University of Bradford Union


 * Ramair redirects here, For the air-intake system which increases engine power, see Ram-air intake

Union Organisation
The University of Bradford Union (UBU) is run by an executive of six full-time sabbatical officers, elected annually, and up to eleven part-time executive officers elected every six months. The executive committee is unusual in not having a president: the post was abolished by Shumon Rahman in 2001 who was elected the Union's first Asian President in 2000. The new executive positions and the reforms he introduced have remained unchanged ever since.

The executive is monitored by a council of up to 40 elected students who meet around 6 times each academic year: typically between 10 and 20 of these positions are filled at any one time, co-option remains open until the full 40 council seats are filled.

The Union is located in the Communal Building on campus, and is politically active (nominally to the left) and runs regular campaigns. There are two venues for night time events, "Escape" and "The Basement".

Until recently the Union ran two bars. On the first floor of the Richmond Building was the "Biko Bar", named after Steve Biko, though this was closed in September 2005. Following construction of the university's new atrium, it has been stripped out to be replaced with a new refectory. The main Student Union bar is "The Courtyard".

Student activities
The largest student involvement in their Union comes in the forms of the sports clubs through the Athletics Association (commonly known as the AA) and societies. There is a variety of both. Even though the University did not till recently run any performing arts courses, there are several societies for music and theatre. The variety of sports available is largely due to the centralised funding and membership structure of the AA, which helps support smaller clubs. The current student Union Colours are Blue and Red, but many of the sports teams still use their traditional Black with Red and white accents.

The Student Union also has Ramair, one of the UK's longest running student radio stations, broadcasting on 1350AM and online, a student magazine called Kinetic and a film society/cinema showing professional 35mm cinema prints known as the 'Bradford Student Cinema.

Infest
Infest is an annual music festival held in the sudent union venues over on the August bank holiday weekend, featuring a range of alternative electronic music acts. It orignated with in early 1998 through the efforts of three students and the students' union Entertainments Manager as a one day event and has since grown to the current three day weekend.

RamAir
Ramair is a radio station run by Students Union at the University of Bradford, England. It broadcasts locally on 1350AM and also online through its web site. The name comes from the old students union log of a Ram's head. It is one of three media groups at the union (the others being the film society "Bradford Student Cinema" and the student magazine "Bradford Student News" (formally Kinetic, Scrapie and Javelin)) who, historically are not considered part of the "sports clubs" or the "clubs and societies". In many respects they are run as a normal society with membership, however as they provide a service accessible to all students and staff (not just the societies members), they are treated differently and come under the jurisdiction of the Communications Officer.

History
It was founded in 1980 and operates from two studios in the university's student union building. The station is run entirely by student volunteers, who as well as presenting shows also handle the technical aspects.Up until the mid 1990s, RamAir broadcast to students via a series of induction loops ran throughout the student halls, however this never proved reliable. In conjunction with SBN, RamAir had a LPAM (Low Power AM) Radica transmitter, affectionately known as "Doris", installed in the car park of the former Shearbridge Halls, which broadcast on 1350AM at a max power of 1 watt.

RamAir is also available via the Internet on an .mp3 stream, allowing students to listen to the station through the university Internet service, as well as in places in the union building such as the union shop and the laundrette.

Programing
Most shows are presented in the evening or at weekends, when students are free, so during the daytime music is played from a computer. Previously the station syndicated the Student Broadcast Network (SBN) when no shows were being broadcast - this was changed in 2004 when SBN went bust.

Its flagship show is 'Wednesday Night Sessions' which broadcasts local music and acoustic sessions by local Bradford bands. It also has a range of shows covering many music genres as well as a show discussing the latest news.

RamAir annually broadcasts the 'Questions to Candidates' (Hustings) for the student union elections of sabbatical officers and NUS conference delegates. It also has a big presence at many union events such as freshers' week, the May carnival and the end of year event.

Out of university term time the station broadcasts non stop music, also used to fill in other free air time from the station's computer playout system - a bank of computers running software written by one of the station's engineers. The station was re-launched just before 2006 'Welcome Week' (new intake of student) with various new shows & returns of others from the previous year.

News is played hourly via the IRN news service.

Achievements
It was the first student radio station to broadcast legally on FM.

As of September 2007, it was the first student radio station to be specifically made available through the respective Wii and PlayStation 3 browsers.

When analogue cable television was commonplace, the station was broadcast on 98FM across the region to listeners with a cable feed (No subscription required). RamAir occasionally broadcasts across the city of Bradford on an FM RSL (Restricted Service Licence), usually on 102FM from a transmitter located on top of the university's JB Priestley library. The station often hires out its FM broadcast kit to other student stations for their own RSLs.

On April 26 2006, Phill Jupitus broadcast his BBC 6 Music breakfast show from the station, and interviewed Billy Bragg who had played a concert at the university the previous evening.

Its most famous former DJ is Lucio Buffone, who has since won a Sony Award and now presents a show on Capital Radio.

Bradford Student Cinema
The Bradford Student Cinema is a film society operating as part of the University of Bradford Union, the University of Bradford's Students' Union. It is one of three media groups at the union (the others being the radio station 'Ramair' and the 'Bradford Student News' (Formally Kinetic) who, historically are not considered part of the "sports clubs" or the "clubs and societies". In many respects they are run as a normal society with membership, however as they provide a service accessible to all students and staff (not just the societies members), they are treated differently and come under the jurisdiction of the Communications Officer.

History
The Bradford Student Cinema (BSC) is one of the oldest societies within the student union and can trace it heritage back to early days of the university. Formerly the Film Society, the BSC used to screen 16mm film from lecture theatres on N floor of the Richmond Building (Refurbished in 2000 removing the projection boxes in favour of additional seating). It later moved into the University's Great Hall, where it gained a portable 35mm projection system. This venue is still used today, on what is believed to be the largest student cinema screen in the country.

Hardware
The 9 metre wide solid steel-framed screen, complete with motorised adjustable masking flies down from the roof onto the stage and fills the proscenium arch of the Great Hall, making good use of the curtains to give a traditional cinema feel to the venue, in an auditorium designed as a multipurpose staged hall with good acoustics. As the projection box is situated three floors up from ground level, the projector has a steep rake, and the screen is angled back when dropped to remove any keystoning. For this reason audience for film showings are generally only invited to sit in the balcony circle rather than the stalls, seating up to 337. In the mid nineties the projector was replaced with a 1940s Westrex 2001 projector, a model still in common use around the country. In 2001 the student union funded a £8,500 upgrade of the projection facilities, and the cinema was fitted with a Dolby CP55 processor, new amps and speakers including a subwoofer to bring surround to the cinema for the first time (Stereo is not commonly used in cinemas, as a central audio channel is required to centralise dialogue for any audience sitting off-centre). A red laser sound reader was also installed to future proof the projector for the arrival of cyan sound tracks, and improve the quality of intermediate high magenta sound tracks. The lamphouse and rectifier was also upgraded to handle 2.5kW lamps. Due to the cost, new surround speakers were not fitted, and have instead been formed using older speakers placed along the rear of the balcony.

Modern times
In recent times the BSC has run the British Federation of Film Societies Student Group Conference and various exclusive preview screenings of the latest movies in conjunction with the Daily Telegraph's Movie Mania Promotion (circa 2001). Like many professional cinemas it screens cinema trailers and adverts from Pearl & Dean. Due to a drop in student numbers and the opening of a 16-screen multiplex in the centre of Bradford, the student cinema has suffered in the last four years. Ironically the size of the BSC has been part of its downfall - whilst smaller societies use video or DVD, the BSC's screen and throw distance (27 meters) means it cannot handle anything smaller than professional 35mm cinema films. The union has since stepped in and the BSC now shows a reduced number of showing throughout the academic year free of charge to staff and students.

In 2002 the BSC nominated Brian Blessed to receive an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from the university for his contribution to film, television and acting, which he received during the Electronic Imaging & Media Communication Department's graduation ceremony in July 2003.

Cinema-goers used to be able to buy drinks and snacks, including alcohol for cinema showings as the Biko Bar, in the Richmond building, but this was closed in 2005. The cinema's showings have been restricted due to the building of the new £5.3 million atrium and front entrance designed to provide a vibrant multi-functional space and form the heart of the University (Opened in October 2006 to celebrate the university's 40th birthday). A return to regular screening has been delayed by a long-awaited refurbishment of the Great Hall from January 2007. Due to the difficulties in fitting building work around exams, graduation ceremonies and registration, it is likely that showings may again be delayed in the future, although there are plans to screen films from September 2007 until the second phase of the Great Hall refurbishment begins. Plans are in the early stages to fit a digital cinema projector in the Hall alongside the existing 35mm facilities, lead by the school of Informatics.