the Imps play a strongAston Villa side off the park on theway to a 3-1 victory – hope washigh amongst fans for a seriouschallenge for promotion.
The League Two campaign how-ever has not started brightly forthe Imps - with City losing toRotherham, Dagenham & Red-bridge and Wycombe before onlymanaging a draw against local ri-vals Grimsby Town.
But after City’s illusive first vic-tory of the season against Barnetlast weekend work has started inrestoring the pre-season optimismand expectations of the Lincolnfaithful.
And in the arrival of Romanianhotshot striker Adrain Patulea –who scored on his debut againstBarnet - the club seems to havefound a new hope and a specialtalent that can fire the Imps to-wards glory this season.
By Aaron Scott
WIN FREE TICKETS TO ANY LINCOLN CITY HOME GAMEGo to www.thelinc.co.uk/freetickets and enter your details to be entered into a prize draw
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“I really like Mur-ray and his pas-sion for thegame...I don’tthink he will befar off winning amajor tournamentin the next fewyears.
The Viva Futbol President is looking to improve the intra-mural society and gain accreditation from the Football Associ-ation, writes Daniel Coles and Stephen Rudd.
Credit: Lincoln City FC
11www.thelinc.co.uk
Chris Roberts ‘Superstar’
“My main project will be tocreate a ‘Superstars’ eventwhere you have sportspeoplefrom different sports com-peting in different sportssuch as 100m and athletics.
“We’d have teams from the so-cieties competing and althoughwe don’t have an athletics track,we can do penalty shootouts andbasketball free-throws etc,” saidRoberts.
As well as creating events forthe Athletic Union (AU), Robertshas also been promoting the AUto the university.
“We’ve been winning theleagues, going up in the AU rank-ings from 74 to 60 so I want to letthe university know.”
Roberts is also hoping to en-courage an AU council which willact as a forum for the university’sclubs and societies.
“If you have an argument be-tween two teams about sportscentre times or something simi-
lar, it wouldn’t be fair for me tomake a decision because theyboth have a fair case.
“We’re being more democraticand developing the AU council sothey take it there.”
He also wants to implement anAU tour over Easter which islikely to be in either Spain orItaly.
“It won’t be for everyone be-cause we’re limited with thesports we can play over there, butwe’re hoping for a good turn-out.”
Roberts also encouragesFresher’s to get involved with theAthletic Union.
“Sign up for as many things asyou want. If you’re a footballplayer and a badminton player,sign up for both.
“Even if you’ve never played be-fore but you’ve always wanted toplay rugby league or hockey, signup for it and get involved in thesociety.”
By Hayley Cook
Viva Futbol wants FA Affiliation
Glen Wilson started the soci-ety in 2006 and wants to im-prove what is already one ofthe most popular extra-cur-ricular activities at the uni-versity. He hopes the FAaffiliation will ensure theplayers are getting the bestpossible experience.
The university were in the posi-tion to send a select squad to theNational Championships in Birm-ingham over the summer, and Wil-son was proud of his side despitebeing knocked out by Loughbor-ough in the Quarter Finals.
“It was particularly pleasing forme as none of the squad played forany of the university football teamsand it shows the merits of the VivaFutbol intra-mural set up,” saidWilson.
“They played as well as I knewthey could and I felt they were veryunlucky not to progress further.
“The format, the rules and thepitches used, were very different towhat the guys were used to fromViva Futbol so it took some adapt-ing to, but they all coped incrediblywell.
“Some of the football they playedwas brilliant to watch.”
Loughborough were stunned bythe Lincoln ‘underdogs’ afterfalling two goals behind early on.
However, a controversial goal fromLoughborough gave them a wayback into the game after an assist-ing throw-in that Wilson believedshould have been awarded in theirfavour.
“Everyone but the referee wasconvinced it was Lincoln’s throw-in, so no-one was prepared forthem to attack at that point. Toconcede like that really switchedmomentum Loughborough’s way.”
Loughborough eventually wenton to win 4-3 despite being put
under severe pressure by Lincolnin the dying moments.
In typical Viva Futbol spiritnonetheless, the squad were nottoo down-hearted following theirexit and gave out an award for‘Dick of the Day’ to Clayton Bar-nett for dribbling the ball off thepitch in the opener and ‘Man of theDay’ which went to Greg Prestonfor his goal tally and nutmegs.
In the ongoing mission to de-
velop Viva Futbol further, Wilsonhas also made significant stridesover the summer months with theestablishment of a company called‘Final Third’. The company is de-signed to bring competitions likeits intra-mural flagship to a greaterarea, and create new leagues suchas a new netball league at the uni-versity.
Wilson does stress that Viva Fut-bol itself however, will not changegreatly.
“Although the managementstructure of the league is differentin terms of being operated by FinalThird, the league itself will changevery little.
“The league will continue withthree divisions of ten teams and aknockout cup at the end of eachseason.
“I think that part of the successof Viva Futbol has come from theway we’ve delivered the leagues ina relaxed manner and pushed thesocial interaction element, particu-larly through the league website.”
As Viva Futbol moves into it’sthird season, it’s prospects arelooking as bright as ever and withGlen Wilson spearheading the op-eration, the sky is the limit.
For more information visitwww.freewebs.com/vivafutbol orwww.final-third.com.
The Viva Futbol President is looking to improve the intra-mural society and gain accreditation from the Football Associ-ation, writes Daniel Coles and Stephen Rudd.
”
“Some of thefootball theyplayed wasbrilliant towatch.
University Cricket’s‘inspirational’ skipperLincoln’s cricket team president EdwardBosworth has heaped the praise on hisside’s ‘inspirational’ skipper Rob Cookfollowing a successful opening seasonof competition, writes Aaron Scott.The team managed to win allsix of their matches on theway to clinching a much an-ticipated promotion.
Bosworth believes that much ofthis feat was to do with the ex-pertise of his captain who was inscintillating form for much of theseason.
“The lads had a great seasonand as expected we dominatedagainst every side we came upagainst,” said Bosworth.
“The class of Cook was a mas-sive bonus to the team andalongside some other quality in-dividual performances promo-tion was never really in muchdoubt.
“Cook has that added bit ofquality that can help winmatches for the team and as wellas scoring heaps of runs he alsocame up trumps with the ball aswell.
“To be honest though the op-position we faced didn’t pose anyreal danger and our hardestmatch of the season was proba-bly against our second’s team.
Cook however is set to leavethe side this summer to travel,but Bosworth believes his sidecan still build on the success oflast season.
“Unfortunately Cook will notbe with the side next season andof course that will be a massiveblow to the team.
“But I know for certain that wehave some good talent arriving atthe university this summer thatcan help fill the gap left byCook’s exit.
“Gideon Lound is one of theplayers that will be coming intothe side and from looking at hisperformances for his county sideI think we have a gem of a player.
“If we can find another coupleof players that can slot straightinto the first team squad then Ithink we can definitely challengefor back to back promotions.”
”“We dominatedevery side wecame up against.
Since becoming AU Sports and TeamsOfficer in June, Chris has been busy at-tending BUSA Award ceremony’s andBritish University and College Sportstraining courses. But what does he haveplanned for this year?
Poker Guinness WorldRecord broken on campus
Sports Editor Hayley Cook spoke to local pokerplayer Dave Cain who broke a Guinness WorldRecord during Freshers’ Week at the Library Bar.
Dave Cain broke the world poker en-durance record by playing 100 hoursof continuous heads-up poker on theBrayford Campus last week.
The event, which lasted for four days, ishoping to raise £10,000 for the Louth andDistrict hospices, and St Barnabas’ Lin-colnshire Hospice.
Cain said: “I’m doing this primarily toraise money, but I’ve been involved in pokerfor about 10 years at a semi-professionallevel.
“The last few weeks have been absolutechaos trying to organise this, but I’ve hadsuch great help.
The people around me are the people whohave been here all the time; helping me, andmaking sure I can break the record.”
Cain decided to hold the event at the Li-brary Bar at the University of Lincoln,which is the first bar in Lincoln to begranted a 24-hour licence.
“I spoke to the owner of the Library Bar,and mentioned Freshers Week at the uni-versity. He said that he wanted to do anevent, and I knew I wanted to do somethingwith poker.
“So he suggested trying to break theworld record, and I agreed. I’ve neverlooked back since.”
Michael Cheng, owner of the Library Barsaid: “Dave’s an absolute nutter for doing it!In all seriousness, it’s great for the univer-sity with the national coverage of the event.It’s not often something like this happens.”
American Larry Olmsted was the previousrecord holder with a total of 72 hours and 2
minutes continuous play which was set inJune 2004, but Cain broke this last Thurs-day at 8.00pm.
Cain said: “A friend of mine, JamesDempsey, tried to break the world recordabout five years ago. He failed at about 64hours and was going through big problemswith hallucinations and tiredness.
“At that time, I was as well. I was seeingspiders crawling all over the table on Tues-day night.”
The poker marathon was certainly amammoth challenge for Dave, and the cov-erage has not just been local.
As well as appearing on Sky televisionand in European poker magazines, the on-line response has been overwhelming. Caineven states on his website, www.pokerplay-ingmarathon.com, that “yes, I’m famous!”
His website, which provided a live-videofrom the event, also encouraged people todonate to the charities.
But whilst Cain has broken the worldrecord and raised a tremendous amount ofmoney for local charities in Lincolnshire,the connotations between poker and gam-bling still underlie.
Cain said: “I’ve been involved in poker foryears and I have seen the dark side of thegame. But, I don’t call myself a gambler.
“When I relocated to Lincoln about threeyears ago, I started running a poker leaguewhich had lots of interest, but nobody paysanything so it’s fun.
“There are people who learn the game,and get better at these poker leagues and goon to play for money, and there are peoplewho live from gambling.
“Those who want to gamble will do it any-way; regardless of the negative aspects. Ihave children; I don’t want to risk that.”
”“I’m doing this primarilyto raise money.
”“I was seeing spiders
crawling all over thetable on Tuesday!
University offers cash incentive for sportspeople
”“Dave’s an absolutenutter for doing this!
The University are givingaway sports bursaries toathletes who represent Lin-coln in their recognisedsport.
Head of Sports Development,Robin Wright, hopes that thiswill raise the profile of the Uni-versity after a successful firstyear.
“We want to raise the qualityof performing student that comes
into the University throughsport. For instance, we have hadnational and international play-ers come here and that heightensthe profile of the University andalso provides other students whowork alongside them, somethingto aspire to.”
He also insisted that the bur-sary is not strictly a cash-drivenincentive for athletes, with thebursary also offering mentoring
and gym membership in order toaid the athlete in their sport.
Head Mentor, Dan Bishop,said that last year this systemhelped Rachel Rogers climb upto second in the British Rankingsfor the Trampoline.
“Rachel was quite well estab-lished in the kind of thing shewas already doing, but she had afew issues with her psychology inthe way she approached competi-
tions and confidence in her ownability, so one of our colleagues,Richard Keegan, worked with herand changed her approach tocompetitions and gave her thesupport she needed.”
Students do not have to bestudying a sports-related degreein order to be eligible for thegrant, last year a golfer studyingarchitecture made the cut and amature student studying nursing
made the European Masters.“It’s very common for someone
studying something other thansport to receive the grant. Whatwe’re really looking for is an am-bassador for the University sothey can represent Lincoln insport as a student.”
Application forms can befound at the Student Union orthe Sports Hall.
By Stephen Rudd
AU President Chris Roberts
Page 11
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I want to organisean AU tour in Italyor Spain.
