Join me in the middle of ecstasy

by Thobile Memela

RU Scandalous? Well brace yourself for much more enthusiasm, laughter, and intellectuality. If you are fascinated by life, humans, politics, the world of journalism, settle down and tighten your seat; you are in good hands. This blogger is fascinated by all of the above. I am an opinionated, reliable, sociable, tolerant, suspicious freak with a harsh sense of humour; you have to be really funny to make me laugh. As it has been mentioned above, this blogger focuses mainly on politics specially looking at government service and the delivery system and how much progress (if any) has been achieved, everyday life, and features and there is a wide perspective of the media world and how it operates. It aims at fascinated individuals like you who are ambitious, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and opinionated who have the potential to change the world around them. I trust you so much that I know that you are aware of the world around you and you have the ability to create something new that will improve the society around you.It really bothers me when people recognise that you have just been involved in a car accident and they will ask, ‘are you alright’? Yes. Fine thanks, I’ll just pick up my separate limbs and be off for the family picnic. Gosh! Give me a break. (Facebook, 2009-09-27) Why are laughing? I just proved my point so you are scandalous; trust me you want more of this, be dazzled and wait for it...here.This group blog consist of five different individuals, with different inspirations and motivations of living. Each of us has a different view of the world. In addition, we do not have a sceptical agenda of our blog but we share the interest of journalism, our occupations as journalism students and considering our age group, young adults we are all fascinated by current issues facing the youth and the world at large. News, Social issues that might include parenting, academic life, adulthood and so forth. The most interesting thing about this group blog is the fact that it focuses on relevant issues that are trendy, sophisticating and are part of student lives at tertiary institution. Not do we only care so much about the world around us but we also like to have fun, looking at the latest trends in fashion, music, videos, celeb gossip, film, and random gossip. Recent news and events around campus we cannot stay and ignore this because it has become part of our lives. We all aspire true meaning of life (if life does have meaning on its own), how we ought to live in such a perpetuated world with cultural differences surrounding us, under such circumstances (economic crisis, global warming).

The hot seat with Suffy

Journalism acts as the voice for the people in society, by ensuring that certain issues concerning their well-being are dealt with in the expected manner. As much as I may be an independent thinker, I always ensure that I place society’s values as one of my highest priorities, due to the fact that these opinions are the tools of journalism. The world is faced with many challenges on a daily basis and it is our duty as journalists to question these sorts of challenges and always look deeply into them because society has placed its trust on us to report back to them and keep them informed of the things and changes which are taking place around them.I am highly driven by change around me. I am a person who cannot accept change or reject it for that matter just because that is what society expects me to do, but I allow myself to question each and every little thing that takes place around me and I ensure that I am very observant as well so that I am always on the alert and well informed of the things which are taking place. These are some of the skills I believe a journalist should have because they are expected to report back truthfully and critically.R U Scandalous aims at delivering the latest news around the Rhodes University campus and ensuring that the people around campus; being the students and the staff are kept well informed of what is happening around them. We also aim at placing a lot of focus on the scandals that take place and unveiling all the truths and deceits involved in it so that the most critical and informative information has been shared. We expect our followers to put their trust towards our blog, without giving them any reason to doubt the information that we provide them with. It is also our aim to make sure that we reveal both sides to the story at all times, rather than going with the side that we feel our followers would like to hear because that will be going against our morals and promise of giving out critical and informative news. R U Scandalous works on having to become the platform for the staff and students to voice out their opinions on the news that we cover and allow lines of defence against certain issues so that debates over the matters take place; and our followers continue to be fed with more factual information towards the matters which have been brought to their attention.The power of journalism is an embracement to the questions in society and the faceless gaze that observes the issues taking place. The R U Scandalous team is here to be the faceless gaze that can be trusted by all.

RU Scandalous? Damn straight...

Jessica Lewer



Salacious. Delicious. Lascivious. Outrageous. Sensationalists? Us? Well, yes. When asked to describe oneself in a paragraph, one is tempted to extol one's virtues, dragging out achievements and good qualities from some dusty corner, yet, in order to really know someone, you need to understand their darkest desires, dreams and secrets - essentially, what makes them tick. Do you know yourself? I, for one, am unashamedly fond of scandal. What better way to shed light upon the true nature of humans? We crave scandal; we feast upon intrigue. This is the crux of our blog. Our mission is present our followers with news that is both fascinating and intriguing; satisfying even the deepest cravings for information. Knowing your business is our business. We intend to upload information without commenting on it, allowing you to form your own opinion. We do not, however, condone defamation of character as we realise that this blog could so easily become a vassal for hate speech. Guys, keep those claws to yourselves. Ever one to live life to the fullest, I can only hope that this blog will fulfil these aims. I myself love to write, love to discover, uncover, make an impact, no matter how small. Give me a keyboard or a pen and paper and I am content. I am continuously on the lookout for a new story, an unusual idea, even a good photo opportunity. Journalism runs in my blood. It is this continous quest for knowledge that defines who I am. People and their motivations fascinate me. Why do we do what we do? Is the consumption and examination of scandal perhaps a step towards the understanding of the subconscious? We would need to go even further and identify what makes something scandalous. This may be anything from who's dating who, to drunken incidents and who said what to whom. It may seem trivial but scandal reaches far deeper: people need entertainment, need to know. We see ourselves in other people and are secretly relieved that it is not our own doings that are up for inspection. Whilst it is claimed that entertainment at another's expense is cruel, perhaps even mindless, it can also be said that scandal is only another facet of the iceberg that is Man - both the creation and ingestion. We cannot judge others by their actions but we can learn from their mistakes and have a good laugh in the process. Welcome to RU Scandalous?, your one-stop campus-gossip central. Happy Blogging.

Nicholas Rocke

#rublogs Ruscandolous http://twitter.com/username This blog is one not to miss, want the latest in campus gossip? look no further!

Identifying the voice behind the rant

Meet Aimee Caulfield: Nosey, inquisitive and horribly curious. I am one of the eager bloggers behind this five-man scandal themed blog. I’ve been racking my brain for some time now, trying to decide what type of blogger I am and where I stand in the blogging world itself. Like everyone else I have an opinion but I want mine to matter and to be heard. Although I am cursively opinionated I want to look at life from all aspects to ensure that my opinion is at least somewhat justified.

One of my burning passions is discovering new and exciting things, something that really grapples with my mind. I feel as a journalism student it is my job to seek all types of news and with this blog I am specifically focusing on unexpected news; both good and bad. Without exposing aspects of the average Grahamstown student’s life we will never have the chance to change or fix something that is completely unacceptable. Exposing both good and bad also allows our blogging team to allow you to fully appreciate the great aspects of this town that often go unnoticed.

I don’t intend on changing the whole world but hopefully with my journalism experience I can intend to possibly change your mind by presenting you with a different scope. Reading and writing makes me happy as it allows me to venture into a much better and easier life than what reality offers me. It exposes me to different ways of life, different characters and different situations that were previously foreign to me; hence my absolute love of journalism emerged. I want this blog to be like that, I want to present you with shocking news that allows you to escape into someone else’s shoes just for a very brief time and I want you to continually be informed about new situations and be invited into forming an opinion, as being objective is a very idealistic view that is rarely possible. Objectivity almost always leads to subjectivity, that’s just how it goes.

Being a journalism student and catering for a student-based audience I want to write informative and honest pieces. It comes down to a matter of exposing the truth without infringing on anyone’s privacy right. Often people are portrayed in a very shallow pretence and I hate this, with our scandalous theme I can present a different view on someone. It is very true what they say that no-one can ever truly know someone if they don’t know the good, the bad and the darn-right ugly! So RU Scandalous? I’ll let you decide that one...

Nicholas Rocke

Nicholas Rocke
Striding down streets people rant away over the latest editions of heat magazines and the sort, only to stop in awe as they are informed of Nicole Richies new anorexia problems or Brad and Jens break- up. It is inevitable, though it shall never be admitted, that the citizens of South Africa love it when a wiff of scandolous information comes there way. Yet, we are justified in our flawed complaints over the ‘valid’ scandal presented in magazines such as Heat. The storys are simply not true. People, including myself, enjoy hearing about the mishaps of the elite and praised because they do not slip up very often, but when they do... we want to know about it and fast. However I cannot personally see the appeal in writing something that did not happen. Citizens need to be informed when the elite for instance slip up because these people play important roles in our society. If they are corrupt then the system too will be corrupt. Yet, if all is in order, the journo hiding up the tree comes back dry. Or does he? It is an unfortunate world where people all too often forget the age old saying, “ don’t believe everything you read”. People need to realize that sometimes these magazines just need to fill the spaces.
So now that we’ve got that out the way lets get on to the good stuff. Are you an avid gossiper? One thats just never really been able to help it? Ruscandolous is a blog bringing you all the latest scandal and gossip from around this otherwise unperturbed campus! From the moderate to momentus, we’ll throw you everything; the little league hook-ups of who kissed who to the real nitty-gritty. Warning to all gossipers though; these tasty little nuggets of information wont be drowned out by any soapy seriousness. This is an upbeat blog not looking to catch out those that are innocent rather those that need catching out for the good of society. So come take a peep and you’ll be surprised as to what you may find out. You just need to ask yourself that one little question; Ruscandolous?

The walk of shame

Why was Nicholas R of Piet Retief seen walking back from cotch creek at 4am this morning? Care to defend yourself Nicholas???? Please do tell...