X Factor

Is X Factor still running??!! How have they managed to squeeze out yet another series out of this tripe!

So, for another year, Britain is on the hunt for next Mariah Carrey, Christina Agularia or Whittney Huston. Which is great for Britain if we find one, however from what I remember, The X Factor has never found a true super star. Ok, there was one, Leona Lewis, but apart from her we’ve found nothing but average performers. In fact, before Leona Lewis I remember rumours of it being X Factors last season! So thanks to Leona, TV producers have felt they can risk the show for another couple of series.

This series the X Factor has become a huge cliche of itself. With the exact same comments from the judges every week (Louis “You remind me of a young Mariah Carrey”, Simon “Can you win the show after the performance? Absolutely”), and peoples back stories being blown right out of proportion for sympathy votes, X Factor has truly become sickening.

This years X Factor has been riddled with controversy, cat fights between Danni and Cheryl, a potential winner being booted out early, arguments between singers and mentors, and favouritism towards certain acts. All this controversy is desperate attempts to reclaim the huge audience X Factor once had. And has it worked? NO! People are losing interest in the X Factor. Even with a multi-million pound recording contract and the hype of the new show, Leon Jackson, last years winner, couldn’t get a number one hit with the single off his album. Leon Jackson ended up in 3rd place in pop charts, beaten to 2nd place by a spoof Reality TV Singing contest song by Peter Kay!

The show has had a boost in viewing figures since Cheryl Cole has joined the show, which I have to admit was a very good move but the X Factor. But in all fairness, she’s about as useful as a penis flavoured lolly pop! What’s the point in having one of the sexiest women in world hidden behind a desk, we need her out and about so we can truly admire her.

So to conclude, after all X Factors attempts to reclaim their viewers I feel their attempts are futile. X Factor is just not interesting any more, no one can be bothered with it. I just hope that Peter Kay’s Christmas single can beat the X Factor single to number one this year to prove me point!

UWIC Parking: Zero Tolerance

With a zero tolerance attitude to issuing parking fines, Retro asks have ‘Vinci Parking’ got it all wrong?

Some students and most staff will remember the unacceptable parking issues prior to the introduction of parking permits, and would accept on the whole that there has been a dramatic improvement, but at what cost?

We at Retro have had complaints sent in recently about car parking fines issued by Vinci Parking, and even complaints about their attendants.

Alyson Llewellyn, a current student at UWIC said:

“I have had awful dealings with the Vinci at Llandaff, I have a disabled badge and yet have been fined twice, I have had to write two letters (second one in post now), and I am also making a complaint against the warden and the company for the way they approach people, its appalling.”

Another person to have a run-in with the Vinci parking is Kirsten James. When parking in a 20 minute parking bay for 10 minutes, she to was also issued a ticket. She said:

“I came to college by foot and when leaving was picking up a reading pack from the Dietetic department, but had forgotten m purse to pay deposit. I went home and came back, (and) looked for a space in the car park. There were none, so I had no choice but to park right at the end of the 20 minute parking space. To fit in the space one of my tyres was on the pavement, but (I) checked that it was not causing an obstruction to pedestrians, and it was not. I happened to notice that a van and car were there some 25 minutes earlier when I previously left.”

“Within 10 minutes I was back at my car to find I had been given a ticket, I was stunned!”

“I am also challenging my parking ticket as it was issued under breach code number 5, which states ‘The Vehicle was parked so as to cause obstruction or inconvenience to others’ which due to having 1 tyre on the pavement caused no obstruction or inconvenience as pedestrians were able to use the pavement as normal and passing vehicles were unaffected as I was not sticking out into the road.”

More recently, at a UWIC open day, numerous parents and students who attended were also fined for parking in the Podiatry car park at Llandaff Campus. The unforgiving issue of these fines has possibly given these potential students and their parents a dreadful first impression of UWIC.

It is my feeling that a non friendly and at times aggressive approach to parking tickets (Civil Parking Notice) by wardens was not expected when organised and controlled parking was opted for at UWIC.

Vinci parking had it right when at first they issued warnings instead of fines. These warnings would have allowed for a bit of human error, say if someone forgot to purchase a ticket, not seen a sign, or perhaps their ticket had run out by 10 minutes. The car park user would then only receive a fine if they re-offended.

Its this friendly and ‘working together’ attitude that is now absent from Vinci Parking, and now it seems they just want to issue as many fines as their ticket book will allow them.

The standard Vinci car parking fine is currently £16. This then increases to £40 if the fine is not paid within 2 weeks of the ticket issue.

Now, I know £16 doesn’t sound like much, but for a student, £16 can go along way. To the right is an image of receipt from Tesco for a weeks worth of food. for £16. That now sounds like a pretty hefty fine for a small error.

The Plan

Here at Retro, we want staff and students alike, to send us their UWIC parking nightmares. Have you had problems with an over zealous Vinci warden? Do you think it is wrong that staff and students have to pay to park at UWIC campuses? Maybe you think there are not enough parking bays and that space on campus has not been used properly? What ever your opinion please drop us a line:

trosoman@uwic.ac.uk

It is our plan to gather as many people’s comments on the UWIC car parking and present it to UWIC in hope that they will do something about this increasing problem at UWIC.

The Return of The Dreaded Freshers Flu!

Many of you will now be starting to settle down after the glitter ball whirlwind that was Fresher’s Fortnight.

You’ve undoubtedly met a hell of a lot of new faces from all over the UK, maybe even found yourself engaging in some sort of drunken fumbling in the dark corners of the night clubs. You’ve most definitely consumed copious amounts of alcohol and washed it all down with some gorgeous Chippy Lane specials. Late night shape cutting on the dance floor has probably seen you getting to bed most nights at around 2-3am, then only to get up at the un-godly hours of 8-9am for morning lectures. Acting like a wild animal over the last 14 days has left you feeling seven shades of Wednesday, and has most probably left you with the dreaded Fresher’s Flu!

Up to 90% of Fresher students contracts Freshers Flu over the first few weeks in university, common symptoms include high fever, sore throat, severe headache, coughing and general discomfort. Although it doesn’t necessarily have to be flu, it’s often simply a bad cold, but named simply due to alliteration.

One of the big causes of Freshers Flu is the large numbers of students from all over the UK and abroad being slung together in to close quarter student halls. Students can bring with them germs, to which they are immune, but others have not had a chance to acquire the necessary immunity. However I think we all know the biggest cause of Freshers Flu is the alcohol fuelled barbaric slaughter we put our bodies through over Freshers fortnight. Stress, which may be induced by tiredness, combined with a poor diet, late nights and too much alcohol, can weaken the immune system and be a recipe for ill health. All this can make students more susceptible to infections within their first weeks of term.

So now we have Fresher’s Flu, how do we deal with it, and how to we prevent ever getting in this salted slug state again?

Plenty of Sleep

Sleep is a natural state of bodily rest. So get to bed, rest and recharge those batteries. This will not only have you feeling much brighter, less grumpy and more energetic, but it will also allow you to hit the party scene more often this term.

Eat Healthily

Make sure your getting plenty of fruit and veg for all those vital nutrients and vitamins, and no, cider doesn’t count. Stock up on those carbs, this will give your body plenty of energy to function throughout the day, and also help soak up some of that alcohol still resting in your gut from the night before. And donít forget the golden rule “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Donít miss it! It will definitely help you concentrate on what Mr Fossil is droaning on about at the front of the lecture room.

Exercise

Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent diseases of affluence such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health and helps prevent depression. Check out the Retro’s Fitness 2:1 section on page 20 for some exercise ideas.

Drink Sensibly

I’m not going to patronize you students by going on about the dangers of binge drinking and such, you all know what you can handle and what you cant. Just take it easy, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And remember you donít want to end up on Retro’s Embarrassing Photograph section on page 19.

If you do find yourself feeling particularly bad after Fresher fortnight then go see you GP. If you have not registered with a GP yet I suggest you do so ASAP. You can find out information about registering with a local GP from UWICs nursing Staff, see article right.