The Assignment...

September marked the University of the Free State’s annual community outreach programme where journalism and marketing students alike gathered to enrich the learning experiences of children in the Bloemfontein community.

To accommodate students, the coordinators of the service learning experience divided students into two groups consisting of group Tjhabelang primary school and the Brandwag primary school group. The Tjhabelang primary school is located in the Bainsvlei area on the outskirts of Bloemfontein where the founders created a comprehensive and well-adjusted learning environment for the children in the rural surroundings.

Students from the Tjhabelang group had the opportunity to spend time with as well as teach and be taught by the learners from the schools through the course of the three week outreach. Each week brought new challenges for student and learner alike as the students now had to become the teachers and the learners had to adjust to even more teachers around.

Fashion as a rule, like art and opinions, is cyclical. Plainly put, what goes around goes out of fashion and then comes back into fashion. Recycling ideas is most definitely nothing new in the fashion industry or any industry for that matter, because there simply is no such thing as an original idea. Ideas and innovations stem from an origin point, a single source that influences the inspiration behind massive advances. In fashion, however, designers are merely reinventing what once was into what is to come.

Take the bell-bottom jean for instance, many would argue that it never went out of fashion but somewhere between the ‘80s, Technicolor, big hair and the 2000s people forgot about them. They have now however made a comeback as a staple in every woman’s closet.

A more recent trend that has been making the rounds on the UFS campus is the Over-all. The Over-all, which use to be primarily denim or corduroy if your mother liked dressing you up in outfits as a child, has evolved into a considerably more stylish piece of clothing.

The play-suite-esque piece of clothing has been adapted to suite the likes of almost any woman, they range in colours but remain mainly denim and for the most part seem to be affordable.

To find out what was so appealing about the denim-suit, I asked avid supporters of the fashion item their meaning; “It’s like wearing jeans, but no belt is necessary because of the over-all part.” 21 year old marketing student Carla said.

The overall consensus seemed to be the same however with the majority of willing correspondents I asked saying they liked the comfort as well as the style.

“Over-alls are stylish at the moment and with the right accessories don’t look too lazy.” 20 year old aspiring lawyer Karabo said.

“I have like three pairs, but one is a shorts version which is only really suitable for warmer weather. The Over-all is a massive fashion piece at the moment so I like showing mine off.” 21 year old journalist in the making Chevy confided.

Not everyone agree about the star status of the Over-all however.

“I hope the trend dies out really soon, people who wear them look like hillbillies.” 18 year old education student Claire.

 “Girls look like babies when they wear them; it looks like something you would put a toddler in.” 22 year old KovsieFm radio host Thabo stated.

The annual Free State Bloem Show has a plethora of events and activities on offer to the public this autumn with a variety of musicians to draw audiences in. Some of these events could be seen on the University of the Free State campus as a talent search was being held in full view of curious students and faculty members alike.

Performances ranged from modern contemporary dancers, like Thabo Moroe whose energetic and fast paced movements contradicted the grace and elegance with which he executed them as well as more traditional African dance groups like that of the Botshelo Hwa Ngwa dance group. The group was clad in traditional attire, despite the frigid weather, and the beat to which they synchronously moved to was made by their own bodies.

The crowd surrounding the talent search, which was held in front of the SRC building, buzzed with excitement for each new performance. Cheering, whistling, clapping and eventually ululations could be heard as far away as the Main Building attracting curious spectators to the noise. As the people flocked to see what was causing the commotion they inevitably stayed, captivated by the events unfolding in front of them.

Journalism as a medium of communication, through the publication or broadcasting of news stories, is as old as time. Originally news might have only been spread through word of mouth by the ever-so-slight busybody, but the industry has snowballed into an organism that will outlive generations to come as people will always crave more information- knowledge is power after all.

Journalism platforms have evolved over the years with additions such as radio broadcasting, televised news readings and more recently, social-media. The acquisition of information can now be instantaneous and with the ever-growing “instant” generations emerging this did not come a moment too soon.

The South African journalism industry has, in large part, Sol Plaatje to thank for its transition into a new era. Without his dedication to reform as well as his love of writing many journalists and writers would not have achieved the heights they did or managed to overcome the obstacles that blocked their path to success.

Plaatje pioneered the way for all who strive to venture down the creative non-fiction journalism trail as showed that a piece of writing didn’t have to be strictly fact-based and non-descript. Narrative journalism allows people of a more creative nature to dabble in the field of journalism without undermining the integrity of a news story, for the journalism industry this is massive!

Plaatje also paved the way for Gonzo journalism, which similarly to long form journalism, allows a writer to be more expressive in their language use. Gonzo journalism blurs the lines between fact and fiction though which is a massive taboo in news writing as the information portrayed in a story needs to be factual.

The last few weeks have been trying, to say the least, for varsity students all over South Africa. At the University of the Free State alone, peaceful protests have snowballed into full-blown racial onslaughts, cultural memorabilia has been destroyed and people have been injured. The destruction was brought on by anger so many people still feel towards white South Africans, the action or revolution was spurred on by the desire for change.

In order to move forward from the events of this last month, the student body as a united force need to stand together. The constant whispers about imminent strikes and new boycotts are continually causing students and lecturers to be on edge. Fear mongering has already added an extra week to the academic year, why prolong the angst induced drama?

South Africans will for decades more to come be defined by our history as a repressive nation. The eventual outcome of the protests even proves that. In a new generation of leadership, black pain is still overlooked. The way in which some have gone about getting heard, in specific regards to Lindokuhle Ntuli, is completely absurd.

The former SRC president ranted about white elitism and how “the system” was constantly trying to oppress him based solely on the colour of his skin. He then, in his very unsettling statement, went on to proclaim that change was coming. Change did in fact come, a few days later we found “change” in the fountain outside the main building.

The students continued to protest but thankfully they saw the error in their destructive ways and begun opting for a much more dramatic silent protest. The #UnsilenceUFS activist group has made it very clear that they no longer want to cause any damage; instead they want the University to hear them. There is nothing louder than deafening silence, eerily dressed in black from head to toe.

The events of recent weeks may not be what the University of the Free State want to be remembered by, but they do show that students want the chance to voice their opinion. It may also have taken a few trial and error days to figure out how exactly they wanted to voice it, but ultimately they seem to be getting their message across.