inQuire front page

Even better than the link...

Here is a picture of a recent front page.

The one I stayed up until half past 3 in the morning to do!

As promised 2

The last inQuire seems rather some time ago now.

I looked at it again the other day thought and I was really pleased with the front page especially. I worked really hard to get that story. It was on Canterbury City Council's use of the RIPA.

That, for everyone who doesn't know what RIPA (I was in that situation before I wrote the story!), is the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. And it allows local councils to use covert surveillance to monitor people who they think could be committing crimes. It means councils have used CCTV to watch people fly tipping or other 'minor crimes'.

CCC have used this 23 times in five years.

And also in the final issue of inQuire, I wrote a piece for the features section of inQuire about whether Easter has lost its true meaning!

I was really pleased with this piece, as it gave me a chance to write about Jesus' last days in Jerusalem, and his death and resurrection.

It was hard to write, and certainly made a change from the news writing I usually do, but great to have something in the features section for my portfolio.

Blogs to come

North Korea, its launch, and the Western media,

the final inQuire,

friends,

and leaving University.

Blogs to be written and posted soon...

Today an extraordinary thing happened

11th February saw something amazing happen on campus. So amazing, this correspondent felt compelled to write about it on his blog.

Students were actually involved in something other than themselves! Four separate events on campus were going on and people were stopping, listening and thinking about what was happening!

For many, this news would not come as a surprise. Students, many think, are very politically minded, and will often stand up and make a noise about things they do or don't like - look at Nelson Mandela and Nestle, and the campaigns around them in previous years.

However, whether it is the 21st century, or whether it is just the University of Kent, people just don't seem to bother here. 320 people attended the recent AGM, less than 3,000 voted in the Union elections, 'Varsity' - the local sporting derby between Kent and ChristChurch university is unknown to most. Over 15,000 students are part of this university, but many appear not to want to be too much a part of it.

But, today that was not the case. On one part of campus stood the Fruit and Veg stall. This was booming with customers. It is situated in a good part of campus, unlike its former site, in the depths of the Venue. A popular innovation liked by all.

But a little further along was a large white marquee with the words 'have your say' above, and the smell of burgers to the side. This marquee was part of Kent Union's attempt to hear from students about the direction of the Union for the next five years - their strategic plan for 2009-2013.

And people were in the marquee, reading the notice boards, writing down suggestions, and eating the burgers. It was a success - around 100 people had been through only a couple of hours after it was set up! Yes the free food was helping, but just to get people through the doors was good.

Thirdly (and a bit of a plug) inQuire! Woohoo, my own newspaper (well, I'm one of the section editors). I had great fun handing these out today, and people looked interested when I gave them one and started talking about the story on the front page. Again, people interested in what is going on at their Uni.

And finally, a table set up outside Essentials, advertising a Pro Evo Soccer competition in aid of a Gaza society. People here too were stopping, listening and signing up.

So, a normal Wednesday afternoon, but not normal activities, its so good to see people involved in what is going on around them, I like that a lot, and sitting here in the library, the world looks a happy place.

inQuire united

We came, we played, we went home.

inQuire united battled through the group stage of the 5-a-side tournament organised by Kent Union, and had a huge amount of fun but failed to get to the semi finals. Next time...

So, if you're reading this and want to know a bit about me, I'll tell you a bit.

I am a student at the University of Kent studying English Language and planning to go into journalism when I graduate. I am the news editor for inQuire (hence the football) and recently had a story about one of the letting agencies in Canterbury published on the front page. It was a story I was very pleased with, as it took a long time to write and research.

More about me in posts to come.

I'm enjoying this blogging lark.