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ISSUE 4 November 9, 2012 Style - The Male Special BUCS Comment Piece Halloween Hey Ewe Best Costumes HALO 4 THE LEGEND CONTINUES

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Label Magazine, Loughborough University Fortnightly, 40 page student publication.

TRANSCRIPT

ISSU

E 4

Nov

embe

r 9, 2

012

Style - The Male Special BUCS Comment Piece Halloween Hey Ewe Best Costumes

Halo 4 THe legend ConTinues

@donkeydigsdonkeydigs

6 NEWS

12

25

16

30

34 SPORT

CULTURE

Contents

Natasha CoxEditor in Chief

Grace MerittEditor

Broderick SuthlerlandDeputy Editor

George CrabbOnline Content Editor

Ana CurbeloArt Director

Greg CarterHead of Illustration

Carolyn BrownHead of Photography

Meghan McCabeKiera SweeneyNews Editors

Cathryn AntoniadisLaura SmithFeature Editors

Dan NicholsonElla StanbrookMusic Editors

Beth Baker-WyseJoanna DonnellyCulture Editors

Anna BirtwistleChloé FallonStyle Editors

Chloe HemmingsRebecca OldhamSport Editors

Peter WoolleyWebmaster

Maxine CheyneyHead of Events and Marketing

FEATURES

STYLE

MUSIC

22 TOTTY SPOTTER

Union Council Round-UpRag Poppy Appeal Crime Support Centre Lottery Funding Sport Increase

Hey Ewe do HalloweenYou Know you’re a Lufbra Student When...Lufbra Overheard

Accessories Edit 15 Guys 1 Question Out of the Woods EDT’s for Men

Halo 4 Nick Baker The Third Mariachi

Rise of Festivals Label Loves Everyone Loves a Good Cover

Post Olympic LullWomen and Weights Loughborough Sport BUCS Do you Get your Money’s Worth?

Cover photo by Greg Carter

Disclaimer: Label is the publication of Loughborough Students’ Union. The opinions contained are those of individual contributors, not of Loughborough Students’ Union, the editorial team, or any other officer of the union unless otherwise stated.

Label Magazine, your fortnightly fix of all things Loughborough.

CONTACT US!Is there a story you thInk

we should know about? Contact us at [email protected]

with any information, letters and queries

From the EditorHere we have it, Label issue four. And as is our goal in Label HQ, we’ve tried to educate our readers, and tell them about something new whenever we can. In this issue alone my brain has been filled with numerous facts and engaging insights from our writers, which you can now discuss around your kitchen tables, and you never know, they may just come in useful for a pub quiz one day.

In no particular order, here are my four favourite things that I’ve learnt from this Label issue:

There’s a dragon in Slovenia that can survive without food for four years (p.18)

If you use weights in the gym for an hour, you will burn an extra 100 calories in the next 24 hours (p.35)

A very large amount of Loughborough lads admitted their style icon is David Beckham (p.26-27)

There’s a music festival in the heart of Budapest which costs just €180 for seven days (p.30)

Enjoy the issue, and make sure you’re keeping up to date with Label online, we’ve got a lot of competitions with the chance for you to win fantastic prizes, along with enough content to keep any student entertained for hours!

Until next time,

Who are the true elite

The sporting 1s 34%The exec 7%The engineers 29% Anyone taking part in Movember 30%

For all the latest stories, visit www.lufbra.net/label

CONTACT US!Is there a story you thInk

we should know about? Contact us at [email protected]

with any information, letters and queries

Grace Meritt

From the Editor

?This Issue, Label Online asked you:

in loughborough

In response to Label Online’s ‘Skyfall’s Downfall? What Went Wrong?’

Tweets @labelonline

Hello Label Readers,

As the sun begins to set earlier in the day, the frost begins to appear in the early morning and you find yourself wrapping up in extra thick woollen jumpers whilst drinking a piping hot brew, Issue 4 of Label is being post straight to you to keep you entertained through the changing seasons.

For many years Label has been distributed solely on campus, entering hall kitchens and common rooms for the eyes of those lucky individuals. However, for the first time, I am happy to announce that finally Label is hitting town. Last Wednesday over 300 houses were delivered issue 3 of Label magazine, taking Loughborough news directly to the hands of students off campus. Label will be distributed into town for the entirety of this term. Once the new term begins, town houses will be required to sign up if you still wish to receive a copy of label! Unfortunately, we can not deliver to all town houses this term, so if you would love to receive a copy please email me at [email protected].

Natasha Cox Head of Media

I was scared to say anything negative about this film too! Likewise, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but lost faith in the film’s integrity when Silva’s intelligence apparently relapses with a stroke. Rather like his face...

Vito

Completely agree!! They tried to make it too clever in some aspects (James Bond’s routes back to childhood, etc.) which left holes in other areas of the storyline, especially with Silva’s character.The one thing I would say is that when Silva is attacking Skyfall with Bond inside, it is not about getting the job done but a personal battle with Bond himself. So yes it would have been more efficient to blow up the house, but Silva wanted M to himself to kill after getting rid of bond meticulously.

Buzz

If the objective had been just to blow M up then he could have done it when he bombs MI6 never mind skyfall, it is more personal than that. He wants to see her die, throwing grenades is to force them out of the house, not a really confused attempt at murder. He is a genius but clearly a damaged emotionally traumatised one, hence the whole irrational stalking of an elderly woman.

Sam

Sam Lean @samm92First time I’ve received a label in the post! Good from them! @labelonline @lsumedia @lsuheadofmedia #goodfromthem

Rosie Le Page @lepagrJust seen my article in @labelonline very excited!! #published

Bryony Hopkins @BryElizabeth1Reading the latest @labelonline issue in the Pilk instead of doing work #easilydistracted #toogoodaread

Label Style Team @LabelStyleTeamHave you picked up your copy of @labelonline yet? We are having a read in the Piazza with a Starbucks!

Billy Marsh @LufbraActionAgain, @labelonline with another great issue. Not just saying for the sake of it, the new look is fantasitc and the content is great too!

EDITORIAL04 - 05

News in Brief

World Class Tennis at Loughborough

International tennis will be played at Loughborough University once more thanks to the return of the annual AEGON GB Pro-Series event. This year will be the fourth time the University has held the event and it is set to be big with five of the world’s top 100 male players all competing.

Rag Fireworks is a Great Success

This year, on November 3, the annual Rag Fireworks raised over £18,000 at the time of counting. Rag Chair, Max Turner told Label that the night was a great success.

World Technology Award for Loughborough Graduate

Laurence Kemball- Cook, Loughborough graduate and founder of Pavegen Systems, has been awarded the Individual Energy Prize at this year’s esteemed World Technology Awards in New York City. For the full story log on to lufbra.net/label

Union Council Elections

Round UpDavid Haines, Chair of union council, told Label: ‘It’s a good turnout, but it’s a shame about the lack of contested positions.’

The first union council with the new councillors is set to take place next week on November 15.

Running parallel to the union council elections was department committee elections; many places for different departments however, currently re-main unfilled.

To see the full results go to www.lufbra.net/elections

Vignette O’Bryan

On November 6, 42 out of 65 union councillors were elected, which met union council’s quorum. In a relatively unsurprising election all uncontested positions were filled and no R.O.Ns occurred in this year’s council elec-tions. However, the positions for the departments of Geography and Che-mistry remain vacant with no one run-ning for council in either department.

Voting turnout has almost doubled over the past two years, increasing from 380 to 725 votes. These num-bers almost meet the NUS average of sabbatical elections.

Label spoke to Ali Cole, VP Democra-cy and Communications: ‘I’m happy with improvements in number, but I’m not happy that it’s not full. Howe-ver, we will endeavour to fill council through union council meetings.’

News in BriefOUTSIDE

A Talking Elephant

Scientists believe that they have discovered an elephant in South Korea that can speak Korean. ‘Koshik’ knows five phrases – ‘hello’, ‘sit down’, ‘no’, ‘lie down’ and ‘good’. He ‘talks’ by imitating human sounds.

One Direction to Perform for the Queen

The boy band is set to perform at the Royal Variety Performance on November 19 for the Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. Joining One Direction will be Girls Aloud, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys and Kylie Minogue.

Olympic Postboxes to Remain Gold

Every time a GB athlete won gold over the summer, a postbox in their hometown was repainted gold. Royal Mail will attach plaques to the 110 boxes across the UK, naming the athlete and what they achieved. The postboxes are to remain gold permanently.

Today, on November 9, our record-breaking Rag team will be let loose in London for the annual Poppy Ap-peal collection. This is always Rag’s biggest raid of the year and is set to be better than ever.

The Royal British Legion is a lifeline for thousands of serving and ex-Service people and their families, a cause close to the hearts of many RAG members. Label spoke to Rag chair, Max Turner, about last year’s success: ‘We took 118 collectors and raised £62,126.26 in a single day – the single largest student co-llection in history. This year we plan on it being even bigger’. Last year’s unbelievable total even gets a men-tion on Wikipedia as ‘the biggest Rag Raid record’.

Rather than the crazy costumes of-ten donned by Rag raiders, the team dress smartly for the Poppy Appeal collection and rely upon their charm and people-skills to fill their collec-tion buckets. Adam Twigg, Rag Vice Chair, commented on last year’s

Rag Prepare to Beat the ‘Single Largest Student Collection in History’ for the Poppy Appeal

success: ‘The raid took place on November 11 so many of the volun-teers attended small remembrance services held in the stations where they were collecting.

The Loughborough Students’ Rag team remains one of the bi-ggest and best student fundraising organisations in the country. The to-tal raised in 2011-12 was a stagge-ring £1,404,952.28, donated to lo-cal, national and international cha-rities. A massive £151,041.27 of this was solely from raids like the Poppy Appeal collection.

After a successful Fireworks Extra-vaganza on November 3, the Rag team is well and truly fired up for their next challenge. E-mail [email protected] or check out lufbra.net/rag to find out more.

Kiera SweeneyNews Editor

NEWS06 - 07

Loughborough University, Loughborough Students Union, and Victim Support, have launched a sup-port centre for students who have been affected by crime.

This support centre is the first of its kind; however four other universities are set to follow Loughbor-ough’s initiative with the aim of cementing the spe-cialised support centres nationwide.

The support centre will be run by Loughborough stu-dents themselves who have been trained to coun-sel and support fellow students who have been victims of crime.

One of the leaders of the initiative, Louise Grove, a lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at Lough-borough, stated that: ‘The project is about getting victims of crime on campus more support. They already have access to counselling, security, and all that. But there is a gap where if they want to talk about the crime and the effect this has had on them. The idea is to give students peer support, emotional and practical.’

Grove also said: ‘Students tend not report crimes to the police, or authority figures, so they don’t al-ways access the support available to them. So it’s about encouraging them to come forward and talk

to someone and get some peer support. Perhaps that’s less intimidating for them.’

Not only will the support centre provide help for stu-dents who have been victims of crime it will also provide an opportunity for other students to en-hance their CVs by volunteering to help out with the support centre.

The new victim support centre is set to help all Loughborough students who feel they need extra support. Dr. Grove has expressed her concern over the unwillingness of foreign students to come for-ward: ‘Victim support tells us that international stu-dents are very unlikely to come forward to the police so we are very keen to support them.’

The interest will now lie with how in demand the sup-port service is over the next year. If students become a victim of crime, support will be available for them at the Students Union on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4:30pm and 7:30pm and via telephone during other times. Appointments are required and students can be referred by calling the Leicester branch of Victim Support on 01162493328.

Meghan McCabeNews Editor

Loughborough University Opens Up First Support Centre for Student Crime Victims

Recent studies have shown that more and more stu-dents at Loughborough University are taking part in sport thanks to Lottery funding.

Over a period of three years, £8 million of National Lottery funding is being invested by Sport England through the Active Universities Programme with the aim of encouraging more students to participate in sport.

It has been stated that the university has set itself a target regarding the amount of students that play sport; it would like 75% of Loughborough students participating in sport on a regular occurrence to maintain the main target of becoming a world leading university for sport.

The funding is part of an initiative which wants to tackle the number of young people who drop out of sport as they move out of their teens. With this in mind, alongside the high- level of competitive sport within universities, the Active Universities project has focused on a more informal and social side to sport.

The My Lifestyle campaign at Loughborough has been helped by the funding to develop a non- com-petitive programme of sports activities such as ultimate Frisbee and cardio tennis. There are 881 students who have become regular participators in sport since the first year of funding for the My Life-style programme.

The Higher Education Sport Participation and Sat-isfaction Survey, which has been created for Sport England, has found that 48% of Loughborough stu-dents participate in sport at least three times a week, 59% at least twice and 71% at least once. The survey also highlights that 43% of Loughborough students recognise sporting opportunities as ‘very important’ regarding their choice of where to study at University compared to the 22% national average.

The Deputy Director of Sport at Loughborough University, Tim Garfield, has stated that: “The Ac-tive Universities funding has been critical for us to develop a programme of activity for those students that want to take part in less competitive recrea-tional support.”

Garfield added: “The fact that we have hit our first year target to increase the numbers participat-ing in sport is very satisfying. My Lifestyle is about providing appropriate opportunities for the rela-tively small number of inactive students we have at Loughborough.”

Meghan McCabeNews Editor

Lottery Funding Increases Sporting Activity in Loughborough Students

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NEWS08 - 09

We’re for Lunch!OPEN

We’re for Dinner!OPEN

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£1.99 Collectiononly

Add extra toppings for only 50p each

Lunch Deal TwoA Large 13.5’’ Pizza with 1 topping for only

£5.99 Collectiononly

Add extra toppings for only £1 each

BUY ONE GET ONE

Collection or Delivery. Available on large or medium pizzas only. Expires: 31/05/13.Valid at Loughborough store only. Please mention when ordering. Not valid with any other offer. Not available online. Minimum

delivery order £9.99. Please hand coupon to delivery driver. *Free pizza must be of lesser or equal value to the first.

FREE*

50%OFF

When your order is £30 or over. Collection or Delivery. Expires: 31/05/13.Valid at Loughborough store only. Please mention when ordering. Not valid with any other offer. Not available online.

50% Off excludes ice cream. Minimum delivery order £9.99. Please hand coupon to delivery driver.

Enter: QCBQLMFF. Expires: 31/05/13.Not valid with any other offer. See website for full T&C’s.

BUY ONE GET ONE

Collection or Delivery. Available on large or medium pizzas only. Expires: 31/05/13.Valid at Loughborough store only. Please mention when ordering. Not valid with any other offer. Not available online. Minimum

delivery order £9.99. Please hand coupon to delivery driver. *Free pizza must be of lesser or equal value to the first.

FREE*

ONLINE DISCOUNT

25%OFF

Lunch deals now available online. Valid 11am – 4pm.

When youspend over

£25.

(01509) 211200Opening Hours: 11am - 5am, 7 days a week.

153 Derby Road, Loughborough LE11 5HJ

DELIVERYUNTIL 5AM

FOLLOW US ON@DominosPizzaSK

Find us at: Domino’s PizzaLoughborough

University halls of residence- Over 5000 beds- Catered and self-catered halls- 30% of rooms available to returning students for 2013-14

Off campus town accommodation

- Accredited landlords- Rooms for 2013-14 advertised on www.lborostudentpad.co.uk from 1 December

Don’t commit until the LSU Housing Bazaar on 4 December – plenty of accommodation to choose from so NO RUSH!

StuDent AccOmmOdAtiOn CentReuniveRSity AppROveD accommodation

campus livingFacilities management

[email protected] [email protected] http://accommodation.lboro.ac.uk

campus living loughborough view us on browzer www.browzer.co.uk/lboro

01509 222258/222253

52505 D

&p

Oct

12

any green spot sandwich

any green spot juice drink

any green spot side snackGreen spot labelled products only, available at all the outlets abovethis offer is subject to availability and can be withdrawn at any time

fuelhealthy choice green spot multi meal deal

£2.60save up to 90p cash+ £2.20

www.lboro.ac.uk/food-drink

University halls of residence- Over 5000 beds- Catered and self-catered halls- 30% of rooms available to returning students for 2013-14

Off campus town accommodation

- Accredited landlords- Rooms for 2013-14 advertised on www.lborostudentpad.co.uk from 1 December

Don’t commit until the LSU Housing Bazaar on 4 December – plenty of accommodation to choose from so NO RUSH!

StuDent AccOmmOdAtiOn CentReuniveRSity AppROveD accommodation

campus livingFacilities management

[email protected] [email protected] http://accommodation.lboro.ac.uk

campus living loughborough view us on browzer www.browzer.co.uk/lboro

01509 222258/222253

52505 D

&p

Oct

12

Hey ewe Do Halloween

AMAzing EfforT runnEr up

Whenever people dressas Avatar I feel the need to

applaud them. I’ve never tried the makeup myself, but I

imagine it must take along time. Kudos

to you.

The great tradition of ‘Halloween’ goes back almost 600 years. Originally beginning as ‘All Hallows’ Eve’, Halloween has changed a lot since the times of ‘the festival of the dead’. Instead of celebrating the recently

deceased, we now spend it embracing the University tendency to dress up in the most outrageous thing possible. It is also an excuse to go out looking as if you’ve been run over by a car (literally).

From Cruella Deville with her Dalmatians to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, from Avatar to people dressed as pumpkins, Hey Ewe saw a huge range of costumes for Halloween. So here’s some of the best ones to make

you feel even worse if you just rocked up in normal clothes and some blood splatters.

AMAzing EfforT runnEr up

It says a lot if you’ve gone the whole hog and bought a full costume. Face paint can

look amazing but a full costume shows you’ve

been planning this for ages!

You TriEdThe ultimate last minute costume.

AMAzing EfforT WinnEr

Despite the fact that they’re just wearing plain white t-

shirts (albeit with blood stains) the overall effect of these

costumes is great. The black around the eyes is

particularly scary.

Hey ewe Do Halloween

populArrighT noW WinnEr

This is a great example of the good old ‘zombie nurse’

costume. Easy peasy to make – just grab a white dress and stick

a red cross on it – and pretty creepy when you add some

good old fake blood and maybe some contact

lenses.

populAr righT noW runnEr up

This ‘Day of the Dead’ skull makeup is really popular

at the moment. Perhaps because you can get away

with just wearing normal going out clothes and still looking awesome!

TAngo TASTiC

Dangerously close to looking like they’ve

come dressed as the cast of TOWIE.

uniquE idEA WinnEr

The contrast between the innocence of Mickey and

Minnie and the creepiness of the face makeup makes

these the scariest costumes of the bunch.

uniquE idEA runnEr up

This idea is so good! It’s always fun to collabo-

rate with friends for Hal-loween so you match,

and the results are often really unique!

gEnuinElY SCArY

Contact lenses are the in thing right now for Halloween costumes if you want to add that extra ‘oomph’, to your

costume, try some of these on for size, or, try wearing just one to look really crazy. I

mean, I wouldn’t want to run into this guy in a dark alley, would you? There’s just some-

thing about being covered in blood that makes me think maybe he’s

not the right person to ask for directions!

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FEATURES12 - 13

You knowyou’re a Lufbrastudent when...

The first thing someone asks is what sport you do

Going into town feels like a mission

You wear flip-flops and it’s snowing

You go to JCs for one drink and end up at Stupid Tuesday

You remember your first Hall chants three or four years later

Cheesy chips is a must after a night out

Stash, the bubble and sharking become part of normal vocabulary

Doubles are cheaper than singles

Sport isn’t a hobby it’s a religion

You finish your exams a month after all other universities

There’s 6 boys to one girl in Coggs

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Lufbra overheardWatching The Dark Knight:Film: ...is that a bazooka?Girl 1 (to friend): What’s a bazooka?Girl 2: A flame throwing gun.Girl 1: Oh, I thought it was a verruca treatment!

Guy 1: So there’s X and there’s XXX. What’s XX is that like a little bit porny?

Student: Miss, are you an actual doctor or a doctor like Dr. Dre?

Girl 1: When is Halloween this year Girl 2: Same as every other year Girl 1: Oh ok, so the 5th of November then

Guy: I always forget about Halloween because it only happens once every two yearsGirl: No babes that’s leap years

Guy: When was world war three again?

Girl 1: I woke up with a guy in my bed yesterday.Girl 2: .....Girl 1: I wasn’t naked though so it’s all fine.

Girl 1: “A centurion? What’s that? Is that one of those half men-half horse things?”

If you hear anything

funny or crazy around

Loughborough let us know

via our ‘Lufbra Overheard’

facebook page or email

[email protected]

GO

ING

UP

GO

ING

DO

WN

Daniel Craig: Skyfall...mmmmm.Men in Printed

Knitwear: following the

trends boys, well done.

Berry Colour Lipstick: perfect winter chicThe Cold:

Finally allowed to pig out

and hide the extra pounds

under all those layers of

clothes. Ideal.

Alabama: made fake

moustaches illegal for making

people laugh in church. No sense

of humour.

Dressing Down: The awkward moment when someone is wearing more makeup than clothes.

See-through Leggings: A painfully frequent fashion faux-pas.

FEATURES14 - 15

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November 6 saw the release of the long-awaited continuation of the Halo series, Halo 4. Since its start in 2001, Halo has amassed a huge following, with books, videos, and the occa-sional rumours of a film supplement-ing the games, it has become a whole universe. Halo is famous for its stun-ning graphic design and compelling story-line, setting it apart from other first-person shooters. After Bungie ended its relationship with the games after Halo Reach, a subsidiary of Mi-crosoft Industries, 343 has taken the reigns. There has been a lot of spec-ulation as to whether 343 can live up to the expectations of the fans, whilst putting their own mark on the series. Culture Editor Joanna Donnelly takes a look at the pre-release material for the game to see whether Halo 4 will truly be a masterpiece.

Halo 4 is the first game to continue the story of Master Chief since Halo 3s release in 2007, and will be the start to a new trilogy. The end of Halo 3 saw our hero left drifting towards a mysterious planet, Requiem, con-structed by an ancient civilisation known as the Forerunners, and now both he and his loyal companion, Al Cortana are back. Halo 4 is set 4 years after the end of Halo 3. It is set to explore the lifespan of Cortana, as well as looking at how the human race have dealt with the end of the war with the Covenant (a collection of alien races whose religious fanaticism nearly destroyed the Universe.)

First off, the campaign looks visually incredible. 343 have said that they want to move away from the First Person Shooter style towards a more mysterious, discovery, and explora-tion based game, whilst still keeping the traditional point and shoot feel. And it seems from gameplay footage already released that they have man-aged it. A new, previously unseen, ele-ment in Halo 4 will be the Forerunner race, the Prometheans. This will be a massive step away from the previ-ous games, which focused around the parasitic alien life form, the Flood, and have therefore allowed for a whole new style to be added to the series. 343 have put an enormous amount of effort into updating everything about the games, from the soundtrack, to the guns. As well as rethinking the human weapons, they have also cre-ated a whole new arsenal for the Pro-metheans, giving the player a huge choice of weaponry.

Another change for this game will be the online Multiplayer aspect. The team element, War Games, has been tied in to the game through the idea of a ‘red vs. blue’ training simulation as the background storyline. In addition to this there is Spartan Ops, which will be a series of narrative co-op missions that will continue the plot of the campaign. This will massively in-crease the play-time for the game, as there are set to be several ‘seasons’ of content, with each season consist-ing of 5 releases. The first season has been said to be come free with the purchase of the game.

In case you haven’t been watching it, there has been an online short series pre-release called Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. This has consisted of five 15 minute live-action shots, which are set 20 years previous to Halo 4, at the beginning of the Human-Covenant war, and centre on Thomas Lasky, who will appear in the game. The events that unfold in Forward Unto Dawn are said to tie in to Halo 4, and the effort that has gone into the series is amazing. Check it out on Machini-ma Prime’s YouTube channel, and join everyone else in saying ‘WHY have they not made a Halo film yet?!?’

Halo 4 looks set to become one of the biggest games of the year, even though it is in direct competition with games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The stunning visual design and amount of effort put into the game by new developers 343, combined with the new plot arc and always compel-ling story-line seem to suggest that 343 are not only continuing on from where Bungie left off, but are improv-ing the series massively as well. I am truly excited to start playing this game and see whether it could just be the best Halo game yet.

HaloThe Legend Continues 4

Want to see if Halo

4 lives up to the

expectations? Go

online for a full review

of the game post-

release.

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CULTURE16 - 17

frustration that can so often go along with the pressures of trying to film the almost extinct.

From balancing a bonio on a lizard so a dog would breathe on it, sleeping in an abandoned cave with no light or water, to getting slashed across the arms and legs by a seemingly sweet lemur playing dead, the naturalist has truly seen it all.

The weirdest thing of all? We are surrounded by even more unusual creatures on our own soil. Search online for the Spitting Spider, Bootlace Worm, Beewolf or Basking Shark and you’ll find that you don’t have to travel far at all to find the exotic.

nick’s ‘Must see’ weirdest animals:

The Olm Dragon of Slovenia: can survive without food for four years!

The Horned Lizard of Texas: defence mechanism is to bleed from the eyes

The Goonch Catfish of the Kali River near Nepal: can eat humans whole

There’s no use denying that as the winter begins to loom large over Loughborough, we’re already starting to plan where we can escape to this summer. Culture Editor Beth Baker-Wyse explains why you should take inspiration from TV natural-ist Nick Baker before you make your move.

In the depths of a dark autumn evening, Lough-borough’s Town Hall played host to an exotic ad-venture through well-known naturalist Nick Bak-er’s travels. Addressing an intimate audience of around 30 (make that 29 as loud snoring was heard from the back row throughout), it would be easy to assume that a dire evening was ahead.

This is where you would be wrong. A truly inspi-rational and humorous speaker, Nick’s stories educated everyone from the Environmental Sci-ences post grad to the eight year old child. His passion for ugly and unusual animals is second to none, and along with an interactive photo and video presentation, we were treated to facts and footage seen by only a very lucky few. Nick held the entire audience under his thumb as we travelled to meet cave dwelling dragons, ven-omous primates and flying snakes, answering questions throughout as well as describing the

NEVERTrust

A !Animal Fluffy

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how did you guys start this project?

Seb: Really, really slowly...Josh: Yeah! We weren’t sure how to put on a play or where to begin when writing but we both knew we wanted to write something together. It was just a case of meeting up regu-larly and watching films that made us laugh.

how did you get the idea?

Josh: We had the idea to set it in a Diner early on and this became a theme we could work with. We came up with characters next and then wondered what would happen if they all met up in the same place at the same time!Seb: We both love Faulty Towers, Modern Family and How I met your Mother and took inspiration from these series’.

So, what’s it all about?

Seb: A British couple move to New Mexico to start a new business from scratch – they buy a diner and hope to re-launch it into a successful business.

Josh: Yeah, but unfortunately for them the previous owner used to be head of a cocaine smuggling operation with the Mexicans across the border. Everybody who goes to the diner seems to know this and don’t realise that the busi-ness has changed hands!

have you done anything like this before?

Seb: I’ve never done anything like this before! I’m a product design engineering student but I’ve always wanted to get involved with something like this.Josh: I’m an English and Drama student so I’m used to writ-ing and acting but I’ve never done something as big as this, it’s crazy.

Why should we come and see it?

Seb: It’s got sex, drugs and... well, Mariachis! Plus it’s really funny and has an amazing cast.Josh: Not forgetting that it has student writers, a student cast and a student crew – a 100% Loughborough crea-tion.

Who is The Third Mariachi

There’s a new hotspot in town for greasy burgers, undercooked fries and ap-palling service. It’s already attracted drug smugglers, a Vegas casino junkie, a hells angel and a bad tempered cop – perhaps you’ll be next? Introducing for two nights only: Randy’s Diner – the location for Stage Society’s latest comedy!

The Third Mariachi is the first full length student written comedy Stage Society has produced and is showing in Fearon Hall on November 23 and 24. We interviewed directors Josh Reynolds and Sebastian de Cabo Portugal in anticipation of the event:

Come and see The Third

Mariachi on November

23 and 24 in Fearon Hall,

Rectory Road!

Visit

http://www.facebook.com/

ThirdMariachi for more

information.

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In aid of LSU’s charitable activities

In aid of LSU’s charitable activities

Label Caption Competition:After a number of years spent travelling, The Holt finally reach the Union following pre-drinks- Michael Penberton

The winner of this

issue´s caption competition

has won a Lazypatch duvey

suit, worth £80. Pop into

the media centre to claim

your prize and look out for

the next one on

www.lufbra.net/label

Photography byRichard Donnor, Jocelyn Bentum, Sarah Wilson, Rob Paterson

TOTTYSPOTTER

22 - 23

premier student homes

AMAZINGhomes fornext yearin the best locations

All inclusive rent and a caring private landlord with a reputation for quality and service.Arrange an early viewing...www.andrewchell.comm: 07769 684800 t: 01509 768986

Big rooms with luxury double beds

Although you may think that accessories are only reserved for girls, it is clear that over recent years guys are becoming increasingly aware of adding unique tweaks to their outfits in order to stand out in a crowd. Whether it be a scarf, hat, watch or bag, everywhere you look guys are jumping on the bandwagon in order to differ themselves from every other topshop-zara-asos-h&m wearing male around campus.

So Boys...here are some of the ‘It’ buys for this wintery season! Get shopping!

Milly Green

The Perfect Accessory

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The perfect hat5. H&M £6.99

6. River Island £15

The perfect Scarf3. H&M £12.99

4. House of Fraser £30

The perfect Bag.1. House of Fraser £80

2. River Island £30

3 questions

Name: Lewis KempFavourite Store: SelfridgesItem I Can’t Live Without: Vivienne Westwood ShirtCelebrity Style Icon: David

Name: Liam JonesFavourite Store: Selfridges

Item I Can’t Live Without: Barbour Jacket

Celebrity Style Icon: David

Name: James HatwellFavourite Store: TopmanItem I Can’t Live Without: Blue ChinosCelebrity Style Icon: Bradley

Name: Sean BoonFavourite Store: TopmanItem I Can’t Live Without: Ha-reem Tracksuit BottomsCelebrity Style Icon: Ash Stymest and Josh Beech

Name: Dan GibsonFavourite Store: Richmond ClassicsItem I Can’t Live Without: Ameri-can Apparel Winter CoatCelebrity Style Icon: David

Name: Lewis HinchFavourite Store: Selfridges

Item I Can’t Live Without: Navy Chi-nos/Sheffield Wednesday Shirt

Celebrity Style Icon: David

Name: Adam LovellFavourite Store: ReissItem I Can’t Live Without: Levi JeansCelebrity Style Icon: David Beckham

Name: Nick KirbyFavourite Store: Rokit

Item I can’t live without: Snap backs

Celebrity Style Icon: Chris Brown

16 guys,

3 questions

STYLE26 - 27

Loughborough and sportswear, it’s like a marriage made in heaven. But what is it that really makes a boy’s fashion brain tick? Is it their wardrobe fail-safe, the shop that always delivers, or does a certain celebrity influence how they style up an outfit? Style’s writers Milly Green and Jo Rowley hit campus to find out exactly what our guys think when it comes down to dressing up.

Name: Fabien HumpheryFavourite Store: Karmaloop.comItem I Can’t Live Without: Socks!Celebrity Style Icon: David

Name: Ellis BolgerFavourite Store: TopmanItem I Can’t Live Without: Ruck-sack/WinterCoat

Name: Devon EndersbyFavourite Store: Urban Outfitters

Item I Can’t Live Without: Barbour JacketCelebrity Style Icon: David

Name: Matt Smith Favourite Store: New LookItem I Can’t Live Without: SnapbackCelebrity Style Icon: Daniel Craige

Name:Alfie SoutarFavourite Store: Zara

Item I Can’t Live Without: Topman Skinny Jeans

Celebrity Style Icon: Ozwald Boateng

Name: Nick WilsonFavourite Store: Urban

OutfittersItem I Can’t Live Without:

Oversized JumperCelebrity Style Icon: Rick

Edwards

Name: George MartindaleFavourite Store: pistolsinparadise.comItem I can’t live without: Old cosy knitwearCelebrity Style Icon: Itch from the old band The King Blues

Name: Anthony KeferFavourite Store: Zara

Item I can’t live without: Smart shirt

Celebrity Style Icon: Bradley Cooper

Whilst at Loughborough University, Andy Waterhouse was part of a team who set up the innovative clothing company ‘Out the Woods’, giving 100% of the profits from the sales of their t-shirts to The British Heart Foundation. Their fair-trade range involves getting local bands and illustrators to design individual graphics that appear on the tops for both men and women.

Now a graduate, we caught up with Andy again to see how the company is getting on.

Can you tell us about your new collection?

Our winter line has a mix of self designed work and artwork from our most recent band collaborations. Featuring in this line are some exciting new artists including London based singer and producer Ghostpoet, indie rock quartets Clock Opera and Cave Painting, and Synth-pop group Chapel Club. We have also headed across the pond to team up with Twin Shadow.

Our work will be made up of around five screen-printed designs, with everything due for release in mid November.

Are you glad you set up the business alongside your degree?

I had a few reservations about it all happening in my final year, but after four years at uni, I suppose I had learnt to juggle things quite well. Essentially you find time for what you like doing, and I like doing this.

What advantages has it given you now you have graduated?

I suppose something like this is never going to look bad on your C.V. A few business skills have been picked up, and as well as being part of something new, exciting, and for great cause it’s really satisfying. We have also had the opportunity to meet some of our favourite up and coming bands, as well as obvi-ously gaining a far better looking wardrobe!

Do you have any plans to expand?

Expanding our product range is something we have wanted to do for a while now, but we’ve only recently had the capacity to do it. We’re introducing beanies into the winter line, as well as experimenting with some dip-dye items and then snapbacks and bespoke backpacks for spring/summer.

Anna BirtwistleStyle Editor

We are offering Label readers an ex-

clusive 25% DISCOUNT on Out The Woods Clothing. Enter discount code oTWCXlABEl25 at the check out outthewoodsclothing.bigcartel.com

Follow Out the

Woods Clothing on

Facebook and Twitter by

searching their name.

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But the question is how much do men and women agree when it comes to smell, after all its one of the first things we notice about the opposite sex. Women think they know what they want a guy to smell like, but do men agree? Style Editor Chloé Fallon, and Peter Walker

have compiled what they think are the top five Eau de Toilettes for men.

Ready to getSensual?

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Peter1. Jean Paul Gaultier- Le Male Eau de Toilette 75ml £38.502. Paco Rabanne- One Million Eau de Toilette 50ml £38.503. Versace-Blue Jeans Eau de Toilette 75ml £22.50 4. Emporio Armani- He Eau de Toilette 50ml £41.505. Joop!- Jump Eau de Toilette 50ml £35

I personally prefer a fresh smelling aftershave as apposed to a musky fragrance. I feel like it smells more refreshing and blends nicely with shower gel and deodorant rather than over powering and dominating your scent.

Prices all correspond to Boots.

Chloé1. Ralph Lauren – Ralph Lauren Big Pony Green no 3.

75ml for £382. Hugo Boss- Hugo Boss Night Eau de Toilette 50ml £39

3. Gucci- Guilty Pour Homme Eau de Toilette 50ml £344. Marc Jacobs- Bang Eau de Toilette 50ml £41

5. Calvin Klein- CKone Eau de Toilette 50ml £17.25

Personally I like clean but warm scents, these make guys feel more approachable as you’re not put off by an over bearing smell. I also really like when a guy has their

own signature fragrance, because smell is a trigger for the memory so it’ll always remind you of them. Anything

overpowering or heavily spiced is a real turn off.

Although Christmas is still a few weeks away, it’s never too early to start looking for that perfect scent or gift.

The Rise of euRopean MusicfesTivals

Whilst the UK festivals this summer were hit by poor weather and cancellations due to low ticket sales, the rise of European music festivals are increasingly catch-ing the attention of festival goers. For some, the pros-pect of camping in sodden or muddy conditions, along with a subsided tent is something of a nightmare. How-ever have you thought about what elements would make the ideal festival, perhaps splendid sunshine, sandy beaches and epic music? Then maybe, our outlook be-comes rather more optimistic.

European festivals typically last around four days and they offer greater value in comparison to festivals in the UK. With low cost airlines opening up the possibility of travelling around Europe, festival goers are enticed to go see their favourite acts perform in a foreign country. The festival scene in Croatia has significantly grown in awareness with some of the best DJs and artists such as Afrojack and Swedish House Mafia taking to the stage. One example is the Soundwave Festival in Croa-tia, with tickets starting around at £140 including return flights. The festival is set on a private beach featuring live acts throughout the day, and the party continues into the early hours of the morning as ‘Babarellas’ nightclub. Not only that, but there are also tickets available to at-

tend daily boat parties which sail around the spectacular local islands with various DJs spinning those records to get the party rocking.

One of the best value festivals is the Sziget Festival in the heart of Budapest, which runs for an astonish-ing seven days. Recent headliners have included The Stone Roses, Noah and the Whale and The Vaccines, and costs about €180 for the seven days (pretty cheap right?). However, the festival not only offers music, but in-cludes several football pitches, a cinema and other ac-tivities on site for entertainment. As this is an inner-city festival, there is the possibility of taking a cheeky trip down to visit the sights of Budapest. Also food and alco-hol is relatively cheap in comparison to the over-priced burgers and cider in the UK.

Although the UK offers plenty of festivals, the unbeat-able atmosphere and the affordable prices at these Eu-ropean festivals are rapidly gaining more recognition as a place to go in the summer holidays!

Steven Carvalho

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Alt-J are a little bit of something good. Named after a Mac keyboard shortcut meaning ‘change’, The band is not just another rising alt-pop band.

They are a four-piece band formed of Leeds University alumni, founded in 2007. Alt-J are pioneers in the ‘folk-step’ genre, using folk-like verses, for the Mumford and Sons fans; synth, for the Friendly Fires enthusiasts; hip hop syncopations, for the Jay-Z aficionados; and vocal harmonies, for the Beach Boys devotees. And, as proof, Mumford and Sons recently covered their single, ‘Tesselate’, in the Radio 1 Live Lounge, showing us it’s not only Label that loves Alt-J but successful bands that have jumped on the bandwagon as well. However, it is the lyrics in each song that really mark the band out as ones to watch.

For example, Tesselate begins: ‘Bite chunks out of me, you’re a shark and I’m swimming /My heart still thumps as I bleed, and all your friends come sniffing’. From full-length trag-edies to one minute interludes, each song seems like a small work of art.

The band have gathered a cult following since the release of their ‘Matilda/Fitzpleasure’ demo EP in 2011, and it is not one to be argued with, with fans even coining their very own hand signal for the four Leeds boys. At Reading Festival, only three months after their debut album’s release date, you could not see the band for the sea of triangles in the air. All three singles (Breezeblocks, Tesselate and Something Good) have made it onto BBC Radio 1’ s playlist this summer and their album, ‘An Awesome Wave’, graced the charts at #19, both only precursors for what is to follow.

A small hint towards their continued success in the future is their 2012 Mercury Music Prize achievement. Some past winners of this prestigious award, who have gone onto stardom are Arctic Monkeys, the xx and Dizzee Rascal. So, we better take a few more indie shots of the triangle hand sign before they officially rise to stardom.

Make sure you reschedule the scores of plans you have already made for Monday May 13 next year, because the band are playing in the neighbouring city of Nottingham.

Best Song: Tesselate

Emily Huxley

LABELLOVES

Label Music

Playlist of the Fortnight

rihanna – Diamonds

Ben howard – Old Pine

Skrillex – Make it Bun Dem

lost in Your love – Redlight

The lumineers – Ho Hey

grizzly Bear – Yet Again

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EvEryonE Loves a Good Cover

‘The merging of genres is one of the most inter-esting things to listen out for...’

Who doesn’t love a good cover? Hearing a band covering a song puts it in a completely different perspective, and they give the respective bands and artists the chance to sing songs they would not have written themselves. The merging of genres is one of the most interesting things to listen out for, hearing a rock artist covering a rap song is something you do not hear every day! Be-low I have compiled a list which is ten of my favourite covers of all time, some of them classics and some a bit more unknown. One thing I can guarantee you though is that you will be happily surprised.

Ella StanbrookMusic Editor

Covering such a classic song was always a huge risk. But for Fleet Foxes this was certainly a risk that paid off. To create such a beautiful sound with only a guitar and vocals is quite an achievement. This track is without a doubt one of my favourite covers of all time, and one of the most relaxing and mellow songs you will ever hear.

#1 Cover by Fleet FoxesOriginally by elvis Presley

Can’t Help Falling In Love With You

#2 Cover by Jessie JOriginally by The Naked and Famous

Young Blood

Another example of a song stripped down to its core, this track allows Jessie J to make full use of her incredible vocal acrobat-ics. A lesser known song it may be, but nonetheless this song was deemed by Jessie J as worth a cover so it must be good, as is Jes-sie J’s cover!.

#3 Cover by Florence and the MachineOriginally by The source ft. Candi station

You Got the Love

“You Got the Love” is a typical example of when a band takes a song and makes it their own. Florence made it her own with considerable success, as ‘You Got the Love’ quickly became one of the bands’ big-gest and best loved songs.

‘Hearing a rock artist covering a rap song is something you do not hear every day!’

#4 Cover by Maroon 5Originally by oasis

Don’t Look Back in Anger

Sometimes, the best covers are those where a band has taken a big song and stripped it down to just vocals and a guitar. The track is only vocals with a lead and rhythm guitar from start to finish and Adam Levine sings it like he wrote it himself.

#6 Cover by ellie GouldingOriginally by The Knife

Heartbeats

Ellie’s iconic voice shines blissfully in this cover of The Knife’s (and lat-terly a Jose Gonzalez cover) ‘Heart-beats’. With only gentle rhythm guitar in the background, Ellie has managed to take a beautiful song and make it even more beautiful. It’s definitely a song that’s worth a listen.

#8 Cover by ryan adamsOriginally by oasis

Wonderwall

Who would dare to cover such a classic song? Well Ryan Adams would. He has taken arguably one of the most iconic songs in British music and completely turned it on its head, with monu-mental success. If you want to hear ‘Wonderwall’ like you have never heard it before then I suggest that you give this track a listen.

#10 Cover by The KooksOriginally by Peter Bjorn & John

Young Folks

The Kooks have managed to create an effortless yet great cover of Peter Bjorn and John’s infinitely popular ‘Young Folks’. The boys have put their Kooks stamp on this unique track, exchanging drums and maracas for electric guitars and bases.

#5 Cover by ed sheeranOriginally by Jay-Z

Empire State of Mind

An unusual combination, I know, but give it a chance. Ed Sheeran’s rap-ping skills are very much put to the test in this track, but he passes with flying colours to create an unlikely but incredible cover of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ ‘Empire State of Mind’.

#7 Cover by Foo FightersOriginally by arcade Fire

Keep the Car Running

As a seven piece band that use obscure instruments such as the glockenspiel, accordion and mando-lin to name a few, seldom has anyone attempted to cover an Arcade Fire song, until Dave Grohl came along. Is there anything that man cannot do?

#9 Cover by arctic MonkeysOriginally by Barbara Lewis

Baby I’m Yours

The great thing about covers, is hear-ing a band perform a type of song that they would not otherwise have played or have written themselves. This is the case for this Barbara Lewis love ballad covered superbly by the Arctic Monkeys, hats off to them!

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Sophie Yell

Illustration by Greg Carter

to zeroLondon 2012 had us glued to our TVs, frantical-ly trying to buy tickets to the Olympic Park. Visit-ing the park was surreal and it left me inspired to get active so that perhaps one day, I too, could represent my country. Some might call it opti-mism and some might say it’s delusional how-ever that feeling soon disappeared. The aim of becoming an elite athlete has not crossed my mind since September 9, when the magical summer ended and thus forgetting my sporting dreams and aspirations.

However I am not alone. Since the Games, me-dia coverage of Olympic sports has been low. Earlier this year, Olympic hero Usain Bolt had every aspect of his life publicised, yet since London 2012 he has won two events with al-most no recognition. But what makes Olympic performances so special? Why are they con-sidered the pinnacle of many athletes’ careers? For one reason, the global stage allows a suc-cessful performance at the Olympics to open doors of opportunity later in an athlete’s life. Therefore it’s understandable to witness highly disappointed athletes after failure to deliver at the Games.

Paula Radcliffe is one of these who failed to make the Olympics due to injury. Unfortunately for her, it is not just the memory of competing at the home games which she will miss out on,

because UK Athletics (UKA) revealed last week that her National Lottery funding of £26,000 a year is to cease. The news was delivered by the newly appointed performance director of UKA, Neil Black, who took over after the Paralym-pics. Funding to many big name athletes from Team GB has been cut, as post London 2012, UKA shift their financial focus to those who are considered medal contenders within the next four year Olympic cycle, triggering perhaps det-rimental side-effects to these athletes as they begin their preparation for next season.

‘Athletes who have not met performance crite-ria over the last year will not receive continued support. It is undoubtedly tough, but that is per-formance sport.’ (Neil Black)

Many athletes are struggling to understand this decision. This announcement will enormously impact the athletes as individuals, particularly their training programmes for next season. Mo-tivation may also start to dwindle as the post-Games blues grow stronger, as the effects of their removed funding become more apparent and as the winter evenings begin to get colder, it will test the athlete’s commitment to their sport.

HEROSection D

esign by Sally Wood, A

na Curbelo

uneven push-ups

Strengthen your chest and back by implementing uneven push ups into your work out. Use a me-dicine ball or even a towel to put stress on one side of your body, completing 10 slow push ups before switching arms. Perfect for propelling yourself through the water.

glute Bridge

Lying on your back with your knees bent lift your glutes up and hold for around 2-3 seconds ensuring you are working your glute muscles and hamstrings. Repeat 15 times to maximise the power from your swimming kicking phase.

Train Like...A Swimmer

For the average woman, and even the majority of female gym goers, the con-cept of using weights is somewhat alien. This is mostly down to the hugely stereotypical view that using weights or participating in strength training will make a woman look masculine or somewhat like a ‘bodybuilder’.

This type of training is not all about building bigger muscles, but helping to lose weight and improve general health.

What women don’t realise is that without the use of weight training, they are highly unlikely to get their desired figure, no matter how many hours of car-dio they do. Weight training is slowly becoming more accepted amongst the female population with classes such as Kettle Bells becoming popular at gyms and studios around the country.

Weight training has so many more benefits than people realise, both short term and long term and with women having almost 30% less testosterone levels than men, it is highly unlikely they will develop the ‘masculine’ image that they are scared of!

Perhaps the most attractive reason to jump on the dumbbells is the amount of calories ‘pumping iron’ burns. Although a one hour cardio session will burn more than a one hour weight session will, in the twenty-four hours after a strength workout, your body will burn on average an addi-tional hundred calories. Even replacing one pound of fat with one pound of muscles will enable you to burn an extra fifty calories per session.

Toning up and increasing your muscle mass will also al-low you to increase your metabolism, this will burn even more calories as muscle is metabolically active. Often women participate in such activities to lose weight or keep weight off, but there are less obvious effects of strength training too.

Strength training has proven to reduce the risk of heart and bone diseases, which students probably won’t be thinking of at this time in their life. Get-ting in to a good routine will put important foun-dations in place, as we all know prevention is better than the cure.

But what we care most about is normally down to what we look like – burning those ex-tra calories and even toning your bum which will make you feel more confident than you have ever done before.

So ladies, there is no excuse to put off using those weights in the gym!

Chloe HemmingsSports Editor

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‘The pressure of first team can distract you from studies and applying for jobs and the risk of injury is high, I know first hand the consequences of this. The pride when playing for Loughborough is the best feeling though and makes it all feel worth it and a real part of the university’

‘Being put through preseason as a fresher for me was a great experience, because I learnt about putting in this preparation and work in order to suc-ceed. I think if I hadn’t been at uni I wouldn’t have continued playing inter-nationally, just because I didn’t have access to the facilities or coaching at home. Sessions in preseason and throughout seasons have tested me physically and mentally and I feel I’ve learnt a lot about my character dur-ing my time here. Experience in the Lacrosse Club from a social view has been incredible, I’ve made some lifelong friends. I do often find it difficult to balance the work-lacrosse-social scale, and work has often taken a back seat!’

‘When I came to Loughborough, my expectations met perfectly with the re-ality I saw before me. The facilities were world class, especially in such a confined area. The success in almost all areas and clubs was something that I’ve never personally been a part of and the amount of sports avail-able is still something that overwhelms any club I’ve ever been a part of.I can see why some people can and are put off by the elitism of the uni-versity. The structure of the AU is not designed for people to take on more than one, (two at the very most) sports. For me it was perfect because I only wanted to focus on one sport, and training with the best six days a week really pushed me like I’d never been pushed before, but depending on the quality of your hall, the IMS calendar does try to provide plenty of sport for everyone to compete in throughout the year’

Is There a Problem With Loughborough Sport?

‘Loughborough Sport has enjoyed 32 years of BUCs glory, boasts world renowned facilities and has be-come a home to many elite athletes from across the globe. Should you mention Loughborough, Sport appears in close accord and attracts sports minded people with the endless opportunity to be involved in such a successful setup. From an outside perspective, Loughborough Sports triumph seems to emulate a positive vibe from recreational, IMS all the way up to AU level but what do those involved truly feel about their experience with Loughborough sport?

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‘I felt it was elitist and if you are not up there with the best of them you are made to feel rubbish. Which isn’t the case as our 4th/5th team are in the same league of other universities 1st team. If I had gone to a different uni-versity I could have been in a 1st. This is greatly down to the running of the club. 1s train everyday, sometimes twice and 5s were lucky to get one hour a week despite paying the same money. People were picked in a higher team if they had a car over people with more ability because of transport issues. There is a very cliquey nature to the club that is if you are not a part of the social group you are left out in performance. This puts a bit of pres-sure on you to go to all the nights out which can have a strain on your work life. The drinking culture is also heavily pressured which makes it difficult for those who do not enjoy it. You feel you have to embrace this excessive drinking/downing culture to feel a valued part of the team.’

‘I am sad to say that I have not enjoyed all of my experiences of participat-ing in sports at Loughborough University. Playing for team sport during my first year was not what I expected, as there was an overly competitive, elitist, and intimidating subculture. Plus the intensity of competing at a high standard and the pressure of conforming to the drinking culture compelled me to quit the team. However, in my final year, I have joined the cross coun-try team. The coach was extremely accommodating to all abilities and there was no pressure to drink large consumptions of alcohol. Training in a friendly and supporting environment, motivated me to train hard and desire to compete in the cross country runs.’

What are your views?

Email

[email protected]

’These experiences capture the reality of playing sport at such a high standard, the intensity of training, necessity to fit into the sporting subculture, and pressures to juggle sports com-mitments and academic work. The question is do these factors simply affect Loughborough or do they echo across University sport in Great Britain, is it worth sacrificing parts of your degree for your passion for sport? It’s for you to question.

Rebecca OldhamSports Editor

SPORT36 - 37

Loughborough University proudly boasts 53 differ-ent AU clubs, and has the most successful AU in the country in terms of range of sports and quality. These clubs range in size from just one team to as many as four, but how does being in the bot-tom team of a club limit your chances to improve, progress and succeed within the club, and use the top class facilities that Loughborough provides?

For many of the AU clubs such as Rugby, Bas-ketball, and Football, the cost of membership and stash are very expensive. In return for mem-bership you are promised access to world class facilities, but to what extent is that true for those at the bottom of the club? A lot of the time the elite teams get to use the facilities, such as the 1st Football XI who regularly play in the stadium, whereas the 4th team have to travel to a local league pitch off campus.

Now, the last time I checked there was no reduc-tion in price for the 4th team players; they are pay-ing the same membership fees as the 1st team. This is the same for basketball; one source in-formed Label that the price of membership is the same from 1st-4th team yet the 1st team train almost every day whereas for other teams the trainings are once a week... provided coach turns up at all. It is also understood that the 2s, 3s and 4s have to make their own way to games and that cost is not covered by the club.

To be down in the bottom tier of an AU club you do not normally have access to the same skilled coaches as you do in say, the 1st or 2nd team. This obviously inhibits your ability to improve; we are lucky at Loughborough to have a great sport-ing culture which means we have many students who are involved in sports coaching and take an interest in coaching a range of sports. As great as these student coaches are, they cannot compete with the experience and qualifications of many 1st team coaches, but again the price of mem-bership is the same.

We have to accept that the best teams will use the best facilities as that’s the way that you can maximise an elite teams performance and give them every chance to live up to the potential that they can achieve. Being in the bottom team of an AU club unfortunately does have its drawbacks, to some extent you must accept you’re going to be stuck on poor quality pitches and the coach-ing may not be as experienced. However, the one area which must be addressed is the price. In my opinion, the system is unjust. It is unfair to expect the 4th team to pay the same membership fee as the 1s and yet do not have access to the same facilities, coaching or contact time with the team. Loughborough elitism or just the way it has to be?

James Plowright

Label Sport Comment:

BUCS Do you get your money’s worth?

Watch out for AU

President Lewis

Timms response in

Label Issue 5.

Photography by Sarah Wilson

Label Sport Comment:

BUCS Do you get your money’s worth?

Oriental RestaurantManchuhan

满汉餐厅

07826 654 904 & 01509769171TELEPHONE ORDERS WELCOME! FREE Delivery service available (within campus) - Minimum order £5.00

We offer a Catering Service!Set meals avilable at £4.60We pride ourselves on quality food and service, with speciality dishes made to order, we can provide buffets for any occasion you can think of. So why not pop in and have a chat? or give us a call on 01509769171 or 07826654904

(Not avialable for Delivery)We also offer pre-paid meal cards / packages - please ask a member of staff for more details.

Manchuhan OrientalRestaurantLoughborough Students Union

20% OFFFor Platinum & PlatinumExtra Holders

This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers.

Fresh Ingredients, Freshly Prepared, Freshly Cooked

@MYMANCHUHAN

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MANCHUHAN

WWW.MANCHUHAN.COM

In the Students Union

Noodle Box Deal

Small: £3.80 Regular: £4.60

We Serve:

FREE CAMPUS DELIVERY!

NoodleLover?

Are you a

Thai Sweet Chilli Chicken/Beef NoodlesThick egg noodle, Chicken/Beef stir-fried with fresh veg in sweet chilli sauce

Black Bean Chicken/Beef NoodlesThick egg noodle, Chicken/Beef stir-fried with mixed veg in black bean sauce

Curry Chicken/Beef NoodlesThick noodle, Chicken/Beef stir-fried with mixed veg in our mild original recipie curry sauce.

student accommodationseriously easy

[email protected]

FREEPHONE08081 80 80 80

Loughborough

Seriously EasyStudent Accommodation

in Loughborough