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News
Roar!, March 6th - March 25th, 2012
Edited by Luke Chattaway news@roarnews.co.uk
vote.kcl.ac.uk vote from 9am 7th March till 5pm on 9th March
NEWS IN BRIEF Fewer than 2000 KCL students ‘active ULU members’ Roar! can exclusively reveal that less than 2000 King’s students are in possession of a University of London Union members card. A ULU card is required to join any club, society or the Energybase Fitness centre/swimming pool.
One World brings Africa to Tutu’s
The figures show that the £117,949 that King’s pays every year to ULU in affiliation fees is entirely disproportionate to the number of KCL students utilising ULU facilities. The college is subsidising ULU teams and societies to the tune of £58.00 per student.
ing’. Nominees included Honourable Thokozani Khupe (The Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe), Lemar, and Junior Tennis Champion, Michael Mhangami. Previous award winner, KCL alumnus, Archbishop Desmond Tutu won the award for his fight for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.
On Wednesday the 22nd February Tutu’s was proud to host the 80th annual African Achievers Awards as part of One World Week. The African Achievers Awards (AAA) recognises all those who have made a positive contribution to the African Continent. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Africa Ris-
Alongside a number of KCL societies entertainment was provided by internationally acclaimed MOBO winner 2 Face and Ghanaian-British rapper Sway.
Un-Crowning Glory
nation may seem well-founded in that it only makes sense to reward those who are particularly deserving, rather than only those who have made a minimal commitment, this cannot be quantified by time. Dedication and effort are not time dependent and particularly in media societies it is often the efforts of a contributor over just one term or even one project that brings the greatest benefit to KCLSU and the student community as a whole.
So, in case you didn’t know, you can be awarded Crowns or Colours for participation in a Student Activity Group or Sports Team, respectively, if you have been a member for 2 or more years. According to the KCLSU website “Colours and Crowns mark the dedication and efforts of King’s students involved in societies, groups and sports clubs”. So far so good. However, the emphasis on the dedication and effort is somewhat undermined in the experience of myself, as Station Manager of KCL Radio, and of Zoe Tipler, the current Editor of Roar, by the stipulation that any nominee must have been involved for at least two years at committee level. Though any criticism of our conster-
The ULU building on Malet Street : but do enough of us go there to make it worth the dollar we spill?
In Roar’s current editorial team there is just one Editor who is eligible to receive a Crown for their service, despite many a sleepless night and hours spent in the hole that is the Roar office. Similarly on KCL Radio, as our Politics Editor has been involved with the station just a few months he is not deemed worthy by the current system of any recognition, despite bringing better guests and opportunities to the radio than anyone in his area has done before, even when they’ve been
The trusts that run three KCL affiliated hospitals - as well as another South London group - have made steps towards a future merger. The proposed action will unite the Guy’s and St Thomas’s, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley trusts into one single organised group. ‘What we are considering isn’t just another NHS merger – not only are we approaching this from a position of strength financially, but we will be creating a totally new type of organisation that brings closely together mental and physical healthcare with research, education and training at its highest level,’ says Professor Robert Lechler, executive director of King’s Health Partners, a centre that already
While the Chief Executive Officer Julie Adams was keen to point out, ‘a ULU card is not required to come into the building during the day.’ After 6:30pm ‘a college card as well as a ULU card will allow students access’, the figures do raise the question...could the money be better spent increasing funding to KCL clubs and societies?
The event was hosted by Nollywood actress Joke Silva and Comedian Julius Agwu alongside keynote speakers H.E. Babatunde Fashola S.A.N (Executive Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria) and Dr Funmi Olonisakin.
Freya Pascall
Hospital trust merger
It’s all going well, we trust? KCL partner hospitals are considering a merger.
Who’s IDea was this?
King’s caused drama on Wednesday 29th when, unbeknown to students, security was posted at the KCLSU and Strand entrances to the college demanding that each student or staff member present their college ID card or they “can’t let you in”. This was all because of the Queen’s visit to open the new East Wing of Somerset House.
We Got Sway: Ghanian-British rapper attended the Africa Acheivers Awards at Tutu’s involved for their full 3 years. If these examples seem like exceptional cases, in abstract it still seems unjust that someone could do a reasonable job on a committee for 3 years and be rewarded, whilst a final year working themselves in to the ground receives not even a nod of the head from KCLSU. There are of course Half-Laurels and other such awards later in the year - but why exclude such hard working people from a celebration of all that is great and good at KCLSU? Our current Vice President Student Activities and Facilities, Holly Walsh, said recently in an email about Crowns and Colours: “It is now your turn as committee members to nominate your deserving group and fellow committee members for Crown and Colour awards.” We just wish we could!
THE LONDON MAYOR ELECTIONS! ROAR! SAY: REGISTER TO VOTE
It’s all about democracy at the moment it seems. Well, whatever you think of union elections, make sure you’ve registered to vote in the GLA (that’s Greater London Authority) elections, set for May 5th. This is your chance to keep Boris in, or make a big change for London. The Mayor decides things such as fare rises, and where London’s money is spent. They could make big changes for students if they put their mind to it: we’d like to see the new mayor put some rules on Landlords or agencies who rent to students, or crack down on unpaid internships for starters.
King’s Don’t Pay?
King’s recently received attention from twitter and workers’ rights blogs as a result of advertising unpaid ‘internships’ on their website. These placements were within the HR Department, to last for 12 weeks, 5 days a week, 9am to 5pm. Only travel costs would be covered. In accordance with law, a ‘worker’ – someone who ‘has to perform work or services personally and cannot send a substitute or sub-contract the work’ – should receive National Minimum Wage amongst other basic worker rights. Looking at the job de-
Also this week...
The trusts - along with the College have unanimously endorsed the preparation of a strategic case to outline the benefits and costs of a potential move. Lechler adds, ‘This is a hugely significant moment for our AHSC [Academic Health Service Centre]. However, it is only the first step along the road to integration. As we develop the strategic outline case, we will be engaging with staff and patients as well as healthcare providers and commissioners in south London to ensure that our new organisation is able to deliver the very best patient care possible and speed up the time it takes for research discoveries to become routine clinical practice.’
King’s communications department failed to inform any students or KCLSU that they would be required to present their ID to gain entrance, leaving many students missing lectures or late and staff at the Strand having to look people up on the college intranet to confirm they were students and staff. Despite the college’s claim that it is policy for students to carry their ID cards, nowhere on the college website does it state that. One disgruntled student left campus exclaiming, “this is a joke”. scription, it was noteworthy that listed amongst ‘desirable’ characteristics of a potential intern was ‘a certificate in Personnel Practise’, and essential characteristics included ‘experience in working in an office’, and ‘in a customer facing environment’. As internships are most often seen as the first rung on a career ladder, it seems that taking up this internship would actually be a step back for anyone with a professional accreditation and the relevant desired experience under their belt. As http://thethirdestate.net noted, ‘KCL ran a budget with a surplus of £27.5m [last year]. One would have thought that this could be used to pay for staff.’. Roar! totally agree, and we’re glad to see the ad taken down.
In the spirit of the old Leap year tradition, here’s a rather special announcement from one of our readers.
We’ve known each other for almost three years now and every moment of that time has been like the breeze from an angel’s wingbeat. Please do me the honour and take me that little bit closer to heaven: Naseen Bakhtar, will you marry me? Love from your girl.
So, make sure you register (Halls students, we’ve heard that you’re automatically registered, but make sure you check, you know how it is...). Unhelpfully, registration is organised by each Borough, so google GLA Elections 2012 plus your Borough name (eg Hackney, Lambeth, Islington, Westminster... you get the idea). Furthermore, ULU have arranged for each Mayoral candidate to come and take your questions, search Mayoral Elections Debate Week on Facebook. Whilst your at it, check out www.kclsu.org/gla for info and videos too.
promotes cooperation between the separate bodies.
Roar! sincerely hopes this loved up lady gets the answer she wants. Who said romance was dead?