Mr  Stoddart was delighted with the decision to overturn the ruling, he stated “I didn’t want to give up teaching, it’s not about money, it’s the job i love teaching”. Mr Stoddart was quick to acknowledge the “Amazing support” he had from students studying on his course. He said “I was really taken back by the amount of warmth and support they gave, I had no idea that the students felt like that”.

Many Students had first seemed outraged at the decision that Mr Stoddart should retire, together with Mr Stoddart they campaigned against the decision. The students set up a Facebook group named “Oppose Patrick’s Forced Retirement”, encouraging students to join and also sign a petition against his retirement. The group was a success and generated 215 different members.

The decision to keep Mr Stoddart on was made by the Vice Chancellor committee, they acknowledged Mr Stoddart’s experience and know how in Journalism and came to the decision, for the benefit of all concerned.

According to the Polish opinion polls ran by a number of country portals and newspapers online including Gazeta Wspolczesna, Wyborcza and Newsweek, majority of Polish citizens living in Poland have not cared much about the elections due to the tragedy which has occured in the past month.

The main controversy during the “boring as always British elections” has aroused around the issue with Gordon Brown insulting a 65-year-old English citizen. “I think Polish people get too personal with their choices. Recent events might have increased ‘the level of partiotism’ and thus has led to such a strong reaction towards racist-sounding comments”, said Grazyna Szankowska, psychologist from Bialystok University. “We tend to make wrong decisions and then complain. Gordon Brown became our ‘puppet’ only because we decided to think he might have stood up for us which was not the truth, really”.

Karol Wlodzirej is a 38-year-old construction worker. He spent over 3 years in the UK. “I am quite happy for Conservatives. I do not think these elections will change anything though. I only know that there will be more restrictions put on immigrants”.

Immigration has become the main issue. Polish news portal WP.PL announced the first sign of the war between the Polish and British, stating “the Eastern European immigration is now seen as a threat” and will be restricted by any chosen party.

I have managed to get in touch with Magda Krzemien, a 24-year-old student of Journalism, currently living in Aberdeen. “To me, as a Polish immigrant, these elections were extremely important. To be honest, I am not surprised with he results and I am only a bit worried that because of this political chaos and misunderstandings, British-Polish relations might get worse”.

The media have visibly played a huge role in shaping public opinion in Poland. Poles seem to justify their lack of interest in current elections with the presidential tragedy and plainness of British political campaigns. But is that really the case? Why have Polish people stopped caring about the situation in the country, they (or their families) have been massively migrating to? Maybe one day we will find answers to these questions.

Faculty Music & Media is our own creative agency, based at the University of Westminster and run by Katie Thiebaud, also a label manager for Breakbeat Kaos. FMM’s new urban division was created by students, and specializes in (surprise!) Urban music, with a target audience of 16-25. Although a part of an educational institution, F:Urban tries to distance itself from the university and create an industry standard platform to launch young talent.

The division makes a strong emphasis on viral marketing and social media promotion, using wealth of resources available at university. At the moment, F:Urban is working with 15 artists, and there are plans to release a compilation album in October. A new slick website is also in the works.

With the edgy new name, clearly defined niche and youthful enthusiasm, F:Urban is embracing power internet gives independent music businesses. Ten years ago they would only be able to cater to a small circle of devotees.  Now, the division has a chance to exist and prosper alongside such giants as Universal or BMG. Urban music is quickly becoming mainstream, with acts such as N-Dubz, Chipmunk, Tinchy Stryder and Dizzee Rascal championing the genre. In time, F:Urban could grow into a force to be reckoned with. It has the London location, professional equipment and studios, and most importantly, the bottomless pool of creativity that is the University of Westminster at its disposal.

Pound drops by 2%

With the UK parliament hung in the balance between possible deals and collaborations with Liberal Democrats, will the pound suffer as the market fears?

Mark Blossom of Currency exchangers Travelex, said “I’d expect some turbulence against the dollar and Euro on election day” and that prediction has turned out to be true with the pound punished by the insecure government.

By 10am on election day, losses against the pound had gone down by 2% to a year low at 1.46 to the US dollar, before it rose by another percent, recovering slightly and matching the loss against the Euro.

Currencies Direct dealer Phil McHugh warns, “If something clear and decisive does not go through very quickly the ramifications are likely to be a further sell-off of the pound.” McHugh went on to warn that the UK’s credit rating could potentially downgrade.

Travelex currently values the pound against the dollar at 1.42 with the Euro at 1.22.

You’ve just heard on the news show that our very own Patrick Stoddart is not being forced to retire at the end of this semester.

There has been a Facebook campaign opposing Patrick’s forced retirement. Student Rita Lobo started the group less than two months ago and it has attracted hundreds of students, who have helped to save such an important member of staff.

Patrick will be taking on a part-time position at the University.

It seems as though the deal would be to lay down the ground for a Conservative government. Mr Cameron is calling this a coalition. But it seems to be more of a deal rather than a coalition. Mr Cameron has proposed that if the Lib Dems work with the Conservatives, then they could see some of their policies pushed through by them. It has been stated on BBC news that Nick Clegg will not be making a statement about this until tomorrow.

A recent tweet by Laura Kuenssberg says: Lib dem source – Cameron’s statement ‘interesting and we have to consider it’ but they won’t say any more for now.

It seems that the Lib Dems have not started to try and enter into talks with the Conservatives. They are thinking about the proposals and will issue a statement tomorrow. The main points of David Cameron’s speech would see them work with the Lib Dems on education, electoral reform and green policies. A mixture of support and outrage has broken out across Twitter.

Gordon Brown is refusing to resign until the talks have been completed. And is keen to for Labour to enter into talks with the Liberal Democrats, to form a coalition opposing the Conservatives.

Abi Thommes

If you have ever spent an evening drinking in The Undercroft, and let’s face it who hasn’t, you will probably have been served by the smiley blonde behind the bar known as Abi Thommes.

Always accompanied by her guitar or keyboard when performing, Abi has a beautifully sweet voice that makes her tales of teenage love all the more convincing. Check out the video below of Abi performing ‘One.’

Fall From Eden

Formed on the Commercial Music course, Fall From Eden are our very own answer to Paramore. Their punk rock sound is probably slightly heavier than their American counterparts, but they also manage to pull off acoustic performances with confidence.

Due to release their debut EP this summer, check out this acoustic performance of what will be their first single below.

Alex Lipinski

Alex is one of the biggest success stories to come out of the university in recent years. A regular performer across London and even America, his music takes inspiration from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Just like Dylan, Lipinski makes full use of the harmonica in his music!

Signed to Blue Chameleon records, Alex is set to release his first album ‘Lonesome Train’ on May 24th. Here’s one of our favourite tracks, ‘Goodbye Lullaby,’ live from the Borderline in London.

Dudezilla

If you like The White Stripes but think they should ‘rock’ up their sound – take a listen to Dudezilla.

With song titles such as ‘Satan’s Pig’ don’t be put off by the weird and wacky names, these guys know how to, quite literally, rock your socks off. They have plenty of gigs coming up around London and Wales so if you like what you see below, go and check them out.

You can check out these and loads more Westminster talent on your student radio station – Smoke Radio. If you want your band heard on the radio, get in touch!

Inside the studio

Keiran Hill will tell the viewers about Transport for London’s first online video venture, a campaign for motorcycle safety. Alicia Weekes will provide a current update on the result of general elections, as well as explore the meaning of hung parliament. No party has got a majority of 326, and there are talks of a coalition between Labour and Liberal Democrats. There’s also a sports news bulletin, and a usual weather forecast by Jenny Cortes Ybañez. Broadcast will be presented by anchors Kane Anderson and Georgie.

The glory of Westminster news anchors

What is your piece about? “It’s about the TFL motorcycle campaign, mainly their new TV advert. They produced and developed the advert in conjunction with ‘Winkball.com’, asked WB to send out reporters to ask peoples opinions on the advert and changed it based on the responses.”

What is Winkball? “It’s a site that reports on topics based on what people think, not what the reporter themselves think. It’s not like traditional journalism. It’s a fusion between ‘Skype’, recorded messages and message boards.”

Do you work for Winkball? “Yes, worked for them since September 2009 mainly doing music and football reports.”

How did you get hold of TFL? “Well they contacted my company, Winkball, to ask if they would run a survey of thoughts on the advert. They took the research and developed their advert from the results. It’s the first advert that has ever used a multimedia website to launch a campaign.”

Who did you speak to at TFL? “I didn’t speak to anyone directly connected with TFL, I know a person who had a motorcycle accident and spoke to him to produce my piece. He basically said that the advert wasn’t great but thought it was good that at least they were raising awareness on the issue of motorcycle safety and not just cars.”

Did you speak to anyone at Winkball? “Yes, I contacted the PR manager, Jennifer Brogan, to ask her about what were her reasons for taking the task on from TFL. She said that it was to raise the company profile and also offered TFL and ‘real’ perspective on what people thought.”

Interviewed and transcribed by Murray Crundwell, thanks for reading.