Hey There!!  You wouldn't think it would have taken me until my final year to write my first blog entry on here, would you?!  Well it has - but better late than never!!

I trust you all took advantage of the free goodies available at Freshers' this year and joined up to lots of Societies and Clubs?  Well if you didn't, it's never too late!  You can contact any of them through upsu.net and I'm sure they'll be overjoyed to hear from you!  And if it's freebies you missed out on, then you'll have to take the initiative to find out what companies love students and are willing to give you a free lunch! (or a cut price haircut!)  Failing that, it's less than 5 months to go until Refreshers' Fayre!! (and so even less time until you're all sitting exams and stressing about coursework)(sorry to point that out!)

But back to the here and now...

As your Societies Executive Chair I thought I'd take this opportunity to remind you all about Societies Council next Wednesday, 10th October, at 3pm in Co2 (upstairs in the Union) where elections will be held for the Ethics, Equality and Diversity Committee.  You don't need to be a member of a society to stand, but you do need to let the sabbs know, so get in touch with Ben Norman (SADO) and he can give you all the info you need.  Also please note that all Societies are required to send representatives to this meeting, so we look forward to seeing you all there.

I also sit on the committee for VIP (Volunteering In Portsmouth), so if you're interested in giving up a couple of hours of your time this year (or maybe even a couple of hours a week?!), then get yourself along to function suite 2 in the Union on 17th October at 1pm.

And finally... I was the very proud winner of 2 tickets to Bestival this year, by hassling everyone I know (and some I don't) for sponsorship money for the 2007 RAG Hitchhike to Amsterdam.  If you want to get involved, the first RAG meeting is on Monday (8th October) at 1pm in Function suite 2, and the meeting for the first RAG event (a 10 mile walk around Portsmouth) will take place on the 11th October, also at 1pm in Function suite 2.

There's loads of other things going on in the Union too - from Sports to Media - so keep your eyes out on the website for meetings that are coming up and come along and GET INVOLVED!!