- Felix (newspaper)
Infobox Newspaper
name = Felix
caption = Front page from issue 1362
(3rd November 2006)
type = Weeklynewspaper (academic term )
format = Tabloidfoundation = 1949
owners =Imperial College Union
political = None
price = Free
headquarters = Beit Quad, Prince Consort Road,South Kensington ,London , SW7 2BB
editor = Jovan Nedić
ISSN = 1040-0711
website = [http://www.felixonline.co.uk/ http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/media/felix/]"Felix" is the student newspaper of
Imperial College London . It won theGuardian Student Media Awards in 2006 for "Student newspaper of the year" and former Editor Rupert Neate won 'Student journalist of the year'and runner-up 'Reporter of the Year' [http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,1943354,00.html Guardian Student Media Awards: Winners 2006] ] . Thenewspaper is published weekly during term time, approximately 30 issues per year, and is distributed around the various Imperial College campuses.The FELIX motto, "Keep The Cat Free", refers to the important tradition of free speech: unlike many students' newpapers Felix is free to criticise union policy whenever the editor sees fit, although the Imperial College Union constitution has prevented some news articles from being published.
In addition to news, "Felix" also carries
comic strips , features, opinions, puzzles and reviews, plus reports of trips and Imperial College sporting events. As astudent newspaper , it is read by a large proportion of the student body, as well as other members of the Imperial College community. Consequently, it provides an opportunity for advertising to both students and staff.The editorial offices are located at the
Imperial College Union Media Centre in Beit Quad. The editor is elected by members of thestudents' union as a paidsabbatical officer , although most of the work is carried out by student volunteers.Since 1998, the
City and Guilds College Union has published a parody entitled "Gulix", under theslogan "The "real" student newspaper of Imperial College".Past editors
*
Pallab Ghosh (1983-1984)Citation |last=Loder|first=Natasha|title=So You Want to Be a Science Writer?|url=http://www.absw.org.uk/Documents/SYWTBASW.pdf|publisher=Association of British Science Writers]
* Bill Goodwin (1988-1989)
* David Smedley (1989-1990)Fact|date=February 2008
* Chris Stapleton (1990)Fact|date=February 2008
* Andy Butcher (1990-1991)Fact|date=February 2008
* Adam Harrington (1991-1992)Fact|date=February 2008
* Owain Bennallack (1994-1995)Fact|date=February 2008
* Rachel Walters (1995-1996)Fact|date=February 2008
* Alex Feakes (1996-1997)Fact|date=February 2008
* Jeremy Thomson (1997-1998)Fact|date=February 2008
* Ed Sexton (1998-1999)Fact|date=February 2008
* David Roberts (1999-2000)
* John Clifford (2000-2001)
* Will Dugdale (2001-2003)Fact|date=February 2008
* Alex Coby (2003-2004)Fact|date=February 2008
* Dave Edwards (2004-2005)Fact|date=February 2008
* Rupert Neate (2005-2006)Fact|date=February 2008
* Andrew Sykes (2006-2007)Live! [http://live.cgcu.net/news/1532 No Resurrection for Felix.] 14 June 2007.]
* Thomas Roberts (2007-2008)Fact|date=February 2008
* Jovan Nedić (2008-present)Fact|date=February 2008History
The name "Felix" is thought to be a pun on "The Phoenix" Fact|date=February 2007, the publication that preceded "Felix" in covering student interests [http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=2783&inst_id=3 AIM25: Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine: Publications of Imperial College.] ] . In 1887, writer
H. G. Wells founded the literary magazine "Science Schools Journal", later renamed "The Royal College of Science Magazine" in 1891 and finally "The Phoenix" in 1904. The latter continues to be published as the annual Students' Union arts newsletter.The first issue of "Felix" was released on the 9th of December 1949 [http://www.ic.ac.uk/centenary/timeline/1940.shtml Imperial College - Centenary website - Timeline - 1940-1949.] ] , taking over the duty of reporting college activities from "The Phoenix" . In 1995, the university established an official newspaper, "Reporter", published every three weeks, but this is primarily aimed at academics and staff. In 2005, Felix produced "I, Science", which went on to become the first university science magazine to be short-listed for "Student magazine of the year" in the Guardian Student Media Awards.
Cat logo
Origin
Traditionally, a
cat has been incorporated into the "Felix"logo . There have been various iterations, ranging from a cute domestic cat to a roaring tiger Live! [http://live.cgcu.net/news/225 Felix pussy to make come-back.] 27 September 2001.] . The original, appearing as the main image on the cover of the first issue , was a black-and-whitebicolor cat which was most probably inspired by the newspaper's name. "Felix" became a common name for domestic cats after being popularised by the cartoon characterFelix the Cat Fact|date=February 2007, or perhaps because of the similarity to the Latin word for cat, felis.Replacements
During the 1980s and 1990s, the most widely used cat logo was the
knight . In 1999, this was controversially replaced by a barely recognisable silhouette of a leaping cat (reminiscent of the Puma sportswear logo), then, in 2000, by a scowling pair of human eyes. These changes proved so unpopular among readers that, while running for election, two successive editors promised to "bring the cat back" Live! [http://live.cgcu.net/news/229 Felix off to flying start.] 3 October 2001.] . In 2001, the cat returned in the form of a sabre-toothtabby cat , designed by the creator of the "freakfighter!" comic strip. In 2004, the knight was restored, albeit as silhouette since 2006. In February 2008, Felix reported that it was unable to write about everything that affected students due the constitution of the union. As a result, the logo has been modified so that the cat is now gagged with a red snooker ball.A change in the cat logo has often accompanied the annual redesign to the newspaper layout, corresponding with a change in the production team.
Comic strips
* [http://chamary.com/comics/freakfighter.html freakfighter!] by Jean-Vincent Chamary (2001-2002)
* [http://www.phdcomics.com/ Piled Higher and Deeper] (PhD) by Jorge Cham (2006-)
* [http://tevong.co.uk/adlib.php AdLib] by Tevong You (2006-)
* [http://xkcd.com/ xkcd] by Randall Munroe (2007-)References
External links
*
* [http://www.cgcu.net/guildsheet/ Gulix] (newspaper parody of "Felix", published by the City and Guilds College Union)
* [http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/media/iscience/ I, Science] (magazine published by "Felix")
* [http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/media/phoenix/ Phoenix] Imperial College arts newsletter
* [http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/reporter/ Reporter] (Imperial College newspaper)
* [http://live.cgcu.net/extras/search.php?query=felix Articles about Felix] on the City and Guilds College Union news website "Live!"
* [http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/student-media/felix/ Recent PDF reprints] provided by Imperial College Union website
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