IN THE EDITORIAL to the latest issue of Pi on January 24th, stu- dent editor Holly Falconer had excit- ing news. At a meeting of UCL Union Council on 6 December, there had been “a motion that would disaffliate Pi from the Union...this motion was put forward by a certain ex-news edi- tor of Pi...who visibly cringed as he walked past Pi editors...on his way into the meeting”. Fortunately, she re- assured us, the Pi staff united under their editor to ensure that the motion was not passed. “Other motions put forward by this ‘mystery man’ and his friends were to create a separate MC officer whose sole responsibility would be Pi, disregarding the costs of such a proposition. Also, it was suggested we should scrap your beloved scrapbook as it was deemed immoral...”
This grossly misleading piece, apparently motivated by animosity to- wards the ‘mystery man’ (Dex Torricke- Barton) obscured the intent behind what was in fact just one motion: to reform Pi. Pi is a disgrace to us. It has failed completely and consistently to hold the Union to account. Pi is cry- ing out for a rethink. But its editors have thus far blocked all attempts to change the status quo, while a large number of staff are alleged to have quit this year.
Pi and the rest
Pi as it is now is overseen by a ‘chief editor’, the Media and Commu- nications Officer (currently Alex Walsh). She is a sabbatical officer and a member of Union Executive.Beneath her is a ‘student editor’ and a ‘deputy editor’. But why? The system is prac- tically unique. London Student, the other publication most visible to UCL students, has a sabb at its head too, but they are not an executive officer of the Union — their sole concern is to publish. Imperial College Union’s Felix has the same. The LSE Students’ Union paper The Beaver has a student editor in charge. Roar at King’s Col- lege is unusual in using the same sys- tem as Pi.
That’s not the only difference that sets UCL apart. Why is there no weekly newspaper? The LSE and Im- perial, who make up the Golden Tri- angle of top-rank institutions with UCL and Oxbridge, both have one. London Student and Roar compromise with a fortnightly issue. Some colleges (LSE and Imperial again) publish both a newspaper and a less frequent maga- zine, thus allowing students to help create both formats.
But here at UCL, for all our money-grabbing campaigns; for all our annual turnover; for all our status as a contender on the global HE stage, all our students can cough up is one monthly magazine. And the magazine is enough to make you weep.
The state of Pi
Responsibility for Pi’s content lies with the student body; the layout, last time we looked, was done by the M & C Officer. While some of the articles are good, many are badly writ- ten and crushingly boring (a pensée on CO2 emissions laws, anyone?) Arti- cles appear to be used out of despera- tion rather than choice (the Decem- ber issue featured ‘how to microwave a light bulb’, an inadvisable thing to do). Without attacking individual writ- ers, it has to be said that the standard of writing is often poor and sloppily done. Until Pi’s staff learn how to punctuate, spell their own names right and discover the difference between ‘affected’ and ‘effected’(to name but one clanger) nobody can or should take them seriously.
Layout and design are, if any- thing, worse than the content. Pi’s fun- damental appearance has not changed for over a year. Practically everything is printed in one unattractive typeface (Switzerland), which being sans serif is harder on the eye. Text and graph- ics jostle indecorously for space on the page, and columns can be idiotically broken up by oddly-shaped pictures. The images themselves are often pix- ellated, suggesting that they have been culled from the Internet at the last minute. Student publications can look good, as Imperial College’s Felix dem- onstrates. None of these faults, how- ever is as worrying as Pi’s complete lack of editorial independence. And if you don’t think Pi gets censored, think again.
Pi Gagged
Under Alex Walsh’s tenure, sto- ries for Pi have disappared or been cut. Last August a UCL student jumped to their death from the Engineering build- ing; London Student reported it, but Pi was silent. A then Pi staffer told The Cheese Grater that Prof. John Foreman, the Dean of Students, want- ed the story removed. A story about UCL Union’s Christian Union was re- moved to spare the society’s officers embarrasment, and an article on Ted Honderich by Dex Torricke-Barton was heavily cut at the instigation of Education and Welfare officer David Renton. So much, then, for Pi’s ob- jectivity. Hardly surprising that a few of the staff got restless.
Pi Eaten from Within
One such person was Pi news editor Dex Torricke-Barton (not a man whom this magazine has gone out of its way to praise - see issue 2). After his Honderich article was cut, Dex told a Pi meeting they had to reform. When this was ignored, he left and, by his account, took eight of Pi’s news reporters with him to LS, leaving An- drew Ridge to run the show. Pi news- man James Brady declined to comment to The Cheese Grater, suggesting the story is not entirely untrue. The put-upon news desk had to make up extra author names for their articles: ‘Ste- ven Scott’ and ‘James Evans’ have written a lot for Pi, but they don’t seem to be in the College directory. Dex de- scribes his new job as LS news editor as a ‘promotion’.
In December, Dex and others presented their ‘Vibrant Media’ mo- tion to UCL Union Council. Contrary to Falconer’s editorial, it didn’t require for ‘a separate MC officer’; it merely encouraged the creation of a sabbati- cal editor post for Pi. Nor did it call the scrapbook immoral; it simply said it painted a crude and unintellectual portrait of UCL students. While it re- quired Pi to be disaffiliated, there is nothing wrong with that. Pi is not a normal society; it is under no risk of suspension or disaffiliation, its funds are assured and its officers don’t often bother to turn up to Arts Board. Dex did indeed resign at this meeting; so did Olivier Usher. The media motion was heavily amended by Frankie Rob- erto (who might possibly have wanted to curry favour with the Pi staff, as he intends to run for M & C Officer) and passed without any changes to Pi.
So it is unlikely that Pi will change, but change it must if it is to fulfil its obligations to us, the students. It must be made independent from the Union Executive, to resolve the M & C Officer’s massive and glaringly ob- vious conflict of interest.
And finally: for the last time, the fact that Jonathan Dimbleby used to edit Pi is not evidence of what it can do for your career. Dimbleby owes his job to the fact that his father Richard was a BBC broadcaster. And besides, he’s not even very good.