Presidents' Updates - February 2012
M Alexander Shimmings
As per usual happenings at GKT are going well and bordering on epic. Coming up this month we will be campaigning in the KCLSU Sports Referendum - a ridiculous yet 'necessary' event which has been forced on us by our increasingly bureaucratic students' union. The question to be put to the students of King's - 'Should KCLSU continue to support separate KCLMS and KCL sports clubs?' (Yes/No). It may seem bizarre that GKT, and before then King's has had separate sports clubs since the 19th Century, yet in the summer of 2011 KCLSU wasn't sure if they could support us at the BUCS AGM, but then I leave you to the wonderment that is the workings of our students union. After this referendum, perhaps we should push for devolution and a separate GKTSU?
Other than sports drama, GKT freshers are gearing up for RAG Week in early February. Having raised over £16,000 in a day at Jingle RAG things are looking promising, and with the threatening sound of jingling gin bottles behind them they are sure to rake in the mullah. To cap everything off, we are all very much looking forward to the RAG Ball, as I'm sure is the RAG President Theo Willison Parry, who tradition dictates will not be able to remember anything of the night aside from a juniper haze. This week will also see the opening of MedSoc Musical Theatre's 'Footloose' at Greenwood Theatre, which by the time of print I am sure will be known as a rave success
George Ryan
Welcome back to 2012, the year of The GriffInn! The hot topic on Januarys agenda is Union Elections where next year’s potential leaders are stepping up to the challenge. A challenge we’re currently facing, is the threat to the independence of medical school sports teams from their parent universities. London’s medical schools share a rich history of sporting competition, this is something that is still hugely valued by students today. Our Students Presidents' Council and all of the heads of our sports teams have taken a clear stance on the issue with a unanimous vote against the future prospect of merging at a General Council Meeting last week.
On another topic, preparations have begun for next year’s National Medsoc Conference which BL successfully put in a bid to host at this year’s conference. This is a huge project for BLSA to undertake and having met several candidates already I have no doubt our team will make it one medical students from all over the UK will remember Barts for.
Unfortunately the refurbishment of our beloved Union building has been delayed for a month. The Union will also be working our Alumni project. I must admit this was shamelessly copied from ICSMSU! I hope we can replicate what they have managed to achieved down in South Ken. We are lacking several of the younger generations of BL alumni and need to reinvigorate it with some youth! Our Alumni Officer will be working hard this term to entice this years graduates into becoming a part of it.
Nana Adu
The majority of our Student Union time has been spent preparing for RAG - which stands for Raising and Giving for the benefit of students at RUMS. We have planned a fortnight of activities to raise money for worthy causes, which is looking very exciting. Apart from that we have been sorting out our accounts rather than faking them - like how RUMS claimed to have actually sold '999' and 'Adrenaline' tickets. It has helped in the refurbishment of the school shop. The shop is now officially open and offers great deals including the Guardian for 50p - we appreciate that students from GKT gather their views from picture books or the Daily Fail. However the folk at George's are indeed more educated!
In other news we have new mirrors in our Dance Studio which will undoubtedly be used in all the upcoming shows, including the Tooting Show, Play Soc, Musical and Bhangra Show, just some of the range of shows that George's are putting on this term. Finally, one of my sabbaticals in crime appears to be donning a ring on her left hand!
Neil Chowdhury
To shame all other London medical schools, the medical school topped the ranks in London in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2011, and 4th in the country, adding to our long list of achievements. Our Winter Ball was a huge success and this term we will have a more charity focussed agenda for RUMS. We have our Charity Naked Sportsnite Circles (or ‘tables’ to you odd folk out there), our Charity anti-Valentines, and even a RUMS Arabian Night.
We have also started our Welfare series to help students to work on their finance and accommodation problems. We are, of course, also engaged with our RUMS Sports teams to maintain our existence in BUCS. In these times of threat to our heritage, we are working together with the other medical schools to see a way of securing our legacy as separate teams. We are by no means merging with UCLU, and we will remain resilient RUMS rangers.
Suzie Rayner
This week, the Imperial Newspaper ‘Felix’ reported an article entitled ‘Imperial collects lowest amount of university library fines’. Whilst this article only enhances the ‘geek chic’ image that Imperial is so proud of, it also made the observation that: ‘The highest London based university was King's College London in fourth place, who, no doubt, found it confusing to be so high up on a table’.
It therefore seemed only right to jump on the bandwagon and target GKT, sorry, KCLMS with this month’s column. I have only met Mark Shimmings a few times, and yet he seems to be oblivious to the fact that his medical school name has changed, sporting ‘GKT’ across his chest on every occasion. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away; it’s even KCLMS on Wikipedia.
However, I must concede that they are currently superior to ICSM in perhaps one way; their bar. But I hope to put a stop to this unique superiority in the not too distant future. The Faculty of Medicine, along with Imperial College Union and ICSMSU are working towards funding applications for a complete renovation of the Reynolds Building, including the bar itself. The hope is that the current well-loved but dingy bar can be given a new lease of life and at the same time we can improve our facilities for clubs and societies and education
Jeeves Wijesuriya
With the BUCS situation coming to a head, UH Medgroup have sent a reponse on behalf of all London Medical schools and are in the process of fighting the proposed merger of our sports teams! We are now in the process of consulting with Cardiff Medicals, who would be equally damaged by this proposal, and sought support from the BMA, NUS and ULU. We are also proud to announce the appointment of our new UH Medgroup Staff President, Professor Sir Nicholas Wright, former Warden of Barts and the London and Deputy Principal of Imperial College School of Medicine.
One of the big talking points amongst the presidents has been our freshers. It seems as though we are noticing a strange anti-social trend amonst the medical students this year, apart from RUMS, whose students have always been anti-social. We just had Adrenaline, which wasn't at its most succesful this year with poor pre-sales across the board. Remember freshers, medicine is more than just the academic. Never forget the value of the hidden curriculum, the value in learning teamwork, organisation, getting involved with projects and charity work, and the value in meeting the older years that will inevitably become your F1s and regs in the future (with the exception of Mark Shimmings). Don't let the only thing your peers and seniors remember about you be that your never really got involved, and dont let your only memories of medical school be ones centred around revision
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