The start of the "SRC-ing" season as I like to call it guarantees two things. The first thing that is a certainty at this time of year is that you will be bombarded by a copious amount of Facebook group invitations from SRC hopefuls. Groups will "popcorn and mushroom" – that is my new favourite term by the way – left right and centre. Of course, as a concerned UCT student, I consider the invitations in the same manner I consider other Facebook friend requests: if you look like a horse’s knee, the "ignore" button will be clicked reflexively.

Needless to say, I have joined few groups. My system of sifting through the groups is infallible. I am always left with the most dim-witted, aesthetically pleasing candidates that the campus has to offer. What better way to choose the people who are supposed to carry my interests and concerns to management structures of UCT? Brains. Who needs them? Goals, interests, qualifications and all of those other trifle things that candidates put on their election manifestos – all useless in this job. The only requirements are a pretty or handsome face and you are in.

At least, it used to be that way. It seems the name of the game has changed somewhat. This year’s SRC candidates, following last year’s strain, seem a little brighter. Not too bright, but brighter nonetheless – they could power a small desk lamp for two minutes with all of the brain activity that seems to register when they are asked questions at interrogations. They seem to know what they want, what they intend to do and how they plan on going about it.

Of course, this view does not extend to all candidates – there always those that are a step slower than others, those that need to be placed in an SRC ADP program. You know the ones. They usually have CVs that include strange things, like "dining hall monitor", or "can apply make-up properly". It would not be a proper campaigning season unless some random entity from the margins of student leadership and university involvement ran – there would be no twisted sense of pleasure to course through my veins as I read the final election results and saw them languishing at the bottom of the polls.

The majority of candidates, though, have experience, political ambitions and goals that deserve some merit and serious consideration. Issues that seem to have been prevalent in the UCT student body have been carefully picked up by the candidates and promises to solve them have been made by the candidates. All that remains to be seen is whether such promises will be delivered once the respective members are elected.

A question that will always come up time and time again at this time of year is whether it is better to vote for individuals or politically affiliated candidates. Though I do not favour political parties in any way, I do acknowledge that they are better than weak independent candidates. Just because Pick ‘n Pay might be out of my favourite Ouma Rusks does not mean I won’t take the No Name stuff. Going hungry out of a blind sense of loyalty is not an option.

As far as the SRC elections are concerned, I will not champion blind voting, whether by party lines or by independent candidates – I encourage reading between the lines, educating oneself, separating the doers from the faders, the hard workers from the bimbos – the wheat from the chaff. I hope that Election Week brings us closer to informed voting from the student body.

Student apathy is rife on campus. While some may call it a reaction to the lack of adequate candidates that represent the campus, it is not a one-sided affair - the student body needs to recognise that it actively needs to participate in issues that affect it. Too many people go home, insulated by their privileged social and economic dispositions to really know what is happening on the UCT campus. This surely cannot continue. Factors in South Africa are coming into play that affect all students – black, white, rich, poor, priviliged and previously disadvantaged alike. These factors are slowly creeping into UCT and it is time that the student body started becoming involved in its own affairs before it is too late.

August is always riddled with elections, whether it is within the SRC or other student bodies and societies. Fresh talent is scouted, the old gives way to the new and change continues. At this time of year, everything is susceptible to change. VARSITY is no exception. A new editor-in-chief and deputy editor were recently elected by the collective. I would like to congratulate Nyasha Kadandara and Nkosiyati Khumalo on their respective appointments. I am more than confident that they have what it takes to make sure that VARSITY takes the next step forward.

Applications for positions within the collective are still open – they close next Friday, 3 September. If you are interested in joining a dynamic group of students who work in media, please feel free to apply. It is a ride worth taking.

Academics tend to kick it up a notch at this time – graduation is in sight for many and progress to a new year is on the cards for others. I hope that you weather the rest of this term well and that you keep the goals you set out to pursue first and foremost in your daily calendar.

Keep well and remember, "don’t fuck it up".

Rémy Ngamije

The new term feels like a twelve-round bout with Floyd Mayweather. I was knocked out in the first ten seconds, but the referee insists that I see this through. Much like the fight, the rounds are short, the punches are coming hard and fast, the small pause provided by Women’s Day did nothing to alleviate or slow down the whippings that are coming over the next few weeks. It will be a miracle if I see ten-day vac still standing on two legs.

The start of the new term is kind of like a psychotic ex-girlfriend or boyfriend you never want to meet again. The reason for not wanting to meet them differs from person to person, but in this scenario, we shall stick to the good old reasoning, "it ended on bad terms". As usual, this means it was your fault.

It has been a good year so far. Of that there is no lying. First of all, SA can boast two YouTube clips worthy of click rates one only sees on the joystick of television game addicts; there are two songs based on said Youtube clips (“Revolutionary House” is actually a dope track when one thinks about it) and the FIFA World Cup, that much anticipated event of 2010 is finally happening.

...may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

So the saying goes, but in today’s world, especially in the African political context, I find myself disagreeing with this old mantra.

In every household, at least the ones that function properly, there is something called the “Red Slipper” standard. There are of course those households that prefer the Wooden Spoon, the Belt or the good old-fashioned Hand Slap, but in mine it was the Red Slippers. I remember those slippers. They were rubbery, they had flowers around the thongs and they were kept in the second from bottom drawer in my Mom’s wardrobe.

Tsunamis, earthquakes, the constant heating and destruction of the atmosphere, the spread of HIV/AIDS, poverty, corruption, war, the fight for scarce resources, lack of education in the world, inadequate health facilities, the rise in price of two-minute noodles and weaves...Yoh! The challenges that face our leaders today would scare any man or woman... If I was chosen as a leader and I had to address some of those issues, it would be the last two. They are issues that affect all of us and ones that in the short-term would help to solve issues one, two and three.

Clearly, leaders are made of something sterner than I am.

I have always wondered why it is when a country is in a state of social upheaval, university students are the first ones to riot and subsequently, the first to face severe police action. The world over, university students are often the first to respond to social, economic and political issues. They do this in any number of ways, some more creative than others, some silent and angry, some violent. Whatever the case may be, student activism has always been one of the most powerful tools used to display civil unrest and dissatisfaction. All of history points to one thing...student activism is powerful and the student voice is a powerful and dangerous thing.

What is the student, voice you ask...

Manzana. Pomme de terre. Appel. Whatever you might call them, apples undoubtedly carry a host of health benefits and can be used in numerous applications. Some little-known facts about apples: the average person eats 65 apples per year; China produces more apples than any other country; and apparently, the more apples one eats, the lower their risk of developing lung cancer. But my favourite apple fact (albeit annoying and expensive) is that one rotten apple will affect the entire bunch.

Ever since I took started writing this column, I have received both praise and criticism. Apparently I have as many admirers as I have haters. Some think I am too abstract in some of my pieces, that I’m too verbose, that I am too political and (my personal favourite) that I love controversy. I have never been one to go for popular opinion and never really mind who I upset with my column; I just write what I think. Contrary to popular belief I do not have a proclivity for controversy and I do not say things just to provoke responses; I say it because I mean it and if that upsets some people then I’m glad I said it.