4 Awards success for Jamie


Journalism student JAMIE ROWELL shares his experiences of working with a Chester-based online retailer and helping them to win an award.


JAMIE Rowell assisted Every- day Maternity to win the Best Independent Retailer award at the Prima Baby Fashion Awards 2010 through the use of socialmedia, suchasFacebook, Twitter and blogging.


“It’s been a great opportunity


tohelpout a companyinsucha greatway,andagreat chance to immerse myself in a situation that Iwouldn’t normallyput myself in and to thrive in it,“ said Jamie, 22, of the work- basedlearningprojecthedidas part of his Journalismdegree. “It’s also been good to aid


EverydayMaternity in becom- ing successful – especiallyas I have had very little experience inmaternity clothing retailing to say the least! “The experience allowed me


to use skills I’dgained in Uni- versity classes,such as being able to write a story or an article thatwould be interest- ing to awide audience,or Pho- toshopmanipulationskills,and transfer it into the workplace, which in this casemeant being able to advertise maternity clothing,make thepicturesand general layout for parts of the site look better,and to spread


STUDENTNEWS


‘Newpolitics’ hits airwaves oncampus


RETAIL HONOUR: Jamie Rowell.


the word about the website via socialmedia. “I also learned new skills,


such as how to efficiently op- timise awebsite to alloweasier navigation and searching, and also online retailing skills, whichcan be used in a lot of future jobs, so I’d say that the whole experience has been a goodoneforbothEverydayMa- ternity and myself,” he said, demonstrating how useful the University’s work-based learn- ing module is to students in developing and using personal skills gained during the de- gree. The award was decided en-


tirely by votes from an online poll, proving that the com-


STUDENT DISCOUNT AVAILABLE ON:


HENRY HOLLAND RED HERRING


ST.GEORGE BY DUFFER


WAREHOUSE OASIS


pany’smedia campaign across such platforms as Twitter, Facebook, Blogspot and email as well as search engine op- timisation to generate website hits andgetpeople returning to the website,was very success- ful as it generated plenty of votes and won the Everyday Maternity team the Best In- dependent Retailer award at the Prima Baby Fashion Awards 2010, beating strong competition. Other companies at the awards included Little- woods, Debenhams, andNext. EverydayMaternitywas star-


ted up in January 2007 by Amanda Gregson. This success has led to the


company being in talks to host a fashion shownext year.


As Britain comes to terms with what it means to have a hung Parliament, and Chester’s marginal constituency gained a new Tory MP, first year Journalism student JIMI WATKINSON recounts his experience on the front line of political discussion on the Chester campus.


THE day after the General Election, the University of Chester played host to grip- ping live radio debates in the Binks Building, while the fi- nal results were still coming in. Presenter Stephen Nolan and


the BBC Radio 5Live team held on-air sessions throughout the day, including a three-hour out- side broadcast that went through to the early hours. As the debates were going live,


staff, studentsandmembersof the public were invited to offer their opinions as keyannouncements were fed in from Downing Street and by the party leaders. Students’UnionPresident,Jam-


ie Northrop,picked up on elect- oral reformbeing a key issue and questioned the ‘representative-


ness’ of the current climate. When asked who NickClegg


should do a deal with, a theme that lasted all day, my suggestion was that he ‘should side with the Tories,as they got the largest share of the vote and the largest number of seats’. Passionate arguments tookover,


with views coming in from vari- ous aspects of society.Both Mr Northrop and Monica, a retired formerstudentpresident, thought thatClegg should listen to both sides and ‘go with the one that offers greater opportunity for de- velopment’. As the day progressed, there


werelivephone-ins fromtwoseni- orTorypoliticians, formerJunior Health Minister Edwina Currie (now a broadcaster and author) and former Chancellor of the Ex- chequer andHome SecretaryKen


Highlights of the year so far


As the summer term draws to a close, Chester Students’ Union President JAMIE NORTHROP shares the achievements of the hard working Students’ Union team this year!


JUST MENTION THIS AD AND SHOW STUDENT ID TO RECEIVE YOUR 10% DISCOUNT


BROWNSOFCHESTER (DEBENHAMS)


34-42 EASTGATE ROW www.debenhams.com


Changes and improvements across the campuses have in- cluded: ■ Text messages when lectures are cancelledwas trialled in cer- tain departments ■ Took students to campaign against increasing the price of tuition fees ■ More Chlamydia testing than ever before ■ Very successful SHAG (Sexu- alHealthandAlcoholGuidance) week ■ The most successful accom- modation fair to date ■ Wider rangeof nights in the Students’UnionincludingDead- beat


(Indie Night)/Acoustic


Lounge/Arcadian ■ Hired three newstaff inKate, Mike and Bev ■ Restructured how the Stu- dents’ Union is run–looking at governance and trustee struc- tures ■ Involvement in pressuring the University to redevelop the sporting facilities around the main campus ■ Assisted in more academic appeals,malpractice and profes- sional suitability hearings than


‘BEST YEAR’: Jamie Northrop has enjoyed his time at the helm of the Students’ Union.


previously ■ Set up a Students’Union pub- lication for the Chester campus ■ Provided moreprizes than ever forthird years taking part in the National Students Sur- vey ■ Brought Varsity over to the Chester campus and included a summer fete ■ More blood donor drives than in previous years ■ Playeda largepart in the QualityAssuranceAgencyaudit of theUniversityintheprovision of the Student Written Submis- sion ■ More votes than ever for ‘S’ Factor talent show ■ Raisedmoney forChildren in Need ■ Conducted themajority of the Student Academic Representat- ive training for the University ■ Relocated the presentation


Clarke. Mr Clarke managed to causeuproar fromthemajority of the roomas he branded electoral reform as ‘messing about like a sixth-form debate’ and said that all talks on the subject were ‘in- tensely boring’. Duringthecourseof thedebates,


manykeyfigures joined the panel including political expertProf John Tong, former Daily Mirror Editor David Banks, ex-BBC For- eign Affairs Correspondent and former Independent MP Martin Bell and deposed Liberal Demo- crat MP Lembit Opik, who re- ceived a few‘cheeky’ jibes! Discussions became so intense


and heated it became difficult to follow, especiallywhen Gordon Brown’s‘morality’ and ‘decency’ were called into question by a member of the audience forstay- ing at 10 Downing Street, saying:


President FROMthe end of June, Chester Students’ Unionwill have a newPresident for 2010/11. Name: Dechlan Jarrett Students’ Union position: Elected President, start the position on 28 June. Home town: Luton,moved to Telfordwhen 10, and been there ever since. Programme being studied: Sport and Exercise Sciences. What do you hope to achieve during your year in position? Stability, further integration withWarrington,


evening to abetter venueand made itmoresuccessful accord- ing to the feedback from clubs and societies ■ Introduced photos/trophy cabinets in the Students’ Union ■ Introduced a coffee machine in CH1 ■ Biggerbudgetandhigherpro- file acts for the Summer Ball ■ Attended the NUS national conference and involvedChester in every debate ■ Introduced arecycling cam- paign in Freshers’Week in part- nershipwith CheshireWest and ChesterCouncil andaidedinthe introduction of recycling on campus ■ Ran a campaign to register students to vote in the General Election and had aplanned for-


The new SU


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20