News – Page 31 of 37

SU Blowout Lighting forces student into epileptic fit

6May

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SU Blowout Lighting forces student into epileptic fit

RHUL's SU Easter Blowout was more than one student bargained for. Before enjoying her night out, a girl alerted security that she was epileptic and requested for all strobe lighting effects to be turned off. The student union's technical crew were informed, but used an alternative method that still had the same effect on the girl. During Kanye West's Song "All of The Lights' the crew used bright lights to emulate the song: turning the lights on and off repetitively. This had the same effect as strobe lighting and forced the girl to have an epileptic fit on the dance floor. A member of SU who wishes to remain anonymous stated: "It was an unfortunate incident but we dealt with it the best and most efficient way we could. We will be sure to take precautions with the lighting and ...

6May

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Trollied: an Egham Pandemic

We've all made the painful mistake of buying too much food shopping when we've been to Tescos...then we visit the alcohol aisle. 1 litre of Bacardi is on offer and next thing you know you need big bottles of mixers - got to have enough for the house prinks - and your trolley is very full and very heavy. How will you carry all of this home? Even between two or three of you it's a struggle that your workouts at the gym don't seem to be helping. So why not just wheel the trolley home with you? It was your pound that unlocked it and therefore you may as well get adequate use from it, right? Well, there's a reason or two why taking the trolley home with you is not the most sensible idea. Are you really going to bring that trolley back to Tescos when you're done with it? No, you'll probably d...

6May

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Boris Bikes Destined for Holloway?

Royal Holloway’s Sustainability Society is undertaking an extremely exciting project, in a bid to bring the NextBikes Scheme to life. The scheme, were it to be implemented, would provide bike hire similar to that of London Boris Bikes. The German based company offering the simple technology, has already had successful schemes in the Universities of Warwick, Stirling and Strathclyde. The bikes are extremely user friendly, and can be hired using college cards, NextBikes cards or an app on your mobile phone. In addition to this, you can use the same card to take out bikes in countries around Europe that use the NextBikes Scheme. The bike racks are designed specifically for NextBikes and so limited spaces will not be an issue. Maintenance is also offered by a local company, and the bikes come...

6May

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Roadwork Chaos on Egham Hill

Road works on Egham Hill are proving problematic, causing congestion and making access into the university difficult. The works are situated on the A30 Egham Hill junction with St Jude’s Road, the crossroads heading into Englefield Green, an area heavily populated by students. Traffic can be seen queuing on a daily basis from the entrance to Virginia Water right up to set of traffic lights where the road works begin. The work is only in to its third phase and is due to stop at the end of May before the Magna Carta anniversary celebrations in June. Follow-up work is then expected to be carried out afterwards which will then only increase the congestion causing utmost inconvenience for student, pedestrians, residents, and drivers alike. The road works currently underway are aiming to w...

6May

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Reclaiming our Suffragette History!

At the general meeting on March 10th, a motion was passed to lobby the college to name the new library after one of our most famous alumni, Emily Wilding Davison. The new library on campus, due to open in mid-2017, remains as yet unnamed. The planning has been under way for some time now, with construction due to begin in the autumn of 2015. The build involves moving the college shop from its current position to an as yet, undisclosed location. Royal Holloway shares a proud history for women and the suffragette movement, being officially opened in 1886 by Queen Victoria as an all-women college with Bedford College, another former all women’s college. Emily Wilding Davison herself was a student at Royal Holloway College in 1891 after winning a bursary from Kensington High School, stud...

6May

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The truth behind the headlines.

At the end of last term the news broke nationally that a student of Royal Holloway, Zubair Nur, had gone missing, prompting Scotland Yard to launch an official investigation, fearing he may be en route to Syria to join extremist fighters. At the Orbital we were unsure of whether to publish the article detailing the little facts we had gleaned from limited media coverage, over Zubair’s disappearance. Other student and national publications have since received negative feedback online, with people accusing their writers of allowing racial and religious prejudiced views to permeate their articles, and of not conveying a fair story of what ultimately amounts to a desperately sad and confusing time for students who were friends of Zubair during his first term at Royal Holloway. In light of t...

31Mar

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#votebecause

A disappointingly overcast morning last Friday turned into a beautiful sunny day, perfect for the next aspect in Royal Holloway’s #votebecause campaign. Kim Deasy, the Press and Communications Officer, explained that they hope that the campaign will encourage students to register and use their right to vote in the upcoming general election. Today’s task was to spell the word vote using staff and students with an aerial photo, a creative and visually exciting way to involve lots of people in the campaign and raise awareness. I spoke to two students involved in the photo. Jing said ‘As an exchange student, to be part of it, to get involved in politics and activities, to prompt democracy, is worthwhile and brilliant’. Hannah, a first year, emphasised the importance of this campaign: ‘Young pe...

Family of Missing Royal Holloway Student Fear Escape to Syria

23Mar

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Family of Missing Royal Holloway Student Fear Escape to Syria

The family of a missing Royal Holloway student Zubair Nur, have alerted Scotland Yard, fearing he may be en route to Syria, after the College contacted them to report he had not attended lectures since January of this year. Nur, who started at Royal Holloway in September studying Petroleum Geology, is suspected to have flown to Turkey in an attempt to then cross the border into Syria to join ISIS extremists. In the weeks before his disappearance friends of the first year student became increasingly concerned after he began sharing posts on social media praising extremist leaders and ideology. Nur had been assistant head boy at his sixth form in Surrey, and those who knew him well say his recent behaviour was very ‘out of character’. The Daily Mail have reported that a full Interpol m...

Gender Neutral Toilets to be Trialled on Campus

16Mar

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Gender Neutral Toilets to be Trialled on Campus

Following their hugely successful LGBT+ history month in February, Royal Holloway’s LGBT+ Society have achieved another impressive goal in securing a pilot with the College which will see the creation of gender neutral toilets on campus. The College agreed last week to trial two sets of single stall toilets on campus to gender neutral toilets, these can be found on the fourth level of the Bourne Building and the ground floor of the International Building. The changes will then be reviewed in July, and providing there are no issues, all single stall toilets will then be changed to gender neutral toilets. The University has also agreed to discuss the creation of gender neutral toilets in the plans for the new library, and the new gym may also feature gender neutral changing cubicles an...

16Mar

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Bookies Raided in Englefield Green

Police are appealing for witnesses after it has emerged that the Bedfred bookmakers in Englefield Green was raided by ‘hammer wielding robbers’. It is reported that on Tuesday 4th March at around 7.45pm, two men entered the shop on St Jude’s Road, and threatened the Betfred employee with hammers, demanding cash from the till. The terrified employee proceeded to hand over the contents of the till, and the two men left shortly after. Surrey Police have released descriptions of the two men who are believed to be in their late 20s to early thirties, one of whom was wearing a balaclava and hooded parka jacket, whilst the other was in a grey hooded tracksuit with a blue scarf masking his face. The Police urge anyone who believes they may have more information on this incident, to contac...