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New on Victoria Street- The MAD(ness) continues

Hanrured — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:18:45 +0000

With PwC and Deloitte not even having the chance to bring forth the audited results of MAD 2012 – Stellenbosch campus has already turned into mayhem with the annual spading or in old-school Afrikaans – ‘gatkrap’ between male and female residences and PSO’s. Last week we were shunted onto our knees, pens shoved in our hands and were forced to make a cross at the block for our forthcoming MAD-partner.

(Tip: if ever wanting to impress a male residence to garner votes, it would be wise not to sing in high school cheerleading voices – your residences’ name co-infused with your MAD partner at 07:30 on a Thursday morning… This leads to diminishing in voters of all who went out the previous night. Rather bring the guy coffee in bed; a Rennie or go spoon with him, but a hangover and an unexpected extraordinary high pitched alarm is similar to the feeling a single girl gets when she reads her best friend’s facebook status about how she loves her boyfriend.)

…

My father taught me a magnificent lesson of admitting when something bothers me – I do not like the name MAD and so forth in my capacity as writer of this article – I now rename it back to JOOL… (Call me old, but this whole MAD name is earnestly maddening).

….

Long forgotten the thoughts of the unanticipated second-year-in-a-row Eendrag (and Huis Francie?) victory, the epic fail of March to Madness, the “huge” amount of money raised for charity and the lost opportunity to celebrate victories with JOOL partners, this week we were taught the worthy life lesson of moving on…

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if JOOL partners were chosen similar to the national lottery? I reckoned this would be an objectively fair manner in deciding who teams up with whom. It just gives everyone an equal chance. Imagine persons such as Nimrod Nkosi and Amor Vittone coming through to Stellenbosch one Wednesday evening and pressing a big yellow button… The SR could make a whole event out of it – You get famous DJ’s to clash with locals such as DJ Moosa, each notable club/pub in Stellenbosch with their own floor in the Neelsie… Bohemia at the bottom, Nu Bar in the movies, Tollies in the middle, Mystics up top… You get Russel Bothma to have a rap battle with Pokkel… Unlimited punch… Free Parking (unbelievable!!!)… Debates between LesbiGay and Dagbreek HK’s… How mind blowing won’t that be? R10 entrance and I can guarantee you will have collected more money than all residences and PSO’s did in their 2012 campaign for charity…

It is a gamble for most residences, but what are the chances a PSO like Silene will ever team up with a residence such as Helshoogte or Oude Molen with someone such as Heemstede? You never know where you going to meet your trouman/vrou – a lottery will definitely help us see that there is more to Matieland than our neighbours and fellow classmates.

The point to this article is simple… shouldn’t we open our minds to different ideas? It is so easy to get stuck on pride and to stay in these self-created comfort zones that we forget to take risks… This same principle applies to things that aren’t working… An alternative should be found for events such as March for Madness, when SRC representatives say that the only thing that can be done is to support the committee the following year, they should be slapped in the face.

Bring back the ‘geldbeker’, bring back an event such as Trollies and most importantly…bring back Soen in die Laan!

Hanru Redelinghuys

Photo: http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/mad-cartoon-network-20100819-111521.jpg

New on Victoria Street – Stellenbosch is Going To Hollywood Baby!

Hanrured — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:32:52 +0000

It’s been a while since my previous article. It’s as if I just returned from a writer’s hiatus and that this possibly could be considered to a certain degree – a comeback article. What to write? Nothing significant has happened that jumps to mind the past few weeks. The only notable thing to perhaps mention is the slaughtering of students in the final week of term by form of tests. A couple of times I imagined our lecturers watching video footage of various test venues while snickering at our torture – but this doesn’t exactly deliver a stimulating feeling which leads to this comeback being any of a success…

So I let my mind wander and imagined how University life would play out in a Hollywood movie… I immediately thought of Minerva and that they would be casted in the movie Cinderella as Cinderella herself. In my 3 years as student, we always believed it was the ladies from Sonop or Harmonie who were considered to have inherited the beauty gene – but to our surprise, this year Minerva definitely fits into Cinderella’s shoe. At Dagbreek they advertised a VicMeyr cluster skakel a couple of weeks ago as a Minerva skakel to get numbers. One of the Minerva first years even won the Stellenbosch round of Ms Varsity Cup which adds to the confirmation for them being selected as lead role and which led my imagination to our next blockbuster:

Sleeping Beauty – this role would definitely be landed by Heemstede. “Beauty”: because Ms Varsity Cup is ultimately only about looks and “Sleeping” because Heemstede forgot to submit their entries for the competition. I know Heemstede has a vast collection of beautiful young women, but perhaps they didn’t want to show off their crop this year, I wouldn’t know…

The music department would undeniably do Glee – if you have never had the experience of the conservatorium then you certainly haven’t experienced university life in full. There is every type of person, every type of scandal – yet everyone knows one another and everyone gets accepted… One would easily find characters to fill a couple of seasons.

Historically being stereotyped as being the residence with the most nerds, I reckoned Eendrag would be casted in the series – Big Bang Theory. They might be nerds but in the end they usually end up as your boss with a higher income and with their wife being hotter than yours… Life does sometimes suck…

Then I thought of sorority movies such as American Pie or a TV series such as Greek to be given to a residence such as Monica or ISA. One Thursday evening our section; “die Onafhanklike Republiek van Klipdrif”, had the privilege of practicing our golf skills in the streets of Stellenbosch with these two lady res’s and it turned out to be an evening one would only imagine seeing on television in America. Students often underestimate places such as De Lapa and their fish bowls (which would definitely be recommended to start your evening off as it almost guarantees an eventful one.) as well as the generosity of clubs such as Nu Bar, they really endeavoured to make our evening as memorable (or unmemorable the next morning) as possible – I mean R10 for a double on our evening isn’t a price you would find many places on earth.

The 3 sisters – Erica, Nemesia and Serruria, I see playing in a movie such as Bridesmaids (they all publicly proclaim they get along, but do they truly?), the Art and Drama departments doing the Harry Potter series with Mystics as Hogwarts, Metanoia doing “She’s the Man” as it is the only mixed residence and Nerina possibly playing Paris Hilton in House of Wax (Paris undoubtedly being famous, but not really fitting into the movie scene). I even imagined the engineering faculty playing the role of the guy that was scared of the sun in Benchwarmers, as engineers don’t usually come out of their upper campus territory.

But where am I going with this? I honestly don’t know and it will probably take less time trying to figure out what goes on in Financial Accounting 378 than the time it will take to find a fitting conclusion for what is truthfully actually a pointless article, so I will say this… Life is an experiment, life is short, and life can be taken away just like that. So keep living it… Find balance between your social and academic life. Go into this new term without wasting time on unnecessary things – do stuff which you enjoy, which you will remember one day and which are worthwhile…

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Mahatma Ghandi

Hanru Redelinghuys

Maybe it is time to change with the season…

eeden — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:48:01 +0000

I turn my back for one little weekend and Stellenbosch has gone from summer to autumn. Not complaining at all though, I actually find it quite comforting to walk around in boots and a jersey. The new season allows me to go grab a coffee at Café Go without dying from heatstroke. Yes, autumn is my favorite time of the year.

If you are a very observant student, you might have picked up the youth’s latest trend, to attend class wearing nothing, but hot pants and spaghetti strap tops. I have heard some ugly sayings and comments via twitter. Some even stating that and I quote, “@Skinnepop Ah, Stellenbosch – hoerbroekie hoofstad van Suid-Afrika.”. Now, if you are Afrikaans that is quite an observation. None the less, I find it to be true. So many times have I been tempted to bring my Nikon to campus with me, to capture these “hoebroekie” wearers; I might just receive a couple of dirty looks. I have decided not to do so.

Now you tell me, does one get appropriate campus wear? Are there specific campus ethics regarding clothing? Or are there no boundaries as to what outfit one puts on in the morning. On the bright side, Stellenbosch University remains a very stylish campus. How can we not be, with all these French influences, the vines, the mountains and all the cute little boutiques lurking beyond every corner and alley? I think we should consider ourselves lucky to be studying in this breathtaking environment of ours. Just imagine how it would be to study in the middle of nowhere, like for instance, Potchefstroom? I think not.

It is time, my dearest readers, to embrace this beauty… To live the StelliesJol lifestyle with all that is within us. How many times have we walked past the vandalized statue on the Rooiplein and just refrain from doing anything about it? No. I think it is time to start having respect for this beautiful campus of ours. Even by starting with dressing more appropriately? Or maybe by convincing your fellow res brother not to go trash Sonop’s front door. I don’t know. You’ll know what to do.

New on Victoria Street – Neelsie (Time) Bomb

Hanrured — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:42:38 +0000

Like a Helshoogte guy cheating on his girlfriend in Sonop – this week I was slapped in the face with reality that it is already March. Mathematically this means we are already a third into the year (for those who don’t expect to have any rewrites). And it’s a tad bit incomprehensible to think that some of us will be receiving our degrees in a few months …

News on Victoria Street:

This past week I read on Facebook of the hatred of a Simonsberger towards Wilgenhof. His friend went the previous night (of the status update) and squealed the forbidden you-know-what… (Hopefully I won’t get thumped off my blog with a baseball bat for mentioning the word “Bekfluitjie”)… So my question is – where is the boundary? If someone is under the influence, it is somewhat understandable that the person will look for an adrenaline rush when walking down Victoria Street. But who is actually guilty? May you protest for getting hit by a Wilgenhoffer when shouting “Bekfluitjie”? As it is a sensitive thing for Willows to be called a Harmonica and one should never unnecessarily mess with a man’s pride. Logically I compare it to someone knowingly having sexual intercourse with a HIV positive person – are you subsequently going to hold the person liable for giving you aids? Yet the person that gave you the Aids is also guilty – even when both were aware of the consequences… or not?

Tollies still has a line every big town night and is certainly taking the award for “preferred place to go out the night” … One brilliant marketing scheme I have picked up on is, the choice in sponsorship – Tollies currently sponsors Simonsberg – the residence that possibly parties the most during their university career than any other. You can’t expect a club like Terrace to sponsor Eendrag neither the ladies from Lydia, they would probably end up making a loss as they aren’t recognised as “town animals” …

Then, Neelsie was dubbed to be “the bomb” this week with its bomb scare – even the library suffered early closure… looking back, this event gave rise to a bomb scare in my own life and that this time bomb is continuously ticking away getting nearer to its detonation… If you think about it, it feels like yesterday that we arrived in Matieland and was forced to attend that unbelievably ‘entertaining’ welcoming by the rector at Danie Craven Stadium – now, I’m in my 3^rd year, almost about to start the real life. Thinking about time flying away – what have we achieved this year that could be considered remarkable? Even the expulsion of Julius Malema from the ANCYL was inevitable… Maties is (as in the past) winning all their games, we still can’t find parking and petrol is still rising… It’s all the same old…

“Life is what happens while we busy making other plans” – I’m not saying you shouldn’t study for tomorrow’s test – as HEMIS will come and stab you in the back, but when you sitting in Bohemia, drinking their infamous boksie wyn, you shouldn’t worry about the headache you will wake up with the next morning, when attending Varsity Cup – you shouldn’t get annoyed with the circus clowns who endeavour to turn rugby into a primary school athletics event, but you should savour every moment you have here. As far as you know, your bomb could go off tomorrow and then all those times in which you were not enjoying yourself was squandered…

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” Matthew 6:34

Hanru Redelinghuys

(Interesting to note that the Neelsie bomb scare did not receive an ounce of sensation that the MOJO week scandal did… just saying)

The Design Indaba 2012

Admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 14:29:29 +0000

The highly anticipated DESIGN INDABA Expo 2012 is once again a thing of the past for the year of 2012. Buyers, creatives, artists, designers, fashionista’s and photographers can return to their normal, everyday lives and most importantly, catch up on some sleep. After being part of such a massive collaboration, I actually now understand why people made such a big hoo-ha about it in the past.

Hundreds of nights and thousands of hours’ work have finally paid off and a feeling of success, whether or not “discovered”, was reached. It got me thinking… Were all of these exhibitors satisfied with the outcome? Were some exhibitors a bit unsure whether or not they were ready to enter this extremely critical world? The creative world can be very honest sometimes. Like Heidi Klum likes to say, “One day you’re in and the next day, you’re out.” It is such a true phrase and actually made me appreciate the pieces of art and design even more. Do we realise how hard they actually work? Being in the creative field is a 24 hour occupation and a constant reminder to “Keep up with the Joneses”. Yet, it is necessary for a creative to be individualistic too. To be unique and to have a sense of style, that emphasises that person or “brand” as a whole, is essential.

Do not at all think that Stellenbosch University is not featuring. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the illustrative books the University’s Visual Arts students were producing. I felt so proud and honoured to be part of such a thriving University that I thought it is important that the rest of campus should support the department more often. I’ll keep you updated as to when the next exhibition will be. All of us have a creative side to our brains. They key is to find that something to trigger it. Be inspired, Maties, be inspired.

Eeden la Grange

New on Victoria Street – University Sex Scandal

Hanrured — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:24:11 +0000

SCANDAL!!! News24, tweets on twitter, walls of facebook, posts on MySpace, front page of every newspaper – Die Burger, Rapport, Huisgenoot – YouTube even had it as the most viewed clip on its’ site until removal yesterday…

UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH SEX SCANDAL

Sensationalism: [sɛnˈseɪʃən^əˌlɪzəm] – the use of sensational language, etc., to arouse an intense emotional response

I’m no journalist, but I’m guaranteed a headline as such would have been on every lamp post on the rooiplein and it would have been the big break I was looking for. Why??? Cause it sells… It is what people want to read, it is what people react to, and it is what people go on about in their free time when they could have changed the world or themselves?…

The week that just passed we paid witness to MOJO (Maak Oop Jou Oë) week, MOJO with the objective of creating a culture of critical thinking, awareness and tolerance. With public talks, campaigns and exhibitions to name a few, Stellenbosch University students set out to change the minds of the “hush hush culture that prevails in post-apartheid South Africa”.

Honestly, I consider this initiative a respectable one but I feel it was a bit overshadowed by the gigantic media frenzy going on about a certain house committee member of a male residence and his opinion of homosexuality – This, a truly brilliant example of sensationalism; it is just so easy to use a single sentence to “arouse an intense emotional response” about a sensitive topic. It reminds me of the trailer to the Crazy Monkey movie, in which they state that (you can’t say) “it is the best movie you will ever see” (until you have seen it) – By removing a few words before and after the quoted line, it has a deceivable different meaning. But everyone is so quick to always jump on a bandwagon and next day in every newspaper you read about a single line taken out of context.

But back to the MOJO campaign, the sensitivity of talking about issues won’t change in a week. I reckon they should rather invest money in initiatives that target children in primary schools or even younger, at that young age the seed of forming an opinion is planted – if you tell a 6 year old kid that black people are worthless, he will believe it… this is the root of the problem – not university students who can’t speak about sensitive issues… and to tell the truth, the people who the campaign aim to change probably didn’t even pitched to the events…

When thinking about it realistically, MOJO week shouldn’t be about opening your eyes to what is out there, (I am certain every single university student is able to acknowledge that there are individuals whom don’t share the same viewpoints, are of different races or have different taste in choice of romance to themselves) but MOJO week should be about finding out who you are as an individual and accepting yourself. If you do not accept the person whom you are, then you will constantly be finding fault in others. By pointing a finger at someone else, you point 3 back to yourself, same with MOJO – First look in the mirror before going out, only then will you find true satisfaction in life…

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone

John 8:7

Hanru Redelinghuys

New on Victoria Street – Cupid and his Valentine

Hanrured — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:32:41 +0000

As a Paul Rooser of old, Valentines Day was the day that Rhenish and Bloemhof annually paid us a visit. All excited as only a high-school boy could be, we exchanged roses, letters and the air was filled with warmth… This was certainly one of my much-loved days.

This year we will yet again have the honour to celebrate a romantic evening on the grass banks of Nerina with Stellenbosch’s favourite local band “Kaleidoskoop” performing, and their lead singer expectantly doing another incredible rendition of (possibly the most appropriate song for Valentines) “Kiss Me”… The year 2012 is also a leap year, which means the ball is in the ladies’ courts… So this year it’s the gents who will be under Cupids chokehold…

At Maties I would have imagined this day to be synonymous and complementary to the controversially discontinued “Soen in die Laan” which takes place in spring (fortunately the SRC don’t have jurisdiction to take this day away from us)… but nonetheless, 14 February is the day couples love and singles despise…

While writing this article I tried to figure out what the true meaning of this day ought to be. For the past couple of years my love life has been somewhat similar to that of the Namib Desert, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I cannot partake in the days’ events. The significance of this day is one which symbolises a festivity of love, something that shouldn’t merely exist between lovers, but also between family and friends. As our nation has a shortage of jobs, I believe our society has a severe shortage of love and fellowship. Why should we be uncomfortable to express our love to the people closest to us?

So what will this day have in store for you? Will you be one of the singles who will go watch the half-price Ster-Kinekor movie and indulge a Zebro’s burger special or will you be one of the fortunate ones spending time with a special someone either at the botanical gardens next to Harmonie and Monica or sit at lovers point appreciating the view of the mountains with a bottle of wine? I reckon if there isn’t someone special in your life, don’t let that hold you back – take a close friend and enjoy the evening with them… It is indeed a day we should show love…

Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrong – Proverbs 10:12

Hanru Redelinghuys

New on Victoria Street – Vensters (March) to Madness

Hanrured — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:42:51 +0000

If Rihanna’s ‘We found love’ or Avicci’s ‘Levels’ wasn’t dead before Vensters, then it was guaranteed to be killed on Thursday night. A very observant mother even asked her first year son whether the songs used in the dances were prescribed. (Unity rather than individuality is probably a key factor right?)

News on Victoria Street is that Nerina & Helshoogte put on a very impressive spectacle, Eendrag had a mind-blowing techno dance which involved costumes resembling something straight out of a Black Eyed Peas-video, Harmonie & Pieke ingeniously turned Vensters into Windows XP, and Dagbreek & Heemstede definitely knew they were sexy in their take on LMFAO’s ‘Sexy and I know it’.

Particularly attention-grabbing moments at Vensters included the new PSO Olympus & Academia, whom decided to leave a traditional backdrop and used video screens to play clips during the show; some didn’t even have a backdrop at the end of the evening as the wind ripped apart that of Venustia … We also noticed that Serruria & Vesta had a Justin Bieber scene, which was very similar to that of Lydia & Dagbreek in 2011 – good to use what worked in previous years, right? Nonetheless, it was certainly an entertaining evening and word on the street has it, that at least 1 700 tickets were sold.

Then came Saturday morning’s entertainment, in the form of the new ‘March for Madness’ … With very little anticipation, but using Vlotte as our form of reference, we were miserably disappointed. From terrible marketing (no maps indicating routes or times), the traditional ‘Carnival’ grounds (Die Braak) being left open (however, I must mention that the MAD²festival at Van Der Stel was worthwhile), and to top it off – awkward silence as participants passed by … I could not imagine it being a bigger waste of time … What was it supposed to be? Vlotte without Vlotte?

Communication problems between the Mad²committee and certain participants also resulted in (at least) one Mad²partner being excluded – Denneoord & Kolonieshof; not being aware of the day’s events at all – sent all their first years home and thus losing all points awarded to the days’ event.

I reckon, honestly, it might have thought to be a decent alternative to Vlotte, but in future it must genuinely be brainstormed and implemented better. Perhaps Vlotte can be on a smaller scale – like decorating a ‘trollie’ instead of a truck? Just an idea … Otherwise I don’t see ‘March for Madness’ having a long shelf life. (By the way, could someone maybe inform our office what happened to the so called “Madness”?)

Closing impression of the week is that, it was entertaining and we savoured it exhaustively. I still believe that the last year of the Mayan calendar will be one of much potential.

Rest assured – there will still be countless stories …

Hanru Redelinghuys

Photo: VNeS Photography [Harmonie & Pieke Vensters 2012]

Boutique Beer Festival

Admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:19:02 +0000

The Woodmill Music Market presents a

Boutique Beer Festival

A selection of Micro-breweries will present their style of beer all under one roof.

Venue:

The Woodmill, Vredenburg Road, Stellenbosch

date and time:

FRIDAY

3 February from 17:30pm – 10:00pm

Tickets: R30

Includes a beer glass and 5 tastings.

limited tickets available:

Phone 0786257388 to purchase or visit the woodmill friday night market.

www.thewoodmill.co.za

2012s most anticipated albums…

gary.arendse — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:12:03 +0000

We all know that 2011 was the year of Adele as she took over not only the Billboard top 200 album chart, but also the singles charts. Due to throat surgery however, she won't be releasing any new material until 2014/2015. This only means that 2012 will be seeing new artist dominating the music industry. Here's a few of those artist and there much anticipated albums.

Madonna

The "4 Minutes" singer announced in 2011 that she will be releasing a brand new album early 2012. It is finally here as her first single titled "Give me all your lovin" featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A will drop early February. The new album will be titled M.D.N.A. We are surely looking forward to this.

Nicki Minaj

After the success of her first album "Pink Friday", the "Fly" singer decided to release a second album titled "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded". It was however set to be released mid Feb but the date was moved back to early April. She has released a new single "Stupid Hoe" which will also feature on the album.

Ke$ha

This chic has been on the down low since the release of her last single "Blow", but according to her producer they are working hard on new material which will be released mid year. They will however focus on having ballads rather then tunes such as "Tik Tok". I'm not sure Ke$ha's the ballad type though.

Lady Gaga

Her third album "Born This Way" has only been out for about 8 months, but already she is working on new material. According to the "Judas" singer, her new material will be more like her first songs. Those would be "Pokerface", "Just Dance" meaning that she might dominate the charts once again.

Live From The Field

gary.arendse — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:52:11 +0000

South Africa’s Brand new pop sensation : Toya Delazy

Someone new has hit the stage on South Africa’s pop scene and we are really feeling it. Toya Delazy is a Joburg based artist who came on the music scene in October 2011 after releasing her debut single “Pump it On”. The song was produced by the producer, Johnny Deridder and Jax van Heerden who is also responsible for the creative tunes of Jax Panik.

The album that is still untitled will be released in early 2012 and is one of the most anticipated albums of the year. The single also started charting on various radio stations including 5FM and KFM. The single also received a music video, supporting the success of the track. The video was done by Star Productions and produced by Adam Thal and directed by Tristan Holmes. The music video is plain, but still delivers a punch with some special effects.

Delazy became known after her breath-taking performance at the 2011 African Concert which was broadcast over the entire continent. We are excited to see more material being released soon by this artist as it can only get better. Who knows, she might even get recognition by international record labels. Keep it up Delazy, we have been waiting for our own pop sensation for some time.

New on Victoria Street – (Welcoming all) first years…

Hanrured — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:01:34 +0000

Hanru Redelinghuys

As the new generation of students are steadily settling into Matie life and the senior students are progressively flocking into town we bring about a new chapter in our lives. What can we precisely anticipate from University in 2012? Will the reactivation process of our student cards again be filled with technical errors? Will each university residence live up to their stereotypes of prior years? Is Simonsberg yet again going to have nightly housemeetings in Terrace and how successful will the new club Casbah be?

News on Victoria Street is that the Tollies of old is back, have eradicated that infamous “good night” smell on their floors and should once again be a commendable contender for preferred place to go out the night. This Thursday’s upcoming Vensters event is promised to be filled with Rihanna’s “We found love”, LMFAO’s “Sexy and I know it”, Avicci’s “Levels” and Coldplay anthems. And according to some first year gents (that wish not to be mentioned in order to hold peace with their MAD2 partners) – Minerva’s “Klingels” have been tipped as being the most beautiful first years, perhaps the “Slakkies” from Serruria or the “Ditte” from Heemstede haven’t been recognised yet? I wouldn’t know – all I know is that 2012 is going to be one hectic year for all, filled with numerous banks on the Rooi Plein telling us they make no profits on student accounts, many surprises, pain and hopefully mostly filled with much joy.

Novartis “Reflections” Advertising Campaign

tomtom — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:19:36 +0000

What an awesome ad campaign! Love this!

University bosses still rake in millions

Admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:02:36 +0000

Johannesburg – The heads of the country’s public universities continue to rake in millions of rands in salaries despite government’s promise to cap their pay.

Professor Malegapuru Makgoba of the University of KwaZulu-Natal is the highest-paid serving vice chancellor in the country, with a salary of more than R3.4m a year.

Until his retirement in December 2010, the University of South Africa’s former boss, Professor Barney Pityana, was the highest paid at R3.7m.

Controversial former Mangosuthu University of Technology vice chancellor Aaron Ndlovu was previously the highest paid – at R3.68m six years ago.

The University of Johannesburg’s Professor Ihron Rensburg’s salary of R3.3m is not far behind.

Makgoba and Rensburg earn more than their boss, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, who earns R1.9m a year.

Even President Jacob Zuma (R2.5m) and his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe (R2.2 m), are paid less than many vice chancellors.

Though the University of Pretoria has more students than the University of KwaZulu-Natal, its vice chancellor, Professor Cheryl de la Rey, earns R2.2m – about R1.2m less than Makgoba.

Unisa is the country’s biggest university, with about 300 000 students.

The University of Pretoria has more than 57 000 students while the University of KwaZulu-Natal has about 42 000.

Top universities

Rensburg’s institution has about 50 000 students.

Only Cape Town (ranked 103), Stellenbosch and Wits feature in the 2011/12 Times Higher Education’s list of the world’s top universities. Stellenbosch and Wits are in the top 300.

In another list, the 2011 QS Top 500 Universities, the University of Cape Town (UCT) is at 156 while Stellenbosch makes it into the world’s leading 450 universities.

However, UCT’s Dr Max Price and Professor Loyiso Nongxa of Wits both earn R2.2m, while Professor Russel Botman of Stellenbosch University is paid R2.4m.

UCT has about 25 000 students, Wits has 30 000 while Stellenbosch has about 28 000.

Nongxa also set up the Mosa Limakatso Nongxa Memorial Scholarship Fund, now worth about R150 000, which he personally funds.

A R30 000 scholarship, named after Nongxa’s daughter who died at eight, is awarded to Wits mathematical sciences students from modest backgrounds.

Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel said Nongxa started the R2.7m Vice Chancellor’s Bursary Fund in 2007. It is funded by Wits staff, including Nongxa.

Guidelines

In April 2010, Higher Education Minister Nzimande promised to establish guidelines for each university council to follow in setting executive remuneration.

“The salary gap between managers and academics [as well as between the vice chancellors and the lowest-paid workers] has grown enormously over the past 15 years,” Nzimande said at the time.

He said there was no consistency in the criteria used to determine executive salaries among institutions.

Muzi Khumalo, Nzimande’s spokesperson, did not respond to City Press’ questions on progress made on the guidelines.

SA Students Congress president Ngoako Selamolela said the salaries could be used to improve student services and open the doors of learning for poor students.

“High salaries for vice chancellors are not justified. Capping the salaries of managerial staff in universities might be a better option.”

According to Selamolela, the value added by university bosses is not equivalent to the exorbitant salaries they are paid.

- City Press

Mom, can I eat this kid! Hilarious!

Admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:58:18 +0000

Mom, can I eat this kid hilarious photo! And a a few more photos that are sure to make you lyao! (LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF!)