16 FEATURES
LEAVING BRUNEL FOR CHRISTMAS Kerri Prince You’ve crammed nearly everything you own (except the books, never the books!) into your bags, and you’re all set to go home. You’ve probably begged for your parents to come and pick you up from University in the car, but they’ve refused and you’re now facing the four hour train journey home. What a wonderful time of year. But in your hurry to rush off back to dependency with someone else cooking the dinner and cleaning your clothes, don’t forget your life in Uxbridge and the things you’ll need to remember before you head off for three weeks. Student homes over Christmas are targets for burglars. Nobody is there to look after the place, and everything in that house is vulnerable to being stolen.
• Make sure the house is properly locked up. Check all doors and windows before leaving. Double check. Triple check. Try to get in from the outside. Only when you’re positive you can’t, then ok, you can go.
• Shut your curtains and hide anything expensive out of sight. If you decide to leave your iMac in your ground floor bedroom and leave the curtains open – you may return to find that it is no longer there. • Switch off every plug and appliance in the house. Except for your freezer. Turn off the heating. Otherwise you’ll get a bill for all that energy you used whilst not even being there. Happy Christmas, energy company! • Make friends with your neighbours if you haven’t done so already. Get them a Christmas card, and get everyone to chip in for a cheap bottle of mulled wine. Take it round there, and explain that you’re worried
about leaving the house unattended over Christmas. Ask if they’re willing to keep an eye on the house – and consider leaving them a spare key for emergencies. But if it’s the neighbours you’ve annoyed for the past few months by having loud late parties, you better make it an expensive bottle! Also keep in mind that your neighbours may be elderly people who are alone at Christmas. Before you go home for the season, go and see if they need anything that they may not be able to do themselves, especially in the case of an emergency such as heavy snow! Offer to go to the shop and buy some tea bags and long-life milk. Just in case. Grit their pathway for them so it is easier for them during the winter period. See if they need help getting to the pharmacy to get any prescriptions in bad weather.
PHOTO CREDIT: KEVIN DOOLEY
MUST SEE XMAS TV Izzy Khatkar With Christmas around the corner, the whole of the country is on a high waiting for the amazing day to come around. And, from turkeys to Christmas trees, mince pies to presents, everyone has their own family traditions. However Christmas would not be the same without our wonderful Christmas TV specials and this year is looking to be jam-packed with great Christmas telly! With all of the big channels competing for the best ratings, the stakes this year are very high and the war is on! Let’s talk about the big three: BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Channel 4 hasn’t given much information about what their Christmas listing is going to be this year, but they have released trailers of the new season of drama series Black Mirror. The BAFTA award winning show will return with three more dark stories written by ScreenWipe presenter and writer Charlie Brooker. Without a doubt this new series is incredibly overdue, but to make up for it a celebrity face will make an appearance in the form of Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, who will be seen in the Black Mirror Christmas episode, confirmed by Channel 4 to air on 16th December. Rumors have also been flying around that the successful documentary series Educating Essex will return for a one off Christmas episode, but Channel 4 are yet to confirm. It is likely they will release their official schedule in the coming weeks.
One of biggest shows of the past few years, Downton Abbey, is also returning for a Christmas special! As one of the most famous exports of British drama, ITV have confirmed that the hit show will return on Christmas Day, with guest star Alun Armstrong (New Tricks, Braveheart). In addition to this, just like every year, ITV have started their campaign for Text Santa. This yearly charity event will take place 19th December, hopefully yet again being hosted by Ant and Dec. However the BBC seems to be the winner this year with probably one of the best Christmas schedules. There is a huge buzz around the Doctor Who Christmas episode which sees Hot Fuzz actor Nick Frost take the role of Santa Claus, who appears to not be that nice after all. The BBC are also bringing lots of great dramas and soaps, with various specials of Call the Midwife, Boy in a Dress and so many more. The BBC have really pulled out all the stops to bring some of the best in comedy too, with a final Miranda special, Mrs Browns Boys, Michael McIntyre’s Very Christmassy Christmas Show and Top Gear. The Beeb have also made sure to provide a host of amazing dramas, such as Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot starring Oscar winners Dustin Hoffman and Dame Judi Dench. Like every year, the Queen’s speech will take place across most channels where we hope she will pay tribute to the hundred year anniversary of World War I. So as you can see, this year’s Christmas telly is sure to bring amazing shows, events, drama and action!
PHOTO CREDIT: STEPHANE MIGNON
XMAS IS COMING BUT DEADLINES COME FIRST Ruth Sharma You may have deadlines or examinations looming so try not to let the excitement of Christmas takeover meeting your deadlines or revising for your exams; here are some things to remember: Submission deadlines for assessments are the latest time/ dates for submission (without a late penalty being applied). Earlier submissions are welcomed and encouraged – it is good practice, and is psychologically beneficial to you, to submit coursework before the specified deadline day. Post over the December period is slower than usual, if you are submitting your work via post then make sure you allow plenty of time for it to arrive on time (it is
PLEASE RECYCLE
recommended you send recorded delivery).
Stephen Mullins - Stephen. Mullins@brunel.ac.uk
If you cannot submit your work on time because of unforeseen circumstances, you must submit a completed Mitigating Circumstances Form to your Department/College within 7 days of the impacted assessment.
If you wish to make an Appeal on a decision made, you must do so by submitting an Internal Resolution Form which can be obtained from your Department Admin office. Internal Resolutions can be submitted via email to:
Mitigating Circumstances can be submitted to your College Administration Office or you can send directly to your Colleges Education Manager:
College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences: appeals-cbass@ brunel.ac.uk
College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences Stuart Gabrielson - Stuart. Gabrielson@brunel.ac.uk College of Health and Life Sciences Gelvinder Nothey Gelvinder.Nothey@brunel.ac.uk College of Business, Art and Social Sciences
College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences: appeals-cedps@brunel.ac.uk College of Health and Life Sciences: appeals-chls@brunel.ac.uk Information on Phase 2 appeals can be found online: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/ a d m i n i s t r a t i o n /a p p e a l s - a n d complaints