2013 spam february

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Spam!Magazine of study association Mercurius Wageningen

Issue 2 - February 2013

Further more: Boys vs. Girls Study advisors Committee updates And much more...

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Preface of the RedakcieDear students,

After the unforgettable Lustrum of our study association, it was our task (as Mercurius members) to maintain the good feeling of our Golden birthday. Not quite an easy job, but we from the Redakcie think that we succeeded. With a lot of activities Mercurius has shown us, that it has still many golden days to go. In this edition we added a review of our Golden Lustrum.

It’s nice that committees such as the Borrelcie, the Axcie, the Lexcie and the Acquisition keep busy with organising ac-tivities and that ‘new’ committees are trying to broaden the influence of Mercurius. The Sportcie and the Mediacie as new committees are showing us that our study association is extremely alive and that Mercurius is busy with getting another 50 years of active existance!

Besides studying and staying active, love is an important factor in the life of a student. In this edition of the SPAM! we focus on love and especially on Valentine’s day. We let the word to a lot of different people with different perspec-tives on love (foreign students, Dutch students and even our study advisors). We included some facts about love, so if you want to broaden your knowledge of love then you have to explore this (study) SPAM! We asure that it will make you a love specialist.

Enjoy reading this special Valentine’s-edition and a loving kiss from the Redakcie!

Contents

Dear members,

Live Life, Love Life. The well known saying, that we want you all to follow up. Since we believe that when you grasp all the opportunities you get with both hands, life will be-come more beautiful you could ever imagine. There are so many special things to do in life, and you can only regret the things you did not do. So why don’t do something? Go abroad, join a committee, and think outside the box!

A lot of members are already following up those thoughts, and that is why this preface is written by two board mem-bers. I (Simone) do take courses for my minor in Finland. And that is why I (Jurgen) already took over her job as vice-president. In a week, I (Jurgen) will officially become the new president of Mercurius and together with a couple of other members we will form the new board of Mercurius.

And if you don’t want to miss this and if you want to know what parts of our amazing policy we already achieved in the last six months, come to the General Members Meeting the 19th of February! Afterwards there will be a drink, and to celebrate the new board: the first drink is on us!

If you cannot join the meeting or the drink, don’t hesitate if you have any questions about or ideas for Mercurius and her committees. Our ‘basement’ is opened every lunch for all of you for formal things, or for just a cup of coffee in our new lounge area!

Love,

Simone Ritzer and Jurgen Jansen

Preface of the Board

Preface of the Redakcie 2

Preface of the Board 2

Committee updates 3

Valentine’s Day questionnaire 3

A member of a committee tells 4 Students abroad 5

Reflecting the Lustrum 6 Redakcie tries... 8

Study advisors 9

Update regelgeving studenten 9

Boys vs. Girls 10

Contact 11

Colophon 11

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Committee updatesBorrelcieWhat would Mercurius be without the cozy monthly drink that usually takes place on the first Thursday of the month? Indeed, almost nothing at all!We do our utmost best to make this monthly drink as cozy, original and unforgettable by coming up with the most catchy themes and by making the most flashing posters/fly-ers. Of course, we also try to get as many people as possible to come to the drink! This drink offers you the opportunity to enlarge your network, or to have an amazing night out. Besides these monthly drinks, twice a year we organize an open party, these are always a great success and we also organize two times a lunch for all Mercurius members! We enjoy taking care of the drinks, open parties and lunches; therefore we can call ourselves a proud BorrelCie! We would also like you to join in these activities, so don’t miss them!

LexcieFor the 15th and 16th of April, the Lexcie is working on a foreign excursion to Germany! The current destination is Bremen, were we hope to visit some interesting and well-known brands which you probably can find in your kitchen cabinets! Keep an eye on the Mercurius newsletter, website and Facebook page for more information!

Mercurius ProfessionalMercurius Professional is one of the new Mercurius com-mittees this year. We are involved in organising the business day, which will probably take place at the end of May. To-gether with study association Nicolas Appert we will invite several companies to give you the chance to meet potential employers. Also, we plan on organising some ‘case studies’ together with companies, which means that a couple of (senior) students visit a company to work on a problem the company faces. We hope to see you all at the business day!

SportcieThe Mercurius Sports Committee (also known as the Sportcie) will be busy the coming months with promoting all kinds of sports activities and making sure that Mercu-rius teams will participate! We have teams in the Thymos Internal Competitions in both Futsal and Knotsbal. Further-more we’re subscribing a Mercurius team for the Batavari-erenrace; the largest relay race of Europe! Together with 25 Mercurius members we will run from Nijmegen to En-schede. The race will be held on the last saturday of April. And if you feel like participating in this one, you can still join!

EJC (Dutch only)Het afgelopen jaar hebben wij als Eerstejaarscommissie van Mercurius veel plezier beleefd aan het organiseren van ac-tiviteiten voor de eerstejaars. Van een ‘Tosti Party’ tot een kroegentocht door Wageningen.Thijs Verheul (BBC) heeft het afgelopen jaar al zijn creativiteit gestopt in de posters die gemaakt moesten worden voor de activiteiten. Ze waren vaak niet te missen in de Lebo! Lianne van der Ham (BGM), Sanne Totté (BBC) en Jay van Lunteren (BBC) hebben hard gewerkt om iedere activiteit te laten slagen. Naomi Chouinard (BEB) heeft als penningmeester op de centen gelet en Marleen Kuypers (BBC) heeft de taak van voorzitter volbracht het afgelopen jaar. Wij hebben de uitdaging aangenomen leuke activiteiten te organiseren voor de eerstejaars, om te zorgen voor enthousiaste leden gedurende de hele studieperiode. Momenteel zijn we op zoek naar een nieuwe commissie, bestaande uit eerstejaars BGM, BBC en BEB. Zij zullen voor het studiejaar 2012-2013 weer een hoop nieuwe activiteiten organiseren.Tot slot willen wij als EJC iedereen bedanken die bij het ee-rstejaarsweekend was afgelopen oktober. Wij vonden het een erg geslaagd weekend en het was een mooie afsluiting van ons werk als commissie.

Valentine’s Day questionnaireIn a few days, it’s Valentine’s Day! The members of the RedakCie were excited about this happening and started a questionnaire in order to know everything about love at the Leeuwenborch!

From all 86 respondents 28 persons were male, 58 were female. 60% of all respondents likes to make pasta, while 23% is a farmer (and eats his/her own vegetables) and 18% is lazy and buys döner at Illayda. As students at a former ag-ricultural university are supposed to do, 45% watches ‘Boer zoekt vrouw’. The elite watches ‘Hoe heurt het eigenlijk?’. The people who have love ones abroad (23%) like to watch ‘Grenzeloos verliefd’.

At Valentine’s Day people give something sweet (60%) or something to eat (32%) to the one they love. In case of giv-ing something to eat, in more than half of the cases people give chocolate. One respondent added ‘chocolate, unless she is fat. In that case I won’t give her chocolate of course’.

According to the female members of Mer-curius, the hottest guys in Wageningen study BEB/BBC (82%). The hottest girls are at Health & Society (54%) and Nutri-tion & Health (41%). If you want to be hot, pursue a healthy lifestyle. 50 respondents think this is a sexy aspect of a person.

It is not quite sure who the hottest girl at the Leeuwen-borch is. However, Doutzen Kroes (from HSO) and Katja Schuurman are well known in The Netherlands and in the Leeuwenborch. When it comes to the hottest man, girls are quite sure: Jurgen Jansen from the board!

Some respondents added a remark at the end. ‘I still miss my ex-girlfriend, but I get better at pointing my gun at her’ and ‘Just use every day the deepfryer, it will make you blyer’ and ‘life’s good with Mercurius’ are worth it to be men-tioned.

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A member of a committee tells

It is very informative but also a lot of fun

Ruben - AcquisitionMy name is Ruben and I’m a member of the Acquisition committee. During the Lustrum I took part in the sympo-sium committee, because I wanted to find out how the study association worked. I just went to a former board member and asked him how I could participate in a com-mittee. And before I knew it I took part in the amazing sym-posium committee.

After this lustrum committee I wanted to continue my work for Mercurius. So, when I was asked to participate in the Acquisition committee, I said yes. In this committee I help to get the needed sponsoring from a lot of different companies. Personally, I think it is really interesting to get as much as possible out of a deal. And it is very useful to come in contact with employees from those compa-nies. You are always striving for more and thinking out of the box when it comes to sponsor contracts.

Despite the fact that there are already enough things you can do besides your study in Wageningen, like sporting and partying. It is a lot of fun and very useful to challenge

yourself in another area. Mercurius is very appropri-ate for developing yourself in that different area! It is fun, sociable and you also learn a lot you can use the rest of your life!

Els - Sportcie & LexcieWho are you and what do you do?My name is Els van Coeverden and I am the president of the SportCie, a new committee that organizes all activities related to sports. We are playing in and setting up teams for the inter-nal competitions – Knotsbal and Futsal. We are also organizing the Batavierenrace for the Mercurius team, the biggest student relay-race of Europe. I also take part in the LexCie, a more educational committee which is very different but therefore a lot of fun to do.

How did you start committee work?In my first year, I was wondering what else than studying I could do here in Wageningen, so I went to the commit-

tee evening of Mercurius. I became enthusiastic im-mediately and signed in for the Family day committee. I started with a temporary committee (this committee

will always be abolished after te activity, because the fam-ily day is only once per two years). But after this commit-tee stopped, I directly signed up for the committees I’m in right now, because I liked committee work at Mercurius so much.

Why do you like the committee work that much?The LexCie is study related and that’s what I like so much about it. I came in contact with a lot of people from other studies, what I really like. I also learned to contact companies in a formal way and learned how to promote our activities.

Should others also join committees at Mercurius?I recommend everybody to participate a committee of Mercurius because it is very informative but also a lot of fun. You get to know your fellow students a lot bet-ter, but you also come in contact with a lot of oth-er students and even big companies. And it gives a lot of satisfaction to work on big events, like the excursion abroad.

I went to the com-mittee evening of Mercurius

I wanted to find out how the study association worked

Mercurius is very appropriate for developing your-self!

Redakcie needs new membersDo you want to become a member of a committee? This is your chance! The Redakcie is looking for some new mem-bers. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to: bestuur.mercurius@wur.nl

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Students abroadAnouk - USA - WisconsinHi there!

I am Anouk, 22-years, MME student and last semester I’ve studied abroad at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). It was my first visit to the USA and of course I had some stereotypical thoughts about the American people, the culture, food and just the American way of life. We all have seen the typical American movies and I can promise you; some things are totally true but some things are way too overdone, but that’s were movies are for, right? Well, things they say about cheerleaders are right; they are pretty, have long hair, have a lot of make-up and they smile all the time when they are cheering. But the fun-niest thing is that many other female students don’t like cheerleaders because they are fake, or are they just jealous because they are not one of them?Well, one thing that all students like and where the cheer-leaders are part of is American Football! I’ve visited 3 games and I really liked the sports and the ambience! When it is game day (twice a month), everyone wears Wisconsin-red clothes and is drinking beer! It feels like when the Dutch soccer team is playing an important match and everyone is wearing orange and is drinking beer. So American Football is definitely part of the American culture! As a European student you will be overdressed when you go to class but underdressed when you are going out. The college dress code during class is `comfy’ clothes: sweat-pants, sneakers, hoodies, sweaters, leggings (without dress or skirt) and they prefer clothes with ‘Wisconsin’ on it be-cause they are proud of the state and city where they are studying;). The guys just wear basketball caps all day. When the girls are going out, they transform into girls with high heels, short dresses, straightened hair and a lot of make-up. They guys just wear normal clothes and of course, their basketball cap. The entire ambience in an American bar/club is totally different from a party in Wageningen, you have to experience it to know what it is like;)The American food is not that bad as I thought before. Of course they fry everything (cheesecake and snickers not ex-cluded) but they have also healthy opportunities which are very popular in a college town like Madison. You may also know the famous red cups and the game that all student play; beer pong. They use the cups a lot on house parties and beer pong is the favourite game of many students and mine too;)Last semester I had a great American experience! I had a great time, met many nice friends and I had a lot of fun! Are you also interested in studying for a semes-ter in the USA and curious what it looks like? Don’t hesitate to email me: anouk.hoeberichts@wur.nl or look at my blog www.anouk-intheusa.waarbenjij.nu

Have a good one!

Simone - Finland - JyvaskylaHey everyone!

It’s 4 pm here and the sun already went down – yes, I’m in Scandina-via! A couple of days ago I arrived in Jyvaskyla – Finland, where I’m going to take some courses for my minor. Now I’m writing this, I already have met a lot of people, came to know much more about Finland, but haven’t had any lectures yet. By the time of publication, I am taking class-es and would probably already have had my first exams. So, I can’t tell you how it is to study abroad yet, but I surely can tell you how it is to go abroad and what it takes to do so!Currently, I’m a third year Bachelor student in Management and Consumer Studies and went abroad to take some Com-munication courses. Yes, there is a Department of Com-munication in Wageningen. But why shouldn’t you open the boundaries and explore more of world? That’s what I thought at the end of my second year and I started to orien-tate. Do the same. Look what the world can offer you! It is not that hard to organize a study abroad and there are so many advantages!The first advantage is the people you get to know. Every-body who goes abroad experiences the same, everything is new and nobody knows anyone. So in four days, I had three drinks, and met over thirty new people (Finnish and Inter-nationals). You don’t only get to know new people; also a totally new culture will become part of your live. As I mentioned, the darkness during daytime is something new for me. But also the dinner times are totally differ-ent – they eat a hot meal for lunch, but also have a hot meal for dinner around 5 pm. The girls are not all blond haired with light blue eyes and the guy aren’t either. A lot of people do speak English, but definitely not everyone! And yes, there is snow everywhere, but it is like the people here don’t notice it. They don’t clean it up, but just flatten it. So all the roads are covered with snow, and no one cares.So I can tell you that there is kind of a culture shock, even though I didn’t expect that from Finland. But just like the Finns can handle the snow, I will be able to handle eve-rything that I will experience next semester. Because the experiences will come to me in steps, just like the layers of snow came to the Finnish roads.Ow, and before I forget; It I almost Valentine’s Day! I can’t see my Valentine because I’m about 2400 kilometers away from him; I still want to give him dozens of kisses! I hope you love your present!

Lots of Love,

Simone Ritzer

And yes, there is snow everywhere!

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Golden days: times are changing

On November 5, 2012 Mercurius celebrated its 50th anni-versary. It has already been 50 years ago since Mercurius Wageningen has been founded. To celebrate this moment, Mercurius organized its 10th lustrum. Two weeks of lus-trum were organized, which you hopefully have noticed! The theme was ‘Golden days: times are changing’. In all activities Mercurius organized, there was tried to process this theme by reflecting on changes and looking forward to future challenges and opportunities.

Reflecting on two living and celebratory weeks, I would like to thank all of you, members! It was great to wel-come many of you at the activities that were organized. At almost all activities, many of you were present and offered well-appreciated contributions to the substantive discus-sions and warm atmosphere. Thanks also to all committees for organizing the events! Thanks to you, the activities went flawlessly. Particularly, thanks to Eileen, Vera, Kirsten, Janet and Bonnie for your perseverance and commitment in the past months! Congratulations to all of you,

On behalf of the lustrum board,Andre van Meijeren

Excursion to Antwerp and BrusselsOn monday 5 and tuesday 6 November, Mercurius travelled with 50 members to Antwerp and Brussels to (unoffically) start the lustrum period. In Antwerp, the group visited the production location of Coca Cola. After a short presenta-tion about Coca Cola and its spearheads regarding sustain-ability, a tour was made over the beverages production plant. In the afternoon, the group explored the centre of Brussels and visited the European Commission, including a discussion about health related issues. The free evening programm was by many participants spent in the heart of Brussels. The group stayed at the hostel ‘Les Auberges de Jeunesse’ in Brussels. On tuesday, the day started there with an intersting and living discussion organized by Schuttelaar & Partners about healthy food promotion. The programm was continued by a visit to a starting business ‘Smood’, a producer of fingerfoods. These are produced from fruit, vegetables and cereals. At the location of Smood, AgroJobs also gave a presentation about the role they can play in connecting students with business.

Opening ceremonyDuring an opening ceremony on November 7, 2012 the 10th lustrum was officially opened. The Leeuwenborch was decorated with many golden attributes and the attendees were warmly welcomed around six o’clock. Mercurius ap-preciated the many people who were present during this ceremony. At 18.30 André van Meijeren opened the lus-trum officially and introduced the lustrum program. Subse-quently, Pepijn Meddens introduced the theme ‘times are changing’ by showing the audience some real life examples of changing times in business. In addition, several speak-

ers were invited to look back on the changing times regard-ing Mercurius Wageningen: Aalt Dijkhuizen looked back on changes at the level of Wageningen UR; Dirk Jan den Boer looked back on changing times at the Social Sciences Group; and Edwin Kroese looked back on changing times in the study programs of Mercurius Wageningen. Addition-ally, Simone Ritzer related the theme to the current and future position of Mercurius Wageningen. The ceremony was continued by the almanac presentation and congratu-lations of Piet de Visser (honorary) and Geert van Rumund (mayor). On behalf of Mercurius Wageningen, Piet de Vis-ser and Geert van Rumund offered a new tree to the Leeu-wenborch location (Social Sciences Group). Mercurius was proud and grateful to have these people during the open-ing.

Gala at the Castle of HoekelumAt Castle Hoekelum in Bennekom, Mercurius celebrated its gala on thursday November 8. From 9 p.m. till 1 a.m. this lo-cation was booked for 150 members and introducees. Eve-ryone arrived chicly dressed and enjoyed the cozy atmosh-pere and unlimited drinks. Both a DJ and a band provided the music this evening.

ReunionOn friday November 9, Mercurius welcomed almost 140 alumni of the current bachelor study programs Manage-ment- and Consumer studies, Economics and Policy, Health and Society, and master study programs Management, Economics and Consumer studies, and Health and Society. The origin of these social sciences can be found in speciali-zations that already were offered within the Agricultural-college in 1918. All alumni of the predecessors of the cur-rent programs were invited for this reunion. It was a great moment since many old school friends met each other after many years. The program was twofold. Firstly, there was organized a unique campus tour to inform alumni about the developments and changes at the campus of Wageningen University. Secondly, an evening program was organized to inform alumni about developments and changes in different academic fields of study. Lectures were given on economics, management, consumers, and health by guest speakers which were or are involved in these fields of study. Students were also invited to present examples of current thesis subjects.

Reflecting the Lustrum

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Symposium about the Dutch Top Sector PolicyThe second lustrum week started with a symposium on monday November 12. At theater Junushoff in Wagenin-gen, Mercurius organized an interesting evening about the Dutch top sector policy. The symposium committee invited six speakers related to the policy to discuss the influences on entrepreneurship, innovation, business, research and education. From the perspective of the government (Mar-cel de Groot), entrepreneurs (Noud Janssen), education (Dick Pouwels), business (Berry Marttin), student (Anniek Elemans) and science (Johan van Arendonk) there was re-flected on the influences of the top sector policy on daily practice. After an awakening intermezzo by The Missing Sticks and break, a living discussion started the second part of the evening. The audience brought in interesting discus-sion points, which resulted in an interactive deepening of the subject. For instance, the influences on current and future educational programs was discussed as well as the influences on starting a new venture. Finally, there was con-cluded that due to changing times in government and policy the influences on the educational side of Wageningen UR are still unclear. Hence, keep an eye on the developments in the top sector policy is of particular importance in the coming months when new decisions at governmental and educational level are taken. The growing awareness and interest for the theme of this evening was reflected in the number of attendees. The committee welcomed more than 120 people, varying from students to local entrepreneurs. It may be concluded that this event was a great success and is worth to be repeated within some years.

Excursion to Arla FoodsOn tuesday afternoon November 13, an excursion to Arla Foods was organized. With a group of 30 students, we were welcomed at the company location in Nijkerk. Arla Foods is a global diary company (co-operation, owned by farmers), producing products which are known for their natural in-gredients, free from artificial colouring and flavouring. We visited their production facility in Nijkerk. Arla Foods pre-sented some company highlights and subsequently guided us on the production site. The tour showed the whole pro-cess from raw material to the final product. At the end of the excursion, all participants were offered a bag full with many dairy products of Arla Foods. The Lexcie committee of Mercurius Wageningen organized this event, they did a good job.

Skiing activity in BottropOn wednesday November 14, Mercurius travelled with 50 students to Bottrop in Germany. At the Alpincenter Bottrop, the present students enjoyed an evening of skiing at the longest indoor slope of the world. Among the participants, there were some beginners and also many experienced practicioners. They enjoyed the steeper slope, while the beginners learned at the beginner slope. With the all inclu-sive tickets, the participants were provided with unlimited food and drinks, material and entrance to the slopes. Due to the excellent preparation of the Axcie committee, the trip and activity went flawlessly.

Endparty ‘Goud is niet fout’After two successful weeks of lustrum, an end party was or-ganized at the student association KSV Franciscus in Wage-ningen. The party was open for all students, which resulted in a diverse group of participants. Mercurius members were abundantly present to celebrate this final lustrum activity, although also many other students from Wageningen joined the party. The theme ‘Goud is niet fout’ was expressed in many ways, ensuring that it would be a golden party! At-tendees expressed the theme in their dress and the lustrum party committee styled the KSV building with golden deco-ration. After two weeks of an enjoyable and intensive lus-trum program, it was really appreciated that many Mercu-rius members and related students came to this party. The party neared its end around five o’clock. Although it was the last activity of the offical lustrum program, Mercurius Wageningen invites all members and students of Wagenin-gen University to actively celbrate its 50th anniversary dur-ing all activities, parties and drinks organized in the coming months! Be welcome and enjoy the golden year of Mercu-rius Wageningen!

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Redakcie tries...It’s almost Valentine’s Day. A happy day for couples but singles might feel alone and cold. So for all the singles out there, invite someone for a drink. Hot chocolate can just do the trick for you and your date. Temperatures will be rising. But also for the couples out there, hot chocolate is the per-fect drink if you want to keep the fire burning during these cold days! To make life easy for our dear readers, the Redakcie dat-ed the new Sportcie and tested several brands of hot chocolate milk. We tested Alpro Soya choco, Albert Heijn chocodrink romig, Chocomel DARK, Chocomel Regular andEuroshopper skimmed chocolate milk. It sure was hot! Here are the results.

PackageChocomel Dark really stands out and scores a 9!Also Chocomel regular has a nice packaging.Don’t you dare showing up with Euroshopper skimmed milk.

TasteIf your date really loves chocolate and sweetness you should definitely buy Chocomel Regular. If he or she is more into the chemical tastes you should buy Euroshopper skimmed milk. Alpro Soya is a good second best choice.

SmellIf you are out of parfum for that night you can cover it up with a delicious chocomelk odour. Try Alpro Soya or, Albert Heijn Choco drink or Chocomel Regular.

LooksLooks are also important on a date. If you want to impress your date only by looks, try Choco Regular. It has a really nice dark colour. Euroshopper looks like a melting iceberg compared to the others.

ConclusionIf you want a second date buy Chocomel Regular!And if you get cold feet, buy Euroshopper skimmed milk!If you are not sure if you like your date Alpro Soya is a safe choice! Tip: use whipped cream to get even more out of your evening ;-)

If you want a second date buy Chocomel Regular!

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Your One and Only.Valentine, we dream away thinking about our (in my case) prince on the white horse, it might also be a princess. Only now and then I get a glance at my students struggles with love, and mostly it is endearing.One of my students once motivated the choice for his MOS-module Argumentation Skills with the wish of win-ning an argument from his girl friend. As a study adviser there is nothing sensible to be said about that, as a woman I thought what all women would think of that argument.The search for the One can be a difficult one. As a study adviser for master students I experience more of your search for the One... Job! Picking good and interesting courses can be difficult enough, but that one particular Job, which makes your heart go faster, is so much more difficult. A lot of students find it hard to form a well informed view on what it means to be a ‘manager’, ‘specialist’ or ’consult-ant’. And because you will be spending a lot of hours doing your One and Only Job(s), it is worth the effort to invest more attention to your search for it. In the way you have a preference for ‘dark’ or ‘blond’, ‘sporty’ or ‘intellectual’ you should discover what type of jobs are attractive to you.

How?! Well, check them out more, like you do with.... The more you check them out, the more you’ll understand what is appealing to you in those job descriptions. You might

respond to ‘analytical’, ‘research’, ‘communicative’ or ‘En-trepreneurial’. Especially when your One and Only Master Programme must be exchanged for the One and Only Job in the near future, you should be checking out websites with vacancies. Mercurius organizes a Companies Fair and Companies Visits, a great opportunity to be introduced to maybe your One and Only Working Place. In period 5 your study advisers will organize an evening where you can meet alumni who will tell about their first jobs after graduation. Lots of opportunities to start checking them out!Wageningen University believes it is important to not only invest in your theoretical knowledge and academic skills. We also want to help you out with finding your One and Only Job. During the 2nd Bachelor year we will start offering an assessment training. During the assessment you will focus firstly on your talents and competences, this way you will recognize better what fits you the best. Your True Master Programme and later on Your One and Only Job. It is no guarantee you’ll never get it wrong after such an assessment training, but it helps you on your search for it. As a study adviser I enjoy helping students on their way during their search. But in the end you’ll find it –with trial and error maybe- on your own. By the way, there is a nice MOS-module to get started, for men and women: Career Develop-ment!

Only relevant for Dutch students

Update regelgeving studentenEen rumoerig jaar hebben we als studenten achter de rug, maar er is een nieuwe wind gaan waaien. Kabinet Rutte I had grootse plannen om het leven van de studenten zu-urder te maken. Echter, na het vallen van dit kabinet leek de zon achter de wolken vandaan te komen. Totdat nieuwe plannen toch weer roet in het eten gooiden. Maar wat zijn deze nieuwe plannen nu eigenlijk en welke zijn al door beide kamers heen? Om voor jullie wat meer duidelijkheid te verschaffen, is hier een overzicht te vinden. Wil je ergens meer over weten? Twijfel dan niet om langs te komen in ’t Hok of een mail te sturen naar bestuur.mercurius@wur.nl. Meer informatie vind je ook op www.duo.nl of www.veste.wur.nl.

1. Nominale studieduurDoor jullie, Mercurius studenten, moeten veel regels an-ders geïnterpreteerd worden dan door de meeste andere studenten in Wageningen. Dit komt doordat de masters MME en MHS door de overheid is geaccrediteerd als een 1-jarige Master, terwijl deze 2 jaar duurt. De nominale studieduur is volgens DUO voor jullie dus 4 jaar. Dit bete-kent dat als je je gehele studie (bachelor+master) binnen 5 jaar afrondt, je volgens DUO alsnog 1 jaar vertraging hebt opgelopen. Voor dit extra studiejaar ontvang je geen stud-iefinanciering vanuit DUO, maar na het behalen van je di-ploma krijg je vanuit de WUR alsnog 12 maanden je basis en (eventuele) aanvullende beurs vergoed.

2. OV-chipkaartNu kan elke student in de weekenden of doordeweeks gratis reizen. Hierop heeft elke student recht gedurende de nominale studieduur, plus 1 jaar. Voor jullie is dit (zie punt 1) dus totaal 5 jaar. Je studentenreisproduct moet je wel zelf op tijd stopzetten, hier zit namelijk een boete van € 97,- per halve maand op! Echter, vanaf janu-ari 2016 vervalt het recht op vrij reizen voor alle studenten en ontvangt iedereen alleen nog een kortingskaart. Vele studentenorganisaties doen hun best om deze maatregel ongedaan te laten maken.

3. Halbe HeffingDe Halbe heffing (langstudeerboete) is officieel geschrapt. Vele studenten hebben echter bij moeten lenen om de boete te kunnen betalen. Heb je bijgeleend door het aan-vragen van extra collegegeldkrediet? Dan kan je de rente die je hierover hebt betaald terug krijgen. Dit kan door het gehele bedrag in een keer terug te betalen aan DUO.

4. Afschaffing studiefinancieringZoals de plannen er nu voor staan, zal je geen basisbeurs meer ontvangen wanneer je je in 2014 inschrijft voor een nieuwe Bachelor of Master opleiding. Het ‘sociale leen-stelsel’ zal de studiefinanciering gaan vervangen. Dit voor-stel is echter afgekeurd door de Eerste Kamer en ligt nu weer bij het Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetensc-hap. Zij zullen aanpassingen moeten doen betreft dit wets-voorstel, en dit voorstel opnieuw indienen bij de Tweede en daarna Eerste Kamer.

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Boys vs. GirlsFebruary is the month of love, so prepare yourself for a nice date! Have you ever wanted to look inside your date’s head? Do boys only stare at breasts? Do girls only like Romeo’s? Here are some answers of a ‘typical boy’ and a ‘typical girl’ from the Redakcie. Beware! These answers might not be suitable in your real life for your date who you’ve been dy-ing to go out with. What does a perfect date look like?Girl A perfect date has to be a romantic date, like a romantic dinner with candles and afterwards a walk in the park or even better, a walk at the beach at sunset. And of course the boy should pay the bill and open all the doors for me during the date. Boy My perfect date would be when my girl picked me up in a Ferrari F430 Spider, drove me to a nice restaurant (having at least 2 Michelin stars) for lunch and then took me skydiv-ing above the French Alps.

What is the sweetest thing you would do on a first date?Girl Kiss him at the end of the date?! But only because I want it and not because he’s expecting it. Boy I think I could give her a ride home on my bike... No I would be nothing but sweet to her off course!

What’s the most embarrassing thing to do on a date?Girl It’s really embarrassing for a girl when a boy is staring at her breasts all the time. So boys don’t stare at a girls breasts please! There’s more in life than just sex!Boy The most embarrassing thing to do on a date is obviously being gassy. There’s nothing worse than farting all the time when she’s telling a story. Right?

If you were to lose your power of speech at the end of the date, what’s the last thing you would like to say to your date?Girl Something like “It would be nice to see you again, and again”. But only when he’s cute.Boy If she’s hot: “Would you please marry me?” if she’s not: “Please go away before I scratch my eyes out!”.

What’s your biggest turn on?Girl Beautiful eyes into which I can drown.Boy A fine ass! Boys can’t resist it, it’s just in their nature.

Would you rather have a cocky or a shy date?Girl I prefer a shy date to a cocky date, but I would rather have something in between. A shy date who’s shy all the time is a bit awkward. So it would be nice if he could break out of his shell during the date.Boy This is a tricky question, because neither one of those date’s will be fun. If I have to choose, it would be a cocky date. At least she’ll have some interesting stories to tell.

When your date looks like ugly betty (or her ugly brother), would look for her inner beauty or go home?Girl I think I should give it a try, because beauty isn’t eve-rything, right? On the other hand a boy who is obsessed about how he looks isn’t the perfect date as well. Boy No brainer. I would go home.

How would you try to make your date laugh? Girl Just to be funny and take things with a grain of salt. And I’ll try to smile a lot, because smiling is infectious. So when I laugh, he will follow. Boy I would tell funny stories about my life. My whole life is a joke so..

If you feel that your date is starting to like you, what would you do?Girl I would try to make eye contact, be in-terested in what he is saying and be aware of little signs. But only when I like him too, because I don’t want to give him false hope! Boy I’d go in for the kill, seal the deal. You know what I’m talking about.

Would you compliment your date on his/her looks or point out the hidden flaws?Girl Compliment of course! Everyone loves to be flattered, so the best thing you could do is give him compliments. Boy Maybe boys can be rude sometimes. But I won’t make fun of my date in front of her, you save that for the boys in the pub. I would probably give her compliments even if it means lying.

Do boys only stare at breasts? Do girls only like Romeo’s?

I’d go in for the kill, seal the deal

There’s more in life than just sex!

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ContactStudy association Mercurius WageningenLeeuwenborch, Building 201 Hollandseweg 16706 KN WageningenE-mail: bestuur.mercurius@wur.nlWebsite: www.mercuriuswageningen.nlTelephone: 0317-485189 (Mon/Fri between 12:30 and 13:15)

Mercurius boardPresident: Simone RitzerSecretary/ Vice-president: Jurgen JansenTreasurer: Robert BeijersbergenDirector of Public Relations: Pleun van VlerkenDirector of Internal Affairs: Meeke RoetDirector of Education: Jorieke Vaanhold Director of Communication: Sanne Totté

CommitteesAcquisition committee – Pleun van VlerkenAxcie – Jamal RoskamBorrelcie – Angeliek VerdonschotFirst Year Committee (EJC) – Babs MatthieuLexcie – Mariska van VelzenLustrum Board– André van MeijerenMercurius Professional - Jorieke VaanholdRedakcie – Annemiek FlorissonSportcie – Els van Coeverden

ColophonThe Spam! is a periodic association magazine of study as-sociation Mercurius Wageningen. The Spam is published 3 times a year, plus an introSpam and smoelenboek for the new students.

Academic year 2012 – 2013Issue 2February 2013Circulation: 800

EditorsAnnemiek Florisson (President)Bas HoogenboschRianca ScheffelRobin Splithof Michel SteenbergenPieter van VelzenNina van WilgenSimone Ritzer (Board)

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