The 5th June will witness the 3rd Annual VIP Awards Dinner., its the time of year when the Union and the University stand up and appluade the hard work and dedication that our socieites and volunteers have shown this year.

Our Vice-Chancellor John Craven will be at hand, in a tuxedo-ed Dumbledore like fashion, to present five catagories of society awards and the individual bronze, silver and gold VIP awards.

This year the catagories are:

Best New Society
Overall contribution to the Union
Must Organised Society
Most Improved Society
Society of the Year
The One World Award

There will also be individual awards which will be presented to those students who have gone above and beyond to make UPSU the Union it is today.

To nominate yourselves or someone you think dseserves acknlowadgement then you can either submit a 300 word "Why I deserve this award..." to Ben.norman@port.ac.uk or Download the packs from the Society "info and help" page and nominate yourself or yoursociety now!
( http://www.upsu.net/getinvolved/societies/info )

Either way make sure you submit your nomination to me by the end of April.

Tickets for the event will also be avaliable to purchase after the Easter Break.

Good Luck,

Ben

Ben Norman, Aldermaston

If you were to look up Aldermaston on a map then you’ll see a quaint middle class village which more then likely calls itself home to people with names such as Gerald or Audrey. What you wouldn’t see on the map is Aldermaston’s worst kept secret. It is the home of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, AWE, the secret facility which researches, builds and maintains Britain ’s nuclear arsenal. Within this seemingly sleepy village, less then twenty minutes from Reading , there are weapons which could consign millions of people to nuclear inferno at the push of a button. This was why on a rain soaked bank holiday Monday thousands of protestors descended on Aldermaston to stand against the Government’s decision to re-new the Trident missile system, at a cost of £70 Billion pounds.

 

 Monday the 24^th March 2008 was a landmark day as it not only marked fifty years since the first Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, CND, march in 1958 but was also in direct violation of recently passed Ministry of Defence by-laws which prohibit the right to protest and public assembly outside of the base. This protest was a continuation of the fifty year campaign against Nuclear weapons but also a mass statement of defiance against the constant erosion of our civil liberties. Both CND and Police spokesman approximated that 5,000 protesters attended the demonstration. They came from over fifty locations around the United Kingdom from the Scottish highlands of Aberdeen and Farslane, to Sheffield , London , Penzance and Portsmouth . The geographical diversity of the protesters was outshone only by the sheer range of groups from which they heralded. Christen Action Aid, Black Flag Anarchists, Socialist party members, Stop the war peace protesters and many more stood together against the continued construction of nuclear weapons. In 1958 10,000 people made the original march when the British Government first starting building the so called “deterrent weapon”.

As it was history which was being both marked and created it was fitting that history s...

A better Union is possible….

The Union is on the verge of greatness, however, the future truly lies in your hands and in the choices you make this week in the sabbatical elections.

I want to see a better Union . I want to see a Union which stands for the Students, with the students. I want to see a Union which organises students, making students the solution to any problem they may face. I want to see a Union which goes out to engage the 16,000 students not currently involved in societies or clubs. I want to see a true campaigning Union which harnesses the power of the student body to be a real force for positive change. I want to see a Union which acts as a true welfare organisation that holds the University to account to ensure that you receive a high standard of education, a Union that acts as a defender of student welfare not only on campus but in the wider community. For example over 53% of students have part-time employment but very few know their rights at work. It is the task of the Union to step in, to ensure that students know their rights and that every employer treats students as they deserve to be treated. I want to see a Union which can support and represent the students as it should, that moves forward with clear vision and just cause. If you agree with this vision, if you want to see real progress and real change then cast your vote wisely in this election. Go to:

This site will show you the all-stars team:

Ben “Monkey” Norman : Presidential Candidate

Jenny “Smiles” Leggott: SADO Candidate

Sarah “Gum queen” Blatchford: Student Support Candidate

Steve “Godfather” Topazio:  Education and Representation Candidate

These candidates can make this vision a reality...