Loughborough Students' Union
Encyclopedia
Loughborough Students' Union (otherwise known as LSU) is the students' union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...

 serving members from Loughborough University
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

, Loughborough College
Loughborough College
Loughborough College is a college of Further Education in Leicestershire, England established in 1909. It is located opposite Loughborough University on Epinal Way, and adjacent to the Loughborough University School of Art and Design, situated next to the main entrance of the college...

 and the RNIB College Loughborough.

The Union is unique among British universities, in that its premises are owned by the students themselves. The union building sits in the North-Eastern corner of the campus, and consists of two floors.

LSU employs 300 students, out of a staff of 400, and has an annual budget of around £2 million, around half of which results from the Union's commercial services. The Union is managed on a day to day basis by the Executive, with scrutiny from Union Council, chaired by James Carroll.

History

Loughborough Students' Union was founded in 1975 following the resolution of a dispute arising from the disparate nature of education in Loughborough. Its founder president was David Dixon who held the position in 1975-76.

The Union of Loughborough Colleges

Established as an umbrella body to represent the students of Loughborough College of Technology, Loughborough College of Education, Loughborough Training College and Loughborough College of Art and Design, The Union of Loughborough Colleges operated from Rutland Lodge. Over the first half of the 20th century the ULC acquired land which has continued to place its successor unions in a unique position.

Loughborough University of Technology Students Union

With the splitting of Loughborough College in 1965, and the College of Technology's subsequent application for University status, LUTSU was created to represent the students of the University. At the time the legislation which enabled the creation of the University was understood to require an autonomous Union. LUTSU was created with the approval of Loughborough University of Technology
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

's Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

 by the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

 in 1966.

LUTSU operated from the Edward Herbert Building (EHB) at the centre of the campus, and hosted concerts with artists such as the Rolling Stones. During the first 3 years of the new institutional arrangements there were various disputes over who owned the land acquired by ULC, which the continuing ULC wanted to sell to fund their own new building. Negotiations led by the University resolved the dispute in August 1975, when LUTSU and ULC merged to form Loughborough Students' Union.

Loughborough Students' Union

Following the merger the construction of a new students' union building began, although this project was placed in jeopardy by the liquidation of the building firm employed, almost leaving the building unfinished, however the building was completed and opened by Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....

 and Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....

 on 20 February 1979

Student Department Committees

Loughborough Students' Union has established student run committees in the majority of Loughborough University
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

's academic departments. The role of these committees is to aid academic-student liaison, enhance academic feedback, increase course involvement and to enhance the Loughborough experience within the departments.

Sections and Student Involvement

The students' union is a centre of activity during the daytime. Along with Loughborough University's numerous sports clubs the union hosts and organises many other activities, clubs and societies catering for a wide range of interests. At the beginning of each academic year the Union Bazaar is held to allow students, especially new arrivals, to talk to existing members of these clubs and societies and to provide an early opportunity to sign up.

Loughborough Students' Athletic Union

See also Loughborough Students RUFC
Loughborough Students RUFC
Loughborough Students Rugby Union Football Club is the rugby club that represents Loughborough University in rugby union competition. Of the British universities, Loughborough has unparalleled success, having won the BUCS championship on twenty seven occasions...

.


Loughborough Students Athletic Union is steeped in history and has a tradition of sporting excellence, exhibiting a history of dominance across a number of specific sports such as rugby union
Loughborough Students RUFC
Loughborough Students Rugby Union Football Club is the rugby club that represents Loughborough University in rugby union competition. Of the British universities, Loughborough has unparalleled success, having won the BUCS championship on twenty seven occasions...

. Loughborough has dominated the University sport for 30 years and having won the Men's British Universities and Colleges Sport championships for the last 26 years, and the women's competition for the last 28 years.

This success is celebrated through a number of channels, not least the weekly Wednesday Hey Ewe event and Lufbra WOW (Walk On Water) which is a monthly sports publication documents Loughborough's sporting success. The Athletic Union has three full time staff members and one sabbatical officer, the Athletic Union President.

Lougborough Students' Action

Action is the main volunteering section of the Union and is a vital in improving the relationships with the local community. Approximately there are 2,000 active volunteers a year, undertaking a wide range of activities, such as going away to a Kids Camp for a week, assisting in special needs schools, running one day sports events for 200 children and helping conserve Outwoods, the local forest, by chopping down trees. The Chairperson, a sabbatical position, is elected in a campus wide ballot, with the Action Chair for 2010/11 being David Cox

Societies

LSU runs numerous clubs and societies catering for many different tastes including hot air ballooning
Hot air ballooning
Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet , the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view...

, SCOGUI (Scout and Guide club, affiliated to SSAGO) and Labour Students
Labour Students
Labour Students is a student organisation affiliated to the British Labour Party.Membership comprises affiliated college and university clubs . Membership of Labour Students is through membership of a university or college Labour Club. Affiliation is open to any Labour Club generally supportive of...

. In 2007, Sabrina Johnson, the first Sabbatical Officer with overall responsibility for this section, was elected.

Since then, SOCFED or the Societies Federation has been set, which is the collective group of societies, similar in nature to what the AU is to Loughborough Sport.

Loughborough Students' Rag

The Rag
RAG (student society)
University Rag societies are student-run charitable fundraising organisations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Most universities in the UK and Ireland, as well as some in South Africa and the Netherlands have a Rag...

 office is responsible for organising, encouraging and supporting charity fund-raising amongst the union's members, and is the largest of such organisations in Europe, raising just over £974,000 for local and national charities in the academic year 2008/09. The Chairperson of the organisation is elected via a campus-wide ballot as part of LSU's Spring Term exec elections. He or she is tasked with co-ordinating the busy Rag calendar, which includes Rag Raids, Annual Events and Challenge Events; activities every weekend. The Chair for 2010/11 is Maddy Buckley.

In June 2010 it was revealed that the total for the year's fundraising was £1,042,126, once again braking the previous years total. This prompted a question from Loughborough MP
Loughborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Loughborough is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 Nicky Morgan
Nicky Morgan (politician)
Nicola Ann Morgan is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Loughborough.-Background:...

 to David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

 at Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...

 on 14 July asking:
The Big Society
Big Society
The Big Society was the flagship policy idea of the 2010 UK Conservative Party general election manifesto. It now forms part of the legislative programme of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement. The aim is "to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building...

 is a flagship policy of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 which makes the question a 'plant' for the Prime Minister who took the opportunity presented by his backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...

 to highlight the policy and its objectives; as well as congratulating the students involved:

Loughborough Students' Media

The students' union has its own purpose-built multi-media centre, opened in 1999, it is home to union's media activities which are coordinated by an annually elected sabbatical officer
Sabbatical officer
A sabbatical officer is a full-time officer elected by the members of a students' union , commonly at a higher education establishment such as a university...

, this year (2011/12); Head of Media, Anie Davis. Previously to this £1.4m development media was spread in various locations, including LCR which was for almost 30 years based in a small set of studios in the Student Village adjacent to the Purple Onion cafe. The Media section provides a number of services for the students on the campus and gives volunteers the chance to experience media work. Since the role's creation in 2007 the Head of Media's responsibilities are aiding the station managers of LSUTV and LCR and being Editor in Chief of Label. The four production outlets are:

Loop Recording Studios

Label Magazine the magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 of Loughborough Students' Union. Evolving from a previous newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 format inventively titled The Newspaper, Label Magazine was launched in 1997, and is notable for its debatable editorial independence
Editorial independence
Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising clientele....

 from the union itself. Previously a weekly publication, since 2007 it has been fortnightly.
The magazine launched its website in 2010 at [www.lufbra.net/label] and has had major stories about the Ashley Cole shooting, Live Updates from the London March and an investigation into the legitimacy of the 2011 Exec elections.

Loughborough Campus Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day during term time on on its website [www.lufbra.net/lcr]. One of the oldest student radio stations in the UK, LCR started as pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...

 broadcasts from a suitcase in Hazelrigg Hall of residence, during Rag Week 1970. Known as Radio Mule - a small station with a kick it had become so popular after 3 years that the students voted to turn it into a legitimate station, over a student magazine. URL (University Radio Loughborough) was born, and went live on-air in 1973, the name was changed to LCR in 1983. Initially broadcast through induction loop
Induction loop
Induction loop is a term used to describe an electromagnetic communication- and detection system, relying on the fact that a moving magnet will induce an electrical current in a nearby conducting wire. Induction loops are used for transmission and reception of communication signals, or for...

s on the roofs of each hall of residence, it was one of the first UK student stations to move to the new free radiating low-powered AM licence
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...

 in October 1999, with webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...

ing starting later the same academic year. In 2007 the AM transmitter was severely damaged in a fire, and LCR have continued to be a solely internet station since. At the 2010 Student Radio Awards, LCR picked up the Silver award in the Best Student Station Category. 2010/11 saw LCR have some fantastic shows, notably, The Official Start to the Weekend, BUCS Live, The Saturday Sports Show and Bedtimes with Ben and Friends.

LSUTV was established in 2001 as an expansion of the Media Centre, broadcasting online and via SUBtv plasma screens
Plasma display
A plasma display panel is a type of flat panel display common to large TV displays or larger. They are called "plasma" displays because the technology utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases, or what are in essence chambers more commonly known as fluorescent...

. It works at a professional level and as an independent production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...

, and produces news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...

, sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 and documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 alongside what The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

 describes as one of the best student programmes, Totty TV. LSUTV has been extremely successful on a national level at the NaSTA Awards. In recent years, Ore Oduba and Sam Darcy have collected Best On-Screen Male, Loughborough Gold has scooped Best Sport and Best Title Sequence and LSUTV's coverage of the Real Varsity in 2008 picked up Best Live. In 2011, LSUTV was the host station for NaSTA. Held in the Piazza area of Loughborough Students' Union, LSUTV scooped Best Sport Programme for a second year, for Loughborough Gold and their coverage of the Dan James Memorial Match in May 2010 won Best Live Programme.

Facilities and events

There are a range of retail outlets in and around the Student Union building. The first floor incorporates the Administrative parts of the Student's Union. The ground floor of the Union building consists of three bars.

Free Fest

Free Fest is an annual free-to-attend outdoor music concert originally organised by the Union's Musicians Society (known as Musoc), which takes place all day on the May Day bank holiday
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....

 weekend. Originally conceived in 1996 by the then editor of the student magazine Label, Emily Dubberley
Emily Dubberley
Emily Dubberley is a British author and journalistspecialising in sex and relationships. She founded women's sex website in 2001 and went on to found Scarlet magazine in September 2004, editing the first ten issues before becoming editor-at-large...

, as a simple May Day music festival with professional acts, it was enhanced in 1997 when Musoc began to use it as a showcase for student bands. It is now organised by the Technical Department's student production crew.

Competition for inclusion in Free Fest is always high, as such it has become necessary to hold Auditions and a Fringe Festival has been added to encompass more acts, this takes place during the penultimate weekend before the main Free Fest. In 2006 around 10 bands performed at Free Fest, including the only non-student act Carlton Cole (who has become something of an institution at FreeFest) and guitarist Dave Rogers. In 2006 Post Fest, an alternative music club night held in Room 1 following the bands, which was originally conceived and run by LSU Rocksoc, was taken over as an official part of the event and featured a wide variety of music from one of LSU's resident DJ's.

Past Freefest Headliners:

2000: Splitscreen

2001: Gentlemen's Relish

2002: Magenta

2003: Disinformation

2004: Love Ends Disaster!
Love Ends Disaster!
Love Ends Disaster! are an experimental indie rock band, heralding from Nottingham and Loughborough, England.-Career:Love Ends Disaster! formed whilst at University in Loughborough and Nottingham...

 

2005: Threadbear

2006: Dual Decay

2007: Gonzo Long

2008: Dead Slow

2009: Apache Outlaw

2010: Snakeskin!

2011: The Alice Band


From 2009-2010, FreeFest was a two day event, starting on the Sunday. The 2009 event was also the first FreeFest to restrict attendees to drinks purchased from the Union. However in 2011, due to a desire to save money, the event was toned down, back to being more like the original stage-on-the-back-of-a-lorry event as well as only being held on the one day.

March 2007 shooting

On 11 March 2007 a shooting incident occurred at around 2.45am following a performance by Pretty Ricky
Pretty Ricky
Pretty Ricky is an American R&B/hip hop group originally made up of Diamond "Baby Blue" Smith, Spectacular Smith, Corey "Slick 'em" Mathis, and Marcus "Pleasure P" Cooper. In 2007, Pleasure P left the group to pursue a solo career...

 at the university. A 21-year-old student at the university, who was employed as security staff at the event, received gunshot wounds to his abdomen and was taken to hospital where his condition was not believed to be life threatening. Six others were also injured during what was described as a scuffle that broke out after CS gas was sprayed following the event.

At the conclusion of the case at Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

 Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

 in April 2008 Jermaine Carty was convicted of attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...

 and possession of a firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...

 with intent to endanger life, and sentenced to 14 years in Prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

. The court also heard that Carty was a leading member of the Johnson Crew. Carty was not a student at the University.
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