CONTRIBUTORS Thank you to all you lovely VOX people this month and all

months to come.

CONTENTS

4 news

8 guidance

10 culture

16 creative

18 think on this

Dome Sweet Dome Mi casa, UCAS-a Wonderf-Hull Live at Jodrell Bank Console Wars

A Frozen Mountain Chase

Morality Corner: Animal Rights

Lately there have been a lot of complaints about the recent building work taking place in the college. It has been difficult to ignore with the constant drilling and the limited access, so we wanted to discover what people really thought about the new up and coming dome. For both staff and students, the main problem has been adjust-ing to the confusing layout which has caused delays getting to specific blocks. Student Billy Hargreaves said “on my first day it took me 35 minutes to find my classroom and I was told off!” while student Deanna Myers said the noise “is annoy-ing when you’re in lesson”. However, it seems the staff have a more open-minded view of the construction work. Stu-

dent Service Worker Jamie Arm-strong said the noise can’t be that bad “as he can’t hear it in his sleep yet!” So while we can all agree that the work does seem to be causing minor chaos, let’s also remember all the good that it’s doing for the future and current students, as well as the dedicated staff here. Of course, the noise of drilling and the new extension of Hampton Court Maze is not just purely to make our lives all hig-gledy-piggledy, but to actually make more space for us, the students of the college. Once the new Dome has finally been built after we come back from the six weeks holiday, we shall have a whole brand new space to procrastinate in. And seeing as many people tend to drop

down for their lunch hour in any old corridor, this will get those people out of the corridors and into nice, comfy chairs. So, the end result should be

miles better than the room we

currently have, where rain

sounds like golf balls battering

the roof in an attempt to break

in and crash onto the heads of

the people down below. In com-

parison to the larger area to sit

and study, and a rather more

extravagant entry to the world

of Wilberforce College (and

hopefully better roofs), the here

and now is getting us in a very

sticky situation and it is some-

thing which we can only hope

will get better in the new term

to come!

Laura Cross, Bronwyn Hawkins &

Holly Strachan

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Dome Sweet dome

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Beforex x x 5

Ah the Dome. After weeks of renovation

work, the central point of the college is open for students. How you were missed during your makeover! The Dome has certainly improved over the summer and student, David Beech says the new-look is “spacious and welcoming”. The students of Wilberforce College can finally use the space to so-cialise, study and snack away from the crowded canteens. Seating became so sparse dur-ing the construction work that students had to eat in corridors because they could not find a seat. However, the split-level Dome allows plenty of students to have a seat at the busy lunch-time. And of course, the quick and uncomplicated routes to the

different college blocks are available again. No more limited access, hurrah! They always say you never know what you have until it’s gone. The ease of get-ting from one area of college to another was seriously over-looked. The old, unlevelled decking area is gone along with the wonky tables and chairs which have been replaced with sophisti-cated wooden bleachers and warm carpet. The innovative seating in the Dome is a very popular feature, with many stu-dents favouring it as it offers space to relax. Also thanks to the new roof, the draft has left the building, and students can actually remove their coats without feeling the bitterly cold winter temperature. The Dome is now able to be cool enough for the hotter days (which are few and far between) and warm

enough for the chillier autumn weather. The balcony is a vi-brant socialising area to catch up with friends with its comfy chairs and coffee tables. The boring furnishings may be get-ting a facelift however, as stu-dents were questioned what furniture they would most like to have. Although the Dome’s new look

has received lots of positive

feedback it seems the table ten-

nis is what sealed the deal. The

table is rarely unoccupied and it

often gathers onlookers due to

the competitiveness of the stu-

dents. Perhaps a tournament

should be arranged?

Overall, the refurbishment was

a brilliant success and is well

liked by both students and staff.

Bronwyn Hawkins

AFTER!

.

“wonky tables and chairs which have been replaced with sophis-ticated wooden bleachers and warm carpet”

Ahhhhhh! A2, the year UCAS becomes your lifeline, your ab-solute everything, your worst enemy! University of Hull, Uni-versity of Lincoln, University of Bristol, University of Manches-ter, University of Leeds, Leeds Trinity, Leeds Metropolitan... how do you choose!? How many UCAS points do I need to go here? What’s the accommodation like? How far is it? How much is it? So much to consider; the most earth-shatteringly important decision of your life so far. A colossal tower of prospectuses build up in your room, with the ones you picked up for a free pen laying the foundations (i.e Harper Ad-ams University?), and the ones you’re actually considering forming the pinnacle. You have to choose the correct course for yourself and this is easy if you want to pursue David Beckham studies at Staf-fordshire University (yes it actu-ally exists). However, if you’re sane and want to study some-thing ‘normal’ there are trillions of degrees and adventurous career paths to choose from. Picking the right one is the first step to a great uni experience. Then there’s that small issue of funding. Awaking at night, in a cold sweat, from nightmares about money! Will I be broke? How much am I entitled to? Do I get a bursary? What even is stu-dent finance? Well the ‘bloody government’ actually get my flourishing praise as their policy is basically that anyone can go to uni no matter what your demographical background is.

So, you can actually put finan-cial matters to the least of your worries – you will be funded! The hardest and most stressful part of your university applica-tion is writing your personal statement. Hours of staring at a blank screen, waiting grievously for you, but you just don’t know how to start. You have to sell yourself, but you don’t want to sound like a jumped up arrogant fool. What are you good at? What skills do you have? A job? Why the course is right for you? All in 47 lines, 4,000 characters!

Jack Roe

Visit open days... Anywhere and every-where just go check it out and see if it is right for you

Get as many pro-spectuses as possi-ble...They’re free! So just order them from any university web-site. But be careful because they will ob-

viously be biased.

Spend days (!) on the UCAS web-site...Every course can be viewed on this website and is the only place where you

can easily receive an overview of any course.

Be realistic...You may not be able to go to your chosen university without getting the required grades/

tariffs. So if you are predicted 3 Cs, but you need 3 As, you may have to reconsider your options.

Sally Scholes ...What

a legend! Sally will

help you in looking for

the perfect course for

you; she knows every-

thing about finance; will help

you with your personal state-

ment and can tell you more

than you even wanted to know

about university life.

Sally can be contacted at:

ses@wilberforce.ac.uk

OR just pop in to her office in

the Careers Centre—which can

be found in the library.

Mi Casa, UCAS-a!

1

Top Tips

2

3

4

5

9

L iving in Hull, you may be quite shocked to learn that your city has been

shortlisted for the title of ‘City of Culture 2017’. Apparently, if we win, £11 million of funding will be injected into Hull, mak-ing a huge difference to the city’s prospects and putting its name on the map nationwide. So what do we have going for us? Well, over the years the city has reaped in the titles, with highpoints including Number One on the ‘Crap Towns’ and ‘Worst Places To Live’ lists on many occasions. Maybe it’s the “smell of death” emanating from the drains in the city cen-tre that puts people off, or could it be the hordes of chavs swarming the streets every time you turn a corner? Whatever it is, I really don’t see the prob-lem; I mean, we have the unique feature of white tele-phone boxes which really makes us stand out… But don’t forget our special telephone box, courtesy of Hull’s golden boy Luke Camp-bell. When he struck gold in the Olympics, the city went wild. ‘Arrrrl of ‘ull’s bearnd yer,’ we cried, our splendid accent shin-ing through as bright as his medal. There was so much hope for humble old ‘Ull, to the point that even Peter Levy had some-thing decent to talk about for a few weeks. When it comes to sports we have something to our name: Olympians (although nobody’s heard of our shot putt guy), two rugby teams

(probably the thing residents get most passionate about) and a Premiership League football team (only just). When we think of Hull and cul-ture, our minds always leap to our very own toad man – Phillip Larkin. But do any of us even know anything about him, apart from the fact that he’s a poet, and, err, something to do with toads? Despite this, we still found ourselves hunting for all of the splendid sculptures dot-ted about the city– when they were here. All we have left now is a bunch of old fish carvings to hunt around town for, seeing as somebody sold the sculptures. What a shame. Speaking of fish, one of our main landmarks is the giant fish-tank which stands proud, over-looking the great, rolling Hum-ber. The Deep: a genuinely fan-tastic architectural landmark for the city, complete with octopus. Home to hundreds of breeds of fish, it’s as shocking and awe-inspiring as a trip down Prinny Ave on a Saturday night. Oh, Hull, you do us proud.

Our city may be tainted with years of poor media coverage, labelling us as the crime-ridden obesity-capital of the UK, but to be fair to us, it’s not all that bad. You just have to dig deep and search for the small things which really make us unique. I’m not talking patty and chips, the bad internet connection, or our accent. I’m talking culture. William Wilberforce. Amy John-son. The Housemartins. Spiders From Mars. Hull Fair. The 300+ bands that nobody knows ex-ists. The list is longer than you think. The competition is tough. We’re competing against Swansea, Dundee, and Leicester. But there’s still faith. What makes us any lesser than them? Yes we’re marred by a bad reputa-tion, but as true Hullians, we all know that a sudden rise to fame is still a possibility at this stage. You never know. Roll on the results in November, they could be wonderf-Hull!

Lucy McClean

Mark Page (left)—proprietor of culture and local music at stellar event Humber Street Sesh 2013 (Picture from HDM),

Wouldn’t it be...

Wonderf-Hull!

The sun was beating down over

the hundreds or possibly thou-

sands of people milling through

the gates of Jodrell Bank, cata-

lysing the electric atmosphere.

The observatory not only visu-

ally but physically had much

more to offer than the obvious

headlining acts, with a big

screen showcasing the Wimble-

don final, unique information

stalls and the explicit Lovell sat-

ellite being the focal point of

the area.

The first three acts of the show

were local Manchester musi-

cians, ranging from solo singer

Jake Evans (guitarist in Bad Lieu-

tenant), to high energy elec-

tronic dance group The Whip

and new-wave newcomers Hot

Vestry. All three artists had the

crowds reeled in, attracting

such attention from audience

members that they could have

been holding their own one day

festival. Boisterous three-piece

The Whip were the last of the

local lot to play, setting the

standards for the other highly

anticipated groups, whipping

the crowd into a sweat-fuelled

frenzy.

In the run up to the second half

of the show, kicking off with

Public Service Broadcasting, Dj

Tin Tin was entertaining the

masses with classic Manchester

anthems, particularly with the

die-hard Stone Roses fans in

bucket hats and baggy tees.

Avante-garde duo Public Service

Broadcasting drew in a crowd

who seemed to be very in-

trigued by their public informa-

tion video samples, paired with

their own electronic and drum-

ming melodies. The visual back-

drops were captivating, transfix-

ing everyone in view of the

stage..

Pint-sized

Smiths legend

Johnny Marr

swaggered out

to an already

highly charged

audience and

ripped straight

into The Right

Thing Right,

taken from his debut solo album

The Messenger, even receiving

welcoming applauses from

those unfamiliar to this new

material. The main highlights of

Marr’s seemingly short set list

included smashing out some

classic Smiths hits, particularly

How Soon Is Now, sending the

audience wild with his verbose

guitar riffs digging out the older

generation’s 80′s memories.

A surprise guest appearance

from Bernard Sumners took

place towards the end of Marr’s

set, as they reformed Electronic

to play Getting Away With It. As

exciting a collaboration as it

was, the pair delivered a very

mediocre version, but this did-

n’t faze the crowd nonetheless.

Jodrell Bank

LIVE AT

Faye Parrish regales us with tales of a summer well spent this month; a festival with a twist—Jodrell

Park brings together music and, as Jesse Pinkman would say, science b***h!

As the burning sun began to set

and the Lovell satellite slowly

rotated round to be aligned

with the stage, it felt like the

two movements had been prac-

tised to synchronised perfec-

tion, creating a real sense of the

hard work and thought put into

making the day feel like more

than your average outdoor gig.

To be in such a small field with

such big acts also gave the im-

pression that each audience

member had been cherry picked

by the organisers to attend such

an event.

New Order took to the stage

with the accompaniment of En-

nio Morricones’ Ecstasy Of Gold,

establishing their headlining

title alongside Bernard Sum-

ner’s quip: “I’m not sure if we

need to be introduced or not”.

The band wasted no time as

they broke out into Crystal, a

New Order classic. The lighting

and visuals took the audience

right back in time, emulating

how the gigs would be back

when they were freshly rejigged

as New Order after Ian Curtis’

untimely and harrow-

ing death.

The gig almost re-

sembled one of a

‘greatest hits’ style

performance, which

the crowd were

clearly lapping up, particularly

Bizarre Love Triangle with

Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Mor-

ris’s co-ordinating synthesised

beats and Blue Monday, the all-

time dance favourite. Although

this was the song to provoke

the most reaction from the au-

dience, it wasn’t executed as

well as it could have been, but

still proved to be a big hit. After

around two hours of energetic

electro pop from the back cata-

logue of the Manchurian five

piece and some atrocious danc-

ing on behalf of Bernard

Sumners, the group exited the

stage for several minutes before

coming back out to play an ad-

mirable Joy Division filled en-

core. The backdrop changed to

the iconic Unknown Pleasures

artwork as the bass of Tom

Chapman began to tremble its

way into the introduction of

Transmission. Sumners even

mastered the vocal style of Cur-

tis, pleasing the overjoyed

crowd even more. A lack-lustre

adaptation of Love Will Tear Us

Apart may have failed to im-

press some, but overall had a

SCIENCE

FACTS (stranger than fiction)

H K ! The observatory was estab-

lished in 1945 by Sir Bernard

Lovell, who wanted to investi-

gate cosmic rays after his work

on radar during the Second

World War. It has since played

an important role in the re-

search of meteors, quasars,

pulsars, masers and gravita-

tional lenses, and was heavily

involved with the tracking of

space probes at the start of the

Space Age.The observatory

is a place of learning, teaching

and research for the many en-

gineers, astronomers and stu-

dents who develop and use the

radio telescopes there.

Information courtesy of:

http://www.livefromjodrellbank.com/history/

magical effect on those still

holding onto the last memories

of Joy Division and ended the

spectacular show in the typical

New Order fashion.

Faye Parrish

W ar began be-tween two heated rivals. The dark empire

of Microsoft began to rule over the galaxy, sending fleets of restrictive online DRM and daily 24 hour check-ins. They opened fire upon the world, first shattering people’s dreams and then dragging loyal sup-porters to the electric chair to grill them on their love of sec-ond-hand games. But the Empire did not antici-pate the arrival of the Rebel alliance, Sony. They flew down towards the Death Star’s ex-haust port and sent thousands of missiles down the PR throat of Microsoft. Reeling from the explosion, Microsoft had to

execute U-turns similar to that of Darth Vader deciding to chuck the Emperor into an end-less pit. And so it has indeed begun. The console war has opened with competing re-leases drowning people in jaw-dropping visuals and gameplay. E3 2013. A memorable moment for Sony when they could claim their console is the best. Offer-ing unrestrictive policies similar to all the other consoles they’ve released in the past. However, bringing out very lit-tle in terms of triple-A exclu-sives, such as Killzone: Shadow Fall, the 18-rated shoot ‘em-up where 10 year-olds can scream ‘n00bs’ at one another while peppering enemies with an M82 Assault Rifle and chucking

C4 in people’s faces. Sequels were very much on Sony’s agenda, with announce-ments of ‘Infamous: Second Son’ but no mention of ‘Uncharted’. The only real thing keeping the PS4 afloat is the amount of in-die titles available. Sony allows self-publishing of titles, unlike Microsoft where you have to get published by someone that will take a deep cut of all prof-its. In Microsoft’s case an indie de-veloper has to make a choice: get a publisher and get your game published on the exclu-sive Royal Variety, which is the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and

Console wars&

The cloud. The touted power of

ultimate processing which gives

you MORE POWER! This is the

only clear thing standing above

the more powerful capabilities

of the hardware in the PS4; the

offer of a console which is a

controller for a super-god

called the Cloud, allowing big-

ger worlds and more powerful

graphics.

I’m ashamed to say it but, ‘Dead Rising 3’ is a pile of zom-bie @#&! It has moved on from its humble beginnings as a comic hack ‘n’ slash, where it was possible to run at the un-dead wielding a paddle with chainsaws attached. Now, it’s become gritty, mean and dark. Even more unconvincing is the ability to use your Smartphone to call an airstrike from the digital gods. And you can bomb zombies while out and about, making the previous difficulty level a lot easier. Terrible. But it was not all bad from Mi-crosoft. A new ‘Killer Instinct’ was announced for fighting fans. There was also a brand new shooter ‘Titanfall’, a mash-up between ‘Crysis’ and ‘MechWarrior’. And my per-sonal favourite, ‘Project Spark’, a game within a game, a sand-box where you can create pretty much anything ever and share it with your friends, or play maps others have created such as a ‘Limbo’ style game or play a sodding piano.

Kinect 2.0 is a mandatory part of the newly named Xbox One. You get to dance about while the US government spies on you, despite Microsoft being all about the privacy, apparently. The inclusion has affected the price drastically for both the Xbox and the PS4.

Now, the price point. Xbox One will release for £499 and the PS4 will cost £399 in the UK. You may be balking at the price point of both of the consoles but at the release of the previ-ous generation both released at a similar price. It all depends on what you think of as value; to have the same specs and features on a PC you would have to pay at least £1000 to match the new consoles, but what of the £100 difference? Well, you get a camera and more exclusives than the PS4, but the PS4 is cheaper. If the next-gen battle between Microsoft and Sony isn’t for you, buy a WiiU. Enjoy your LSD filled ‘New New New Super Mario Bros’, ‘Mario Kart 23’ and the smatterings of ‘The Legend of Zelda.’ Or just get a PC...

Tom Day

lose some of the profit gained, or, publish your game on the Wild West Wasteland which is the indie section— a place re-served for Minecraft clones and Zombie 8-bit games. Microsoft’s PR department did-

n’t really see the writing on the

wall after the shocking,

‘#Xboxreveal’ which was un-

believably dull. Announcing

that you can play a game,

watch Star Trek and Skype

your mum - AT THE SAME

TIME - was particularly unin-

spiring. Announcing EA

Sports Games which haven’t

changed for at least 5 years,

and another Call of Duty about

a dog, just added insult to in-

jury.

After the terrible reveal from Microsoft they announced at E3 it would be all about the games. Oh boy, we got games. An odd start to the conference, Snake (from Metal Gear Solid) riding on a horse, speaking in a different voice in what seemed like a western theme from ’Red Dead Redemption’ and some parkour from the cash cow ‘Assassin’s Creed’. We were already suitably impressed. before realising it was available to the PS4 as well. 1-0 Sony. In a series of self-humiliating episodes from the Empire of Microsoft, they announced Forza 5 by opening a draw in the floor with, ‘Bullseye’s’ prize reveal to showcase the McLaren P1, a car you will never own because there are only 2 in the whole world, yet you can drive it in this new game using a hardly immersive simulator all working due to the godly power of the cloud.

“But the Empire did not anticipate the arrival of the

Rebel alliance, Sony.”

17

U p high in the unfor-giving peaks of the

desolate mountains, in the midst of a blizzard of snow blowing in from the ice-locked Glacial Sea and across the harsh lands of the Northern Ice Plains, two figures rode on horseback. One was a short fellow, riding on a skinny grey mare which was scrambling along the icy jagged edges of a sheer drop into the darkness be-low. He desperately rode a few hundred metres ahead of his pursuer, a larger, more powerful-looking man on the back of a muscular black stallion, which was further be-hind and plowing though the blanket of falling snow, trying fervently to catch up. The black stallion was strong and heavy, and was pushing and shoving his way through the snow with ease, keeping to the great mountain face where the snow was thicker but the ground was safer. But the grey mare, who was quicker and more agile, was picking her way down the mountain by the paths less covered in the deep snow, precariously balancing on

the edge of the mountain cliff. The snow and rocks she was walking on were falling away at her hooves, but she was gradu-ally progressing further and fur-ther away from her pursuer, descending down the mountain-side by jumping and springing. Twice she almost toppled over

into the ravine, as the blinding snow and the darkness made her vulnerable to every boulder, dip and twist the mountain had to attack her with. The two men were not so lively; they were frozen in their sad-dles, weighed down by their thick, winter furs which had turned almost solid due to the bitter cold. Attempting to hold on to the reigns of their horses, they continued on into the storm which was battering and blowing their horses all over the cliff top, seemingly with whis-pered malice intended. Suddenly, the man atop the

black stallion, ignoring the

fierce, biting winds and the fro-

zen temperature, reached for

his bow, and for an arrow from

his quiver, strung the string

back with numbed and blueing

fingers and fired into the night,

as though this was his last

chance to catch

the man he was

pursuing. The

arrow whipped

past his target

and was car-

ried off into

the tall

mountain peaks

by the winds. The pur-

sued frantically dug his

heels sharply into the grey

mare's side, pushing her on

faster, until eventually their per-

secutor disappeared from their

sight.

They did not know whether the

man and his stallion had stum-

bled and fallen over the edge,

or if they had just gotten so far

away that they had vanished

behind the elements. Either

way, the pursuers were lost in

the storm and the night.

Holly

Strachan

A Frozen Mountain

Chase

Want to submit your work? Here, at VOX, we are open to your suggestions,

pitches and ideas. If you want to submit an article or get involved email:

voxeditor@wilberforce.ac.uk

Each month we

want to bring to your attention

some life and morality issues; to encourage con-

templation that will go much deeper than asking simply if it is right or wrong? We want to know your opinions! This month’s topic is Animal Rights and Welfare:

Courtesy of The Daily Mail) Lady Gaga took the controver-sial decision to wear multiple fur pelts at London Fashion week. High end fashion design-ers seem to treat wearing a dead animal on your shoulder as something blasé, among these being Burberry and Alex-ander McQueen. Between the years 2010 and 2011, the UK sales figures for pelts have in-creased by a staggering 30% as it becomes ever more fashion-able. So what do you think? Is it right to wear fur, either as a fashion accessory or for practi-cality in the cold? Or is it mor-ally wrong? Are there strong enough reasons to cause pain and harm to innocent crea-tures?

In the political world, a govern-ment decision to begin culling thousands of badgers is still planned to go ahead, after a campaign from The Badger trust failed to succeed in bringing justice to the situation. The gov-ernment justified the decision by stating tuberculosis is spreading to cattle through the badgers, the two culls planned will kill around 3,400 of the ani-mals in an attempt to tackle the

disease. The trust has said that the idea in question would have no meaningful contribution to the illness, but farmers in con-trast are happy about the deci-sion. Last year, 26,000 cattle had to be slaughtered after catching bovine TB, so killing the badgers is the last resort. The cost of the losses in cattle due to this problem was a stag-gering £91m. Are you in favor of the government’s decision? Or is it interfering with nature? How would you react if you were a farmer who had lost cat-tle and money?

On a more positive note, from the 24th-30th September is Na-tional Anti-Shooting week, a campaign run by AnimalAid, the UK’s longest running animal welfare charity. They say: “This year we are targeting newsagents that sell gun maga-zines – such as WHSmith – to persuade them to move such publications to the ‘top shelf’ and to impose an over-18 age limit on their purchase.” They hope this will discourage young people from taking up the sport for fun, the covers of the magazines featuring chil-dren standing next to dead ani-mals, or holding them up with a grin on their face. By bringing the issue to people’s attentions, perhaps a change will be made to the number of animals, such as pigeons and pheasants, that are bred in the millions every year for the purpose of being shot for people’s entertain-ment. But it is right? Should we bring life into this world only to kill it after a short period of time, as proof that we can kill?

Or are they that inferior that we have a right to do as we please with them?

Linda Goodman of C.A.R.I.A.D. (Care and Respect Includes All Dogs) is doing just that, in pro-test over the terrible suffering which occurs in puppy farms across the world. She began this extreme demonstration on the 15th September and will be iso-lated for a week. Dogs-r-us.org say “Every day in the UK a dog is killed every hour in council run pounds”, so she wants to highlight the horror of this is-sue, and show how a human would fair in those conditions, replicating the fear and anxiety which they feel on a regular ba-sis. Most of the puppy farm dogs are sold in newspaper ad-vertisements and pet shops without the buyer being aware of where they come from. Would you buy a dog from a puppy farmer, knowing what they are put through? Is it nec-essary to keep breeding dogs when there are so many rescue centre’s full of animals waiting to be found a home? Do you think that Linda’s actions are too extreme, or very effective?

Emma Wadforth