Yes, that's exactly what's wanted at this time of year, when the roads are busy, people are partying and, well, there are just too many other things to do. But there's never been a better time to log on to the National Blood Service and do something that's as amazing as they claim, as well as very easy – so please give blood.

I had been giving blood on and off for about five years - since I started riding a motorcycle (medics call us organ donors, such is the accident rate) - when I signed up to the British Bone Marrow Register. I'd read a bit about it, as you do when you're looking at the leaflets waiting your turn to be called from the waiting room in the blood donor centre, but I didn't think I'd ever be called upon to actually do it! Because bone marrow donation needs a pretty exact match - a very close DNA signature or something like that - and lots of people on the register never get called. (More often, the donor is a family member of the recipient, but plenty of those matches aren’t close enough).

Twelve months or so later, I was called. After another blood sample (Nurse - "It's just a little prick." Me - "There's no need to be rude!") was analysed and the match with the unknown recipient confirmed, I had a two hour interview with a doctor going through the process and making me aware of lots of risks so I could sign the consent form with full knowledge – the risks sound scary, but it’s a medical procedure so they always do. I decided to use the stem cell harvest method since I’m a coward and the sucking out of bone marrow from my back sounded painful! Finally, I had a check-up to show that the heart, lungs etc were all working fine and, praise be, they were.

A week or two later, a nurse visited me at home and injected me with drugs that promoted the production of stem cells – those little building blocks open the door to miraculous medical treatments that scientists are only just beginning to explore. After another blood sample was tested to see if I had enough stem cells coursing through my veins for the harvest, I was called to hospital and spent the morning with two lovely nurses talking about football, Trinidad’s carnival and how children drive you mad. I was four hours hooked up to the apheresis machine as my blood left one arm, had the stem cells spun out of it, and returned to my other arm. Did it hurt? For two hours, my observation notes read – comfortable, asleep, asleep, asleep.... comfortable – so what do you think?

I felt no ill effects at all, but had to do a couple more hours of the machine the next day to fill the bag sufficiently with stem cells. I had taken two mornings off work and was riding the bike the next day.

Four years later, I was contacted again – not for stem cells, but for white blood cells required by the person who already had my blood in them, as their body worked against their disease. That was just another gentle couple of hours on the machine.

My story of donating stem cells is as typical as any I suppose. There is a cost in terms of time, but not much, and it’s made as convenient as possible by the National Blood Service. There’s no real pain, though you do have to be prepared to have a lot of needles stuck into you – but they sting for a second or two, if at all. And some people ache a bit (I didn’t) but it’s nothing compared with the aches one gets even with a heavy cold. So it’s not quite true to say that, like one candle being lit from the flame of another, there is no cost to the donor, but it’s minimal when one thinks of the weapons one has placed in the hands of doctors in their fight against man’s most bitter enemy – cancer. I don’t know who got my stem cells nor if they’re alive or dead now, but I can imagine what it must have felt like when they and their family heard there was a match and treatment could begin. And I don’t mind saying that I feel good that I played a part in that.

So can you.   

From Kazi Haque, Vice President Education & Welfare

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Then I missed the deadline for an academic appeal.
Now there’s not even 21 Seconds to Go.
I wish I could Turn Back Time, but now
Nothing Else Matters.

There’s a good 3 decades of song titles and lyrics in the lines above, but music is full of life's lessons! Because whatever the issue is about, if you miss the deadline to submit an academic appeal, you will normally lose your chance of resolving the problem.

Remember, that you only have 15 working days (that is, 3 weeks) to appeal against academic decisions. The clock will start ticking as soon as you have been formally notified. Late appeals are only accepted if the University agrees that you had very good reasons preventing you from submitting your appeal at any time within the deadline.

You can download a copy of the University’s Academic Appeals procedure, which includes the appeal form,  from the University website.

The Student Union website also has guidance. You don’t have to do this on your own. If you’re not happy about academic decisions affecting you, you can always contact your personal tutor at the University to discuss options.

And for free, independent advice on the appeals process and any other problem you might have, you can see an adviser at the Students' Union. We are not part of the University, and can help you through the appeals process. Our service is confidential: we will not share information with the University unless you want us to.  So, do yourself a favour and contact us. It won’t cost you anything, and could save you from a trip with Elvis to Heartbreak Hotel.

suug.co.uk/welfare/academic

From Arun Thakral, SUUG President

Hello all you wonderful people of the University of Greenwich! I believe it’s a very a exciting time for some of you who have started university life. I hope you all are having an amazing time at the University.

Freshers is now over but don’t worry - SUUG is dedicated to work for you to make your time the best at university. If you’re looking for something new, you should try our brand new programme called Give It A Go which will give you a chance to participate in over 100 taster sessions, trips, workshops and other events throughout the year. If you are a sports person, join the different range of sports clubs as per your interest. If you feel like dancing try a traditional Bhangra dance through the new Bhangra society. We also has different course related, cultural and interest led societies.

SUUG is all about you, so chill, relax or party in your Union and make the most of your time. I believe the Sabb team this year is a very friendly and approachable team and we are dedicated in giving students a strong voice. You are most welcome to meet us anytime you feel like; we are ready to support you and advice you.

It’s an exciting time to get involved with opportunities of self development and gain skills that can be used for future employment. For example, you can become School Reps and represent fellow students. So, if you are a people person and want to enhance your leadership skills, get yourself nominated. For more information check out the Get Involved section on the SU website.

There’s MUCH MORE coming for you so STAY CONNECTED and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

From Mary Mazzilli, Representation Coordinator

We are in the middle of a gorgeous October and School reps nominations are in the full swing. This is great opportunity for all Greenwich students to gain fantastic, first-hand experience of how decisions are made and carried out at the University of Greenwich. You will be able to attend academic meetings and mingling with lots different kinds of people. Above all, you will become part of decision making processes.

For every 250 students there are two School Reps. School Reps are the voice of students and, together with Course Reps, make sure that students are heard at academic meetings and with University staff.

You might think, “this is too daunting” or “it’s not for me”...having worked with student representatives for many years I have seen students transformed by this experience as they gained confidence, self-assurance and charisma. This experience has even helped some of them in their job hunting later on. Furthermore, SUUG and I are here to support you each step of the way so that you have the right tools to make most of your time as a School Rep.

Nominations will close on Saturday 22nd October and voting will take place 24^th/25^th/26^th October with training dates coming up in November. So hurry up and do not miss out! Full details of the voting and nomination procedures can be found at suug.co.uk/getinvolved/schoolreps/ - you can read a full role description be clicking here too.

There’s also a referendum coming soon to adopt our proposed Memorandum and Articles of Association, which are required as a result of new legal and administrative requirements. These will bring no change to the Union’s work but your vote is important because you need to make sure that Union can function according to the new laws and regulations. Go to suug.co.uk/getinvolved/ref2011/ for more information.

If you have any queries, I’m around at the SU two days a week; give me a ring or drop me a line.

Mary Mazzilli
Representation Coordinator
Students' Union, University of Greenwich

If you go for a School Rep position, good luck, and most of all, Get Voting!

 

New academic year, new blogs! We'll be bringing you news and updates from all areas of the SU, starting with an update from Katrina Harradine, our Vice President Student Activities. She's got a quick question for you all…

FRESHERS...ARE YOU READY? You better be! Because that is pretty much all we are talking about here at the SUUG offices right now. If it's not the Freshers Fairs, it's the Sports Day or the events at Bar Lat and Sparrows. It's gonna be a jam-packed fortnight of madness and a time of your life you will never forget! 

Elsewhere, I have started planning for the year ahead, making sure sports teams and societies are ready and making plans for new events that will be happening this year. One is a programme of events leading up not just to the Olympics but the Paralympics too! So I went along to the International Paralympic day in Trafalgar Square last week and met some of the athletes preparing for summer of 2012. We also got demonstrations of some of the sports played. I watched the Basketball and then also some Table Tennis and learnt all about some specialised sports just for the Paralympics such as Boccia and Goalball. 

Unfortunately due to a jam-packed day of work I couldn't stay too long, but it has assured me that I definitely want to go and apply for tickets for the Paralympics. If you fancy getting yours too then it's not too late you have until 6pm on the 26th September to apply for tickets.

If you fancy getting involved or helping out at some of this years events at SUUG then send me a quick e-mail on .

Can't wait to see you all this week :D 

Katrina
Vice President Student Activities

With superinjunctions "stopping" us hearing all about that footballer trending 24/7 on Twitter and than there are people in all but a handful of countries, social networking has a claim to being the transforming technology of the early 21st century in the way that the motor car was the transformative technology of the early 20th century. The pre-social networking world may not have caught up with the revolutionary changes already underway, but have you?

How much do you use social networking sites and what do you use them for? Can it help you in your education, in making friends, in helping you make the most of life as a student? Or is it just hype?

Having lived most of my years in the pre-FB world, I can't imagine life without it nor Twitter these days. Not only does it allow me to communicate with friends scattered all over the world about sport, politics and art, it's a window that opens out on to some great material, both in the MSM (Mainstream Media) and in little corners of the internet where people do some extraordinary stuff. Follow X on Twitter or like Z on Facebook and all that is yours.

Probably my favourite aspect of social networking, is the discourse that has developed about maintaining friendships. I can hear nothing from someone for two years, then have an intense exchange of views about President Obama, cricket, the films of Hayao Miyazaki, anything and then not hear from them again for another couple of years - and nobody minds.

Do leave some thoughts below in the comment section and remember to follow your union on Twitter at and too.

 

 

That's me on the right. These days you can find me less often at Lord's and more often at the Cooper Building where I sit in Room 101 (yep, Room 101) and spend my time being Membership Services Manager. I've been there just over a month, so I'm still making mistakes, forgetting important stuff and getting lost in Quenn Anne (or is it King William)? Anyway, I'm lucky in having lots of kind and knowledgeable colleagues who help me out and get things done.

And the getting done of things is what my job is all about. Whether it's working with Rich and Kim to make sure that the advice we give you is right up to date and exactly what you need or working with Shakira on communications like, well, like this one and events like Freshers Fair or working with Beth to help SUUG to continue to win sports trophies and support vibrant societies or working with Peter to ensure that your representatives are representing you to the very best of their abilities, I'm there trying to make things happen. 

All of which only works if you tell us what you want - sometimes through your elected officers and sometimes more directly. I can't always promise to provide an answer to every question, but I can promise to try and, with the help of the team around me and the Sabbaticals, Mani, Dan, Salam and Srinivas, I can usually come up with something.

In my spare time, I ride my motorbike across South London and write about theatre, cricket, more cricket and other stuff and sometimes broadcast too. You can contact me via  and I hope you will.

 

From Dan Jones, VP Student Activities

September 2010 seems so long ago, and with so much having gone on with our teams, a review of the year seemed the only way to wrap up what can be described as one of the most successful years in our history.

The Freshers Fair in September saw a record number of students sign up for our Sports teams; so much so University of Greenwich entered six Football teams and four Netball teams into the university leagues and championships. Our committees were extremely busy organising fundraising events for their clubs and participating in Union democracy in the form of Sports Council.

As the fixtures started in October, it was evident that the season would be hard fought affair for all our teams.  Netball 1 battled most of the season with Middlesex for top honours, being pipped at the post in the league decider away at Middlesex following a thrilling draw at Avery Hill. Men's Rugby Union newly promoted team held their own in tier 3 and finished top of the league winning their cup game. This is marked contrast from their previous promotion push where they failed to get points on the board. As a result, University of Greenwich are crowned champions. In addition to this, Men's Hockey led the charge in entering two competitions - the BUCS league and the SESSA 6 aside performing admirably each week. They have their cup final this week.

Our largest club, Men's Football, had an up and down season. One of their achievements was the creation of a 6th team which played in the SESSA league. Although the team was made up of Freshers this did not deter them and finished above our 4th Team in the league. Highlight of the year for the Football Club was the SESSA Final where Greenwich Men’s Football won the cup AGAIN. In a hard fought game Greenwich won 4 - 1.

Team sport is important; however this year we have had a lot to celebrate in terms of individual success. Alim Mallassy (Business School) won the English Universities Boxing Championships, Kerry Ford (School of Education) and Preya Danshsea (School of Education) took gold at the British Universities Championships in Judo and Women's Boxing respectively and James Steadman (School of Education) took silver in British Universities Championship in Karate. James will be representing Great Britain at the FISU (International Student Championships) Championships in Podgorica, Montenegro form 15th - 18th July so all our good wishes go to James.

The biggest success of the year has to be last week when Greenwich took its largest contingent of students to Lloret de Mar, Spain for the annual sports fixtures against other British and European Universities. Our teams enjoyed themselves and managed to pick up 5 pieces of European silverware in the form of Men's Hockey, Men’s Football, Netball and Women’s Basketball, plus the most sought after trophy “Best University on Tour”. University of Greenwich beat 97 other Universities.

I would like to thank all the schools and university departments who have supported the Students' Union and the teams this year.

From Dan Jones, VP Student Activites

Wednesday April 6th - the day of 2 Finals. Men’s Football 1st and Men’s Rugby played in their SESSA Cup Finals, and what matches they were!

University of Greenwich Men’s Football 1st 4 – 0  University of Winchester
Men’s Football travelled to a neutral ground in Ilford to play the first match of the day - a 12.30pm kick-off against University of Winchester. The first half saw the sides evenly matched. Greenwich played well from the first whistle. Twenty minutes in captain Calum McGeehan pinged the ball to Jordan Samuel who cut in and fired an unstoppable shot past the goalkeeper, making 1-0 to Greenwich going in to half time.

The second half saw University of Greenwich switch their formation and continue to press the opposition, managing to keep possession of the ball. Calum McGeehan received the ball 25 yards out and fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner! The 2-0 score inspired the Greenwich side! Calum McGeehan and Kuz Solanki controlled the midfield, and Calum played the ball through to Liam Seeds through to fire the side 3-0 up. A mere 2 minutes later and again Liam Seeds placed a shot in the corner to win University of Greenwich the SESSA Cup in the last game of the season. The captain said “Every one played really well and Sam Hayes was solid in defence!"

University of Greenwich Men’s Rugby 3 – 0 University of Middlesex
Meanwhile Men’s Rugby also travelled away to neutral ground Barking RFC to face their familiar rivals University of Middlesex. The teams were very evenly matched against each other. A hard game ensued, from the first whistle to the final whistle. At half time, despite numerous close calls on both sides, the score line remained at 0-0.

Back on the pitch the nail-biting tension continued as both sides did all they could to find the break. Greenwich’s strong defence meant that Middlesex were kept out of the try area, even when they were at one point only a metre away from crossing it. In the last 20 seconds of play Middlesex gave away a key penalty. University of Greenwich stepped up to the plate and kicked to secure 3 valuable points. The captain said “Really good teamwork throughout the match, massive tackles from everyone. Overall fantastic result! Fantastic that a whole team can step up their game so much! Very proud! What a way to end the season!”

From Peter Ptashko, Deputy Returning Officer
SUUG Officer Elections 2011

The Students’ Union Officer Elections have been, and continue to be, one of the most important and engaging opportunities for students at Greenwich University to become (more) involved in the exciting work of the SU. This year was no different.

Our elections in the second week of March provided the perfect opportunity for students to change the way their union is run. We had interest from as early as the first term in standing for election, and training & support was provided throughout January and February.

We had 50 candidates, all of them enthused and excited – with a range of new ideas and tried-and-tested policies, all with the aim of winning office and becoming an NUS Delegate, Part-time Officer or full-time Sabbatical. A new record, this just proves to highlight how engaged students are in politics, campaigning and civil society in general.

The campaign itself was long and testing – 10 days of hard graft for all candidates, convincing students that they were the best men and women for the job; opening up the Union so that anybody and everybody can take part and engage in our activities.

When voting opened the results were a real testament to the strength of all candidates and campaign teams. Over 2500 votes were cast, beating the previous all-time record set last year, and a brand new team of student officers have been elected to run your union for next academic year, 2011/12.

But that isn’t the end. This is just the beginning of your chance to shape your union for next year. Get in touch with us or with your new officers over this Spring and Summer and have your say. We want to work harder and smarter for you. Get involved today!