Felix (newspaper)

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Felix
Type Weekly newspaper (academic term)
Format {{{format}}}
Owner Imperial College Union
Editor Tom Roberts
Founded 1949
Political allegiance None
Price Free
Headquarters Beit Quad, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2BB
ISSN 1040-0711
Website: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/media/felix/

Felix is the student newspaper of Imperial College London. It won the Guardian 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' [1]. The newspaper 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 a student 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 the students' union as a paid sabbatical 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 the slogan "The real student newspaper of Imperial College".

Contents

[edit] Past editors

[edit] History

The name "Felix" is thought to be a pun on The Phoenix[citation needed], the publication that preceded Felix in covering student interests [5]. 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 [6], taking over the duty of reporting college activities from The Phoenix [5]. 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 launched 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.

[edit] Cat logo

[edit] 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 [7]. The original, appearing as the main image on the cover of the first issue [6], was a black-and-white bicolor 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 character Felix the Cat[citation needed], or perhaps because of the similarity to the Latin word for cat, felis.

[edit] Replacements

The sabre-tooth logo
The sabre-tooth logo

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" [3]. In 2001, the cat returned in the form of a sabre-tooth tabby 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.

[edit] Comic strips

[edit] References

  1. ^ Guardian Student Media Awards: Winners 2006
  2. ^ a b Loder, Natasha, So You Want to Be a Science Writer?, Association of British Science Writers, <http://www.absw.org.uk/Documents/SYWTBASW.pdf> 
  3. ^ a b c Live! Felix off to flying start. 3 October 2001.
  4. ^ Live! No Resurrection for Felix. 14 June 2007.
  5. ^ a b AIM25: Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine: Publications of Imperial College.
  6. ^ a b Imperial College - Centenary website - Timeline - 1940-1949.
  7. ^ Live! Felix pussy to make come-back. 27 September 2001.

[edit] External links